61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times; that is, when people refuse to let go of the past, they will NEVER be able to go forward…ever. There are people here who are stuck in a perpetual vortex of time: namely, the past. This timeline is your bread, and it is your meat, and it is your drink. This intoxication has caused an addiction very few are free from – well, I’ve come to preach that you may have hope, freedom, and total deliverance from this…in order to be free – you must establish where you are, who your enemies are, and who your friends are. Without an honest assessment of where you are; you’ll never be free.
In the Kingdom of God: Typically, you have 3 types of people wandering through it (I’m going to use a physical reality to explain spiritual health
You have people who bear WOUNDS / SCABS / SCARS concerning the timeline of your life.
Let’s identify what these mean to you, find out exactly which one describes you the best, and what you must do thereafter.
a. Wound – ‘An injury to living tissue caused by a cut, blow, or other impact typically one in which the skin is cut or broken’ | to inflict injury (physically, mentally, and / or emotionally)
2 Chronicles 16:12-13 (NKJV)
12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
Ruth 1:20-21 (NKJV)
20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi;[a] call me Mara,[b] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
Acts 23:12-14 (NKJV)
12 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. 14 They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.
Herein lies the Violation and the Violated. Wounds are very painful; in some cases, it’s very difficult to almost impossible to function normally while bearing a wound.
- People are pulled from warfare when wounded
- Medical attention is given to the wounded
- Physical incapacitation is regularly found in the wounded
This is not only true physically, but it is true spiritually. The wounded in the Kingdom of God CANNOT FIGHT EFFECTIVELY – many of them have to be pulled from the battle.
Extra Care has to be rendered to the wounded because they are not as self-sufficient as o
Speaking of Fighting (FIGHTING WITH OR AGAINST YOUR HUSBAND OR YOUR WIFE MEANS THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING AGAINST YOUR FAMILY AND GOD)
Also, the wounded cannot function with much dexterity or nimbleness as others because of the wounds they carry. THE WOUNDED ARE AT A SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGE and you are prone to fail and fall…however, there is ONE power ALL of the wounded possess…the POWER OF CHOICE.
I asked someone earlier in the week: if you were in an accident and were badly bruised and suffering – if the paramedics arrived and were rushing you to the hospital…how long do you want that trip to be? The same is true with the wounded…your wounds last only as long as you want them to.
b. Scab – ‘The incrustation that forms over a sore, burn, or wound during healing.’
Luke 24:15-16 (NKJV)
15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
Acts 1:8-11 (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus Ascends to Heaven
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
John 19:14-15 (NKJV)
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
A scab is interesting. There are few physical facts about a scab that make a lot of sense when put under the microscope of Spiritual living.
- A scab is ugly
- A scab is deformed
- A scab is itchy and uncomfortable
- A scab is hope
- A scab points towards a better future
It’s designed to cover the wound, allowing it to heal without hindrance. The problem with scabs however is the PROCESS. No one wants to go through the ugly, deformed, itchy, uncomfortable time of scabbing. However, we want a better future and hope.
Jer. 29:11 – ‘The thoughts that I think towards you are of peace…to give you a future and a hope’
THE LORD IS THE SCAB LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
This is the essence of Atonement.
Ezekiel 16:59-60, 63 (NKJV)
59 For thus says the Lord God: “I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
60 “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’”
I will agree with you that, scabs are difficult to live with – so is change, so is progress, and so are new beginnings…BUT THEY ARE WORTH IT
c. Scar – ‘A mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn’
Genesis 32:25, 31 (NKJV)
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
Naturally, scars have no pain. Scars are marks of history, but a peculiar type of history…it tells you and the world of what has been HEALED.
There are some of us that have a multitude of scars! However, no matter how many you’ve had, if you bear scars, none of them hurt…if they still do – THEY ARE NOT SCARS…THEY ARE WOUNDS…
Which one would you prefer to carry? Scars, scabs, or wounds?
Believe it or not, most prefer to carry wounds! One of the main reasons is quite clear – dealing with pain is something we wish to minimize as much as possible.
Dealing with Pain: The Timeline
People and / or animals that have wounds respond to life differently than most. You see, they are in pain and for survival sakes, they wish to keep that pain down and suppressed; in fact, the wound is so painful – they’ll do anything to protect themselves.
Example: a wounded animal is more dangerous because anyone or anything that would approach it is a potential threat to the wounded area…therein lies the problem
HEALING ONLY COMES BY TOUCHING THE WOUNDED AREA: HEALING BEGINS WHEN MORE PAIN IS INFLICTED…
*Our hearts were wounded by sin, so the solution was to KILL the Messiah whose death gave birth to Salvation and the Church* It took more pain to do that!
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The question remains: which one of these people are you?
If you are wounded, are you willing to let someone apply the necessary touch to start the healing process?
If you bear scabs, are you patient enough to allow them to do their job?
If you bear scars, will you let them tell a testimony, or will you allow what got healed to lose its potency because of your focus on the wound that transformed into that scar?
I’ve heard people define scars as a lasting effect of trouble…why? Well, they refuse to let go of the pain associated with the wound, and also refuse to rejoice in the healing that the scar reflects.
Where in this timeline do you find yourself? It’s through the blood of Jesus Christ, that no matter what time of life you’re in; He will be there for you, ready to touch your life with His love.
