Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. If you then are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him. He gives good things. He gives good things. He gives good things.
Increase the good. 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 today in this series, Increase, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now available to you for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org, or call 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. I was just thinking about having an opportunity to see a young woman that I love very much, who at age 13 went through a very traumatic emotional time in her life. And I got to be part of the prayer squad that would walk by her for years until she was healthy.
She's healthy and married and beautiful. And you know, you get people like this. I'm going to do a message later on this, spiritual mothers and fathers.
And you have assignments. We all need a spiritual parent, at least one, and we all need to be a spiritual parent. And there's nothing quite like it when you have a spiritual son or daughter.
But she was like a spiritual daughter, and that's it. But I hadn't seen her in a while, and I was out of town at a worship gathering, and I thought it was where she lived, and I thought she might be here. I texted her, like, are you here? She said, I'm here. I was like, well, I'm sitting over here, you know, and we're just worshiping the Lord. I'm so full anyway, just worshiping the Lord.
I'm just trying to give you a little picture to help you think about the heart of God. But like when I saw her, you know, and I just stepped out of the row to go, and I just wanted to just, I just wanted to just hold her. I just wanted to just bless her, just hardly let go of her, you know. And I went to have lunch last week with daughter-in-law and grandbaby Mia.
I hadn't seen her in, might have been two whole weeks that I hadn't seen her. It was bad. It was bad. It was rough.
It was very rough. So we were meeting halfway between here and Charlotte for lunch, and it was cold, it was chilly, and the little girl, she's all bundled up in her little coat, and she can walk now. And she starts walking towards us, smiling, and I just want to grab her and like, you know, body block my wife so you don't get to touch her first and just grab her and just kiss her and kiss her face until you feel like you're about to kiss her cheeks off her face, you know, and you just, what is that? That's just, and then just, are you beautiful? You are so special, so wonderful, what do you want to do?
When you love, what do you want to do? You just want to bless. Dallas Willard, who writes a lot about spiritual, wrote a lot about spiritual distance, said the blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. It isn't just words, it's actual putting forth of your will for the good of another person.
That's what we're trying to talk about here. It's like, if you want to bless someone, you want them to increase in everything good. I feel that way about you. I want you to increase in everything good. I've felt that from the day that I started here. I've never felt anything but that. And when you feel that kind of desire for someone else to have good increase in their life, you may not know exactly how to articulate it, you may not know exactly what to do about it, but you know there's something that is going forth from you towards them.
And sometimes it's almost just by osmosis. Sometimes it's just hard to even describe what's going forth, but it is something that's generated from the inside of you, and it's going towards that person. I want you to understand the heart of God. I want you to understand the heart of God is like that, but infinitely so.
Infinitely so. This is why the psalmist just keeps singing about the Lord will bless us, the Lord will bless us, the Lord remembers us, the Lord will bless us. Oh, that's because who He is. One of the most beautiful pictures of this in the Bible is a story that I often reference that has to do with King David who was described as a man after God's own heart. David had some big sin in his life, like every Bible hero, but there was something about David that the Scriptures wants to record, that there was something about his heart that was very kindred to God's own heart.
And I think it's pictured in this scene. David was told he was going to be king, but then he went through a long season of persecution. King Saul who was on the throne was so bitterly envious and honestly was just demonically set on killing David. And so David had to run for his life and hide in the caves of Adullam and hang out with a ragtag group of men and just survive for a long period of time until finally he takes the throne. And one of the ways that he was able to survive was a very unlikely alliance, friendship with King Saul, his son, Jonathan. Very unlikely that the son of the reigning king who hated David would actually become best friends with David. And it's just a beautiful story. And the Bible said of David and Jonathan that they loved one another as their own souls.
That was the deepest sort of friendship you could have. And they made a covenant together and Jonathan pledged that he would help David escape his father's rage. And so he was sort of a spy and would let David know what was going on. And in return, Jonathan asked, would you show chesed, loving kindness, steadfast love, covenantal love to my descendants, to my family in my absence if I'm no longer here? Because Jonathan knew that his life was fragile. And I mean, if you're the king's son and you're betraying your own father to befriend the one who's the heir apparent to the throne and all of that, Jonathan knew his life was on fragile terms. And so they made this covenant and Jonathan is killed. David was greatly sorrowful about that. But David was an amazing leader and he brought peace to the land.
He expanded the borders of Israel greatly, secured their borders and defeated their most pesky enemies. And people loved David, just loved him. And he's on his throne and all is well and the land is prospering. And one morning he wakes up and this is what he says in 2 Samuel 9, verse 1. David said, is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? There's a picture here of a king who can be so happy in and of himself and so satisfied and so grateful for all the blessings that he has in his life and so secure in and of himself that what he wakes up in the morning thinking about is I'd like to be a blessing to somebody today.
And I remember this covenant that I made with Jonathan, my dearest friend that I ever had, that I'd take care of his family, that I'd show love, I'd show extravagant grace to his family. And he said, I'm just wondering this morning, he says to his servants, is there anyone left that we could scrape around and find somebody for me to bless? There is a way in which your heart can be so full of gratitude and so full of blessing that your existence becomes defined by the search, the seeking out of someone to bless. It's honestly the abundant life. This is the picture of the spiritual abundant life would be to wake up in the morning and go, oh boy, who can I bless today? It's the heart of God.
He's the king who just loves to bless. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. You're made for more than your span of years on this earth. What might happen if you start taking the long view of your impact? We need to know what matters most to us so we can pass down our values on purpose. In Pastor Alan Wright's brand new six-week video series called Made for More, you'll discover the power of your lasting legacy as he leads you through a simple process to clarify your family core values and God-given purpose in the world. Pastor Alan will also help you dream to imagine your 100-year impact.
The video series is accompanied by a practical study guide with templates and worksheets. You'll also receive the full-length preaching series Increase that exposes the biblical principle of generational blessing. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your Made for More audio video bundle as our thank you for your partnership. Contact us today and discover the power of your lasting legacy. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.
Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. And Dallas Willers put forth your will for the good of another person. That's what blessing, that's what David wants to do. They tell him there's somebody, he's Jonathan's son.
He's physically disabled. He's been hiding. He's been treating himself as if he's an exile because you know, it was an ancient custom really that when a new king came to power, he would often search out the living descendants of the previous king and exile them or even execute them.
So you would eliminate any potential threat to the throne. So Jonathan's son Mephibosheth is hiding. But they knew where he was, and King David sent, verse 5, and brought him from the house of Machir, the son of Amiel at Lo Debar, which by the way means no pasture. And Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face. He was afraid, and he paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold, I am your servant.
He thought David was calling him because he needed another servant, or David was going to punish him because he needed another servant to punish him, or David needed to get something from him. But David said to him, Do not fear. I'm talking about the heart of a king. I'm talking about the heart of God.
Do not fear, for I'll show you chesed, kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan, and I'll restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always. David didn't seek to bless Mephibosheth because Mephibosheth deserved it. The blessing was self-generating within David, within the own king's heart, fueled by a covenant that David had made with Jonathan. And I think the Lord gave us this to give us a picture of his own heart. God doesn't love us because we are lovely or lovable. He loves us because God, the little epistle of John said, is love.
God is love. And God the Father made a covenant with His Son, and the covenant was like this. The Son agreed, I will be obedient. I will never give in to temptation, and I will fulfill all righteousness, and I'll stay obedient even unto death on a cross. And the Father says, If you will keep all of the law and fulfill the law on behalf of the people who couldn't, then here's what I will do.
I will look upon your death as if it were theirs, and I will look upon it as if you had paid their debt, so that anyone who comes to trust in your name would be in you. And whoever's in you, I will release ever-increasing blessing upon their lives. And the Son kept the covenant that we couldn't keep. And Paul understood it, so he finally just erupted in praise at the beginning of Ephesians and said, Let me just say it. He's blessed, he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing that's in Christ, and it's never going to stop. For anyone who's in Christ, this is your inheritance, every spiritual blessing that increases and increases and increases in your life. This is the heart of God. He's a covenant keeping God, and He made a covenant with His Son. And so at every dawn, you could hear the voice of God rising up throughout the ages, saying, Is there anyone I could bless today? And every time that two or three are gathered in His name, the Word says that He's present. So what happens when there are hundreds and twos and threes, they gather in His name, the Lord's in their midst saying, Who can I bless today for the sake of the covenant that I made with My Son? He's a blessing God, and He just loves to bless. That's who He is. You can't stop it.
You can't change it. It's the nature of God. And it means, therefore, beloved, that because it is His nature to bless, that He has you on His mind.
This is what verse 12 means. The Lord has remembered us. He'll bless us. He'll bless the house of Israel, bless the house of Aaron.
Why? Because He remembers. If there's anybody in here named Zachary, you've got a good name, Zachary, short for Zachariah. It's a great name because it comes from the Hebrew word Zakhar, the Hebrew for remember.
Zakhar Yah, Yahweh, Zakhar Yah. The Lord remembers you. He remembers His covenant. He remembers His promises.
Because as surely as God is love, He is also truth, and He cannot lie, and He does not lie. He has perfect integrity. He always does what He says He's going to do. So He remembers what He said He was going to do.
And He will never come to the end of the journey with you and not bring about the blessing that He's assured for you. Whereas we mess up and we just sometimes forget. When our kids, well, we still sort of do it.
We still do it sometimes. At Christmas, sometimes we've got a big present that we're giving, and we don't just wrap it up and put it under the tree. We'll wrap up a little box and put a clue in there, send them on a treasure hunt. The first clue might be a little riddle. You've got to solve some riddle. Sometimes the kids will do these. When Bennett does them, they're too hard. He gets an engineering mind or something.
He gets on, you can't figure them out. We're finally doing it. Where is it? It's at the hearth in the living room.
Go in there. Next clue. But anyway, you get this clue. You figure out your little riddle. You go get where the next place in the house. Oh, it's behind the toothbrush in the bathroom. You go get that one.
Oh, it's in the garage under the windshield wiper under the car. And by the time you get to the fifth place, you open up the closet door and there's your big present. And it's a way of like, this is your big present and it's fun. And so we all follow each other around the house and do this present. As Anne and I get older sometime now, we're just like, y'all go do it.
We're just going to sit right. But Abby was little and her big present that year, she'd been asking for it. She loved riding horses and there's a really expensive pair of leather riding boots that she wanted. And that was going to be a big present for her that year. So we did a big treasure hunt for that. And the clues and riddles and everything and watching her expectancy about. And it was the last present of Christmas for her.
So after that, there's no more presents to open. But this is a big one. And so we did the first clue. She figured out she went to the second place. We're following her around.
I'm running around with them. Go to the next. And I'm like, this is exciting.
It goes to the next third place. Opens up riddles, figures it out. This whole big process. And finally she gets to the fifth clue and goes and opens up this closet door that was in that great room, wasn't it? Open up that closet door. And there was no clue. And there was no present. And all of a sudden, y'all, I realize I forgot to put the present there.
But it gets worse. Not only had I forgotten to put the present there, we'd already wrapped it up. And she had unwrapped it earlier during Christmas.
She'd already unwrapped those leather riding boots. There was no present left. We didn't have anything else to give her.
We just let her on a wild goose chase to nothing. And she said, well, what's supposed to be here? We said, well, baby girl, sorry, but you already opened that up. And she said, well, we're supposed to be here.
Sorry, but you already opened that up. You are not going to come to the end of this long journey with God and open up the door and find out He forgot to give you the blessing He promised He was going to give you. He remembers us. He remembers us.
You know what? I love the way that the New King James Version says, verse 12, the Lord has been mindful of us. He's mindful. You're on His mind. Is there anybody I could bless? Oh, He's on my mind. That's what He does.
He's thinking of you, mindful of you, remembering you. And you're made for increase of all that is good. Remember at Genesis, it's this refrain. The Lord said, let there be light.
And then there was light and there was night and day. He made the first day and so it was good. And He made a vegetation.
It was good. And He made human beings in His own image. And He said it was very good. And He said, now multiply that good, fill the earth, right? So whatever's good, more of it. And that's the nature of God.
So you can count on this. He's for the increase of that which is good. And we mustn't be confused when something doesn't seem like it's increasing at the moment, because what He is committed to is for your good. And honestly, for the prideful, the increase of status might not be good.
It might not be good at all. Alan Wright. Today's good news message is titled Made for Increase. It's in our series, Increase. And Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio as he's sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. You're made for more than your span of years on this earth. What might happen if you start taking the long view of your impact? We need to know what matters most to us so we can pass down our values on purpose. In Pastor Alan Wright's brand new six-week video series called Made for More, you'll discover the power of your lasting legacy as he leads you through a simple process to clarify your family core values and God-given purpose in the world. Pastor Alan will also help you dream to imagine your 100-year impact.
The video series is accompanied by a practical study guide with templates and worksheets. You'll also receive the full length preaching series Increase that exposes the biblical principle of generational blessing. Make your gift to the ministry today and get your Made for More audio video bundle as our thank you for your partnership. Contact us today and discover the power of your lasting legacy. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here now in the studio with Pastor Alan sharing his parting good news thought for the day and Made for Increase. You know, I've heard the oft-quoted phrase Made for More, and I think you have a way of putting me on the edge of my seat here. You've changed one word, Made for Increase, and now I'm leaning in and I'm listening because that specific word there, I think, is changing a lot of the mindset. We go back to the very beginning of the blessing that God gave to humanity right from the beginning. God blessed Adam and Eve, and then he said his first words to them to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth.
And you could just translate the world, just increase. Now he is talking, of course, about the biological reproduction of humanity, but he's talking about so much more. And so everything good that God puts in you, he wants to see it grow. He wants to see it increase. And his plan for that increase is like a seed, and it's like something that looks small now.
But, I mean, the smallest acorn that can grow into a huge oak tree then produces more acorns, and they produce more and more oak trees. And this is his plan. And so think of your life this way, and think of the kinds of things in you that he wants to increase, and know that he is blessing that in you today. 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.
