Dennis the Menace is a cartoon of very young blonde-haired boy who constantly gets into trouble. In the only frame of today’s strip he’s saying to his best buddy, Joey, “The best thing about the ‘New Year’ is we can just start over.”
The beauty of our offer and get forgiveness constantly tool is that we don’t have to wait until the new year to start over. We can start over every minute of every day. The second we blow it, we can get forgiveness. The moment someone hurts, we can forgive them. The instant the Spirit brings to our mind a hurt from our past – either done by or to us – we can get or give forgiveness to walk in freedom.
You don’t have to wait for freedom! It’s yours now in Christ. Guilt and pain are major causes for our drug taking – the choice to live our way rather than get closer to Jesus. Why continue to hurt or feel guilty when you have the tool to erase both? Freedom walking is our choice. I pray that you walk in it every single moment of 2014.
Set Free N“O”www

It’s been said, “One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is not living up to one’s own possibilities.” We were created in God’s image and are His awesome workmanship in Christ Jesus. As secure children of God, we’ve been given tremendous potential through Jesus’ life, death and resurrected life.
What we do with this God given potential in the coming year is up to our continual willingness to listen to and follow Jesus everyday everywhere. Remember another famous saying, “By not going forward you could be going backward.” Unless you pick up your biblical tools today, you will live like you did in the past; and thus waste some of the life Jesus came to give in the present.
Will 2014 be a repeat of 2013? Hopefully, you will follow the advice a good friend gave me, “Continue to enjoy watching Jesus reveal Himself to you.” Happy New Year and may your Jesus keep revealing Himself to you as you keep moving forward in and with Him.
“S”et Free Nowww

I love to read spy novels during my vacation. They allow me to be entertained while using my brain in a relaxing manner. In one particular novel, the author used one of his characters to point out that politicians of all stripes spin issues to purposefully manipulate public opinion. They will craft when info is given, where it’s given and how much of it is given to the public.
I thought of our enemy, who does exactly the same to influence our thinking, as I read those lines. He gives us only so much truth (usually that our sin will make us feel good) and then leaks just enough of it at the right moments for us to believe his message. If we don’t filter his message, our lives will only be negatively affected.
We must be listening to the Source of Truth, Jesus, in His Word each day and to the Spirit of Truth throughout our day in order to know where to put our shield of faith filled with God’s truths if we are to see through our enemy’s deceptions.
How’s your listening to and following Jesus skills coming along? 2014 starts tomorrow. Make the commitment to sharpen those skills by using your biblical tools more than you did in 2013.
S“E”t Free Now“W”w

“What in the world am I doing up?” It was 3:30 am and I didn’t have to be awake for at least another hour; and yet, here I was wide awake. I knew why I was up. I had way too many thoughts running around in my head.
My foot shook with each passing minute as my anxiety levels increased. My enemy was taunting me with all my failures from the day and week before, which was only causing me to fill with anxiety, which in turn made my foot shake. I couldn’t calm down; and then, it hit me. Use your tools! I made a little bubble out of each thought in my head and then filtered each one through God’s word. Sleep returned.
Psalm 119:41-42 states, “Let Your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in Your word.” Salvation from anxiety is based upon the promises in God’s word. One promise states that I will be at peace when my mind is upon Jesus. I had to use the biblical tools to do just that – focus on Jesus, the truth.
As we make bubbles out of each thought and then filter them through the truths the Spirit has given us, a peaceful sleep returns. Make your own bubble thoughts and then use your tools to experience the peace of God that will give you rest beyond your wildest dreams (Phil. 4:7).
Set “FREE” Nowww

We made plenty of yummy treats for the Christmas holidays, which included my all time favorite peanut butter balls. I can even see them as I’m typing this entry. No, I’m not drooling, but close. (Lol) On top of all this yumminess, I received my favorite candy bar in my bag of goodies from my wife, which was in addition to the box of Sees Candies I received yesterday from the newest member of our family.
So this morning, as I was on my way out to my first discipleship appointment of the day, I saw all these “tempting” items on our kitchen counter staring up at me. If you’ve read my book or heard my story, you know that sweets were/are one of my drugs of choice.
To God’s praise and glory, I’ve seen Him change my life in this area. Using my biblical tools, I could stare back at those treats and say, “Thank you Jesus that You taste so much sweeter and are less fattening than all those treats staring up at me!” In His power I was able to walk out the door to my appointment without popping anything into my mouth.
The Spirit given biblical tools work to get us free and to keep us free. The moment we decide that we’re strong, we need to realize that we’re weak without Jesus. If you and I don’t continually pick up our tools each and every day, whether we’re at home or out and about, we can easily slip back into the old thinking and fall to gorging ourselves on all those delectable treats.
We need our tools now more than ever. We’re more susceptible to falling to our drugs of choice during the Christmas/New Year season because most of us are out of our normal routines. Therefore, I greatly encourage you to keep picking them up and using them through the Spirit’s power to continually walk in victory, no matter how your day unfolds.
Set Free No“W”ww