Healing Confessions That Give Life

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#celebraterecovery, family, health, Inspiration, peace, prayer, relationship

Joking, I once told a friend that Catholics should be in good mental health with all their confession requirements. Maybe it was distasteful but hey, that’s how we joke. When we speak on it seriously, it’s not funny at all. Many religions believe that confession is an integral part of securing and keeping salvation. That is a lie. But, I submit that confessing your sins to each other can be very healing for relationships and prosperous for your spiritual journey.

Some people may spout scriptures like Romans 6:14 and 22 to make you believe that talking about your sin or struggle is pointless. Don’t fall for that. Make no mistake, sin has no dominion over us. We are forgiven. But this does not mean that you are wrong for talking about your personal struggles.

Not long ago, I felt compelled to make some serious changes in my life. I sought advice from a few trusted friends. To receive true advice, I had to first fess up.

While it is not a requirement to confess your sins to anyone, there is a reason we are encouraged to do so. Don’t you think?

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

James 5:16

Confessing your sins to each other is not an absolute to go to heaven. Trust me, God already knows about them and forgave every one of them on the cross. Remember the thief hanging there next to Jesus? Jesus gave him an instant entrance ticket to heaven. And my heart, you have the same. When Jesus said, ‘It is finished’, he meant it.

But, something beautiful happens when we unload our burdens. Find that dear trusted friend, and just allow them to share your load. If this is not an option, write it down in a letter to yourself (burn the letter after you read it) and take the cleansing breath of relief. Feel better? Can you feel that weight being lifted off? Are you sleeping better now?

This healing is a necessity if we are to continue to teach and share the gospel. Part of our beauty is in our faults. If we were perfect, we would not need a Savior. God does not expect us to be perfect. After all, we are perfected through Him. But, that does not mean that we should not strive to live clean lives (1 Corinthians 1:8, Hebrews 12:13).

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.

Philippians 1:9-10

We cannot move and continue our work here on earth if we are bound. Beloved, I speak from experience when I say, it only encompasses you. Let it go. Anything that is hidden cannot be healed (Psalms 32:3).

Grace and peace,

Blessings and love,

The Love Letter (Part 1)

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Afterlife, Bible, church, Encouragement, God, health, King James Bible, Love, peace, relationship advice, salvation, suicide

We’ve all had those ‘why do I even bother’ moments. At some point in our lives, most of us have asked ‘why me?’. A lot of us have considered giving up, throwing in the towel and calling it quits. Many people have considered suicide as a means to end all of their problems. I have attempted suicide a few times. Some of them were half baked attention schemes. Others were genuine attempts to end it all. Poof! All of my troubles are gone like me. That was my thinking. But the truth is, my troubles would have just begun.

I would have died unsaved and surely would have been on my way to hell, never knowing peace or true love. Thank God those real attempts to kill myself were unsuccessful. Thank God for seeing me before I was born and directed my path towards righteousness. And guess what? He’s directing your path too! (Jeremiah 1:5) God wants us all to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth. Before the Lord returns, all of us would have had an opportunity to hear the gospel. Whether we accept it or reject is up to us. We have free will. But who would choose sorrow and sadness when there is a path to everlasting love and eternal peace?

Romans 8:

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

So, what do we do when it seems the pressures of this life are too much to bare? How do we continue to find peace, joy and love when the god of this world reigns freely, openly, viciously?

The answer is simple. We walk in the Spirit.

Does walking in the Spirit mean we are dead? Literally? No, beloved! Not at all! It means you LIVE!

Romans 8: 13

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

 

I watch or read the news daily. I am a reporter by trade, so I want to know what’s going on around me. Some people want to be oblivious to their surroundings. That’s fine too. When it’s all said and done, nothing happening on this earth aside from our God given charge to share the gospel, matters. So, why do we allow things like the stock market, or senseless killings and various other sinful acts get to us. Because we do live on this earth ruled by the enemy (2 Cor. 4:4), these things will trouble our spirit. But, we must not loose sight of why we are here. Keep the “big picture” in your mind. You beloved child of God, honored member of the body of Christ, you are an ambassador for him. So, we should not dwell on the things that are in the flesh, but things of the Spirit.

 

Romans 8:9

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

 

If we are obeying the word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to guides us and comfort us, will depression have room in our lives? Would we be troubled for long? We would really care for anything?

When the Lord left this earth and gave man kind up to their own sin (Satan began the god of this world), He promised to leave us a Comforter.

John 14:16

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

This Comforter, this Holy Spirit, this peace that dwells within us once we are saved (Eph. 2:8-9), is a reminder that Christ lives in us. We are a part of His body where love, holiness, righteousness conquers all.