Choose Your God

*Author and Bible teacher Alan Wright whatever it is that you say I must have in addition to God that things will turn around and mock you when you don't have Pastor Alan Wright. Another message of good news that will help you see yourself in a whole new light. By being excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series for yourself and yourself fire program.

I will make sure you know how to get our special resource right now.

He can be yours for your donation this month to Helen Wright ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. Now let's get started with today's teaching here Alan Wright to welcome everybody to our final segment and the for yourself yourself serious and we invest in our final meeting together. I want to talk about something that will give me an opportunity really to share very personally. A lot of times people will just say to me, will you know I've heard all your teaching about this, but can you tell me just a little bit more about how to God actually change you. In other words, what's your testimony and and I'm gonna share some things in this session, just that her personal.

I think they're fine, but they're also very holy and they are not there. Not somebody else's story is just my story and and so I like to share some of it but I want to share or what my testimony today about healing from so much shame in light of one of the most revelatory prophetic Scriptures I've ever seen. It is in Jeremiah 1014.

The second part of that that verse where when one of the many places where the prophets are speaking about idolatry and about the foolishness of idolatry. This is what caught my attention every Goldsmith is put to shame by his idols for his images are false and there is no breath in them every Goldsmith is put to shame by his idols thought a long time about what that meant, how could an idol, which the Bible says is powerless in the shaming you would think that something that doesn't have power couldn't shame you.

So how could it be that every Goldsmith that makes idols is then shamed by the idle start by saying this about idolatry. Idolatry and biblically speaking, is not really so much the substitution of something for God as it is the addition of something to God is interesting, sometimes look back at it, even in the story when the people of God have make the golden calf while Moses is up on the mountain and Aaron is overseeing things and they all throw their gold jewelry and and they they make a calf and in Moses comes to asses. What's happened here, and they say well we flew in our golden outing this calf is what they say and whether thought all that they have this big festival is so interesting to me. It says this was during a festival to the Lord.

It was a festival to Yahweh.

Idolatry is not really what you say I don't believe in God anymore is what you say guy is is is there but but I also, in addition to God.

If I literally have peace and security that I also need this.

I think that one of the things that shame does is it seeks to cause us to make idols put those idols on the shelf and then those idols in turn are empowered to shape us all the more so… Take for example 1 of the things I want to confess is been one of my own idols in my life heard me talk about this before but I just would start out by saying this, the whole idea of of of approval or popularity or a united people like you, which is one that is idle and had to destroy an end… Put it this way okay.

How could this work, let's let's imagine for a moment that I make an idol called approval. I need people's approval and I make up this idle, not physically, I'm not carving it out of wood or making it out of iron or gold or something, but in my mind. I have erected an idol that says that in addition to God.

I also need to have others approval if I'm really going to feel secure. If I'm really going to feel okay about myself. If I'm going to be at peace. I need to have that. So now that becomes an idol and let's imagine that I have that idol called approval and then I preach a sermon on a Sunday morning and as I is I is is people walking out of church there. 500 people to come out to say that blessed my life that was really blessing thank you so much for preparing matter for sharing that message and then two days later I get one piece of mail some I was critical of the message pointing out some point that was inaccurate or something like that and now if I will says that you need to have everybody's approval. What happens is my mind now get set up on the one criticism because you don't have that approval and in other words, what happens is the idol of approval that sits up on a shelf and looks down at me every time I don't get approval. It mocks me and says look you said you got to have approval if you're going to be secure and at peace in this world and you didn't get approval right there. You didn't get approval so now don't you feel even more ashamed. So whatever your idol is when you make it and you put it on the shelf, so to speak. You also by the very fact that you made it and erected it on to the shop you have empowered that idol to turn around and mock you it's it's a paradise and irony is, it's it is it is something that is so so prevalent and we would never imagine it but that's what Jeremiah saying is every Goldsmith is mocked by his own idols is what happens, whatever it is that you say I must have been addition to God that things will turn around and mock you when you don't have it. So in my life on what yours might be, but I grew up the youngest of three boys and as I look back if I were to categorize these idols.

I would say they pretty much summed up in my life is looking good sound and smart and being liked. I found out early on is the youngest of three boys that I was never to be as smart as my oldest brother never to be as strong as my little brother but what you could have if you're the baby of the family is you could be cute cute can get you things in this world so you got anybody else the baby in the family with surveys see some of the cute people and cute can get you extra cookies. It can help you stay up later. Cute can can get you in the places and so I just realized early on that people would say of David look so smart and such a good swimmer and a look at marketing say so strongly such good football player really means a look at him. He is so cute. Is there somewhere I began to get this idea in my mind that I sure did all times in a look at and look cute and and this is the way to know when win favor with with with people and and I didn't realize it but you know when you grow up with that and some point you start realizing hey that's a lot of pressure to be under always have to be the cute baby of the family. Sometimes you don't feel cute sometimes you aren't cute sometimes you don't need to be cute is like an idol in my life.

I need to always be looking good early but I don't always bother me if you didn't have all the right clothes.

I felt like I was out of place in a certain setting. So like that'll really bother me, would look right is one idols but also idolizing in my life was sounding smart. I grew up in a family in which everybody how you think the intellect.

My dad was a smart man and that he was a news man and he come the dinner table talking if they'd be talking about current events and I didn't know what they're talking of the baby out anymore. They're talking about, but it sounded smart to me and and people tended to make good grades in my family we valued sounding smart with people. I wasn't say this is interesting.

Honestly, it wasn't that I thought you had to be smart, but I did want to sound smart to people and I never want to say something dumb. How ironic that I would end up spending so much my life speaking in front of people, often saying things that come across sounding can adopt but anyway this was sort of an idol being cute sounding smart and is already mentioned the idea of being liked.

The one thing if it's an idol and in anybody's life that need approval. It's a bad thing but for a pastor. This is especially bad because it is so hard to even get two or three people to really approve of what you're doing or who you are, but to try to get hundreds of people will prove it is exhausting and the pressure is always only always like cannot cannot.

What can I do what can I do to get you like me. What can I do to make you approve of this, what can we so these things are like idols in my life. Those are my big three, and well God has a way when he loves you a lot of stripping you of your idols how to say to you, they were the most wonderful things that the Lord could ever do would be to help you see your idols and then help you destroy them.

That's Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series something is holding you back if you could change everything. Is there someone you referencing step missing me to turn this power on faith filled vision spoken over I will never rise to our God shall move forward confidently under the favor of turn place every curse and blessing in your life and empower the people you love. Contact us today pastor Alan Wright snooper the power to Blacks we have are very special when you make a gift of $40 and more ministries listening to copies of the beautiful had had a win for you to share suggest expression of our gratitude for your generous gift will also include a DVD to important teachings.

Additional content straddling your gas only against this ministry possible. So please partner with us to help us reach thousands of people every day. The gospel and the grace of Jesus Christ.

And when you do, you empowered to change the world year draws to a close this final month of the year partnership 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor Alan.org today is the final day were offering special product blessing your life discovered grace filled vision for your rights free to fill your heart with grace and encouragement blessing. It's free. Just a click away. Pastor I got away these teaching now you once again is in the good news is since idols are pretty much man-made we make them ourselves.

We can destroy them.

When we see them for not only how worthless they are, but we also see that their mocking us. Don't let anything in your life that you made up turn around and mock you for not doing what it says.

You want to do this is willpower that idols have when actually empty and worthless. So there are many ways that God can deal with you but this is one of things God did in my life. It turned out to be a big part of my testimony. 1993 I was pastoring my nice Presbyterian Church and I was minding my own business and we had a nice evangelical ministry and our church was growing was growing kind of slowly but it was growing and people were nice and we had a nice nice home and I had a nice wife and we had a nice church and we had a nice city. We are in we had a nice people that were around us and my mom called and she wanted us to. Well she wants to come in and go to a revival meeting at her much more Pentecostal church than I'd ever been accustomed to and she said I please come we got this revivalist he's here and she said it's it's incredible. Pentecost is breaking out. I was very scared of her church and and I said mom I said I would like to come on Wednesday night. I said but I can't. We have an ice cream social at the church. We just can't come. And she said will come the next night. I said, I'm sure that that night you might be having another social anyway II kept putting her off. She, You Must Come.

So Finally, My Wife and I Went in 1993 We Went to to Her Much More Pentecostal Church and When We Got There It Was Absolutely Amazing to Me. People Were so Full of Joy. There Was so Much Joy There Really Was Authentic Joy in This Room like I Had Never Seen. It Was in the Way That I Was Used To Worshiping. The Music Was Loud.

It Was Five and It Was Going People with Their Hands and All of That but What I Observed Was That These People Are Really Truly Filled with the Joy of the Lord and and the Evangelist Was There, He Would Pray for People and When He Would Lay Hands on Them. Often Times, the People Would Fall over and I Was like That Is Way Too Creepy for Me and I'm like You Know but It Looked like the People When They Got up They Look like They Were Happy and Would like Maybe Good Things Were Happening. As I Said You Note to Each His Own, and We Enjoyed the Evening of the Ministry and I Thought You Know This Is Good Not Not for My Regular Taste but This Is Good for Now and We're Getting Ready to Leave the Long Meeting Long Meeting and Writer to Relieve the Evangelist Is Understanding Depressed Him Pastor in the House. This Was Not a Supernatural Word of Knowledge.

This Was Because Actually My Mom Had Gone and Told Him My Son Needs Prayer and so the Present Impasse. I Was Course, the Only Presbyterian Pastor, and I'll Tell You One Thing. This Really Delighted This Group of Pentecostals That Any Presbyterian Was in Their Midst Whatsoever. Like Come on Here Were There Was No Note, No Alternative except to Go up There and My Wife and I Went up There for Prayer and You Know I Was Actually Just Thinking You Know Okay If I Could Just Take This and Get out Here. This Is Been Okay so Far and and and What Actually Happened Was When He When He Laid Hands As He Prayed First. He Looked in My Eyes and I Did. I Saw and in This Man's Eyes Is He.

He Later Became One of My Dearest Friends. He Looked in My Eyes and This Was Honestly Good Look That I This Is What You Can Communicate A Lot with Your Eyes and This Was the Look That I Felt like That He Was Given He Was This His Anger, Hurt a Bit and so He Laid Hands on Me and Y'all.

All I Can Say Is on Their Experiences before but It Was It Was a Touch from the Lord. I Knew It Was Soon As I Was Soon Those Thoughts and This Was Just the Anointing. It Was on This This Young Man's Life and I Was Filled with All Kinds of Fresh Joy and Peace and Revitalize Was God's Presence in Me, and so Was Good at It. We Decide We Really Go Back and You Always Have People Come up to Their Testimonies Afterwards and I Just Knew You Go Call Me up Give a Testimony Present Pastor Gets Touched by the Lord Because Meeting and so My News Will Call Me up As I Was Doing What You Don't Always Do. I Was Rehearsing a Little Bit in My Mind What I Would Say so I Could Sound Smart.

When He Got Me up There and I Wanted to Tell All of These Pentecostals Are One of Them to Know It's Not about the Manifestations. It Is about the Character Change and I Want You to Know That I've Been Experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit in Some New Ways of This Really Is Been a Wonderful Touch. Lord, Let's Not Be Distracted by Thinking about All These Things I Was Going to Say You Know and so He Brought Me up There to Give My Testimony and I Again Know. I Just Hope Anybody… You Don't Think Less of Me for This, Because All I'm Saying Is This Was My Testimony. But This Is What Happened. He Got There and He Said Brother Presbyterian. He Said Brother Perez, Damn Pastor. He Said What Happened to You the Other Night and He Put the Microphone in Front of My Mouth and and Y'all I'm Just Going to Have To Tell You This Is What Happened and I Later Realized That the Biblical Happened in the Bible. I Don't Know Why God Did This, but This Is What Happened to Me.

I Could Not Speak.

I Was Struck Dumb. And It Wasn't Because I Didn't Have Something to Say It Was Because I My Mouth Was Shot. I Felt Calling Cesar. I Felt like the Glory of God All on Me and I Got up so Much for I Will Number One Sounding Smart Title Number Two Rather Sounding Smart and I Tried for a Long Time to Say Anything and Then I Couldn't Say Anything and This Is What Is He Just Said That Sounds Great Brother Presbyterian Anything Else and Everybody Was Just Enjoying This Immensely and Then He Finally Just, You Know, Took the Microwave and He Prayed He Just Blessed Mirrors on These.

It Would Just Be Filled with the Spirit, or Something like That. Well Then What Happened Then What Happens Even Worse. I Fell over onto the Ground and I Began Just Crying and I Cried for a Long Time and Then I Stopped Crying. I Started Laughing and Then I Started Shaking and Just There. I Am Damn Pastor Line up There with This Happening to Me and and the First Thought That Went through My Mind Was All Know My Congregations Going to Find out It's Not Very Far Away from Here Got a Nice Ministry and It Now. I Was the First Thing with the Mine. But Then That Was Something That Just Happened to Me and This Is This Is the Point of the Story. I Had an Encounter with Jesus and I Just I Knew the Presence of Jesus in a Way That I Can Describe If Either Parts of This Meeting with Jesus That Were so Personal to Me.

I've Never Told Anybody about Them.

I He Told Me Very Personal Things Very Personal Things and What I Realized Was That Maybe for the First Time in My Life. I Didn't Care Who Was Watching I Didn't Care That There Were There Were about 1200 People in That Room That Night and I Was Looking like a Fool Line about. I Think I Did Not Care Because the Encounter of the Living Lord Jesus Was so Far More Precious to Me Than Anything Else. I Didn't Care and I Caught Myself Saying Just in Your Spirit of Your Head Something like You Not Associate with Your Mouth and I Was Unconscious.

All This I Decide I Don't Care I Don't Care.

Care Care. I Bet You I Said That a Thousand Times, Lying on the Floor.

I Don't Care I Don't Care I Don't Care What They Think of Me. I Don't Care What Really Was Happening Was That Idle Cold Approval Was Coming Fishing down I Was Saying If I Am Accepted by You, Jesus. That's Good Enough for Me. All in One Fell Swoop in One Evening. Looking Good. The Sounding Smart and Worrying about Others Approval. It All Came Tumbling down the Answer You See for Me If I Had an Idol of Approval. The Answer Was Not Getting More Approval.

The Answer Was Discovering That Have Already Been Approved in Jesus Christ and That the Gospel Allen Right. Today's Good News Message, Choose Your God in This Series for Yourself by Yourself Coming in for Closing Your past Realm Is Back with Us in the Studio with Reporting Good News Thought Today Sit with Us Something Is Holding You Back If You Could Change Every Morning Referencing Stuff from Me. The Timeless Power Me on the Faith Filled Vision Spoken over I Will Never Rise to Our God Shall Move Forward Confidently under the Favor of Fees, I Turned Face Every Curse and Blessing in Your Life and Empower the People You Have Contact Us Today. Pastor Alan Wright Snooper the Power to Blacks We Have Are Very Special When You Make a Gift of $40 and More Ministries Listening to Copies of the Beautiful Had Had a One for You and One for You to Share His Expression of Our Gratitude for Your Generous Gift Will Also Include a DVD to Important Teachings Conditional Content. Pastor's Only against This Ministry Possible. So Please Partner with Us to Help Us Reach Thousands of People Every Day Gospel and the Grace of Jesus Christ. And When You Do, You'll Become Empowered to Change the World Power Year Draws to a Close This Final Month of the Year Partnership. Call Us at 877-544-4861 Come to Our Website. Pastor Alan.org Today Is the Final Day Were Offering Special Product Blessing Your Life Discovering God's Grace Filled Vision for Your Signing Rights Free to Bless Your Heart with Grace and Encouragement for Blessing. It's Free. Just a Click Away. Pastor Got Away Back Now.

Pastor Alum in the Studio and a Boy That Really Sums It up If You Want If You Want Freedom. If You Want to Be Yourself and God Created You to Be. This Is a Great Way to Conclude You Have the Right and the Authority to Destroy Your Idols Because You Were the One That Built the Idle Hours of Comfort and Then Daniel If I Was the One for My Own Thoughts That Erected the Idle in My Heart Then I'm the One Who Can Easily Take It down. You Can Do This Very Day.

Have the Holy Spirit Show You. Hey, This Is Become an Idol to Me and You Can Pronounce It so You Know That's Not the Truth.

The Truth Is in the Gospel and I Renounce That Idle and It's Amazing How Quickly I Can Think of Anything More Dramatic That Could Change Your Marriage Change Your Life Change Your Parenting Change Your Whole Outlook Towards the Future Then to Crush an Idol and Let Jesus Have His Rightful Place the Idle Wants to Sing. Jesus Came to Take the Same. Today's Good News Message Is a Listener Supported Production.

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