Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. I bless you to be like a tree planted by streams of water. It yields its fruit in its season. and its leaf does not wither. In all you do, may you prosper.
That's grounded in Psalm 13. May every adversity propel your roots deeper. making you bendable but unbreakable and unshakable. And as the streams of God's grace flow day by day, may you discover that you've grown. Not only deep roots, But also unwithering Fruit.
Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. I think Nathaniel must have been one of those straight shooters. He was the opposite of old Jacob. Nathaniel, if it came to his mind, he'd just say it. When they said, We found the Messiah, he's from Nazareth.
He just said, Nazareth, can anything good come from Nazareth? 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 Pritt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series You'll See, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina.
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Or call 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright.
God had already foreordained that Jacob would be blessed as if he was the firstborn son. But he was the second of twin boys. And the firstborns got all the attention in that culture. And so it's interesting, Jacob is born grabbing onto his twin brother's heel as if Jacob wants to get in first place when they're being born. But he's born second.
And so he's named Jacob, which means probably one who grasped at the heel. or it can mean supplanter. But the idea you get of Jacob's name is it means somebody that's struggling with people. And Jacob becomes a manipulator of people. He becomes a deceitful person.
He becomes in many ways a despicable conniver. Because he so desperately wants to be blessed. In the height of this, Is there a special moment And which A Hebrew father would impart a blessing to his firstborn. Near the end of the patriarch's life, and in so doing, spoke and released a positive destiny on that firstborn son. And that firstborn son would get a double portion of the inheritance and run the family estate.
And so, at this special moment where Esau is going to get the blessing of a firstborn. Jacob Pretends to be Esau. And because Isaac has grown blind in his old age, Jacob goes in and tricks him into believing that Jacob's Esau. That's what we read at Genesis 27, verse 18.
So he went into his father and said, My father, And he said, Here I am. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to the father, I am Esau, your firstborn. He lied directly to his father. I have done as you told me.
Now sit up and eat of my game that your soul may bless me. At verse 24, Isaac said, are you really my son Esau? And he answered, I am.
So Jacob Was a liar. A man of deceit. Desperate to be blessed. Struggling all the time. Jockeying for first place.
Because he so wanted to be blessed.
Well, started a journey for Jacob. The first thing that happened was Esau hated him and was going to murder him.
So Jacob fled for his life. And soon in his journey, God in his grace began revealing himself to Jacob. God is so patient. With Jacob. And one of the first things that happens for Jacob is a supernatural revelation.
In Genesis 28, 20 28 verse 12. We see Jacob having Slept outdoors as a on the run. On the way to Beersheba, he's got a stone for a pillow. And that night God visits him with a dream. And he dreamed Verse 12, and behold, there was a ladder.
set up on earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Now, I'll just get this vision in your mind: a ladder firmly planted on earth, but it's as if the heavens have opened. and the ladder's top extends into heaven.
So there's a connection between earth and heaven. And what he sees are angels, which are messengers of God. coming down from heaven towards earth and then going back from earth to heaven, ascending and descending. There is enormous, majestic, supernatural traffic on a ladder between heaven and earth. And Jacob, who has lived his life as if there is no real connection point between the stuff of earth and the stuff of heaven.
Who always acts like it's up to me to manage the stuff of earth so I can get my place of blessedness? He suddenly realizes that heaven and earth are connected. And what he says at verse 16 is powerful. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. Jacob gets married to his beloved Rachel, but he has to agree to work for seven years.
He gets tricked. The trickster is tricked by Rachel's father, and he ends up marrying Leah first and has to work another seven years.
So he's got 14 years of labor. He's got two wives. His life is a mess at home with all kinds of maidservants and wives trying to have babies, and all of this trickery and deceit. It seems like it's caught up with him. Years pass, and Jacob's going to meet Esau again.
And he is terrified of meeting Esau because he's afraid that as Esau was back when he first stole the blessing from Esau, that Esau is going to try to murder Jacob. And so Jacob prays before the reunion at Genesis 32 verse 11. And he asked the Lord, please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him. that he may come and attack me. The mothers with the children.
He's saying, I'm afraid he's going to come and slaughter all of us. But And it's a wonderful thing Jacob does. He reminds God of a promise. Jacob said, You said, Lord, I will surely do you good and make your offspring as the sand of the sea. which cannot be numbered for multitude.
He said, God, protect me. And remember, You promised that my descendants would be blessed.
So then at verse 23, Jacob sends his people across the river. took them, sent them across the stream and everything else he had. And Jacob was left alone. And the text says simply, a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. The struggler.
He was always wrestling with people. Wrestles a supernatural being, an angelic figure, maybe a pre-manifestation of Christ. We don't know exactly who this. man is, who appears from nowhere. But they wrestle all night long.
And He grows weary. Verse 26 of Genesis 32, we read, Then he said, Let me go, for the day has broken. Jacob has got such a firm grasp on the angel, the angel says, let me go. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. My whole life is dedicated to finding a way to be blessed.
And he said to him. The angel said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. Struggler with people, the supplanter, the one who grasps the heels. I'm Jacob.
And then he said, the angel said to him, God spoke through this messenger and said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you striven with God and with men and have prevailed. Interestingly, scholars think that Israel An unusual word. means something like struggles with God. He said, you've struggled now with God all through the night.
and you've prevailed, meaning you weren't slain by your close encounter with God. And his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. From Soplanter One who grasps at the heel, one who struggles with people. To The one who struggles with God. His name was changed essentially from Struggles with People to Struggles with God.
Now that may not sound like that great of a blessing, does it? But if you can identify It all with Jacob. You know it's a blessing. Because if you've ever been, even a little bit, the kind of person that can't feel blessed unless you've got everyone else's approval. If you've ever Tasted of that sort of approval addiction.
If you've ever. Ben. That person who feels worried all the time about your place in this world. Such that it feels like you're constantly struggling with other people, always trying to get ahead of somebody else, never free to just be joyful and just. Be at peace with everybody.
If you could taste that. In your life, you know it's painful, and it's a blessing if instead. of worrying about what everybody thinks of you. You can bring your pain and your problems and your dilemmas to God. He's saying, here's who you are, and this is who I want my people to be.
I want you to care most of all about bringing to me whatever it is that's on your heart. Come to me, you who are heavily. Burdened. And I'll give you rest. Come into the freedom.
Of loving God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. such that he's what matters most to you. and other things seemed small in comparison. His name was changed to Israel. The deceiver who was always struggling.
through his craftiness to get ahead of other people, is now named the one who has no such guile and instead authentically comes to God. That's the story of Jacob. And Unless you know that story, you wouldn't understand. The beauty and power of what's happening in the call of Nathaniel.
So go back to the Nathaniel story. John chapter 1, verse 47, again. We read Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. He saw Nathaniel.
And he said, here is... A true Israelite. in whom there is no deceit. And everyone would have known, especially Nathaniel, That Jesus was talking. about Jacob.
He was saying essentially Here is a man who is all Israel and no Jacob. He is saying to him, Here is a man, and the Greek word really is more like the word who has no guile. No Deceit through human craftiness. No pretension. I think Nathaniel must have been one of those straight shooters.
He was the opposite of old Jacob. Nathaniel, if it came to his mind, he'd just say it. When they said, We found the Messiah, he's from Nazareth. He just said, Nazareth, can anything good come from Nazareth? It was just, I bet you, Nathaniel was one of those people that like open mouth, insert foot.
But one thing you could count on about Nathaniel was he was an honest man. He might have been honest to a fault, I don't know, but he has no guile about him. He was, Jesus said. All Israel, one who struggles with God, and no Jacob, one who wrestles with people all the time. And he must have absolutely nailed Nathaniel's character Because it absolutely makes Nathanael stand at attention.
And Nathaniel at verse 19. I mean 49, Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you're the Son of God. I'm sorry, I'm jumping ahead of it. Nathaniel said, how do you know me?
So Nathaniel is saying, you just have said something essential about my nature. You get me. And Jesus answered him. With a further, more powerful revelation. Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
So Nathaniel's in some other spot. Jesus in the spirit sees Nathanael under the fig tree, probably hears the whole conversation in the spirit of Nathanael saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Nathaniel is like, Well, how do you even know me? You're describing my character, but how do you know me? He says, I saw you while you're under the fig tree.
He might as well have said, I saw you over there when you were saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Nathaniel is just blown away by this. It now rocks his whole world. And he says at verse 49, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You're the king of Israel.
In other words, because Jesus saw Nathanael, Nathanael now sees Jesus, and he has a paradigm shift. And Jesus must have smiled here. I just imagine. Jesus chuckled. I I don't I'm just guessing.
But the way he says this, he must have smiled and just thought, you know, maybe this mission ain't going to be so hard after all. He's got a convert right here, just because all he did was he had a simple little. Jesus is like, this is prophecy 101, and I've already got a convert out of this. He said, Might as well raise the dead and stuff. This is not going to be that, I'm just guessing.
But Jesus answered and said, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? Wow. you will see greater things than these. And he said to them, Said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, You will see heaven opened. And the angels of God ascending and descending.
on the Son of Man. If there's any question that we were talking about, Jacob, here it's answered, right? He's saying You are all Israel and know Jacob. And he said, you believe because I saw you under a fig tree. And at this verse, He changes his language from you in the singular to you in the plural.
And he says, you all. We'll see greater things in this. And now he's speaking to everyone there and he's speaking to you and me. He's saying, you all, y'all. are going to see greater things than this.
You're going to see the heavens open and angels of God ascending and descending, not on Jacob's ladder, but on the Son of Man. He is saying, I am Jacob's ladder. I am the connecting point of earth and heaven. I am the one who has opened up heaven to you. And you're going to see miracle after miracle and grace upon grace.
And you're going to see it all not on some figurative ladder in a dream, but you're going to see it with your own eyes. You're going to see the heavens open and the grace of God poured out because there's one mediator between God and man. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And He came to connect us to heaven again. Seeing with Jesus changes everything.
I want us to learn to see ourselves as He sees us. He didn't say to Nathaniel, I saw you under the tree, and you're a doubter and a scoffer. I heard what you said. He said, You're all Israel, no Jacob. I think sometimes we Look at our lives and reflection, it's like looking in one of those crazy mirrors at the carnival.
You know those wavy mirrors and you look and all of a sudden it makes you look like your neck's two feet long. Or you got really big ears or something like that. You hear in life somebody says, well, you're You're always losing or you're always sloppy or you're Never this. And you listen to these things that people say, and it's just a carnival mirror. And Jesus came to tell you who you really are.
You can see yourself through his eyes. And you can learn to see others. We're going to explore many stories of Jesus' encounters with people. I love the way he saw people. Because he made the people.
I get the chance to see through the Creator's eyes. Everything within you will start honoring people. There's no way to tell the worth of a life. Except through Jesus's eyes.
So the Pharisees in Luke 7, they'll see a woman, they call a sinful woman, but Jesus sees a worshipper. We're going to learn how to let go of judgments and get to logs out of our own eyes. Lest we spend all our time trying to get the spec out of someone else's and I think it's an invitation to see the world differently. I want us to have times to stand with Jesus on the hillside and look out over Jerusalem and weep with him and say, Oh, Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem. How I have longed to gather you under my wings.
I think you'll find compassion where you didn't used to have compassion. You'll find insights. Where you used to have confusion. But you'll have clarity. About how God's called you to interact in a world of so much trouble.
All of this and so much more. In Genesis 28, verse 17, after Jacob had his vision of the latter. He said, How awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And in verse 19, he called the name of that place Bethel.
Means house of God. He's saying, This is the house of God. This is the meeting place of God and humanity. That's what the temple was. And in John chapter 2, the chapter after our text today, the Jews said to Jesus, What sign do you show us for doing these things after he cleaned out the temple?
And Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up. And the Jews said to him, It's taken 46 years to build this temple, and you'll raise it up in three days. The text says he was speaking about the temple of his body. Jesus was saying, I am. Bethel.
I am the house of God. I'm the meeting place. of God and humanity. My God. Give you the eyes.
of Jesus so you'll see everything as he sees it. Through Christ's eyes, just like he promised. Nathaniel, you'll see greater things this year. under a cloudless open Heaven. May God give you the Savior's own clear vision so that you'll see yourself more beloved than broken.
You'll see others' potential. more than their problems you'll see. the world's hope more than its heartaches. I believe God's grace is all around you. You'll see.
That's our hope. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright. It's our good news message today, looking at life through Jesus' eyes. It's in the series you'll see, and Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio with today's parting good news thought in just a moment.
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That's 877. Five four four four four four four four four four four four four four. 4860. or come to our website, pastorallen.org. Pastor Alan, I like what you said even on our last program.
Instead of what would Jesus do, it's really asking the question, how would Jesus see it? Maybe praying the prayer, Lord, help me see as you see. I think it's just a very simple spiritual discipline, but I've found it to be life-transforming. To simply, in every situation, say, Jesus, how do you see this? I mean, you get into a difficult spot, just stop and say, Jesus, how do you see this?
Because, you know, Daniel, once you see something clearly, then your thoughts and feelings will line up with it. And I think that it's a precious promise Jesus gives to Naniel and Nathaniel, and it's one to us as well. In a very important season, for Jesus to say, you'll see greater things.
So ask Him. And I think you'll find that by the Spirit of Jesus, you'll be led. Uh and and when you see it differently as he does All your behaviors and thoughts will line up. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
