Dharius Daniels - I Need Some Straightening

We’re excited about all that God is doing, and let’s get to the Word. We’re in the Book of Luke today, Chapter 13. Man, I’m super excited! We’re in part 11. Okay, I got 13 people excited! Let’s try that again; every location, we’re in part 11 of the «God is» series. Luke 13:10 says, «On a Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’» Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. I want to tag this title to our time together: I need some straightening. Clap your hands everywhere if you’re ready for God’s Word. I need some straightening!

Family, in one of his most popular works, author and thought leader Peter Scazzero says in his book, *Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, * that it is impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. In other words, spiritual growth requires emotional healing. Holiness, come here, requires wholeness. After Christ gives us a new heart, he has to help us work through some old hurts. So family, it’s important for us to know that even though my spirit is saved, my soul is still carrying some scars. Consequently, I can be forgiven and still fractured on my way to heaven, while still carrying some hurt—delivered but damaged. Is there anybody in any location that is honest enough to admit, «I’m traveling down your street, have pulled up into your driveway, came into the living room, didn’t even ring the doorbell, went into the kitchen, and got some Kool-Aid and some Red Bull»? Come on, delivered and damaged!

When this is not accurately understood, individuals are unable to live out their purpose because they’re stuck in their programming. See, our past doesn’t just pass away; our past produces patterns. A lot of what we’re calling our temperament might actually just be our trauma, and a lot of what we’re calling our personality might just be our pain. Maybe we aren’t wired that way; maybe we’ve been wounded that way. If we don’t deal with the damage, we will turn seasons into cycles and confuse our dysfunction with our design. But I believe I’m talking to some people at every location today who have a revelation that is going to cause a revolution in your life: you were not wired to live wounded, and you were not saved to stay stuck! Hallelujah! God did not bring me out of Egypt just for me to die in the wilderness. If He brought me out of Egypt, I’m going all the way into Canaan! I’m not settling for first way; I’m not setting a tent in second way; I’m settling for third way. I cried too much, I prayed too hard, I fasted too long, and I survived too much to stay here! The enemy owes me back pay, and I’m coming for everything he owes me!

And if this resonates, if this revelation is resonating with you, I’ve got some good news for you this morning! I said, if this revelation is resonating with you, I’ve got some good news for you. I said, if this revelation is resonating with you, I’ve got some good news for you! Yeah, I can’t be a gospel preacher and not give you some good news! Do you want some good news? Here it is: your Savior is also a surgeon! I feel like running! I said, your Savior is also a surgeon! He’s called the Great Physician, and this surgeon has never lost a patient. He doesn’t just treat the symptoms; he deals with the sickness. His scalpel is the truth, his anesthesia is grace, and his operating room is the Church. You didn’t just come to a service today; you came to surgery! I want somebody who wants Jesus to work on you to throw your hands up in the air and say, «Work on me, Jesus! Work on me until I get free! Work on me until I get strong! Work on me until I get focused! Work on me until my testimony is that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!»

Why y’all got me preaching so happy this morning? Our Savior is also a surgeon; he doesn’t just stitch wounds; he restores wholeness! So, if you bring him your brokenness, he’ll bring you his wholeness. If you’ll surrender your scars, he’ll supply the strength. And when he’s done operating on you, your testimony will be the testimony of Job, when Job said, «He knows the way that I take; but when he has tried me, I shall come forth as pure gold.» My past helps explain me, but my past won’t define me. Did you hear what I just said? My past may explain me, but my past won’t define me! My past may be the reason I am the way I am, but my past is not the reason I have to stay where I am because my Savior is a surgeon, and the surgeon wants to do some straightening! Everything I’m trying to articulate is here in the text that we just read together in Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13 exposes us to an encounter Jesus has when he is teaching in a synagogue.