Breaking Chains

"Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to - alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person - you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain."- Eckhart Tolle

Are you free? A pretty simple question right? Do feel stuck in some area of your life? Do feel like you’re being held hostage by your thoughts, feelings, someone, or something (relationships, family, friends, job, addiction, etc.). Do you feel shame and guilt often?

As always be honest with yourself and remember you can't get to courage without going through vulnerability.

The truth is we all at sometimes have felt like hostages or prisoners to someone or something in our lives.

The first step to moving forward is to accept where and who you are now. And to remember we are more than our circumstances.

The second step is forgiveness. The only thing that makes you feel more vulnerable than being hurt is forgiving. But it's not a bad thing.

Vulnerability makes us step outside of our comfort zone and accept that we are not unbreakable.  It makes us accept that we aren’t as strong as we might think.  It makes us looks past people mistakes and faults. Accept their broken selves because we're broken too.

Vulnerability makes us depend on our higher power to pick us up and soften our hearts to forgive.

The third step is Surrender to your higher power. Surrender through Praise and worship. Praise & worship is the expression of our GRATITUDE to the most awesome The Creator the Universe.

In the Book of ACTS Verse 25 says, But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. - I don’t believe Paul and Silas were worshiping begging God to do something, I believe they were worshiping Him out of a place of gratitude that they could partake in His sufferings. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. - When you create a landing pad for His presence to settle down, captivity cannot exist. In any way at all, ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom’.

    27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. - It is not biblical for us to fear in the presence of darkness, it is biblical that darkness fears in our presence. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” – The guards calling for light was much more than a calling for light in the natural, he was desperate for the light of Christ in his life. Because he desired the freedom that was in the atmosphere, the freedom in Christ.

     31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. – Worship not only brings us more freedom, it brings the people around us more freedom. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. (NKJV)

The keys to freedom are practicing gratitude on a daily. Take what resonates and leave the rest.