13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

What a strong statement this passage is. The prayer if a righteous man is powerful and effective. Pray for each other that you may be healed.

So I ask for help, from all who read this: Pray for my healing from my sinful nature. Ask Christ Jesus to enter into me and grant me the gift of faith. Beseech the Holy Spirit to enter in and cleanse me of these ill thoughts.

I read a while back where Tony said he considered himself healed of his sickness and addiction, because God can do anything. So I pray (and ask each of you to pray) for this miracle of healing.

I so desperately want to be whole again. Someone who is walking the paths God wants him to walk and sharing the abundant gifts God has given me.

Enter me Holy Spirit! Come into my heart and make me a servant of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour who died for my sins. Grant me the gift of faith in His love and His forgiveness. Show me the joy of being a child of a loving God, help me to bear my burdens, lead me in the paths of faith and love. I am a sinner God, someone who no longer desires to sin. Grant me the strength to resist. Amen.

The Coming of the Lord

The Coming of the Lord

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18Therefore encourage each other with these words.

I like the last sentence. Encourage each other with these words...Alone I feel my faith ebb and flow, sometimes stronger, sometimes non-existent semmingly. When I am around other Christians, it helps me to grow in faith and communion with Jesus Christ. In my "baby-faith" state, I need the strong encouragement of other Christians, their shared faith encourages and nurtures mine. Somewhere it says something about "not hiding your lights under a bushel, but putting them out where the whole world can see." The witnessing of my faith is something I am trying to get used to, it still feels like a shirt that is too small. But I am trying as best I can. I have told my friends about my giving myself to Jesus Christ as my savior, even about the "enter Holy Spirit" prayer I have been praying to invite Jesus inside my soul. It feels awkward right now, and some of the looks I get remind me of the looks I gave others in my past! Turnabout is fair play, and who knows, maybe someday they will come to Jesus on bended knee too!