In a world filled with more temptation and junk, we all have issues from the past that we’re lugging around through life.
In fact, if we could see ourselves spiritually, too many of us would look like Santa Claus with bag on our backs. Though the bags we carry aren’t filled with gifts and surprises, but of hurts, guilt, symptoms, lies and critical words that people have said about us in days gone by.
Satan’s Setup
I’m convinced that the devil sets us up from the moment we’re born, sending bad relationships, temptations, mistakes and even circumstances that aren’t our faults. These are all intended to keep us down from our destinies. Each day provides numerous opportunities to collect more and more and more. Before long, we’re overflowing with it all left, busted and disgusted and wondering, “Why am I defeated, exhausted and miserable?” Or “Why can’t I seem to get along with other people?”
Trust me, I understand the feeling. For too many years, I kept record of all the taunting and hurtful words that I heard my peers say about me in my childhood years, words that I replayed well into my early adulthood. And even though I had been saved for more than a decade, too often I found myself walking head down, insecure with no confidence, wondering, Where is the victory Jesus promised?
The Place of Victory
As I chronicle in my book, Silence Satan, at the height of it all, when I was the closest to walking away from ministry, God gave me a fresh revelation of the cross. Suddenly, I beheld Jesus hanging on the tree with all of my baggage on Him. In this moment, God showed me that Jesus took on more than my sins (as monumental as that is), but He also bore my shame, insecurities, the hurtful words of others and the lies of the enemy.
As I positioned myself closer to the foot of the cross, I began to see that God was transforming all of the junk that the devil was using for my defeat into something that actually defeats the devil instead! This was a breakthrough moment when I instantly felt as if years of weights had fallen off; and I arose with a new boldness I’d never had before.
Take Your Junk to God’s Landfill
As you read this, some of you are carrying burdens that no person was meant to carry. Perhaps it’s the weight of a failed relationship, sexual mistakes, an addiction or struggle, a symptom or a disease. God never desired for you to handle any of these on our own, which is why He sent Jesus to take it all upon His shoulders for you. When your junk is in Jesus’ possession, He then does something even more—He turns it into something that actually strengthens you!
Here’s a promise that’s sure to lighten your load: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, MEV). As I experienced, the cross is the place where this happens. It’s the place where God turns the bad into good.
If you’re burdened today, take your baggage there—to God’s landfill. Some He’ll burn, some He’ll bury and some He’ll recycle into something really, really good for you! {eoa}
Kyle Winkler equips people to live in victory. His mobile app, Shut Up, Devil!, is the No. 1 spiritual warfare app; and his recent book, Silence Satan, has helped thousands shut down the enemy’s attacks, threats, lies and accusations. Kyle holds a Master of Divinity in biblical studies from Regent University. Get daily encouragement from Kyle on Facebook and Twitter.
Abby Trivett 
James Lasher 
