#7divine Possibilities: Scars Are Testimonies Series

SPEAK TO THE DIVINE POSSIBILITIES:

#7: SCARS ARE A TESTIMONY AND OPPORTUNITY

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

We are studying Divine Possibilities:

1. Climb into God’s Envelope; 2. Accept the Mantle; 3. Starving at a feast; 4. Let God! 5. DYING IN A RUT! When an unforgiving preacher preaches 6. Rising above the Minimum; 7. Rising above the scars;

8. Every miracle starts with a problem! 9. Walking in Divine blessings; 10. Importunity/Determination

I have faced great obstacles in bringing this series to you. Today we had a power outage and I lost 6 1/2 hours of work on this lesson. Wow, was I frustrated? What do you do? Do it again! This happened on another message in this series? Wow?

TEXT FOR THE SERIES:

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him: IF THOU CANST BELIEVE, all things are possible to him that believes.

24. And straight way the father of the child cried out, and said WITH TEARS, Lord, I believe; HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF!

LET US START THIS LESSON WITH A QUESTION:

I WOULD BE A BETTER CHRISTIAN IF ________________________?

I. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SCARS?

A. We will be wrapping up the series on Divine Possibilities. But before we can we must address the role of scars in the heart of the believer.

B. The Scars of the past were never meant to dictate to our faith and stop us from walking in our Divine Potential and our Divine Possibilities OF THE FUTURE.

C. Many associate scars as a type of defeat and this is not true in the Bible. A scar is a testimony that we survived and have overcome.

D. Scars cannot be allowed to hinder God’s plan for you today.

E. A SCAR IS NOT UGLY, A SCAR TESTIFIES WE HAVE OVERCOME, GOD LEAD US THROUGH THIS BATTLE! A scar is a way of remembering where we have been.

F. SCARS CAN OPEN DOORS TO OTHERS OF GOD’S POWER!

Consider Matthew 25:31 His Lord said unto him, WELL DONE, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler

over many things, ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THE LORD!

G. DEFINE SCAR:

*** a mark left by the healing of injured tissue

*** a lasting moral or emotional injury

II. I HAVE OFTEN HEARD EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER!

THE SCARS OF OTHERS SHOULD TEACH US CAUTION TO AVOID THE SCAR!

A. Experience is a very good teacher, but it can be a very costly experience.

I once heard of a young girl that loved to play with matches. Her parents caught her on several occasions playing with matches and fire. They warned her to never play with fire again.

The girl did learn a powerful lesson.

One day she was playing with matches in her bedroom. She caught her curtains on fire.

The whole house was engulfed in flames, her hair caught on fire and 80% of her little body was burned with 3rd degree burns. Her head swelled to a large size.

She is scarred for life, her mind will never be the same.

But she learned a costly lesson.

That’s why I can’t agree that experience is the best teacher. She learned but at what cost?

B. I know a man that was drunk and driving down the wrong side of the interstate, he wrecked at a high rate of speed into a church bus and killed 27 people.

That 27 does not count the children that are scarred for life from their burns.

The man learned not to drive drunk, but at what cost?

C. That young girl wants to be very popular. Her boyfriend takes her out some dark road.

They start kissing and petting, and a few weeks later the girl finds out she is pregnant and the boy has nothing to do with her? She learned but at what cost?

One day she starts getting very sick, and the doctor runs an AIDS test and the beautiful girl finds out she is dying of AIDS. She learned, but look at the cost?

III. JESUS TAUGHT US --- SCARS HAVE A PURPOSE!

A. THE SCARS I CARRY ARE BUT A VISIBLE WITNESS I HAVE FOUGHT THE BATTLE AND SURVIVED! JESUS WAS NOT ASHAMED OF HIS SCARS! THEY WERE MORE LIKE A TROPHY! Are you ashamed of your scars?

B. OFTEN TIMES SEEING IS NEVER ENOUGH!

WE WANT TO SEE? THEN WE WANT TO TOUCH? THEN WE WANT A CIRCUS?

John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto Thomas, WE HAVE SEEN THE LORD. But Thomas said unto them, EXCEPT I SEE in His hands the prints of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hands into His side, I will not believe.