Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. As we get started, let's go ahead and go
into prayer. I'm going to ask everybody to join
me in the Lord's Prayer. As we start, Our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done, Amen. A little
different there. Remember a few weeks ago I said
we have homework, and that was the homework.
I encourage everybody, keep doing it. It is a
great way to start your day, all right? And happy
news for some people. This week, we're actually
going to bring this series to an end, all right?
So our misquoted, sir, don't be so happy about
that. The last few weeks, well, last five weeks,
we've been working on our misquoted series, basically
talking about how the Bible's taken out of context,
some of our bigger passages, right? And it's
good to know what these are. And of course, as
always, as we finish up here and as everybody
goes their ways, I encourage everybody to be
like the Bereans. Study the word for yourself.
Don't just take my word for it. But get into
the scripture and discern it for yourself. Okay?
Wow. Somebody out there is definitely rocking
in the street, aren't they? My goodness. So it's
good to have everybody here. Some faces we've
been missing for a few weeks are back, which
is great. Welcome back. It's great to have you
guys. We have a family here. What's that? Probably.
Our lovely family that's usually been sitting
over here for the last few weeks. Many of us
have noticed they're not here. Tess and I have
already been praying over them. I'm going to
encourage everybody to continue praying over
them. When we finish with service and we move
next door for our barbecue, let's pray for them
as well. So James, Rose, and their kiddo, they're
not here. Rose actually reached out to me just
yesterday asking for prayer. She was having some
back issues. They were severe enough. She had
to have her husband take her to the ER. And when
they got there, I found out she's having some
kidney issues. So very painful, not comfortable.
So definitely let's keep a rose in prayer. And
then, of course, the family, because as we all
know, as we go through ailments and we have different
things, it impacts our loved ones as well. All
right. So. Okay. Perfect. So you may know that.
All right. Well, we will definitely pray for
him at the same time. Yes. Excellent. Yes. So
when we wrap up and we go next door before we
eat and everything, let's pray over them as well.
Absolutely. All righty. So, all right. So we're
going to jump right in today because I have a
whole lot. And trust me when I say, well, I'm
sure. You guys are already used to it. Now, I've
done my best to condense this. I might get a
little long -winded today, and I apologize in
advance if that's the case, because I promise
you I'm not trying to create a hostage situation.
But this topic in particular, there's really
a lot with it. So let's open up our books, our
Bibles, our apps, to James 3. So James 3, and
we're going to be looking through verses 1 through
12. We're going to read through this, that way
we have it in the back of our mind, because this
is really at the heart of our topic today. All
right, so James 3, verses 1 through 12. All right,
in James 3, 1 through 12, the word says, My brethren,
let not many of you become teachers, knowing
that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For
we all stumble in many things. If anyone does
not stumble in the word, he is a perfect man,
able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we
put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey
us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at
ships. Although they are so large and driven
by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small
rudder, wherever the pilot desires. Even so,
the tongue is a little member and boasts great
things. See how a forest a little fire kindles.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of inequity.
The tongue is also set among our members that
it defiles the whole body and sets fire on the
course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.
For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and
creature of the sea, it is tamed and has been
tamed by mankind. But let no man, excuse me,
but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly
evil full of deadly poison. With it. We bless
our God and Father, and with it we curse men
who have been made in the similitude of God.
Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.
My brethren, these things ought not be so. Does
a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from
the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren,
bear olives? Or a grapevine bear figs? Thus,
no spring yields both salt water and fresh. It's
a lot, right? And these days, there's a lot of
people who believe we can alter situations in
our life through just something like the power
of positive thinking, right? That positive speaking.
As people like to put it out in the last decade
or so, good vibes, right? It's like the only
good vibes I want to hear is when I'm... playing
my bass or up here with my wife playing guitars,
right? Maybe on my motorcycle cruising down the
road. Like, ooh, good vibes. I don't know what
people are talking about. You might as well be
talking Greek, right? So let me be clear. It
is important. We do need to think positive. We
do need to speak positive. Absolutely. You know,
it's very important that we actually do this.
However... There is nothing that we can say,
there's nothing that we can speak that will ever
be as powerful as the word of God. Not only that,
but when you think about it, our words are corrupt.
Right? We're all fallen. We've all sinned. Our
words are corrupt because we're sinners. And
because of that, our words need healing. And
there's only one person who can provide that
healing, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So
let's start by looking at one of the big influences,
especially over the last few decades, that have
really encouraged the behavior that we see out
in the world and this line of thinking that we
see today. And really, it's New Age spirituality.
That's one of our biggest culprits out there,
right? There's been several books out there written
on it. I'm sure all of us are aware of at least
a couple of them. I'm going to name one specifically
here in just a little bit. Matter of fact, I'm
just going to go straight into it. There's a
book that came out probably around 20 or so years
ago called The Secret. It might sound familiar
to a lot of us, right? It's a really popular
book. It was on the bestsellers list for a long,
long time. But the line of thinking that's in
there has infiltrated Christianity. And specifically,
it goes towards the whole name it and claim it
prosperity gospel. Right? It's that idea that
we can ask for literally anything and we're entitled
to receive it because we've asked for it and
therefore we will get it. Right? Like we're a
bunch of entitled children. It's not the case.
You know, this line of thinking, it misquotes
scripture. And it tries to convert God into a
tool. Like an ATM of sorts. I want this. Give
it to me. I want it now. Right? What's, was it
J .J. Wentworth, it's my money and I want it
now? Right? A lot of us, we go to God in the
same capacity. It's like, this is mine. I want
it now. You're going to give it to me because
you said you'd give it to me. No, that's taking
everything out of context. It's not at all what
the scripture meant. Author Barbara, I'm probably
going to butcher the name, Ehrenrich is a critic
of this type of thinking in the books that have
been published, especially when it comes to like
the secret saying that they promote political
complacency and a failure to engage with reality.
And she's on to something. She really is. Because
why engage with reality if you can just make
your own reality? Sorry, but last I checked,
none of us are little gods walking the earth.
We don't get to alter it. That's not our capacity.
It's no different than saying, well, that's your
truth. This is my truth. Ooh. That's a nice way
of calling someone a liar, isn't it? Author Mark
Manson, another critic, specifically talking
about the secret. He says, this book is full
of misplaced cliches, silly quotes, and superstitious
drivel, and calls it a playbook for entitlement
and self -absorption, which anybody who reads
it and implements its advice will likely make
themselves worse off in the long run. The biggest
issue aside from promoting a doctrine of false...
is that this line of thinking isn't actually
new at all. It's not. It's taking an age -old
technique, putting the smoke and mirrors to it,
wrapping it up in a nice shiny wrapper, and then
putting it out there like it's some kind of a
mystical, magical new thing that's going to improve
your life immensely by putting you in control.
And taking the control away from God. Hmm. Now
there's a tactic for you. What does it sound
like? Sounds an awful lot like Satan, doesn't
it? Doesn't want you turning to God. He doesn't
want you giving the control over to God. He wants
you to turn to him or try to take it for yourself.
Whatever it takes to take you away from God.
Plain and simple. Moving along, the first verses
that we read here today, they do, however, point
out that words do have power, and they absolutely
do have power. All right? And it's reinforced
in Proverbs 18, verse 21. So in Proverbs 18,
verse 21, the word says, Death and life are in
the power of the tongue, and those who love it
will eat its fruit. So the word is saying that
our words are a lot stronger than any of us think,
right? It's kind of like growing up. I'm sure,
you know, we've hit a friend or sibling or something,
and they're like, you know, they get mad. They're
like, you know, you don't realize you hit a lot
harder than you think you do. You don't know
your own power. And when it comes to the way
we speak and the way we say things and who we
say it to, it's very much the same thing, you
know? Remember years and years ago, we'd get
picked on. You know, all of us have been picked
on. Every single person out there has been picked
on at some point. And what was the big thing
that we said for a long, long, long time? That's
right, sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me. What a lie from
hell. Because those words still hurt, did they
not? They absolutely did. Words have power. If
words didn't have power, they wouldn't hurt.
They absolutely would not. Matter of fact, words
are so strong, when we look at the very beginning
of the Bible, we go to Genesis, what do we see?
God speaking everything into existence. And it's
recapped nicely when we go to John 1, John 1,
1, excuse me, John 1, 1 through 5, right? John
writes, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things were made
through him, and without him nothing was made
that was made. In him was life, and the life
was the light of man, and the light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it. Wow. Words do have power. Absolutely. You
know, and we're talking the word, the word of
God. There's a lot of power there. So to say
that our words don't have power in itself is
a lie. Can't say that they don't. But we do have
to look at the context in which our words have
power. Right? What do we use to communicate?
Words. Even if you're mute, our sign language,
right? communicates words when we read things
written word you're blind Oh Braille hmm word
Morse code put together to form words there are
so many ways come on looking back in history
smoke signals flashing lights There are so many
things that have been used, and what happens?
We see them, and what happens is they're interpreted,
they're put into words, and they're read out,
oh, this is the message. So we use words. And
with this in mind, there's a lot of people who
step off the trail and get lost here, right?
They just wander right off the beaten path, right
into the woods. So what people do get right is
the fact that God's word does create. God's word
is creation, right? However, it is God who has
that power. Not people, not man. Sure, we're
made in his image, but does that mean that we
have everything that is his? No. That's why he
gives us things. That's why we have blessings.
That's why our treasures are stored up in heaven.
Why would we need any of that if we had that
power of God? Why would Jesus need to have come
and gone to the cross and died for our sins if
we had that power? It makes no point, right?
We do not have that strength. We do not have
that power. We're not exactly like God, but we
are in his image. People fail to recognize the
fact that there is a difference between God and
man. The word of God and the word of man are
two different things. Word of God being up here,
the word of man being down here. Pales in comparison.
Now, to say that God's the only person who can
create something for nothing, yes. God is the
only one who can create something for nothing.
We like to think, oh, I'm going to speak it into
existence, but we can't. We don't. That's not
our place in life. That's not our place on earth.
Right? What we can do is work with what we've
been blessed with, what we have. Now, I can think
to myself, you know what? I'm hungry. I want
a turkey sandwich. Now, if I had the power of
God and that same power of my word, I could just
think it and boom. I have a nice, juicy turkey
sandwich, some lettuce, some pickles, some mustard,
right? That perfect type of bread, right? Absolutely.
Maybe a nice beverage to wash it down with. Some
chips on the side. Who knows? I don't have that
ability though, right? None of us do. However,
what can we do? Like, you know what? I'm hungry.
I want a turkey sandwich. I'm going to go in
the kitchen. I'm going to open up the refrigerator.
I'm going to take out the turkey. I'm going to
take out the pickles. I'm going to take out the
mustard, maybe some cheese. Who knows? I'm going
to come over here, and I'm going to build it.
I'm going to take all these building blocks that
the Lord has blessed me with, and I'm going to
build that monster sandwich, right? And boy,
am I going to enjoy it. My wife will tell you,
I love me some turkey. I might be shaped like
a turkey, too. I love me some turkey, yes. I
know I'm probably getting everybody a little
hungry and ready for that barbecue after service
today. Wasn't my intent, you know. You know,
unfortunately, you know, none of us can just
wave our hands in the air, bibbidi -bobbidi -boo,
and have that nice glass of lemonade or an Arnold
Palmer appear in our hand, right? That's just
not there. It'd be absurd to think that we could.
Smoke and mirrors if it actually happened. Because
obviously we know it's not just going to appear.
So we take things, we take the building blocks
that God has given us, and we use those things
to create something new. Because in and of itself,
here's a loaf of bread. Oh, it's sliced up. Now
I've got sliced bread. I've got a turkey. I'm
going to take that thing, gut it, roast it, have
it 100 different ways from Sunday. We all do
that every November and going through December,
right? It's coming up quick. You know? Matter
of fact, here, next month is October. We're going
to be doing the same thing with some pumpkin.
Mm -hmm. So we take all these things, we combine
them, and we create something new. That's the
closest that we come, though, in that sense.
Now, there's another way that we can create things
with our words. And we see this every single
day. We hear this every single day. Books, TV
shows, music, right? The Lord has blessed us,
well, certain ones of us. There are some people
who can't carry a tune, so I can't say for everybody,
right? I sing through my hands more so than my
mouth for a reason. My wife's smiling over there
because she knows it's true. I have to work really
hard to sing, otherwise the dog wants to run
out of the room too. But you have people out
there, they write books. They'll write a whole
series of books, right? Great books. They're
entertaining. Some of them are very educational
as well. Some of them are far from educational.
We look at them purely for entertainment purposes,
right? Television shows, movies. And we all can
get pictures in our heads, but especially these
days, more and more so with movies. You look
at the spectacle that some of them are putting
out there. They take years to make, but then
you go in there and you're just like, whoa. Especially
some of these, you know, they have the 3D movies
now or the 4DX where they get the mist and all
that stuff coming at you. It's like, wow, who
created this stuff? Who thought of this? It's
pretty cool. Right? We can all think of probably
a few names even that comes to mind. You know,
Stan Lee who created many of the most popular
comic books that are out there today. Right?
People like Lee Falk back in the golden age created
characters like the Phantom. Right? That's just
comic books. That's me being a nerd. You know,
we look at other people with all sorts of other,
you know, Weber out there and assortment of others
that, you know, science fiction and military
operations and, you know, sci -fi and all this
other stuff. So the power of words can create
other things. Unfortunately, there's another
place where it goes. Where does our self -image
come from? Has anybody ever thought of that?
Where does our self -image come from? It comes
from the things, the truths, and the lies that
we are told throughout our lives from a very
young age. Remember, I talked briefly about illusory
truth effect over the last couple weeks, where
you hear something over and over and over again,
and even though it's a lie, you start to believe
it because you hear it so much. Somebody tells
you you're a loser enough times or enough people
tell you you're a loser, at some point you're
going to start to believe it. And it takes a
lot to break that chain, right? Like you have
to go to Jesus and have that chain broken. But
even deep down inside, it's still going to leave
a scar. So our self -worth comes from there.
How about the image that we place with other
people? You go... and you're talking with a co
-worker about a friend, you say some things that
you probably shouldn't have, right? Some kind
of mean things. Whether they're true or not,
it's beside the point. Well, word gets back to
your friend. Your friend comes to you and they
confront you. Hey, did you say this? And you
lie and say, no, I did not. Right? Now, You've
created an image for them and they're living
in a false world. They're living in a lie because
they're your friend. They trust you. They love
you. So when you lie to them, they take what
you said as gospel and they believe you. So they
don't believe that you were talking trash about
them. The reality of the matter is you were.
And at some point, whether it's here on this
earth or when you answer for it before the throne,
the truth is going to come out. Now, it's not
to say maybe you said something that could be
a little hurtful. It was true, right? The best
thing to do is they come to you and be like,
you know what? Here's why I said it and explain.
Because sometimes true things need to be heard,
and it's the only way to get someone's attention.
So we have that power to create an image. To
impact someone's life. So it puts what James
wrote in today's scripture into perspective.
Our vision from what we read earlier is starting
to come into focus now, right? He's talking about
the fact that when we talk to other people, we
need to be honest. We need to speak in love.
Turn to Ephesians 4, verse 15. So Ephesians 4,
verse 15. The word says, but speaking in the
truth and love may grow up in all things into
him who is the head, Christ. Now, really, I think
the NIV and a couple of the other translations
probably do it a little bit better than what
we have here. But right here, remember what I
said today when we started. Our words need healing,
and the only person who can heal them is Jesus
Christ. And that's exactly what we're looking
at here because if we're going to tell someone
what they need to hear, or excuse me, if we're
not going to tell somebody what they need to
hear, if we're not going to tell them the truth,
the question begs to be asked, do we really love
that person? If you can't tell them the truth,
do you love them? It's that simple. Now, Living
that is not so simple because nobody wants to
hurt anybody's feelings, right? That's part of
why we've gotten to where we are today. Everybody
has to be nice. Everybody wants to paint Jesus
as this man who lived and walked the earth and
was kind all the time. However, if they've ever
actually read the Bible, they will see that is
not the fact. That is not the case. There were
times when he did not act out with what would
be so kind and loving. The image that's out there
that's very popular is the fact that he flipped
over tables and chased men out of the market
with a whip, right? Does that sound very loving?
If I were to take my belt off right now and come
running at you, you are my... Just kidding. Oh,
he's armed now. Look at that. He's got a cane
up. I'm going to get caned. Just kidding. No.
But it's not very loving. If I had to come through
here and start throwing, you know, pews to the
side or anything, coming after any of you, it
wouldn't be seen as very loving. Jesus didn't
do it to be loving. Jesus did what he did to
make a point, to get people's attention, right?
It's kind of like when you're messing up and
the parents say, you better stop. and they had
that tone of voice where you're like, ooh. Not
the usual you'll be able to stop, but that specific
tone of voice where you're like, I'm poking the
bull. I'm poking the bear. You start thinking,
do I want to keep doing this or not? Most of
the time we wisen up and we stop, right? Not
always, but most of the time. Let's face it,
we all got our fair share of licks because we
didn't wisen up until after the fact. You know,
sure, the things that we might say might hurt
people's feelings if we're saying it in truth.
But the fact is, if we're saying it in truth,
then we're saying it in love. We're telling them
the things that they need to hear. Someone's
drinking too much. You tell them, hey, you're
drinking too much. You need to stop. Right? You
see someone who's living in sin, hey, whatever
that sin is, you're gambling, you're smoking
dope, you know, you're snorting this, you're
injecting that, whatever, you know, adultery,
cheating on your spouse, you know, going out
and getting hookers, and the list goes on. But
you care about somebody, you should care about
them enough that you speak up and say, hey, you're
messing up. You need to fix this. What help do
you need to fix this? Right? Because let's face
it, when it comes to hearing things, it's really
nice when you can hear the things that you're
doing good, right? We like to hear that. It's
like, oh, hey, you did a great job with this.
Oh, that thing that you did the other day, marvelous.
Oh, and this thing that you helped out with,
beautiful. You feel good, right? You get a little
puffed up. You go home. Guess what Brian said?
He said, I drank that root beer like a champ.
What came after guzzling that thing wasn't so
much. But that's how we go home, right? That's
how we talk with our families, our loved ones,
our friends, right? Let's be honest, we're all
adults in here. Is that? Yeah, root beer has
that extra carbonation, really brings it out,
doesn't it? Somebody can record that sound and
put it to the next Jurassic Park movie. It feels
good. But if we're loving and we're doing what
Jesus did, then we're going to speak the truth.
Because when we're thinking about it, we need
to remember the fact when Jesus preached, not
everybody liked what he had to say. Not even
a little. Right? Not everybody accepted what
he had to say. And it wasn't because he was up
there spinning lies or saying hateful things.
He was up there speaking the truth, right? The
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help me God, right? We all know these words.
He was up there and he's putting the whole thing
out and it was convicting people. It was the
stuff that they did not want to hear because
people don't want to hear that they're wrong.
People don't want to hear that they need to change.
People don't want to hear, hey, you're a sinner.
And if you don't change this and you don't come
to the Lord, there's a place you're going to
head to and you're not going to like it. It's
called hell. Right? Matter of fact, when you
think about it, and you look at the word, we
need to remember, there weren't just 12 disciples.
The 12 disciples were his closest. Those were
his closest friends, right? But there were many
more. Many, many, many more. And when Jesus preached,
the word actually records the fact that some
of them got up and left him. They walked away.
How heartbreaking is that? One of the saddest
verses in scripture. talks about exactly that,
that they got up and left. It's no different
today. People turn away for the same thing. They
get convicted. They get convicted. Right here,
right in their heart. The Holy Spirit goes to
work, man. When the Holy Spirit goes to work,
It can be downright painful. Absolutely. And
unfortunately, because of that, because people
don't like pain, people don't want to be hurt,
all of a sudden that change that they need to
make in their life becomes too hard. That weight
is too heavy. And when that happens, Christians
stop growing. They stop growing in Christ. Instead,
They become stagnant. And ultimately, becoming
lukewarm. We know what the Bible has to say about
being lukewarm. It's better to be hot or cold,
right? But they become lukewarm, and they start
going back to the things that they did, the things
that made them comfortable, that made their flesh
comfortable. And they ultimately turn and walk
away from Jesus. They go right back to sin. They
go back to that bondage. And Satan wins. They
become paralyzed with fear. Because that conviction
hits. And what happens is they start looking
around. They look at the people in front of them.
They look at the people to the side of them.
They're seeing other people on TV. They're reading
about others. They're hearing some on the radio.
They're like, wow. That guy has much stronger
character than I do. That guy is a lot more godly
than I am. That woman is amazing. She's making
a change in people's lives. And they believe
the lie that they are not good enough for Jesus.
That lie that Satan likes to spin out there.
You're not good enough. You're worthless. He's
never going to want you. You're useless to him
now. And they believe it. It's unfortunate. So
they go right back to bondage. They see their
own weakness. They don't recognize that everybody
around them also has weakness. They just see
their own. They're blinded by the forest, by
the trees, right? You can't see the forest for
the trees? So they start comparing themselves.
But they're only comparing their weaknesses to
what they foresee as strengths. They don't recognize
the fact that maybe what they're seeing as strength
in somebody else might actually be a weakness.
Why? Because we're not conditioned to think like
that. We should be. And so they come to that
conclusion that they don't need to keep on going
to the Lord. They need to stop in their life.
They need to stop in their tracks where they're
at. And they need to try to fix things themselves.
Here's the thing. We can't fix things ourselves.
That's why we go to Jesus. When we start thinking
we can do it ourselves, that's our biggest mistake,
and it will never get fixed. And we hear this.
You go to somebody. You go to a friend. You invite
them to come to church service, right? Especially
somebody you know is struggling. And what do
we usually hear? Oh, no, no, no, I've been drinking
too much. You know, I need to get right with
God before I go. Right? Things like that. You
know, or, oh, I need to work on this first. How
can I get right with God if I can't overcome
this? They stop thinking about the fact that
the hospital isn't a place for perfect people.
Jesus didn't come for perfect people, right?
He didn't come for the good people. He came for
the broken. People confuse the church. The church
is the people. We are the church. People should
come to us and recognize the fact that we are
here to help them with their healing process.
And part of that process is getting them to come
to the place of service. It's a building, right?
Sometimes it's an office. Sometimes it's a community
center. Sometimes it's a place in the park. He's
like, come with us. Hear the word. Faith comes
by hearing. When you start to believe, when you
hear the word, you start to believe, you start
to come into a relationship with Jesus. Jesus
can and will heal you. It's not an instant process.
It will take time. Some of it will be downright
painful. I'm not going to ask if anybody here
has ever done this, but all of us are aware.
What happens when somebody stops using drugs
or smoking or drinking? They begin to detox,
right? The DTs. It's a painful process. Some
of us in here have been through that. Some of
us know people, they can't go more than an hour
without a drink of alcohol before they start
trembling. Right? It's a painful thing to see.
But you know what? When we break away from the
sin in our lives, we come into that relationship
with Jesus. And we hear the power of his word.
And that word starts working in our hearts and
our lives and changing us from the inside out.
Guess what? It's going to be painful as well.
Why? Because he's cutting the cancer out. He's
getting rid of it. He's throwing the sin back
to Satan. And he's filling you with his light.
Nobody has ever gone to the doctor with a broken
bone. And not have them do something painful
in order to fix it. Sometimes pain is needed
in order to fix things and bring about the best
good. And the truth will do exactly that. The
word of God will do exactly that. Our words need
healing. Just like our hearts do. Just like our
souls do. And as we come to close, I'm going
to leave you with a couple more verses. We're
going to go to prayer really quick here. I promise
you, you're going to be surprised how fast we
do this. So Matthew 12, verse 34. Jesus said,
Brood of vipers, how can you? Being evil, speak
good things, for out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks. And in Proverbs 4, verse
23. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out
of it springs the issues of life. When you come
to Jesus and you let him start healing you, you'll
find that the words you speak, even just starting
with the way you think, because we think in words,
right? When you come to Jesus, you start to have
that relationship. The Holy Spirit convicts you.
When you start healing, you'll find that the
words that are coming to your mind and coming
out of your heart will change. Right? There's
a lot of us that have gone through that process.
I know when I came out of the military, especially.
Vulgar language was the biggest part of my vocabulary.
Big part. Like a lot of veterans. That's right,
keep your head down, Albert. It's true, right?
Brian, I'm sure you can attest to this. Yep.
And a lot of us, oh, I need to work on my cursing.
And it's not just cursing. A lot of us are out
there, we have other... Biased, nasty things
that come out of our mouths. Things that come
out of our minds. Things that come out of our
hearts. Because it's not the fact that you need
to work on your vocabulary. It's the fact that
you need to work on your heart. Sometimes easier
said than done. Somebody cuts you off in traffic.
You want to say some choice words and maybe throw
them a choice finger or two, right? Exactly.
Give them the finger, right? Is that how we should
be responding? No. But why? Why is that coming?
Because that's what's in our hearts. That's an
area that we need to work on. That's an area
that we need to go to Jesus, pray on, leave at
his foot, and then let the Holy Spirit work to
heal. These days, I don't cuss nearly as much.
Am I going to stand here and lie and say I never
cuss? No. There's nobody in this room who never
says a bad word. Right? Maybe David, I don't
know. But we all have this problem. We all have
this conviction, right? But that's how we overcome
it. We don't overcome it on our own. We don't
fix it. We need to recognize the fact that these
things that we say and the reasons why we say
them are because of what's in our heart. And
we need to change our heart. The only way we
heal, though, is going to Jesus, accepting him
as our Lord and Savior, taking our sins to him
and repenting of them. Ah, there's the key. I
had the sinful nature. It needs to change. I'm
sorry. Forgive me. Help me to change it. That's
the key, though. Help me to change it. Plain
and simple. Before you could change what comes
out of your mouth, you had to change what comes
out of your heart. The less of the world that's
in it, the more the Lord is in it. And the more
the Lord is in you, I don't know what you're
pointing at, but okay. Yes, I'm aware. Thank
you, though. The more of the Lord that's in you,
though, the more life that you will bring to
the world that's around you. And on that note,
let us pray. Lord, we thank you for bringing
us together in fellowship and worship of you.
We recognize that we've all been tainted by the
world and the places that we've been, and we
fail when we should be speaking in your love.
We ask that you do the work in our hearts that
we can't do. We ask that you fix the things that
we cannot fix and guide us to the places we need
to be and heal us. And we recognize the fact
that sometimes that healing is going to be painful.
But please heal us and please use us to speak
your word of life into the world. And let us
show you to a world in our thoughts, our words,
and our actions. And all his people said, amen
and amen. Remember, as you leave, you are loved
and you are blessed. So go and be the church.
Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars with
Pastor Burton. Until next time, take care and
God bless.