1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,640 We've all been hurt. 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:04,960 We all have scars. 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:11,200 And through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can all overcome and we can all be healed. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,200 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,320 Hey everybody and welcome, welcome back to the sanctuary. 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,720 So today we're going to dive into the Word pretty quickly and I'm not going to say too 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,160 much about what we're studying right out the gate. 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,600 It will become very self-evident here fairly quickly. 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,280 And there's a reason for that. 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,560 We're going to walk down this path together and I don't want anyone to get ahead of themselves 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,960 with the assumption that they know where we're headed. 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,080 So for those of you who do follow along in your Bible, go ahead and open up to the book 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:53,200 of Numbers and we're going to go to chapter 22 and look at verses 18 through 34. 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,780 Those of you who take notes so you can refer to it later, again that's going to be Numbers 15 00:00:57,780 --> 00:01:04,320 chapter 22 and we're looking at verses 18 through 34, a little bit of a large section 16 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:08,240 of scripture. 17 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:15,160 So Numbers 22, 18 through 34, picking up in verse 18, the Bible says, but Balaam answered 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:23,160 them, even if Balaam gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do any 19 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:29,800 thing great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. 20 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:37,040 Now spend the night here so that I can figure out or can find out what else the Lord will 21 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:38,260 tell me. 22 00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:43,560 That night God came to Balaam and said, since these men have come to summon you, go with 23 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:49,120 them, but do only what I tell you. 24 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:56,320 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials, 25 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:05,200 but God was very angry when he went and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose 26 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:06,960 him. 27 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:12,280 Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. 28 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:18,000 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword and 29 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,920 a hand, it turned out the road into a field. 30 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:26,840 Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. 31 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:33,720 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards with walls on both 32 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:34,880 sides. 33 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:41,600 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's 34 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,220 foot against it. 35 00:02:43,220 --> 00:02:48,200 So he beat the donkey again. 36 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:55,600 Then the angel of the Lord moved ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no 37 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,800 room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 38 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:07,200 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam and he was angry 39 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,880 and beat it with his staff. 40 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:19,800 Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth and it said to Balaam, �What have I done to 41 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:28,480 you to make you beat me these three times?� Balaam answered the donkey, �You have made 42 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,040 a fool of me! 43 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:36,280 If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!� The donkey said to 44 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:43,760 Balaam, �Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden to this day? 45 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:50,000 Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?� �No,� he said. 46 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:56,720 Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the 47 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,160 road with his sword drawn. 48 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:05,480 So he bowed down low and fell face down. 49 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:10,640 The angel of the Lord asked him, �Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? 50 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:16,440 I have come here to oppose you, because your path is a reckless one before me. 51 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,360 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. 52 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:27,440 If it had not turned away, I certainly would have killed you by now, but I would have spared 53 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:32,880 it!� Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, �I have sinned. 54 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,320 I did not realize. 55 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,360 You were standing in the road to oppose me. 56 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:43,280 Now if you are displeased, I will go back.� 57 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:50,040 So first of all, I know someone sitting out there and going, �Really? 58 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:51,040 A talking donkey? 59 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:52,600 Are you serious? 60 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:59,520 When did we start talking about Shrek?� Let me say yes and yes. 61 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:08,000 First of all, if you have ever had a pet, you know they can communicate quite well. 62 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,760 You walk in the door and they are excited to see you. 63 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,320 They want their food so they start making a ruckus or they need outsideing. 64 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,560 You don't have a donkey door installed, so they start pawing at the door or whining or 65 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:20,560 whatever. 66 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,520 It's 3 a.m. and they feel like you have had enough sleep, so they start running back and 67 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:31,680 forth across the house doing zoomies or meowing or barking or whatever, etc., etc. on and 68 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,500 on. 69 00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:36,960 They have these ways of communicating. 70 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,560 You raise your hand to them and they wince. 71 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:40,560 You think about it. 72 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,960 You are not even raising it to hurt them. 73 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,520 You are just going to rub them behind the ear or something and they will kind of wince 74 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,200 a little bit. 75 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:55,340 If I were to walk up to you and I were to raise my hand in a fairly quick motion, you 76 00:05:55,340 --> 00:05:56,340 would flinch too. 77 00:05:56,340 --> 00:05:58,440 I would have flinched. 78 00:05:58,440 --> 00:05:59,440 It's human nature. 79 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:00,440 We all do it. 80 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,440 Oh, I know, not that tough guy that is sitting out there. 81 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,240 Whatever. 82 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,600 The point is the communication is there. 83 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:16,000 Animals have a wonderful way of communicating their needs to us. 84 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,520 If they are not feeling well, etc., etc. 85 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,560 So yeah, could the donkey talk? 86 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:24,560 Absolutely. 87 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,560 Some things are meant to be taken literally in the Bible. 88 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,760 Some things metaphorically. 89 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:34,320 Beyond that, if the Lord says, hey, this donkey is going to talk, that donkey is going to 90 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:35,320 talk. 91 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,960 What the Lord wants, the Lord gets point blank. 92 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:46,040 One thing I want you to notice here, which makes me feel, I could be wrong, but I don't 93 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,480 think that this is something that we necessarily have to take in a literal sense. 94 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,440 It's more of the metaphorical, like our own pets talk to us. 95 00:06:53,440 --> 00:07:00,320 Because I don't know about you, but if a donkey were to suddenly start talking to me, especially 96 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:05,000 if it sounded like Eddie Murphy, I'd be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, it's time for an 97 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,000 exorcism. 98 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:07,000 What's going on? 99 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:08,440 Demon be gone? 100 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:09,440 No. 101 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:10,640 This is not okay. 102 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:11,640 This is not normal. 103 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,200 But that's not what happened here. 104 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,960 It just turned into a casual conversation. 105 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:25,840 The point that I'm making here though is that even just in this travel and with what 106 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:31,760 the donkey was doing, we all set up walls and we all set up barriers in our life. 107 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,960 That's kind of the point of where we're headed today. 108 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,400 We set up walls, we set up barriers to keep people out and more importantly, to try to 109 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,040 protect ourselves. 110 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,940 Veterans, first responders, healthcare workers in particular are probably better at it than 111 00:07:48,940 --> 00:07:49,940 anyone. 112 00:07:49,940 --> 00:07:55,480 Let's face it, some of the things that have to be done, some of the things that have to 113 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,000 be seen and dealt with are just, they're horrifying. 114 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,000 They're horrible. 115 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,200 They're unfortunate, sad, they're depressing. 116 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:09,240 Those barriers start coming up. 117 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:10,240 It's human nature. 118 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:19,400 I'll give you an example just from my own life. 119 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:20,400 I'm a veteran. 120 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:21,840 I spent a lot of time overseas. 121 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,360 I deployed for enduring freedom. 122 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:30,840 I came home and it was not quite what I remember. 123 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,200 My barriers and my walls were up. 124 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:42,000 I was on alert for a while because I was uncomfortable with where I was and I wasn't quite sure how 125 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,720 to deal with it. 126 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:52,360 When I went out looking for a home church, I went to a few places and very rarely did 127 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,320 I ever make it to a full service. 128 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:01,880 I try but I just wasn't comfortable. 129 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:10,600 I finally found this church and I went in and I could see the comings and the goings. 130 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,920 I know where my entrances are and where my exits are. 131 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:14,120 I know what's happening around me. 132 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,320 It's very crowded though. 133 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:25,840 I look up and I realize there's a balcony above us and nobody sits up there ever. 134 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:26,960 So I take a little stroll. 135 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:28,160 I go up the stairs. 136 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,040 I go to open the door to go out on this balcony and it's locked. 137 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,920 So I wait. 138 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:40,680 Matter of fact, I had family there too with me and we waited. 139 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:43,800 We went and talked to the senior pastor. 140 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,400 Hey, is there a reason why this is locked when people don't go up there? 141 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:48,480 Is it a safety thing? 142 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:49,960 What's going on? 143 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:55,640 Explained my situation and the Lord provided. 144 00:09:55,640 --> 00:10:00,000 They said, hey, yeah, if you want to sit up there, go for it if it's locked. 145 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,680 Go and get up with this person or that person and they'll be more than happy to unlock it 146 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:08,080 for you. 147 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,040 I'll let them know to expect it. 148 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,040 And so that's what I did. 149 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:21,680 I sat up there for years in my own little perch before I finally came down and got comfortable 150 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:30,680 again and truly started serving in the church and following my calling and listening to 151 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,360 what I was being called to do. 152 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:35,480 So we all set up these walls. 153 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,440 We all set up these barriers. 154 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:44,800 And unfortunately in the process, we spread a lot of garbage. 155 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:51,600 We're so prideful and we're so gung-ho with our stories and our tales of who we are and 156 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:57,400 where we've been, what we've done, when we did it that much like Balaam, we're blinded 157 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,160 by ourselves. 158 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:01,160 You heard me right. 159 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,920 We put the blinders on ourselves. 160 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:11,360 And to make matters worse here, when we're looking at Balaam, he had a really bad attitude 161 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:12,420 and he was greedy. 162 00:11:12,420 --> 00:11:14,720 This is what angered God. 163 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:22,360 See he said he wouldn't go against God for the money, yet he was already giving into 164 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,560 temptation. 165 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:31,320 And because he was blinded by his own greed and his own attitudes and everything, he couldn't 166 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:36,720 see that God was there trying to stop him. 167 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,000 Here he is with his donkey. 168 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:40,640 The donkey sees the obstacles. 169 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,920 The donkey is trying to protect him. 170 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:56,080 However, Balaam's here and he's the one who's being a jackass. 171 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:02,840 Just like Balaam, when we do these things, we're being a jackass. 172 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,800 We know what God wants from us. 173 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,280 We know what God expects from us. 174 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:17,240 But we get blinded by the walls and the barriers that we build ourselves. 175 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:22,720 Sometimes, like in my case, and I know in several other people's cases, we're trying 176 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,980 to protect ourselves. 177 00:12:25,980 --> 00:12:32,520 Other times, such as here with the Balaam, it's our own ambition that gets in the way. 178 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,160 We're blinded by our own goals. 179 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,760 Looking back at verse 27, we can see how the donkey was behaving. 180 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:47,560 And to put some perspective here, donkeys were the all-terrain vehicles of that day. 181 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:48,720 They were the SUVs. 182 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:55,240 Unlike a Ford, they were very dependable, which helps us to see why Balaam got so angry 183 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,680 when suddenly it wouldn't move and it's bearing off course and doing all these things. 184 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:01,920 Old reliable isn't working. 185 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,560 It's acting kind of funny. 186 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:05,240 What's going on here? 187 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:09,800 It's kind of like that microwave that you've had for the last 20 years that one day just 188 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,960 up and stops working. 189 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:13,960 And what do we do? 190 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:21,200 In the case of a microwave or a computer or a cell phone or TV or whatever, we get frustrated 191 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:22,200 and we beat on it. 192 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:23,200 It's like turn it on. 193 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,720 It's like do this, do that, open it, close it, whatever. 194 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:32,720 Turn it on, turn it off, unplug it, plug it back in, bang on the side, bang on the top, 195 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:38,280 bang on the front, bang on the back, very much like Balaam was doing with this poor 196 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,520 donkey. 197 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:45,200 Now it is frustrating. 198 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,320 That donkey saved Balaam's life. 199 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,960 He was looking out for his master. 200 00:13:52,960 --> 00:14:00,980 Yet in the process of doing so, he really made Balaam look like a total idiot, a moron. 201 00:14:00,980 --> 00:14:02,560 So what happened? 202 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:04,920 Balaam lashed out at the donkey. 203 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,560 And just like him, when we're frustrated and we're struggling with these obstacles in our 204 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:15,280 life, we tend to lash out at people that we shouldn't. 205 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:23,440 When we're embarrassed or our pride gets in the way, we allow that hurt to justify our 206 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,960 own actions in hurting others. 207 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:27,560 Now we may not mean for it to. 208 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:33,560 We may not mean to be hurting other people, yet when we get embarrassed or our pride gets 209 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:40,440 bruised and our ego swells, we don't pay attention to the things that we should. 210 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,200 Our tunnel vision gets the best of us. 211 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,840 We lose control of what we should. 212 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:51,000 Don't let your bruised ego allow you to hurt others. 213 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:57,360 We need to realize that when we lash out, that's the sign that something is wrong within 214 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:58,360 us. 215 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:05,320 Those of you who are parents or in positions where you take care of kids or deal with kids, 216 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,560 especially you'll recognize it, especially with teenagers. 217 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,480 They have that angst and they get quick to anger. 218 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:15,480 What do they do? 219 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,200 They lash out, especially at home or if it's because something's at home, maybe they're 220 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,360 lashing out at school or somewhere else. 221 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,000 And it's the same thing. 222 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:31,480 It's because something is wrong and it needs to be healed. 223 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:37,600 So don't let your hurt turn you into a jackass. 224 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,400 With that said, that actually brings me to my next point. 225 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:45,800 Remember earlier I said something about spreading a lot of garbage. 226 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,280 So let's take a look at that. 227 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:52,480 Let's turn to Deuteronomy chapter 23. 228 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,960 We're going to be looking at verses 12 through 14. 229 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:05,600 So in Deuteronomy 23, verses 12 through 14, the Bible says, oh, you're going to love this, 230 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:13,280 designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself as part of your 231 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,440 equipment, have something to dig with. 232 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:23,880 And when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement for the Lord, 233 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:31,000 your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. 234 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:37,520 Your camp must be holy so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away 235 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,920 from you. 236 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,960 Let there be no confusion here. 237 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,880 God does not want to walk in our poo. 238 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:48,880 All right. 239 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,240 Bet you didn't know that there is a place in the Bible where it actually has instructions 240 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,840 for dealing with your waste. 241 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,520 It's just like camping or in the military where we have our straddle troughs, where we're 242 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:08,080 out doing certain field exercises or we're working in an area where the CBs or whoever 243 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:14,920 haven't been able to come out and actually install proper equipment, et cetera, et cetera. 244 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:22,080 This goes back all the way to here and even beyond that, there's always been a need to 245 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:23,440 deal with waste. 246 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:29,160 But like I said, God does not want to walk in our waste. 247 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:36,080 Just like any parent, he expects us to clean up our mess. 248 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:41,040 All right, you think about it, what's one of the big things everyone does when they 249 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,640 know they're going to have company over? 250 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,360 They clean. 251 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:48,640 They're doing dishes, they're taking out the trash, they're cleaning up after animals, 252 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,360 yelling at the kids, pick up your room, get the Legos off the floor. 253 00:17:53,360 --> 00:18:00,280 That includes the garbage that we spread in stroking our own egos, those bits and pieces 254 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:05,120 and tidbits of pride that we just leave all over the place. 255 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:11,720 Nobody likes a messy house, not even God. 256 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:12,720 Not even God. 257 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:20,760 All right, so in Acts chapter 7 verse 33, the Bible says, then the Lord said to him, 258 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:27,240 take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 259 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,280 It's just like the study that we just did on the book of Haggai. 260 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:35,680 We need to make sure that we're taking care of the Lord's house, not just leaving our 261 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:42,360 stuff all over, just because we give him our troubles and we can take so much to him, our 262 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:48,880 pain, our weaknesses and everything, and we can leave it at his feet for him to deal with. 263 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:57,360 It doesn't mean that we have free reign to just go in and do whatever we want when we're 264 00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:58,360 in his presence. 265 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:05,680 We don't have the right granted to us or the entitlement to go in and just dump all the 266 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,400 rest of our stuff just all over. 267 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,920 Absolutely not. 268 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:13,320 Where am I going with this? 269 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:14,320 Think about it. 270 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:22,040 As Christians, we're supposed to be loving, merciful to show his grace, yet we're also 271 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:27,440 the ones who can be filled with the most hate and discontent towards our fellow man. 272 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,320 Is that Christianly? 273 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,720 Is that what God wants? 274 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,560 No. 275 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:38,040 One minute we're out here and we're loving on one neighbor. 276 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,000 We're praising the Lord with them. 277 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:50,520 Then next, we're using racial slurs and other degrading behavior towards another neighbor. 278 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:51,520 Easy way to see it. 279 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:52,520 Politics. 280 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,080 You've got the right versus the left and all that. 281 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,480 That's going to be a whole other sermon for another day. 282 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:06,040 Another good example here is it's been over a century now since World War I and we're 283 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:13,560 just shy of a century since World War II, yet the slurs that were used then are still 284 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:24,240 used to put down people in those countries out of pure ignorance at best. 285 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:29,600 People that we're not in conflict with, people who are allies just from a purely political 286 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:37,120 standpoint, but then secondly, our fellow man, but we're still using these terms to 287 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:40,760 describe people in various countries. 288 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:45,880 That's the same for every conflict, even coming up to our most recent conflicts. 289 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:50,720 You think about Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the terms used and 290 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:57,320 the lenses that are used to look at people in these countries. 291 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,200 They're twisted. 292 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,240 They're poisoned. 293 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,600 They're very much in a bad place. 294 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:14,760 Instead of sharing God's love and mercy and exuding his light for the people here that 295 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:21,160 need it the most, these people are being shunned like lepers, unclean, unclean. 296 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,160 Does that sound familiar? 297 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:29,080 It should, yet the example that Jesus gave was totally different than how people are 298 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,480 acting today and the way people are reaching out today. 299 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:34,480 What did Jesus do? 300 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,480 He walked among people. 301 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,520 He went out among the lepers, among the sinners. 302 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:46,240 Put a little perspective here, especially current day, because when it comes to these 303 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:54,240 things one of the biggest issues that we see out there that you hear in TV and video games 304 00:21:54,240 --> 00:22:02,280 and every other form of entertainment is putting down Muslims. 305 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:13,480 Muslims and other people, they convert to Christianity every single year. 306 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:22,160 Imagine how many more people would be brought into a relationship with Jesus if they weren't 307 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:35,440 continually marginalized, pushed to the side, degraded, and treated poorly by Christians. 308 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:42,160 In Matthew 18 verses 21 through 22 the Bible says, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 309 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:47,000 Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 310 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,880 Up to seven times? 311 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:57,280 And Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 312 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,400 Depending on your translation that might even say seventy times seven. 313 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:13,160 But the point is, oftentimes we make up these excuses to try to villainize these other people, 314 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,880 to take away from their humanity. 315 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:22,560 It's like World War II, the Japanese attacked us, but we dropped the bomb, we won, ha ha 316 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:23,560 ha. 317 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:32,880 Coming all the way through, 9-11, they attacked us and gets used to justify treating everyone 318 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:33,880 like crud. 319 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:39,960 Not just the people that we were at conflict with, but as a whole, as an entire country. 320 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,800 And those who have been there, they could tell you there are really good people there 321 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,000 who are victims of where they live. 322 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:48,800 They're victimized daily. 323 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,280 You can turn on the news or research it and you'll see it very clearly. 324 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,960 We have interpreters there that we worked with and other people with various jobs and 325 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,480 everything. 326 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:03,160 They're our absolute wonderful people. 327 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:09,000 They're great people that need to be shown the love of Jesus. 328 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:14,600 I've said it before and I'll say it again, your action and your inaction can save or 329 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,320 turn away somebody. 330 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:22,160 A lot of people will see all that they will ever know is what they see in us and how we 331 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,400 treat them and how we treat others. 332 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,600 Just as much as people want to build this stuff up and be like, oh well it's their fault. 333 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,560 Hey, you know what? 334 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,560 You're going to grow an adult. 335 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,640 You're not a toddler anymore. 336 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:43,640 It's time to put away childish things and just, you know, we need to be just. 337 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,520 We need to forgive unconditionally. 338 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,960 As Jesus said, don't even keep count. 339 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,960 Just forgive. 340 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:54,620 Excuse me. 341 00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:55,620 Just forgive. 342 00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:56,680 Plain and simple. 343 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,520 No ifs, ands or buts about it. 344 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:11,480 You know, and part of that in doing so just as we forgive others, we need to forgive ourselves. 345 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:19,560 That is another huge barrier that many need to overcome is to forgive yourself. 346 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,520 See we want others to forgive us. 347 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,720 We want everyone to forgive us. 348 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,360 We even want God to forgive us. 349 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:31,960 But we won't even forgive ourselves. 350 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:32,960 We're our own worst enemy. 351 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,120 We're our own worst critic. 352 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:43,280 Even worse, we pass judgment on ourselves that we shouldn't and we cling to it like 353 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,840 it's this, you know, biblical truth even though it's not. 354 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,840 We cling to this when we should be letting it go. 355 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,360 You know, if you turn to Romans chapter 8. 356 00:25:56,360 --> 00:26:01,000 We're going to look specifically at verses 1 through 2 here. 357 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:08,640 Romans 8 verses 1 and 2 the Bible says, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those of you 358 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:15,840 who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life 359 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:23,840 has set you free from the law of sin and death. 360 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,080 Free! 361 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:39,040 Now you know the moment you fully accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the verdict for your 362 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:47,200 life it changes from guilty to not guilty. 363 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:54,400 See and the Holy Spirit is with us and helps us in our daily life and our daily walk as 364 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:55,400 Christians. 365 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,040 You see we're free. 366 00:26:58,040 --> 00:26:59,400 The Bible tells us we're free. 367 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,400 We're not paroled. 368 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,560 We're not on probation. 369 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,200 We are free. 370 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:06,200 The chains are broken. 371 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,960 Jesus is the chain breaker. 372 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:14,960 You know, and the Bible tells us in John 8 verse 36. 373 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:23,280 So John chapter 8 verse 36 the Bible says, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free 374 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,480 indeed. 375 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,600 When the Father says you're forgiven, you are forgiven. 376 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,280 End of story. 377 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,080 Forgiven! 378 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,120 Not just for your current state. 379 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:44,680 You're free from all the sins of your past. 380 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:45,960 We all know that we sin. 381 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,440 We all know that we fall short. 382 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:48,440 None of us is perfect. 383 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,000 There has only been one perfect person and that was Jesus. 384 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,280 That is Jesus. 385 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:56,680 We all fall short. 386 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:03,560 So when we go and we accept Jesus and He sets us free and says you're free, that's the end 387 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:04,560 of it. 388 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,960 There's no more debate. 389 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:08,960 It's done. 390 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:14,200 See, we all need to stop getting hung up on ourselves. 391 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,680 Jesus already told us the way and it's through Him. 392 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:25,440 We can't reach Him when we're blinded by our own mess. 393 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:30,400 We need to stop creating barriers and building these walls that we can't see through, we 394 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:37,560 can't see around, and we can't see over, let alone climb over, walk through, or get around. 395 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:44,440 Instead we need to listen to that faithful donkey that's trying to save us. 396 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,160 And in our lives that's the Holy Spirit. 397 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,520 It's convicting us and telling us, hey, don't do that. 398 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,200 You're better than this. 399 00:28:55,200 --> 00:29:03,480 We need to stop being the jackass. 400 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,280 Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 401 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:12,280 If you'd like to know more about our ministry, you can find us on Facebook at Be the Light 402 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:19,760 Sanctuary or you can visit our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org. 403 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,040 Thank you so much for listening. 404 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:23,040 We'll catch you next time. 405 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:36,560 God bless.