The Cussin' Parrot

A cussing parrot named Flounder was adopted by the Humane Society of Charlotte. Flounder had been taught profanity by his former owners, who were college students. “The bird makes us laugh, and we don’t get many laughs, so we’re keeping him,” said Patti Lewis, president of the society. “We don’t want anyone to think the humane society taught him those filthy words.”

 

Have you noticed that the President, Vice-President, and other politicians are frequently using filthy words, even when they’re on TV? What used to be taboo is now acceptable. It has even become acceptable among Christians to use cuss words. I would never tell non-Christians to stop talking filth because they don’t have a relationship with God, but I will tell believers to clean up their mouths. Why? Because you are a representative of Jesus Christ.

 

Christians are called to a higher standard (1 Cor. 5:12), and non-believers form their beliefs about the truth of Christianity from the way we act and what we say. What would Jesus do? Did Jesus ever say filthy cuss words? David Jeremiah said, “The only Jesus that unbelievers ever see is in people who already know Him.”

When the prophet Isaiah saw God on His throne (Isaiah 6:1,5), he said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King.” When he stood before God, the FIRST thing that convicted him was the words he had spoken. What did he say that was so bad? It probably wasn’t filthy words, but maybe he called someone an idiot, or he might have slandered someone.

I learned to cuss on the golf course whenever I hit a bad shot. But after I gave my heart to Jesus, I quit saying all those filthy words. A change of heart changes the way we speak (Luke 6:45). “You must also put away all for the following: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8). “But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting.” (Eph.5:3-4)

Instead of using crude language, you can learn to say clean words (crap, butt, darn, etc.) that mean the same things as the cuss words, but aren’t offensive. Flounder the foul-mouthed parrot was taught how to cuss, and you can teach yourself how to not cuss. “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth” (Prov. 16:23).  www.makinglifecount.net 

BIBLE STUDY: If Jesus knew all things, why did He ask questions?

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Homeless vs Famous

A little girl was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. She screamed, “Famous!” 

Fame is nothing more than name recognition. You’re famous if everyone knows your name and takes pictures of you.

Which person in the picture is more valuable? The unknown homeless man pictured on the left, or Taylor Swift, one of the most famous people in the world, who is pictured on the right. 99.99% of people would say Taylor Swift is more valuable. But does fame really make her more valuable? 

What if they switched places? The homeless man would become a world-famous singer, and Taylor Swift would be an unknown homeless person living in a cardboard house. Everyone would be begging for his autograph, and everyone would be looking down on her. Same people. Different status. 

But God sees people differently than we do. In God’s eyes, the homeless person sleeping in a cardboard box is just as valuable as the most admired movie star sleeping in a mansion. Proverbs 22:2 says, “The rich and the poor have a common bond; the Lord is the maker of them all.” The fact that God created every person makes everyone valuable. Only by looking through God’s eyes will you understand that everyone is valuable, but no one is more valuable than anyone else. 

How much is a person worth? Jesus said, “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matt. 16:26). It doesn’t matter whether you’re famous or homeless, your soul is with worth MORE THAN all the gold, silver, cryptocurrency, money, and property in the entire world! The one thing you DON’T want to do is “lose your soul.” Jesus came to earth to save your soul (Luke 19:10), which keeps you from losing it. 

What’s my point? Stop looking at people through the lens of fame or the lens of shame. Remember that no one is better than anyone else, and everyone has an eternal soul that needs to be saved.  www.makinglifecount.net

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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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