Unshackled Moments ~ February 7, 2018 ~ Crisis 9-1-1

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.

- Nahum 1:7

In the rooms of recovery we often hear people talking about no longer having a 9-1-1 relationship with God. We can likely all understand what they are talking about. Many of us have treated God like emergency services. We never thought of Him at all and had no relationship and fellowship with Him. But when we had trouble, when we needed rescue, suddenly our hearts cried out, Oh God help!

We can grasp that only thinking of and talking to Daddy when we need something is not a real relationship and not the way it is meant to be. It doesn't take long for us to grow extremely weary of the friend who never comes around or calls except when they need something. You know the kind of person I mean. When you see them coming or their name pops up on caller ID your first response is what do they need now? It's not a friendship. But knowing that someone who only calls us when they need something is not a true friend doesn't mean that we don't want our real friends to call us when we need something. In fact, just the opposite. We would likely feel extremely hurt if we thought our friend didn't think we would want to help them, if we could, in their time of need.

I suspect this to be even more true with children. I am sure that parents would like a closer, more meaningful relationship with their children than only being a help in time of need,  but at the same time, how heartbreaking would it be for a parent to have a child who felt they couldn't come to them when the need arose? I bring this up, because sometimes in recovery we tend to swing to the extremes. We sometimes go from only talking to God when we're in trouble to feeling like we shouldn't bother Him with our problems. And that is not the case.

The word for trouble in the Hebrew in the verse I opened this with literally means tightness. It is translated at various times as trouble, anguish, and distress. Those times when the pressure is on to such an extent than we feel the tightness crushing us, it's hard to breath and we feel gut punched, those are times when we need to remember that we have a good Daddy who loves us and cares for us. Our fault, their fault, nobody's fault, we're in trouble and we need help. At those times we are supposed to turn to Daddy. Don't let the condemnation of calling out to God only in times of need in the past keep us from turning to Him now that there is actually a relationship. He is a stronghold. That means He is a refuge, a place of safety that is fortified against the attack.

Daddy knows those who trust in Him. That means He pays particular attention to us, He cares for us and we're special to Him. He doesn't spot us in Walmart and duck down the next aisle hoping that we didn't see Him. He doesn't forget us. He knows us and wants to help us as a good parent longs to help their child, as a good husband knows and loves and helps his wife. We don't have a bogus relationship. He knows us and wants to be our first thought when we are overwhelmed, in anguish and feel the tightness of trouble.

Let us be quick to turn to Him instead of trying to meet our own needs in our own strength or running to false refuges that fail. Just because we have a relationship and are real friends with people who may work for emergency services doesn't mean that when the crisis comes we shouldn't call 9-1-1, and just because we now have a real relationship with our Daddy doesn't mean He isn't supposed to be our first call in times of trouble.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. 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 and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend 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.

Unshackled Moments ~ February 6, 2018 ~ Glory In Victory

Even those who didn't watch the Superbowl have likely heard about or even seen video clips of the Philadelphia fans tearing up their  city after the Eagles won. Part of me wonders how much of the mob's actions were them simply living up to the speculation that they would act as they did. I know that there was a time when I did similar, saying to myself that if everyone is going to say I'm wild and foolish, I'll show them just how much I really can be just that. But even more than wondering about that, it made me think about how we all have people watching us and how the manner in which we behave in victory is every bit as important as how we handle defeat. We may not have the entire country watching and commenting. It may only be a few people, but are actions are rarely as private as we may think.

Today, whether we are mourning a defeat or celebrating a victory or something in between, let us remember and be aware that someone may be watching and, right or wrong, they may be making judgments about people in recovery or people of faith as a whole based on how we act. Not every Eagles fan is rude, and they didn't all tear up their own city. But the entire group took a blow based on the actions of some. I pray that we can always shine the best light on Daddy and His love, power and way of life based on our actions in victory and defeat.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. 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 and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend 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.

Unshackled Moments ~ February 5, 2018 ~ Lessons From The Good Place

Leah and I have really been enjoying the television show The Good Place, about the afterlife of four people who fell short in various ways during their time alive. The show is by no means theologically sound, but it is funny and makes me think. The latest episode, Somewhere Else, which aired on February 1, was an awesome and accurate illustration of two very important truths in regards to recovery, as well as just being good and unselfish in general.

Before I go any further, if you don't watch the show, you will still be able to get the point. If you do watch the show but haven't seen the episode yet, you may wish to read this later, as there will be spoilers. If you watch the show and are caught up, then perhaps you saw what I saw. There are two important truths about human nature illustrated in the episode that have everything to do with success or failure in recovery.

First, a little background. The show takes place in the afterlife, hence the name, The Good Place. The idea is that a woman named Eleanor dies and is sent to the good place by mistake. Serious spoiler for those who may start the series later on Hulu or Netflix, but as season one wraps up, we find that the good place Eleanor is in is actually a disguised neighborhood in the bad place, and that all four of the main characters have been manipulated into serving as one another's torturers in a twisted, almost heavenly hell.  In season two we see the tale turn to the characters trying to navigate the situation and even trying to escape to the good place. They make it before an impartial judge who tests them to see if they have become good people or if they are to be sent back to the bad place.

With that background understood, let's look  at the first real truth. With everyone understanding the eternal consequences and the importance of what is happening all four struggle with their natures to do what is right and pass the single test, and three of the four fail. Even the one who passed almost failed and didn't pass because of being a good person but rather because she figured out how the test was being done and acted accordingly. That should be something that anyone in recovery or in bondage to an addiction or habitual sin can understand. It's that phenomena of knowing this is bad, this is destructive, this is even killing me and still finding ourselves opening the very door we need to keep closed. It's late night promise to self that I will not drink or drug tomorrow turning to I will not drink or drug as much in the morning light shown to be utter failure at the end of the day when life has not changed at all. Failure after failure. Knowing the consequences. Knowing the need to do and be differently, we can not, none of us, consistently choose right. We do not have the power.

After an argument is made that the test is unfair, the characters are returned to earth moments before their death and are spared to see if given the chance and nudged in the right direction they will be or become good people without being inspired to be good by the hope of escaping the bad place. We see Eleanor have her near death experience and undergo a desire to become a better person. In fact, she does. She curbs her selfishness and her unkindness towards others for six months. As this part is being shown, I said to Leah, they better kill  her now before the high wears off. Sure enough, after time passes and her life doesn't get better just because she's being good, in fact in some ways it gets worse, she tires of the fight and wonders what is even the point? Her old nature returns and she becomes the same person she was.

I learned this truth myself before I even became an addict and an alcoholic. I went squirrel hunting at my grandfather's one day and got lost in the woods. Terrified and unable to find my way out, I began to bargain with God. If He would just help me, I would be good, followed by a list of things I would no longer do or that I would do. At the top of the list was that I would be a good big brother, stop being jealous of my little brother and stop fighting with him. A short while later, my grandfather, who had heard me yelling for help, came and led me from the woods. Grateful, I put  my relief into action, spending the rest of the day with my brother, helping him with some project or another. I meant everything I  had said. I wanted the things I said I would do, and I wanted to be the person I had promised God I would be. And I also don't think I lasted the weekend.

Will power, determination, relief at a second or hundredth chance, fear of death, none of these are sufficient for lasting and real change. It wears off. The urgency fades. The fight becomes too hard and tiring with too little reward. The pink cloud turns to a dingy grey on good days and black on bad ones. Before we know it, we are right back doing the things and being the person we hate and swore we would stop doing and being. It may be an hour, a day, a year or a decade, but sooner or later, we will look in the mirror and see the exact same person we thought we'd changed. We'll never be good enough to love unselfishly and do what's right and say no to our nature and temptation simply for love's sake and for the sake of righteousness. It just won't happen, because we are not capable of making it happen.

The good news is that we don't have to become good enough. We don't have to become strong enough or determined enough. What we can't do, God wants to do for us, if we will let Him. He is able in all the ways that we are not. He is good and loving enough for all of us. He is able to set us free and keep us free, and He will do it with delight, because He loves us as we are, not as we should be, but He loves us enough not to leave us the mess we are. We can stop trying to be good enough, since we never will be, and simply accept His love, help and provision. We can stop fighting the war against ourselves that we are doomed to loose and let Him have the victory and do the work of transforming us. We can be rid of self. We can love unselfishly. We can say no to the old bondage and keep saying no until it's not even a temptation anymore. We just can't do it ourselves. We need His help. The good news is He's offered it to us, and we don't have to earn it or deserve it or be good enough to pass the tests.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. 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 and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend 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.

Go Deeper

Darlene Woodard shares on the desire to not be satisfied with where we are with our relationship and how we can always get closer to God. God is always present with us, but we need to be more consciously aware of His presence and respond to it. The message,  "Go Deeper" is about 11 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, February 4, 2018. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

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.

Unshackled Echo ~ February 3, 2018 ~ Ashes

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

February 18, 2015,
as Unshackled Moments ~ February 18 Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday will be on February 14 this year.

Today, if you will hear His voice: 'Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion...

- Psalm 95: 7-8

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the time of reflection and preparation for Easter known as Lent. Ash Wednesday is a reminder to us that we live or, if a believer, lived, under the curse of sin that brings death. Due to sin and separation from God, this world and all that is of it shall one day be nothing but ash. But praise be to God our Father who sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and raised Him up from the dead that we may also escape true death and have life eternal!

In addition to serving as a reminder that we have need of or have received Grace that brings eternal life and salvation, Ash Wednesday serves as a reminder that we can do nothing without Jesus Christ that is worth more than dust and ashes. We can not fight sin on our own. We can not set ourselves free. When we try to live a Godly life on our strength and in our own might, the result is bondage, ashes and death. But there is freedom and life in the cross where His love poured out for us.

Lord, lead me to the cross this day and every day. Rid me of my self and give me victory over my difficulties that my freedom, joy and peace may be a sign to others of Your love, Your power and Your ways that are so much better than my ways. Help me to remember that in my effort and works is filthiness and death, nothing but ash, but that through Your power and grace I am righteous, clean and have the growth of new life within.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. 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 and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend 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.

Unshackled Moments ~ February 2, 2018 ~ The Frustrating Cost Of Free

Nothing is free right? It feels that way sometimes. Christians the wide world over speak about the free gift of salvation, the free gift of God's grace doing for us what we can't do for ourselves and the free gift of forgiveness. I myself have done this, and will continue to do it These are all freely given to us. But there must be a catch, because Jesus didn't try to fast talk us into a contract like some seedy used-car salesman. He spoke bluntly and truthfully about the cost and told those of us who would follow Him to count it before we commit.

I started thinking about the cost of free this morning during my devotions because of Bible Gateway. I have been using this site for years now in my morning devotions, and for Bible reading,  and for the record, I love it and highly recommend it. With a free account you can pick from many devotions and have them emailed to you each day. There are several Bible reading plans to choose from and  over 40 translations to choose from. I don't think I have prepared a single message in years without spending a little time looking up scriptures there. That said, they have recently gone the route of so many other sites and added a premium membership called Bible Gateway Plus for $3.99 a month.

I thought about signing up for it when it first started and chose not to. I didn't skip it because I felt it a poor value. It's probably worth every penny. There are Bible study tools, commentaries and more, with reduced ads on the website. I chose to stick with the free use because I counted the cost. I don't really use the site for commentaries (I have them elsewhere), and I don't know how much I would use the study tools. The ads on the site weren't much of a big deal for me, and they are only reduced, so even paying I would have to deal with ads. When I considered that I put in full-time hours in the ministry but without pay and that we live on my wife's part-time salary and some puppy money here and there, $50 a year is still more than I can spend if I am unsure I will use the extras. I decided to scroll past the ads and enjoy the  blessing of access without additional cost.

But over the last few days the ad situation has changed. Now they have started coming at the top of the email devotions I get, and for me, that's over two dozen emails a day. It's not Bible Gateway's fault, but the old computer I use and the email I have make it where all I see when I load the email is  the ad. I then have to scroll down to even see the title on the day's devotion and to read it. I have noticed the last couple of days that it's distracting me from the meditations, kind of like hitting a bump while driving down the road distracts from  a nice drive. I started to get frustrated until I decided it's a small price to pay to have these devotions sent directly to me each day. Instead of getting upset, I prayed for the grace to drive past the distraction without it being a problem, and I will now put more consideration into the subscription if it will remover the ads from the top of the emails. The folks who put the site together need to eat too.

There are few free sites around any more that don't  have ads to wade through. The radio has used ads forever, and most of the ad-free, volunteer supported Christian radio stations I have heard have as many commercials as regular stations. As annoying as ads are, they haven't kept me off YouTube or Pandora yet, and they won't keep from using BibleGateway either.

So, what's the point? This is not simply a rant against  ads or even me trying to come to terms with them. In a way though, the cost of this site I love has gone up. What I didn't even notice before when all the ads were at the bottom is now a distraction. That happens in just about every area of life. Costs increase. The price of gas right now is outrageous and seems to go up every day. About the time I get used to the last price increase on things I use every day, it goes up some more. The exception to that is following Jesus. That never goes up.

There is a cost to all the free we get from Daddy. Jesus didn't hide it or try to sneak it by us. This free gift costs us everything. All we are and all we have is laid at the foot of the cross and placed on the altar for God to use and do with as He sees fit. At first glance that may seem a high price to pay. But then I stop and think about the value of my life without that relationship. I hated myself and life was not worth living. I couldn't manage or control my life, and I couldn't stay clean and sober for anything. My life was a series of tragedies and destruction, and I spent my days trying to avoid the inevitable consequences of self will run riot and waiting to  see if the next big crises would finally kill me.

The thing is that if Jesus counted the cost, I can't imagine it looking like a good deal. His life for  my worthless one, the Great Exchange of His good and just for  my mess and mistakes. No one would want my life without Jesus. I surely didn't. Sometimes it is still a little annoying an frustrating to have to set aside self and pick up my cross. It can feel like a high price to lay down my life in service to Daddy and others, especially the others part. But the truth is that my life apart from God wasn't worth a plug nickle. Today, I am going on eight years free from the obsession to drink and drug, I have an amazing marriage, relationships with family and friends have been restored and the bridge of trust rebuilt, and I have purpose and contentment. I don't wake each day dreading what is to come and looking for escape. In short, I have a life worth living, and all it cost me was the trash of a life I wanted to be rid of in the first place, and that is well worth what I have received.

My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.

- Step Seven Prayer

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. 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 and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend 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.

Solomon's Folly

Dalyn Woodard shares on how we need to be careful and follow the direction of the Holy Spirit even when using the gifts God has given us to fulfill the call He has put on our heart. The message, "Solomon's Folly" is about 28 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, January 31, 2018. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

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.