So I wrote this on my last full day of TwentyFourSeven as a first year, it has been a journey beyond explanation, I am excited for my second year to see everything else He is going to continue to grow in me.

I didn’t feel the leading to post this until today.

This morning and throughout today this has been sitting on me I felt I should share it with you.
I was at the gym earlier when I go I love to really push my limits on the weight I can do. Doesn’t always go to well for me sometimes I push my limits a little to far and fall on my face, or get stuck under a bar. Other times I see how far I have come, and see how much I can do. It really encourages me that I am getting stronger slowly.

This got laid on me when I got home from the gym, Haven’t we always seemed to try and hold the weight for something in our life or someone else’s life? From our close friends, to our dreams we have in our mind. What about our parents? Sometimes we try being the strong one in our family don’t we?

Maybe your trying to be the greatest leader you can be, and coming to that point of realization that man there is a lot a weight in leadership. Maybe even trying to be that knight in shining armor for someone hurting.
How many times have we been that pillar for others to lean on? Yet we need one to lean on too?

It is true in my life for trying to be the pillar for someone when they feel broken or weak. How many times do we try and pick this weight off of them? We try and hold it all on our back and tell them ” I’ll carry it, do not worry about it, it doesn’t hurt at all.” When really we feel like we are being crushed by it?

Maybe it is a promise you said you would keep, but you know you need to share with a pastor or leader because its a problem or something deep that can’t be let unfixed. Maybe its the weight of trying to hold your family together, everyone seems that they want to go their separate ways and you feel like you are in the middle holding onto them all. Maybe you have people sharing their problems and their heart with you, when in reality you don’t even know how to handle your own problems? Maybe you where like me, and you put on that knight armor daily.

Yet, you are a scared little boy inside of it, but on the outside you look big and bad? Maybe you try and be the pillar for everyone else when it feels like your own life is crumbling…

God didn’t make us to be alone. He has certain people in our life’s to encourage us and lift us up. He also has people to come to us so we can encourage them as well. But the thing is, we try and carry the weight of many different things at one time.

Why?

When are we going to come to the realization of, Jesus carried the heaviest weight so we don’t have to?
He carried the cross, He carried the burdens of man, He carried the sins of me, He carried the sins of the world, He carried my brokenness on His shoulders, He took my pride on His back. He took my pain, my hurt, my weight on His head. So I don’t and didn’t have to carry it any more, He took everything I deserve.

This realization of the weight He carried, that it has been lifted off of us is a key for our walk, and I am going through the understanding of this right now.
Here I am going to try and simplify it.

He literally put His hands on that heaviness you feel on you, He lifted it off of you and put it on himself.

The Weight it has been Lifted off of you!

Why do we continue to try and take it off of His back and put it on our own?

Do we think the price He paid wasn’t even enough to take it off of us? Do we think the weight He has on His back is to much for Him to handle?  Do we think what we have done is more then what He has done for us? Or do we think we are stronger than He is? That blood He shed for us, it wasn’t enough for us to trust Him that He has our back?

He is holding and carrying everything that you are just starring at, to scared to even pick up.

That weight you are trying to carry for someone else, yes you can do it. But not on your own, and not by your own strength. You can help them out, you can encourage them, you can try and do you best to lead them on the right path. But if you are not in the right spot in your own life, if you can barely hold yourself up, how are you going to hold anyone else up?

This you have to be careful about! 

If you are leading them on a path make sure its God’s path and not your path, because if it is your path then you are just trying to make another one of you and not another one of Jesus.

If you are trying to get them to come to you more than go to Jesus, I am sorry but, you got it all wrong.

Have you failed lately? Ya, I sure have, so that disqualify’s me to be the perfect weight carrier. I have dropped peoples weights, I have given up. I have taken steps away from people because I was to scared to carry what they have laid on me.Jesus, He never has walked away, and never will. He never told God that the cross was to much for Him, He did plead with Him if there was any other way, but then at the end of all His cries out to God, He said “But your will, not my own be done.”

The weight you have or they have, it never will be to much for Him to handle.

Maybe you think what He has called you to do is to much for you to handle. Oh, Boy, that means you are perfect for the job.
That means when it comes to pass the only one to be able to get the credit & Glory is, wait, you want to guess who it is?
It will be Him, and not you.

When we have a dream or God lays something in our heart that seems to big for us to do in our minds, He wants to see how far our Faith in Him will stretch, and when it comes to pass if it really was from Him, He will be the only one to be able to get the Glory. Remember who has held your weight all this time, Remember who is still taking your problems and the things you mess up on, He took it on His back. He took it so we did not have to.

That weight you feel, that weight of holding your family up, maybe its time for you to stop trying to hold them up and give it over to Jesus. Maybe that weight of trying to get your spouse saved, Maybe the weight of trying to find that job. Maybe the weight of trying to be the best “man” or “woman” of God out there. It is time to give up on trying to do it on our own and come to realization that we can not do anything on our own without Him, but with Him everything is possible.

That family can be healed. You can forgive that person. You can grow up and be an amazing man or women of God. You can be a better example for your siblings. You can have your heart healed from the brokenness. That person can be saved. They can be healed. You can be set free from your addictions.

But it starts at truly letting go of the ropes, letting go of the weight that you are carrying and grabbing hold of Jesus.

Maybe you are not even at that point yet, maybe this is your first time hearing about this guy named Jesus. Well let me tell you something about Him, He is the Son of God who came to earth as a man to show how much His father loves you, and how much He loves you. He knew you couldn’t get through this life on your own. He knows about that void in your heart that you seem to not be able to fill with anything that you try. It is a God shaped whole in your heart, it can only be filled by Him.

Those pleasures you are seeking after in this world, have you notice something in common about all of them? That feeling you get, it goes away. If the pleasure you are seeking after seems to continue to leave after you get it, then you need to find the right thing that will fill it and wont leave. He is it. Jesus, He died on the cross for you and for me and rose to life once again.

He came to pay the debt we owe. The debt we owe is our life’s because of our sin. But He came so we do not have to pay it. We all have messed up, we all have lied or have disobeyed. He came so we can be washed clean and made new! Not Refurbished, but brand new, not one wrinkle. He makes you new in Him, and trust me I need it probably more than you. He came to save us from the pain and the hurt and everything from this world. He came so you do not have to worry about what to do anymore, or where to go.

He came to shed His blood for you, to save you, to show you want true love really is. All you have to do is trust in Him. I do not have it all together and I never will, But I am going to continue to press on to the one that was perfect and who died for me. I will do my best to become the Man and walk out the plans He has planned for me.

I dealt with trying to carry that weight on my shoulders, trying to become what He has called me to be. That is a heavy weight you would think. The creator of the universe has a plan for me, Alright, sweet I am going to take it all onto me lets do this!
Ya… That is a lot of weight for a little white boy to handle.

Maybe its the same for you, the weight of trying to change into the Man or Woman of God He is calling you to be and trying to do it on your own, thinking you own works will get you to where He has called you. We tend to miss it a lot don’t we? But He always gives us second, third, fourth and so many chances. To finally come to the point of giving up on doing things on our own.

We need to let go, and realize The Weight It has been Lifted. We where not meant to carry it and never where. Stop trying to do it on your own, He has your back, He is waiting and ready for you, look beside you. You just have to lay the weight down and focus to Him.

Peace overflowing,
   Joseph