Monday April 8 was Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. We can learn a very valuable lesson about challenges from one remembrance story concerning observing Passover in a slave labor camp.
“When the camp commandant walked in and saw us eating the matzah, he yelled at us, ‘Eat bread! Don’t eat these crackers – they won’t give you any nourishment at all. What are these crackers?’
“After explaining to him that it was Passover and Jews are forbidden to eat bread, the Commandant became furious. ‘Your God has forsaken you and you still believe in Him?! You still eat these crackers just because He told you? Your God has completely abandoned you, don’t you see that?’
“The Commandant seemed to have stumped the entire group; they recognized the dire situation that they were in. While the group struggled to find an answer, a Jew named Akiva Goldschtof piped up. ‘No,’ he said. ‘God has not totally forsaken us. It is true that God has temporarily put us in this situation, but not totally and not forever.’”
I’m not making equivalents between our challenges and those who experienced horrors far beyond human comprehension; yet what a perspective on life’s challenges! Yes, we live in a fallen world where evil bombards us on all sides. Yes, we are going to face tough times that make us want our drugs of choice. Yet, we are not alone even in our darkest times! The temptation does not last forever, victory over it does. Our challenges will not last forever, our God will.
Each day, no matter what challenge you face, you choose who’s going to win – your enemy or Jesus. I speak from experience. Jesus tastes better.
Set “Free” Nowww

I came across the following quote today while reading my local paper. “My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step; they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.”
At first I saw a lie in this statement. Letting my past hang around is not a good thing. It’s the gray face, my mistakes and other people’s in my life, hanging over my shoulder that drags me to repeat my sinful behaviors. We don’t hang onto those situations. Instead we work through them with forgiveness to come out the other side to see the sunshine filled smiley faces.
Then I realized that quote could be stating a truth as well. The gray face can be a good thing if it’s used to remember what God has done in our lives. The Spirit wants us to think about where our drugs of choice took us last time. He wants us to remember how it feels to stay in His presence now. Which one do we want – the guilty gray or the warm sunshine feeling?
Looking back is not necessarily bad. It simply depends on what you see when you do – Jesus or you/others? Look back at what Jesus did yesterday so you can then walk forward with Jesus today.
Set “Free” Nowww

I can still hear the jingle, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.” I still love hitting those things to watch them hit the floor and bounce right back up. You can’t keep ‘em down!
This is a huge principle in experiencing the Spirit exchange our character with Christ’s – keep bouncing back up!
We will become what or who we focus on in the process of freeing our imprisoned minds (yesterday’s blog). If we don’t take our thoughts captive throughout our day (2 Cor. 10:3-5) they will eventually come out in our behavior. What happens when they do?
We must refocus on Jesus. Ask for His forgiveness. Thank Him for His grace and mercy, which gives you the right to bounce back. Take His hand, get up and start walking in His presence again. Then start filtering our thoughts to free our captive minds, which can be done because we’ve been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
Staying on the ground doesn’t do anyone – Jesus, you, others around you – any good. Be like the weeble. Refocus on Jesus and bounce right back up!
Set Free “N”owww

I was asked the other day why it’s so hard to get it through our thick skulls that we are God’s children, a foundational truth of victorious living. I recently read a comic that says it all. It contained only one panel with the picture of a chicken sitting on a counselor’s sofa asking, “Although I was born cage-free, occasionally I feel the invisible chains of an imprisoned mind.”
Though we have been set free by Christ, our brains are still in the process of being transformed (Gal. 5:1; Rom. 12:2). We have no clue what the old sin nature did to our brains. We don’t always remember who or what stuff was put into our brains up to this point in our lives. On top of this, we live in a fallen world that is controlled by an enemy who constantly tries to feed us lies. It’s no wonder Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “Though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world … we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
The battle ground for daily freedom is in our minds. The weapons we fight with are truths added to our biblical filters. Don’t be mistaken. You are in a war zone that is all around and within you. But, be encouraged today my friend. Paul would also say, “Thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The source of victory, Jesus, also is within you. This is indeed good news. Therefore, stay in His Word daily. Listen to the Spirit as He exposes the lies that imprison your mind. Increase your trust in those truths by adding them to your filter. Then walk with Jesus throughout your day using those truths. As you do, the prison doors of your mind will swing wide open for you to walk in freedom.
Se“T Free” Nowww

Playing hide and seek, especially at twilight in our neighborhood, was a great game to play as kids. We had so many cool places to hide. It was hard not to laugh when the “it” person would walk right past your hiding place without seeing you.
This was a fun game to play as kids, but it’s a dangerous game to play as adults. Proverbs 28:13 states, “He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” It’s better to acknowledge what’s going on in your life, which is what confession means, than to hide it. It is even better when we decide to do away with repeatedly taking our drug(s) of choice.
It’s easy, though difficult, to hide from others. But it’s crazy to think we could ever hide anything from God. He sees your every thought and action. He hears your every word. Why not get it out of your system and allow Him to change your life?
Getting it out means to openly acknowledge to Him what you’ve done or are doing and how you’re feeling. When you do you’ll experience forgiveness and mercy. Don’t stop there! When you openly acknowledge what’s going in your life to a fellow believer in Jesus so they can pray for you, you’ll experience healing or a changed life.
We all know hiding doesn’t work, so why keep doing it? Decide today to allow the Spirit to bring you a Bible Impact partner with whom you can open up with and who will pray for your victory.
Set Free Noww“W”