I have to use the 90 day book again this morning, Freedom Starts Today. Its message is profound. We have likely seen elephants which will stay in one place for an endless amount of time just because they have a slight rope tied to their ankle. They were taken at a young age and had a ring of spikes put around the ankle so if they tried to pull away the spikes would penetrate their tough skin and give sheering pain. Thus, now they are bound with a small rope for life out of fear.

How many of us are bound to something insignificant that overpowers us? It can be anything that deters our attention from the Christ-likeness growing within us from giving our lives to Christ and now having His Holy Spirit within. This insignificant item seems all powerful at times of temptation (and it can be strengthened even more if our flesh simply wants it). Knowing that the Strength of God Himself is within us is momentarily forgotten. However, God has provided a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13) that snaps that little rope tied to our ankle. It is confessing the temptation ahead of stepping into it. Call your accountability person (the person you trust) James 5:16.

When I read this devotional 90 days ago about the elephant I was hit by the message knowing I’m young at full reliance on The Holy Spirit’s Power in me. Today, as I read this again, I am hit by the POWER within me I can easily use to break the ties to sin and I’m not so young any longer. God just keeps growing us (me) wanting us to be more like His Son. Boy, do I want to be a good student for Him!

How many times does one need to fail trying to change from their own strength before he realizes only the Savior of man–Jesus Christ can bring about the change. There is nothing man can do from his flesh that begins to touch what Christ has already done for us–we just need to accept it as His Gift!

The list is endless if we try to put on paper all of the sins of mankind that Christ has forgiven on the Cross. Our selfishness knows no limits, but greater than our selfishness is the Love and Grace of our Lord Jesus. Today’s devotional time has emphasized this Forgiveness from Christ Jesus. God our Father doesn’t want to lose any of us kids so He has created a way for us to Him that is so simple. Turn to Jesus and ask Him into one’s life so He becomes our Light to freedom.

Learning to let Christ’s Light shine into my day one day at a time has been so awakening/transforming for me. My mind wants to continuously jump ahead into the tomorrows. I don’t find any temptations in the tomorrows. But, staying in the present each day I find with Christ there is no temptation that He won’t confront for us if we will only let Him do it from His Strength. (I Corinthians 10:13) What a blessed Savior we have!

One day at a time. This statement needs to be in the forefront of everything I do. Even when I’m in the midst of doing something in the day my mind is already in the tomorrows. Yet, God is in the today and will be with me in the today when the tomorrows become the today. All the time I spend in the tomorrow is worthless if the time there is only fretting. I can see that planning is good as long as I keep in mind that adjustments are likely when tomorrow is actually today. I realize this seems somewhat absurd but it is a genuine reality for me.

As I was having my devotions I became very aware of God’s freedom. It can be called “peace that passeth all understanding” Philippians 4:7. This freedom is a lifetime promise and it is found “one day at a time”.

This book, Freedom Starts Today, emphasizes over and over our commitment to live sober for the 24 hours of today. It is easy to only think about the “one item” one is wanting sobriety from while in the 24 hours. However, this reality of God’s Presence in the 24 hours impacts everything about us now that I’m finally awakening to its bigger reality. I don’t want to fret over what God is going to do as I plan for the tomorrows. I want to be in the freedom that what God does when tomorrow arrives will be just what is needed. I think this is called TRUST!

The longer I live the more I understand that I will never (while in the flesh of life on this earth) understand the depth of God’s love for me–you and me. Last night’s lesson for Celebrate Recovery was Gratitude. We took a look at Gratitude from 4 areas: Gratitude for God, Gratitude for others, Gratitude for Celebrate Recovery and Gratitude for our church. In each case it was so easy for me to put specifics in the category helping me reflect on all of the wondrous help God has given to me over the years.

When man works with man we can never do what God does with our hurts, hang-ups and habits if we don’t include Him in the process. Man can do much with helping people see their problems/struggles and the need to let the burden of them go. But then there is the need to help them not go back to the same issues. Only God can give us the capability of this through His transforming of our mind/beliefs. Not only does God do this when we include Him, but He then turns the burden/s we have tried so hard to surrender on our own into His tools to help others see hope for themselves.

I marvel at this truth every day! How wonderful our God is!

This morning’s devotional time brought out a new reality for me which I’ve needed to learn/understand. It is nothing new to know that we are a new creation when we ask Jesus into our lives accepting Him as our Savior. We can also make Him Lord of our lives when we surrender our all to Him. Being a new creation has been somewhat of a mystery to me because I still have the temptations of the flesh and why would a new creation have them? If someone asked me this question I would tell them that we are still of the flesh until death and the flesh has its selfishness. Thus, the selfishness of flesh is going to be tempted.

This morning as I went through my devotional time God opened my mind to a piece of understanding I’ve needed. Yes, indeed, I’m a new creation, but the access to the power of this truth is available today for addressing my flesh. The years of abuse in my childhood caused me to DESIRE living without anymore temptations. Temptations and abuse were synonymous terms. I’ve separated them in my mind, but I hadn’t in my daily living. I don’t know what being tempted would be like if I hadn’t been abused. I’d always attributed the fact that my abuse led me into the temptations of today. Awakening to the truth that my flesh would be tempted regardless of any past is real.

Knowing that God is I AM lets me know that no matter the temptation, today I will be able to draw upon His Power to confront it using the armor He gives us as promised in Ephesians 6:11-13. Tomorrow I will do this again. This is the new creation living in the flesh. The power of this is in today. When tomorrow is today it will be available again! I get it now! I grew up never living in today for today had abuse in it. That is no longer true and I can and will live in today for today is where my God and I are with one another. Wow, this truth makes me well up in tears of joy!

Psalms 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I have needed to spend years reading this verse and putting my name into it, say it out loud to myself looking into a mirror and making eye contact with myself. I have done all of this to reprogram my mind so I could believe this verse is true for me. In doing all of this I have always wanted to keep it a secret because I have to fight the message that comes into my mind whenever I do it. The message is, “boy, are you ever arrogant“!

Over and over again, I find the need to remind ones who come for counseling that this verse is true for them. Each time I do I hear them say that this makes them feel uncomfortable because they are arrogant if they say this to themselves or believe it for themselves. I then share my own experience and need to do this too for the same reason. I then add that the outcome of believing this is a humble confidence that you are loved and created by God.

There is no arrogance in knowing that God loves us and created each one of us fearfully and wonderfully. I love this truth for God didn’t give us His Word for some of us–it is for ALL of us!

The post today in the 90 day book I’m working through for the second time had a message which I’m pondering in my mind. Its focus is addressing how much do I embrace the worldly possessions I have? A critical question he asks is, “Do your possessions own you or do you own them”? It is a powerful question and one that each of us needs to ponder. He says he had a sign made which hangs in his home that reads: THIS HOME AIN’T HOME.

Growing up in a home where we had little except one another, I didn’t get too attached to anything. When I went through my divorce many years ago I walked away with my clothes and my rototiller. I had to buy a second vehicle for we only had one up until that time. I do enjoy the things we have in our home. They make life much more comfortable. However, as I take a look at all that is in our home I can say that my family is the most important earthly possession and I don’t really own them, I just love being part of their lives and they being part of mine.

I lived so long desiring a close relationship with God wanting Him to love me. Now that I know a good deal more about just how much He does love you and me, there just isn’t anything that comes close to this desire except that longing to spend eternity with Him and all of our family on earth.

It is truly summer. The days are hot and the nights don’t cool down very much either. However, the garden loves this weather and the fruit of it is coming into full swing. I started a 5 gallon crock of pickles yesterday after getting home (14 day sweet pickle kind), froze another gallon of blackberries, picked 3 doz. ears of corn and today I’ll pick the beans and start the canning of them. I kind of love all of this!

There is a contentment and peace God gives when we surrender all to Him. I have known periods of this peace at moments in my life, but right behind it was great fear. The fear was always that if people found out about who the real me was, I would be excommunicated from church, my school and my community. Peace was superficial at best. Today, however, the peace that passeth all understanding is present and real. There are always things I wish could be different, but I can put them in God’s Hands and leave them with Him. I have to do this often sometimes, but the peace, assurance is amazing.

How I love this opportunity to be free in God’s Love!

Today is my wife’s birthday! When I was journaling earlier I was thanking God for the gift she has been to me. She was the first person I’d ever told my past to and with that, she was the first one to encourage me to get help. Now, 40+ years later, she is the one who stays by my side as God has me using my past as a tool in His Hands to help others. Her faithfulness mirrors the fiathfulness of God’s. She is also the very one my kids say model what a true mother is like. That is a genuine Gift from God!

God’s blessedness is given in so many ways. Today I want to take a look at them and reflect for a moment with praise and thanksgiving for His Goodness. What a wonderful God He is!

I love how God works. For several years as I was going through my own counseling/therapy I felt as though it was the most painful part of living. Yet, at the same time I also knew I was making progress. The truth that the grusome lies, the darkness kept in closets within me were all beginning to be taken out of me by my telling them to the counselor. With her help I was not only taking them outside of me, but I was putting them in a safe place where they could not re-enter. I was actually surrendering them to Jesus so they could be buried at the foot of the Cross never to be brought against me again.

I didn’t understand all of this as clearly as I do today. Trusting the process was out of sheer obedience hoping what others had in the way of freedom might also be true for me. I wasn’t sure God would do all that He has done to transform me and what I believed about myself. However, all that God promises has become true for me. I write all of this today because God has given me this marvelous opportunity to assist others in finding the same love, grace, mercy and FREEDOM I have found. The Trust I have found in God’s Promises are real for each one of us if we will only take a simple step of seeking the help God offers.

Our God longs to bring us back into His Arms of love and protection from Satan’s ugly lies and deception. “Let Him have His way with thee,” as the words of the old hymn says.