90 Year-Old Gives Birth to Baby Boy

Glenda frequently visited her 89-year-old mother-in-law Polly in the nursing home in Georgia. Sadly, Polly can remember what happened 50 years ago, but can’t remember 50 minutes ago. One day Glenda went to see her. When she entered the room, Polly excitedly said, “Did you see my baby in the other room? I had a baby yesterday!” Glenda knew she was remembering the birth of her son, which happened 55 years earlier. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she told her, “Congratulations!” (MORE Amazing Stories, Day 10)

Polly didn’t have a baby at age 89, but Abraham’s wife Sarah actually did give birth at age 90 (Gen 17:17, 21:5)). God promised Abraham when he was 75 years old that he would have a child. Sarah was 65 at this time. They didn’t realize they would have to wait 25 years before the promise would be fulfilled.

Why would God make them wait that long? To prove to them, and to everyone who reads the Bible, that God will always fulfill His promises no matter how much time passes, or how impossible the situation looks. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18).

How long have YOU been waiting for God to answer your prayer? Let Abraham and Sarah be an example for you. Abraham “did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom 4:20-21). Sarah, who had gone through menopause, never doubted God’s promise. “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised” (Heb. 11:11).

No one on earth, except for Abraham and Sarah, believed God would fulfill His promise to them. But just as He said, Sarah gave birth at age 90, and she could honestly tell people, “I had a baby yesterday!” 

I wonder if anyone told her, “Congratulations!"  Not for her baby, but for trusting God to come through. www.makinglifecount.net

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The Silver Trailer House

Tony Campolo was invited to speak at a college chapel service in Pennsylvania. Before the service began, eight men escorted Tony into a back room to pray. One of the men prayed, “Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer a mile down the road on the right-hand side.” 

As the man continued to pray, he kept repeating the same thing about the man living in a silver trailer a mile down the road. Tony was tempted to say, Knock it off, Fella. Do you think God is asking, “What’s that address again?”

The man continued, “Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and three kids. Step in and do something, God. Bring that family back together.”

After the service was over, Tony got in his car and pulled onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike to return home. He saw a hitchhiker on the turnpike and felt prompted by God to pull over and offer him a ride. He introduced himself, “My name’s Tony Campolo. What’s yours?” The hitchhiker said, “I’m Charlie Stoltzfus.” Tony was stunned. It was the man for whom they had been praying for earlier!

Tony pulled off at the next exit. The hitchhiker asked, “Hey, where are you taking me?” Tony said, “Home. You just left your wife and three kids, right?” The bewildered hitchhiker said, “Uh, yeah, that’s right.” The man stared in amazement as Tony drove right up to the young man’s silver trailer! That afternoon Charlie and his wife surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. (MORE Amazing Stories, Day 14).

When you pray, let God decide the best way to answer your prayers. He might surprise you in an unusual way. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord (Isa. 55:8). Just ask Charlie, who lives in the silver trailer a mile down the road. www.makinglifecount.net

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KENT'S NEW BOOK! Finding God's Will: How God Speaks to People Today

God has a plan for your life and wants to lead you on the right paths. But how does God speak to and guide people today? In this book you will discover:

How do I know when God is speaking to me?

Does God speak in an audible voice or some other way?

Can God guide my steps without me knowing that I’m being led?

How can rejection be God’s direction?

Can God put the desires in my heart to want what He wants?

What does “walk in the light you have” mean?

How will I find the right person to marry?

If I’ve been away from God, will He still lead me from where I am now? 

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Operation Mincemeat

 One of the cleverest secret plans during WWII was Operation Mincemeat. In 1943, Great Britain planned to invade Sicily, but they had to convince the Germans and Italians the attack would happen elsewhere. They obtained a body of a tramp who had died of eating rat poison and dressed the corpse in a Royal Marines uniform, naming him Major William Martin.

 They planted on him a cryptic letter detailing an impending invasion of Greece and Sardinia. The fake military document was supposedly intended for the British commander-in-chief in North Africa. 

The corpse was transported by submarine and released off the coast of Spain near the shore, making it appear that he died in a plane crash. As expected, the body washed up on a beach, which the Spanish government believed was a secret courier. They carefully opened the sealed envelopes and photographed the “Top Secret” documents. Then they turned them over to German military intelligence, which convinced them the Allies would invade Greece and Sardinia, but Sicily wasn’t going to be invaded. The Nazis reacted to the ruse and moved their troops to Greece and Sardinia.

The plan worked. British troops landed in Sicily, helping to end the war in Europe and paving the way for the June 6 D-Day invasion. Major William Martin, a man who never existed, played a significant role in winning WWII.

As brilliant as that plan was, God’s plan to win the war for your soul, Operation Save the World, was even more ingenious. “This Man (Jesus) delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross…to put Him to death, and God raised Him up” (Acts 2:23-24). Satan thought if he could stir up people to kill Jesus, that would be end of Him, and the devil would rule the world forever.

But God outsmarted him. He allowed Jesus to be crucified, so that He became the sacrifice for the sins of the world (John 1:29). Then God resurrected Him from the dead to win the war for souls, and now He lives forever as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Only one thing is left to complete the plan of salvation for you. You must receive Jesus as your Lord, and then you will be on the winning side for all eternity.

Over 300 printable Bible studies are at www.makinglifecount.net

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God Does Speak to People Today

When Peter Lord was the pastor of Park Avenue Baptist Church in Titusville, Florida, he was praying on December 4th. God spoke these words to him: "I want you to construct a building where people can pray. As proof that this is My idea and not yours, I will send someone to the church that you don’t know who will give five hundred dollars toward the building. This will happen before Christmas."

It wasn’t an audible voice, but it came to him as clear thoughts. Peter wrote in his prayer journal what the Lord had said, but he didn’t tell anyone. He didn’t want some well-meaning person to try to make it come to pass.

A week passed. No one brought him any money. Two weeks went by, but still no answer. He started to doubt what he had heard. Then, on December 24, a married couple from another city came to the church and asked to speak to the pastor.

They said, “Pastor, you don’t know us, but when we were praying God told us to come here and give you some money. We don’t really understand why we needed to drive here to give this to you, but we’re just being obedient.” The couple handed him a check for $500! (Peter Lord, Hearing God, Chosen Books, 2011, p.73)

This couldn’t be a mere “coincidence.” Notice that God not only spoke to Peter, but He also spoke to the couple in another city to bring the exact amount of money to him. This not only confirmed to Peter that he had heard from God, but it also confirmed to the couple they had also heard Him speak to them.

The prayer building was constructed and used for many years as a place for people to intercede for thousands of people. (See picture of the chapel) When God tells you do to something, He will make it happen. “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:24). www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com   www.makinglifecount.net

BIBLE STUDY: Does God Speak to People Today? 

A Scrapbook of Dead Enemies

A number of years ago, after an elderly woman passed away, family members were cleaning out her house and found a scrapbook filled with obituaries from the local newspaper. The death notices all pertained to people she had hated. As bizarre as it may sound, she kept a scrapbook of her dead enemies! She had five different clippings of her most despised dead foe in her morbid memory book.

Instead of having an “In Loving Memory” book, hers was a book of hateful memories. Apparently she gained some kind of weird satisfaction by thinking they could no longer torment her. Or could they? If you don’t forgive your deceased enemies, they’ll continue to haunt you through your hateful memories of them.

Maybe you don’t have a scrapbook of your dead enemies, but do you keep a scrapbook in your mind of your living enemies? When you go to bed at night, your enemies climb in the bed with you to keep you awake. When you go on vacation, your enemies travel with you to ruin your trip. Is it worth it?

 

First Corinthians 13:5 says love “does not take into account a wrong suffered.” That means you must tear up your hurt list and remove the enemies from your scrapbook. We forgive our enemies because God has forgiven us FAR MORE than what others have done to us. “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).

 

When you forgive, your enemies will stop haunting you, and the root of bitterness will shrivel up and die. How to do you know when you’ve forgiven someone? You aren’t being tormented anymore. www.makinglifecount.net  

Removing the Curse

There’s a story about a man who had been under a curse for 20 years. He walked for miles and climbed a mountain to find a guru who could free him. When he reached the top, the guru asked, “Why have you come?” He said, “I need for you to remove a curse that was placed on me.”

The guru said, “I can remove the curse, but I must know the exact words that were used to put the curse on you. What were they?” The man answered, “The words were, ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife.’”

Every couple at their own wedding believed they would have a wonderful marriage when they stood at the altar. Otherwise, they would have never married. No one plans to have a miserable marriage, but it can turn that way if you don’t work at it. Ask yourself, “What is it like being married to me?” 

Your marriage doesn’t have to be cursed. In fact, God wants to put His blessing on it. Unfortunately, many marriages are experiencing more cursing than blessing because two bosses are married to each other. They keep trying to change the mind of their spouse, telling each other what to do.

Marriage can either be heaven on earth or hell on earth. The more that GOD is in it, the more it is like HEAVEN. The more that SATAN is in it, the more it is like HELL. The best marriage is when two servants are married to each other. The worst marriage is when two bosses are married to each other.

The Lord can bless any marriage if a husband and wife are willing to change their attitudes and become servants of each other. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matt. 20:26). One servant is great, but two servants will make a great marriage that God will bless.

God can remove the curse on your marriage and turn it into a marriage made in heaven if you will let Him do it. “The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you” (Deut. 23:5). www.makinglifecount.net