Unshackled Moments ~ May 31 ~ Our Gifts His Way

I'm finding myself at a loss for words And the funny thing is it's okay

The above are the first two lines of the song "Word Of God Speak" by Mercy Me written by Bart Millard and Pete Kipley. It's a song I really enjoy about not trying to be heard but instead listening to God above all the confusion and noise of life. But as it came to mind during my quiet time this morning I realized something about those words that had never occurred to me before. A writer, either Millard or Kipley, wrote those lines, and, I'm assuming, meant them.

Writer's block is a fear I suspect all writer's have, at least from time to time, and it is never a good or fun experience. The idea of it being OK for a write to find themself at a loss for words is indeed a strange thing. We often evaluate how we are doing and define ourself by our ability to exercise the gifts that we have been given and to accomplish what we have been called to do. The inability to use or gifts is a huge source of fear. But our gifts and callings are from God, to be used His way and in His timing. When we stay submitted to Him, when He needs us to use them, we will find the grace to do so. But there may be times, when we can not do even the things which are most natural for us to do. When this  happens, we don't have to fear. It can be OK if instead of trying to force things we simply take refuge in the presence of God and rest in His love.

Abba, help me not to be afraid of losing the talents and gifts that You have given or be afraid when I seem unable to exercise them. Help me to remember that in dry and weak times I can and should turn to You to listen and  be refreshed. Then, when You are ready for me to continue down the road You have called me to walk, let me step out confident that You will provide the grace for me to use Your gifts when as how You would have me use them. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 30 ~ It's One Or The Other

You can't yo-yo and drive a car at the same time. You can't be angry and grateful at the same time. And you can't do the will of God and do your own thing at the same time either. In order to do the one, at least well, you have to cease or wait to do the other. In every moment of every day we face a choice of two paths, our will or God's. The more we choose God's will the more we learn that regardless of how it looks or feels God's will is always better and leads us to a more satisfying and fulfilling place. But in order to walk in the will of God, we must first release, surrender and deny our own will. Aligning our will with God's is the same as denying our will, and self-denial is the first step in following Jesus.

Abba, may we be quick to let our will go in order to do Your will. Let us not fall for the temptation to try to hang onto our own will and walk with You at the same time. Amen

Unshackled Moments ~ May 29 ~ Living Love Letter

Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 

2 Corinthians 3:2-3

What we have found and been given of life, liberty and the pursuit of relationship with God we must freely give away and put into practice. Part of the reason that we have been given freedom and victory is to show God's power and love and grace to others. We become His epistle, His sacred love letter to those still hurting and in bondage. We may be the only scripture those we encounter ever see or read. Let us not be a poor or false translation, but by practicing the principles of the law of love, may our lives be a beacon of hope, a love letter from God, a testament of freedom through surrender.

Abba, help me to be an accurate letter of Your love to those I encounter, no matter the circumstances I find myself in. Amen.

No Way Back

Dalyn Woodard shares from Exodus and Numbers with a slightly different look at the fammiliar story of Israel crossing the Red Sea and being delivered from slavery and bondage.. He shows how God desires not only to free us but to do so in a way that leaves no doubt that He is our deliverer and that cuts off any chance to return to our old life of bondage. The message, "No Way Back" is about 37 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, May 27 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 28 ~ Don't Feed The Snake

My wife Leah and I keep snakes. I know that snakes are not some people's idea of good pets to have, but we enjoy having them (even though I must admit I'm afraid of snakes). Some snakes, like  king snakes and cobras, eat other snakes. God created them to do that, and even made king snakes immune to the deadly venom people need to be wary of. A copperhead, beautiful but venomous, recently invaded the living area of a friend of my brother's. While many people would simply kill it on the spot, he shooed it into a box and gave it to my brother, who in turn brought it to me. We, my brother and I, gave it to Cleo, a lovely lavender king snake Leah and I have.

Yes, I realize that may seem cruel to some, but  feeding a snake to a snake is no more cruel than feeding a mouse to a snake. Why should the life of a mouse be worth less than the life of a snake? I dare say that more people keep mice as pets than snakes. Anyway, we put them together, and Cleo immediately withdrew, almost hiding. I couldn't believe it. What was she doing? Not acting like a king snake to my eyes. She slithered under her hide box and left my brother and I to watch the copperhead explore the tank. But soon something happened that caught all of us but Leah by surprise. When I write all of us, I mean my brother, me and the copperhead. In under a second, so quickly it seemed instant, Cleo shot out from under the hide box and grabbed the copperhead by the nose. Her mouth snapped shut over the copperhead's head and her body wrapped the copperhead in a tight squeeze as she began to pull and squash the life out of the other snake.

The copperhead never realized its danger and never had a chance to fight. Its strength that comes from its bite had been neutralized right away, and there was no escape. Before too long there was once again only one snake in the tank, a fat, full and happy king snake named Cleopatra that a person can handle without fear had devoured the venomous copperhead.

This morning I checked on Cleo and saw her content, and maybe a little smug. It occurred to me that life can be like the feeding I described above. We can be prowling along, somewhere we shouldn't be, and get caught up. We may be confident in our strength and ability to survive. We might even see ourselves as venomous and able to defend ourselves against anyone or anything that would try to hurt us. But there is an enemy that is hungry and seeking whom he  may devour, and when he spots us in his territory we're in trouble. With a quickness that we can't see coming, he strikes, and all our defenses and strength are for naught. He will bite and squeeze the life out of us before we have any chance to fight back, and even if we do somehow manage to struggle we are over matched, and he is immune to our venom.

We can not, must not, rely on our own thinking, strength and defenses to protect us against the attacks of the enemy. It's the natural order of things that we will lose when we do. But even though we are the prey of thus spiritual predator, we can be transformed into something else, the children of God. When we become His, we find that His protection and strength can keep us safe in a way that we cannot. Satan may bite, he may squeeze, and there is no doubt that he will attack if and when we give him the opportunity, but he will not be able to kill and consume us once we belong to God.

Still, life is better and a lot more enjoyable when we don't need to be rescued. When we stay close to God and in His will, we don't find ourselves in the enemy's tank,  He may be hunting us, but we stay sheltered in the shadow of the wings of the Mighty One who will cause the snake that would destroy us to flee and hide. Through relationship with God and staying in His will we can keep our lives from becoming snake food.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 27 ~ Danger: Snooze Button

I am not naturally a morning person. It is so much easier for me to sleep in the morning and stay up at night than it is to conform to the standards of society and work schedule and go to bed before the sky begins to lighten before dawn and rise early. I know that they say that the early bird gets the worm, but let's not forget the early worm gets eaten. Not too awfully long ago I wrote an Unshackled Moment, March 12 ~ More Better, about how I'd gotten a desire to start rising early to spend time with God and the progress I had made in that area, along with how Daylight Savings Time had messed me up.

Well, I'm in worse shape in this area now than I was when I lost an hour to the foolishness of DST, and I'm ashamed to say that not only are things worse, but they're worse because of me and me alone. Due to too much time off because of injury and rain in the last couple of months, I have had the opportunity to sleep in too often. Staying in bed has become easy again, as has hitting that blasted snooze button. It has begun effecting my day as I've had to rush through my writing and my morning reading more than once, or even put if off till later in the day a couple of times, because I stayed in bed too long and had to be somewhere. I don't like the way I feel when I rush through my time with God in the morning. I have a feeling God doesn't like the way that it feels either.

Yesterday I learned that in the upcoming summer hours I will likely have to be starting my work day earlier, which will mean starting my worship day earlier. This would have been an adjustment without having slipped, but now I am having to struggle to get back to where I was two months ago. This morning I set myself to get up and not hit the snooze button more than once. Well, I didn't hit the snooze button more than once, because I didn't hit it at all. I turned off the alarm. By grace I checked the time a little later and realized what I had done and that I'd effectively snoozed twice. I got up and thanked God for progress not perfection. I'm still up about 45 minutes earlier than most days recently.

In addition to not being a morning person, I am not naturally a Godly person. I am selfish and want to live according to my will rather than God's. That's my natural bent. And guess what, while some reading this may be naturally morning people, none are naturally Godly people. Some of us are more naturally nice and obedient than others, but none of us are naturally Godly. It's just not in us, which is one of the reasons that we all need a Savior. So it takes a desire to have relationship with God and a lot of grace for any of us to walk with Him.

But we need to beware of our natural rhythms and the spiritual snooze button. We may cruise alone doing pretty well for a while, and then for whatever reason, the work God has us doing takes less of our effort for a little while. We don't have to spiritually get up as early to prepare. If we're not careful, we can slip right back into our old routines so easily. And then when a part of us responds to the call to do it differently, to live according to His will, we can start hitting that spiritual snooze button. I hear the call. I hear the alarm, and I will respond. I know I need to. Just five more minutes of doing my thing first OK? Snooze. Five more minutes. If we're not careful, we can five more minutes ourselves into trouble and pressure and stress that is totally unnecessary and has nothing to do with God's plan other than our part in putting it off.

The Holy Spirit calls for time to get moving and warns of the dangers of staying asleep in self, and we just groan and hit the button and cry for five more minutes. That is dangerous enough, but if we aren't careful, if we react in selfishness without thinking, we can turn off the alarm rather than just snooze. The more you ignore the still small voice of the spirit, the harder it becomes to hear. That's a dangerous place to be, and requires a lot of grace to get out of that place of deafness. It may go against every natural instinct we have, in fact, it always does, but it's easier to just respond the first time, every time when the Spirit calls than to calculate how long we  can snooze in self before rising to life.

Abba, help me not to snooze away my life and my time with  You either in the physical or the spiritual world. Give me the grace to be quick to respond when You calll. Don't let me play with the snooze button of self. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 26 ~ Pieces

The day after Memorial Day is a strange time to be thinking of Christmas, but that's where my mind went this morning. I remember a particular Christmas when I was a young child. It was a rare holiday where I was to open my presents at my Ma Woody and Papa's. I had a habit of shaking my presents and trying to  figure out what was in them, and that year my mother got me good. I picked up a square wrapped box and began to shake. I heard a horrible noise, and my mother made a face and said that I'd broken it. I freaked, but when I unwrapped the present later it turned out I hadn't broken anything. The present was a  box of 1000 BBs to go with the BB gun I also received that year. I felt so relieved, because something within me knew that if the gift had indeed been fragile and making that noise that it would've been broken beyond repair.

Our lives are a gift from God, and it doesn't take long before life and other people have shaken us into 1000 little pieces. It may appear and feel as though there is no hope for repair. Like the saying goes, "All the king's horses and all the king's men ain't got no hope of putting my pieces back together again." But the King can. No matter how badly we've been shaken. Regardless of how many little pieces we've been shattered into, there is hope. There is restoration in the surrender to the King.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 25 ~ Love Without Masks

Could I just sit here awhile; Know that there's nothing that I need to say Safe in the knowledge that You know my ways Love me completely, no need to hide a thing

~ Kim McMechan

Sometimes we all feel like there are things about us, in the depths of us, that we have to keep to ourselves, that we can't share with others for fear of rejection, or of hurting the other person, or simply fear that they can not possibly understand. If we have one or two people in our life that we rarely feel that way with we are truly blessed, but no matter how close we are to another person and how understanding and loving they are toward and with us there will from time to time be that fear of looking foolish or like a freak or somehow unworthy. Our hearts cry out for someone that can truly know everything about us, even better than we know ourselves, and yet still accept and love us, someone who truly understands and isn't hurt, confused or repulsed by the depths of our soul. The type of relationship where we never have to protect the other from us for any reason, where there are no needs for masks of any kind, where there's no need to hide a thing.

There is such a relationship open to each of us with our Heavenly Daddy. We desire to sit without hiding anything, completely naked and exposed with no fear, and we call out to Him, can I come to You? His answer is Yes. Yes, come. Always come. No matter how you're thinking or feeling. Regardless of where You've fallen short, come. The great love of God has no boundaries. There are no limits that He sets to protect His heart from us. There is nothing we have done or are that will make Him turn away. His call is always to come, to sit with Him and enjoy His presence and be renewed in His love.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 24 ~ Setting The Fire

It has been 50 days since Easter.  Are we still thinking about the wonders of the resurrection with awe and excitement? I'm pretty sure that 50 days after the actual resurrection that the disciples were still overwhelmed by this awesome event and what it meant. Ten days ago, forty days after Easter, marks the day of ascension, when Jesus left this realm physically so that the Holy Spirit could come. Today is Pentecost, the Spirit is here.

Jesus walked with His disciples for three years. They fled and fell apart as He was broken, bruised and then crucified for them and for us. He rose and restored them. He spent forty days with them after they thought He was gone for good. They had to be excited. Then He told them to go and tell....but wait. First wait for the Spirit that would help and empower them and then go and tell. Then...

Then came the waiting. That horrible time between knowing what you need to do, what you're supposed to do while your enemies are already hunting for you, mobilizing to stop you and spreading lies to make the job  harder. You need to get out in front. You need to do something. You need to wait. Sometimes it's the hardest thing to do, but when God has not yet cleared the path it's best not to try to push through the brush. When we wait on His timing He goes before us. The Spirit is with us to give us power and wisdom to handle anything and everything that comes up. But when we run out ahead of God, the things we do may be morally good, they may be logical, but without the power of the Spirit we will take a beating and the journey will be hindered. It may seem like it's slowing everything done to wait on the fire of the Spirit to fall, but God is waiting for what only He can see, for the weather and wind to be perfect and the tinder to be gathered in ready so that the spark He set within us can be a wildfire that spreads through our life and can't be stopped. If we strike the match on our own, the flame may be lit sooner, but when the rain falls the blaze is extinguished Let God determine when to let the fire loose. It may be ten days or ten years of knowing what God has called us to do before we get to do it, but knowing when is as important to success and pleasing God as knowing what.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 23 ~ Time To Get Dressed

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering...

~Colossians 3:12

It's a truth that the more time we spend in relationship with God the more the attributes of God become our attributes. The more time we spend with the personification of love the more loving we become. As we are transformed from the people we were to the new creation we have been made we become kind, merciful, humble, meek, patient, etc.

But while the fruits of the spirit and the attributes of our loving Heavenly Father eventually become who we are, our old attributes are still there vying for control because we have not yet reached the perfection of the new creation. It takes more than just relaxing and being. Living as we are called to live is a daily choice to deny the old self and walk according to the ways and will of God. We are to put on the attributes of the Father, to clothe ourselves in Him and His ways. When we arise we get dressed to go out and face the world. We need to get dressed for the day spiritually as much as physically. We can't rely on what we wore yesterday to cover us today, and we should be just as abashed to go out in our old spiritual skin without the clothing of the Spirit as we would be to show up to work in our birthday suits. Let's remember to get dressed every morning.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 22 ~ Come As You Were

If you are a Christian there came a moment where at least for one split second of clarity you knew that you not only could come to Christ as you are but that as we are is how we have to come. We must set aside the desire to clean ourselves up before being washed in the Blood of the Lamb. That's why the song "Just As I Am" is such a great song for an altar call. We have to come to place where we know that we are helpless and powerless to be good enough, to clean ourselves up, that we have no righteousness, not a leg to stand on. We come and throw ourselves upon the mercy of the court and find that grace covers us. We begin to live in relationship with our Creator, and our lives begin to change. It's too easy sometimes to forget that all that change is a product of grace and not we ourselves. We didn't do it. We get used to living this spiritual life of relationship, but sometimes we just aren't feeling it. We seem to be in a bit of a drought while life rains around us. When that happens remember that we don't have to manufacture our spiritual life any more now than then. Broken? Dry? Come as you are. In fact no matter how long we've walked with God and how much He's changed us from glory to glory we should daily come as we were, free of self-righteousness with no leg of our own to stand on and letting His grace bring us in and cover us.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 21~ Perfect Selfishness

My favorite thing has pretty much always been more. My parents tell that one of my most repeated phrases once I began to talk was "More roni." I, like many children, loved macaroni and cheese. With this tasty treat and so many other things I loved, or at least enjoyed, the best and most important part for me became more. The same drive for more became the theme to my life's demented amusement park with it's scary roller coasters of addictions. Escaping brought me to the place where I understood that life is about relationship with the Creator of the ride and that selfishness and self-centeredness is the root of all my problems, addictions and bondage. I preach and write regularly against that dangers of selfishness and self indulgence. I repeatedly remind that to walk with Jesus we must deny self.

But why is self such a stumbling block for all of us?  Because the instinct to please and preserve ourself is actually a God-given and God-created instinct. Wait? Am I  seriously saying that something I speak against nearly every time I preach is from God? Yes. But then how can it be bad?

All our instincts are made by God and serve a purpose. Our instincts for food, sex, security, etc are not bad in and of themselves, but when we chase them outside the plan of God for us and when they become the focus of our life rather than a part of life they become something that separated us from God rather than something to enhance our life. Self is no different from all other such instincts except that it lies at the root of them all. Every instinct is there to please, advance or protect self. So why must we practice denial? Because the idea of controlling how much self we indulge and the way that self manifests in our lives is like moderating a crack habit. It simply can not be done in this world bound by the curse.

But the original point was pleasure and preservation. The irony is that what brings the most satisfaction and security is pursuing God. Relationship with Him is so much better than anything and everything this fallen world has to offer. Wanting more and more of God is the perfect use of the instinctual drive to please and protect the self. The truth is that any hedonist that understood this would stop seeking instant gratification of the senses and seek the pleasure of the spirit. So why don't we? Because of the paradox that to live we must die, that to best please and protect self we must deny self, because we have to turn down the taste of the inferior now for the superior to come and self is never patient.

The only good news is that the blessings of relationship do not have to be sometime down the road or somewhere over the rainbow. The kingdom of God is at hand. It is here and now. If you can't let go of self than indulge it to the ultimate, not in every whim but in full out, no holds bared pursuit of the best of the best, the most intense pleasure and joy, the ultimate fulfillment and love, and the confusing peace that comes from relationship with God and makes walking in denial of the other, the inferior, impulses so worth it.

Facing Amalek

Dalyn Woodard shares from Exodus 17 with some encouragement when facing the enemies and hard times in our life. The message, "Facing Amalek" is about 23 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, May 20 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 20 ~ Aiming To Please Who?

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 

~ Psalm 118:6

I don't know about anyone else, but most of the time that this verse comes to my mind I take it to mean something along the lines of not having to be afraid of what people might do to harm me or to prevent me from doing what God wants, but rarely have I applied it to the concept of being a slave to the opinions of others. What does it matter what others do or try to do when the Lord is on my side? That includes not having to be afraid of disapproval nor being motivated by their approval. I don't have to be afraid of pleasing or displeasing anyone but God. There is a great freedom in understanding this. When I surrender my will to His and walk according to what He has called me to, then the pressure of performance can fade away, because I know that He will provide all the grace necessary to do it. Willingness to do what He wants gets the A+, His power provides the answer and fills in the blanks, and praise or condemnation from anyone else no longer plays a part.

Lord, help me to remember that serving You is not about approval or praise from others, including other Christians, and that I don't have to be motivated, hindered or distracted by fear of not receiving that approval as long as I stay submitted to You. Thank You for the grace available to do what You have called me to do today, and may Your will, Your pleasure and Your glory be my total motivation. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 19 ~ Yes, Put All Your Eggs In One Basket

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. We've all heard  it before, and it makes sense, right? Well, it does if you're carrying the eggs. You might trip and fall or drop a basket, and then what? Your eggs get broken and make a mess. But while this seems like good advice for people who try to carry their important things themselves, and even seems like it's been proven right when sooner or later one of our many baskets gets damaged, it's actually bad advice. No matter how we spread things out and use different baskets, we're going to fail to keep all our eggs safe. In fact the more baskets we have, the harder it becomes to carry them all. We actually need to put all our eggs, everything that matters in the slightest, everything of value we have, into one basket.

Just make sure it's God's basket and that He is the one carrying it. It doesn't matter if the eggs are all in the same place if that place is the one place where nothing can get to them, where they will never be mishandled no matter what. Protection through dispersion is about acceptable losses, but there is no need for acceptable losses when God has the basket of our lives. The enemy comes to steal and destroy but is powerless to prevail against our protector and refuge. We don't need to spread our eggs out, we just need to stop carrying the basket.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 18 ~ Resistant Strains

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

~James 1:22

There is a very real danger that comes with knowing the truth while living as though we don't. The more we allow truth to remain head knowledge only, like an abstract theory that is good philosophical fodder but has no bearing on every day life and actions, the more we find ourselves claiming to believe in God yet living as though He doesn't exist. Truth must be taken past the head into the heart so that it can effect change and bear fruit, else it will lose it's power in and for us. Taking the truth only surface deep is like taking only two days  of antibiotics. After a while we become resistant to the medicine and it no longer helps. It takes more and more to work. It takes more pain and more miraculous power for God to get through to us and help us, once the truth no longer effectively brings about change in our lives. Once we can acknowledge truth as truth while living in direct opposition to truth life gets harder and harder. We deceive ourselves. We come up with lies that excuse us from living as though truth is not truth, and so after a while, no matter what we say, we no longer believe. But if we take the truth in deeper, let it in past our head and down into the core of who we are, we can not help but be swayed by it, changed by it, and therefore act on it.

Abba, help me to take Your truth in deeper and deeper. Let it change me and mold me so that I act on it and live by it. Let Your Word be the fuel that powers my life  and not just theory that has no effect on who I am, so that I can always find the help I need in You and do not become immune or resistant. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 17 ~ Who's On First?

“God being who He is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else….Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all or He will be nothing. God will not be used. His mercy and grace are infinite and His patient understanding is beyond measure, but He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help men to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection.” 

~ excerpt from a A.W. Tozer essay titled, God Must Be Loved for Himself.

Last night my wife and I read together the essay this quote came from, with it's theme of seeking God and His kingdom first. Then during my morning devotions I read the following from Twenty-Four Hours A Day:

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” We should not seek material things first, but seek spiritual things first and material things will come to us, as we honestly work for them. Many people seek material things first and think they can then grow into knowledge of spiritual things. You cannot serve God and Mammon at the same time. The first requisites of an abundant life are the spiritual things: honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. Until you have these qualities, quantities of material things are of little real use to you.

And a little further on in my reading came this: "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing," John 15:5.  I believe they are tied together, and I also feel that when the same things start popping up in my time with God, that I need to take notice. As May 17 is the celebration date of my being set free from the bondage of drugs and alcohol for five years, the thoughts of where I am verses where I've been come to play. Thankfulness for my freedom plays a big part in thoughts, as does how to continue and improve my recovery. But even in the natural review time of an anniversary it can't be the most important thing or I will lose it. Some will say that statement is dangerous. I have heard it said many times that recovery must come first. That staying clean and sober must be the priority in lives of recovered alcoholics and addicts like me. But that's wrong. Sobriety is a by-product of the relationship with God, by seeking Him first and abiding in Him, we will find recovery from our addictions and be set free from the areas of bondage in our lives. But the goal, must become, to seek relationship first and simply because of desire for relationship with God. It's OK to come to God at first because of our need for a savior and deliverer, but our motivation needs to change. We don't walk with God to stay free. We are free because we walk with God, and if we treat relationship with God as a tool to get something else we want, anything else, no matter how good a goal, it will eventually fail because we have become idolatrous.

I want to be a good husband and love my wife as I should. It's by God's grace that that becomes possible, because I am selfish without that grace. The closer I get to God the easier it is to love my wife as Christ loved the church and lay my down for her. But if I pursue God only as a means to improve my marriage, eventually it won't be enough either to keep my relationship with my Creator or my wife. Relationship with God can improve every area of life, from job and finances to family and relationships. These and other blessings are all part of the "and all these things shall be added to you," part of the promise. But if we are seeking God to get the other things, then we're not really putting Him and the kingdom first. We eventually forfeit. Relationship is the purpose. Everything else is gravy, and if we seek relationship with God for the sole purpose of relationship with God and above all else we can never be shaken because of what happens in our life.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 16 ~ You'd Be Better Off Dead

"Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die to get there!" BB King

This is true in a general sense, but not just in the physical sense. It's not only that we don't want to die physically, even if the result is heaven, but that we don't want to die spiritually, even though that is the only way to get to heaven. The only way to the Father is through the Son, who said to follow Him we must deny ourself, pick up our cross (a death sentence) and follow him. He went on to say that those who try to save and hold onto their life would lose it but that those who would give up their life to Him and for Him would gain true and everlasting life. It's a paradox, but it's true, it's death that brings life and without death there is no life. It would be no sacrifice to die to self if we weren't driven to live for self. It would be easy and wouldn't require grace. But there is a reason that fighting to stay alive is referred to as self preservation. It's instinctual and the way that we are made to live for self and try to keep self alive and in the center. But it's also instinctual to need relationship  with God and to respond to the ache and emptiness of our lives by finding a way to fill it. The way to fill the space that is missing in our self is to let self die and let God fill us completely with Himself and relationship with Him. You have to die to get life, and you'd be better off dead.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 15 ~ Tomorrow

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. —Henry Ward Beecher

Life brings stress. There's so much that has to get done, that may not get done and that can go wrong. We know we are responsible to do our part and be hard working, good stewards. But doing our part does not mean that we are in control of the outcome. As long as we release our life to the care of God, He will take care of us. We can cast our cares on Him and learn to trust that He cares for us, that He will never fail us, and that He is enough. Once we learn this, we can look to tomorrow through eyes of faith rather than worry and fear.

Abba, help me to trust You with tomorrow today. Amen

Child Like And Care Free

Dalyn Woodard shares on the call to come to Jesus as a child and one aspect of the implications of that instruction. The message, "Child Like And Care Free" is about 26 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 14 ~ Manipulation That Helps

I have learned the dangers of the deceit known as manipulation during my spiritual journey. Part of practicing rigorous honesty means manipulation is not an option. Manipulation is a dishonest attempt to control others and force our will on people and situations. But one of the most important aspects of a good relation with our Creator is to deny self and to surrender our will to His. So, I learned not to do that. I'm not perfect at it, but manipulation rarely tempts me as a way to solve my problems today....

....with one exception. While I am learning to let go and not try to force things for myself, through manipulation or any other means, when it comes to those I care about it's not so easy. I want to help those I care about and have a desire to "fix it" when there's a problem. More often than not, my thoughts are to use any means necessary to achieve the desired results, including manipulation. But this is not the way, as I was reminded this morning. I don't know why it's so much easier for me to trust God for myself while feeling the need to help God help the ones I care about. It's odd to me because I more often than not found it easier to believe and trust in God's love for others more than God's love for me. But it's as important to trust God with and for the lives of those we care about as it is to trust Him for ourselves. Manipulation is failing to trust God and robs the person we are trying to help of the opportunity to learn that they can trust God and how much God loves them.

I am grateful for the reminder of this  and that I was able to step back, drop the manipulation idea and simply pray about the situation I wanted to fix. May we always remember that we can trust God and leave it in His  hands, not only for ourselves but for others as well. No matter how it feels, the situation is always better when left in God's hands than in ours.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 13 ~ Don't Spare The Batteries

Nobody can see in the dark without help. If there's not some light coming from somewhere, a human being can't see. How much light is needed to make do with varies from individual to individual. I remember times years ago walking at a brisk pace through woods at night with only the low light of the moon to shine enough light on the situation to keep me from running into a tree or tripping on limbs and brush on the ground. On those evenings I usually just kept  my eye on my Dad or Uncle Johnny as best as I could, since both of them always seemed to be able to see in less light than I could. I would duck where they ducked and step where they stepped to the best of my ability, and it usually worked. There were times I saw the limb after I had already ducked.

Even though my eyes weren't as night friendly as Dad's, I did ok for a long time. Often when I had to be out for any length of time I would use a flash light intermittently. This is another trick I learned from my father and his brothers. At times when there's not enough moon, use a flashlight, but don't waste the battery. I though at the time that batteries aren't cheap, I thought that we were always that broke. I remember having that lesson ingrained. Don't waste the batteries. I still do it  today, sometimes without even thinking about it. I use the flashlight to see enough of the path to tell what and where the obstacles are, then turn the flashlight back off and walk through that area before turning it back on again. I sometimes wonder if this on and off every few minutes doesn't take more battery than just leaving the light on, or if it saves enough to be worth stumbling in the dark. But to do this while Coon Hunting made sense, and I understand it today. They weren't pinching pennies, they were pinching power.  

You couldn't know how long you were going to be out in the woods or exactly what might happen. There was no way to plan exactly how much light you might need, so if you could make do  without it during part of the time, then that's what you did so that you knew if you needed it you'd have light. Yes, it makes sense to do this through the night with a flashlight and limited battery, but it doesn't make sense when we do it spiritually. We can't see in the dark to know where we're going or what the obstacles are that we need to avoid. We need the light of God to light our way, and our spiritual batteries are rechargeable, even while they're in use.

The same Word that makes it possible for us to hear and brings faith is also the Word that is a lamp for our feet and a light on our path. The Word in our hearts and minds acts as a light to guide us through the darkness of life, and it also acts to turn us into lighthouses that can lead others to safety. And like a lighthouse, it works better when the light is burning brightly. Let it burn and set it on high. Shine for the world to see, and shine so that we don't have to guess where to step in the dark. Don't worry about the batteries. To make sure that we have plenty of and easy access to the light, all we need to do is meditate regularly on the Word of God, take it in, chew on it, think about it. The more we spend time with the source of all power the more charged we become, and God's got plenty of power to spare. He'll never run low or leave us stranded in the dark. Stay close, stay charged, but don't be afraid to leave the light on. Don't spare the batteries. Let your light shine.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 12 ~ The Right Pair Of Glasses

My eyes don't work well anymore. The glasses I wear these days help, bifocals that correct both distant and near vision. But in the morning when I first wake, even the glasses quite often don't help much. It is no longer a fast process for my eyes to wake up as much as the rest of me and start working. So, sadly, I've grown used to struggling to read first thing in the morning, even with my glasses on, at least for a little while.

But this morning fear crept up within me as the minutes ticked by and my vision did not adjust. It felt like I had woken too blind to read my morning Bible studies and devotionals, and was going to stay that way. I cleaned my glasses a couple of times, but it didn't help. Then before I took them off to clean them a third time, a tilt of my head clued me in on my mistake. My head movement made no change. What I saw through the top of my glasses was the exact same amount of blurred as the bottom. I had grabbed the wrong glasses.

I have two pair of glasses, a pair of no-line bifocals I wear most of the time and a pair of distance prescription only that make driving and watching television easier because I don't have to keep my head at any particular angle in order to keep the farther stuff focused. This morning I took a step in the right direction, but got off track. I knew I couldn't see on my own, so even before giving my eyes time to do what they could I put on my glasses, my helpers. But it didn't help because I grabbed the wrong ones. This actually  made things worse because not only could I not see to read, but I thought I had gotten the help I needed so didn't realize for a while why I still couldn't see.

I think the mistake that I made this morning is easy for us to make spiritually. We come to the understanding that we can't manage on our own, that we need help. But often what we instinctively and automatically reach for to help us, while of the right general nature, is not the truth that makes us free and gives us strength and victory. We need power that comes from outside of us, that is greater than us. The solution is spiritual. but contrary to popular ideology, not just any spirituality will do. It does matter what pair of glasses we grab. Grabbing the wrong pair not only will fail to help us, but it can slow the process down as it takes longer to realize why we still need help. 

Abba, help me to always realize the truth that Jesus is the answer and not grab indiscriminately at  things wrapped in the guise of spirituality. The is a truth that doesn't change, and there is untruth. Let me never be satisfied with untruth, no matter how comfortably it fits. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 11~ A Last Lesson From Uncle Cecil

Yesterday my family gathered to say goodbye to the oldest child of Joe and May Woodard's nine children. My Uncle Cecil came close to living 88 years before he graduated this past Friday. Not only was he the oldest of my Uncles, born in 1927 and having already had two children of his own before his youngest brother, my Dad, was born in 1950, but he was the tallest, quite possibly the smilingest, and without doubt the hardest working in a family of hard workers.

My Uncle Cecil just never quit doing what needed to be done. For those who know and remember how hard my father worked in the early 80's and shake your head in dismay having still been unable to figure out how he did it and how he kept going during that time, or how hard he still works today for that matter, my Uncle Cecil lived a life that made my father's insane schedule and pace of the early 80's look downright lazy. I hope God's got some work that can be done in heaven, because Uncle Cecil may have to ease into this whole eternal rest thing. Maybe that's why he let Uncle Cecil teach me one last lesson two days after his death.

My cousin-in-law Sam preached Uncle Cecil's funeral yesterday, and he did a good job. I kinda hate that it took a funeral for me to see and hear him preach for the first time, but although I wish the circumstances had been different, I am grateful for hearing him. I'll probably steal his line about being more lost than a duck in a desert, and I learned something from Uncle Cecil through what he shared. One of the things Sam shared about my Uncle Cecil is how he spoke so quietly that you had to get in close to him to hear him. I remember that. My mind jumped in its way back machine and traveled to an attempt to record some of the many stories my uncle told of the family history one time that didn't work out so well because I hadn't gotten the recorder near enough.

I don't know if the quiet man Sam and I remember existed all those years or just the latter half. My Uncle Cecil turned my age, 44, in June three months after I was born. Almost exactly  half of his life was lived before my birth and half after, so while I never remember him being anything other than an old man, the truth is he was middle aged in my youth. I'm quieter now at 44 than I was at 24, maybe he was too. I don't know. What I do know is he was quiet, and he didn't really do the get louder because someone couldn't hear you thing. If you couldn't hear him you had three choices. You could get closer so that you could hear him, in which case his stature sorta enveloped you and made it impossible to not be effected by his closeness and presence. You could smile and catch some of what he said and hope it was enough for you to stay in the conversation without misunderstanding and looking like an idiot. Or you could come up with an excuse to walk away and find someone else to talk to.

As Sam reminded us of this aspect of who Uncle Cecil was it occurred to me that this is one of the ways that he was a lot like God. Uncle Cecil was a good man, but not good enough to get to heaven. There were plenty of ways that he wasn't like God and needed that amazing grace that he clung to. But having found the blessed assurance of amazing grace he lived faithfully to God and grew to be like Him in more ways than not. I hope that by the time I die that can be said about me, that I was more like God than not like Him at the end. I digress again. His quietness was one of the ways Uncle Cecil reminds me of God.

It's not that he didn't like to talk. Uncle Cecil loved talking to people, at least family. Nearly every time I saw him he was either talking to someone or had just finished and was looking around to see who to talk to next. He had a way of telling you stories about the family, about other people, that still somehow made you feel special, like they were his stories just for you, even when there were several people there or you knew he'd told the whole family the story, more than once. God is even better at that than Uncle Cecil was.

God loves to wrap an arm around our shoulder and pull us in close to talk to us. He loves to share things with us, and although some of those things are the same things that He shares with the whole family He can somehow make them special and just for us individually at the same time. He spots us and smiles a smile that says if you have time to stop and listen I have a desire to talk to you. And then He speaks, quietly. If we're having trouble hearing Him, He doesn't get louder. Sometimes it seems He gets more quiet as He tries to draw us in closer for more intimate conversation. Like with my Uncle Cecil, we all have three choices at that point. We can think of an excuse like not being able to hear Him speak to walk away, or we can stay at a comfortable distance and miss at least as much as we catch of what He's saying and hope it's enough to keep us from messing things up too badly, or we can get in close enough to be enveloped by His presence, to feel the warmth of Him against us as He speaks in our ear and we not only don't miss what he's saying but gain more than the words.

Abba, don't let me stay at a comfortable distance, barely able to converse with You. Draw me in closer where it's impossible to miss Your words and Your love. Thank you for this and all the other things that You taught me and others through the life of Cecil Benjamin Woodard. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 10 ~ Grace, Mother's Day Style

Today is Mother's Day, the day set aside to do what we should do every day of the year, honor our mothers. In preparation for this special day I recently changed my Facebook profile picture to a meme that reads, "My Mom is better than your Mom. Just sayin'." It's partially a joke, but there's some truth in it too. The truth is that I have been blessed, and I received the perfect Mom for me.

Now, I did not say my mom is perfect. She's not. She's got plenty of shortcomings that I could list were I to do her inventory, and some of those I share with her due to genetics and or upbringing. I know, because I know her, that she could make a harsher list of her perceived failures than I could, because no one is harder on my Mom than she is. No, my Mom is not perfect, and while I hope that there are those reading this who would respond to my quip about my Mom being better with, "Nope. My Mom's the best!," I know that won't be the case with everyone.

Some of us have moms that are easier to honor than others. Some of us were blessed with moms that helped show us what unconditional love is all about, but some of us had train wrecks for mothers who showed us more the hell life can be without the love that should be so natural. And yet, almost all of us do out best to overlook and ignore the mistakes, focus on the good, and honor our moms on Mother's Day. This is an example of grace. Grace is, in part, love in action that overlooks failures and praises both attempts and successes.

I have never had any problem doing this with my Mom, because I love her so much. I think I was nine years old when I physically went after a college student who dared to dishonor and yell at my Mom after a wreck. Mom had to hold me back to keep me from trying to beat that man up. I loved her, and I had no intention of standing idly by and letting anyone, no matter how much bigger than me, mistreat and dishonor her.  It occurs to me though that this is how we are to treat each other all the time. This is the grace we are to show all...our family, our friends, strangers and even enemies. We can let the love of God flow through us to such an extent that with everyone we encounter we love enough to honor, to overlook the negative and to encourage, praise, and accept the good. Mother's Day is really Love and Honor Mothers Day. and from it we can learn to make every day Love and Honor Others  Day.

Lord, thank you for the amazing Mom you blessed me with. Help me to honor her each and every day, and help me to treat everyone I encounter with the love and honor I would want my Mom treated with. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 9 ~ Fire For Our Enemies

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Romans 12:20

I can't say how many times that I have heard this verse quoted as a way to get revenge. As though we understand that revenge is best left to God, but since we have a right to want it, to demand it, we can bypass the spirit of love our enemies and make those who treat us wrong feel bad by acting loving towards them. See, I'm better than you, we say by way of manipulation, you deserve to be treated badly but I'm going to be good to you.

That attitude totally misses the point. We are not called to act in a loving manner to our enemies and those who hurt us. We are called to love in spirit and in truth. Those who are our enemies have a cold and frozen heart toward us, and if they hate us because we follow God, then that cold heart extends to our Heavenly Father as well. The idea of heaping coals of fire on them is not to burn them and get even, but rather to heat the ice that binds them and thaw them to love. The heat of the Father's love, flowing through us, warms our enemy as the sun warms the frozen ground of winter so that the growth of spring is possible.

Abba, help me to love those who are cold toward me in such a way as to thaw their heart so that they can find You and receive from You. Let me not worry about my right to be angry or getting even, but strive to love them towards You. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 8 ~ Praising Through The Pain

I hurt, and I don't do well with pain. I spent the majority of my life trying to escape pain through any means possible. I am grateful that my recent motorcycle wreck didn't do any serious damage, but almost a week and a half later I still hurt so badly that I can barely walk at times. The part of me that lends toward self-indulgence and self-pity wanted to check out this morning, crawl into a hole somewhere and just suffer. If you have to suffer you might as well wallow right? I mean if God wanted me to do something else He would make it stop hurting right?

He could, but He hasn't. And in response the rest of me, the new creation that knows that self-indulgence and self-pity is never the solution determined to praise Him through the pain. Did my back and knee stop hurting or hurt less? No. The situation didn't change for the better. If anything it grew worse. But somehow the pain and anguish and fear within my mind and soul dissipated. With the inner pressure relieved the physical pain became more bearable without the need for extra medication or escape. I'm grateful for that, and I'm grateful for that reminder that Jesus is the answer to the problem of pain, the peace that passes understanding, the strengthening joy in the storm of sorrow, the refuge where we can escape fear, and the truth that makes us free. It is because of this that we can praise Him through the pain, and when we praise Him through the pain it brings us to the place of understanding who He is. It's a wonderful circle of praise and revelation.

Child Like ~ Run To Daddy

Dalyn Woodard shares on the call to come to Jesus as a child and one aspect of the implications of that instruction. The message, "Child Like ~ Run To Daddy" is about 26 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, May 6, 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 7 ~ Living In The Fast Lane?

Some people prefer the high speed, high risk, high reward aspects of living in the fast lane. I know a lot of people who will say flat out that they perform best under pressure and need a deadline to spur them forward. Others prefer a slower, more relaxed, less stressful pace. They are quite willing to be satisfied with less reward in some areas in exchange for more time and peace in favorite areas of life. We each have our preference, and can probably make a good argument for whichever lane we choose. But it doesn't really matter. We should drive in the lane that is best for what God has called us to do and feels best for us. If we drive in the fast lane we shouldn't speed to the point of blowing the doors off our life and end up in wreck. If in the slow lane, we shouldn't take it so slow and easy that we don't accomplish anything. There needs to be at least some direction toward balance.

But the most important thing is not what lane we choose or how we drive in it, but rather what road are we on? That is the question that ultimately will determine our destination. There are roads that seem like the right direction according to the ways and thoughts of men that lead only to destruction, and there is a road that leads to God and life. Fast paced or more relaxed we need to be moving toward God. Yes, enjoy the journey because you only get to ride this road once, but don't get sidetracked and exit off onto the wrong road. The destination is, when all is said and done and despite the popularity of the opposite view, equally important as the trip to get there. Our life now and the life to come are all about relationship with the One who built the road. Choose the route that leads to Him.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 6 ~ "Praying For You," Encouragement Or Attack?

Yesterday I received a text that simply told me that the sender was praying for me and what the prayers were for. There's no question that prayers effect this plane, whether those we pray for know we are praying or don't know. But that simple text gave me encouragement at a point when I felt discouraged. It reminded me that I am cared for and loved. It helped me remember that Jesus is the answer. It blessed me and lifted my spirit.

I remember years ago a friend of mine went on a rant in a letter about how angry she got whenever someone told her that they're praying for her. She saw it as an attack, that those people didn't love her but rather sought to control and force change through supernatural means. She relayed the message of these unsolicited prayers as being along the lines of them saying "I'm praying that you stop being a worthless sinner," and "I'm praying that God overrides you're will and makes you act like I want you to act." Unfortunately, she had a valid point.

We need to pray for others, both our Christian brothers and sisters and those we know who are not believers. But we need to be sure of our motives also. Prayer is not a way to control others. It's not some spell that overrides free will. But crying out in love on behalf of the wounded and hurting is definitely something we are called to do. There are times, when our prayers should be kept to ourselves. Telling someone in bondage that you are praying that they come to place where they see the need and have the desire to get free may indeed come from a place of love more than attempt to control them, but unless they are at that point, the information is not likely to be seen as anything other than an attack. When we're sick we don't see things clearly. But there are times when letting someone know we're praying can be a blessing and encouragement. How to know the difference is something best left up to the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Understanding the Holy Spirit can help us make that choice. First why are we praying for that person? Is it because we are grieving over their pain or because thier actions are angering and inconveniencing us? If the former, keep praying for them. If the latter, repent, let God change our selfish motives to those of love and service and then keep praying for them. Is the knowledge that we're praying likely to encourage or make someone feel condemned, like they're not measuring up? If the latter, maybe we just need to change the way we express it. "I'm praying that you find peace and joy" is much easier to accept than "I'm praying that you stop engaging in self-destruction," but we have to stop being self-destructive to experience lasting and true peace and joy. Or maybe we need to wait to share our prayers. But whenever we can share that we are praying for someone in love in such a way that they will feel loved and encouraged, we should.

"Therefore comfort each other and edify one another...." 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Unshackled Moments ~ May 5 ~ Don't Be A Puss

We have a cat. Other than having multiple extra toes (a condition that makes him a Hemingway cat, which is why my wife wanted him in the first place), he's not really any different than most cats that I've been around. Meaning that when he wants attention and to be petted he will pester you know end, but when you want to play with him and enjoy a little cat companionship he wants to do anything and everything else other than spend time with you. Cats are selfish pets. They act pet-like, come to you, allow interaction, etc., when it suits them and totally act like you don't exist when it suits them to do that. And obedience? I don't think so...at least not frequently enough to call it obedience. Obedience when it suits them or the call/command is what they wanted in the first place is not true submission. A quote I'm fond of that describes this phenomena is, "My dog thinks he's human. My cat thinks he's God."

Dogs on the other hand, in general, are more companion animals. They obey to please. They come when called. And whether you've been away from them five minutes or five days, they are grateful to see you and have your attention. This is part of why dogs are called man's best friend. By the way, if this seems like I'm knocking cats, I'm not. I actually spend more time with Spock, the cat, and like him more than the majority of canines in my home at the moment.

That said the attributes I described, when they are accurate and apply, make dogs better companions than cats the majority of the time. So which you prefer may depend on the quantity of companionship you're looking for in a pet. But why bring this up at all?

I was spending a little quality time with the cat (I guess he was in the mood to want to spend time with me) when I started thinking about this subject and how it's all too easy for me to act like a cat instead of a dog with God. No, God doesn't want us to be pets. He called us to become His children. But He does want our companionship, a true relationship with us. How many times have I acted like a cat with God? When I craved His attention and blessing, I rub His leg, purr and beg for Him to scratch behind my ears so to speak. I come when His call consists of Him spiritually opening a can of tuna. But when something shiny or spinning catches my eye I dart off to play and do my own thing, acting as though He doesn't exist, like He doesn't want me to stay in His arms. No, I don't want to be held right now, I don't want to be a companion and please Him, I want to do what I want to do. When what I want is Him, I'll be back, and He better respond to me the way I want the moment I want Him too.

That is total selfishness and no way to be a companion of God. Like the cat in the quote, it's me thinking I am, or at last acting like I am, God. I want to control the relationship, how much and how often we spend time together. I want to do what I want, when I want. When that includes time with God and doing His will, then it's easy to act obedient. But when I want, or think or feel like I want, to do my own thing, to engage in the pleasures of the world and self, then like a good agnostic I can turn the God awareness off and act as though He isn't there, or doesn't matter. The bad thing is this type of thinking and acting always, always, always leads to misery and destruction, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but always. The worse thing is that knowing where it leads I still cant's seem to continue to not act like a cat. I can stop for a while, but sooner or later....there I go again.

In recovery parlance, I admit I am powerless over selfishness, even when I know it's destructive, I can't stop starting to indulge myself, and once I start I can't control how long I'll be self-indulgent or how bad it'll have to hurt before I can stop again. But like any addiction, the solution is the same. In fact, all addictions have this one as the root. Selfishness and self-centeredness is the root of all our problems and addictions. It's the reason for the fall in the garden. The self-centeredness that makes us want to be our own god is the seed that produces the pride that even led to Lucifer's disgrace. The solution is relationship with a power greater than us, more specifically The Power that created us, more specifically God. It is through relationship with God and submitting when we can that opens us up to receive the power and grace to stay submitted when we are less interested in Him and more pulled toward self. We have to submit when we can, but it's only His power that can keep us submitting and His grace that can call us back to submission after we've fallen short of perfect submission to His will. By His grace and through His power we can be companions of God, we can be God's best friends.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 4 ~ May The Force Be With You

I'm old enough to have seen Star Wars IV while in elementary school. One thing that many fail to either realize or remember when they would bemoan the character of Jar Jar Binks and cry for his head  when the prequels were released was that the Star Wars movies had been family films from the beginning, loved by children as much if not more than by adults. Part of what makes Star Wars so amazing is was ability to capture the hearts and minds of almost everyone from toddler to retiree. And part of what made that possible is how much everyone felt drawn to the idea of an all encompassing force that when connected to can turn a whiny and weak nobody into someone special and powerful enough to do the impossible and defeat the dark side.

Part of why it did so well, is that it is loosely based on a universal true story. We all come to a point where we find ourselves looking out across the desert of our lives, feeling like there's something missing, something more out there that we were created to be a part of. There is a power that we need and will never feel quite right until we connect with it. Once we do make that connection, the impossible can indeed become the possible and we can defeat darkness and bust the chains of bondage that we never had a chance against before. It's a universal story with a universal truth and why something that similar has a universal appeal.

But there are some differences. The power is not a mixture of light and dark. He is good. He is love. It is not some omnipresent part of creation. He is alive and creator of all. The miracles and victories don't come when we use the force, but rather when we surrender and allow the Force to use us/ It's not for a select few with certain types of blood but for all who will turn toward God and say yes to the call of relationship. Surrendered to this Power there is nothing that we can't do if it's His will that we do it. There is nothing that can defeat us when we are walking with Him. No chain that can hold us. Because through Him and by Him and for Him was everything made that was made, and without Him, we can do nothing. 

Unshackled Moments ~ May 3 ~ Venerating Our Neighbor

sacred / adjective: connected with God or dedicated to a religious/spiritual purpose and so deserving veneration.

connected / verb past tense or past participle: 1. brought together or into contact so that a real link is established. 2. Joined together so as to provide access and communication. 3. Linked to a power or water supply.

veneration / noun great respect; reverence.

The people we encounter are our neighbors. Jesus made that clear when He told the story of the good Samaritan in answer to the very question of who is our neighbor. We think of the Bible, churches, certain rites and relics as being sacred, but the truth is that the most sacred things in our lives after the presence of an indwelling God is in fact our neighbor, those we encounter...our family, friends, enemies and strangers at the gate.

The very Word of God that spoke creation into being took on flesh and became a man. Jesus died and rose again so that we could be brought into contact in such a way that a real link is established for access to, communication and relationship with the Ultimate Power supply, the Living Water, the Creator of all and One True God. God paid a costly price for the chance to connect with you. That means that you and I are of great value to Him. So is the guy who cut you off in traffic and the woman who blocked the aisle at Wal-Mart, and the unbeliever whose actions spit in the face of everything that we hold dear. Those are all people that God values so much He suffered and died for the chance of connection, in hopes that they will one day respond to His love. Anyone the God of the universe values so highly is worthy of our great respect.

If we claim to follow Jesus we have no right to treat any person we encounter as though they are worthless and have no value. When we treat a person as though they are nothing and should be discarded we are saying that Christ came and died for nothing. To follow Jesus we are to obey Him and do as He did. What did He do? He died for people who could never deserve it, who by human standards would never be worth such a price. What did He command? Love.

Lord, let Your will reign in my life. Rule over my reactions to others. Help me to respond to those I encounter, even those who offend, irritate and hurt me with Your love and treat them as though they have great value, because Your actions prove that they do. Thank You for assigning all of us such worth. Amen.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 2 ~ Open Minded

The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it’s open.

This is a popular saying, and there is some truth in it, but today it occurred to me that before accepting or dismissing such analogies I should carry it through. The idea behind this analogy seems obvious. If a person has to leave an aircraft while it's in the air, they need a parachute, and it doesn't work if it's not opened.

But let's go a step further and stipulate that it would be opened. Then what? Once opened, the canopy is released to catch the wind, but the lines that attach it to the person do more than just tie the two together. The lines restrict the canopy. The force the material into a certain shape so that it will work as intended and bring the user safely to the ground. If the chute is not restricted upon opening it won't catch the wind right and the resulting fall will likely end in death.

Yes, our minds are like parachutes and work better when opened, but let's not be so open minded that we plummet to destruction. The truth acts as a restricting line to the canopy of an open mind. With it, our open mind can be guided by the wind of the Spirit to soar safely in love, but without it we free fall until we are broken.

Unshackled Moments ~ May 1 ~ Life As A Motorcycle Wreck

I put in a full day's work and felt tired but satisfied. The anticipation of soon being  home with my wife made me smile. I sent her a text and told her that I'd be heading home shortly, and the Holy Spirit impressed upon her the need to pray for my motorcycle ride home. She responded with obedience and concern. With obedience she prayed for me. Out of concern she returned my text that read, "I love you. Be safe."

I have learned to trust my wife's response to the feelings that the Spirit gives her and heeded her wishes for me to be careful. For the record I am generally a careful rider. There was a time that wasn't true. I was the daredevil adrenaline junkie blowing past cars at high speeds, pushing the boundaries of physics negotiating turns, threading the needle between cars and weaving in and out of traffic, But these days I actually have a life worth living without having to be on the edge of disaster to feel alive. In addition to that, I care if I live or die too. So today, I don't ride like a 20 year old with a death wish or an idiot who feels like I'm immortal. But after Leah's text I rode home with a little extra care.

I left my headphones in my pocket and rode without the distraction of the music I normally ride to. I took the route home that normally has the least amount of traffic and that I feel the most comfortable taking it easy and riding a little slower. Almost home, on the little black topped county road that leads to my house, I caught a flash of brown movement out of the corner of my eye. Less than a second later, before I could react, a doe bolted in front of me. It's not a good thing when a deer steps out in front of the car you're driving, but when you're on a motorcycle instead of in a car, it will really make your navel pucker.

I down shifted through the gears, making my engine scream but aiding the brakes in slowing the bike as quickly as possible while maintaining stability and keeping the bike up. Unfortunately I couldn't miss the deer and stay on the road. Not hitting the deer seemed more important than staying out of the ditch. But going into a ditch on a motorcycle is also not a great plan to stay safe and upright.

When the tires left the black top and hit the pine straw mulch I lost traction and actually increased speed.  A voice inside my head screamed, "Pine tree! Pine tree! Pine tree!" There wasn't much chance of getting stopped in time. I released the front brake and locked up the back wheel. The rear end went out from under me and the bike went down. Instinct and the understanding of what happens when you get a leg trapped under a sliding motorcycle made me kick my left leg off the peg and move my body over to the right side of the bike.

When the deer moved onto the road in front of me, the situation moved out of my control. But in that split second there were still things I could do the down shifting, swerving, braking and getting in best position for the slide described above. But at that point the bike went down, things were completely out of my control. There was nothing I could do to even attempt to control the uncontrollable. I was along for the ride. Adrenaline flooded my system as my fear leveled up.

We don't like feeling out of control. Life being out of control is a constant. Control is an illusion. Normal day to day living is as out of control as the couple of seconds between my seeing the deer and going down. It's out of control, but  there are things we can do to effect and direct things, to try to control the uncontrollable, because we need to maintain the illusion of control and to prevent the horrible feeling of not having control, to keep from facing that frightening truth that although we can effect things slightly here and there, there are times in life when we are simply along for the ride. What is, is. What will be will be. And there's nothing we can about it. It's frightening and frustrating. The more we try to hang onto control the more we realize that we have none and the more miserable, sickening, confusing and frustrating life can feel.

The bike came to a sudden stop, flinging me off. I sailed over the first part of the ditch and slammed into the embankment on the far side. No bones broke. Nothing seriously damaged at all. I had a miracle happen in answer to my wife's faithful obedience to pray. I could have easily been seriously hurt or killed. But my point is not my miracle, but rather that we can receive prayer that works, heed warnings and take care, follow directions and guidelines, do the right and safe things and still find ourselves in the middle of dangerous and potentially destructive situations that we have no hope of controlling.

So the issue is not do we surrender control of our life to God or keep it for ourselves. We can't control life. We can however surrender our desire for control. When we surrender the need to try to control life, the desire to control life, to God we stop trying to tweak things and give full maneuverability to the only One who can control life, the universe and everything. The situation may not change, but we can have peace and joy despite the circumstances when we learn to trust God and stop fighting for control that's forever out of reach anyway. Learning to accept God's control and stop trying to guide and tweak life has not been an easy lesson for me, and sometimes, usually when a metaphorical deer steps out in front of me and I'm afraid, I fail. But I have found that the more I let God have it and just do my best to stay in His will the more joy, peace and love I experience and the less anger and fear, regardless of the situation, circumstances and wrecks of life.