WEBVTT

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Father in heaven, even as we study to know a

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little bit more about how scripture uses these

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anthropomorphic terms to describe you, knowing

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that you are spirit, Lord, we also know that

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there is so much to know about you, and we can

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learn our whole lives long, and then go to heaven

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and be pleasantly surprised at the body of knowledge

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that we did not gain. That's a very dangerous

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thing for us to think that we know a lot, or

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that we know best, or that we know enough. And

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maybe that all comes down to arrogance. I think

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about Job, who lost everything, and then when

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his wife said, curse God and die, he said, who

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am I to say to the Lord, be grateful when he

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gives me things, and then to say he's treating

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me unfairly when he gives me things. way. So

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Lord, we ask you to show us what you have us

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to see out of these texts that we're going to

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look at today, the notes that we're going to

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take. I ask you to be with us for the fun that

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we do have, and then we'll walk away from this

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place and help us to be humble servants of the

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living God. Thank you for answering this prayer,

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and it was like it in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright,

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so today's trait, anthropomorphic trait of God

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is the hand of God. So if I think about the hand

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of God, it is the one that's most common. So

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it is a lot. There's a lot of places in Scripture

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that you could go to read about or hear things

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commented about the hand of the Lord. And basically,

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there are all different expressions to describe

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God's work in the world. We know that God doesn't

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necessarily have a physical hand, or he certainly

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could if he wanted to. And the Bible uses...

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this human image to help us understand his invisible

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activity. So you might not see God's hand literally

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ever, right? But like you can see the effect

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of the wind without actually seeing the wind.

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You might see the effect of God at work. The

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hand is the instrument by which people accomplish

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work. This is how we do things. I figured that

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out already. We also extend help this way. An

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open hand with something in it generally means

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somebody's offering something to you. We defend

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others, get in the way of what might be coming.

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We provide necessities. We work for it, we collect

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it, we give it to somebody in need. And we exercise

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authority, cut it out, even make a fist. Likewise,

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the hand of God symbolizes his active involvement

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in creation history. So God is the same way.

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God offers help. God will punish. God will correct.

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God will take. God will give. God will shield.

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He does all the same things with his hands that

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humans do. But unlike human hands, God's hands

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never grow weary. So my hands, after I became

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a young Christian, I spent about 12 years where

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I had pain in my hands every day. Started in

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my mid -20s. Started before I was a Christian

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and continued on for like a decade. I couldn't

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do a push -up. I tried to do a push -up and my

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hands would hurt so bad. And it was from all

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the beating things up, including myself, that

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I did in high school. Punching lockers, punching

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vehicles, punching people, taking blows. And

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so my hands hurt every day. And then I was, as

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a young Christian, I was praying, praying, praying

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for the Lord. Please, Lord, make my hands functional

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without pain. And then I stumbled on a supplement,

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but I couldn't get it. So now my hands hurt every

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day. Praise the Lord. God's hands never lack

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strength. He never misses its purpose, so God

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doesn't do something and go, oh, shoot, you know,

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like we might. And God never fails to accomplish

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His will. The hand of God communicates at least

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four great truths. These are the first four things

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on your page. So the first one is, the hand of

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God, the idea of talking about the hand of God,

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God accomplishes His purposes. So God gets done

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what God... What he desires to get done, what

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he promises he'll get done, what he says he'll

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get done, God gets it done. God accomplishes

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his purpose. When God gets it done, if you like

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that phrase better, the bottom line is God does

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not fail to do what he sets about to do. The

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second one is that God provides for his creation.

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So throughout creation everywhere, we're going

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to see it in the verses in a minute, but nothing

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gets there. Like people don't get food, people

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don't get medicine, people don't get money. People

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don't get time. People don't live another day.

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The whole thing, God is actively providing that.

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If he wasn't providing it, we wouldn't have it.

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So God provides for his creation. God protects

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and upholds his people. This is one of my favorites

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and also one of the things that I find to be

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very dangerous because I've had it happen where

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people, I didn't mean for it to happen, but people

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would argue or fought or something and then some

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bad things happened after that. You could say

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maybe God did it because of what happened to

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him, but I try not to do that. I don't make that

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decision, but it scares me a little bit when

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I'm disagreeing with somebody, especially if

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I care about that person, which I should care

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about everybody, right? And I don't want to see

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something bad happen to them. There's one in

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particular where I know I had an argument with

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a mature Christian, and as we were finishing

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up, he was not seeing the light. And I said,

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Lord, if it's his heart, it's his heart, at least

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it's him. I'm begging you, God, please, change

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his heart. Deal with him however you have to.

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But it's my heart. I'm the one that's wrong.

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Please, deal with my heart. Whatever you've got

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to do. And then afterwards, he suffered very

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badly. And then when he was suffering almost

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to the point of death, God told me to go and

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pray for him. And then when I went to pray for

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him, he was right to steal. So at that time,

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God did show me that it was like this. You realize

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sometimes when people come against you, God protects

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and upholds his people. It means they're going

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to suffer for coming against you. God disciplines

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and directs his children. That's the last one.

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So to discipline someone is different from punishing.

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So don't make that mistake. The Bible says he

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chastises those whom he loves, and another translation

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says he disciplines those whom he loves. Those

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two words are not perfectly interchangeable in

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the English. So that word in the Greek means

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that God will punish if he must, and God will

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guide and direct and train. Always. So God is

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always guiding and directing and training even

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lost people. People that don't know God. Jesus

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said that God would send a Holy Spirit and the

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Holy Spirit would convict all men of their sin.

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Not all saved men, but all men. So everybody

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is receiving discipline and direction from God,

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but we never fail. Christians never fail to be

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disciplined and directed by God. So throughout

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Scripture, God's hand is seen both in mighty

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miracles. Depart the Red Sea. And quiet acts

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of providence. Oh, there's just enough. Look

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at that. The timing is just right. Oh, it rained.

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Now it's muddy. Now the chariots are going to

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get bogged down. Now we can live. Things like

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that. Not nearly as big. So, a Red Sea to a discouraged

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prophet, a person that's struggling and is comforted

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by God, whatever. So, we're going on to the first

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one. So, we're going to be under the hand of

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God delivers. Before we do that, I want to share

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a little story. A small child crossing a busy

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street, they've been trained properly anyway,

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will naturally reach for their parent's hand.

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But to this day, Ariana, if we're in a busy parking

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lot and it starts to get a little crazy and you

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don't know where the cars are going, she'll take

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my hand. Which is what we're told, right? Because

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I have told, I've explained to her, and this

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is the thing. You have to understand, when she

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takes my hand, I am safer because she's holding

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my hand. It may be a lesser percentage. But we

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are bigger together, so now I'm safer, right?

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But the truth is she's definitely safer because

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I have a lot more experience, wisdom, knowledge,

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a protector, I would get in their way, that kind

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of thing. So a small child crossing the street

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would take the hand of the adult that's working

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with them. The child is not trying to do it in

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his own power, but in the strength of the one

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that he's holding on to. That hand offers guidance,

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protections, reassurance, stability, and life.

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can feel like that. Does your life feel like

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you're crossing a busy street? That's what mine

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does right now. So I'm dodging cars. Like I spent

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the entire day today dodging crazy traffic. Not

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literally, I don't know. Symbolically, things

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are going wrong and I'm fighting and I'm winning

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but it's taking some time. And so believers then

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are invited to place their hands in the hand

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of the one who never stumbles, never lets go,

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and always knows his hand is back. And that's

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the direction that we're going. God's hand is

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infinitely stronger than ours. So Exodus 13 .3

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then. So the first reference there under number

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one is Exodus 13 .3. Exodus. And basically he

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says, Remember this day, and there's some in

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the middle, for by a powerful hand the Lord brought

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you out of this place. So Moses is reminding

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them that God did it, right? They didn't do it.

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Moses didn't do it. Nobody else did it. God did

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it. And, you know, the ten plagues make it pretty

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obvious, right? So Moses couldn't do that. Moses

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came on the staff, created the snake. There were

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two snakes that the sorcerer had made, were eaten

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by Moses' snake, but nobody paid any attention

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to that, right? So God did all of that. So Exodus

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became Israel's defining picture of God's mighty

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hand. The truth is they should never have forgotten,

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right? So later, he'll part the Jordan. And when

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he parted the Jordan, they were reminded that

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he parted the Red Sea. Later, he'll fight for

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them in battle, going into Promised Land. But

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when he fought for them in battle, they should

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not have forgotten that he destroyed Pharaoh's

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army. And that's the problem. If you've ever

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seen God do something mighty for you, bring you

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out of a difficult spot, overcome something that

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you cannot figure out how you're going to get

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past it, then from that point on, you should

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be thinking about that. That should be in your

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mindset. Like, God has done something here. If

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God did something then, God can do something

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at any time in the future when it's the right

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time for his purposes to be carried out. God

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can do it. In the story, Pharaoh, who thought

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of himself as a god, and all the Egyptian people

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were trained to believe that he was a god, Pharaoh

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resisted God. And God essentially destroyed him

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in the long run, but God also hardened his heart

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so that he wouldn't stop resisting. But God,

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of course, prevailed. It's interesting, by the

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way, in the Book of Exodus, I don't know if you

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know this or not, but the ten plagues that are

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in the Book of Exodus, each one of those plagues,

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including the last one where the Pharaoh's firstborn

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son was killed, each one of those plagues is

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representative of one of the ten major Egyptian

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gods. So basically, God was defeating every god

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the Egyptians had systematically up until he

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did the last one, which was Pharaoh, and he killed

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his son. who is the heir, who by all rights will

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be the next God. And so the mighty hand of God,

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God's irresistible power, our salvation then

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begins not with our effort. This is why if you

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say to somebody, you can pray to be saved, you

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have not really said it correctly. If you say

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to somebody, you can go forward in church this

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Sunday and get saved, you have not really said

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it correctly. Because that is not how people

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get saved. People don't get saved by going forward

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in church, they don't get saved by praying a

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prayer. If you want to be very literal about

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it, if you wanted to be very literal about it,

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then people get saved by believing in their heart

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and confessing with their mouth, Romans 10, that

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Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him

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from the dead. That's just a two -pointer. Now,

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there are other places where it might be embellished

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a little bit more, explained a little bit more,

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whatever, but the bottom line is that happens

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in the desert, has happened in the desert. That

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happens in jail. Neither the people in the desert

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nor the people in jail can come to church. There's

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no walking forward in church. People are getting

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baptized all over the world in places where they

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can't get to a church building. And it's not

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that people say, well, that's because they're

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in church there. They're having church there.

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That's not actually true either. So don't confuse

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the issue. The reason is because it's God's mighty

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hand that delivers. And you must humbly ask God

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for that deliverance and be willing to accept

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it from him. And in so doing, you will receive

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it. God specializes then in delivering people

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from situations that they cannot escape on their

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own. So let me ask you this question. Not a rhetorical

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question. Let's talk about it for a second. Why

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do you think it is that all over the world, all

00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:16.120
the time, God would want to be showing up to

00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:18.340
help people out of difficult situations that

00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:21.059
they cannot get out of by themselves? Why would

00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:29.179
God want to do that? Take a stab at it. If he's

00:13:29.179 --> 00:13:31.899
being nice, he's kind, he's merciful, he's loving.

00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:34.179
Something more than that. What is he actually

00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:38.240
accomplishing? Okay? So the whole of creation,

00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:40.320
all of creation in your life, all of it is to

00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.879
glorify God. So that's a big part. And there's

00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.899
something actually... So let's say if he's glorifying

00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:47.899
God, he's making a statement about himself. And

00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:49.460
what is he making? What's the statement that

00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:51.840
he's making? What is he saying about himself

00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.720
by saving people from difficult situations? Let's

00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.799
say... Guy goes out in the middle of the road.

00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.279
A car's coming. He's going to hit him. And he

00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.039
looks up and he goes, oh, God saved me. And the

00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:03.559
car slips and he's robbed. Go again. God's the

00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:06.720
only one who can do it. So the message of God's

00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.580
mighty hand when he saves people from situations

00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:13.240
that you know like, oh, come on. That had to

00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:15.539
be a miracle. Something crazy just happened.

00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:18.100
That had to be God. When he does that, that is

00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:21.480
the message of salvation. That is that God can

00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:23.720
save you from a car that's about to hit you.

00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:25.850
Right? Or five different times you're more at

00:14:25.850 --> 00:14:27.750
this than Satan. I know a guy who died in the

00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:29.870
opportunity and came back to life. Right? He

00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:32.850
got his head got crushed. He was dead for like

00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:37.610
four minutes. And he came back to life. And then

00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:41.409
later gave his life to the Lord. You know? But

00:14:41.409 --> 00:14:44.429
if God can save you from crazy situations like

00:14:44.429 --> 00:14:46.610
that. There's two times where I know they called

00:14:46.610 --> 00:14:49.470
the family in. They said, that's it. This person's

00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:50.610
not going to last the night. They're going to

00:14:50.610 --> 00:14:52.500
be dead. One of them was a teenager, one of them

00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:55.059
was an older adult in their 60s, early 60s, late

00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:57.639
50s. And when the church all started praying,

00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.820
family was called in. It was done. They were

00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:04.600
beginning to look at funeral arrangements. Right?

00:15:04.820 --> 00:15:06.960
Both people were in a coma from which they were

00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.580
not, their borderline brain dead, not going to

00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:12.179
wake up. And when people started praying, and

00:15:12.179 --> 00:15:16.340
the next day they woke up. And then they continued

00:15:16.340 --> 00:15:19.299
to live their lives. By the way, both of those

00:15:19.299 --> 00:15:21.759
two people are still alive now, still professing

00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.320
to be Christians and still serving. If God's

00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.019
mighty hand can save them from those situations,

00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:30.220
then who else could? The doctors could. Medicine

00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:32.620
could. The most learned men on the planet could

00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.440
not save those people. But God could. And he

00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:38.679
did. And when he did that, he proved he can deliver.

00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.659
So as bad as it is, first cry out to God because

00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.799
he can deliver. So God specializes in delivering

00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.720
people from situations they cannot escape on

00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.379
their own. That's your application. So God specializes

00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:52.720
in delivering people from situations they cannot

00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:54.639
escape on their own. You can reword it in your

00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.500
own words if you want. Then we move on to the

00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:00.480
hand of God provides. This one's a little less

00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:05.460
obvious. So you go to McDonald's and you use

00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.720
your debit card and you buy yourself a burger

00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.179
and fries and you eat it. And who provided that?

00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.080
Feels like you did, right? Debit card, I worked,

00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.299
I made the money, put it in the bank, that's

00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:18.500
why I can do the debit card. So it kind of feels

00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:21.360
like you did, you provided it. But that's not

00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.399
actually the way it is, as we'll see. So Psalm

00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:28.159
140, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's right. Psalm 145,

00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.919
16. Psalm just writes this about God. It says,

00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:36.399
you open your hand and satisfy the desire of

00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:41.269
every living thing. So now animals, Animals do

00:16:41.269 --> 00:16:43.870
not dream about burgers. Animals do not dream

00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:47.769
about vacations, right? They are looking for

00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:51.070
food, sustenance, shelter, warmth when they're

00:16:51.070 --> 00:16:53.909
cold, get cooled down when they're hot. Those

00:16:53.909 --> 00:16:57.289
are needs. And so if that's what they desire

00:16:57.289 --> 00:17:00.429
and that's what God provides, that's what the

00:17:00.429 --> 00:17:03.789
psalmist wrote, okay? So every meal that you

00:17:03.789 --> 00:17:08.230
ever get ultimately comes from God's hand, every

00:17:08.230 --> 00:17:11.039
single one. Even if you want to oversimplify

00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:12.640
it and say, well, who created the plants? Well,

00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:15.180
God did. God said, we're going to make plants

00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.900
rise out of the dry ground. So you can oversimplify

00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:20.660
it that way. But the truth is, God set up a system

00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:24.160
in which the farmer plants, the merchant sells,

00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:28.559
the cook prepares the food, but God is the one

00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:33.059
who provides it. There is no other way. And so

00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:37.279
before it all begins, God starts the process.

00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.059
God's open hand pictures generosity rather than

00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:45.180
reluctance. So there's a verse, I don't know

00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:46.539
the reference I'm talking about in the verse,

00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.900
that says that God makes the sun and the rain

00:17:48.900 --> 00:17:53.700
to pour on the righteous man and the wicked man

00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:56.579
alike. So either way, and by the way, in that

00:17:56.579 --> 00:17:58.500
verse it's reversed. We think the rain is a bad

00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:00.339
thing, but actually because of the part of the

00:18:00.339 --> 00:18:01.920
world they were in, the context of that verse,

00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:03.579
they were looking for rain. They wanted rain.

00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:05.660
So if they didn't have enough rain, their crops

00:18:05.660 --> 00:18:09.109
would all die. The rain was the good thing and

00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:11.250
the sun was the bad thing in that verse. So when

00:18:11.250 --> 00:18:12.950
you're thinking like, I want the sun, that's

00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:14.630
the opposite of what the verse is talking about.

00:18:14.950 --> 00:18:18.710
But he says sun and rain, good and bad, they

00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:22.509
both get it. Why? Because that's how God did

00:18:22.509 --> 00:18:25.329
it. God set it up. So if you choose not to follow

00:18:25.329 --> 00:18:28.470
God, you can still have a pretty good life because

00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:30.950
God is providing you the sustenance of all the

00:18:30.950 --> 00:18:35.009
things. Now you'll be empty inside. You'll feel

00:18:35.009 --> 00:18:37.740
like you're missing something. There will always

00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:39.680
be convictions of the Spirit about your sin.

00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:41.700
You'll always be longing for something that you

00:18:41.700 --> 00:18:43.480
can't quite find. You're looking for all those

00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.880
places and it's not there. Things like that that

00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:51.559
points us to God. But God generously provides.

00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:53.640
People live their whole lives and live pretty

00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:55.500
darn good and die billionaires and go straight

00:18:55.500 --> 00:19:00.680
to hell. So it does happen. And it happens because

00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:06.490
God provides. Creation continually depends. upon

00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:09.430
God's sustained care. And Colossians basically

00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:16.829
basically says that all creation only continues

00:19:16.829 --> 00:19:20.569
because God says so. So it's all going to come

00:19:20.569 --> 00:19:23.950
crashing down at some point. Some of it's coming

00:19:23.950 --> 00:19:26.849
crashing down already, right? The world is falling

00:19:26.849 --> 00:19:30.910
apart. We've got a lot of things that God wouldn't

00:19:30.910 --> 00:19:33.609
want to have happening because man is doing what

00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:36.039
man is doing. So that's under the explanation.

00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.099
I'll go back a little bit. We're under number

00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:40.140
two. You've got key points to the explanation.

00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:42.380
Anything that jumps out at you, there's a couple

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:46.140
of things. So God provides everything. Every

00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:51.880
meal. God set up a system where the farmer plants

00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:54.319
and virgin sells and prepares. But it's always

00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.059
God that provides. God always starts the provision.

00:19:57.339 --> 00:20:00.140
And then man makes something out of it. Oh, I

00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:03.609
just had a joke just came in. from years ago

00:20:03.609 --> 00:20:06.910
where a scientist goes to God. They're going

00:20:06.910 --> 00:20:10.609
to have a contest. Let me know this joke. Don't

00:20:10.609 --> 00:20:13.430
be bored. Don't be bored. So the scientist goes

00:20:13.430 --> 00:20:16.009
to God and says, they've done everything now.

00:20:16.029 --> 00:20:17.730
They can clone human beings. They can make people.

00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:20.130
They've done everything. He says, God, we don't

00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:23.250
need you anymore. And God says, I think you do.

00:20:23.430 --> 00:20:25.049
The scientist says, no, we don't. We can do everything

00:20:25.049 --> 00:20:28.250
you can do. And God says, well, I propose a contest.

00:20:29.410 --> 00:20:31.900
And the man says, okay, well. Whatever. We can

00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:34.200
do anything that you can do. And God says, I

00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:37.660
propose a contest. Making a man. We're going

00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:41.000
to make a man. And the scientist says, okay,

00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:42.779
fine. We'll make a man. We can do that. We've

00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:47.220
done it many, many times. And God says, but we're

00:20:47.220 --> 00:20:50.140
going to make a man the way I made a man. We're

00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:53.559
going to make the man from dirt. And the scientist

00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:56.440
says, okay, fine. And he reaches over to pick

00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.140
up some dirt. And God says, get your own dirt.

00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.160
Okay? So that's it. No matter how far we go,

00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:06.099
we're always still just working with what God

00:21:06.099 --> 00:21:12.740
has provided. Okay? Alright. And then the bottom

00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:16.339
line of that, the application point is every

00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:21.519
blessing is a gift from God's open hand. So before

00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:23.119
you start thinking you can take something for

00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.380
yourself and use it in a way that God would not

00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:27.440
honor God, remember where it came from, basically.

00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.720
Every blessing is a gift from God's open hand.

00:21:30.910 --> 00:21:32.910
Moving on to number three. And after number three,

00:21:32.930 --> 00:21:37.490
we'll do this time. Just once. Okay? So opening

00:21:37.490 --> 00:21:41.670
illustration, basically. Imagine receiving an

00:21:41.670 --> 00:21:43.730
unexpected check in the mail when your bills

00:21:43.730 --> 00:21:46.190
are due. Like, oh man, money's going to be tight

00:21:46.190 --> 00:21:47.710
this month. After we pay all this off, we're

00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:49.029
only going to have a few bucks and we're going

00:21:49.029 --> 00:21:50.970
to have to get through for a couple weeks, the

00:21:50.970 --> 00:21:54.470
next payday or whatever. When the check comes

00:21:54.470 --> 00:21:56.950
in the mail, the first thing you're going to

00:21:56.950 --> 00:22:00.799
do is look at the amount. And the second thing

00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.880
you're going to do is look at who sent it. And

00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:06.880
you're going to attribute the money that you

00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.440
received in that check to whoever sent it. You

00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.759
might feel gratitude. You might be suspicious.

00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.960
You might ask yourself, why? Why did they give

00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.059
me this money? Are they expecting something in

00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:18.799
return? Are you looking for a contract on the

00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.240
back or something? Basically, you usually thank

00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.359
the person who mailed it, assuming there are

00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:26.359
no strings attached. Like, yeah, great. That's

00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:30.369
awesome. Believers learn to look beyond the human

00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:32.930
instrument. And so this is why if that's ever

00:22:32.930 --> 00:22:34.170
happened to you since you've been a Christian,

00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:37.150
you probably went, God sent me a check at just

00:22:37.150 --> 00:22:39.490
the right time. Something amazing happened. I've

00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:41.509
got just what I needed at the right time. God

00:22:41.509 --> 00:22:44.410
did that. And you don't go like, oh, you know,

00:22:44.430 --> 00:22:46.369
so -and -so repaid me the money that they were

00:22:46.369 --> 00:22:48.150
due and be super grateful that that happened

00:22:48.150 --> 00:22:50.970
or super grateful that the church did whatever

00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:54.250
or the bank did whatever. But God provided it.

00:22:54.349 --> 00:22:56.690
And believers begin to realize, you should realize,

00:22:56.789 --> 00:22:59.069
Scripture teaches that God is providing everything.

00:22:59.890 --> 00:23:04.289
The hand of God upholds his people. Isaiah 41

00:23:04.289 --> 00:23:08.369
.10 is the reference. Isaiah 41 .10. Isaiah 41

00:23:08.369 --> 00:23:13.250
.10, most of it, says, Do not fear, for I am

00:23:13.250 --> 00:23:16.410
with you. A little bit of a gap there. I will

00:23:16.410 --> 00:23:19.769
strengthen you. Surely I will help you. Surely

00:23:19.769 --> 00:23:22.750
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

00:23:25.109 --> 00:23:27.849
As we look at the verse, we see that God is saying

00:23:27.849 --> 00:23:30.170
to us, you don't have to be afraid. I got this.

00:23:30.630 --> 00:23:32.650
I will strengthen you. I will make you able.

00:23:33.509 --> 00:23:39.670
I will help you. I will hold you up. We realize

00:23:39.670 --> 00:23:43.009
that God's hand is not only powerful, but it's

00:23:43.009 --> 00:23:47.329
also personal. So everybody knows what a hammer

00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:50.910
is. You know what a one -pound sledge is? It's

00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:52.930
got a pretty thick hammer, pretty thick handle,

00:23:52.970 --> 00:23:55.490
and it's got a pound of steel on the top, right?

00:23:56.150 --> 00:23:59.990
You whack a nail or whack a board or whack something

00:23:59.990 --> 00:24:02.710
you're trying to break or whack a dent, it hits

00:24:02.710 --> 00:24:07.950
hard. It's a slammer, you know? But now, could

00:24:07.950 --> 00:24:12.349
you take a screw out with it? Or could you cook

00:24:12.349 --> 00:24:14.849
with it? I mean, would you be able to make s'mores

00:24:14.849 --> 00:24:18.490
with it? It'd be pretty hard. You might be able

00:24:18.490 --> 00:24:20.990
to set it on top there and try that or something.

00:24:21.049 --> 00:24:22.910
Get it real hot and then set the mark on it.

00:24:22.970 --> 00:24:27.390
I mean, it's not purposeful for those things.

00:24:27.710 --> 00:24:31.109
It's mighty. It makes a big bang. It is hard,

00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:35.109
right? But it's not purposeful for those other

00:24:35.109 --> 00:24:38.150
things. God's purpose is not just in his strength,

00:24:38.269 --> 00:24:40.549
but also he knows how to direct that strength.

00:24:40.890 --> 00:24:44.890
It is personal. He uses his strength, his power

00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:49.059
to strengthen you. He helps you. He upholds you.

00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:54.859
He helps me. He upholds me. So the right hand

00:24:54.859 --> 00:24:57.420
there, where it uses the phrase the righteous

00:24:57.420 --> 00:25:03.019
right hand, represents honor and authority and

00:25:03.019 --> 00:25:05.720
victorious strength, like overcoming opposition.

00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:10.759
So the sword hand of most knights was their right

00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:13.960
hand. And so when they accomplished something

00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:18.000
by their right hand, They would go and lay on

00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.920
sword or stripe with a lance or swing a mace,

00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:25.400
right? And it would hit hard, like harder than

00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:27.980
most of us could swing a one -pound sled. It

00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:31.339
would hit hard, right? Break a tree, break through

00:25:31.339 --> 00:25:34.599
armor, you know, bend a shield. It would hit

00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.259
hard. And if you would look at a knight, right,

00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.359
they would start swinging a sword when they're

00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:41.400
about eight, seven, eight years old. They'd swing

00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.500
that sword more times a day. And then when they

00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:46.220
got older, it would be a thousand times a day.

00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:48.779
By the time they were about 15 years old, you'd

00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:51.200
look at them, and their right shoulder would

00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.839
be easily twice as large as their left shoulder.

00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:56.539
And if it was a left -handed knight, you'd look

00:25:56.539 --> 00:25:57.980
at him, and his left -handed shoulder would be

00:25:57.980 --> 00:26:00.380
twice as large as his right shoulder. So you

00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:02.740
could look at a knight and know their handedness

00:26:02.740 --> 00:26:05.740
by the size of their shoulders. Because the muscles

00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.920
would be big from all that swinging of heavy

00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:12.359
iron, right? And that's the idea of a right hand.

00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:17.559
It's the one, it's the best one. It does what's

00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:21.140
right, it exercises authority, and it overcomes

00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:24.920
any opposition. God does not simply command his

00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:26.759
people to stand. God is not telling you to do

00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:28.500
the right thing and then walking away from you.

00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:31.599
God is not urging you and saying, okay, come

00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:35.140
on, please, please side with me. That's not what

00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:38.259
God is doing. God is fighting your battles for

00:26:38.259 --> 00:26:43.180
you and waiting for you to come along. Right?

00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:48.619
That's what he says. He loves you and he's for

00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:52.240
you and he's accomplishing it and if you're not,

00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:54.740
if it's not working, it could be because you're

00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:55.859
not going in the right direction, it could be

00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:57.759
because you're resisting his purposes, etc. That

00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:00.000
falls under other things. The bottom line is

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.160
God will strengthen you and he will accomplish

00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:06.039
for you what he is trying to do. So the application

00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:08.619
of that is when your strength ends, when you're

00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:10.940
running out, when you're, and I've been there,

00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:15.119
A number of times in my life, right? I was there

00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.359
yesterday morning about 7 a .m. And you're like,

00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:22.059
man, I just, I don't got it. I got it left. I

00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:23.640
don't know where it's coming from. I don't know

00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:25.859
what I'm going to have to accomplish what lies

00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:28.160
before me. You got nothing, almost nothing left.

00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:33.119
God's sustaining hand is still strong. The same

00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.519
hand that could create everything. The same hand

00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:39.359
that could conquer armies, that could destroy

00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:44.099
Pharaoh, that could... Slay his own son on the

00:27:44.099 --> 00:27:49.660
cross for us. Right? That hand is not weakened.

00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:53.779
You're not falling down. You're down. And that's

00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:58.160
the point of the hand of God unto his people.

00:27:58.839 --> 00:28:01.000
Okay, can we take one second? It's a pretty quick

00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:02.799
one, so I think that's about a minute, as long

00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.519
as there's 10 or less people that would like

00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:06.700
to participate. I will warn you, it requires

00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:16.970
balance. Have a good one. So there are going

00:28:16.970 --> 00:28:19.289
to be three possibilities. If you participate,

00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:22.710
you get one ticket. If you succeed and hold the

00:28:22.710 --> 00:28:26.910
cup along your head for the entire 60 seconds,

00:28:27.029 --> 00:28:29.450
this is the task, so this is the task right here.

00:28:29.930 --> 00:28:35.349
Okay? You can do that for 60 seconds. Then, this

00:28:35.349 --> 00:28:37.890
way. I would do this way. Then you will get three

00:28:37.890 --> 00:28:40.170
tickets. If you are the one who holds the cup

00:28:40.170 --> 00:28:42.329
the longest, you will get five tickets. Oh, did

00:28:42.329 --> 00:28:46.309
I forget to mention the last rule? You must stand

00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:50.849
on one foot. Okay, you can turn the van off.

00:28:50.990 --> 00:28:57.630
All right, let me get my timer started. All right,

00:28:57.670 --> 00:28:59.690
so it's going to be, if you manage to do it for

00:28:59.690 --> 00:29:02.769
the 60 seconds, you will get three tickets. Your

00:29:02.769 --> 00:29:06.650
cameras are put on the rails, sorry. I think

00:29:06.650 --> 00:29:08.009
he has an advantage because he's a little old.

00:29:09.970 --> 00:29:13.190
There's a terrain change there. I need a haircut.

00:29:13.769 --> 00:29:16.880
Downright. She's leaving. I'm ready to stay,

00:29:16.940 --> 00:29:23.960
boy. Today is the day. Let's pay it off. All

00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:26.480
right. So when I start the timer, you have 60

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:28.259
seconds. You must stand on one foot the whole

00:29:28.259 --> 00:29:30.640
time. If you put your foot down or drop your

00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:35.380
cup, you only get the one ticket. Mike, you might

00:29:35.380 --> 00:29:36.799
want to move forward because if that foot touches

00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.720
the rail, it will count. You've got to stand

00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:41.880
on one foot. When I say go, you have to go on

00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:47.460
one foot. Go. That was so sad. That's the best.

00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:53.180
Going really good. I feel like it's Jax. You

00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:55.180
get three tickets if you last the 60 seconds.

00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.119
If you're the last person, you only get five.

00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:00.460
But you have to be well -balanced individuals.

00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:04.680
You should have totaled some balance first. That's

00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:13.680
a total balance. Oh, there we go. Sorry. One

00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:18.960
ticket for you. 20 seconds left. I did touch

00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:22.380
him. I'm sorry. Okay, start. Go from there. Go

00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:23.799
from there. And I'll give you, if you go, the

00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:30.220
range of 5 seconds. Abby's locked in too, though.

00:30:30.539 --> 00:30:32.880
And so is A, and he has to go 5 seconds longer

00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:37.559
than the next person. He only dropped his cup

00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:41.579
because of his poker. Got it. Okay, so you all

00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:42.960
made it in a minute. You're all at 3 tickets.

00:30:43.819 --> 00:30:46.440
We'll go another minute and see if somebody can

00:30:46.440 --> 00:31:02.500
fall out. 30 seconds. Uh -oh, what happened?

00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:06.359
Did it get weak? Did it get giggly? Uh -oh, Abby

00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:17.420
teetered. I saw her teeter. She's holding. If

00:31:17.420 --> 00:31:20.920
you both make it to 30 seconds, I'll give you

00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:25.819
both 5. It'll be a tie. That's it. Okay, 5 for

00:31:25.819 --> 00:31:29.180
both of you. Anybody else make it to 60 seconds?

00:31:29.779 --> 00:31:46.240
You made it to 60 seconds? Okay. for having a

00:31:46.240 --> 00:32:00.059
little fun. Abby, I'm impressed. Most guys did

00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:05.940
pretty good stuff. Okay, here we go. Number four.

00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:10.039
The hand of God disciplines. Again, this is what

00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:12.759
we don't really care for very much. The reference

00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:18.759
is Hebrews 12 .6. Hebrews... 12 .6. And it is

00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:21.279
the one that I often quote, for those whom the

00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:24.460
Lord loves, he disciplines, or chastises, depending

00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:27.359
on your translation. Also, in Psalm 32 .4, it

00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:30.059
says, day and night, your hand was heavy upon

00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:32.380
me. So it's the same kind of idea. The reference

00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:39.299
is in Hebrews 12 .6. So, sometimes, God's hand

00:32:39.299 --> 00:32:42.819
is comforting, right? When I'm sad, when I'm

00:32:42.819 --> 00:32:46.220
hurting, like that. With this, Reminds us that

00:32:46.220 --> 00:32:49.079
sometimes God's hand is corrective. And it can

00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:53.140
be everything up to, and I'm not trying to like

00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:56.519
fear monger or be fearful. It can be everything

00:32:56.519 --> 00:32:59.200
up to, God can take your life. Right? And the

00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:01.079
New Testament talks about there is a sin unto

00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:04.480
death. And so it's a pretty big deal. Right?

00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:06.920
Most of the time, that's not what we're talking

00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:08.480
about. Right? Most of the time, we're talking

00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:14.460
about people who are off the course. exposed

00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:20.900
evil spirits and demons, whatever, and God wants

00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:24.500
to correct. So we can go back to facing God's

00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:27.140
wrath as we used to do when we were unsaved.

00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:30.559
His wrath is not anger. It is opposition. Wrath

00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:33.599
is opposition. And so God can be opposing your

00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:35.740
course of action. I will submit to you that as

00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:38.460
a Christian, anytime you do something that is

00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.480
not going to be good for you, which would be

00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:43.759
sin. Sin's always bad for you, right? It creates

00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:48.059
a break in relationship, could result in a spiritual

00:33:48.059 --> 00:33:50.799
death, kind of thing, not losing salvation, but

00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:52.700
could result in very bad results, basically.

00:33:52.859 --> 00:33:55.799
Bad things can happen. If you're doing it to

00:33:55.799 --> 00:33:58.759
yourself, God doesn't want that, so then God

00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:00.500
is going to come on and correct. He's going to

00:34:00.500 --> 00:34:03.960
subject you to wrath, right? So when David described

00:34:03.960 --> 00:34:09.079
God's hand as heavy, And it was during that time

00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:12.079
when David was resisting confession. So the New

00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:14.719
Testament describes this as humbly confessing

00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:17.199
to God, understanding that we need God, recognizing

00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:20.579
who God is, and that God is the only one who

00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:23.119
can deal with that, right? And if you just won't,

00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:26.820
so you're doing what God wants you to do, and

00:34:26.820 --> 00:34:28.820
then it comes to your attention that it's not

00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:31.460
what God wants you to do, and you still won't

00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:35.820
turn, right? Then you're in line for wrath and

00:34:35.820 --> 00:34:38.940
discipline from God. The discipline is never

00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:43.119
evidence that God has abandoned you. Right? So

00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:45.820
think about it. The parents who do not love their

00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:50.940
children do not discipline their children. Parents

00:34:50.940 --> 00:34:53.139
who love, quote unquote, love their children

00:34:53.139 --> 00:34:58.539
the way the world loves, often either A, do not

00:34:58.539 --> 00:35:01.119
discipline their children, or B, the discipline

00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:06.480
does this. Sometimes, you know, leave in... Your

00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:09.539
dishes on the table is a whooping offense and

00:35:09.539 --> 00:35:11.400
locked in a closet or burnt with a cigarette

00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:14.739
or stuffed in the dryer. And other times it's,

00:35:14.739 --> 00:35:16.400
please take your stuff to the kitchen, I already

00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:20.780
asked you once. And the difference is so radical,

00:35:21.219 --> 00:35:24.599
the change is so radical, that the discipline

00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:28.360
is damaging. And it's because they don't love

00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.679
the way God loves. When you love the way God

00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:36.909
loves, discipline is consistent. and most corrective

00:35:36.909 --> 00:35:39.909
when the child is doing something that will not

00:35:39.909 --> 00:35:42.070
be good for them. So, for example, when parents

00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:43.409
discipline their children because they stayed

00:35:43.409 --> 00:35:45.429
up past their bedtime, even though they know

00:35:45.429 --> 00:35:48.090
when their bedtime is, you're not disciplining

00:35:48.090 --> 00:35:50.530
them or punishing them or chastising them or

00:35:50.530 --> 00:35:52.949
whatever, however you want to say you're handling

00:35:52.949 --> 00:35:55.750
it, because you now hate them because they stayed

00:35:55.750 --> 00:35:58.429
up an extra 30 minutes. It's not like that, right?

00:35:58.550 --> 00:36:00.369
You're doing it because it's not good for them.

00:36:00.699 --> 00:36:03.179
And for the adults in the room who have struggled

00:36:03.179 --> 00:36:05.260
with bedtime as an adult, making sure you get

00:36:05.260 --> 00:36:06.639
to bed at a decent time, you get a good night's

00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:07.579
sleep, and you have to do what you've got to

00:36:07.579 --> 00:36:09.599
do in the morning, you understand that, boy,

00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.599
it would have been nice to learn that earlier

00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:14.179
on, right? To be able to discipline yourself

00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:17.440
to go to bed when you need to. And so, and it

00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.280
could be anything. It could be like when a kid

00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.239
eats too much candy, sneaks the candy, and they

00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:23.079
get punished by their parents. The parents are

00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:24.679
not punishing them because they hate their kids

00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:27.780
and don't want to give them candy. They're punishing

00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:30.679
or disciplining them to train them to... Practice

00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:33.719
self -discipline and not sneak, not lie, not

00:36:33.719 --> 00:36:36.400
manipulate, not steal, and not overeat something.

00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:39.420
It's a bad baby, right? And that's the way God

00:36:39.420 --> 00:36:42.300
is all the time. God loves you, and you may feel

00:36:42.300 --> 00:36:45.760
his heavy hand upon you at times, and I've seen

00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:47.820
that in my own life and in the lives of many

00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:54.019
others, okay? And it proves that we belong to

00:36:54.019 --> 00:36:58.670
him, right? God would not bother. To be heavy

00:36:58.670 --> 00:37:00.530
-handed with you, to correct you, to discipline

00:37:00.530 --> 00:37:04.190
you, to set you on the right course if he didn't

00:37:04.190 --> 00:37:08.489
love you. A loving father does not ignore destructive

00:37:08.489 --> 00:37:11.989
behavior. It doesn't matter how tired you are.

00:37:12.130 --> 00:37:15.210
It doesn't matter how upset you are. It doesn't

00:37:15.210 --> 00:37:17.190
matter how much they push back on you or how

00:37:17.190 --> 00:37:20.050
destructive their destructive behavior now is

00:37:20.050 --> 00:37:23.309
directed at you. Right? A loving father does

00:37:23.309 --> 00:37:27.309
not ignore it. He does what he has to do. Because

00:37:27.309 --> 00:37:30.690
that destructive behavior is destructive, and

00:37:30.690 --> 00:37:34.150
you can't continue, right? Now, a loving father

00:37:34.150 --> 00:37:37.210
also does not get into destructive behavior himself

00:37:37.210 --> 00:37:40.190
in order to prove his point, right? Because then

00:37:40.190 --> 00:37:42.869
now you're a follower of God, you're suffering

00:37:42.869 --> 00:37:45.809
wrath, you're supposed to be diverting any wrath

00:37:45.809 --> 00:37:48.869
of God from your family by providing loving discipline.

00:37:49.309 --> 00:37:51.989
And now you're not doing that. So that's why

00:37:51.989 --> 00:37:54.659
it's so important that we... If you're a dad

00:37:54.659 --> 00:37:56.480
in the room or an adult and you're responsible,

00:37:56.820 --> 00:37:59.099
you're babysitting, whatever, it doesn't matter.

00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:03.300
You can't refuse destructive behavior. You have

00:38:03.300 --> 00:38:04.880
to do what you have to do to take care of it.

00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:08.800
And that's what God is doing. So then just a

00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:13.360
real quick re -summary of the explanation. You

00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:17.940
could say often God's hand comforts. And then

00:38:17.940 --> 00:38:20.760
you could say as often as necessary God's hand

00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:25.980
corrects. Discipline is not evidence that God

00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:29.420
has abandoned you. Rather, it proves that he

00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:31.800
loves you and is responding out of his love for

00:38:31.800 --> 00:38:34.099
discipline and pleasure. So whatever you want

00:38:34.099 --> 00:38:36.380
to put in there of the summary, know that God

00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:40.659
will correct you, will discipline you. And then

00:38:40.659 --> 00:38:44.420
under application then, God's correcting hand

00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:48.420
is an expression of his love, not his rejection.

00:38:49.059 --> 00:38:50.820
So there are people that feel like, I just feel

00:38:50.820 --> 00:38:52.940
like I can't hear it from God. They feel like

00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:55.500
God is rejecting them. I've had people say, well,

00:38:55.559 --> 00:38:57.840
I can't go to church because I've sinned so much.

00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:01.440
God doesn't want me anymore. God is fed up with

00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.380
me. I'm like, God was actually the way you say.

00:39:05.500 --> 00:39:06.579
If he didn't want you, if he was fed up with

00:39:06.579 --> 00:39:09.019
you, you wouldn't still be here. Because as a

00:39:09.019 --> 00:39:10.579
believer, you're talking about, at that point,

00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:12.300
you're talking about the sin unto death. You're

00:39:12.300 --> 00:39:14.519
saying you're absolutely useless to God. No,

00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:17.380
I'm not useless, but I have been useless, and

00:39:17.380 --> 00:39:20.559
I've got to continue to be useless. And so God

00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:24.000
has rejected me. That's a tough place, scripturally,

00:39:24.179 --> 00:39:28.460
to support. So God's correcting hand is an expression

00:39:28.460 --> 00:39:32.739
of his love. Number five, the hand of God guides

00:39:32.739 --> 00:39:37.800
his servants. And these two together, it's important

00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:42.139
to talk about discipline. So Ezra 7 -9 kind of

00:39:42.139 --> 00:39:44.699
ends with, according to the good hand of his

00:39:44.699 --> 00:39:48.099
God upon him. They did what they were doing,

00:39:48.139 --> 00:39:52.489
guided by God. And there's a ton of it all over

00:39:52.489 --> 00:39:55.010
the Bible. All over the place. There's places

00:39:55.010 --> 00:39:57.530
where it says that God guides, directs, and so

00:39:57.530 --> 00:40:02.489
on. So Ezra repeatedly credits God's hand for

00:40:02.489 --> 00:40:05.469
every success. If you did it, and you did it

00:40:05.469 --> 00:40:08.750
right, you probably did it right because God

00:40:08.750 --> 00:40:11.530
led you to do it right. And it could be because

00:40:11.530 --> 00:40:13.570
your parents taught you. It could be because

00:40:13.570 --> 00:40:15.730
you learned it in school. It could be because

00:40:15.730 --> 00:40:17.269
you tried this before and it didn't work out,

00:40:17.289 --> 00:40:19.190
so you're doing something different now. Right?

00:40:19.550 --> 00:40:22.250
whatever, but all of that is in the provision

00:40:22.250 --> 00:40:26.989
of God. And so, it's a wise thing to always give

00:40:26.989 --> 00:40:30.070
credit to God for guiding us. Whether it's safe

00:40:30.070 --> 00:40:33.969
travel, whether it's royal favor, as with Ezra,

00:40:34.110 --> 00:40:36.250
because not only did they get released, but they

00:40:36.250 --> 00:40:38.349
got a ton of resources to do what they were setting

00:40:38.349 --> 00:40:41.150
out to do. Whether it's God's provision, so you're

00:40:41.150 --> 00:40:43.349
not going hungry, you got a roof over your head,

00:40:43.570 --> 00:40:46.849
you got somebody in your life, you're not desperately

00:40:46.849 --> 00:40:50.250
alone, that kind of thing. You've got leadership,

00:40:50.590 --> 00:40:53.710
so there are tools, there are people, servants

00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:55.590
who will help you figure out the right course

00:40:55.590 --> 00:40:58.190
and things like that. All of those things are

00:40:58.190 --> 00:41:02.329
part of God's guiding hand. The government is

00:41:02.329 --> 00:41:04.389
a big part of God's guiding hand. You may be

00:41:04.389 --> 00:41:07.070
fed up with some of the rules and laws that the

00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:08.949
government makes. They may not make any sense

00:41:08.949 --> 00:41:11.369
to you. There are a couple of pet peeves that

00:41:11.369 --> 00:41:14.210
I have with that, like basic laws that the government

00:41:14.210 --> 00:41:16.090
has made, but I just think they don't make any

00:41:16.090 --> 00:41:18.500
sense. They're not godly. They're not what God

00:41:18.500 --> 00:41:23.440
would want. And so I might passively resist.

00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:29.480
I'm not supporting it. But at the same time,

00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:32.059
I realize that's the government that God has

00:41:32.059 --> 00:41:34.760
put in place. And so we pray for our governors.

00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:38.619
We support our governors. And police officers

00:41:38.619 --> 00:41:43.940
and everybody like that. So God's invisible hand

00:41:43.940 --> 00:41:49.570
orchestrated All of these events, these visible

00:41:49.570 --> 00:41:52.389
events. So even though you couldn't see him guiding

00:41:52.389 --> 00:41:56.429
them, he guided them. When I was a young child,

00:41:56.530 --> 00:41:59.289
I went over to my friend Quentin's house. And

00:41:59.289 --> 00:42:02.210
Quentin's dad was a huge train collector. And

00:42:02.210 --> 00:42:05.889
he had a whole base HO scale train set up. Like

00:42:05.889 --> 00:42:07.949
four towns. The trains would go from town to

00:42:07.949 --> 00:42:11.429
town. And he had a little like... radio -controlled

00:42:11.429 --> 00:42:13.550
or wire -controlled machines that would take

00:42:13.550 --> 00:42:15.789
stuff off the trains and load it on trucks, and

00:42:15.789 --> 00:42:17.429
then the trucks would go on a long -tailed track

00:42:17.429 --> 00:42:20.010
and stuff. It was super cool. Occasionally, he

00:42:20.010 --> 00:42:21.530
would let us play with it. This one particular

00:42:21.530 --> 00:42:23.889
day, we went over to his house. I was pretty

00:42:23.889 --> 00:42:27.610
young. We were, like, first grade. And his dad

00:42:27.610 --> 00:42:29.829
wasn't home, so he wouldn't let us go in the

00:42:29.829 --> 00:42:31.630
basement to play with the trains. So instead,

00:42:31.750 --> 00:42:33.289
we went to Quentin's bedroom, and we played with

00:42:33.289 --> 00:42:37.230
a racetrack, right? And it was, like, just a

00:42:37.230 --> 00:42:39.880
black figure -eight track. And he set the car

00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:41.320
as a track, and he picked up the controller,

00:42:41.420 --> 00:42:42.739
and he pushed the button, and his car started

00:42:42.739 --> 00:42:44.019
to go. And the car was probably in the corner,

00:42:44.099 --> 00:42:46.260
and it curved right around the track. Well, I

00:42:46.260 --> 00:42:48.420
was looking at it from across the room, and I

00:42:48.420 --> 00:42:51.579
had never seen a track like that. And probably

00:42:51.579 --> 00:42:53.159
a bunch of you haven't seen it either now, too,

00:42:53.219 --> 00:42:55.199
because they're pretty well dead now, right?

00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:57.920
There might be a few still out there somewhere

00:42:57.920 --> 00:42:59.679
here that I can find on the Internet. Anyway,

00:42:59.820 --> 00:43:01.579
the point is, I didn't understand why the car

00:43:01.579 --> 00:43:03.079
wasn't just going right off the track. And I

00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:04.639
was like, what's that? And I ran over there to

00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:06.530
see what it was. And I realized there's a track.

00:43:06.670 --> 00:43:09.670
There was a track under the cars guiding the

00:43:09.670 --> 00:43:13.329
direction. God is like that, right? So God, his

00:43:13.329 --> 00:43:16.250
invisible hand, you can't see it, but he's guiding

00:43:16.250 --> 00:43:19.329
you so you don't run off the course. Now you

00:43:19.329 --> 00:43:22.449
can decide not to take the guidance. You can

00:43:22.449 --> 00:43:24.889
say, well, I think I'm gonna. I think God wants

00:43:24.889 --> 00:43:27.590
me to. You can find Bible verses to support your

00:43:27.590 --> 00:43:29.469
decisions. You can get people to give you the

00:43:29.469 --> 00:43:32.630
advice that you want. You can listen to... When

00:43:32.630 --> 00:43:34.309
we were moving to Michigan, we listened to the

00:43:34.309 --> 00:43:35.750
loan officer who said we could buy that house

00:43:35.750 --> 00:43:36.969
in Michigan, even though we were still alone

00:43:36.969 --> 00:43:39.690
in Ohio. That was bad advice. We weren't supposed

00:43:39.690 --> 00:43:42.050
to buy the house. We didn't ask God that. We

00:43:42.050 --> 00:43:43.269
knew where we were supposed to live, but we didn't

00:43:43.269 --> 00:43:44.590
ask him whether we were supposed to buy the house.

00:43:44.769 --> 00:43:47.409
We ran on ahead. She was like, you can do it.

00:43:47.409 --> 00:43:49.210
You can do it. So we're like, oh, yeah, we can

00:43:49.210 --> 00:43:50.949
do it. We're excited. We get to do what God wants

00:43:50.949 --> 00:43:53.909
us to do. But God never told us to buy the house.

00:43:53.929 --> 00:43:56.210
He just told us to live there. And then two and

00:43:56.210 --> 00:43:57.829
a half years later, when we got out of that house,

00:43:57.929 --> 00:43:59.570
we found out that we could have lived there for

00:43:59.570 --> 00:44:02.670
a little over half. of what we were paying monthly

00:44:02.670 --> 00:44:06.590
if we didn't buy it and just rent it. That's

00:44:06.590 --> 00:44:10.230
crazy. And we were now moving out of it and had

00:44:10.230 --> 00:44:11.769
to try to rent it because we couldn't get it

00:44:11.769 --> 00:44:14.369
sold and we couldn't rent it. And then we finally

00:44:14.369 --> 00:44:16.289
did rent it and the whole time we rent it, we

00:44:16.289 --> 00:44:17.590
couldn't rent it for enough money to pay the

00:44:17.590 --> 00:44:19.650
mortgage. And so it was tanking our finances

00:44:19.650 --> 00:44:21.489
even more. And then it was eventually going to

00:44:21.489 --> 00:44:24.050
go to share sale. And then we repented, turned

00:44:24.050 --> 00:44:26.389
the whole thing over to God via tithing like

00:44:26.389 --> 00:44:28.030
we're supposed to do like that. And God fixed

00:44:28.030 --> 00:44:30.849
it all. God sold it. The day before I went to

00:44:30.849 --> 00:44:34.050
sheriff's sale, and he worked all the debt out,

00:44:34.050 --> 00:44:36.369
paid off all the bills, or like that. But God

00:44:36.369 --> 00:44:39.190
was guiding us. At the time, we decided not to

00:44:39.190 --> 00:44:41.409
ask God another question, not to listen to what

00:44:41.409 --> 00:44:44.010
God was saying, but instead listen to that loan

00:44:44.010 --> 00:44:48.730
officer. So be careful. The world is very ready

00:44:48.730 --> 00:44:50.670
to give you advice that does not line up with

00:44:50.670 --> 00:44:53.849
God's invisible hand. Okay? Brings us to the

00:44:53.849 --> 00:44:56.409
application then for that. It's when you cannot

00:44:56.409 --> 00:44:59.940
trace God's hand. Because you can't see it. You

00:44:59.940 --> 00:45:02.739
can't figure it out yourself. You can still trust

00:45:02.739 --> 00:45:06.980
God's heart. God is still for you. He still wants

00:45:06.980 --> 00:45:09.320
you to do the right thing. He still actually

00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:13.260
is there guiding, right? He may not be the kind

00:45:13.260 --> 00:45:14.900
of guidance you exactly want, but he's still

00:45:14.900 --> 00:45:19.260
there. And in the end, he is the exact guidance.

00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:22.900
So real quick, between four and five, notice,

00:45:23.260 --> 00:45:26.880
right? Discipline is like this. This is what

00:45:26.880 --> 00:45:31.190
discipline is. Discipline is training in doing

00:45:31.190 --> 00:45:35.369
the right thing and will, as necessary, become

00:45:35.369 --> 00:45:39.769
forceful. So like my kids, when they're acting

00:45:39.769 --> 00:45:40.989
up, I say, you know what, if you don't stop,

00:45:41.090 --> 00:45:43.469
you're going to get your butt whipped. And then

00:45:43.469 --> 00:45:46.170
if they didn't stop, now I put myself in a corner,

00:45:46.309 --> 00:45:52.210
I have to spank. Or I say, she's tired with her

00:45:52.210 --> 00:45:59.019
eyes. Anyway, so you might say, Now you can't

00:45:59.019 --> 00:46:01.079
go to your friend's house because you did this.

00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:03.260
Now you've actually opened your corner. Or you

00:46:03.260 --> 00:46:05.320
might say, well, you're grounded for 30 days.

00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:07.940
30 days, you can't do anything. Which, by the

00:46:07.940 --> 00:46:10.800
way, you should never do that. Because if you

00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:14.380
do that, you now are a slave to that decision.

00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:17.219
For 30 days, you have to push yourself to enforce

00:46:17.219 --> 00:46:20.039
that decision. So who's actually suffering? You

00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:22.079
are. Because you have to work the whole time

00:46:22.079 --> 00:46:23.739
for 30 days to make it happen. The better you

00:46:23.739 --> 00:46:25.659
do the punishment, it's like right now, it's

00:46:25.659 --> 00:46:30.769
over. Anyway, the point is, discipline and guidance

00:46:30.769 --> 00:46:34.510
work hand in hand so that God is constantly guiding

00:46:34.510 --> 00:46:37.429
you. And when you refuse God's guidance, you

00:46:37.429 --> 00:46:39.349
run right afoul of the world system. And typically

00:46:39.349 --> 00:46:42.429
you crash, run off track, crash, things go poorly,

00:46:42.630 --> 00:46:46.050
like that. And if you go off for a while and

00:46:46.050 --> 00:46:48.170
don't jump back on, you don't come back to God,

00:46:48.269 --> 00:46:53.250
then you experience the wrath of God. So then

00:46:53.250 --> 00:46:59.079
we're on to number six. No one can escape God's

00:46:59.079 --> 00:47:03.940
hand. Classic New Testament verse, John 10, 28

00:47:03.940 --> 00:47:08.300
-29. And Jesus said, no one will snatch them

00:47:08.300 --> 00:47:12.500
out of my hand. A little later in 29, he says,

00:47:12.579 --> 00:47:15.860
no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's

00:47:15.860 --> 00:47:21.760
hand. So Jesus is talking about security in belief.

00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:24.340
If you trust God and have been saved, you're

00:47:24.340 --> 00:47:26.150
going to lose it. You're not going to fall down

00:47:26.150 --> 00:47:28.829
one day and it falls out of your pocket and suddenly

00:47:28.829 --> 00:47:30.530
you're going to hell again. That's not going

00:47:30.530 --> 00:47:35.730
to happen. It's settled. Our salvation is not

00:47:35.730 --> 00:47:39.409
maintained by our grip on God or our faithfulness

00:47:39.409 --> 00:47:42.289
or how well we follow a set of rules or if we

00:47:42.289 --> 00:47:46.409
do what somebody told us will work. Salvation

00:47:46.409 --> 00:47:51.110
isn't based on any of it. But rather, it rests

00:47:51.110 --> 00:47:56.110
upon God's grip on us. Does God have you? If

00:47:56.110 --> 00:47:59.050
God has you, he will always have you. Even when

00:47:59.050 --> 00:48:00.769
you're screwing up or going the wrong way, he

00:48:00.769 --> 00:48:04.389
will still have you. And it happens, looking

00:48:04.389 --> 00:48:06.789
back at the previous two, that people go off

00:48:06.789 --> 00:48:09.150
course, they've fallen with the wrong crowd or

00:48:09.150 --> 00:48:11.630
whatever, they're Christians, they've been saved,

00:48:11.710 --> 00:48:12.489
and now they've fallen with the wrong crowd,

00:48:12.530 --> 00:48:15.530
and they walk away from God for years, decades

00:48:15.530 --> 00:48:21.530
even, or they die in their sin. They start hanging

00:48:21.530 --> 00:48:23.210
out with their drinking buddies again, get knifed

00:48:23.210 --> 00:48:26.010
in a bar fight. They're dead. And they go straight

00:48:26.010 --> 00:48:29.429
to heaven. And when they get to heaven, on the

00:48:29.429 --> 00:48:31.449
way in, they're feeling pretty stupid, right?

00:48:31.530 --> 00:48:33.989
Because that was really dumb. And they have to

00:48:33.989 --> 00:48:36.030
deal with the consequences of that on the way

00:48:36.030 --> 00:48:37.730
in. The bottom line is they didn't lose their

00:48:37.730 --> 00:48:40.710
salvation. They just suffered really bad consequences

00:48:40.710 --> 00:48:44.710
for choosing the wrong course. So God's hand

00:48:44.710 --> 00:48:49.449
is stronger than every enemy. You cannot picture...

00:48:49.849 --> 00:48:52.409
Anyone or anything, no matter how big, who's

00:48:52.409 --> 00:48:56.469
as big or as strong as he is. He will not slip.

00:48:57.050 --> 00:48:59.949
There's no accidents. There's no mistakes. You

00:48:59.949 --> 00:49:05.989
can't squeak out. There's no spills. So then

00:49:05.989 --> 00:49:09.670
under the application point is our assurance

00:49:09.670 --> 00:49:12.530
rests in God's faithfulness rather than our own

00:49:12.530 --> 00:49:15.110
strength. So there are times where I'm a good

00:49:15.110 --> 00:49:20.199
Christian. I read my Bible, pray. fast, serve,

00:49:20.559 --> 00:49:23.559
give. I got spiritual disciplines out the roof.

00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:26.519
I'm trying. I'm exercising my spiritual gift

00:49:26.519 --> 00:49:30.019
doing everything that I want to do. Sounds really

00:49:30.019 --> 00:49:33.199
great. There are other times where a day goes

00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:36.219
by and I start to go, oh, I'm supposed to be

00:49:36.219 --> 00:49:38.139
doing this. I'm working really hard and I'm doing

00:49:38.139 --> 00:49:40.320
the things that God wants me to do. Like I'm

00:49:40.320 --> 00:49:43.920
pastoring or counseling or I'm serving the life

00:49:43.920 --> 00:49:46.199
station. I'm hauling cargo, whatever. And I go

00:49:46.199 --> 00:49:48.760
to bed at night and I realize, oh man, I only

00:49:48.760 --> 00:49:51.519
talked to God just a little bit today, and I

00:49:51.519 --> 00:49:55.579
didn't hardly read my Bible. You're no less saved

00:49:55.579 --> 00:49:57.820
on the days that you don't do it right than you

00:49:57.820 --> 00:50:00.679
are on the days that you do it 100 % right. And

00:50:00.679 --> 00:50:02.679
if there are any days that you do it 100 % right,

00:50:02.719 --> 00:50:04.900
which there probably aren't. If you start thinking

00:50:04.900 --> 00:50:06.480
you've got days where you're doing it 100 % right,

00:50:06.619 --> 00:50:08.940
then you're probably getting arrogant, and that's

00:50:08.940 --> 00:50:11.000
a whole other problem, which will also result

00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:14.610
in the wrath of God. So our assurance rests,

00:50:14.730 --> 00:50:17.449
thankfully, on God's faithfulness, not on our

00:50:17.449 --> 00:50:19.250
strength or our ability to hold on. We should

00:50:19.250 --> 00:50:21.050
take his hand when we cross the busy parking

00:50:21.050 --> 00:50:22.750
lot, when we're going through the crazy times.

00:50:22.869 --> 00:50:25.409
We should want to do that. But if we don't, we

00:50:25.409 --> 00:50:27.510
can trust he's still going to take a hold of

00:50:27.510 --> 00:50:29.230
us. You're walking out from the truck, he's still

00:50:29.230 --> 00:50:30.550
going to grab you by the scruff of the neck and

00:50:30.550 --> 00:50:33.090
pull you back. Right? Assuming you're willing.

00:50:33.989 --> 00:50:39.130
Okay. And then seven, the last one. The hand

00:50:39.130 --> 00:50:43.579
of God commissions his servants. So Acts 11 .21.

00:50:43.940 --> 00:50:48.719
Acts 11 .21. Acts 11 .21 says, And the hand of

00:50:48.719 --> 00:50:51.739
the Lord was with them, and a large number who

00:50:51.739 --> 00:50:56.400
believed turned to the Lord. So God authorizes

00:50:56.400 --> 00:50:59.199
the great working of the kingdom. He's the one

00:50:59.199 --> 00:51:02.019
who sets it up. So they realized that what they

00:51:02.019 --> 00:51:04.579
were doing was successful, not because of anything

00:51:04.579 --> 00:51:06.260
that they were doing, because they were doing

00:51:06.260 --> 00:51:08.679
a good job, or even because they were being faithful,

00:51:08.840 --> 00:51:12.480
right? But because God was doing a thing. And

00:51:12.480 --> 00:51:14.619
we start realizing that about when the kingdom

00:51:14.619 --> 00:51:17.940
advances, the kingdom doesn't advance because

00:51:17.940 --> 00:51:20.019
the people of the kingdom are trying to advance.

00:51:20.420 --> 00:51:24.659
The kingdom advances because God does it. He

00:51:24.659 --> 00:51:26.679
makes it happen. He softens someone's heart,

00:51:26.699 --> 00:51:29.019
someone's heart. He opens someone's ears. He

00:51:29.019 --> 00:51:32.300
solves someone's problem. I was at Tony Paco's.

00:51:32.300 --> 00:51:34.940
The lady, she was in a car accident and nearly

00:51:34.940 --> 00:51:37.539
died and couldn't walk for like two months afterwards.

00:51:38.329 --> 00:51:41.110
horrible. And during that time, she had to relearn

00:51:41.110 --> 00:51:42.789
all kinds of things, like how to feed herself,

00:51:42.929 --> 00:51:45.130
how to walk, how to dress, and everything. She

00:51:45.130 --> 00:51:47.130
had to relearn it. It was terrible. And she was

00:51:47.130 --> 00:51:49.650
not saved. She was not a Christian. And then,

00:51:49.730 --> 00:51:53.630
about six months after that, me and a youth pastor

00:51:53.630 --> 00:51:55.909
and two teenagers from Mississippi ran into her

00:51:55.909 --> 00:51:59.630
at Tony Paco's, and I asked her, we were talking

00:51:59.630 --> 00:52:00.889
about the Bible, and I got to the point where

00:52:00.889 --> 00:52:03.369
I said, have you ever experienced a fresh start

00:52:03.369 --> 00:52:05.849
in your life, like a new beginning? And she said,

00:52:05.909 --> 00:52:08.230
well, you know, I kind of did. I know what you're

00:52:08.230 --> 00:52:10.989
talking about. After my accident, and she experienced

00:52:10.989 --> 00:52:13.769
it, and I said, how do you think all that happened?

00:52:13.909 --> 00:52:16.969
How do you think that plays into your being here

00:52:16.969 --> 00:52:19.429
today, having this conversation? And she said,

00:52:19.630 --> 00:52:23.650
I think God was showing me that God can do what

00:52:23.650 --> 00:52:26.769
I cannot do. And I realized I need to be saved,

00:52:26.809 --> 00:52:28.750
not from my car accident, because that's already

00:52:28.750 --> 00:52:30.769
happened. I went back to work, and all that's

00:52:30.769 --> 00:52:34.670
been done. But from her head. Tears streaming

00:52:34.670 --> 00:52:37.329
down her face. It was the bartender of Tony Paco

00:52:37.329 --> 00:52:39.650
standing at the table. She had five on the table

00:52:39.650 --> 00:52:41.469
that she was waiting on. And she bowed her head

00:52:41.469 --> 00:52:44.449
and prayed out loud to receive Jesus Christ the

00:52:44.449 --> 00:52:47.690
Lord and Savior. Because she understood. She

00:52:47.690 --> 00:52:50.250
figured it out. Right? And somebody shared the

00:52:50.250 --> 00:52:53.530
basic truth with her. So the hand of God commissioned

00:52:53.530 --> 00:52:56.329
her into the kingdom. He brought her in. He made

00:52:56.329 --> 00:53:00.170
it happen. And I didn't do that. Nothing I did.

00:53:00.289 --> 00:53:01.809
You say, well, you were faithful and shared.

00:53:02.320 --> 00:53:07.119
Yeah, and so should we all. And to do so does

00:53:07.119 --> 00:53:10.920
not make someone special. You're supposed to

00:53:10.920 --> 00:53:13.699
do that. We're all supposed to do it all the

00:53:13.699 --> 00:53:17.400
time, right? To not do it might be disobedience,

00:53:17.420 --> 00:53:20.179
but to do it is not a certain kind of obedience

00:53:20.179 --> 00:53:22.500
that's going to win more souls or make more stuff

00:53:22.500 --> 00:53:25.780
happen, right? It's just what we are. And so

00:53:25.780 --> 00:53:29.460
God's hand produces spiritual fruit. Ministry

00:53:29.460 --> 00:53:32.989
succeeds. Because God is actively working through

00:53:32.989 --> 00:53:35.869
his people. Not his people are actively working

00:53:35.869 --> 00:53:38.949
through God, but God is actively working through

00:53:38.949 --> 00:53:41.530
his people. And then that brings us to our application.

00:53:41.929 --> 00:53:46.829
God does not simply call his servants. God doesn't

00:53:46.829 --> 00:53:48.949
go to a dark place and find somebody and say,

00:53:48.989 --> 00:53:53.469
hey, come on. And that's all he does. Stop there.

00:53:54.349 --> 00:53:57.130
He calls you out of the darkness to be the assembled

00:53:57.130 --> 00:54:00.250
church, to do something for him. and then he

00:54:00.250 --> 00:54:02.469
empowers that something so that it will turn

00:54:02.469 --> 00:54:04.710
into something big and blossoming that you never

00:54:04.710 --> 00:54:07.550
even began to realize it could be. You never

00:54:07.550 --> 00:54:10.409
dreamt about it. So he takes that tiny thing

00:54:10.409 --> 00:54:12.789
that was you huddled in the dark, wishing you

00:54:12.789 --> 00:54:15.309
could change your life, and he turns you into

00:54:15.309 --> 00:54:19.829
a light, salt, grace, warrior, armored up, changing

00:54:19.829 --> 00:54:25.070
the world for God. He does it. So then we're

00:54:25.070 --> 00:54:26.730
going to have a summary, and then we're going

00:54:26.730 --> 00:54:31.260
to do prayer. The summary looks like this. The

00:54:31.260 --> 00:54:33.739
hand of God teaches us these things. This is

00:54:33.739 --> 00:54:37.659
on your sheet. It's the bottom right box. So

00:54:37.659 --> 00:54:41.280
first of all, he teaches us about his power.

00:54:42.679 --> 00:54:46.019
Nothing is impossible for God. He teaches us

00:54:46.019 --> 00:54:50.019
about his providence. God provides for every

00:54:50.019 --> 00:54:54.099
living creature. He teaches us about his protection.

00:54:56.170 --> 00:54:59.650
So God securely holds his people. I've said it

00:54:59.650 --> 00:55:01.349
this way, and I believe it with all my heart.

00:55:01.610 --> 00:55:03.989
If you are doing what God would have you to do,

00:55:04.150 --> 00:55:08.650
you cannot be stopped. If you are in the process

00:55:08.650 --> 00:55:11.250
of doing what God wants you to do, a bullet couldn't

00:55:11.250 --> 00:55:15.389
kill you. A bomb couldn't kill you. A car couldn't

00:55:15.389 --> 00:55:17.650
run over you. If you are actively doing what

00:55:17.650 --> 00:55:22.989
God wants you to do, you cannot be stopped. His

00:55:22.989 --> 00:55:26.860
protection, he securely holds his people. His

00:55:26.860 --> 00:55:29.820
discipline, he lovingly corrects his children.

00:55:32.440 --> 00:55:36.320
And again, that is guidance, always, and when

00:55:36.320 --> 00:55:40.860
necessary, breaks out in punishment. His guidance,

00:55:41.079 --> 00:55:43.800
he directs circumstances according to his will.

00:55:44.019 --> 00:55:46.460
All the details are called into place. Acts 17

00:55:46.460 --> 00:55:48.480
says that God decided where you will live, set

00:55:48.480 --> 00:55:50.940
up the boundaries of the nations. He did all

00:55:50.940 --> 00:55:52.719
of that so that people might grope around for

00:55:52.719 --> 00:55:54.440
him, and having groped around for him, find...

00:55:54.719 --> 00:55:56.440
that he was never far away in the first place.

00:55:57.460 --> 00:56:00.320
So he has orchestrated every little event of

00:56:00.320 --> 00:56:03.639
your life, every detail, so that you can be where

00:56:03.639 --> 00:56:09.699
you are and look for him. His sovereignty. We

00:56:09.699 --> 00:56:11.500
talked about that one on Sunday, for those of

00:56:11.500 --> 00:56:15.579
us who were in the sermon on Sunday. And we should

00:56:15.579 --> 00:56:17.739
not whittle away. That was the topic of the sermon,

00:56:17.780 --> 00:56:20.059
which is available online on Facebook and also

00:56:20.059 --> 00:56:22.900
will be on, God willing, if my week sorts itself

00:56:22.900 --> 00:56:28.869
out a little bit. So we shouldn't rule away at

00:56:28.869 --> 00:56:31.889
God's sovereignty. No one can overcome God's

00:56:31.889 --> 00:56:33.809
purposes, and if you are trying to overcome God's

00:56:33.809 --> 00:56:37.449
purposes, you will fail. However horrendous that

00:56:37.449 --> 00:56:40.829
winds up looking, you will fail. And lastly,

00:56:40.909 --> 00:56:43.670
his faithfulness. He completes what he begins.

00:56:45.409 --> 00:56:50.090
And then the wide box across the bottom. You

00:56:50.090 --> 00:56:51.730
can write any of these in there that you want,

00:56:51.849 --> 00:56:54.250
but here's some applications that I came up with.

00:56:54.750 --> 00:56:58.630
Trust God's strength rather than your own. So

00:56:58.630 --> 00:57:00.889
out of this, I see God's hand is bigger than

00:57:00.889 --> 00:57:03.550
me, bigger than mine, bigger than my church,

00:57:03.789 --> 00:57:05.829
bigger than my ministry, bigger than the podcast

00:57:05.829 --> 00:57:08.449
reaching across the world. And I dream about

00:57:08.449 --> 00:57:10.849
the mighty things that God might do. I'm not

00:57:10.849 --> 00:57:12.889
trusting in my strength. I'm trusting in God's

00:57:12.889 --> 00:57:16.690
strength. Thank God for his daily provision.

00:57:18.289 --> 00:57:20.989
We should be grateful. One of the reasons you

00:57:20.989 --> 00:57:22.510
pray before meals is because you wouldn't have

00:57:22.510 --> 00:57:26.099
that meal if God hadn't given it. Thank God for

00:57:26.099 --> 00:57:28.800
his daily provision. Rest in the security of

00:57:28.800 --> 00:57:33.059
his hand. Stop beating yourself up. Obviously

00:57:33.059 --> 00:57:35.059
be found faithful. Do the things that God wants

00:57:35.059 --> 00:57:36.820
you to do. And then when it doesn't quite work

00:57:36.820 --> 00:57:38.219
out the way you think it should, start beating

00:57:38.219 --> 00:57:42.019
yourself up. Say, okay, I screwed up. It's up

00:57:42.019 --> 00:57:46.840
to God anyway. But don't go off rails and then

00:57:46.840 --> 00:57:49.940
say that because you'll be facing wrath. And

00:57:49.940 --> 00:57:53.550
if you get real used to wrath, And you have a

00:57:53.550 --> 00:57:58.090
real problem. Receive his discipline with humility.

00:57:59.369 --> 00:58:01.289
I've had a number of children and grandchildren

00:58:01.289 --> 00:58:03.429
over the years who did not take the discipline

00:58:03.429 --> 00:58:07.250
well. And it resulted in punishment. And then

00:58:07.250 --> 00:58:08.710
they did not take the punishment well either.

00:58:09.590 --> 00:58:11.829
And it was usually only for a period of time.

00:58:11.889 --> 00:58:13.429
And then they figured out, well, the punishment

00:58:13.429 --> 00:58:15.010
I don't really like. And it keeps happening.

00:58:15.090 --> 00:58:17.090
It might keep going this way. And so I'm going

00:58:17.090 --> 00:58:22.179
to try something different. Or they got really

00:58:22.179 --> 00:58:25.739
good at hiding in some cases, right? Because

00:58:25.739 --> 00:58:27.860
they didn't want to. So receive God's discipline

00:58:27.860 --> 00:58:30.559
with humility because God is a wise discipliner

00:58:30.559 --> 00:58:33.260
and a loving discipliner. And the last one is

00:58:33.260 --> 00:58:35.900
look for his hand in ordinary circumstances.

00:58:36.460 --> 00:58:38.980
So whatever's going on today, look for where

00:58:38.980 --> 00:58:42.320
God is working. Blackaby, I think it was, was

00:58:42.320 --> 00:58:44.719
experiencing God. He said, look for where God

00:58:44.719 --> 00:58:48.000
is working and then join him in. You just did

00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:50.909
that. This is a two -point life. Less than after

00:58:50.909 --> 00:58:53.670
accepting Christ as Lord. That's all you did

00:58:53.670 --> 00:58:56.090
every day. You'd be awesome. Your results would

00:58:56.090 --> 00:58:59.469
always be godly, honoring. You'd be awesome.

00:58:59.829 --> 00:59:03.630
So here's an illustration. A master sculptor,

00:59:03.630 --> 00:59:06.269
chisel and hammer. Bang, bang, bang. Bits of

00:59:06.269 --> 00:59:09.690
rock are falling off, right? He strikes the rock.

00:59:09.750 --> 00:59:11.969
He goes around and around. He's going around

00:59:11.969 --> 00:59:15.289
and around the rock. He's striking it. Many tiny

00:59:15.289 --> 00:59:18.840
strikes. Bits and bits. occasionally a larger

00:59:18.840 --> 00:59:21.500
piece will come off. But almost always it's bits

00:59:21.500 --> 00:59:24.800
and bits, little bit, little bit. I mean, slivers

00:59:24.800 --> 00:59:27.820
so small that you think, why would he even take

00:59:27.820 --> 00:59:30.300
the time to swing a hammer? Take off the tiniest

00:59:30.300 --> 00:59:34.860
little dust of a rock, right? But years later,

00:59:34.960 --> 00:59:39.659
when the sculpture is done, those same blows

00:59:39.659 --> 00:59:46.909
show up as the skill, not the cruelty. Not something

00:59:46.909 --> 00:59:49.929
bad that he did to the rock, but as the steel,

00:59:49.989 --> 00:59:53.170
as the picture that he had in his mind comes

00:59:53.170 --> 00:59:58.949
out. Who saw the picture first? Say God, right?

00:59:59.090 --> 01:00:02.909
And then the sculptor. And God is like that sculptor.

01:00:02.969 --> 01:00:07.969
He sees the picture, and sometimes God's shaping

01:00:07.969 --> 01:00:11.329
feels uncomfortable. Trials, corrections, waiting,

01:00:11.590 --> 01:00:16.880
whatever. But every touch of God's guided, hand,

01:00:16.880 --> 01:00:19.960
every application of his perfect wisdom, every

01:00:19.960 --> 01:00:23.440
installation of his steadfast love, God is not

01:00:23.440 --> 01:00:26.099
trying to destroy his people, but to conform

01:00:26.099 --> 01:00:29.699
them to the image of Christ. So you could really

01:00:29.699 --> 01:00:32.239
say whatever you're going through, as bad as

01:00:32.239 --> 01:00:35.719
it ever gets, or as good as it ever gets, but

01:00:35.719 --> 01:00:38.880
all together, the best moment and the worst moment,

01:00:38.960 --> 01:00:40.099
all together and everything that's in between,

01:00:40.380 --> 01:00:43.000
they're all designed with one purpose in mind.

01:00:43.699 --> 01:00:45.760
And that is that you would become into the image

01:00:45.760 --> 01:00:48.500
of Christ. That you could go to be in eternity

01:00:48.500 --> 01:00:50.780
with God forever. And then you'd look pretty

01:00:50.780 --> 01:00:53.320
good there. You'd fit right in. And that's what

01:00:53.320 --> 01:00:55.559
God is trying to do. And so if we're resisting

01:00:55.559 --> 01:00:58.139
that, then we're resisting the hand of God. And

01:00:58.139 --> 01:01:00.659
so Scripture teaches us that. So if you want

01:01:00.659 --> 01:01:01.940
to be like Christ, if you want to be a person

01:01:01.940 --> 01:01:05.719
like Christ, then don't resist. Rather, humbly

01:01:05.719 --> 01:01:07.480
accept that direction and realize that you can

01:01:07.480 --> 01:01:12.460
work in every moment and rest in Him. Okay? Do

01:01:12.460 --> 01:01:12.900
we have time?