Ron Hutchcraft is an author and evangelist. For over 35 years, he has also been the speaker on his popular radio program, “A Word with You”, that is heard on over 1,300 outlets across the country and broadcast internationally in the six most-spoken languages in the world. On one broadcast Ron shared the story of “Deadly Baggage”.
She was only 22 yrs old, but she was well on her way to becoming a superstar. Aaliyah was enjoying huge success with her music, and she was beginning to emerge as an actress with a great future as well.
But that all ended in one awful moment in the Bahamas when the plane carrying her and her crew crashed shortly after takeoff (August 2001). What made the crash even more tragic was the fact that apparently it was avoidable. The plane had been loaded with something like twice its maximum baggage capacity (700 lbs over the limit). Investigators believe it was all that weight that made the plane go down.
Too much baggage can cause a plane to crash. In fact, it can make a person crash too.
When you’re carrying around a lot of emotional and spiritual baggage, it can really weigh you down – and make it very hard for you to fly or reach your destination. And these days, a lot of us are carrying around a Lot of baggage. That could be what’s holding you back – and even making you crash sometimes.
What a tragic story! And what an important question: Do you have too much baggage holding you down? It probably won’t be physical baggage that causes a crash in your life, but what about your emotional and spiritual baggage? Too many people allow Unforgiveness and Bitterness to weigh them down. What about Worry and Anxiety? Or Fear? What about thinking you are not good enough? Or you don’t measure up to others? Or you have to work hard to be good enough for the Lord to accept you and love you?
Those thoughts and attitudes can weigh you down, hold you back, and cause you to crash. Plus, your spiritual enemy will use them to rob you of what Jesus wants for you instead: Joy, Peace, Trust, Victory, and much more!
“The Gate of the Year” is the popular name given to a poem (“God Knows”) by Minnie Louise Haskins. Written in 1908, the poem begins with these words:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”.
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”.
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
I invite you to put your hand into the Hand of God in 2023. Let go of all the things that are holding you back and holding you down. Don’t let them control your life any longer; live free! “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” (Galatians 5:1).
This Sunday, January 1, we will begin the New Year with praise and worship to Jesus Christ, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am either in the building or online for the Live broadcast on Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both locations.
Coming Up: The annual Week of Prayer (and fasting, if you choose to participate) will take place January 1-7. The “Joy of Belonging” membership classes will happen in the 9:30am Adult Bible Class January 8-29. Whether you are a long-time member or just curious about what membership means, these classes are for you.
Aloha ke Akua!
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