My mom used to say, “You don’t have to make all the mistakes yourself.” Believe when I say that I didn’t always take this advice. But being the baby of the family, there were quite a few lessons I learned simply by watching the consequences that came from watching my older brother’s decisions.
There are basically two ways we gather information that forms the basis of our decisions. One is from personal experience and the other is from outside sources. If you make your personal experience your source, the question you must ask, “Is what I’m thinking, wanting and/or feeling based in fact/truth?” If not, you’ll learn the hard way. If so, you’ll reap the good stuff in life. However, how do you know which is which, after the fact? Again. You’ll learn the hard way.
Guess what method Jesus used? He filtered all life through His God and Dad – the Father. Don’t trust the limited source of your experiences. Instead, trust the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” You can learn from Him and save yourself a lot of heartache. He never blew it!
Learn the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice.
S“E”t Free Nowww

My daughter and I were having a wonderful discussion on the definition of “nonfat” in the phrase nonfat milk.
You’d think nonfat meant no fat at all. If you thought this, you’d be wrong! According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nonfat milk can be labeled as fat-free if the milk contains less than 0.5 grams of fat per one cup, and contains no added ingredients containing fat. Thus, nonfat doesn’t mean no fat, it just means almost no fat.
This may work for the FDA, but not when it comes to your walk with Jesus. When God says all sin, no matter how small it may seem to you or to someone else, He means all sin separates you from Him – the source of all the good stuff you’re looking for in life.
A small compromise can lead you down a path to the destruction of life, joy, and peace, just like a small seed can eventually rip apart larges sections of concrete.
If you’re thinking of compromising today (It’s not that bad! Just one more time won’t hurt! It’s okay, God will forgive me. Etc.) Call your BIG partner (the person holding you accountable to the life-changing FREEdom process) to talk and pray you through it. If you’ve already taken a fractional ill-advised step, confess it to Jesus and ask the Spirit for both the faith and the power to STOP and go towards Jesus.
Don’t let one tiny fracture lead to the destruction of a whole lot of hard faith steps. Keep exercising the truth by faith one small step after another in becoming more like Jesus.
Set Free No“WWW”

Everyone seems to have an opinion these days, some of which is pretty crazy stuff. This isn’t new by the way. The same occurred in Job’s day.
Job had literally lost everything and everyone, except his wife. (There were moments when he hoped she’d be gone as well.) Both he and his friends spout off some very interesting opinions as to why it all happened. Yet, they were basing their opinions on their perspective, not God’s.
Job was wondering, “I did all the right stuff, so why am I going through hell on earth?” The truth be told, God was super proud of Job! Satan defamed Job’s character and God defended him, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is no one like him on the earth, blameless and upright man?” Wow that He would think of me that way.
Be careful of whose opinions you’re listening to at any given moment! If you’re wondering if something you’ve heard is from Jesus or not, just ask Him. He’ll tell you if you’ve offended Him or not (1 Jn. 3:19-21).
Stay focused on the truth that sets you free from damaging opinions that drag you back to your drug of choice. Listen to and follow the only opinion that counts, Jesus’.
S“E”t Free Nowwww

When is freedom not necessarily a good thing? When your choice mechanism is faulty. If I have the freedom to choose, but my choice mechanism is faulty, I’ll end up choosing bondage; thus, freedom is not a good thing.
If you live in the west, you’re surrounded by the belief that freedom of choice is wonderful and that all choices are equally okay; but, are they equally good? Because mankind’s choice mechanism is faulty (sinful), mankind will do what’s inherently in its own best interest, which can lead to some horrendous choices – for themselves and others.
Jesus came to set us free from that faulty choice mechanism (Gal. 5:1). He came to change sinners who can only choose sin to saints who have true freedom to choose what is right, which is to listen to and follow Jesus.
We’ve been given the ability to walk in true freedom, which is a good thing. We can choose where that leaf will fall – the incinerator or in the hands of an Artist who will create a masterpiece. Lets pray for each other to choose the Artist.
Set Free Noww“W”

Being friends is easy until it gets hard. The Spirit tells us the more transparent we are with another believer, the faster our lives will be transformed (James 5:16).
Yet, do we really want to hear another person’s dirty laundry? A faithful loving friend will. They will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things despite what the other person shares! Paul writes this in the context of healthy believers walking toward Jesus together (1 Cor. 13:7).
The Christian life is messy! It can be downright ugly at times. And yet, friends will stand up for and behind each other, especially when life gets hard. This is how we get through those hard times to become more like Jesus.
Ask the Spirit to empower you to be that kind of friend if you want to make more and healthy disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Love Jesus? How you walk with others will tell if this is true or not.
Set Free Nowww“W”