Hey, God loves you. Far more than words. He loves you so much He doesn't want you to be stuck there in what happened in the past. Yeah that stuff happened, there's no point denying it and you probably feel like you're a prisoner because of it. Maybe it's something you did to someone... Maybe it's something you did with someone... And now you're chained up in past hurt, shame, guilt, anger and regret. God never wanted you to live like this... He wants you to be free. Free to move forward. Free to think clearly. Free to choose. Free to love. I was like you for a long time. Locked up in past hurt that tormented me every single day. I thank God that I finally found the key to freedom that unlocked my prison. It's JESUS. Nothing else even came close by comparison. If that's you, just call out to God and ask for His help and He will hear you. Next He'll guide you on what to do. Just listen and obey and He'll start setting things right again. That's what He does... Creates and Restores. You're not a lost cause. Everyone's story can be rewritten if - only you let Him... God loves you.

[ Philippians 3:13 - Dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead ] 

Proverbs 17:28 - "Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent." 

I've said some really dumb things in my life I wish I could take back. As a matter of fact I still often do. The truth is though... You can't take them back. What's said is said. You can apologize and ask for forgiveness but far better than that is to just not to say selfish harmful things in the first place. Wisdom is not a mouth full of big words babbling on and on about a subject full of your own opinion. Wisdom is like chosen gold, pearls or diamonds. You don't just flash them about everywhere and to just anyone. You choose the right time, the right place and the right people. Be wise, learn to control your tongue and you'll save yourself and others a lot of pain and suffering. Choose to actively say no to gossip, slander, lies, accusation and hate and instead choose to let your tongue be used to build up, encourage, speak faith, life and light. God loves you. 

[ Ephesians 4:29 - 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. ] 

"He who tries to save his life will lose it.. but he who loses his life for my sake - will find it"  - Luke 9:24. What a truly profound truth. For all my life these were only words in a book... just letters in black and white penned thousands of years ago. Just words  until my life grinded to a halt and I needed out. My way didn't work anymore and I knew it was only a matter of time before I lost everything. My sanity, my relationships, my job, my home and ultimately my life. It was at that crossroad that Jesus finally opened up my eyes. I needed to die. Not physically but the ego and hubris that was me needed to die. I needed to admit I was wrong and my way didn't work at. Everything I had built was a lie and a waste - and the more I built... the more I weighed myself down with pain and sorrow. Even though it was years ago now I still remember that day like it was yesterday. The day Jesus opened my eyes and showed me the prison I was really in. Dark, ominous walls surrounded me on all sides. Far too high to climb and far to thick to ever escape from using conventional methods.


The walls were made of heavy stones. Old stones. Some far older than me and that had been there for generations. But behind the walls I could hear a whisper... A name being called out.  It still gives me that chill like electricity coursing through me just recalling it. What was this name... And why did it sound familiar to me yet I never knew it. It whispered again... "let go... of everything..." Somehow it made sense. Deep, deep inside it resonated with something that had been dormant for so long. Asleep all my life in fact. Yet now it was waking up. Like a heartbeat at first but it grew in rhythm and intensity. "it's time you woke up child..." the voice echoed again. A small, unwavering voice yet it held absolute authority. I could sense He was outside the walls now. He was near. The One. The Son of the Living God. Somehow inside I could just tell. I knew He was outside with His hand up waiting for me to respond. I knew what to do now... It was time. I was done with my way. It was time to wake up. It was time to respond. And so I raised my hand to where I knew His was raised outside the walls and immediately all the stones that made up the walls lit up with ancient text.


Even though the words were beyond my language or any language I'd ever seen on this earth - I knew every single word all at once. Ancient Words. Unholy words. Hatred, Fear, Shame, Addiction, Lust, Greed, Rebellion, Witchcraft. Hundreds of them. Then as I called out His Name the mortar that connected all the stones lit up in brilliant white light with such intensity that can't properly be described. Inside me erupted a fire - an inferno birthed not from this plane - but out of love. A white, hot fire placed there by my Maker. The war drums now pounded to a deafening and thunderous roar yet even as loud as they were I could clearly hear His voice. "Child, you were never meant to live in a cage... Be free... Show them what I can do... show them freedom..." Yes, a truly profound truth indeed. The day I finally learned how to lose everything was the day I finally found who I truly was and what I truly am.  I am His.

  

I'll say this as straight as I can... Jesus beats depression. Actually, I'll phrase that better... Jesus totally and utterly annihilates depression so badly He makes a total and complete mockery of it by completely changing the person to become a showpiece of His Power, His Majesty, His Love and His Mercy to save, heal and deliver. Jesus is the Lion that roars thunderously, without apology and in complete unchallanged authority in the face of the mouse that is depression. How do I know? Because I had depression once. I suffered at its cruel hands for most of my life. Dosed up with antidepressants and with addictions as long as a kids Christmas list. Robbed, tormented and suppressed by its evil will. That is until I let Jesus in to deal with it. Oh and DEAL with it He did... I never knew power till I saw and felt what His love can truly do. No one down here can truly set you free. Only He can do that. If it's freedom you want, it's Jesus you need. Let pride die, call out to Him and see His power for what it really is. Have an awesome day :)

I was on a run in the mountains the other day and ran past this old mining tower. It was in use around 50 years ago when the mines were active but todayit just sits idle, decrepit and abandoned. It no longer serves a purpose so it's been fenced up with tiger wire and declared unsafe for the public. It looks like the only visitors and interest it's had lately has been from a few teenagers spraying their tags on it - otherwise its pretty much forgotten. A lonely old tower sitting right at the bottom of the valley. Alone. You know where I'm going with this don't you... You might feel like that tower. You feel like you once had a purpose but it looks like it's all so long gone now. As the years march on your hope of even being noticed or of use to anyone of for anything fades...  There's no denying that those things happened. No matter how much you try to ignore them, those things changed the way things were. And now you feel lost, abandoned and useless. Hope fades like mist evaporating in the early morning sun. But that's not where your story ends. Oh no. You see, I was once like you too. Lost, abandoned and I too felt like I had no use to anyone or anything.


That is until He came. You know already know I'm talking about don't you. Yep, that guy... Jesus. I looked for someone down here to fix me, to include me and to make me useful - but it never happened. As a matter of fact I believe God actually prevented that from happening because He loves me far to much to see me get attached to a human being for my purpose and identity only to be deeply hurt yet again. It was only Him that could fill that void. It was only Him that could answer the emptiness. It was only Him that could extinguish the endless vacuum inside me. Only He truly holds the power to do that. And He did. He found me. He called out my name and I answered... I answered with "Jesus... please... help me..." Oh and trust me - He did. He did far more than I could possibly ever imagine. He unlocked who I truly am I inside. He completed me. He remade me and He promised to never ever leave me or abandon me. So if you feel like you're that tower... lost... abandoned... useless... Let me introduce you to the one who found me and made me whole. He has many names but the one you're going to need to know right now is this one... REDEEMER.


To redeem is best defined as "to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something) - to gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment." And that's exactly what He did. He bought us back by dying on the cross for us. He became pain so we don't have to carry it anymore. He became loneliness so we don't have to be lonely anymore. He became sickness and death for us so that we could be healed and live. He became sin for us to take ours away. If reading this speaks to a part inside of you that aches day after day - don't fight it. Let Him in. He's the one knocking on the door of your heart asking to be let in. He won't force His way in but trust me when I say... you wanna let Him in. If you only knew what He can do... Far more than you could ever dream. I did exactly that when I was 8 years old in a dusty old classroom being told Bible stories after school. That day... I let Him in and everything changed. I'm not here to pressure anyone because at the end of the day it's all about choice. But if you're sick and tired of this life and trying to run the show yourself maybe it's time you let the Master do His thing.


It doesn't matter what you've done, how many times you've done it, how many people you've been with, how far gone you think you are or even what others think of you... Jesus just says "Come..." He is your answer. He can redeem you. He alone has the power to do that. All you have to do is call out to Him, ask Him to save and help you and He will do the rest. The Bible says "Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). He will rediscover,  renovate and refine you into the person you were always meant to be. He will breathe purpose and life back into what you and others only see as dead, dry bones. He will redeem you because that's what He does and who He is. The Redeemer. God loves you. 

I'm sure you've probably heard the old proverb "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". If you're not sure of the meaning it basically goes like this... You can give someone something which may help their immediate need but better yet if you teach them how to solve that need then you've helped them for a lifetime. God brought this to mind for me in regards to praying for people. I had been praying to God and asking Him for wisdom on how to better pray for people and He reminded me of this old proverb and then its application to prayer. I'm sure if were all honest we have come across someone we look up to, someone we respect and someone we think is a "special person" who hears from God and gets "results". I once went to a church and asked for prayer for work on a prayer night and the pastor of the church asked another man to pray for me and said "We'll get him to pray for you because he always gets results and work for people when he prays..." Even just writing that now it just sounds so absolutely ridiculous hey. Needless to say this mans prayers didn't get me any work. God brought the work in months later after teaching me patience, faith and perseverance - not some fancy prayer by an elevated individual.


People don't get prayers answered - God answers peoples prayers. The Bible makes it clear that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) and there are no "special people" that get prayers answered and some that don't. It's the heart that God looks on - not what you've done or what other people think you are. If it was what we did that got our prayers answered then the statement in Ephesians 2:8 "we are saved by Grace through Faith" wouldn't apply at all. We get saved as sinners with no merit at all simply crying out to God to save us and accepting Jesus as the payment for our sins. The Bible says in James 5:17 that Elijah was a normal man just like we are yet he prayed believing and his prayers were answered. Will He help you exactly the way you want? Not always. Will he help you exactly when you want? Not always. Does He hear you always? ABSOLUTELY. So what God is saying in the Bible is this... Pray believing. Not in yourself or what you've done, not in your achievements or who you're connected to... but believing that God hears you because of Jesus, loves you and wants to help you. There's a very important conversation in the book of Job right at the end...


For those who haven't read Job's story it basically goes like this. Job loves God. God blessed Job. Satan says to God "Job only loves you because you bless him..." God agrees to remove the blessing of protection to prove a point that Job loves Him for who He is not what He does for him. Job suffers badly - not at the hand of God - but from the evil affliction of the devil. Job remains faithful. God proves His point that even in immense tragedy and suffering nothing can separate us from God's love and our relationship with Him. Job has the privilege of meeting God in person and He rewards Job more than twice over for being faithful. The conversation I'm referring to is between the suffering Job and his youngest friend Elihu. Basically Elihu says this "You shouldn't have tried to justify yourself to God Job... You should have just maintained that God is good despite what happens."  Why am I telling this story from the book of Job? Because we all at times either think we are something special and deserve to get special treatment or we elevate others thinking they might be able to get results instead of us. In both cases our mind set is incorrect. We are all just humble little children loved by our Father in Heaven - all on equal terms because of Jesus.


Prayers are answered simply because we believe in Jesus, who He is and what He's done - not who we are or what we've done whether it good or bad. So wrapping up, what I'm really saying is this... Don't fall into that trap of thinking someone else down here is the solution to your problems or the way your prayers will be answered. We should all care and pray for each other but more importantly than getting someone else to pray for you - God wants to hear from YOU. He values YOU. He knows YOU and wants to help YOU. So pray... Prayer is just talking to God. Pour out your heart to Him because He wants to hear from you. Believe He hears you and wait for Him patiently. He will make a way despite how impossible it all looks. What my prayer for you today is this... I'd love to pray for you but more than that - I'd love to pray WITH you believing for what you need God to do. God loves you and it's you that's special to Him. 

Hey, I hope you're having an awesome day today. Without getting too deep and spiritual on you - I just wanna say that there are a lot of things going on in this world behind the scenes pulling the strings for a lot of the physical outcomes around us. And no I'm not talking about the Illuminati, the NWO or another group of rich  aristocratic fat cats. 

In the Bible it says "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalitalies and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places". In a nutshell there is a spiritual world with powerful forces that effects the physical world we live in. But there are also powerful forces in this physical world that can effect the spiritual world... Us. If you believe in Jesus then when He said "Greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world" applies. 

What Jesus was saying was this... "You have God in you - so push back". We as the Children of God have the ability because of Jesus to make a change in this world. To be the light to the darkness. To wrestle with forces that would normally be far more powerful than us - but because of God in us we can dethrone and take back territory. We can change things. How awesome is that? So how do I do that you ask? Easy. When those thoughts of hatred, revenge, lust, greed and selfishness come your way pushing you to respond the way they tell you to - make a choice to say NO. 

Push back and instead of doing what "impulse" tells you to do - be positive. Be encouraging. Be caring for others. Be thankful. Be giving. Be forgiving. Be love. And if in the moment that's just too hard to do...  then bite your tongue and wait. Impulses pass but the truth and the heart of God lasts forever. It's far better to go back and say a nice word later than to have to apologize later for nasty selfish words and actions. 

So today push back and be the change this world needs. You'd honestly be surprised how much weight God puts behind those who seek and give His heart to others. So give someone a reason to smile today and be thankful for the gift of life. God loves you.