Are you holding on to Trash?

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like
him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
Philippians 3:7-11(NIV)


We all have trash…some weeks we have a few bags, some weeks a whole dumpster full. Our actual life is no different; we have trash and rubbish in our life, some weeks more some less. Perhaps you may have encountered a person who holds on to trash, junk, rubbish in their home.. they can never seemingly throw anything out, and you go in their house and you are like “WOW! Really?!” It’s so overwhelming; they have piles and piles and piles of junk everywhere. Your first thought when seeing things like this we need a dumpster and quick! But often times the person will give a variety of justifying reasons they have all that junk piled up, saved up, and won’t let go, and if you were to bring a dumpster a fight might ensue.

  We as believers can do this spiritually as well, we have a tendency to hold onto to many things that are not needed, that should have been taken out to the trash long ago. We struggle as we think we need to hold on to this and that because what if I might need to use it, go back to it.  We keep ties to things that Jesus says should have been tossed out years ago. Do you have some stuff tucked away in your heart, in your attitude, in your personality, maybe even in your home physically that should have just been tossed out years ago, but you just can’t imagine what life would be like without it? Your scared, right now, your thinking is He( Jesus) going to ask me to really go there.. to let go? Yes.. HE is…

Take a step today, listen to the Holy Spirit, are you willing to count it all as garbage and get rid of it so that you can depend solely on him? I pray God speaks to each one of you and to your life situation and that we no longer be afraid of submitting and taking out the trash, but will be excited when trash day comes!

Pastor Mark

The Upper Room