I came over the ridge and saw what looked like a cloud of dust. The closer I got to the dust bowl I realized it was a herd of sheep walking away from a water truck towards grazing land. The dust settled down once they got to the wheat field –  the destination for satisfying their hunger.
These sheep were not about to eat dirt. They kept going until they hit “pay dirt” – the wheat. How often we settle for what comes first or easiest, the dirt. Jesus is the Bread of Life, the wheat. As a friend of mine often says, “Why settle for artificial sweeteners when you can have the real thing without the calories?”
A step toward victory over our repeated sinful behaviors (aka our drugs of choice) is to realized they don’t satisfy. We’ve got to remember the taste they leave in our mouths minutes, hours and days after we take them – like grit in our teeth from a mouthful of dirt. We must also remember how it felt when we chose Jesus’ way of handling a situation – like sliced warm wheat bread with melting butter.
Choose today to settle for tasting the Bread of Life, the Someone Better.
S“E”t Free Nowww

We have a very personable God who wants to be known. He doesn’t want us to simply know about Him in our heads (i.e. biblical knowledge), but in our hearts so we can trust Him more (i.e. biblical understanding and wisdom). He wants us to know from experience that He actually works in the real worlds in which we daily live. He is not someone we know about, but someone we know personally.
Like all relationships, however, getting to know someone isn’t without its difficulties. Hagar learned that God could see her because she felt alone. David knew his God could take out Goliath because he defeated lions and bears. Both experienced fear. Both were alone as they faced their challenges. And both got to know their God through their dark times.
Darkness is not bad if it leads us to the light, Jesus. We can either sit in the darkness and feel ourselves descend into a pit, which only leads to our drugs of choice, or we can keep walking towards the Light of the World and spiral upward towards peace and joy. Use your biblical tools everyday everywhere to keep listening and getting closer to Jesus, the one who can and will brighten your day.
Se“T” Free Nowww

Ever been corrected or confronted by someone? I have and it doesn’t feel nice. How you view yourself, however, will go a long ways in determining how you handle it – victory over or defeat at the hands of your drugs of choice.
This past week I was rebuked quite firmly. This person was hurt by my action and demanded I do something to correct the situation. What I did was wrong, though I didn’t know it was wrong at the time I did it. After being made aware of my wrong, what would I do?
I’m on a journey to be like Jesus just as you are. With this being true, I, like you, will do stupid stuff from time to time even though we don’t mean to. If we are secure in Christ, we don’t have to defend ourselves. In most cases, this only makes the situation worse, which makes us feel worse and want to take our drug of choice in order to quickly feel good about ourselves.
What did I do? I failed forward. Through the Spirit’s power I was able to admit my mistake, ask forgiveness, take steps to correct the situation and then added truths to my filter as to hopefully not repeat this mistake in the future.
You’re on a journey to be like Jesus. Be secure in who you are as a child of God. Fail forward by learning from your mistakes, not defending yourself against them.
“S”et Free Nowww

Being comfortable in our own skin is not always easily achieved. It is true that we’re created in Christ Jesus. It is also true that we’re God’s workmanship. Yet, at times, we try to be more than who He created us to be, which leads us to our drugs of choice to feel better about ourselves.
He set our height parameters. He gave us the talents we have. He gave us the abilities we have as well. Though He set our parameters, we can get better about listening to and following Jesus in how to use those talents and abilities everyday everywhere. We can enjoy being in the presence of God while going through our daily lives, no matter what our skin looks like.
We can either be daily frustrated by focusing on who we’re not and what He didn’t give us, which leads us to our drugs of choice or we can experience contentment and peace by focusing on who He did make us.
Frustration or contentment, how we view ourselves has a lot to do with both. Hopefully you’re living with corrected vision.
“S”et Free Nowww

I thought, “My God, You are huge!” as I looked upon the beautiful mountain waterfall landscapes on my family’s hike up Lundy Lake trail. The total contrasting landscapes on this trail were nothing short of awesome and breathtaking. Our God is indeed huge!
How big is your God and how much of Him do you want to know? Be careful. Think before you answer. You probably know that He loves you. But what does that love really look like?
Let’s face it, much of what we call love these days does not belong in the same atmosphere with the love of God. We love our drugs of choice. We love how they make us feel. We love turning to others and ourselves to meet our needs. Hopefully you are getting the picture. We have a much distorted view of just one aspect of who God is, love.
In order to enjoy those majestic landscapes, you’re going to have to let Jesus take you places you’ve never been. You’re going to have to climb some very tough hills to see sides of Him you’ve never seen. You’ll have to use faith muscles you never knew existed. Yet as the Spirit replaces your worn out ideas/thoughts about Jesus with the “real deal” Jesus, you too will exclaim, “My God, You’re huge!”
Set Free No“W”ww