Confess Your Sins....

James 5:15,16

"...and the prayers offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins they will be forgiven him. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
What happens when we confess our sins one to another? What is healed? Our hearts begin the process of healing and the more we can shed of the sin, the hurts, and pains in our life we can become more useful to God.

2Timothy 2:21
"If anyone cleanses himself from these things,he will be a vessel for My honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work"
My favorite part of that verse is "useful". Am I useful to God? Or am I harboring some deeper sins, that I could never confess to anyone?

2Timothy 1:8
"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord over me, in suffering for the gospel."

What is your testimony of the Lord over you? I share some pretty open, hard stuff on this blog. I offend some by being so open with the resume of my life which is the sin I have allowed to come into my life and yet that is my testimony of God's amazing and divine interventions into my soul. God's healing in my heart, my body, and my soul.

I was away at a women's retreat this past weekend and spoke on this very topic. There were some who did not participate in an activity I offered. I passed around a bookmark. On the bookmark were a number of sins listed. (bitterness, sexual addictions, pornography, gossip, lying, stealing, cheating, abortion, chemical addiction, adultery, etc.) I asked each of the ladies to check off those sins that still had rule over their life, sins that they wanted to be broken from. As I watched the pens begin to mark up these bookmarks I could not help but smile. God was going to do some mighty works. I then asked everyone to give them to me, I shuffled them and handed them back out. I asked each person to read from bookmarks that were not theirs.

As the words became real of the sins we all carry there was a deeper connection, an opening up of our hearts and some serious cleansing. To sit and hear what we are all so fearful to express out loud and openly is what binds us to be more useful to God.

I can understand the fear of this exercise for those who did not want to let go, even in an anonymous way, but to look at those ladies who marked up those bookmarks I could see the emotions and pains of beginning to let go and express and confess those sins that have bound hearts for so long. One young lady shared how "the world does not let us forget our sins" and this is true, but at the same time those same people are often baffled at the unexpected and supernatural ways that God shows up. God does not remember or hold our sin against us. Once we confess, HE does begin a new work in us. This young lady shared her life of chemical addictions, adultry, and many other things with such a light in her eyes.

God is working on our behalf when we are willing to do the work of obedience. God has so much for our lives. We all can walk in His blessings, and his favor. When we choose disobedience to God's word we miss out on the blessings He would have for us.

This past Sunday I watched as my husband, who has been out of our home for a few months now, stand before a small church of believers and surrender his life to God. I watched him weep and pray a prayer of salvation and realized that once again I get to be part of the blessings God would have for me. Praying earnestly for David, even with a divorce to come, God is still in the business of miracles, blessings, and salvation.

Do not let your life go on another day without the confessions of your heart. Forget what other's may think of you, forget what actions may have to be taken because of y our sin, surrender that sin to God, and confess to a person who is righteous before God and watch what God will do with you, as scripture reads....."useful to the Master".

Dear Lord Jesus I want to be useful to you. I pray that those who read this blog today will feel the heaviness of the sin in their lives and yearn for your blessings and that the desire to walk in obedience would out way the sins that are concealed. I pray that you would send a Godly, loving, man or woman to that heart that needs to confess that sin and be healed in Your Name. Blessings, dear readers.