Bible Reading

It's impossible to deal honestly with God's Truth and not be changed (or flat out reject change).
As I've been continuing to read in the book of James here is some of what God has been showing me:

James 2:14-16 - Is it possible to have real faith in Christ and consistently look past the very real needs of those around us? Hmmm......

James 2:17 - Jesus said that a tree would reveal it's true nature by the fruit it produced. No matter how much makeup you put on it and how nice of clothes you dress it up in, a corpse is still dead!

James 2:18-19 - There is a cerebral - or theoretical - faith that never travels beyond mental assent and into the realm of abiding in Christ and obeying His commands. This is no different than Satan's belief in God (i.e. mental assent in the reality of).

James 2:26 - I take it that since he said it about 10 times in the last couple of hundred words that God isn't real excited about folks who talk about Him (and/or show up at church) and whose lives don't reflect Him.

Confession Thoughts

Sunday's sermon was one of the hardest I've ever preached.

Not so much because of what I publicly confessed (most of you weren't surprised), but more so because of how God is still dealing with the edges of my heart in those areas. It seems that the nearer we get to Jesus - and believe me I'm not trying to profess being very near - but with each small step towards Jesus, the darkness of our own heart becomes more vivid in the Light of the King.

I find myself more and more searching for mercy like David: "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stains of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin." (Psalm 51)


But something else about confession itself that becomes more clear to me is this: Confession creates Covenant. I read that a while back and wasn't too sure . . .

But it's true. When we confess the darkness of our hearts to others, we are initiating a covenant. In confession what we are really saying is: 'This is who I really am, and I desire to change. I don't want to live there anymore. I want my life to change.'

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5)

Not ever easy. . . But freeing.