Do I Belong in God’s Family?

To some, Cooper Manning is the lost Manning brother. He's the one without the Super Bowl rings, Pro Bowl appearances, and he's not in very many television commercials like his two younger brothers. Cooper is the oldest son of Archie Manning, who was a quarterback in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints, the Houston Oilers, that goes back a few years, the Houston Oilers, and also the Minnesota Vikings. Cooper is the older brother of Peyton and Eli Manning.

You may recognize those names a little bit more. Peyton and Eli. His brother, Peyton, played college football at the University of Tennessee and professionally in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, making two Super Bowl appearances with each team and winning one Super Bowl with each team. So he's won two. He's also a five-time NFL Most Valuable Player. He's been selected to the NFL Pro Bowl 14 times and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So that's his younger brother, Peyton. His even younger brother, Eli, played college football at the University of Mississippi and professionally in the NFL with the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls there.

So the two younger brothers have each won two Super Bowls. Eli has also won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Awards twice and he was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl four times. Let's go back to Cooper for a moment. Cooper played high school football as a wide receiver and was himself a standout athlete.

Cooper's hands were so good that during his junior year of high school, he did not drop a single pass thrown his way. So being the wide receiver, you run out there, the quarterback throws the ball. And if I couldn't find the number again, I thought I read someplace that he caught 91 passes that year without dropping a single one. So he was very good.

His senior year, his brother Peyton made the varsity team. So this is his younger brother Peyton that went on and won Super Bowls as a quarterback and things. But in high school, his younger brother made the varsity team and so Cooper was a wide receiver. His brother, Peyton, was a quarterback. They were so close and they knew each other so well that they even had hand signs, gestures, a look that they could give each other and communicate that other players and the other teams had no idea about. It reminded me and they said they because they grew up playing football and throwing the ball around as kids.

It reminded me of like street football. I don't know if anybody's ever played street football in the neighborhood where you're playing in the middle of the street and car comes down, everybody yells car and gets off to the side of the road. It's the ones where you huddle up with your friends and you say go down by the blue Ford and hang on left at the bumper and I'll hit you before you end up in the sidewalk. That's the way that Cooper and Peyton would play in the front yard. They knew each other so well with hand gestures, with a single look, and they could communicate that way.

And they had a lot of fun as Cooper was a senior in high school and I believe Peyton was a sophomore at that time. During his senior year, Cooper committed to play at his father's alma mater, the University of Mississippi, so he's going to follow in his father's footsteps and go play collegiate football. But before his freshman season, Cooper began suffering from numbness in his hands and fingers and had some atrophy in his right bicep. Archie and Cooper flew to the Mayo Clinic where he underwent extensive testing.

Cooper was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal. According to the Mayo Clinic, the injury places pressure on a person's spinal cord and the nerves that control movement throughout the spine. It's usually caused by what most ailments are caused. Simple aging. The median age for this condition is 64.

Cooper was 18 at the time of his diagnosis. His career was over before it even began. Because of the spinal stenosis, the wrong hit could have left Cooper paralyzed or even worse. By some people's accounts, Cooper may be considered the lesser manning because unlike his father and two younger brothers, he never played in a college football game or in the NFL and he hasn't had the on-field success or the notoriety. I share this illustration as we start with the sermon because sometimes in our family here, some of us can feel like a Cooper Manning. We can maybe feel like that we don't belong here in the church at times.

Maybe we feel we aren't as smart or aren't as talented to really be of use of God. Or maybe we feel we haven't done enough things to please God personally in our service or part of the congregation. So the question for us today, do we sometimes feel like a Cooper Manning?

If we've spent much time in the church, and I'm looking at a lot of people who have, we know that if we added up the number of Sabbaths we've kept in a lot of ways, many of us have kept over a thousand Sabbaths. It's kind of hard to imagine. I had to do the math myself a little bit, but you take 52 weeks a year and you multiply that times 10 or for 20 or 30 or even 40 years of being in the church, you can get into the thousands of Sabbaths we've kept. We've also kept many of us hundreds of Holy Days. And during these Holy Days we rehearse God's plan that He has captured in these days. What He's doing with mankind on this earth, the importance of mankind to God and the ultimate plan of His Son returning and setting up a new kingdom on this earth.

Through our time of studying God's Word, we know that He made us in His own image, a creation unlike anything else in the universe. There are no animals similar to us in our abilities to reason, to have emotions, to be kind, and to be compassionate. All these things, these characteristics of God that He has given to us because we were made in His own image. And the plans He has for us to be eternal children with Him forever. When I think about that, my mind kind of explodes.

To think of what is it like to live forever with God? What are we going to do? How will we serve? All of these things. But yet, this is the plan He has for us. This is the desire in His heart for us to be with Him, to go on, to continue to serve, to be His sons and daughters. We've rehearsed this time and time again, but even with all that we've heard over our years in the Church, some may still think, well, I really don't know if this applies to me. Or some may say, I'd like to think that it applies to me, but I'm just not sure. Or I'd like to believe with all my heart that this plan that God has, that everything He is doing in my life and doing with humanity as a whole, doing on this earth. I'd like to think that I can be part of this family. And at times, we just maybe wonder if it's all going to happen, if it's all true. With the Cooper Manning illustration in our mind and with some questions, some of the questions I pose, let's look at Scripture and consider what God says about us here today. Let's turn to Acts 2 and verse 37.

Acts 2, chapter 2, is a section of Scripture we go to quite often several times through the year, because it holds so much importance to us today. We know that Acts chapter 2 captures the first Pentecost that was observed, the Feast of Pentecost, after Jesus Christ's death, His resurrection. And then when He came back down, He taught the disciples and continued to teach for another additional amount of time. And He told them to wait for the Holy Spirit, which will be poured out and given to them on the Feast of Pentecost. And so He commanded that they gather again. And we know that when they did on this Feast of Pentecost, they came together, that His Spirit filled the room, that those who were inspired, they received God's Spirit. And here in Acts chapter 2, we see the sermon that Peter shared that day, the inspired sermon. And through chapter 2, He talks about a lot of the plan of God, the importance, the significance of Jesus Christ being our Savior. And at the end of this amazing sermon here in chapter 2, and getting down into verse 37, the people were so moved that they asked Peter a question, what shall we do?

And here again in verse 37, now when they heard this, they were cut out of heart, and Peter said, and Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and notice this, let every one of you, so it's all of them, everybody listening, the whole group, every one of them, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And notice again, for the promise is to you and to your children. It wasn't to some of you, he didn't say, well the promise is to some of you or the promise is to a few of you. No, it was to you. And so this promise is to mankind that those who will repent, change, lead their lives in a new direction, will receive His Spirit. But not only for those people, but also to your children. I know our teens are across the state a little bit today, maybe a couple families may be tuning in this morning. But that's an important reminder for us too, that this promise is extended to our children. So whether children are here because of the mom and dad, or aunts or uncles or grandparents, this promise is extended, that if they will walk according to God's Word, if they will draw near to God, that this promise is extended to them as well. And this is important for us to remember if we're an older generation that of looking after and part of our family here is made up of teens, that as they continue to grow in their walk with God, and as we have a couple of the little kids here that are starting to learn about God, that this is precious to our family here, and that we have to remember that this is a promise not only to us, but it's also to the children who are coming along as well. And notice this, and to all who are a far off, to all who are far off, which in turn grabs us as well. Because maybe we weren't far off physically, we were far off in time, that as time would go on, we would be called by God, as he says here at the end of verse 39, as many as the Lord our God will call.

But even after reading these passages here in Acts chapter 2, maybe at times we still feel a bit like a Cooper Manning. Maybe you feel like you're part of a family that is following God's way, but because of your own personal challenges, you are not sure you fit in with God's family. Maybe you're newer to the church. Maybe we have some online that are newer to the church, and you see others in the congregation that know more about God's Word. I think our teens can feel this way at times. Maybe they look around and are like, I can't understand everything like everybody else. They talk about this. They talk about that. And sometimes because of that, maybe sometimes our teens or someone newer may feel like they wish they knew more about the Bible and that they fit in better in that way. Maybe someone has said something to you about your past or current struggle that has created doubt if you can be part of God's family. Maybe you've struggled with your own place in the congregation, what you can truly do to help and to serve others.

The truth of the matter is that we all hit low points at times where we struggle with how we fit in. We struggle with thoughts, wondering if we're doing enough. We struggle with our own self and our own nature, wondering why we still fall so short of the stature of Jesus Christ in our own personal lives. There was a time recorded in Scripture where God's own people were going through a really challenging and difficult time. And they themselves may have questioned where they fit in with God's plan and are they actually and really His own people? Let's turn to Jeremiah 29 and we'll start reading this time in verse 4. Jeremiah 29 in verse 4.

To give a little bit of background on this passage here, we know that God put His people, He brought them out of Egypt, He placed them in His Promised Land, and that they became a great nation. But then human nature, right? Issues came in, idolatry came in, self-will came in, and the nation split into Israel and the northern tribes and Judah and the southern. And God sent prophets and warned them time and time again, if you do not turn away from you these ways, if you do not repent, if you will not keep messing with their idols and there are other aspects of the nations around you, punishment is going to come. And punishment came. The nation of Israel went into captivity before the nation of Judah, but in time Judah continued in their past, in their, down their path of sin, and eventually they themselves also went into captivity.

And when they went into captivity by the hand of Babylon, there was an aspect of where Babylon would take the people out of their land and replace them with others. And they took the smartest. We talked about this, I think, at the Feast of Trumpuses last year when we all gathered together. They took their smartest, they took their best looking, they took their educated, they took all these, the ones who were strong, and they took them to Babylon. And along their way to Babylon, I can only imagine how challenging that would be for those who were being carried away. Carried away from their homes, carried away from their communities, carried away from their neighbors, maybe even having families broken up, children separated from parents, parents maybe even separated from children.

And going being taken away and being carried away, you can only imagine the thoughts that would go through their mind. What's this going to be like at the end? What's going to happen to me? What's my future going to be like? They may have even wondered if God had finally turned his back on them, if that the promises God had, maybe the desires that he had in his heart for them had changed, and they were no longer maybe his special people. That could have been some thoughts that they had in their mind. God knew this, and God knew the thoughts that he had towards them, as we'll see here in a minute. And so he said, the prophet Jeremiah, to share a letter with his people along the way, and he gave them specific instructions to give them a hope and a future to be able to keep their mind focused on. We read this in Jeremiah 29 in verse 4. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who are carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit, take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased there and not diminished, and seek the peace of the city where I've caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace you will have peace.

God told them, yeah, I know in your mind right now in your heart this is not where you want to be, this does not look good, this is not what you had hoped for or what you envisioned, but go and build houses, plant a vineyard, marry your kids off, enjoy your grandchildren, and to live at peace, because he's saying, I am still your God. I want you to have all these blessings and I'll make sure that you are able to reap these blessings. He goes on in verse 11 to say, For I know the thoughts I think towards you. That's a promise that we can remember for us today, because God views us as he's always viewed his people. He has thoughts that he thinks towards us.

He has not made a mistake in calling you or me here. He's not sitting there and saying, oops, I didn't mean to call that person, or, well, I thought they would handle their life differently.

He doesn't make mistakes just as he's never made mistakes with his people, those he has chosen over the centuries and over the thousands of years of mankind's existence. He says again, verse 11, For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. He goes on to say, Then you will call upon me, and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek me and find me when you have searched for me with all of your heart. God's telling him, I will not be far from you. Yeah, it feels far, right? You're being taken out of your home, out of your houses, out of everything, out of your properties, away from your jobs. It feels like there's a separation between me and you, but there's not, because he has promises, he has thoughts, and he holds to those promises to his people. He's saying, pray to me, I'll listen. Seek me, you will find me.

And so here we had this message again shared by Jeremiah, when not a lot was going right for God's people. Their future didn't look right. The things that were comfortable for them were all gone. They had unknowns of what might happen to them when they would arrive in Babylon. So God gave them encouragement, as we just read, so they would go forward as his people. And so they remember that he was their God.

For us today, God has also given us encouragement to see the role and the place that he has called us to be as part of his family. Just because Cooper Manning faced a new challenge in his life, this did not remove him from the family that he was born into, did it? Just because he now is going to face a new challenge and not be able to become a professional, a collegiate or professional football player like his dad and like his two younger brothers would eventually become, this didn't cause his family, his parents, or his brothers to love him any less.

But Cooper had to recognize what he could still do and what his future would now become. He had to look at the other gifts and talents that he possessed, the ones different from his time on a football field, and then begin to use those in the midst of still being part of a football family. Football was important to the mannings, and now Cooper realized my life is going to have to go a different direction than football. At times we have these challenges that come up in our life, these times where maybe we don't feel like we fit in exactly as we envisioned we would here as a family. At times it can try to drag us back or make us second guess God's calling, and we have to go back to realize that God hasn't made a mistake. There's no oops with God, and this is right where he wants us to be. With this in mind, let's consider what God shares about spiritual gifts for a moment. Let's turn to Romans 12 in verse 6. We'll start reading Romans 12 in verse 6. I'm going to read this from the New Living Translation so it'll be different from some of your Bibles. But in one sense, Cooper had to kind of pivot because the gifts and the talents he had had up to that point and been able to utilize, he had to kind of put them in a box, put them away, and to pull out another box of gifts and talents. And so as we read through this section, we need to remember that God has gifted all of us with gifts and talents to use according to his will and the place where he chooses to place us. Here in Romans 12 and verse 6, again from the New Living Translation, it says, in his grace God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it's in giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

There are times in life where we have to look deeper into our lives and recognize there are gifts and talents that he has given to us that God has given to us that sometimes we don't see clearly until a challenge comes in our life. Cooper Manning shared a quote reflecting back to thoughts he felt when he found out that his football days were over. He said, I got a hard break. I mean, the one thing God gave me, the one asset I had was my hands. And now my right hand is taken away and I'm right-handed. I can't throw a football, can't carry catch a football. I can't shoot hoops. I mean, it was terrible.

Again, at times we can think thoughts or feel a similar way, wondering, how can we serve in our family here? What is this role that we play?

Let's look at another section of Scripture. This is time in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1. So, one chapter forward in your Bibles, another letter of Paul, 1 Corinthians 12.

This section of Scripture also talks about spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12 and verse 1 again, Paul shares, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant, or some translations say uninformed. Verse 4, There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministry, or differences of service, but the same Lord. There are also, there are diversities of activities, or diversities in the way that God works in our lives, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one. Notice that. It's not given to Psalm. It's not given to a small group. It's not given to a few. It's given to each one for the prophet of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kind of tongues, or the ability to speak in different languages, to another the interpretation of tongues, or the interpretation of languages. But notice this at the end in verse 11. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually. Each one. Everyone. All of us. Individually as he or as God wills.

So it is not a question if God has equipped us with gifts. It's not. And it's not a question if God has placed us correctly in our family here. That's also not a question.

So if we believe these things and we know these things, we must also not forget that we have an enemy who wants nothing more than for us to forget who we are before God and what God is doing in the lives of those that he calls. Satan wants us to become discouraged and feel like we either don't fit in or we don't belong at times. He wants us to feel like we've let the family down. Maybe just like Cooper felt at times. Satan uses discouragement as a tool against us to make us focus more on our problems or issues than to focus on God. And he wants us to feel that our issues or shortcomings are so large that we become paralyzed or we feel we just don't fit in or there is no hope for us to overcome. In these instances, we have to remember the place where God has placed us and our family is not a mistake. The special gifts that he has given us is not for us to serve ourselves but rather to serve him. The Apostle Peter reminds us of this enemy that wants nothing more for us to be destroyed or tore down. Let's turn to 1 Peter 5 and verse 6. Several books forward from where we're at right now. 1 Peter, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 6. I like how Peter, because Peter will describe Satan here in a minute, but he also sandwiches it on either side with encouragement for us to remember. Knowing that we have an enemy, knowing that we have an adversary who hates us and wants to destroy us and wishes we didn't exist. But notice what Peter says on either side of this description of Satan starting here in 1 Peter 5 and verse 6.

Peter says, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt or lift you up or encourage you in due time. Notice casting all of your care upon him. This is one of those keys that when we feel like we don't fit in, we feel like we're falling short, we feel like something's not measuring up. Take it to God. Give it to God. Ask Him to help you to see it from a different angle. Ask Him to help you to see our your importance, our importance as part of the body here. Casting all your cares upon Him. Why? Because He cares for you. Verse 8, he described Satan. He says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I can't help but think of all those PBS nature shows that I've watched over the years with the animals, the lions, out prowling for their prey.

Looking after, looking over a herd of animals, seeing the number, the magnitude, the multitude of the animals out there. But what does the lion do? It looks for the one that's weak, the one that's struggling, the one that has an illness, the one that can't keep up.

And sometimes spiritually, we fall into those categories of being discouraged, feeling like we're not keeping up with everybody else, feeling like we don't fit in, feeling like we're different, feeling like our sins are too much. And that's when Satan wants to jump. That's when that lion would attack the prey. Find the weak one. Single them out. And that is the cunning or the, I'll just say, the vileness, the nastiness of our adversary. Because he loves to try to find us in our weak moments. He wants to find us when we're struggling. He wants to find us when we're doubting where we fit into the family in our role.

But notice what Peter says on the other side. Remember, more encouragement on the flip side of this as well in verse 9. Peter says, resist him. Steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. These challenges that you and I face, the doubt at times, the discouragement, the wondering where we fit in, the wondering why we don't measure up, we all feel at times. And so when we feel this, we're not alone. When we struggle, we're not alone. For any of us who are dealing with this experience, it's not one that we've, we're the only ones in the group who've ever felt this way. Peter's saying this has been experienced by your brotherhood in the world. Verse 10, but may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Jesus, by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, he's saying after you've gone through this, after you've worked through this, notice what God is going to do. He's going to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. I love that settle you part. That's just so encouraging, to bring that peace, to bring that comfort, to say you're okay. It's like when he led Israel and Judah out, when he led Judah out into Babylon, into captivity, he says, I want you to be settled. This is not what you want. This is not making you happy, but I want you to be settled where I'm taking you. Because he, in time, established. He strengthened them. He perfected them. And at times when he's working in our lives, in these trials, these challenges we go through, the difficulties, the wondering where we fit in, he's saying as we battle Satan, and as we continue to go forward, that he will perfect us. He will establish, strengthen. He will settle us right where we need to be. Peter finishes it in verse 11, to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. God does this so that we can't glory in what we've done ourselves. That he gets a credit, and it's him that we give all praise to. There's a positive legacy to what Cooper Manning went through in the story that's left to still be told. The difficulty that Cooper went through at the end of his time in high school was a great challenge. I was trying to figure out what other words I could use. It was an extreme challenge. It was a ridiculous challenge, because everything he had known to do, everything he was gifted to, everything he wanted to do, was coming to an end.

He had lost the ability to use his right hand effectively, and lost out in becoming a collegiate and potentially professional wide receiver. But Cooper never quit on life, nor did Cooper reject being part of the Manning family just because his future would be different than his past. Just because his future would be different than his father's past. He didn't quit. He didn't just walk away from the Manning family. Cooper, in time, has had a successful career off the field. Having previously served as part owner of an energy investment firm, Cooper is currently senior managing director of investor relations at AJ Capital Partners, a hospitality and real estate investment firm. A broadcast journalism major, so Cooper went on, even though he couldn't play football for the University of Mississippi, he went on and got a four-year degree in journalism. As a broadcast journalism major at the University of Mississippi, Cooper is host of the Manning Hour, which is a segment on Fox NFL kickoff still today. Cooper has a net worth of $13 million.

He has in what many identify or define as an American way of life. He has the dreams that so many have dreamt of. He has a wife, three kids, and wealth beyond many of our wildest dreams. Here's what his own family says about Cooper. Let's face it, Archie says, and Archie again is his dad. Let's face it, Peyton and Eli got my arm gene, but Cooper, he got my winner gene. W-I-N-N-E-R. He got my winner gene.

I know one thing for certain, says Peyton, this is his younger brother. Had Cooper played at Ole Miss, I would have gone there, too. The year he was a senior with me in high school was the best time I ever had playing football. Playing in college with my brother was something we both dreamt about.

Eli also shared a quote, and so Cooper, after this diagnosis to help alleviate some of the strain on his spinal cord and things, he had to go through spinal surgery. Wasn't going to fix his ability to play football, but it was going to make his life hopefully more manageable and better, and make it more increase the outcome of things going more positively down the road. Says Eli, speaking of when he saw his brother after spinal surgery, When I saw it, it hit me what he had gone through. He needed a wheelchair, and then a walker, and then a cane to get around. I tried to picture myself in his situation, and I tried to picture Peyton also in his situation, and I'm telling you he dealt with it a thousand times better than either of us would have. He never complained. We never saw him cry. Cooper loved football as much as Peyton and I do, but he never let us know how much he was going to miss it.

I've talked to Archie and Olivia. Olivia is his mother. I've talked to Archie and Olivia about Cooper, says his boss, Bill Walker. I wanted them to know how good he is at his job. While they can clearly see Peyton and Eli's on-field success, I'm not sure they fully understand Cooper's. He's the absolute best at what he does, like his younger brothers, and all-American by any standard.

And in the face of the most difficult moment of his life when he found out he could no longer play football, Cooper himself wrote a letter to his younger brother Peyton. He said, I'd like to live my dream of playing football through you. Although I cannot play anymore, I know I can still get the same feeling out of watching my little brother do what he does best. I now know that we are good for each other because I need you to be serious and look at things from a different perspective. I love you, Peyton, and the only great things lay ahead for you. Thanks for everything on and off the field.

Each of us have faced different types of challenges in our lives that we have lived. Some of the challenges have been on the smaller side, and some have been on the big, heavy, weighty, challenging side of it. Because of our past, we may at times wonder how we fit in the family of God and our congregation right here. What will God do with my life? How will God use my past to impact my future? How do I fit? And how can I be a useful part of this family? The plans that God has for our lives is greater than anything we can imagine. Again, I challenge all of us to imagine what it's going to be like to live with God for all of eternity. The plans that He has in store for us that we've read about and we know the promises. The things He wants us to be part of and to do.

It's an exercise where my brain starts to think that way, and then it short-circuits and stops. It's like, boop! And I can no longer keep thinking about it because I just can't wrap my mind fully around everything that God's doing. It's part of what He says in scriptures that we can't fully grasp everything that He wants to give us.

But the opportunity each of us have to be offered to be part of His family is unlike anything else in this world. Our wonderful Father knows each of us individually, and He knows all of our gifts and talents. He knows 100% how you fit within the family that we have here today and the future role that each of us will play in His family forever. Cooper Manning is quoted as saying, if one of us had to lose football, I'm glad it was me. When people ask why I don't play, I say, I'm the smart one. Can't you tell? Let's close in Psalm 33, starting in verse 11. I'm the smart one, can't you tell? It's got a good sense of humor. Psalm 33 and verse 11.

Appreciate this Psalm last week as I was working on the sermon, bringing things to a conclusion with it. It's a Psalm where it begins by praising God for all who He is, the way that He sees us from a different lens than we often see ourselves. It describes that there's a hope that God has future planned, but then He gets down to kind of the crux of it, that all the individual things, the way that He touches each of our lives individually as well. Psalm 33 and verse 11. It says, the counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of His heart, God has plans on His heart too, and they involve me and you. They involve everyone who wants to be part of His family. It says, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation who God is the Lord, the people He has chosen, people that God Himself has chosen as His own inheritance.

It says, the Lord looks away from heaven. It says, the Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling, He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually. None of us are identical to the next person. The gifts, the abilities, the talents, the calling, the placement, everything is individual. It says, He fashions our hearts individually. He considers all of their works. Verse 18, Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. From our heart shall rejoice in Him because we have trusted in His holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us just as we hope in you. So again, the question for today. Are you a Cooper Manning?

If you are, then you're exactly in the place that God wants you to be.