A little wine!

I don't drink, but I do believe that wine has a medicinal purpose. Jesus turned water into wine and the bible says they saved the best for last. I believe the bible to be absolute truth, so I can't do away with this scripture just because I may think it's wrong to drink.

1 Timothy 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.

I do however know that the bible also teaches us to be not drunken.

Romans 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

People can pick one verse and make a sermon around it, but I believe God's word is all or nothing. You must take his whole word as truth and know that it will never contradict itself. If it teaches that wine is good for our infirmities, then it is good for our infirmities and if it tells us to be not drunken, then we should have enough common sense to know that to be drunken is not good for us in any way. I believe when it says "A little wine" that is what it means because anything more than a little would no longer be medicinal, but would make you drunken. You can not be drunken and still be in God’s will.

A Prayer of Faith!

James taught us in chapter five that if there are any sick among us that we are to call the elders of the church and let them anoint us with oil and pray for us that we might be healed. The oil is not what heals us. The prayer is not what heals us. It’s the FAITH IN GOD that heals us. He taught us that the “Prayer of Faith” shall save the sick. We can pray all day long but if we don’t have faith in God, that prayer will never go anywhere. There is more to James’ teaching here that many people don’t realize or choose to ignore. He also taught that if that person we are praying for has sinned, those sins shall be forgiven. Now we are getting into some deep water here. James is telling us that the prayers of the elders and their faith in God will reach God and he will forgive someone’s else’s sins. This means the one’s doing the praying has become an advocate for the person that is sick. This is a big responsibility on the elders and prayer warriors. Our churches today are lacking in both. We pray for people and often wonder why they are not being healed. It’s not just one thing that stops the prayers from being answered. I believe one of the biggest faults in churches today is that we see people asking for prayer but it’s not usually the elders that does the praying. You will see many brothers and sisters in Christ gather to pray for them and that is good, but it’s not in line with what the bible teaches us to do. We need our elders to take a bigger role in the church. We need our prayer warriors to step up and we need for others to step down. Now let me say this, you don’t have to be and elder in age to be an elder in the church. I believe an elder is someone that has served God for enough years to have built up a close relationship with him and has the faith that can reach heaven’s throne. I believe an elder is someone that lives within God’s will 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, not just when they walk into the church building. The title of elder is not to be taken lightly. It is an honor and something to be cherished. We all need to strive to become elders, to build our faith and relationship with God so that when we pray, we will see the results of those prayers.

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.