WEBVTT 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.949 here. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this 00:00:16.949 --> 00:00:18.750 time together. We thank you for this time in 00:00:18.750 --> 00:00:21.370 praise and worship, time in fellowship that we 00:00:21.370 --> 00:00:24.690 get. We ask for your healing hands. We know we 00:00:24.690 --> 00:00:26.530 have people here that have been sick. Those are 00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:29.850 suffering. Those have other illnesses and issues. 00:00:31.180 --> 00:00:32.939 whatnot that are bothering them, different health 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:36.200 issues. So we ask that you place your healing 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:38.859 hands on them as a great physician and heal them 00:00:38.859 --> 00:00:41.020 from the top of their heads to the bottoms of 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:42.920 their feet. Place them in front of the right 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:47.100 people, the right professionals that are guided 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:51.899 by you to affect this healing as well. Also for 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.780 our people who aren't here, such as the Deaver 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:57.460 family who are working. The Balloon Fiesta and 00:00:57.460 --> 00:00:59.380 our people that are out and about all over the 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:01.520 place, we ask for a hedge of protection over 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.620 them as well. And really all over our city, as 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:08.640 we know, this week especially has been an incredibly 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:10.819 busy week for our first responders going out 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:14.799 and dealing with various issues, as well as the 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:16.840 elements that have moved in with the wind and 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.519 the rains that have been coming and going. So 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:21.659 we ask for a hedge of protection over everybody 00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:23.719 that's out there and having to brave these elements 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.750 as well. And please guide all of us to safety 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:29.969 and protect all of us as we go out from here 00:01:29.969 --> 00:01:33.750 after your message. In Jesus' name, amen. All 00:01:33.750 --> 00:01:40.049 right, so... I'll pull my notes here, a little 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:42.870 small. There we go. Do you ever find yourself 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:45.409 questioning whether or not you're good enough 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:51.349 for God? You know, maybe you aren't enough for 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:55.340 him to save. You know, or maybe... It's that 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:57.000 others are worth saving, but you're just not. 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:02.459 And, you know, maybe it's a matter of God's redeeming 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:05.060 grace. It's just not a gift that you're worthy 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:07.420 of. It's a gift that you don't think you can 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:11.659 accept. And, you know, if we're honest with ourselves, 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.060 there's times that we all feel like this way. 00:02:14.300 --> 00:02:16.099 We all have these issues that come up in our 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:20.479 lives, right? And we kind of feel like, you know, 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:22.520 we all seen Wayne's World and Wayne and Garth, 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:23.939 and they drop down and, you know, I'm not worthy. 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:26.530 I'm not. worthy, right? And we all kind of feel 00:02:26.530 --> 00:02:29.889 like that sometimes. But the fact of the matter 00:02:29.889 --> 00:02:34.270 is, is you are worthy. You know, we're not unlike 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.210 Paul. We developed a mentality much like Paul 00:02:37.210 --> 00:02:41.409 in Romans 7 verse 15. And he implores the Lord, 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:44.610 and he says, for what I am doing I do not understand, 00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:48.530 for what I will do that I do not practice, but 00:02:48.530 --> 00:02:51.780 what I hate that I do. Right? It's basically 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:54.620 saying, hey, why is it that I keep doing the 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:56.580 things I know I shouldn't do and I keep going 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:58.539 back to them, but the things I know I should 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:03.039 be doing, I just don't. Does that sound familiar 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:07.599 to anybody? Yeah? I'm not alone. Good. I hate 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.139 when I'm on an island. Unless it's a nice sunny 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:13.439 one and I'm on vacation sitting on a beach, you 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.199 know, with a root beer in my hand. You know? 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:19.139 That hasn't happened for a long, long time. But, 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.599 you know, it's that daily struggle we all face. 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:24.139 You know, it's that struggle with sin. It's that 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.259 struggle with our earthly desires that are constantly 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:29.020 coming back. It's that cross that we have to 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.340 pick up and bear and drag with us every step 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:35.379 of the day, every day, right? You know, and it's 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:38.379 an internal struggle because it's a struggle 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:40.719 between our soul and our flesh. Our flesh doesn't 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:42.840 care. Our flesh isn't going to heaven with us. 00:03:43.289 --> 00:03:45.030 Whereas our soul is trying to reconnect to the 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:48.789 Father. It's trying to get there. So it makes 00:03:48.789 --> 00:03:55.789 this turmoil within us. You know, our body, it 00:03:55.789 --> 00:03:58.449 knows it's on a finite schedule. So it very much 00:03:58.449 --> 00:04:01.069 has that attitude. If it feels good, do it. I 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:03.349 only have so much time, so I want to do it. And 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:08.289 I want to do it all. Whereas our soul, that's 00:04:08.289 --> 00:04:12.460 infinite. It goes to the Heavenly Father, right? 00:04:12.580 --> 00:04:15.840 If we believe, it's like, no, this isn't right. 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:19.480 This is a cancer to me. I can't, no, I need to 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:25.699 cut this out. So it's an issue. It's hard. And 00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:27.620 what we need to do is we need to be like Paul. 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:29.839 We need to remember, we need to take these issues 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:33.079 to the Lord. We need to bear them out there for 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:36.350 him. And remember, we don't have to go it alone. 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:38.110 You know, we talked a little bit about this last 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:40.670 week. We don't have to be left to our own devices 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:44.490 to just pick up and go. Matter of fact, that's 00:04:44.490 --> 00:04:47.290 not what God wants. God wants us to go to him, 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:51.189 right? Wants us to go to Jesus. Lord, help me. 00:04:55.129 --> 00:04:57.089 And when we take it to him, we put it at his 00:04:57.089 --> 00:05:00.680 feet. We don't just kind of like the... The old 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:02.339 gag, like here's a dollar and there's a string 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:04.220 and we walk off and we just tug that string back, 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:06.660 right? And pull it back with us. Y 'all know 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:10.339 what I'm talking about? Some of us do. I know 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:11.980 you grew up in England. They probably have like 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:13.579 tokens or something over there. I don't know. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:20.000 But still, you know, that's how we are though. 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:21.839 We like to go, we're like, you know what? Here's 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.779 my sin. I'm going to put it down here and then 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:26.139 I'm going to walk away and I'm going to just 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:28.240 pull that rope. And I'm going to jerk it right 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:29.860 back over because I'm not really ready to give 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:34.040 it up yet. And we keep pocketing with us. When 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:35.579 we take it to the Lord and we give it to him, 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:37.800 we don't just give it to him. We take that rope, 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:40.160 we cut it, or we just give that to him as well. 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.199 Like, nope, no more. Personally, I say give him 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.639 the rope because those of us that know we have 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:46.680 a rope, we're probably going to hang ourselves 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:48.000 with it, right? We're going to do something stupid. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:50.439 That's what we do. We're like, ooh, there's another 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:54.060 sand. Let me tie off onto that. That's just the 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:57.500 way we work. It's part of our human nature. We 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:00.139 have to remember that it's not about us because 00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:04.000 within our willpower, we're going to fail. We're 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:09.240 going to fail miserably, spectacularly. It's 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:13.180 going to be brutal when we hit rock bottom. Instead, 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:16.199 it's about Jesus, leaning into him, trusting 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:18.860 in him, asking him to guide us, following him 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:26.100 as our good shepherd. We are the sheep. Now on 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:27.420 that note, that's going to take us in the heart 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:30.180 of our message today. So we're going to flip 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:32.139 over one more chapter. We're going to go to Romans 00:06:32.139 --> 00:06:34.560 8. We're going to pick up where we left off last 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:43.079 week. So Romans 8, verses 31 through 39. So Romans 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:51.339 8, verses 31 through 39. All right, and the word 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:55.629 says, I'll look down here a little easier for 00:06:55.629 --> 00:07:00.750 me to see. What then shall we say to these things? 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:05.129 If God is for us, who can be against us? Who, 00:07:05.389 --> 00:07:08.470 excuse me, he who did not spare his own son, 00:07:08.529 --> 00:07:13.750 but delivered him up for us all. How shall he 00:07:13.750 --> 00:07:17.910 not with him also freely give us all things? 00:07:18.189 --> 00:07:21.509 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? 00:07:22.250 --> 00:07:26.250 It is God who justifies. It is he who condemns. 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:30.569 It is Christ who died and furthermore is also 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:33.750 risen, who is even at the right hand of God, 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:38.009 who also makes intercession for us. Who shall 00:07:38.009 --> 00:07:42.490 separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation 00:07:42.490 --> 00:07:47.949 or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:54.639 or peril or sword? As it is written, for your 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:59.439 sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:05.160 as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in these things 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.220 we are more like conquerors through him who loved 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:11.379 us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:14.079 life nor angels nor principalities nor powers 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:18.240 nor things present nor things to come nor height 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.819 nor depth nor any other created thing Shall be 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:27.000 able to separate us from the love of God, which 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:32.259 is in Jesus Christ our Lord. The last part of 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:38.220 verse 31 there. I'll just pull it up here. Last 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:40.080 part of verse 31 there. It's often used as a 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.759 rally cry, isn't it? I hear a lot of pastors 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:47.940 like to use that as a rally cry. A lot of motivational 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.710 speakers. Not to talk down, because there's a 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:53.330 lot of people that are not really pastors, normally 00:08:53.330 --> 00:08:55.370 more so motivation speakers. They can do a good 00:08:55.370 --> 00:08:58.289 job though, right? And they'll still use this 00:08:58.289 --> 00:09:01.649 as a bit of a rally cry. It likes to fire people 00:09:01.649 --> 00:09:04.049 up, you know? It's one of those things, it's 00:09:04.049 --> 00:09:08.269 like, hey, you have power. But the way it's interpreted 00:09:08.269 --> 00:09:13.289 is like, you have power over the world. And then 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:17.190 going into verse 32, God's freely going to give 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:20.000 us all things, right? So that's what it says, 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.320 but that's also taken out of context. Because 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:27.960 none of us, not one of us, has God's power over 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:30.419 the world. If we did, we wouldn't need him. It 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:31.940 would negate the whole purpose of us going to 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:34.080 him and negate the whole purpose of us being 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.440 filled with the Holy Spirit. You know who has 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:41.259 the power? He that's in you, right? The Holy 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:44.360 Spirit, Jesus, God. That's where the power is. 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:48.120 We go to him. Without him, we have nothing. We 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:58.580 are. I said, it's he that is in you who has the 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:06.919 power. He, he's for you. And through him, that's 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.120 when we can start to do things because we go 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:14.019 to him and we ask for things in accordance with 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:17.559 his will. That's the big thing. It's in accordance 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:20.399 with his will. God's not just going to give us 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:26.100 something because we desire it, right? Go out 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:29.259 there and I look at my beat up car. Like, you 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:31.179 know what? Oh, a new car. Lord, give me a car. 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.700 Boom, new car. Nope, doesn't work that way. Not 00:10:33.700 --> 00:10:37.419 in his will. Right? Last week I talked about 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:40.240 that. You had the prayer with Colonel Helen Moore, 00:10:40.379 --> 00:10:43.379 you know, in the movie, We Were Soldiers. You 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:44.700 know, and it starts off good and it gets to the 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:48.080 end. And then he digresses and goes, and Lord, 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.120 forget their hidden prayers and let us blow every 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:52.960 single one of them away. Oh, wait a minute, that's 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.779 not in his will? Hmm. So he's not just going 00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:59.559 to give you anything and everything just because 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:02.399 you ask for it. The part that they take away, 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:08.000 the context that's there is in his will. You 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.220 know, he's not just going to give us anything 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:11.100 just because we want to. It'd be silly if he 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.889 did. It would be utterly silly. It's like lighting 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:16.350 a child on fire because they want to be the human 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:19.149 torch for Halloween. How much sense does that 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:24.149 make? Not a whole lot. God's not going to do 00:11:24.149 --> 00:11:27.990 things, A, that are meant to harm us, and two, 00:11:28.190 --> 00:11:30.269 he's not going to do things that go against his 00:11:30.269 --> 00:11:34.529 character. He just won't. So we're going to look 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:37.330 at the first few verses here as we go through, 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:39.289 and we're going to look at that context as well. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:44.480 I thought I had a slide here. I guess I do not. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:53.039 Oops. That's okay. Scroll back and pull that 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.059 up. So basically what we're looking at, the first 00:11:55.059 --> 00:12:00.080 four verses, 31 through 34 here, okay? And what 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.659 they're saying is, God, he loves you deeply. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.779 He loves you so much, in fact, that he sacrificed 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:08.360 his son, right? He sent Jesus to come, live a 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:12.059 perfect, sinless life, and then take on our sin. 00:12:12.440 --> 00:12:16.220 your sin, my sin, everyone's sin, to the cross. 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:22.139 To go through a sham of a trial, to be embarrassed 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:25.779 and ridiculed and put down and slammed and tortured 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:31.000 and ultimately put to death. For us. For you. 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:38.350 For everyone. For all the wrongs that we've done 00:12:38.350 --> 00:12:40.409 in our life. No big, it doesn't matter how big 00:12:40.409 --> 00:12:41.909 they are. It doesn't matter how small they are. 00:12:42.769 --> 00:12:45.509 You know, matter of fact, let's frame that. Let's 00:12:45.509 --> 00:12:49.409 put that in perspective. Adam and Eve, they ate 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:53.289 the fruit. One small sin. And what happened? 00:12:55.169 --> 00:12:59.029 That's right, Twinkie. They lost paradise. Lost 00:12:59.029 --> 00:13:05.269 paradise. Go to Saul. One small sin. What did 00:13:05.269 --> 00:13:13.080 it cost him? A kingdom. The whole point. It doesn't 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:17.620 matter how big or how small it is. The punishment 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:20.960 is going to be heavy. And those are small examples 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.720 of what it will cost us if we don't believe and 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.039 we don't give ourselves over to Jesus as our 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:33.960 Lord and Savior. They're huge. Huge punishments. 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:37.860 Why are they so big? When you think of it this 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:43.059 way, why can't we see God right now? What's that? 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:47.799 We'd be dead. That's right. Because God and sin 00:13:47.799 --> 00:13:51.980 cannot exist in the exact same place. It just 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:54.159 can't happen. Anywhere God goes, if there is 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.080 sin there, it is smited. It is like it never 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:01.059 existed. It is gone. Faster than a blink of an 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:06.659 eye. You think about that now. The sin that we 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:08.720 still carry, the way we turn away from him, the 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:12.500 things that we want to do. I mean, I was at work 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:16.940 the other day. I had to write up a report. I 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:18.879 asked one of the dispatchers, hey, can I borrow 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:22.059 a pen? I left mine on my bus. Yeah, no problem. 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:25.279 Here you go. I get done with my paperwork. I 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.779 file my paperwork. I get all the way back to 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:32.960 my car. It's like, oops. I still got their pen. 00:14:35.209 --> 00:14:38.509 Now I clicked and I took it back, but how often 00:14:38.509 --> 00:14:41.809 has any of us asked someone for something as 00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:45.389 silly as a pen or a post -it note and then walked 00:14:45.389 --> 00:14:47.049 right out the door and didn't even give it a 00:14:47.049 --> 00:14:48.330 second thought and then later on we're like, 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:54.029 where did this come from? Did we not just sin? 00:14:57.210 --> 00:14:58.750 Even the thought of like, you know what, do I 00:14:58.750 --> 00:15:00.129 really want to keep this or do I want to take 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:02.889 it back? Guess what? Now you're thinking about 00:15:02.889 --> 00:15:07.409 it. Now you're willingly sinning. Growing up, 00:15:07.429 --> 00:15:08.809 how many of us were perfect children listening 00:15:08.809 --> 00:15:14.950 to everything that our parents said? Lord, don't 00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:18.149 strike her down right now, please. No, none of 00:15:18.149 --> 00:15:21.470 us, though. None of us. Every single one of us 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:24.669 misbehaved, didn't do what we're supposed to, 00:15:24.750 --> 00:15:27.529 and broke the law of Moses, right? The same law 00:15:27.529 --> 00:15:30.029 Jesus himself said he didn't come to abolish. 00:15:33.090 --> 00:15:34.909 That's why we don't get to see God right now. 00:15:36.670 --> 00:15:38.909 Because if we did, it wouldn't end well, not 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:46.629 for any of us, not a single one of us. You know, 00:15:46.629 --> 00:15:52.070 it would completely decimate us. And since it's 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:54.490 in us, that means we'd be destroyed. Since it's 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.649 in us, we'd be destroyed. Jesus came and died 00:15:58.649 --> 00:16:03.629 so that we'd be covered in his blood. And therefore, 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:05.929 we'd be able to be reunited with the Father. 00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:10.529 See, it gets hung up. God will give you what 00:16:10.529 --> 00:16:13.450 you ask for. What does the word tell us? What 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:17.309 does the word teach us about our rewards? That 00:16:17.309 --> 00:16:19.909 they're stored up in heaven, right? Where rust 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:22.850 cannot destroy and moss cannot destroy and all 00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:24.889 that. We've gone through that. We've all heard 00:16:24.889 --> 00:16:27.710 this. It's like, yeah, we'll have some blessings 00:16:27.710 --> 00:16:30.389 here, but where are our best blessings going 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:34.529 to be at up there? I don't know about you, but... 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:36.580 If all my blessings came to me right now, I wouldn't 00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:38.159 want to go to heaven because I'd be leaving it 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:42.179 all behind every single little bit. What would 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:43.659 the point of going to heaven be at that point? 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:49.019 Oh, God's there. Oh, I got my rewards. Oh, well, 00:16:49.100 --> 00:16:51.419 guess what? That's human nature, right? That's 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:54.519 how we look at it. That's what we revert back 00:16:54.519 --> 00:17:00.360 to every single time. So instead, our true rewards 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.590 are waiting for us. and wait. The gifts, the 00:17:03.590 --> 00:17:05.710 things that we ask God for, he's going to give 00:17:05.710 --> 00:17:07.710 us so much better. The word tells us that, and 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.910 it's all going to be waiting for us there. But 00:17:10.910 --> 00:17:12.630 it's a painstaking process. It's a painstaking 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:17.089 process in love. And Jesus bore that pain and 00:17:17.089 --> 00:17:20.029 separation from the Father when he took on our 00:17:20.029 --> 00:17:22.750 sin. You think that when he was at the cross, 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:26.569 when he was on the cross, what did he say? Father, 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:31.119 why have you forsaken me? Why? He'd been connected 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:36.740 to the Father from the very beginning. For all 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:39.900 time. But as soon as he went up on that cross 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:43.660 and he took on our sin, he was separated. Even 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:47.420 for a brief moment. And how painful that was 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:54.619 for him. And he did that for us. The ultimate 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:59.190 love. The ultimate love. I said, sometimes we 00:17:59.190 --> 00:18:01.609 wonder, am I worthy? You are worthy. God sees 00:18:01.609 --> 00:18:04.390 you. Jesus sees you as worthy. You are loved. 00:18:05.910 --> 00:18:08.150 And because he shed his blood, as long as you 00:18:08.150 --> 00:18:10.690 accept him as your Lord and Savior, and you take 00:18:10.690 --> 00:18:12.049 your sin to him, and you do everything you can 00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:15.069 to repent of it, guess what? You're saved. You're 00:18:15.069 --> 00:18:19.730 redeemed. The price has been paid. When we look 00:18:19.730 --> 00:18:26.279 at verse 34 here. Sometimes it's still hard to 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:28.059 get caught up. It's like, Jesus is going to condemn 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:31.359 me. Why would Jesus go through everything that 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:36.720 he did just to condemn you? Like, you know what? 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:38.460 I went and I took all that on, but you still 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:40.180 messed up. So guess what? You're out of here. 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:42.920 See yourself at the door. Don't let it hit you 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:52.059 where I made that crack. That's not how it works. 00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:59.099 He won't turn us away. It just doesn't make sense. 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.980 He came to earth on the ultimate rescue mission. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:04.859 That's one of the things about a lot of military 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:06.980 movies even, right? A lot of them have a rescue 00:19:06.980 --> 00:19:10.099 mission. We love rescue missions. Someone's going 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:12.160 to get saved. There's going to be lots of action, 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:15.599 right? Things are going to be going boom, right? 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.720 Or you're going to get that secret squirrel like 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.059 Mission Impossible status where they're going 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:21.940 on cables and crawling through ceilings and ducks 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:25.660 and stuff, right? But it's exciting. The Bible's 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.210 exciting. It is the ultimate rescue mission. 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:30.750 Jesus came here on the ultimate rescue mission 00:19:30.750 --> 00:19:32.609 for each and every one of us, for every one of 00:19:32.609 --> 00:19:37.289 our souls. Not only that, not only did he come 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:39.970 to save us for sin, but what it's showing us 00:19:39.970 --> 00:19:42.349 here is that he intercedes for us in heaven. 00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:46.170 He's up there right now interceding on our behalf. 00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.450 Representing every single one of us. While Satan's 00:19:50.450 --> 00:19:52.109 trying to pick us apart and be like, oh, but 00:19:52.109 --> 00:19:53.710 look at what he did and look at what she did. 00:19:53.789 --> 00:19:55.849 And they did this and on that date and on that 00:19:55.849 --> 00:19:59.329 date. Oh, and look what happened with this. While 00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:06.329 he's picking us apart, it's like drip, drip, 00:20:06.410 --> 00:20:14.890 drip, drip. Covered. Paid. What's the price of 00:20:14.890 --> 00:20:18.769 a life to begin with? Last I checked, there's 00:20:18.769 --> 00:20:20.769 not a single life on this planet that has a price 00:20:20.769 --> 00:20:24.589 on it. They're all priceless. No matter who you 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:26.609 are, no matter where you come from or what your 00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:28.789 story is, every single life is priceless. And 00:20:28.789 --> 00:20:33.390 Jesus sees it the same way. So every drop of 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:41.710 blood that poured out. How many of you all have 00:20:41.710 --> 00:20:48.779 seen Star Trek? Yeah, right? What was it? Two, 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:49.980 they're at the con, right? That's when where 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:55.619 Spock died. What's he tell Kirk? Because the 00:20:55.619 --> 00:20:57.119 whole thing is like the one life for the many. 00:20:57.259 --> 00:21:05.180 What does he say? My life for yours. The Bible 00:21:05.180 --> 00:21:12.500 tells us about that. Right? No greater love than 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:19.269 to sacrifice one's own life for the many. We 00:21:19.269 --> 00:21:24.289 see that a lot. Jesus' life for the many, for 00:21:24.289 --> 00:21:30.130 all time. God doesn't see us as being imperfect. 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:32.890 Instead, he sees his Holy Spirit in us. He sees 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:35.650 the blood of Christ upon us. And because of that, 00:21:35.769 --> 00:21:38.069 he therefore sees perfection in his own eyes. 00:21:38.109 --> 00:21:45.750 He sees Jesus. He sees love. Our sin and guilt 00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:48.289 removed and washed clean. From the moment that 00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:50.930 we accept Jesus and profess him as our Lord and 00:21:50.930 --> 00:21:58.849 Savior. Moving into verses 35 and 36. Aha, I 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:03.750 do have a slide for that one. We need to recognize 00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:05.170 that Paul, when he was writing to the church, 00:22:05.309 --> 00:22:09.529 in a way, he was prophesying. He might not have 00:22:09.529 --> 00:22:11.670 even necessarily known it. Because when he was 00:22:11.670 --> 00:22:13.690 writing to the church, he was writing about things 00:22:13.690 --> 00:22:15.690 that the church would soon be having to deal 00:22:15.690 --> 00:22:19.990 with. He was writing out the hypothetical that 00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:25.269 soon became reality. You look at that. Tribulation, 00:22:25.329 --> 00:22:27.450 distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, 00:22:27.609 --> 00:22:32.930 the sword. The fact that we have to die to ourselves, 00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:36.410 right? Every day, die to our sin. Every day, 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:43.269 pick up our cross and carry it. Today, the church, 00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:46.509 Christians around the world are still facing 00:22:46.990 --> 00:22:49.970 The same things, are they not? Some countries 00:22:49.970 --> 00:22:54.430 more so than others. You look at China. Yeah, 00:22:54.430 --> 00:22:56.630 Christians, they load up in a train. They travel 00:22:56.630 --> 00:23:00.789 for hours just to get to a place by a certain 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:04.589 time. And hopefully they're on time because if 00:23:04.589 --> 00:23:06.009 they're not, then they're locked out. They miss 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:08.009 out. But then they go on, they sit in a room 00:23:08.009 --> 00:23:10.490 in secret and they wait until a certain hour 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:13.289 to be released from it. They take the scripture 00:23:13.289 --> 00:23:15.670 and they memorize it piece by piece. And when 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:19.869 they're done, They destroy it. It's gone. Because 00:23:19.869 --> 00:23:26.349 if they get caught with it, jail, very well their 00:23:26.349 --> 00:23:29.250 life. Kind of take that for granted here, don't 00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:32.150 we? Same thing, the first time I heard of something 00:23:32.150 --> 00:23:34.230 like that was I was in the Mexico Military Institute. 00:23:34.329 --> 00:23:36.289 I was still in school. And we had a student that 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:39.029 came over. Their father was a pilot there from 00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:44.660 Iran. Same thing, telling us. How nice it was 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:46.640 to be able to go to church and be able to sit 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:49.279 down and hear the word and not have to fear and 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.420 be able to talk to others and not have to fear. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.579 Because where they went, they went out into the 00:23:55.579 --> 00:24:00.180 desert to a specific place. If they weren't there 00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:01.859 on time and they missed out, they were there 00:24:01.859 --> 00:24:03.400 on time. They went down into this bunker for 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:05.980 the day. These doors at the specified time are 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:07.700 closed. There are people outside that would. 00:24:08.259 --> 00:24:09.900 rake the sand and everything over it so it would 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:11.880 be camouflaged, nobody could see it, and they 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:13.359 wouldn't be able to get out until nightfall. 00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:20.799 I know Brian's pretty, but I don't want to be 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:22.660 stuck in a room with him until nightfall necessarily. 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:28.759 I love you, man. We've got better things to do, 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:30.279 but we take that kind of stuff for granted here 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.200 in the U .S., don't we? A lot of countries, we 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:38.730 take that kind of stuff for granted. But even 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:42.210 here in the U .S., we still see martyrs. We still 00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:45.910 see things happening. You could call it political 00:24:45.910 --> 00:24:47.910 assassination. You could call it what you want. 00:24:48.369 --> 00:24:50.150 Charlie Kirk is not the only Christian that's 00:24:50.150 --> 00:24:55.170 been killed for his beliefs. Contrary to what 00:24:55.170 --> 00:24:59.069 the press might have you believe, if you actually 00:24:59.069 --> 00:25:02.769 take a look at how often and how more frequently 00:25:02.769 --> 00:25:04.910 it's happening when churches are being attacked. 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:10.160 It's just a few months ago. I think it was Minnesota. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:14.720 One of the pastors was running late and just 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:16.539 happened to see a guy in a truck pulling in with 00:25:16.539 --> 00:25:20.680 an arsenal of weapons. He got out with his rifle. 00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:23.160 The guy got out with his rifle. I want to say 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:25.740 it was something. He went to go and hurt and 00:25:25.740 --> 00:25:28.700 kill people. And this guy put him, this pastor 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:31.380 put him down while waiting for the security guard 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:34.210 to even get out there. They were under attack. 00:25:34.450 --> 00:25:37.809 Our churches are under attack. The body is under 00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:42.210 attack. That attack just varies in its methods 00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:48.329 from one place to another. Why is that? Well, 00:25:48.349 --> 00:25:51.309 the world is trying to force us out. The world 00:25:51.309 --> 00:25:52.890 does not want us here. Why does the world not 00:25:52.890 --> 00:25:55.210 want us here? Well, the world is not godly. The 00:25:55.210 --> 00:25:59.630 world is ruled over by Satan, right? Satan is 00:25:59.630 --> 00:26:04.109 referred to as the prince of this world. We like 00:26:04.109 --> 00:26:06.750 to say, oh, it's God, it's God. No, right now 00:26:06.750 --> 00:26:12.930 it's Satan. Satan has control. Satan's trying 00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:15.430 to push us out. He's doing anything and everything 00:26:15.430 --> 00:26:18.210 in his power to get us to take our eyes off of 00:26:18.210 --> 00:26:20.630 Jesus and to turn away from him and walk the 00:26:20.630 --> 00:26:23.569 other direction. Doesn't matter if we know the 00:26:23.569 --> 00:26:25.069 word, as long as we're not applying it to our 00:26:25.069 --> 00:26:28.569 life, just turn away and walk. It's okay. And 00:26:28.569 --> 00:26:30.930 much like a politician, lots of empty promises 00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:41.630 to come. I will give you the world. Yet we're 00:26:41.630 --> 00:26:44.670 still going to face hardships, trials, tribulations, 00:26:44.970 --> 00:26:49.009 lies imparted by Satan and his various ministers, 00:26:49.130 --> 00:26:53.910 people that they've confused and twisted up, 00:26:53.950 --> 00:27:01.839 tricked into believing them. However, as believers, 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:07.299 as long as we don't give in to that, we keep 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:09.519 going to Christ over and over again. We keep 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:11.619 talking to him that's in us, right? The Holy 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:14.619 Spirit. Praying and doing the best that we can. 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:19.839 There's not a thing that they can do that can 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:22.619 take us away from the love of Jesus Christ. Not 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:27.119 a single thing. Jesus loves us no matter what 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:29.200 the pain and the suffering that we will endure 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.460 here. should serve as nothing more than a guiding 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:36.059 light to him, to his kingdom. And therefore, 00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:38.759 he's able to work through us to bring other people, 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:41.640 right? Because when we go and we love him more 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:43.660 and more, we have that deeper relationship every 00:27:43.660 --> 00:27:45.720 single day. We can go to people, we say, hey, 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.880 Jesus did this for me. He can do this for you 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:49.839 too. You're suffering with alcohol. You're suffering 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:54.059 with drugs. You're suffering with prostitution 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:57.960 or gambling or whatever it is. He can take care 00:27:57.960 --> 00:27:59.680 of you. He can heal you. He can fix you when 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:01.359 he loves you enough. He'd be more than happy 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:08.019 to do it. Looking at the last few verses here. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:26.680 It talks about powers, right? Nor angels or principalities 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:31.700 or powers. We're powers. Anybody know? They're 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:34.319 those unseen things that are being done by Satan 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:41.059 and his ministers. Specifically Satan and his 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:48.000 demons. This is also mentioned in Ephesians chapter 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:53.900 6 verse 12. Ephesians 6 verse 12, the word says, 00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:56.400 for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.519 but against principalities, against powers, and 00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:01.839 against the rulers of darkness in this age. Ooh, 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:05.259 powers. Against spiritual hosts of wickedness 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:10.660 in the heavenly places. The spiritual war. That 00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:14.039 battle of the immortals for our souls, right? 00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:17.940 God and his angels versus Satan and his demons. 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:24.380 Those. Broken, evil, fallen creatures whose sole 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:26.380 purpose of existence has been to turn people 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:29.079 away from the light and life that is Jesus Christ. 00:29:29.619 --> 00:29:33.519 To keep us in bondage and sin so that like them, 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:42.279 we will be condemned to hell. That ultimate condemnation 00:29:42.279 --> 00:29:44.380 being, we don't get to be with the Father. We 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:49.119 are separated from the Father for eternity. The 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.859 true crying and gnashing of teeth. Because as 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:55.980 painful as that was for Jesus for a moment, how 00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:57.500 painful is that going to be when it becomes an 00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:05.460 eternity? So they very much have that mentality. 00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:06.880 It's like, well, if I'm going to go down, I'm 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:08.579 going to take as many down kicking and screaming 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:14.000 as I can. We're going down together. Satan and 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.700 his demons, they know exactly where they're going. 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:17.880 As much as they may fight it, they already know. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:21.619 It's kind of like when you're a kid. You're like, 00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:22.980 you know what? I'm going to get in trouble. I'm 00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:24.099 going to have to take my licks for this, but 00:30:24.099 --> 00:30:29.460 I'm going to do it anyway. That's where they 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:38.079 are. So don't listen to their lies, not even 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:40.339 for a second when they say you're not good enough. 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:44.380 Because in God's eyes and by the love of Christ, 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:48.980 by God, you are good enough. Romans 38, 37, and 00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:52.980 I promise you we're almost done. Romans 8, verse 00:30:52.980 --> 00:30:56.099 37 says, Yet in all these things we are more 00:30:56.099 --> 00:30:58.359 than conquerors through him who loved us. Well, 00:30:58.420 --> 00:31:02.440 if we also flip back to 1 John chapter 4, 1 John 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:06.940 chapter 4, verse 4 specifically, we also see 00:31:06.940 --> 00:31:12.140 this. So 1 John 4, 4 says, You are of God that 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:14.259 will children and have overcome them because 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:19.000 he is in you. is greater than he who is in the 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:21.019 world. It's because of Jesus Christ. It's because 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:23.099 the Holy Spirit, that power that's available 00:31:23.099 --> 00:31:27.460 to you for help. Yes, the power is in you because 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:30.339 of the Holy Spirit to you, right? That doesn't 00:31:30.339 --> 00:31:35.940 make it your power. He has the power. We go to 00:31:35.940 --> 00:31:39.539 him with our everything. First and foremost, 00:31:39.700 --> 00:31:41.299 we should get up. We should start the day with 00:31:41.299 --> 00:31:43.380 Jesus. We should end the day with Jesus. We should 00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:48.049 go through the day with Jesus. You know, I like 00:31:48.049 --> 00:31:49.970 to think that if we have a good enough relationship, 00:31:50.190 --> 00:31:55.890 we go through our dreams with Jesus. My wife 00:31:55.890 --> 00:31:57.710 takes out her earplugs one day or gets up to 00:31:57.710 --> 00:31:58.769 go to the restroom in the middle of the night 00:31:58.769 --> 00:32:01.710 and she hears me praying, she'll be able to validate 00:32:01.710 --> 00:32:04.250 that thought for me. Like, yep, you're dreaming 00:32:04.250 --> 00:32:11.890 with Jesus. That'd be cool. And that's that power 00:32:11.890 --> 00:32:13.529 that's there, though, that power that we can 00:32:13.529 --> 00:32:16.930 go to to help keep the enemy at bay. It's that 00:32:16.930 --> 00:32:20.390 power that breaks those chains of bondage and 00:32:20.390 --> 00:32:23.990 freezes from them. It's on us not to go back 00:32:23.990 --> 00:32:27.650 and try to put them back on. Because as much 00:32:27.650 --> 00:32:29.750 as we like to say we break the chains, really, 00:32:29.849 --> 00:32:32.690 what's he doing? He's taking the key. He's opening 00:32:32.690 --> 00:32:35.849 it up, letting the shackle go. There's nothing 00:32:35.849 --> 00:32:38.349 that's stopping us other than ourselves from 00:32:38.349 --> 00:32:42.289 going, click, putting that sucker right back 00:32:42.289 --> 00:32:44.869 on. Lord knows there's enough of us that are 00:32:44.869 --> 00:32:48.420 stupid enough to do it. Wise up. Stop doing it. 00:32:52.420 --> 00:32:55.039 It's that power that cleanses you, that blood, 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:57.380 so that you appear without blemish before the 00:32:57.380 --> 00:33:01.359 Father. A power that helps you to overcome that 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:04.599 sin in your life. And not only that, but to resist 00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:06.700 the temptations, the temptations that come over 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:08.799 and over and over. Saying, hey, remember how 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:11.700 good that felt? Just one more time. One more 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:14.339 time. What's it going to hurt, right? A lot of 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:20.640 alcoholics. Fall for that temptation. I'll use 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.099 them more so than anybody else because they could 00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:27.019 be gone for decades. It's been 20, 30 years. 00:33:27.140 --> 00:33:29.359 I'm going to pick up that one drink. What's it 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:34.140 going to hurt? Maybe even start with a non -alcoholic. 00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:36.660 I remember I liked the taste. I liked the flavor. 00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:44.880 Next thing you know, it's just like before. They're 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:47.359 trash. They're bent over. They're throwing up. 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:50.099 They have a hangover. They're acting irrationally. 00:33:50.099 --> 00:33:53.599 They're not thinking right. It's the same thing 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.259 for each and every one of us, regardless of what 00:33:56.259 --> 00:34:02.119 that sin is. Today's verses should serve, tongue 00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:07.200 -tied. Today's verses should serve as a firm 00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:10.420 reminder of God's love for us. It's one of the 00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:14.309 great promises in all of Scripture. That as believers, 00:34:14.570 --> 00:34:17.590 yes, you will have to face hardships. I will 00:34:17.590 --> 00:34:19.929 have to face hardships. None of us will go without. 00:34:24.710 --> 00:34:28.110 However, as we go through these hardships, we 00:34:28.110 --> 00:34:30.230 see the various ugly things that the world has 00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:32.469 to offer. Some of those things are definitely 00:34:32.469 --> 00:34:37.150 uglier than others. There's going to be those 00:34:37.150 --> 00:34:39.309 times when the darkness gets very overwhelming. 00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:43.110 Incredibly overwhelming. Matter of fact, we're 00:34:43.110 --> 00:34:45.769 so turned up and flipped upside down, we're not 00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:48.889 even sure where the light is anymore, other than 00:34:48.889 --> 00:34:50.510 we think it might be somewhere behind us because 00:34:50.510 --> 00:34:56.469 we're not seeing anything. It's those times that 00:34:56.469 --> 00:35:00.050 we might feel abandoned by Christ, but I can 00:35:00.050 --> 00:35:02.809 assure you nothing is further from the truth. 00:35:03.969 --> 00:35:09.750 He's always with you. Always with you. Nothing 00:35:09.750 --> 00:35:11.630 can keep you separated from him. He's there with 00:35:11.630 --> 00:35:15.469 you. He's within you You get caught up looking 00:35:15.469 --> 00:35:19.150 for the light because we're looking down all 00:35:19.150 --> 00:35:22.809 around But really we should be looking inside 00:35:22.809 --> 00:35:32.409 Look inside and we find them And the closer we 00:35:32.409 --> 00:35:34.309 get to them the faster we move towards them the 00:35:34.309 --> 00:35:40.630 brighter that light gets He's died for you. He's 00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:43.690 forgiven you. As a Christian, as a believer, 00:35:43.829 --> 00:35:46.730 as a follower of Christ, you can rest assured 00:35:46.730 --> 00:35:50.969 that God loves you. God's in love with you. Nothing, 00:35:51.150 --> 00:35:54.269 absolutely nothing can ever separate you from 00:35:54.269 --> 00:35:57.909 that love. It doesn't matter what good you do. 00:35:57.989 --> 00:36:00.050 It doesn't matter what bad you do. He loves you 00:36:00.050 --> 00:36:03.030 just the same. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, that 00:36:03.030 --> 00:36:08.820 love isn't going anywhere. So you don't have 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:13.360 to be afraid. You just have to accept him and 00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:16.960 accept his gift. Profess Jesus Christ as your 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:20.880 Lord and Savior and repent of your sin. Because 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:24.380 there is absolutely nothing in you that is so 00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:30.219 broken that Jesus can't or won't fix it. You 00:36:30.219 --> 00:36:31.820 just have to go to him and you have to trust 00:36:31.820 --> 00:36:37.329 in him. And on that note, let us pray. Father, 00:36:37.389 --> 00:36:39.889 we thank you for this reminder of your great 00:36:39.889 --> 00:36:42.250 love for us. And while we struggle to grapple 00:36:42.250 --> 00:36:46.449 with the world and its darkness, you continue 00:36:46.449 --> 00:36:50.949 to intercede for us. We ask that you keep reminding 00:36:50.949 --> 00:36:53.429 us of this and your greatness and your desire 00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:55.510 for us to be reunited with you in your kingdom. 00:36:56.349 --> 00:36:58.190 We recognize that we're all sinners. We've all 00:36:58.190 --> 00:37:02.489 fallen short of the glory, of your glory. Please 00:37:02.489 --> 00:37:04.489 forgive us of our various sins, those that we 00:37:04.489 --> 00:37:06.940 know, those that we don't know. maybe even those 00:37:06.940 --> 00:37:10.619 that we've forgotten. Help us as we face the 00:37:10.619 --> 00:37:12.639 torments, the pains, and the hardships of this 00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:17.519 world. And remind us, help us to always know 00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:21.460 that we belong to you as family, as your adopted 00:37:21.460 --> 00:37:23.800 sons and daughters covered in the blood of Jesus 00:37:23.800 --> 00:37:28.280 Christ. And deliver us from these various darknesses 00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:32.699 as we face them. Help us to have a voice that 00:37:32.699 --> 00:37:38.619 points to you and your love and your glory. Your 00:37:38.619 --> 00:37:43.860 grace and your mercy help us to remember. We 00:37:43.860 --> 00:37:47.360 need to make sure that we never take up that 00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:49.300 place at center stage, that place in the limelight 00:37:49.300 --> 00:37:54.000 that truly belongs to you. And then when that 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.840 temptation comes or something happens, where 00:37:56.840 --> 00:37:59.039 something might even happen that could start 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:01.000 to point in that direction, that we remember 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.099 to point to you and give all glory and all credit 00:38:04.099 --> 00:38:08.190 to you. You're the one who truly deserves. We 00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:12.030 thank you and we love you. In Jesus' name, all 00:38:12.030 --> 00:38:14.670 of his people said, amen and amen. Remember, 00:38:14.869 --> 00:38:16.349 as you leave here, you are loved and you are 00:38:16.349 --> 00:38:20.650 blessed. That's right. Amen, Twinkie. So go and 00:38:20.650 --> 00:38:25.230 be the church. Thank you for joining us at Healing 00:38:25.230 --> 00:38:28.389 Scars with Pastor Burton. If this message spoke 00:38:28.389 --> 00:38:30.469 to you, or if you would like to help us reach 00:38:30.469 --> 00:38:34.030 more people, please like, review, and share our 00:38:34.030 --> 00:38:36.920 podcast. You can learn more about our ministry 00:38:36.920 --> 00:38:42.639 or how you can support us at www .thecross66 00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:47.559 .org. Until next time, take care and God bless.