Jettison the Junk

It is easy to get entangled in the worthless things of this world.

The Bible say to lay aside every weight that so easily besets us. We are instructed not to become entangled in the lower things of this world. I have found that it takes a conscious effort to stay free from sin and from the junk in this life.

One way to get free and stay free is to regularly jettison the junk. We can spiritually throw out the garbage in our lives. When we gaze at our condition, we must simply remember to take out the trash.

We can stay free from entanglements by setting up some guardrails in our lives. If there is something we struggle with, we need to install some safety nets to keep us from falling. Sometimes we just need to avoid certain places and people and situations to stay free. For many folks it requires replacing the negative influences with positive ones. In any case, we must choose to get free and stay free.

Be encouraged today my friend. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Jettison the junk in your life, and live free in Christ!

Mark Van Deman

Turn the other way

It is easy to go the other way when you feel the pull of love.

When we see the forgiving hand of love extended to us, we naturally turn toward it and long to be with the one who loves us. This is at the heart of God, the heart of the message of the cross of Jesus, and the heart of the issue of repentance.

We can only really turn the other way when we see that there is not only a better way to go, but a better One who wants the best for us. Our turning from a wrong way that is ultimately self destructive, launches us into a genuine life of love and faith in Christ Jesus. This turning makes us free from sin and guilt and shame.

Today as we hear that in his kindness, God has made room for us and loves us in spite of our sin, we can turn toward the hand and voice and heart of love. We can go the other way easily because we find grace and all that we need in Him.

It is easy to repent, when we know we are accepted as we are. Jesus truly has a better way for our lives to go my friend. I know this by personal experience.

It is a good day to be free in God as we turn the other way!

Mark

Stuck

Stuck is the place where nothing seems to be happening. It can be a place of frustration or pain, unless faith rises up within you.

Millions of Jews felt stuck as they were trapped by a Red Sea with Pharaoh's angry army breathing down their neck. Jeremiah may have felt stuck when he was thrown in a muddy cistern. Daniel could have felt stuck when he spent the night with hungry lions. It looked like Paul and Silas were stuck when they were chained in a dungeon and only a song separated them from freedom and victory. In each case, faith turned stuck into temporarily delayed.

Maybe you feel stuck in life. You don't seem to be moving forward. Nothing really seems to be clicking for you. Without faith, you could feel really stuck right now in your circumstances. To that stuck, I want to speak Bible words of faith.

Remember that you were not born to finish stuck. You were born in God to finish his plan. Refuse to yield to sorrow and despair. Speak to your situation by faith, and say as to a mountain, be moved and cast into the sea. Faith speaks, and faith refuses to see things as finished when there is still work to be done. Faith in Christ Jesus says to that stuck feeling, we will prevail. By faith, we shall overcome.

Put your faith and your mouth to work today, and say, I am not stuck. I am just waiting on the Lord to open the windows of heaven and bring me to my promised end! God is my deliverer, and I will not be afraid. I will be strong and of good courage and finish my assignment on planet earth for Him! To God be the glory, Amen.

Mark