How to Handle Straying Saints
Is there ever a time when one Christian ought to step in and deal with another Christian who is walking away from God? James 5:19-20 gives us God's counsel on this very serious and significant issue.
The Christian life is difficult sometimes, isn't it? God asks us to leave behind our selfishness and devote ourselves to Jesus Christ in the service of others. This journey has a clear beginning and an even clearer end, but its path is littered with dangerous obstructions and precarious curves. Thankfully, its destination provides lasting, eternal rewards.
Chances are you have experienced the difficulty of losing your way on the journey. We've all been tempted to stray, to step away from the fundamentals of authentic Christian living toward the more immediate fulfilments we desire for ourselves. But God calls us to a life devoted to studying the Scriptures, to prayer, and most important, to knowing Christ Himself.
Let these resources remind you that the goal isn't just reaching our heavenly destination but walking closely with Jesus as we get there.
Is there ever a time when one Christian ought to step in and deal with another Christian who is walking away from God? James 5:19-20 gives us God's counsel on this very serious and significant issue.
In this message our thoughts centre upon this crucial matter of kneeling with power as we consider the counsel of one whose life gave significance to his words—James.
One of the most controversial issues of our day has to do with divine healing and healers. Are these things for real? What about the use of medicine? Should everyone believe God for healing? What is the method God honours?
God has a better idea than holding grudges! James reveals this alternative in the passage we're considering within this message. James not only tells us what to do in place of retaliation; he tells us how to do it.
In this message, we shall hear what God says about and to a certain percentage of the wealthy—at least, the wealthy of the first century. Then we'll consider how it relates to the wealthy of today. The basis of our thoughts will be James 5:1-6.
James deals directly with a common problem among Christians—“playing God.” Having just exposed our tendency to be self-assertive and quarrelsome, he goes a step further and shows a couple of the more familiar ways we assert an arrogant spirit.
In James 4:1-10, there is set forth the reasons for fights among believers as well as their tragic results. But James doesn't leave us without some answers on how to stop those conflicts that have taken their toll within our ranks.
It is virtually impossible to separate truth from the one who teaches it to us. That's why James begins the third chapter with a warning—don't swell the ranks of teachers!
If God promised to give you anything you asked for…what would you choose? Chuck Swindoll explains why we ought to desire wisdom above anything else.
Do you know that feeling when you've said the wrong thing and desperately want to take it back? Our words can be poisonous…and once spoke, they're impossible to erase.