I remember playing baseball in high school. I also remember the day I put on my first pair of glasses. Wow, I didn’t realize that is what a thrown baseball looked like! Before what I thought was clear was actually fuzzy. Before I thought everyone saw the baseball like I did. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Now I was actually seeing what everyone else saw – a distinct rotating sphere of speed.
We believe what we’re thinking is sharp and clear. We make decisions based upon those “sharp and clear” thoughts as well. What if, however, what we’re seeing is fuzzy? This is why we need to be listening to Jesus in the Word of God. He and the Word are like my glasses. They expose that our thinking is not as sharp as it should be.
Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth.” He leaves no room for fuzziness with that statement. He is making a clear distinction between my way and His and our culture’s fuzzy definition of truth and His very clear and sharp definition.
The sharper image of truth, the more specific truths we put into our shields of faith, the more distinct our thoughts will be, which leads to a greater ability to defeat our enemy’s lies and experience victory over our drugs of choice. We’ve got to daily put on our glasses, the Word of God, if we want to experience the good stuff of the Life Jesus promised.
S“E”t Free Nowww

A friend of mine asked me today how I had lost so much weight. I said I don’t diet anymore. It’s really been about changing my eating lifestyle. Where is Jesus in that? No where. Bad me.
Yet, where did I get the biblical tools that helped me process life when I felt like eating like I used to – the seefood diet. I see it. I eat it. The Word of God. Who gave me the strength to pick up those tools when I was staring at a jar full of candy? The Spirit of God. Who gave me the ability to process my eating using those biblical tools to change my eating habits? Jesus. Therefore, who is the one who gave me the victory each step of the way? Jesus.
It’s easy to praise God when you see Him change other people’s lives or when you see an on the spot miracle in your own life. But what happens when it’s one faith step after another faith step that brings you closer to Jesus? It’s harder to see, but it’s still Jesus who was there every step of the way giving you victory over your drugs of choice.
The biblical life-changing tools come from the Word of God, without which there is very little hope for life-change. The power to pick them up comes from the Spirit of God, without Whom those tools stay in your tool belt. And the faith to exercise the truths when I don’t feel like it comes from Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. Therefore, when victory comes all credit and praise should go to Jesus, not any eating program or my will-power to exercise that program.
It didn’t this morning. Yet, I’ve since asked His forgiveness for not giving Him the credit. I am declaring His praise to you now. Jesus thanks for the victory!
As you give Him credit with every faith step you take you’ll be prepared with the right answer to the question, “How did you lose so much weight?” And you’ll say, “I’m glad you asked. Jesus gave me the faith and strength every step of the way. I praise Him for the victory.”
Set Free Now“W”w

Expect to have tough days as you continue to get better at listening to and following Jesus. Those tough times, however, will be worth the faith effort.
God’s Word says as much in Galatians 6:7-9. “A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his flesh, from his flesh will repeat destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Yes, planting is hard work, but keep in mind that a harvest will follow. Listen to John’s words, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way love is made complete among us so that we have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him.” (1 John 4:16b-17)
The more we allow the Spirit to exchange us with Jesus, the greater our hope will be, and the greater the harvest of peace, joy and meaning in life will come. Keep sowing truth into your life through the Spirit’s power; and life, both now and forever, will be experienced.
Set Free No“WW”w

Yesterday at Service I offered one of our pastor’s children a donut. They gave me a great answer, “I can’t. My daddy’s not here.”
After talking with their dad I realized what had happened. He told me he was trying to teach his child to be selective in what they ate. This particular child eats anything and everything. He had the same challenge, which in the end caused his weight to skyrocket. He didn’t want this for his child so he was teaching them how to use a biblical filter at an early age.
His solution? His child, for a season, had to clear what they ate through him. Some might call this being a little controlling. I call it great parenting. He sees a potential dangerous mindset developing (i.e. a future drug of choice) and is saving his child from a lot of heartache later by giving them the biblical tools to think through a situation now.
This father is teaching his child from a very early age how to listen to and follow Jesus everyday everywhere. This is how Jesus lived. If He cleared everything He did through His Dad, shouldn’t we? We’d save ourselves a lot of heartache if we only did.
Set F“R”ee Nowww

What do you see? Hopefully you see a water source. Water? Yup, water. “Okay, Chris, you must be having a bad day because your eyesight is all out of whack. It’s a desert scene, not an oasis.”
No, my eyesight is 20/20 when I’m looking at this scene through faith eyes. God took the Israelites by way of a desert on their way home to the Promised Land. There were no gushing water sources to quench their thirst from the hot dry desert sun. No standing fields of grain to satisfy their hunger as they walked along the sandy paths.
The Israelites saw nothing but sand and sun and then turned to their drug of choice – whining and wanting to go back to slavery. What happens when you look at life through your own eyes? You end up taking your drugs of choice as well.
What if you started looking at life through your Savior’s eyes and not yours? This opens up the possibilities that your God would quench your thirst by providing water from a good sized boulder and your hunger by turning morning dew into manna.
This is the essence of living with a biblical worldview. We look at life through the filter of God’s Word, which reveals who God is and what He can He do. These become life’s possibilities … if we are willing to listen to and follow Him everyday everywhere, including our desert days.
God is asking His children to look at life through His eyes and then believe what He can do. And maybe, just maybe, we might exercise the truth and experience the victory – peace, contentment, fulfillment, love – He has for us in that situation.
Decide today to view life through faith eyes. Victory is around the corner when you do.
S“E”t Fre“E” Nowww