“What are you guys looking at?” This was what the angel asked the 11 Apostles. They were standing on the Mt. of Olives looking up at the sky where Jesus had just disappeared beyond a cloud after being taken home. The angel followed up with an interesting statement, “This same Jesus will come back to earth the same exact way He left … from the sky.”
Jesus is coming back via the sky, both for His bride and then again to reign as King on this planet from Jerusalem. I find it interesting that during this Sukkot season (i.e. Tabernacles) Israeli’s are living in tents with holes in their roofs. Tradition gives us a few reasons for this skylight. It’s to enable them to see the stars and remember they wandered in the desert under those stars before they came home. It’s also to remember that they live each day under God’s provision.
I’d like to add another reason. Our Messiah (i.e. Christ) is coming from the direction of those stars. The first time Jesus came to earth humbly and vulnerably through the virgin birth. The next time He’ll come from the sky regally and with great power.
We must never forget that no matter how our daily battles go, we’re on the victorious side. Look up. As we face daily choices to keep listening to and following Jesus, look up. The Spirit will enable you to make the truthful choices. As life gets discouraging, look up. You’ve got someone smiling down on you. This world, which is full of disappointments, is not the final destination. Look up. Home is around the corner. Ultimate victory is already gained. Look up.
We become what we focus on and what we focus on only gets bigger. Focus on what’s above, not on what’s going on here (Col. 3:2). Look up. You’re not only looking at where your help comes from, but you’re also looking in the direction of home.
S“E”t Free Nowww

Yesterday began the biblical feast of Sukkot. The people of Israel then and now build and live in temporary shelters/tents for seven days. One thing it does is to remind them and us that this world is not our permanent home, our final destination, it’s only temporary; so don’t get too comfortable in the here and now.
One reason we take our drugs of choice is because we focus way to much on what we see here on this planet, especially when life doesn’t turn out like we think it should. Governments, businesses, and culture are influenced by people who don’t always have our best interests in mind. And when they fail us, we can end up turning to our sinful repeated behaviors to feel better about ourselves, rather than to Jesus.
Think about what you’re stressing over right now. Is it coming with you when you die? Is it temporary or permanent? Only Christ-like character and people will last beyond the boundary between earth and heaven. Thus, each choice you make reveals where your focus is – only on the now, the temporary, or the eternal, the permanent. When we take our drug of choice we’re seeking temporary relief today, not permanent satisfaction tomorrow.
Shift your focus from the here and now to the eternal, from the temporary to the permanent and your choices will begin to change; choices that will replace your temporary unfulfilled to Jesus’ permanently satisfying character.
It’s like the old hymnal said, “This world is not our home. We’re only passing through.” So why focus your attention on what only you can see?
S“E”t Free Nowww

Here’s something to ponder. Why did tears stream down Jesus’ face over His good friend Lazarus’ death and the pain He saw in all those mourning the passing of their friend and loved one? Jesus already knew that in literal moments Lazarus would be alive. Why not say, “Hold on! It’s hallelujah time! It’s not a time for mourning, but for rejoicing. Lazarus is coming back!”? He knew that pain preceded victory. He was identifying with them in a very personal way.
Most of the time, achieving victory over our drugs of choice is a process that takes time. Before we taste the sweetness of victory, we often have to taste the bitterness of defeat in order to remember it so we don’t want to taste it again.
We can never say to Jesus, “You don’t understand my problem.” Before He could rise from the grave in ultimate victory, He had to go through extreme pain in the Garden and in prison. We will never be able to say, “We are alone,” like Jesus did when He went through the agony of separation from His Father as all humanity’s past, present and future sins (our drug related thinking and taking) were poured out on Him at the cross.
We are not and never will be alone in our struggle for ultimate victory. The searing pain, the sting of defeat and the sense of separation is not lost on Jesus. He knows your pain as He lived it. Yet He also knows that shouts of victorious hallelujahs are also coming. He experienced that as well. Your God not only is walking with you during your struggle, but He understands it as well. It’s time to run into His arms, rather than away from or ignoring Him, as He is the only Way to victory.
“S”et Free Nowww

Prior to John 13, Judas had decided to betray Jesus to the Jewish leadership. He was merely looking for the opportunity to do it. In John 13, Jesus said He would reveal His betrayer in a very specific manner. He would hand the marked man a piece of bread. Up until the point Judas took the bread from Jesus’ hand he could have changed the direction of his life. Yet, he took the bread. Gave control of his life to Satan; and, the rest as we say is history.
This is a perfect illustration of the principle: we don’t just fall. We have been thinking about and making choices along the way that lead us to the situation where we took our drug of choice. We don’t just sin. We’ve been thinking about it for a while, just as Judas had. Every step of the way, we can choose to change the course of our lives by changing the way we think. Judas didn’t have to eat the bread and neither do we.
Choose to change the direction of your life toward victory. Use your biblical tools to exchange your lie-based thinking with specific lie fighting truths long before the bread is ever offered.
Set “FREE” Nowww

I came over the ridge and saw what looked like a cloud of dust. The closer I got to the dust bowl I realized it was a herd of sheep walking away from a water truck towards grazing land. The dust settled down once they got to the wheat field –  the destination for satisfying their hunger.
These sheep were not about to eat dirt. They kept going until they hit “pay dirt” – the wheat. How often we settle for what comes first or easiest, the dirt. Jesus is the Bread of Life, the wheat. As a friend of mine often says, “Why settle for artificial sweeteners when you can have the real thing without the calories?”
A step toward victory over our repeated sinful behaviors (aka our drugs of choice) is to realized they don’t satisfy. We’ve got to remember the taste they leave in our mouths minutes, hours and days after we take them – like grit in our teeth from a mouthful of dirt. We must also remember how it felt when we chose Jesus’ way of handling a situation – like sliced warm wheat bread with melting butter.
Choose today to settle for tasting the Bread of Life, the Someone Better.
S“E”t Free Nowww