A friend of mind said something quite interesting today. She was talking about the fruit trees in her backyard. She has a variety of trees, many of which I had no clue about what they were, which produce fruit at different times of the year. She simply eats each fruit in its own season.
Think on that for a moment. Each is watered, pruned and fertilized to produce more fruit. Yet, they do not all ripen at the same time.
What a picture of the believers walk with Jesus. By faith we plant seeds of truth into our head and heart. We keep watering those thoughts by thinking and acting on them, also by faith.
Yet, character change, bearing fruit, comes at different times. Stop stressing about what isn’t happening in your life and enjoy the fruit of what is. Keep tasting that the Lord is good while He continues to change you from the inside out – one tree at a time.
“S”et Free Nowww

One of the big differences between King Saul and King David was that when David messed up, he got up to start walking with his God again.
Paul tells us in Philippians 4:9 to practice what we hear in Scripture. Practice is where mistakes are supposed to be made, learned from and then hopefully never repeated; thus, during the game we can be victorious. As believers in Jesus, our goal is to never fall/sin. Yet if we do, we have two choices: stay down or get up. Simple. Yet hard.
Yeah, you messed up. You can either focus on it and the further pain it causes through playing the “beat-me up” game. Or, you can focus on Jesus, look into His loving eyes, give Him the beat me stick, and then take His hand up to start walking again.
You only have now, not the last moment with its mistake and certainly not tomorrow. Choose this moment to restart walking with Jesus. I’ll tell you from experience. It feels much better!
Set Free “N”owww

I saw a gentleman walking toward me the other day waving his hands. The closer I got, I could hear him calling out to something while cussing up a storm. I glanced over my shoulder to see what was behind me but couldn’t see anything. I had a quizzical look on my face as I kept walking while hoping he wasn’t talking to me.
Then I saw what that something was – his dog. He was yelling at the dog to come; and yet, the dog wasn’t moving. At the time the two were reunited, I sure was glad I wasn’t his dog. You should have seen the look on its face. It was like, “Can you rescue me?!”
Even when we stray from and hurt Jesus, our shepherd, He doesn’t treat us like this guy did his dog. You’ve got to understand something: Your view of Jesus shapes whether you will follow Him or not.
Jesus valued you enough to come to this planet. He wanted a relationship with you so bad that He died to make it happen. He believes in you so much that He calls you friend and family. Jesus is asking you to trust Him enough to follow where He leads, even when that goes against every fiber of your being.
So let me ask, “What’s in your eyes when you see Jesus?” Keep exercising the truths He gives you about Himself from Scripture. You’ll discover He’s worth trusting with every cell, not just the fibers, in your body.
S“E”t Fre“E” Nowww

We’ve all heard and most likely read Psalm 23, but do you really believe it? Verse one and three read, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
Jesus is asking us to trust Him over ourselves. And, we’d probably be quick to say, “I trust Jesus.” But until we surrender our wills, we’re deceiving ourselves, as in fact we’re still trusting ourselves. Surrendering the “I” is probably one of the toughest things we’ll ever do as Jesus believers.
The path Jesus is calling you to take today may be scary, but do you trust your Shepherd to lead to do what’s in your best interest even when your brain is screaming otherwise?
We may love and quote Psalm 23, but we do not really trust our Shepherd until we make that choice to take the step of faith empowered by the Spirit that He’s asking us to take. My BIG partner is praying for my trust to increase, is yours?
Set Fre“E” Nowww

Two scenarios, one question, “Who controls your choices?” I was on a walk-talk with Jesus when both scenarios took place.
The first occurred when a gentleman pulled up in a golf cart, asked how I was doing and did I know that I was on private property. Keep in mind no signs were posted saying I was. I was simply walking the hills to the east of my house where there are acres on acres of open space.
The second took place as I was walking down a dirt road. All of a sudden a construction truck hauls by kicking up rocks and all kinds of dust. Normally, these guys slow down when they pass to avoid such a situation. This guy obviously didn’t get the memo.
I have the right and freedom to walk these hills without getting dusted, literally. Who controlled my choices – these gentleman or me? Don’t be quick to answer, because we all know what we’d like to say or do in each situation. Will we, however, filter these situations through Jesus or our flesh, which contains all the old ways of handling these types of situations?
I could let these guys control my choices. That was my choice. It’s your choice as well. To let others in your past or present make your choices or you can learn to hear from Jesus and then choose to follow Him in each situation, even on dusty roads. The only good outcome occurs when we choose Jesus. BTW – I chose a smile and great walk-talk with Jesus without missing a beat. Yeah!
S“E”t Free Nowww