"Is any one of you in trouble?
He should pray.
Is anyone happy?
Let him sing songs of praise.
Is any one of you sick?
He should call the elders of the church
to pray over him and anoint him with oil
in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will make
the sick person well;
the Lord will raise him up.
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
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.
As I am preparing my heart for tomorrow's meeting of "The Bonfire," I am loving this portion of scripture from James 5:13-16. It's such an accurate description of our group. Yes... some will come troubled, but we will pray. Some will come happy, and we will sing and rejoice with them! Some may even be sick. We will anoint them with oil and pray over them in the Name of Jesus!
That reminds me of this old chorus we used to sing at a little church in Rhode Island years ago. I might have to teach this to the group tomorrow.
You won't leave here like you came
in Jesus' Name.
If your bound, oppressed, tormented sick or lame...
for the Holy Ghost of Acts
is still the same.
You won't leave here like you came
in Jesus' Name!
Over the weekend, the enemy had been messing with my head. Old memories that are covered in the blood of Jesus, were somehow finding their way into my dreams. Really? "Come on!" The enemy of my soul can be relentless when he wants to be. I had to take authority, in Jesus' Name, and dig my Ruby Reds into the ground and hold my position of Victory! My dear friend and mentor says that the enemy will always come back to test if you have really been victorious. If not, He'll attempt to take back the territory.
Confession truly is good for the soul!
Now hold on! I know some of you are picturing priests and confession booths, etc. That's not where I'm going. I'm referring to James 5:16.*
Yesterday afternoon, I met with my spiritual mentor and I told her about these crazy dreams.
I know something, that no one else knows.
It's just a little story that I don't care to tell the world, if you know what I mean. But I thought that maybe it might be a key to my victory. So I told her. I pushed aside what I thought she might think of me and let it out. She called it a "Sacrificial Confession" because I sacrificed
my pride and confessed.
BANG!
That blew the enemy right out of my presence! That's what confession does. It renders the enemy powerless. Over the years, I've learned that secrets must be shared with someone. They don't have to be shared with everyone. But it's advantageous to share them with someone you trust. As long as you're holding onto a secret that only you and the devil know, He will use that against you every time. He will hold it over your head. He will torment you. He will bind you in fear. He will try to get the upper hand. There will be a power struggle.
Therefore confess your sins
to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed.
Confession is key! Now there's a weapon of warfare worth hanging on to. Don't be afraid to use it. It works every time!
Gail
