I found the following in our local paper. “Thirty years ago, my husband’s sister-in-law made a pass at him. …I have forgiven her, but forgetting is something else, and every time I see her, the old anger comes back. …Any suggestions for moving past this in a positive way?”
First of all, what biblical tool would you use? If you picked the “O” for offer and get forgiveness constantly, you’d have chosen wisely. Now, comes the fun part. Using that tool, what would you tell her? This will tell me if you know how to use this tool in the real world in which you and those around you live. It’s okay to refresh your memory using your book.
Answer? You can’t forget! Forgiveness has nothing to do with forgetting. It has everything to do with not giving the incident any more room or time in your head. This only allows the anger to return. No, you put up your shield of faith: “I forgave that person.” Then, get back to thinking about what you were thinking or doing when that thought came back.
Forgiveness allows you to focus on the present, not the past. Forgiveness allows you to walk in joy today, not the pain from yesterday as you no longer give the incident any head time. As you do, the pain from the memory, which causes the anger, will slowly get smaller and smaller.
If the person happens to be in front of you, visualize the time you shredded the paper with their name and incident on it. Then pull out other tools, truths the Spirit has given you to focus on, so you can keep listening to and following Jesus at that moment. You can exercise the truth He’s given you, which in the end only makes you feel better about you, rather than angry towards them.
Keep practicing using your biblical tools!
Set Free N“O”www

Been hurt? Walk on your foundation. Been convicted by something someone said? Walk on your foundation. Hurt someone? Walk on your foundation. Heard the Spirit speak in the Word and want to close the book? Walk on your foundation.
Fish don’t know their wet. We won’t know our thinking is wrong until it’s pointed out to us – either by the Word, Spirit or people of God. It takes a secure child of God to own up to what is going on in their head. An insecure person will block out this information due to the fact that being wrong will only deepen their insecurity.
A changed life is based upon living each day as a secure child of God. We can forgive others when they hurt us (a major cause of our drug taking) because we are secure. It takes nothing away from us to forgive. We can repent when shown the error in our thinking or actions because we are secure. It doesn’t matter that we are wrong because we’re now going in the right direction. We can ask others for forgiveness because we are secure as it only makes us feel better when we do.
Jesus provides the secure foundation on which to walk. He gave us the right to become children of God. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one who will complete the job He started. And He keeps us safely locked within His hands until He does.
Focus on the truths the Spirit gives you. Let them transform your insecurities into security! As this happens, you’ll continue to walk on that secure foundation Jesus provides to victory over your drugs of choice.
“S”et Free Nowww

Those who enter the Navy SEAL program “soon discover that the biggest muscle a SEAL uses is his brain! This is why only 19-20% of those entering the…training course will complete it, and those that do may be the ones who came in looking like the least likely to finish – the geeks, scrawny country boys, and non-athletic types who puked on the runs and were visibly terrified of the instructors.”
One SEAL put it this way, “You never leave the fight.” In order to do this, one must think through a situation despite the physical pain they may be feeling. Thus, those who start the program are not the strongest physically, but the strongest mentally.
As 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 states, our fight as believers in Christ is not so much a physical one (“the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world”) as it is a spiritual and mental one (“we take captive every thought”). The battle we face is between our ears. And, the biggest muscles we use are our brains and faith.
Living in freedom doesn’t come from quitting or going backward, despite the pain or discomfort we feel – emotional or physical. It’s like Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Healthy believers, those living in victory, use their biblical tools to keep moving forward through (not over or around) their challenges every day everywhere.
I encourage you today to keep moving forward by exercising the truths the Spirit’s put into your brain. Don’t deny your pain, instead think and exercise through it.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

One of the local farmers recently fertilized his fields. He then smoothed them over rather than making rows. It looked so inviting to walk on them as they looked like a “dirt road.” I couldn’t resist, but I should have. My feet sank almost four inches and quickly became encased in soft dirt!
I quickly got back on the real dirt road, the solid one, after realizing I had made a huge mistake. But it was too late. The soft dirt had gotten between my socks and shoes. I could feel it irritating my feet with every step. If only I hadn’t let my curiosity get the better of me.
There is a reason the Bible says to stick to the path, the Word of God, and not turn off it either to the right or to the left. In fact, God told Joshua that he would succeed only by sticking to the path God laid out for him.
Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you! All paths, except the truths of God’s Word, lead to irritating results. Stay focused on the truths the Spirit gives you to put into your shield of faith. Do this and you’ll experience freedom from all the negative side affects of leaving the path and the joys that come with walking with Jesus.
S“E”t Free Nowww

Here’s another perspective on challenges that you might want to put into your filter. You control how long your challenges will last.
Snuggled away in the midst of the hills just a short distance from my house is a water tower. Right now the water company is in the midst of sandblasting the entire metal cake pan shaped building. The purpose for doing it is to chip away any or all of the old paint so that new paint sticks to the building. They don’t want the old paint to chip off taking the new paint with it.
Jesus didn’t come to add Himself or new behaviors to us; He came to replace us with Himself. In order for the Spirit to do this, He has to remove our old character. For most of us, this usually takes challenges (Heb. 12:5-11); and, it’s these challenges that expose our need for new paint and the removal of the old one. Believe when I say that sandblasting hurts. I’ve accidentally been hit by it!
Guess what though? We determine how long the challenges will last, not the Lord. The sooner we recognize the challenge, the sooner we can surrender that area of our lives to the Spirit’s hand of change. The sooner we do this, the sandblasting stops and the new paint begins to be applied.
You can fight or surrender to your challenges. But I speak from experience; it’s a whole lot better to say, “Sandblast away!” The sooner it begins, the sooner it can end.
S“E”t Free Nowww