Renewed Hope

Well, the theme verse for this morning's sermon at FMBC was 1 Timothy 1:5:

"My goal in giving you this order is for love to flow from a pure heart, from a clear conscience, and from a sincere faith."

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Confirmation #584 that God is speaking and moving. lol  Truly, it has been one thing after another through books, memes, podcasts, professors, classmates, fellow interns, friends, sermons, and Scripture... all perfectly timed and in alignment with what I'd already been hearing and responding to in my spirit.

To sum up the takeaways:

• Integrity is vital to the God-honoring life I want to build.
• What I consume (what I eat, hear, read, and watch) has consequences, for better or worse.
• Accountability is vital for healing and strengthening up weak areas.
• Inviting and internalizing the truth will set you free.
• No more secrets.  Secrecy keeps me under a shame-cloud, and I want to live in the fullness of God's light.
• In more ways than one, the time for hiding has passed.

And the bonus takeaway that may matter even more than the others is a deeper awareness that God cares and He is fighting for me right now - pulling me out of quicksand and removing the clouds/barriers that came between us.  I believe this is a quiet but pivotal turning point for me.

Living from this new identity will be (and already proves itself) challenging, but not impossible -- my goal is avoiding small compromises in places where compromising for comfort has become the norm.  And above all that, I'm embracing authentic accountability in places where I'm used to hiding my faults.  I'm human and prone to wander, but rather than pretending all is well (putting my image over substance), I plan on getting serious and painfully honest with trusted friends about where I'm falling short... keeping it in the light, seeking support, then repeatedly asking for God's help while genuinely pursuing change.
Fall down seven; GET UP eight.

A windy walk on a pretty day yesterday

Small compromises add up and snowball.  But so does small progress.  

I am taking responsibility and repenting for sinful choices, (and God is giving me new insight on how I arrived there and how to avoid it in the future).  And now, I'm embracing forgiveness and freedom and light... moving forward with more support and accountability... walking (one step at a time) with a pure heart, a clear conscience, a sincere faith, and renewed HOPE...  God's mercy is new every morning, and the best is yet to come!!

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