Here's Pastor Alan Wright with Today's Blessing: a Biblical Faith-Filled Vision. for your life. Ew. Are God's masterpiece?
So I bless you. To be as Ephraim and Manasseh, because once adopted by Jacob, they knew. they belonged. Forever. who can never be disowned.
God made you and then he adopted you. It means you are his. For good. We need to have an accurate assessment of the threat. And we need to know if something negative happens.
that there's someone more capable than we to help handle it all. 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 Untroubled Heart, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina.
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More on this later in the program. But right now. Let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Pastor Alan Wright. We're in John 14 again today, and I want to just draw your attention back to these verses.
In John 14, 1, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in God. in me. And then we'll jump to John 14, 25-27, These things I've spoken to you while I'm still with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he'll teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. And later in this intimate discourse that he's having with the disciples at John 16, Verse 33, I've said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you'll have tribulation. But take heart.
I've overcome. the world. All right, people of God, are you ready for some good news? Jesus wants you to have peace that's Out of this world. He said, I came to give you my peace, and it's not as the world gives to you.
He's talking about something that is. qualitatively different and better than anything the world could ever offer you. We're talking about the pathway to peace. For The offer of an untroubled heart. Heart.
Well, our house we lived in and before we are where we are now, a place where we raised our kids. An old house and it had an alarm system in it, but was a very fickle Alarm system.
Some of you might have had these things before. A little bit of dust on a sensor. or a little bit of anything could set this whole house alarm off. Especially the motion detectors, they were going off all the time. Finally, we just cut the motion detectors off.
I mean, it seemed like anything could set it off. And also the fire alarm part of it, well, there was the incident of the green beans. That someone shall remain nameless, left the green beans unattended, and next thing you know, half of the Winston-Salem Fire Department was out front.
Well, my wife running out going, it's just the green beans, it's just the green beans. I mean, they've heard that one before and uh So it would go off from time to time, and it's so loud. you know, just wake up the whole neighborhood and just rattle you.
Well, I guess when Bennett was maybe 14 or something like that. He was playing a lot of golf tournaments. It was summertime. And his cousin, my nephew Koble, who's the same age, had come to spend the night with us because we were getting up early the next morning and going down to Raleigh for a golf tournament. And so we had to get up real early and Boys are all in there sound asleep in some bunk beds in Bennett's room.
And in the middle of the night, Maybe 3 a.m. That alarm, that shrill, horrible alarm starts. Going off in the house, and I just. Bolt up in bed, and I shoot out like a cannon and start running around. First thing you got to do is find out: is there actually an intruder or a fire?
You know, probably not, but I'll check. Of course, there wasn't. And then we go through the process of call the fire department, call the alarm people, don't send the trucks. There's no problem.
So we're trying to do that. And then we're trying to get the thing to shut off. I couldn't get it off. And we're calling the company. It was just, you know, and it was so loud.
It just. You're just everything in you, your heart is thumping, adrenaline, pumping, and you're just like, and I'm thinking about how early we got to get up the next day. And Abby's coming out of her room and she's like, what's going on? I'm like, darling, it's okay. There's nothing wrong.
We're trying to get the alarm off. You can go back in there, put the pillow over your head. And eventually we get the alarm off and I go and lie back in bed. I'm just lie there, you know, now, thinking, I got to get up in about an hour. And we're just kind of hanging out, lying there.
Finally, she says, Uh Abby okay? I said yeah. And she said. What about the boys? I said.
Well I guess okay, I didn't see them. She said. They didn't. They didn't even come out of the room or anything? I said No, come to think of it, they didn't.
The next morning, at breakfast, I was getting ready to go to the golf tournament. I said, uh did y'all Hear the alarm in the middle of the night. And then it goes, Well, yeah, but that thing goes off a lot. I'm sure it was nothing.
So I just kind of slept. And then my nephew Cobal goes, yeah, I heard it, but. I thought if it was really important, somebody would come and get us.
So the 14-year-olds just kind of slept through the thing. And I've thought so much about how Anxiety works like that. It's like An alarm system in your body. Yeah. It's like there's in your heart there's an alarm going off.
And a lot of times, in fact, probably most of the time, it's a false alarm. But we feel like we need to be vigilant to this potential. Yeah. And it makes us on the inside troubled. But if you're going to be like a 14-year-old just sleeping right through it, You got to have two things.
You got to be fairly well convinced. The threats may be not that bad after all. And more importantly, You got to be convinced that Maybe there's a dad in the house who's going to take care of it anyway. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Nor let them be afraid.
And I think partly what Jesus is saying is: I want to help you see truth so that. You can understand the alarm that you're hearing Probably the threat's not as big as you think. But more importantly, He says, take heart, I've overcome the world. You really got to know those two things. And this is what's offered in relationship.
with God. His offer that we are focusing in Now And throughout this season as we Make our way all the way to Easter. is what is Jesus offering here? When he says, I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Because it sounds like he's offering a transfer of his own peace.
like a sharing, a joint peace with him. And I want to know how this happens. And so I think for today, as we keep diving into this text. understand a little bit more about the problem and then Think about, if you could put it in some categories, his provision and his partnership and his presence with us. But the problem of this kind of idea or imagery of alarms going off is something that.
Psychologists talk about I was reading an article this week from Victoria Bechner, who is at the University of California, San Francisco. And she says that anxiety is like an alarm signal. that makes your brain think that something's wrong. That's essentially what it is. And when the brain thinks that something's wrong, the body goes into alert mode.
And you understand, we are made. To have this alert mode, we need that for real emergencies. If there had been a real fire that night in the house, it's good that my heart was thumping and that we wake up just like that because we need to do something about it.
So it's God's gift. This is what Dr. Bechner writes, when our anxiety alarm is activated, it's because our brain is predicting that something bad will happen in the future. It's almost never a signal that harm is actually happening in the present. Anxiety makes the danger feel real.
and immediate. It's really insightful. That it's just this simple. An anxiety alarm is our brain predicting something bad. Usually it's not actually happening.
Well That false alarm in the middle of the night, it was really stressful for me because it was disrupting my sleep and it's a big pain to deal with it. There was only a small chance that it was a real emergency because we've had so many numerous false alarms that I didn't I didn't have the immediate thought of, oh no, the house is ablaze. But If I had experienced a real intruder, which praise the Lord we never have, if I had experienced a real fire, which praise the Lord we never had. Even if it had happened once, 30 years ago. you could understand that that trauma would likely affect The way I would feel and think when another alarm goes off.
So There's a way in which we have Responses that have gotten wired within us. We're going to be talking some in future messages about. This is why God really offers. to come and minister to those deep traumatic places of our lives so that We don't have to live with a wiring that is constantly predisposed towards it. What happened, psychologists say?
Is that we have a threat bias. The threat bias that you have is the degree to which you estimate the likelihood of a negative outcome. And so those boys, those 14-year-old boys, had very little threat by us. Probably nothing. I'm going to sleep right through this.
Uh That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. God's love. You've heard about it with your ears. You've believed it in your mind.
Now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you, and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like.
For any woman who has searched for true love, What you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of The Five Love Languages, says, the incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love. After all, it's a match made in heaven.
It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty.
That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. Or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. I have maybe too much of a threat bias.
on sounds in the night. And I'll go, what's that? I'm like, I'm sure it's nothing. She says, I hear water dripping. I'm sure it's not.
I don't care what it is. I mean, the night that our second child was born, she said, I think I'm in labor. I said, you're probably not. And I mean, it just. Especially if I'm sleepy, my threat bias goes way down, you know.
You want to be accurately perceiving what the threat is. But because of brokenness, because of deception, because of sin, because we're in a fallen world, our perception of the threat, our threat bias is usually. Skewed. And so, again, in order for anxiety to diminish. or go away means that we need to have an accurate assessment of the threat.
And we need to know if something negative happens. that there's someone more capable than we to help handle it all. I've always said there's probably nothing wrong, and if there is. That'll take care of it. I think Jesus wants this for us.
It's not as bad as you think, perhaps. And if it is... Take heart. I've overcome the world. I want you to have My own peace.
The provision that he is offering is not a program It is A share of his own heart. He is offering by the warm witness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart of the believer. that at the deepest level we would respond to alarms as he does. Meaning that we're seeing it through his eyes and thinking the way he thinks. and feeling what he feels because of a trust relationship.
At the beginning of John 14, He says, trust in God, trust also in me.
Some translations say belief. And God believe in me. most aptly be translated, you believe in God.
So now believe in me. As if Jesus is saying I am God in the flesh. And you've You have believed in God. Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Now trust in me. Yeah. He's saying, you the people of God and you believe in God, but what if God were here standing with you right now? Then you could really trust him. And, well, I am here standing with you.
He's speaking a mystery that can only really be understood in. Terms of the Trinity, this mystery of one God who's three persons. And this God who is one. Has come to us in the person of Jesus. And Jesus is making this promise that I'm going to stay with you, but I'm going to stay with you.
in the person of the Holy Spirit. And so Trusting in God is not something that's complicated, it's deep. But it is threatened by all kinds of forces, and trust is essentially becoming convinced. In the presence, the goodness, and the sovereignty of God. The more that you are sure that the dad is on duty the more you sleep through the alarm.
And The more that you know that Jesus has overcome the world, the more that you can trust.
So it's both of those. It's I think therefore You know, my whole Christian life, I've like, I want to have more faith.
Well, how do you have more faith? really by more gospel. The good news. Because The more you take in the good news, The more that you become aware of what God has done for you in Christ, the more that you are convinced of His love. Then the more that you are able to trust.
And so much of growing up as a child of God. From infancy, into maturity. is understanding more and more of all that God has done for you. When we're little children, We don't even know what our parents have done for us. You don't even know what your dad's done for you.
Until maybe one day you grow up and have children of your own and you go, Oh, I didn't know anybody was doing this for me. I was introduced this week to the poetry of Robert Hayden. A poet of last century. This Struck me deeply this poem called Those Winter Sundays. Sundays, too, my father got up early.
and put his clothes on and the blue black coat. Yeah. Then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather, made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking, When the rooms were warm, he'd call.
And slowly I would rise and dress, Fearing the chronic angers of that house, speaking indifferently to him who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know? What did I know? Of love's austere and lonely offices As of a man who had a traumatic upbringing and then was raised in a foster home. that was somewhat stern, but a father who was up in the wee hours making the fire and taking care of all and I love that line.
What did I know? What did I know? Of love's austere and lonely offices. What do we know of The mazing. provision of God.
Pastor Alan Wright, today's good news message, the fix for false alarms. It's from our series, The Untroubled Heart. And I encourage you to stay with us as 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 to click away at pastoralen.org. God's love. You've heard about it with your ears. You've believed it in your mind.
Now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like.
For any woman who has searched for true love, What you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of The Five Love Languages, says, The incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love. After all, it's a match made in heaven.
It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allan Wright Ministries.
Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Back here now with Pastor Alan in the studio. And you know what?
It's been some time since you've preached this. I was sitting in the service and I. Have not been able to escape the story, the image of these boys who were just unbothered, these kids who were unbothered by the alarms going off. And so, how you can have two dynamics in the same household. Anybody who's ever had a really loud alarm go off in their house knows what this is like.
It is so loud, you can't, your ears are about to burst, you know, and you're running around frantic. And while all of this is going on, and I've got these two, these two teenage boys that just sleep through it and say, Well, I did hear something, but I figure if it was really bad, somebody came to get us. And of course, you know. Thank the Lord, you know, was a false alarm. And I never have had, praise God, I've never had anything but false alarms at my house.
And it brings up this: like, we do need alarms. But the fact of the matter is in life We've mainly experienced false alarms. And that image just stayed with me as I was thinking about the untroubled heart. What happens when your heart at that deep conversation? command center of your being.
It's like it's receiving a False alarm. Right. And we got so much to learn about this. But I think this is part of what healing is: it's like, okay. we start calming that down.
so that not everything puts us into high alert. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.org or call 877-577-1. 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 pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production. of Alan Wright Ministries.
