Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life.
Well, I bless you to see and savor the new. I might have liked it if God had made daffodils to bloom year-round. I might prefer the dogwoods to display their pink and ivory unceasingly. But the Creator crafted a world of seasons. It isn't always spring.
But spring is always in God's heart. See, he wove his passion for resurrection into the visible world. He is the one seated on the throne who declares, I am making all things new. Revelation 21:5. You can count on it.
As much as you can count on spring. God loves to make things anew, and that includes you. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. Is there a limit to the Father's love for the Son? No.
then there can be no limit. to Jesus' love for you. Is there any reason for the Son to turn away from the Father's smile? for fear that it could become a frown? No.
Then child of God, there is no need for you. to turn away from the father's smile. Like you 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, Abide, taken from John 14 through 17, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire broadcast today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now, which can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.
So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. At any point, contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860.
More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here. is Alan Wright. On Thursday, we had opportunity to have an individual blessing spoken to every one of the children.
And it was just beautiful.
So our team had gotten to know kids well enough that they could personalize a blessing. And by that, we mean a positive vision, affirming virtue in the child. seeing a positive future over their life and expression and faith and love. And we wanted every child to receive that. And the atmosphere of it was just beautiful.
We were wondering how to administer these blessings like with all these kids who they're kids, you know, and they're playful and they're rambunctious and they're squirmy and they're loud. And I got done with that. It was like so much love in there. I said, that's like just being, you know, in the middle of a bunch of puppies and you just don't, you don't want to leave it. And we were wondering, like, could we give this blessing?
You know, should we just pull each child aside? But then we thought, Let's just try to do it corporately, even though maybe they're going to be loud and squirmy. Let's see. And so when I stood up and just said, We're going to do something very special. We're going to have a moment to tell each of you how special you are, how much God loves you, and it's a powerful thing when we bless.
And y'all All I can say is the Holy Spirit does this, they just grew completely quiet. For the whole time. And our youth and our leaders began to kneel down and invite them to look them in the eye and speak blessing. One of the things we were debriefing after this beautiful holy time. was Yeah.
One thing that almost universally happened was And this is not just in Jamaica or some orphanage. It's almost all the time. It's very difficult. for someone receiving a blessing to really look you in the eye and just receive. In fact, almost every child just would look down.
And we try to lift up their face and say, look at us. We're all a little bit like that. That On the one hand, there's something so holy and glorious That there was a literally a holy hush that just fell on these rambunctious kids. And for a long time listened in. as we blast and blast and blast.
As if like we know This sort of love and receiving this sort of blessing is what our soul craves. Maybe. more than food or water. And yet, there's also something in us that feels. suddenly unworthy of it.
Because maybe it's not been spoken before. And so we have this admixture of wanting it, knowing we need it. And part of us daring to step into the atmosphere of such glory to be able to receive, but. It's kind of hard to receive because it's a fearful thing. to believe finally.
that you could be loved that way. I want to say it again. Jesus is saying explicitly, That he loves you. to the measure. and in the manner.
That the Father Love him. Dare to step into that glory. And look him squarely in the eye. and allow the brilliance of his countenance. to radiate upon you.
And take it in. If we could live love like that. It'll change us. You're no longer an orphan once you know that you're loved permanently. I love Bail Bruner's translation of this verse.
Just as much as the Father loved me, there. That's how much I loved you. Make your home in this special love of mine. And relax. Yeah.
Maybe you could say it this way: this is the means. and the mark of Christian growth. How much do we believe? and experience the love of Jesus. Think on his love.
Wake up and think on his love. Think on it. Meditate on it. And ask yourself: is there a chance that the Father could stop loving the Son? No.
Then there's no chance the son will stop loving you. Is there a limit to the Father's love for the Son? No. Then there can be no limit. to Jesus' love for you.
Is there any reason for the Son to turn away from the Father's smile? for fear that it could become a frown? No. Then child of God, there is no need for you. to turn away from the father's smile.
On you. And this receiving and abiding that we have been speaking of so much in this little series. We've been learning is not a reward for keeping his commandments. It is the fuel for such obedience. Verse 10, if you keep my commandments, you'll abide in my love.
Just as I've kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. What we're learning is that Where analogies fall short, but it's like. Two sides of a coin. It's like two. facets of one truth that in a love relationship.
There is a kind of Submission. And there is a kind of Conforming and obedience that flows out of the love. There is a way in which the vine has life, the branch is connected, and so fruit flows from it. And when we discover this love, There is a condition. of delight that happens in the soul.
It is Jesus' own joy, verse 11. These things I've spoken to you. that my joy may be in you. And that your joy Maybe four. We've seen earlier that Jesus very much wanted.
to share his own peace. My peace I give you. Not as the world does. It is a share in the very peace that Jesus himself knows. and lives in.
And now what he's saying is that his joy. His unmitigated, unbridled gladness in being. That exists in the very heart of God. the explosive and exhilarating Belly laughing. Completely unhindered by any fragment of worry, kind of joy that is in Jesus, He wants for His disciples to have.
that my joy may be full in you. That's Alan Wright. and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. With so much worry about yesterday's failures and so much hurry getting ready for tomorrow's tasks, sometimes it's hard to focus on the moment that matters most. Right now, in a hurried, worried season, God invites you into the present.
Modern-day life coaches call it mindfulness, but it isn't a new psychological program and it isn't rooted in Eastern religion. Mindfulness, living in the present, is God's idea and the Bible unveils the way. Pastor Alan Wright invites you to savor life each day. When you make your gift today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's eight messages in an attractive CD album or through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Make your gift today and learn how to savor the textures and flavors of God's grace each moment, in the moment, every day of your life.
The gospel is shared when you give to Alan 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. John uses joy nine times in his gospel, more than any other New Testament book.
But isn't it surprising that Jesus would be speaking of this joy on the eve of his crucifixion? You might think this was an appropriate time for the Psalms of Lament. You might expect for him to do a teaching on grief and suffering. You might expect him to simply need to share in the heaviness like he would at Gethsemane. But instead, as Jesus contemplates what his crucifixion and resurrection is accomplishing for his apprentices, What is in him and what he wants to convey to them is joy.
So this becomes an invitation to joy, a prophecy of joy, a promise of joy, a guarantee of joy. And this great love that erupts as joy within the heart of the beloved. cannot come. If we have a view of Jesus, As Lord only, as only master as if unto servants. This great love cannot be experienced.
if we see him only through the lens, of his distance and sovereignty. But this joy is only possible to experience when you come to know That there is endless fuel for right living and fruitful living. By this extraordinary statement of verse 15, which is our focus, no longer do I call you servants. For the servant does not know what the master is doing. But I've called you friends.
For all that I've heard from my Father, I've made known to you. In the Old Testament, Two figures. were glancingly called as if friends of God, Abraham and Moses. And here Jesus is saying, to every follower of Christ. to every one.
Who is a child of God? He is saying you are a friend of Jesus Christ. And he is your friend. The newest Christian, the most immature Christian. The one who is the most ignorant of the Bible and has yet to even start to understand some of the most basic Bible stories, to the person who has walked with him for nine decades.
You're a friend of Jesus if you're a Christian. And I was thinking so much this week about what it means to be a friend rather than a servant. And it must start with this, beloved. There's only one way that you could be a friend of Jesus rather than a servant alone. and that is that Jesus wants you as a friend.
This is why I think he said at verse 16, You did not choose me, but I chose you. Because, after all, there's a principle. And let's face it, we all understand it. whether we're conscious of it or not. It's it's a principle.
and we're operating by it. And that is that where there is a greater person and a lesser. By whatever standard you call it, a greater person and a lesser person. If they're going to be friends, it must be at the initiative of the greater person. That's just the way it works.
I mean, you could just think of somebody that you'd like to be friends with, and you know some things about them, but they don't even really know you exist.
Well, you're not going to be their friend. You can't just say, I want to be their friend, and then you become their friend. It doesn't work that way. It just doesn't work that way. I mean, I was thinking about who I'd really like to have been friends with, and you know who I'd like to have been friends with?
Billy Graham. I'd like to have been friends with Billy Graham. Honestly, I think he would have liked me. I mean, we would get along. We have a lot in common.
We really have a lot in common. I mean, we both love Jesus a lot. We really like preaching a lot. He liked golf. I like golf.
We could have played golf together. We could have been buddies. He didn't live very far away. And on top of that, I was only one step away from him. We had other people in common.
And Uncle Stanley was his pastor for years. He and Joella knew the Grahams well, baptized their kids, traveled with them. Billy Graham filled in the pulpit for my Uncle Stanley when he was on vacation. I've got correspondence that Billy wrote to Stanley. I've got a Bible.
That Billy Graham signed to Ann's grandmother when Stanley was in Brazil as a missionary, and Billy Graham came to do a crusade, and they sent the Bible home. And I've got it at my house. I've got a dear friend who was executive director for years of the Billy Graham Association and knew Dr. Graham well. I've got people in common.
I know some of Billy Graham's grandchildren. We would have liked each other. I know he would have. We're just up the road, an hour and 45 minutes away. I've driven by where he lived and.
But we weren't friends. It was mainly because he didn't know I existed.
So that gets in the way. It's hard to be friends with someone who doesn't know you exist. I'm saying that he wouldn't want to be friends with the world, but you know, if there's a greater and a lesser, there's only one way you're going to be friends. The greater has taken the initiative. You did not choose me, Jesus said, I chose you.
You have an opportunity to be a friend of Jesus because the Lord of the universe wants to be your friend. Wow! I mean, this is one of the things that's just so moving. It just wrecks you for Jesus when you go on a mission trip like this and watch these orphans and see people that have traveled a long way to get there and wind up that windy pothole-laden road that you have to stop and people throw up on the way. But you do, you do, and you know this road, the roses.
And yet, you get up there and just love these kids. And what is being conveyed is that somebody, child, wants to be your friend. Be my friend. And it changes you. But it comes at the initiative of Jesus, not your own.
There's a vast difference between a servant and a friend. A servant helps or works for a boss or a master because he or she wants to be paid. Or maybe in some settings to avoid punishment, like if there's a master and a slave. But a friend helps a friend. because of love and partnership.
I mean, in a sense, the servant and the friend, when they're doing something for the other, might look similar, both helping, but the difference, right, is what's why. And what's going on in the heart? Jesus said, greater love is there than to lay down one's life for a friend. But I think there should be also a second Bible verse, there's no greater love hath one for another than this, that he helps his friend move. This is it.
When you help somebody move, my days of helping people move are just over. Dickie, I remember the basketball goal, that thing. We move one of the heaviest things ever. And I'm sorry, you had back surgery last year. And I was thinking that could have been from that basketball goal.
I was thinking about when there was a friend that helped me move from one house to another here, and it got late. We had the last load of stuff in a truck and a pickup truck, like it was, you know, his pickup truck. And it's just overflowing like Beverly Hillbilly's truck. And it's like 10 o'clock at night. It had taken longer than we thought.
And it started to rain. It started to rain. Started in the rain. And it was too stacked high. Beverly Hill Billies, couldn't get in a garage, couldn't do anything, had no tarp.
We just had to just go and drive over across town and just unload it in the rain. And I'm watching my friend just carrying in my junk, you know, in the rain. And I'm just like, greater love hath no man than this. You can't find a mover at 11 o'clock at night to move in the rain. They don't.
You have to have a friend for that. I was thinking about when a couple years ago we had a septic backup flood in our downstairs level of our house and it ruined everything. And how, in the early time of it, while I'm trying to get a plumber to come out and all of that, a friend comes over who this is, greater love hath no man than this. My back wasn't feeling good, and so somebody had to go upstairs and flush toilets. And the other person had to stick their head down in the septic tank and see if anything was coming out.
And he was that guy. And so I was the flusher. And greater love hath no man than this than to put his head in his friend's septic tank down deep. With a flashlight to see if sewage is coming out. I'm just saying, you can't pay people to do some things.
You gotta have a friend for that. Pastor Alan Wright, our good news message: friendship with Jesus from the series Abide. Please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day here 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. With so much worry about yesterday's failures and so much hurry getting ready for tomorrow's tasks, sometimes it's hard to focus on the moment that matters most, right now. In a hurried, worried season, God invites you into the present.
Modern-day life coaches call it mindfulness, but it isn't a new psychological program and it isn't rooted in Eastern religion. Mindfulness, living in the present, is God's idea and the Bible unveils the way. Pastor Alan Wright invites you to savor life each day. When you make your gift today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's eight messages in an attractive CD album or through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Make your gift today and learn how to savor the textures and flavors of God's grace each moment, in the moment, every day of your life.
The gospel is shared when you give to Alan 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. Back here now, sitting with Pastor Alan, a friendship with Jesus. We're placing the bookmark here in this teaching. And what an amazing, amazing thought We're not subjects, we're not servants, but we're his friend.
You know, I think about this so much that To be a servant is... It's transactional. Yeah. Right. I mean or to be an employee.
Let's put it that way. You come, do this task, and then you get paid this amount. Yeah. Right. Serve.
In the worst case, it's a slave. You serve, or else you're punished. And you serve up to this point, and then you don't have to serve anymore. Yeah. Do this much for me, and then it will be enough, right?
Or you do this for me, and I'll do that for you. That's transactional thinking. And Christianity is not a transactional religion. It is, and if there's anybody listening right now and you just happened upon this, you're listening, and you're just wondering about a direction for your life, I just could not say this more clearly. Christianity is not a transactional religion, it is an invitation into a relationship.
And the relationship with God, though he be infinitely greater and glorious than we are and greater than we can conceive, it is very much a friendship. And that's what he's invited us into from the very first time. I didn't come to make you into my servants, I wanted to be friends with you. That's the invitation of the gospel. Wow.
Um 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 pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
