The Power to Bless [Part 4]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan writings lessen the problem in this world is not too much encouragement going on… And encouragement of the simplest level, is to put courage into someone I encouragement is not to puff up is to actually instill the courage to live the life that God called someone that's Pastor Alan Wright welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole Britt excited to be sitting with Pastor Alan again today. It is released week and we are celebrating the release of this brand-new book the power blessed by pastor Alan Wright and today Pastor Alan want to talk about blessing instead of cursing as it relates to our own lives an incredibly important topic and one that is often misunderstood power to bless you know we all get different mental narratives going in our minds don't way. And one of the things that often happen, sadly, is that when we experience wounds in life those memories that we have words were spoken to us that were cursed not blessing when difficult things happen.

We have troubles in our life. They create wounds and some of our listeners know what it is satellite to be through the deepest traumas of life and suffer abuse at the hands of others when it happened. So we are we are likely to not know what to make of that. And so with it. We form mental narratives about our lives that are often untrue to what happens often is that we begin to speak to ourselves.

We got our self talk that is not accurate. It's not the true story and I think a lot of our listeners understand what that's like you have a mental tape recording going in your mind that is constantly condemning yourself. I remember one time when Bennett was little and he was so how old it was good and the men still in elementary school anyway and maybe fourth grade and we we had been. I think on the way to play golf as so many of our good moments were suddenly blurted out. He said that he said can you be addicted to two to gambling. I thought what what is what has he asked me about addiction already. What is this this is terrible as it well yeah you you can be addicted maybe to gambling what wise at bring you bring that up. He said that he saw on ESPN. Something about a professional golfer who blown $2 million gambling. He said how how can you be addicted to something like like gambling and he said I don't understand is said that this man is famous. He's rich, he gets to play on the best golf courses in all the world and and and and why would you be blowing his money on gambling on center call. How I explain this to Daniel. I didn't want to be having this conversation for many years as it will and I finally just decided to explain. In the simplest terms, and there has been as strange as it sounds.

At pro golfer, though he gets his famous he gets to play on great golf courses. He seems like is a perfect life. I don't think he feels good about himself.

I've read some things about us is home life growing up I said in the end, I set out I I I think deep down he doesn't feel good about himself was quiet for a moment and then with a long happy drawl. Bennett said well I love myself.

I didn't know whether laugh or cry for joy because this it will Bennett that's good as long as you love yourself, you probably never be addicted to anything. One time Daniel many years ago reading the I guess my favorite story in the Bible is Jesus's story of the two sons we call the prodigal son story, but it's really the father had two sons, and they were quite different had equal and opposite errors in their life with the younger and went to a faraway land and squandered all of his inheritance amount living and I was a seven to thought, you know, see, there's the problem you know it's going office thought about nothing but himself, selfishness, and all he cares about only thing he loves his himself in an end and not audibly, but I just finally heard that in in my spirit I heard the Lord saying loved himself and I started thinking about it.

Would you if you think of someone you love someone you really really love would you send him to the pigs and the prostitute would you send them off to waste their lives and bring scandal themselves in shame on the home would you send them off to that sort of destruction. Of course not, you wouldn't do that to somebody you love. You only do that to somebody that you despised the things that we love. We take care of you got a car and you love that car you knuckle go out and take your keys and scratch up the paint job. Are you when you love something you take care of it and I began to realize that we got a big problem and self-hatred and is a part of learning to bless us to learn to bless your own life to accept yourself in Christ, and love yourself as you love others and therefore to get God's revelation about your identity and speak that to yourself rather than the process of speaking. Cursed to yourself. That is a wrong narrative and that's why is really important to learn this the power to bless released this week by pastor Alan and it's available everywhere.

That means your favorite bookstore and go into stores anywhere, and in be able to find that or online through online retailers reading your the reader get the power to bless and Pastor Alleman in one of the chapters you wrote the inability to accept and love ourselves may be the single greatest obstacle to living the blessed life God intends for us to you're saying through this book really that we can learn to love ourselves, to bless ourselves and that's that's a good thing is such an obstacle.

Because think of this. If the devil's mission right is to be the accuser and liar who is painting a negative forecast of curse over our lives that keeps us bound up with false expectations of doom and keeps us in anxiety and really bondage with no hope towards the future. If that's the mission of hell to proclaim that sort of message.

Wouldn't it be in the spiritual battle. The greatest thing the world from the enemy's perspective to get us to regularly be cursing our own lives. I mean even to displease speaking words ourselves about I stink I can't do this. I can't do that. Nothing ever works out for me. I'm such I'm so stupid just just to speak words that if you think about what I'm saying listen. Beloved is it why would we ever want to be agreeing with hell's message about our lives learning to love yourself, does not lead you into selfishness. Learning to love yourself is going to liberate you into receiving the blessing of God and so I think I know this is why it is so so important, it might be the greatest obstacle in our lives that we gotta get past is the inability to truly authentically accept ourselves in Christ. The person, or by least quick to forgive ourselves for somewhere most slow to bless ourselves and I realize this in my own life many years ago. It was as I had a hard time even receiving a good complement and what are you saying to yourself, and how are you speaking to yourself and take an inventory of that and then learning God's way is an important chapter in the book on this whole subject. Learning to love and bless your own life and that he mentioned that a zero way to receive a blessing, especially from someone else is you say amen you say thank you you know I'm it's almost like she's a good complement and I've learned to say and I and I think some of our people learned that to say this thing is I will thank you.

I receive that I think and say the word, I received that it's interesting you know when the pastor you most places will hold his hands over then as I do and speak a blessing and I often wonder speak the traditional words of what's known as the blessing of air on the Aaronic blessing. The high priestly bless the Lord bless you and keep you be kind and gracious to you, make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. And I've tried to educate people that this is not a prayer. This is a blessing.

And so that's eyes open and but I think the best posture I liked even symbolically take your hands in and lift them up, hold them up like your son was going to hand you something it out like in the motion of the sometimes good in your body just to receive it. But I think that I've tried to learn over the years listen. There is so much curse in this world if somebody blesses your life. Whatever you do don't reject it. Open up your heart to go. Here's a blessing and I take that not receive it. What you're saying is I'll let that become part of me. I take it in when someone's blessing your life. Listen deeply.

Receive it deeply, you know how to 222 worry well that's a form of meditation. You can do the opposite you take blessing and meditate on those good works and let them stir over and over in your heart and become meditation are all as part of just receiving Lessing unto yourself ending on July keep reiterating that is not a selfish thing to do. Yet we were only there bless others to the extent that we know ourselves blessed.

The book is the power to blessing and I think part of the tubeless verb action. There is also doing it receded so as were talking about today is a brand-new book written by pastor Alan.

As we said many times is a work the Lord is doing in so if you certainly get your hands on it. But also I want you read the book.

If you give an honest review that's going to help us spread that message on foreign why you can get the book wherever good books are sold in stores online. Even through your e-reader and of course you can find out more@pastoralan.org but but places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble should have this and yes talk about that so many people will will come in they'll say will wear this humility falls in line. I guess I'm concerned about it about it coming across as selfish or even narcissistic to say that I'm going to will myself up to receive such high, I think people are worried about that and is part of the reason.

Maybe the biggest reason that parents and teachers and coaches and authorities and preachers even often withhold the blessing as were Fred Ono's gonna go there head. Yeah, I think we worry about given so my complements on is all know they're going get big headed about, I don't want them to become prideful will is to start with this and say lessen the problem in this world is not that there's too much encouragement going on and encouragement of the simplest level, is to put courage into someone I encouragement is not to puff up is to actually instill the courage to live the life that God's call to Melissa will blessing it is encouragement that is joined together with spiritual faith and spoken in accord with God's word with a positive identity, and future that is connected with it and when that happens, it does not lead someone into the kind of selfishness and narcissism. This is all I need to be all focused on myself and I look great I am instead what it does is it helps remove the insecurity of their lives to keep them full of self absorption. So in other words, if I like the way Tim Keller has spoken of this. You only think about a part of your body.

If it's hurting right like I'm not thinking about my big toe right now because my big toes just fine but if I walked in and into my shoes off and stub my toe on the corner of the door. I bethink it a whole lot about my big toe.

In other words, if something is bruised if something is not healthy. It makes us think about it all the time otherwise would.

It's not you, not supposed to be thinking about you not supposed to walk around thinking about your big toe all the time.

Well, in the same way, the ego, the soul would not designed going on thinking about ourselves all the time were supposed to be free enough to be self forgetful freedom is where we don't have to be thinking about ourselves all the time when someone is having to talk about themselves, puff themselves up, speak privately and come across a self absorbed and in the worst case, narcissistic. It's it it's it is proof that the ego is bruised that the soul is wounded, that there's a deficiency there because the soul that is satisfied and is blessed is a need to think about itself. So that's the paradox of this is the more that you know yourself. Bless the less you have to think about yourself and that's the way it works in this way grace works so narcissism in the most extreme form is where person doesn't love himself, but is become absorbed with himself, Narcissus of the mythology fell in love with his own image, so it's about the image it's about.

It's about. Therefore, life's about me, about me, about me somewhat blessing us with blessing roots and grounds us in the love of God blessing makes a secure, this is interesting from the earliest times. We learn that children through the bonding experience of the affection unconditional love of a parent.

That's where trust is born without that sort of deep attaching love infant doesn't learn to trust and if you don't learn to trust, then you can't have confidence and security in this world so it's a child that's been denied blessing that becomes clingy and insecure.

The one who's been given. Blessing becomes an explorer adventure makes a difference in and life. So there's a huge difference between self-love which is godly and self absorption, which is the preoccupation of hell themes found in the book the power to blessed by pastor at the right and were sitting with Esther Allen today taking some time away from the pulpit teaching to really cannot digest parts of this book and encourage you also to get the book for yourself and and read it from cover to cover in not only find yourself less fuel you will receive a blessing quite literally in the pages of the book but then also you will learn how to bless others and that and develop those relationships and that way you can get the book as available this week lunch week everywhere in stores online through your e-reader and your tablets and that's a pastor@an.org also find out some more information about it as well, pastor, and this phrase is often used. We talked a lot about how people throw around the word blessing, but maybe not fully impacting it, but a lot of times I think will hear the word in this context will with your blessing. I will do this or or if you give me your blessing in and usually move that comes to translate the permission will you do I have permission with your blessing.

I'll do this with your permission with your authority. I'll do this is actually some somewhat of a good word there permission to be all you can be. Is there it it's it's not the entirety of the of the thing blessing that is part out of it right. As part of it. If someone us as well. Would you give me blessing your blessing to know Mary Mary her daughter right right well. You want that blessing because what is saying isn't for you and I want to go well for you is and it's something they know that we every culture into ancient times and even today to something inside us that thinks it really does matter whether your for me or against me that there's something that we know that is mystically important and valuable about that invisible grace of knowing that your for my well-being in this. I think that people that don't have any basis of faith. Nonetheless, when you love someone you just want to say something to them. So you say good luck while what is that mean, good luck, it just means what you say and I hope it goes well with you, but there's something deep. I think in our souls. When you love somebody you wanted to go well for them. I try to explain blessing this way. Think of someone that you love you really, really love and you want so much for it to go well for them in all my children are grown now my daughter just graduating from college. Bennett, our sons married and doing well but you never stop as a parent just wanting the very best for your child. If you ever had a moment if your parent if you ever had a moment weaves just want something good for your child and you wish you could just somehow take it and just give it to them.

If you ever known someone that was looking at their own life in a way that was destructive.

Oh you just wish you could get the parents I've counseled with whose daughters were struggling with eating disorders because of a poor image of themselves and yet and yet and yet they're beautiful with their whole future and from when the parent is yearning, wishing I was. Somehow I could just take and just by osmosis, impart to you how I see you who you really are. So you could really see that it is just to bless someone is to want the best for them. But, then, is to take and put into words with in accord with the Scripture and spoken in faith under the leading of the Holy Spirit and actual impartation will value up a promise a a a release of of life that comes in. The Bible says that that that life and death is in the tongue and this is a high gain of this is this is why it's so important is that this is God's tool to us. This is what we can do to help change someone's life and so it's the actual will for someone's life to be good and I think the world don't have anything more to say.

Several good luck to you, but you know, we realize that if someone would just give us their well wishes that mean something to us and I don't think people realize how much in our everyday language it's in there even when we say goodbye. I don't think people realize that's actually short from the older English that was God be with you and if you say it fast know God be with you.

God be with you Gumby way to go. Goodbye is what it became and we want that you know when in the cultures they say shalom. That's your good buyer you're hello it is a site. May you have shalom. Well there is blessing and curse in this world and I think most people listening right now because of how much you know or believe about the power blessing you know words make a difference in the intent of hearts make a difference and that's why I wrote this book because I believe this is God's, God's grace at work through our words that can change lives liberated his next question and obviously this ministry. I think primarily focused primarily talking to believers talking to those who experience the life-changing power of God through Christ Jesus, but has God used the principle of blessing among those who don't follow him absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I just insider listeners you think of people that you know don't know the Lord right now that I have yet to come to the saving grace of God. Absolutely you can bless our lives, and you start with this God made every single person in his image, not just if you started with just that right there and God came in the person of Christ to die for our sins. He came and gave himself for us, which means that not only is every person made an image of God, but every single person is worth the gift of Jesus Christ also is to say that God's absolutely for you and no one told person accepts Christ, they are not a child of God, yet so you can't issue forth all the blessings that are reserved for the children of God, but you can certainly speak blessing to to people about their identity and you can certainly speak blessing to people about all that God wants to do in your life so two-person it doesn't know God. It's an absolutely true statement to say God made you and I love you.

It's absolutely true statement to say that you really the pinnacle masterpiece of God's creation.

You been fearfully and wonderfully made.

It is absolutely true to say of that person that God has spared no expense in order to come and show you his lot is absolutely true to say that person that God has a wonderful plan for your life. It's also true Daniel and this is where it becomes even more beautiful every good gift comes from God and there's a thing we call common grace which means that the rain falls on the just and the unjust and just because a person is not a Christian doesn't mean that they don't have good things in our life.

They came from God.

So I merely believe that, like a summons about a gifted artist. Where did that come from came from God. If someone is a loving person even though they don't know Jesus yet wears love come from all love comes from God.

So when you affirm that you are saying essentially I see God in you. I see that there's all your person a has a lot of love and I just want to bless that and affirm that and sake that love comes from God and so in that sense, I see God at work in your life. That's true of a non-Christian and I think maybe the best way to get some I in the kingdom.

Bless them into the kingdom right when I go curse him into it and that is it true that a person that doesn't know Jesus is is separated from God and the Bible says biblically is still under the curse. Yes it is I think what we do is we can still affirm blessing to them and it will make a huge difference in anyone's life and interestingly Daniel.

I think a person is not a Christian and yet is practicing the principle of blessing while they're making a difference because her doing it God's way, even if they don't know that they are. The book is the power to bless. It's available everywhere its release.

We can that we are so grateful that your part of our listening family today and encourage you to to pick up the book wherever books are sold near you, or online through your favorite online book retailer certainly find out more, Pascal, and.org. Alan, thanks for your time again today as we celebrate release with is so exciting to me, Daniel, that this book is finally arrived and I say try listeners. Again, thank you for your partnership in all the ways you help this message go for an right now what I'm asking is if you get this book. Maybe get one for someone else share it. Give us an honest review on Amazon or other online outlets and this will go far to help the message of blessing get out into the world. The devil is working overtime to spread curse.

Let's do more than hell let's do the work of heaven and get blessing going in the world so much now. Thanks for your partnership.

Today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan White ministries