Healing For the Wounded Spirit

BREAKING FREE FROM THE PAST #1 Healing For the Wounded Spirit Pastor/Teacher Ken Birks I. Introductory Remarks. I am beginning the series of messages titled, "Breaking Free from the Bondages of the Past". As I begin this series of messages I want to ask you a very important question. "Are you tired of being chained to your past... emotional wounds, broken relationships, addictions and other areas of your life that keep you in bondage from being the successful person you would really like to be? If so, I want you to know that there is hope for you. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and the oppressed and His Spirit is with us today carrying out this important purpose in our lives. Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed... In today's message I would like to begin talking about a subject that has affected everyone of us no matter who we are. I want to talk about the emotional wounds that we all receive along life's pathway. I say this with confidence, because I am aware of the cruel and imperfect world we must all cope with. None of us are exempt from being emotionally hurt from time to time, but you need to know that God's desires for you to be healed of these wounds. Even King David had wounds that needed to be healed. Psalms 109:22 For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. No matter who we are... a businessperson, salesperson, construction worker, blue collar worker, computer whiz, professional person, mother, father, husband or wife - life can be very cruel and hard, giving us emotional wounds and scars that affect our lives in a very negative way. On the outside, we may look good, but on the inside many of us are hurting from the emotional wounds we've picked up along life's journey. Some of you have already acknowledged and dealt with your wounds and have Breaking Free Pt.1 Page 1 Healing For the Wounded Spirit Pastor/Teacher, Ken Birks received healing and are living successful lives as a result; and there are some of you have accepted your wounds and are coping with life as best as you can. And then there are those of you who are barely able to function because you have become so injured as a result. Is there hope for you? Can your wounds be healed? I believe the answer is an unequivocal yes! II. Society's Indicators. There are many indicators in our society that reveal to us how far reaching these wounds have spread. • The recent suicide of rock star, Curt Cobain, from the rock band Nirvana expresses the hopelessness that his found in many of today's youth. Even though he was very successful as a rock star, he had lost his desire for life. His most recent album was almost titled "I hate myself and I want to Die." It was said that he lived a very sad and angry life, and all of that came out in his music. • A society that is addicted to everything and anything. • The popularity of therapists and support groups. There are a support groups for everything. • The topics on the many talk shows eg., Ophra Winfrey, Donahue and others. • The drug problems and gang violence. The reason this is so far reaching is because hurt people, hurt others. It's an unbroken chain reaction. If our society's ills are going to be broken, than we must begin to break the chains in our own lives and stop this endless cycle of hurting and wounding one another. To do this, we must first identify the cause of the wound and how it has affected our lives. III. Wounds - Their Causes & Results. 1. The Major Causes of Most Wounds. • Emotional wounds inflicted by parents, eg. story of boy & father. • Physical, mental, verbal abuse. • Sexual abuse (familiar figure coming to you in the night, touching you in ways that are not right). Breaking Free Pt.1 Page 2 • Abandonment. • General meanness in others, eg kids can be very mean sometimes, eg. • Broken relationships. • Major disappointments. • Nasty Divorce. • Major moral failure, eg. adultery, abortion, etc. 2. Results of Most Wounds. Maybe you are not sure how affected you have been by your wounds. You may think everything is ok. Here are some indicators as to how you may be affected. • Wounded people hurt others Exdus 20:5-6. • No Confidence - low self esteem. • Anger, bitterness, hate & violence. • Lonely and withdrawn - very few friends. • Repeating the things that happened to you. • Unable to respond to others properly. • Shame, guilt & unworthiness. • • Self condemnation. • Afraid to show love. • Eating disorders. Suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately, the person we have become has been shaped by these wounds and their results. The wounds have produced major strongholds in our lives that render us ineffective and unproductive. This is why many people are unhappy with the way their lives are turning out. They have failed to deal with these important issues and as a result they are impaired from having a life filled with God's riches and abundance. As individuals it is important for us to break free from the bondage of the past if we are to be successful in the present and the future. Your life doesn't have to remain as it is. To often the bondage of the past impairs us to the present and the future. We are looking through the present and future through the glasses of the past. The question today is, "Is there hope for you? Can your wounds be Breaking Free Pt.1 Page 3 healed?" The answer is an unequivocal yes! Jesus said... John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly". All of the above causes and results are from the hand of the enemy. He has continually sown corruption into the lives of precious individuals everywhere. We have all been affected in one degree or another. IV. How Does Healing Come? I'm simply going to introduce you to these principles today and in the next message we will look at them in more detail as we discuss "Clearing the Clutter of the Past". • We Must believe that Jesus really wants and desires to heal us. - Mark 2:17 & Hebrews 4:14-16. • We must come out of denial and openly acknowledge and confess our wound - Psalm 62:5-8, Psalm 118:5-6 and John 8:31. • We must have the courage to face the pain and the ugliness of the wound. • We must deal with the root and not just the symptom - Amos 2:9. • We must forgive and let go - Colossians 3:12-15. • We must love our enemies - Matthew 5:44. • We must find a safe environment to take off our mask - James 5:16. • We must take comfort and strength in God's word - Psalm 119:50, 92-93. • We must engage in Spiritual warfare - Ephesians 6:10-14. • We must repent in areas where our own sin has caused the damage - Acts 3:19 V. Concluding Remarks. Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Breaking Free Pt.1 Page 4 • Illustration about sports car trying to pull a trailer. It wasn't designed to do so, therefore it hindered its ability to function and maneuver according to its design. Breaking Free Pt.1 Page 5