Life Plan Devotion #34 [Pack your bags]

Pack your bags! No, you're not going on a trip, but I hope and pray your bags do. Each of us has baggage we carry around, full of things we need to let go of, get rid of. What's in your baggage? Is it sin, heartache, bad memories, abuse, worry, fear, deceit, regret, unhealthy boundaries, unhealthy relationships, family secrets, a guilty conscience? If so, it's the heaviest baggage you'll ever carry. It's baggage you're not meant to carry.
Every piece of emotional baggage, every "shoulda, woulda, coulda" will pull you into the past and rob you of joy and living in the present. You were not created to carry baggage. When Jesus died on the cross, He accepted the sins of the whole world, past, present and future, and that included your emotional baggage. Since He carried it all, why do you need to carry it now? You don't. Take care of your emotional baggage today, and stow it with Jesus. He'll take it and throw it into the Sea of Forgetfulness, and it will be gone for good.

Psalm 51:2 [The Message]
"Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in Your laundry."

What this has to do with weight loss: Carrying emotional baggage, failing to deal and heal, causes pounds of pain to accumulate in one's body. As you free yourself of that which is inside, you will free your body of excess weight, and every pound of pain lost will add years of abundant, joyful living.

Prayer for Today:
"Heavenly Father, there is baggage in my life, and even though it must have filled a need up to this point, I want to let go of that emotional baggage and fill every need with You. Scrub away my guilt, every shame and regret, and soak out my sins in Your laundry. If You wash me, I know I'll be clean. I've carried these things for too long, Lord, and I didn't need to. Jesus carried it all, on that cross so long ago, and I'm sorry that I didn't see that it was enough for me. I want to live a life that pleases You, a life full of joy and peace, so I'm making the decision today, at this very moment, to stow my baggage with You. I know that it is done, and they're gone for good! Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

Go forth today, free of emotional baggage.

S.T.A.R.T. Program (Strategies To Achieve Recovery & Transformation), 2-cd set for the bariatric patient, can help you make the changes necessary on the inside, in order to see changes on the outside. Listen to a sound bite from each track at http://www.cdeanhall.com/products.html.