A friend of mine and I were talking about our family trees. They were so different. He found out late in life that his dad wasn’t his bio dad, but was his dad. I knew my bio dad, but he didn’t want to be my dad. His parents were divorced and his dad remarried, which brought added siblings into the family. My parents divorced, but never remarried.
By the time we were done talking about our families, we came to this conclusion. It only tells us where we’ve been, but not where we’re going, which is the issue anyways, right?
We all have interesting pasts, some more colorful than others. But that should be the point. It’s our past. Jesus is the redeemer of our pasts so we can live with and enjoy life in and with Him in the present.
If you haven’t put your past in the past, don’t you think it’s time to pick up the FREEdom tools to do so? If you have, please, don’t look back! You have a bright tomorrow in Jesus.
“S”et Free Nowww

A few years back, my family went through some old photos in a box my mom had. She told us most of who was in them. What’s hitting home to me now is that we still don’t know who everyone was in those pictures! Were they family and/or friends? Here, their face was staring right at us and we didn’t know who they were.
Ecclesiastes reveals this reality. When your time on this planet is all said and done, everything will be forgotten in time. And, even those who will be remembered, will never know they’re being remembered as they’re not around to hear themselves being remembered!
Solomon points out another reality in 12:13, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Jesus said the same thing, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.”
How are you living, following the temporary or the eternal? The only eternal thing from your temporal time on this planet is Jesus. Every situation, no matter what it is, then, is simply an opportunity to listen to and follow Jesus, which results in becoming more like Him. People may forget you and what you’ve done. But they will never forget Him.
“S”et Free Nowww

We had a great discussion on the bread and the cup in my 3-5th grade Sunday School class yesterday. We discussed the origins of it in the Passover meal, which speaks of the death angel passing over the houses with blood on the doorpost.
We discussed death, which one student said was when soul and body separate. I then asked, “Where does the soul go then?” “Heaven or hell,” they answered. Their attention was riveted when I asked, “What is heaven and hell?” We finally arrived at this, “Heaven is where God is, who is love, peace, security, all the good stuff we want. Hell is where God doesn’t live; and thus, is where all the garbage stuff is at that makes us feel terrible.” Who chooses either of those? They responded, “We do by our choices.”
Our choices, apart from Jesus, get us what we deserve – loneliness, bitterness, shame, guilt, fear, insecurity, and the list of negative things goes on. We get real joy, if we choose Jesus today. We get peace of mind, if we choose to walk with Jesus. We get….you fill in the blank, all because of Jesus dying as the Passover lamb, as death or separation from God passes us by.
I then led them into the service to take communion. And told them when they held that little piece of matzo and cup of juice in their hands to thank Jesus for the good stuff they feel. I had a lot of grateful 3-5 graders yesterday morning!
Thank Jesus today that you don’t experience what you do deserve, which allows you to experience what you don’t deserve.
S“E”t Free Nowww

My mom used to say, “You don’t have to make all the mistakes yourself.” Believe when I say that I didn’t always take this advice. But being the baby of the family, there were quite a few lessons I learned simply by watching the consequences that came from watching my older brother’s decisions.
There are basically two ways we gather information that forms the basis of our decisions. One is from personal experience and the other is from outside sources. If you make your personal experience your source, the question you must ask, “Is what I’m thinking, wanting and/or feeling based in fact/truth?” If not, you’ll learn the hard way. If so, you’ll reap the good stuff in life. However, how do you know which is which, after the fact? Again. You’ll learn the hard way.
Guess what method Jesus used? He filtered all life through His God and Dad – the Father. Don’t trust the limited source of your experiences. Instead, trust the One who said, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” You can learn from Him and save yourself a lot of heartache. He never blew it!
Learn the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice.
S“E”t Free Nowww

My daughter and I were having a wonderful discussion on the definition of “nonfat” in the phrase nonfat milk.
You’d think nonfat meant no fat at all. If you thought this, you’d be wrong! According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nonfat milk can be labeled as fat-free if the milk contains less than 0.5 grams of fat per one cup, and contains no added ingredients containing fat. Thus, nonfat doesn’t mean no fat, it just means almost no fat.
This may work for the FDA, but not when it comes to your walk with Jesus. When God says all sin, no matter how small it may seem to you or to someone else, He means all sin separates you from Him – the source of all the good stuff you’re looking for in life.
A small compromise can lead you down a path to the destruction of life, joy, and peace, just like a small seed can eventually rip apart larges sections of concrete.
If you’re thinking of compromising today (It’s not that bad! Just one more time won’t hurt! It’s okay, God will forgive me. Etc.) Call your BIG partner (the person holding you accountable to the life-changing FREEdom process) to talk and pray you through it. If you’ve already taken a fractional ill-advised step, confess it to Jesus and ask the Spirit for both the faith and the power to STOP and go towards Jesus.
Don’t let one tiny fracture lead to the destruction of a whole lot of hard faith steps. Keep exercising the truth by faith one small step after another in becoming more like Jesus.
Set Free No“WWW”