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Do you value your freedom? This is a normal human longing and my word tells you to stand fast in the liberty in which Christ has made you free. Do you feel sympathy for those in prison, or bound by addictions or limitations? Liberty has many dimensions of which the ability to move about at will is only one. It may be the most obvious but least important. Paul lost this form of liberty when he was in prison, but it was there that he wrote much of the New Testament. Do you understand that there is a spiritual liberty always available to you regardless of life circumstances or any other limitations? Stand fast in this liberty.

I didn’t die so you could go to church. I gave my life that you may have life that is eternal and abundant and true. Church is a part of that life but it is not the whole part. I invite you into a continual engagement with the divine mystery. It fills the entire heavens and earth and influences every aspect of your life. I am not hostile to the church that I built and I don’t want you to be either. I do want you to have a true perspective on its purpose. Don’t look at it as a source of life, but rather as a place where you can join together to share and celebrate the overflow of life that you live every day. 

This amazing 40-day journey will explore 40 ways you can encounter God! It introduces you to such topics as experiencing salvation, and welcoming the Holy Spirit. Then on to encountering the Father's love, experiencing forgiveness, hearing God's voice, two-way journaling, spiritual warfare, the law of sowing and reaping, prophecy, speaking in tongues, expectant faith, receiving dreams, experiencing revival, physical healing, inner healing and renouncing the occult.

There is an inherent human longing to make human contact and confide in others. Perhaps you have felt this in yourself. Yet you are prudent to be selective in whom you confide, for not all people are trustworthy. What do you look for? Someone who is loving enough to show interest and care, someone you trust enough to treat hold your confidences in confidence, and someone who is accepting and non-judgmental enough that they wont reject you no matter what you say? Other people are looking for the same qualities for someone they can confide in.

Allow me to introduce to you a shortened version (only 9 minutes) of the devotional New Creation Celebration - Replacing Emotions (which is 40 minutes). In this devotional, explore the steps necessary to receive the promised destiny God has given to each of us. So days when your destiny seems far off, this will remind you of the steps you are to be taking.

Are you familiar with the concept of a ‘strawman’? A straw man is not a real man, and a strawman is understood to be a false representation. It is easy to create these to represent the positions of those you disagree with. This is a lazy way to attack your enemies, making it easier by misrepresenting them; exaggerating their weaknesses and minimizing their virtues. It is also fundamentally dishonest. My word teaches you to love your enemies. Do you see this as only an abstraction involving vague feelings of affection? But love is demonstrated in concrete actions. You can start by not misrepresenting them to criticize them. 

You refer to my love as unconditional, and you are right. Do you find this word in the Bible? It isn’t there because it is a modern word and the Bible was written before this term came into usage,   but the concept is there in other words. Where else do you use this term? In warfare this word is used to describe terms acceptable for ending the conflict, such as unconditional surrender, meaning surrender that is absolute, with no negotiated provisions. Do you see surrender to God as an appropriate attribute for your life as a Christian? Only unconditional surrender is consistent with unconditional love. 

Chemists use litmus paper to indicate acids and bases. There are two colors to indicate which of these conditions is present in a solution. The term litmus test has taken on a broader meaning in politics, as a binary indication of whether an individual meets a certain criteria. Churches have throughout history have applied the same concept to persons to decide if they are saved or not. Do you prefer to minister to other believers? Consider my own time of ministry on earth. Did I ever examine someone to find out if they had the right group affiliation or beliefs to be worthy of ministry? I never applied a litmus test to people who came to me and you shouldn’t either. 

Have you heard that the best things in life are free? Money is still highly rated, and people go to great lengths to obtain it, and still wish they had more. So are the best things in life really free? What would these things consist of? Love, human connection and interaction, creativity, appreciation of beauty, a sense of wonder, seeking those things which are above to find a sense of destiny and purpose? These things are free and available to all but they are not automatic. If you would have them then you must value them according to their true worth, and put as much effort into seeking them as you do into seeking money. 

I raised Lazarus from the dead and called him forth from the tomb but that is not the end of the story. When he appeared I commanded that he be released from the grave clothes that bound him. Why was this included as an important part of this account? Lazarus could not function as a living person while he was still bound for burial. How does this apply to you? I have also raised you from the dead. Are you still wearing grave clothes? Do you still retain habits, thought patterns, and traditions that bind you and prevent you from functioning as a living person? Then you too should cast off your grave clothes that you may live.