Freedom

Soaring Above Your Prison

by Andy Wood on August 5, 2009

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Freedom

prison prayerApril-something 2002.  It was one of the most surreal, prophetic dreams I’ve ever had.  I dreamed I was in prison.  Not sure what the crime was; I just remember being in a cell there.  The only thing remarkable about that was that instead of the typical concrete and steel, this cell had a nice waxed tile floor and bright lights. 

 For some reason, they let me out on a weekend pass, but eventually I had to go back.  I remember dreading the return, and trying to avoid it.  But I did wind up back in my tile‑floored cell. There in the cell, alone, my thoughts turned to Watchman Nee, the Chinese pastor/teacher who was imprisoned by the communist regime for his faith.  All those years he spent in prison.  How did he do it?  How could he experience God’s presence there in the prison?

It was then I actually saw him.  In my dream I saw Watchman Nee, prostrate on the floor of his prison cell.  As I watched, he was transformed before my eyes into a puppy – a black Labrador Retriever puppy.  Then he changed into a silver chalice.  Taller, thinner.  Rising up.  From that he changed into a giraffe.  He had risen above his prison cell and was feeding in the tops of the trees.

Four Images of Transformation

Just like that, the dream was over. I was left with four crystal-clear images – a prostrate man, a black lab puppy, a silver chalice, and a giraffe.  A transformation from prison to freedom, though the outward circumstances never changed. A deliberately-staged process, flowing from the floor to the heavens.  What did it mean? [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Memo to My Mind

by Andy Wood on August 4, 2009

in Five LV Laws, Insight, Life Currency, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Freedom

Dear Foggy Little Brain,

As you start your day, I want to remind you of some very important truth to shape your thinking…

  • You are no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
  • You are free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
  • Your flesh has been dealt with (Romans 8:3).
  • The Holy Spirit will enable you to fulfill the requirements of God’s Law (Romans 8:4).
  • The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
  • Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8).
  • You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9).
  • Your body may be dying, your spirit is alive because of His righteousness (Romans 8:10).
  • The Holy Spirit will also give life to your mortal body (Romans 8:11).
  • You have no obligation to the flesh (Romans 8:12).
  • You must put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13).
  • You are a child of God (Romans 8:14 16).
  • You are no longer a slave to the world, the devil, and the flesh (Romans 8:15).
  • You have received the spirit of adoption, so that you can go into God’s presence and say, “Daddy!” (Romans 8:15).
  • You are an heir of God, and a joint heir of Christ (Romans 8:17).
  • The present suffering you may be experiencing is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to you (Romans 8:18).
  • Your body will be redeemed one day (Romans 8:23).
  • You don’t pray alone.  The Holy Spirit will is helping you (Romans 8:26).
  • The Holy Spirit is interceding to the Father for you (Romans 8:27).
  • God causes all things work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
  • You are predestined to be conformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
  • You have been called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:30).
  • God is for you – who can be against you (Romans 8:31)?
  • No one can bring a charge against you, because you are God’s elect (Romans 8:33).
  • In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
  • Nothing – nothing – can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:35 39).

As you go about your day, remember the banner under which you live, and the grace on which you stand.  I’ve read to the end of the Book… You win!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

What it Takes to Set a Prisoner Free

by Andy Wood on June 18, 2009

in Five LV Laws, LV Alter-egos, Pleasers, Principle of Freedom

ball-and-chainThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1, ESV)

There’s something you should know, though I’m not very proud to say it.

I’m an ex-con.

Ex-convict?  No.

Ex-condemned?  You betcha.

Ex-consequences?  Uh huh.

Ex-con man?  ‘Fraid so.

I lived on the wrong side of a legal system for a long time, and wound up in prison.  But don’t go looking for my name in some Federal or state criminal records.  I haven’t messed with Texas that much. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Welcome Home, Soldier

by Andy Wood on May 22, 2009

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Legacy

Memorial Day…  This is what it’s all about.

The song is written by Russ Murphy, formerly of Lubbock.  Mike Hammock is the artist.  Enjoy, and remember – freedom is never free.

Then share this with someone you love, or a soldier, sailor, airman or marine.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Language of Surrender… and Freedom

by Andy Wood on December 1, 2008

in Enlarging Your Capacity, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, Insight, Life Currency, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy

I don’t have to win.

I don’t have to lead.

I don’t have to debt.

I don’t have to worry.

I don’t have to be first.

I don’t have to survive.

I don’t have to give up.

I don’t have to overeat.

I don’t have to be right.

I don’t have to succeed.

I don’t have to be afraid.

I don’t have to get angry.

I don’t have to be served.

I don’t have to look good.

I don’t have to be noticed.

I don’t have to cradle pain.

I don’t have to have things.

I don’t have to be offended.

I don’t have to be stressed.

I don’t have to feel rejected.

I don’t have to procrastinate.

I don’t have to resist change.

I don’t have to be depressed.

I don’t have to defend myself.

I don’t have to always say yes.

I don’t have to spend all I earn.

I don’t have to hide my failures.

I don’t have to control outcomes.

I don’t have to get instant results.

I don’t have to hide from the truth.

I don’t have to hide from intimacy.

I don’t have to harbor resentment.

I don’t have to feel sorry for myself.

I don’t have to judge others’ motives.

I don’t have to blame myself or others.

I don’t have to be thanked for what I do.

I don’t have to take counsel of my fears.

I don’t have to crave words of affirmation.

I don’t have to repeat destructive behavior.

I don’t have to compare myself with others.

I don’t have to criticize weakness in others.

I don’t have to envy the blessings of others.

I don’t have to live in the shadow of my past.

I don’t have to spend money to impress others.

I don’t have to see every (or any) expectation fulfilled.

(I’m sure there’s plenty more I’ll discover.  How about you?  What does your language of surrender/freedom sound like?)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Seven Keys to Standing When the Nations are Shaking

by Andy Wood on September 25, 2008

in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, Money, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Freedom

This site is nearly a year old, and I have never written a post I am more serious or urgent about.

There are times when our spirits and/or minds are unusually drawn in certain directions.  Ideas and concepts leap off the pages of the Bible.  Words or names get planted in our consciousness and never seem to go away.  These times, I believe, are no coincidence.  They are times in which the Holy Spirit is bringing grounded biblical truth to bear on current experience.

Simply put, He’s speaking.

I don’t have experiences like this tremendously often, which makes the times I do have them all the more compelling.  What I am about to share grew out of such a time.

As I mentioned earlier , I believe we are entering a season that for many people will be a season of restoration and change worldwide.

We are also living in tense, fearful days.  I called a banker friend yesterday and asked him, in the words of an old Randy Stonehill song, if we should go back to trading seashells and just admit we’re broke.  (He was encouraging.  But then, he’s a banker.)

I also spoke about this Sunday (Listen Here) that these are days in which anything that can be shaken will be.  God is shaking the wealth of the nations.  People are afraid.

How do we stand strong when we’re living somewhere between the faith and the fear?  How can we be in a place where we see the joy beyond what we endure?  How can we allow the Holy Spirit to shake the barnacles off of us and prepare us for a “latter glory” that will come?  How can we be lights in a world of confusion and darkness?

Sparing you the details of how I got there, there are seven things we must do, and do quickly: [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The One Question that Determines Your Freedom or Bondage

by Andy Wood on August 13, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Money, Principle of Freedom

So how’d the reaping go yesterday?  How many times did you find yourself “serving” or servicing a decision you had made days, weeks or months earlier?  OR, how many times did you find yourself being served by the good consequences of a decision?

I just got an email about yet another family that has been ripped apart because of a series of addictive choices by a husband/father.  That makes five I’ve dealt with the last couple of weeks.  The hopeful news is, this man’s past does not dictate his future.  But it certainly has determined his present.

Meanwhile, in “Finantasy Land,” you don’t hear much talk about financial freedom these days.  Other than economic politics, about the only thing you hear is, “Hey, good news!  They’re having a sale at the gas station.  Unleaded is down to $3.56 a gallon!”  But I digress….

Wouldn’t it be good to know that you could simply, decisively establish a course that will add value to your future, either here, there, or in the air?  What if there was a way to cut through the clutter and confusion, the knee-jerk pleasure seeking and sidewalk philosophy, and find a True North – a pathway that actually leads to a future of freedom?

There may be.
[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Leader or King? The Answer May Surprise You.

by Andy Wood on August 5, 2008

in Leadership, Life Currency

CrownIt was one of the most significant turning points in Israel’s history.  A day when elders behaved like spoiled children – deciding what they wanted, then fitting the problem to their solution.  A day that set their course for hundreds of years.  An event that, prompted by fear and ambition, abandoned the character and calling of a nation.  And yet, compared to other great events in the family-nation’s remarkable history, this day is seldom remembered.

In a time when influence was wielded by men and women who knew and walked with God, Israel’s leaders wanted more.

They wanted to be like everybody else.

“Give us a king,” they said.

Samuel didn’t like it, and took it personally.  “Relax,” God says.  “They’re rejecting Me, not you.  But now you know how I feel.”

Human nature tends to swing between two extremes:

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Chain Buster

by Andy Wood on April 28, 2008

in Five LV Laws, Principle of Freedom

Locked GateHave you ever felt trapped beyond escape by someone or something completely beyond your control? Ever felt locked in by a disease or an addiction, the traffic or a relationship, a really stupid choice or a really stupid world? Instead of raging or retreating, try calling the Gate Crasher. 

Here’s what the psalmist said about Him:

There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And broke their bands apart.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
For He has shattered gates of bronze
And cut bars of iron asunder.
(Psalm 107:10-17)

Today I celebrate my God, the Gate Crasher!

Iron Breaker!

Chain Buster!

He’s mighty to save the least of us who call on Him from the pits of our despair and bondage.

What iron, you ask? 

What gates? 

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Next Entries →