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. Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary.
It's great to have you with us. This episode
is actually a fallback episode. As you recall,
over the summer and everything, we were upgrading
our technology. We were installing a new computer,
some other new stuff. We ran into a bunch of
issues because our old one just crashed on us.
And for whatever reason, a lot of our stuff,
whether it was streaming live and the audio wasn't
there or it just wouldn't go live at all, or
a number of other issues. There were a handful
of messages that just did not get out there.
And finally, I've had some time. I'm getting
around, so I'm going through and I'm recording
them now just for you so that you can still hear
those messages that everybody else got to hear
live there in the sanctuary. And much like the
last episode that was released, I might go down
some rabbit trails that weren't there before,
so you might be getting something new. Let's
face it, this is me, and that's what I do. I'm
not the only one. There's lots of pastors out
there who do it. I'm going to say I probably
learned it from some of the best of them, like
Pastor Marcus McClain out there. He's the first
one to admit, even when I was going through seminary,
that, hey, rabbit trails are going to happen.
So with that said, I'm going to hop into this
one. As many of you know, over the summer, I
went on a missions trip. to Cherokee, North Carolina.
It was pretty cool. I went out with Pastor Mark
and Chaplain Jacob from down south in the Rio
communities and everything, and it was really
good. We met a lot of great people. More importantly,
we were involved in ministering to the community
there, talking to people, praying with people.
you know, and families. We were giving out clothing
to children. We had a little block party. We
had free food for everybody, all sorts of stuff,
you know, Bibles, various resources, you know,
for people to come out, have a good time, and
just, you know, it was a blessing. It was a blessing
for them. It was a blessing for us, you know,
and it just, it really reminded me of just how
important it is that we support missions and
missionaries. So, you know, please, you know,
pray. And if you find in your heart to give to
these people, please do. If you're not sure of
some legit ones or, you know, or anything, reach
out, you know, or hit us up on social media because
there are some out there that are absolutely
wonderful. You know, I know the people personally,
so I definitely recommend them. You know, and
so we're going to go from there. Now, during
this trip, I met a new friend and right after
we all went our different ways, he messaged me
with a great question. And it's our topic for
today. And that question was, what is spiritual
debris? Well, let's start with the definition
of debris. Looking it up, it's defined as follows.
Debris. Scattered pieces of waste or remains.
Loose natural material consisting especially
of broken pieces of rock. Okay, cool. So that's
our definition. How can it present itself spiritually?
Well, in a number of ways, really. Isolation.
Self -doubt. impatience, anxiety, self -sabotage.
And these are just a few of the many ways that
it can manifest. If we turn to 2 Corinthians
3, verses 1 -3, so that's 2 Corinthians 3, verses
1 -3, the word says, letters of commendation
from you. You are our epistle written in our
hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly you
are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written
not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living
God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets
of flesh. That is of the heart. Now, just looking
at the first part of this really sums it up.
Spiritual debris lands in our path with the Lord
to take our focus off of Him. It's there to steer
us away from Him. It's made of those things that
interfere with our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Some of our greatest leaders in Scripture have
shown the debris in their lives. Look at Moses
in Exodus chapter 4. So in Exodus chapter 4,
specifically verses 10 through 13, scripture
records, Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord,
I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you
have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of
speech and slow of tongue. So the Lord said to
him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the
mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have
not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will
be with your mouth and teach you what you shall
say. But he said, O my Lord, please send by the
hand of whomever else you may send. See, God
was trying to send him on a mission. But Moses'
problem, he's filled with self -doubt and letting
his negative thoughts and his negative self -image
take a hold of him to the point that he's listening
to the world more than he's listening to God.
He's actually arguing with God. We see it right
here. He's arguing with him. He's like a kid
arguing with a parent. It's not fair. He's caught
up in his emotions. He's scared. And even though
God is counter -punching him at every turn, he
just won't go. He's being stubborn. He's hard
-headed like most of us. Every single one of
us has been at some point and still are at some
things, right? We become stubborn. Why? Because
we let the sin of pride into us and we just won't
let go. Sometimes this is disguised as, well,
that's just the way we've always done it. It's
a failure to adapt is what it is. It's complacency
in our lives. We just keep treading water and
waiting for the tide to go back out to sea. However,
what we don't realize is that when that tide
goes back out to sea, it's going to take us with
it. So instead of adapting, to what's around
us, we become spiritually complacent and we stop
growing in our relationship with God. Oh, I'm
good. I'm saved. Right? We get to that point
where we believe the lie that we're good enough.
We stop looking for ways to grow spiritually.
Right? Matthew 7, verse 16, the word says, you
will know them by their fruits. When we become
spiritually stagnant, we don't produce any fruit.
We just don't. Do you know what grows in stagnant
water? Mold and parasites. That's it. You can't
drink it. Nothing good comes from it. It has
to go through a purification process, right?
There has to be something there to filter out
all this garbage, all this gunk, right? So you
see, God is warning us all. He's warning each
and every single one of us. And he's been warning
us since the very beginning that we need to change
the way that we're living. or else. That's why
I hate that song. It's real popular out there
right now. It's like, oh, God says I'm good as
I am. No, you're not. It defeats the whole purpose
of Jesus having to come for us. He's been saying
we have to change from the very, very start.
You know, like he said, he's been warning us
from the beginning that we need to change or
else. But just like Cain, who killed his brother
Abel, we hold on to the grudges, and the wrongdoings
of our past, right? All that just bleh that's
inside of us. We become bitter against God. We
become hardened against God. And more debris
starts to enter our lives because of it. And
it comes in the forms of hatred, jealousy, malice.
We buy into that mentality of, oh, if it feels
good, do it. And we become entitled to believe
that God owes us something instead of it being
the other way around. That's the problem with
prosperity theology. It's that way of thinking
that God owes you something. Some people think
that they can act like a little brat and just
demand things because someone lied to them and
said that they can do that and that God will
give that to them. No! No, he won't! God will
not give you the things that you're not meant
to have. God will not give you the things that
are not... part of His will for you. God will
not give you things that will hurt you or condemn
you. You know, it's like a parent handing a loaded
gun to their kid and telling them, hey, look
down the barrel and pull the trigger. And then
expect nothing but good things to come from it.
I can tell you, nothing good is going to come
from pulling that trigger. To think otherwise
is just stupid, right? It is absolutely stupid.
I don't think I had to even hammer that home.
We should all know this at this point. You know,
matter of fact, let me demonstrate this another
way. Okay? Start off with a few supplies. You're
going to go and you're going to get yourself
a big container, right? Big bucket. And in this,
you're also going to get yourself a cup of oxygen.
You're going to get yourself two cups of hydrogen.
And then you're going to get yourself an electrical
Now, we have our supplies, right? We've got our
container, we've got our oxygen, we've got our
hydrogen, we have an electrical current. All
of these things in and of themselves, right,
completely separate from each other, are good
and fine as they are. If they were people, we
could say that they could live a good life of
serving the Lord, maybe find their way to heaven,
right? Next, You take that oxygen. You take that
hydrogen. And you put them in that container.
They're going to commingle a little bit. That's
about it. Nothing exciting. Not a big deal, right?
However, then you take that electrical current
that's been sitting off to the side. And you
toss that in the container. And what happens?
Boom! There's an explosion! There's a big flash!
Things get exciting! For a brief moment, it's
absolute chaos. It's absolute pandemonium. It's
exciting, right? Someone might even end up hurt
or dead. And that's us getting into the world.
That's us believing the lies. That's us tripping
over the debris instead of listening to God and
changing our course in life. And it's all fleeting.
It's done and just a... Flash in the pan, right?
A brief moment. Philippians chapter four, verse
13, the word says, I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me. It's a pretty popular
verse. We've all heard that, right? Some of us
wear it a lot or have it like in our bios or
whatever. Matter of fact, one of the rings I'm
frequently seen wearing, it's like a little spinner
ring and it has a cross on it and it also has
that. It says Philippians 4 .13, right? So we're
all familiar with it, but I digress. So let's
take all those same supplies. We've got our container.
We've got our oxygen. We have the hydrogen. We
have the electrical charge. And now let's do
it carefully with God. With God. As my grandpa
Flick would say, there's nothing so important
you can't take the time to do it right. So you
set the container down. And you fill it up with
that cup of oxygen. And you fill it a little
bit more with those two cups of hydrogen. And
then carefully, very, very carefully, the safest
way you can, you start to add that electrical
current into the mix. What happens this time?
All of those elements, they start to mix and
they combine to become water. An essential element
of life. In various places, the word talks about
living water. It especially stands out when we
look at the book of John, chapter 4, and learn
about the woman at the well. Right? Matter of
fact, if we turn to Revelation 21, verse 6, the
word says, Revelation 21, verse 6, He said to
me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. I will give of the
fountain of the water of life freely to him who
thirsts. Jesus. Jesus is the living water. Jesus
will guide us through life. Now, water can sometimes
get a little turbulent. Those rapids and those
white waters, right? Waterfalls. When we plummet
for a moment. However, When we look to Jesus
as our navigator in life, when we trust in him
as our good shepherd, we know we'll get through
that water just fine. We'll be guided through
that minefield of debris and we'll come out the
other side very well. We need to trust in the
master who walked on water and called out to
Peter to join him on it in Matthew 14 verse 31.
Which says, And immediately Jesus stretched out
his hand and caught him and said to him, O you
of little faith, why did you doubt? That spiritual
debris wouldn't have done anything had Peter
just listened to Jesus and kept his eyes on Jesus
and trusted in Jesus. In the strength of Christ,
he would have overcome it all and kept on. Stop
letting the world, stop letting the enemy trip
you up with trivial things. Don't let him add
the electrical current to your life that makes
things go BOOM! Instead, trust in Jesus and let
him be the charge and the change in your life.
Let us pray. Almighty God, we thank you. We thank
you for reminding us how to deal with the debris
that comes before us in our lives. We ask for
your guidance as we surrender ourselves to you.
We ask that you reveal how we take all that you've
spoken to us and apply it in our lives so that
we don't add chaos to it. Help us, especially
in those moments When we can't help ourselves,
let us be a reflection of all that you've done
for us and all that you do. Let us be that beacon
that points the way to you and your kingdom.
Allow us to look to you and follow your lead
to overcome that debris in our life and through
your strength. Amen. Remember, you are loved
and you are. Blessed. Now go and be the church.
Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars with
Pastor Burton. If this message spoke to you,
or if you would like to help us reach more people,
please like, review, and share our podcast. Until
next time, take care and God bless.