Devotionals from my Bible app: Let's Heal Together (James 5:16)

Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes: 

For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.

And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:

Let's Heal Together


Imagine a sick person who won’t tell anyone about their symptoms. Without help, getting through their illness would be challenging. Whether they need help from a doctor or just someone checking to see how they’re doing, it’s much easier to heal with the help of others.


Similarly, when we don’t tell anyone about the challenges we’re facing, it can be harder to work through them.


Sometimes we do things we know are wrong, but we don’t tell anyone about it because we're embarrassed, ashamed, or think we can handle it on our own. This is because we’re all affected by sin—the wrongdoing and brokenness that separates us from God. It can be hard to share our mistakes with others, but when we keep our sin to ourselves, we’re like the sick person who won’t ask for help—we suffer in isolation rather than allowing others to help us heal.


James 5:16 tells us to share our wrongdoings with other believers so that we can heal together and pray for one another.


When we share our past mistakes with someone, we are released from isolation. And when we pray together, we give God the opportunity to heal our hearts. God is our healer—He saves us from the eternal consequences of sin through His Son, Jesus Christ! And because of Jesus, we have access to a relationship with our Creator. We can bring our requests to Him and trust that He hears us.


This doesn’t mean that God will always answer our prayers in the way we think they should be answered. Instead, when we share our brokenness with Him, He invites us on a journey that will help us grow closer to Him.


If you’re struggling with something today, take some time to share it with a trusted believer. Allow them to pray with you, and you with them, as you ask God to guide you as you heal.

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16, NKJV

Note after sharing the devotional: today's Bible verse needs to be a watchword for me. I still need healing, and the more I know, the more it seems that there's more sin and pain that needs to be dealt with. On the Sunday before Kirk's assassination, I had a great but overdue meeting with my pastor because evidently some of the sin and pain that was still with me had begun to affect how I saw him and how I saw our church. We will be meeting monthly starting in October. Praise God for that.

Prayer: God, I don't want to face my challenges alone. I've made mistakes in the past and -- to move forward -- I know I need help from others. Please give me the courage to confess my sin to trusted people. Surround me with a community who's willing to hear my struggles, pray with me, and encourage me to live more like You. Help me to also be there for others in their time of need. In Jesus's name, Amen.