The Amish Voice 9
James 5:16
Therefore, con-
fess your sins to
one another,
and pray for
one another that
ye may be
healed. The
effectual fervent
prayer of a
righteous man
availeth much.
Why is it true that during times of struggle,
we often look at those around us and believe
they wouldn't understand what we are deal-
ing with or would never struggle with some-
thing similar? I believe that way of thinking
is very likely to be one of Satan's most effec-
tive tools in bringing condemnation and dis-
couragement to God's children. It also cre-
ates a determination in those who are strug-
gling to not let anyone too close, and to make
sure no one finds out they have a problem.
Do you realize people are all made the same?
The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will
with the temptation also make a way to
escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Did you hear that? You are not tempted with
anything that is not COMMON to other hu-
mans. Don't let the enemy trick you into be-
lieving you are the only Christian woman (or
man) who is ever tempted to sin in a certain
area.
Nothing comes as a surprise to God, and
nothing escapes His watchful eye. He doesn't
watch people in order to make sure He sees
everything wrong they do but because He
cares so much for us.
Remember the scripture that says God does
not miss even one falling sparrow? The pas-
sage goes on to say that He would care more
for us than a bird, and He even counts the
number of hairs on our heads!
Think about it, you can't even go bald with-
out Him knowing about it! That is a small
picture of how much He cares. He is not sur-
prised when we struggle. Sure, it hurts Him
very much to see us falling into sin because
He gave up His Son to die in our place so we
don't have to live in sin anymore, but nothing
we do will make Him love us any less or any
more.
Now, going back to the verse we started out
with, confessing our sins to each other does
not mean we need to confess it to everyone,
in front of the church on bended knee, or
even to the ministers (although there may be
a time for that). The verse simply means that
first we need to be honest with ourselves and
Him, then, we need to admit that we have a
problem, and finally, we need to find some-
one we trust (make sure they are trustworthy)
to share with them what we have been bat-
tling with.
Be frank. The reason God tells us to do this
is
“That you may be healed”.
The way we find healing is to be honest and
admit there is a problem. If we keep denying
that we are sick, will we find healing? Not
likely, because if we allow ourselves to be-
lieve we are not sick, why would we go to
the doctor?
The process of sharing a sin with someone is
humbling to be sure. But that action in and of
itself makes it less likely that we will strug-
gle as much.
You see, sisters (brothers too), it is in hones-
ty and the humbling of self that we as hu-
mans can become closer to conquering our
sin.
Also, we have someone we trust who can
come to us and kindly ask, “How are you
doing these days? Are you finding it easier to
keep your temper in check? Have you been
able to take your wrong thoughts and make
them obedient to Christ?”.
Seriously now, you really think none of the
rest of us know what it's like to battle these
things? This thought is the enemy's lie. He is
out to war against our souls, but don't listen
to him. Your friend will be able to lift you up
in prayer, and
“the effectual, fervent prayer
of the righteous availeth much!”
—Lynn Miller, Kentucky
Confess Your Sins and Be Healed
—by Lynn Miller
What makes you hap-
py...
really?
That’s a
serious question…
maybe one of the
most
important
questions of your
life. But did you
know most people
couldn’t answer it
correctly? In his
book
Stumbling on
Happiness
, Harvard pro-
fessor Dan Gilbert explains that most of us
think we know what makes us happy, but typi-
cally we are wrong. I have found there are three
major traps in which you might be unknowingly
making yourself unhappy.
1.
The first unhappiness trap is postponing
happiness.
The “when I (fill in the blank),
I will be happy” syndrome. The reality is
happiness, isn’t something to be acquired
in the future. You are either happy now or
not; “then” never arrives. Living and striv-
ing for
“then”
results in a constant state of
unhappiness.
Now is the only time you
have to be happy. If you can’t be happy
now, you most certainly will not be happy
later.
2.
The second unhappiness trap is we
spend our lives trying to make other
people happy
which can make us very
unhappy. Many times we are living a life
we didn’t even choose ourselves. We might
have simply, and unconsciously, started
pursing the idea of happiness programmed
by our parents, peers, societal culture, or
the examples given to us by Hollywood or
commercialism. W
hose idea of success are
you living out?
3.
Third unhappiness trap is contrast.
For
the most part happiness is really an illu-
sion. In other words, you make up the idea
of whether you are happy or not. And you
really only know how to judge something
by comparing it to something else. Typical-
ly this means comparing yourself to other
people. This is dangerous business because
there will always be reference points that
will cause you to be unhappy.
The bottom line is this, happiness creates, there
is one is not derived from the outside, it is only
derived from within. Happiness is a state of
mind. And you can continually choose to be
happy.
Here is the best way I know to live in happi-
ness—live in gratitude.
When you focus on all you have and all that you
are, right now, that is where happiness is born.
Once it is born now you can nurture it further
by discovering those other experiences that
bring you increased joy, happiness and exhilara-
tion.
Now, let’s get happy!
The Head Games of Happiness
—by Darren Hardy, Publisher of SUCCESS