Seeing As Jesus Sees [Part 14]

It's release week of Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, and only for the remaining days this week. When you order the book, let us know, and we're including the free audio book.

This week only, offer expires Friday. It's seeingasjesussees.org. That's seeingasjesussees.org. Daniel, that kind of imagination in the scriptures where you can see yourself alongside of Jesus is where you begin to learn to see with his eyes. And in everyday life, we can invite Jesus into our visionary process saying, open the eyes of my heart.

Jesus, how do you see this? 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 that's coming straight from the brand new book that's out now, Seeing as Jesus Sees, written by Pastor Alan Wright. This book has just released.

It's just launched and you can get your hands on it today. Right now, how a new perspective can defeat the darkness and awaken joy. In fact, when you get the book right now and you let us know, we're happy to send you, as our way of saying thanks, a daily reading guide, a study guide, a free copy of the audio book and the companion video course. Again, this is all our thanks to you for supporting the launch right here during release week of Pastor Alan's new book and this important message, Seeing as Jesus Sees. In fact, that's the name of the website, seeingasjesussees.org, where you let us know that you'd like to have these extra resources as an added bonus.

Seeingasjesussees.org or pastorallen.org. So Pastor Alan, again, congratulations. Release week is off and running and we are having a blast already hearing some great results. Well, it's just one of the most fun weeks to have a new book that's out and available now. And I'm so, so thankful that the publisher allowed us for this week only, once it's been released, to still give people who buy the book a free audio book. That's right.

Along with other things we want to give them. So it's an exciting time, Daniel. And I'm so excited about this message of Seeing as Jesus Sees. It's a result of a simple spiritual practice that I've been practicing now for some years of just pausing throughout the day and saying, Jesus, how do you see this? Life gets busy. Life gets hard.

Life gets frustrating. And I think that maybe most of our problems are the result directly or indirectly of not seeing accurately. Satan is the father of lies and that's what darkness is. It is the absence of light where you can't see things properly and get confused. And when we don't see things properly, we can really end up condemning ourselves, mistrusting or judging others and despairing in the world. And also, as we've been learning and talking about, you miss out on the wonder of life. There's so much wonder and so much treasure.

What might we be missing? And so, how does Jesus see ourselves and others and the world? That's the question of the book. And it's an invitation to a simple spiritual practice that enables any reader to live a more spirit-filled life, a more spirit-led life, a life that's transformed not by trying harder to do what Jesus would do, but really seeing through his eyes.

So, I can't be more excited than release week. Hope all our listeners will hurry and get the book right away. So, Pastor Alan, I've got to ask about this line that you wrote in here. We're seeing through Jesus's eyes and we're thinking about seeing others. And I'm going to ask you about others. You have a line where you talked about how Jesus allowed an outrageous anointing.

Yeah. So, imagine you're there. That's the way we're doing Bible study. Imagine yourself there next to Jesus. So, the popular visiting rabbi has taught at the synagogue and you get an invitation to join a select group at a Pharisee's house for a Sabbath dinner in Jesus's honor.

So, imagine it. Are you nervous? Delighted? When you find out that you're going to be seated immediately next to the Nazarene prophet himself and you know it'll be an unforgettable evening, an unforgettable meal. Maybe you've been to these sorts of dinners before, so you know it's culturally acceptable for curious onlookers to gather in the courtyard. They'll peer in through the open windows hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrity teacher or maybe hear some words of the conversation. So, you recline at the table, your feet extended behind you, and you're paying little attention to the servants that are bustling about in the crowd peering through the open windows with all this activity and movement.

It's not surprising. No one notices when a woman slips in behind you and bends at the feet of Jesus. But then you notice the room grows quiet. Several people gasp and you wonder, are people looking at me? What are they looking at? And you realize, no, they're looking at the woman who's crouching behind Jesus' feet. And when you turn to see who she is and what she's doing, you can hardly believe your eyes.

You know she is a woman of the city, a sinner, Luke 737. She's weeping uncontrollably, her tears raining onto Jesus' feet. And you watch as the woman violates every social protocol and unbinds her head covering and dabs Jesus' feet with that flowing hair.

And you can smell the fragrance already wafting through the room from that thin-necked alabaster flask that had been around her neck. And the whole room's engulfed in the aroma, and she's kissing His feet and wetting them with her tears and anointing them with this expensive ointment. And you, like everyone, is wondering how Jesus will respond and will He just pull His feet back. But instead, He allows the outrageous anointing. He's allowing a sinner to be near Him and touch Him and worship Him.

It's just a scene of beauty and scandal, of love and impropriety. And just as you're wondering how Jesus sees it all, He, just imagine, we're using our imagination here. He leans toward you, imagine it, and whispers in your ear, I know what Simon the Pharisee is thinking. Maybe you whisper back, you do? Jesus says, yes, He's thinking if this man were a prophet, He would have known what sort of woman this is who's touching Him. Are you sure that's what Simon's thinking, maybe you ask him?

Yes, I'm sure Jesus whispers. He thinks He knows what I'm thinking that I don't know about this woman's reputation. Isn't it ironic, Jesus says.

He so wrongly thinks He knows what I'm thinking, is completely unaware that I know truly what He is thinking. That is ironic. And what else is ironic, maybe Jesus says, is that the leading religious teacher of the community is the one who has the least clue who I am. This Pharisee who should know all the prophecies and scriptures and most easily recognize me as the Messiah is blind. And this dear woman, an outcast in others eyes, sees me for who I am and has come to worship me. Ah, now you're wondering, I see what you mean, Jesus. One more thing, maybe Jesus says, isn't it ironic that Simon is so focused on this woman's sin that he can't see his own sin of pride and hypocrisy.

He's so busy thinking about a speck in this dear woman's eye, he doesn't notice the log in his own eye. Isn't his smug, prideful judgment just as bad as any sin this woman's ever committed? Isn't the Pharisee's blindness to God's love on par with any wrongdoing of this repentant woman worshiping at my feet?

So you're imagining yourself there and suddenly Jesus stops whispering to you and he speaks loudly enough for everyone to hear. Simon, he says to the Pharisee, I have something to say to you. Certain money lender had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii, the other 50. When they couldn't pay, he canceled both their debts. Now, which of them will love him more? Well, Simon's answer doesn't surprise you, the one for whom he canceled the larger debt. And Jesus' response is, no surprise, you've judged correctly.

But then the next moment, this is the aha moment. Luke 7, verse 37 to 44, this is the story. As Jesus faces the woman, he speaks to Simon again and he says, do you see this woman? And that's the question. Remember, you're there, you're beholding through Jesus' eyes.

This is the question that matters most. Do you see this woman or do you just see a sinner? Do you see a person created in the image of God or do you just see an unclean outcast? Do you see a treasure in an earthen vessel or do you just see a worthless mess ready for the scrap pile? So Jesus explains to Simon how precious the woman's tears, the anointing, the foot washing are, and you watch the Messiah forgive the woman's sins.

And then you look at her differently. Others are blinded by preconceptions and prejudgments, but Jesus sees the real person, the person as he designed them to be. Daniel, that kind of imagination in the scriptures where you can see yourself alongside of Jesus is where you begin to learn to see with his eyes.

And in everyday life, we can invite Jesus into our visionary process saying, open the eyes of my heart. Jesus, how do you see this? And particularly what we're learning about now is how does he see others? How does he see this person? It's a question you could ask when you're unsure, when you're frustrated, or when you're longing just to find a way to bless someone and see the best in them. Jesus, how do you see this person? How do you see this person?

That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Wondering what you need to do to find more freedom, wonder, and joy? What if you don't need to do more as much as see more? What if victorious breakthrough and enduring transformation comes not by striving, but by seeing? For years, Pastor Alan Wright has been practicing a new spiritual discipline, a simple prayer. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's brief enough for a single breath, but deep enough for lasting life change. It's a prayer Christ loves to honor because the Savior came to open blind and blurred eyes. Jesus is, after all, the light of the world. In his new groundbreaking book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, Alan Wright leads readers into a fresh kind of Bible study where they're invited in close side by side with the Savior to see themselves, others, and the world through Jesus's eyes. There's good news on every page because divine revelation and spirit-filled living is a reserve for the spiritually elite.

Every Christian can live with wide-eyed wonder and spirit-revealed vision. For a limited time, when you order the book from Amazon or your favorite retailer, you'll receive over $100 of bonus resources. To order the book, visit seeingasjesussees.org or come to our website, pastorallen.org, and you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan.

So place your order today with your favorite online book retailer and visit our website for instructions on receiving all the extra resources. Christ's Call to Discipleship isn't an invitation to strive to do what Jesus would do, but to come and see what Jesus sees. So pre-order your copy of Alan Wright's newest book and discover and start seeing yourself, others, and the world through Jesus's eyes. The book by the same title, Seeing as Jesus Sees, is out now. It's just been released by Pastor Alan Wright, and you can get a copy wherever you find good books.

In fact, we encourage you to get it now before the day's end because we are soon running out of a special offer where you can receive a free copy of the audio book with the purchase of the book right now and a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course. All included is our thank you for supporting launch week here of Pastor Alan's new book. Just let us know you've purchased the book when you contact us at pastoralan.org. That's pastoralan.org or at this special site seeingasjesussees.org.

Seeingasjesussees.org. Pastor Alan, I use this word cautiously, but I think it's still a good word to use, and it's striving. Do you think that in the best sense of the word, as you know, and I know a lot of times you hear that word in the Christian world and you kind of run from it, but I think the word, or maybe you put a word goal here for this, would be to more and more practice this as a discipline, to see as Jesus sees, to see others as Jesus sees. As much as anything in this book, Daniel, I'm hoping to introduce what you might call a new spiritual practice, but really it is ancient. The ancients practiced little breath prayers, practicing the presence of God, but this is a particular way that is, it shifts where our mentality is. Instead of thinking about what do I need to do to try to be more godly, which is a noble thought, but not very powerful, we shift it and we say, Jesus, how do you see this? Because we're requesting now revelation, where we're looking through his eyes. And I think God loves to open up the eyes of our heart.

He loves that. We pray with Paul, open the eyes of our heart, enlighten us, and help us to see what we're not seeing. So it's a spiritual practice. And like all of the spiritual disciplines, which this doesn't replace the classical spiritual disciplines of intercession and meditation and the study of scripture and worship, but it is one that should come alongside. And all the spiritual disciplines, what we're striving towards, what we're committing to is not something that in some way merits a reward from God. What the spiritual disciplines are, are gateways.

They are gifts, tools, means by which we are appropriating, accessing, living in the very blessings of God's communion with us and his grace to us that he so wants to give us. And so what I'm encouraging you is you first ask regularly, Jesus, how do you see me? But also how do you see others?

How do you see this person? And like this woman who's called a woman of the city of sinner, that the Pharisee thinks he knows all about her. And he knows what Jesus must be thinking. And the irony was the Pharisee didn't know really who the woman was or who Jesus was. And so often that's the case.

We think we know, but we don't really know. And so much of what ministry is, is simply helping someone to see themselves in God's eyes. And that means we need to see them through that lens. And this young woman joy that we've been sharing about and whose story appears, we're not going to tell our whole story here on the radio, because I really want it to be able to something you can enjoy in the full and the full in the book. But one of the things we did when we began to minister to this young woman who had been so oppressed of the devil, that she had actually gotten to the point of being hospitalized and she couldn't see her life accurately at all. And she felt so hopeless and quit eating and quit talking. When she began to change, it began by a ministry of speaking to her through the eyes of Jesus, seeing her for who she was designed to be. If you just look at someone like that 13 year old and see nothing but the tubes and the IVs and their frailty and the catatonic condition in the hospital.

And if that's all you can see, you're not going to be much help to her. So we're saying, Jesus, help us to see her as you do, to see joy, not as a afflicted and hopeless mental patient, but to see her of who she was made to be on the inside and to see her through the eyes of Jesus. And so even though she came home from the hospital for a long time, life was a struggle for Joy.

She didn't eat much, scarcely made eye contact. And most of the days felt dark and still nights were terrifying. But Grace, who ministered with me, joined by Joy's incredible parents, her grandparents, her sisters that were so wonderfully helpful, everyone committed to this. We're speaking to you as seeing you for who you are designed to be, not just for what you're going through right now. And you speak therefore about identity in Christ. You're a beloved child of God.

You're more than a conqueror. You're holy to the Lord. I remember one day, I remember one day, Grace, who was ministering with me said, Joy, you're Christ's beloved.

He's the heavenly bridegroom and you're his radiant bride. I just wondered, you know, would we see that in the natural ever for her life? But it is true of her spiritually.

You're the bride of Christ. And Joy's grandmother, so godly, such an incredible woman. And she, I think, memorized literally half the Bible came and just speak the truth over her granddaughter day after day after day. This is the kind of thing that can change someone and you interact with them according to that. So it's a beautiful thing when you think you've seen someone, but you haven't. And then God opens up your eyes and you see them in a whole new light. And instead of just seeing their flaws and imperfections, you begin to see them as God's precious beloved. And that changes how you can have compassion. It changes how you can minister.

It changes everything. Alan Wright, our good news message from the book, Seeing as Jesus Sees. And by the way, the chapter we're covering today is all about accepting as we're seeing others the way Jesus sees. The book is out now and available wherever you find good books. And we encourage you to get the book.

And then once you've done that, before too many days pass, let us know. Get in touch with us at seeingasjesussees.org or pastorallan.org online. Just let us know you've gotten the book and we'll then be happy to send you, as our thanks, a free copy of the audio book, a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course as our thanks for supporting the launch of this important message in this new book. Pastor Alan is back in the studio here sharing a part in good news, a thought of inspiration to see as Jesus sees in just a moment. Wondering what you need to do to find more freedom, wonder, and joy?

What if you don't need to do more as much as see more? What if victorious breakthrough and enduring transformation comes not by striving, but by seeing? For years, Pastor Alan Wright has been practicing a new spiritual discipline, a simple prayer. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's brief enough for a single breath, but deep enough for lasting life change. It's a prayer Christ loves to honor because the Savior came to open blind and blurred eyes. Jesus is after all the light of the world. In his new groundbreaking book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, Allen Wright leads readers into a fresh kind of Bible study where they're invited in close, side-by-side with the Savior to see themselves, others in the world through Jesus's eyes. There's good news on every page because divine revelation and spirit-filled living is a reserve for the spiritually elite.

Every Christian can live with wide-eyed wonder and spirit-revealed vision. For a limited time, when you order a book from Amazon or your favorite retailer, you'll receive over $100 of bonus resources. To order the book, visit seeingasjesussees.org or come to our website, pastorallen.org, and you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan.

So place your order today with your favorite online book retailer and visit our website for instructions on receiving all the extra resources. Christ's call to discipleship isn't an invitation to strive to do what Jesus would do, but to come and see what Jesus sees. So pre-order your copy of Allen Wright's newest book and discover and start seeing yourself, others, and the world through Jesus's eyes. Back here now with Pastor Alan and a closing inspiration directly from the new book, Seeing as Jesus Sees. Well, just for fun, let's go back to that hot tub in Florida that I was describing previously.

If you missed that part, it's about when I went to the last night of a vacation in the middle of January in Florida and went to get in the hot tub. And there were three ladies there. I was just sure that they are, you know, not at all going to be people interested in spiritual things, drinking beer and smoking and kind of crude talk. And I just trying to be quiet in the other end of the tub. But one of them started talking to me and I, I was being rude to be honest about it. I was being rude and they kept asking me questions. And finally, I told him I was a pastor and one of them said, are you a Lutheran? I said, no. She said, oh, I thought maybe you were Lutheran because we met a Lutheran pastor earlier.

I thought, what is this clergy day at the hot tub? And she said, what are you then? I said, well, I'm Presbyterian. She said, you mind if I smoke? I said, no, sure. I don't mind. One of them said, well, I'm Catholic, but I don't go to mass very often.

What's the difference between Presbyterians and Catholics? I still wasn't in the mood to talk. So I was kind of a smart aleck. And I said, well, how long is your priest homily?

She said about 12 minutes. I said, well, there you have it. My sermons are about 40 minutes long and they didn't really get the joke.

And I felt a little convicted by my smart aleck remarks. So I began to talk to them and Daniel, what happened after that was truly beautiful. We'll leave it off here and hope that people run out and get the book, hear the end of this story of what can happen in a hot tub when eventually something inside me goes, Jesus, how do you see these women? Ask yourself, Jesus, how do you see me? Jesus, how do you see others? Jesus, how do you see the world?

When you see with his eyes, it changes everything. 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 pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.