John 8:11 - Neither do i condemn you; go and sin no more.
i think cluster group has been fruitful since it started about a month plus ago. today, we met to discuss the second part of the inner mess book. it was really a good time of opening up to one another about God's love, grace, and our own sins and struggles. i experienced nothing like this before. and im not saying that its a bad thing. i think transparency is good.
on the train to meet the girls, i was rushing to finish reading my book for discussion. yet, even as i quickly skim through the words, this particular chapter on "community" spoke to me. particularly, James 5:16.
"Confess your trepasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervant prayer of a righteous man avails much."
the author of the book wrote: "Sometimes we dont just need our own prayer, but intercessory prayer - the prayer of other people on my behalf. That meant you have to tell somebody (your issues or deepest need). So if God has not yet delivered you from deep-rooted Inner Mess patterns, even after you have prayed for deliverance, he could very well be waiting for you to fulfill James 5:16"
that didn't just speak to me but all in my cluster group. this was exactly what we did. we truly shared life together, and stop seeing each other just on a surface level of mere laughing together and having a good time. we really shared, and through this time acknowledging what the broken cracks were in each of our lives, we hold so much faith that God will one day deliver us from this bondage (with the support of His community).
you know, how often do you turn to your neighbor and tell them you did something really wrong. hence, i say - sharing in this cluster level is life changing. the whole process is mightily humbling. mightily. but i see so much value behind this covenanted relationship we share and trust that as we share, and as each of us truly labor in prayer for each other, we're going to see lives change. we're going to see God move. we're going to see rebuilding, and transformation.
i really thank God for sending open people into my cluster and my life that we can go through this together. i can testify that it isn't all so glamorous to talk about struggles and your inner mess.
i'm glad that the smu caregroup has come this far. i'm not too sure about the other clusters. but as for mine, i'm expectant to see God moving in a real real way. He is going to mend those broken cracks, He is going to help rebuild our lives, He is going to guide and help build this cluster, this caregroup, and this church.
Thank God for today, and i hope i am not the only one walked away feeling blessed about this today :)
I need to get back to my MA now.
on the train to meet the girls, i was rushing to finish reading my book for discussion. yet, even as i quickly skim through the words, this particular chapter on "community" spoke to me. particularly, James 5:16.
"Confess your trepasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervant prayer of a righteous man avails much."
the author of the book wrote: "Sometimes we dont just need our own prayer, but intercessory prayer - the prayer of other people on my behalf. That meant you have to tell somebody (your issues or deepest need). So if God has not yet delivered you from deep-rooted Inner Mess patterns, even after you have prayed for deliverance, he could very well be waiting for you to fulfill James 5:16"
that didn't just speak to me but all in my cluster group. this was exactly what we did. we truly shared life together, and stop seeing each other just on a surface level of mere laughing together and having a good time. we really shared, and through this time acknowledging what the broken cracks were in each of our lives, we hold so much faith that God will one day deliver us from this bondage (with the support of His community).
you know, how often do you turn to your neighbor and tell them you did something really wrong. hence, i say - sharing in this cluster level is life changing. the whole process is mightily humbling. mightily. but i see so much value behind this covenanted relationship we share and trust that as we share, and as each of us truly labor in prayer for each other, we're going to see lives change. we're going to see God move. we're going to see rebuilding, and transformation.
i really thank God for sending open people into my cluster and my life that we can go through this together. i can testify that it isn't all so glamorous to talk about struggles and your inner mess.
i'm glad that the smu caregroup has come this far. i'm not too sure about the other clusters. but as for mine, i'm expectant to see God moving in a real real way. He is going to mend those broken cracks, He is going to help rebuild our lives, He is going to guide and help build this cluster, this caregroup, and this church.
Thank God for today, and i hope i am not the only one walked away feeling blessed about this today :)
I need to get back to my MA now.