Confessing And Telling

[jerry ralph]

“The selfish man suffers more from his selfishness than he from whom that selfishness withholds some important benefit.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON

“And many who believed came confessing and telling their deeds.”
ACTS 19:18 NKJV

The apostle Paul had been given great power by the Holy Spirit to help in his ministry. He had the power of healing and he also had the power to lay hands on believers so they could be empowered by the Holy Spirit also. During Paul’s ministry in Asia or Turkey as we know it today, he did many wonderful works and these were seen by many. There was one Jewish exorcist and several sons of a priest who saw Paul doing wonderful works through the Holy Spirit, and they attempted to do like wise. Of course not empowered by the Holy Spirit the evil man they were working with jumped on them and whipped them. “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified” (Acts 19:17). That brings us up to the verse where “many who believed came confessing.” I know that in my life there were many changes that needed to take place but none of them came about until I “came confessing.” I know that a lot of people, Christians included don’t understand the principle of confession. Believe me it’s hard to sometimes to go deep inside and carry the trash out. But something happened to me spiritually when I did my AA 5th Step. When I did some cleaning on the inside and took the trash out, it made room for some of the better things of life, things of the spiritual nature in which benefits flow three directions, to God, others, and myself. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………….JRE

“So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.” ACTS 19:20 NKJV
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A.A. STEP 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Almost as soon as a child can talk, we discover that this precious bundle of energy and joy can also lie. Some children are born risk-takers. Because of this personality trait, parents find themselves having to discipline such children frequently. Sometimes it might seem easier just to believe the little lies they tell to avoid the discipline. And yet we learn that once the truth is admitted, even if discipline has to follow, our children feel cleansed and relieved.
This same principle held true for the believers at Ephesus; and it does in our own lives as well. When we come confessing and telling our deeds, we will be amazed at the cleansing and release that the Holy Spirit will impart to us. Even though it may seem easier to continue to deny or excuse our behavior, in the long run the relief and cleansing are worth the momentary pain.
NELSON SERENITY BIBLE page 194

 

[Orchids]

So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

 

[jerry ralph]

Jordan,

Thanks for the response.........jerry ralph

 

[The Story Teller]

When we write down our dark secrets and share them with another we can no longer deny them. At this point we free ourselves and can start to heal from their destructive nature. I think of these secrets as closed doors. If we don’t open them, they will open when we don’t want them to. It is at this point that we realize the monster we thought we had locked away. We didn’t deal with it so it came out to deal with us...