Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. Open your heart and receive today's blessing. I like to call you beloved because it's who you are. You are loved not from afar, but near. You are, more than anything else, one who is loved personally by God.
Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The good news of Christ's birth is for you.
So insert your name in there today. Unto you. is born a savior. Christ's coming had cosmic significance. The Messiah's birth extolled Jehovah's excellencies.
But don't miss this. He came for you personally. All of his grace and love is unto you. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. A huge building could come down if you took the foundational stones away.
The rest of it comes down. That we have divine power to demolish. These arguments that have been set up against God. 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 am Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in our series, Empowered, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. Um 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. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org.
That's pastorallen.org. or call 877-544-4860. more on this later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Pastor Alan Wright.
Mom has her moment of frustration, and the two and a half-year-old is like. She'll work it out with her therapist. She's going to be fine. But mom, a little bit later, goes, It's all right, sweetie. Let's clean it up together.
These things happen. But what about when it's not so healthy? And mom doesn't just go, yeah. But she's like You're always making a mess. And it never gets clarified.
that actually mom's just tired. Two and a half year olds spill things because they're two and a half. And it never gets clarified. And what happens to that little internal message that comes into the little two-year-old is. I'm a mess maker.
And it seems like that the more I do that, The less They seem to like me. That's really bad. And two-year-olds don't have therapists. And so a thought, one wrong thought like that. could set the foundation of a bunch of wrong thoughts, couldn't they?
So We make decisions about what we think is reality. Often in response to wounds, rejection that we've experienced or life circumstances. And when they run contrary to the actual truth, which is the Word of God. and the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those are what Paul calls A stronghold.
Arguments set up against the knowledge of God. lofty opinions that Raise themselves up inside your soul as if they are at a higher place. then what God really has to say about who you are. That's what a stronghold is. You can be a Christian.
And you can love God. and be struggling with strongholds. We got a letter to our ministry of a radio listener who wrote, said, Thank you, thank you, thank you, capitals. 11 exclamation points. And I'm used to that.
That's the way my wife sends texts. It's like that. But this didn't, you know, it was an email, so it didn't have all the emojis. But this list or bless me, she wrote lately. When I listen to Pastor Wright preach about blessing and God's love and provision and stuff you've been preaching on lately, I can't even describe what I feel.
It's so awesome. I feel engulfed by love and acceptance, and like I'm really able to believe I'm love. I feel such God-love like I've never felt before. There are moments I feel so loved by God and so cared for by Him. He feels so close to me, and this is so unusual for me because I struggle with feeling sure of God's love.
I guess I feel like I need so much help. And it'll take so long. that everyone, including God, will give up on me before I'm whole. I want to be so perfect and I'm devastated every time I fail. There's always seems to be so much interference from the enemy.
I get exhausted trying to work through it. I can so believe for the needs of others with absolutely no doubts. But believing for myself is a struggle. There's so many strongholds in my life, and fear, and anxiety, and worry, and doubt. I'm 51.
and it just feels like I'll never be free or normal. You can love God. And to be struggling with these strongholds.
So this is something for All of us, I wanna give you an illustration. Because I put myself in that category of someone who had to discover a stronghold. And this is not the only stronghold I've discovered. But I want to illustrate this for you and show you how it gets built. And I'll need my helpers, my wall builder helpers.
It starts with a foundational piece of information that I think we all know, and that is that I am. Most certainly. Flawed. This is. the condition of every human being.
We were born in sin. All of us were? And none of us is righteous. And we all mess up. But here's the problem.
There's what? I was trying to describe. Can it happen? And it happened to me and nobody ever told me this. And I didn't realize until many, many years later about the way this stronghold had developed into my way of thinking.
Many years after I've been Christian for a long time. I assumed somehow that because I am flawed, that that means I'm less Loved. There are a thousand ways that the world will try to make you feel less loved because of your flaws. The problem is In this particular stronghold, which I would call this is the stronghold of shame. And the problem is that There are people that Yeah.
Will Lose affection for you because of your flaws. That will happen. There are They're authority figures. Teachers or coaches or religious figures in your life that will help convey that message to you. And all of hell is trying to get you to that place.
You're flawed, so you're not loved which leads to Of course, if I'm flawed. And that makes people love me less. I don't want anybody to see my flaws.
So I'll just close up. This is, you remember what happened with Adam and Eve? The very first thing, when sin came into the world, shame came in. And as soon as shame came in, they began hiding. Because If I think I'm less loved, The more people see my flaws, the less I want anybody to see my flaws.
which leads us to the problem of isolation And and loneliness. Because if we're If we're all closed up and we can't be real, Then How could we ever be anything other than lonely? And then we become more vulnerable. The wolf loves the lone sheep. And Alongside of being closed up.
I figure that while That's going on. Hide my flaws. and then try to be more than I am. Try to be better. Just be better.
And people We'll love you. The problem, of course, is that it doesn't stop. It doesn't stop at all. And so eventually this mentality You're left with this. Just be perfect.
That's the way. If you have no flaws. Nobody could reject you for all your problems and weaknesses. The House of Thoughts. one built upon the other.
That's how stronghold is. And it gives such advantage to the enemy's voice because... You can imagine the kind of voices and temptations that could hide behind this sort of wall. You could name many of them. Mike.
Covetousness. loves this kind of wall. Because If the way and the secret to Being more loved and accepted is to be more and better than what you are. Then Here's your problem. Look at that person.
Look who they are. Look what they have. If only you had that. If only you were like that, then you would really be loved. Covetousness will ruin your life.
It will turn all your gratitude into bitterness. And you inwardly loves this kind of stronghold. Anxiety and fear love this kind of stronghold. Love to hide behind this. You just need to try a little harder.
You just need a little bit better. Just be better. They'll accept you. You just need to work harder. You need to just measure up.
And there's this thing, like, well, how will I ever know if I've done enough?
Well, you just do a little more. It's such It's so anxious, so anxiety-producing to know that I don't measure up, and yet I feel like I have to measure up. And inside of that, those voices just swirl with all the what-ifs and what-ifs. What if you're never good enough? I think addiction.
Its roots lie behind this wall. Because that anxiety Look. I know you don't feel good right now, but here, take this. Try this. It makes you feel better.
Just for a little while. You want to get rid of that anxious feeling. Here. And one dopamine release after the other, and next thing you know. I'm just saying You could imagine all the voices in temptation that could hide strategically behind this.
And It might be worthwhile to try to address per perfectionism in your life. It might be worthwhile. to address the addictive Behaviors you have in your life. I mean, all of that. But unless the wall comes down.
You're firing arrows and they're falling back down to the ground.
So the key. Of dismantling a stronghold is get down to the. If you want to look at this in your life, and we'll pray with you today, just ask God to give you grace to help you with this, and you can. Have these conversations with trusted and wise Christian friends, and you can have this with trusted and wise counselors or pastors to help you get to, you want to get to the foundational lie. You don't want to just like tear some stone off the top of the wall.
If you want a wall to come down, chisel away at the bottom. And so that's what has really happened to me that I give God so much praise for, is the more I understood how radical the gospel is. I mean, like, this is why you wonder, why is that guy, he preached about grace every single time? Because I want every one of these walls to come down, right? And so the fact of the matter is, as soon as you make the assumption because I'm flawed, I'm less loved, the wall starts getting built.
So you've got to get this part out because this is where the foundation of the whole wall starts. And the truth of the gospel is that you're not. You're not less loved because you're flawed. The love of God is perfect. perfectly unconditional.
And we're like, this is a lie. And this is the fun part. Because once you... Just push this lie out. I'll push the bottom lie out.
And the whole... We do this at the Shame Off You conference.
So I've done it a lot. It's still really fun to watch that happen every single time. Because the principle, I want you to see that, like, democracy, like if the bottom part comes off, the whole thing comes apart. Kind of one you see it's like it's not that hard A huge building could come down if you took the foundational stones away, the rest of it comes down. That we have divine power to demolish.
These arguments that have been set up against God. That was an argument set up against God. And what God wants, of course, is to have it be rebuilt. In the right way. And it starts here with the same thing.
I mean, this is true. I am flawed. And so we'll put that back down there. We're not, as Christians, we're not going out saying, look, we're better than other people and we're not flawed. We're not saying that at all.
We're just saying that Though I'm flawed, I'm not. Less love. And all you got to know is John 3, 16. I am So loved.
So loved. God is A father who is drawn to you in your weakness. This is what love is. Love is self-generating within the very father heart of God. God so loved the world.
Then he gave. You are not less loved. You're so loved. You're more love than you could ever comprehend. Which means that therefore you don't have to close up.
You don't have to pretend. You don't have to act. Like you've got your act together, you can open up. This is one of the most liberating things that ever happened to me in my life. Was I could begin to open up.
I'm not talking about. Voyeuristically, opening up with everybody about every single thing. That's all I'm talking about. But I'm just talking about the freedom. Of walking in the light as he's in the light, so that the blood of Jesus can purify us and we'll have fellowship with one another.
I'm talking about. really being able to talk about One's problems and wounds and rejections and fears and heartaches, and be real with somebody so you're not lonely anymore, and the very gospel can come in and begin to do its work. And once you begin to open up, then You realize you don't have to be more than what you are. I could just be me. Be comfortable in the fact that God made you for who you are.
And that he loves you so much, he's going to keep changing you and growing you. But you don't have to become somebody else or have what somebody else has or accomplish what somebody else has accomplished. He made you. Wow. And instead, therefore, of having to live a life of just constantly thinking about myself and whether I'm doing it perfect.
The word I think is this. It's a life of worship. You know what perfection is like the opposite of worship because Perfectionism is me, me, me. Me. Am I doing it right?
We don't worship his Worship is, I'm not even thinking about myself at all. This doesn't have anything to do with me. This has to do with the creator of the cosmos. This has to do with the Father whose love is so great that he sent his only begotten Son to die in my place. This has to do with the finished work of Jesus, an exalted Christ, preeminent over all things.
And I present my body to you as a living sacrifice, as my spiritual act of worship. I relinquish all that I have and all that I am, and I just worship you. That's freedom. That's freedom. And I tell you, this is a strong tower.
In the day of temptation. This is where you're Tack. Oh, the lives of the enemy right here. And run into this. Mike.
You can't come at me with all the accusations of hell. when this is the truth. of my wife. I'm praying that every stronghold in your life will come down. and that God will be your stronghold.
Because we're all a little bit like we can quote the scripture: God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and self-control, but I'm still afraid of lucky. I mean, we all. Yeah. We all can have a little bit of that in our life. And God has come in the person of Jesus.
To give you power. to tear down the lies. I was telling the guys, I said, just hand me those stones to let me build it, because the fact is, I built it, which means I can tear it down. In Christ's name. you can tear down your strongholds.
And that's the gospel. Pastor Alan Wright, our good news message. Power to Destroy Strongholds. It's in today's teaching in the series Empowered. I encourage you to stay with us.
Pastor Alan is back here in the studio to share 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.
God's always been there. In every moment you narrowly escaped from danger, in every moment you were surprised by a blessing, in every moment you just knew the direction to take. God was there. Your life is defined by countless moments of God's grace. Perhaps they've been covered by the sands of time or have just gone unnoticed in the rush of life, but your life is full of God moments.
When you make a gift today, we'll send you a special bundle, both Pastor Alan's heart-stirring book, God Moments, and a CD album containing all his audio messages on the subject. Make your gift today and start your spiritual treasure hunt to uncover your God moments. How you remember yesterday will determine how you live tomorrow. 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.
By the way, for the radio, some of it may not make as much sense as it would if you were visually seeing this, but there's a part of this message where there's physically a wall that's built on the platform, and then you have some volunteers that help assemble it, and then it gets knocked down. We have to kind of, through the magic of radio, move that visual into their minds here.
Well, you can just imagine it being like stones built one upon the other. And it really was something that I began doing. When, after having written a book about the healing of shame, and we did all these shame-off you conferences, still do. I realize that the whole matter of shame, that's an example of a stronghold. Shame-based thinking.
And that's what this is a model of. If you begin with, well, it's true, I'm flawed, and that's the beginning of the wall. But if you believe, and this is what shame does, if you believe that because I am flawed, I'm less loved.
Well That that fundamental lie. Then it gives way to every other kind of deceptive thought pattern. Like, I need to cover myself, close myself up, don't let anyone see me, try to be better and better until eventually it becomes perfectionism, for example.
Well, so you could have a lot of different of these kinds of stones that get added to this sort of stronghold wall, but it always starts at some foundational level. And I really encourage our listeners. To not try to get at strongholds in a superficial way, but go down to the deepest. rock bottom level of it and go where Is there something that's unbiblical, untrue? Anti-gospel about the way that I'm thinking about this.
And in this case, yeah, I'm flawed, but that doesn't mean I'm less loved. It means really I'm so loved. God so loved the world. So we build that wall and then we tear it down by just pulling out the bottom stones. It's always fun to see.
So our listeners just need to envision that. But more importantly, envision those stronghold walls that might have set themselves up in your own heart. Imagine them tumbling down by the power of the gospel and all the freedom that you'll have. 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.
