Help Bring Someone Home | Daily Devotional 1630

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1630. Today's devo is called Help Bring Someone Home.

Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy, the to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why every weekday we share a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Well, this is my fifth day with you, and it has been my honor. I am Mary Alesi, and I pastor alongside my husband in Miami, Florida. We have a great church here called Metro Life Church, and I also get to work with all my kids. Um, and we have this wonderful morning daily devotional for you. The girls have been here for a few years now doing this wonderful thing, and I got invited to be a part, and I am their mom, and uh I am honored to be a part of this with you today. And um I hope you're getting a lot out of this, Devo. If you are, please let us know. We love your feedback. We want to know your name. We want to get to know you because we're doing something very personal and very precious and intimate. We're opening the word of God together every morning. And I know it's touching God's heart. So let us know who you are, and uh, we would just love to get to know you and connect with you personally. But this morning we are reading James 5 again, and this is verses 19 through 20. And it says this, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Well, James ends this letter with a call to care for people who have wandered from the truth. Maybe you know someone in your life right now that they were believers. They did go to church. You know, I know of a story of somebody in our church that was brought to the church by another believer. And they were invited and they came to the house of God and they loved it, they got saved, they got on fire for God, they started serving. And then just a few months later, the person that invited them fell out of the faith and stopped serving God altogether. And it was quite a blow to this person. Well, James speaks to this specifically because he says this if any of you wanders, he's actually speaking to believers. Any of you, you were in the faith, but now you're wandering away from the faith. See, faithful people can lose their way. Yes, it can happen to any of us. Pain happens, temptations, disappointments, offense, or shame come into our lives, or maybe just spiritual neglect can happen in our lives. And slowly it pulls us away from serving God and can pull us away from the community of faith. But when that happens, James doesn't tell us gossip about them, vent about them, criticize them, wonder where they are, or write them off. He tells us to help them turn back. I think that I'm gonna say something here as a pastor's wife that I hope you hear from my heart. There's a tendency when we have people in our lives that we do church together with, and someone gets offended or heard or disappointment and they leave the church. We have a tendency sometimes to fall into gossip about the church. And if that person that's left, that believer who's fallen away, has left the church and it's beginning to affect their faith, it is so vital for you and I to pivot and not allow them to continue to talk negatively about the local church. They've got to stay in a place of posity. Why? Because that enemy is determined to cause offense, not for them to leave the church, but to leave the faith. There are other churches. Go to another church, but stay hopeful, stay positive. And when somebody does leave your life and they leave your church, this verse is telling us that we need to lovingly help them turn back. Okay. So James says that turning someone from the error of their ways saves their soul from death and covers a multitude of sins. It doesn't mean that we become that person's savior. Jesus only saves, not you and me. It just means that God can use our prayers, our love, our counsel, our courageous conversation. And we're part of his rescue work. So don't let people leave and talk bad about your church. Especially if it's a church they love. Because remember, the next step could possibly be they left the faith because they're disappointed. Stay in a place where you're you're not just covering their sin, but what you're doing is you're covering them with grace and with mercy, but you're also showing them the truth. You're not afraid to speak the truth to them in love. The ending to this verse tells us something important about mature faith. It doesn't just focus on one itself. Spiritual maturity notices who's missing. It looks beyond how am I doing, and it looks for people who might be falling out of the faith. See, when we're so focused on our own situation or our own offense, our own needs, we we have a hard time being obedient to the calling on our life. And that is taking care of others and blessing others. So James is telling us today, be mindful of those around you that they would not err in their faith and stumble and fall and walk away from their relationship with God. So maybe you should say this instead. How are you doing? What's going on in your life? And how can I help you? Don't turn away from God. Something that my mother used to say after my dad left and she was left with three daughters alone. She used to say, This is not God's fault. I'm not mad at God. This is the fault of humans, not God. And that always taught me to put the blame in the right place, not on people. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. We wrestle against principalities. And there is an enemy that is trying to pull the believer, not just the unbeliever, but the believer away from their faith. And he starts by pulling them away from the local church. So let it start with us today, but let's also take this verse to heart. Because maybe there's somebody in your life right now that needs you to be bold and have a courageous conversation. Because the first step might be leaving the church, but the next step might be them leading the faith. So ask the Holy Spirit Spirit to put somebody on your heart, make that call, reach out, take them to coffee and let them know you are there for them. Can we pray today? Father, give us all a heart for people who've wandered, because there are a lot of people in the world today that are in our churches that are discouraged, that are weak in their faith, and they need the boldness of other believers to come alongside, link arms with them and help them fight through the difficult situations. Help us notice, notice who's missing from Sunday. That person that we used to see, but now we don't see. Give us the courage to reach out and call and let them know somebody, me, missed you. Father, we just thank you that whenever we might begin to drift, put people in our lives that call us back home to security and confidence in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. All right, here's today's declaration. I will notice who's missing. Pray for those who have wandered and help bring people home with truth and grace. It's been a great week, guys. Thank you for joining right here at the MMD. We love you guys. God bless and stay in the Word.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.