Confession

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

Last week was rough, I'm not gonna lie.  Found out a lot of things that I did not feel like dealing with.  I felt stuck, between a rock and hard place, like maybe I had even been misguided as to the Lord's will for me during this time.

The hardest part about this is that I was feeling guilty about have these thoughts and feelings and I didn't want to tell anybody about it.  Yet, it was affecting my work and my relationships.  This past Wednesday, I finally confessed and was really honest about how I was doing and where I was spiritually.  Several people prayed over me throughout the day, and began getting encouragement from other people.  That night through the next day, my time with the Lord changed.  Hope and faith began to be strengthened inside me.  I was full of new vision and the next two days were some of the most productive days I've had since I've been back at YWAM.

I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to not let the enemy keep you isolated in your doubt, fear, guilt, shame, and unbelief.  Confess your faults to those brothers and sisters in the faith that you can trust, look up to and hold dear to you.  Whenever we confess to others how we are doing, something breaks off of us in the spirit (and others as well) and there is a healing and freedom that takes place.

This is why Satan comes so strongly against the united.  If he can break the trust between the brethren, he knows that we won't confess sins to each other and he can keep us trapped in the very thing that hinders us from the promise that God has for us in Christ.  He knows that this will also ruin the testimony we have, which is how we overcome and triumph over the accuser.  (Revelation 12:11)

Stand unified and humble, church!  Confess to one another and realize that "we suffer no temptation except which is common to man."  (1 Corinthians 10:13)  We are all in this together.

Be encouraged!  "In this world, you will have trouble, BUT! Take heart!  I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!"  (John 16:33)