What are you intentional about? I mean, what do you sit on your couch during your down times and think about? I spend time thinking about where I want to go and what I want to do.  I think about movies I would like to see and golf courses I would like to play.  I have even been known to think about fantasy football.

To them the walls looked big and insurmountable, but to me they looked miniscule.  The challenge of the maze was intricate to the mice, but to me-the one who created it, the one who was perched to see every detail-the answers were obvious. After several days of watching my mice wander through the maze, I took a ruler and began to gently nudge one of them down the correct path.  Within seconds, my mouse was enjoying a hearty meal.

I will never forget when Psalm 2:8 rang as clear as a bell in my heart. I was in my dorm room listening to a new worship tape, when the verse in song came on. Because it had an attractive melody, I began to sing along.  “Ask of me, and I will give the nations as an inheritance for you, as an inheritance for you; my children. Ask of me and I will give the nations as an inheritance to you.” 

Shame is a silent, but deadly disease that pollutes the lifeblood of many Christian’s faith.  Although it is a buzzword in songs and poems, it is not often described or dealt with and therefore continues to torment many lives.  The symptoms are experienced, but the source of the discomfort, confusion, and hindered life is often ignored. 

I have come to understand that God's commands are not given to control and hinder, but rather they are intended to protect and position me to receive His blessings.  His instructions are not vain, nor are they selfish.  His commands were not given as He considered the ramifications that they would have on His existence.  Rather, they were offered as He considered how best to bless me, His child.

People long for freedom. Fight for it. Debate about it. Yet many search their entire lives and never discover the true source of freedom.

I am not talking about political freedom, financial freedom, or freedom of expression. I am referring to spiritual freedom-- emotional freedom. A lifestyle, a peace, and a hope that affects every area of a person¹s life. Liberty that relieves the spirit and soul of a man or woman.