Romans 10:9-10 says, "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

No one can believe for you. No one else's opinion matters. This is between you and God. Period.

And if you're carrying around a whole bunch of baggage because you think you aren't who you think you should be - that God didn't do right by you - dump it. Just put it all in those little plastic bins and walk through the screening machine and keep going - never look back.

If Jesus really is God. If He is your Savior. If He created the world and called everything into being with just a few words - then He certainly knows what He's doing when it comes to you.

Mark 8:36 says "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" There are far too many people who don't have time for God because they are so busy paying off their credit cards and mortgages - and yet at night in their silent cries of being overwhelmed and out of control they expect God to have time for them.

In Matthew 11 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

God gave you friends and family as a gift. They are to bring joy and encouragement to you as you make this journey through life. And ultimately they are the only things you get to take with you when you leave this earth. Everything else is going to disappear. Makes it kind of simple to figure out what God thinks is important.

If I came to church on Sunday with a backpack full of rocks and complained I had a backache - you would tell me to stop carrying the backpack full of rocks. You don't have to be a doctor or nurse to figure out what's causing my aches and pains.

But when someone comes and says, "I am carrying a huge load of things I cannot forget. A long list of people I will not forgive" - why don't we say, "it's time to learn to forgive and forget - let Jesus carry those burdens for you?"