Confessions...

James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Does this scripture apply to you today? Why do we need to confess? Do we confess our sins to each other so the Lord will forgive us? Didn’t Jesus already die for my sins and now nothing can separate me from His Love?

I believe with all of my heart that this scripture is for today as much as it was for the day that James inscribed it on his tablets. However, this scripture was never meant to pertain to forgiveness. It is talking about being healed. Of course the Lord will forgive- it is a promise He has made that was sealed with His very life. Confession is purely for the sinner to find health. If we keep all of our thoughts, ungodly cravings, and temptations to ourselves, it will only be a matter of time until we are not strong enough to withstand the pull of these painful acts. When we take the time to confess what we struggle with, it will invite God’s holiness into the situation; like light into a dark room. This will not be a comfortable transition, but it is a necessary step in fighting the schemes of the Enemy. For a moment, think about those times when you wake up early in the morning. Your eyes have been closed all night and they are used to the darkness. That is, until someone walks in the room and flips on the light. In that moment your brain feels pain and your eyes will wince as they attempt to adjust to the extra doses of light that are present. This is exactly what happens when we begin being honest and confessing our sins. The light is turned on and, though it is a little painful, all can be seen and future problems can be avoided. Can you imagine if you have been living the darkness for more than a night? Imagine it has been 20 years of darkness and now it is time to light up the room. At first, it is going to hurt, but the Lord has a way of taking the pain and bringing comfort in its place. It is through the displaying of who one really is that healing for the soul will take place. Just imagine all of the things you will not have to trip over when you can see where you are walking!

Now a note to the one who just heard the confession…
Let’s say you just sat with your best friend and they confided in you the shortcomings they have struggled with. Some of them may be hurtful towards you or you may find yourself shocked at what is going on beyond the façade that you have watched every day. Your response to the honesty is almost as important as the confession itself. You will need to be honest and upfront about how you feel and what you think. It is at that moment that your chance for honesty has arrived. This is also where forgiveness is looked at and is granted. The miracle of confession does not result in all of the problems disappearing. The result is truth. There still will be temptations and difficulty from day to day. However, the strength of that craving will be much weaker and can be dealt with as you stand with your friend in prayer and support. Too many times people confess sin and it turns into a time of shock, fear and judgment instead of the healing that God intended. If we are honest with ourselves, we will be forced to admit that we are as broken as the person sharing their failures. My encouragement is for you to take the opportunity to be honest yourself about some of your own areas of secrecy and pain.

I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to show you who you can trust with the real you. This may not be the first person that comes to your mind. Whoever it is that you decide to confide in, bear in mind that it is a priority to share the true you sooner instead of later. The longer you sit in the darkness with your temptation, the more control it will have over you and your loved ones. I have been told that there is an anonymous website out there that allows you to confess things you have done or how you really feel about something but no one needs to know it was from you. This type of web site may be insightful, as it will show you that when we strip away all of the masks that are worn by people every day, we all have the same brokenness inside. We all have the same need for a savior. The problem with this site is that confession only brings health when there is relationship, because relationship will immediately cause accountability and accountability brings health. Take some time today and ask the Lord if there are hidden areas in your life. You may be surprised at what wonderful miracles happen when the truth is told and you are no longer living in the dark.

Make a Personal Decision to Change

1 Corinthians 15:34
“Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.”

The message for this week may seem too simplistic to some but it has served me well for the last 20 years of attempting to live for the Lord. The message is: Stop what you are doing long enough to make a decision of who you want to be. Over the years I have had many people step into my office with problem after problem looking for answers. There are very few of them who considered what it would cost for the changes that needed to take place. They would feel horrible for their sin and walk in depression because of their habits, and due to the pain, decide that changes are necessary. However, those changes meant they would need to shift their daily schedule, alter the people they call friends, and quite possibly do a total 180 degree turn in more than one area of their life. I hope to not distract from the amazing power of God to transform our lives, in order to explain that without making a decision to change, life will continue to spin out of control and eventually will drive you off of a cliff. God has given us this amazing gift, which is truly the most loving present imaginable and quite possibly is also the most dangerous. It is the gift of free will. He will never step in and decide for you what you should do or who you should be. He promises to give you the answers and the strength if you run to Him and submit at His feet. But, He will not force you to do things that should be done. He loves you that much!

So Let’s Take a Closer Look At The Cost Of Change
1. You must be honest with yourself and those around you.
2. You must be wise with you who you allow to speak into your life. People who have walked with you down the wrong roads will always have the chance to bring you down those roads again.
3. You cannot hide your wounds. This does not mean that the whole world needs to know all of your mistakes but it does mean that the right people need to know. Take the time to figure out who those people might be (i.e. your pastor, a counselor, a mentor).
4. Face the consequences. Usually there are consequences for the rebellion that we take part in and true change only will take place as you accept those consequences.
5. Replace the habits with new activities, thoughts and attitudes. The best definition of insanity is when someone repeats the same actions over and over and expects different results.
6. Read your Bible daily! It is a light unto your path. Do not walk in the dark anymore!
7. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide. If we submit to the Lord the Holy Spirit is always there to show you the next step. You just have to take the time to listen and be patient for the answers.

I am sure that you will be able to add more practical steps to this list, and I encourage doing so. If you notice on my list of things for you to accomplish, none of the points encourage you to carry the burden or be strong enough on your own. The Lord accepts you just how you are and knows that you are not strong enough to walk on your own. If you will submit to Him your daily life and decisions, then, He will give you the strength to endure through any hardships you will face and He will perform the miracle of transformation.

Submitting To God

Acts 3:19
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.”

In my last blog entry, I laid out a path to follow when you find yourself going in the wrong direction and have begun to wake up from the seduction of sin to see that you are no longer following the Lord. I plan to take the next 4 weeks to explore each of the milestones along this journey to health and wholeness. Our first stop is quite possibly one of the most difficult—submitting our problems to God. I am not speaking of only a desperate prayer as you are sitting there in the waves of guilt. Many of us have run to God and asked forgiveness only to find ourselves returning to the sin as if it is a drug that controls us. This submission I am referring to has to more to do with allowing Him to begin leading your desires and decisions, than the emotions of anger and guilt that arrive after a sin is committed. If you are not ready to submit your life to God, then, I am sorry to say, you are not ready for change. Scripture is very clear regarding the idea of us being a slave to sin or to the Lord:

Romans 6:16-18
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Here are a few very practical steps to take to submit your life to the Lord.
1. Give Him Your Daily Schedule
This may sound like a strange way to begin, but most of us are ruled by what others believe we should be doing, or by all of the commitments we have that should not have been piled on top of each other in the first place. If Satan, the enemy of your soul, can keep you so busy that your life is spinning faster than you can run, then he has access to wreak havoc in any area of your life that suits him.

2. Give Him Your Words
Focus on what you are saying to others. Listen to the jokes that are shared, the tone of your voice, your attitude, and all of those moments of complaining. Our mouths become poison for the rest of our being once it has been corrupted.

3. Find a Daily Devotional
The one mistake that many people make is in deciding to submit their lives to God, but never feeding that desire with the Word of God. Don’t feel like you have to go and join a Bible study that requires hours of study to keep up with it. Simply find a daily devotional that you can easily read on a daily basis and make it a priority.

4. Be Careful What You Are Feeding Your Sinful Nature
This is probably one of the most difficult things for each of us to know where to draw a line in the sand. We can not hide ourselves away in a cave and avoid everything that might tempt us in the wrong direction; yet we must separate ourselves from the ongoing ideas of sin. You will need to run to the Lord and ask Him for daily guidance on what areas of temptation should be avoided.

This week we discussed the importance of submitting to the Lord. Next week we will discuss the importance of making a personal decision to change. My encouragement to you is to not get frustrated and give up. It is too easy to feel overwhelmed by the chasm of where you are and where you know you need to be. In those times of desperation, instead of running to the vices that have created your dilemma, I pray that you will run to the Lord and His truth.