“There’s a contradiction in the Bible. It can’t be trusted!” I can’t count the times I’ve heard people say that to me. And yet, I was puzzled by the following statements made in Deuteronomy 5. Verse 4 reads, “There should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God.” Then verse 11 states, “There will always be poor people in the land.” Come again? God just said there shouldn’t be poor people, and then in the same breath says there will always be poor people. Contradiction?
Upon further examination, the operative word is “should”. It’s about choice. God had just told the Israelites He would give them victory over the existing nations so they could own the land. He would give them rain to grow crops on that land and then provide peace with outside nations so they could harvest those crops from their land. In other words, an Israelite of that time period could expect to live comfortably if they chose to live God’s way. If they strayed from living His way, God would use poverty as a way to get their attention, to help them hit bottom if you will.
There’s no contradiction at all, but a comment on how God works. There is freedom in choice, but not in consequences. Every where we go no matter what time of day it is, we must choose to pick up our biblical tools and process daily life through the truths found in God’s Word. We can make that choice because there’s no contradictions in it. As we do, we will walk and stay in the freedom (Gal. 5:1) Christ provided us.
S“E”t Free Nowww

As he stands in the corner talking to his mom over his shoulder, little Denise the Menace says, “I guess saying ‘I’m sorry’ over and over…isn’t helping.”
There is freedom in choice, but not in consequence, no matter how many times you say, “I’m sorry.”
Jesus will forgive us when we ask, but some choices result in immediate consequences. We lose our joy over saying something we shouldn’t. Money will fly from our checkbooks as the officer writes us up for running that red light.
Dennis is a boy a cartoonist created who is constantly getting into trouble where he always ends up saying he’s sorry. He’s a cartoon character, we are not. He was created to be like this, we were not. We were created in Christ with a new nature, His, and a new mind, again his; therefore, we have been given the ability to break this sin-confession-sin cycle.
Pick up the biblical tools Jesus gave you – the ability to think and choose His way of living life – and start exercising them by faith today. Do this and you’ll do what’s pleasing to Jesus, keep your joy, and spend less time asking for forgiveness. There is so much more to talk with Him about than, “Lord, forgive me.”
Set Fre“E” Nowww

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do,” said the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci. What a great way to say what James 2:17 states, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
An unchanged believer in Jesus is an oxymoron. Biblical belief is not just agreeing to set of statements. It’s also about putting those statements, those truths, into life action. A true believer in Jesus will exercise the truths the Spirit gives them from the Word of God; and thus, their life will be changed.
You need your life to be changed. Those around you need to see your life changed so they can believe Jesus can do it for them as well. So today ask yourself, “Am I a believer in Jesus?” Talk is cheap. The proof is in the action steps you take each day.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

Isn’t that a beautiful picture? This flower is just like the daisies my wife and I have in front of our house. As the sun rises, they begin open. As the day progresses, they open further and further until their pedals are fully extended outward. It’s almost like they are saying, “Come on in. I want more of this!” Then they begin to close as the sun sets and are fully closed by nightfall.
Shouldn’t we learn from my daisies and only open up to the light of the Son and close to the darkness of our enemy? Your daily success as a believer is based upon who you listen to throughout your day. I hope you’re spending time listening to Jesus in His Word and then meditating upon what He said throughout your day today. If not, darkness can creep in and ruin your day.
Decide right now to act like my daisies and chose to open yourself only to the Son, the one who can best meet your needs for love, security and meaning in life.
S“E”t Free Nowww

I’m still paying the price this afternoon for the choice to eat pancakes this morning. They tasted awesome going down, but they don’t taste so great throughout my day again and again.
I knew during the holidays that my eating choices would not be the best and had planned for it. Yet, here I am ten days into 2014 and I’m still saying to myself, “Just this once. It won’t hurt. I’ll get back to eating right this afternoon.”
I’m paying the price for that just once more attitude. I knew I should have substituted fruit or cottage cheese, both of which I love, for the pancakes. But I thought, “I want them and just this one time won’t be a big deal.”
It’s the same with the sinful behaviors the Spirit wants to remove from our lives to draw us closer to Jesus. We want to do them and tell ourselves, “Just once more and I’ll quit.” Right. We forget that it’s this “just once more” attitude that provides the heartburn for the rest of our day.
We must keep up our shields of faith at all times. The choices we make in the morning, could come back to adversely affect us in the afternoon. Ben Carson once said, “The person who has the most to do with what happens to you in life is you. Nobody else gets to determine that except you.” So choose to exercise the truths the Spirit of God has given you in the Word of God today.
Set Fre“E” Nowww