Faith Is A Group Activity

Dalyn Woodard continues the series, "Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews," with a look at three applications to do with the understanding of who Jesus is and what He's done. The message, "Faith Is A Group Activity," is about 35 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on July 17, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. Video below.

You can hear the first message in the Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews series, "It's All About Jesus," here, the second message, "A Most Excellent Word," here. The third message, "Jesus Is Enough," here. The fourth message, "More Excellent Than Angels," here. The fifth message, "Defeating The Dangerous Drift," here. The sixth message, "The Most Excellent Man," here. The seventh message, "The Most Excellent Help," here. The eighth message, "Consider Jesus," here. The ninth message, "Don't Lose Your Rest," here. The tenth message, "There Remains A Rest," here. The eleventh message, "Living And Active," here. The twelfth message, "Hang On And Come Close,"  here. The thirteenth message, "We Need A Mediator," here. The fourteenth message, "Wax Build Up," here. The fifteenth message, "Growing Up Is Not Optional," here. The sixteenth message, "Don't Get Burned," here. The seventeenth message, "Blessed Assurance," here. The eighteenth message, "A Sure And Steadfast Anchor," here. The nineteenth message, "Pointing To Greater," here. The twentieth message, "Access To Draw Near," here. The twenty-first message, "Saving To The Uttermost," here. The twenty-second message, "A Better Way," here The twenty-third message, "Curing The Guilty Conscience," here. The twenty-fourth message, "Why Did Jesus Have To Die?" here, and the twenty-fifth message, "Most Excellent Forgiver," here.

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

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 17, 2019 ~ Let's Make A Deal

When I was a child, I enjoyed television game shows. One of my favorites was Let's Make A Deal. I loved seeing the people in costumes and watching the traders try their luck. I always wanted to know if they got to keep the donkey when they got zonked. I would laugh as contestants twisted themselves into knots of anxiety and anticipation trying to decide if they should release what they had already been given in the hope of getting something better.

What I didn't realize watching the show was how much of that mentality would adversely affect my life for years. Now I am not blaming the game show for my issues. I'm blaming my common human character that goes into making the show popular for also making my ability to receive from God difficult. It's a difficult and sometimes scary thing to let go, but letting go is what we have to do in order to receive from God.

To get the gifts that God desires to give us, we have to let go of the things we already have, which are in the way. There's just not enough room in our lives for both. Now the truth is that there is no zonk in the kingdom of God. God's gifts and plans for our lives are always much greater than what we have or can get on our own and more satisfying and fulfilling than our own dreams for us, always, every time. There's never a chance that if we hold on to what we have the reveal will show that we made the wise decision. What we have held onto will always look like a zonk when compared to what's behind the curtain of God's will for us.

But somehow it is common for us not to remember that when the time comes to choose. The Spirit comes with a wonderful opportunity and asks if we want the joy, peace, love and every blessing that comes from relationship with God, free, it has already been earned and paid for, we just have to be willing to give up the broken and lacking that we already have. We know our lives don't quite work. We know we can never seem to do enough, to get enough, to have peace and contentment. What we have never seems to satisfy well or for long, and even when it does satisfy there's a voice in the back of our mind reminding us that sooner or later life is going to be less than satisfying. Life without relationship with God is never enough. Yet, we waiver at the point of choosing. We look to the crowd for encouragement and counsel, we become anxious with the weight of the choice, when this should be the easiest decision we ever make.

There is no zonk with God. There is never a time when what He's offering is not seriously better. It's always a trade up. If we were watching the spiritual version of Let's Make a Deal there would never be the tension of the one we're familiar with. The child of God walks up to the Host, and it doesn't matter what he or she tries to portray themselves as, we know it's just a costume and not who they truly are. The Host can see through the masks. He knows who they are and what they need, what will make their lives worth living. He presents the question. Do you want to keep what only sometimes makes you only a little happy and leaves you anxious and miserable or do you want to give Me that in exchange for a life worth living, full of love, joy and peace? If they hesitate for even a split second, we groan at the show. You idiot! Can't you see that no matter what is behind the curtain it's got to be so much better than that worthless junk you're holding on to? I can imagine the angels feeling that way about me every time I  hesitate to release my will, my desires and what I have managed to collect because I am for some foolish reason afraid what God wants to trade me is somehow worth less.

There simply is no question. God wants to give us every good thing on an eternal scale in exchange for the lives that never satisfy. That deal is so heavily skewed in our favor we can never understand why God would even make the offer. It's like walking up to a homeless man and offering him a dream mansion on a beautiful estate in exchange for what's left of his cardboard box. Why? But the bigger question is not why God would make the offer, but why we ever even contemplate holding on to the box? Today, before we even enter the game, let us choose to always take the gift from God, no matter what junk of our own we may have to let release. It will be worth it.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 17, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 16, 2019 ~ Changing Identifiers

If you change someone's identity, you can change their world. But when you change someone's identity in your own mind and heart, you can change your own world, long before they change and even if they don't. That's what forgiveness really is. It's spiritually giving the bad guy new papers, a new identity. Resentment and refusal to forgive is like putting yourself on constant alert and in battle mode with no relief and no time away from the front lines with all the danger and stress and fear and hate. We must be constantly on the lookout for the presence of the enemy, we must be ready for their attack, we must be prepared to defend ourselves, and remembering the pain they've  already caused and that the best defense is a good offense, we must get them before they get us.

If we see that person or are reminded in any way about that person we won't forgive, it's like alarms going off within us that can't be ignored. Battle Stations! Battle Stations! Red Alert! Then we slip into whatever battle mode  our tactics call for. For some it may be defensive martyrdom and victimhood. When the world sees how horrible that person was to us, they'll become our allies, help us and condemn them. Or it may be character assassination. Tear them down and make them look bad while showing that we did nothing wrong and may have even reacted with the poise and restraint of a saint. There are myriad ways we might react and act to defend ourselves, to push our position and to defeat our enemy. But whatever tactic we've been taught, are genetically predisposed to use and have spent our lives living by, that mode is automatic and programmed. We lose control as the auto defenses go active.

That person is the enemy and must be treated as such, whatever that means to us. We can't help it. That is their identity. They are the enemy. They are the one who did this and that and the other. They are the one who hurt us. They are the one who could hurt us again if we don't protect ourselves. But what if that is not who they are to us?

What if we truly forgave? When we forgive, we give them a new identity in our eyes and heart. We give them another classification in our defense system. We no longer see them as the enemy we must protect ourselves from at all cost and kill before they can kill us. They become in our minds the wounded that need help, that need our prayers and compassion. If they weren't spiritually sick and damaged they would have never....God, help them, heal them, draw them deeper into relationship with You and change their heart, making them safe in the process, and change my heart toward them so I can trust You to be my defender and protector and I can be free to be the me that You have called me to be and no longer the soldier on the front lines still fighting a war long over and letting the pain of the past,  which You want to heal, control me.

When we change how we see them, we change the programming that controls our actions and reactions. When we determine to see our former enemies through the eyes and classifications of God, we can respond as He would respond rather than by the old patterns. The only way to find freedom from the fighting and wars of the past though is to forgive the unforgivable, give love and compassion to those who do not deserve it and refuse to continue to fight. It's what Jesus did on the cross and what we were called to do.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 16, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 15, 2019 ~ CAT Scan

I went to the doctor Monday to have a follow up and hear the results from the CAT Scan I had last week. It's been too long since I've had the sarcoidosis examined. My ophthalmologist said that the problem that I've had in my eyes for about 10 years and which was getting worse and worse actually was sarcoidosis in my eyes. He got a little frustrated with me because I had not mentioned the sarcoidosis in my chest when asked about any other serious health conditions. The surgeon who diagnosed me after a biopsy of my chest had not acted like it was in any way serious and didn't follow typical treatment protocols, so I kind of ignored and forgot about it.

I didn't get any new information about the sarcoidosis this week. I guess I'll have to wait until the referral for the pulmonologist comes through for the most recent scan to be compared to the old one, but I did get some new information about my health. Evidently the scan shows that I have a gallstone. I was told that I would need to have my gallbladder removed but that since I am not having any serious symptoms it should wait until after I see the pulmonologist.

Well, my thought was no, it can wait a lot longer than that, thank you very much. I have almost no symptoms, and those I do have are not bad or painful enough to give up what I would have to give up if I had my gallbladder removed. I like my diet the way it is, and it's going to take a lot more than the symptoms I have to make me sacrifice being able to eat the foods I want to eat. I have too much of my grandfather in me, I guess. He was an eat what you want and adjust insulin accordingly kind of diabetic.

But early this morning I got a taste of what it might mean to ignore this issue for too long. I had bloating and stomach pain to such a degree that I nearly screamed. Worse, I nearly got up at 5:30 AM on a day that I did not have to be up early. Ugh. I haven't had stomach pain like that in a very long time. It took over an hour for the pain level to subside enough for me to go back to sleep, but I still hurt too much to sleep well.

As I lay there hurting, I did some thinking about the situation. I had a motorcycle wreck in 2012, which led to an emergency room visit and a CAT Scan. They didn't find any issues from the wreck, but they did discover spots on my lymph nodes in and around my lungs. Fighting panic from fear over possible cancer I waited for the biopsy to tell me what was going on. Not cancer. Sarcoidosis. I had been a charity case without insurance at the time, and I guess the doctors and the hospital involved wanted to keep the cost at the absolute minimum, because the standard months long run of steroid treatment and the follow up with a pulmonologist that usually happens in such a case never occurred. In fact the surgeon told me it was nothing to worry about. It turns out that not worrying and and not treating are not really synonymous.

The sarcoidosis is much worse than I was initially led to believe and was also in my eyes. I would go blind without treatment. Thankfully the treatment is working, and my vision is already better, but when my ophthalmologist strongly suggested that I might see if the sarcoidosis in my chest had also gotten worse over the last four years and need treatment, I listened. Hence last week's CAT Scan.

And so far, nothing new on the reason I had the scan, but something else has been found. These inadvertent discoveries often happen. There's a problem with one thing, and examining that situation may or may not show anything but does show an unrelated problem. Then we have to decide what we are going to do with the information. With the sarcoidosis, I definitely want it treated. With the gallbladder, if I'm honest with myself, it's going to have to be as bad as it was this morning or worse, every day, for a while, before I will seriously contemplate having my gall bladder removed. I think the surgeon downplayed the sarcoidosis because I couldn't afford treatment. I think the PA is overplaying the gallstone a little because I have good insurance now and the health care system loves to yank gallbladders when people are insured and there's the slightest excuse.

But as I thought through the pain this morning, I saw some spiritual similarities as well as differences. Sometimes spiritually there are also inadvertent discoveries, inadvertent to us anyway. God always knows the full and complete diagnosis of our mind, body and spirit. But sometimes we go to God over some pain or situation and instead of addressing it like we expect, He shows us a seemingly unrelated area and says, there's a problem here we need to address.  Sometimes He shows it to us before the problem gets real bad and begins causing a lot of pain and damage, and sometimes the problem is revealed as spiritual things are getting infected and about to rupture. But whether we want to pretend it isn't there and it's no big deal because we think there's nothing to it or that it really isn't all that bad compared to the sacrifice to self that changing would cost us, God is not a human doctor with fallacies or hidden agendas.  His timing is always perfect, His understanding is complete, and He never makes a mistake about whether or not something needs to be dealt with or if it's serious or not. All sin is serious and leads to death in our lives. It can't wait. It can't be ignored. It can't be tolerated.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

- Psalm 139:23-24

This should be our attitude regularly, Daily we should be going to Daddy, the Great Physician and saying search me, show me, lead me from death to life. It's more important than check ups and follow ups with physical doctors. There is nothing worth holding onto and risking the spiritual sickness that happens when we ignore the call to keep appointments for exams and treatment with God. Today let us ask Him to show us anything that He wants to treat within us, and let us not underplay, delay or act like it isn't important. Even small sin brings death when left untreated.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 15, 2016.

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

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

Undone

Darlene Woodard shares that when we come into the presence of the Lord, the mask and the pretense we hide behind is undone, and that's a good thing. The message, "Undone," is about 6 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on July 14, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen.

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

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 13, 2019 ~ Let It Burn

What we have freely received, we are to freely give. In fact, there are things that we are given for the sole purpose of giving them away. Almost like we are not the receivers as much as the carriers. Sometimes this concept can be a little hard to take from the standpoint of our humanness, born in selfishness and clothed in what's in it for me. That's because we see the gifts of God as ours in a way that a discovered treasure is ours. If I found a million dollars and gave a million dollars away I would be as broke as before I found it. No thank you.

But that's not the way it works with spiritual gifts and treasure. Spiritual treasure is not like gold which can be held by only one person at a time, but rather it is like a fire, which does not diminish when offered from one candle to another but gives us even more light and is twice what it was before it was shared. When I found the wonder and truth of God's grace in Jesus Christ for me, I became a blessed and rich person, a spiritual heir of God. But I don't lessen that by giving it away. It can only be lessened by hoarding it. When I find Jesus and the treasure He brings to life, I find something more valuable than gold. When I give the Jesus I have found to a hundred others, my portion is not diminished. Now a hundred and one people have Jesus, and like with a flame to a candle, each have a full portion. In fact, as you give His love away, your flame grows brighter than before, you actually get closer to Jesus, a little more of the Spirit, your portion increases as it is released.

I have been given spiritual gifts that make me able to be of service to God and others. So have you. Those gifts are ours, but they are not directly for us. We use them to bless and help others and to bring glory to God, to make the light of God burn brighter and in more hearts. So what's in it for us? When we light a fire, it is not really the fire that we burn for ourselves and our purposes. We set a fire for the effects of that fire, for the by-products and the results. We are after the energy, heat and light that a fire gives off when it burns.The gifts and things of God are like fire. They do us no good if not used, because it is not them but the effects of using them that we are after.

Using the things of God and sharing them with others doesn't diminish them. It increases their effects and multiplies their by-products of Light to see truth, Warmth to comfort and heal, Energy to endure and excel and spreads love, joy and peace. These things are found and multiplied to us, and through us to others, when we give everything away and are consumed by the fire of God in our hearts. They are only lessened by holding back and tying to prevent some of our self from being burnt, reduced to ash in the transfer. From the ashes of what we give of ourselves to God something beautiful and alive spreads through our lives, and in the end, we are left with more life, more contentment and more reason to live than we had before we were exposed to the fire.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 13, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 12, 2019 ~ Fix The Leak

My wife and I have dogs. There are 11 canine units ranging from the tiny poodle Katie Bug, to the overgrown puppy Luna, who weighs well over 100 lbs. The majority of them are small and medium sized, the Cavaliers and the Brittanys, but the two Great Danes and the hound are larger. Keeping them all fed and watered can be expensive and time consuming...and frustrating.

For quite a while the largest source of frustration has been Luna, the largest of them. Luna is a beautiful Great Dane who still acts like an energetic puppy despite her hugeness.. She bounces around, knocking things over, and is in no way graceful or lady-like. Luna is short for Lunatic, and she  lives up to the name. Part of me knows we should let her go to another family who can more easily afford to feed her, since she eats more every day than the six smaller dogs in the yard. But I love her and selfishly want to keep her, especially since she is literally a huge deterrent to unwelcome guests. But one thing I didn't love or even like about her is how her exuberance made it impossible to keep her watered.

In all her scampering and bouncing around it never failed that no matter what I did in an attempt to prevent it, she would manage to dump her water. No matter where her water was placed, she would spill it, even when I tied a bucket to a tree, she still managed to waste it, making me have to work harder to make sure she didn't dehydrate, not to mention wasting gallons and gallons of water.

As the weather grew warmer and having water constantly available for all the dogs became more important, Leah conceived a great idea that would work for eight of the dogs at once. I bought a small kids wading pool, placed it where both of the Danes and six of the smaller dogs had easy access to it, filled it up and hoped that would solve the problem. It seemed to work for a short time, but soon our crazy Luna made it clear that she could manage to splash out most of the water in a day. The ground around the pool stayed wet and muddy, even more water was wasted than before, and it took even more time to water in the evening.

Frustrated that she just couldn't keep from wasting water and making meeting her needs more difficult, I finally moved the pool out of her reach, replaced her old water bowl and prepared to have to water her more often. Today the water is almost gone again and the ground around the pool is still wet. It appears that there is a small leak in the pool. I guess one of the dogs must have made a small puncture with their claws. I may have been blaming Luna for something that she wasn't doing. Even though it very well may have been her heavy paw that made the hole, it's possible that she wasn't splashing the water out after all.

No matter where I move the pool, it's going to leak. I can't keep the water level up and keep from wasting water as long as the hole exists. To simply keep adding water is an exercise in futility. Being frustrated with the dog won't help or solve anything. I need to find and patch the leak.

Life can be like this situation. Sometimes, no  matter what we do we keep getting drained. Drained of our awareness of the presence of God, drained of faith, drained of energy, drained of hope, just drained and exhausted from the effort of trying to fill ourselves back up. We may scramble to attempt to prevent it, which uses more energy and resources and simply emphasizes the truth that we are drained and continuing to drain. The obvious cause, the things that once caused the majority of our problems may not even be the issue any more. But we continue to spend frustration and resources attempting to control the craziness we blame for the situation.

But if we can step back and see the situation for what it really is rather than reacting, the Spirit can show us that it isn't the old issue but something else. It's not the external at all, but rather we have a leak. There is only one thing that can keep us from being drained, and that is to let God repair the leak in our soul. We can change the external, change location, eliminate the access that crazy has, and other things, but regardless of how we react or what we do, until the hole is fixed, our life will be a constant battle to fill a leaky vessel.

Being drained and losing the water of life is an internal problem. The external changes we make and the things we try to deny access won't solve the problem and keep us filled. One reason we can find our rest in God is that He dwells within us. He is the internal solution that can keep us filled with what gives life regardless of the crazy externals.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 12, 2016.

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

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

Most Excellent Forgiver

We all need to be forgiven. Dalyn Woodard continues the series, "Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews," with the good news that God desires to forgive us all and how the forgiveness that Jesus provided is enough for every sin for all time. The message, "most Excellent Forgiver," is about 57 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on July 10, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. Video below.

You can hear the first message in the Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews series, "It's All About Jesus," here, the second message, "A Most Excellent Word," here. The third message, "Jesus Is Enough," here. The fourth message, "More Excellent Than Angels," here. The fifth message, "Defeating The Dangerous Drift," here. The sixth message, "The Most Excellent Man," here. The seventh message, "The Most Excellent Help," here. The eighth message, "Consider Jesus," here. The ninth message, "Don't Lose Your Rest," here. The tenth message, "There Remains A Rest," here. The eleventh message, "Living And Active," here. The twelfth message, "Hang On And Come Close,"  here. The thirteenth message, "We Need A Mediator," here. The fourteenth message, "Wax Build Up," here. The fifteenth message, "Growing Up Is Not Optional," here. The sixteenth message, "Don't Get Burned," here. The seventeenth message, "Blessed Assurance," here. The eighteenth message, "A Sure And Steadfast Anchor," here. The nineteenth message, "Pointing To Greater," here. The twentieth message, "Access To Draw Near," here. The twenty-first message, "Saving To The Uttermost," here. The twenty-second message, "A Better Way," here The twenty-third message, "Curing The Guilty Conscience," here, and the twenty-fourth message, "Why Did Jesus Have To Die?" here.

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

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 10, 2019 ~ Terminally Unique - The Rest Of The Story

In yesterday's UM, Terminally Unique,  the thought of the day was about what it means to feel terminally unique and basically how we aren't. But since all those unique emotions aren't all that uncommon after all, why is it that the feeling of being different and set apart, of being terminally unique is so common? The answer is because those feelings, although fueled by self pity and inaccurate, have a basis of truth. They are a lie from the enemy, the lie that no one could understand and that our situation is different from all other human experience, but Satan's favorite lies, and the ones that are easiest for us to believe, are lies which are born from a seed of truth.

The truth that has been twisted to alienate and isolate us is the rest of the story. The root of truth is that we are indeed unique. No matter what boxes we fit into, no matter how much we have conformed to society, no matter how average our lives may be or how common our reactions and actions are in given situations, the truth is that we are all unique. There is no one who is living, has ever lived or will ever live exactly like me, or you. And if we get back to the truth of the how and why of that, then being terminally unique can take on an entirely new meaning and can become a beautiful and glorious thing.

To be terminal is to be dying, so there may not seem to be an upside to that condition. The truth though goes against our reason and says that we must be terminal, we must die to find life. Our lives are so much better after we die. I'm not talking about heaven, although there is that. I'm talking about the here and now and dying to self and living in Christ. And once we have died and been reborn as a child of God and learn to stay terminal, to die daily to self and follow Him, our uniqueness becomes a treasure. We each have a unique assortment of spiritual gifts and characteristics that are ours with our birth in Christ. While there are similarities with our brothers and sisters, no one else is exactly like us.

We have a calling that enables us to serve in a unique way that uniquely reflects an aspect of our Creator No one else can show and reflect His glory in quite the same way and degree as I can. No one else can take your place in that glory puzzle either. When we refuse to die to self and insist on walking in our own way, then the world misses out on seeing some of the beauty and wonder of the Father. Others fit the puzzle in their own unique ways and can not do more than what they were made to do.

Today, let us not wait for someone else to try to fill in the gap for us. Let us be gloriously and wonderfully terminally unique. Let us die to self, live in Him, and let our lives give Him the glory that only our love, service and praise can.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 10, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 9, 2019 ~ Terminally Unique

I can remember the first time that I heard the words terminally unique. Someone helping me with my early days of recovery used them to turn the volume down on the pity party I was throwing. She couldn't make me stop feeling sorry for myself, but she could kill the soundtrack. "Dalyn, you are seriously not terminally unique." She went on to tell me that in all the years that she'd been in the rooms of recovery she had never talked to anyone who hadn't expressed feeling the feelings I was whining about, especially in the start of the process.

But it's different for me. If you just understood what I have been through, what has been done, you'd drink/drug too, or at least you would see why I do. If you just understood what they did to me you would understand why I have to hold on to this particular resentment. I know Jesus said to forgive, but He wasn't talking about this kind of situation. You just don't get it. Etc., etc., blah, blah, Nobody understands me and what I'm feeling. I'm dying inside, and nobody sees why but me. I'm alone. I'm different than everybody else. The pity party anthem of the terminally unique echoes out of tune.

Like many teens, when I was younger I put up posters in my room, mostly of bands and cars I'd never drive, much less own. But I had one poster of a tiger looking like an overgrown depressed kitten. The caption on the poster consisted of three words. Nobody Understands Me. My father hated that poster. I know because he told me so. I didn't take it down though. If he had only understood how I was feeling he would understand why I loved that poster. But he did understand. He saw and understood me reacting to pain, confusion, disappointment, rejection and fear by isolating and playing the victim, and he saw the danger of it.

I just didn't get that the truth that there is nothing new under the sun includes emotions and the way I feel. Of course we all have unique experiences. No one has lived the exact same life as anyone else. Even the friends I strolled through hell with all did so from a slightly different angle and perspective. But our fears and emotions and reactions are far more mundanely average than we would like to believe. Being used and abused and treated wrong means we have at some point been victimized, but it takes wallowing in self pity and, yes, pride over it to play the victim. To take advantage of another, to have brought destruction into someone else's life means we have at some point played the victimizer, but it takes pride in being predator rather than prey and, yes, self pity to revel in killing before we can be killed. And the feelings and motivations of both extremes and the states between are predictable and boring and anything but unique.

Even if we could come up with some situation that absolutely no one we know could possibly understand and empathize with, Christ can and does understand how and why we feel what we do. In fact, He not only volunteered to  experience our hell, but He gets it and understands it even better than we do. From our perspective at the center of our own universe we may indeed seem terminally unique, but in truth our actions, reactions and emotions are common and shared by millions.

Rather than taking our pain and fear as an excuse to hide and wail that no one could possibly understand, we can run to the One who understands us even better than we do, who can help us, heal us and transform us, and then we can courageously share our experiences and what we felt with others so that they can see that they too are not alone and that there is indeed a solution.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 9, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 8, 2019 ~ Feeling Discouraged

There is a fine line between wallowing in self pity and venting, acknowledging the truth of how we feel and releasing it rather than stuffing it down and pretending that everything is OK when it's not. Selfishness and self centeredness is the root of all our problems, and the pity party is one event that we always need to refuse to attend. Because of that we may feel like we need to keep a large distance from that fine line. We deny ourselves the freedom to complain or express that we are not OK lest we slip into self pity.

We're like someone who is afraid of sharks refusing to stand on the beach. We feel guilty for complaining. After all, we are supposed to give thanks in all things at all times. But denying the truth of where we are emotionally and mentally is not healthy. Sometimes what we need to give thanks for is that God loves us and cares about our hurts and our discouragement. He knows even better than we how we feel and why. We are not sinning by being honest with Him and with ourselves about it. If we spend a little time in Psalms we will see many times where David expressed his concern over the times of struggle and how long adverse situations lasted. He quickly acknowledged his dismay and discouragement, and yet, he was called a man after God's own heart.

David wasn't afraid to say God, it doesn't look like You're helping me. If doesn't feel like I am going to survive this struggle. It doesn't feel like things are getting any better. In fact, it feels like they're getting worse by the minute. Yet, I will choose to remember that no matter how it feels I know that You are good and care for me.

If you are struggling through a time of difficulty and discouragement don't put on a mask and try to pretend that it's all good. Don't fall for the lie that being discouraged is a failure or lack off faith. Have enough faith to believe that God loves us, even when we want to give up. When we are honest about our fears and our weaknesses we make ourselves open for the God of all comfort to help us, to care for us and to give us the grace to keep going past our own endurance. It is when we try to pretend, to push away the truth of how we feel, that we are forced to try to keep going on our own strength. That never works well, and we end up even more discouraged.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 8, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 6, 2019 ~ Losing Glasses And God

Something happened to me last night that is embarrassing to admit. I took my glasses off to put my final dose off drops in my eyes, started talking to Leah, took my Melatonin and began hunting for my glasses. I put them on the bed to take my drops. I remembered doing it. They weren't there. I couldn't believe they were gone. I knew I hadn't taken them off anywhere else, but it had been that kind of day.

Leah's stylus had gone missing yesterday morning, and it had taken much effort and time, including remaking the bed three times and searching the chest in front of the bed and going through everything in the night stand and by the bed and, and, and... Leah found it later, and I am still not sure how it got to where it ended up. Leah had a pretty good idea, but it definitely wasn't obvious enough of a theory to make us search there. Light coming through the blinds caught her attention, and she happened to spot the stylus on the carpet. I think it was the grace of God, as I doubt either of us would have searched that part of the room any time soon.

Perhaps it was The Strange Case of the Missing Stylus that freaked me out about the missing glasses. Maybe it was something else, like being nervous about the MRI I have this morning. I don't know, but freak out I did. What had happened? I knew I had taken them off and set them down on the bed. Leah helped me look for them for about 15 or 20 seconds before busting out laughing. "They're on your face," she told me, seriously nearly crying from laughing so hard.

I almost laughed. I almost cried. I walked into the kitchen to set up the coffee maker for the morning and felt my cheeks warm. I had indeed been wearing my glasses, even as I searched for them and grew frustrated over not being able to find them. I felt stupid and foolish. It was kind of funny, but also a little frightening. I'm not sure why I didn't realize that I was wearing them. I took them off to see if they were so dirty or my eyes were in one of their bad phases causing the glasses to be ineffective to the point that I couldn't tell the difference between having them on or off. There was a lot of difference. I could see quite a bit better with my glasses on. I should have realized I was wearing them just by  how well I could see, never mind the weight and physical feel of them.

Not only had I not realized that I had them on or how much they were helping me see, but I had worked myself into a near frenzy trying to figure out what had happened to them and where they were, since they we not where I had left them. No, they were not where I had taken them off, because I had already put them back on. So I felt foolish, but it made me think about how often I do the same thing spiritually. I had never searched for glasses while wearing them before, but I have done the spiritual equivalent.

The situation begins to feel uncomfortable or I begin to grow anxious, and suddenly I begin searching for God. Where is He? Why isn't He there helping me? Why isn't my ever present help in time of need helping and providing me with refuge? Foolishly, I seek and do not find. It's not that He can't be found. It's that I already have what I'm looking for. I'm sitting in the storm cellar praying for shelter and freaking out over the wind that can't even reach me to blow my hair around. I'm already in the refuge. I'm looking for the assistance and presence of God as though it isn't there, or as if I left it somewhere else, while being in His presence and receiving His help. If He were to remove His grace the difference would be so apparent, but thankfully He doesn't go well, if you can't tell that I am helping you, I'll just stop helping.

He is there. He is working for my good. He is providing protection and shelter. He is holding me in His hands. And my forgetting that or failing to realize it does not make it any less true, any more than my forgetting I had put my glasses on and failing to realize I was wearing them didn't make them work any less to make me see. Today, let us remember that we are wearing our glasses. Let us remember that God's word is true and He is our ever present help and will never leave or forsake us, no matter what happens with our awareness of His help and presence.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 6, 2016 as Where Are You God?

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 5, 2019 ~ Carry Out The Execution

There are mornings when I rise and determine to keep my self in check for the day. I'm going to make sure that I do not act or react in the manner of my old nature. I will not engage in those habitual sins, character defects and bad attitudes that ruled my life outside of Christ. This is the day I will walk with Christ, like Christ. I will live a life of faithful obedience and love.

Sometimes, but not often, this vow will survive till late morning, perhaps even all the way to lunch. I can not remember a time when I succeeded in such a vow, when my determination was successful. Those times that I tried and failed are reminders that I shouldn't have been making the attempt at all. I'm not saying that I shouldn't be attempting to live obedient love, that I shouldn't desire to walk with God as Jesus walked. That is indeed the calling of our lives.

The attempt that shouldn't be made is to play jailer. I have taken a ruthless, dangerous prisoner whom the Judge has sentenced to be executed, given him a stay and tried to keep him caged instead. Rather than taking my old nature, my self will, my carnal, fleshly mind and starting the day with his execution, with nailing him to the cross, I have attempted to control him and keep him caged. But I have proven repeatedly my inability to control or contain this escape artist. I go on about my day, after determining to control my self with my self, and before I even realize what is happening, he's escaped and running loose, wreaking havoc.

We can not fix ourselves with ourselves, we can not repair our broken minds with our broken minds, and we can not contain or control our self, which doesn't wish to be controlled or contained, with our self. Self must die. The execution is scheduled and must be carried out. Daily we pick up our cross. Daily we lay our self on the altar and sacrifice our will to God. Then we get up from our knees with self not caged but dead and follow Jesus. We are then in the correct position to walk with God. We are not jailers of self. We are obedient servants. We are not self disciplined and controlled, but rather we are controlled by the Spirit as we walk in the power of God's grace. Dying daily we can live free from sin, in love.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 5, 2016.

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

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

Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to die for us to be forgiven? Dalyn Woodard continues the series, "Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews," with a look at why Jesus had to die, what His death accomplished and who receives the benefits of His death. The message, "Why Did Jesus Have To Die?," is about a 58 minutes long, and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on July 3, 2019. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. Video below.

You can hear the first message in the Jesus Is Most Excellent: A Study Of Hebrews series, "It's All About Jesus," here, the second message, "A Most Excellent Word," here. The third message, "Jesus Is Enough," here. The fourth message, "More Excellent Than Angels," here. The fifth message, "Defeating The Dangerous Drift," here. The sixth message, "The Most Excellent Man," here. The seventh message, "The Most Excellent Help," here. The eighth message, "Consider Jesus," here. The ninth message, "Don't Lose Your Rest," here. The tenth message, "There Remains A Rest," here. The eleventh message, "Living And Active," here. The twelfth message, "Hang On And Come Close,"  here. The thirteenth message, "We Need A Mediator," here. The fourteenth message, "Wax Build Up," here. The fifteenth message, "Growing Up Is Not Optional," here. The sixteenth message, "Don't Get Burned," here. The seventeenth message, "Blessed Assurance," here. The eighteenth message, "A Sure And Steadfast Anchor," here. The nineteenth message, "Pointing To Greater," here. The twentieth message, "Access To Draw Near," here. The twenty-first message, "Saving To The Uttermost," here. The twenty-second message, "A Better Way," here, the twenty-third message, "Curing The Guilty Conscience," here.

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

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 3, 2019 ~ Happy God

...according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

- I Timothy 1:11

I read the above verse this morning. It follows a string of offenses that are contrary to the doctrine of God and a statement that the law is not for the righteous or good but for those who are unrighteous. I took a look at the Greek to see exactly what the terms of offenses had been in the original text, and saw something I had never noticed before that completely took me by surprise.

The word that caught me off guard was not in the list of offenses but in verse 11. That word translated as blessed in basically every translation of the Bible is, in the literal Greek, a word that actually means happy. The glorious gospel of our happy God. What an awesome thought! What a novel idea!

I don't know about most people, but when I read blessed God I always thought of the usual definition of blessed, as in sacred and holy. It never occurred to me before that in this particular place it was more the way I would use the word blessed when I look at my beautiful wife, realize how happy I am to be with her and exclaim that I am a blessed man. It's not because she did anything. She may just be sitting there reading, not even thinking about me, but she said yes when I asked her to marry me, and that makes me happy, blessed.

Sometimes we think about wanting to make God happy by pleasing Him. Sometimes we think about making Him unhappy when we step outside of His will. It's all too easy to imagine and picture an angry God full of righteous wrath. But have we ever considered the image of a happy God? Can you see a God who is full of joy and happy because He has a relationship with us and not because of anything we do or don't do other than saying yes? The good news, or gospel, is that God asked us all to be in relationship with Him and sent His Son to make that possible. He is happy because we said yes!

We are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It's the Lord's joy, not ours, that makes us strong and helps us endure. We may be aware of that without ever stopping to think about what that really means, In order for the joy of Jesus, the Lord's joy. to give us strength, the Lord must be joyful, happy. Jesus is full of joy, and He shares the heart of the Father. That means Daddy is happy. Daddy is full of joy. We have a happy God. He is happy because we said yes. So let us never fear to approach Him and spend time in His presence. Let us get as close to Him as possible so that we can share His happiness.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 3, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 2, 2019 ~ Unanswered Prayers

There is an old county song released by Garth Brooks called Unanswered Prayers. It's a good song, in my opinion. It's catchy and sentimental and has just enough truth to make it enjoyable while it makes you think. That combination makes for a good song, but catchy with a touch of truth isn't really good enough to live by for long. Now I am not getting on ol' Garth, the two co-writers or the song in general when I say that.

For those that don't know, the song is about a man meeting his high school flame at a football game years later, remembering how much he'd wanted her and prayed God would bring them together for life and then looking at his wife and thanking God for unanswered prayers. One of my favorite lines is when he is so grateful for who he is married to and that he is not married to the former flame and says, "I guess the Lord knows what He's doing after all." "Some of God's greatest gifts," the song goes on to remind us, "are unanswered prayers."

I think the appeal of the song, and the reason it came to mind this morning while I meditated on the concept of faith, is that we often respond to God a lot like the man in the song. The truest aspect of the song is not the spirituality and the philosophy but the view point and thoughts of the character. No matter how often God proves Himself mighty and faithful and worthy of our trust, no matter how deeply we believe that He cares for us and is our hope and refuge, when we get in a tight spot or when God leads us in a different direction than we wanted or expected, or when He locks a door we prayed for Him to open, there is often that aspect within us, that little voice that doubts God's love that says does He really care? Does He know what He's doing to me and with me?

Later, we often see the benefit of what God was doing. His hand, protection, care, wisdom and blessing are more clearly seen in retrospect. Then we exclaim with gratitude and, yes, the hint of surprise, now I see what God was doing! Now I see the evidence of His hand and presence! And in a way, what we're saying is I guess the Lord knows what He's doing after all.

It's so difficult for us to accept and get past the idea that we don't know what's best for us. That we really can't make the right and best decisions for our lives. That God's plan is better than our plan, our dreams and our desires. We get trapped into the idea that faith is believing that God will give us what we want, or at least what we believe we need. And then if He doesn't, we question His love and whether or not we can really and truly and completely trust Him. Rather than listening and looking for the direction God wants to take us in, we try to manufacture more faith, because we start believing the lie that if we believe enough we can somehow force or obligate God to give us what we want.

Joni Eareckson Tada, is an amazing minister of God and writer. She inspires and helps many people have a better relationship with God, especially women. She's also been a quadriplegic and wheel chair bound since she was a teen after breaking her neck in 1967. I am sure there were many prayers by her and for her for her physical healing. Sometimes God does indeed heal physically. But healing our hearts and souls, giving us the best chance for the deepest most intimate relationship with Him, and our greatest ability to be of service for the healing and restoration of others, of living lives of light that show the world His love and power and grace are higher on God's list of priorities than physical healing, or any other obvious or natural solution to a problem we face. The joy Joni has, the love she has experienced and the relationship she has with God despite not receiving physical healing, I dare say, are greater miracles and have shone a greater light on the heart and glory of God than her getting up and walking out of that hospital nearly 50 years ago ever would have.

It's hard to believe sometimes. It's hard not to be disappointed when the answer we hope for isn't the answer God gives, when the door that makes sense as best from our point of view is not the one God wants to open, when the healing doesn't come, but the truth is that the Lord does indeed know what He's doing. He does love us and care for us, even when He doesn't do it the way we would. Faith is not believing that God will do what we want or think would be the best solution to the problems and difficulties we face. Faith is believing and trusting that God will do what is right and best on an eternal level.

Someday, Joni is going to walk the streets of gold with Jesus, whole and completely healed. And someday we are going to be completely whole and perfect as He is perfect as well, And on that side of eternity, we are going to be able to see the tapestry of our lives from His perspective, and we will see perfectly the beauty, love and wisdom of His choices in and for our lives. One thing that is always true, no matter how He answers of doesn't answer our prayers, is that God loves us, He is good, and He will always do what is best and right for us, whether we can see that at the time or understand it or not.  Believing that, and walking in assurance of that truth is what constitutes faith.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

July 2, 2016.

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ July 1, 2019 ~ Sometimes The Detour Is Better

I do not overwhelm myself with life’s problems, and how much more work needs to be done. I let myself be comforted in knowing that my life is now in the hands of my Higher Power, a master craftsman who is shaping each part of my life into a unique work of art.

- from July 1 entry Daily Reflections

I read these words this morning from today's Daily Reflections entry, much later than I usually do, much later than I had planned to, much later than I wanted to. As I write this, it's almost 11:30 Am, and I am at least a couple of hours behind schedule. It's been one of those mornings. It's been a wonderful morning. If those last two sentences seem contradictory, they are in a way.

This has been the kind of morning that I usually find myself irritable and frustrated, the kind of morning that starts the day off all kinds of wrong, and I have to struggle to reset the day and my attitude. First, I slept poorly and woke far too early. But I didn't get up. I felt groggy and miserable. I rolled back over and went back to a restless sleep. Way too quickly after that, my alarm went off. Leah had risen early, also unable to rest this morning but smart enough to just go ahead and get up. So, I wasn't worried about her being late and after hitting the snooze button twice, I simply turned the alarm off. Five minutes and an hour after the time my alarm was set, I forced myself out of bed. I could barely walk and couldn't see worth a flip. This was the worst my eyes have been in the morning in weeks.

Then I couldn't find my glasses. They weren't where I always set them at night so that I can find them easily by feel. Already over an hour behind on the day and blind, I gave up and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the start of the day and my morning devotions. I looked again for my glasses after putting on my comfy PJs to lounge in and finally found them. I kissed Leah good morning and sat down at the computer to read. The next couple of hours were spent trying to pray, doing the various reading of Scripture and devotions that I do in the mornings and with interruptions, lots and lots of interruptions. Any and every time I began to get to that place where I like to go spiritually to spend some time with God and set my attitude and tone for the day, interruption. I felt yanked back into the harshness of the day. I couldn't get settled. I couldn't find peace. On top of the frustration of wanting to enter my quiet place in the awareness of the presence of God sat the feeling of being behind, of running late, and the fight within myself not to rush through this important time in my day so that I could get on with all the things that needed to get done today.

I cried out to God for grace. I hoped for an answer to prayer that would be something along the lines of time slowing down so that I wouldn't get further behind and for the interruptions to miraculously cease. Instead I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Chill." Yes, God talks to me, and yes, sometimes He  tells me to chill. Sometimes He tells me to shut up and listen. He speaks so that we can hear, and while these words might not work for you, they are sometimes just what I need to hear to get me out of self and quiet enough to hear the rest of what He wants to tell me.

In II Kings there is a story of Elijah facing an army of enemies. His servant is freaking out, and Elijah calmly asks the Lord to open the eyes of the servant. God grants the request, and the servant sees the hand of God at work and angels all around. Things looked a lot different from God's perspective then from what  the servant had been seeing. It felt a little like that for me as I stopped fretting long enough for the Holy Spirit to open my eyes.

One of the main and most frequent interruptions was actually an answer to prayer, a chance to minister and be of service. What better time than when I had already begun immersing myself in the Word? I was better able to check my reactions and let the Spirit guide my words because I was already trying so hard to access that place of awareness of the Spirit. Thank you Lord.

 Another came when I opened the door for it. I had missed a text this morning due to my ringer being off.  I noticed it when I grabbed my phone to have it handy in case Leah, who had already left, needed to reach me. It had been over an hour and a half since the text had come through, so I felt obligated to respond then instead of waiting until I finished devotions. Suddenly a conversation started. Every few minutes, as I tried to read, my phone would go off. It was a trivial conversation on the surface and breaking my train of thought. I started to send a text asking if we could talk more once I had completed my morning time, when, just a few moments after realizing the other interruption was a chance for service and not an intrusion, the Spirit stopped me. It occurred to me that this trivial conversation was exactly the kind of thing I had been hoping to have happen and praying for years to happen. It wasn't an intrusion or an interruption. It was a blessing and an answer to prayer.

Some of Jesus' most awesome encounters with people during His physical ministry on earth came when He as busy going other places and was stopped, interrupted, called to deviate from the day's agenda. Heading somewhere He would hear the cry of, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He would stop and someone's life would be changed. Maybe He was five minutes or an hour later getting where He needed to go, where the Father had told Him to go, but He was also doing the work of the Father, giving love and being of service to the people Daddy had sent Him to help. The agenda can wait. The plans can change. The Spirit knows better how the time is to be spent, even when the agenda is set in service to God.

I had been struggling to enter into an awareness of the presence of God, and then getting frustrated by an interruption I had started (that I had instigated, which frustrated me more than the interruption I think), until God showed me that the very thing I was fretting over was evidence of His presence and the restoration work He's being doing. I nearly wept with joy and gratitude. I suddenly realized my agenda, my plans didn't matter. There was nothing that still couldn't get done by grace, or, if it wasn't done, it wouldn't matter on the eternal scale of things. I had found that awareness of the presence of God in my life and my morning I had been seeking. It wasn't because I finally found the freedom to engage my routine. It was precisely because the routine had been shattered.

God is a Master Artist. and He's making something beautiful that we can see, feel and be a part of if we are willing to let our plans, our routines, our agendas be shattered. We don't have to be overwhelmed by what we feel needs to be done. What truly needs to be done will be done.  God never fails to meet our needs, and therefore will never lead us away from what needs to be done. But sometimes what we feel desperately needs to be done now can wait or doesn't actually need to be done at all. A few minutes after I finally reached this understanding in my spirit, I read the devotion with the above quote. It's always nice to receive a confirmation of what the Spirit is saying to you, and since we are called to freely give what we have freely received, I knew today's Moment  would be my sharing this.

Today, let us relax our grips on the to-do list, on our plans and on our agendas. Let us be open to be flexible to what the Spirit wants to do in our lives and through our lives. And let us pray that we can see the horizon through the eyes of the spirit rather than the material so that we can always be aware of the hand of God at work and not be overwhelmed by all the things that seem to be in the way or coming against us. Most of all, let us never forget that we live our lives in the presence of God, whether we are aware of it or not, with or without conscious contact He is there, and let us be ever grateful for that truth.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 29, 2016.

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

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