Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing: a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. Open your heart, receive today's blessing from Luke 1:38. Yes, to all God's promises in your life. Yes, to all of you. to every impossible thing he has planned for you.
Yes, to the sweet, the preposterous, the unimaginable. I bless you to embrace Mary's words to Gabriel. Let it be unto me according to your word. I bless you to accept God's grace. No matter how ridiculous and undeserved and scary.
and glorious. I bless you to walk. by the promises of God to you, not your promises to God. God's promises aren't pie in the sky. They aren't reserved for the spiritually elite.
They are yours.
Now and forever. I bless you to receive them. Behold them. to cherish them. I join your heart today.
To say yes. to all God's promises. in your life. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright. Paul said, I didn't preach.
Just with Fancy words. Like the philosophers in ancient Greek. He would talk to philosophers and he was brilliant. But he said that. I wonder preach with the demonstration of the power of God.
We need more of the power of 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.
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. To experience the power of God is like clothing. Clothing is used in several ways as a metaphor in the New Testament.
I mean, sometimes the image is put on Christ.
so that our outward Behaviors are matching an inward reality. And there's something like this with the power of God. It's like. His power clothing you But it's Him and His clothing, His covering, His mantle on you. And Clothing is, in a sense, that which is to be a reflection of who we actually are.
Like if you see a woman and she's dressed in a white dress, you say, well, she must be a bride. Or you see someone with all of this fireproof gear on and a helmet and an axe, you say it's a firefighter. Or someone in a white space suit, you say that's an astronaut. The wedding dress doesn't make a woman a bride. A firefighter's outfit doesn't make someone into a firefighter.
But if they are that, then it is the reflection of who they really are. And so to be a Christian. Is to have the very power of God as part of who you are, and it's like something that you wear. And a lot of times, and maybe some of you have experienced this, that in those times in which you experience the power of God, it can have very much the sense of or the feeling of as if you are clothed. Whether you call this the presence of God, the anointing of God, the power of God, but oftentimes.
you can begin to sense that there's something different in this moment. And we're going to be looking at all these texts and seeing this intriguing thing, like even sometimes with Jesus, it said the power of God was present for him to heal the sick. And sometimes you just begin to sense that there's power, and oftentimes I'll sense that. Feel, I mean, that's maybe not the best word, but like becoming aware that you're in this moment, you're clothed by something that's supernatural, that's not you, and it almost feels like a mantle, almost feels like something that has wrapped you up. Maybe when you experience a supernatural love for someone, that's what you experience.
Or maybe some of you are intercessors and you begin to experience a mercy that begins to envelop you, and you know that it's like something has wrapped you up in the very compassion of God. Or sometimes you're praying for someone and you realize that there's power that is beginning to flow that's not your own. And it can feel very, it can feel almost literally like clothing.
So, wait until you're clothed with power, until God comes and puts this upon you.
So, it's not your power, it's his power, but it's very much like clothing, and it is fitting for you. And he says this at verse 49 again: that you're clothed with power from on high.
So he's making it plain that this is transcendent power, it's God's own power. It is God's presence. It's not just an ethereal force field like some principle of electricity that just anyone can tap into. This is from on high. It is from God and sent for His children.
The Trinity is on display here. The promise of the Father, the sending that comes from Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. And somehow, in the mystery of who we are as the children of God, we are able to be brought into the power of the triune God. And he says this, you are witnesses of these things. All of this, and we talk about the power of God.
All of this is for this purpose, our mission in the world. God cares very much. He cares very much about about us having power. To to overcome problems and sin in our lives, and he cares very much about our own health and our well-being. But in the end, he really cares about the body of Christ.
being empowered to share the sweetness And and and glory of who Jesus is and what the gospel is so that the world could come to know God. And so he cares very much about that. And I guess I would say to you, I hope that today and in coming weeks that you'll find yourself saying, I want more of the power of God in my life. I hope today you'll begin to pray for that way. We'll be praying at the end of our service that way.
But as you do, I hope that you will keep this in mind: that you will be his witnesses. The greatest reason to have more of the power of God in the body of Christ is for the effectiveness of our witness to the world. I was listening the other day. I don't know, it just appeared on the radio, and I was listening to a clip of Billy Graham's preaching and loved to hear him preach. I remember the first time I got to see him in person, and I was just absolutely mesmerized.
I was just drawn in. He was just so anointed. And he would have a regular phrase that he would say: the Bible says. And he would just preach. He decided early on in his ministry that that was going to be he was going to always just keep people pointing people back to the scripture.
And so he'd say the Bible says. And it was very powerful. I'm not sure. For an evangelist today, that that would have the same kind of impact. Because he was preaching in the day in the 50s, 60s especially, in which there was a high regard for the Bible.
There's not a high regard for the Bible anymore in our culture, sadly. People either have no idea of its contents or no particular feeling about that it has veracity or any real authority.
So, if there's somebody in your life that you'd like to see. have a transformation. If they're not a believer, it may not do much good to just say, well, the Bible says, right?
Well, it's very similar to what it was for the Christians in their early part of the birth of the church in Rome. uh Roman Empire where It was just a pluralistic society that worship many gods. And the people around them didn't have any particular Affinity or give any particular credibility to the Jewish holy book. But what began to happen with Christianity was the power of God. This is why Paul said, I didn't preach.
Just with Fancy words. Like the philosophers in ancient Greek. He would talk to philosophers, and he was brilliant. But he said I I wonder preach with the demonstration of the power of God. We need more of the power of God.
I was thinking about an opportunity I had recently to I have a long conversation with an old friend.
Someone that I love very, very much. He was one of my dear friends, dear friends in high school. He's a wonderful guy. He's one of the smartest guys that I ever knew. Really?
Love him. And I'll just call him John. John was in my Bible study group when I was in high school in our Young Life Campaigner group, and he had grown up Catholic. I really thought of John as a believer. He was always thoughtful.
He was the guy in the Bible study, he would raise questions about this and that. And then after college, we sort of lost touch with each other. And we got reconnected a few years back. I was so glad to get reconnected with him. He lives in a different state.
But he was very open about that he now considered himself an atheist. And of course, he knows I'm pastor, he follows what I do, and we love each other a lot. And so, in some ways, it's been a real privilege to have this dear friend who is really smart. And I love a lot and respect a lot. He's a very gracious person, fun, easy to laugh with.
He's fun to be with. And he really cares about humanity a lot. and to be able to kind of be with them. And I've just been praying, you know, that maybe we get a chance to really talk. And so, I don't know, a month or two ago, he was in town, and we got a chance to have breakfast, and we had a long long breakfast.
And we just started talking about The scripture. Talking about God, talking about And he knew I wasn't trying to have an agenda with him. And he didn't have an agenda. He wasn't going to think less of me. We're just sharing what we're Sharing.
And he started by saying, Well, could I start with this? Talk to me about the lunacy of God in the Old Testament. And I said, okay, well, it's a good starting place. And he started pointing to, you know, things that, like, man, God seems kind of bloodthirsty, and what about this, and what about that? And so he shared.
He wasn't being mean, he was just saying, it seemed like. Craziness to him. And so I said, well, first let me talk to you about how I think about the Bible. And then I went to go on to explain that I didn't look upon the Bible as an instruction book. or a list of rules.
nor simply good advice but that it was one connected story that I believed that mystically God had tied together. over the course of history, through many different pens, It was all pointing to the need for a Savior. And so that every Old Testament passage that seems odd You must find its context within that whole big story. and that so much of the Old Testament was pointing to the need for a Messiah and the promise of a Messiah. and that this really is a love story.
That is not a story about God.
Somehow being capricious, or that is instead a story about the problem of human sin. And how he really came in the person of Jesus because he loves people infinitely. And I just talked to him about the way I look at the Bible. And he said, well, I don't believe that. He said, but that is beautiful.
And I said, well, we can talk then. And we talked for two hours. And at the end of it, my friend hadn't become a believer, and I wasn't trying to make him a believer. But I just said, John, I said, if we get back together again. What I would like to talk to you about is not just the scriptures, because you're You're one of the smartest guys I know, and we could talk to her blue in the face.
I said, but I'd like to tell you some of my stories. and just miracles that have taken place in my life. I mean, I hope the next time that we talk that I'll be able to tell them how I became a Christian in the first place. I've shared it with you many times, that after my parents' marriage broke up, my mom got down on her knees. When I was in fourth grade, she got down on her knees in the middle of the night and cried out to God and said, If you're real, I need to know that you're really there because I feel like I'm sinking.
and I'll probably take these three boys with me. And how some days later a woman that was an acquaintance that lived a couple of miles away, came and knocked on the door. and said, I was awakened in the middle of the night. and they pieced it together and it was that night at that hour. And she said, You've just been on my heart.
And I want to know if there's anything I can do for you. And my mother said, Here's what's happened in my life. And she said, I called out to God. And the woman said, Well, I think I was sent by God and she told her the gospel. and introduce my mother to Jesus.
You know, I'd like to tell my friend that story. Because you could say, well, that's an amazing coincidence. But boy, that is amazing if it's a coincidence, isn't it? That'd be one of the biggest coincidences you ever heard of in your life. I like to tell him about how I got called into the ministry.
Which I've told you many times also. That I was a junior in college and I had planned out my life. I was a Christian. and I plan out my life to go into academia. And you know, interestingly, I just had never really asked God what He wanted me to do in my life.
I had never once considered going to the ministry. Not a single moment in my life had I thought about that. Until one night I was just praying in my little college dormitory room, kneeling next to this little red couch. And uh I'd like to tell my friend what happened to me. that I don't have words for.
And then, if I start thinking about it, I'll start weeping in front of you because it was. One of the most powerful things I've ever experienced, just sheer power came into that dormitory room. And I began to experience the holiness of God, and I wept uncontrollably for seemingly no reason. People, why would somebody start weeping? Why would a college student start weeping in a dormitory room while praying for no reason?
Uncontrollably. Almost trembling. Becoming aware of the sin of my life. And you know, the crazy thing was like, I wasn't that big of a sinner. I wasn't really the guy getting drunk and all that other stuff.
I wasn't sleeping around, I wasn't that big of a sinner. But there was this. If you have the light of God come shining brightly, in all of his holiness and glory. you'll recognize, like Isaiah, woe is me And I realized that I had. Planned out my life, and I not even asked God one single time what He actually wanted from me.
Maybe I was just resistant, I don't know. And I'd like to tell my friend that in the middle of experiencing the holiness of God like a cloud, like a mantle around me, like some.
something I can't describe. that I heard God speak, Was it audible? Not exactly, but it might as well have been. And I heard him say, Alan, you know I'm calling you to the ministry, don't you? And I wept and I said yes.
And I feel like the Apostle Paul who said a number of times In reference to the vision he had of Jesus, I've been faithful to that vision. I could do no other. And what I'm saying is, I like to tell my friends some of these stories. And then tell him more and more of the power of God that I experienced in my life because. Not to put them on the spot.
But he'd have to either think I'm delusional Which I don't believe he thinks I am. Or You'd have to start thinking. Maybe that God is real. I think this is what the world needs. They need the power of his real love.
the power of prophetic insights. the power of healing ministries. the power of forgiveness. and mercy. that can't be seen in the natural world.
So that people say, surely God. is real. Yeah. If you're Told me that I had to do all these things that Jesus said, do: heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons. You just might as well put a 300-pound rock in front of me and say, you got to lift that.
You can't do it. The Christian life is not trying to do God's will by our power, it's doing God's will. By God's power. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright in our good news message today, clothed in power from the series Empowered.
Please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back here, joining me in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Allen Wright Ministries is more than just a daily radio broadcast. Here are Daniel and Pastor Alan explaining another layer. You know, Pastor Alan, through this radio ministry, it's often been said that this is a friend, a friend in time of need.
It's a friendly voice. It's that encouragement I needed to hear, and the Lord used this ministry.
Well, how about your email inbox? Do you think there's ministry there? The daily blessing is such an encouragement. The daily blessing is a positive vision. It's rooted in scripture, so it's full of truth.
And it's something that I believe God leads me into and inspires. And you receive it in your inbox, and you can read it. There's also a video of me presenting it, and you can just take it in. It becomes something that I think gives strength for the day and helps root you in God's idea about you. The world's got all of its negative messages.
And Daniel, we need to fill ourselves with God's truth and God's plan. And blessing is in the Bible. A mystical kind of power, really, a thread that weaves together so much of the whole narrative of scripture. And it's much neglected. It's right alongside of prayer in its terms of its importance.
And we need to bless and be blessed. And so let me bless your life day by day, morning by morning, or in the evening. And it's absolutely free at pastorallen.org. Just give us your email address and you can start receiving a daily blessing. Click on to pastorallen.org today to learn more and take advantage of this opportunity.
Again, that's pastorallen.org. Back here in the studio with Pastor Alan, clothed in power. And when you hear that, Pastor Alan, God's power is amazing. Why wouldn't you want to put on that cloak? Why wouldn't you want to put on the shoes that he's given you to wear?
God's never going to say to you Here's what I want you to do. And yet it's impossible for you to do and And then he withhold the power for you to be able to do it. As we've said in this message, the Christian life is not about doing God's will by your own power. and it's certainly not about doing your own will by your own power. It's about doing God's will, but by God's power.
So ask him to day. Just say Lord? I need your power. Clothe me with power from on high just like you promised. I think he loves that prayer.
and maybe it's time for a fresh empowering in your life. Yeah. 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.
