Prepare my eyes to see my sin

Day 23

Open my eyes to see my sin, wow that is heavy.
It's difficult sometimes to really open our eyes and look at ourselves and who we really are. It is as if we were looking at some horrific scene, we turn your eyes away from the unpleasant, unlovely, terrifying reality of our sinfulness.

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10

For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23

I remember being a young Christian and someone saying, "name your sin, don't sugarcoat it, name it."

Instead of saying I am a sinner, Lord forgive me of my sins.
Try to say,

Lord I have lied, I am a liar, forgive me for lying.
Lord I have wished harm on someone, I am a murderer for wishing them harm.
I have had lustful thoughts, I am an adulterer
Or my personal favorite
I am a gossiper, I gossip, Lord forgive me for gossiping.

Something changes when we look squarely in the eye of our sin and realize it is us who wears that odor, it is not pleasant, it is not fun, it is unpopular to admit this. When our eyes are open to our sinfulness, we can come openly before God.

The good news is Jesus loves us and says that we are his friend. We are forgiven of our sins if we will just come honestly before Him and ask to be a
washed in his blood, his forgiveness and then in his restoration.

Prayer
Thank you Jesus for cleansing me, for making me look at my sin. Only you can remove that stain of our sin. Would you make me white as snow, white as snow, white as snow?

Paleo Chicken Broccoli Quiche

Two of the things that I miss on our Paleo eating is bread and cheese. When I saw this recipe I began salivating.  All day long I thought about getting home and making it! The original recipe can be found at Fast Paleo.  I have adjusted it to fit our tastes.

Ingredients

Crust
3 cups Almond Meal
3 Eggs
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling
2 cups cubed chicken 

1 onion chopped

1 tsp garlic

1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 head of broccoli chopped

3 Eggs

1 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 tsp arrowroot

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp crushed black Pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Pre-heat the oven 350F.
Begin making the crust. Mix the crust ingredients until it it makes a dough. Press into a greased 9x9 pan. The dough can be thick, be sure to press it down with your hands and a fork. (You can use all or some of the dough depending on your preference of the thickness). 

Poke the bottom with a fork and a bake for 20 minutes. 

After removing the crust from the oven, increase the temperature to 390F.

Make the filling while the crust is baking.

Saute the chicken, onion and sun dried tomatoes in the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. 

In a bowl, beat the eggs, coconut milk, arrowroot, garlic, red pepper, salt and black pepper.

Next spread the chicken, tomato, onion mix evenly over the crust.
Pour over the egg mixture filling up every little cavity. Place the broccoli on top, covering the entire dish, pushing it down into the mixture with your hand.

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy. It is so good!

What I learned

While trying to stay true to my Paleo lifestyle it can be difficult to abstain from certain things like cheese and bread. In the midst of this I have had to find other things to add to my recipes. There are things that God has asked us not to be a part of and in our lives as Christians we too must sometimes figure out how to respond to those things that we are asked to abstain from.  From the time of Adam and Eve each of us have had the same dilemma.

We really have 2 choices; abstain or give in.

I have many friends who have decided that it is too hard to follow Christ all of the time so they go the route of giving in and asking for forgiveness after. This makes me so sad. Instead of remaining strong and finding another way they have given in, given up and quite honestly made excuses! Living this way marks us with shame and justification. Like Adam and Eve we eventually begin to hide from God and hope that he doesn't notice our lapses in judgement.  There has to be a different way!

I believe that there is a way to live beyond sin, but it requires us seek God, and to humbly follow hard after Him. Seek Him and He will be found by you. You won't be disappointed!

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8