None of us wants to look inward at ourselves and see the bad things we have stored up. We like to believe that we are good people. We convince ourselves that because we do not commit criminal acts that we are good people. We also say things like, " I'm not perfect, I make mistakes". What's wrong with us? We convince ourselves that we are good, yet on the other hand we are bad too. So have we convinced ourselves that we are blameless for our actions? Do we figure we are not bad because we're not in jail? We like to think that since we are not perfect that it's ok to continue living the way we do. We all know that the flesh is corupt. All the flesh thinks about is itself. It doesn't want anything to do with the soul or the spirit (our intellect). The carnal mind is going to keep on telling us lies as long as it can get what it wants. And as long as the flesh is dominate over our spiritual side, we will keep on deceiving ourselves. The flesh is mans downfall, it wants what the world has to offer, not what God has to offer. As long as we obey the flesh we will be bent towards the world, not walking upright like God created us. To receive what God has to offer one needs to start by denying ones self and that is like death to the flesh. So in a carnal, fleshly way we pursue sensual pleasures, or things that gratify our appetites. Problem is that something is missing: "God". You could go to church all week, volunteer, study your bible, etc., etc., but as long as your flesh is dominate you have no life in Christ. Mark 8:34 - 37. Who do you worship, God or the world and the things that belong to it? You can't have both. Although many people think they can. One of the problems is, is that as long as we can't see any wrong in what we are doing than it must be ok, right? Wrong. We are completely blind to these things because we are still carnal. We have not awakened the soul and spirit yet. The only way to awaken our spiritual side is by denying ourselves and following Jesus to the tomb (this is not the baptism of water. The water baptism is a baptism that is a pledge made to God from a good conscience. After we die in Christ we then can be reborn to our true spiritual selves. This is the spiritual revolution that begins to take place. The flesh doesn't understand what's going on. The light of faith is darkness to the flesh. The flesh no longer has control of its normal faculties. This is where the battle begins. In order to help reach this point we need to look inward. We need to acknowledge our sins. 1John 1:8,9 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity'. In order to acknowledge our sins we need to turn to Jesus for His help. Remember, we need to first deny ourselves, which means we need to want to give up our old ways of living, all of it,a nd pick up our cross. We will need it to nail the flesh upon it. Jesus is the way, follow Him. This is what He meant when He said,' The road is long and narrow and few find it'. It's not a matter of finding it, it's right in front of you. You need to be willing to get on this road at all costs, no matter what tests and trials come up. It's not a road for the lazy ones or the ones of the world. It's for people who want to be known as a child of God. If you can turn your eyes inward and with all sincerity and honesty and willingness to clean yourself up, Jesus will be there to help you. He will even bring forth the sins you forgot. It is a deep and serious cleansing. The sins we remember and the ones shown to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need to write them down. You can put them in categories like: greed, lusts, sloth, impatience, anger, resentments, envy, gluttony and jealousy. It's going to take some time to do this, so don't rush it. It's a wonderful learning experience as well. After you have written all this down, you need to take it someone who is experienced in this type of confession. So that you two can talk about what you have written and pray together for your forgiveness. In James 5:16 it says, ' So confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another and this will cure you'. No denying this scripture. I've been in alot of different churches and I don't know why they don't teach this. Could be because we're lacking in spiritual teachers and preachers. Too many taught by man and not by the Lord. Also this is not a subject that would tickle people's ears. I'm going to give you a testimony if I may of my experience of this type of confession. I'm only telling this to show you truth in the scriptures of the importance of a true, all out confession and to glorify God bless His heart and soul. When I learned of this type of confession and decided to do it because I was willing to do anything and everything in my walk with Jesus to grow spiritually and learn to do what's right in the eyes of God. When I took all my papers that I had written all my sins on to a minister that was familiar with this type of confession, we talked about everything and he even asked questions about things he didn't see on the papers. Then we prayed. After we were done, I felt so renewed and pure inside I cannot even begin to explain how beautiful it was. When I left I ran into some people I knew and they asked me what was going on. I said," What do you mean?". They said that I had this glow about me. I told them what I had just done. I could see in their faces that they were just in awe by seeing this radiance of light glowing from my body. From my head to my toes I was in such a wonderful state of overwhelming...I'm sorry but I just can't find the words to describe it. I don't think there are any. This is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is about, I know that for sure. After your confession there is one more thing for you to do. Make amends to the people you have resentments towards and people you have hurt and done wrong to. If you would like a suggestion on how to find out who would be a good person to do a confession with please e-mail me at: thetruth@itrustgodonly.com. May God Bless You Dearly.