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NASB | James 5:16 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God--it is dynamic and can have tremendous power]. |
Subject: Ridding myself of guilt and fear |
Bible Note: Hello Steve: What you are missing, or maybe what I'm not conveying clearly enough is that I know and understand that we as humans cannot "save ourselves" by anything that we "do". However, God does expect us to have faith unto obedience in order to live in accordance with His will (not our own). We certainly cannot expect that Christ died for sinners, and yet would allow them to continue living in their sinful state, can we? If this were the case, then why did Paul write letters to the churches explaining to them to change and turn from their sinful behavior? How do we explain that? Should we continue in sin that Grace may abound, as Paul wrote in Romans 6:1? and Paul further answers his own question with, "God Forbid!" I was not trying to convey that we have to work our very hardest to become and remain saved (only God's grace can save us). But we cannot expect God to overlook someone continuing to live in sin and not abide in HIS will, when everything that is written in God's word points to the contrary. And I was also trying to convey that we have to deny 'self', take up our cross and follow Christ in order to be His disciple. See John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” And John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” From these two verses, we learn that Jesus came as the suffering Messiah, the suffering Christ, who gave His life, who died for the sins of the world. However, Peter did not want to hear that about Jesus. Peter pulled Jesus aside and started to rebuke Him, but then Jesus had an interesting come back. For He told Peter, Mark. 8:33 “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” What did Jesus mean by that? The Apostle Paul defines it in this way from Rom. 8:6-7 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. We are a lot like Peter. We allow our sinful mind to be worldly and hostile toward God. We don’t like God’s plan and purpose for us. We want our road in life to be smooth, easy, with as few hassles as possible. We want to live our lives based on our own desires and feelings. It’s like when some people say, “Oh, yeah. I believe Jesus suffered, He died and rose for me, but I don’t want Jesus to be my LORD. For Jesus to be my LORD –that means that I have to make some changes and this is too heavy of a commitment for me. What counts to me is what I can get right now. I have things to do and things to take care of. What is important to me is ME, MYSELF, AND I.” Our way of life is to think of ourselves and our own happiness – which is selfish and self-centered. Yet, Jesus said, “Deny yourself.” [Mark 8:34] We tend to lead our lives of self satisfaction. We want to control our own life’s destiny. However, Jesus is teaching you and me that by denying yourself — is to know that there is more to life than things, possessions, and the like. To deny oneself is to stop worrying or being anxious about things. When you worry, you are focusing on yourself. But when we focus on Christ, we are centered in God’s will and purpose in our lives. When you deny yourself, you are looking up to God for guidance, even if that guidance goes contrary to our own thoughts. For God said, in Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.” I hope that this helps clarify my thoughts? In Christ, happy soul |