Chains...what are yours?

Do you ever feel like you are dragging around the chains of the world? Maybe you really don't! Maybe life is so good that you don't feel the chains, or even know that they are there! For most of us, however, the chains are wrapped around us tightly, holding us captive, and choking the very life out of us!

You may be wearing your Beautiful Chains proudly for all to see. Your hard work has paid off, after all...so why not show others how capable you are? Eventually the security you put in your accomplishments and achievements will crumble, and your life will come crashing down around you! Suddenly you realize it's not all about you...suddenly you realize that you can't make it on your own...suddenly you will cling to the only One who can rescue you! "But even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down, says the Lord." Obadiah 1:4 NLT

Paper Chains can be wrapped around you, yet so light that you don't even know they are there! They are kind of fun to have whisping around your neck and shoulders as they blow with every breeze of life. As you go for every whim and wish, you continue to add links that you don't even notice! Greed, self absorption, over indulgence...chains, really? Yes, the trappings and glitter of the world are so fleeting...they are but a vapor! "Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols!" Jeremiah 2:11 NLT

Are you in bondage to relationships in your life? Yokes of Bondage will drain us...put us into captivity...and render us useless! We thrive on relationships, but people pull us, need us, use us, and can eventually choke out our purpose here on earth. We were created to give glory to God...to make HIM known to all people! When we make ourselves vulnerable to activity without listening to God each day, we will find ourselves spinning our wheels and exhausted from trying to please everyone and do everything. God's Word tells us to "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 NLT

I pray that you will never know the pain and the weight of Heavy Shackles. God allows hardship to come into our lives through His permissive will. Uninvited by you, yet He can turn it around and use it for His glory! His promises are the only thing that will sustain you and carry you in your darkest hour. "Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles." Psalm 119:49,50 NLT
What is the 'why me' of your life right now? Are you a prisoner to the trials of your life? Do you feel hopeless and alone? Then cry out to God! He knows your deepest pain, and He will come to your rescue. He will give you strength and hope for any problem. Run to His strong tower...His name has power...may it be your shelter in the stormy hours!

God will free you from any oppression. He will rescue you from the captivity of the world. He will snap any and every chain that has it's grip on you!
"Lord, help! They cried in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; He snapped their chains." Psalm 107:13,14 NLT