Unshackled Echo ~ April 19, 2019 ~ Giving Up

Ever have those moments when you're just ready to quit, to give up, to curl into a ball and cry or even die? Do you beat yourself up about it? After all we're supposed to stand our ground and having done all to stand, keep standing, right? We're supposed to hold fast and press on toward the goal, aren't we? We're not supposed to be unable to keep going. We're not supposed to just not be able to take another minute of this "moment" that is starting to feel like an awfully long time.

But feeling like this doesn't mean you're failing God spiritually or loosing faith or anything horrible and negative about you. It happens to the best. It's called exhaustion. Exhaustion can kill us. Exhaustion can make everything harder and make it impossible to go on, regardless of faith and belief. There is a reason God in His Word stresses the concept of rest.

You may be familiar with the story of Elijah the prophet. If not, his tale can be found in the two books of Kings in the Old Testament. This was a man so revered for his faith and the way that God used him that when Jesus walked the earth many believed he was the reincarnation of Elijah. Elijah is one of the spiritual heroes of the Bible. He stood before hundreds of false prophets, mocking them and showed them up by calling down fire from heaven to burn up a water soaked offering. He stood before a king and queen of Israel and called them out on their sin. He refused to take the safe route or back down. It seemed like no matter what he faced he approached it with a let's see what God can do attitude. Until....

One day the queen reacted to his trouble making and calling her out by going after him in return. And what did this mighty man of God and faith do? He ran, hid and cried out to God to just let him die. Then he fell asleep. He'd been fighting the good fight for too long without a break to keep fighting. Exhaustion took his faith, left him scared and hopeless. And how did God react to this man losing his faith and giving up?

He sent an angel who woke him up and fed him. Then He let him sleep some more. He cared for Elijah, He let Elijah rest, and. even more, He provided rest for the prophet. Elijah recovered and went on to continue the amazing story of faith.

Rest doesn't mean sleep. We can become exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually or a mixture of any and all of these. We can sleep 14 hours or more in a day and still be exhausted or we can rise after not sleeping at all in some situations feeling rested. Lack of rest ruins hope, razes peace and sucks the life out of joy. Sleep matters, because lack of sleep eventually effects every area from the body to the spirit, but sleep is not the answer. The Bible mentions rest over 500 times. That's how important it is, and those are not instructions on how we can manage to rest. The tricks of self help that aid relaxation do not do the trick, at least not for long. The Bible tells us that rest is a gift from God. He provides it, and we must find it in Him.

If you feel like it's time to give up the fight, like you just can't go on, like everything in the world is falling apart and it would be better if the weight just finished crushing you and be done with it, maybe what you need instead of determination, or more faith or strength or anything else is to cry out to God and just stop trying to make it through on your own. Let Him give you rest. Stop believing that you are supposed to be able to carry it, fight it, keep going. Remember that He is our strength and our portion.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 16, 2016.

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.

Growing Up Is Not Optional

What are the elementary doctrines of Christ and why is important that we leave them? Dalyn Woodard continues the series, "Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews," with the answers to those questions and how we are called to mature as Christians. The message, "Growing Up Is Not Optional," is about 54 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on April 17, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen.

You can hear the first message in the Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews series, "It's All About Jesus," here, the second message, "A Most Excellent Word," here. The third message, "Jesus Is Enough," here. The fourth message, "More Excellent Than Angels," here. The fifth message, "Defeating The Dangerous Drift," here. The sixth message, "The Most Excellent Man," here. The seventh message, "The Most Excellent Help," here. The eighth message, "Consider Jesus," here. The ninth message, "Don't Lose Your Rest," here. The tenth message, "There Remains A Rest," here. The eleventh message, "Living And Active," here. The twelfth message, "Hang On And Come Close,"  here. The thirteenth message, "We Need A Mediator," here, and the fourteenth message, "Wax Build Up," here.

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 ~ April 17, 2019 ~ I'm Not The Boss Of Me

You’re the boss of your life, not your feelings. Don’t let your emotions run your life.

~ Joel Osteen.

This morning I was toying with an idea of what to write for today's Unshackled Moment and not really liking it. I saw a notification that someone had retweeted yesterday's UM, and I clicked over to their Twitter page to thank them. I saw another of their recovery oriented retweets, and gave that a click as well. Then I stopped myself. I had to. Youtube, Facebook and Twitter can be quite dangerous if you're trying to do something quickly and not wanting to chase rabbits here and there for who knows how long.

The person I had followed to another page is a recovery writer, and yes, I actually hit the follow button. Looks like he's got some good stuff on his page. I didn't want to read too much though, as I didn't want to influence my morning's writing. I was just about to leave the page and go to my daily readings while letting my mind subconsciously chew on the theme for the day when I saw the quote I opened up with today from Joel Osteen. The quote was tweeted with the comment that while this person was not a big fan of Osteen's the quote  does make sense. At first glance I felt the same way.

I have a friend in the rooms who loves to remind us that not everything you think and feel is real. Feelings can fool you. A great man no longer with us used to say that you can't go by your feelings, but it is nice sometimes to feel what you're going on. Both of these ideas are about holding onto truth that has made us free and going on, faithful to the spiritual principles in every area of our life, no matter what our emotions tell us. Our emotions, our feelings, do not change truth and do not really matter when it comes down to the nitty gritty of staying free from bondage. What matters is not how we feel but what we do. We can't let our emotions blow us about like a ship that has no rudder.

Knowing that taking our cues from our emotions is not always a wise thing to do, I started to click the heart/like button. Then it hit me, what made me hesitate when I first read the quote. From a purely recovery standpoint, dealing only with addiction, I actually can not agree with Osteen's quote. It makes sense on the surface, just enough sense to be dangerous. Step one: I can't. Step two: He can. Step three: I'll let Him. More accurately, step three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Basically, from a recovery standpoint only, this is 180 degrees in the wrong direction from the the twelve steps to freedom. Sorry, but no. If you want to get clean and sober and stay that way, you better not be the boss of your life. You can not manage your own life. Give it up, surrender or die. The rest is the part that makes sense. You can't let emotions rule, but not because you are the boss, rather because you have surrendered to someone higher and your emotions no longer have the right to reign.

I say the quote is dangerous in that context because when addicts and alcoholics forget that they are not the boss of their own lives anymore they tend to relapse, and relapse far too often results in death. But Dalyn, you and the other writer were both taking Osteen our of context! He's not a addiction counselor. He's a minister speaking to a more general audience. Actually, if you thought anything in that neighborhood, I agree so much that I had to write this and put off my earlier idea for another day. I don't have any issue with the other writer. I followed him on Twitter. I believe I understand the retweet of Osteen and why it made sense. I almost clicked like myself, because the second half of the quote is something we need to remember and be reminded of. But Osteen has a huge following, and he just told them something as dangerous as it's okay for children to play in the street. If only one person gets the warning I heard my spirit cry out, I had to shout it. Get out of the road!

I'm not confining Osteen's quote to recovery. I am a recovery minister, but a minister. I am coming at this not from a secular 12 Step place but rather from using the steps only as a tool to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is one God, creator of all, who is higher and above all, and it is He of whom I write and preach. Yes, I preach freedom from the bondage of addiction, but when I say recovery, I'm talking about recovery from the bondage of self to freedom in Christ. I don't care what the chains are. There are people who have never ingested chemicals or alcohol, or gambled or let their spending get out of control or fed their pain or any other thing the steps have been used for on a large scale who are in bondage and need to recover. We all have sinned and fallen short. We are all captives and broken without Jesus.

So I had to look at this quote as it was intended originally, not as a statement to addicts and alcoholics alone, but as a statement sent out to Christians and potential Christians from a minister of God. Like the other writer, I am also not a big fan of Osteen's, and haven't read or listened to him. I am not saying anything about him or his ministry as a whole. I am addressing only this quote, but when a person sends out a quote, and it's actually something they themselves said, they are choosing not to add or delete anything else contextual. Therefore the quote must be interpreted as it is read. And I'm sorry, but as a stand alone statement, which is how this was put out by Osteen (or his people), from a Christian standpoint, never mind recovery only, this quote is not just wrong, but the very opposite of everything Christianity is about.

You are not your own. You were bought with a price. You belong to God. In order to belong to Christ, you must daily die to self. You are no longer the person you used to be, but a new creation in Christ Jesus, protected and guided by the Holy Spirit in complete submission and surrender to Daddy. No, you are not your own boss, and while there are decisions and choices that we as servants are allowed the freedom to make for ourselves, and we shouldn't let our emotions control us, we are not the ones in control. God is. The very second we step into the driver's seat of our life we have stepped outside of the will of God for us.

It may seem like I'm making a big deal out of something that that isn't that big of a deal. Only it is. We have to remember the truth that made us free and gave us life, life worth living and abundant. The idea of you are or can be your own boss is the lie from the garden that began the race to the grave from the start. That's a pretty big deal. It is the opposite of everything Jesus said, of everything that the Scriptures tell us from Genesis to Revelations. There is nowhere were we are ever allowed to believe or act like we are in control instead of Daddy without it leading to destruction and death in our life, and that is a huge deal. Today, let us remember that we are not the boss of us and stay surrendered to the One who is the boss in order to be free from being misled by our emotions, our fears our situations or even our own will.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 15, 2016.

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 Echo ~ April 16, 2019 ~ Step Away From The Scales

From the outside looking it always seems unfair, in one direction or the other. The scales never quite seem to balance between our life and others. We look at someone and think or feel, well, at least I'm not that poor soul or at least I'm better off than they are. Then we look at another and have to brace ourselves against waves of envy and self pity as everything we've always wanted falls into their lap. Wow, he has the career I dreamed of, look at her wonderful family, etc. But the truth is that for all we know, that first poor soul is so much better off than we are that we would be ashamed if we only knew the depths of their relationship with God, despite not being able to walk, or being broke or whatever external thing made us think we're better off. That second person may have the idyllic life on the outside and be more hurting and miserable within than we have ever experienced.

Maybe not. Maybe the first person really is far worse off than we are, and maybe that second person has been blessed beyond belief. The thing is that either way, we can never really know. We need to be willing to extend a hand in love to the broken and wounded and to rejoice in love with those who have been blessed. And we need to be willing to let the Holy Spirit help us determine which is which.

Leah is waiting on a definitive diagnosis that will come after a spinal tap, but from the scans and tests done so far it appears that she has MS. Either way, she definitely has many symptoms of this disease. She, like, many who suffer with MS and other diseases like it, often look fine on the outside. They hear things like you look good today, or you look like you're feeling better, and they do look that way. But under that appearance is pain and weakness that is nearly unbearable. Some people look like they have the perfect job, the perfect home, the perfect life, but if you only knew their heart you would see pain, fear, and desperation. We need to be able to take our cue from the Spirit to be able to reach out in compassion to those our instincts and senses would tell us to rejoice over.

At the same time, there are those we would pity and reach out in compassion towards who could teach us much about joy, peace and love and are far better off than we. We simply can not compare our insides to someone else's outsides and get any kind of accuracy, for better or worse. You can't always tell the poor souls from the blessed based on appearance or circumstances. Today let us allow the Holy Spirit to guide our reactions to others and let us let go of envy and pride. If we look at someone else, let it never be in judgement but merely to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Otherwise let us look within only and see where we need to go and what we need to do to get closer to Him and not worry about how our life measure's up against another's.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 14, 2016.

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 Echo ~ April 15, 2019 ~ Life And The Voice

Thanks to two friends of mine, I have discovered The Voice, now that it's in the tenth season. A while back I told Leah that we were going to have to watch this season, because a friend of mine was trying out for the Blind Auditions. Simon, your mother was the only person I ever knew who had the pipes to cover a Mariah Carey song and not fall short of the original,, and you, my friend, have got it too. Now, I don't think you could sing Mariah worth a flip, but you have a great voice. Keep trying. I saw someone make it to the Blind Auditions this season that had tried and failed seven times before. Also I think Blake would love you, but I would go with Adam anyway.

Now that the personal message portion of my writing is done, you see what first sparked my interest. Simon Snyder, who is more than good enough to be on the show, was trying out, and didn't make it....this time. I don't know if it was song choice, nerves or if whoever was doing the auditions just simply messed up, but when I heard he wouldn't be there this season, I changed my mind about watching the show. There was no reason to watch after all. Then one day when we were hanging out, my buddy Christian wanted to watch the first two episodes he had recorded. I was pretty much hooked.

I decided to go back and stream from the start of the first season and work my way through all the ones I've missed. There have been several preacher's kids on the show, which I think is pretty cool. But the way that the show is designed made me think about some things that I am very grateful that about. For those whom, like me, have made the mistake of not watching this show and are unfamiliar with it, The Voice is not just an American Idol copy cat. And it works differently. Professional singers, or coaches, campaign to recruit talented singers onto their teams based on voice alone. They can not see the person until after they make a choice. But then it gets a little messed up. The teams are cut down to finalists from within. Until the very end, your only competition is your own team members, which means these are not actually teams. It also means that if the majority of the best singers end up on the same team, they will be eliminated by one another, and weaker voices can survive longer by being the strongest voice on a weak team. It also means that coaches must pit their performers against one another and choose one to keep based on who rose to the occasion and did well or who they like more or whatever criteria they have. They have to sacrifice one to raise up another.

I am so grateful that this is a game and not how life has to be. Jesus came by and called out come to Me. He offers His love and help and a better life worth living. And if we respond to His call, we get to join Him, have relationship with our Creator and be personally trained and coached by the Holy Spirit to bring out the best of the gifts that we have been given. But here's what I am grateful for. You never get kicked off the team for choking under pressure or failing to measure up to somebody else. In fact, God never compares us to anyone but Himself, and since we all fail miserably when compared to perfection, He pours out His grace on us all and makes a way where there was no way before. He knows just how to coax out the best of what is within us and that we were created with so that we can shine, but He doesn't illuminate any of us by dimming anyone else on the team. He never raises one up by putting another down, and while we compete against each other far too often, that simply breaks His heart. He wants us to be family in unity who help one another reflect His glory to the best possible degree.

But His ways are not our ways. Too often, we act more like we're competing on The Voice. We try to outshine the person next to us by overshadowing them. We try to earn God's attention and favor. We put down our brothers and sisters to try to make ourselves look better. Today, let us remember that being on God's team means having the best talent coach possible within us, it means never having to worry about being eliminated....ever, and it means that we are suppose to love and help one another, not fight and compete amongst ourselves.

One last thing, Simon, I still can't wait to hear your original song "Jesus And Cigarettes" hit the charts.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 12, 2016.

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.

Tough Times

No matter how thankful we are, we can become complacent with our gratitude. Wally Flynt shares that when something difficult happens it can either destroy our faith or awaken it. We need to guard against complacency and ungratefulness and draw near to God. The message, "Tough Times," is about 56 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on April 14, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen.

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 ~ April 13, 2019 ~ Don't Fear The Dark

Does it ever feel like God has given you  a direction and once you step out on the path He's given you things go awry? It just feels like, what happened? This isn't what I thought was going to happen. It can make you question everything. Did I really do what God wanted me to do? Did I confuse what I wanted with what God waned and somehow miss His will for me?

Let's revisit the life and story of Joseph before we allow our fears to drag us down into the pits of despair. God gave Joseph a dream, but as soon as he began to share that dream the attacks began. His jealous brothers began to hate him and even plotted to kill him. They settled on selling him into slavery. God, you told me I would rule and here I am a slave! It had to feel like a giant leap in the wrong direction, but he held on to his faith. He began to prosper despite his status, and when things began looking up, a false accusation of attempted rape sent him to prison. Seriously? This is not what is supposed to be happening! The moment things look up, everything goes to hell. Maybe it would be better if they didn't get better because the snap back is worse than where I was before. How easy it would have been for Joseph to doubt and to sink into self pity. But he kept holding on to the truth that God is faithful, despite what his circumstances and feelings might have been telling him.

After years in prison a window of opportunity opened. Here is a glimmer of hope. God put him in a position to help someone who had the ear of Pharaoh. Here's my chance. He asked the man to tell Pharaoh his plight and received a promise for just that thing. And then he was forgotten. God, didn't you give me this chance to get out of this hole? But God knew what He was doing. If Joseph had been brought to Pharaoh then, he might have been set free from prison only to be returned to slavery. The situation in the land was not right for Joseph to move into what God planned for him. It had to be disheartening and frustrating to sit in prison feeling forgotten, but it was exactly what it took to prepare everything, the situations and Joseph and Pharaoh, for what God needed. And when the time was right, everything fell into place. But the process took years.

Don't let impatience and fear fool you into thinking that you are not where God wants you to be. He can protect you and prepare you for more, even when it feels like all that is happening is that He's leaving you or throwing you into a pit. If it feels like the rope He held out to you snapped, don't let the feeling of falling make you give up on God. Where you land will be better than the vision of the top you saw yourself climbing to. Sometimes, like Joseph, we are taken through darkness and treacherous places before we see the fulfillment of promises we received from God. Sometimes, like David, we get our anointing and then spend years fleeing and barely surviving before we step into the kingship that we were called to. But those dark times can be when we get closest to God. Don't be afraid of the dark.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 11, 2016.

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.