When We Compare Ourselves With Others

Paul warned about using others as a measuring stick for self-worth. “When they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. (2 Cor. 10:12)

When the men went into Canaan to spy the land, they compared themselves with the giants living there. They said, "All the people whom we saw in it are men of great size…and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:32, 33). The way you see yourself determines how you believe others view you. The spies saw themselves as grasshoppers (“in our own sight”) and believed their enemies also saw them that way (“so we were in their sight”).

When We Compare with Others:

1. We become either proud or discouraged—and neither attitude is from God. We compare our physical appearance, intelligence, and success hoping we’ll find ourselves better than average. Of course, it all depends on the people we’re comparing with. We’ll swell with pride if we view ourselves more important, or get depressed and feel like a failure if we don’t measure up. Both are destructive attitudes.

2. We fail to recognize God created everyone unique. Although we all have equal value, God has given everyone different appearances, abilities, intelligences and personalities. He made “each according to his own ability” (Matt. 25:15). The Lord made everyone unique because we have different purposes to fulfill.

3. We tell God we aren’t happy with how He made us. “The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this’ will it?” (Rom. 9:20). You must accept the fact that God made you and be thankful for it. David said, “I give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…and my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14). When you can say that, you’ll stop comparing yourself.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

BIBLE PROPHECY: The Beast with 7 Heads and 10 Horns

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Burned-Out Light Bulbs & Burned-Out Christians

The following comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals.

 A burned-out light bulb won’t produce any light, no matter how much you polish it on the outside. A burned-out Christian doesn’t produce any light either. Burnout is a modern-day term for “growing weary.” Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.”

It’s easy to quit. All we have to do is keep giving out until the tank is empty. We go from giving out to giving up. Burnout occurs when we give out more than we take in. Cars that aren’t refueled will run out of gas. Wells that aren’t replenished will run dry. Batteries that aren’t recharged will have no power. A Christian who isn’t refueled, replenished, and recharged will burn out.

Constantly giving out to others will eventually bring you to the point of exhaustion. You’re sapped of strength. Your motivation to continue is gone. You can’t stand the thought of one more obligation, so you resign. It happens every day in jobs, marriages, and churches.

First Peter 4:11 says, “Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies.” Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). If they only see a pile of ashes because you’ve burned yourself out, people will say, “If that’s what I’m supposed to be, I don’t want to be a follower of Christ.”

But when you’re energized and filled with joy, your light will shine and everyone will say, “I want what that person has.” That’s what draws people to the Lord. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  

BIBLE STUDY: Did Any Prophets Come Out of Galilee?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Every Mystery Will Be Explained

The following comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals.

Have you ever watched a magician levitating a person? You know it’s a trick, but you can’t figure out how it’s done. You think, That’s impossible. He’s defying the law of gravity! But suppose the magician were to reveal to you the secret to his trick. After he explained how he did it, it would no longer be a mystery to you. You would say, “Okay, now I understand.”

We usually start doubting God when something bad happens and we don’t understand why. We will have many unanswered questions in this life because God doesn’t always let us in on what He’s doing. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us.” The secret things are those mysteries and unanswered questions that we’ll never understand in this life. The things revealed are the things that God has explained in His Word.

Although the Lord won’t answer your every question during your lifetime, He promises to answer every one of them when you stand before Him. Paul said, “For now (in this life) we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face (when we stand before Him). Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” (1 Cor. 13:12). In the next life God will explain every “secret thing” to us and it will no longer be a mystery. Then we’ll say, “Okay, now I understand.”

Until that day comes, God wants us to place our complete trust in Him. He knows the answers to every question that baffles us. He doesn’t do magic tricks but promises to turn the bad things that happen around for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). But remember—with our limited knowledge, we won’t be able to figure out how He does it. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

BIBLE STUDY: How Will God Resurrect People Out of Dirt?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

And Then the Lights Went Out

The following comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals.

A circus act with Bengal tigers was performed before a live television audience one evening. The tiger trainer went into the cage with several tigers to do the usual performance. The spotlights highlighted the cage and the audience watched in suspense as the trainer took the tigers through their routine.

In the middle of the performance, something happened they hadn’t planned for. The power went out! In total darkness, the trainer was locked in with the tigers. Bengal tigers have nocturnal vision, which means they could see him, but he could not see them. A whip and a small kitchen chair offered little protection under those circumstances. Thirty seconds later, the lights came on and he calmly finished the performance.

In an interview afterward, the trainer was asked if he was afraid knowing the tigers could see him when he couldn’t see them. He admitted to being afraid, but then realized the tigers didn’t know that he couldn’t see them. He said, “I just kept cracking my whip and talking to them until the lights came on. They never knew that I couldn’t see them.”

When Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, he knew the lions could see him, but he wasn’t afraid because He trusted God to protect him. He said, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me” (Dan. 6:22).

Are you in the dark surrounded by lions? Be like Daniel and put your trust in God. David wrote, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). Trusting God forces out all fear. Oswald Chambers said, “When you fear God, you fear nothing else. If you don’t fear God, you fear everything else.” Confidently tell yourself, “The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid” (Ps. 118:6).  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

BIBLE STUDY: Why do the gospels seem to contradict each other?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Seeing Only What We Want to See

The following comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals.

Tony Whittaker wrote about how a thirty-second film shows six people playing basketball, three in white shirts and three in black. Volunteers were asked to count how many times the white shirt team passed the ball. At the end of the film, they were asked if they saw anything unusual. Most didn’t.

The unusual thing was found halfway through the film. A man wearing a gorilla suit walked through the players, beat his chest to the camera, and then walked off. When shown the film again, people were shocked to see the gorilla. Some believed a different film was substituted for the original one.

Whittaker says, “This film trick illustrates a simple fact that if we are only looking for one thing, we do not usually see anything different.”

Jesus encountered a man with a withered hand. “So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him” (Mark 3:2). The Pharisees were only looking for one thing—to catch Him breaking the Law.

As they watched, Jesus healed the man’s hand, but they missed seeing the miracle. Instead of worshiping Him, they plotted to kill Him. They couldn’t see that He was the Messiah. It was as obvious as the gorilla beating his chest in the midst of the basketball players.

Some people only see what they want to see and miss what they need to see. John Piper said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” Don’t miss seeing what God is doing in your situation. You need to see it.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

 BIBLE STUDY:  Why did God say to not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net 

The Turtle on the Fence Post

The late Alex Haley, author of the bestselling novel Roots, had a unique picture on his office wall of a turtle sitting on top of a fence post. Whenever someone asked about it, Haley would say, "If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know that he had some help. Any time I start thinking, 'Wow, isn't this marvelous what I've done?' I look at that picture and remember how this turtle, me, got up on that post."

Imagine a full-size turtle on the top of a five-foot fencepost, the shell of its belly resting on the post, and its legs flailing helplessly in the air but not moving an inch. You don't know how it got up there, but you do know someone had to pick it up and place it there. Likewise, we can't receive a promotion unless the hand of God puts us there.  

Psalm 75:6-7 says, "For not from the east, nor the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation; but God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another." That means we shouldn't be envious of those who have received a promotion, or be the least bit upset if we've been passed over for one. Advancing to a higher position is ultimately in God's hands.

But there’s another lesson to be learned from the turtle on the fence post. It takes a hand to get the turtle safely down from the fence post as well. God will purposely place us in lower positions to teach us valuable lessons that we need to know about humility and obedience. Joseph spent thirteen years in low positions before God promoted him to being prime minister of Egypt.

Learn to be happy serving God wherever He has placed you—whether it’s a high position or a lowly one. After all, the turtle is probably happier on the ground. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

BIBLE STUDY:  Was Jonah a false prophet since his prophecy didn’t come to pass?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Connecting the Dots

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Understanding God’s sovereignty is like playing the connect the dots game. At the beginning, the paper looks like random dots scattered on the page. But one dot leads to another dot, then to another dot, then to another. Every time there’s a change in your life, the pencil moves to the next dot. After you’ve connected all the dots, you can look back and see how God caused them to all fit together.

A pastor of a large church told a story about one of his church members when she was a senior in college. A friend of hers was in her math class, and God spoke to her about inviting him to her church. She didn’t do it. Several weeks passed, and every time she saw him God said, “Invite him to church.” During the last week of school, she finally invited him. They both graduated and went their separate ways. She never saw him at church, but at least she obeyed God.

Two years later, she met a man at church, which led to them marrying. One day as they were leaving church, she saw the man from her college class wearing an usher badge at the back of the auditorium. She went up to him and said, “I can’t believe accepted my invitation and you’re an usher!” Then her husband gave him a hug and asked, “How are you doing?” She was puzzled because they talked with each other like they were old friends.

She asked her husband, “How do you know him?” 
He replied, “He’s the guy who invited me to this church.” 

Inviting her classmate to the church also connected the dot to meet her future husband! God sees the big picture of your life and knows how to make all the dots connect together. Ephesians 1:11 says “God works all things after the counsel of His will.”

When you hear God speak to your heart, don’t dismiss it. You never know what that dot will lead you to. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

BIBLE STUDY:  Should the Nag Hammadi Gnostic Gospels be included in the Bible?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net