Seeing As Jesus Sees [Part 18]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. These kinds of visions and kinds of insights, they are part of seeing others as Jesus sees them.

And sometimes it results in supernatural ministry. 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 pages of the book, Come to Life with Pastor Alan, the author sitting here in the studio. And the book is Seeing as Jesus Sees, How a New Perspective Can Defeat the Darkness and Awaken Joy. This book is now out, highly anticipated. We are so excited to have this in our hands now and to get it into your hands. And if you get it right now for a limited time, we have a special resource bundle that we are giving you for a limited time, just for letting us know that you have already received your copy of the book. So when you buy the book, then get in contact with us, say, Hey, I got the book. I'd love this resource bundle.

We'll send it your way. Pastor Alan.org is how you contact us. Pastor Alan.org or Seeing as Jesus Sees.org.

Either place will bring you to a contact for requesting this bundle of a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course. Again, it's our thank you for supporting the launch of this new book here just days after it has released. And Pastor Alan, we are jumping into this portion of the book where we're talking about seeing others. We've been on this topic, generally speaking, for a few days now, but this chapter is on seeing miracles in the making. This is all about ministry and about healing and how the Lord can use you and me to do that with others. It makes me think, Daniel, of a dear Pentecostal evangelist friend who ministers in a power that I've seen up close for a lot of years.

And I know to be real. I remember many, many years ago when I first attended one of his revival meetings and my Presbyterian bones shook a little bit, you know, in that content. Spontaneity, manifestation of the Spirit, exuberance is all surprising me. But the way he ministered, it stirred me to real wonder because one of the things he would do is he'd call people forward.

You know, ladies seated in the middle on the right in the red blouse, please come here. I want to pray for you. And he'd go and she'd come up and he'd pray for her and something powerful would happen. And then, you sir, in the blue jacket on the back on the left, please let me pray for you. And the man come forward and he'd pray for him and the man would be powerfully touched by God. Some would give public testimony to physical healing. Some were just refreshed by, you know, powerful, supernatural joy and peace. I mean, all these tangible Pentecostal things were happening. And I realized soon, my friend, when I got to know him, this is many years ago, I got to know him, he didn't just minister that way in church.

It's the way he lived his life. And he'd be like, sometimes we'd be in a restaurant or something and he would just minister to somebody. I remember one time we were in a restaurant, a steak restaurant, and the server kept eavesdropping on our conversation. And finally she said, what do you two do? And my friend piped up, he said, I'm a minister of Jesus Christ. I travel the world, preaching the gospel everywhere I go.

God does signs and wonders. And I mean, her jaw dropped and she's just looking at us. And then she looked at me and I said, well, I'm Presbyterian pastor and I've written a few books.

Anyway, I didn't blame her for looking back at my Pentecostal friend. And she's like, that is so interesting. And he begins a ministry and says, I think God wants you to know, he loves you very much. And he's right here, right now, ready to save you. And next thing you know, he's praying a prayer of salvation with her and it was just amazing. And I just loved it.

I went along for the ride. And one day I just asked my friend, I said, how do you know who you're going to call up front in these meetings? And how did you know that God was going to move on that server's heart of the restaurant?

How do you know? And he said, I can see the anointing on them. And I said, well, at the time I didn't understand much at that time what he meant.

I said, well, how are they smiling or leaning or nodding? He said, well, sometimes it might in the appearance, he said, but it's a spiritual thing. He said, I feel like I can see the glory of God on them. So I know Jesus is about to do something special.

And I remember this was decades ago and I remember going, hmm, why didn't they teach me that in seminary? You know, I'd have a lot more power, but wouldn't we all, if we could see more with God's own eyes, what he intends to do in someone's life. And then ministry becomes joining in with that. And I think that's when you start looking at the miracle stories in the Bible and the New Testament, this is the kind of thing that you're seeing. Chris The book is seeing as Jesus sees how a new perspective can defeat the darkness and awaken joy. The book is out now and thanks for supporting the book. When you do get the book and these days right now, I mean, within the next few days or so, if you will let us know that you've already ordered the book, we will be happy while these supplies last to send you a free resource packet, including a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course is our thank you for supporting the launch of Pastor Alan's new book and this very important message. As we're talking today, and by the way, contact us at pastorallen.org or seeing as jesussees.org.

Just let us know that you've already ordered the book and we will be happy to send this out to you. We're talking right now about seeing others, and it's a chapter on healing, which is kind of taking us through the steps of, first of all, you've got to be able to see the person through the eyes of Jesus as forgiven, as free of the guilt and the shame. And then you move into blessing, which we've talked about as well. And this is all on the path towards ministry.

Yes, it is. Ministry, I think from a New Testament perspective, is much more about participating with Jesus in the ministry that's already on his heart than it is us simply engaging in some kind of ministry that we ask God to bless. Again, it's always appropriate to give an encouraging word to someone. It's always appropriate to help the poor. It's always appropriate to share your faith. But powerful, powerful ministry as we see in the New Testament comes when they seem to be moving by a divine direction that is just coming so automatically. And one of the stories that comes to mind is this beautiful, beautiful story of Peter, where he really announces a healing to a beggar. And as we have been doing all throughout, I want to invite you to be there at this scene.

It's the afternoon hour. Worshipers come to offer their sacrifices at the temple gate called Beautiful. And imagine you're there and you press in to see what's happening. And you recognize, Peter, everything has changed for the walk, then sink disciple, Peter, freshly filled with the promised spirit who rushed upon him at Pentecost. Peter, been teaching from home to home, stories of miracles have been circulating. So imagine you squeeze through the throng and you see another man you recognize, a man lame since birth. Poor soul is a fixture at the gate and all the people recognize him.

And you're close enough to see what happens. The beggar sees Peter and John and asks for money. Surely, Peter and John will walk on by as they have hundreds of times when they've seen this beggar in this same spot.

They'll do the same as others passing by, give them a few coins, maybe avoid eye contact with them. Perhaps Peter's headed to the temple steps to preach. But then Peter does a double take. You watch as the apostles stop and Peter looks straight at the lame man and says to him, look at us. And the beggar gladly expecting to receive alms turns his gaze to Peter and John. But as Peter's eyes lock with his, there is this expectancy in the air as if Peter is seeing something new about the familiar beggar.

He's seeing something no one else does. And you can see here, there are plenty of other disabled and poor beggars at the temple. But in this moment, you wonder why Peter can't take his eyes off this lame man at the temple gate. I do not have silver or gold, Peter declares, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.

Peter's so confident the man will walk that he reaches out his hand, helps the beggar to his feet. And as he does, the lame man clearly feels strength surging into his feet, ankles, and begins walking and jumping and praising God, Acts chapter three. Well, as you watch this heel man leaping and shouting, you remember the strange teaching Jesus shared with the disciples before his death. Whoever believes in me will do the works I've been doing. And you remember the day that some friends let down a paralyzed man through the roof of a house where Jesus was teaching. And you remember how Jesus looked so intently at the immobilized man and how he spoke so confidently, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And then you begin to wonder, what did Peter see? How did he know? Why this lame man?

And why today? It's a story about ministering with Jesus' eyes. It's about how supernatural things can happen when you get to see as Jesus sees. 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 in 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. Seeing as Jesus Sees by Pastor Alan Wright, a book that's out now. And by the way, right now, we are discussing really maybe the mysteries behind healing and true ministry that can happen when you practice that simple breath prayer of, Jesus, how do you see this person?

How do you see the future with what they're dealing with? And by the way, when you get the book right now, we're happy to send you some extra resources to aid you in your study and in your reading of this book. You can use this for your daily personal study guide or even for a small group. It's a daily reading guide, a study guide, and a companion video course teaching by Pastor Alan himself. All of this is a thank you for supporting the launch of this new book right here in these days, right after the release of the book. And it's an important message. And your help right now in purchasing the book is going far to make sure this message is available. So when you order the book, let us know you've done so. We'll send this to you free of charge at pastoralan.org. That's pastoralan.org or seeing as jesussees.org. And Pastor Alan, I know that you are quick to say, well, this is not a formula because many will quickly jump to that conclusion and say, oh, well, if I just do A and B, then here's my guarantee.

In fact, it's the opposite of a formula. This is about really what we're talking about. Spirit led living and the spirit reveals as he chooses. But there's a principle of scripture and a, and a practice that we have with God. And that is that we ask Paul prayed for us that the eyes of our hearts wouldn't be enlightened. And we're told that we have a share in the mind of Christ. And we're told that as many as the children of God be led by the spirit of God. So what I love about this little prayer, Jesus, how do you see this? Is it is an easy gateway to connect up with Christ in any given moment.

And you never know what he's going to show you. I think it might be important here, Daniel, to say that we, we have a thorough section in this chapter in the book, which we don't have time to go into in much detail now about what does it mean to be filled with the Holy spirit and what, what we describe here is something that I think clears up a lot of confusion. They're actually two Greek words fulfilled, and you wouldn't know the difference in your English translation. And it's very, very important to know, and I describe it and explain it thoroughly in the chapter, but in short, there is a word fulfilled that it means the, the ongoing or slow progressing type of infilling where we're saturated.

It has to do with our growth and our, our character. This is where we talk about when they selected the first deacons men who are full of the Holy spirit, right? But there's also a kind of field that has to do with the Holy spirit coming upon in a more temporary way for power and boldness and ministry.

And I wish I had known the difference between these words. It would have cleared up a lot of things for me many years ago. I tell about it in the, in the book, but there is a kind of a filling and this is what happens. I think with Peters, he's at the temple gate and sees this lame person. And suddenly he sees a ministry that Jesus wants to have for this man of healing. And he joins with that and announces the healing in this bold, bold way.

Well, that type of filling everywhere, that Greek word is used. It always refers to a sudden and temporary type of revelation. Like what Peter had here in Acts chapter three. So every Christian has the Holy spirit. And in that sense is full of Holy spirit, but every Christian can also experience sudden and powerful infillings of the Holy spirit coming upon them. So you can think of the spirit within us, which is the presence of Jesus always and forever and the spirit coming upon us sometimes for very specific reasons.

So some examples of this, I give that I've experienced in life. I love working with my assistant, Laura. Some of our listeners have interacted with Laura and know what a precious Saint she is. One of the reasons it's wonderful to be around her as the Lord just shows her pictures in the spirit oftentimes.

And I remember one year Daniel at our annual New Year's blessing service that we have every year. And Laura was one of the ones that was speaking words of blessing and vision over my family. And she said, I see a picture of you as the Incredibles, you know, like the famous Pixar animated film about a superhero family. And she says, God's given each one of you some very special gifts. And she continued blessing us with these encouraging words. Well, we were all speechless and she didn't know why she didn't know that the night before, for some odd reason, we had pulled out the old 2004 movie out of a bin of DVDs and watched it as a family. So we just, just on Saturday night, we watched the Incredibles, having not seen it in years and pulled it out.

And the next morning she says, I think you're like the Incredibles. Well, things like this happen sometimes when you're tuning into Christ. Our friend and really co-founder of this ministry, Jeff Deaton, who's a fertility doctor by day, but really ministers in a wonderful, sweet way and things in the spirit. And I love watching him minister. Sometimes God will just show him things.

And some years ago, he was with a ministry partner praying for a woman who had anxiety and Jeff began to feel this great empathy for her. And he said, I see this picture. I see you as a little girl in a tree. And I think God wants you to know he was with you that day, just as he is with you here today. And later she came and explained to Jeff, she said it was an apple tree. And she said, during our childhood neighborhood games, the apple tree was called the safe zone.

No one could tag you or capture you if you were in that tree. So you can imagine what it meant for her to have someone else see an image of her in that tree. These kinds of visions and kinds of insights, they are part of seeing others as Jesus sees them. And sometimes it results in supernatural ministry. What might happen if you started asking Jesus, how do you see this person?

Is there something you want to show me about this person? It's a pause in the midst of our otherwise busy lives where we're too quick to just either run past someone or just give a routine prayer rather than really pausing and saying, Jesus, is there something you want me to see? And letting your heart, your spirit be connected up with the spirit of God, be connected with Jesus in those moments. Envision that he's with you. And let me allow him to show you and then look again. And again, as you said, Daniel, it's not a formula and God doesn't always show you something supernatural about someone.

But one thing's for sure, the more that we ask him, the more we are going to receive. And we'll get moments like that. Moments like Peter had, which I call a divine double take.

You know, they're odd moments where you might look at someone and then feel like, I need to take a second look because something is standing out and it's a spiritual thing. And it's something that God's doing. I love where you say ministry isn't our attempt to meet everyone's needs and you can't write a note to everyone who might encourage men. You can't pray with every person that you meet, but with Jesus's eyes, you can join the spirit in reaching that one. And I think that gives us something that is not only achievable, but it goes hand in hand with the prayer, the simple prayer. Jesus, how do you see this particular need, this one?

How do you see this person, Jesus? I'll tell you one thing, it makes life in ministry really fun and really nourishing because you never know what God's going to do. Alan 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.

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, 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 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 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's eyes. Chris Back now with closing inspiration directly from the pages of his new book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, here's Pastor Alan Wright. Pastor Alan Wright Every single one of us can grow more sensitive to what God wants to say to others, what he wants to do with others, and we can become people of the divine double take. I don't know, Peter must have walked by that lame beggar 100 times and surely plenty of other impoverished lives embodies a need of healing at the gate called beautiful.

But why did he stop for this one man? Because he saw Jesus preparing to heal him. Peter wasn't a healer, he was a participant, a messenger. And you and I, we, and all our listeners, we can't stop and pray with every person, can't write a note to every person, but you can respond to what you see Jesus doing. So ask Jesus for his eyes for others.

You learn to accept them, you learn to bless them, and you may, you just may, be used of God to help heal them. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.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 PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.