Hope for Deep Wounds Wrap up

It is easy for us to come here week to week and listen to the message then leave and forget what we have heard. (I have a hard time remembering my own messages at times.) haha

I want to take some time this morning to refresh what we have heard over the last 3 weeks. I believe that this process of recapping what we have heard will become more and more common here at Bridge of Faith over the next 5 years. I want the scripture to truly stick and change the way we live our lives.

Tammy Holder sent me this and I think it is a good image for our minds to see and it helps us to understand how God uses our deep wounds(zoomed in tree pic)

You can see in the pic the barb wire is piercing the tree. Some of the barb wire is deep into the tree. This would appear to be a very deep wound. You can tell that this tree has faced some trauma.

When you zoom out on the tree you see that this is a deeply rooted corner post.(tree pic zoomed out)

This tree has a very unique purpose. It serves as a corner post. The tree is deeply rooted with evidence of trauma in it. This tree has an amazing purpose as a corner post.

No doubt many of you in this room have lived through some extreme trauma in your life. (Some of you in this room have not, yet (as a Christ follower) you are called to help those who have.

If you work with kids on Wednesday nights, some of those children have faced trauma.

What is our response to this trauma or deep wounds?

My desire is that we can see HOPE in the deep wounds. These wounds are present but they don’t define us. It is in these wounds that God is making us into a “corner post” if you will.

I am convinced that some who have faced trauma are some of the toughest people I have ever met in my life provided they don’t let the trauma define them. When Jesus grabs those who have faced deep wounds and sets them free, he uses them in some amazing ways.

2 Corinthians 1:3 HCSB

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Mercy:

is the compassionate disposition to forgive an offender or adversary and to help or spare him in his sorry plight.

2 Corinthians 1:4–5 HCSB

4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows.

God comforts us in our affliction SO THAT we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction.

Your affliction can be used for good! Your affliction can have meaning. WE MAY be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction. This is done THROUGH the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

The sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows

2 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary b. Thanksgiving (1:3–11)

While Paul and his co-workers share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings because the old age still persists, they share abundantly in comfort too because the new messianic age has already begun. As we have seen, this comfort can take the form of either deliverance out of affliction or encouragement in affliction which enables them to endure.

Jesus stays in the grave then their is no promise of deliverance out of affliction.

Jesus defeated the grave and this promises that those who place their faith in Christ will be totally delivered from all affliction.

Deliverance from deep wounds looks like the actions of Esau in Genesis 33.

Esau is the victim of Jacob. Jacob stole from Esau. He stole the blessing that was meant for Esau. Esau wants to kill Jacob and so Jacob flees.

Jacob is called to return and Esau and Jacob are about to meet.

Jacob prepares to meet Esau and he has flocks and herds prepared for him.

He hears that Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. This wound between Jacob and Esau causes Jacob to start reordering his livestock, possessions and his family.

Jacob is not loving mercy

Unwillingness to love mercy causes distress and fear

These deep wounds have the potential to grab our minds and twist our thinking.

Our hearts and minds start to fill with other sins as well worry, fear, bitterness, yelling, lying, drunkeness, or sexual immorality.

Being unwilling to love mercy roots itself in our lives and leads us in to so many other sins if we are unwilling to deal with it.

Genesis 33 Jacob and Esau meet. Jacob is rearranging things and Esau spots Jacob and runs after him and meets him. Jacob has this whole procession planned out and Esau just runs up and hugs him.

Esau displays our fathers love and mercy for us and what it is to live a life of Mercy for those who may have wounded us.

Esau represents who are loving father is.

God does not show Mercy because of what you have done but God shows mercy because that’s who he is.

God is faithful to his promises and shows mercy through his promises.

Genesis 33:10 HCSB

10 But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me.

Jacob says to Esau I have seen your face and seeing your face is like seeing God’s face since you have accepted me.

Esau went from angry and wanting to kill Jacob to at the point of their reunion his face looks like the face of God.

I know we serve a God who takes hearts that have been deeply wounded and through His Mercy he is able to place that upon us so much so that the healing that takes place causes those who have hurt us to see our face and say that it’s like seeing God’s face.

It is truth that the God we serve, who is the only God that exist, has the capacity to bring about healing to the deepest of wounds.

The purpose of healing deep wounds is to come into right relationship and freedom with our Lord and Savior.

People want to try and heal deep wounds by running to those that hurt you and hoping they will say all the right words to make you feel better.

The type of healing we are talking about in deep wounds is not available through the actions of someone else or something else.

The healing we are talking about is only available through Jesus.

It amazes me how we as humans want to be healed without giving God a thought. That is we want to accomplish the act of forgiveness in our flesh. We don’t want to admit that we need God in order to experience true forgiveness.

When I say I don’t believe that true forgiveness can really be experienced without the work of the Holy Spirit. The flesh wants to argue that.

We want to say no no no I believe I can in my flesh forgive people. (I want to scream out that’s a bad call haha)

God not only heals us of deep wounds but he also equips us with a tool for healing. The tool he gives us is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us.

Steps of Repentance

God I am Wrong

God I am Sorry

God Forgive me

God Cleanse me

God Empower me

John 15:5 HCSB

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.

You can do NOTHING without me. The one who abides in me or the one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit.

John 14:26–27 HCSB

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit —the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.

The Father will send Him in my name. He will teach you ALL(Circle All) things and remind you of everything I have told you.

God empowers you with Mercy. The Christian walk is not lonely. God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us, equip us, and strengthen us.

When it comes to the steps of repentance and the Christian walk this is a daily thing. There are times when you walk through a deep wound that the Lord heals us on one and done. More so than not it takes a constant abiding in the Lord for healing.

Day 1 pray 50 times, day 2 45, maybe day 3 65 and then as you abide in Christ you start to see this decreasing and the Lord keeps bringing more and more healing.

2 Peter 1:3–4 HCSB

3 His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.

Through God’s great and precious promises you may share in the divine nature.

Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit you share in the divine nature. That is divine Mercy, love, patience, forgiveness, self-control is part of your Heavenly Father and through His promises the likeness of Him can be seen in you.

You can escape the corruption that is in the world

We see the endless help for deep wounds that is available through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Last week, we called out a barrier to seeing victory in Christ and that was a

Victim Mentality:

If you have a victim mentality, you will see your entire life through a perspective that things constantly happen ‘to’ you. Victimization is thus a combination of seeing most things in life as negative, beyond your control, and as something you should be given sympathy for experiencing as you ‘deserve’ better. At its heart, a victim mentality is actually a way to avoid taking any responsibility for yourself or your life. By believing you have no power then you don’t have to take action. (thegospelcoalition.org)

In other words, any bad thing in your life is the fault of other people. They’re the ones that are bad, wrong or dumb, and you are good, right and brilliant. Other people do bad or stupid things, and you suffer as a result.

Let me be clear

This is not saying that there are not victims. Scripture has so much to say about justice for those who are innocent victims. I know that some of you are innocent victims in the deep wounds that you have faced.

People are often innocent victims that have suffered unjust evil at the hands of others.

We must be on guard that being a victim does not mean we move to or adopt a victim mentality.

We saw the victim mentality lived out in the Life of the Israelites being delivered out of bondage and slavery in Egypt.

The Lord delivers them. He parts the waters of the Red Sea, they cross on dry ground, through the Egyptians into confusion, caused the chariots wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty, and the Lord caused the sea to come back on them that pursued them into the sea.

The Victim Mentality sucks the joy out of life

A victim mentality not only magnifies our difficulties but it also minimizes our blessings.

It makes our problems big and our blessings small

The Israelites had so many amazing things happen to them. God had given them a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead them. He had delivered them and done soo much for them and yet all they could focus on was the problems.

Victim Mentality Disempowers us

Victim Mentality blinds us to our own sin and our need for a Savior

This distances us from the Savior

When it is always someone else’s fault, then I don’t need a Savior because I am never wrong. The victim mentality explains our wounds as solely someone else’s fault

The Bible doesn’t encourage a victim mentality

1 Peter 2:21–23 HCSB

21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps. 22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; 23 when He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He was suffering, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.

The greatest injustice in the History of the universe. The one without sin died for those who have sinned.

Left you an example that you might follow in His steps

when he was suffering he did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.

He surrendered Himself the the one who judges justly

In suffering, it is complete surrender to the one who judges justly.

As I conclude this series, Let me give you some closing thoughts

A secular book

Mindset the New Psychology of success says this...

Many people think the brain is a mystery. They don’t know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born either smart, average, or dumb and stays that way for life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle-it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientist have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you LEARN.

Romans 12:2 HCSB

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We get stuck thinking that we are the way God made us and we can never change. The deep wounds become our identity and we think maybe God forgot about us or it’s not possible for us to experience healing.

Romans 12:2 says be transformed. The way that we do this is by renewing of your mind.

Holy Spirit Empower me to think on these things and renew my mind

Philippians 4:8 HCSB

8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.

Mindset book

When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible-like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra-seem to become easy. The result is a stronger, smarter brain

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Hope for Deep Wounds Wrap up

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