Heart Transplant

It's nice and common to encourage ourselves with the idea that we are good enough. But what happens in those times when we are confronted with the evidence that this is simply not true? Dalyn Woodard shares on the common responses to the need of "enoughness" and the one option that provides a solution. The message, "Heart Transplant" is about 16 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Sunday, October 14, 2018. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

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

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

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

Unshackled Echo ~ October 13, 2018 ~ Surviving Saturday

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

April 8, 2015.

The days following the resurrection must have been great for the disciples. Jesus came back! Sunday had to be a day of celebration, but the next days may have been even better as they got over the shock of His return and got to spend some time with Jesus. I don't know. It's all supposition on my part, and I could be wrong.

What I do know is that no matter how wonderful Resurrection Sunday and the days that followed may have been, Saturday sucked. That particular Saturday is the one day in history since Christ's birth where no one believed Jesus is alive. He lived part of Friday, and He lived again Sunday morning, but Saturday He was dead, and not one person believed differently.

Friday brought calamity. Destruction and death shook the very foundation of everything. The disciples faith shook as much as the earthquake shook the ground. Any prayers they lifted up to change the situation, to spare Jesus, seemed to fall on deaf ears. If they missed the not my will but yours part of the Gethsemane prayer at the time and thought only of Jesus praying for deliverance, then it appeared that even the Master's prayers went unanswered. Jesus Himself cried out the question of why God would forsake Him. With Friday came the cries to God, and nothing changed, or at least didn't get better. It only got worse. The worst case scenario had happened. God didn't answer the prayers and Jesus died a horrible death.

Saturday though was a day of hopeless silence. Everything they had hoped for was over and done. God had waited too long to answer their cries (Never mind Lazarus and four days dead, we forget that kind of thing when our current situation crosses the line into impossible). How hard those Saturdays feel! Fridays are bad enough when everything starts to go wrong and we reach that point when it becomes obvious that God isn't going to stop it, change it or fix it our way. Saturday we feel forsaken, adrift and directionless, and unsure what to do. During those silent times in life when the dream has died and it doesn't feel like God cares, we need to wait.

We need to wait. Weeping may last all night, but joy comes in the morning. The disciples didn't feel and know that Sunday morning would be a day of celebration as the Father would raise Jesus up and bring something multiple times better than what they had wanted Friday. We may not know what God plans to do, but whenever He says no and seems to leave us hanging there's something amazing in our Easter around the corner. Just wait and remember that God loves providing the light of joy after periods of darkness and despair. The Saturdays aren't the end, they are the tension before the grand victorious climax!

Abba, help me not to lose heart during the Saturdays of life. Help me not to get angry at not getting my way on Friday and run from You. May these periods be times of continuing to seek You regardless of my feelings and emotions, and may I eagerly anticipate the resurrection and life of the third day. Amen

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 ~ October 12, 2018 ~ Learning From A Toddler

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

April 7, 2015.

This afternoon my wife and I were blessed to be able to lunch with her two adult children and our grandson. The food was sub par, but the company rocked, especially my grandson, Baiden. Baiden is almost two years old now and a true joy to have around. He sat in a high chair at the end of our table. Time and time again as people walked by, Baiden would smile, wave and say hi. No one even glanced his way or acknowledged him, but Baiden was not deterred. He would do it again as they came back by on their return trip from the restroom, or he would eagerly try the next person. No one responded, or paid him any attention, but he kept right on smiling and greeting. Finally one man said hi back, and Baiden engaged in a back and forth of smiles and salutations until we left the restaurant.

Jesus said if we want to be His we need to come as little children. I know this is not exactly what He meant, but I think it's part of it. Baiden loved on everyone that came near. Their response or lack of it didn't effect him or change his behavior one bit. The next time he saw them he tried again.

The next person that came by got the same attention and love no matter how many times he'd already been ignored. Oh that we could be that childlike, to meet and greet each person with smiles and love, and if they ignore us, just keep loving, keep waving, keep smiling, keeping treating each person that we run into or that comes our way as though we are happy to see them and want to interact with them. That's how Jesus was, That's how children are. That's how we can be when we are filled with the love of the Spirit.

Lord, help me to welcome and love as You do, as Baiden did. Let me not be discouraged  by apparent lack of response or negative responses. Let me love at every opportunity. Amen.

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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ October 11, 2018 ~ Why I Don't Look For The Good In Others

Do you try to see the good in everyone? I used to. I received and believed the message long before there even was social media. Inspirational quotes and memes and Sunday School teachers and even folks in the rooms of recovery spread the idea that we need to look for the good in everyone as though it were gospel. Here's why I don't do it anymore.

No, it's not that I don't believe that there is good in everyone. I believe that there is at the very least the potential for good in everyone. Nobody breathing is beyond redemption. It's not because it's hard to do sometimes. It's easier to see the good in some than others, but I didn't stop looking for the good in others because it can be hard or disappointing. One day I saw someone post that we need to look for the good in others, and I thought to myself, "Why?"

I'm not being flippant. Have you ever stopped for a second to ask why you believe it is good or necessary to see the good in people? We have been so indoctrinated with this that the knee jerk response may be because we all have good in us and we need to look for that or something similar, which is pretty much like saying the sky is blue because it is. But seriously, why do we see this as a good thing or a necessary thing to do?

I really did think about it, and here's what I came up with. I look to see the good in you so that I can see that you have value, so that I have a reason to treat you better, and, hopefully, so that I can help you to like yourself and treat yourself better. If I don't see anything good in or about you, it's far too easy for me to treat you poorly, to despise and reject you, to act as though you are insignificant and not worth my time, patience, compassion or love. You don't deserve my respect or even to be treated like a human being of value, and therefore you are not. But this is not true, we know this, even when we don't. People have value, and treating one another as though we don't makes the world a hurtful, hateful place. When I recognize that there is good in you, it becomes easier to believe that you deserve kindness. And if I can point out that good to you, then perhaps I can encourage you to believe that you are not worthless and help you to stop making destructive choices. Maybe I can convince you that you are worthy, that you deserve kindness, even from yourself.

But where is the grace in that? Is the Jesus in me cheering me on as I seek to balance the evaluation and what I judge you deserve by looking for  the good in  you? No. In fact what the Spirit told me as I thought about this was, "Aren't you glad that I didn't base the way I treat you and love you on what you deserve?" Jesus didn't set the line at 50% good, or even 5% good. He didn't say I love you if there is at least a little good in you. Your value is not based on how much good verses bad you are.

God said that you have value, so much so that He was willing to die to make it possible for you to  have relationship with Him. He loves you as you are, not as you should be, and no matter what you've done or what's been done to you, He calls you to come to Him and let Him be your Daddy. He is good to us, and His mercies are new every morning. Jesus humbled Himself, wrapped Himself in flesh, to serve, to give of Himself, and, ultimately, to sacrifice Himself for us in our place. The Spirit wants to make His home within us to guide us to life, to heal and restore and comfort us, and to make us new and whole. And not one bit of that has anything at all to do with what we deserve or how much good is or isn't to be found in our hearts. If I am good is not a factor in the equation.

Jesus did not come to die for us because He saw the good in us. He didn't come to bring out the good in us or to help us be better. He came to make us new, to transform us, because He loves us. And He came to call us to follow Him. It doesn't help me or you for me to encourage you to be good and see the good in yourself. Your value is not based on your goodness. You are not significant because you are good. Your worth is not established by the percentage of goodness. We are not fruit that is bruised but not yet totally bad and therefore worth something, even if not full price. Our value is based on God saying we are worth everything to Him, and for the joy of having us able to come to Him, He gladly paid the full price of the cross.

When I look for the good in myself to make myself feel worth something, then I put the pressure on my performance and my goodness. If I want to feel less worthless, I need to be better and do better. And that leads to hopelessness and despair, because I can never be good enough. I either have to eventually lower the bar and grade on the curve or give up trying. Or I crush myself under the burden of performance. And if that is true when I look within, how is it less true when I look at others, at you? Looking for the good in you to call you worthy and encouraging you to see the good in yourself and see yourself as worthy because of it is a very Pharisee thing to do, and Jesus said it is a burden that kills.

On the other hand, when I let the fact that I am loved by God determine my value, everything changes. It is no longer that I am not worthless because I am good, or at least not all bad. It is I am not worthless because Jesus loves me and says I am worth dying for. The burden is gone. He didn't determine my value or how much He loves me based on my performance, and my performance won't, can't. change it for good or ill. That changes how I treat you. I don't treat you as though you have value and are significant because there is good in you. I am not kind to you because you deserve it. I love you because He loves you. I know you have value, whether I see any good or not, because He says you are worth dying for and He wants you to come and be part of the family.

I no longer try to help you by pointing out your good and trying to convince you that there is good in you. I don't ever say, "You do this and don't do this so can't you see you aren't worthless?" I don't want to put a weight on you that I can't bear myself. I declare that you are not worthless! But not because you are good. It is because God loves you and appraised you as precious. He wants to take all aspects of deserve out of it and gladly paid full price to redeem you and make you His, so that He can be your Daddy and heal you and restore you to the beautiful unique reflection of Him that you were created to be.

So basically, I don't look for the good because I don't care about it. No matter how good you are, you aren't good enough. None of us are. I don't care what you deserve or don't deserve or if I can see your worth in my evaluation or your actions. I trust God's appraisal,  and He says you are worth everything, even the life of His Son. That is a much better way to inspire me to be kind, loving and compassionate to you than your performance. And since I do care about you and want to help you, I would encourage you to not only stop trying to balance the scales but throw them out. Stop trying to see yourself as something other than worthless because of how much good you see in yourself or how well you perform. Forget that and remember that Jesus loves you as you are, not as you should be,but He loves you enough not to leave you as you are.



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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ October 10, 2018 ~ Don't Fear The Light

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

- Marianne Williamson

I heard this quote for the first time this evening and looked it up.  I have not read the book it comes from and do not know if it is good or not. I saw enough in the text around it to know that the way I began to think when I heard it is out of context and not the way the author intended. I used the quote, because it is hers. I may be about to butcher it, as far as what she intended is concerned, but that sentence is hers, and I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

The second I heard this, I thought, "Man, that is so true." Williamson's idea is that we are afraid to be as big as we are, to be the children of God that we are. I am not saying she's wrong. I am not saying that's not true. But I am saying there is another way to take that sentence when it stands alone that is also true.

It's been almost a year since the fire that came close to costing Leah and I our home. I remember getting the fire out and using fans to suck out the smoke. I knew there was damage. I knew it wasn't good. But I didn't know. I couldn't see. It was too dark. But once the smoke cleared enough that I could get in and shine light in the room, my heart sank and my stomach turned. The light confirmed what I knew, killed any hope that maybe things weren't as bad as I feared and made it impossible to pretend it away.

Instinctively we understand this idea. We get hurt. We know we're hurt. We can feel it. But we dread looking, because that will make it more real, will make us unable to ignore the damage or pretend it isn't that bad. This hurt could be material, physical, mental, emotion and or spiritual.

Those of us who have lived in darkness, have a tendency to run from God, because we fear the light. We fear the confirmation of how much damage has been done, just how big of a mess things really are. One of my favorite quotes from Steve Camp is:

The closer I get to You I see I'm a stranger to Your holiness.

I can relate to this, because it is true for me. The closer I get to Daddy, the more I see how far I am from right, from being OK as I am. That's because when the light is low, I can't see exactly how much dirt is in the room. But when I turn the light on brighter, even the small specks stand out. Light is revealing, and it is frightening when we know we're not clean, or that we're broken and damaged.

But here's the thing about the fire last year. Yes, seeing how bad it was hurt. It was heartbreaking. But it was also necessary to know exactly what needed to be repaired and replaced. It was necessary to have enough light to see to do the work. Leah held a light for me more than once so that I could see to drive nails, for example. The light is scary, but it is also necessary.

The good news is that our fears are unfounded Seeing the blood gushing from a wound does not actually make the wound worse. We'll bleed out just as quickly in the dark. We need the light to see how to stop the bleeding. And God, who is light (1 John 1), already knows our mess. Letting  Him reveal it to  us doesn't surprise Him. It doesn't make Him want to hurt us or reject us. He knows our wounds and our sin.  His greatest desire to is to shine the light that enables life and healing. He wants to clean us up, restore, repair and replace what needs to be healed and make us new. We don't need to fear the light or Him. He loves us. So while it is scary to look at the damage, let us not shrink back. Instead let us remember that this is the first step. Seeing the need. And it is what enables the work that leads to life.


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

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

Unshackled Moments ~ October 9, 2018 ~ Lake Of Communication

Relationships can be ruined by lake of communication. No, that is not a typo or an auto correct mistake, at least not on my part. This came across my Twitter feed because someone I follow liked it, and I noticed that over 2000 others have liked it as well. My first thought was, "Are that many people willing to ignore the typo and like the message? That's awesome!" We get so rigid and nit picky sometimes that we throw away some good ideas because they're not perfect or perfectly delivered.

But then I thought, "Wait. What if it's not a typo? What if the originator really did mean lake of communication rather than lack?" It could still be true. In fact, it could even be more true. It is as dangerous, if not more so, to the life of a relationship to say too much instead of saying too little. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't share the truth of how we feel and what we think. Honest communication is important. But not everything we say impulsively is true. I'm not saying that we're lying as much as we say things in the heat of anger, frustration, confusion and as reaction to someone else's words or deeds that we can regret the second we say them.

But once the words fly, they can never return to us without impacting along their flight path. Someone forgiving us and understanding that we didn't really mean it does not mean that we didn't cause damage.

Sometimes we use the concept of rigorous honesty to be cruel. The truth must be true, but it never has to be brutal. Jesus is truth, and He is love, which means that the truest truths can always be spoken in love. It may be true for me to point out the mistakes of others, but what is the point? What is the motivation behind doing so? There are times when we need our mistakes shown to use to help us correct and grow. Other times that revelation only brings shame, condemnation and hopeless because we already know. The words may be true but they are a hammer pounding us. If our words won't reveal truth that isn't already known by the hearer, edify, encourage, strengthen, build up and give hope, if they don't make someone understand that they have value and are cared for, then most likely it would be better if they dried up on on our lips rather than contribute to the flood waters that bury others beneath the lake of condemnation, criticism and feelings of worthlessness and shame.

Finally, especially for those like me who are verbal processors, if we just start talking, writing, texting, messaging.....communicating, without thinking it through, we may be half way through what we were going to say before we realize we were wrong and way off base. Or it may not be until the receiver reacts our of hurt and anger that we realize that we didn't communicate in a way that could be understood the way we intended. One of the keys in recovery when it comes to relationships is restraint of pen and tongue (and keyboard). James 1:19-20 puts it this way, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

We need to acknowledge our feelings, and our feelings are real. But they are not always truth. It sometimes causes more harm than good to a relationship to just dump and spew all our thoughts and feelings into the lake of communication. Instead, let us dump and rant in prayer to God. Then, when we have sorted out what is real, what is true, what is necessary for strengthening relationship, through the guidance of the Spirit we can speak life and truth into the matter.

It doesn't have to be a flood or a drought when it comes to communication. Let us keep the water levels high enough to give life, remembering the Jesus is the living water and we need the Spirit to guide our words, but let us not drown others on a lake of destruction with our words. Speak truth. In love. Or don't speak.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

- Ephesians 4:29

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 ~ October 8, 2018 ~ Reacting With Love

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

April 6, 2015.

The night before last I stayed up too late trying to finish something that needed to be done before yesterday morning. Unfortunately being up late didn't set back the time the alarm would go off. It rang as early as it always does on days I need to work. Couple this with a general lack of rest lately, and I woke yesterday morning exhausted and grouchy. I could hear the frustration in my voice with everything. I wasn't so much upset at anything other than not being in bed asleep, where I really wanted to be.

At one point I realized I was short and snappy with Leah. She hadn't done anything wrong. I was just in a bad mood. About the time I realized how I sounded and worried that I may have hurt her feelings, she walked over to me, gave me a kiss and told me how much she loves me. It was the high point of my day.

I was being a jerk. I didn't mean to be, but while I saw what was happening I couldn't seem to stop it. It was like seeing the wreck about to happen when the car spins out of control and knowing that there was nothing to do but pray and wait to see how bad it would be in the end. Leah had two choices. She could get hurt and angry, let my bad attitude ruin her day and build a (temporary) wall between us, or she could choose to react with love and bless me, even though I wasn't blessing her. She chose love.
This is how we are to react to the world, to everyone in it.

But she loves you! That makes it easier, right? Wrong. Think about it. We all too often allow impoliteness and frustrations to leak out all over those we love in a way that we would guard against with strangers. And when someone we care about is hurtful or insensitive toward us it hurts much worse than when a stranger is rude. So Leah being able to choose love over anger with me is a greater task of love rather than a lessor one.

I want to open myself to the control of the Spirit so that more and more I choose to act and react in love. This is the example we see in the life of Jesus as He loved the ones who would cost Him His life...us. I am so grateful for the reminder by example that Leah showed me. We all have bad days from time to time, but if we stay surrendered we can avoid having a bad attitude to match and not take it out on others. And for the record I apologized to Leah and did my best to make it right.

Abba, help me to be quick to get out of self when my mood begins to crumble. Help me not take my off days and frustrations out on those around me. And when I encounter someone who is acting unloving, for whatever reason, help me to choose love over any negative reaction. Amen.

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.