Seeing As Jesus Sees [Pat 15]

It's release week of Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees. And today only, today is the last day. When you order the book, let us know. And we're including the free audio book today only.

Today is the final day. It's seeing as Jesus sees.org. That's seeing as Jesus sees.org.

The order of events is so important. God blessed Adam and Eve. And then he told them to be fruitful.

With God, blessing isn't the reward for productivity, it's the fuel for it. 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, is 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. Now, Pastor Alan, the book is divided into some wonderful sections. We're currently spending time here on the radio in the section of Seeing Others. And as well, and as we're diving into our discussion today, kind of picking up on the last chapter we came out of, you know, when I first started understanding grace and how Jesus has paid it all and all that we have, all the riches in Christ are ours.

Okay. But then why do we still get upset with each other? And I keep thinking, why do we have some people call them popcorn sins and then big whoppers of sins? And so we humans, we try to categorize these things. I finally came to my own conclusion, and you can correct my theology if it's wrong. My conclusion was, well, there's one thing called a natural consequence that may happen after sin. The other thing may be a cultural, you know, you can't deny that we humans operate differently.

And what may be a big deal in the South may not be a big deal in the North or in the Eastern hemisphere versus Western hemisphere, et cetera. So all that to say, your teaching from this book really kind of brings that to my mind of how, Hey, if we could just pray the prayer, Jesus, how do you see this? Take me out of my own culture, take me out of my own humanness in this moment. And let me see this fellow brother or sister as a true child of God forgiven. If we can admit how limited we are in our vision, remember that we were born in sin. Then we have these blinders on and instead start saying, Jesus, I really do need you to help me see. It draws you in this little prayer is a pause in the midst of the busy-ness pause in the midst of us thinking we know. So it's a pause from all of that, a pause from thinking, Oh, I've got that person figured out.

Oh, I know exactly what's going on with them. Well, you don't. And then it is a connecting with Christ. This is the spiritual connecting. This is why it's a prayer. And I like praying it to Jesus because he's the author and finisher of our faith. It's a biblical thing to do just to talk directly to Jesus, the second person of the triune God, but we're talking to God and we're saying, I would like to have your very own eyes.

Now it doesn't show us everything. Of course he's God, but he does delight in opening up the eyes of our heart because he came to be the light to dispel the darkness. And he doesn't want us stumbling about and one thing's for sure. He doesn't want us judging other people.

He wants us seeing, seeing them so that we can accept them as we talked about last time, but also so that we could bless them. And that to me is seeing the potential in people and any of our listeners and maybe have read my recent book on the power to bless know that it's all about being able to see a vision over someone's life of who they're designed to be and speaking it out. And you know, Daniel, it is a beautiful thing, just an ordinary daily life to be able to bless somebody.

It just is. I love watching my wife, wonderful. And she has joy and it can rub off on complete strangers. I remember, uh, not terribly long ago, we were checking out at a big shoe store and we encountered a grumpy cashier and I was considering being grumpy in return, but my plans were interrupted by Ann noticing the employee's name tag. And she just asked the woman, she says, how do you pronounce your name, your name? And, and the woman told her, and Ann said, that's a beautiful name. And the woman said, my mother gave me that name. She thought of it. The morning I was born, she said, and her accountants began to brighten. And Ann said, your mom sure chose a lovely name. It's warm.

It has a good feeling to it. Well, thank you, the cashier said, and thanks for coming in today. We walked away and I heard the newly happy clerk say to the next customer, good afternoon. Did you find everything you need today?

Thank you for shopping with us today. You know, something happened in that, right? Something powerful happened in the spirit at the cash register. Was it a bit of just polite conversation in a rude world?

Well, it was that, but it was more. Ann looked past the woman's problem to see a person and she saw something deep about it. And there was even more really with it, Daniel, in that little encounter, reflecting back on that brief exchange, I thought about how that employee happened to be African-American. And I imagine that maybe she'd had other encounters with middle-aged white women that weren't so affirming.

I don't know. Plus, you know, different cultures have differing ideas about the way they name their children. When a parent gives a child an original or unfamiliar name, it's an expression of freedom.

You know, no one gets to tell you what to name your child. So in that simple conversation, Ann wasn't just affirming a name. She was validating a woman and a mother and a generation and a culture. And when Ann said the name had a good feeling to it, she's saying everywhere you go, the sound of your name adds beauty to others.

All that just, what's that in a little 30-second encounter at the cash register? When you see someone through Jesus's eyes, you'll see treasures in them and you'll see how those treasures can lead to a special future. And when you share that kind of affirming vision in someone's life, you're releasing the power of blessing. And so while I have a whole book on this subject, there is in this chapter that I hope everyone will rush and order the book today, there is in here something really meaningful about how blessing only gets released when we start learning to say, Jesus, how do you see this person? He'll open up your eyes and it can change somebody's life.

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' 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 ordered 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, PastorAlan.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' eyes. The book is Seeing as Jesus Sees, and we're sitting today with Pastor Alan, by the way, the author of said book, How a New Perspective Can Defeat the Darkness and Awaken Joy. And it is out now, available wherever good books are sold, and you can get your hands on it. In fact, when you do, and you let us know that you've gotten the book, we're happy to send you some extras as our way of saying things for supporting the purchase of the book right here during these first days of the launch. And so when you contact us at PastorAlan.org and say, Hey, I've already gotten the book.

I'd love these resources. We'll be happy to send you the study guide, the companion video course, and a daily reading guide to go along with it as our thanks for supporting this important message. And as we're here with Pastor Alan Wright, I got to say, I really started hearing the seeds of this book from the previous book that you wrote on The Power to Bless, and they really do go hand in hand. Now, this book is a standalone message that goes in several different directions, but in this particular chapter of our discussion today, this is so important to understand the positive faith-filled vision as you talk about in The Power to Bless.

It's got its roots right here as well. It's all rooted in being able to see as Jesus sees. That's the key. If there's somebody in your life right now and you would like to release the power of blessing in their life, what that means is that you get God's eyes for them and you start seeing who they can be. Maybe you've got a child who's not living up to his or her potential, but you see that potential.

And the temptation is to just get frustrated and say, well, you know, you're not amounting to much and all. But the way of God is to speak forth the vision of who we can be. And in so doing, we find ourselves when we're blessed, rising up to meet that vision. And so often, Daniel, we are thinking that we know someone or know about them. And that leads us into agreeing with a negative image of their life rather than a positive image. And that's where it takes the form of curse. And it can happen to anybody. As it seems like, I tell a little story in here, this chapter, it's a pretty funny confession. Don't we get grumpier on the road than almost anywhere else?

I don't know why. It's amazing how easily we can be convinced that the guy in the other car is a complete idiot, that we've never met him and we only have one piece of information to go on. And that's how he pulled into our lane, left ourselves with our blurry vision.

We're much more prone to curse. A couple of years ago, I was in the left lane. Here's a little confession story, but I think listeners can identify with maybe similar incidents in their lives. I was in the left lane of highway 74 in Eastern North Carolina. A tractor trailer pulled abruptly out of the right lane in front of me. So the left lane is for passing faster moving cars in the left lane. That was me. He pulls in front of me and I saw no reason for him to pull into the left lane.

So rude, slowing me down. So I just threw my left hand up in the air, just kind of hands up in disgust. It was not an obscene gesture. I don't do that, but it was just an arm flung up. And I know the truck driver saw my hand movement and threw his hand in the air in response.

And I couldn't tell if he was giving me the gesture or not, but I thought he probably did. And as the truck made the move all the way into my lane, I'm becoming irate, you know, with this trucker that I don't know. And then I realized, oh my, there was a slow moving vehicle in front of him in the right lane. He had good reason to move over to the left lane.

And all of a sudden, all that self-righteous indignation, it just melted into humiliation. So as soon as the truck got around that slow moving vehicle in the right-hand lane, he dutifully pulled right back over into the right lane, let me pass. And I realized, oh my goodness, I had not seen it correctly. Well, I didn't even want to look at him as I drove by him. And as I pulled past Daniel, I wish my license plate did not read what it does read. Grace to you.

Grace to you. A mile down the road, I am now unfortunately stopped by a red light. It was unfortunate because the trucker was catching up to me. And now he's in the left lane, the lights turn green, and I'm stuck in the right lane. And as a slow moving vehicle in front of me now, and I'd like to get over to the left-hand lane. But he's in the left-hand lane. And I'm worried if I pull in the left-hand lane, he's going to squash me like a bug. And all of a sudden I hear the trucker horn, honk, honk, that deep truck horn sound.

And I thought, oh, this is the end of it. He's called up. He's going to swerve into me.

Something's going to happen. And then I looked in my rear view and I realized he was lagging back and kindly waving me over into the left lane in front of him. And I thought, what is happening? And then it dawned on me.

We're talking about seeing the truth of the situation. I finally saw it accurately. A mile earlier, when I'd thrown my hand up in the air, the trucker didn't think I was cursing him. He thought I was waving him over. So now he was just returning the favor. We weren't enemies.

We were friends the whole time. And I had unintentionally blessed him and it made the trucker feel generous towards me. So it raises the question, if people change when we bless them by accident, what might happen if we start blessing people on purpose? So if you have a child, spouse, a friend, a coworker, you'd like to help grow and flourish, the best way to help them is to bless them. And I think other than prayer or direct visitation from God, blessing is the most powerful tool for change in the world, but it all starts with being able to see them as Jesus does. The book is titled, Seeing as Jesus Sees, How a New Perspective Can Defeat the Darkness and Awaken Joy.

Hey, the wait is over. The book is out now. It's available wherever you find good books. And as our way of saying thanks for supporting the launch of this new book, when you buy it right now for a very limited time, when you let us know that you've already ordered the book somewhere from your favorite book retailer, we're happy to send you, as our thanks, a bundle of resources, a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course, all free of charge. Again, simply our thanks, but it's over $100 in value and it can certainly help in your study and even in your small group. So get in touch with us, pastorallen.org or seeingasjesussees.org.

Either one of those websites will connect you to us to request that free bundle of resources. As we're sitting with Pastor Alan, the author, in the studio today and talking about blessing, and you've heard him talk about blessing before. This is one chapter out of many in this book where they really go hand in glove and how this perspective can really enable you to see others the way Jesus sees them and speak life into them. Pastor Alan, we have no better model of a blesser than Jesus Christ himself.

He is the blesser par excellence because he sees potential vividly and has wondrous faith for people to flourish. So as we've been doing, and as I invite readers in the book all throughout, and as I'm inviting now listeners to with us now, imagine that you're there. Imagine you're standing next to Jesus, looking at Simon through the Messiah's eyes. What do you see?

Jesus says, you are blessed, Simon Barjona. This wasn't revealed to you by flesh and blood. It's about revelation. It's about seeing, seeing. Allen Wright, our good news message from the writing of the pages, Seeing as Jesus Sees. How a new perspective can defeat the darkness and awaken joy.

Hey, stay with us. Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio, sharing his parting good news inspiration to see as Jesus sees from the new book 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 isn't reserved 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 a hundred dollars 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 now with closing inspiration directly from the pages of his new book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, here's Pastor Alan Wright. We've been talking some about a precious young woman we call Joy, actually her middle name, who was so overtaken by the lies of the devil that she found herself catatonic in a hospital, a beautiful girl that loved Jesus, but had been terrorized in the spirit, no longer eating, no longer looking at people, no longer talking to anyone, and how the first breakthrough began by simply seeing her through the eyes of Jesus and beginning to declare to her the possibilities of really living out a destiny that God had given her and rebuking the darkness and affirming who she was. Well, her story is woven throughout this book, and there's so much to be said. It's such a beautiful story, but you wonder how would we minister to someone like that over time? And the way we would minister is by blessing, by speaking over and over her identity in Christ. Sometimes I remember young Joy saying, it feels like the darkness has taken me.

I've gone too far. And we would say to her, oh, Joy, you've not been taken. Any Christian can be attacked spiritually. Any Christian can be afflicted by the demonic, but no Christian can be taken. You aren't possessed of the devil. You belong to God. But it feels like it has me, she'd say. I still have the dreams. I still have weird sensations.

I still see darkness. Are you sure Jesus is with me? Oh yes, beloved daughter of the living God.

Oh yes, we're sure. Remember Romans 8, who can separate you from the love of Christ? Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor the present nor future, nor any powers will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ. Hell's strategy hasn't changed. The serpent lied to Adam and Eve when they believed the deception and their eyes were shut to truth.

Lies and fear. That's all that hell knows. And while you might not be able to relate to someone in such a stark condition as what befell Joy, we can all know what it's like to feel weakened.

We can all know what it's like to not feel like that we matter. And we need some kind of power beyond ourselves. And I say what we need is we need someone somehow that has the eyes of Jesus that can see us. And like God asking Ezekiel at the Valley of the Dry Bones, can these bones live? And we need to have the eyes of God. So we can say, yes, yes, it looks like a graveyard, but God can do all things and could see an army being formed out of dry bones.

Peter hadn't proven himself before Jesus saw him as a rock. And though Joy had no joy, we kept calling her Joy. And that's the way people are going to be transformed. And we tell Joy's story in the book.

Oh, I hope you'll get it and read all about it. And I hope that you're more so you'll read so that you can understand how you can get Jesus's eyes for other people and learn to bless their lives. Because when you do, a grumpy store clerk can become pleasant. A gruff truck driver can become polite. An unstable disciple can become a rock.

And maybe a hopeless teenager can laugh again. 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 Alan Wright Ministries.