'IN my tradition we follow the season of Lent - a time of reflection and preparation for Jesus death and resurrection. It lasts for 40 days (not including Sundays) to echo the time that Jesus spent in the desert preparing for his ministry. I have chosen one of the themes of Lent as our next challenge -
Penitence
Which I would put simply as "being aware of what we have done wrong and seeking God's forgiveness" or having a sense of regret for sin and wanting to make a sincere change. The focal reading for me is this one 1 John 1:8-9"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Which comes before the prayer of confession in some orders of worship. What does it mean to be aware of our wrong doing and of the forgiveness we receive through Jesus Christ? How can we sincerely make a change in our lives? There are many ways that the word and the reading may take you.'
I reflected on the words in the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, usually called the Lord's Prayer:
'Matthew 6:12: Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.'
And then my thoughts went to Psalm 51, a prayer of penitence written by David, and I particularly focused on verse 10. Of course, unlike David, we have the privilege of living after the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His salvation is open to all those who believe and repent of their sin.
As Christians, we have the assurance of forgiveness - but today's topic is a reminder of the need for awareness and confession of our wrong-doings.
I used Bo Bunny papers for my LO, together with Bazill cardstock. The main background paper is Delilah you and me and the paper with trees is Delilah here's 2U. I wouldn't normally put pink and orange together, but I'm loving these papers.
The shapes were cut on my cricut using Make the cut software - I'm loving being able to use my cricut with my computer as well as with cartridges (which I hardly use now, because using Make the cut is so good).
Please take a little time to hop over to our Salt blog and have a look at the beautiful creations of the rest of the team - and perhaps join in and create something for this theme and leave us a comment so we can come and have a look.
I'm also linking this for:
Challenge up your life 16: 'flower compliment'
Jacksonbelle: 'show us your new stuff' - the Bo Bunny papers
Crafty calendar 6: 'flower power'
