WEBVTT 00:00:01.289 --> 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 --> 00:00:10.750 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 --> 00:00:18.190 here. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the 00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:21.050 sanctuary. Forgive me, I'm a little off my A 00:00:21.050 --> 00:00:22.710 -game today. Yesterday was a little bit of a 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:25.809 rough day. So I'm going to ask everybody, you 00:00:25.809 --> 00:00:27.710 know, your prayer time, your prayer list, keep 00:00:27.710 --> 00:00:31.969 the families of Travis Harris. And I need to 00:00:31.969 --> 00:00:37.590 line them in prayer. Travis, I served with in 00:00:37.590 --> 00:00:41.049 the Marine Corps many moons ago. I just found 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:43.329 out yesterday morning that he passed away a couple 00:00:43.329 --> 00:00:47.509 of weeks ago. His family is traveling from, well, 00:00:47.530 --> 00:00:50.270 they traveled from Texas to Oklahoma for his 00:00:50.270 --> 00:00:52.890 service. And then they traveled back to, well, 00:00:52.990 --> 00:00:54.890 I shouldn't say for his graveside service because 00:00:54.890 --> 00:00:56.729 he's interned there in the National Cemetery. 00:00:57.090 --> 00:01:00.840 And then. I traveled back home to Texas where 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.079 they're having his celebration of life. So there's 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:07.340 a lot to pray for there. And then Natale Lynam, 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.819 a friend of mine from high school, I've known 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:13.019 a long, long time. He passed away yesterday afternoon 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:16.379 as well. So yesterday was a little bit of a rough 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:20.000 day. I'm a little off my A game. I apologize 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.120 for that. If I seem a little snappy, that's why. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:26.260 I'm trying not to be, but that's just the process, 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.590 right? which is okay because that's going to 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:31.870 take us into today's message because it is officially 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:34.469 November. And as Tess mentioned with our potluck, 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:37.750 we are just streamlining right into Thanksgiving. 00:01:38.109 --> 00:01:41.549 Turkey Day is coming quick. I love Turkey Day. 00:01:41.769 --> 00:01:45.790 I love turkey. If I could replace chicken with 00:01:45.790 --> 00:01:48.230 turkey, I would happily do so. My wife won't 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:51.250 let me. She says it's too expensive. She's probably 00:01:51.250 --> 00:01:54.239 right, but I love turkey that much. Matter of 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:56.920 fact, I'll take turkey over a cheeseburger, believe 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:00.700 it or not. Maybe not over pizza, but, you know, 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:04.120 it's pretty close. It's right up there, you know. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.800 But, you know, this is a holiday, you know, because 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.080 I digress. It's that month where we start to 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.620 settle in as we're going. That's what we call 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:16.419 the holiday season, of course. And this month 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:19.060 especially is where we step back and we start 00:02:19.060 --> 00:02:21.099 taking account of the things that we're grateful 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:25.169 for, right? And, you know, one of the places 00:02:25.169 --> 00:02:29.310 that we fail, we'll be looking at here over the 00:02:29.310 --> 00:02:31.689 course of the next couple weeks, is we don't 00:02:31.689 --> 00:02:35.169 always give thanks for those times of hardship 00:02:35.169 --> 00:02:37.509 in our lives either, do we? Those painful times, 00:02:37.569 --> 00:02:39.349 those hard times. But those are important as 00:02:39.349 --> 00:02:43.689 well. So, you know, we need to be thankful for 00:02:43.689 --> 00:02:50.389 it all. And that is biblical. So as we get started 00:02:50.389 --> 00:02:54.110 here, I'd like to... to share a writing of Charles 00:02:54.110 --> 00:02:57.590 Spurgeon. He once wrote about a rose that had 00:02:57.590 --> 00:03:00.110 been taken. I'd like to read through this and 00:03:00.110 --> 00:03:01.610 have everybody just kind of stick it in the back 00:03:01.610 --> 00:03:04.090 of your mind and have it there as something to 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:06.169 think about for today as we go into our message. 00:03:06.530 --> 00:03:11.689 And Spurgeon writes, A gardener had been careful 00:03:11.689 --> 00:03:15.449 in tending to one particular rose, which was 00:03:15.449 --> 00:03:18.969 very fair to look at. But when he went out one 00:03:18.969 --> 00:03:21.719 morning, To his favorite rosebush, he found that 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.080 the flower of which he had taken such great care 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.580 was gone. He was very upset, for he thought that 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:31.960 some bad boy had come into the yard and stolen 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:37.400 his best flower. He was complaining very bitterly 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:41.400 about his loss when someone said, Hey, the master 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:43.620 had been down to the garden this morning, and 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:46.300 he has been admiring this rosebush, and he has 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:48.699 taken away that fine bud of which you are so 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:54.409 proud. Then the gardener was delighted that he 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:56.710 had been able to grow a flower that had attracted 00:03:56.710 --> 00:04:00.110 his master's notice. Instead of mourning any 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:04.250 longer, he began to rejoice. So it should be 00:04:04.250 --> 00:04:06.389 with anything on which we have set our hearts. 00:04:06.889 --> 00:04:10.270 Let each of us say to our master, Lord, if it 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:13.050 pleases you to take it, it pleases me to lose 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:17.910 it. Why should I complain? Because you have taken 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:23.569 from me What is really your own? Isn't that the 00:04:23.569 --> 00:04:28.889 truth? It applies to so many things. You know, 00:04:28.889 --> 00:04:31.910 it's funny because I'd already looked at that 00:04:31.910 --> 00:04:34.170 before I'd even gotten the news. It's like, oh. 00:04:35.230 --> 00:04:40.610 So it rings true. It does. You know, the Lord 00:04:40.610 --> 00:04:43.529 giveth, the Lord taketh away, right? But it's 00:04:43.529 --> 00:04:47.149 all His, and it's all for His glory. You know, 00:04:47.149 --> 00:04:51.129 keeping in mind, keeping this in mind, let's 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:56.889 open our Bibles up to Psalm 103. So Psalm 103. 00:05:00.829 --> 00:05:02.689 And this is where we're going to start looking 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:04.829 at our thankfulness over the next couple weeks. 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:08.870 This psalm is believed to have been written by 00:05:08.870 --> 00:05:15.329 David well into his old age. Summary, it's a 00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:20.550 summary of God's dealings with him. And it's 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.310 a demonstration of God's love for us and tells 00:05:23.310 --> 00:05:43.129 us of his character. So Psalm 103. There it goes. 00:05:43.269 --> 00:05:47.569 All right. And the word says, Bless the Lord, 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:51.300 O my soul. and all that is within me. Bless his 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:55.680 holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.160 not all his benefits, who forgives all your inequities, 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:04.699 who heals all your diseases, who redeems your 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:08.980 life from destruction, who crowns you with loving 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:14.540 kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:17.759 mouth with good things so that your youth is 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:23.560 renewed, Like the eagles. This is a very, very 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.980 basic way to start the psalm, isn't it? And it's 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.339 good because today, as we're going into this, 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.339 we really should be taking back and looking at 00:06:33.339 --> 00:06:36.240 the basics. The basics are important. The basics 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.459 are what we start building off of, right? No 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:44.199 building that lasts is built off of just the 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:45.899 ground alone. They're all built from a foundation, 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:49.750 right? Our understanding of things, are all built 00:06:49.750 --> 00:06:51.870 from the foundation, even math, right? We start 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:54.689 with our basic one, two, threes before we start 00:06:54.689 --> 00:06:57.790 getting into multiplication or division, well 00:06:57.790 --> 00:06:59.930 before we start jumping into algebra or any of 00:06:59.930 --> 00:07:02.689 the other crazy stuff. Even just saying that 00:07:02.689 --> 00:07:06.870 sends shivers down my spine. I hate math. Not 00:07:06.870 --> 00:07:09.069 my wife. She's over there shaking her head because 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:12.069 she loves math. She loves it. That's her thing. 00:07:14.829 --> 00:07:22.540 But I digress. The basics are important. You 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:27.259 know, sometimes, well, you know, really, we look 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:29.079 at everything that's going on in the world today. 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:33.759 Sometimes our shadows really overcast it, don't 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.939 they? It's really easy to get tied up in things, 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:42.300 to lose sight. David himself had been through 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:47.379 a lot of hardships as well. A lot of coming and 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:52.759 going with the Lord, right? As with us all. However, 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.300 through it all, he always remembered to come 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:59.899 back to the basics. He always started with the 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:03.160 basics as we should. It's a great example for 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:07.360 all of us as followers. We should all come back 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.139 and we'd all do well to learn from this and from 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:14.639 him. It's the basics in how we do things. Like 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:18.009 I said, it's how we build. It's also where we 00:08:18.009 --> 00:08:19.810 start with our attitudes, our attitudes towards 00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:22.490 God, our attitudes in our relationship with Jesus, 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:30.029 right? Because we build our attitudes. It's the 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:31.649 way we start our foundation. Are we going into 00:08:31.649 --> 00:08:33.289 things with a good attitude or a bad attitude? 00:08:34.590 --> 00:08:36.769 Why do we have that? Do we need to change something? 00:08:38.169 --> 00:08:40.970 Right? We should all, especially as we go into 00:08:40.970 --> 00:08:42.889 the holiday season, and not only that, but as 00:08:42.889 --> 00:08:44.230 we get up every day, we should be starting the 00:08:44.230 --> 00:08:48.139 day with a grateful attitude. You know, yesterday 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:50.620 I woke up. I didn't know what was going on. I 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:53.919 was very anxious already. We all have those days. 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:56.220 We wake up, something's just not right. Right? 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:59.399 Just a little off. We're not in a very people 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:02.720 -y person. Or not a people -y person mood, I 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.960 should say. You know? Slightest thing, we're 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:12.220 just kind of... Happens. Happens. That's why 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:13.799 we start the day with the Lord, though. We should 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.860 be able to come to the Lord in prayer. Even if 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:18.639 it's something as simple as starting in the Lord's 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.460 Prayer, right? Our Father who art in heaven, 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.379 right? Something as simple as that could be all 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:28.379 that's needed to change your mindset, change 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:32.279 your day and start moving forward. And a big 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.980 part of it with our attitude today is because 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:38.320 we are so saturated with stuff of the world, 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:41.240 we need to break away from the things of the 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:43.440 world. We need to find ways to spend a little 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.559 bit less time in it. Right? Whether it's the 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.940 TV, the radio, or social media, or whatever. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:52.340 You know, reading the newspaper. Because all 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:54.639 that stuff, what's it all built off of? The world 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:57.240 and the drama and sucking you away and taking 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:01.480 your eyes off of Jesus. Right? So we'd all benefit 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.820 greatly. Spend a little bit more time with the 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:07.519 Lord. So we're going to break down this psalm 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.559 here a little bit. We'll start with the first 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.789 couple of verses. Bless the Lord, O my soul, 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:16.929 and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:22.830 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all 00:10:22.830 --> 00:10:26.269 his benefits. Examine it, because the Lord has 00:10:26.269 --> 00:10:28.309 blessed us with so much, we should be looking 00:10:28.309 --> 00:10:32.309 to him. And not only should we be looking to 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:34.490 him, but we should be looking to try to bless 00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:38.210 him in return. You ever thought of that? How 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:41.980 do you bless the Lord? Well, there's three things 00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:45.879 that we can and we should do. I'm going to list 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:49.500 them out here. First, praise the Lord. Praise 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:52.080 Him. That's pretty simple, right? Praise the 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.840 Lord. Keep looking towards Him. Delight in Him. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:58.759 Take joy in the fact that we have such an awesome 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:02.100 God who does so much for us, who loves us so 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:09.740 much. That's pretty basic, right? Second, esteem 00:11:09.740 --> 00:11:13.840 Him. Ooh, there's a fancy word right there, esteem. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:18.059 What is this word? Well, as much as I'd like 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:21.919 to say it's church knees, it's not. It's just 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.220 one of those little kind of pompous words, just 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:25.480 hot steam. We hold him in such great esteem. 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.559 Well, really what it means is respect and admiration. 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:32.580 Hold the Lord with great respect and admiration. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:37.440 Above all, above anyone, we should be looking 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.379 to Jesus with our utmost respect. Respect and 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:45.000 admiration. That's esteem. We give him all the 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:50.799 credits. All of it. Because it's all his. He 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.879 knew us before we were in the womb. He knew us 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.279 before he knitted us in the womb. He knew us 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.039 before he created us. He didn't have to create 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:04.840 us, but he saw fit to do it anyways. So everything 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:07.820 leading up to our birth, for all those thousands 00:12:07.820 --> 00:12:11.309 of years, and everything since, and everything 00:12:11.309 --> 00:12:14.190 going past it because of what he's prepared for 00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:18.730 us. That's a lot. It's a lot that we should be 00:12:18.730 --> 00:12:20.389 giving him credit for because it's not of us, 00:12:20.409 --> 00:12:24.870 right? Where it says that no man could boast. 00:12:26.590 --> 00:12:29.950 It's not about us. It's about him. So we should 00:12:29.950 --> 00:12:32.669 be giving him the credit for everything, everything 00:12:32.669 --> 00:12:34.870 in front of us and everything behind the scenes 00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:38.789 for all of time. And we have to remember he's 00:12:38.789 --> 00:12:42.529 always working, always working. And thirdly, 00:12:42.529 --> 00:12:45.789 the third thing that we can do is thank him. 00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:49.149 Thank him for all of this. Thank him for all 00:12:49.149 --> 00:12:50.769 that he's done, all that he's doing, all that 00:12:50.769 --> 00:12:56.769 he's going to do. Thank him just for the simple 00:12:56.769 --> 00:13:02.090 fact that he chose for you to even exist. Thank 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:06.250 him for the life lessons, the good, the bad, 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:14.450 the ugly, the easy, the hard. Thank Him. Thank 00:13:14.450 --> 00:13:18.970 Him for the storm. The storm that surrounds us 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:21.850 in our life so that we can know just how great, 00:13:21.929 --> 00:13:28.970 how good, and how loving He truly is. Those three 00:13:28.970 --> 00:13:33.789 things right there. Praise Him, esteem Him, and 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:39.860 thank Him. That's something good to meditate 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:46.200 on, isn't it? I don't know. I list things out 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:47.600 like that. I kind of feel like John Maxwell. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.799 I don't know if you all ever listen to him. He's 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:52.759 really big on numbers. Number one. Number two. 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:56.500 If you ever look at the notes for any of the 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:58.080 stuff that he talks on, or if you've ever read 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.980 any of his books, it's exactly the same as the 00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:02.460 way he talks, too. Exactly the same. It's kind 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:07.480 of fun. Let's go into verse three, though, shall 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:13.539 we? Psalm 103, verse 3. In verse 3, we see how 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:17.019 we benefit from the Lord who offers us forgiveness 00:14:17.019 --> 00:14:19.879 for all of our sin. All of it, not part of it, 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:26.600 all of it. And he heals us. He heals us. Now, 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.759 yeah, we look at how he heals us and we look 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:30.980 at physical ailments, right? Because we all have 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:32.919 little things that bother us and we're always 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.409 looking for healing. But how about the biggest 00:14:36.409 --> 00:14:38.210 disease? Who knows what the biggest disease is 00:14:38.210 --> 00:14:43.529 that he heals us of? Nobody? What's the biggest 00:14:43.529 --> 00:14:47.169 disease that the Lord heals us from? No? Close. 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:51.110 There you go. Sin. Yes. Sin. That is the biggest 00:14:51.110 --> 00:14:53.710 calamity and each and every single one of us 00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:59.110 has been infected with it. Right? No man is without 00:14:59.110 --> 00:15:05.480 sin. It's a disease. That only has one cure. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:11.139 And that cure is Jesus. Because there is nothing, 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:14.419 nothing that we can do that will ever cure sin. 00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:17.779 Nothing we can do will ever get rid of sin. That 00:15:17.779 --> 00:15:21.500 is God and God alone. He, our great physician, 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:25.860 has offered us a cure. He's offered us that cure 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:30.299 through Jesus. Through the blood sacrifice of 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:35.309 Jesus. And we are cleansed of our sin and we 00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:41.909 are forgiven. Because of that, we're seen blameless 00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:46.789 in the eyes of the Father. Blameless. We're no 00:15:46.789 --> 00:15:52.830 longer facing death. We're no longer facing separation 00:15:52.830 --> 00:15:58.309 from the Father. We have a place at the table 00:15:58.309 --> 00:16:01.429 with Him. We have a place in heaven with work. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.759 A place in heaven to praise and worship him for 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.259 all the rest of eternity. Greater than any treasure 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:12.820 that he'd have stored up for us is that. That 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:15.059 we are reunited and able to go and unite with 00:16:15.059 --> 00:16:19.899 him for eternity in heaven. As adopted sons and 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:26.159 daughters. Adopted back into the family. It's 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:31.220 a pretty precious gift, isn't it? Definitely 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:34.100 one that we shouldn't gamble with. And it's definitely 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:36.139 something that we should share with others so 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:38.740 that they can find the same gift as well. Because 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:45.879 it's offered to us all. Going through this a 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:49.240 little faster than I thought I would today. Let's 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:52.440 look at verse 4, shall we? Psalm 103, verse 4. 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:55.480 Who redeems your life from destruction? Who crowns 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:59.440 you with loving kindness and tender mercies? 00:17:01.450 --> 00:17:03.389 I've already started alluding to this one, haven't 00:17:03.389 --> 00:17:07.089 I? We've been taken out of that bondage to sin 00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:10.329 and death. We're free by the blood of Christ. 00:17:11.789 --> 00:17:15.750 We were bought at the highest price imaginable. 00:17:16.009 --> 00:17:19.410 The highest price imaginable. Right? I kind of 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:21.069 talked about this a little bit a couple weeks 00:17:21.069 --> 00:17:23.329 ago. You had the king called for the servant. 00:17:24.029 --> 00:17:28.410 There's no way he could ever come close to repaying 00:17:28.410 --> 00:17:31.910 the gift, but he forgave him anyway. Right? It's 00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:37.470 the same thing as Jesus forgiving us. The King 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:40.049 of Kings, Lord of Lords, has forgiven us. And 00:17:40.049 --> 00:17:42.829 it's at a price that we can never repay. No matter 00:17:42.829 --> 00:17:45.130 how hard we tried, no matter how much we worked, 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:51.349 our works could never get there. And not only 00:17:51.349 --> 00:17:53.230 that, but when we were bought, we were restored 00:17:53.230 --> 00:17:55.970 to the place that we were always intended to 00:17:55.970 --> 00:18:02.980 be. We were restored to the Father. We have a 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:05.660 place with him, the greatest rescue mission ever 00:18:05.660 --> 00:18:09.619 conducted. We love that, right? Rescue missions, 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.720 we see them on TV, we see them in movies, you 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.200 know, maybe hear them in some of the old audio 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:16.759 stuff. You ever listen to like the old Drag Nats 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:19.559 or stuff like that, right? Green Hornet, good 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.339 times. I know I'm kind of a sucker for some of 00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:28.460 the old radio programs, right? I love them. But 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:32.750 everybody likes a good rescue story. Good old 00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:34.789 -fashioned rescue mission. Ah, the good guys 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:36.650 are going to go in there against the bad guys. 00:18:36.710 --> 00:18:38.609 It's good and evil. And they're going to get 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:41.410 the innocent victim. Well, the truth is, none 00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:45.789 of us is really innocent. But Jesus undertook 00:18:45.789 --> 00:18:48.470 that mission for us just the same. Sacrificed 00:18:48.470 --> 00:18:52.529 it all so that we could live. I'd like to kind 00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:55.910 of pause here for a second. Because we always 00:18:55.910 --> 00:18:57.670 talk about the blood of Christ an awful lot. 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:01.359 You know, churches love throwing that out there. 00:19:01.460 --> 00:19:03.359 But this is a place that is a little bit of church 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.460 in ease. We don't talk a whole lot about what 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:09.640 that means, especially for new believers. So 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.380 if there's somebody new out there watching or 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:13.259 somebody listening even, hey, this one's for 00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:15.200 you. Maybe if there's somebody in here who isn't 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.559 quite sure where this stems from, this is a good 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:24.200 place. See, we're always talking about being 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:25.700 covered by the blood of Christ. I'm going to 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:28.599 break it down as simply as I can. Marine Corps, 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:30.500 it's what we say, break it down Barney style. 00:19:31.059 --> 00:19:33.720 So I apologize if I get a little oversimplified. 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:35.180 Those of you who are a little better versed, 00:19:35.180 --> 00:19:40.200 don't crucify me, please. But we could actually 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:42.200 learn about this if we go all the way back to 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:44.279 Exodus 12. I'm not going to go through the whole 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.339 thing. Exodus 12 is a good place for you to go 00:19:47.339 --> 00:19:49.680 back and read through so you can learn a little 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.359 bit more about it. And we do. We see exactly 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:56.420 what it is. See, God, he was punishing. Egypt. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:59.099 He's punishing Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.380 This goes all the way back to the first Passover. 00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:09.759 To punish them is one of the plagues. He was 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.240 taking all the firstborn. And when I say all 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:14.339 the firstborn, I'm not just talking about their 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:17.400 firstborn children of Egypt. We're talking the 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:19.539 firstborn animals, the firstborn of everything. 00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:26.200 Gone. How horrible is that? Just thinking about 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:30.000 that. That's pretty horrid, isn't it? But God 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.400 also knew, hey, I need to protect my people. 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.039 My people need to be protected from this plague. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.619 I don't want them impacted by it. I love them. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:43.319 I want them to come out safely on the other side. 00:20:43.539 --> 00:20:47.099 So he told them how they could do it. They're 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:48.160 going to go out and they're going to get a lamb. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.839 Symbolic of Jesus, right? Jesus the lamb. They 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:57.779 were going to take this lamb, they were going 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:00.059 to slaughter it. They were going to have their 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:05.160 meal and all that, right? But after they slaughtered 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:08.220 it, they were to take the blood of the lamb and 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:11.440 put it on the doorpost, the doorframe, basically, 00:21:11.539 --> 00:21:17.839 right? Both sides. So when this plague came through, 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:20.440 depending on your translation, it's referred 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:24.000 to as the destroyer. So we can imagine it's probably 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.059 an angel, an archangel that came through, right? 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:34.119 The destroyer came through. He was not concerned 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:36.819 about who was in the building. He came through. 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:39.819 He saw the blood of the lamb, symbolic of the 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:42.559 blood of Christ. And he knew everybody in there 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:48.640 belonged to God. And it just moved along. Covered 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.200 by the blood of Christ, right? Covered by the 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.589 blood of the lamb. This is where it starts. This 00:21:54.589 --> 00:21:56.170 is where it comes from. This is what we're talking 00:21:56.170 --> 00:21:58.789 about when we talk about being covered by the 00:21:58.789 --> 00:22:04.170 blood of Jesus. And just like those doors, the 00:22:04.170 --> 00:22:06.950 doors, or the door frames, I should say, were 00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:09.130 covered in the sacrificial blood of the Lamb, 00:22:09.309 --> 00:22:13.369 our sins are also covered in the sacrificial 00:22:13.369 --> 00:22:16.289 blood of Jesus when he took the cross for us, 00:22:16.349 --> 00:22:22.049 when he took on the sin of all mankind. Everyone 00:22:22.049 --> 00:22:24.869 who lived, everyone who was living, and everyone 00:22:24.869 --> 00:22:30.470 who was going to live, right? No greater love 00:22:30.470 --> 00:22:33.430 than that of the one who died so that we could 00:22:33.430 --> 00:22:37.549 live. You see, for the Christian, there's two 00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:41.890 acts being carried out here. We refer to them 00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:50.549 as mercy and grace. Mercy and grace. Grace being 00:22:50.549 --> 00:22:55.569 something we don't deserve, but we get anyway. 00:22:59.009 --> 00:23:04.150 Mercy is not receiving something that we absolutely 00:23:04.150 --> 00:23:11.269 do deserve. 100%. And we deserve every bit of 00:23:11.269 --> 00:23:16.309 punishment for our sin. Every bit. But we've 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:21.160 gotten a reprieve. Because despite how many times 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:24.900 we blaspheme, how many times we talk trash, how 00:23:24.900 --> 00:23:26.920 many times we harden our heart, turn around, 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:34.160 walk away, Jesus in his infinite love still made 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:39.720 that sacrifice for us. And all he's asked in 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:45.940 return is chump change. Chump change. He asks 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:48.920 that we repent of our sin. Ooh, there's a little 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.359 bit more church in these, isn't it? Basically, 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:54.339 in other words, he's saying, stop breaking my 00:23:54.339 --> 00:24:00.380 laws. Stop breaking the laws of God, right? That's 00:24:00.380 --> 00:24:03.700 what he's saying there. And then, of course, 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:05.559 that we profess him as our Lord and our Savior, 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:09.420 right? They'll come every time we'll profess 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:14.180 and every knee will bend. Better do it now before 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:18.839 it's too late. Do it now when you come into a 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:26.079 relationship with him. And when we profess him 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:27.740 as our Lord and Savior, what we're doing is we're 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:32.019 proclaiming our love for him, our allegiance 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:36.759 to him, that we recognize that our life is not 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:42.420 our own but his, and that we are to serve him. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:48.700 Now we give our lives over to serve him. We proclaim 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.619 his word for all the world to hear. So everybody 00:24:51.619 --> 00:24:58.359 has a chance to do the same. So that nobody runs 00:24:58.359 --> 00:25:01.339 the risk of being separated from the Father for 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:14.960 all of eternity. And I had another, I had a PowerPoint, 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:16.460 another slide in there, but I skipped it. Sorry 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:23.140 about that. So we'll go into the final verse 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:28.140 here. Psalm 103, verse five. Psalm 103, verse 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:32.359 five. The psalmist writes, who satisfies your 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:34.980 mouth with good things so that your youth is 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:38.920 renewed like the eagles. We need to be thankful 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.940 for the very fact that he's seen fit to renew 00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:44.490 us. Now we get a little bit hyper -focused on 00:25:44.490 --> 00:25:50.490 what's going on with our bodies, don't we? We 00:25:50.490 --> 00:25:52.089 have to remember that our bodies here on earth 00:25:52.089 --> 00:25:54.589 are temporary. These are temporary vessels for 00:25:54.589 --> 00:25:56.690 us carrying it through. They were never meant 00:25:56.690 --> 00:26:00.630 to be eternal. Things are going to slow down. 00:26:00.710 --> 00:26:02.250 Things are going to stop working the way they're 00:26:02.250 --> 00:26:03.890 supposed to. We're going to start getting wrinkles. 00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:05.890 We're going to start getting gray hairs. Maybe 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:07.670 we're going to get hairs in places that we didn't 00:26:07.670 --> 00:26:09.890 think we would and lose hairs in places that 00:26:09.890 --> 00:26:14.220 we thought we'd keep. Who knows? Right? Sometimes 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:18.420 the vision goes, the memory goes, that hand -eye 00:26:18.420 --> 00:26:20.539 coordination, or just the coordination in general. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:26.420 Sometimes things give out completely. Right? 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:31.759 You look at people dealing with certain things 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:38.019 like MS. That's a big one. He's trying to pick 00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:43.890 up a cup of water. You look at Michael J. Fox, 00:26:44.069 --> 00:26:49.670 he's a prime example, right? Parkinson's. That's 00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:55.150 another rough one. All the motor skills. Not 00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:57.849 just trying to function, to get up, to put on 00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:00.890 clothes, to feed yourself, but even to communicate 00:27:00.890 --> 00:27:07.730 with your loved ones. That's a tough one. You 00:27:07.730 --> 00:27:10.309 know, we all kind of laugh when we see it in 00:27:10.309 --> 00:27:11.670 movies sometimes. You all remember that movie, 00:27:11.750 --> 00:27:13.750 The Great Outdoors, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd? 00:27:14.109 --> 00:27:16.349 And they're at the bar, and the guy got struck 00:27:16.349 --> 00:27:18.049 by lightning. He comes up and says, how many 00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:19.609 times have you been struck now? Na -na -na -na 00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:21.569 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:21.569 --> 00:27:22.390 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:23.109 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:23.109 --> 00:27:23.809 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:23.809 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:25.109 -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na -na 00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:40.750 -na -na -na - For entertainment value, yeah, 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:42.109 it's funny. We get a laugh out of it. It was 00:27:42.109 --> 00:27:44.470 intended to be that way. But when we're not looking 00:27:44.470 --> 00:27:45.849 at entertainment, we need to be a little bit 00:27:45.849 --> 00:27:53.349 more cognizant, a little bit more loving. Instead 00:27:53.349 --> 00:27:54.690 of rushing through, like, what's wrong with this 00:27:54.690 --> 00:27:58.049 guy? He tripped out one time too many. Should 00:27:58.049 --> 00:28:00.970 have put down the LSD, right? Those are the kind 00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:03.630 of thoughts that we have. Instead of rushing 00:28:03.630 --> 00:28:06.269 those thoughts, it's like, oh, maybe I should 00:28:06.269 --> 00:28:09.519 pray for this guy. Something's not firing right. 00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:17.299 He needs the Holy Spirit. He needs Jesus. So 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.940 we get hyper -focused on these things. We get 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:24.839 older. You know? Those aches and pains start 00:28:24.839 --> 00:28:26.619 creeping in. If you have hardware, maybe a little 00:28:26.619 --> 00:28:34.420 bit more of those aches and pains happens. It 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:36.059 says sometimes even the memory being a struggle. 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:38.839 But the other side of that is that we are being 00:28:38.839 --> 00:28:41.839 renewed daily. We're being renewed spiritually. 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.859 Every day when you stop and you go to the Lord 00:28:45.859 --> 00:28:50.000 and you get fed spiritually, that spiritual manna, 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.579 right, in your life, you're being renewed. You're 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:59.640 getting stronger in spirit. You're getting stronger 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:01.619 in your soul. You're getting stronger in your 00:29:01.619 --> 00:29:05.099 relationship and your walk with Jesus, that eternal 00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:09.720 walk. Right? You're no longer crawling, but walking. 00:29:09.960 --> 00:29:14.059 And before long, you're running. Spiritually. 00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:19.720 And the more you do that daily, the more you're 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.380 prepared for the day when you go to eternity 00:29:22.380 --> 00:29:26.019 with Jesus. This is our learning ground right 00:29:26.019 --> 00:29:28.900 now, right? This is our proving ground. We do 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:35.109 it all here before we go there. God's hard at 00:29:35.109 --> 00:29:38.130 work trying to get us ready so that when we come 00:29:38.130 --> 00:29:40.650 to him that we have that relationship and he's 00:29:40.650 --> 00:29:45.009 seeing that our spiritual needs are met. And 00:29:45.009 --> 00:29:48.369 the stronger our relationship is with him, the 00:29:48.369 --> 00:29:52.769 less certain other things matter. Think of it 00:29:52.769 --> 00:29:56.829 this way when we're young. We want all this stuff. 00:29:57.750 --> 00:30:01.690 All this stuff. We want the clothes. We want 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:05.059 the jewelry. We want the cars. We want the houses. 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:08.640 We want the prestige that comes with certain 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.839 positions, right? The high -paying jobs, right? 00:30:13.880 --> 00:30:18.920 We want to be looked up to. Right? As you get 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:23.859 older, it's a little less important. You start 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:26.420 to mature. Some of that stuff's a little less 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:30.799 important. You know, I feel bad for these guys. 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:32.519 They're 60 years old and they're still reliving 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:34.779 the glory days like Al Bundy. I scored three 00:30:34.779 --> 00:30:39.380 touchdowns in a single game. Like, okay, dude, 00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:42.740 you can't even play Madden now. Chill out. Come 00:30:42.740 --> 00:30:47.960 to Jesus. Right? But you think about it. That's 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:51.259 also why as we get older, sometimes we get those 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:52.900 little spurts of energy and we're like, you know 00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:56.319 what? I had this stuff. and today's the day I'm 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.160 going to go, I'm going to take a shower, or I'm 00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:59.619 going to change my clothes, whatever, pull back 00:30:59.619 --> 00:31:02.759 my hair, and this stuff is going to go. It's 00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:05.819 gone, right? We get in that little cleaning frenzy, 00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:07.700 and it goes out the door. Matter of fact, that 00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:09.240 happened over at my mom's house just the other 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:13.160 day. And when all that stuff goes out the door, 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:15.279 it feels pretty good, doesn't it? Like, ooh, 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:21.160 I got some space. That stuff is gone. That's 00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:24.839 awesome. Cool. Why? Because it doesn't matter 00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:28.640 anymore. It served its purpose. Now it could 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:30.240 go on to a new home. It could bless somebody 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:31.759 else or it could go to the garbage monster. Who 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:34.700 knows? The fact is, is it's gone. We don't need 00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:37.359 it anymore. And we all had things like that in 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:39.740 our lives, right? When I became a man, I put 00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:42.279 childish things away. Ladies, it goes for you 00:31:42.279 --> 00:31:43.880 too. When you became a woman, you put girly things 00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:50.019 away. I hope. It's no different. It's the same 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:55.829 thing. And that happens when we mature in our 00:31:55.829 --> 00:31:59.269 walk with Christ especially. The more that we 00:31:59.269 --> 00:32:01.650 mature in our relationship with him, the more 00:32:01.650 --> 00:32:05.589 that we walk with him, the less the ways of the 00:32:05.589 --> 00:32:12.230 world matter. The less we're caught up or concerned 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:14.809 about whether or not somebody likes me versus 00:32:14.809 --> 00:32:16.369 whether or not we're going to proclaim the word 00:32:16.369 --> 00:32:18.029 of God or if we're going to do the right thing, 00:32:18.150 --> 00:32:26.950 right? And it's because what matters to us as 00:32:26.950 --> 00:32:30.509 we churn this is we're more concerned with our 00:32:30.509 --> 00:32:33.430 relationship with God. We're more concerned with 00:32:33.430 --> 00:32:37.490 reflecting the will of God. We're more concerned 00:32:37.490 --> 00:32:39.569 with making sure that what we're doing, what 00:32:39.569 --> 00:32:43.269 we want, is reflection of Him and His will for 00:32:43.269 --> 00:32:49.609 us. And not only that, we don't look to death 00:32:49.609 --> 00:32:53.329 with such trepidation. I guess would be the word. 00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:59.670 Or a word anyway. Because, yeah, well, nobody 00:32:59.670 --> 00:33:01.609 looks forward to necessarily dying here on earth 00:33:01.609 --> 00:33:04.009 and going through whatever that death might be. 00:33:05.650 --> 00:33:07.930 When you're a believer, when you're a Christian, 00:33:08.029 --> 00:33:11.450 when you follow Christ, you look forward to being 00:33:11.450 --> 00:33:13.690 reunited in heaven with the Father, don't you? 00:33:15.589 --> 00:33:20.240 That ultimate reward, that ultimate place. Back 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:23.500 with the family. No more pain. No more tears. 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:35.339 No more sin. No more dealing with things that 00:33:35.339 --> 00:33:39.480 are meaningless. Just the things that are godly 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.720 and the things that are eternal. So as we close 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:44.680 today, I'd like for everyone to think back to 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:46.440 that rose that we talked about when we started 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:52.390 today. And so we're quick to thank God for the 00:33:52.390 --> 00:33:56.230 roses in our lives. What about the thorns? What 00:33:56.230 --> 00:33:58.769 about the thorns? Usually not, right? We'd rather 00:33:58.769 --> 00:34:01.309 clip them and get them out of the way, huh? Nobody 00:34:01.309 --> 00:34:05.210 wants to deal with the thorns. But the reality 00:34:05.210 --> 00:34:08.630 is those thorns are blessings that serve a purpose 00:34:08.630 --> 00:34:11.429 as well. Well, the thorns on the rose, they serve 00:34:11.429 --> 00:34:17.559 a purpose. They're not there by accident. And 00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:19.980 when we look at a rose, we should recognize them 00:34:19.980 --> 00:34:23.099 for what they are. That's our trials and tribulations 00:34:23.099 --> 00:34:28.199 in life. They mold our character. They shape 00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:32.980 it. They help us to learn and to grow, to be 00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:38.820 more Christ -like. And when we see this, we need 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:43.380 to remember that much like David, we have to 00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:46.210 get back to the basics. We have to get back to 00:34:46.210 --> 00:34:48.030 the basics, no matter how hard it gets, no matter 00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:50.369 how painful it gets, no matter how good it is. 00:34:53.429 --> 00:34:55.469 Scottish preacher, George Matheson, he had the 00:34:55.469 --> 00:35:00.030 same issue. It's a human issue. When things were 00:35:00.030 --> 00:35:01.769 good, he'd praise the Lord. When things weren't 00:35:01.769 --> 00:35:04.750 so good, well, he wasn't so quick to praise the 00:35:04.750 --> 00:35:07.429 Lord then. He was quick to prayer. Lord, help 00:35:07.429 --> 00:35:12.630 me. But not so quick to praise. It wasn't until 00:35:12.630 --> 00:35:16.820 his eyesight started to go. He dealt with this 00:35:16.820 --> 00:35:20.760 for quite some time. Can you imagine that? And 00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:25.699 your eyesight just goes. You can't rely on your 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:27.619 eyes anymore. You can't trust your eyes anymore. 00:35:29.260 --> 00:35:32.480 That would be scary. And for most people, when 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.760 it happens, it happens like this. Like right 00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:37.179 now, it's like you can see this, right? But slowly, 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.030 but surely, it starts just like a tunnel. Until 00:35:43.030 --> 00:35:45.329 it's all gone or it's just barely a pinpoint 00:35:45.329 --> 00:35:50.750 and you struggle. That's what he was facing, 00:35:50.869 --> 00:35:59.349 losing his vision. But finally, he came to the 00:35:59.349 --> 00:36:04.369 Lord and his vision changed. Not his physical 00:36:04.369 --> 00:36:07.789 vision. His physical vision was still shot. When 00:36:07.789 --> 00:36:09.550 I say his vision changed, it's the vision of 00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:15.320 his outlook on life. He got to a point where 00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:16.800 he was struggling and that struggle went away 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:19.940 when he was able to say this prayer. My God, 00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:24.179 I have never thanked you for my thorn. I have 00:36:24.179 --> 00:36:26.500 never thanked you a thousand times, or excuse 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:28.059 me, I have thanked you a thousand times for my 00:36:28.059 --> 00:36:32.079 roses, but not once for my thorn. I've been looking 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:36.099 forward to a world where I shall get compensated 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:41.000 for my cross, but I have never thought of my 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:47.360 cross as itself. a present glory. Teach me the 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:53.619 value of my thorn. My friends, they didn't place 00:36:53.619 --> 00:36:57.480 roses upon the heads of Christ. It was a crown 00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:03.800 of thorns that they placed upon his head. We 00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:07.159 need to get back to basics. We need to thank 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:09.559 him for the good, but we really need to thank 00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:13.170 him for the bad. And on that note, let's pray. 00:37:16.590 --> 00:37:19.510 Lord, we come to you in this season of thankfulness. 00:37:20.210 --> 00:37:23.269 We have thanks beyond measure. We're thankful 00:37:23.269 --> 00:37:24.929 for so many things that you've blessed us with. 00:37:25.610 --> 00:37:27.210 Some of those things we're just learning of. 00:37:27.250 --> 00:37:28.389 Some of those things we're just now learning 00:37:28.389 --> 00:37:31.030 that we need to be thankful for. Other things 00:37:31.030 --> 00:37:35.170 we still need to learn about. But just the same, 00:37:35.170 --> 00:37:40.639 we thank you for all that we know of. And we 00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:42.300 especially thank you for those that we don't. 00:37:43.619 --> 00:37:45.139 Sometimes it's those things that we don't even 00:37:45.139 --> 00:37:49.500 need to know of. You exemplify your love for 00:37:49.500 --> 00:37:51.380 us even though we fail to do the same for you. 00:37:53.019 --> 00:37:55.079 And you continue to forgive us for our failures 00:37:55.079 --> 00:37:59.480 and help us all to do better, to become better 00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:03.659 people. So we ask that you continue to do so 00:38:03.659 --> 00:38:07.460 and help us to become more thankful and help 00:38:07.460 --> 00:38:10.550 us all to have a prayer of gratitude. For who 00:38:10.550 --> 00:38:14.989 you are and all that you do. And especially, 00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:18.869 not just for the roses in our lives, but for 00:38:18.869 --> 00:38:23.190 the thorns. And all his people said, amen and 00:38:23.190 --> 00:38:25.550 amen. Remember, as you leave here today, you 00:38:25.550 --> 00:38:27.090 are loved and you are blessed, so go and be the 00:38:27.090 --> 00:38:31.489 church. Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars 00:38:31.489 --> 00:38:52.079 with Pastor Burton. Until next time, take care 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:53.300 and God bless.