Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. You aren't designed to flap your wings frantically, futilely, until you run out of fuel. You're made to soar. They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings like eagles, Isaiah prophesied. And wearisome times I bless your spirit to soar.
To find the updrafts of God's grace in Christ, to feel the currents. of his spirit. And fly. The long days of waiting are giving your wings a chance to grow. Your spirit can sense the wind of the Holy Spirit and Sore.
That's the gospel. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. What makes the good news, that's what gospel means, so good? This is important if you're just exploring the gospel. What makes the gospel good news and why it is so good?
Is that we're in a new covenant? 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.
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More on this later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here. Is Alan Wright. God, I saved my toddler's life five times tonight at one dinner, and he has no idea.
Does this mean you've been saving me all this time and I don't know? And he's like, yep. If you knew how Much God has been advocating for you. If you knew How many times he has intervened. If you knew all he's done.
To set you up for blessedness, if you'd known all the ways He's wooed you towards that which is holy and wonderful, if you had been able to know. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and he will be... glad to reveal to you more of that every day of your life. And in it is gratitude. And in the gratitude, there is joy.
In a little while, you'll not see me, then you'll see me. It's not going to make sense and then it's going to make sense. I'm talking about the The road map, the pathway to how joy happens in our lives. There's a part of it that is the freedom that comes from the revelation of the Holy Spirit. But he leads on from this that there is a kind of actual conveying.
who God is to us by the Holy Spirit. This is priceless for the believer. This is, if you don't yet know Jesus and have given your life to him, this should make you want to run into his arms immediately. This promise of John 16, 15, all that the Father has is mine. And therefore, I said that he'll take what's mine and declare it to you.
He is talking here about an actual transfer of the spiritual riches that the father and the son share. that will then be conveyed to the believer. What this means for us is that joy Is transferable. We already know that joy is contagious. Like, I was talking to somebody recently that went to the Nate Brigatzi comedy night.
And if you never heard Nate Brigatzi, he's the best clean comedian in the world, probably right now. I think he's just hilarious. And he's funny, you watch him on TV. But if you go get in a room with 10,000 other people that are laughing, it's even funnier because isn't that true? It's like someone else's laughter is just contagious.
I mean, you can't get around somebody's giggling, and before you know it, you're giggling and you don't even know why. I mean, I'm just saying God made it this way, right? And so there's something already contagious about laughter and joy. But here we're seeing that there's something that is transferable. Another's joy can be your joy.
Another's joy can be your joy. It really can be. I realize, came to mind, I was thinking back to when I had about a COVID during the COVID years. And I thought I'd escaped without catching the thing, and I was at home with it, and I had the sore throat, the cough, the flu-like symptoms, and the banishment that came with that. And so I was, my wife had banished me to the lower level of our house.
And she said, I love you, but I'm not going to catch this. And so she would throw food down the stairs every night. I couldn't even come out. I could go outside or stay downstairs. I couldn't come up and breathe on anything or touch anything.
And I felt too sick to even work. I couldn't even, I didn't even want to open my computer or do any work. And so the only thing I felt like I had energy to do. I did it for like two days in a row. I watched Wheel of Fortune reruns.
And I don't have any, I don't even watch Wheel of Fortune, but I just, I don't know. For some reason, I had them all recorded on my TV, and I'm just gonna watch.
So I watched one of them, I thought. You know, and later I look back and say, why I like this? It's because everybody on Wheel of Fortune is happy. Nobody's sat on Wheel of Fortune. Pat Sajak's always happy.
Everybody, what's her name? Vanna White, she's always happy. Everybody's happy. Even when they lose, they're happy. One poor lady, I'll contest it, she not only didn't solve a puzzle, she didn't even get a letter.
She had no money. And so she was at the end of the show. Paz Hajak came over to her and said, Well, tonight wasn't exactly your night. He said, But we're going to send you home with $1,000, and I hope you had fun. And she smiled and she said, I had fun.
Like everybody's happy on Wheel of Fortune. I'm just going to keep watching him until I'm well again. And I started cheering for these people. I mean, I just like, and there's some amazing things that happen on Wheel of Fortune also. Y'all.
You got to Google this. I mean, there's somebody, they got into the final prize where you win the big money. And when you do that, you get a certain number of RSTLNE are given to you. And then you get to select your own letters. And so you got a bunch of letters, and they put all the ones you got, and then you try to solve the puzzle.
And this was a thing. And they get all the letters up there, and all that the poor guy got was N and E. He had three words up there, and the first two letters of the first word were NE. That's all he had. And Pat Sage, everybody's happy on Wheel of Fortune.
He said, well. You never know.
Sound it out. You might, I mean, what's in there?
Sound out. He just like it ends up, you know, it's kind of like, you know, Ross or Ruck here. I mean, what are you going to do? And I'm not saying you got to be looking up. The guy looks at him, goes new.
Baby buddy. What? We don't even call them buggies here, do we? I don't think so. That was it.
New baby buggy. I saw a woman that she all she had was an L. She got an L. It was like seven words or something. And she liked L?
It said, yep, there's one L, and like the fourth word or something like that. And she goes, I'd like to solve. Pass Ajax like Okay. Like, do you know how to play this game? Like, you should spin and get more letters, you know?
But she said, I like to solve. And I said, okay. And she said, I've got a good feeling about this. And that was it. Based on an L.
I mean, you can't make this stuff up. And he goes over to her and he's like, What? And she said, I had a good feeling about it. What? Everybody's happy on Wheel of Fortune.
So I watched two days of Wheel of Fortune. You know what I found out? It's like I'm really happy because these people that are winning, like, you know, I mean, just they win, and it's like, I feel like I won. I'm sitting there, I got a sore throat, I'm under a blanket, and I'm like, ha, we won. You can share.
Someone else's joy. Please learn this in life. you can share someone else's well-being. There's something transferable about joy.
So, what might happen if I could be a little happier watching Wheel of Fortune because somebody's winning money that I'm not getting? How much more so Could the Holy Spirit Take from what is Jesus' and give it to us. That's what he's saying. I'm in the Father, the Father's in me, the Father has given to me, and now the Holy Spirit's going to take what's mine and give it to you. Wow.
So I'm talking about the pathway to joy, and it is revelatory. Truth leads to freedom, leads to joy. And there is joy in the sharing with Jesus Himself. and then there's something even richer. And I think it's reflected in this verse: 23 and 24.
In that day, you'll ask nothing of me, truly. Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he'll give it to you. Until now, you've asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you'll receive, that your joy. Maybe fall.
The joy is not so much in getting the thing that you ask for, though there's great delight in answered prayer. The joy is that Jesus says, until now, you've never experienced this. where you talk directly to Father God, the creator of the ends of the earth. In my name. and have him respond with utter delight and fellowship with you.
Up until now, you've asked me. Because I've been in the flesh with you. Not Jesus. This person over here needs something. Jesus, there's a leper here.
Jesus, they have no food. Jesus, could you talk to us about this? Jesus, could you teach us how to pray? And he said, I've been there and you've asked me for things, but you've never done this before. where you talk to the Father.
with no impediment. of your own sin. keeping you in fear of him. What makes the good news, that's what gospel means, so good. This is important if you're just exploring the gospel.
What makes the gospel good news and why it is so good? Is that we're in a new covenant? The Old Covenant was a covenant of law. The law wasn't bad, it's good. It's part of God's revelation.
The problem with it with the old covenant was that nobody could keep the law. Nobody could be good all the time. And he said, if you will obey, then you'll be blessed. But no one could obey. And so the blessing was always inhibited.
But in the new covenant, everything has shifted. This covenant's not really between you and God, it's between the Father and the Son. And the father has asked the son to obey, and the son has obeyed. even unto death on a cross. And so, what the gospel teaches is that Jesus became sin, so that anyone who believes in him, trusts in him, and says, I can't save myself.
I've got a sin problem and I can't solve it. And I need a Savior, and I have some stirring that's happened in me of a revelation that Jesus is for real and He is the Son of God and He died for me and He's been raised from the dead and I trust Him. When that happens, a great exchange takes place, and Jesus. Through his death on the cross, it becomes your sin, and you become his righteousness. In the eyes of God, every believer.
It's as if you lived Jesus's meritorious life, and now all judgment against you is gone, and justice is on your side because of what Jesus has done. And what it means, therefore, is for the first time in history, these Jewish boys that had grown up learning the Torah and how you couldn't even touch Mount Sinai for fear of being killed, and how even Moses had to be hidden in the cleft of the rock lest he see God's face, now are invited to come into the very presence of Father God and speak to him directly and say, We do not come by our own merits, but we come by the merits of Jesus. And so here we come, Daddy. And this is joy. Our growing body of research on.
How our brains work has revealed that we find joy in relationship. Jim Wilder has said, There is no joy other than in. relationship. And what happens is when you see somebody and they smile at you, your brain lights up with joy. When you see somebody and they're glad to see you, Your brain lights up with joy.
When someone takes delight in your presence, And you do not feel any fear of being rejected by them, what your brain experiences is joy. I was some years ago Able to bump into an old friend. Which can be a delightful experience if you ever had that happen.
Somebody you hadn't seen in a long time that you love. And this guy was a bit older than I was, and when I was a young man, he was a dear friend, and we played golf together, and I just loved him. We'd laugh together, and Grew together in the Lord, and he was a joyful person, and I just loved him so much. Hadn't seen him in years, and I had heard How hard life had become for him. He'd gone through a lot of physical infirmity.
and he had a lot of pain in his life. and he had returned, sadly I'd heard, to the drinking that was a problem for him earlier in his life. And his marriage had fallen into hard times, and he was. I had heard. But I saw him.
And when I saw him, I just, everything in me was so delighted, and I just called out, Sammy, not his real name, Sammy! And he looked at me with this weathered face. He looked like he had aged 100 years since I'd seen him last. And there was no look, no glimmer of recognition of me on his face. He scowled at me.
And his eyes look like They were They were just dead on the inside and I said again, I said, Sammy, he said, I don't even know you. He looked like that. And I said again, Sammy, it's me. It's Alan. And y'all All of a sudden, His eyes sparkled.
And his face lit up with the biggest grin. And he said, I said, yeah. He said, What are you doing here? I said, You know, and then he came over and gave me a big hug. He said, It's so good to see you.
I said, Oh, it's so good to see you. And you know what happened inside his brain and inside of my brain? Joy. If you can experience joy just by someone. Who?
might reject you, but doesn't reject you. But instead takes delight in you, how much more so? When you did This awareness that because you're in a new covenant that is not based on your merits but on Jesus', that you have unfettered access to your Father, and not only that, but your Father takes delight in you every time he sees you. His face lights up, and He is delighted in you. And there is, therefore, now in Christ no condemnation, but instead, you're welcomed into His holy presence, and you can come as comfortably as a toddler crawling into His daddy's lap.
What happens is that joy comes into your life.
So Again Think of that positive memory. If you're going through a really hard time in life, it's harder to do it. But think of that memory and realize that in that there was.
something revelatory about Who you are. And you Experience relational love. And somewhere in the midst of that, you'll discover. The joy was ushered in through a sense of blissful acceptance. That you're the delight in someone else's eyes.
And if you can be in touch with that, you can learn the pathway. to daily joy. with God. Our lives. Get stretched.
So we're like a rubber band, and we'll get stretched almost to the point of breaking, and then we'll come back. Stretch, and we'll come back. But that default position, the normal position according to the Word of God. is joy. We go through trouble.
Come back to joy. We go through sorrows. Come back to joy. Go through grief, come back to joy. We face big problems.
We come back to joy. It is G.K. Chesterton said. Joy, the gigantic secret of the Christian life. the Holy Spirit takes Jesus' joy.
and gives it to you. And that's the gospel.
Okay. Master Alan Wright. It's our good news message from the teaching, Joy, and the Holy Spirit. And it comes from the series, Abide. Stay with us.
Pastor Alan is back here 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 pastorAllen.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.
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or come to our website, pastorallen. org. Back here now with Pastor Alan at the conclusion of Joy in the Holy Spirit, the teaching that is in the series of Abide. Pastor Alan, what is today's good news takeaway for us? Joy exists in relationship.
And When you experience a relationship where you're accepted, and you're loved. That's what brings joy. And this is what I want all of our listeners to know. whatever you're walking through right now. The circumstances are not defining and and must not have the ultimate say so over your joy level.
Instead, what has the say so is seeing the face of God smile upon you, because of what he's done for you in Christ to accept you in the beloved.
So the blood of Jesus has been shed for you. And you're his. and you can't be separated from him. As such, their security. And that means that there's real attachment.
And that's where your joy is. You belong to God. He loves you. No. Peace, love.
And then comes joy. Um Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at pastorallen.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 pastorallen.org. That's pastoralan.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
