THE BAGGAGE HANDLER

The older we get, the more ‘baggage‘ it seems that we carry. Our hurts from the past and anxiety of the future seem to fill our suitcases until we can’t stuff another thing in there.

Off we trudge, items falling all around us because, by now we can’t even get the suitcase closed to keep those things hidden. They come out at the most unexpected times - impatience in traffic, anger at a child who accidentally spills their milk, frustration on the job. There is so much baggage that it starts overflowing at the worst of times and at the worst places - causing even more baggage because we feel badly about the baggage we already have. It seems never ending.

What are we to do with all of the accumulating baggage? Scripture is plain:

Cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you. I Peter 5:7

God does not want us to carry our anxieties and burdens. He wants us to be free to walk with Him while He carries them.

Heavenly Father, please teach me how to let You carry the baggage. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

ARE YOU STRONG?

Do you picture yourself as a strong person in God’s sight? How you view yourself will determine how you react in a given situation.

Picture this: Your children are out of sorts. One is coming down with the stomach flu. Another is cranky from lack of sleep. Your husband is stressed and is feeling the pressure of a busy work week. Your mother needs your attention. Your boss at work keeps piling on the work. Friends are calling attention to your lack of availability. You feel pulled in too many directions at once. The breaking point is near.

If you consider yourself with the strength of the Proverbs 31 woman, the word strength will define your every act. You will consistently rely on God’s strength during your busy seasons of life.

May we picture ourselves as God does - strong and competent in Him. Then our actions will follow.

She is clothed with strength and dignity.... Proverbs 31:25

Heavenly Father, please help me picture myself as You see me - clothed in strength because of Your work in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen

TAKE YOUR LIFE BACK . . . AND GIVE IT BACK TO GOD

“Time is so precious that it is dealt out to us only in the smallest possible fractions - a tiny moment at a time." Irish Proverb

How have you used the time God has given you this past year? Have you used it to honor and please God or to honor and please yourself? Or maybe half and half.

In order to take our lives back - to give them back to God who created us, perhaps we need to look at some potential problem areas and learn how we can do better now and into the future:

Have you squandered your time away by:

- Being so worried about a loved one's health, lifestyle or well-being that you have neglected your own health and well-being?

- Being so busy doing good works that you are serving man instead of God?

- Speaking unkind words about others, chipping away at the foundation of your marriage, your family, your church, your very own life?

- Forgetting the principles of good self-care such as nutritious meals, regular exercise and a good dose of fresh air daily?

- Being so concerned about your financial situation that you can no longer hear God’s voice telling you what to do about it?

- Falling into patterns that resemble a rut so there is nothing new, fresh and different about your life?

Enough, you say! Yes, we can all identify with at least one time waster - and we can probably write out some of our own.

Each day we have clean slate of precious minutes. Let’s TAKE BACK OUR LIVES AND GIVE THEM ANEW TO THE GOD WHO CREATED US AND LOVES US BEYOND MEASURE. He has the blueprint for each of our lives. If we follow His blueprint, we will be all He wants us to be - pleasing and honoring Him minute by precious minute.

I appeal to you therefore…by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for squandering precious minutes, hours and days. Please teach me how to better please You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

WHAT'S YOUR THEME?

Do you ever listen to yourself? What do you find yourself talking about usually?

The weather? Financial worries? Your family? Problems at work? How your garden is growing? Your latest love interest? The recent woodworking project you just completed? God?

Is your conversation varied and healthy or do you seem to be stuck on a certain theme that runs through your words?

Are your words encouraging and life giving? Or are they bitter? Are they complaining? Are your words thankful? What is the theme that runs through your words?

We know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks . . . .
Can we say with the Psalmist: My heart overflows with a goodly theme . . . . Psalm 45:1?

What is your theme? What is the theme your heart is speaking?

May I encourage you today . . . this week . . . this month to listen to yourself - the actual words, the tone, the intent and see what is in your heart.

Maybe it is time to go to the Father to have him do some housecleaning. A cleansed heart will result in a mouth that praises Him and which pleases Him.

Heavenly Father, please help me hear what my theme is. If it is not pleasing to You, please cleanse my heart of all sin and nonsense so that my theme can be a good theme, pleasing to Your ears. In Jesus' name. Amen.

WORRY, CONCERN, ANXIETY

Around and around we go. There is so much to worry about, isn’t there? We worry about our health, our kids (young or grown), our finances, our leaky roof, our vehicle, our job, our parents, the bank down the street, the national economy . . . the world . . . .

Yes, there is enough to worry about until we reach old age which, if we keep worrying, will come earlier than we want - so we worry about that, too.

So, what’s the solution? Does God want us to live in a constant state of anxiety and near panic? NO, He does not! Let’s listen to what He wants us to know as we live our lives here in this crazy world:

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you . . . . Jesus says in John 14:27

Then, if I have His peace left to me, why do I worry about so many things?

Jesus goes on to say: Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. . . .

Oh, if I’m not to LET my heart be troubled, that must mean I am to DO something when I feel worry even begin to creep in.

What am I, specifically and practically, to do?

Casting all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about (is fond of) you. I Peter 5:7

That’s something that I can picture doing. If I cast all my garbage curbside - it is gone. If I go to the cross and leave my worries, burdens, anxieties, concerns…. there, then they are gone! In fact, when scripture tells us to cast our cares on HIM, that’s an even better solution than just taking them curbside. When cast upon God, He means to carry them away - far away from us because then He will take care of every one of them. Just watch!

Now what? Return to the house after setting the garbage curbside (or laying them at the foot of the cross) to worry about the same old - same old - or even new issues? NO - we are to continuously do what:

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer, supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 & 7

Heavenly Father, please show me the practical steps I need to take to keep my heart and mind in Christ Jesus - and at peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE POTTER - GOD!

God is still busily creating. Not only is He busy creating each new person who is born, He is busy creating YOU even now. He is continuing to create who He wants you to be.

Yes, He once upon a time created who you are genetically, including what you look like, but He also wants to continue the process on your inner person.

He wants us to be conformed into the image of Jesus:

Yet, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay and Thou art our potter; we are all the works of Thy hand. Isaiah 64:8
.
After God has created the outer person, how does He create the inner person? Good question. Have you ever watched a potter at his wheel? He takes a wet, formless glob and ‘throws’ it on his wheel. He begins to turn that wheel around, envisioning what it will become. Once completed, the piece stands - whole and complete but not quite finished.

Now comes the fire. Some pieces are fired again and again, emerging more beautiful with each firing than could be imagined.

Behold, I will refine them and test them. Jeremiah 9:7

Have you noticed that we are going through the fires of life, daily? Little things happens to make it so. Big and bigger things sometimes happen, too. But the Master Potter knows exactly what it will take to make us into who He envisioned from the beginning of time. Are you willing?

Heavenly Father, I surrender myself into Your Potter’s hands. I submit to the firings I need to be beautiful in Your sight, like Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE EXCHANGED LIFE

Do you like your life and what it includes right now? Do you like who you have become at this point in your life?

Think about it.

There is Someone who is willing to exchange your life for His, if you so choose. No matter how good or bad your life seems right now, would it be a relief to pour it all out - every bit of it - to the God who created you and knows you better than you know yourself?

Then - since that leaves you empty of yourself, wouldn’t it be wise to ask God to fill you up with Himself - all of His holiness, loving attributes, kindness - all that He is, now becoming a part of you?

Wouldn’t we be better off to live an exchanged life - daily? God has so much more envisioned for us than we can even imagine. But it is only by living an exchanged life that we can even touch upon it and capture His vision of His life within and lived out through us.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Heavenly Father, I come to you to exchange this life for Your life. I empty myself of the life I have now and surrender it to You. Please fill me with Your life to overflowing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.