Knowing Where to Tinker

Years ago, auto maker Henry Ford built his River Rouge automobile plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Charlie Steinmetz, who worked for General Electric, helped install the generators. One day something went wrong at the plant and a gigantic generator shut down.

The electrical engineers couldn’t fix the problem, so Ford called Steinmetz to see if he could find out what was wrong. Charlie tinkered with the machine for a few hours and then flipped the switch. The generator whirred to life and everything worked perfectly.

Three days later, Ford received invoice from Steinmetz for $10,000. Henry wrote Charlie a letter thanking him for fixing the problem, but balked at the $10,000 charge just for “tinkering.” He asked for an itemized bill. A few days later, Ford received this reply: “For tinkering on generator $1. For knowing where to tinker $9,999.” Ford paid the bill.  (MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals, Day 137)

In our journey through this life, many things will quit working and need to be fixed. It may be a financial problem, or a relationship that needs repairing. We serve an omniscient God who knows where to tinker. How much does He know? Jesus told us the hairs on our heads are all numbered (Luke 12:7). Before we even speak a word, the Lord knows what we will say (Psalm 139:4). God has even named every star in the universe (Ps. 147:4, Isa. 40:26).

God knows what you’re going through and wants to show you what to do. He says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jer. 33:3). We must be willing to obey whatever He says to us. Let Him tinker wherever He wants and whatever needs fixing will start working again. www.makinglifecount.net

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Have You Robbed Anyone Lately?

In the late 1870s, four men rode up to a farmhouse in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. A poor widow answered their knock at the door. They told her they had been traveling and were hungry, and asked if she would prepare them a hot meal. She agreed to do it and invited them in.

The men realized she was extremely poor because her cupboards were nearly bare. As they were eating, she mentioned she was going to be evicted from her home that afternoon. The man who held the mortgage was coming at four o’clock to collect $800, which she was unable to pay.

Before leaving, they thanked her for the meal, and as an act of appreciation, one of them gave her the $800 she needed. He told her to make sure to get a written receipt from him after she paid off her mortgage. The woman broke down in tears, thanking him for his generous gift.

That afternoon, she paid the mortgage holder the $800 and received a receipt from him. However, the mortgage holder didn’t keep the money very long. On his way back to town, he was robbed by the same man who gave the widow the $800—the infamous bank robber Jesse James. (MORE Amazing Stories, Day 13)

You’d never rob someone, would you? The Lord says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:10). When we withhold our offerings from God, isn’t that the same as Jesse James robbing the mortgage holder to keep his $800?

Ornan offered to donate the land for the Temple, but David told him, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.” (1 Chron. 21:24). An offering that pleases the Lord will cost us something. The offerings we give tells God what we think of Him. If our offering means nothing to us, it means nothing to God. So the next time you give an offering, make sure you say, “This is how much I love You.”  www.makinglifecount.net

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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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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.

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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?