Unshackled Life Ministries

Friday, May 6, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ May 6 ~ Facing Fear

"Fear is an evil, corroding thread; the fabric of our lives is shot through with it."

- Alcoholics Anonymous

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

- 2 Timothy 1:7

Not all fear is bad. If I am about to pull out into traffic and I have missed or misjudged the distance of an oncoming vehicle and they honk, alerting me to their presence or closeness, fear makes react quickly to prevent me from getting into an accident. If I slip into self will and start seeing warning signs that I am heading in a direction that can lead me back into bondage or death, fear of what happens when I don't walk with God can inspire me to quickly repent and surrender my will to His. If I awake in the middle of the night and smell smoke fear can make me get myself and my family out of the house before we are trapped and die in flames. Fear of a real and immediate danger can help us react in positive ways to preserve our safety. That's a good thing.

But those real and present dangers are actually the minority of the fears that can rule our lives and cripples us. Some fears do little more than make us miserable, rob us of our joy and create barriers in our relationship with God. These fears can almost always be essentially broken down into one or more of three categories: the fear of getting or having to endure what we do not want, the fear of not getting what we do want and the fear of losing what we have. In each of these fear focuses on self.

I spent quite a bit of time thinking and praying about this last night as I lay in bed. My browser is currently set to a size that I would have been able to read the screen from across the room not too long ago, but this morning I struggle to read what I am typing. My vision is failing fast, and that is a situation that inspires my spirit to fear. This is a natural instinct, a response given to us by God. It only becomes a problem when the instinct goes awry and we respond in the wrong way.

The squirrel crossing the road sees the oncoming car. He darts one way, stops and darts the other way, then becomes unsure what to do and either freezes in fear or goes the wrong direction and becomes road kill. It's a scene that plays out regularly in East Texas. We do the same thing. Blindly driven by fear we react, react again, flee, fight, flee, freeze and get crushed under the weight of what we feared. There is a better way.

When we respond to fear by turning to, listening to and trusting in God, rather than causing our destruction, that initial fear can drive us closer to Him, to our place of peace and refuge. We can remind ourselves that God is indeed good and loves us, that there is more going on than we can see, that this situation, no matter how frightening or bad, is temporary and not eternal. Help is available for us to respond to the things we are afraid of in wisdom and with a sound mind. Fear takes a possibility of the future and causes us to experience the pain of it in the present, but faith reminds us that we are not alone, that God can and will dance with us in the flames and prevent our being consumed, as He did with Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego. (Daniel 3)

Part of surrender is trusting that God's purpose is better than what we want. We can trust Him to be good to us. When we walk through the Valley of the Shadow we do not have to fear evil, but that doesn't mean that there isn't evil there. Sometimes there is. The land God gave His people was filled with dangers and enemies. He didn't remove the threats before they got there. He didn't say they wouldn't face things or have to stand and be courageous in the face of fear. But He did make it clear that when they put their trust in Him that He would do the fighting for them.

Today when we are afraid, let us run to our refuge that is found in relationship and closeness with God. Whether we find deliverance from the situation or the grace to go through it, to endure, our lives will be better. It is better if the worst we imagine happens and we go through it hand in hand with our loving Daddy then it is to be spared every fear and discomfort and not learn to lean on Him, not be driven closer, not discover the depths of His love, the goodness of His grace.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

If you would like to have notifications of new Unshackled Moments and messages sent to you via email, send an email to dalynwoodard@mail.com requesting to be added to the list. You can also follow Dalyn Woodard (@Dalynsmsings) on Twitter or Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations

Dalyn Woodard continues the study of Romans with a look at verses 3-5 of chapter 12 and how the purpose of our offering our lives to God is to be of service to Him. We each have a unique combination of gifts and talents given to us by God along with the faith to use them. The message, "Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations" is about an hour and 2 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackle Moments ~ May 5 ~ Don't Hide The Rainbow

Many of us have been seriously and irrevocably, at least without the miracle of God's healing grace, broken. Sometimes this brokenness is like a scar on our face that we can't hide. Other areas of brokenness may be harder for others to see to the point where we can wear masks and pretend to be fine as far as most people are concerned. But no matter if our cracks and breaks are obvious or not, we know they are there. There is something within that understands we have been broken, sometimes by others and sometimes at our own hands.

This brokenness can make us feel as though we have no value, that we are worthless and ugly. But that is not true. Brokenness given to God is transformed into precious beauty. Light taken and broken, ripped apart, becomes the rainbow that we love to see and find inspiring.

Today let us not be ashamed of our brokenness. It is what helped us realize that we need God. When we allow the world to see our brokenness and what God can do with it, we just might become the rainbow that brightens someone's day and inspires them to seek the spiritual solution we have found.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Unshackle Moments ~ May 4 ~ Fighting The Fleeting Thought

I can't believe that it's May already. In less than two weeks now I will hit my "birthday" marking the six year anniversary of my getting clean and sober. I have recovered from a hopeless state of mind and body, and that means that I now have some hope. It doesn't mean I never ever think about a drink or that I don't sometimes have the idea that getting high would feel good. I do. Those moments are few and far between, but they happen occasionally. The main thing is they have no power over me today. I am still powerless, but there is One greater than I whose sandals I'm not worthy to,,,,,you get the idea. God has all the power I need, and I have learned that I don't have to listen to that voice. I have learned from experience that God's grace is sufficient. I do not fear the fleeting thought.

But that wasn't always the case of course. The fleeting thought terrified me more than just about anything and always led to failure. When you add that phrase sooner or later, then always becomes accurate. Even now after the time that has passed there is a part of me that acknowledges that all I can really say is that the last always hasn't happened yet. If I start trying to do this on my own, sooner or later a fleeting thought will get me high or drunk again. Thank God I don't have to do this on my own, since I've never been able to and have no reason to believe that has changed. Keep in mind, in order to recover from a hopeless state of mind and body there has to be enough failure and misery to produce true hopelessness.

The fleeting thought is a terrible beast, the undefeatable dragon. And I can vividly remember those days of hopelessness. I was not the Dragon Slayer, and I knew it. I never had been and never would be, so when I heard and felt the great dragon approach I knew all was lost. I couldn't stand against it, and the most messed up thing is that part of me didn't want to. That's the hardest, most frustrating aspect of the wickedness that is the fleeting thought. It is me. It is my thought. It is my own mind defeating me, hurting me, setting me up to fail or even die. It's not the devil whispering in my ear. It's my very self saying let's do it again. I know I will sooner or later so might as well do it now. Or go ahead, if it makes you feel less guilty, pretend to fight for a while or promise once more to quit tomorrow or the next day while I'm over here in the other corner getting the fixings ready.

I can remember that feeling of wanting to do better, of needing to do better, that fear that if I didn't get clean I would lose everything, again, and die a miserable death. I wanted to keep my promise to myself, my vows I had made to God and others. Or at least I felt I should want to keep them and that I should keep them regardless of how I felt about them or what I wanted. But I knew it was only a matter of time till the failure came. And I knew that if, when, I gave in I would feel good for the briefest of moments and then I would find myself drowning in guilt, shame, self loathing and even more hopelessness....oh and oddly enough, the desire to do it all over again. But I also knew that this was a fight I couldn't win.

I hesitated to pray for help, because it felt like failure was what I wanted. I wanted to slip back into the chains and feel the dragon's fire. How could I ask God to help me fight something I didn't want to fight? I had prayed before and failed anyway, and something inside said it was because I didn't mean it enough, that I prayed so that I could say I drew my sword, but deep down we all knew I had no intention of seriously fighting the dragon. This idea of fighting the desire, resisting the temptation only prolonged the agony. Only made me feel more like a failure. God knew I was going to fail, because He knew that I wanted to fail, at least in part, and I knew I was going to fail, so why not just quit fighting, give in and get it over with?

And I did just that. Repeatedly. I would walk free for a day or two, maybe even a couple of weeks, occasionally a month, and then the dragon would whip my butt and eat me for breakfast. I simply couldn't do it, and it always, always started with the fleeting thought that stuck around and became the great obsession. Distract yourself. Think about something else, anything else. Whatever. There's a huge dragon in the room that wants to eat you. Tell yourself all you want to that you need to think about something else, and it won't matter. You're thinking about the dragon, what color it is, what it smells like, and all the times it's eaten you before and how it will eat you again. He will win. He always wins. Your weapons can't pierce his armor. His too big. And he overrides all rational thought, all ability to resist his call to bondage and death. You can't outrun him or fight him. You're screwed, so why bother trying at all? That's the hopelessness I felt over and over until I couldn't even ask for forgiveness, because obviously I had only done what I wanted to do and therefore didn't deserve forgiveness.

Well, I was right. I didn't deserve forgiveness and still don't. Neither do you. If we deserved it, it wouldn't be forgiveness it would be justice. And we will never be the Dragon Slayer that some tiny part of us wants to be. Because the dragon is us. He is the great beast of self, born cursed to exist outside the will of God. He will always be contrary to the new life within. He can't be tamed, only killed. And he always rises and has to be killed again and again. It never gets easier in the sense that we never grow strong enough to become efficient and mighty dragon slayers.

Overcoming the egg that is the fleeting thought that births the dragon is not a matter of becoming more determined. It's not fighting better or harder or smarter. It's about always giving up, always surrendering. There is a Dragon Slayer, and He will fight the beast for me, wants to fight for me. He can and will win, every time, always, if I just get on my knees and get out of the way. Here comes the fleeting thought. Yes, I want to give in. I hear the call that makes the siren's song sound repulsive by comparison. I am powerless over it. I may fail. I will fail if I try to fight it. So I won't fight it. Not now, not today. I may get stupid and try to fight tomorrow or run to the beast to embrace him even, but not today, not this moment, not this hour, or this minute. Tomorrow, tomorrow, you're always a day away. This moment I choose to surrender the fight to a Champion, the Original Undefeated Dragon Slayer, even if I don't want to, even if I want to embrace the dragon. Surrender.

I may fail tomorrow. I can fail tomorrow. I can even choose to do so if I want. But today I will surrender. Today becomes one day of victory. One day becomes one day at a time. One day at a time becomes two days, three days, 2179 days, and somewhere along the way the Dragon Slayer becomes bigger in my eyes and estimation than the dragon. At some point the fleeting thought of the dragon's cry looses it's power, no longer paralyzes me with fear, no longer lures me to the lair of death. When I hear it, I know the dragon stirs and wants to wake, and I know that I can call on my Champion. The Dragon Slayer knows what to do, how to fight. I can go on about my business. The fleeting thought has finally become just that, a fleeting thought, here then gone, toothless and powerless over me. Not because I am any better, not because I am more determined or even find him less appealing, but simply because I have surrendered.

It worked for me. It can work for you. I can't fight the beast within. Neither can you. We will never become strong enough to defeat Self. But He can, if we let Him. Those three simple steps, I can't, He can, I'll let Him, can be the start of a journey that leads to constant and lasting victory by grace and destroys the power and the the threat of the terrible fleeting thought.

God, my Lord and Savior, Great Dragon Slayer, I offer myself to you in surrender - to build with me and to do with me as you will. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do your will and live free of the dragon's desires. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Your Power, Your Love, and Your Way of life. Be my Champion today, in this moment, and help me to stay out of Your way as You fight for me. Lead me in Your way that I may walk free from the threat of of the dragons in the land and in my heart and mind. Amen

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ May 3 ~ Social Submission

In yesterday's UM, Keyboard Cuffs Part I, I shared a few thoughts on restraint of pen and tongue continuing on to the keyboard. I called it a Part I because I planned an accompaniment to it for today, but not so much a continuation or Part II as a related thought. I could see even as I wrote yesterday, that restraint and self discipline at the keyboard when upset or afraid is huge, but it's just the start. It would make a major difference in our lives and possibly the lives of others, but we, all of us, can and need to do more, to go deeper.

We the people of the United States of America love our rights, and some of us even care about the rights of others. One of our favorites is the right of free speech, which is why it was the first amendment to this country's constitution. It doesn't much matter who we are in respect to race, creed, sex, age or any other distinction, we as a whole don't like being told what to say, especially what we can and can't say. We don't always have a problem with telling others what they shouldn't be saying, but don't step on my right to say whatever I want!

But here's the thing. I don't have the right to say whatever I want to, whatever I feel or even whatever I believe, and if you are a Christian neither do you. I know that may make some folks mad, and may not be much of a selling point to some who are not of the faith, but it is never the less true. By grace we have been set free to walk with God, not to do whatever we wish.

I know that idea irks some of us. And while it's true that political correctness, nor any group of people on any side of any issue has any right to control what any of us say, we still don't have the right to say and post whatever we want, with or without the First Amendment. How could we think we are higher than Christ Himself? If the Living Word that was with God and was God, the Eternal Son, gave up His right to say whatever He wanted to when He took on flesh for us, what makes us think we retain our right to speak when we surrender and become God's children, the adopted sons and daughters?

For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.

- Jesus, John 12:49

That is how Jesus handled freedom of speech. He said everything the Father told Him to, no matter who didn't like it, no matter what power or group it might upset, or who might try to kill Him for it. That part appeals to the rebel in us. But it also means He refrained from saying what He wasn't told to say. While He wasn't in submission to people, and didn't strive to please people, He remained totally and completely in submission in word as well as deed. And He is our example.

It's so easy to throw our words out into the world, and not so easy to make them disappear afterward. The popularity, ease and nature of social media makes it easy to react and impulsively say things, makes it easy to seek attention, makes it easy to fight from a false sense of safety because we can stand against the mob without seeing them or risking a lynching, We can confront someone without having to look them in the eye. But just because we can do a thing doesn't mean we should, and not everything we do and say, even in, maybe especially in, defense of our beliefs is the right or wise thing to say.

I can't help but wonder from time to time as I look back over my past posts or read through the posts of others would Jesus click the like button on that, would He feel tempted to retweet that blurb, would Jesus have posted that if social media existed 2000 years ago? Or is He saddened by the fighting, the bragging, the self-pity, the anger, and the fear we all too often flood into the expanse of the internet? Are we drawing people to Him or pushing them away? Are we revealing His glory, power, love and way or are we simply shining the spot light on ourselves? Are we acting as servants and peacemakers or are we acting like the chaos junkies we are in our own nature and making the problems worse?

The reason I am not giving today's moment the title Keyboard Cuffs Part II is that this goes far beyond self restraint. This is a matter of self surrender and giving the right to release or restrain to the Spirit and not our own understanding or instinct or desire. I'm not saying we shouldn't post things on social media about our kids, our pets or hobbies, etc. There's nothing wrong with enjoying trivial conversation and funny cat videos, but that said, if it's true that we will be held accountable for every idle word we speak, the same is true of what we idly post. And when it comes to how we react to offense, how we respond to others, the attention we seek and how we express our beliefs and opinions on things that matter from faith to politics to social concerns, we need to submit to the Spirit and say, as Christ did that I did not post on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who saved me and called me has given me a commandment, is in charge of, what to say and what to post, and what not to.

Sometimes I think that there should be a delay function on the enter button. We type it out, hit enter, and then see a question. Are you sure you should post this? Did you pray before you posted? What is your motive for putting this out there for everyone to see for as long as computer exist? Motives matter. Are we reacting in love, from love, or because we are angry and afraid?

Would I say this exact thing in this exact way if the person was sitting right here with me and I had to look them in the eye as I did so? Would I demand that they listen or get our of my life if I could see the hurt and brokenness of their heart revealed through the windows of their soul? Would I seek to find a way to express the truth in a more loving and compassionate way if I had to see the effect of my words as they hit my target? Would I be more concerned with how I made the other person feel if it meant I had to physically face the situation?

When we're on social media we're also on stage. We are effectively standing on the street corner wearing our signs and shouting out for whomever passes by to see our actions and hear our words. Total strangers who know little to nothing about us will see what we post, the comments we make on the posts and blogs of others. If all they have to judge us by is that one comment or post, what impression are we making. I'm not saying we should worry about what people think. I'm saying we should worry about whether they see the love of Jesus in that abstract cut out of our motives and beliefs or do they see us?

If I react wrongly and cross the line of God's will into my will with a person in conversation or a private message, I can go to that person and make amends, ask forgiveness and make it right. But if I do so on the street corner it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to make sure that those who witnessed my mistake also see me make it right. Never mind how many I may hurt who happen to hear me that I never know about. It's scary to think that I may be the only Jesus someone will ever have a chance to see, and that one post out of thousands may be the only glimpse that they observe. In fact it's an overwhelming responsibility that I am in no means up to bearing. Thank God for grace.

But I can make God's task of reaching past the garbage I put in His way of reaching that person with His love if I am more submitted to His control of how, when, why and what I put out there to start with. Do I butt in to someone's conversation to give my thoughts an opinions too quickly? Why is it we feel the right to advise and instruct people we may never have met or haven't spoken to in real life for years? If we were all in a gathering at someone's home would I be as quick to interject my thoughts on how they are doing it wrong and what they need to do? Would I do so as publicly if I felt I had to say something? Would I agree and tell my own tells of woe to feed the fires of their anger and hurt when they feel they have been wronged? Would I help them trash their offender if that person were also right there with us, hearing every word?

Does what I want to contribute to the mass of postings on any subject and every subject come from a place of love and express the grace of God into the situation? Am I a reflection of the Jesus who could walk amid those who did not know the truth and who were covered in sin and draw them to me and convict without condemnation or have I become the Pharisee pointing out the flaws of others, condemning their mistakes and beliefs and refusing to allow them to touch me or be in my life while being unable to see my own guilt?

These are the thoughts that drive my desire to let the Spirit dictate how and when and what I post and comment on social media. I fail in this far too often, as I do in every aspect of walking with God. I need God's forgiveness and grace in this area as much as any and every other area. But if we can pause before hitting enter to ask a few questions, we can let grace have time to work. We can let less of the flawed broken and breaking people we are be seen and let more of the Healer be seen. We can ask, is this wise to be posting this, is it true, is it full of love and grace? Is it going to hurt someone or help them? Is this going to let outsiders see the light and love of Jesus or the hypocrisy and hate of religion? Have I asked Daddy if this is the best response or if He even wants me to respond at all? Would this be better to do privately rather than publicly?

Today let us be mindful that we are all ministers, even if we are not called to preach. Let us remember that when we enter the very public stage of social media people are watching and listening. May our words show Jesus and not us, grace rather than anger and self righteousness. Let us not hesitate to post the truth in love when Daddy puts it on our heart to do so, but let us follow His direction and not our own reactions to the issues and situations that cause our spiritual knees to jerk in a kick rather than bend to His will.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ May 2 ~ Keyboard Cuffs Part I

Friday morning as I went through the things that I do to start my day, I came to the realization that I needed to make an amends, and it needed to be public, because the wrong had been done publicly. I let my inaccurate feelings and wrong conclusions cause me to express my dissatisfaction with a company that actually hadn't done anything wrong. But I found myself with a dilemma. My Facebook is public, and I'm still figuring Twitter out, so I don't really know how many people might have seen my post. It may have been as few as five of six, as judged by interactions such as likes and comments, or it might have been much more. Finally, I came to the conclusion that a minister who puts his thoughts, teachings and advice out there to the public should also be able to admit publicly when they're wrong and lead by example of how to respond when we slip up, so even though I had not made the original post as part of anything related to Unshackled Life, and it was placed on my personal pages, I used this platform to proclaim my mistake and to try to use my failure as an object lesson. That process became the UM I Suck, Nerdblock Rocks.

The thing is that I would have come out of my anger relapse a little less embarrassed and not having to try to figure out a way to ensure that more people saw the yard work than saw me throwing my garbage on my lawn if I had remembered a little gem that has been so helpful in avoiding looking a fool and making amends. When it comes to reacting rightly rather than rashly and self discipline, "nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen." - Bill Wilson

My mother would be quick to put it another way. "4:29.:" She has reminded me and others who grew up in our church of the importance of watching what we say but quoting Ephesians 4:29 so many times that now she doesn't have to quote the scripture, only the reference to correct a wayward tongue and attitude. For those who didn't have my mother as a youth leader,

Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

Another of my go-to verses on this idea is Colossians 4:6 -

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

Nothing pays off quite as much as restraint of....fingers? Fingers are the hardest thing to tame? It doesn't have quite the same ring, because to try to modify the scriptures and wisdom regarding the tongue to typing on a keyboard is missing the point. What I am doing, silently, at this moment, is exercising my tongue. I may not be saying anything with my mouth, but using the keyboard is the same as using a pen or mouth. From the heart we speak, and speaking is our words, whether we speak it, sign t or post it. The words we say can help or hurt, heal or harm. The words we say can draw people to the light of truth or beat them into retreat from the hope of His love. We can show the grace of God to live a new life or show the foolishness of our old nature. We can show our powerlessness over anger and fear or the ability of God's peace to direct our thoughts and expressions.

We really need to taste our words before spitting them out, especially in a public permanent forum. Let us not mix bad words with our bad mood or allow our resentments, frustrations and fears choose our words for us. But let our reactions be full of grace so that our answers to those who wrong us draw them to love, grace and truth rather than beating them away with law, judgment and condemnation. Let us learn restraint of pen and tongue and posting can make all the difference in the world between looking a little like Jesus and a ranting lunatic. Words can bring life or they can cause death. Choose life. Show as much restraint of keyboard as the tongue, perhaps more so, since words spoken are easier forgiven than forgotten but words written may stand longer than our lives.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Unshackled Moments ~ May 1 ~ I Need C.O.F.F.E.E.

I'm sitting here waiting for my coffee to cool so that I can drink it. I like my coffee cool, as in room temperature cool. I usually make a pot the night before and let it sit until morning, and that's perfect.

I don't do that on Sundays though. Leah and I get coffee on the way to church. Plans. We make them and life laughs. So no church for Leah and I this morning, and that meant no coffee ready for me. Groan. I need my coffee.

I need coffee. Did I say that already? Yes, I did.. OK. Just wanted to make sure that it was clear that I need coffee. My brain isn't working too well because there's too much blood in my caffeine system. Being the junkie that I am, I made a pot. Because if I can't have it cool like I want, I'll take it any way I can get it. Except for decaf. That stuff's an abomination.

Then I opened the container and thought Oh no. Not only do I need coffee, but I need to buy coffee. I threw up a prayer that there was enough to make a pot and determined to make a grocery store run this afternoon no matter what. I don't want to get to that point of not having enough.

All of this needing directed toward coffee made me think of this image that my stepdaughter Amanda posted on my Facebook wall the other day and what I need even more than coffee. This image blessed me tremendously when I first saw it as much because of who put it on my wall as for what it said. I love my stepdaughter, and my stepson too for that matter, and feel extremely blessed to have them in my life and to have relationships with them. So I first felt blessed that Amanda thought of the coffee junkie preacher that married her mother when this image came across her feed, but after that I thought what it said was cute and clever. Leah and I discussed painting it on the wall of our kitchen near her Keurig.

But it hit me this morning that this isn't just funny or cute or clever. This is awesome. Coffee is an addiction. I know that. It's one of those accepted and allowed addictions because it's not the life destroyer of other addictions. It's not pushing me from God or time with Him. I'm not lying, cheating or stealing to obtain coffee or feed my habit. I don't have to break the law or endanger anyone. I'm not going to rob someone for coffee money no matter how broke I am. You get the idea. It's just not on the same level. But it is an addiction, at least to the caffeine. I do need it to prevent headaches at this point, and if I can't get coffee I'll substitute a soda or even caffeine pills and a bottle of water.

That said, I can live without it. I have given up caffeine for Lent before, and while the first few days were a tad painful and rough, nothing compared to other things that I've kicked, after a week or so it was fine. But it didn't kill me. I wasn't even miserable after a short while. But while Coffee is an enjoyed addiction that we who drink it refer to slightly tongue in cheek as the elixir of life, it's really not essential to life. And no, that doesn't hurt to say and it's not blasphemy.

Christ on the other hand does indeed offer forgiveness for everyone everywhere, and we all need it. Not need it like we need coffee, but like we need air, more so in truth. I think I would like this even more if it read Christ offers freedom for everyone everywhere. Because freedom includes forgiveness, which frees us from guilt and condemnation, but it also covers the grace that enables us to walk free of the things that are destroying us, that keep us in bondage and that bring death. Christ offers the freedom of life worth living and the freedom to enter into relationship with and the presence of our Creator. There's freedom from fear, from death and addiction. It's so necessary that outside of Christ there is no life. He is the Word that spoke all into being made flesh.

There's nothing tongue in cheek or cute about our need for Christ. There's also no substitute, no alternative. No other substance or path with the essential element so desperately needed that brings life. Nothing within or without and no pill or plan can give us what Christ offers freely. We can't earn it or buy it, but we can have it. All of us, regardless of anything we are, have been or have done. We don't ever have to worry about having enough. His mercy and grace are always available, always sufficient. Yes, I have found it to be so true that more than coffee and more than air, if I want to experience life worth living, joy, peace and freedom I need Jesus to fill my cup.