When you pack for a trip, you make sure to take what you need for the journey. That means you leave a lot behind that you don’t need. There’s only so much room in your bags, you can’t afford to bring all the extra stuff and leave behind what matters.

The key is to know where you want to go. When heading out for a Caribbean cruise, I don’t pack my heavy wool coat. Why? Because it’s doing me no good where I’m going.

The same thing can be said about life. You only have so much room in your heart and your mind. Why load them down with the wrong things?

To rise higher in life, you don’t need drama or small thinking or the roadblocks of your past. You need to break loose of that. Those things are just added weights in your life.

Yes, you may have had some failures in your past, but those shouldn’t stop you. Those are learning experiences. Learn from them, but don’t dwell on them. They will do you no good where you are going.

Focus on the positives. What is helping to lift you up? Take inventory of what brings you peace and what brings you momentum. Keep your mind on those positive things and it will change your outlook.

There’s an old saying, “You can’t fly with the eagles if you are hanging out with turkeys.” You need to rethink spending time with people and having experiences that are not positively influencing your life.

The Bible says to redeem the time. The time you waste doing meaningless things is time you won’t get back. You need to live with purpose.

The Bible says to strengthen your inner man. Keep watch over who and what you allow into your heart and mind. Embrace the good, eliminate the negative. The good lifts you up, the bad things just load you down.

Jesus says to come to Him, all of us who are weary and loaded down with burdens. He promises to help us in our daily lives. Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” – Matthew 11:29

Who of you right this second wouldn’t want some rest for your soul?

When we take up the cross of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t weigh us down, it lifts us up. The more we cling to Jesus, the higher He takes us. The Bible says we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. It’s already done, we ARE blessed. We don’t have to wait for it, it is finished.

Don’t cling to the dramas and the heartaches of life. Let go of the past mistakes and sins that have held you down. Those will do you no good for where you are going. God has already forgiven you, now it’s time to let those things go so you can rise higher.

Don’t load yourself down with drama, pain, and regrets. There’s only one thing need for your journey in life, and that’s love. That’s Jesus.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” – Philippians 4:8

God’s blessings to you.

DH