Unshackled Moments ~ March 31, 2017 ~ Distance

After the garden, the disciples deserted Jesus and ran. Scripture says they all fled, even John who showed up at the cross with Mary. But Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the courtyard of the High Priest and went in to see what would happen. He initially ran and hid, but then he somewhat returned. He followed at a distance. He wanted to be close enough to see what was going on, but not so close as to be associated with his friend who was now a prisoner. In a short while after standing with a sword by the side of Jesus turned into following at a distance, Peter denied he knew Jesus as at all.

It's amazing to me that Jesus would go out of His way after the resurrection to find Peter and restore that relationship. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think what Peter did caused more pain than the desertion of the rest of the disciples. I put it right up there with Judas' kiss. I know I'm not much like Jesus without a lot of grace, so perhaps Jesus didn't feel that way at all, but what Peter did would have crushed me.

I remember a friend coming up to me at the start of the summer my freshman year of high school. We were going to be doing some things, group trips, going to the lake and some educational but interesting things parents thought would be fun, together with some other kids ages 14-18. My friend came to me to let me know not to take it personally if he didn't talk to me or hang out with me if anyone was around. He at least had the guts to tell me that I didn't fit the image he wanted to project. So, the friendship ended. I guess I did take it personally, because I don't remember ever seeing him again after that summer.

Peter wasn't trying to be whatever was his concept of cool when he distanced himself from Jesus. He was trying to stay out of prison. He didn't want to be charged with whatever crimes that they were going to say Jesus did. Peter probably wasn't the first person to swear to his friend that he had his back and would stay down even to prison and even to death who bailed when the cops showed up. I know he wasn't the last. And those were extreme circumstances. As much as I want to condemn ol' Pete for denying Christ, when it comes to relationship with the Messiah, I have far too often followed at a distance, not out of fear of arrest like Peter, but more like the once friend who bailed on me.

Jesus didn't fit in with the life I wanted to live and the image I wanted to project. I didn't want to be associated too much with Christ because I feared the opinions of those who thought Jesus just a little too much, too extreme. Spirituality was OK and one thing, but let's not get carried away. And then there is also the understanding that it can be hard to be associated closely with someone whose reputation and image you can't live up to. When they see I am not much like my friend will I be seen as a someone learning to walk with God or just another hypocrite? Isn't it better and easier just to keep quiet, not draw attention to my relationship with Jesus than to perhaps push people away when I fall short of the perfect love of Christ?

For so many reasons isn't it better to follow Jesus with some distance? After all, faith is a personal thing, and there's no reason for everyone to know my business. If we stay friends maybe someday, if they ask, I can manage not to actually deny like Peter, but why should I put my faith on display?

Well, two reasons. First, we're not being a friend when we don't. And I'm not talking about not being a friend of Jesus, but of the friends and acquaintances that we're trying to fit in with and be accepted by,  If someone you knew were dying and you had a friend who could and would save their life, wouldn't a friend introduce the two of them? But the other reason is selfish.

Following Jesus at a distance doesn't work. We are no better than the disciples. We all fail. We fall short. We are all crappy friends to Christ at times. But when we flee from the garden, we need to be more like John who returned and got close enough to talk to the Lord at the foot of the cross. If we try to follow at a distance, like Peter, we will soon deny Him, if not with our words than with our deeds. Because the only way we can walk with Jesus and like Jesus is to get so close to Him that we begin taking on His characteristics and become more and more like Him. The greater the distance between us and Him, the more self rises up, and the more we break His heart and say by our life that we never knew Him.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 30, 2017 ~ Charge Up

I remember making a compass as a boy.  Maybe you've done the same. It's not that hard. All that is needed is a cup of water, a cork, a needle and a magnet. The magnet is very important, because it is used to charge the needle. Without charging the needle it won't respond to the earth's magnetic pull and point north.

These homemade compasses are temporary. They aren't like a compass that can be bought and brought out once or twice a year for a camping trip and always point true north. The biggest factor to how well and how long they work is the strength of the magnet used to charge the needle. The stronger the magnet, the better the charge, and the more accurate and longer the compass functions. But after a while, the needle begins losing its charge and the compass stops working. Then there is a choice, set it aside or charge the needle again. If you're just playing around or doing a science experiment, I guess it doesn't matter much. But if you need a compass to survive, you better whip out the magnet and get to charging that needle before you get lost. And pay attention to when the needle starts losing its charge so that you don't get off course as the charge fades.

There are times when we are like that compass. We determine at the start of the day to keep our minds focused on things above, on loving God and loving others, on service, on doing our earthly tasks but also being aware of our call to do the will of God, etc. And then before we get out of the driveway, we're distracted and we've lost focus. Our relationship with Daddy isn't even on our radar anymore, much less in our thoughts. Or perhaps we've determined to spend a season, such as Lent, specifically and extra focused on relationship with Daddy. But by the time the days are half gone, the drive to go deeper has dwindled and we are just ready to get back to our regular life. Whether the set season was for a week or a month or 40 days, we wonder why we chose such a long period, because we don't seem to be getting much out of it any longer.

We have a daily reprieve from self, from the bondage we have been set free from, and that reprieve is contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Today is the day of salvation and the day that we are called to set aside self, take up our cross and follow Jesus. But in order to follow Jesus and not be pulled to one side or the other, we must be attuned to Him. God is our true north. His will, His plan, His love are always to be what guides our thoughts and actions. As long as we stay on course, we will be of maximum service to Him and others and not fall back into the bondage of self. But if the needle of our heart is not charged, then our compass is weak, or doesn't work at all. The waves from the cup being shaken send us spinning off course. The pull of the the things around us begin to have more influence on our needle than the signal from the pole of God's purpose,

This is not when we give up. This is not when we beat ourselves up or call ourselves failures. Like the disciples who couldn't even pray an hour, we feel we failed to finish what we started. But God wants to walk with us, desires to display His love for us and His power on our behalf. He is not waiting to condemn and punish us for not being charged well or long enough, and He doesn't want us to punish ourselves or quit because the charge doesn't last as long as we feel it should.  When the charge dwindles is not the time to stop or set anything aside. Rather it is time to pause and charge the needle. Whip out the spiritual magnet of prayer and meditation and charge our heart so that it begins once more seeking out the will of Daddy and contact with Him rather than seeking to please and satisfy self.

You may have to charge that needle up every five minutes to get through a day pointed where He wants us to go, at least at first. But the more we walk in His will, the more sensitive to His pull on our hearts we become. And the more we use that magnet, the stronger it gets and the better we charge. Before you know it, you'll be able to keep charging throughout the day without stopping or being distracted by the duties and responsibilities of the day. We can follow Jesus, but only if we know the direction we need to go, and to keep from getting of course and lost in self, we must stay sensitive to the pull of God on our hearts. Stay charged, not by determination or will, but by frequent contact with the Source of the charge.

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.

Jesus Lived For Us

Dalyn Woodard shares a message from Isaiah 53 on how Jesus did more than just come and die for us. The message,  "Jesus Lived For Us," is about 40 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 29, 2017 ~ Deeper Than Actions

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

- Galatians 5:22-23

If you are anything like me, Dear Reader, you most likely think of the list of the fruits of the Spirit as verbs. Love is a verb, and it requires action. If there is no action, it isn't love The rest of these also fit that, especially if mentally you read it or understand it as being. As in the fruit of the Spirit is being loving, being joyful, being peaceful, being longsuffering, being kind, being good, being faithful, being gentle, and being self controlling or self disciplined. But looking at them like this can mess us up.

Part of trying to manage and control our life is manipulating perception. We wear masks. We try to present ourselves as we wish we were or in such a way to make people think and feel about us the way we wish they would. It's the idea of if you want to b kind, act kind. If you want to be good, act good. Control the surface to change the core. Fake it till you make it. And it doesn't work. It's the exact mistake the Pharisees made, and Jesus called them on it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

- Matthew 23:25-28

Faking it won't ever help us make it. Changing the surface will not touch the core. The problem is that we are as powerless to clean and change our heart as we are to set ourselves free and give ourselves life. The key to the passage we started with in Galatians is that it begins with the fruit of the Spirit is,.. It doesn't say the fruit or result of really desiring to walk with God is.... Nor that the result of trying with all your might and determination is.... It doesn't even say that the result of practice and continuing to try and never giving up on becoming who you want to be is.... It is the fruit or result of the Spirit of God being in control of our lives and not living for or in the power of our self is...

And that is why I think that it is better not to look at the list that follows the declaration that these are a result of submission to or being controlled and empowered by the Spirit of God as actions as much as attitudes. What? Jesus said that we have it backwards. Don't worry about cleaning up the outside, but rather clean the heart. Clean and change the core and the surface will be clean also. That's because we are not acting or being loving, joyful, etc. If we try to do and be these things we will fail because we can't make ourselves something that we are not. But when we are changed and empowered to walk differently by the Spirit, then the heart is changed. Our attitude, our nature, our new spirit's natural inclination is love, love toward God and others.

I know they have these manipulated, grafted trees that bear multiple kinds of fruit, but that will never happen naturally. A tree only bears one kind of fruit, and the fruit of the tree of life in the Spirit is love. That's why Paul says the fruit is rather than the fruits are. If we have, are and walk in that first fruit of love, then those other attitudes and fruits are there as well because they are attributes of a life defined by and ruled by love.

There is no joy without love, but, when we are in love, joy overcomes being broke, being sick and any other hardship. When we realize that God loves us and how much He really loves us and respond to that love by falling in love with Him, we have joy that the circumstances of life can't steal or kill. Because of love we can have an attitude of peace. We can be and know we are at peace with God and His will for us. We do not have to protect ourselves and our rights from the abuse of others but can be at peace with people because no matter what they do we have at our core the attitude of love toward them. That loves leads to laying down our life and pouring out for them instead of retaliation. Longsuffering is next, and I love this word much more than the word patience that is used in some translations. Longsuffering is having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people. It's not that it isn't patience or isn't being patient or isn't having patience, but it is patience beyond ease and comfort. When that person is giving you trouble, being annoying, making life difficult and miserable, we can still remain patient. That's only possible when we aren't acting patient but instead truly are patient with that person, and that is only possible when we are motivated and ruled by love rather than self. I'm not going to continue with the entire list, because I think you can see what I mean, but I do want to touch on the last one, self control, before I close.

When you see self control as an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, don't look at it as controlling self or self discipline. The reason the fruit is there is because we are not in control. We are surrendered to God and guided, controlled and empowered by the Spirit. It's not that we learn to control our self as much as our self is finally under God's control. By grace we are able to surrender our will, our self, to sacrifice self and lay self down in favor of God's nature, will, desire, etc. This is made clear in the verse after the list:

24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

If we belong to God, if we are surrendered to Him, our flesh or self, our carnal nature, is not only controlled but executed. It is crucified. And this too is a natural characteristic of a life whose heart or core has been transformed by and made into and motivated by love. When our self nature is sacrificed and replaced by a heart of love for God and others then selfishness is naturally controlled.

But we can't create love. We can't change ourselves from selfish jerks to people who love God and others. And acting like we love others when we don't won't help us love them. It's manipulation. But the love of God for us caused Him to do everything that was necessary to change our very nature and character, to give us an attitude of love that determines our actions and motivations no matter what may come, regardless of circumstances or what others do and how they treat us. So because of a true hear of love, the result of a life given to God in response to His love, we have a life characterized or described by love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And there is no law against any of that, because love is the law of Christ.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 28, 2017 ~ Qualifying Scars

In Love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve.

- Brennan Manning, Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

Being wounded sucks. That was deep. Thank you , Captain Obvious. I know. It's ridiculous to have to state such a simple truth, but we need to remember that while it is true that being wounded sucks, it is also helpful to us and others. We can wish that it wasn't so, but wishing won't change it. Being wounded qualifies us for service. Spiritual life is different than military life where being wounded gets you sent home. In spiritual life, being wounded is the preparation for duty.

We want to avoid it, the suffering and injury that makes us wounded servants. We want to be healed and restored so instantly and completely that we can't even remember the pain, like it is all just a fading dream. We don't want anyone to be able to look at us and see the scars. But if we want to be like Jesus, it is our scars, our stripes from the scourging of life, that bring healing to those we would serve and help.

I have seen vets post the story of a soldier in a pit suffering from the trauma of war with PTSD who has an officer, a psychiatrist and a preacher come by unable to really help. A fellow soldier jumps into the hole with the broken soldier and, when the man who is stuck asks why he did it since now they are both in the hole, he says it's OK, I know the way out. This story of the man in the hole was first told with an alcoholic in the pit and a fellow drunk showing the way of escape. I have also seen it with addicts. It can be told many ways, because there are all kinds of suffering and woundings that the best help comes from those who have been there too.

I have felt what you are feeling. I have struggled with those thoughts and fears and emotions. I have been in the hopeless Valley of the Shadow you're walking through. I know the way of escape, or at least enduring with increase. 

Enduring with increase? Sometimes we can't escape, can't avoid, can't end or shorten the suffering, but we can go through it, endure it, in such a way as to increase in strength instead of weaken, increase in peace instead of confusion and fear, increase in love instead of bitterness, anger and hate, even increase in joy instead of despairing of life, and most of all, increase in relationship with Daddy instead of being stuck in the pit alone.

If there were never storms, we'd never see how God could take us through them. Even when our ship is busted into a thousand pieces, He can give life and protect our life and use our wreck to minister to the folks on the shore who can't believe we made it. When we're trying to get warm from the cold waters of the deep we were just pulled out of and a viper bites us, causing all the witnesses to say that God must really be mad at us and out to get us, we can shake the snake into the fire and say, no that's not what God is doing. Let me tell you about the One who comforts and loves and frees and restores, even when it looks like life is and will continue to be hell on earth, He made it worth living. See, what should have killed me didn't, and there is more to life than avoiding shipwreck and being bit.

Through our tears and sorrows and questions, our weaknesses take us to the place of reliance upon the One who is strong and has the power. If we never experienced hopelessness, we'd never know that we need hope, that we need someone to save us. If we were never wounded, we would never realize that we are dying without Him. And if we couldn't share that experience, strength and hope, if we couldn't display our scars and say, yes, I've been bitten and beaten and cut to the core as well, we could never point to the One who is our hope.

Now, I am not saying that only an alcoholic can help an alcoholic and only a soldier can help a soldier, like the story says. While there is some truth that the more closely our wounds relate to another the more we can help that person, there is more to it than that. The truth is that empathy alone is not enough, and I am as powerless to help and save you as I am to help and save myself. The soldier, the rape victim, the junkie and the drunk, the broken in whatever way, only God can save, only God can restore, and only God can give life that's worth living and so amazingly abundant that it can be given away. Those with the same scars can point the way to the Savior we all need, but we can't heal one another.

Still, I can't be as effective a help to someone who is watching their child wander in brokenness and playing the prodigal while it seems God doesn't hear the prayers on their behalf. I've never been there. I can point to my parents and say that they had to endure and pray for decades before they saw the fruit of that in my life, and they had to watch me OD, and go to prison, and want to die, and.....before they saw life. But I can't say that I've been in that parent's shoes. My mom and dad though can encourage that parent not to give up hope in a way that I can't.

That doesn't mean that I can't identify with caring for someone, fearing for someone, praying for someone without seeing immediate results. That doesn't mean that I can't point to the truth that Jesus is the answer, but someone else may be able to help that person more, while I can be most effective in the lives of those who have walked a road similar to mine, causing similar wounds and similar scars.

What I can't do, and what you can't do either, is walk through life without being wounded. And while we can be healed and restored and given a life that even death can't take away, we don't lose our scars. Even Jesus kept His scars after resurrection. Our scars identify us as people who have lived, who have experienced the misery and wounding of life, and as people who know there is One who heals. Don't regret your scars. They are the hope for the dying who can't yet see the Great Physician until they see His work.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 27, 2017 ~ There Are No Strings On Me

Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer. thus they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

- Psalm 109:1-5

King David, who wrote the  above Psalm,experienced a lot of this kind of thing. Most, if not all of us have experienced this as well, but no one has gone through this to the extent and in the manner that Christ has. Gone through what? That unjust attack. The slander. Those folks who, for whatever reason, talk bad about you, belittle you, bully you, criticize you, etc., even though you haven't done anything to them. Usually we don't stay around people who do that to us or keep them in our lives long.

Unless we're stuck. School, work,and unfortunately home can become places of stress and anxiety if someone is putting us down, attacking us verbally, and taking our kindness as weakness to be used against us. Our natural inclination when in this situation is to cut the bully out of our life. But when we can't, the natural instinct is to get even. Even if we can't get even because we are too weak or afraid to rise up against the person, we fantasize about retaliating and let the fires of anger rage within.

It's the way we are wired. We like people who like us. We don't like people who don't like us. We are kind to and care about people who are kind to and care about us, and we hate the people who are mean to us, unkind to us, use and abuse us, even when part of us loves them too. And we either retaliate against their mistreatment or push down the anger until it eats us up inside or we explode. What we don't naturally do is the key to freedom from the anger and resentment that is born of having our love and kindness taken advantage of and getting abuse and hate in return.

The key is verse four. In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer. It's not the natural response, but prayer is the best response to the pain of being treated wrongly and unfairly. First, the God of all comfort has great arms to run to when we are hurting. There is no better refuge from the pain of being mistreated than the heart of God, who came and allowed Himself to be mistreated to the point of death, even though He didn't do anything wrong at all, for us. Jesus understands what it feels like when we are in this situation. We can turn to Him for comfort and refuge.

But more than just a place to run for protection and comfort, prayer is the key to freeing ourselves from the poison of anger and resentment that hurts us more than the person it is directed towards. That junk that ruins our peace and has us going through our day focused on our enemies and the pain they've caused us. We have inadvertently given our enemy complete control over our life, as our thoughts, imaginations, actions and reactions are all about them and what they did to us, even if we aren't around them anymore and they haven't thought about us in years. We become puppets on the strings of fear and anger, fear we will be used and hurt again and anger over what happened. But when we follow the instruction in Matthew to pray for those who mistreat us and bless those that curse us, we can find freedom from the puppet strings.

When we pray a blessing on those we have cause to curse, and ask God to help, heal and forgive those who mistreat us, it breaks the cycle of fear and anger and resentment and retaliation. It purges us of the poison that makes us puppets. It cuts our strings. We come, through prayer and grace, to a place where we can see that they were wrong because they are spiritually sick and need help. They hurt us, but God can heal us and them. They were wrong, but we don't need justice. We can extend the mercy that we have been given when we were wrong and ask God to forgive them and draw them to Himself. We can ask God to give them the blessings that we desire for ourselves.

When we pray for those we resent on a regular basis, even if we don't completely mean what we pray at first, we find the resentment being released as our obedience allows the Spirit of Love to begin to change our hearts toward that person and we are set free. Our resentment is no longer the Puppet Master in our life. God cuts our strings and gives us life and freedom.  But we can not have that freedom and life while being bound by the anger and fear that being misused and abused causes. Even justified anger controls us and refuses takes us to a place of joy, peace and love.

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.

Leave Our Past At The Cross

Wally Flynt on our past, present and future and the joy we have that God could and  does love us so very much. The reminder of the cost of such great love is one of the great joys of communion The message,  Leave Our Past At The Cross, is about 4 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, March 26, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

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 ~ March 25, 2017 ~ Praising In The Storm

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 20, 2013 as Praising In The Storm.

I was sure by now,

God would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen," and it's still raining

- Praise You In The Storm Casting Crowns

We do not have to live within the confines of our circumstances. What is happening to us and around us in the material world does not have to control what happens within us and in the spiritual realm, which is where we truly live. We can learn to overcome and live unbattered by the winds of the storms in our lives by focusing on Jesus. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus and off the circumstances causing pain and fear, we find the love and presence of the One who has been there and walked through that.

Trouble and distress are a part of this life, and if we are not living in the spirit then fear becomes a corrosive thread that ties the two together and stitches them to our minds and emotions. Without God there is no escape. 

There is escape through Christ. But escape doesn't always mean that the storm is going to end or that we'll find a place of shelter where we no longer feel the wind and the rain. Escape is found in the presence of Jesus, in walking through the storm knowing His hand is there to protect us, even though the storm continues to rage all around us, we are no longer afraid, it doesn't make us turn to another road, and we don't stop moving forward. When we keep going and the storm does not effect the condition of our lives except to make us squeeze the hand of God a little tighter and lean into Him for support, then not only have we escaped the destruction that the storm could have done, but we have grown because of it, and found it to become a blessing that brought us closer to our father.

We can face trouble with joy and peace, or as Jesus put it, good cheer. As we sit in prayer and meditation in the presence of the Lord, He shines peace into our troubled minds, hearts, and emotions. "And the things on earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." In the presence of God, we are freed from earthly shackles and lifted above our circumstances and the storms of life.

When we live spiritually in the presence of God and in relationship with Him, we gain His perspective on life and the storms we face. We see what is temporary and what is eternal. We find a better understanding of what is critical. We find rest and receive joy that can not be blown away by the storms of life or the people around us.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. 

- John 16:33 NKJV

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 24, 2017 ~ More On The Rs

Wednesday night I preached a message called The Only R That Matters. The R that matters being relationship, relationship with Jesus. The Rs that don't work to make any real, lasting change or give life are Resolution, Restriction, Rules, Relief and Religion. Resolution, or will power, can not set us free from the sin, bondage, addictions, etc. that we are slaves to. Restriction, or controlling self through discipline, won't work either. The fact that we have all fallen short of perfect adherence to the law proves that rules won't make us do what's right. Relief, or gratitude, won't keep us from ruining a second or a hundredth chance. And religion without relationship can not give freedom or life.

There's more to it, but that's the theme. I share the above in case you missed it and don't wish to, have the time to or whatever, listen to the message itself, and so that you'll understand why I'm hitting those Rs again. Something is bothering me about the message. No, I don't believe I got anything wrong, except perhaps the title. The truth is that there is no lasting, real freedom without surrender to Jesus, and there is no life outside of Him. So there is a truth that nothing matters without relationship with Jesus. But I am uncomfortable with the idea that the title I used for what I feel is an important message may give the idea that there is no purpose or place in life for the other Rs. They do matter after all. They simply can't and won't work on their own, apart from God.

But that doesn't mean that they don't have a purpose, a value and aren't important in any way or at all. Each of the Rs that don't give life, that can't make real and permanent change, that can't set us free, etc. on their own do still have a purpose and a place in our lives. Jesus had a resolve to do what the Father called and told Him to do. He had restriction or discipline. He obeyed and honored the rules of God, even as He disregarded and rebuked the rules that men added. He never had relief over a second chance to do it right Himself, since He didn't screw up, fail or sin, but He did live with a thankful heart and rejoiced over our opportunity to have new life, another chance to walk with God and restoration of our relationship with our Creator. And we like to say things like it's relationship not religion, and those of us who have been hurt by religion or had religion fail us like to think that Jesus wasn't religious. But Jesus was religious and lived His religion every day, ever moment of His life when you look at the definition of religion.

Religion is defined as 1. the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Jesus most certainly had that. While He rejected the belief of gods, especially us as our own god, He believed completely and lived for relationship with the One God who made us all; 2.. a particular system of faith and worship. and Jesus had that since His entire life was an example of faith in and worship of the Father; and 3. a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. and Jesus places so much importance, pursuit, and interest on the will of the Father that He made it clear that nothing, not even continuing to breathe was more important and that He did nothing and said nothing outside of the Father's will for Him to say and do.

Oxygen alone won't give us life or keep us alive. If all we do is breathe we'll die of thirst. Water won't give or keep life either. You must  have nourishment and air. Food without air and hydration...,  well, you get the idea. There are numerous factors that are important to continuing life, and we need them. But if you take them all and provide them all, that won't give life. I have air, food, water and more in my kitchen, but life is not sprouting up. God creates and gives life. None of what helps sustain it matters without the life that He first gives. But just because God gives me life and it can't be maintained without Him doesn't mean that I don't need to breathe, drink water, eat food, etc.

We do need resolve to surrender and stay surrendered to God. We need restriction of the self as we release the freedom of the new spirit in us. We need the rule of love God and others and don't do that which is unloving. We need relief and a grateful,thankful heart that we have new life and God gives us the power to walk in it. And yes, we need to believe in the God we give our will and lives to, we need to practice faith in and worship of Him, and we need to have both pursuit and interest in the supreme importance of relationship with our Creator and in our service to Him. In other words we need religion. These things enhance and help sustain the new life that we have been given. They are important and matter in that sense. But like air and other essentials, they can not nor will not give life on their own or apart from the life giving relationship with God. Outside the R of relationship, they do not matter, and neither does anything else. But within the life of relationship they are important and have purpose.

It's important for me to remember that. I can't get so focused on the truth that life is from, because of and in God that I forget to breathe, eat, drink etc. I need the little r aspects of life to help me live in the big R of relationship. I can't concentrate on any one of them as more important than relationship, nor look to any of them for the life that only relationship gives, but I still need them. And so do you.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 23, 2017 ~ I Can't Forgive That

It is impossible for me to go through this time of year without thinking about forgiveness. After all, the point of Lent is to remember and meditate on the suffering of Christ for us, in our place, all that He went through. And how can we think about what Jesus endured without thinking about a broken, bloody dying man taking our place of execution and uttering those most famous lines on the subject, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do? It's mind blowing.

It is something so hard to wrap the mind around because I can't do it. Most people I know who get honest about the real stuff, the hard stuff, the stuff that has shredded us, can't do it. Forgiveness is not hard. It's impossible. The forgiveness that matters, anyway. The forgiveness that frees us from the anguish, bitterness, misery and poison of resentment. Resentment, to feel again, over and over. To think you've gotten past it, over it, survived it, and then something reminds you and the heart feels the pins of the past pierce it, the lungs forget to take in air, the stomach twists and turns, the pressure behind the eyes builds, the neck stiffens, the jaw clenches, the anger blooms and you might as well be in a time machine emotionally experiencing the trauma all over. You crumble into despair. Or you explode, striking out at the one who hurt you, or whoever is handy. Or is that all just me?

Maybe that's not you, Dear Reader. I hope it's not, because if it isn't, then I suspect that you have been spared. Spared the brutality. Spared the kind of trauma that causes terror in the night and the day. Someone teased you once on a second Tuesday of the week when you were seven, and you had to work for years to learn to forgive that bully who embarrassed you once. I'm not trying to make light  or fun. If the things that you had to learn to forgive were the not really that harsh variety, that's good, but you do need to forgive them. It's still not easy or natural. We can stew and steam all day because someone stole our parking place at Wal-Mart, and it can eat us up with anger. That's little. There's nothing traumatic about it. It wasn't even personal. But the anger we hold onto and use to power us through the day can kill us if we don't learn to forgive and let that crap go.

But that's not what I am talking about here.  I'm talking about the stuff that isn't let goable. I'm looking at the stuff that is evil and unforgivable. The stuff that changes the very essence of who you are. I can't forgive everything. I can't forgive what is unforgivable. That is the very definition of the word unforgivable.

un·for·giv·a·ble -ˌənfərˈɡivəb(ə)l: adjective; so bad as to be unable to be forgiven or excused. synonyms: inexcusable, unpardonable, unjustifiable, indefensible.

The page I copied the above from had a horrible example with that definition, "losing your temper with him was unforgivable." Isn't that ridiculous?! Losing your temper with him was unforgivable is only true if him was a tiny baby that you shook to death for crying. Yeah, I think shaking your baby to death is in that unforgivable category. Some other things and people that I have found it impossible to forgive include, but are not limited to the two men who beat and raped me when I was 15, the lawyer who promised me that if I took the plea bargain being offered I would do four, maybe five, years of the eight years that they wanted me to agree to and not the seven and a half I did/ He stole two and a half years from me. That same lawyer for not realizing or caring that they charged me wrong and at least getting that changed so that I would have had the option in two more years to get some rights back that I have now lost for life. All the people who got my hopes up about parole the second to the last time, telling me that I was sure to be sent home and not receive the two-year set off I got. The man who tried to rape me in prison. The Aryan Brotherhood. The guards who abused their power and were as cruel as inmates. Being falsely accused of a crime and even arrested for it, starting the trauma all over again. Those who claimed to believe that I was innocent but treated me like I was guilty. People who refuse to let the past eight years matter more than the mistakes I made over 15 years ago. The preachers and people in the church that made a little boy believe that God hated him. The religious folks who held me to a higher standard than the other children because my dad was a preacher. Drunks who get behind the wheel and kill innocent children. A man sexually abusing a little tiny girl not big enough to ride a bicycle and then telling her that if she told anyone he'd kill her and killing her puppy to prove his sincerity. I still have days when I want to go end that guy. There are a few people in the list above that I have days where I would love to really make them suffer or send them to hell where they belong. Those angry days are hard.

Then there are the things that I can't forgive done by the guy I did try to kill, more than once. Sometimes it's easier to forgive the horrors and evil of others than it is to forgive myself. How am I supposed to forgive myself for the destruction to my own life and others? I can't forgive blowing up the bridges of relationship and giving my brothers just cause to hate me. I can't  seem to truly forgive the damage I've done by confusing sexuality and physical closeness with acceptance, by allowing the fear of rejection to cause me to reject, belittle and bully others, by rejecting and hurting people I liked because I was ashamed of how others treated me and teased me for it...basically for treating people horribly wrong for all the wrong reasons. I find it unforgivable to have allowed my brokenness to take my ability to control myself and breaking the hearts of those who cared for me and who I cared for. I believed the lies that God didn't care for and love me, and my reactions to those lies made me run into the depths of hell drenched in gasoline, courting death. I can't forgive that. I blamed God for the actions and hearts of people who were as unable to walk in love as I am, and I can't forgive that foolishness.

Oh goodness I could go on and on. There's quite a list of things done to me that I can't forgive, and there's an even bigger list of things I've done that I know I don't deserve forgiveness for. Maybe you have such a list. Maybe you, like me, have experienced things that absolutely can never be made right and the very idea of forgiving them is an insult and offensive because of the damage. But then, that's the point of forgiveness. It's not about what is deserved. That's called justice. And to tell someone that they should forgive the unforgivable is so unfair and wrong. It's like saying learn to breathe underwater. We're simply not capable. And no amount of seeing and understanding the benefits of breathing underwater will enable us to grow gills. Likewise, no amount of seeing and understanding that the poison of the past is killing us, no amount of fear and misery felt by reliving the trauma of life repeatedly, no amount of desire to let go and be merciful can erase the heart's demand for justice and make forgiving the impossible to forgive possible. It can't be done.

Just like setting ourselves free can't be done. A true addict and a real alcoholic can never quit long under their own power. We can't stop being selfish. We can't love unselfishly, expecting or needing nothing in return. We can't love our enemies and embrace those that hurt us and used us. We can't change ourselves from people who sin to people who never do. We can't put our pieces back together as though we were never broken. We can't....goodness, there is so much that we can not do, and it boils down to we can not be like Jesus. The only person I can be like is me, and I'm a broken, trashed mess who hurts himself and others, who wants mercy, gentleness, comfort, solace, healing and yes, forgiveness, for myself, in spite of what I deserve while desires nothing but justice and payback for what others deserve.

And that is what amazes me so much about the love and forgiveness Christ offers. The one person who ever lived who truly didn't deserve any of the bad that happened to Him endured the pain and brutality and betrayal and rejection of humanity to satisfy justice, because someone had to pay. Justice demands blood. He did it out of love for me, knowing I didn't deserve it and never would. Knowing that I would agree wholeheartedly with the law that said I deserve to die but would wish to live, He came to make that possible. And when my evil and my sin caused the breaking of His heart and body, even caused His death, He forgave me and paid my debt. And He did the same for you.

It's His power that gives us the power to become like Him, to love God and others, to walk free from the things that enslaved us, to choose what's loving and right over what's wrong, and it is His power, His heart, His love, that makes it possible to forgive. It's not us. We can't make ourselves like Jesus. With us, no matter how spiritual we get, it is impossible. But with God, the impossible for us becomes possible. We can forgive the unforgivable because relationship with Him gives Him the opportunity to do the forgiving. It's the love of God that gives life to the dead, that pays the debt of justice and makes new and whole the broken. It's beyond our ability and power. It's beyond human possibility to love like God loves and to forgive. But God does for us what we can not do for ourselves when we let Him. That includes saying today I will not drink and drug for the drunk and the junkie. That includes loving those who don't deserve our love. And that includes forgiving the unforgivable, even ourselves.

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.

The Only R That Matters

Dalyn Woodard shares a message from Romans 7:15 on the things we do to try to change and control our lives and what really works. The message,  "The Only R That Matters," is about 42 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 22, 2017 ~ Times Of Decrease

Let's take one last look at the beauty of the desert before we move on. We rarely choose the desert. Sometimes it is the best thing for us. Sometimes it turns out to be a blessing beyond anything we have ever experienced. But still we rarely choose it or any of its attributes. We can see the necessity, perhaps even the benefits, but still we would rather not travel that route if there is another option.

One aspect of the desert that we benefit from and might choose to keep in our lives, at least from time to time regardless of if we are in a desert time or not, is the aspect of decrease. The desert rids us of the unnecessary. If you must travel through the desert, there is only so much that can be carried, and resources are so scarce that the emphasis is on making sure you have only what you truly need or little more. It becomes more important not to use up energy and resources on that which doesn't matter because it is critical not to run out before reaching the next oasis or the end of the desert.

In times of suffering and lack the things that don't matter loose their power over us. It suddenly becomes all about what we really need. The essentials. God and us. Ease the pain. Take the fear. Find peace. Learn to trust. Experience His comfort. Turn to and rely on Him. Go deeper in relationship. The other things, the clutter in our lives, is blown away like sand on the wind.

As we practice submission and surrender we learn to lean on grace to stay within the will of God. We try to walk in the power of the Spirit to avoid the pitfalls of our old nature. We work on doing the next right thing. We ask God to remove those things from our lives that interfere with our relationship with Him and our service to Him and others. But sometimes we miss the full impact of that concept. We actively work to eliminate the wrong in our lives. We stop, by grace, the sins of commission. We study and pray for guidance so that we can eliminate the  sins of omission, doing what is wrong simply because we don't know better.  But what about the distraction of addition?

Not that all additions are all or always wrong. But when we add luxuries and comforts to the list of what we call needs. achievements and glory to our mission to serve, etc., we can so easily become distracted from what really matters and from our true purpose. I'm not saying that we can't have any extras or that we have to live like a monastery monk. But we do need to beware the danger of the extras, perks and additions becoming too important. We don't need to confuse them with the real needs and our true purpose. Chasing the comforts, working to add to the additions, distracts us from what matters.

Time in the desert, suffering, and even periods of fasting, can bring to the forefront what is essential. We remember that those things that have been added to our lives may be nice, but they are not as important as we sometimes begin believing they are. Times of decrease can lead to true joy as we become comfortable and satisfied in the simplicity of the essential, where all we are and have and need and focus on the relationship with have with Daddy.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 21, 2017 ~ Happy Are The Desert Dwellers

In yesterday's Unshackled Moment. The Divine Desert, I shared some of my story and the importance of the wilderness experience to our life and relationship with God. There is more to the desert that I want to share though, and a couple of things about the desert experience that want to make sure I express. The first is that the desert and the wilderness are a time of blessing.

I mean it, but even I don't think take me into the desperation, pain, loneliness and need, the suffering and dependency of the desert when I think of how I'd like to be blessed. When we think of blessing, we tend to think of things that make us comfortable, make us feel secure, and give us pleasure. It's a blessing if we like it. I'd like to be blessed by finding the winning lottery ticket on the ground the same day I receive a full pardon and my back and eyes are both completely healed while my wife is being healed of MS at the same time. That would have me shouting for joy.

But the word that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount, where He gave a pretty good list of those who are blessed, describes a happiness that comes from finding our purpose and fulfillment in God. So I'm not saying that if the car is running and has gas in it, if there is a house and the roof doesn't leak and the fridge is full that you haven't been blessed. That is blessing. But it can also be a blessing to have the house blown away, the car broken down and the stomach empty for so long it thinks your throat's been cut. I know we don't like to think about that, and it doesn't make sense to our materialistic and hedonistic nature, but it is true.

Jesus said happy, seriously joyful and happy, are those that experience desperation of need so great they are impoverished and poor. When they find their fulfillment in and realize that what they really need is relationship with God they will be a part of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom will be evident in their life.

Happy are those that mourn because in finding their need met in God they will experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Happy are those whose purpose is to submit their power to the use of God, like a war horse submits to the rider and becomes more effective against the enemy, which is what the word translated as meek means in the Greek, so happy are the submitted to God, for they will inherit from God.

Happy are those whose purpose is relationship with God to such an extent that they are starving and dying of thirst to consume only the things of God and what is right, because they will be filled (not filled with food and riches and health but filled with the goodness of grace and deep, tangible relationship with Daddy).

Happy are the ones with such a relationship with Daddy that they realize that no matter how bad life has been it isn't as bad as they deserve under the rule of perfection is the only passing grade and that they have received mercy. They in turn are able to extend mercy as they have received, and will continue to receive mercy.

Happy are the ones whose fulfillment is so derived from relationship with God that their motivations for everything become to love God and love others, purity of heart. They will see God.

Happy are those who find the sovereignty of God their purpose and have no drive to stand up for, to demand, to fight for their rights and therefore can be instruments of peace. They will be children of God and will have Daddy's trait of being able to love even their enemy and give life to those who don't deserve it.

Finally, happy and joyful are those who are so close to Daddy and have their whole life wrapped up in that relationship to such an extent that they are persecuted, rejected and abused, for no longer being a part of and no longer fitting in to the world and the culture of humanity. They are different. They are like Jesus to such an extent that they are treated like Jesus was treated. They get the kingdom too, and their heavenly reward will be great.

The Kingdom of God reigning and evident in my life, in your life, knowing and experiencing the personal comforting touch of God, being joint heirs with Christ, inheriting from Daddy, being filled and no longer empty, able to see God, receiving mercy and greatly, eternally rewarded. That sounds awesome to me. But it doesn't say anything about having enough to pay our bills, a nice return on our investments, running and nice cars, dream houses, nice clothes, plenty of food, etc. The list of things that make us eligible for all that blessing include need, desperate impoverishment, being broken and submissive as a stallion who is no longer wild and free but ridden and controlled to the point of death in battle, persecuted, abused and rejected, seeing enemies receive mercy and not fighting for what is your right. Tough times. Times where we starve if the manna doesn't fall rather than the overflowing and easy pickings of plenty.

These are the times of suffering that feel like deserts to me. When I am stuck at the house because my wife has our only transportation (and it's borrowed), so that I have to plan ahead and take her to work or borrow something else to go minister to anyone during the week. When I hurt physically, mentally and emotionally and mourn lack, loss and decrease in life. When justice is not mine and I am not treated rightly. When I don't fit in and am not accepted. When I can not provide financially, and when my motorcycle is parked on a beautiful first day of Spring because I can't afford a battery. When I am weak, and when very little in my life looks at all like what the prosperity people call being blessed.

During all those desert times, I am driven deeper into relationship with God.  The desert brings us to that place where nothing is left, nothing grows, that is not found in God. Our very life, our purpose and our fulfillment comes from relationship with Daddy and nothing else because the other things are gone. According to Jesus, that is what it means to be blessed, that is the place where our happiness and joy are really found and where our circumstances can't kill them.

I know this has gotten long, so I'll stop here for today. Lord willing, we will look at the benefits of the desert decrease tomorrow. Be blessed, Dear Reader, and may your life be full of the richness and fullness of relationship with Daddy, whether that is found resting and at ease at the oasis or struggling through the shifting sands of the desert.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 20 ~ The Divine Desert

I can still remember it well, although it's been about 8½ years. That desperation of the drowning that is said to be necessary for the brokenness that leads to the true surrender that is essential for recovery, freedom and discipleship. I had made parole after 7½ years in prison and had to serve six months on paper before I would be as close to free as I'd ever be again without a pardon. For six months I had to continue to live under the watchful eye and restrictions of the state, and if I were to get caught screwing up or breaking the rules, even without another crime, I would be returned to prison to finish my sentence. Six months may not seem like a long time, but I didn't want to go back for even six days. So, I tried to do it right, follow the rules and obey the demands. One of the restrictions of parole was that I could not drink or drug. Six months. No big deal. I could quit for six months. Just finish out parole, and then party.

Eight days later I had a moment of clarity, a what on earth is wrong with you you idiot? instant of understanding, as I realized that not only had I failed much faster than I would have believed possible, but that I had failed in an epically stupid way. I was on my front porch, in broad daylight, barely a week out of my cage, drinking rum straight out of the bottle. I didn't even have enough sense to pour it into a glass with coke to make it look like tea. All that had to happen was for my parole officer to drive by, look down the drive, see me with the bottle, and I was going to jail, probably back to prison. That afternoon I began my journey into recovery as I called out for help and for the first time admitted I could not control my drinking on my own. I felt afraid that I was going to screw up and have my parole revoked, so I wanted help to quit drinking and to not start drugging again....but for six months. I wanted a break, not a permanent vacation.

Over the next couple of months I tried and failed, but I was trying. People suggested things, and I would somewhat comply. I began working the steps with all the enthusiasm and dedication of a minimum wage employee who hates his job. Not very thorough. I did other things I was told to do. I managed to get two weeks sober and stumbled. Repeat. Then I managed 30 days, which I promptly celebrated by getting both drunk and high about a week and a half before seeing parole. If I tested dirty....I spent those days, guts twisting, waiting for the ax to drop. But by some miracle they didn't test me that meeting, and I had one last chance.

I felt like a mixed up and messed up version of the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. I was both the slave asking to go out and make a sacrifice and the ruler refusing to let them go. Crazy signs were being thrown in my face repeatedly, and I would be convinced, until a short while later, and then it was all, maybe...Maybe I'm not totally a slave. Maybe I can quit just long enough not to violate parole and then I can enjoy my drinking and drugging. Maybe I can drink without drugging. Maybe I can learn how to control it, to manage it. Maybe I won't get caught. Maybe. And then I would  take back my decree to do what was necessary to assure freedom. And from the slave side, I kept asking for a break. I wanted to leave the land of slavery for a little while, but I would return. I could easily make that promise, because I didn't really want to leave. I wanted the master to be nicer. I wanted the lash to be less harsh. I wanted the chains to stop hurting and the negative consequences to be excised, but I didn't really want to be free. I didn't want to move permanently into the desert wilderness, and I didn't really believe in the Land of Promise. There were things about my Egypt that were comfortable, that I liked, that I did not want to give up for the sun and sand and uncertainty and barrenness of the desert.

Finally that moment came. That Passover moment. No, no one died. But it was still one of those things in which everyone around me, seeing  what had been happening the first three months of my release all said now? Now are you whipped? This was like the last plague after a long list of things that would have made even a half sane person repent and stop fighting, but not Pharaoh. Pharaoh was an idiot, and so was I. Something had to happen so horrible, so messed up that Pharaoh didn't let the Jews go, he drove them out, and something had to happen that made me not want to escape parole, not take a break from my chains, but scream to the sky NO MORE! I want to be free! I had to reach that place of desperation where the cageless desert became more appealing than even a gilded cage in bondage.

So began my journey toward the Land of Promise. By the way, I totally believe the promises now. But at the moment it really started, I wasn't chasing promises. I was escaping into the desert. I lost some things. More than just chains were set aside. And like the Israelites, I had my moments of looking back longingly for the leeks and onions, for the things I missed. I could ignore or forget the memories of death, destruction and misery and longingly crave the things I would remember as pleasurable, comfortable, etc. The desert wasn't fun. I also needed a barrier, a Red Sea, between myself and going back to make me commit and journey too far out to return. Still, I did relapse once more. I did go back to Egypt for a couple of months after being free 15 months. I did double duty to make up for all the work I'd missed and nearly built my own tomb.

My second exit to the desert was not fleeing slavery and bondage. I left the certainty of approaching death and a life so miserable I'd be glad when it arrived for the desert I had dreaded for years but had finally realized is where, despite possible hardships and lack and struggle and....would be found a life worth living. The desert is the least appealing place to most of us, most of the time. It is a place the self doesn't do well. Yet, it is in the desert and the solitude and exposure and stark need there where we can find God.

Jesus went into the desert to pray. Before His ministry began, He spent 40 days fasting in the desert and then being tempted. He left there strengthened and committed. John the Baptist spent years in the wilderness (some scholars say 30 years) preparing to prepare the way, and he never completely left until he was thrown in prison. Elijah and Moses had their deserts as well. Some of us are quick to say we want to be free, but we want to skip the journey through the desert, thank you very much. We want to be free of consequence or we want to skip the desert and be instantly transported to the Promised Land. Some of us say we want to serve God, to be used of God, but we want to be comfortable and selfishly blessed in the preparation and during our service. But if we are going to be truly free, and if we are going to be of maximum service to God and others, we will have a desert. It's not all going to be comforts and indulgence. Why? Because self never dies when it's comfortable. Because we never get desperate with distractions and options. God uses the deserts to bring us to that place where nothing else matters but knowing and relying on Him. He uses the desert to make us drop everything that isn't truly essential, that doesn't serve a purpose, that won't enhance our relationship with Him and the life He gives. The desert is not to be avoided. The desert is divine. It is the place where we can see that nothing else matters but our relationship with Daddy.

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.

Love, Time, Death

Dalyn Woodard shares on what Jesus did to meet our needs and provide for our why, the motivation behind all we do. The message,  "Love, Time, Death" is about 10 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, March 19, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

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 ~ March 18, 2017 ~ Reversing The Birthday Blues

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

March 18, 2015 as Reversing The Birthday Blues.

Today is my birthday, my 44th. This is often one of the roughest times of year for me, but this year has been better. Over the past several years, this day has become more and more something I celebrate and less and less a day I dread. I have found a life worth living, and a life worth living is worth celebrating.

Forty-five years ago, God weaved together the genetic code that would become me and made someone that is just like every other human He has made and at the same time is as unique as a snow flake. He put together a wonderful plan and dream for what this group of cells could be, could do and how wonderful the relationship would be between the two of us. By worshiping at the altar of my own will and serving King Self, I damaged those wonderful possibilities. But God is a powerful and creative Artist. No matter what mess I made, He adapted His plans. He remained ready and waited for relationship and to turn my mess into His masterpiece.

The same is true for you. You truly are fearfully and wonderfully made by an Artist who has always been able to see a masterpiece in you, even when all you can see is a mess. If you give Him the mess, you can watch the transformation, and enjoy as life takes on purpose, peace and joy. We can celebrate our birthdays, and every day, and no longer curse the dawn or the day of our birth, as the beauty of what our lives can be is revealed. It's the easiest thing you'll ever do, because  He does all the work. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do, because it requires us to surrender our clay to the molding of the potter. But only through death to self is there joy in life.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

Unshackled Moments ~ March 17, 2017 ~ Shine

There is a difference between people seeing what you do and putting on a show. There is a difference between sharing your experience, strength and hope to help others and to demonstrate the love, power and glory of God as opposed to telling your story to say look at me! There is a difference between sharing spiritual practices and disciplines so that others will know what you do and why and can incorporate it into their own lives for the benefit of their relationship with God, and that place of pride where a mask of religion, spirituality and good deeds, and showy prayers are presented to the world to make us seem superior or to hide the truth of the mess in our hearts. And the difference in all of these is not so much what is or isn't done or who sees, but the motivation behind it and if the inside matches the outside.

In Matthew 6 Jesus contrasts the actions that bless us and Daddy's heart with the showy, prideful spiritual displays of the Pharisees. This is the famous passage where we are told not to let the left hand know the charity the right hand is doing. This is also where we are told not to pray in public for recognition but rather to go into our inner room where no one can see. A little later in the chapter He tells us not to put on a show so the whole world knows we're fasting but to go about things in such a way that you don't appear to be fasting. And if you are anything like me, Dear Reader, you can twist yourself into a knot or get overly rules oriented, outside matters, about sayings like this.

There are some Protestants who will not participate in an Ash Wednesday services because they feel being anointed with the ashes and having that sign of repentance on display is a violation of the prayer and fasting scriptures from Matthew 6. And if the motive is look at me, look how repentant I am, look how spiritual I am, look how good and faithful to religion I am, then it would absolutely be better to skip it or to wipe it off before leaving the place of anointing. But if it is there so that it makes you uncomfortable every time you have an impulse to wipe the oily, gritty cross from your forehead and remind you of the suffering of Christ for us and to open the door to share why you believe what you believe so that you can be a light in the darkness, then there is nothing against it in what Jesus said about putting on a show.

Let's keep in mind, that Jesus prayed in public. At least one time He prayed aloud specifically so that those who were with Him would hear and see Him. But it was so they would see the love and power of Daddy. He went off alone to pray often, but where and why He was going off alone wasn't a big secret. At one point the disciples brought someone to Jesus they had prayed for without success, and when they asked why they hadn't been able to meet the need Jesus told them that some spiritual warfare can only be won with prayer and fasting. No one said wow, we didn't know you fast Jesus! Jesus fasted and prayed regularly, and the disciples knew it.

We have entered our third week of Lent, and it was just the day before yesterday that my wife noticed one of the things that I had given up, that I am fasting from. And when she asked me about it, my first feeling was that I had blown it, because it wasn't secret anymore. But then immediately I knew that is legalistic, bogus thinking. Jesus wasn't saying that no one can know you're fasting. He especially wasn't telling you to keep things from your helpmate. I have shared with the entire world that I fast during Lent, usually right before Lent begins. Because I believe in the idea of if you want what I have, then doing what I do can help you get it. I share that I pray and meditate in the morning and evening, that I pray throughout my day, that I read the Bible daily, etc. not to say look at me, but in order to share some things that I do that help me with relationship and call others to seek to draw closer to God.

We could never know that we need to spend time in certain spiritual practices if no one with a relationship with Daddy that we want didn't share their practices with us. But the inside needs to match the outsides. None of my spirituality is ever going to be good enough to earn me brownie points with God. My goodness is pretty nasty. The same is true for you, by the way. So it's not ever going to be a matter of look how good I am, because if anyone ever really looks at us, they will see a mess. But if we spend that time alone with Daddy, and yes, praying and meditating and reading and studying and fasting, and such, not because we have to or because of some religious right and wrongs but out of love and a desire to get closer to the One who brought our spirit to life, then our motives become about love and not earning anything or showing off. Then when something does happen to be or needs to be seen by others, it's no longer about us at all. Looking at us shows only the wonders of relationship with Daddy, what His love, power and glory can do, and it can draw others to relationship with Him and demonstrate how we enter and deepen that relationship.

Let's not forget that before Jesus got to all this don't be showy, do in secret stuff, He said in chapter 5:16, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That's right, in the chapter before all that secret talk He tells us to let people see what we are doing. That's the first call. Be a light. Lift Him up. Share why and how and what relationship with God. Don't hide. Our lives may be the only picture of Jesus some people ever see and the only Bible they ever read. Our lives are to be a demonstration of His love, His power, His glory and His way of life. But then, after that, He says now that we covered that, be sure that is is about love, that is about others seeing Daddy and not about our pride. Make sure you're not trying to earn anything but merely being charitable to pour God's love and care into someone else. Motives matter. Spend time doing it in secret so that the public action has the right motive and will glorify Daddy.

Don't get hung up on the where. Don't get all legalistic with I have to hide my spirituality and relationship with God. No one can know I pray, or hear me pray. No one can ever know I do or am fasting. No one needs to know how much time I spend reading God's word. No one can know that I did..... whatever. It's not that no one can know. The question is if we let people know in such a way that they don't see us but see Him. And if we are pointing the way to relationship, enabled by Him and not because anything about us, then we need to be letting others see that. How else will they know if we aren't shining the light on the path?

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.

Unshackle Moments ~ March 16, 2017 ~ Don't Avoid The Yoke

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

- Matthew 6:24

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

- Matthew 11:28-30

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it-then you are ready to take certain steps.

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

- From Chapter 5 How It Works; Alcoholics Anonymous

The first two of the above quotes are the words of Jesus from Matthew telling us that we must deny self and even embrace the death of self and follow Him, but assuring us that what He has called us to do is easy and light compared to doing it any other way. The last quote is read aloud before many recovery meetings and has long ago been applied to far more topics than the original issue of alcohol. It comes from a passage that shares the 12 Steps, summarized and paraphrased as we can't, there is a God who can, let Him, look honestly at the past, share it, ask God to change us, see our wreckage, make it right where we can, continue to serve God and others, seek closer relationship with God through prayer and mediation and once we have found life share what we have been given with those who still suffer.

It doesn't sound easy. Neither the verses nor the steps sound fun, comfortable or easy. They most certainly do not sound self satisfying, because they aren't. They are calling for a death to self. Self is never going to find that appealing. And it is not in our nature to not protect self. Something has to be broken before we are willing to reject and even kill self. But relationship with God through total surrender of self, the sacrificing of self, and love and service to Him and others is actually the easier, softer way. Especially once we've been broken.

Life starts chipping away at us from the moment we breathe our first breath, and we all start dying from the moment we are given life. So, truthfully, we are all broken. But some of us are more broken than others, and blessed are the broken because they can see that they need help. The broken innately understand that the answer lies in ridding ourselves of self, but this is not something we can do of ourselves, by ourselves or for ourselves. So the person trying to fix self on their own tends to embrace self and become even more self centered, even as they commit slow motion suicide with self sabotage, self destruction and slavery to anything that provides the illusion of help, comfort and relief from the misery and weariness of life.

When the illusions are destroyed, leaving nothing but the bottom of the pit we have fallen into, revealing the truth of the hopeless bondage of our brokenness, it becomes much easier to cry out to God with the desperation of the drowning, even for those who do not even believe in God. While those who can not see that they are broken find it hard to believe that they need a Savior, that they need to be fixed, restored and freed. Some people find the gilded cage and the security of their chains to the death of self that comes with true freedom.

But the yoke of Jesus is designed to fit us perfectly when it is embraced with humble submission to Him and taken in love for Him, there is nothing that fits more comfortably. We were made for it, and it was made for us. When we go to move in that yoke and do the work of serving God and others while under that yoke, we discover that it is designed with the spiritual physics of grace that allow us to pull a load we could never move on our own. Like a lever allows the lifting of the world, so the yoke of Christ makes the impossible possible.

If we attempt to stay wild and refuse the domestication of the hand and will of God, fighting and refusing the yoke, what we discover is that the weight and weariness of life will kill us. We learn we can not care for ourselves. We need the Master of the yoke to give us water and food, to protect us from the weather and the predators, to care for our wounds and inoculate us from disease. Being cared for is better than being on our own in the world. It is easier. It is the only way we can survive and have a life worth living.

But we must be careful not to go too far the other way. Some desire the care of God but still want to protect their self and save their self. So they refuse the yoke and harness of Christ, stepping past them to grab the straps of religion and pull. Imagine stepping between the yoke and the plow, grabbing that which connects them and trying to do the work that was only ever intended to be done from the position and with the aid of the yoke! It would be like stepping up to a load of a thousand pounds that is on a lever so well designed and positioned that a child could lift it and saying, no, I don't need the lever. I'm going to lift all this weight myself.

The work of serving God and serving others, the work of loving God and loving others, the path of choosing to do what is right over what is wrong, is not something we can do on our own. We can't move that load, pull those straps and plow. It was never designed for us to do it. It's for too heavy and hard. The good deeds of religion are not the path, the answer, the solution, or even possible long on their own. They are straps that are supposed to connect the call to serve (the plow) with love (the yoke of Christ). Wrapping ourselves in those straps without the yoke, without putting ourself under the dominion and authority of the will of God, only binds us to a load we can not ever pull and makes us as miserable as running wild without the grace of God active in our lives.

The illusion of freedom found in refusing care and the illusion of security found in giving up freedom instead of giving up self are two sides of the same coin. The heathen and the religious have something in common. They are killing themselves and making their lives miserable in an attempt to escape the yoke of love. It seems foolish to both groups that the way to joy, peace and love and a life worth living, that to save our life, we must embrace the death of self. So they kill themselves in an attempt to save themselves. But for those who are broken enough to be desperate, they find it is all true.

In surrender to Him and the yoke of love, loving God and others instead of seeking first the comfort, security and rights of self, our life is everything that makes breathing worth it. We have purpose, a new freedom and a new happiness, life that is so worth living that others will see it and want what we have, love (the ability to both receive it and truly give it), peace that doesn't make sense, joy that sorrow can't destroy, and so much more. We can do what could never be done before or by ourselves. The weariness and misery and heaviness of life fades. The yoke of service in love and for love's sake is easy and light, because it is the power and love of God that does the work and does not come about because of our will and power.

This is not philosophy. This is the truth that I have found from the experience of trying everything I could try besides that yoke. I tried wild hedonism and independence and living for self. I tried restrictive discipline, self control and religion. None of it worked. All of it was empty and lifeless. But the love of Christ enabled me to do what I could never do and gave me a joy, peace and purpose in life that I never had anywhere or anyway else. What worked for me will work for you.



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.