Spiritual Discernment [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. Think much of the love of God and how much He's for you. Recognize how much you need the Holy Spirit's discernment.

And in a trust relationship, ask Him to help you see it. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Higher Power as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout our entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org.

That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860, 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. The more that we know we need God to discern truth, the more that it requires us to trust God and that there is an inextricable relationship between our trust in God and our capacity to follow God and hear from God.

That discernment is related to a trust relationship that is born out of the necessity of having our Father guide us. Because of the GPS navigation stuff, you know, I have not been lost in a long time, except a few years ago, a couple years ago, Ann and I had this delightful, wonderful driving vacation, the two of us. We went all the way up into Vermont and it just kept expanding.

We decided we were going to Quebec. And so, you know, I don't even carry a map anymore. I used to carry an Atlas in the car. You know, I had every state and everything and blow up maps all of a sudden.

I used to get maps from AAA. No, just, hey, Siri, take me to Quebec. You know, I mean, it just, well, we were coming out of this area of Vermont. It took us into Canada, but not on one of the main roads.

I was fine. I had scouted out through the Verizon website about how it was going to seamlessly work my phone in Canada. We got into Canada and we're on this kind of back road and I'm looking down and the phone is not working. The GPS is not working.

And we've driven now into Canada, the French speaking part, and you know how it is in foreign countries, the more rural the area, the less likely somebody that speaks English, you know. I mean, like, and there was no, there was nothing. There were no gas station. I'm in the woods.

It was beautiful. I'm in the woods of a foreign country with no map and no GPS. I just looked at my wife and said, we're completely lost in another country. I hadn't been lost like that in a long time. I eventually was able to pull over and figure out there's a switch I had to cut on or something.

About an hour into it, I was able to finally cut on the GPS. I'm like, oh, okay, we're not going to just be lost forever out here. But when was the last time you just really lost? I mean, like, you do not know where you are and have no idea how to move forward. Until you feel that, you have not experienced what it is to need direction. The more that you know that without the Holy Spirit, you are lost in this world and you do not know which path to take, the more you know that, the more you hunger for Him and thirst for Him.

All during our prayer time this morning, the kingdom has just kept coming, hungering and thirsting for God. Thirsting for direction because without Him you're lost. One of my favorite texts and one of the most important in the Bible about discerning the way, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 3, let not steadfast love.

There's my favorite Old Testament word, chesed, chesed. Steadfast love means covenantal love. Let not chesed and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Take the faithful steadfast covenantal love of God and wrap it around yourself.

Write them on the tablet of your heart. You'll find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. He'll make straight your paths. Don't lean on your own understanding because you know that on your own you'll be lost, but instead trust Him. Acknowledge Him.

The word there is to know Him. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord. Turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. The key to discernment, to having the Lord make your path straight, is to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. And I must say, because I think part of my task is to keep in front of you all the lives of culture in contrast to the truth of God, but the idea of lean not on your own understanding is completely contrary to the spirit of the age.

Everything that you will hear is essentially saying in this world, in the carnal world, is don't let someone else tell you, look inside yourself and discover the way. We have tried to lead people into independence rather than interdependence. We have tried to teach people that they don't need anyone else and that authorities are just a threat for your autonomy. I saw a cellular phone commercial this week and it was advertising a phone and a cellular service and it was a young man and the phone buzzed and the caller ID came up and said mom and he hit the decline button like ooh I don't want to talk to her and it was supposed to be funny. Give me a break.

That's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife Ann lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple grace-filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith-filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

We are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. Trust the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. We're just as the world's different now. We just, we breed mistrust. I mean, I am thankful for this. I am thankful for the information revolution that has happened because through all of the internet and all of this, our capacity to learn good has increased exponentially.

I'm thankful for it. But it also has led us into this idea that we can know everything and we don't need anybody. I, I sometimes I feel sorry for the medical providers now because, you know, when I was a kid, we didn't, we didn't have, we didn't have any way of knowing anything. So my pediatrician who was named Dr. Bimbo and he wore a bow tie.

He's what we had. We go see Dr. Bimbo and whatever he said do, that's what we did because what else are we going to do? We couldn't get Google and check up on Dr. Bimbo. And he loved Dimetab. There was a drug called Dimetab.

Anybody remember that? Every time I go, well, take some Dimetab and some Robitussin. I'm like, well, that's a solve everything for me.

Well, Dr. Bimbo was a good doctor. He was all we had. I mean, what are we going to do? Google something? We couldn't.

It was nothing. Our family, we had the Britannica encyclopedias and that's all we had. And two doors down the T hands, my good friends, they had the world book encyclopedias. So they had the world book, which was simpler and more to the point and the Britannica, which was more scholarly and hard for a third grader to understand.

But between the two of them, I would use that. I would do a report at school. I'd borrow their encyclopedias. If they're doing something real serious, can we come borrow the Britannica? That's all we had. We had two set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood.

And if we didn't want, if it wasn't in there, we didn't know about it. And now you just Google everything. So people go to the doctor today and they're like, Hey doc, I'm pretty sure I've got thus and such disease. I've already checked it on three different websites. Here's what the Mayo clinic says.

Here's what web MD says. And I'm pretty sure I need this drug that I've been watching being advertised. And I just need you to, I mean, it's just like, we're, we just, we think that we don't need people. And we are needy. We must be independent, interdependent, and we are dependent upon God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. He's a good father. He knows everything and don't believe the lies of the culture that say you don't need somebody to help you. We need God.

A.W. Tozer said, God waits to be wanted. A student came to his rabbi and said, rabbi, what does it mean?

The Shema of Deuteronomy that says, thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength. And the good rabbi didn't say anything. Instead he took the student by the arm and led him to the river. He waded out into the waters without saying a word and thrust the student's head under the water and kept him there to the point that it seemed he would drown the student. And after what seemed an interminable amount of time, he lifted the student up. And as the student is gasping, the rabbi said, while you were under the water, what did you want more than anything?

And the student said air. He said, when your soul wants God as much as your lungs wanted air, then you will have come to know the meaning of the Shema. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and mind and strength.

You have a father who's for you. He's for your discernment. We have little discernment of our own. And if we let that draw us into God in a trust relationship, then deep, our deep need calls onto deep, his deep provision. And what happens is that our discernment then by the grace of God grows as we mature. You can grow in your discernment. You grow in your capacity to recognize the character of God's voice. You learn that he doesn't shame, that he doesn't lead by fear, that he directs our steps by peace, that he always builds our faith, that sometimes he whispers and sometimes he shouts, and he speaks to each uniquely. But you learn as you grow and you mature.

And I think that maybe an older, wiser, more mature Joseph, maybe he knows and recognizes that this is such a fulfillment of scripture that he doesn't need an angel to come and tell him, go ahead and marry this woman. But as a young man, he did. Maybe as he's grown older and he matures, he doesn't need a dream to tell him that Herod is dangerous. Maybe he's just wise enough by that time to know that Herod is a ruthless liar and murderer. And so you need to be savvy. You need to be innocent as a dove and wise as a serpent. As you mature in the Lord, you gain discernment and wisdom.

This is God's plan. And it's important that that happen because you don't have as much energy as you once did. I have this little theory about youthful energy and mature wisdom and their relationship.

There's some sort of theorem here. There's some sort of a formula because what happens in life, I've lived long enough now to experience it, is that whether you care to admit it or not, you know, your physical capacity and energy level is not what it once was, but that's all right. Because if you've grown, you got so much more maturity that you're able to make a such better decision. When I was a young, young minister, and man, I just like, I can't even believe, I look back now, I'm like, the stuff I did at 11 o'clock at night, you know, my brain was just like alive at 11 o'clock at night. I'm writing things. I'm like, man, come about nine o'clock at night. My brain is like, don't you try to think about anything right now.

You know what I'm talking about. And I feel like that this is the image I've got. I just, I don't, maybe this will mean something to you, but it's like if you imagine you come into the woods and you want to go to Linville Falls, I've got some pictures for you.

It's beautiful. But imagine you come and there are all these different rides you see, all these different trails, different ways that you can get there. And the signs, you know, they're all over. You don't know for sure which way to go. And maybe you come first to a wide, easy path and it looks like, well, maybe I should go that way. Or maybe there's a more narrow path and it goes off to the left. Or maybe there's a rocky straight path that's ahead.

And maybe do I go that way? Or maybe there's a pretty path and it goes deeper into the woods. Or maybe there's a well-defined path and it goes up a climb. And so you imagine like there's intersection and there are five different paths.

And you're in life, I'm talking about life, right? You get to these places like there's this path, there's this path. Which one do I go? And I feel like as a young man, you know, I had so much energy that it's like, well, I'm not totally positive I'm supposed to go down this path, but that's all right. I'll run down the path. If it's the wrong one, I'll run back.

I got time. When you're young enough, you can run down path one, it was wrong. Run down path two, it was wrong. Run down path three, it was wrong. Run down path four, it was wrong. And then finally you get to path five, that's the right one. And you still had enough energy, you get down the right path. But a little bit later on, you might have energy to run down one or two wrong paths, but you don't got time and energy to run down four wrong paths. And then you get to some point in your life, I think I've gotten there, it's like, nah, I can't run down all the paths all the time. I said, but what I do have is more maturity in the Lord and I have a much better chance by the grace of God, I'm going to go down the right path the first time.

So somehow it all works out. So the key, here's the key, is when you're young, get as much wisdom as you can. And when you're old, walk in the discernment with that energy of the Holy Spirit. But as you grow and you mature, your discernment grows. So what I'm saying is think much of the love of God and how much He's for you. Recognize how much you need the Holy Spirit's discernment.

And in a trust relationship, ask Him to help you see it and make your practice. For a couple of years now, I've just been pausing any moment in the day, Jesus, how do you see this? Just a little pause.

Just start with that. Just give yourself a little pause. Open up my eyes.

Let me see this accurately. I'm in the right lane now and I'm in the slow traffic and the trucker that I've got waved my arm at and discussed and gone by, grace to you and everything, you know. And now He's over in the left and I hear, and I'm like, what does that mean? Does that mean I'm going to run you over?

Because now I'm in the position A, you know. And I looked up and He was waving His hand, not a gesture, a friendly, come in to the lane. I was a little nervous. I was like, yeah, He's luring me into His trap. But I realized all in a flash what had happened.

Completely opposite what I had assumed. What had happened was that when I disgusted with Him three miles earlier, threw my hand up like this, He thought I was waving Him into the lane. So He came on in the lane and thought I was the nicest driver on the road. And then when I went by in my license plate said, grace to you, He's probably a deacon in His church. He's like, that's my brother in the Lord right there. So now we're three miles down the road and He's got a chance to return the favor. He's like, come on in, brother. I'm going to give you space right here.

And I pulled right on in and I waved to Him like we're friends, baby. You don't really know, do you, in a situation what's going on, but guess what God does? Ask God. He loves to give wisdom and make you ever increasingly a child of great discernment. And that's the gospel. Allen Wright, our Good News message, spiritual discernment from the series Higher Power. Please stay with us.

Pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting Good News thought for the day. In just a moment, would you love a better marriage? You don't need more good advice.

You need more good news. Marriages like people aren't changed by human effort or even by applying principles. Marriages are changed by the gospel of grace. In six video sessions, Pastor Alan and his wife and lead you and your spouse into a fresh encounter with the God of grace. You'll learn a simple, grace filled process that makes great communication easy. You'll discover the freedom of forgiveness and the power of celebration. You'll also learn how to pray for your spouse and how to bless one another with a faith filled vision for the future.

To help you grow, when you order the video series, we'll also send you two copies of the accompanying study guide. Whether your marriage is going through some special challenges or your marriage is in a season of health, you'll find powerful, transformational truth in good news for your marriage. Make your gift to Allen Wright Ministries today and fill your marriage with the grace of God. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace filled vision for your life by signing up for Allen Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Allen Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at pastorallen.org. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day and spiritual discernment. Is it okay to just be honest with God and say, Lord, I know you can see ahead and what the end of this road looks like.

Could you help me out? I think sometimes it helps me also to say, Lord, will you show me the next step? Yeah. As I mentioned in today's message, God is so kind. And remember when the GPS navigation systems first came out and we were all so dazzled by it, you know, but I remember having a pastoral friend who said, you know, that's the way the Holy Spirit is. You hear the voice that says turn and a half a mile, turn right 500 feet, turn right 100. And then you just miss the turn, but the voice doesn't come on and say, you idiot, that's it.

You're on your own now. It says recalculating your route. So listen, beloved, God is so good that if you've missed it, he doesn't say you got to go back to point where you began and start over again. He says from where you are now, I want to get you to where I've planned for you to go. And he is for you being able to discern that direction and may give you much grace to sense his leading. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.