Unshackled Audio Echo ~ September 30, 2017 ~ Confession

Today's Unshackled Audio Echo was previously published on

June 24, 2014 as Time To Confess.

Dalyn Woodard continued the series on spiritual freedom and recovery from bondage of all kinds. The sermon, “Confession,” focuses on Step Five of the Twelve Steps and the Biblical principles behind it and is about 38 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

This is the sixth message in the "Freedom From Bondage" series. If you would like to review or if you missed one of the first messages, Part 1, The Sin Disease, can be found here. Part 2, Powerless, can be found here. Part 3, God Can, can be found here. Part 4, Surrender, can be found here, and Part 5, Taking Stock, can be found here.

Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 29, 2017 ~ Failure Happens

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

- Proverbs 24:16

This evening marks the beginning of Yom Kippur. The holiday, used as in Holy Day, was the holiest of days under the Old Covenant and is still considered to be the holiest day of the year to those who practice Judaism.  It was the day of atonement.

The people would gather each year, confess their sins, resolve not to repeat them and be forgiven. Why every year? Because all the resolving in the world can't keep us from missing the mark, which is what sinning is. God knew that no matter how sincere the repentance was and how determined to follow through on the resolution to walk rightly, the people would fail. Failure happens.

Interestingly enough, in the Proverb I opened with we see that the difference between the righteous and the wicked wasn't motive, it wasn't doing it right as opposed to doing it wrong, and it wasn't faithfulness to never choose self over God verses rejecting God's will. We all mess up. We all have moments of choosing to take our will and life back from the God to whom we have surrendered them. Sometimes we fail because we don't think before acting or reacting. Sometimes it is because of ignorance, wrong thinking that we don't recognize as wrong until we see we are off course and out of the will of God and are trying to figure out how we got there once again. Sometimes it is self rising up within us, as in the days of old, determined to do its own thing, run our own life. In other words, sometimes it's pure disobedience and rebellion. But regardless of how or why, failure happens. Sin occurs. Even in the life of the most mature and committed followers of Christ there are those self will run riot moments.

They may be fairly insignificant in terms of damage and consequences because of the nature of the misdeed and how quickly it is recognized,, repented of and our course is corrected. Other times it may lead to devastation, heart break, a total relapse into the old nature and behavior. But what makes the distinction between those who love God, who understand that God loves them and who are truly surrendered to His will and care and those who do not and are not is not if those failures happen. It's not even the nature or intensity of the falling. It is what happens after.

Those who love God and understand that God loves them and is for them, which is really the closest we can come to being righteous in ourselves, react by getting back on the path, returning to the place where our will is surrendered to God's. In the Old Testament the number seven is often used to symbolize total completion. So this Proverb could be rephrased to say though the person who loves God fails utterly and completely, he or she returns, gets back on the right road and continues the journey. But those who do not love God and who do not understand that God loves them and will welcome them to Him regardless of the failure in their life give up or embrace the wickedness that caused the calamity and destruction and misery in their life.

Those who believe in and follow Jesus no longer need a yearly day of atonement, because Jesus paid the price and covered all our failures, of every kind, once and for all, on the cross. We are forgiven and stand clean before our Lord. But that doesn't mean we are already perfect and that the holiness of our new nature is purely manifested in our life. We still fail, and we still get out of the will of God and let self rise up in our lives.

We must remember that God loves us and be quick, rather than afraid, to return to Him and the right way when the consequences of our actions make it clear that we have fallen. If we love Him, let us run to Him, asking for forgiveness and grace to go on from the point of falling, in His power, to live well and right. Let us honestly and completely admit our shortcomings, resolve to learn from our mistakes and do it differently in the future, while understanding that living free of the sins of the past is only possible as long as we are living empowered by God (walking in grace), which only happens when we are in His will (also only possible by grace).

Understanding that we can get a little off course and stay that way for a while before calamity strikes is scary, because it means we may not realize we have taken our will back before self wreaks havoc and returns us to the bondage of the past. But it can also give us encouragement and hope. If we are willing to examine ourselves...our actions, hearts and motives, honestly and thoroughly, under the guidance of the Spirit to reveal to us what we need to see, we have the opportunity to get up and adjust course before we go over the cliff to our destruction. This is why an evening review of the day is a good practice. Where did we do it right? Where did we run of self, on fear, on anger, etc. instead of on the grace of God? Repenting and accepting forgiveness and making amends to the people we may have harmed. But sometimes in the day to day we can miss the subtle shifts.

This is why many in recovery, even with years of freedom from the bondage that once held them captive, do a yearly Fourth Step Inventory. It is good to take the time to set aside the world and life to let the Spirit guide us through an in depth, thorough examination over the past year, see where we have fallen short, repent, and continue to the journey assured that we are forgiven through the blood of Jesus. Some may do this in their hearts, while others commit the review to paper, in the same way the original Fourth Step was done. Some do this at the start of the new year. Some on their birthday, recovery anniversary, or just when something may not seem to be quite right with life, and some may even do it on Yom Kippur. It is not a legal thing, and not a command of God. So no one is saying you must do a yearly review. But on the other hand, the person who loves God and is surrendered to His will and care will do well to heed the example of the Psalmist who prayed:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

- Psalm 139:23-24

We all mess up and get off course. Failure happens. The righteous are marked by a heart that is quick to repent, to get back up, to return to the road and the journey pressing on towards the goal of perfection. If we regularly do a thorough, Spirit-led, examination of our lives, we open the possibility to be guided back to where we need to be before calamity comes. But if we don't take the time for self examination, we will find ourselves mired in mess after mess.

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

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

Daddy Knows Best

Dalyn Woodard returns to the book of Ephesians and the topic of our identity with the first message from chapter 5. Before we delve into the last two chapters and the themes we may not agree with or be comfortable with we have to remember who we are and the truth that identity determines behavior. What are we going to do with the passages of Scripture that don't sit well with us? The message,  "Daddy Knows Best" is about 29 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

If you missed Part 1 of the Identity Crisis series, Who Are You, it can be found here. Part 2, Living Free, can be found here. Part 3, The Blessing Of Belonging, can be found here. Part 4, The Fullness Of Jesus, can be found here. Part 5, Good News, Bad News, can be found here. Part 6, But God's Amazing Grace, can be found here. Part 7, Welcome To The Family, can be found here. Part 8, Count It All Joy, can be found here. Part 9. Power Prayer, can be found here. Part 10, Walking In Unity, can be found here. Part 11, Grow Up, can be found here, and Part 12, Trading Up, can be found here.

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

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 27, 2017 ~ The Perfect Partner

Have you ever heard the term grace partner? I came across it again this morning, and I must admit that my knee-jerk reaction wasn't a great one. If you are familiar with the phrase, perhaps your reaction is similar to mine, because I can't think of a time when I have heard these two words together in a way that isn't associated with someone asking for money for some organization/ministry or another. In fact, while I do not have any idea yet what today's title will be, I know it won't be anything like Become or Be A Grace Partner, because I don't want people to assume that I'm trying to get people to give money to this ministry.

If God puts it on your heart to regularly support Unshackled Life Ministries, here is what I'd love and need. Pray for the ministry, its direction and effectiveness. Pray for me and my wife as we give of ourselves and our time. Pray regularly and often, please. I would much rather have faithful prayer support than funding. Second only to prayer support is the need for people to help get what God has given Unshackled Life into the hands of those who may need to read or hear it. Shares and tweets and forwarded emails are more valuable than gold. I do have a deep desire to be a grace partner and to have those who are reading this become grace partners. But that, to me, has nothing to do with supporting this or any other ministry. It's all about partnering with grace, and that is something we all need to do.

I'm not telling anyone not to support ministries. There are other ministries Leah and I support through prayer and the giving of time, and yes, even the giving of money. But that is not about grace, except the grace that is on us that enables us to give, that gives us the desire to give, and gives us the unselfishness and courage to obey when God tells us to give. Giving is about grace for me, because it is not my natural, old man, selfish instinct. But I don't give of my time, services and money, to undeserving organizations and ministries. To the guy on the street, sure, but not to organizations. With those I require some accountability and transparency with how they use what is given, and I need to have a similar heart and desire to reach their target. What I mean by that is I will support a woman's shelter, as long as they are really helping women and children in need, while I will refuse to give to a charity whose board is all making millions every year from the contributions that should be going toward the need they claim to be raising money from. And I won't be supporting making Pluto a planet once again with my limited time and resources because I don't care and there are greater needs within ten miles from my door. And I will give to whomever and whatever God tells me to. One is trying to be wise and responsible. If I have an hour or a dollar to give, I want to do all I can to make sure that as much of old George and my time (our most valuable and irreplaceable resource) is going to meet a need that I believe in and have a heart to fill. I can't run a shelter, but I can help someone who can. The other is about my walk and obedience to Daddy. Neither of those is about giving grace to the organization or ministry.

So, if it's not about all that, what does it mean to be a grace partner, and why do we need to become one? Well, the simple definition of a grace partner would be someone who partners with grace, right? That makes sense. And that's what we need to do. We need to cooperate with the work of grace in and through us. I believe that it is part of humility, to understand that we are no longer independent workers, thinkers or beings. We are under the authority and control of the Spirit. He is giving us the power to walk free and to serve, and He is the one who guides and directs the way and the when of not only our service but of all our actions and reactions, when we are in the right submitted spirit anyway.

God decided to accomplish His work in and through us by grace. So, in a sense, grace is the supervisor that oversees and directs and provides all that is necessary for us to be and do and become what Daddy determined. A partner is a person who takes part in an undertaking with another, and there are three basic types of partners. I'm not talking about business, life/romance, etc. I'm thinking about type more in regards to silent, equal and controlling.

Before we can partner well with grace, we need to understand what kind of partnership we'll be dealing with. Many seem to want and try to enter into a silent partnership with grace. The desire is for grace to give us all we need, from forgiveness and salvation to provisions for wants and needs, in order to enable us to go about the rest of our earthly life doing whatever it is we want to do. It's our life and grace is seen as the magic genie in the bottle that gives us what we want and provides escape from the consequences of our selfishness. And allow me to be perfectly clear, grace will never, ever enter into that partnership with me, you or anyone else.

Now, equal partnerships are a possibility in a lot of situations, but, as with the previous, not with grace. It would be better for us to try this route over attempting to make grace a silent partner though. At least with an equal partnership, the partner would have to be consulted and have a say before a decision is made and an action taken. So, before we could do something, act or react or choose the direction we are going to go we would have a discussion with grace about it. The problem is that we are not co-rulers with God. He is Daddy and we are the child. We do not have equal control of our life and equal say any more than my grandson has equal control with his daddy about how his life is run. They don't sit around and discuss the pros and cons of bedtime and baths or if Baiden will go to school or stay home and watch TV.

There is only one partnership in which grace is offered. Grace will be given freely to any and all who wish it, but it is only available as a controlling partner. It's not I need to discuss the options with grace before we decide what to do. It's let me check with grace to see what I'm going to do. Before I do this or that, before I react or take action, what is the guidance of grace telling me to do? How can I best serve grace as a person who is in submission to the control agreed to at the beginning of the relationship with Daddy, the One who is above me and all else, including the hows and whys of grace, and how can I best represent the nature and interests of grace in this situation?

Actually, an equal partnership is the only one that will not work. Because we can have a silent partnership with grace as long as we remember that it is us and not grace who is to be a silent partner, Grace exists to be an outpouring of God's love to those who do not deserve that love, even to God's very enemies, to be a channel of God's power so that God's children can love, serve and live, and to be an instrument of God's kindness towards humanity and relationship restoration. That is grace's purpose and place, and we can be a partner in that, a part of that purpose, as a silent partner who gives all that we have to give for grace to do whatever Daddy determines grace should do.

We give our heart and life and all that go with them to Daddy to do with them, by and through grace, what He wills, and live controlled and directed and empowered by grace to be in submission to the Spirit, and the dividends of that partnership are relationship with Daddy, freedom and a life worth living, purpose, contentment, the ability to love God and love others, transformation into the likeness of Jesus, and more. There is no end to the benefit of belonging to Daddy and letting grace empower and determine the direction, actions and reactions of our life. Today and every day, let us partner with grace, let us live life as a grace partner, walking freely in love to be of service to Daddy and others. But let us remember always that we are the silent partner and grace, as the way Daddy has chosen to extend Himself and express Himself to,in and through us, is always the controlling partner.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 26, 2017 ~ Suit Up

Last night my wife and I watched the premier episode of the new Star Trek series, Star Trek: Discovery. ST:D is the first new series in the Star Trek universe since Deep Space Nine, and I am excited. I know. My geek is showing, and I don't care. If the first episode is anything to go by, this may be one of the best Star Trek series ever, and I can understand why CBS chose to use this show to pull people into All Access subscriptions.

I won't go into details or throw out any spoilers, because most of my fellow Trekkies, Trekkers, general sci-fi geeks, and such have likely already seen it and those who don't fall into the Trek spectrum on the Geek Scale likely don't care and, finally, because the show gave me the framework for this but isn't the topic. I saw something last night that I had seen similarly portrayed in many different sci-fi movies and shows, a space walk. Walk isn't really the right word of course, but space floating doesn't sound as purposeful. Lt. Commander Michael Burnham puts on a space suit and does a little solo trek outside the ship. The flight suit is awesome, and I love the way this scene is done.

This part of the show reminded me of others I'd seen, and together, they all made me think of Luke 24:49 -

And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.

Jesus told those following Him that they would be witnesses of the good news of God's love, power and way of life, of Him, but to wait to start doing anything until they were clothed in the power of the Holy Spirit. In recovery we are often reminded that we can't give away what we do not ourselves have, and what people in bondage need is power to be and stay free.

If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism [or any other addiction or habitual sin], many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn't there. Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.

Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?

Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God.

- from the book Alcoholics Anonymous

We come seeking freedom after coming to understand that we can't set ourselves free or keep ourselves free. We need Daddy's help to do be free. We need the truth of Jesus to make us free, not just of our addictions but in every way. The path to that freedom, ironically enough, is found in surrender, in submission to the will of God. That's Step 3, and in the Third Step Prayer, not a required prayer by any means but a great example of the heart of and reason of surrender, we ask to be relieved from the bondage to self and given victory over our difficulties, that the victory can bear witness of His power, love and way of life.

It's our selfishness and bondage to self that is the real problem, and we do not have the power to overcome it. We need a greater power, the power of God. But we are called to deny self and follow Jesus, and in so doing be witnesses of Him. And that doesn't necessarily mean talking about Him, and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with our T-shirts and bumper stickers or social media posts. What really serves to show the power, love and attributes of God to a world in need, to those we would help and serve, is not our words, but our deeds.

Wow! Look. That person is doing things in space without freezing or running out of air! I didn't think that was possible! But we don't ask that question of how that is possible because we know the answer. Thanks to scientists and numerous sci-fi writers, we know that with an environmental or space suit, a person can survive, work, take a walk, even fight, in space. We also know that a tear in the suit causes serious problems that lead to death if not repaired quickly. You have to be clothed, completely wrapped up in, the proper attire to tackle space. And that is also true of walking free.

Jesus took the idea of being clothed in power directly from the Old Testament, and there are many examples of what the concept meant. It literally meant that the Spirit of God wrapped the person up in the power of God, or clothed the person with the Spirit. It was written of Gideon before he led 300 men to victory over an army that vastly outnumbered them (long before Sparta tried the same odds against the Persians), and there are examples in the books of Chronicles as well. The Spirit enveloped the person being clothed, giving them the power to do what they couldn't do alone. And that is what we must have as well to do our journeying through the space of life without dying. We need our Spirit Suit to give us the readings about what is really going on in and around us, to give us guidance about the best way to act and react, to remind us of the mission and the mission parameters, to keep us safe from our surroundings and provide us with what we need to live. And to have a hole in that covering, to have a place where it us and not the Suit of Power, the Holy Spirit, between us and the space around us, is to have death working in our lives.

Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they were prepared to go out. He basically told them to stay in the ship until they were equipped for space, and He's saying the same to us. We must deny self and follow Him, but He never went or did anything without being equipped to do so by the Spirit. We can't show people how to get free and live free if we are not ourselves equipped to be and live free ourselves, and we can't be free in the space of our lives without being properly equipped by the Spirit and wrapped by the Spirit in the Spirit. If we suit up, we can live and do whatever we need to do in the space of our lives. Even if we don't say anything, we bear witness. People will wonder how we can walk, live and be the way we are, since our self shouldn't be able to do that. And that gives us the opportunity to say, well, it's not my self, it's not my might or ability or determination or anything. It's the power of my Spirit Suit. Daddy loves me, and He gave me this Spirit which gives me the ability to live free. You can do this too.

Today, let us remember that bearing witness isn't always giving testimony with words, but that the best witness to how something works is often a demonstration of the doing. Let us make sure we wait to go out into the space around us until we are properly clothed and equipped by putting on our Spirit Suit. Not in a I'm wearing my god-suit so that I can pretend that I am my own god kind of way, but in a I'm wearing my God-suit so that I can do what He wills, so that I can love like Him, serve like Him, use His power as mine to do what's right and loving and to stay free from the things that bring death and destruction to my life and the lives of those around me. Let the Spirit so envelope us that it is impossible not to have conscious contact, conscious awareness of His love, His power and His direction for us at each moment, so that by walking in those, we can be a demonstration of them to all who see us trekking through the space of our day.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 25, 2017 ~ Facing Monday

It's Monday, otherwise known as #WeeklyGrumbleAndComplainDay. We love to bemoan the beginning of the week. And I get it. The anonymous gift of a million dollars didn't come in the mail this weekend. the winning lottery ticket was not found, and it is time to return to the grind, which we would rather not do. It may not even be about hating work, by that I mean hating the job we have, or being lazy. It may be more about the burden.

I remember hauling hay as a child, and by that I mean small square bales moved by hand, not using a tractor to move big round bales. This was the way my father made ends meet and kept us housed, clothed and fed. I helped. I drove the truck and helped unload in the barn. I remember days when we'd get to the field and it would be overwhelming. There must be close to a thousand bales of hay there, I'd think. You could get tired just looking at it, so we didn't look long. I'd hear Dad take a breath, and then he'd say, let's hit it. We'd start, looking only at what we needed to do now, not keeping track of everything . It wasn't we have 800 bales of hay left. It was we need 50 for this load, keep a good count. Everything came down to the load we were working on at the moment, and when that was done, one more load. With that I can do one more load mentality, we'd slowly be surely work our way through the hay until the it was nearly all transferred from the field to the barn. And the funny thing was that often, I felt lighter, more energized as the number dwindled than at the start. Hours of work behind me and hundreds of bales of hay moved, I should have been exhausted, and sometimes I was. But often I felt much more ready to go at that point than at the start, before the work began and the energy was spent.

That's not so strange. It's Fred Flinstone flying home at the work whistle, it's our feeling like we're coming alive on Friday. It's the work being done, even with the energy to do it spent, verses the sight of all that must be done. Oh, this week I need to do this and this and that. Even if there is enough time to do it all, which it seems there never is, just looking at it all can be so exhausting. There are sayings like a trip of a thousand miles begins with one step, because looking at having to walk a thousand miles may make us give up before we even begin, but one step at a time will eventually get us there. Well, that is it will if we keep going and the destination is somewhere you can reach on foot. One step at a time will never make it possible to walk from California to Hawaii. Trying will only get you drowned or turn you into shark food.

And life can feel like that sometimes. Like a never ending Monday. We can look out over the field of our future and just see so much that has to be done, the many weights that must be moved, all the work that is still be done and feel the energy drain away. There's so much to do that we may not even know where or how to begin. And the standard that we instinctively need to meet is beyond our reach. Why bother? Why even try? What's the point? Grumble and complain, because there is no way, no hope, life is hard and the goal can never be reached. It never ends. As soon as one thing is moved we look up and there are still hundred of things to be done. I just want to go back to bed.

But life doesn't have to feel that way. The great news is that the work that needs to be done to make us who we were created to be, to give us relationship with Daddy and purpose in life, has already been done. The long list that must be done perfectly that we could never ever complete, no matter how hard we try, has been done. Sure there are still some spiritual hay bales out there, there is work that is still to be done. We have not yet seen the manifestation of the finished work. But our lives, our success or failure, our worth, are not based on how well we do the work that is left to do. Our everything is based on the work that has already been done on our behalf.

The spiritual Mondays don't have to overwhelm and exhaust. Because the rest of our lives can be a spiritual Friday. Sure, there is still a little work to be done, but we can do it with energy and a light spirit because we know the end of the week is coming, the worst is behind us and already done by Jesus, and no matter how rough it may get, nothing can stop the weekend from coming. We don't have so much to do that we can't see getting it done or failing because Jesus did it. Our acceptance is based on His work, not our own. And no matter how rough and hard this life gets, it's temporary, but because of Christ, when this temporary suffering and struggle is done, the permanent time in Daddy's presence will begin, and the toil of this moment will be like a forgotten blip.

I can look at the wreckage of the past that needs to be cleaned up, the many relationship bridges yet to be rebuilt, the thousands of steps that must be taken to become a contributing member of society and the weight of a lifetime doing things the right way without the drugs or the alcohol or the comfort food or the [insert favorite wrong solution here] and just think it can't be done. Or I can simply trust in the work that He has done on my behalf, surrender to His will and care, take the one step in front of me, work on the one load that is now, and relax knowing the heavy lifting is already done. And in that resting on His work, and staying in the now, I can go through each moment, doing the work that He needs me to do by His power, staying free, staying joyful in anticipation of the rest and the understanding success is already assured, staying a light in the darkness, loving Daddy and loving others, for a lifetime. One moment at a time, walking with Jesus, we will look back as see a field empty and all that needed to be done, including the impossible, done. And knowing that truth can keep us in the now, give us a life worth living and energize us and fill us with joy every day, even Mondays.

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

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

We're Still Here

Wally Flynt shares on how we tend to become afraid about the end of days, but there is no question that evil is becoming more prevalent. Jesus is coming soon. It may be for us individually or He may come for us all, but regardless the world is coming to an end for each of. Are we ready for Jesus to say this is it? It ends tonight? The message,  "We're Still Here" is about 8.5 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, September 24, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

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

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

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

Unshackled Audio Echo ~ September 23, 2017 ~ Taking Stock

Today's Unshackled Audio Echo was previously published on

June 22, 2014 as Taking Stock.

Dalyn Woodard continued the series on spiritual freedom and recovery from bondage of all kinds. The sermon, “Taking Stock,” focuses on Step Four of the Twelve Steps and the Biblical principles behind it and is about 41 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

This is the fifth message in the "Freedom From Bondage" series. If you would like to review or if you missed one of the first three messages, Part 1, The Sin Disease, can be found here. Part 2, Powerless, can be found here. Part 3, God Can, can be found here, and Part 4, Surrender, can be found here..

Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 22, 2017 ~ Butterflies And Unicorns

Butterflies and unicorns are often shown together in fantasy pictures and scenes, as though the two species coexist as the best of friends, frolicking together through the days.

But then, unicorns are usually shown as beautiful, gentle magical beings that would make our lives better somehow if we could only get a glimpse of one, even more so if we could somehow catch or befriend one. It's interesting to me how ideas change and the cautionary becomes the desired in our stories, minds and hearts.

The mythical beast we see in our minds when we read the word unicorn doesn't exist, but there is so much reference to such a creature, unicorn, not gentle and magical horned horse, that we can be assured that there is something that started it all, a real creature. The unicorn even shows up in the Bible, although many translations forgo the Hebrew unicorn for the English wild oxen. And the unicorn of the Bible, and the unicorns of ancient texts in general for that matter, where not gentle and kind and the sort of beast one would wish to cuddle with.

Pliny, the Roman naturalist, described the beast in a fairly fantastical manner if we piece it together in our minds. But if it is drawn by someone trying to use the different animal descriptions as references rather than puzzle pieces it looks a lot like this. And this looks a lot like what one might come up with from a description of the single-horned Indian rhino if an actual rhino hadn't been seen before by the person doing the imagining. Considering that the Romans had been going into India and bringing back tales of fantastic beasts during the time of Pliny and that the Indian rhino does have a single horn, feet like an elephant and a tail much like that of a wild boar, it is likely the beast, if not the same beast of the Bible, he described as a unicorn.

Still, I think I tend to agree with Matthew Poole, a Bible commentator who said the unicorn referred to in Numbers 23:22, Deuteronomy 33:17 Job 39:9-10, Psalm 22:21, Psalm 92:10, and Isaiah 34:7 was a strong, and fierce, and untamable wild beast; though the learned are not agreed about the kind of it....it is not worth while to trouble the unlearned reader with such disputes. In other words, it was a fierce beast, whatever it was, wild ox or rhino or something altogether different and exactly what it was and looked like isn't the point and not worth distracting from the truth the scriptures are trying to show us.

Speaking of a point....OK, I'll get to mine. What I began thinking this morning after reading Psalm 22:1....

[Save me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the unicorns]

is how wrong our idea of the nature of the unicorn is compared to what the ancients claimed. Even in the 7th century unicorns were being described as very strong animals that pierce everything they attack. The unicorn of scripture and ancient texts is dangerous, strong and deadly. The stories of that beast somehow got twisted and turned over the years into what we have today, a harmless pal of My Little Pony, But here in Psalm 22, the unicorn is paired with the lion as something we need to be saved or delivered from, bringing to mind for me that the enemy is described as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. It is not a creature to be sought out and played with but rather to be avoided or destroyed.

Another creature that is often used symbolically is that butterfly often pictured with the gentle unicorn of myth. Butterflies often are used to illustrate new life and transformation. I like that image, the reminder of something that is the same creature and yet totally different from the caterpillar it began as. That is us, we who have been made new by the work of Christ. There is a moment we began, and that can be traced without a break in being to this very moment and who we are. At the same time, we became like the butterfly in that there is a point where we spiritually rose from the cocoon of the grave with Christ and became a completely different creature.

The lies of the old caterpillar within us, of society around us, and the world in general minimize the danger of that which God said if we eat of it, we shall surely die. God says that which is not loving Him and loving others, that which is outside of His will, is sin and leads to death. It is the dangerous and fierce unicorn that destroys and pierces and kills and which we butterflies need to be delivered from. But our old natures and the world chime in as the serpent in the garden and say no, you won't die if you indulge in self, if you try to be your own god, if you live as though your will is the way and better than God's will for you. See, the unicorn is not dangerous and scaly like a rhino. It's beautiful and gentle like a horse. Play with it. Frolic and do not be afraid. This time it will be different. This time the beast that nearly killed you before won't. One time, one more hit, one drink.....just this once it will be OK to look to something other than Jesus as the answer to your need will be OK.

But it's not OK. It really does lead to death to go our own way. Not because God is mean, but because unicorns are dangerous. God said there are things out there that seem like the answer and seem like a good idea at the time but bring a mess and destruction and misery and death. He says I love you and care for you, so I will be your refuge from those things and your strength against them if you will let me be. Today, let us not fall for the lie that butterflies and unicorns are friends and should frolic together, but let us be quick to believe that what Daddy warned will bring destruction into our life really will and that He is our protection from the dangers around and within.

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

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

Trading Up

Dalyn Woodard returns to the book of Ephesians and the topic of our identity with the final message from chapter 4. We are not called to simply quit being what we were and doing what we used to do, but are given the ability by grace to exchange the old for the better newness of God. The message,  "Trading Up" is about 54 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

If you missed Part 1 of the Identity Crisis series, Who Are You, it can be found here. Part 2, Living Free, can be found here. Part 3, The Blessing Of Belonging, can be found here. Part 4, The Fullness Of Jesus, can be found here. Part 5, Good News, Bad News, can be found here. Part 6, But God's Amazing Grace, can be found here. Part 7, Welcome To The Family, can be found here. Part 8, Count It All Joy, can be found here. Part 9. Power Prayer, can be found here. Part 10, Walking In Unity, can be found here, and Part 11, Grow Up, can be found here.

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

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 20, 2017 ~ Fall Is Loading, Please Be Patient

We are two days, according to the calendar, from the last day of summer and the first day of fall. The truth though is that we don't go much by calendars for such things as the seasons. And Mother Nature doesn't seem to either. We tend to go by how we feel and our circumstances. For many summer ended when they or their children returned to school. For others it's about temperatures and scenery. When the leaves change color and a jacket is needed for a motorcycle ride, summer has ended and fall begun.

But however we measure it, we know fall is coming and winter looms in the not so distant future, and by Christmas many of us will be eagerly awaiting spring. The seasons progress with time, and the amount of daylight determines the season and the color of the leaves. It's not really about temperature and whether we can wear shorts or need a coat. It's all about the sun. Friday, September 22 is the last day of summer, and the 23rd will be all fall, even if it is 90 degrees here in East Texas, which the forecast says is likely.

About a week ago I walked outside around 11 PM to go sit in my chair, smoke my pipe, review my day and talk to God for a while before trying to sleep. The air felt chilly on my bare arms, and I thought, wow, it's finally starting to cool off in the evenings and soon I will need to wear a jacket out here. Fall is definitely on the way. But yesterday the temperature climbed as high as it had most days in August, and even at midnight I needed the ceiling fan on in my prayer room. Summer made it clear that it is not dead quite yet, at least not in Nacogdoches.

There is a point to this rambling about the weather, I promise. It's not simply small talk because I have nothing to say. You see, it  occurred to me this morning that despite the return of the heat over the last few days and the progress toward cooler temperatures slowed and even backed up some, I never became concerned that something had gone terribly awry. I never worried that God had become displeased with fall and decided to punish it by letting summer reassert itself. I never thought that fall had slipped up or messed up or become complacent and allowed summer to regain some hold on the weather. And not once did it cross my mind that the heat meant that fall would not come.

That would be foolish, right? No one thinks like that. We know the change is coming, sometimes the evidence comes quickly, sometimes slowly, but the seasons will change. Sometimes fall arrives to stay its turn before the equinox, although that is a very rare occurrence in Texas, and other times summer may fight and gasp to hang on until Halloween. And there is never a clear line of division. I don't recall there ever being a year where there weren't warm days followed by cool and then a return to hot before more cool days appeared. And it is quite usual during the changing of the seasons to have warm or even hot days with cool evenings and cold nights. The progress of the seasons does not come like a switch being turned on but through a process and transition. We know this. We understand this. We may moan about  it, talk about it, we may make jokes like fall is loading please be patient, but we do not become anxious and fearful over it. There's no need to panic over the thermostat hitting 90. Football is here, the equinox is two days away, and the cool temperatures of fall are on the way, no matter what it feels like today.

But while we understand this transition process with the seasons of the year, we all too often miss it with the seasons of our spiritual life. We hear and remember that it's about progress rather than perfection, and we are grateful for it. We know that we are not perfect, far from it. But yet we demand perfection in our progress. We expect a clear defining climb toward our goal, and if, no, when, it doesn't happen that way, we freak. We become worried that God has quit helping us or is displeased with us. Or maybe we just know that we are messing up or have become complacent and have failed again. The old life, the former self, is back and we're going backwards. It's only a matter of time before we're right back in all the bondage of the past and life is miserable again. And all of that is bogus.

Imagine we demanded this same perfection of progress with nature. As fall approaches the days should begin to cool. So, if it 89 degrees today, it better not hit 90 again before next summer. If it does, fall has somehow failed. If it gets warmer today than it was yesterday it means fall will not arrive at all, and within weeks we can reasonably fear that the summer will be back in full force and to stay. Of course we know that's ridiculous. That's not how nature works. It's not how we work either. Some days the color of my leaves may declare the transformation in progress and speak of the beauty to come, giving God glory for His handiwork while the temperature of my attitude says the dog days remain. It doesn't mean change isn't happening. It doesn't mean change has failed. Even if after the maturity of winter is reached I have an episode of Indian Summer, it doesn't mean that winter is over, it doesn't mean that the changes that have happened were not real, and it doesn't mean that all, or even anything, is lost. It most certainly doesn't mean that God has abandoned His transformation work.

We who have become His children have been declared new creations, because of the evidence of the work of the Son, not because of us. This is much like the evidence of the sun and the equinox will determine when the new season has begun. The circumstances and the way it feels have nothing to do with what the sun has proved to be true, and nothing is going to stop the coming changes. The circumstances and our feelings have nothing to do with the truth that the Son has declared the work accomplished, and we are new. The evidence of the transformation is a process, and we do want to continue to make progress toward becoming who He would have us be. But progress is not perfection, not even perfection of progress. We will have warm days and cool days. It's not something to freak out about. But because of the Son, no matter how hard the old tries to haunt and hang on, we can have hope. The season is changing, even when we can't see or feel it, and He will complete the work that He has begun in us.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 19, 2017 ~ Talking To Myself

How much time do you spend each day talking to yourself? We all talk to ourselves, and seriously, sometimes we'd be better off not listening. Now, I am not necessarily referring to speaking our loud where people who happen to be near by think the insanity is strong in that one. Still, speaking aloud to ourselves is not always a sign of insanity.

I know that when it comes to sanity I am not the best example. In fact, one of the best things that happened to me was that I came to understand that God could restore me to sanity. The simple definition of sanity is right thinking, sound thinking, rationality (thinking rooted in reason and logic). And recovery programs did not originate the idea that God could give us the ability to think rightly.

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

- 2 Timothy 1:7

My worst bouts of insanity had more to do with what I said to myself than that I was talking to myself. I said things like this time it'll be different. I crashed promising myself that tomorrow I would not drink and drug, and then I would wake and tell myself I just won't drink and drug as much. Then I would wonder why at the end of the day I was as messed up as I always was. Oh, I lied to myself all the time. I could look back past a thousands times when things went horribly awry, when my addictions caused more problems than they gave pleasure, when my choices only led to misery, pain and stress to the tenth power and convince myself that this time it would be as pleasurable and satisfying and as successful as that one time back in 19...... I was like Robin Williams' character in Good Will Hunting holding up the lottery ticket that was sure to be yet another loser and saying this is the one that'll win. Doing that with a dollar lottery ticket may not be that big of a deal, but I was doing it with my life. I had a brain that seemed bent on killing me, slowly, and emotions that loved to set that killer brain off on the teasing tangents that told me that walking that razor's edge between life and death was a good idea. And I listened. Over and over. Despite all the evidence to the contrary I insisted that my way was better and that what I wanted would lead to more happiness and satisfaction than God's will for my life. Insanity.

It wasn't that I talked to myself that proved my insanity, it was the nonsense my mind spit out. It wasn't whether the talking happened inside my head or out loud. I do speak aloud to myself, and that can be a good thing. Research shows that it can be a helpful way to picture what we are trying to find and activate memory. So, it really does help when we ask ourselves where did I set my phone down? Or maybe saying something along the lines of if I were my keys, where would I be? And when trying to work through emotions or a problem or even just trying to organize our thoughts, it can help to talk it out with ourselves. When I speak my anxiety out loud I can often hear it for what it is, false fear. We even encourage our children with the truth that it can help us to encourage ourselves. We've all heard of the little train that told itself I think I can, I think I can, right to the top of the near impossible climb. It can help to talk to ourselves, and we all do it, so why not embrace it?

But once again, I'm not really concerned about if our soliloquies are verbalized or not. The question is what are we saying?Are we causing ourselves problems, discouraging ourselves, talking ourselves out of the truth? Or are we stirring ourselves up? King David was excellent at appropriate self encouragement. He would often begin talking out the problem. They're all out to get me. Everywhere I look everything is going wrong and about to get worse. But he never stopped there. Still, despite all of this, I will trust in God. I know that God is my strength, my refuge, my provision.

It's not the end of the world if your speech to yourself usually starts in a bad place. Stupid, stupid, why do you always do stupid stuff? This is never going to last? Whenever you have something good going you always manage to mess it up. I know there are tons of examples that could be displayed to show how our inner instinctual voice of despondency tells us that we can not be free, we can not be victorious and that we are worthless. That voice can be so hard to silence, especially when it has been allowed to speak as often and as loudly as it wanted to for most of our lifetimes. You'll never be good enough. If people only knew....

Trying to force the voice of despondency into silence can make us feel even more like failures, because fighting that voice only seems to strengthen it. It's like telling someone not to think about purples elephants. You can think about anything you want, except purple elephants. No matter what you do, don't let the idea of purple elephants enter your mind. You'd have never thought about purple elephants at all, but now.... As with every other source of bondage to self we suffer, the speech of our negative nature is beyond our control.

That doesn't mean it can't be controlled or that we can't be free. Of course we can be free of the fear and hopelessness we speak into our own lives. But only by the power that is greater than us. It's not through our might, our discipline, our positive spinning or self manipulation. Like every other chain that must be broken it is only by the power of His Spirit. We need to do more than remember, we need to remind ourselves. Talk back. Remind ourselves of what? Remind ourselves that not everything we think and not everything we feel is real and true. Remind ourselves that no matter what our emotions and senses may tell us, truth is what God declares is true. That means that it doesn't matter how loudly Mr. Despondent yells in my mind to the contrary, God says He loves me, cares for me, is present and will help me in times of trouble, has provided a way of escape from each and every temptation. Today, I choose to believe what God says is more true than what I say to myself. Period. I may speak the hopelessness, but I will not let it end there. I will remind myself that He is my refuge and my strength. He is the solution to my problems and the answer to my fears.

I talk to myself. I did it yesterday, I've done it today, and I am sure that I will do it tomorrow. But what I have learned is that if I let the new creation have the last word, my life is a lot better. That's because the new creation likes to speak the truths of God. Maybe I really will fail in this area or that area again, but I don't have to do it right now. There is a way of escape. And when I am tired of the fight against sin, if I wait on Daddy's direction, guidance and help instead of giving in to the ghost of self within, my strength is renewed. When fear screams the sky is falling, I can reply that He has me and loves me as I am but enough not to leave me the mess I am. I remind myself that I have a history of lying to myself and manipulating myself, but that the truth of Jesus has only made me free. No, I doubt I will ever quit talking to myself, but today I am trying to make sure Daddy's words are the last ones.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 18, 2017 ~ Running From Shame

One of the promises of recovery is that we will not regret the past nor wish to close the door on it. This is a promise that I gain and lose, as most days it is true for me, but at times, even now, I still feel the weight of tremendous regret and there are things that I would love to see the door closed on for good. If you are like me, Dear Reader, the first thought in reading this promise is that those things we will no longer regret or wish to close the door on are those horrible things that we did or that happened as a result of our addictions and bondage that we are seeking freedom from.  But I don't think that's it.

I'm sure those things are included. Shame is a part of the bondage of addiction. I have never met anyone addicted where shame was not a part of it. But what I have also learned from my own experience, and from talking to others who have lived captive lives, is that the shame is rarely limited to times and events associated with our addictions. Many people feel overwhelmed and suffocated by secret shame. Life becomes miserable, full of fear (what will happen if people find out. if my shame is revealed?), and a process of slowly dying rather than abundant life. And often, crippling shame is one of the symptoms of spiritual sickness that people are trying to treat when they try this thing or that wrong solution that may work temporarily to relieve the pain, fear and misery, but eventually stops working and chains us to death.

When shame controls our life we can not serve God well, and shame can be a harder slave master to escape than the addictions we embraced trying to quiet it. Shame exists in a horrendous cycle of bondage. First, comes the condemnation and pain from the instigating event. Sin, ours or someone else's, births the shame. It is followed by branding. Branding? Yes, shame brands us as its own by deceiving us into embracing the idea that we are defined by and identified by the pain and failure associated with what caused the shame. Our past is not something that we did or something that happened to or was done to us, but it is who we are. Because we are defined by our shame we can not recover, should not recover, deserve the misery and failure we experience, and finally, since we so shamefully deserve such misery, we should also be ashamed of our thoughts, feelings and very existence. This second layer of shame adds to our false identity, leading to deeper branding and more shame. The cycle continues in ever increasing increments of shame that eventually controls every aspect of our actions and reactions.

Of course if shame is determining how we act and react, that means the Spirit is not. And any time the Spirit is not in control of our direction, actions and reactions we travel a road that leads to renewed bondage and death. It is the power and direction of the Spirit that takes us on the path that leads to life. And it is the Spirit that transforms us into the new creation that no longer has to live in regret or avoidance. That is the freedom of the promise.

We no longer have to live clothed in and branded by shame that leads to regret, regardless of what we have done or what has been done to us. Why? Because we come to understand that we are not defined by our past but by Daddy. We are not who shame says we are but who He says we are. We are not our failures and foolish choices, slaves to shame, but  we are the redeemed, those so special and significant to Daddy that He paid the highest price to make us His. We are loved by God. We don't have to live in regret because, rather than showing us to be worthless, the pits we have have been pushed into, fallen into and even jumped into don't define us but lead to a demonstration of what the power and love of God can do in our lives.

No longer wishing to close the door on the past doesn't mean that we are trapped in it. It is when we spend our days wishing we could make our past disappear and trying to close the door on it that we can't escape it When this promise comes true it doesn't mean that the door is so open that we live in the past. It means that we stop living in denial, pretending it didn't happen and praying no one brings it up. We can live in the now, in the present with an awareness of God's presence within us and His love for us. But we don't fear something or someone revealing our past, because when it comes up it is an opportunity to say yes, this is what I did, and more as well, and or this is what was done to me, but the story doesn't end there. That may be what it was like, but this is what happened, Christ worked in my life, and this is what it is like now. Oh, and you can have the restoration, healing and  freedom that I have as well, because Jesus also loves you, as He loves me, as you are, not as you should be.

We don't live in the past, but we don't want to pretend it away because it is our  past, our story (the word of our testimony is how it is said in scripture) combined with the the blood and work of Jesus that overcomes the enemy and sets captives free, drawing them into the understanding that they too can have relationship with Daddy and can be set free and given a life worth living. Why would we want to close the door on our greatest asset to point the way to Jesus? I was a cripple but now I can walk! I was a slave but now I am free! What does saying we have been set free even mean without the correlating admitting to not being so? But there no longer has to be regret and shame with what it was like. We can rejoice that not only are we no longer who we were, but that something good has come from what once caused us shame. First, it helped show us how desperately we needed Daddy, and it continues to cause good things because the Spirit can use our past to show people that they too can be set free.

If we are going to run from shame, let us make sure that we run directly to Daddy. He will take us, declare us His and significant to Him, and then we no longer have to flee the past or the shame tied to it. What once made us so sick and kept us slaves can now display His glory and be wielded as a weapon to defeat captivity and set others free. It's not denial. It's not saying that is not who I am....the junkie, the drunk, the felon, the foolish, the selfish, the cruel, the..... those things are indeed who I was and who I am without Jesus. They don't go away never to be known about again, but I am who Daddy says I am even more. I am bought with a price, made new and empowered to walk differently than before, able to say no to the sin I never could say no to on my own, I am sealed as His by the Spirit, adopted into the family of God and declared to be His child, no longer His enemy. I am a demonstration of His love, His power and His way of life rather than an example of what not do and how not to be. And you can have and be that as well, because Daddy loves you as you are. You do not have to be ashamed constantly running from the past. You too can be free.

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

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

Silently Screaming Joy

Wally Flynt shares on the amazing accomplishments of Jesus and our response to what He has done.  We are called to give what we have been given and we can be the love of Jesus in the lives of those we encounter. The message,  "Silently Screaming Joy" is about 2 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, September 17, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

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

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

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

Unshackled Audio ~ September 16, 2017 ~ Surrender

Today's Unshackled Audio Echo was previously published on

June 11, 2014 as Unconditional Surrender.

Dalyn Woodard continued the series on spiritual freedom and recovery from bondage of all kinds. The sermon, “Unconditional Surrender,” focuses on Step Three of the Twelve Steps and the Biblical principles behind it and is about 45 minutes in length. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

This is the fourth message in the "Freedom From Bondage" series. It covers the third of the twelve steps. If you would like to review or if you missed one of the first three messages, Part 1, The Sin Disease, can be found here. Part 2, Powerless, can be found here, and Part 3, God Can, can be found here.

Photo "Old Time Religion" taken by Dalyn Woodard copyright Eclectic Imagery.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ September 15, 2017 ~ Beyond Belief

Belief is not enough. That may sound like I've done a 180 flip, but I haven't. How so? Because I'm not talking about having to do anything more than believe to receive God's love, to have relationship with Him or to be saved. But there is far more to the spiritual life than salvation. The spiritual life, which is found in relationship to the Life Giver, is not static. It must be lived, and to live it takes more than simply believing. It must be acted upon.

Still, I am not talking about religious actions and rules. Step 2 says that we came to believe that God can restore us to sanity, to right thinking. That belief is essential because there is no progress beyond the hopelessness of understanding that we can not control or manage our lives or free ourselves from our bondage (Step 1) without that belief. But it is only one step. Belief is the beginning of the journey, not the destination. The destination is relationship and awareness of His presence with us, in us, and His great love, care and leadership in our lives. And to reach that we must do more than believe.

The first action is immediately apparent, because Step 3 makes it so clear. We surrender our lives and will to Him, to His love, care and leadership. Submitting to Him, denying self and surrendering to the truth that His will, way and plans for us are better, more satisfying and leading to contentment than our own will and way. But even surrender is not enough. Well, it is, but it isn't. Surrender isn't real if it stops with us saying we surrender. But if the surrender is real there will be action. Because we are never called to follow Christ without also being called to serve. True belief is not saying we belief but acting on that belief. If we believe and surrender to Him, we will then act on that belief, allowing Him to guide and direct us, to have control of our actions and reactions, which will lead to us becoming a demonstration of His love, His power and His way of life for His glory and to help others. We will be instruments of His love and His peace.

Love isn't really love until it's given away. We are never given anything to hoard and hold onto selfishly, because selfishness goes on the altar. It isn't fed and nurtured.  It is sacrificed and replaced with something much better. Today if we believe we must also be quick to get out of the way, give Him control, so that we can be the hand of love and a light in the lives of others drawing them to Him. I'm not saying that we must preach at people. But our presence, can give others a glimpse of His love. Our listening and caring can show people God's compassion for them. Our acceptance and friendship toward even those we in ourselves would not like or associate with can be an example of how Christ loved us even when we were His enemies. We may be the one that brings those we would avoid into relationship with Him, because when they see what we have, and how we don't reject them, then they can believe, perhaps, that maybe, just maybe, God won't reject them either. How can the world know that Jesus truly loves them as they are, not as they should be, if they aren't shown love and acceptance by those who claim to belong to Him?

Even the stranger we encounter can glimpse the love and peace of God in our lives and wonder, how can I have what they have? if we are allowing Him to lead, guide and direct our thoughts and actions in every situation and every encounter. It's not about looking a certain way, or doing religious things. There is no life in religion. It's about acting on our belief and surrender in such a real way that we get so close to Jesus that His love fills us, overflows out of us and pours onto others. There's life in that. Life for us. Life for others. Today, let us live and go beyond belief.

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

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