Those who enter the Navy SEAL program “soon discover that the biggest muscle a SEAL uses is his brain! This is why only 19-20% of those entering the…training course will complete it, and those that do may be the ones who came in looking like the least likely to finish – the geeks, scrawny country boys, and non-athletic types who puked on the runs and were visibly terrified of the instructors.”
One SEAL put it this way, “You never leave the fight.” In order to do this, one must think through a situation despite the physical pain they may be feeling. Thus, those who start the program are not the strongest physically, but the strongest mentally.
As 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 states, our fight as believers in Christ is not so much a physical one (“the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world”) as it is a spiritual and mental one (“we take captive every thought”). The battle we face is between our ears. And, the biggest muscles we use are our brains and faith.
Living in freedom doesn’t come from quitting or going backward, despite the pain or discomfort we feel – emotional or physical. It’s like Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Healthy believers, those living in victory, use their biblical tools to keep moving forward through (not over or around) their challenges every day everywhere.
I encourage you today to keep moving forward by exercising the truths the Spirit’s put into your brain. Don’t deny your pain, instead think and exercise through it.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

One of the local farmers recently fertilized his fields. He then smoothed them over rather than making rows. It looked so inviting to walk on them as they looked like a “dirt road.” I couldn’t resist, but I should have. My feet sank almost four inches and quickly became encased in soft dirt!
I quickly got back on the real dirt road, the solid one, after realizing I had made a huge mistake. But it was too late. The soft dirt had gotten between my socks and shoes. I could feel it irritating my feet with every step. If only I hadn’t let my curiosity get the better of me.
There is a reason the Bible says to stick to the path, the Word of God, and not turn off it either to the right or to the left. In fact, God told Joshua that he would succeed only by sticking to the path God laid out for him.
Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you! All paths, except the truths of God’s Word, lead to irritating results. Stay focused on the truths the Spirit gives you to put into your shield of faith. Do this and you’ll experience freedom from all the negative side affects of leaving the path and the joys that come with walking with Jesus.
S“E”t Free Nowww

Here’s another perspective on challenges that you might want to put into your filter. You control how long your challenges will last.
Snuggled away in the midst of the hills just a short distance from my house is a water tower. Right now the water company is in the midst of sandblasting the entire metal cake pan shaped building. The purpose for doing it is to chip away any or all of the old paint so that new paint sticks to the building. They don’t want the old paint to chip off taking the new paint with it.
Jesus didn’t come to add Himself or new behaviors to us; He came to replace us with Himself. In order for the Spirit to do this, He has to remove our old character. For most of us, this usually takes challenges (Heb. 12:5-11); and, it’s these challenges that expose our need for new paint and the removal of the old one. Believe when I say that sandblasting hurts. I’ve accidentally been hit by it!
Guess what though? We determine how long the challenges will last, not the Lord. The sooner we recognize the challenge, the sooner we can surrender that area of our lives to the Spirit’s hand of change. The sooner we do this, the sandblasting stops and the new paint begins to be applied.
You can fight or surrender to your challenges. But I speak from experience; it’s a whole lot better to say, “Sandblast away!” The sooner it begins, the sooner it can end.
S“E”t Free Nowww

“You idiots!” Is what the Apostle Paul told the believers in Galatia. Pretty strong stuff, huh? You bet it was. He was trying to shock them into coming back to their senses. They had gone brain dead.
Paul wrote that we are saved by grace through faith, and faith alone. He went on to strongly emphasize this point when he said that we can’t earn one second of eternity without Jesus and what He did for us on the cross and by rising from the grave. Period. End of story.
You might be thinking, “Okay, so what’s your point? I get it. I’m saved through faith. We all understand that.” But do you understand that just as there was nothing you could to become a child of God there is nothing you can do to become more like Jesus on your own either? Your walk with Jesus is still about grace and faith.
Paul would be calling many believers today (I know you’re not one of them, but this is still a good reminder) idiots as they’ve bought into the lie they have to do something to become like Jesus. They have to work a list of do’s and don’ts to follow Jesus. That is idiot thinking according to Paul. “Are you so foolish (aka idiot)? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3)
We came to Jesus by faith and we walk with Jesus by faith. By faith in Him (i.e. trust Him not ourselves) we put the truths He gives us into our shields of faith. And we exercise those truths by faith in Him (not our abilities). Guess what happens when we do? We’ll be set free from all the negative side affects of trusting ourselves (i.e. living our way).
If it’s not already, please put this truth into your brain and shield of faith today: Faith alone leads to freedom. Secure children of God live each and everyday by faith in Jesus. It’s by trusting Him that what He says is not only worth listening to, but following as well.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

I saw a fence just like the one pictured here. The owner of the home started out with a beautiful white fence in front of their home where its cross beams were inserted into the posts. Yet, I saw four white beams with one end inserted into a post while the other end was on the ground.
I’ll bet the owners were totally jazzed when they first put of this fence. They beamed with pride as their fence looked so good. But over time, without proper maintenance, the law of physics did their work. One by one the beams ended up on the ground due to weather conditions.
The law of physics comes into play with our walks with Christ as well. If we fail to stay focused on Jesus by using the process to become like Him each and every day no matter what time it is, our walks will also begin to fall apart.
Jesus said to be on the alert. We have an enemy that wants us to destroy our lives. And without proper vigilance to the process of life change, our lives will slowly fall apart. Bible Impact Groups are a tool to prevent such deterioration. They are not an accountability group to stop sinning. They are people holding each other accountable to the process of life change. BIGs promote vigilance to using your biblical tools. For without it, your life will fall apart just like that fence.
Set Free Noww“W”