The creek we discovered yesterday didn’t head down hill in a straight line! It took a zig-zag course as it progressed towards the lake below. As I examined the stream, you could see that rocks, fallen trees, and metal posts forced the stream to change directions as it descended from its source.
Our walks with Jesus will not be a straight line to perfection either. We will face obstacles – both manmade and natural – along our path to see the Spirit exchange our temporary fallen character with Jesus’ eternal victorious life. Some of these zig-zags are caused by our failure to listen and follow Jesus. Will I let my failure form a dam on the stream, causing stagnate undrinkable water? Or will I learn from that failure to keep moving downhill towards the fresh water? I call this the fail-forward principle. We fail forward or in this case, downhill.
How I wish being like Jesus were a straight line, but that’s simply not reality this side of heaven! Stop wasting time beating yourself up. It only causes stagnate water. When you fail, run to Jesus. Get His forgiveness. Ask Him to help you process your failure using His FREEdom process. And start exercising the truth next time in His power. You will taste His sweet victory as you do.
Set “FREE” Nowww

As Jan and I were walking and talking yesterday, she all of a sudden said, “Stop. Do you hear it?” We’d been looking for a creek we knew had to be feeding this particular grove of Aspen trees. Yet, we hadn’t seen it. We continued down the dirt road when all of a sudden, she heard it. We were having a wonderful conversation and with the crunch of our steps, I didn’t.
We left the path and sure enough. There it was running quickly down the hill toward a lake. Sometimes you have to hear it before you see it. It’s the same with our walks with Jesus. It’s going to take hearing and believing before you see it. We want the facts, the truth, and then we’ll decide whether we will believe it or not.
This doesn’t work when it comes to defeating your drugs of choice. If you want off the sin-confession-sin cycle, if you want to stop repeating those sinful behaviors that are destroying your life, it’s going to take hearing from Jesus, trusting His way will change your life, exercising the truth and then and only then will you see the change come (Jn. 8:31-32). Your victory hinges on you grabbing this truth and putting it into your shield faith: hearing comes before seeing. What truth is Jesus asking you to exercise trusting Him for the results? Go head. Exercise. You will see freedom!
S“E”t Free Nowww

Crunchity, crunchity, crunch, crunch. What does that sound? It’s the sound of my wife and I taking our first walk in the gorgeous Mammoth Lakes area. It was a gravel filled path that turned into a dirt road along a creek with beautiful Aspen trees blowing in the breeze. At first, our steps were not in sync – crunchity, crunchity. After about a quarter mile, though, our steps synced – crunch, crunch. After that all we heard were the birds chirping in the trees, our sweet conversation and the crunch, crunch of each step.
This illustrates the walk with the Spirit principle spoken of in Galatians 5:23. “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” If you want the good stuff Jesus offers, you must walk at His pace, while to listening and following Him wherever He might be taking you.
We must ask ourselves each day, “Will I rush ahead or lag behind while trying to hold a conversation with Him? Or will I try to keep in step with Him?” Rushing ahead or lagging behind only makes hearing more difficult, especially as the distance between us becomes greater. We gain life, all the stuff we hope to experience, only by keeping in step with Jesus. How? Picking up the biblical truths He’s given us to silence all other voices so we keep that walk and talk with Jesus going.
Set Free Now“W”w

The following story is true, but the names and some circumstances have been changed to protect the family. “Joshua Naise” is a retired man in his late 60’s. Joshua discovered when his mother died 10 years earlier that his “father,” Moses Naise, was not his biological dad. Joshua’s mom was previously married to bio dad; and yet, Joshua’s birth certificated showed his father as bio dad. This revelation was not a big deal as Joshua only knew his father to be his father. He loved and was loved by his father.
The story doesn’t end there. When Joshua’s father recently died, he discovered that Mr. Naise was not actually Moses Naise at all! Moses was adopted by Mr. Naise and was given his last name. Joshua’s bio dad was a Jones! All his life Joshua thought he was a Naise of French heritage. He even went to France to visit his “relatives” in France. Come to find out he’s not French, but English!
Confused? It took time for Joshua to sort it all out in his own mind. Conflicted? Not as I talked with him. Joshua knows who he is. He is a secure child of God. This sort of situation has caused many a person to spin out of control. “Was I lied to all my life? Who am I really?” and on and on it goes. The search for these answers has lead many to their drug(s) of choice.
This didn’t happen to Joshua because he knows who he is in Christ: a secure child of God. This truth, biblical tool, is foundational to freedom. So many people put qualifiers after the words “I am…” that are dependent upon others or their feelings. Freedom in the hands of another is not freedom, unless those hands are Jesus. Jesus tells us who we are, not others, our situations or our feelings. In Christ, our search is over, even if new information surfaces. Put this truth into your head and stand tall upon it. Victory is yours as you do.
“S”et Free Nowww