I planted a nectarine tree in my backyard, which finally produced this year. My expectations ran high until the blossoms started turning into fruit that had sap coming out of them. You heard right. It wasn’t sap coming from the tree, but from the fruit itself.
My wife learned that a bug scars the fruit when it first blossoms. Then when the fruit starts to ripen it becomes deeply scared and deformed. We were about to throw the fruit away until she read an article on how tasty the unscarred portions of the fruit are. And it was true! Yummmm.
We are all scared individuals – some simply stained by the old sin nature and for others life has piled it on. Yet in Christ, we are all seen by God as perfect while we’re in process of being made perfect (Hebrews 10:14). No, this is not a contradiction. While we are in the process of becoming like Jesus God already sees us as perfect, like Jesus. Why? We’re in Jesus’ hands (Col. 3:3). Like a nectarine with my fingers wrapped around it, the Father sees Jesus when He sees us, not the nectarine. Isn’t that cool?
Like that nectarine we are both scarred and sweet at the same time. We are both perfect and flawed. This is true of every believer no matter who you are or what you or others have done to you. We are perfectly flawed people with a choice. We can choose to be real and open with each other so we can get the strength we need to face life’s daily challenges and the junk thoughts that are in our head. Maybe those around my friend, including me, had appearances of being all sweet that kept them from showing their scars and reaching out to us. As a perfectly flawed believer in Christ I’m choosing to stay on the journey to continually learn how to be real with those around me.

Set Free Noww“W”

On one of the paths I take when I prayer walk in the hills behind my house is a little dirt berm. A farmer put it there to keep people from dumping their trash on his property.
When I come to the berm I have two choices. I can take the easy but longer way by walking around it. Or, I could take the harder and shorter way by walking directly up and over it. The easy path is flat and takes little effort. The harder path has an incline and takes a little strength.
What are you going to do when your enemy or your current situations draw out the junk thoughts from your memory? Take the easy path and head to your drug of choice? Or will you take the harder path by filtering them out of your head and replacing them with the truth using the FREEdom process? Will you take the easy way in your own strength and lose or will you talk the harder path and ask for help from the Spirit of God and the people of God and win?
The easy path is easy for a reason. You can handle it on your own! How’s that going for you? The harder path forces us to depend upon Someone and someones other than ourselves. It is, however, the harder path that brings victory and makes us stronger. I only wish my friend had walked over the berm and called me.

Set Free Noww“W”

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior – from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” – David, 2 Samuel 22:1-4
A fortress, refuge, stronghold, and shield are places to get behind when you know you can’t defeat your enemy. A deliverer and savior are when another person defeats your enemy for you. David was a stud soldier. He quite literally defeated giants; and yet, he still had to realize that he needed to get behind someone or something in order to experience victory.
The Bible tells us that when we realize that we’re weak, it is then that we become strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When we realize that we can’t defeat what’s going on in our head or the situations we face, who will we get behind – our drugs of choice or Jesus? We know our way of living doesn’t work. It’s time to give Jesus a shot. Sometimes He will defeat our giants just by strengthening us Himself. At other times, He will use other believers to give us victory. The first step, though, is to realize that we need help! We can be our greatest barrier to victory.
We must get rid of our “buts.” “But I hate letting others know my challenges. But I don’t want to burden others with my problems as they have enough of their own. But I don’t like others knowing I can’t handle life.” The enemy uses these excuses to draw us out into the open where we have no shield, stronghold, refugee or fortress to protect us. He can then rip off our joy and peace.
The Bible contains over 38 one another phrases. Think God is trying to say something? We need to open up, call upon, and have others pray for us if we are going to have a healthy faith that brings victory to our lives. We are to be weak by realizing that we can’t win on our own so He can be strong for us. Being strong in your weakness is the sign of a healthy faith, in only my friend had realized this.

Set Free Noww“W”

Years back I watched a very interesting animal documentary on lions. It showed them attacking a herd of elephants. When the elephants stuck together they defeated the lions. When they also surrounded their weak by forming a circle with their hind quarters in the middle and tusks out, they were also able to thwart the lion’s attack. When the weak or the strong were by themselves, however, they lost and ended up as dinner. The lions were now able to attack from all sides without an elephant to keep them at bay.
1 Peter 5:18 describes Satan as a roaring lion on the prowl hoping to frighten believers into taking their drugs of choice. Peter goes on to say that other believers are also being attacked. He says that to give us comfort and to let us know we’re not alone. Others have or are going through the same struggles as we do (1 Cor. 10:13). There are others who can pray for us during those struggles (see Eph. 6:18 – about a special weapon for fighting our enemy) so we can have victory.
The herd of elephants defeated their enemy when they stood firm and fought back as a unit. Believers have a lot to learn from the elephants. We too are stronger as unit when we stand firm in the truths of God’s Word as a team. The Bible promises victory when we do. Are the elephants smarter than we are? I certainly hope not as not only is victory on the line, but lives as well if we don’t.

Set Free Noww“W”

At New Hope yesterday many asked how I was doing. I kept saying, “I’m hanging in there” until finally when asked one more time I said, “You know, I’m not just hanging in there. I’m processing right now. I remember what my friend said in their final note. I’m filtering out the junk and focusing on what the Lord is teaching me through it.” The surprising thing was that this person told me that their father died in the same exact why my friend did. We were able to mutually encourage each other at that point. It felt good to be transparent.
The battle wasn’t over yet. This morning I was able to continue to process my friend’s passing with my Bible Impact Group. Afterwards, I went to the office and still felt like heading to my drug of choice when I picked up that 1,000 lb. phone and texted my other BIG partners asking them to pray for me. They did and I finally snapped out of it.
I’m doing much better thanks to those who are walking with me. There is a saying that goes something like this, “We can run faster alone, but we can walk further together.” There are times the Spirit will give us victory all by Himself. There are other times, however, the Spirit uses other believers to help us get the upper hand.
If only my friend would have processed what was going on in their head with me or some other believer who was in their life. If my friend did, they would still be around to share more victorious moments together. We need each other if we want to be victorious over our drugs of choice/enemy. I was told by my friend’s family that my friend just held things to themselves. One of the tools Jesus gives us for victory is other believers. This journey was never meant to be walked alone. We can hide and lose or be transparent and win. It’s your turn to pick up that phone or text back that you are praying.
Set Free Noww“W”