Freedom – Use it or Lose it

freedom 3Today we honor those who died to protect the freedoms we enjoy in America. How are you using that freedom?
Today I also honor the One, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to give and maintain a freedom that no human nor government can give or ever take away. Brothers and sisters, how are you using that freedom? “It is for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
Honor those and the One who died to give you freedom by choosing today and every day to use the freedom you’ve been given.
S“E”t Free Nowww

Door #3

door optionMutilation or murder. Both seem to be the only options when pain comes our way. What? When we do something dumb or someone does something to us, we tend to turn that pain inward on ourselves, which only leads to more pain (mutilation). Or, we turn that pain outward toward others, which causes them pain (murder).
Door #3 is another option: Move toward Jesus. Give your pain to Jesus using the FREEdom process. We live in a world full of pain, which can be directed toward you. And yes, sometimes it’s totally unfair and/or undeserved.
We don’t get to choose where that pain came from. We do, however, have a choice where to direct that pain. We have and love a God who can turn our pain into progress toward becoming more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29, “those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”).
When we choose to stop further hurting ourselves and/or others and then choose to filter our pain through the truths of God’s Word, we will see our lives changed. This not only brings us joy in the midst of painful situations today, but also for tomorrow and with each step into eternity as well.
Set “FREE” Nowww

Focused on the Good Stuff

focused“Focus on what Jesus has for you, not what you’re asked to give up.” If we focus on what we’re giving up, our minds will always remember how good that thing made us feel. What the flesh leaves out, though, is how thinking, saying or doing that thing makes us feel in the long run.
And yet, we as humans, we have a tendency to focus on what the Lord is asking us to give up, which only makes life change so hard. Why? We become what we focus on and what we focus on only gets bigger.
Let what Jesus wants to give you get bigger and bigger in your mind so you can become what Jesus wants to put into your life. The good stuff Jesus offers is so much better for us; so stay focused on it!
S“E”t Free Noww

Daily Choices to Significance

choices 4Hadassah was orphaned as a child and raised by a simple accountant. Her daily choices from the moment she moved into Mordecai’s home, however, led to one momentous choice that would change the world.
As God moved behind the scenes to position her to the Persian throne as Queen Esther, He was also preparing her for the “good work that He prepared” for her to do.
Would she have dreamed about or chosen to be snatched out of her home against her will to be made just another woman of many in King Xerxes’ life? Probably not, but what she was made for was so much better than where she thought she was headed.
Hadassah was significant for one choice which, despite how she got there, she made at the risk of her life. This one decision kept her people alive and allowed our Savior and Messiah to be born, who has affected billions of lives over time. By surrendering to the “good work that He prepared for” her, allowed her to be significant in ways she could have never dreamed possible.
Surrender your daily choices to Him and you will lead a significant life, even if it’s much different than you ever thought it would.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

Your Side of the Street

sidewalkPerceptions can be both accurate and incomplete at the same time. Let’s say you’re driving north on a state highway when you arrive on the scene of a terrible multi-car crash. Your friends are driving south on that same highway and see that same accident. You call and decide to share your experience at a local coffee shop.
Will your stories line up? Maybe at best, not close at worse. Yet, will both of your stories be accurate? From your perspective they will be. Why the discrepancy? Yes, you saw the same accident, but only from your side of it.
Biblical truth never changes, its application can. (See Romans 14 for an example.) Galatians 6:4, “each one should test his own actions,” is in the context of assisting a brother walk closer with Jesus. We’re instructed to make sure we’re walking on our side of the street before we cross the street to help another.
One way to love Jesus is through our actions; and yet, the Spirit of God can provide a variety of action steps to a similar challenge. Therefore, just because He had you do one thing, doesn’t make what another person did necessarily wrong. You won’t know either way until you talk with them.
Believers who love Jesus will listen and follow Him with other believers. This is not always easy and can be messy because we can only see life from our side of the street.
The key is to lovingly walk with each other as we work through loving Jesus together (see Colossians 3:12-14). As we do, both sides of the street get cleaner and easier to walk on while the world sees Jesus in us.
Set Free Noww“W”