The DIP Shtick

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Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now–life for many people.
Genesis 50:20 (The Message)

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In our lesson, we learn the one of the elements of God’s Providence is concurrence. Concurrence means “agreement, cooperation, or consent”. It gives the idea that no activity of matter or the mind can take place without God’s consent, and that His power cooperates with the powers that are under Him. Essentially, God’s power has a strong influence on man’s power without destroying it or robbing man of his freedom.

Recently in the news, we heard that a man named Brian Nichols went on a killing spree in a courthouse and in the process of trying to get away. He happened upon a woman named Ashley Smith. She had been struggling with her own problems and had recently started reading “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren.

While we don’t know how the story will ultimately end, we can see signs that God’s hand was in the story.

• First, Nichols came upon Ashley Smith. Here was a woman who was just starting to learn something about her own relationship to God and she wanted to share what she learned.
• Second, she told Nicols that possibly, God’s hand was in this. That because of what he had done, Nichols would have to go to prison but that he could be a witness behind bars. Like I said, we don’t know ultimately how this will end. I’m praying that Nichols will have a conversion experience and be a great witness to God’s awesome power of forgiveness and redemption.
• Third, the news media covered the story and because the book was such a prominent part of the story, they couldn’t ignore it. It renewed interest in the book. How many lives were changed as a result of people seeing news stories that mentioned Ashley reading the book to Nichols.

Shortly after this happened, Larry King interviewed Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life”. Here are some quotes from the interview:

KING: Rick, why do bad things happen to good people?

WARREN: Well, Larry, it’s because we live in a broken world. This is not (a) perfect world. This is not heaven and that’s why we’re depraved. ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.’ Why? Because in heaven, everything’s done perfectly. Things are not done perfectly on this earth.

“God gave us a freedom to choose. As a result of choices, we make mistakes, we blow it — and whenever I make mistakes, whenever I sin, it always causes damage and causes hurt.

“The Bible teaches that since sin entered the world, way back with the very first human beings, we have lived in an imperfect, broken planet, and that causes hurricanes and tornadoes, and all kinds of things. This is not a perfect planet. So, we should not be surprised that it’s not paradise. And also, life is not fair. In fact, the Bible says life is not fair. It’s just not fair.”

## and then later ##

…I’m creating ways to simply share the message, that God loves you, he has a plan and purpose for your life, Jesus Christ died for you, there is a reason for the things that happen in your life. And even the bad things, God can bring good out of bad.

“That’s what Easter’s all about, and — the message isn’t really anything new, Larry. It’s been taught for 2,000 years in churches. If somebody wants to hear it, they don’t have to read my book, just go to church on Easter and hear it.”

(Read the whole interview here: http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0503/22/lkl.01.html

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And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. -from the Declaration of Independence

The Founders were characterized, as a group, by remarkable intellectual ability, foresight and public-spiritedness. When they signed the Declaration of Independence, they knew they were risking everything. Most would sign this pledge knowing that they would become instant wanted men. They also knew that in order for this country to survive, the American people would have to depend on God’s Divine Providence. The Declaration contains five references to God – God as supreme Lawmaker, God as Creator of all men, God as the Source of all rights, God as the world’s supreme Judge, and God as our Protector on whom we can rely.

They were dependent on God’s care, foresight, prudent management, guardianship and divine direction. They knew that man alone could not accomplish this by themselves. Whew — I am still in awe at the brilliance of these men.

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Consider this quote by Robert E. Lee

“We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.”

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God is always watching out for us – even when we think He isn’t.

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Because God is Holy, He separates Himself from people because of human sinfulness. How then can we communicate with God if we are sinners.

In the Old Testament, only one person was allowed in the holiest part of the tabernacle. A sanctified priest was permitted to enter once each year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. He did this to make atonement for the sins of the people in the presence of a holy God. In this way, God’s people were made to see how much God hated their sin.

In present times, God has provided us a way to come into His holy presence through atonement provide by His son, Jesus Christ who was the sacrificial lamb, paying for our sin with His life. It is the ultimate act of love.

How could He love us so much?

God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God’s love is unconditional, and it’s not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn’t love us because we’re lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.

God is the Creator of all things, and by His very nature, He is love. God says love is unconditional and sacrificial, and it’s not based on feelings; therefore, love is not an “intense affection… based on familial or personal ties”. To understand what true love is and to be able to truly love others, we must know God, and we can do this through a close personal relationship with Him. We can have that close relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, who was God’s sacrifice of love for us.

awe (noun ) A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might

awe·some (adjective) Inspiring awe

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There are three persons in the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are of the same substance; they are equal in glory, power, majesty, and eternity; and they are one.

The big question many ask is: To whom do we pray?

We could take the lead from some children’s prayers:

Dear Jesus: Please send a new baby for Mommy.
The new baby you sent last week cries too much.
Debbie, 7

Dear God: Who did you make smarter? Boys or girls?
My sister and I want to know.
Jimmy, 6

Dear God: This is my prayer. Could you please give my brother some brains.
So far he doesn’t have any.
Angela, 8

Dear Lord: Thank you for the nice day today.
You even fooled the TV weather man.
Hank, 7

Dear God: Please bring me a new brother.
The one I got socks me all the time.
Agnes, 6

Dear Jesus; I am saying my prayers for me and my brother,
Billy, because Billy is six months old and he can’t do
anything but sleep and wet his diapers.
Diane, 8

Seriously, it is important to know whom we should address our prayers to. Jesus told us to address our prayers to the Father (John 16:23, 26 & 27). Since we believe that God has given all authority to Jesus, it is alright to address your prayers to Jesus as well. Some teach differently, saying it is wrong to address prayers to anyone but the Father specifically, but this is Biblically unjustifiable doctrinal hair-splitting. See Acts 7:59; Stephen, with his dying breath, prayed to Jesus, “…calling upon God…”. Also, by the context, St. Paul said in II Corinthians 12:9 that he prayed to Jesus. And last but not least, the famous phrase, “Amen, Even so, come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) is a prayer addressed to Jesus. It is probably also alright to address a prayer to the Holy Spirit. You are certainly invoking the Holy Spirit when you use the words “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen” (Matthew 28:19), and an invocation is a kind of prayer.

It is also important to know whom NOT to pray to. It is absolutely unscriptural to pray to anyone else, such as “Mary” or one of the saints. In fact, doing so is idolatry. An answer from such a source may come from Satan!

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While our friends from India traveled around California on business, they left their 11 year-old daughter with us. Curious about my going to church one Sunday morning, she decided to come along. When we returned home, my husband asked her what she thought of the service.

“I don’t understand why the West Coast isn’t included too,” she replied. When we inquired what she meant, she added, “You know, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the whole East Coast.”

– From Readers Digest

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Alan Kay is a prominent and respected computer scientist. He works in a field where it’s notoriously difficult to predict the future: ten years before the World Wide Web emerged, no-one anticipated anything like it: everyone thought back in the eighties that the future of computer was going to be in things like voice-recognition interfaces. His take on how to predict the future of computer science is insightful: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

We can understand God’s perfect knowledge of past, present and future in much the same light: he invented it. He knows it perfectly because it’s his plan.

As it relates to our lives, He does not make the decisions about what is going to happen to us. He just knows what our decisions will be before we make them. He foresees, he does not predetermine the events in our lives.