I read the following in a book on preparing soldiers for battle. “You don’t have to like it; you just have to do it.” In order to survive war, soldiers have to be willing to do the difficult and distasteful, even when it they don’t want to.
Believe it or not, believers are soldiers and must develop that same mentality. The Spirit, through the pen of Paul, wrote that we are to “endure hardships like a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3) If we want to experience daily victory over our enemy, we exercise the truth by faith, even if it doesn’t make sense or seems difficult to us.
Doing the easy thing, going with the flow, is what led us down the path to defeat. Doing the difficult thing takes faith. It’s faith in your God that listening to and following Jesus will bring the sweet taste of victory. What difficult faith step is your God asking you to take today?
Set Fre“E” Nowww

“My box is leaking!” is what I heard someone say the other day. I kept on listening as I was intrigued as to what it meant.
This person was looking for fulfillment in life and was doing activities they thought would bring it. They described the process as putting water into a box. Each time they checked something off their to-do list, they were pouring water into the box hoping to feel fulfilled. Yet, no matter how much water they put into the box, it never filled. They kept pouring water in, but they were only left feeling empty and frustrated.
They saw the problem only after examining their box. It had sprung a good sized leak! The water was going out almost as fast as they were putting it in. Fulfillment, a major need for every human being, was always out of this person’s reach.
This is what is meant by the phrase, “Is it working for you?” Our drugs of choice, in this case accomplishing tasks, will never satisfy. This person, once they examined the leak, realized the hole was caused by their avoidance of what Jesus had asked them to do.
Jesus was asking for their daily schedule. He wanted to pick what got done and in what order it got done. As this person began listening to and following Jesus, the water started rising with each task Jesus had them do, resulting in immediate fulfillment.
Want to know something funny? Some of the tasks being done now were the same as the ones they were doing before! The difference was that they were now listening to and following Jesus rather than themselves.
Is your way of thinking and living working? If not, it’s time to ask the Spirit of God to show you where your leak is. And oh by the way, the Spirit can use a good friend in a Bible Impact Group to help you see the leaks a whole lot faster!
Set Free No“WWW”

A friend of mine gave me a definition of success that was quite unique. They said, “Success is the distance between failures.” This is simply another way of saying we’re to fail forward.
If you fell to your drug of choice on Day 1, got up and walked with Jesus using your biblical tools Days 2-4, but fell again on Day 5, what will you focus on, your successful faith choices or your disappointing failure choice? Remember this: you become what you focus on and what you focus on only gets bigger.
You should be praising God for the successes of Days 2-4 and learning from the failure on Day 5. This way you can lengthen the days of success between failures, which increases your Jesus praises!
One day will be completely be like Jesus. Until then, praise Jesus each day of successful choices, which will increase in number as you learn to keep in step with the Spirit.
Set Free No“W”ww

“Just know that I love you and am praying for you! Please be on your guard. You are on my heart in a very strong way.” This was the text I received last night from my BIG partner. It was just what I needed to achieve victory. This is the fulfillment of James 5:16, “Confess your sins one to another and pray for each so that you may be healed.” He prayed and texted me as the Spirit led him. Because of this contact, I stopped wavering about what I was about to do and chose victory through the Spirit’s power.
This is how our walks with Christ work. We were never meant to live our Christian lives by ourselves. In fact, the over 30+ one another phrases reveal that it is near impossible to become more like Jesus without other believers. We need to be honest and transparent with at least one other believer.
Who are you acknowledging your sin to so they can pray for your victory? As you do Christ will replace your temporary character with His eternal character. Once you have this person, listen to the Spirit for and with them! As He leads, pray. As He leads, text. You never know when your contact will be used by the Spirit to lead them to victory.
Set Free Noww“W”

I was sitting at a signal waiting for the red left turn arrow to change green when it hit me. Here I am parked while other cars are zipping by me. All I can do is look up at the stupid signal waiting for it to let me proceed. I wasn’t frustrated…this time. I’d given myself plenty of time to get where I was going. Yet, what if I was in a hurry? I’d have been very impatient and very much processing the urge to use another of my drugs of choice.
Does this describe you: have to be some where…yesterday? Keep looking at the signal – Jesus. Or how about, getting impatient at God for letting those around you go while you’re parked? Keep looking at the signal – the Word of God.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3) Staying focused on Jesus and the truths in your shield of faith the Spirit put there will keep you at peace. Remember how He’s already worked in your life while you’re waiting for God’s go ahead and while you stop looking at what He’s doing in other people’s lives will keep you drug free.
Set “FREE” Nowww