We have all heard the saying, “Confession Is Good For the Soul,” which is more true than we realize. There are a lot of things we say we believe in but I wonder if we fully believe or just kind of believe?  The idea of confession may sound like a biblical idea, yet I think few really practice it much. Believers confess a lot of things but often don’t produce fruit to back those ideas up. Maybe we just “Dabble” with confession. In other words, we confess things either when we are backed into a corner or we get caught doing something we know is wrong. I have to wonder how much faith we have in actually practicing confession.

Warranties are so important for things like cars and houses. Even medical policies we call insurance are a must because most of us couldn’t afford the out of pocket expenses if things go wrong or they break. Imagine people’s surprise when they get a repair bill for their car or a hospital bill and discover the policy they purchased in good faith doesn’t covering their problem. This happens either the policy was misrepresented by the sales person or we failed to read the fine print before purchasing. The same can happen with our expectation of what salvation is all about. We can be told one thing by pastors and teachers in the body of Christ only to discover when we die that we were told the wrong thing and we are not welcomed into God’s embrace.

All of us go through times that test our confidence, our faith and even our sanity. What’s important during these turbulent times is whether or not we seek God’s wisdom and guidance to get us through such times or just try to muscle it on our own.

Somehow the body of Christ seems to think that if we are humble we should never desire or even confess the desire to be great. Why is this? Is it because we think or have been taught that to desire such a bold thing is sinful or carnal? 

The body of Christ so often seems to have the ability to take a revelation that God gives us about some important spiritual truth and turn it into some doctrine or theology instead of learning how to apply that truth. Shouldn’t we be asking the Holy Spirit to explain how that revelation should be understood and applied? After all, Jesus specifically said the Holy Spirit would be our counselor.

It’s interesting how people’s real beliefs about who Jesus said he was has a direct correlation on the kind of ministry Jesus can do with us. It’s amazing that our faith, or lack there of, affects how Jesus ministers in our lives and when we minister to others who confess that they believe in Jesus as well.

There is a movie called “Leap Year” where a girl has been told by her father that on leap year Irish girls can ask their man if they will marry them, rather than waiting for the man to ask first. When this girl goes to Ireland to ask her man on leap year she encounters all kinds of crazy mishaps trying to reach her man who is in Dublin teaching a medical seminar. 

As I started these series of articles on 1 Corinthians, both on my blog pages and on Facebook, my intention was to show what happens to the body of Christ, mainly the church, when it drifts from the biblical structure and purpose God intended for it to have. I also wanted to show, and will continue to do so in future writing on my daily Facebook post, just how easy that drift can happen whether it be a small local congregation or a mega church.

In article one, I shared how many believers never seem to get past the infancy stage in their Christian walk because they have not been taught to live a surrendered life to Christ and the kingdom of God. They agree with the principles Jesus taught about seeking the kingdom of God but, for them, that mainly means not engaging in a sinful lifestyle. Most of their personal study in the scriptures revolves around discovering God’s promises on how to get their personal needs and desire fulfilled rather than embracing God’s promises to fulfill God’s purpose for them.  The idea of living for a higher calling, one of divine purpose, seems to always be challenged by their focus on themselves and thus they can’t hear God’s voice on much else.

A calling, as defined in the first article, is when we perceive God defining a purpose we are intended to pursue to change the world around us. In Matthew 5, Jesus is teaching on what is called “The Beatitudes” in which he defines people who will be blessed by God. One category of such people are those who work at establishing peace.