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.