“Just as the Germans had left at the end of the Great War (WWI), so they would leave again,” wrote Leon Leyson, a Holocaust survivor, in The Boy on the Wooden Box. Based upon his father’s prior experience with Germans, he went on to write, “My Father was making the same mistake so many others were, believing that the Germans with whom he was now dealing were no different from the ones he had known before. He had no idea, nor could he have had, of the limitless inhumanity and evil of this new enemy.”
Based upon their experience with the Germans of WWI, the Polish Jews decided to stay in Poland rather than flee the oncoming German army. “After all, what can we trust if not our own experience?”
Experience is not always the best teacher. It assumes that our past experiences, either good or bad, can be trusted to make good decisions in the present. What worked last time, however, might not work this time. This is true because one assumes one has all the facts and can see the present situation for it is. Yet reality states that you’re only seeing the situation from your limited perspective made up of your experiences. Two people can see the same accident from opposite sides of the street and draw two very different conclusions as to how the accident happened.
Jesus is the best teacher. Only He can see the accident from every angle. We must choose to walk in the Spirit throughout our day so we can listen to Jesus, not our experiences, if we want to live in freedom today and tomorrow.
Set Free Now“W”w

There were lots of trees good for eating throughout the Garden to nourish both body and soul. Adam and Eve could grab tasty pieces of fruit off any one of them, even one called the Tree of Life, to feel okay with their world within and without.
They could feel fully alive no matter what time of day it was; wherever they walked. All they had to do was choose to eat from the Tree of Life.
We know what they did. They thought more choices would help them feel even better about themselves. They stopped trusting the facts they already had (God told them it was okay to eat from millions of trees, save one) to filter out that lone voice saying more knowledge would lead to a better life. In a sense, they chose knowledge over life, facts over relationship. I find it interesting that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey Him. Relationship trusts and does what it already knows. Choose life over knowledge. Relationship trusts that Jesus will give what we need to know when we need to know it. Choose life over knowledge.
A fulfilling and lasting life is only found in relationship with Jesus. Who are you listening to – the voice that says you need more options or the One who’s already told you what to do to be at peace?
Secure children of God choose life over knowledge, which in the end brings both – knowledge of the One we love!
“S”et Free Nowww

Science again discovers the Bible knows what it’s talking about. I recently read an article on happiness where the author gave two methods that science has proven to bring happiness. One, filter out negative thinking; and two, connect with a higher power that brings both comfort and peace. Seems like a verse straight out of Scripture, doesn’t it? Well it is. “You (God) will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)
As you trust what Jesus (connecting with The Higher Power) says, put His truths into your brain and then actively filter out the negative thoughts vying for your attention using those truths peace will come.
Two especially damaging negative thoughts are called the “Damaged Goods Trap” and the “Mental Prison.” Both of these center around the lie that we’re damaged beyond repair by either our mistakes or what others have done to us. Therefore, we deserve this crummy life we’re living (i.e without peace), which keeps us imprisoned within our own minds, because we’re too ashamed to talk about our past, let alone receive God’s love to be freed from it.
These negative thoughts can only be filtered out with the truth that Jesus is a redeemer. He came to set you free and to repair your broken past. He knows about and died for everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen to and/or by you; and yet, He still loves and forgives you! He wants you in His presence where peace reigns. He isn’t called the Prince of Peace for nothing, you know.
No one, including you, is beyond repair or redemption! You can come home where peace reigns. You can be freed from your mental prisons, however small or big they might be, by using you get out of jail free card – Jesus and His Word.
“SE”t Free Nowww

Not if you’re Amish you don’t. Wow that seems rather harsh, but is it? One of the common misconceptions about the Amish is that they’re anti-technology, which is as far from the truth as one can get.
What they are is super pro-community and family. This value is not merely on their doctrinal statement, but it’s something actually applied throughout their daily lives. They believe that anything that will take family members away from each other or from the community is not to be used.
1 Corinthians 10:23 reads, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is constructive.” The real issue is not whether or not you should own a bike, a TV, a cell phone, a car, a fill in the blank, but whether or not those things will draw you closer to or away from Jesus?
The Amish believed owning a bicycle would mean that families would live further apart from each other; thus, breaking down the family unit. This piece of technology would then hurt rather than help the family. Thus, after filtering their decision through their beliefs, they applied what came out the other end, which was not to own a bicycle.
Is your belief system a mere acknowledgment of biblical truths or will you actually apply those truths in the real world? Each decision will reveal what you truly believe. Healthy believers will first put biblical truths into their filter and then use that filter when it comes to the choices they make, even those that seem like no brainers.
To have or not have a bike is not the issue. The life changing issue is to use your biblical truth filter to allow the Spirit to transform your life into the image of Jesus.
S“E”t Free Nowww

Today’s entry comes from Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World.
“It’s true that the Amish are not free to do some things. However, they are free from many others. They are not free to buy the latest fashions, but they are free from the anxiety of what to wear and free from the habit of recreational shopping. They are not free to buy the latest flat-screen TV, but they are free from the influence of TV. They are not free to buy the latest car, but they are free from the temptation of purchasing a status symbol, including the debt that goes along with it.
“Although Amish women are not free to use makeup on their faces, they are free from the pressure to look ‘perfect’ or to fight normal aging or to be a size 2 when their body wants to be a size 10. The Amish are not free to accept Social Security checks, but they are free from worrying about who will care for them in their old age. They are free from trying to keep up with the Joneses, free from feeling inferior to others, free from competition among friends. They are free to be uncool.”
Isn’t it the very pressure of trying to be cool, worrying about what others think of us or what the future may hold, that at times drives us to our drug of choice? Kind of gives new meaning to less is more, doesn’t it? Secure children of God trust Jesus. Therefore, use your biblical filter to hear and follow His voice and you’ll reduce the negative influences/pressures in your life.
“S”et Free Nowww