Jesus Will Free You of Your Excess Baggage

It’s been a long time since anyone in our immediate family has flown, but when they did they carried their baggage on board with them in a large duffle bag.  In 2008 some of the major airlines began charging fees for excess baggage. That rate has gone up continually over the years. Not all airlines charge but even those that don’t charge have a limit to the size and weight of the baggage. And the price for the heavier or larger baggage is pretty steep. Suffice it to say if you carry excess baggage these days it’s going to cost you.

Excess baggage isn’t just carried on a plane. It’s often carried by people. Even believers have their share of baggage. Some of it is carried over from the days before their commitment to Christ.  It’s a heavy load to care and it truly costs dearly to carry the weight around. Some of it is carried due to sins committed in the past. Other weighted down baggage may be marital problems, how a person was raised or even religious expectations.  The cost of carrying the excess baggage comes when you try to carry it all yourself. Imagine walking into a restaurant and carrying all your trip belongings with you. Imagine sight-seeing and having to carry that stuff with you everywhere you go.  Up mountains, over bridges. Walking down the aisle? Carrying all your excess troubles, mistakes, misunderstandings, rejections to the altar.  You quickly get a picture of what happens when the excess baggage isn’t dealt with. It enters into everything you do and everywhere you go. It’s a load no one should carry and it will cost you more than you want to pay.

God speaks to my heart: I have come to the world to lighten the sin load of everyone who comes to Me for relief. There at Calvary I set the precedent for a life that never has to be burdened with the weight of sin. Why are you still carrying that with you? Are you expecting to be able to do something with your past regrets? Hand them to me quickly before you find yourself so weighted down with sin that you cannot enter into My rest. I have also come to ransom you from the weight of rejection, fears, worry, and all the other things that people think they have to carry on with them. Everywhere you go you will need to be light for the trip so that I can speak to your heart, guide your plans and guard your mind. You were never meant to carry anything that is in the way of a burdensome load.  If you will let Me, I the Lord, will take your excess baggage, relieve you of the burden as well as the cost of carrying it around with you and give you My yoke instead. As you learn of Me you will find that My yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light. It’s time to walk freely, be able to dance in My presence, and go where I send you. With excess baggage you are barely going to make it, but free of your baggage you will be able to soar with Eagle’s wings and scale the heights with Me.  

Oh beloved, weighed down? Feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders? Are you finding that the more you take on the harder it is to move? It’s time to give your burdens to the Lord? Your cares aren’t meant to be carried and your sins aren’t meant to weigh you down. You can be free! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or why you’re weary, take it all to the Lord. It sounds simple and it is. God has made it so simple that as we begin to unload it all on Him we find that He just does away with it. It’s gone as far as the east is from the west. It’s in the sea of forgetfulness. He will never bring it up again and He will never try to weigh you down with it. If you feel that you must take it all up and carry it again, you can be sure that it is not the Lord requiring it of you. Your excess baggage will take a toll in your life, in your vocation, in your marriage, in your relationships, even in your fellowship with other believers, even with your own perception of yourself. These heavy weights may have been given you by others or may be built up within yourself. Excess baggage can be sin, wrong thinking, rejection, humiliation, defeated thinking, depression, discouragement or more. They can be fleshly in nature or even religious. The enemy of your soul wants you weighed down and thus useless for the Kingdom. Wherever it has come from, God will show you because God is love.  The lightening of your load by God through Christ will give you a freedom you’ve never known. It is the freedom that all creation is looking for and it’s just what you’ve been wanting. Try it today, go to God and give Him all your burdens. Begin now. The process may take a while but you will begin to feel so much lighter in mind, spirit and body as you start the process.

God loves you and He is for you. That’s why He wants you to quit paying for the excess baggage you were never meant to carry. He needs you to be free to live, love and share His love, His care and His truth all the days of your life.

John 8:36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Psalm 34:6 In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; He saved me from all my troubles.

Need a Good Reason to Celebrate Christmas?

A friend from Northwest Arkansas posted a little video of her boys, ages 6 and 3. She asked them what Christmas was all about.  They got very animated and said toys, gifts, fun!  Off camera you could hear her saying “and it’s Jesus’ birthday”.  They got wide eyed and whispered “Jesus birthday?”  and then they both said, “Happy Birthday Jesus!” They just smiled at each other and you could tell they liked the idea that it was a birthday.  The reason for the Season is easily lost in all the hubbub and celebration of the stuff we get, the places we go and the food we enjoy.  

But the truth about Jesus is all around us during this time of year.  There are the ornaments on the tree. Full of crosses and angels, along with stars atop shining brightly for the world to see.  There are the gift exchanges, signifying the giving of gifts by the Magi to the Christ child.  The evergreen tree reminding us that Jesus is the eternal, everlasting God. 

I saw a sign that I really liked and I think it says it all.  “Jesus is Not Just the Reason for the Season – He’s the Reason for Everything”.  Think about it. He’s the reason we live and move and have our being. We’re not here by accident but by divine decision. He’s the gift that keeps on giving. We receive Christ as our Savior, but that’s not the end of it. He continues to give us a reason to live every single day of our life, no matter what. And if God allows us another day on this earth, it is there to glorify the one who gives us breath.

We look for fulfillment probably more at Christmas than any other time. And yet, more people are sad and lonely and depressed at this time of year than any other. If Jesus is the Reason for the Season, then surely there must be more than this. It must be more than the gifts under the tree, the fellowship among friends, the hugs of family and the expenses incurred. It surely is more than the sorrow we’ve had, the sickness we’ve been through and the rejection, the pain, the loss and the questions that we are going through.

Look beyond the star and into the manger. Behold the Lamb of God! Behold the Christ who came to be all you will ever need! In Him is all your heart has ever desired. In Him is the meeting of every need you will ever face, every Truth you seek and every blessing you long for. This Holy season is a magnificent reminder that Jesus is the Reason for Everything.

Oh beloved, while you are rushing around trying to meet your own needs and the needs of every other person you have to buy for, impress and deliver to, there is Christ! He’s calling you to greater fellowship with Him. He’s calling you to be in tune with His heart so that your heart won’t grow cold in this season of stuff. There will never be another person, relationship, provision or source that can meet your deepest need. But He’s calling you to give you so much more than those gifts. He’s giving you Himself. And that, beloved, is all you will ever need. Let Him love you, let Him speak His truth into your heart, and let Him give you His rest and joy as you fellowship with Him. He will make your Christmas and every single of the 364 other days the most magnificent days as you lean on Him, learn of Him and live for Him.

Christ the Lord is your Savior and He loves you and He’s for you and He is your reason for living for Him all the days of your life.

Colossians 1:13-20  For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,  and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified)

Who's Filled Your Prescription?

In the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, young George worked at the drug store after school. The pharmacist was drunken one day and George found the note that explained the man’s grief stricken stupor: His son had been killed in the war. Because the man was so incredibly distraught he had resorted to drinking at work. George realized that Mr. Gower had filled a prescription with poison and it would ...be disastrous if that prescription got into the hands of the intended customer. George saved the customer’s life and Mr. Gower’s reputation and livelihood by intervening in the situation.

Our youngest daughter was a pharmacy tech for several years before staying home with her children. She knew how important it was to get the prescription right and to make sure the right dosage was administered. Just a small variance in the medicinal recipe could make for weakened medicine, which wouldn’t help at all, or a worse problem. She also knew well what each medicine was for.

God has given us a prescription for life. The prescription fills our exact needs to make for a wonderful life. We don’t have to pay for the prescription or work for it. It is freely administered to each one of us in the exactly right dosage. Our Pharmacist is the Lord Himself and Jesus is His Pharmacy Tech. They don’t make mistakes on the medicine of salvation, sanctification, justification and glorification. There’s no chance of the prescription failing to fulfill its intended use. The Word of God is the perfect manual for administration of it and the usage of it. We have everything we need for life and godliness as God has poured His life giving ointment into our lives. We truly can have a wonderful life.

The problem comes when we are overcome with grief or sorrow or pain. During those dark hours of hurt we may forget or forgo the perfect medicine from the Lord and resort to our own meds. We may try to add to or take away from God’s Word so that the prescription changes and becomes weakened or ineffective. If we add man’s ideas to the mix we’ll have a disaster. Life can be a tough pill to swallow when we forget about the Lord. In our pain we can easily forget the Truth and administer other pain relief to ourselves. Self-medication is disastrous as well. There’s no hope if we mis-medicate, over-medicate or under-medicate our condition.

Are you hurting? Are you trying to work through a serious illness of the body, of the heart of the spirit? Is your soul in anguish over some trial or weakness you can do nothing about? Have you forgotten the source of your life? Have you left the Truth and taken on the lie? It could be anger instead of peace. It could be revenge instead of forgiveness. It could be remorse instead of repentance. It could be a spirit of heaviness instead of the oil of joy. Are you mourning? Are you resorting to the wrong thing thinking it will help? Maybe you’ve discovered the prescription you bargained for is actually arsenic to your life? And now you’re in such a way that you don’t know if you’ll ever regain your strength or be able to live to see the goodness of God again.

Oh beloved! It’s never too late to return to the pure, health giving, life healing Word of God. With the prescription of God’s love, salvation, regeneration, sanctification and godly living all your trials, troubles and sorrows can be handled and your heart will be healed. God Himself promises to administer His life giving ways to you with perfect results. Run to His Word and read: every single promise was written to perfection for you. Every single instruction is pure and simple, reviving your soul, restoring your mind and setting you on the road of comfort and joy. He says to you this morning, come and drink of Me for I AM the perfect Fountain of Life to all who will turn their heart and mind towards Me. Let Me comfort and heal you, for I AM the Lord and I AM with you.

Oh beloved, don’t despair and don’t resort to your own concoction, for God Loves you and He’s For you and there’s nothing more perfect than His Prescription for a Wonderful Life.

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified)

1 Corinthians 15:45 Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life].

Isaiah 58:2 Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.

Psalm 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.

Proverbs 4:20-23 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.