We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be
healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship
together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody
and welcome back to the sanctuary. So good to have you here and for those of
you joining us for the first time of course, welcome! Now you know in life
we're all gonna get knocked down. In the end it is the Christian who is going to
be able to get back up as well as be with the Father. The non-believer on the
other hand, well they're gonna find themselves cast down to hell where not
only will they not only be able to get back up but they're gonna be separated
from the Father for all time. It is the Christian, the followers of Christ, the
true believers who will not only be able to raise their hands but raise the hands
in the Lord's glory because it is His glory and our hands are raised in praise
of Him. At that time believers will be down. However it won't be involuntarily.
It will be quite the opposite because it will be in gratitude and
love as we kneel in praise of the Lord and all His glory. Now for those of the
those of you out there who have your Bible with you and those of you who are
reading a Bible in an app, go ahead open that up. Those of you taking notes, go
ahead join me now. We're going into the book of Proverbs. Specifically we're
looking at Proverbs 24 verse 16. Alright so Proverbs 24 verse 16. The Bible says
for though the righteous fall seven times they rise again but the wicked
stumble when calamity strikes. Now as Christians we need to work to
persevere against evil and not to give in to the temptation of it because
it is the evil who are ultimately going to go down and they're not just gonna
go down but they're gonna go down hard. Alright they're not getting back up. For
believers though getting back up is just part of the battle.
The Bible has told us we're going to have struggles. We're going to have
temptation. Life isn't always going to be easy. In fact the Bible tells that it's
going to hurt. There's going to be pain. There's going to be fatigue and there is
going to be suffering. There are going to be times when we fail to do what we
want to do. There are going to be times when we fail so bad or things go so
sideways that much like the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 4
we're just gonna want to lay down and die. However as the Bible tells us life
knocked down. It's about getting back up. It is about rising up, turning to the
Lord and allowing Him to be the overcomer in our lives. After all the
victory is His. Now looking throughout history we see this as a rally cry. Even
the Japanese know of this rally cry as a proverb. This old proverb is
Nanakorobi yo-koi which translates to fall down seven times stand up eight and
they're not the only ones. If you look throughout history you're gonna find
something very similar if not the same words all throughout. Why? Well it's about
not giving up hope. See people without hope those are the ones who stay down.
But those who do have hope even in the face of overwhelming confrontation get
back up. Not only that but they continue to strive for more. They continue to push
forward. It means that your focus isn't just on that one thing that is in front
of you right now. That one thing that's trying to hold you back that's just
trying to beat you in the submission. Instead your focus is on something
greater that may just be starting to become a reality or maybe it's not quite
a reality yet. It is about resilience getting back in the fight. You don't give
up and you keep moving forward one step one hit at a time. All right that's what
it is to be a warrior and we're all warriors in God's army. We can't afford
to give in to a victim's mentality. That is the hit that will keep us down.
Turning to Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5. Isaiah 6 verse 5 the Bible says,
Woe to me I cried, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a
people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty. The
enemy fights dirty and he's tried to rig the fight. He has. You know some of you
may have even heard the term you know there's no such thing as a clean fight
and that's why. It's you know it's enough to bring each of us to our knees.
To our knees. Isaiah upon seeing the Lord and hearing the angels he realized
that he was a sinful person. He was a sinful man and an unclean creature that
didn't deserve to be loved. However God's love for us outweighs that. God loves us
and he has told us that he's already won the war. We just have to
we just have to persevere through the battles. The war is already won. For Isaiah
when we continue on into chapter 6 verses 6 & 7 God sent a seraphim to
comfort him and let him know that his sins had been forgiven. Going back to
Elijah the father sent an angel to not only comfort him but to care for him
while he dealt with his frustration and his depression. To coach him you know
hey get back up get back in the fight. Bring him that comforts like hey you got
this you're doing you're doing better than you think come on you got this get
back to your feet you're good you're good. God's gonna do the same for us. So
while we may mentally you know mentally have that thought process that
temporarily says woe is me we can't live there. We have to get back into the fight.
Alright that angel it was there you know I you know I said you know it's
saying hey get back in the fight it wasn't literally saying hey get back in
the fight instead it was comforting him. Alright why because that's what he
needed that's what a lot of us need from time to time because we get knocked down
to our knees but I'll remind you it is when we are on our knees that we are the
most powerful because that is when we should be praying speaking to the father
our ultimate coach in the fight right. Unfortunately the world is going to tell
you differently. We started to talk about this before last week you know that
victim those victims of a you know those people have that victims mentality I
should say you know victims mentality it's a real thing and the world's
getting caught up in it you know let's look at Jonah. Jonah had this mentality
Jonah you start off you know in chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 the Bible tells us
that matter of fact the Bible says the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of
Amitai go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its
wickedness has come up before me.
But Jonah he ran he ran away he ran from the Lord and he headed for Tarshish he
went down to Joppa where he found his ship bound for that port after paying
the fare he went aboard sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord see Jonah
didn't like what the what the Lord told him to do what the father told him to do
so he ran he screwed up and split instead of facing the music and doing
the right thing he endangered others in the process
once he realized that this is what he did he said you know what look look what
he did here he decided it was time to die sound familiar look at Jonah 1 verse
12 the Bible tells us that he says pick me up and throw me into the sea he
replied and it will become calm I know that this is my fault and this great
storm has come upon you he'd rather sacrifice himself than face God he just
the same as the problem he just wants to die at this point yes he wants to make
sure that these sailors don't die because of his actions but does that
make this a noble death well no he's far from it because in spite of what the
Lord or because of what he's doing in spite of what the Lord has told him to
do so Jonah ultimately goes overboard he goes in the drink spend some time in the
belly of a fish we see that in chapter 2 here Jonah chapter 2 and you know we've
talked about this before but remember it says the belly of the fish was this a
whale we don't know so don't get caught up in that you know the Bible tells us
don't add don't take away you know could it have been sure maybe not we don't
know maybe this was a one-off maybe this was you know a creature that God created
for this one-off thing that would disappear as soon as the task was done
who knows we don't know and it doesn't matter at this point it doesn't take
anything away or add anything to it because that part is not the important
part by the time that the ordeal is done God has shown Jonah mercy and grace and
he's vomited out of the fish back onto the shore all right now going back in of
course I'm running through here kind of paraphrasing quickly for time's sake
today but Jonah chapter 3 we go under verses 1 & 2 and the Bible says the word
of the Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the great city of Nineveh and
proclaim to it the message I give you this time it's a little different he
listened and he went reluctant but he still went and he did what he was told
to do this time he wasn't happy about it but he did it
sorry about that guys still have a little bit of a cough here I'm trying to
hit my mute button every time I cough so I don't blow out those ears hopefully
this passes by the end of the week I know this kind of hitting hard last week
too all right back into it here so again he was still very reluctant and he went
off to do it so the Lord of the King sorry Jonah chapter 3 verses 1 through 2
the Bible says then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the
great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you this time he
listened like I said and the Ninevites were saved they were saved moving along
in the Jonah chapter 4 verses 1 through 3 the Bible says but to Jonah this seemed
very wrong and he became angry he prayed to the Lord isn't this what I said Lord
when I was still at home that is what I tried to forestall by flinging the
tarshish I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and
abounding in love a God who relents from sin and calamity now Lord take my life
away for is better for me to die than to live Jonah is still showing that he has
that woe was me mentality that victims mentality he's telling God see I told you
I told you this is gonna happen and he's back in that depressed state where he
just wants to die again he's not seeing because he's blinded with his own sin
and his own hate he's not seeing you know he's failing to reach out love as
we've been commanded he's not loving his neighbor instead he has a very hateful
hardened heart and because of that he's not able to see what God used him to
accomplish he chose to remain an angry victim and we see that a lot in today's
world people will get wound up over absolutely nothing they treat each other
like garbage and then what happens they play the role of the victim they have no
problem talking down to you or talking trash trying to make you feel bad but
Lord help you if you even try to speak up for yourself that's just adding fuel
to the fire and the whole time they're gonna play the role like oh no no I'm the
victim here that's why I did what I did not the right thing not the right
mentality which brings us to our next example in this case we see someone who
has every reason in the world to develop that victim victims mentality to buy
into it but instead he looks to God and keeps an attitude of guileness in it and
that's Joseph we talked about him not that long ago if you recall Joseph's
life played out much like that song tub thumping back in the 90s if you're not
familiar with the lyrics the chorus said this I get knocked down but I get up
again you're never gonna keep me down all right that sound familiar to anybody
maybe maybe not very much this is a song about resilience and getting back in the
fight that no matter how hard you're gonna get hit you're gonna get right back
up and we see exactly that when we look at Joseph and he does it time and time
again we look at you know we looked at his life not that long ago I'm sure you
recall going all the way back to Genesis chapter 37 going through I believe it's
47 took up a good section there we talked about him quite a bit but to
refresh your memory Joseph you know he was a young kid he was ridiculed he was
mocked by his brothers he's made fun of you know he wasn't treated very well and
then he he had this dream that that you know God gave him this vision in a dream
and so he went he shared it with his family and because of it his brothers
plotted to kill him ultimately they decided against it you know they didn't
want to have that kind of blood on their hands so instead they sold him into
slavery and then at that point you know he's taken and those slavers they
slip they sell him again and ultimately he becomes potter first slave potter for
of course being a higher ranking you know military official and everything
and so he's been at the bottom and he has to work his way up and he does
exactly that you know what you know God he has favor in his life God God's
blessed him and he works his way up to a point where he's entrusted with
absolutely everything Potter for arms basically his right-hand man and not
only that so he's successful but he's also you know good-looking which leads
to potter first wife take an eye to him she liked him so check that man out so
she she approaches him she puts the moves on him right she goes and she's
psyche I'm gonna I'm gonna make you mine and he turns her away not only does that
but he does it in the most honorable way he can he defends her husband who's not
even there at the time and stayed loyal to God well you know this didn't happen
just once it happened again and it really ticked her off she was pretty
upset about it got very angry so she she made up a story and she lied she lied
her keister off and what happened well he's knocked down again finds himself
locked up in jail down hard this time right so he's locked up and yet what
happens he gets back up and he works his way up again and he's entrusted with
taking care of the jail he's back up and he's in the fight and the Lord smiled on
him knocked down but back up again he stayed the course he kept moving forward
he didn't develop a victim's mentality instead he trusted in God he trusted in
the Lord and because of it the father smiled on him again and he began to rise
up again ultimately he got out of jail because he's able to interpret the dream
of the Pharaoh and everything and he rises up and he becomes the Pharaoh's
number one guy number one guy rise all the way to the top even higher than
Potiphar and in the process he didn't just save his own family but his entire
you know people his nation from starvation and destruction even in
reuniting with his brothers you know he could have lashed out he could have been
you know a real real son of a gun about it but instead he stayed humble and
loved on them as the father has told us all to do he stayed the course he did
what he was told to do he kept taking that step making that jab you know those
jabs when he's told to jab those uppercuts we still don't cut those
ducks it's Bobbin and weaving he stayed in the fight he stayed faithful to the
father he showed what having a faithful mentality is capable of which is so
much more than what the world would tell you there's a musician out there Angie
Rose she does a Christian hip-hop she puts it this way if today you are
searching now that this very God named Jesus that took on the weight of sin and
death so that we may be saved is still here for you the undefeated champion
that beat death in three rounds three rounds being three days this same God is
waiting for you with arms wide open the same way that they were on the cross but
family he's not waiting in shame or in pain he is waiting and victory a victory
he longs to share with you that's right three days three rounds is knocked down
pretty hard and he showed us what it is to get back up he's provided us with the
Holy Spirit to ensure that we're able to do the same 1st Corinthians chapter 10
verse 13 1st Corinthians 10 13 the Bible says no temptation has overcome you
excuse me no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind and
God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but
when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can't
endure it
tempted here comes from the Greek and the Greek meaning is testing and tested
and we are tested throughout our lives the way out that's the key piece of this
that's that's how we that's how we pass the test it's not that we overcome it
ourselves we don't that's what we Jesus did that for us but rather it's when we
struggle when we're knocked down remember we're not knocked out some
people act like babies are pretended they have been but we're not knocked out
instead we have to refocus on Jesus let him overcome our battles remember he's
the one in control not us him and trust in him to bring us through trust in him
to overcome and bring us through
remember we got to keep our eyes on him in the storm when he says come to me we
focus on him and we go to him so when we take our eyes off of him and we start
focusing on the whirlwind around us on the world that we start to fall back
into the water you know just talking about this it reminds me of so many
things in my life and for time's sake I won't dive into it I could I could write
a novel you know but things you know there's things to me that that seems so
simple but for others huge undertakings you see him in you see the struggle you
know I've had my own but you know I want to listen people up some of the some of
the things I've seen in my own life you know in boot camp we had a guy in my
platoon he struggled with heights he was scared to death of heights I have never
in my life up until that point or since then seen somebody so scared of heights
and the rope climbs that was his kryptonite he'd get halfway up nowhere he
was at panic and freeze one day he was almost to the top we thought for sure
this is gonna be the day he's gonna kill this thing he's gonna do it he's going
all the way instead he knows where he's at he has a firm grip and he looks down
paralyzed in fear as soon as he did that he forgot what he was doing what he
needed to do instead he started gripping this thing for dear life keep in mind we
don't wear gloves when we do these things and eventually he was up there
for so long he started losing his strength he lost enough of his grip that
even though he was still trying to hold on he wouldn't gripping it with his feet
the way he should and he ended up sliding back down that rope he lost a
lot of skin from his hands in the process it was very painful it hurt for
us to see it hurt for us to hear and it hurt him physically mentally spiritually
knocked down but not out a couple weeks later his hands were healing up they're
nice and taped up this time we'd seen him try to go up enough times that even I
you know myself included all of us we really wanted to see him do it but did
what did we think he was actually gonna do it we weren't holding our breath no
so instead he said a little prayer kind of under his breath and then he went up
that rope like we had never seen him do before like he had never done before and
this time he conquered it he got to the very top and he slapped that post for
everything he was worth worked his way back down and every time after that he
conquered it Jesus conquered it he said the little prayer he spoke to the father
the father brought him through even later on going down going up and down
the rappel tower afterwards was cake for this man now going forward a little bit
going through the OC course that's oleoresin capsicum that's a the active
ingredient in pepper spray so I'm talking about pepper spray here not mace
totally different thing pepper spray big difference this is another place where I
saw people struggle now I'm not saying it was a walk in the park far from it
far from it was not it's not a not a great day for any of us okay but seeing
how some people reacted to being sprayed and still having to go through this
obstacle course in some cases some cases we'd have to pick them up and carry them
from station to station because they were just so incapacitated we had to
work together to make sure everybody made their way through one way or another
but it puts things into perspective a lot of times in life we get knocked down
but we're not knocked out down but not out the Lord lifts us up as we as we
carry each other through faith you know there's there's so many places in the
Bible you know a big one when it comes to this kind of thing people like to
talk about job Joe wasn't the only one there's so many out there even Gideon
Gideon we've been knocked down he didn't believe it he starts to get back up
what's happens his people you know he has an army to command and it gets knocked
down that 300 you know job who lost everything say you know you sitting
there he's on top of the world he's he's a wealthy man he's married he has kids
and then what happens here comes somebody hey sorry your kids over here
died oh sorry your kids all of his kids were taken from him this property was
taken from him you know the devil did his absolute worst to try to take him
out right ultimately God blessed him you got his back right the point the point
here is sometimes life really sucks you know it beats us down but it's all the
better reason to stay in the fight we should all be starting the day in a way
that when our feet hit the deck the devil goes aww crud not this guy again
so you're gonna get hit I'm gonna get we're all gonna get hit those hits are
going to just keep on coming some of them are really gonna hurt some are gonna
knock you down but Jesus loves you he has a plan for you trust in him and
you're not just going to get through the struggles you're dealing with but you're
going to triumph in the face of the enemy Marine Corps yeah we have a saying
pain is weakness leaving the body and it's that reminder question isn't how
much you can take but how much more you can give just when you're ready to quit
when your mind says I'm done you have to tell it to push harder you have to start
ignoring what your body is telling you and look for that inner strength look
for the Holy Spirit in you reach down and find that intestinal fortitude to
get that strength that just wasn't there before and start pushing forward and
hitting back and that that's when you discover you no longer feel the pain
you no longer feel those things that were holding you back you get that
second wind a second win we when you're telling you're telling your body you're
telling yourself like hey you're not done yet get back in there and that comes
when we get broken down why because that's when we start praying hey Lord
help me Lord help me Lord help me and eventually we get pushed to that point
where that inner strength comes in because we're no longer operating on our
own strength we're no longer operating on the way we see things the way we feel
about things the way we think about things instead we're focused and we're
pushing through we're persevering because the Lord is carrying us through
you can do this you've got this there's going to be struggles in life anyone who
says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about sometimes you need to
reach out and talk to someone that's okay too that's not weakness that's
strength but underneath it all make sure you're praying as well talk to the
father because he's the one who provides that strength to get you back in all
right that's what I got for you guys this week remember you are blessed go
and be a blessing go and be the church I want to thank you for joining us today
if you have any questions prayer requests or would like to know more about
our ministry you can find us on our website at be the light sanctuary org or
on Facebook at be the light sanctuary we'll catch you next time God bless