End of a season

Dear friends and followers, I will be discontinuing this public blog effective immediately.  It has been an honor and privilege to share my random thought here, so thanks for your faithfulness.

Take care-

TEMPTATION

I looked at a pack of cigarettes today. Not a confession, nor is there  shame attached, but for some reason as I passed the cigarette case at my local grocery store I noticed the type used to smoke.  Now, I have not smoked in twenty-one (21) years.  I do not miss it although I had a multiple-pack-per-day life-controlling habit prior to my deliverance.  This morning the pack just caught my attention and then I walked away with a “What was that?” rattling around in my brain.

I know exactly what it was. I know that the enemy of our souls is not creative. I know that he will use ANYTHING that has worked before to see if we (I) will fall for it again.  The Word calls them ‘strongholds’ and warns us to guard against anyone or anything that can take us captive. After all, Jesus came to set captives FREE! John 8:36 says “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” That, my friends, is a promise.

So what so we do when we are tempted? Not IF, but WHEN.  I think the best thing to do is walk away.  That works for the physical proximity of the temptation, but the thoughts that begin to crop are are usually the deeper issue. I believe that one of our greatest playgrounds are our minds.  BUT, we do have the power to take each thought captive and compare it to the TRUTH of God’s word.  I heard Pastor Dan quote Billy Sunday once, saying: “One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake." How true.

Today, I will walk away and think on what is true when tempted.  Care to join me?

Take care-

FANS

This morning I posted the following on Facebook: “I wish people were as excited to win their neighbors and coworkers for Christ as they are about this game. The results today are unpredictable but we know Who wins in the end.” Which brought forth some great comments.  I love the conversations that a random post can create using Social Networking.

Living and working on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois, I see a great number of devoted fans for both the Packers and the Bears.  The tension of today’s playoff game has been building for a couple of weeks now as the line-up began to take shape.  It is quite a rivalry between the fans of these two teams.  Although, I have never seen as many fully-devoted fans as Packer fans.  Coming is all ages, shapes and sizes, I have observed eighty-year-old women grocery shopping in green and gold jerseys.  Fans… passionate and loyal… rarely meek about ‘their’ team.

I can’t help but think about how the followers of Christ could change the world if, even 4 months out of the year, we would passionately talk about ‘our’ Jesus and His transformational love as if He were our FAVORITE.  If we could just set aside our inhibitions to boldly talk about how our lives have changed by knowing Him with people who have yet to meet or commit to following Him.  

Just sayin’...

FREEDOM

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” John 8:36 is the way that we end our readings in FREEDOM SEEKERS ministry meetings.  We BELIEVE that there.  We also see it being walked out in everyday life.  During 2010 our goal was to work through the Twelves Steps with the people who attended.  The leadership team knew that it was a tough goal to accomplish when we set it in January, but we also warned them to expect miracles and life change if they fully engaged in the process.

Throughout the months we watched many people begin to look at the depth of the toll that their life-controlling habits had taken and we even watched some take responsibility  for the roles that they played in many of the sideways situations of their lives.  We also watched people grow faint and fall off the path.  Many were deeply challenged and resisted that God had change and freedom in store for them. Our attendance greatly plummeted from an average of 30-35 to 15-20 in a weekly basis.  Yet, as leaders, we chose to stay the course.

And...VICTORY! We saw those who toughed it out gain great freedom. In fact, six members celebrated one year of continuous abstinence from the behavior that brought them to Freedom Seekers in the first place!  Many others are well on their way to the same anniversary.  All have reported to experience varied levels emotional freedom from the baggage that lingers after years of addiction.  My husband Jim and I, in our combined 49 years of recovery can testify that we have never been involved in a recovery group where such a large number of members work through all twelve steps and have as many members celebrate a year ‘clean’.  

So we celebrate and say “LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!”  Congratulations to M, B, S, V and J.  Also to our amazing Leadership Team for a job WELL DONE!