We’ve all had opposition in our lives right?  I think that is pretty much a given… So, moving onto the next question.  How do you let opposition affect you when you are on the path in life?  I’m here to tell you, I’ve not always done so well with opposition.  I’ve always been a people pleaser, if you will.  I want to make a good impression and not “rock the boat”.  However, life has changed an awful lot for me in recent years and I no longer feel the same.  This is my story, my goal and I hope and pray it will move and affect you in your journey!

I always had it in my mind that if I wanted to be a good Christian gal that it somehow meant pleasing everyone, not getting others upset and going with the flow as if not to cause disruption in someone else’s life.  Let me tell you, that is likely some of what caused me to go in the wrong directions I went in as I grew up and was able to start making choices for my own life.  Adulthood that is.  What I just described is not easy to live up to and so I ran in the opposite direction to try to “find myself”.  Thankfully, I eventually learned what I needed to and that the choices I was making weren’t any easier either.  I finally hit the bottom and realized I needed Jesus in my life to get things going in the right direction…but not on the terms I once understood to be His…instead learning His terms and a little secret called “Boundaries.” 

See, Jesus knew all along that He wasn’t about pleasing others.  He had a mission in life and He was determined to follow the path regardless of if and who it might offend.  He knew the path He needed to take and if people got in the way, He kept walking to His goal.  If others opposed what He was on His way to do, He simply dealt with it and moved onward.  And I thank the Lord each day that He lived just in this manner.  For it He had not, He likely would have never made it to the cross and never would have died for my sins that I might have eternal life in Heaven with Him someday!  Because He followed the path He was called to regardless of what others thought, supported Him or not, I am FREE today and the hurts and harms that I have had and have in my life no longer have to stand in the way if I so choose.

So today I ask of you…What is it in life that you are sensing, feeling, hearing from God in your spirit and in your soul that you need to press on toward?  Let me give you a word that you may need to hear.  Stay the path!  Do not steer off the path you need to follow.  Let Him be your guide and do not allow any opposition to stand in your way!  Others may question you, even doubt what you dream.  Do not let them determine your destiny for you!  If you feel that you right in line with what God has directed and you know that you are sensing His Holy Spirit with you…do not allow others to challenge it.  He has a plan for you and expects you to allow no others to stand in the way.  If you are destined to greatness, it will take this type of action to get there.  And friends, I tell you this…if you are destined for greatness, I guarantee you have others in the path all along the way that need you to make to the end goal!  There will be lives changed, lives Unchained and lives that will be called to greatness all along the way!  I’ve never known a story of God to work in any less than the multitudes and if you are called to greatness…you are just the same!

Now for the scriptures:

“A huge door of opportunity for good work has opened up here.  (There is also mushrooming opposition.) ”

 I Cor. 16:9 MSG

“Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size–abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks.  I just let Christ take over!  And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”

2 Cor. 12:10 MSG

“We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down.  We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting Gods’ Message to you, defiant of the opposition.”

2 Thessalonians 2: 2 MSG

“Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off.  Don’t give the opposition a second thought.”

1 Peter 3:14 MSG

“

Be prepared…There will be opposition in your path, on the journey.  You’ve got to be crazy to think that anything so great of an outcome would be so easy…just because God called you to it doesn’t mean the road will be smooth sailing!  It means it will be tougher than any other road you choose in life…because the outcome is devastating to the enemy and He will put up every roadblock possible to get you to stop!  Do not retreat…do not give up! 

Stay the path and the Lord is sure to be by your side.  It may not seem He is there but He is there every step of the way.  Do not allow fear or what looks to be failure set a stone in your way…if it does, start working on moving the stone aside that you may continue on the path.  Be prepared!  Take humility, pride, and even weapons for defense along the way.  If you are not prepared in your mind and heart that they will be there, you will be shocked and surprised when they pop up.  But, if you are prepared to defeat them, they will be of no surprise and although it may take you some new strategy here and there, you will recognize the battle and be ready to fight it as necessary!  Remember, friend or foe, no matter what the reasoning to oppose you (jealousy, fear of defeat, questioning of your motives and so on) it is not their journey…they are not called to it.  Stay the path and you will be blessed!

I sat with my little girl today looking out the window into a rainy, very windy storm.  It was early in the morning and everything was quiet outside.  I looked around and noticed the tree in front of our house.  There it stood, just a bunch of leafless branches blowing in the wind.  I thought about that for a bit and how it is so like us, our life and experiences. 

There are different types of trees and they are all out there, open to the environment, harsh weather and all.  Some keep their leaves in certain seasons and lose them in others.  They go through different processes just as we all do in life.  What I always seem to notice when I see a tree blowing in a strong wind is how it shakes and sways.  Some of them bending in one direction almost touching the ground yet still staying in tact.  My eyes are always drawn to the bottom of the tree to examine what it is that is holding it in place and how it is withstanding the torment of the weather.  Even these small trees with not much to them still seem to withstand the wind.  And what is at the bottom of a tree?  As you well know, it is the bottom of the trunk.  At what is at the bottom of the trunk that we cannot see is deep underground.  Yeah, I know….you are fully aware of this but just humor me for a bit longer….

You’ve figured it out by now…I’m talking about the trees root system.  When you get to the bottom of it all, you know that in order for a tree to survive, it must dig deep through the mud and muck and keep on growing into this massive root system in order to survive.  It literally grounds itself so that it can grow, prosper, beautiful at times and just twigs blowing in the wind at others.  Sounds kind of like us huh?  We experience a lot of ugly in our lives because that is what this world consists of.  We have to dig our way through the mud and muck in order to develop our root system.  Along the way, we find that certain things make our root system stronger and others make it weaker.  Some of us eventually figure out on what we need in order to keep growing and digging in to survive, others of us end up stunting in our growth and we struggle to survive.  

We can easily identify in most cases what it is that is stunting our growth.  Perhaps it’s that really awful relationship you just can’t seem to let go of for fear of never being loved again.  Maybe it started with the abuse from a parent, friend or relative early on in life and you’ve never been able to let go of the question in your mind…What did I do to deserve this?  Perhaps it’s the addiction that you have been using to run away from the pain of a situation in your life.  Maybe it’s the feeling of being worthless regardless of how hard you try…never being able to please others.  Maybe it’s feeling like you don’t deserve this sickness or disease that you struggle with day-to-day. Maybe you feel like you are a good person, you do the right moral things, treat people well and yet there is just still a void that leaves you feeling that it is all for not…nobody else ever seems to return the favor or notice how good you are so why bother if I’m doing all I can and still not fulfilled….

So, if you can identify what it is that is stunting your growth, what is it that is needed to make it stronger?  Deeply rooted so that when the storms blow in, you can hang on and survive?  It is experience, success and a willingness to allow the help of another to ground you.  It is the hope that there is something to live for.  If all I had in this life was messes and mistakes, I’d be pretty apt to be stunted in my growth and just do what I had to get by.  Who wants to live with a constant feeling of failure, never feeling valued because you are always messing up your own life or someone else’s?  I have your answer.  There IS more to this life, beyond this life, an eternal life if you so accept what was done for you!  Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive all of your mistakes, past, present and future.  If you just accept Him and what He has done for you, if you can accept the grace He has planned for your life, you can be rooted in Christ.  He will be your strength to grow and set your root system in place.  He wants you to accept that you are forgiven.  To let go of all the thought that you can ever be perfect and do everything right.  To be able to grant you forgiveness and forgive yourself and others when there is wrong done. To live each day feeling free from all of those unworthy, not good enough feelings.  To live each day free, not second guessing yourself, just being yourself and being the best you that you can be.  Good or bad days, you have a hope of eternal life to hold onto.  The eternal life that comes after the death of your human life here on earth.  The life you will have in Heaven with Jesus.  No pain, no fear, no tears, no death, no hopelessness, no worries, no sickness, disease, addiction, abuse or anything related to anything negative we feel on this earth!  Why the heck would you NOT want that in your life here on earth?  Why would you NOT want that eternal life in Heaven with Jesus, your Creator, the One who loves you more than any you will ever have in your life.  Stop doubting there is a God, stop doubting there could actually be someone out there that created you with purpose and there is a reason why you are here.  Do you really think so little of yourself that you wouldn’t want more?  Accept Him today, allow His love and grace to penetrate and change your life.  Be free!

Psalms 52: 7-9 Common English Bible says “Look at them!  They didn’t make God their refuge.  Instead they trusted in their own great wealth.  They sought refuge in it- to their own destruction!”  But I am like a green olive tree in God’s house; I trust in God’s faithful love forever and always.  I will give thanks to you, God, forever, because you have acted, in the presence of your faithful people, I will hope in your name because it’s so good.

Proverbs 12:3 The Message says “You can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm.”

If this is your first interaction with me, I’m sure you are wondering what Unchained is all about and why I named this blog Unchained Bracelets…
Here’s the story. I created a bracelet in March or April of 2011. I thought it was cool and so did a few of my friends. I wanted to go ahead and see about making some available for sale. However, I didn’t follow through with the plan.
Why you ask? It all has to do with me and who I am…Who the God of the Universe and all mankind created me to be. I was not made to simply create and sell without further purpose. God did not give me passion to simply create. He gave me a small gifting to create with a huge passion to impact others! But…(and I know you should never start a sentence with the word but) not just others…specific others. Others who are hurting, others who are living in deep burdened lives, others who may still need God in their lives, or even others who have found God but still don’t have the peace of living free.
So, which category of “others” do you fit in? All of you reading this fit in a category…be it addiction, abuse, sickness or disease. Perhaps your monster is a little less obvious. You deal with not being able to be yourself. Being trapped by always needing to have others approval. Being smothered with the freedom to have approval before making a decision. Or perhaps you live so out loud, going against the grain to try to meet those needs in your life. Maybe you are chained to your past, unable to forgive yourself or others. There are so many situations and terms that I could add but the truth is, you’ve already pinned down one or more issues just reading this. I’ve already hit the nail on the head….
So, where do I go from here? Getting back to the bracelet. I woke up one night with this passion and the Lord put the puzzle together for me so I could move on with His plan. We all need freedom in areas of our lives. So what does this bracelet represent? It is a bracelet made of linked chain. This chain represents whatever came to your mind in the previous paragraph. However, that’s not all the bracelet is made of. Each side of this chain is linked to a washer in the center which has words on it. What words? You choose! It can say a word of your burden on one side and a word of freedom on the other. Or it can say simply Unchained on one side and the freedom word of your choice on the other. What this washer signifies is a never-ending circle of you freedom for eternity if you so choose!
The truth is, we don’t have to live in chains! We can choose to get free from what chains us in many different ways. That is why I write. I help pinpoint some issues and things to help you along the way to living free. It’s not all about the bracelet and making a sale! I genuinely care about you and helping you learn and live the same things I’ve discovered in life!
I will tell you that I also serve a very real Jesus! A Jesus who you may or may not know. A jesus who before I was born was beaten and more than battered and bruised on a cross. My Jesus was nailed to a cross to die. And with every ounce of wrong I have ever done … You have ever done. Past. Present. Future. As He was nailed to that cross and DIED on that cross…it ALL DIED with Him! But wait! There’s more! This same Jesus also came back to life 3 days later and still LIVES in Heaven today. He was REBORN and because I accepted what He did for me by believing its Truth and Power. I am forgiven…I am REBORN and I have the power of the cross in my life that grants me access if I so choose to live FREE. My friends, this is the greatest story I will ever tell and this is the reason I live Unchained!!

Welcome to my blog!  I am so excited to get this kicked off and what better way than to tell a story about being reborn and the miracle story of transformation! 

There seems to be a great debate at times that questions the term “reborn”.  This leaves me to believe that there are some out there who simply do not understand the use of this term, those who may have questions of what this means, or just plain out doubt to challenge it.  I mean truly, how can you be “reborn” once you have already been born into the world the one time you came through your Mother’s birth canal and began this process we call life?

Let’s get to the bottom of this.  Let’s take into consideration the life of an addict, the life of a cancer patient, or perhaps the life of a victim of sexual abuse, mental or physical abuse.  There are so many more examples out there and I’m certain you can find one that you identify with.  Each one of these situations can lead to a very uncomfortable and painful path in life.  However, once clean and sober, disease free, or abuse free you have a choice.  You can choose to do the work to deal with the painful circumstances and come out a better, stronger person who no longer lives the previous life.  Is this not somewhat of a circumstance of being reborn?  New thinking, new patterns, a new appreciation for life as you now know it?

Last summer my family decided to do an experiment that I’m sure many are familiar with.  The Live Butterfly Garden.  This year, we opted for the Ladybug Garden.  Most are familiar with the transformation of a butterfly but not as many realize that the ladybug also has a very interesting and amazing process.  When they arrived to us via mail, we removed them from their tube and placed the food and larva into the garden provided.  All we had to do was add water ever so often to insure there was enough moisture for them since they like the humidity.  The food, which resembled sawdust, was provided and they were on the way to experiencing life. 

In the days to come we watched as they grew bigger and bigger until reaching a size of about 1/4″ inch in length.  They explored their environment, ate the food and who knows what else.  However, they soon started to settle down and began to stay in one place turning into a cocoon-like body.  They turned a darker color, started curling and no longer looked like bugs.  In the next week or so they began breaking free from the cocoon-like state and looked totally different from what they had been.  As they first emerge, they have black dots but the rest of the body is very pale and not by any means red.  As time goes on, they get more brilliant in color and become what all of us recognize as ladybugs.

After seeing this with my own eyes (not that I had any doubt previously) I fully realized that there really is something such as being “reborn”.  These ladybugs started a life as larvae, growing into what I what call a fully functional bug, went into a time of resting and were totally reborn as a new creature!  Is there really any more questions that need to be asked?

I never thought I’d say this but I know exactly what that ladybug went through!  The miserable first steps of life in which I made horrible choices and didn’t realized the pain it would cause, the knowledge of right and wrong, parents who taught me very well about right and wrong choices and rewards and consequences that go hand in hand with those choices.  It wasn’t however until I came to the end of myself realizing I was tired of this life I had chosen, tired of living on my own strength and tired of being burdened down and trapped in this life…I wanted more, I wanted different and I wanted to be free!  That my friends was one of my lowest times in life and I would say I felt as if I was in a deep dark cocoon curled up and just waiting for answers.  It was then that I found Jesus.  And I will tell you, when I found Jesus, I was REBORN!  I am a new creature and have a new life ahead of me.  I am still pale in body, just as the ladybug, but with each new day and each new experience I am getting brighter and more beautiful than ever!  I am FREE and I am in the middle of my continued transformation.  I have a new life, a new outlook and great perspective with hope knowing I am loved and cared for and it is a blessing to know that many of you are too!