Hey, that's my bag! Where are you going with it?

If you’re like me, while traveling, your mind wonders with possibilities. Unable to see, I sometimes think about someone walking away with my bag or me grabbing someone else’s suitcase. Though those thoughts flash through at times, I still travel with no worries.

But, on this last trip, that very thing happened. The plane landed, and armed with patience and chatting our time away, my friend and I sat in our seats waiting for other passengers to disembark. Suddenly, my friend calls out, "That’s my bag!"

Someone had slipped her bag from the overhead compartment and was pulling it away down the aisle.

Good thing she noticed. In addition to her laptop, she had stored valuable material she worked hours to create.

Sad isn’t it? When we least expect it, we can risk losing something critical, something that belongs to us, something we hold dear, valuable and essential. But in the airport of life, the truly crucial possessions of the soul that no one can take away are outlined in Psalm 103:

“No one can rob our self-assurance because we always remember all God’s benefits-and He who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases,

No one can rob our hope because He redeems our life from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion…

Nothing can snatch our expectation for good things because He satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle's. No one can steal our strength when facing attacks because the LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

When feeling guilty or condemned, nothing can rob His love because the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Reassurance for mercy belongs to us because He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever…His comfort is ours because He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…

Freedom of forgiveness has our name written on it because as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103).

How’s that for good news? When traveling through life, have you marked all those attributes with your name? They belong to us, God meant for us to engrave them in the label of our heart. And if the enemy is trying to sneak them down the aisle of your life, claim them with all you got!

Janet

www.janetperezeckles.com