Unshackled Moments ~ January 25, 2017 ~ Measuring Up

We have all heard the scripture that says judge not lest you be judged. I've heard atheists quote that. Seriously, it is almost used more to protect the wounded from the attack of judgment than it is to remind us in love of what Jesus said and meant. Can you think of a time when you heard that verse quoted and the person saying it wasn't judging someone for judging? It would be funny if it weren't so heartbreakingly sad. I bet if you asked 100 people on the street, they would all be familiar with the verse and many would think that it is prohibiting judgment of what is right and wrong. But then, sadly a lot of people also believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.

We obviously instinctively believe we understand this verse, so we fail to look any deeper. But have we missed something? Do we understand what the verse is saying? A logical but twisted offshoot of the popular interpretation of this verse can be found in in many prison tattoos as unrepentant, at least pretending not to be sorry for their life and the things that they've done, men proudly strut through cell blocks sporting ink that declares Only God Can Judge Me. But in the attitude is some vague sense of a philosophy that  seems to say that God understands why I am the way I am and if you only knew you'd understand too. But no. God does indeed understand, better than we do, what happened to us, in us and around us, but that doesn't mean that everyone or anyone gets a pass because life is hard. God doesn't grade on the curve. It's pass fail, and only perfect passes, no excuses and no exceptions.

Hey, I'm starting to get uncomfortable. What's this have to do with recovery? I don't blame you for being uncomfortable. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about the judgment of God if I don't also remember His mercy and His great love. In the beginning of God's love story about Him and humanity He declared that two people joined together in marriage would become unified, one. That is not just metaphor, but truly something awesome, wonderful and special that happens as our souls are intertwined and union is made spiritually even as our bodies are joined sexually. And one of the three most common ways our relationship with Jesus is described is that of bride  and groom. The relationship was consummated on the cross as Jesus spread His arms to embrace us, His bride, and gave everything He is for us, holding nothing back. When we accept that love and return His embrace, we become His, and He ours. We become one with Jesus.

Now when God judges us, and He will judge each and every one of us, He see the perfect love of Jesus that fulfilled the law instead of our failure to love Him and love others as we should. We are one with Jesus, so the rich rightness of Jesus is more than enough to cover our moral and spiritual bankruptcy, We don't have to be afraid of God's judgment, but if we ever even think of standing on our own merits, we should fear it greatly, because to be judged by every person in the world is nothing compared to being judged by God.

The thing is, this verse telling us not to judge was not, and was never intended to be, a verse that declared that no one should look at anything as wrong. It was not about judging, despite the word used, as much as it was about understanding the truth of our own situation, the truth about who God is, and not being hypocrites. It's not logical to think that the verse ever meant not to judge if something was good or bad when it is immediately followed b the plankeye parable. What's the plankeye parable? That's where Jesus tells us not to be so focused on the splinter in someone else's eye that we miss the plank or beam in our own eye. We are told to first remove the plank from our own life so that we can then see to remove the splinter from our brother's eye.

This is often used like a shield in the same way as the judging verse, as in don't pretend you're perfect, when you become perfect you can talk to me about my issues. And that's not quite it either. And this is important, because this is where it becomes practical and about recovery, recovery from being the hopeless defendant standing before a righteous judge, recovery from being one of the sick, broken and slave to the curse to being healed, restored and set free, recovery from a slave to sin and addiction to a free child of God.

Judgment is looking at the standard. We see the failure to meet the standard in others and pounce. It's easy to do. In some cases it as easy as breathing. You could, for example, take either Hillary Clinton or President Trump because you could take them both, and see that they have become the targets of many because they are in the public eye and because they step up to declare themselves leaders of others. It became a national past time to bash one or both of them, because they obviously fail to measure up in some area or another. That's a large example, but what about that that person we come across in some situation and we decide that they're not making progress or not making progress as quickly as they should. We determine they're not growing in their relationship with God, or they're not growing in such a way that would make their life so much better and make them less miserable. Or what about that person who comes into our presence reeking of the bondage that rules their life as we look at them and declare ourselves grateful that we are no longer in bondage as they are.

Our judgment of others, our scathing contempt for those who fail, our haughty evaluation of another's journey and our self righteous elevation of our recovery over the one still failing all come from the same place, an innate fear of the truth we know deep down. There is a standard. Deny it, try to philosophize it away, try to justify and excuse all we want, there is a right and wrong. There is prefect love and there is evil and there is in all of us at least enough evil to prevent us from loving perfectly. None of us are meeting the standard, even today, regardless of what spiritual progress may have been made. No matter how much cleaner we are than the next guy, we will never be clean enough.

When we remember the standard, we know, if we are honest with ourselves, that we have not met the standard, we never have and we never will because we can't. So we justify and excuse and shift the blame. But if you only knew what I'd been through, if you only understood that it's their fault. We try to make ourselves feel better or superior by comparing ourselves to someone else, or we hate and attack what we see in ourselves, a failure to meet the standard. I hate that I can't measure up, but I don't want to hate myself, so I'll hate you and stone you to death instead.

But if we remember the great love and perfectness of our groom is what saves us from judgment and not anything that we are able to do, when we recognize the truth that we too deserve to be declared unworthy and unrighteous but have been cleansed and raised up by grace and made fit to be a bride, then we can love others with that same grace, mercy and love. It doesn't mean we don't say something is right that is clearly wrong, it means that we remember that we have been forgiven and what made it possible for us to stand before the judge unashamed and unafraid and that we share that with those who need it rather than attacking and trying to kill the crippled and weak. It means we love and pray for them and then, by grace and with love, when the opportunity arises, take them to meet the groom so that they can be made clean and whole and free as well. It means we remember and admit that we are as much fallen short as they are but have found the solution. It's not hypocritical judgment to say I was a slave, much the same that you're a slave, but I found freedom, let me show you the solution because what you are doing to try to distract yourself from not being enough is never going to work.



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 ~ January 23, 2017 ~ Tourniquet

There are things that help with sobriety in the same way way that a tourniquet helps keep one from bleeding to death when we've suffered a horrendous cut. Behavior modification techniques have their place, and are even quite important at times. Much like the tourniquet, something must be done to stop the immediate loss before a lasting solution can be put in place.

You can't properly stitch up a wound where it can fully heal if you don't stop the patient from bleeding out beforehand. Fear of consequences, accountability, peer and or mentor support, groups and encouragement, avoiding triggers, old places, people and things, avoiding certain stress, preventing being hungry, angry, lonely or tired, etc., are all things  that can help us abstain from those things we are in bondage too, for a while, hopefully long enough to get the real and lasting help that we need.

But if you tie of a limb with a tourniquet and leave it, the limb will die. If you only use a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and don't do something to close and treat the wound itself, you have only provided a stop measure and not dealt with the real danger and problem.

Our addictions are born out of fear and pain. The things we use that end up using us originally promise to take away or distract us from our fears and hurt. Eventually they do little but adding to our misery. At first though, they work well. They keep our emotional pain in check. or provide relief and comfort or at least distract us so that we don't have to acknowledge and deal with the hurt and fear. But once we are in the grips of what we wrongly put our hope in and have lost control of, we need something else before we die. What once was hope to help has left us bleeding out.

A tourniquet may help in the short term, but no support system, no techniques or behavior modification can work long or as the only measure taken. Like a tourniquet, using only this triage treatments will eventually worsen the situation and leave us dying. The wound must be addressed and treated. The original hurts and fears that led us to try the false treatments that led to addictions in the first place. The addictions and bondage are symptoms, not the true issue. No matter what evil has been done to us or that we have done, our wounds need to be treated by a doctor, not just our symptoms. The Great Physician loves us and wants to do more than give us a survival aid. He wants to give us true healing, restoration and freedom. The soul sickness that stems from separation between us and our Creator and the needs and fears that this deficiency cause are  the roots wounds that must be healed if we are to be truly and lastingly freed.



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 ~ January 21, 2017 ~ We Have A Home

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 3, 2013 as We Have A Home.

"The disease of self runs through my blood

It's a cancer fatal to my soul

Every attempt on my behalf has failed

To bring this sickness under control"

~ "I Wanna Be In The Light" DC Talk

Gautama Buddha said, “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” There are some ideas that grow out of this statement that I agree with, and some that I don't. But I do know that God's mercies are new every morning. I also know that I need that truth, because every day my old man tries to resurrect itself. My self will does not like to be dead. I know that I am not alone in this.

The scriptures make it clear that Christ died once for all and for all time. That sacrifice and His victory over the grave was sufficient to cover all our failures and selfishness for all time. When God forgave us, He only did it once. When we are adopted as His children, it is a one time deal. We are His children. Once we belong to Him, we never belong to ourselves, or this world or Satan ever again. He is faithful to complete the work that He has begun, and Jesus thanked the Father that no one could take us from His hands, not even us. We are a new creation in Christ.

But while that work is complete and eternal for those who have been adopted by the Father through faith in the Son and His death and resurrection,  the manifestation of that truth in this realm is still a work in process. Jesus told us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Paul wrote about dying daily. We are adopted children of God and that doesn't change, but do we act like it? Do we go through our day with the assurance and power that comes with being children of the most powerful being there is? Or do we slink through our day in fear that our "true" nature as orphans may come to light,  running the streets as though we were still parentless and lie, cheat, steal and fight to get what we need, or think we need, when the table of plenty waits for us to take what we need, for free and without price or struggle.

Until we see Him and are made perfect as He is perfect, our self will attempt to live anew. Our old nature, refusing to realize it is dead, will try to take back control of our lives. When self rises up and we begin to live like those who have never experienced grace, doing things we know aren't right, slipping into old behavior, as living like we're spiritually dead is sometimes referred to, we need to recognize it. It is a time and an indicator that we are not totally surrendered to God at the moment.

It doesn't mean we aren't His children. It doesn't mean we have failed Him and will be cast aside, orphaned once more. It simply means that we forgot who we are for a minute and still need Him. An orphan who is blessed by being adopted takes time to adjust to the idea that he or she is no longer homeless and alone. It takes time to trust that it isn't going to change and doesn't depend on their performance and whether they behave well enough. We too sometimes forget that we are His children and start feeling, thinking and living like the orphans we no longer are. We still need our savior.

Instead of beating yourself up and allowing condemnation to set in when you begin to take your will and life back from a place of surrender to God,  remember that what you really want is to be like your new Father. Then quickly be thankful that your behavior doesn't effect your adoption, so you don't have to make up for your mistakes. You just have to remember who you are in Christ and go back inside to get off the streets. There is no need to clean up first. There's a nice big bath tub in the house. Run into the arms of your Father like you belong there, and by doing so acknowledge and remind yourself of your new identity and die once more to self.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the Unshackled Moments, Unshackled Echoes 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 ~ January 20, 2017 ~ Sweet Victory Or Survival?

In recovery it is easy to get stuck in a war, which, even if we win, can leave us weary and longing for peace. It's a battle to us, and we work and dedicate ourselves to a spiritual program of recovery to acquire tools with which to use to maintain our sobriety. Ever heard that one? Tools, really? Are we saying that our recovery is broken, even though we are still sober, and needs to be fixed? Or are we implying that there are going to be tough times in which recovery is a battle and that we have to remain ever vigilant against the enemy?

The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink.

- from Chapter 2 of Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book)

Lost our power of choice in drink...or drugs, or gambling, or overeating, or overspending, or porn, or, or, or. Powerless. Defeated. Without defense. Does this not ring more loudly of an impending battle than a repair job? And what are the tools of battle? Weapons.

And please don't think that this paradigm is not in the mind of the follower of Jesus, a part of everyday Christian spirituality.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

- Ephesians 6:12

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

- 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

That is some serious war metaphor, and I am not for one minute implying or saying that it isn't true. There are times in recovery and in our relationship with Jesus that we are going to have to do battle, when we are going to have to use the tools or weapons of our spirituality, that God gives us because His power is mighty, to break down, pull down, raze and destroy those areas in our life that interfere with our relationship with God, which threaten our freedom and seek to reestablish the rein of self in servitude to our addictions and sin. We are going to need the sword of truth to defeat the lies in our heads that bring defeat and despair if they are not dealt with. We are going to have to battle those voices that tell us that one more time won't hurt or is a good idea, that we are worthless and don't deserve freedom and victory and therefore should just put our chains back on, and even the thing that exalts itself above the truth of God and says that this will be a battle that is never won and we will have to fight forever, or at least as long as we live.

We are going to have to fight from time to time, but that is not really what we are called to. We are pilgrims more than warriors. Pilgrims who from time to time must defend themselves, sure, but we are not forever marching into battle. We don't have to sleep ready to wake in an instant and start fighting. We can rest. We don't have to stay keyed up, pumped full of adrenaline, vigilant and ever mindful of the enemy. I sometimes believe we have embraced the soldier and war metaphor far more than it was ever intended.

Were we really called to fight? Jesus said die and follow. Die to self not fight against self. Follow me, journey where I lead. It's a walk with Jesus. There are far more times when Christian spirituality is called a walk than there are when it is called a fight. Even in secular recovery it is called the road to recovery and not the battlefield of recovery.

The truth is that the war is over. The battle has been won. The struggle against self, against sin, against addictions, and anything and everything else that would rise up against the relationship we have with God has been settled on the cross. We may have occasional skirmishes with pockets of resistance that don't accept their defeat, remnants of our fallen foe, but the outcome is settled. We were not called in or drafted into a battle for freedom. This isn't Braveheart, and the Savior doesn't need our help, doesn't need us to rally and set ourselves to fight or die for the freedom and life that He has promised us. No need to play the inspirational score nor give the stirring speech to encourage us to rush to engage the enemy. He stretched out His arms and said it's finished. It's complete. It's done.

Please understand that there will be times when it is indeed a struggle and a fight to keep the will surrendered and walk with God, when the siren of self rises up and calls us to reclaim the reign of our life and return to our captivity.  I'm not saying to go through your spiritual life unarmed and unprepared. God gave us those mighty weapons of spiritual warfare for a reason. We do at times fight against darkness and evil and the things that would bring death and destruction and interference into our relationship and journey with Jesus. But that is not the normal, everyday life worth living that is life so abundant that we can give it away.

When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His truth and will, we don't need to worry about the enemy and our defenses. Our pilgrimage is protected by a Mighty Warrior who has complete power and authority over every danger we may encounter. We don't have to worry about our addiction doing push ups and getting stronger waiting to rise up and attack us again. We don't have to fear that we will be fighting the same fight over and over and over and over perpetually. We are not stuck in a loop of freedom, then struggling not to return to bondage, then freedom, struggle...... We are on a journey from captivity and slavery to the Promised Land. And while we may not yet have reached the place where there is nothing but peace, joy and love, where sorrow and suffering and struggle are no more, we are no longer slaves to self and sin and addiction. We have been set free, bought and redeemed in a battle on a hill called Golgotha.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Walk with Him. Follow Him on the journey from the cursed land to the place where the curse is no more, and don't worry so much about the enemy. If we do what we are meant to do, which is focus on the Victor, respond to His call to stay on the path He has cleared, love Him enough to stay close to Him, and love others, helping to meet their needs, treat their wounds, break their chains and bring them onto the road to journey with you, no weapon of the enemy will be able to defeat you, because you will never be without defense. That defense is not your weapons or your tools or your knowledge or your spirituality. That defense is your King and Champion, Jesus.



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.

Suffer Well

Dalyn Woodard shares Part 3 of the series on Philippians and its major theme of joy. Suffering is unfortunately a part of the human condition. So how do we suffer in such a way that makes it purposeful rather than pointless? Is there a reason to have joy in spite of suffering, not because of it or because it is relieved, but because of what can be accomplished through it? The message,  "Suffer Well" is about 1 hour and 12 minutes long and was recorded January 19, 2017. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. If you missed any previous messages in this serious, Part 1, "Pursuit Of Happiness," can be found here, and Part 2, :Joy From Loneliness" can be found here. May God bless and keep you.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ January 19, 2017 ~ Just To See You Smile

It is easy for those of us who have been broken and had our lives become hurricanes of destruction to find ourselves in bondage to shame. Although it is true, saying that shame is a wasted emotion so let it go and forget about it doesn't really help much. Shame tells us that we can never be of value, can never do anything worthwhile, that if people only new the ugliness we hide inside we would be worse than outcasts. We are mutations, not normal. There is something horribly wrong with us because of what we have done and or what has been done to us, and, no matter what we do, we can never change the truth about who we are, and who we are is not good.

But shame is a lie. Wait a minute. You just don't know how dirty I feel, how wrong and messed up. You don't understand what I've done and what I've been through. I would have felt cleaner crawling through a sewer. If you only knew the truth of my heart you would feel guilty and ashamed too!  Perhaps I would feel guilty if I were in your place. Lord knows I've been guilty of much myself. There are people who proudly proclaim and advocate for the death penalty for some of the things that I have done, and had I been born in ancient Israel and lived the same way I would have been stoned to death before turning 15. I know a little about guilt.

But guilt can be appropriate and good. Shame is not. Shame is guilt gone wild and aimed at the wrong target. Shames is self centered, Guilt is about the wrong. I have done this wrong thing. This situation, activity, behavior, thinking, is wrong. I am guilty of doing something. Guilt shows us that we are in debt to right, that we have fallen short of right and good and failed to walk in love for God and others. Guilt says something must be done to make this right, to restore the damage that doing wrong has caused and to pay reparations.

Shame though is a different story. Shame is not about the sin. Shame is about me and about you. Guilt says this sin is bad. Shame says I am bad. Shame says that because I did this or this was done to me I have no worth, I am trash, I am ugly and dirty and don't have a right to anything good or beautiful or to have a useful purpose and a life worth living. I shouldn't go out in the light because I am not worthy. I should hide who I am because I am the despicable evil who deserved to have this awful thing done to me and who has done disgusting and destructive things. And most important for me to never forget is these ugly things I've done are who I am, how I define my identity and assign my value.

Guilt shows us we need a Savior. We know we can not make this right, so we see the need for someone greater than us who can, someone who can pay our debt and buy us back from the indentured servitude to death that we owe. Guilt drives us to God. We need to be made clean. He can do it. We need to be set free. He can do that. We need to be healed of our brokenness, and that's one of the reasons He came to us.

When I was a boy, I fell into a cactus that grew around the trunk of my grandmother's oak tree. It was a horrible, evil plant. I think all of my cousins got into it a time or two, but I fell completely on it. My clothes and body were completely covered in these tiny and painful needles. It hurt, and I couldn't get them off. Everything I tried only seemed to make things worse. I ran to my parents for help. They stripped me down and disposed of my clothes. It would never be possible to completely free them of the needles. I needed new clothes. Then they got a bright light so even the tiniest needles could be seen and used tweezers to slowly pull the needles from my body. I had them everywhere. It seemed I was covered from head to toe. It took time, and sometimes it hurt, but they got it. I was cactus free and happy and clothed anew.

It never occurred to me to not go to them for help. I didn't think I didn't deserve their help because had gone where I shouldn't. I didn't worry that I should stay away from them in fear of transferring the cactus needles to them. I never once identified as a cactus because I was covered in needles. In other words, while I was guilty of playing too closely to the cactus, I was not ashamed that I had fallen into it and been covered in needles as a result.

Sin in the same. We get off track. We go where we should not go and do what we should not do, and before we know it, we are in pain and covered head to toe, it even pierces us and makes its way far beneath the surface. We have fallen and there has been a consequence. This is guilt, and there is an answer. We can run to our Daddy. We don't have to be afraid that he will reject us because of what has covered us. He will simply take us in, shine a light and begin the process of removing everything that is sticking to us and in us that was not a part of His original plan for us. It may take a while, and it might even be a little scary and painful at times, but it's so worth it. Because when He is through, we will be free, even below the surface, of the pain and harmful destructive barbs of sin. In addition to the restoration, there is complete and total forgiveness for the things we did. The damages and debt have been paid. We owe nothing. Realizing that Daddy loves us, that we are being transformed from covered in and pierced by sin to righteous and new and that all damages and debts have been paid frees us from guilt. Not because of some positive thinking or philosophy, but because guilt has been satisfied; justice has been served. It's just that someone else picked up our tab.

Shame though tells us we are now cacti. The sin that covered and pierced us in now who we are. We dare not go into Daddy's house. We may mess it up. We dare not ask Him for help. We are not worthy of it. We should not be forgiven and cleansed and restored because we deserve the pain for getting into the cactus or for allowing ourselves to be pushed into it. And we better not get too close to anyone else either, or they will get stuck and hurt by the protruding needles. Shame makes us hide from God and isolate from others. Shame is Satan's way of trying to prevent restoration of relationship with us and to prevent us from being happy, joyous and free. It is evil, and it is all based on the lie that says there is no help for us.

If you are filled with guilt, the answer is in relationship with Jesus. It's not about religion or being good from here on out and somehow balancing the scales of the past. It's about getting married to a Groom who loves you and is more than happy to pay off your debt so that you can enjoy your life together. If you've met this Jesus, who went above and beyond to seek you out and marry you, then let go of your pride already. Pride? Yes, pride. The pride that says I pay my own way. I don't let anyone else pay my debts and I don't take charity. Stop trying to pick up the check. You can't afford it, and besides, Jesus already paid it while you weren't looking. There's no reason to pay twice, and there's no reason to hold onto guilt that has already been satisfied.

Shame though needs to be rebuked and the lie rejected. The Groom says you are worth of every drop of blood, sweat and tears it took to pay off what you owed and that He did it gladly, with joy. The Groom says that you are a treasure that was worth giving up all He had in order to attain and retain. The Groom says you are beautiful and lovely. The Groom says shame is full of....lies. So the question for today is who are you going to believe? The liar who has only made you feel worthless and hopeless and overwhelmed or the Love that will give everything and anything just to have you with Him and to see you smile?



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 ~ January 18, 2017 ~ Relapse Isn't Faliure

You may wonder if you read the title of today's moment correctly. I assure you, Dear Reader, that you did. Relapse isn't failure. For that matter, neither is sin. Blasphemy! Not hardly, and the sooner we get a grasp on this truth the easier it will be to walk with God in freedom. Freedom to fail and sin? No. Freedom not to.

Well, I've relapsed before, and it feels like failure. I agree. I can't tell you how often I have gone back to old behaviors, old addictions, old sin in a very short time after determining that I wasn't going to do those things and was going to walk with and stay surrendered to God. It feels like an epic fail. But it's not, and we seriously need to remember that.

I'm not saying that relapse is a good thing or a good idea. The last time I relapsed, almost seven years ago, I nearly died. And I have buried friends who went back to their addictions, one who died the same night he wanted just one last shot. Another close friend was in the ground two weeks after returning to his Egypt. There's a reason God took the Israelites through the Red Sea, to make it that much harder for them to return to the land of their slavery. He doesn't put such barriers between us and the chains of the past, but we have something the children of Israel didn't have, which is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to resist the siren's call to return to the place of our bondage and our destruction.

So, no, I am not advocating or belittling relapse in any way. Nor am I saying that it is OK to sin. It's not. But you will. So will I. Today. You may never return to bondage that you have been set free from, but you will miss the mark, you will fall short of the holiness of God, you will sin. It's not a question of if you will sin. The questions are when, how bad will it hurt and how long will it take before you reject the slop and run home to Daddy?

But remember the illustration of the Prodigal? The son sinned, rebelled, decided to live for himself and went out into the world to do his thing, his way. Finally, he saw that his way wasn't working and was making him miserable. He was going to die if he didn't find a way of escape. He decided it would be better to be a servant in his father's house than to stay in the helpless and hopeless situation he was in, because even the servants had a better life than he did. But when he returned to his father's house, his father was waiting for him, hoping for his return and saw him long before he arrived. The father ran to the son, welcomed him home, cleaned him up and celebrated. The son was not treated poorly to emphasize the foolishness of his mistake or to drive the lesson home. He didn't have to take the station of servant and earn back his right to be treated as a son. He didn't have to prove his sincerity or show that he had learned his lesson. His father rejoiced, called him son and provided for his needs.

That's the story Jesus told us to illustrate the love of the Father for His wayward children, for those who not only fall short, but for those who intentionally choose their own way over the Father's. And that's what is happening when we sin, and even when we relapse. Somewhere along the line, we are putting our self back in control, we are choosing our self will and instincts over the will of God for us. We looked to our way, will, power and strength to protect us and meet our needs rather than relying on God's grace to keep us free and enable us to walk rightly.

It's not about failure. Failure is when we do not do what is expected or required of us. We are going to fall short, sin, whenever we run on our will and power and strength instead of God's Spirit. But will our mistake be purposeless or purposeful? When we look at walking with God in terms of our success or failure, we lose sight of the truth. If you walk with God rightly today and don't sin, not even once, you haven't been successful. Sorry, but you haven't. You have been surrendered, not successful. You didn't keep yourself from messing up, from sinning or from living for self and failing to love God and others as you should. Not being surrendered always results in not loving God and others as we should, in living for self, in sin, and eventually (if allowed to continue) very serious, destructive sin and or relapse, But what do you think of when you look at that lack of surrender as failure?

Stop and really think about it for a second. Did you fail? Did you refuse to or were you unable to do what was expected of or required of you? You think so? You think God expected you to never take back your will and stay surrendered? Do you think you surprised him when you sinned, when you looked longingly back on the days of slavery or even when you returned? If your god expects you to be perfect, to never fall short or is surprised when you do, you have the wrong god.

Oh, and that is true for the required portion of the definition of failure as well. If your god requires your perfection, you're so screwed and you're worshiping, following and believing in a cruel and evil god. Seriously. I'm not joking. Is that what you see in the story of the returning rebellious, selfish son, a father standing there, pointing a finger, looking disapproving and angry, shouting about how the son should have known better, should've listened and simply obeyed, how he was a disappointment and an epic failure as a son?

Because when we put the requirement of performance on ourselves, that's the god we are making. Failure means we didn't live up to the required standard. We're all failures. None of us have lived up to the standard of perfection, and we never, ever, will. So messing up doesn't make us any more of a failure than before. We've never measured up. We don't have a God who looks at us and demands that we get it together, become stronger and more determined and fight harder to live up to the standard. We serve a God who welcomes us home, who rejoices and celebrates and throws a party when we realize we need him, who calls us His children when we know we don't even deserve to be His servants, who knew we could never reach the standard so He sacrificed Himself to take our punishment for failure and make it possible, by making His home in our hearts and giving us His power, to walk rightly and deny self. That's the God who loves me and loves you. That is not a God who is waiting for or expecting us to be something that we are not. That is a God who is working on transforming us Himself into what we were always meant to be.

If we stay surrendered and live by the power of the Spirit, we won't mess up. If we live on our own abilities, strength, power, etc. we will screw up, and since we won't ever be able to surrender 100% of our life 100% of the time on this side of eternity, screw ups are going to happen. The more surrendered we are, the less big, less destructive, less long lasting the mistake will be, but even little things lead to big things if they are accepted as OK and if they are purposeless.

Purposeless sin, keep in mind that sin simply means to miss the mark, to fall short of the goal, is sin that serves no good purpose. If we simply realize we stumbled, get back up and continue on our merry way, what good has come out of that, other than that we got up? If I am waking through my bedroom and trip over my boots and simply go on with whatever I was doing before I tripped, I can be pretty sure that I am going to trip over those same boots again. If I look to see why I tripped, recognize the boots are in the way of the path, move them, then I don't have to worry about tripping over them again.

We can give mistakes purpose by not ignoring them and going on as though it didn't happen. There is therefore now no condemnation, but that doesn't mean there is no lesson to be learned. Why? Why did I take my will back? Why did I decide that what was working wasn't the way to continue and instead try again to do what never worked, walk with God on my own? Or why did I begin longing for my Egypt again? What is it in me that felt empty or what need was I afraid wouldn't be met that made me try to meet the need myself rather than wait on God? When I relapse and or fall short of loving God and others as I should (sin), it shows me that something that I am doing to get free or stay free isn't working and, therefore, isn't God's will. Something I believe about God or freedom or life isn't truth, because truth will make me free. If I look closely with a searching and honest heart I can judge me spiritual  beliefs and practices based on whether or not they work and whether or not they bring closer to God or make me feel more distant and isolated from Him. If something I believe about God isn't bringing me closer to Him or giving me more freedom and making me more like Jesus, it's time to reject that belief or practice. Spiritual life is not in finding a system of self control and slapping a "God" sticker on it. If it's real, it's about relationship and will be experienced rather than simply believed in or hoped on.

God's mercies are new every morning and He is quick and faithful to forgive. He chooses not to remember our sin, and it as far from His memory as the East is from the West. That means God doesn't see your sin as failure, but as a chance to allow us to see where we are in error in our belief, lacking in surrender and need to be even closer to Him. He uses our mistakes to draw us in to deeper relationship with Him. His grace is deeper than all our sin; nothing can separate us from His love. There is deep joy to be found in looking up from our pig pen and realizing that Daddy still loves us, totally and completely, and is reaching out to hug us just as we are, covered in mud, spoiled slop and pig feces. He will clean us up Himself, we don't have to do it, but He will rejoice over us and embrace us upon our return before anything else. Our mistakes can serve the purpose of demonstrating how great His love is for us, making it easier to respond to that love by truer and more surrender of our life into His care, because it's easier to trust yourself to the care of a God that you can see loves you as you are, not as you should be and who loves you enough not to leave you as you are.

Our mistakes can keep us humble. We don't forget that it is only by God's grace that we stand. We don't forget that we are broken people in need of transformation, restoration and help. We have empathy and love for others when they fall short, rather than sit in condemnation and self righteous judgment. Our mistakes can  remind us to pray for, love and be compassionate towards others who are struggling. I will never look at someone who just relapsed and say something stupid like if you had just wanted to stay clean and sober enough you would have thought it through before you did that or you should have know better. I may say something else stupid, because I mess up, but I won't say anything like that, because I have relapsed and I remember. It's not about working hard enough. It's not about wanting it enough. It's not about remembering the past or playing the movie through. Freedom comes from relationship with Jesus and surrender to Daddy. It's not about us. And making it about us leads to mistakes, sin, relapse, etc., but it's not failure, it's a call to come to the altar. Daddy's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought for us with the precious blood of Jesus. So you messed up? Again. Look at it. Own it. That didn't work did it? Those boots doing belong there. Run home and rely even more on the Spirit to do what only God can do and rejoice over the awesome and precious love our wonderful Savior has for us, regardless of our performance.



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.