Recognizing God's Presence in Life's Coincidences
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"i'm really glad you're joining me today this is first thoughts we're learning how to live with god one day at a time even though we can't engineer our lives but we can surrender them and and god can lead us and the main place we meet god is in our minds and so every day i'm trying we're trying to have one thought to carry me carry us through the day to keep me connected with god because our minds are so important to be inspired to be elevated and and today's thought is all about god's presence in your life and god's care for you even though you and i often don't see it" [00:07:52]
"he met a dealer named scarface sometime earlier that brought him to a crack house in atlanta and so on this particular day he's there and he says he lights the pipe up over and over and over again it's just how this time not to get high this time wanting kneading waiting trying to die and then there is a knock on the door that crack house and somehow it's his dad his dad's name is bill moyer you might have heard of him he's done a lot of stuff on pbs he was actually trained as a baptist minister and then he ended up going into government work and for a long time was on the staff of president lyndon baines johnson" [00:92:15]
"and moyer is quite a formidable guy quite famously one time he's praying at a staff meeting and lbj is a little cranky can't hear him and says speak out bill i can't hear you and moyer's immediate response is excuse me mr president i wasn't talking to you so he's not a man easily cowed and doesn't give up and he would not give up on his son and kept searching him out and so that's the knock on the door and he gets his son and brings him into rehab and this time and this time in this time miracle of miracles grace breaks through who knows why and the power of god penetrates to the heart of william cope moyers he gets a life recovery bible and begins reading it and hits bottom and turns his life over fully to god i can't you can i think i'll let you and now he's been clean and sober for about 25 years deeply connected with god" [00:129:75]
"so many many years later after he had been sober for a long time he was back in atlanta and he gave a talk to a group of people he had some time to kill and he wanted to go back to that old neighborhood he wanted to see again and remember a little bit what it was like to be there and and the pain that he had been through and to look at other people that he might be able to help and he's wandering in one of those old neighborhoods and he sees a man there hold on a paper bag with a bottle of booze and the man has a long scar down his face and uh wants to get some money and william moyers realizes he is now face to face with scarface the crack dealer that had been with him at the absolute bottom of his life" [00:200:31]
"and he tries to tell him his story scarface does not recognize him his mind is not working real well and he realizes in that moment this is a picture of who he could have become when he sees this man and that he could be for scarface right now his actual name was tom that he could be a picture of what tom might yet become and here's what he writes about that encounter with each other coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous here in atlanta's inner city i realize that it is not by chance i've crossed paths again at this moment with a man who is at the center of my story the link between the way i used to be and the way i am now it is not by chance coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous in a world of alcoholics anonymous where there is so much anonymity it often does so much good coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous having an event happen that i did not expect that i did not plan through which grace comes to me through which something happens by surprise why i'm reminded i am in a world where i'm watched over and cared for" [00:246:08]
"there is another perspective from which it's very important that we look at our world in our life there's a great physicist john pokinghorn and he became an anglican priest he believes deeply in science and believes deeply in faith and god and he says there's two different kinds of explanations for things if there's a kettle of water boiling on the stove and you ask why i might say well because there's a fire underneath that and that adds energy and the molecules move fast and they shift from liquid state to steam and it whistles i might give an answer like that or i might say it's because i want a cup of tea in one case i'm naming clauses but in another case i'm giving a reason i'm explaining the intent of my heart because we don't just live in a world of forces and energy and particles we live in a world of persons and reasons and will" [00:364:00]
"now you can ask why is there a world and one kind of answer which i think is deeply true is that because 14 billion years ago or so a little singularity a single point exploded into something and the anthropic principle meant that our universe is fine-tuned for life you can give that kind of answer and that's true and another answer is it is because god wanted somebody to love and this is a notion of providence now see that uh in everything that happens in the movement of atoms and the way that a cup of tea gets made it's not just blind cause it's not just blind chance there is a god there is a person and his his knowledge is so vast he effortlessly holds in his mind every single event that's going on in this world and so he has no problem dealing with every person who has ever lived you and me and everybody else in ways that can both be used in other people's lives but where we are immense means to and end in ourselves in our journey with god god is that immense" [00:420:24]
"so today you be on the lookout for god coincidence having events that come into your life by surprise that you were not expecting is god's way of remaining anonymous but how often do we not see him so do they look for him there's a story in the book of second kings uh elijah and his servant we're in a place of great danger and elijah prays god would you open the eyes of my servant and his eyes are open and for a moment that he sees the hills are surrounded by horses and chariots of fire if you ever heard that expression that's where it comes from there are chariots of fire god's care god's provenance is all around us maybe we'll come today in the kind word of a friend i was feeling a bit alone this morning and right at that moment my friend chuck called me and he said john i was just listening to you talking about how we should be observing observing observing and i think the next step is we should go from observing to pointing the finger at people and blaming them only chuck would do that it just made me laugh now i needed to laugh right at that moment and then it came and that's one of the ways that god expresses his care maybe it will be an idea that comes at just the right time maybe it will be a song that resonates real deeply in you maybe it will be a scripture verse or a thought that is just what you need in that moment maybe it will be the beauty of nature" [00:489:75]
"when my dad died the people that were going to take care of the body said you guys are your family's going to want to be out of that room uh when we put his body in a bag and leave it but i didn't want to i wanted to be with him and i was that whole time and then we brought it out and put it into the vehicle where it got carried away and i just waved goodbye to my dad we've been talking earlier that day about how my dad loved uh monarch butterflies and in that moment as i was watching that vehicle go away there was a monarch butterfly that went past now again i understand at one level there is the large of law numbers you stand any place long enough and a monarch butterfly is going to go past but see there is a god who counts the hairs on your head and and swallow can't uh sparrow can't leave the nest butterfly can't leave a tree without that god knowing and so i can share that moment with god i can think you are the god of my father and the god of the butterfly and you love me maybe it will come in the thought to help other people maybe it will come when you think about sometime when you were really really really low and a person from that moment in your life is there the prayer for today is god opened my eyes helped me to see help me to connect the dots help me to be ready coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous so look for him today i'll see you tomorrow" [00:573:36]
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"he met a dealer named scarface sometime earlier that brought him to a crack house in atlanta and so on this particular day he's there and he says he lights the pipe up over and over and over again it's just how this time not to get high this time wanting kneading waiting trying to die and then there is a knock on the door that crack house and somehow it's his dad his dad's name is bill moyer you might have heard of him he's done a lot of stuff on pbs he was actually trained as a baptist minister and then he ended up going into government work and for a long time was on the staff of president lyndon baines johnson" [00:92:15]
"and moyer is quite a formidable guy quite famously one time he's praying at a staff meeting and lbj is a little cranky can't hear him and says speak out bill i can't hear you and moyer's immediate response is excuse me mr president i wasn't talking to you so he's not a man easily cowed and doesn't give up and he would not give up on his son and kept searching him out and so that's the knock on the door and he gets his son and brings him into rehab and this time and this time in this time miracle of miracles grace breaks through who knows why and the power of god penetrates to the heart of william cope moyers he gets a life recovery bible and begins reading it and hits bottom and turns his life over fully to god i can't you can i think i'll let you and now he's been clean and sober for about 25 years deeply connected with god" [00:129:75]
"so many many years later after he had been sober for a long time he was back in atlanta and he gave a talk to a group of people he had some time to kill and he wanted to go back to that old neighborhood he wanted to see again and remember a little bit what it was like to be there and and the pain that he had been through and to look at other people that he might be able to help and he's wandering in one of those old neighborhoods and he sees a man there hold on a paper bag with a bottle of booze and the man has a long scar down his face and uh wants to get some money and william moyers realizes he is now face to face with scarface the crack dealer that had been with him at the absolute bottom of his life" [00:200:31]
"and he tries to tell him his story scarface does not recognize him his mind is not working real well and he realizes in that moment this is a picture of who he could have become when he sees this man and that he could be for scarface right now his actual name was tom that he could be a picture of what tom might yet become and here's what he writes about that encounter with each other coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous here in atlanta's inner city i realize that it is not by chance i've crossed paths again at this moment with a man who is at the center of my story the link between the way i used to be and the way i am now it is not by chance coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous in a world of alcoholics anonymous where there is so much anonymity it often does so much good coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous having an event happen that i did not expect that i did not plan through which grace comes to me through which something happens by surprise why i'm reminded i am in a world where i'm watched over and cared for" [00:246:08]
"there is another perspective from which it's very important that we look at our world in our life there's a great physicist john pokinghorn and he became an anglican priest he believes deeply in science and believes deeply in faith and god and he says there's two different kinds of explanations for things if there's a kettle of water boiling on the stove and you ask why i might say well because there's a fire underneath that and that adds energy and the molecules move fast and they shift from liquid state to steam and it whistles i might give an answer like that or i might say it's because i want a cup of tea in one case i'm naming clauses but in another case i'm giving a reason i'm explaining the intent of my heart because we don't just live in a world of forces and energy and particles we live in a world of persons and reasons and will" [00:364:00]
"now you can ask why is there a world and one kind of answer which i think is deeply true is that because 14 billion years ago or so a little singularity a single point exploded into something and the anthropic principle meant that our universe is fine-tuned for life you can give that kind of answer and that's true and another answer is it is because god wanted somebody to love and this is a notion of providence now see that uh in everything that happens in the movement of atoms and the way that a cup of tea gets made it's not just blind cause it's not just blind chance there is a god there is a person and his his knowledge is so vast he effortlessly holds in his mind every single event that's going on in this world and so he has no problem dealing with every person who has ever lived you and me and everybody else in ways that can both be used in other people's lives but where we are immense means to and end in ourselves in our journey with god god is that immense" [00:420:24]
"so today you be on the lookout for god coincidence having events that come into your life by surprise that you were not expecting is god's way of remaining anonymous but how often do we not see him so do they look for him there's a story in the book of second kings uh elijah and his servant we're in a place of great danger and elijah prays god would you open the eyes of my servant and his eyes are open and for a moment that he sees the hills are surrounded by horses and chariots of fire if you ever heard that expression that's where it comes from there are chariots of fire god's care god's provenance is all around us maybe we'll come today in the kind word of a friend i was feeling a bit alone this morning and right at that moment my friend chuck called me and he said john i was just listening to you talking about how we should be observing observing observing and i think the next step is we should go from observing to pointing the finger at people and blaming them only chuck would do that it just made me laugh now i needed to laugh right at that moment and then it came and that's one of the ways that god expresses his care maybe it will be an idea that comes at just the right time maybe it will be a song that resonates real deeply in you maybe it will be a scripture verse or a thought that is just what you need in that moment maybe it will be the beauty of nature" [00:489:75]
"when my dad died the people that were going to take care of the body said you guys are your family's going to want to be out of that room uh when we put his body in a bag and leave it but i didn't want to i wanted to be with him and i was that whole time and then we brought it out and put it into the vehicle where it got carried away and i just waved goodbye to my dad we've been talking earlier that day about how my dad loved uh monarch butterflies and in that moment as i was watching that vehicle go away there was a monarch butterfly that went past now again i understand at one level there is the large of law numbers you stand any place long enough and a monarch butterfly is going to go past but see there is a god who counts the hairs on your head and and swallow can't uh sparrow can't leave the nest butterfly can't leave a tree without that god knowing and so i can share that moment with god i can think you are the god of my father and the god of the butterfly and you love me maybe it will come in the thought to help other people maybe it will come when you think about sometime when you were really really really low and a person from that moment in your life is there the prayer for today is god opened my eyes helped me to see help me to connect the dots help me to be ready coincidence is god's way of remaining anonymous so look for him today i'll see you tomorrow" [00:573:36]
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