Morning Musings with the boys at breakfast...
Are you in trouble? Pray.
Are you happy? Sing.
Are you sick? Call the elders to pray for you and anoint you with "oil in the name of the Lord". Confess any sins you may have (and of course, repent of them too).
Rather straightforward actions as seen in James 5:13-20; right?
These all acknowledge our heavenly Father in our life and as we submit ourselves to Him and His working in our Christians lives, we will have more and more faith in Him. We will become more like Christ and more mature and complete in our faith and relationship with Him.
I like that...our first impulse when in trouble...prayer. Psalm 46:1 says,
"God is our refuge and strength in time of trouble."
James is right, we should go to God in prayer.
When our hearts are overflowing with His love and happiness...let the impulse be to "sing" praise to God. There's lots about singing and praising especially throughout the Psalms and that, even in times of trouble. We can have that "pure joy" (James 1:2) and show it in song as David did repeatedly.
For example, in Psalm 102, David gives his deep lament before the Lord but by verses 15-17 he is singing God's praises saying that "God will respond to the prayers of the destitute; He will not despise their pleas". Then David really gets into the praising in Psalm 103:1-5, from his "inmost being". We, too, can have this confidence in our times of trouble.
Psalm 103:3 addresses the third 'should' of James 5:13-20 (note esp verses 3-14, 16). When sick what should the person do? "Call the elders of the church". What should the elders do? "Pray...and anoint in the name of the Lord".
The sick person, the elders and the Lord each have a part to play. The sick need to call the elders and confess his/her sins if any. The elders of the church "should pray in faith and anoint in the name of the Lord". The Lord forgives, makes the sick person well, and raises them up.
This is why I interject Psalm 103:3 which says,
"the Lord...forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases..."
Psalm 104:4 says the Lord,
"...redeems your life from the pit."
"Forgives...heals...redeems;" benefits from God Himself.
This encourages me. Also in light of what I wrote in The Spin-Off about confessing of such sins as unforgiveness and bitterness, etc, we do truly need to repent of all these as God wants us to "be holy as He is holy" (1 Peter 1:16). Another important reason, as that previous blog informs, is because those things make us sick when we cling on to them!
God created our bodies. He knows what makes us sick or well. so He really wants us to get this message! Here in the New Testament God uses James as He used David in the Psalms to enlighten us. We do well to swallow pride, to come humbly and prayerfully to God according to the patterns He sets out for us as in James, and take heed to them. You want to be well? Then follow through no matter how embarrassing the sin you confess to.
I find it of great interest that James says, "...confess your sins to each other"; this for the elders as well as for the sick person. They are also to pray for each other. This is so like God to get His family talking to each other and connecting and making things right. What's more, God wants to heal us and raise us up.
We need the righteousness in God's eyes as well as in mankind's. We also need the prayers. These all are to aid the erring one to repent and turn from their sinful ways. This makes the prayers "powerful and effective".
Just want to make note here that in verse 15 it reads, "IF the sick person has sinned..." Just because a person is sick does not always mean because of a particular sin in a person's life. However we each do well to examine ourselves before God and see what He teaches us about our self. Confess it to Him if so, and gain His healing physically, emotionally and spiritually. God's wellness is true wellness.
What a powerhouse of prayer we followers of Jesus could each be! Think of it! Look at what Elijah accomplished! (vs 17, 18). God listened to Him! He will listen to us too.
As we "earnestly pray" and "confess our faults" to one another we may come upon those who perhaps do not realize they sin or do not wish to admit they sin or who do not want to confess to God and each other even though they know. Verses 19-20 address what we, a "righteous man of prayer" ought to do (a fourth 'should').
If we know what we should do but don't do it it is a sin (James 4:17; Romans 6:16). None of us God's children can get off the hook here. When we see some one in "an error of his way" we will need to confront the person in love (if they are a brother or sister in Christ).
Here is where we will all want to leave very much alone as we may think, "we shouldn't judge" the person. Or, "who am I...I have a beam bigger than his/her speck in my eye". Yes, we do well to first examine ourselves but God's Word is also clear we have responsibility to help others along the sanctification road towards holy Christ-like living. Some people get stuck or bogged down in their errors.
We can't be lazy in this or pass it off and say--"oh everyone does that; be tolerant". But what does God's Word say? What is God's standard?!
Two very good articles on this subject are by a pastor named Steven J. Cole: one entitled, "Lesson 14: The Gentle Art of Correction" and the second one, "Lesson 15: The Ministry of Correction". The websites are:
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-14-gentle-art-correction-2-timothy-223-26
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-15-ministry-correction-1-timothy-51-2
Please go have a read and ponder on them.
One of the things he says in Lesson 15 is:
"The ministry of correction is essentially in the family of God."
And also:
"Obedience to God means that we must swallow our fears and correct those we know of who are going astray."
(Not exactly swallow the fears but take the fears to God, cast them on Him for He cares for you and can give you the strength and grace you need to go about the confrontation.)
He also says we need to be 'persistent" which is one of those characteristics in the process of becoming "mature and complete" in faith (James 1:3).
Steven J. Cole also says in Lesson 15,
"Don't give up on the person. If they don't respond immediately, you may have to back off and keep praying...wait for the next right opportunity."
Our confronting may or may not work but whether or not we still have to do our part in God's eyes. He will deal with each person and hold them accountable for their own action. However when we do, do our part, we never know when we'll "turn a sinner from the error of their ways" (James 5:19-20).
Please do go and read both articles. The author says it all so well and I believe this confrontation subject is avoided and shirked and then when we actually need to do it we don't know what to do and have great fear about it all and even may cause worse scenarios. These two articles have helped direct my thinking and hope they will for you too.
May we be good brothers and sisters in Christ and help 'save' another from the "error of their ways". Pray, sing, confess, pray, be effective. Give your faith righteous 'wings'.
Start...
~ERC 2016~
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