Blessed to be Twice Fruitful [Part 2]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, just did you have fun? That's probably not going to be the case. There might be one of these boys who might be a surgeon one day and comes home and says, I lost a patient today. And his wife's not going to say, well, but did you have fun?

No, sometimes it matters whether you win or lose, doesn't 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, The Power to Bless, taken from Pastor Alan's book of the same title and as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, 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. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. I've got a kind of competitive nature and I've had to kind of deal with that off and on over the years. When our son Bennett was little, I wound up, ended up coaching his soccer team. There for a while, Dan Anthony, the elder in our church, he was coaching and then I helped him a little bit. They were pretty good back there when Dan was doing it. By the time that I had the team though, I don't know, we'd lost some of our key players and we just weren't very good and we were losing most all the games.

I was, it was part of the more laid back league in town, the Optimist League, where there's not a lot of pressure on it in the first place. I remember the guy that at the time that was heading it up and he got all the coaches together for a training and he said, listen, he said, your kids, there's two things they want to do. They want to kick the ball and they want to eat a snack. He said, so here's what we do in the Optimist Soccer League. We make sure every kid gets a chance to kick the ball and every kid gets to eat a snack. And so it was required that every kid get to play at least half the game and you always had to have a snack.

He was a pretty funny guy. He said, also, when your practice is, I want you to employ the dead man's rule. We said, what's the dead man's rule? He said, that means that you can't do anything at practice, ask your kids to do something that a dead man could do.

And that includes just sitting still and listening to you talk. They want to kick the ball and have a snack. And so, you know, we aim to just have fun with this, but we just kept losing week after week.

I mean, I think maybe the first season, I'm not sure if we won a game or not. And every week we'd be leaving the house, Bennett and I, I'm walking out, I got my little whiteboard that I draw stuff on and I've got practice soccer balls and again, Bennett and we're going out. And every week my wife, she'd say, she said, now listen, Bennett, just go out there and have a good time.

Remember, it's not so much whether you win or lose, but just that you're having a good time doing this. And we're like, okay, all right. I mean, it got to be, it was just, it was just regular as we got ready. Now remember, and we were like, we know, you know, I know mom, it doesn't matter whether I win or lose, you know, and it just looked like every week. And she meant so well with it. And I, and she was, she also, she was aware that we were losing most of the time. And so she didn't want to come a disappointed son coming home.

But finally I got with Anne and I said, honey, I said, would you mind not saying that anymore? Because I honestly, I'd like to win sometimes. And I said, and the other thing is I'm trying to help teach these boys some life lessons. And one day they're going to probably grow up and have a job and it's going to, it's going to be a little bit competitive part.

You know, I mean, I said, I think there may be a kid on the team. He grows up and, and he's, he's, he's in a sales job and he comes home and he's just lost a $20,000 a year commission. And he says to his wife, he said, honey, I got bad news.

I just lost one of my biggest clients and I don't think I did a good job on the presentation and they're going to go with somebody else. And his wife's probably not going to say, well, honey, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose. Just, did you have fun?

It's probably not going to be the case. There might be one of these boys might be a surgeon one day and comes home and says, I lost a patient today. And his wife's not going to say, well, but did you have fun? No, sometimes it matters whether you win or lose, doesn't it? And Jacob didn't lay his hands on these two grandsons and say, I just bless you to have fun in life and always remember it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. That's not what he said, is it? He blessed the fruitfulness of their lives and Jacob himself had had the fruitfulness of his life be blessed.

And so the answer to having peace in this world and not feeling pressure can't be to just simply pretend that success never matters. And as we look at who God is, and I want to show you the theological foundation of fruitfulness, you'll realize that it's in God's heart and his own nature for that which is good and made by him as something good to be able to prosper, to flourish, to increase. Let's start back in Genesis chapter one at verse 11. God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind on earth and it was so. The design of God is that there would be plants and they have branches and those branches will blossom, have leaves and stuff that blossom, right? And then from that fruit and inside the fruit is seed and you could take the seed in that fruit plant it, more trees grow, more fruit, more seed.

So it's a plan for exponential increase. And at verse 26, we see the pinnacle of God's creation. Genesis 1 26, God said, let us make man in our image and our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on earth. So God created man in his own image and the image of God, he created a male and female, he created him. And so he's made humanity in his own image, very much like God.

That's who we are. And then at verse 28, God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heaven. So the nature of God is to create bringing order, form and beauty out of the chaos and to take that which he has created and bless it to identify how good it is to will its increase, to bless it with a positive vision for the future so that what he has made will increase.

And this is the way God has made everything in the world. There's seed, it's planted, it grows, it flourishes, it's fruitful. And this is the nature in which he made people to live fruitful lives. And what is compelling in the scripture when you realize is that God is relentless in his intent to bless humanity to be fruitful just as he originally said. So even after the fall of humanity and Adam and Eve sinned and there's such brokenness in the world, you'll see throughout the scripture God's still intent on increasing the place of his good people and his good intentions in the world. Genesis 8 22 is after the great flood and God promises, Genesis 8 22, while the earth remains, seed, time and harvest, there it is again. Cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

So do you see this? The thing that was spoken to Adam and Eve and then great sin comes in the world and there's a huge flood and God in a sense is starting over with this one man, Noah, and he blesses him and he says the same thing he did to Adam and Eve. Be fruitful, multiply the earth. He blesses him. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. We all need to bless, and we can all learn how to bless others. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing and discover the power to bless others, contact us today and get Alan Wright's newest book, The Power to Bless.

And when you contact us for a very limited time, we want to send you a bundle of related resources that will nourish and empower you. We'll send you Pastor Alan's video masterclass called Speak Life along with its study guide, and we'll send you his brand new video course, The Power to Bless and its corresponding study guide. The Power to Bless video course is perfect for small groups or individual growth. It's like bringing Pastor Alan into your living room for an up close discussion of the powerful principles of blessing. With warmth, humor, and power, Pastor Alan shares personally and practically how you can receive God's blessing and be used by God to bless others. Contact us today and get your beautiful hardcover copy of The Power to Bless and receive four additional resources that will empower you to change the world God's way by the power of blessing. Learn more at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. And when he calls Abraham, this mysterious character we don't know anything about up out of the earth that called these, and he says to him in Genesis 12 one, he said to Abram, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, and to him who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the families of earth shall be blessed. So what is God doing? God has made humanity in his own image, and he says here's my will, here's my heart, here's my desire, is that my image as expressed through human beings is going to increase across the face of the earth. That the glories of God, the goodness of God represented in the ones that are made in his image will continue to increase. God likes to form out of the chaos, make something beautiful, make something wonderful, bless that, and release it to be increased. In Genesis chapter 27, Isaac inadvertently blessed the wrong son Jacob, and at verse 27, you read about it, I want you to notice what he blessed him towards. He came near and kissed him, and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said see the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. He's talking about a very fruitful field, a very fruitful, fruitful crop. May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine, let people serve you and nations bow down to you, be lord of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you, cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you. He blessed him for fruitfulness. The people of God eventually end up spending 400 years in Egypt, and when Joseph has died as a pharaoh who doesn't remember Joseph, then those people get persecuted, and you know that there's a promised land that's awaiting them because there's promise to Abram, and you might think well what's going on for 400 years?

Here's what's going on. They're increasing. Exodus 1 verse 6, Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation, but the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so the land was filled with them. The plan of God has been, still is, and always will be that he takes that which he has made in his own image and blesses so that humanity increases and his image increases across the earth, but something was needed because we were so broken and sinful that we're always sabotaging this healthy increase, and God would bless and release and we would rebel, so what is God to do? He sent a new Adam. He sent a new man, the son of God. Jesus came.

The word became flesh. God in the flesh to live the sinless life that Adam didn't live so that he could eventually go to the cross, take the curse that was due to humanity so anyone who trusts in him could be blessed, and so in other words, God has sent Jesus in one sense to restore the blessing of fruitfulness of the spread of the image of God. This is why the very last thing Jesus did on earth in Luke 24 49 was to bless his disciples. Behold, I'm sending the promise of my father upon you, speaking of the Holy Spirit, but stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high, and he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them, and while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried into heaven.

He had just said, You'll be my witnesses, and he blessed them. You're going to spread the image of God across the earth. The intent of God was in the beginning, is now and always will be that that which he forms, which is good, is blessed in such a way that it prospers and grows and increases, and the increase that he has in mind ultimately is the spiritual advance of the love of God that leads people to Christ.

I say all of that to just make this point. God wants us in Christ to bear much fruit. Abide in me, Jesus says, you'll bear much fruit. So the question is not are we to bear fruit, and in the best sense of the word, succeed in that which God gives us.

Yes, we are. He wants us to prosper. He wants us to be able to increase. He wants for the good work of your hands and what you're given to do in this world. He wants that to be blessed and to grow and prosper. But there's a big difference between feeling pressured to perform or to succeed versus being blessed in order to succeed.

Let's just turn our attention to some of the practical consideration here. The difference between pressuring and blessing, because this is really where the rubber meets the road and how we interact with one another. How do you help your kids or a friend or a coworker? How do you help encourage someone to have that life of fruitfulness? And God's given us the power of blessing to do that. The power of blessing where you are in accord with God's word, announcing a positive vision that helps shape their identity. And from that identity, then you're helping to forecast and to help them see a positive future that can come forth.

And there's something mystically powerful about that. Pressuring is the opposite. Pressuring is where essentially you are exerting some manipulative effort to try to get them to work harder. And there's a difference in pressuring and blessing.

Well, here's the first thing to say foundationally. Pressuring someone, when we put pressure on them, it's an expression of law, if you really boil it down to it. And blessing is an expression of grace. It's really law versus grace.

Some of you may have heard me years ago tell this story and this one I included in the book, The Power to Bless, because it's just the best example I can think of about how law doesn't in the end actually empower us to do the very thing that we are called to do. And grace does. So many years ago, our son Bennett, who's loved golf, and our good friend and elder in church, Bob Roach, said that he wanted to get Bennett a new putter. And Bennett needed a new putter. And Bennett knew exactly the putter that he wanted. He'd been wanting it for a long time. Putters are not inexpensive.

And it was a big blessing for Bob. He said, I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to go down to Golf Galaxy, and we're going to make sure that that putter works good for you. And if it does, then I'm going to get you that putter.

So we went all excited. Young Bennett goes down there. He gets the exact putter that he wants, exact height, same putter, everything he wants. And so he says, this is it right here. And Bob says, all right, well, let's make sure this thing will work. He said, I'll tell you what, just put it here and get some balls down here.

Let's see you make some six footers. He said, I'll tell you, if you can, you can make eight out of 10 of those, and I'll get you the putter. You know, he was kind of laughing about it. So Bennett's down there, and he put some balls down. He starts putting this little putter.

I mean, it's on the flat ground of the store. There's no break to it. It's an easy little putt, and Bennett's a good putter, and he's making putt after putt. I think, you know, one or two of them then lipped out, and all of a sudden Bob goes, okay, that's it. I think that's nine putts, and you've made seven of them.

You've got to make this last one if you're going to get that putter. And Bennett looked at him, and Bob gave him a real serious look, and we're like, oh, no. Bennett was like, I thought this was just a gift. He said, now I've realized I've got to make this last putt.

And so Bennett did something that was just, but this is the way we do. He'd been up there just making putts, making putts, making putts. All of a sudden he goes, I got nervous about it.

You know, now the law had been laid down. He's like, oh, no, I've got to do it or else. He stepped back like he was going to line up the putt, started thinking about it a lot, got back over it, and just hit the worst putts, missed the hole totally.

Because isn't it funny how when the pressure's on, you're at your worst? And looked up at Bob, and Bob said, you know, I don't remember exactly what he said, but he just kind of chuckled. He said, well, he said, I was just joking with you. And he got him the putter. And I said, Bennett, you ought to call that putter Grace. He had a tournament that week. He was runner up, played some of his best golf. And I think he's still using that same putter.

It's a contrast, isn't it? When the pressure's on and we feel it, we get anxious and we don't do well. Alan Wright, today's good news message, blessed to be twice fruitful. It's from the series The Power to Bless, which is also the name of Pastor Alan's book.

And Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Unlock the power of blessing your life. Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing. If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement, get Alan Wright's daily blessing.

It's free and just a click away at pastoralan.org. In this high pressure, performance-oriented world, people too often dangle their love and acceptance in front of us as a motivational carrot. But in the beginning, God first blessed Adam and Eve and then said, be fruitful and multiply. He didn't require them to prove themselves before blessing them. With God, blessing isn't a reward for productivity.

It is the fuel for it. Blessing is a positive vision spoken in faith and accord with God's word that helps instill true identity and release destiny. We all need to bless, and we can all learn how to bless others. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing and discover the power to bless others, contact us today and get Alan Wright's newest book, The Power to Bless.

And when you contact us for a very limited time, we want to send you a bundle of related resources that will nourish and empower you. We'll send you Pastor Alan's video masterclass called Speak Life, along with its study guide. And we'll send you his brand new video course, The Power to Bless, and its corresponding study guide.

The Power to Bless video course is perfect for small groups or individual growth. It's like bringing Pastor Alan into your living room for an up-close discussion of the powerful principles of blessing. With warmth, humor, and power, Pastor Alan shares personally and practically how you can receive God's blessing and be used by God to bless others. Contact us today and get your beautiful hardcover copy of The Power to Bless and receive four additional resources that will empower you to change the world God's way by the power of blessing. Learn more at PastorAlan.org.

That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860. Back here in the studio with Pastor Alan, as we place a bookmark here, blessed to be twice fruitful. And again, we're starting with the word blessed, and that's going to be the theme throughout this teaching. And it's not go be fruitful, then get a blessing, and then you'll find your second fruit, your second instance of fruitful.

That's important, right? God blessed Adam and Eve, and then he said, be fruitful and multiply. Here's what God does.

He creates order and beauty out of what would otherwise just be chaos. And then he blesses that good creation so that it will increase and multiply. He started this by showing us the picture of it in the way he made plants. A tree grows, limbs, branches that are attached to the healthy tree grow, and then blossoms come and fruit comes. And inside the fruit is seed. All that seed then can get planted, more healthy trees, more branches, more fruit. Inside all that sweet fruit, more seed. So it's a plan for the exponential growth of that which God made as good, and he blesses it.

Now I've made you. I bless you to fill up the earth. And that's what he said to Adam and Eve as well. When he said be fruitful and multiply, he's basically saying have dominion fill the earth. So God has a way in our lives of affirming what's good in us that he's put there, and then blessing that to be manifest in its expansion.

It's altogether, as we're learning today, is altogether different than merely blind ambition for success. This is the blessing of God. Abiding in Christ, we bear much fruit, and blessing helps release it. productivity is a catch word.

I think one that catches my ear when I hear it. And so we're talking a lot in this series about how to bless others, but a lot of times with productivity, you find that in the self-help section. And so is there something to be said that, hey, if you want a more productive life, even for yourself, understand your place in the kingdom and understand that you are blessed? Well, absolutely. And you know, one of the things that would be worth noting here, Daniel, is all truth is God's truth. People often ask me this, well, you know, some of the things you're saying, like I could be in some self-help book.

Well, it might be. But see, if it's true, it's true. And God is the one who made it true. So for example, the whole movement of self-esteem. Well, there's some things about self-esteem that in the end don't work totally. But the idea that we're better off to have a value of self rather than a disdain of self is absolutely spot on.

Love others as you love yourself, the word says. Well, in the same principle, to look at your life and go, you know, I'm not bearing the kind of fruit that I'd like to. And maybe somebody's listening and you've had some secular coaching along this way to help coach you towards a more fruitful life. And it may be very well that some of that has really helped.

But I guarantee you that even if it was not spiritually based, it's still building on God's word because what every life coach has recognized and what if we're ever going to really prosper in our lives is we all realize we've got to get a positive vision over our life. We've got to begin to see ourselves differently. It always begins with that. So it's just that this is not the world's truth. This is God's truth. And sometimes the world figures it out a little bit. So absolutely, it will help you to grow and be productive if you receive and practice blessing. And in some ways, that truth gets reflected in the culture around us. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.