Seeing Others for Who They Can Be [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright Jesus in a most summarizing way springs through the woman because Jesus is very thirsty.

The natural sense of Nasser for covering it starts a conversation station and start so some natural levels and who knows, they might go away and this is one of those conversations level but soon Jesus is speaking about spiritual things woman is speaking about natural pastor welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm being excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series you'll see as presented in an older church in North Carolina.

If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now.

It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today special offer.

Contact us at pastoralan.org that's pastor and.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program but right now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan writing.

People aren't always what they seem sometimes there a lot better when a series called you'll see special promise of Jesus to Nathaniel that you'll see greater things they are saying right now is an invitation to see all of life through Jesus's eyes is an invitation to a new spiritual discipline just paused out today and say Jesus how you see this I see this person, how you see the situation you see this predicament. How you see this opportunity. See this crowd honey see this land how to use it because when you get Jesus's eyes, it changes everything. And today we're going to look at what is perhaps the most unlikely conversations have ever happened in the history of the world, and yet it didn't.

And a revival broke forth the concept. All because Jesus sees so perfectly. I want to invite you to ask for Jesus eyes as you look for the best in people and for how much they can change. We are in the Gospel of John chapter 4 and the story of the Samaritan woman at the well occupies almost the entirety of this chapter is too much to read the whole chapter I want to summarize the story so we can dive into it.

Jesus is going to travel with his disciples from Judea down in the southern areas around Jerusalem back to Galilee.

The the rural areas areas north in Galilee only do so they need to pass through Samaria if they're going to take the most direct route and while on that journey at mid day come to well in a town called sick car and there.

Jesus meets a woman who is doing something unusual. She is fetching water at day in the hot noontime sun women would gather water and bring it back to their families early in the morning or at dusk when the sun's heat headset. She had, probably because she was ashamed didn't want to be around all the wagging tongues and gossipers because she had a very checkered history of five different husbands and was currently cohabiting with a man that was not her husband Jesus and a most surprising way speaks to the woman because Jesus is very thirsty in the natural sense of it and asked her for a drink.

It starts a conversation. Amazing how conversations can start so simply at natural levels and who knows where they might go and spiritual way and this is one of those conversations, it starts in a simple level but soon Jesus is speaking about spiritual things while the woman is speaking about natural things and Jesus is leading this woman into a conversation about living water and about the ministry of Christ and his own Messiah ship. His Lordship and so it is that they have this conversation in which she becomes incredibly intrigued and Jesus then identifies that he knows that she's had five different husbands and she realizes there's something supernatural that's happening.

She goes back to her village and though she's a scandalized woman. She begins telling everybody she knows about this man who quote told me everything about my life and the people come to meet Jesus. And it's a fascinating story because there is a revival in this Samaritan village as Jesus stays for another another two days, but I want to highlight for you portion of this text and starting at verse 31. The disciples had during this conversation they had initially gone been gone to village to try to find some kosher food and they had come back and and saw him there, but this is what we pick up reading at verse 31. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him saying Rabbi E.

But he said to him I have food to eat that you do not know about their again.

Jesus speaking spiritually. The disciples thinking naturally.

So the disciples said to one another. Has anyone brought them something to eat. And Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do not say there are yet four months.

Then comes the harvest, and evidently scholars think was a proverbial saying because generally between seedtime and harvest about four months and normally it is a figure of speech to say there seedtime.

This pharmacy plant and later you're going to read do not normally say that anything said this and this is a focus for today. Look, I tell you, look, I tell you.

Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life so that sewer and reaper may rejoice together. I think what happened was that the village people who had heard the woman's testimony were making their way to see Jesus and he could see them in the distance, and he literally said to the disciples, lift up your eyes look and what the disciples would've seen as a band of despised Samaritans and what Jesus saw was the fruit of the kingdom of God and a coming revival is that you can see something quite differently. It's one of the most famous optical illusions ever. It was German artists in 1915 that drew a postcard and see if you can see Manfred is very famous but if you haven't seen before. He called it.

My wife and my mother-in-law. I would call it that, just the old woman and the young woman you depends on how you look at it. Do you see an old woman or young woman. You see the young ladies face. She's got her head turned over her right shoulder to slightly the old woman's here with a big nose at the this is a bracelet on the young woman at the mouth on the old one and so they both are now put back to the to the drawing. Now can you see them both a moment and see what was interesting is that studies show the younger you are, the more likely you are to see the young woman is interesting study show that older you are more likely see the old woman for me and my just in what mood I man I don't know, of course, if I had shown you a picture of a young woman or a young woman that looked like that or even a young woman in Osama with her head turned slightly before you looked at the picture you would've probably seen in other words what you're predisposed to see often determines what you say where are very good. Malcolm Gladwell says in his recent bestseller at talking to strangers is right about that talent right will have more teaching moment from today's important series want to give someone a present this Christmas that they'll never forget.

Let us help you give a gift, that money can't buy this Christmas. Give someone your blessing a positive biblically-based faith filled vision for their life in the beginning God blessed Adam and Eve and then told them to be fruitful and multiply, because in God's design blessing isn't the reward for productivity. It's the fuel for it.

Now more than ever, someone you love needs your blessing and we are here to help you craft this month. Special offer from Alan Wright is a beautiful booklet that will teach you how to craft an full blessing for easy step-by-step instructions are biblically based, and even include a worksheet that helps you write your blessing. So this Christmas. Give someone you love a present, not found in stores, a gift from your own heart that will encourage and empower write down the blessing and put it in the package under the tree or put it in your Christmas card will never forget it when you make your gift. Alan Wake ministries this month will send you this booklet is our thinking so you can discover the power to bless call us at 877-544-4860 or visit pastor and.org these teaching now can you once again is Alan Wright well I need to always preface it, if ever, if ever, I'm going to use the words I have a confession to make a me to tell you is not bad to worry. I have a confession to make.

I had a brush with the law this week. I did, I was I was pulling out a restaurant parking lot onto the busy Louisville Clemmons Road and taking a left there is precarious you have to step on it. I had to get the old Avalon juices going and lurch out into the traffic but you have to do that they are you have to or else the parish I zipped out in traffic and I hadn't been going 500 feet and blue lights came on behind me and I thought I have any human hadn't had a chance to be speeding yet. I mean that the Avalon's got some zip but not that much.

You know what have I done I pulled over into the gas station police officer behind me.

I waited for him.

He came to the window and he said the reason I've told you is I was behind you there and realize that your registration sticker is out of date. I was completely shocked that I had not.

I still have no I later blame my wife for losing the mail but I didn't go out but the I have no idea and I just looked and he said you didn't even know they just said no sir, I did not set I got grown kids with cars and a wife are layer cars everywhere and I'm always getting some by registration sticker it done and I'm always on or about about Isaiah and not on no idea that and I'm sorry officer and he said well you said I know I said I got grown kids. Mao is hard to keep up with all of this and I said the marriage license. I'll be back went back to his squad car. He was gone for a long time that he's back there watching a ballgame or something just just sweat by. I was taking some consolation in the fact that if he was looking up my registration. The license plate that he was looking at reads Grace to you and I was praying for some he came back nice displays officer world.

He said this just a warning for you tonight but you need to get car inspected and get it registration up to date and I said absolutely. I said thank you for that kindness and God blessings that will bless you to and off he went and know it was just he did miss service, honestly. Meal service because in the get that done. I don't know who lost the mail about what happened on that and so how different from the story that Gladwell tells in his best-selling talking to strangers at the opening chapter of a 28 year old African-American Sandra Bland who moved from Chicago to Texas to try to get a fresh start in her life. She took a job at Prairie view College teaching and she'd only been there for a day. She was in the left-hand lane on the highway and a Texas trooper rushed up on her rear and so she moved over to the right to get out of his way when she did. The trooper moved over behind her turned on the lights and pulled her and he informed her that he had pulled her for failing to signal at a lane change turns out that he was for some reason given is around this car and he pulled up on the car and then when she didn't signal. Technically, that was an infraction of the traffic laws and so he was speaking to her and was just poised to see if there's anything else going on. She was nervous and she was agitated and he said I see you have Illinois plates what you doing in Texas. I just moved here telling been here she's only a day, and he continued at Jake. She was shuffling her feet around. She had wrappings from fast food on the floor and he didn't. She didn't look right to him. He said you seem. You seem nervous you say are you okay and she said that no I'm not she, Sam, reds really bother me pull me for I would try to get you when you pulled from me to give me a ticket for not signaling for a lane change in cyst said few other words, instead just give me a ticket and and the conversation began to escalate and he said, would you not put out that cigarette she was smoking and she said I'm in my car and you don't have a right to tell me to do that which is true and then he began to get elevated in his emotions and he said ma'am a map as you gather car and she said why I'm not under arrest.

Although there was not signal for lane change and she got more agitated and then the conversation got worse and worse until he threatened to use the stun gun on her and physically remove her. She began jostling about back at him. He called another officer, and pretty soon his hand Handcuffed her and taken her to to to jail on a felony charge of assault. What he didn't know was that Sandra had had rough spell over the last couple years use open mic fresh start. She had been depressed. She'd had a couple of suicide attempts. You lost a child and she had scars on one of her arms from cutting herself. He didn't know that she been under psychiatric treatment.

He didn't know any of that history. He didn't know any of that. And so the conversation went terribly wrong and three days after she was in the county jails. She contrived a way to take her own life. I just want to highlight that to say I had a worse infraction.

I actually had inspection it was over that something needs to be a no and rightfully deserve the ticket but the very wise kind officer that I interacted with. Well first place where about the same age had same color scan and it was easy to understand each other. I think he's Bob from North Carolina sounded like he was. I have license plates is grace to you and the conversation went very well, but that Texas trooper with 28-year-old African-American woman who was battling depression and was agitated and go well at all. The story today of Jesus and the Samaritan woman I say is one of most unlikely conversations that would ever happen, but is also on the most unlikely conversations to ever go positive and part of the reason for that is that the Samaritans and the Jewish people were enemies of one another. What happened in the and in the eighth century before Christ, the Assyrians invaded that northern part up in Samaria, and the areas and a lot of the people make a long story short, a lot of the people that were displaced ended up interacting with Gentiles and intermarrying people from other nations and other religions. This was anathema to the Jewish people who were committed to moral and ethnic purity and not intermarrying. It was seen by the Jewish people as an act of impurity and compromise in the Jewish people who had been later exiled to Babylon and remain true to Mosaic faith.

You can imagine were especially upset. Those who had softened and wound up intermarrying is as usually happens as hostilities grew between the Jews and the Samaritans had increased both directions. The Samaritans, for example, decided to erect their own temple at Mount Gary Azeem and say this is where you should worship rather than the temple in Jerusalem. Anger was so great that in the second century BC.

Some Jewish radicals destroyed the Samaritan temple. The Samaritans and Jews not only didn't get along, but the Jewish people considered them ceremonially unclean. And if you interacted or contacted them then you were deemed ceremonially unclean, which had ramifications for your rights at the temple. For this reason, sometimes people would just take a different route. If you were to look at the route you see that Jerusalem and the South and go to Galilee. It's just straight north but oftentimes according to historians, Jews would travel around on the eastern side of the Jordan, just avoid even going through Samaria even though it was longer. But Jesus had decided they would go through Samaria, which meant they would interact with the Samaritan so it was extremely unlikely for a Jew and Samaritan to be talking to each other at all.

Here's a second think she was a woman and in the ancient Middle East man I Jewish man would never speak to his want to to a woman in public. In fact, the strictest of the Jews would not even speak to their wives in public I don't advise that I'm to say this is the way that it was Helen right.

Today's good news message. It's titled seeing others for who they can be will have the conclusion to this teaching that our next broadcast in the series you'll see pastor Alan is back with us in the studio today, sharing a parting good news thought in just a moment want to give someone a present this Christmas that they'll never forget. Let us help you give a gift, that money can't buy this Christmas. Give someone your blessing positive biblically-based faith filled vision for their life in the beginning God blessed Adam and Eve and then told them to be fruitful and multiply, because in God's design blessing isn't the reward for productivity. It's the fuel for it. Now more than ever, someone you love needs your blessing and we're here to help you craft this month. Special offer from Alan Wright is a beautiful booklet that will teach you how to craft an blessing for easy step-by-step instructions are biblically based, and even include a worksheet that helps you write your blessing. So this Christmas. Give someone you love a present, not found in stores, a gift from your own heart that will encourage and empower write down the blessing and put it in the package under the tree or put it in your Christmas card will never forget it when you make your gift Alan Wright Ministries this month will send you this booklet is our thinking so you can discover the power to bless call us at 877-544-4860 or visit pastor and.org. I found this to you with past rally in the and I was just I just found an old tape of my kindergarten graduation and my kindergarten teacher put me on the spot is the best site reader of the class and what I read I read a passage about the Samaritan woman in Jesus, the Jew and how the court is story exhibits a biblical account that we have heard a lot throughout our lifetime. But this is taking away here, bringing the something that we can apply to our lives in this series, you'll see.

Well I'm glad that she prophesied that over your life, because here you are still reading better than anybody else out loud. Well, there's something to be said for that Daniel that the way that CU ends up impacting how you see your own life and how you see your own life determines how you live your life is what works and so Jesus has this conversation with Samaritan woman and how he sees her, is so different than what any Jewish man of his day could've possibly been been able to relate to and it ends up working not only a miracle in a woman's life, but brings about a revival in the town so we have so much to learn, especially in today's culture of racial unrest about talking to strangers and about listening and understanding, so the key here is to start asking Jesus how do you see this person. How do you see the situation instead of trying to figure out always. What was the right thing.

The politically correct thing. What's the Jesus had easy and he's amazing and is amazing and that he will share with you his own vision of a person in you begin to see their potential. When you begin to see them in a different light. If you see people the way Jesus all of the prejudice comes on so is a remarkable story and it invites us back to the simple prayer that we are inviting listeners to pray. Jesus, today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries