I was reading, “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus,” about the journey of a devout American Muslim who came to faith in Jesus, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The author writes, “I am imperfect. I do not perform to His standard, why should God bless me? (Ever felt that way?) I both hunger and thirst for righteousness, I do, but I can never attain it. (Experienced that feeling?) God will bless me anyway? Who is this God who loves me so much, even in my failures? (Wow, is he expressing something we all feel?) Tears flowed from my eyes once more, but now they were tears of joy. I knew that what I held in my hands was life itself. This was truly God’s word, and it was as if I was meeting Him for the first time.”
It wasn’t the Quran he was reading, but the Bible – the Word of God. It wasn’t Allah he was hearing, but Jesus – the Word of God. Jesus is life and His words bring life. In this case, the author was reading Matthew when he came across 5:6 which states, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Jesus doesn’t say one has to be righteous to be filled or satisfied (though believers are given His righteousness at the moment of salvation). It’s not your good works or trying to be righteous (i.e. do the right thing in every situation, which is difficult at best, right?) that brings fulfillment. It’s about knowing where to go for righteousness.
Think about it, what do you do when you’re thirsty? You drink. And when you’re hungry you eat. The question is, “Where are you going to eat and drink?” Going anywhere, including religion, other than to Jesus will not satisfy your hunger and thirst. Life is and will always be about Jesus.
Where will you go to be satisfied – your religious efforts or a tighter relationship with Jesus through listening to and following Him throughout your day?
S“E”t Free Nowww

A few years ago I had a growth on my back that needed to be removed. The doctor cut open the skin and not only removed the cyst itself, but the long root that went with it as well. If he hadn’t, the cyst would have simply grown back, which would have meant another trip to the doctor.
The Spirit brought this memory back to help me remove this recurring thought, which was moving me towards anger if let untreated. I asked Jesus’ forgiveness for letting the root stay – any portion of the thought – and then saw Him take out the growth (in this case the hurtful accusations thrown my way – welcome to the world of Christian ministry, right?) along with it’s root. I saw the stringy root leave my brain!
When my adversary again tried to throw those accusations my way, I simply remembered that stringy root leaving my brain. Jesus, the Great Physician, took it out. Why think about it? The mind kept on Jesus will be kept in perfect peace. Believe me, peace feels a whole lot better than its counterpart.
“S”et Free Nowww

“If you don’t accept excuses, pretty soon people stop giving them, and they start looking for solutions” – Ben Carson. There are many reasons for the choices we make. Any reason other than, “I made that choice,” keeps other people in charge of our lives.
Victimization has crept into the church with many believers buying this destructive lie. Yes, others may have hurt us. But we are not the way we are today because of someone else’s choices. The moment we choose to put our faith in Jesus, we were given the ability to overcome those choices with each choice we make today through tapping into the most powerful force in the universe, Jesus Christ Himself. He over came death. He defeated sin and Satan at the cross. He is the solution to our challenges…if we choose to let Him.
Until you confess or acknowledge your part in your choices, you’re not ready to see your life changed. Accept no excuses for taking your drugs of choice. Begin the life-change process by owning up to your choices, asking for forgiveness and then diving into the Word for the truths you’ll need to filter your next choice through.
Set Fre”E” Nowww

Faith. The Bible talks much about it. Anything not done in faith is sin. And without faith it’s impossible to please God. You say you have faith, but I’ll show you my faith through my actions.
It takes faith to move away from ourselves toward Jesus. It takes faith to ask for more faith. It will take more faith (i.e. take the risk) than you currently possess to be vulnerable enough to have someone pray for you to have more faith.
So how do you get the faith to even ask for more faith? Remember what Jesus did for you in the past. As you remember what Jesus brought you the last time you stepped out on faith, it will give you the courage to ask for the faith to do it again.
Jesus is faithful to keep His Word. Ask Him for the faith you need to keep exercising the truth by faith each day empowered by the Spirit. You’ll make more wonderful memories to rely on to keep asking for more faith.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

A friend of mine was showing a video of a machine that could crush almost anything, even old useless refrigerators and tires. The entire process wowed me.
It was then the Lord spoke. This machine took something that was no longer usable and crushed it into materials that could be used in other projects .There are times when the Lord brings on enough life to break us down, mainly our egos/pride, to make us useful for His purposes.
2 Corinthians 4:8 describes this process. “We are troubled (hemmed in – placed into the machine) on every side, yet not distressed (enough room to move toward Jesus); we are perplexed (feeling a loss), but not in despair (not total loss, though, as you let something go to hold onto what is real).”
This rock looks nice, but that’s all it’s good for…looking nice. To be useful for something more it must be crushed. We can look good or be made more like Jesus. It’s our choice. One lasts only today while the other lasts well into eternity. It would be nice to not have to go through life’s crusher in order to become more like Jesus; yet, that’s not the world we live in.
You can surrender to or fight the process. Choose surrender. Once it’s over, you’ll experience the usable by-products of the process, which is more life and peace.
S“E”t Free Nowww