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We've all been hurt. We all have scars. And through a relationship with Jesus Christ,

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we can all overcome and we can all be healed. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Alright, hey everybody. Welcome back to the Sanctuary. You know, God has a way of taking

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things that are lowly to some and turning them into something pretty great. And it's

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easy to see that it's the total opposite of how the world works. For example, the pope

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has a pope mobile, the president has a presidential state car, people of wealth are known for

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their expensive vehicles and taste. You know, they're the awe and spectacle of many. You

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know, even growing up, I had a friend and one of his biggest goals in life was just

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to own a Lexus. You know, and this goes way back in history. It's said that Julius Caesar

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tried to ride in a golden chariot pulled by elephants. And it, you know, unsurprisingly

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it failed, but the effort was still made. You know, it's also said that Mark Antony

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had an elaborate chariot and tried to have it pulled by lions. Another plan that didn't

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work out so well, but again, the effort was made. And it's well documented that even

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before the time of, you know, before that time, royals and other people of wealth and

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influence and importance would be carried on these extravagant leaders. You know, those

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things that have like the poles and the chairs on them and all that, you see them in like

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movies and stuff like Cleopatra, that sort of stuff. You know, when it came to Jesus

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though, Jesus was different. Jesus is totally different. In Matthew 21 verse five, again,

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that's Matthew 21 verse five, the Bible says, say to daughter Zion, see your king comes

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to you gentle and riding on a donkey and on a colt, the fowl of a donkey. This was something

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prophesied over 500 years earlier in Zachariah 9, 9 Zachariah chapter nine, verse nine,

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the Bible says, rejoice greatly daughter Zion, shout daughter Jerusalem, see your king comes

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to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey on a colt, the fowl of

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the donkey, excuse me, the fowl of a donkey, a donkey, an animal widely considered stubborn

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and dumb, a beast of burden, an animal viewed so unfavorably that has been used as an insult

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for generations of all the animals. He came on a donkey, not a giraffe, not a bear, not

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a horse, but a lowly donkey. Why? Why? For a couple of reasons. One, to fulfill prophecy.

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That's pretty important right there. Two, to show his own humility at the time affirming

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his messianic royalty. Now I'll propose a third thing being shown here. Notice that

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he's riding on a donkey and her colt. There's no better way to lead an unbroken colt down

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crowded street than to do so with its own mother next to it. Sounds very similar to

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Mary throughout Jesus' life as well, doesn't it? She was there to support him through and

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through from the beginning until the very end. We know this. The Bible tells us this.

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Now Jesus, he could have chosen to be flashy, could have gone the other way. Now the reality

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is donkeys are extremely intelligent. They're very loyal, cautious, affectionate, and very

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charismatic. But that doesn't change how they're viewed. I mentioned in the past that they

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were the work trucks of their day. So they were anything but flashy. They were the beat

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up, all dependable pickup truck that you trust to get the job done. And God loves beat up

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and broken things. How do we know this? It's throughout the Bible. We see it everywhere.

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Look at Matthew chapter 9 verses 12 through 13. Matthew chapter 9 verses 12 through 13,

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the Bible says, on hearing this Jesus said, it's not the healthy who need a doctor but

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the sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have

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not come to call the righteous but sinners. Sinners. That's all of us. You, me, all of

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us. Not only that, but you look at the people who constantly went out to Jesus. It wasn't

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the wealthy and the well off people of that day. It was the broken, the sick, the lame,

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the blind, the mute, the crippled, the starving, possessed people, and even leprous people.

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People who were at rock bottom. You know, just as his donkey was being broken, so are

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we. And that's what the devil wants. He wants us broken and he wants us turned away from

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God. And I'll point out that the donkey was specially earmarked for Jesus. We know this

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not only because of prophecy but even just looking at it. When looking from the top down,

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you'll find a marking on donkeys. And it's more prominent on some than on others because

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the way the fur and all kind of blends together. But you'll notice it has a cross on its back.

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And just as the donkey was especially earmarked for Jesus, so are we. If we accept Jesus as

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our Lord and Savior, when we accept him and begin to follow him, we become his. We're

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earmarked, we're set aside for him. Now why is all this important? Well, to answer that,

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let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. So 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through

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10, the Bible says, Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands

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without anger or disputing. I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and

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propriety, adorning themselves not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive

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clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. Now this

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scripture is talking about us needing to be modest and not flaunting ourselves. But this,

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you know, and it's talking about like, you know, that outward appearance. But this also

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applies in other areas of our lives as well. You know, remember in Matthew chapter 6, the

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Bible tells us that our treasures are in heaven, not here on earth. So, you know, it's not

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just about cars, but as a society, we've turned into absolute trash pandas. We'll buy up and

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hoard just about anything, from the latest and greatest to the stuff we hold on to in

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the hope that it will become a collector's item and worth a hefty price one day. You

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know, I'll remind you of the idiom, he who dies with the most toys still dies. And just

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as we entered this world with nothing, we leave it with nothing. None of it goes with

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us. All right. When the tomb of King Tut was found, paintings, statues, thousands and thousands

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of different treasures were found within. And then, of course, they found the elaborate

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stone sarcophagus. And as it was open, they found a casket and then another, a total of

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three amazing caskets. Each one had even more treasures within it. And of course, the final

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casket, which contained the body, it was made of gold. Then, of course, the body itself

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was wrapped in riches. But underneath all this stuff, what they found was still a withered,

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decomposing body of the dead person that was inside. Matthew 23 verses 13 through 15, the

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Bible says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you shut the

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door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will

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you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,

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you hypocrites, you travel over land and sea to win a single convert. And when you have

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succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. We see something very

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similar when we look at Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3, the Bible says, As for you, you

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were dead in your transgressions and in sins, in which you used to live when you followed

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the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of air, the spirit who is now

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at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying

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the cravings of our flesh and following his desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were

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by nature deserving of wrath. See what the word is telling us here. In these verses,

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despite all the tensile and flare, the beauty and grace, it doesn't matter how wonderful

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people look on the outside when they're still dead on the inside. They're in more need of

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spiritual CPR than ever, but they're more caught up in what the world says instead.

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So they miss the gift that Jesus has given to those who accept it. And not only do they

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miss the mark, but these quote unquote influencers also lead others away from God. They're a

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virus that infects everyone they touch. They're contagious. Like a lot of the media today,

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a lot of those quote unquote influencers, you know, and it'll it's referred to as being

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charismatic, you know, if they have charisma, but let's call it what it is. It's a virus.

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Some of the most outwardly beautiful people in the world are also some of the ugliest

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inside because they're spiritually dead, a literal zombie walking around because they

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don't even realize that they're dead. Yet it doesn't need to be this way. It can be

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and it should be different. The Japanese have a practice called Kintsugi where they take

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things that are broken and repair them with silver or gold or bronze or something like

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that. And rather than trying to cover something up or replace it, these things are basically

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left with this beautiful scar that's a part of their history. And they do this with things

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from cups to walls, anything that an owner deems is in need of that healing. It comes

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from the idea that through adversity, something or someone can be made more beautiful and

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that it's their history that makes them valuable. All right. So another thing in another part

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of the world here. So in certain parts of London, the fencing in front of buildings

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has a very distinguished, a uniform look. And it's because in World War II, much like

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here in the US, certain metals were in high demand for the war effort. You know, metal

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was taken up from all over the place. Stretchers were made of steel poles and metal mesh wiring.

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And after the war, there were a ton of these stretchers left over. They didn't know what

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to do with it at first. And someone came up with the idea and a decision was made to have

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these stretchers welded together vertically, fixed onto poles, and then placed into the

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concrete and used to replace the missing fencing around different buildings and homes that

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was taken during the war. Matter of fact, when you look at this fencing, those little

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bends in the poles that were used to make like a type of legging so that they weren't

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just like flat on the ground, you can still make them out very, very easily. So when you're

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looking at some of these fences, that fence that someone's looking at as they walk by

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may well have been used to save someone's life. You know? So while we all have scars,

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we are not without use. These scars, they're just a part of our history, a part of our

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testimony. When God heals us, He's working on our insides. He's taking that corpse and

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He's bringing it back to life, much like Lazarus. You know, Jesus himself was scarred when He

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was put on the cross and pierced for our transgressions, yet He rose. And in the book of John, chapter

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20, verse 20, the Bible says, after He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The

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disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. And John goes on to tell about Thomas,

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who doubted and wouldn't believe that this happened unless he could touch Jesus' wounds

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himself. So in John, chapter 20, verse 27, the Bible says, then He said to Thomas, put

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your finger here, see my hands, reach your hand out. I'm sorry. Reach out your hand and

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put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. So after Thomas put out the challenge, Jesus

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is like, ha ha, challenge accepted. So He's scarred just like us. He knows our pain because

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He's felt it. And I'm here to tell you that He who made you can and will repair you. In

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a second Corinthians, chapter five, verse 17, the Bible says, therefore, if anyone is

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in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here. Give your life

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to Jesus and He'll give you the Holy Spirit. The old you will pass away. We are not reformed

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or we are not rehabilitated. We are not reeducated when these things happen or when this happens.

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What we are is recreated. And by being recreated, we start to heal. Now, some things take much

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longer to heal than other things, but we do heal. Our perspective changes from the world

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to the cross. We become a part of God's family and we have a new take on life. So join me

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now in Revelation, chapter 21. So Revelation, chapter 21, verses three through four, three

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through four, the Bible says, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look,

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God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them. They will be

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His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear

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from their eye. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old

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order of things has passed away. All those hurt, those aches and pains, they're all healed.

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All those hurts, those aches and pains, they're all healed. Every single one. When we look

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away from the world and we look to Jesus, we find what we need. He came into the world

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humble. He rode a donkey into Jerusalem, humble. He took the cross for us, humble. And He'll

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forever be humble. And we know this because in Hebrews chapter 13, verse eight, Hebrews

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chapter 13, verse eight, the Bible says, Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever,

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forever humble. And that, that is what we need to inspire to be as well. Humble. Luke

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chapter 18, verses 18 through 30, the Bible tells us about Jesus speaking to a young rich

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man. The man is asking, how do I inherit eternal life? He says, he's followed the commandments

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throughout his life. Jesus tells him that even though he's done this, he's still lacking

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something very important and goes on to tell him that what he needs to do is to sell all

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of his belongings, give it all to the poor and then to follow him. He even told the man

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that if he did this, he'd have treasures stored up in heaven. But the man was saddened. He's

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basically defeated. You see, it's hard to give up power and prestige. It's hard to give

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up proceed security. It's hard to give up what the world says is your identity. Yet

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you still need to rebrand, rebrand from the world to Jesus. Here's the thing. Here's what

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that man missed. Jesus isn't telling us to give up everything that we've been blessed

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with. What he's telling us is we need to give up anything and everything in our lives that

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has become more important than God. And to follow Jesus, you will need to give up something.

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But what you give up here on earth, you'll be rewarded for in heaven. And that is eternal.

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So humble yourself. You don't need the fancy stuff all the time. Stop being a trash panda.

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Let go of those things that you really don't need. And if someone you know will benefit

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from it, get it to them. If not, give it to a shelter or a goodwill. And along the way,

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if it can point the way to Jesus, then you'll be passing along an extra blessing in the

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process because you're pointing the way to God. In the process of trusting the Lord for

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what you need, you'll find your scars are being filled in with his light. Even though

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it may not feel like it now, you're not truly broken. What you are is changing into something

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more beautiful. Trust the process. Trust Jesus.

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Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If you'd like to know more

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about our ministry, you can find us on Facebook at Be the Light Sanctuary or you can visit

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our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org. Thank you so much for listening. We'll catch you

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next time. God bless.