The magazine article read, “Third grade teacher in Atlanta who helped federal prosecutors indict 35 educators for secretly changing children’s scores on standardized tests said, “The cheating had been going on so long, we considered it part of our jobs.”
We get so used to our way living; we think there is no other way to live. This is why we need someone outside ourselves to show us that how we’re processing life is not going to give us what we want: peace, love, significance or security.
If we are going to stay living in the freedom Christ gave us, we have to let others into our lives. This is where the Word, the Spirit and the people of God come into play. We should be asking the Spirit as we read the Word to show us what we need to see and hear in order to expose and exchange the lies with specific truths.  We should be giving a trusted brother or sister the right to speak into our lives to help us hear from the Spirit and the Word. If not, you’ll just consider what you’re doing part of the job and someday your bubble will burst with disappoint and disillusionment instead of being pumped up with fulfillment and hope.
S“E”t Free Now“WW”

I recently found out that a very small nervous habit of mine has turned into a major pain. When I need to release nervous energy I move my hands up and down in a very rapid fashion. I’ve been doing it for quite a few years according to my wife. It’s been no problem until I recently discovered I have bursitis in my shoulder! What was an innocent release of energy has turned into quite a bit of pain and a loss of enjoyment of certain activities that I can no longer do.
Ever heard someone say, “Oh that’s no so bad!”? I know I have, repeatedly! Yet, how do we know whether that “not so bad” isn’t going to bite us in the end? If I’d have known years ago that my nervous habit would make it hard to raise my arm above my shoulder, I would have found another way to release that energy.
We are not to judge ourselves by the world’s standards, but by Scripture (Rom. 12:2). No person and especially not society, can see into the future, only Jesus can. This is why we not only need to be in the Word of God, but we need to trust it enough to practice it as well. Being in it will reveal the small stuff while it’s still small and obeying it by faith will keep the small thing from becoming a big pain later.
So, how’s your time in the Word been this week? What are you hearing the Spirit tell you, like any small thing?
S“E”t Free Nowww

It seems that my neighbor’s weeds find their way into my yard. It would be easier to do nothing. If left alone, however, they would eventually take over the entire yard chocking out my grass. Even with all the watering I do, no matter how nice their flowers look in spring, come summer they turn into stickers. And when they do, you don’t want to walk on the grass, especially barefoot! Bare feet get pricked and shoes and socks become full of stickers that scratch your legs.
Just like those weeds, all sin (aka our drugs of choice) looks and feels good in the short term (Heb. 11:25). Don’t buy what your enemy’s selling! Yes it’s easier to give into the weedy lies now, but they only stick you in the end. It’s worth the fight to weed out the lies in your brain today, so you can enjoy walking on cushy grass tomorrow.
Don’t let the feel good flowers fool you! When the Spirit shows you a lie, nail it with the specific truth He gives you…now!
Set Fr“E”e Nowww

I know the truth that it takes time to retrain our brains, but there are times that I get tired of fighting the battle for my mind. In fact, I was so busy fighting the battle in my head yesterday that I almost hit a car coming out of a parking space! I said to God, while putting my heart back into my chest, “Will this battle ever be over with? I’m so tired of it!” Then I heard the Spirit gently say, “I know you are. Hang in there. It’s worth it.”
He was simply reinforcing what I heard from Jesus, my Boss, in my weekly staff meeting (1 Peter 5:4). He talked about how I will face much opposition in accomplishing the mission He has for me. He told me the main tool my enemy will use will be to attack my mind. (Another biblical truth tool is that we act consistently with the way we think.) I can either fight through it and experience victory and peace or give up and feel unsatisfied and discontented. The choice was mine.
I just happened to be in Jeremiah 20:7-12 in my BIG reading where Jeremiah was basically saying the same thing, “Lord, I’m tired of the battle. I’m tired of getting attacked, even by my friends! Yet, I can’t do anything but follow You. You are a mighty warrior.” Good stuff, right? But there was more as I was also in Psalm 57. Verses 2-3 read, “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends His love and His faithfulness.”
My job is to listen to and follow Jesus. His job is to fulfill His purpose for my life as I follow Him. The beauty is that I can cry out to my Mighty Warrior while I follow. Yes, there is a battle. It will not be easy, but the fight is well worth being close to Jesus.
Oh yeah, pray that I don’t hit any cars along the way!
Set Fre“E” Nowww

A well known golfer recently lost a tournament because he let his opponent into his head. Understand golf is an individual sport. No one controls your shots but you. Yet, he let what a fellow player was doing affect his game. He kept hitting bad shot after bad shot instead of putting the ball in the cup in a few strokes simply because of what was going on inside his head. He went from the cusp of victory to the throes of defeat.
We have an enemy who wants to rob us of victory by getting into our heads. Don’t let him! We can put specific truths at the point of the lie from God’s Word into our brains. We can hold up our shield of faith built with those truths that will extinguish his darts (i.e. lies).
We control our choices because we are children of God. And as such, we can ask the Spirit for the power to expose the lies in our head and exchange them with the truths He gives us. We can ask the Spirit for strength to hold up our shield of faith (i.e. focusing on specific truths) to keep our enemy’s lies from even getting into our head.
Your daily victory over the area(s) of your life the Spirit wants to replace with Jesus is based on who you listen to. Hopefully, you’ve only let one person into your head – Jesus.
S“E”t Free Now“W”w