You Were Meant to Travel Light!

While working on my boss’s travel to Washington DC last week, I noticed that he had two tickets for baggage. Each time he checked his baggage, it cost him.  It wasn’t a whole lot of money, but if a person had to declare their baggage and pay for it every week it would count up.  I understand that some airlines charge for baggage even more when it weighs more. The heavier it is and the more bags you’re carrying, the more it costs. You can be charged on one airline for heavy baggage, large baggage and too much baggage. Three prices added up makes for expensive travel.  Imagine if you had to carry your heavy, large and overloaded amount of baggage onto the plane yourself? It would be so tiresome that some folks would just give up trying to fly.

We all have had baggage. Some of it was of our own making. We gave our hearts to the Lord but we didn’t know how to give our problems, our past, our regrets, our fears to Him. So we kept hauling that stuff around with us everywhere we went.  It makes for expensive travel. It bears so heavy on some folks that they are totally bent over with the load. Without having anyone to carry their baggage for them, they are destined to live under the load, tiring out easily and always out of breath. They can neither travel the high mountains of extreme joy nor make it through the valleys of trouble. It’s a rough life to walk around with excess baggage.

We were meant to travel light. We were never meant to carry the stuff we had before Christ with us forever. We aren’t meant to gather new baggage either. If we insist on carrying our own stuff, we will be so burdened that we won’t be able to share God’s love and tell others how He heals, sets free and delivers.  We won’t be able to do that because we won’t be walking in freedom from the load.

People are looking for someone to lighten their load. Nobody intends to live burdened lives with all that junk stacked in their hearts and minds. Nobody wants to have to pay daily for excess, too large or too much baggage.  It’s hard to feel you can never let it go. It’s a rough life to walk around with all your fears and animosity, your troubles and regrets drug behind you like an anchor in the sea.  You know people are looking for an answer to this oh so heavy load, because there are so many self-help books on that subject. Trouble with self-help books is they all point you to you!

Oh beloved, this morning God is walking beside you and He’s telling you that He will lighten your load! He will say to you were never meant to carry that stuff around with you eternally. He says to you, lay your burdens on Me. Let’s look at those things you’ve been carrying far too long and talk about each one. There – that Unforgiveness? I can relieve you of that. For I forgave you at the cross and already made arrangements for all of that.  There – those Regrets?  You don’t need to carry them around with you for I don’t even know about them – they are in the sea of forgiveness never to be brought up again. Fear? Oh my beloved, you were never meant to carry one ounce of fear, not for yesterday, not for today and certainly not for tomorrow. I AM your load bearer, I AM your lifter and your lightener. If you will let Me I will remove your baggage and together we will travel to My anointing and My plan for your life.

This morning the Baggage Carrier is calling out to you, I love you, I love you, I love you! And because of His incredible, unending, eternal, perfect love He will lighten your load, carry your burdens for you and give you a travel plan that’s out of this world!

 

Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 146:8  The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly.

Looking for Easy Street?

My dad always had a comfortable chair. Before recliners it was an overstuffed swivel rocker.  Easy chairs they were called back then. Eventually he had a recliner.  Nobody sat in daddy’s chair. LOL.  His comfort was most important to him.

We all want easy chairs don’t we? Somewhere we can call our own to kick back and relax. We want to feel great and have no worries. Living the life, having it all, resting on easy street…

For most folks, life is just a little left of Easy Street, and not quite like living in an Easy Chair. Problems abound, and they’re coming more and more often. We’re giving up the good life of our ancestors for the “me” life of our present lifestyles. We try to get more and more comfortable with ourselves and yet find that we aren’t any happier as we get more, do more and be more.

If you are one of those whose life is left of Easy Street, then you know what I’m talking about. Less cash than bills. Less love than needed.  Less things than wanted. Less courage, less joy, less victory. You look at what others have and do and you wonder how they ever got so ahead of you.

I know you want things to be easy but things don’t always go as planned. Even when you do the right thing and attempt to do your level best to live for Jesus, things can go oh so wrong. Maybe it’s time to quit looking for a comfy spot to get away, and begin seeking for a strong spot to stand.

Oh beloved, run to the Comfort of God’s Word! Rest in the Promises of Christ! Relax in the Joy of the Lord! God says to you this morning, “I have this”. The life you want so badly, if you will just take a moment to look to Me and take your eyes off others, I will show you deep and beautiful things I have for you, just you.  Even when you can’t see what others are going through, believe Me, they have their own load to bear and they too are looking for an easy chair, an easier life and easier road. In fact, it is only in finding rest in Me Alone, that you find what you are really looking for.

Follow God always beloved. Get His Word deep down into your heart and let its roots take hold. For you will find that while things aren’t always easy, life in Christ is good – oh so good! Because the Lord Himself loves you and the King of the Universe is for you and that makes for comfort and joy in spite of it all.

 

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.

Psalm 62:1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.

Psalm 146:5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Psalm 34:5 Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Micah 7:7 As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.

God is Able to Relieve Your Load of Burdens

We saw them walking through a parking lot yesterday afternoon. It appeared to be an entire family of homeless people - three youths and a mother and father. They were pushing a grocery cart full of plastic bags piled up high. The cart was obviously over filled and quite hard to push. The tiredness on their faces showed the depth of their despair.




If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves wandering around with a heavy a weight as well. Trying to push our load or get ourselves where we need to be is just too hard. A face can show the obvious pain, sorrow or trouble. Sometimes others will try to load us down with their problems. They may even say you’re to blame so it’s your weight to carry for them.



Oh beloved, are you bent beneath a load you were never meant to carry? Are you stopping often to readjust – the guilt, the fear, the worry, the sorrow, the un-forgiveness and more? Or are you trying to carry what someone wants to put on you?



Run to the King Who is Able to Relieve the load of burdens you carry. He never wants you so weighed down that you cannot move and He doesn’t expect you to carry everyone else’s guilt and burden. He means for you to roll it all on Him. He is a Father to the homeless  and orphans. Not only will He see you through your present problems, He’ll give you rest and hope and peace. Let Him take that burden you’ve born far too long. Let Him take you home to live as a child of the King! He loves you and He’s on your side and that will relieve any burden forever!



Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.



Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.



Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.