I’ve tasted the goodness of the Lord! But I’m getting ahead of myself here.
My wife and I moved our daughter to her new home for the next nine months last Wednesday. We then moved our son to his new home for that same period of time this past Saturday. For a guy who loves being a dad with his kids at home, this has been a pretty emotional week. Then this past Monday I was hit with another challenge, which opened a door so wide that truck loads of my drugs of choice (where one turns to meet one’s needs) could drive through.
Herein lies the praise. I slammed that door shut in the Spirit’s power! I never turned to my drugs of choice during this entire time. Instead, I tasted and know from experience that the Lord is good.
I’m reporting to you today that the Bible is true and Jesus really does work in the real world in which we live. Now go ahead. Make your day. Taste and see that the Lord is good for yourself. Victory tastes oh so much better than defeat.
Set Free Now“W”w

Enjoy this song and remember: It takes time to retrain your brain!

Set Free “N”owww

“You’re going some where today.” “You are who you are, why not be who you are where you are?”
We all want to lead significant lives, to do something that will impact our worlds for Jesus – today and tomorrow. This can only be done by being the person God created us to be, not by trying to be someone we are not. If we try to copy others we’ll end up feeling like failures, which opens a door for our drug of choice to walk through.
You will be going some where today, why not make a difference by simply being who God made you to be – a secure child of God. Hey, if Jesus could use two fish and a few loaves of bread to touch thousands, just think about the power of your surrendered life in His hands?
“S”Et Free Nowww

This was a phrase used in a commercial from long ago about a product I can’t remember, but has stuck with me. The point was that if you tried the product, you’d like it.
They might have been reading Scripture for all we know as Jesus said the exact same thing. He told His disciples, “Try practicing what I’ve been teaching you. When you do, you’ll definitely like the life I’ve been telling you about and you’ll be free from all the negative consequences of your bad choices” (John 8:31-32).
Jesus is asking you to trust Him and His Word. But, if you never do, you’ll never know. What step of faith has the Spirit been asking you to take? Try it. You’ll like it. What truth has He been asking you to focus on? Try it. You’ll like it.
Understand this: you’ll always discover more than you thought when you take a walk with Jesus. You will like the results, but you it’s up to you to try it.
S“E”t Free Nowww

If a picture paints a thousand words, what does the following paint? I was reading the great theological and philosophical discussions of our time this morning – the comics. The first frame of one comic pictures a teenage girl going crazy when she sees her friend with her in arm in a sling. In the second frame, she’s asking how her friend’s doing. The final frame reveals how it happened – way too many selfies. Her friend has “selfie elbow.” Her boyfriend then responds in typical teenager denial, “You never think it’s going to happen to someone you know.”
This comic would be funny, though I had to chuckle at the irony in it, if it weren’t such a sad commentary on our society that continues to glorify its main problem – ego, narcissism, self! Selfies might make us feel good in the moment, but taking them can reinforce one of the three big challenges that must be overcome if we want victory over our drugs of choice – the “I-problem” (self-justification/rationalizations and defense mechanisms being the other two – see 2 Cor. 10:3-6).
Creating memories is a good thing. Reinforcing self is not. More of Jesus and less of us is the only way to experience what we’re looking for in life, like peace and joy. The next time you want to take a selfie do it when you can catch yourself responding to life as Jesus would; and then, burn that picture into your memory. It will be a thousand words worth repeating.
S“E”t Free Nowww