Daily Blessing Compilation #11

Allen Wright, pastor, Bible teacher, and author of his latest book, The Power to Bless.

When you're secure, you can be real, authentic, and you can be assertive as you move into the world. And so when we bless, we're helping make people feel secure in God's love. 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 to be here in the studio today for our blessing broadcast with Pastor Alan, reading an excerpt from his new book, The Power to Bless. And by the way, this is available now at pastorallen.org. Pastor Alan, it's good to be with you. And we talk about Jacob a lot in this book.

He's a central character of scripture, central character of this book. And boy, he did something quite unique whenever he blessed his grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh, and adopted them. Thanks, Daniel. So good to be with you.

I love our time in the studio together. The beautiful story of Genesis 48 becomes, in many ways, a lens for the power to bless, because this really is the most important family blessing in the Bible. May God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh, something that Hebrew fathers have been speaking over their sons for 3,700 years, and nobody seems to know why.

So that was part of the quest. Why this blessing, these obscure sons of Joseph? We don't know much about them. Why them? Why say, may God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh?

Who are they? Why not make you like Moses and Joshua or Elijah and Elisha? Well, I explore that in the book. And I think one of the reasons is this strange thing that Jacob does in Genesis 48, you can read about it, where before he blesses them verbally, he adopts them. He says, now, Joseph, your sons shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. So he references his own biological children and his own sons of whom will become the great tribes of Israel, who will get a portion of the promised land, all of that.

And he says, Joseph, your sons, Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine. He adopted them. And that was a formal act of adoption, which meant, Daniel, that they were going to be guaranteed an inheritance.

It meant they were fully his. And I think that when we bless people, we're not adopting them literally, but in the spirit, it's sort of like we're adopting. When you bless someone, you're extending that same kind of love.

You're saying that, I'm issuing towards you this wonderful acceptance. And ultimately, when we bless people, we're blessing them toward God, who wants them to be his adopted heirs. So every child of God has been adopted by God, and everyone who doesn't know the Lord yet needs to know God wants to adopt you.

And that's a beautiful thought. And the image of adoption, of course, raises all of these wondrous images of what it means to be wanted, to be accepted, to be loved, to be taken into a new home, to discover a new reality, and in many ways to live out a new destiny. And adoption is, I think, found fairly frequently in the Bible, but also in teaching and evangelical circles these days, because it's a wonderful picture. It's a wonderful way to relate how permanent it is, how much you're grafted into God's family, and then receive the benefit, the blessings of that.

Well, it's a wonderful story I tell in the book about the Helveys. My friend Jay Helveys said that God had really spoken to him three times, and one was about moving to North Carolina, and one was about starting up the men's fellowship that he heads up in our area. And the other was, he felt spoken to by the Lord that they were to adopt internationally. And so when they decided to adopt these twins from an Ethiopian orphanage, you know, they weren't being moved by some sort of prosperity guilt. They just had a real stirring from the Lord.

And, you know, some people tried to talk them out of it. You know, why don't you just send some money to the orphanages, why don't you? Because by this time it was kind of crazy for them to adopt, because their boys were, you know, biological boys were mostly grown, and they're getting ready to move in that stage of life where, hey, we can kind of not have as much responsibility, and they're going to go the other side of the world and bring home these two twins. And it's a beautiful story. Adoption is a long process.

We've not adopted, but we've walked with a lot of people through this process, and it's complicated, and it builds in anticipation, and can go for a long time. And then one day, suddenly it just happens. And this is what happened to Jay and James.

Suddenly, all of a sudden, they received a photo, an email with a photo, here are your children. And that's a strange feeling like that. I asked Jay and Jane, I said, well, what did that feel like? And Jane just said, well, they looked sad, and I just wanted to give them joy.

And Jay just said, I just wanted to help them. And they still, their eyes grew misty at thinking of that moment. Isn't that a beautiful picture? To think that here are these orphans, Zinnabek, their girl, and Shifaral, they become known as Shif and Zinni, that they are over in an Ethiopian orphanage, and they don't even recognize, they don't even know, have no idea that this godly, prosperous family on the other side of the world, this couple, is weeping over their picture, and only longing to show them good, only longing to help them and bring joy into their lives. And I think, Daniel, this is one of the first things that we want people to know when we bless them. And it's one of the things God wants us to know, is that while we were still far from God, and we had no way to get to God, He was already weeping over our picture. He already saw our need.

He already saw what we longed for and didn't know how to get. And He just has a heart of kindness that wants to help us. And that's, you know, I want to say to our listeners, that's who God is. His love is an adopting love. And if you are a Christian, it's because God, your Father, He set His love on you from eternity. He moved heaven and earth to adopt you.

And this is love, 1 John says, not that we've loved God, but that God has loved us. So, I love the story of Shiff and Zenny, because there is a period of time which they are told they're going to be adopted, and Jay and Jay know they're going to adopt it, but then there's a process that unfolds. Jay went with one of his grown biological sons, Cole, they went to go and visit the orphanage months before they would bring them to America. And it was so, I mean, I love talking to Jay about what that was like to first see him.

Puppy, Shiff exclaimed when he saw Jay, it was only English that he knew. And Jay didn't know any Amharic, the language there in Ethiopia, but he had brought a picture book. And it had pictures of their house, the neighborhood, their big brothers, their dog, kind of like, here's what your life actually is going to be.

Such a contrast between the Ethiopian orphanage. They visited for a while through a translator, and he left them the picture book, and he said, I'll come back and take you home with me. Now, there's a picture of faith, isn't it, that for a lot of people who are walking with the Lord, sometimes you feel like I'm just holding on to my book. You know, he gave us not a picture book, he gave us a Bible, he gave us his word, and he said, all these promises are true. And he said, I'm going to come back and get you. And so we're like those orphans who have been adopted, but it's another thing to start really just living it out.

And you know, if you walk long enough with God, you're going to have some days where it's like, I'm just holding on to the book and clinging to the promises and trusting that he's going to come back. And well, of course, Jay and Jane did go back. And fittingly, they were given their children on the day after Easter, having just celebrated the resurrection. And it took a few days for things to process, so they couldn't just leave.

Yeah, you don't just leave, it takes a few days. And so they headed to a local hotel, their beautiful place that, can you imagine those kids seeing, they'd never seen green grass, much less a lavish swimming pool and luxurious lobby. And they just said, they said it was so funny, they just were fascinated by the elevator, just want to keep pushing the buttons.

You know, you never know the things that are just mundane to us that were so fascinating to them. And then eventually they are able to fly to their new home. I guess the orphanage workers had always been communicating, talking with Schiff and Zinni and saying, you know, this is America, you know, looking at the picture book.

And so when they pulled up in front of their beautiful big white house in this nice neighborhood in Winston-Salem and got out of the car, I think it was Schiff that just hollered out and said, America. And so it would take a while to figure out that America consists of more than that new lovely home. And it's a process from there to accept the fact that you're adopted and that you belong, but that's what God wants us to know. And I think the power and importance of that story, Daniel, is when you receive blessing and when you give blessing, the first thing you're instilling is security. The world does just the opposite, doesn't it? The world often withholds the sense of security, withholds acceptance, thinking that, oh, you know, like I'll dangle my blessing in front of someone like a carrot, hoping that they'll run harder in order to get it. But we don't realize that that's not the way God works with us. He doesn't withhold his love. It doesn't withhold his acceptance.

It doesn't withhold security. He wants us to know in Christ for sure we belong to him. And that becomes really the building ground, the breeding ground of real faith in our lives.

It's the avenue towards real trust. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. 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 pastorallan.org. Ever feel like something's holding you back as if you lack an important key that could change everything?

Is there someone you love who seems stuck? You'd like to help them, but how? What's missing might be the timeless power of blessing. We all need a positive faith-filled vision spoken over our lives. Without it, we'll never rise to our God-given potential.

With it, we can let go of the past and move forward confidently under the favor of God. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing in your life, and if you'd like to learn how to speak life and empower the people you love, contact us today to get Pastor Alan Wright's new Amazon bestselling book, The Power to Bless. And when you do for a limited time, we'd like to send you four additional life-changing resources to help you discover the power to bless. We'll send you Pastor Alan's video masterclass and study guide called Speak Life. And we'll also include Pastor Alan's new video course, The Power to Bless, perfect for small groups or individual devotions.

It also comes with a study guide. Contact us today to get Alan Wright's beautiful hardcover book, The Power to Bless, and receive the four additional life-enriching resources. It's time to learn how blessed you are in Christ and to discover the power to bless. Learn more at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. The Power to Bless is the book that we're talking about and the story of Schiff and Zinni, a wonderful adoption story. And the conclusion there, and I think the main application you were just talking about, is the security. Like even before the adoption was in its full mode of coming back to America, right?

He left a picture book and said, I will come back and take you. And so there is now newfound security, I imagine, in the minds of these twins. So they eventually accept, I'm secure. You know, it's interesting, all the studies and also the parents I've talked to that have adopted children that have come from children that have come from orphanages where everything is shared, everything's communal, and the child doesn't have much. So they have behaviors that often, you know, show up, including hoarding things.

And Jay and Jane said they would find things hidden all over the place, you know. Well, you're afraid. It's like, I won't ever get this again. And the idea of being an heir, well, there is provision for me, and I don't have to cling to everything. Well, that takes a process. It does in natural terms for an adopted child, and it does for us in Christ. So we've been adopted, but it's a process of growing up and realizing that. So that's part of the power of blessing, is to be reminded day in and day out that you're an adopted child of God.

You know, Daniel, it's interesting. We know a lot about adoption in the Roman era, especially the first century era that Jesus was living and ministering and teaching. And there were several things that were really fascinating about this. Our idea of adoption is often of adopting a baby. But the image that's underlying the New Testament picture of adoption is really the Roman image where a wealthy father, a wealthy man who wanted to be a father and had no children of his own, would adopt a son in order to make him his heir, because he wanted to leave everything to someone. He wanted someone to carry on the family name and the family estate. So often he would adopt a grown young man, and sometimes it would be a slave, a servant that he developed a lot of affection for and would adopt a slave.

So that's an interesting image, isn't it? It's like a father who's wealthy on his own initiative adopts a son, a grown son. And one of the things that's very interesting is in Roman law, we know a lot about adoption from Justinian's institutes.

And one of the things very interesting is that while it was permissible, it was legal for a father to disown a biological son, it was unlawful, impossible for a Roman father to ever disown an adopted son. So once you're God's, you belong to God. And I think that this notion of being secure in the Lord is something that happens in our language of blessing. We're wanting people to know God loves you and you're secure in him. We're not wanting to instill fear. I think unwittingly when we withhold the blessing, we don't realize it, but we're making a point that we're making a person afraid. Why is the blessing being withheld from me? Why is acceptance withheld from me?

What is it that's wrong with me? It creates a feeling of shame. It creates a feeling of wondering, what do I need to do to measure up around here? And when we get anxious, well, we might try harder for a little while, but it's really toxic. And when we're anxious, we're not best.

We don't do our best. And what blessing does is it makes us secure and people go, oh no, you make somebody secure, they're going to get lazy. And that's not the way it works.

And I'll go into great detail in the book about how this works. But the bottom line is that the more secure someone is, the more that they are going to feel that they can count on God to be for them and that their place is secure. So therefore they can risk, they can risk loving, they can risk giving. They can risk stepping into a great and wonderful destiny.

If you feel like that you could be rejected at any moment, then you're going to feel like I need to just be more cautious and you're going to feel like I need to pretend. But when you're secure, you can be real, authentic, and you can be assertive as you move into the world. And so when we're blessed, we're helping make people feel secure in God's love.

I am loved and I realized that I am loved. I can risk loving you. And I think that's a great way to end on this because the security, I think I could say, I don't care who you are. We're all looking to be secure and we find your security in Christ. And oftentimes the blessing comes from a brother or sister.

It's not far away. Exactly. You know, in many ways, what we do when we bless is we partner with God to speak like God, to share God's heart, and we're not literally adopting someone, but we are figuratively. And the Christian life is a life of living as an adopted heir. And God wants everyone to know that and to feel that. It's one thing to be told that you have a promised land. It's another thing to take it and live in it and flourish in it. And blessing, I think, therefore saying, hey, you're an heir.

God has a promised land, spiritually speaking. And so a walk in the fullness of your inheritance. Blessing empowers us. Blessing fills us. And blessing makes all the difference when we know we're adopted as children of God. that could change everything.

Is there someone you love who seems stuck? You'd like to help them, but how? What's missing might be the timeless power of blessing. We all need a positive, faith-filled vision spoken over our lives. Without it, we'll never rise to our God-given potential.

With it, we can let go of the past and move forward confidently under the favor of God. If you'd like to replace every curse with blessing in your life, and if you'd like to learn how to speak life and empower the people you love, contact us today to get Pastor Alan Wright's new Amazon bestselling book, The Power to Bless. And when you do, for a limited time, we'd like to send you four additional life-changing resources to help you discover the power to bless. We'll send you Pastor Alan's video masterclass and study guide called Speak Life. And we'll also include Pastor Alan's new video course, The Power to Bless, perfect for small groups or individual devotions.

It also comes with a study guide. Contact us today to get Allen Wright's beautiful hardcover book, The Power to Bless, and receive the four additional life-enriching resources. It's time to learn how blessed you are in Christ and to discover the power to bless. Learn more at pastorallen.org.

That's pastorallen.org, or call 877-544-4860. Pastor Alan, in our final moment here in the studio, our parting good news thought for the day is, I would imagine, about being secure. Here's what I want to say to every listener. God loves you infinitely. And in Jesus Christ, when you accept Christ, He makes you His own adopted child. And as His adopted child, nothing but nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ. And as His adopted one, meaning, as Paul said to the Ephesians, you've been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, you can be assured you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So let all of your days be filled with that security that builds faith, and don't ever worry about being rejected by God.

You're His, and He'll never disown you. This is what the Lord says, I will restore. The words of Jeremiah, this is what the Lord says, I will restore. And part of this is to say that the palace will stand in its proper place again, and the city will be rebuilt on her ruins.

Meaning that proper order, the rule of God, despite what you see with your eyes, that His promise is that He is providentially caring for the whole world. And so the palace will stand in its proper place, and the city will be rebuilt on her ruins. God promises through Jeremiah to restore the fortunes of Israel's tents, the dwelling, your life, the original destiny that you have, that He intends for that to be lived out in you. And so to each of our listeners today, this is the way I just want to bless you that no matter what you've been through in your life, no matter how dark the valleys, or how deep the rubble, or how much feels like it's been ruined, it's in God's heart to restore. He loves to restore. He's a father, and when His children have something taken from them, or something that's broken, His commitment, His heart, His delight is not to leave it in ruins, but to restore it to the way that it's supposed to be. And not just to restore, but to enable it to be such that you can forget as if you've forgotten the troubles even existed. So you can really live from this moment on. So I'm just blessing, in a sense, the rubble of your life to become the foundation of a whole new season in which you have greater security, greater strategic advantage in the spiritual battle, and a greater story to tell. May God let your city be rebuilt on the ruins, and may it be as though you've forgotten all your troubles. May God make you like Manasseh. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.