James 5:19-20 Keep Me From Backsliding
When it comes to the kingdom of earth there are two types when it comes to being told they are doing wrong and living in sin. Just like children when caught being disobedient, they are either sorry they upset their parents and won’t disobey again, or they are sorry they are caught red handed and will be disobedient again if they feel no one is looking. It is the duty of a follower of Christ to tell a brother or sister, that they are not living by the word of God and if they continue then death and hell is in their future. James is only repeating what he heard Jesus preach about when He talks about confronting their sins.
When I was a little boy, I remember I was a bad boy and my father confronted my bad behavior. He would stand in front of me and waving his leather belt in hand, telling me I did wrong and the reason was about to receive my punishment. I remember standing there in front of him, feeling like my body was sliding sideways. He even told me that giving me my punishment hurt him more than me, but it was hard for me to understand afterward when my rear end was stinging so bad . If there is one thing I remember, I usually didn’t repeat the act of disobedient that made my dad give me a spanking. It is easy as a Christian who still lives in a natural body of sin, to slip back and forth and even sin a little more and more everyday. Just like my father corrected me and which by him doing so made me a better adult, the brothers and sisters of the church (body of Christ) will pull a church member aside and tell them, “ Hey get right back to the sunny side of life and live right according to the teachings of Christ. James 5:20 says when a brother or sister is corrected, their life is saved from death, and Matthew 18:15 says you have gained a family into the kingdom of heaven. It also says by doing this act of confronting others, a multitude of sins are covered. It is like a domino effect, when a brother or sister is corrected and their lives have more purpose because there is less anxiety in life when you are living by God’s purpose. Then as a result they will spread the gospel to others, lead others to want to repent and they will be saved from death and hell. It’s like the old Christian’s, “Thank You,” a person has a dream that they go to heaven. They meet a young man and he says thank you for teaching me about Jesus in Sunday school class and that person gave themselves to Jesus when you prayed for them. Then the young man said, by your effects to teach me, I told others about Jesus and so many others were led to repentance and now live for Jesus in the kingdom of heaven. Can you say amen, that we have been told to correct others and lead them on the path of everlasting life. It is a good life to spread the gospel of good so let’s do our part and prepare hearts for the soon coming of Christ. This is the last devotional blog on the series of the book of James, I have really learned a lot. I look forward to starting the next series, the Psalm 22 and 23 series. God bless you all, the Lord loves you and so do I. Samuel H
1 Corinthians 5:11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
