December 10

Are you an over-packer? Some people can’t seem to right size their packing; they consider too many what-ifs and throw everything in the suitcase that they can possibly stuff without breaking the zipper. Some of us walk through life like this. Do you find yourself too anxious about the future, the “what-ifs” to let go of the baggage of your past? Are you still holding on to old hurts? Are you still holding on to PTSD? Are you still holding on to old habits?

Not that you really want any of those things, but they are familiar to you and maybe you find that comforting even though they are not good. Or maybe you hold on to them because they feel like a part of you, they feel like your identity…

Let that sink in…

Oh for sure, own your sin, don’t deny it, but once you have accepted the freedom from that sin, then own the redemption instead! Own the healing! Own the victory! God offers us all of that and it is much better (and much lighter) than the old baggage!

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Sure our healing comes in layers but it comes and we need to believe for complete healing! Broken relationships, past hurts, trauma, PTSD, and anger are NOT EXEMPT from God’s healing!! Why is it that we find it easier to believe God for physical healing than we do for emotional or psychological healing? Have you thought to ask God for healing from your PTSD? From your Depression? From your fear? From your anxiety?

This can be a hard lesson to learn. It can be hard to let go of those things and not identify ourselves with them. It can be hard to let go of past hurts or past sins and not choose to make them a continued part of our identity. But the truth of the matter is, that our identity is in Christ, not our experiences. Our identity is in the healing and victory that Jesus brings us, not in the hurts or chains that used to bind us. There are SO MANY verses in the Bible that promise victory for us. Would He lie about that? No, God cannot lie. So we have to believe Him, we have to take Him at His word. We believe He created the world. We believe He came to earth to save us, born as a baby in a manger. We believe He died on the cross for us and rose from the dead. Why can’t we believe for total healing from the things in this world that we face?

He ROSE FROM THE DEAD!! What you face is no match for Him! Walk in your freedom! Ask Him for it and then step out in faith and watch the healing happen in your life. Ask Him for help in identifying the ways that you are still holding on to it all and ask for help in letting go. Ask Him to show you your identity in Him.

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

This holiday let’s leave the baggage on the carousel and walk in the freedom that Jesus bought for us!