We Act on What We Believe to be True

In the days before cell phones, a woman received a phone call while her husband was out delivering packages for UPS. The caller said, “Mrs. Williamson, this is Dr. Chandler. I’m sorry to inform you that your husband is in the hospital with a life-threatening disease and may die. We need a hair sample from you immediately to run some tests because we believe you may have also contracted this disease.”

 The wife was shaken when she heard the shocking news. The doctor instructed her to cut off all her hair at the roots and bring them in. She clipped off all her hair until she was bald and asked what to do next. The man replied, “Wait for your husband to come home. I made up this entire story. Goodbye.”

We don’t necessarily act on what is true, but on what we believe to be true. The woman acted on what she believed to be true, and not what was actually true. But she wasn’t alone. The news reported that six other women had fallen for the same prank.

Joseph’s brothers did something similar when they deceived their father, Jacob. They dipped Joseph’s tunic in blood and made Jacob believe Joseph was killed by a wild beast, even though it wasn’t true. He reacted to the lie as if it were true and declared he would mourn until his dying day (Gen. 37:31-35). He continued to believe the lie until many years later, when the brothers told him the truth (45:25-28).

Jesus said Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and is able to deceive the whole world (Rev. 12:9), so it’s not surprising that many people live their entire lives believing things that aren’t true. A deceived person doesn’t know he’s being deceived. We’re all susceptible to being deceived, but God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can reveal the truth to keep us from being misled.

Don’t be so quick to believe everything you hear. Do your homework, check out all the facts, and ask God to show you the truth. “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6). www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

Why Did He Jump Overboard?

Cameron Robbins, a recent 2023 high school graduate, was on a trip to the Bahamas with students from several local high schools. Just four hours after their arrival, Robbins and his friends went on a sunset party cruise. The boat, named Blackbeard’s Revenge, was designed to resemble a pirate ship. Around 9:40 p.m. someone dared Robbins to jump off the boat into the shark-infested waters. Taking up the challenge, he voluntarily “walked the plank” and jumped overboard.

 

A video taken moments after the jump shows Robbins ignoring onlookers’ pleas for him to grab a life ring that had been thrown in the water. A silvery reflection stirred in the dark waters near the boat’s hull, which may have been a shark. Robbins swam away from whatever it was in the water. The last scene of the video shows him splashing a few feet from the boat, before disappearing under water. The teen’s body was never recovered.

How could anyone be foolish enough to jump off a ship at night where tiger sharks were known to be? Someone dared him to do it. Maybe he was afraid to say no in front of his friends. Maybe it was to prove he was brave. Perhaps he thought the video would go viral on social media and he would become famous (which it did). Whatever the reason, I’m sure he regretted his decision not long after he hit the water, but then it was too late.

Cameron Robbins represents many people who are partying on the wrong ship, listening to the wrong voices, and jumping to the wrong conclusions. They make hasty decisions that will ruin their lives without thinking about the consequences. It might not be jumping overboard, but something just as dangerous and fatal in the long run.

Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise person suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool is arrogant and careless.” That means we have the courage to say no when people dare us to do very stupid things. We choose to be with friends who follow God and avoid those who want us to do wrong. Solomon said, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  

She Wasn't Expecting This to Happen

My daughter Hannah practiced for several weeks for the high school varsity cheerleader tryouts. She had been a junior varsity cheerleader, and only 3 varsity spots were open in a school of 2,000 students. Her best friend, Melissa, who was already a varsity cheerleader, practiced with Hannah every day to help her win one of the vacant spots. They kept talking about how fun it would be to cheer together. Melissa taught her the proper way to jump and how to always keep a smile on her face. She kept telling her, “You can do it, Hannah! I know you can!”

Over 100 girls showed up to compete for the 3 spots. The results would be posted at 9:45 pm. At 10:00 pm, Hannah came home, sobbing uncontrollably. My wife and I rushed over to comfort her. I told her, “It’s okay that you didn’t make varsity. We’re glad that you tried.”

Hannah continued to cry. She finally settled down and said, “I did make the varsity, but the judges demoted Melissa from varsity to junior varsity and gave me her place on varsity. I hurt so badly for her. She’s devastated!”

We were stunned. In a weird twist of fate, Hannah took Melissa’s position on varsity, and Melissa took Hannah’s position on J.V. “I don’t want to be a varsity cheerleader now,” Hannah said. “I’m going to ask for my junior varsity position back so Melissa can stay on varsity.” I told her, “I don’t think the judges would allow that.”

Hannah got up and drove over to Melissa’s house, where they cried together. She didn’t want to leave her alone, so that night she slept on the floor next to her friend.

I always enjoyed watching Hannah lead cheers at football games, but my fondest memory was when she demonstrated the love of Jesus and slept on the floor next to a hurting friend. Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39), and we’ll never be able to do this until we first feel the pain that they feel.   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net 

The Shoe Repair Shop

A man was cleaning out his desk and found an old ticket stub for shoes he had left in a shoe repair shop five years earlier. He went to the shop and said, “I found this ticket for some shoes I brought in five years ago. I don’t suppose you still have my shoes, do you?”

The shoe repairman said, “I’ll go in the back room and check.” He returned saying, “Yes, we still have them. They’ll be ready next Friday.”

Procrastination means putting something off because we don’t want to do it right now. Sometimes it’s due to our lack of discipline. At other times it’s due to indecisiveness. Or maybe we think the problem will go away if we ignore it.

When Pharoah refused to set the Hebrew people free from slavery in Egypt, God sent a plague of frogs to make his life miserable. Frogs covered the land and many hopped into Pharoah’s house, into his bedroom, and into his bed (Ex. 8:3). 

Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to ask the Lord to remove all the frogs from the land and “then I will let the people go.” Moses told Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you that the frogs be taken away from your houses?” Pharoah said, “Tomorrow” (Ex. 8:8-10).

Why would he want to spend one more miserable night with frogs hopping all over him when he could get rid of them now? Perhaps he thought the frogs would go away on their own during the night. But the real reason for the overnight delay was struggling with giving up all that free labor. Putting off the decision only make the problem worse.

Delaying what we need to do usually makes the situation worse than if we would have done it immediately. The “things-to-do” list keeps growing and becomes so overwhelming that we never want to deal with it. The grass grows taller. The credit card balance gets larger. The needed car repairs keep adding up.

Proverbs 20:4 says, “A lazy farmer doesn’t plow when he should, so at harvest time he has no crop.” Don’t put off what needs to be done. Tackle each dreaded duty one task at a time. Don’t let the frogs sleep in your bed for another night. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net 

Check Your Baggage Here

Before you can board an airplane, you must first have your baggage checked. The TSA agent is checking your bags to make sure that you’re not carrying too much weight or if you have something explosive packed inside. It’s okay to carry clothes in your suitcase, but it’s not okay to carry bombs.

You also need to check the baggage you’re carrying on your soul for the same things. A burden is an invisible weight that you carry on your soul. How do you accumulate excess baggage? By continually mulling over the problems that bother you. Each time you dwell on a problem, it weighs you down. Add another problem and the baggage gets heavier. If you keep adding weights to your soul, you will eventually get depressed. To check your baggage, you must inspect 3 different suitcases.

PAST BAGGAGE (YESTERDAY). Inside this suitcase is GUILT (refusing to believe Jesus will forgive all your sins), GRUDGES (wanting to punish those who have hurt you), REGRETS (wishing you could go back in time to change a bad decision)

FUTURE BAGGAGE (TOMORROW). Inside this suitcase is WORRY (refusing to trust God to supply what you need) and BEING IMPATIENT. While worry dreads the future, being impatient is too eager to get to the future and isn’t happy with the present. (“I can’t wait to get out of here. I can’t wait to get married. I can’t wait to change jobs” etc.)

PRESENT BAGGAGE (TODAY). This is the only suitcase you should be carrying because you can only live TODAY.  Even so, if you pack too many things in this suitcase, it becomes too heavy to carry. If you take on too many responsibilities, you will get STRESSED OUT.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…and you will find rest for your souls for My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). We carry excess baggage because we haven’t learned from Jesus how to correctly think and live.

To get rid of your excess baggage, you must "Cast your burden upon the Lord" (Psalm 55:22). Put your problems in His hands. Notice that God does not automatically remove your burdens from you. He instructs you to cast them to Him. You must LET GO of them. After you cast your problems into God’s hands, the weight will be lifted off your soul because your problems are in His hands now.   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

The Preacher Who Lost His Voice

 The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Some people believe God healed people in biblical times, but they’re not sure if He still heals today because they know some people who weren’t healed. However, just because someone isn’t healed doesn’t mean that no one can be healed today. While some people claim God healed them, it’s not often when a miracle is caught on a recording. The following healing was actually captured on audio:

Duane Miller was pastor of First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas. In 1990, he lost his voice due to a virus that infiltrated the nerves in his vocal cords. Over the next 3 years he went to 63 specialists, who told him he would never speak normally again. Even so, he continued to teach the Bible in a loud whisper to the best of his ability.

In 1993, he was teaching a church class on Psalm 103, which was being recorded on audio. As he was teaching through his whisper, he said, “The Psalmist says, ‘Bless the Lord oh my soul.’ One of the benefits is ‘He heals all my diseases.’ In verse 4 He says, ‘and redeems my life from the pit.’ Now, I like that verse a whole lot…”

At that moment, he felt something happen in his throat. He stopped whispering and started talking! As he continued to speak, his voice got stronger and clearer. He paused, realizing he had just been miraculously healed, and said, “I don’t understand this right now. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the moment…” The class was stunned, realizing they had just witnessed a miraculous healing, and started cheering.

As he choked back tears, he continued, “I’m, uh… sounds funny to say, I’m at a loss for words! Thank you Lord!” Miller has continued to speak normally since that day. We serve a living God who still does miracles because Jesus said, “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

We can learn a few things from this. Duane Miller didn’t become bitter at God because he wasn’t healed for 3 years. He continued to serve the Lord, even when he had to teach God’s Word in a whisper. He still believed God could heal today, even though he was told he would never speak normally again. We should all follow those three examples.    www.makinglifecount.net 

You can listen to the recording of the moment he was healed by CLICKING HERE.  You can visit Duane Miller’s website at www.nuvoice.org

Trusting God When You're Depressed

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Pastor and writer Frederick Buechner was terribly depressed about a number of things going on in his life. He was parked on the side of the road in his car, praying for God to speak to him. At that moment, a car came down the highway with a license plate that read “TRUST.”

Buechner said, “Out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see, it was the word TRUST. What do you call a moment like that? Something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while? The Word of God? I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both.”

Frederick wrote about this experience in a periodical, which was read by the owner of the vehicle, who happened to be a trust officer in a bank. The man found out where Buechner lived and brought him the TRUST license plate to give to him. Fred propped it up on a bookshelf in his house to remind him that God hadn’t forgotten about him. (FrederickBuechner.com, Dec. 17, 2017)

We all experience trials “so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). When Daniel was in the lion’s den, he trusted God to protect him from certain death. When Abraham left Ur and didn’t know where he was going, he trusted God to guide him (Heb. 11:8).

When Elijah was hiding by the brook Cherith, he trusted God to provide food for him (1 Kings 17:4). When David faced the giant Goliath, he trusted God to give him victory (1 Sam. 17:37). When Job lost his health and everything else, he said, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is confident that something good will happen, but trust has confidence in the good God who makes it happen. David wrote, “This I know, that God is for me …. In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid” (Psalm 56:9,11). If you are going through a difficult time, that might be a good verse to tape to your bookshelf or your bathroom mirror.  www.makinglifecount.net  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com