Desperate Joy

  Image by  Rain  from  Pixabay For a big chunk of my twenties, I believed that if my willpower were strong enough, I could break free from my addiction to porn. I thought if I were focused and determined enough then I could stop acting out. If I could summon the strength of will then I could wrestle that bear of addiction into submission. I believed that overcoming those mental and spiritual strongholds was a matter of power. The conflict was a simple matter of two forces meeting and the greater won. It was like sumo wrestlers colliding in the middle of the ring, if I were strong enough, I could force the addiction out of my life. This is not the reality that God has revealed in his Word. The apostle Paul reveals a far different perspective in Ephesians, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places." Our battle with sin and a...

  Image by  Mircea Iancu  from  Pixabay "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) I remember hearing this verse preached about when I was a kid and the pastor saying something like, "I don't need to hear about your sins, don't come confessing them to me! I can't forgive your sins! Only God can do that, just confess your sins to him!" I believe it is true that we only need to confess our sins to God in order to be justified. Jesus is the only priest we need to make mediation and absolution for us, no other human priests are required. But the context of the verse is not about salvation, but about praying for healing from a sickness or affliction. The Apostle James tells us that if we want healing, we should go to the church, confess our faults and sins and have them anoint us with oil, lay hands on us and pray for us.(See James 5:1...