Kent Crockett's Devotionals: November 2019

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Thankful All the Time

Thanksgiving is a day we set aside to give thanks and eat turkey. A kindergarten class at a school in Kentucky was asked how to cook a turkey. This is their instructions:

Go to the grocery store. Buy a turkey for $7. If the store doesn’t have any, go to the farm.

Catch & kill a turkey with an arrow. If you miss, shoot it with a gun. Take it home.

Cut out the bones. Take out the brains. Cut off the head, feet, eyes, nose, neck, face, feathers, and skin. Wash it in the bathtub. Put it in a pot. Let it dry off.

Put squishy brown stuff all over it. Cook it in the oven. Get it real hot--10 degrees. Cook it for 35 minutes. Take it out of the oven. Let it cool down. Slice it in long pieces. Eat it! It will be real good!

Hopefully you won’t follow those instructions, but that you will follow God’s instructions for being thankful. “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:18). The Lord wants us to always be thankful, even when we are going through unpleasant situations. Some people complain all the time. God wants us to be thankful all the time. He is more interested in His children keeping a positive attitude through difficulties than always keeping us comfortable.

How is it possible to always be thankful? Every situation contains both good and bad, and you can choose what you want to focus on. Complaining comes from focusing on the negative in your situation. Thankfulness comes from choosing to see the positive in your situation and voicing your appreciation to God for it. But thankfulness isn’t genuine unless it comes from our hearts. David wrote, “I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart” (Psalm 9:1).

When God tells us to give thanks in everything, it must mean it’s really important to Him. He wants to hear it from us—all the time. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving Day to start. Begin today. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

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Sunday, November 3, 2019

Does Time Heal All Wounds?

In the 1963 Canadian Football League championship game, QB Joe Kapp got into a fight with Angelo Mosca, who was a defensive lineman on the opposing team. The referee stepped in and broke up the fight. After the game was over, they continued to dislike each other.

Forty-eight years later in 2011, the two former pro football players were invited to appear at a luncheon for the Canadian Football League. Joe Kapp was 73 years old and Angelo Mosca was 74 years old. When the two players were introduced, the luncheon's host give Kapp an olive branch to give to Mosca as a peace offering. Everyone thought it would be a light-hearted moment about their feud and would bring a laugh from the audience.

Instead of handing it to him, Kapp pushed it into Mosca’s face and then punched him. Mosca retaliated by hitting him with his cane. Like the referee did 48 years before, the host stepped in and broke up the fight. Both men were still angry over an incident that happened in 1963. If time could heal wounds, 48 years should be enough time.

God put a time limit on how long to be angry. It’s not 48 years, but less than 24 hours. “Be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day” (Eph. 4:26 NCV). If you don’t throw water on the fire before the sun goes down, your anger will keep flaring up—even 48 years later.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Forgiveness does. Whatever was done to you, it’s time to let it go. Forgive and release the wrongdoing into God’s hands. It’s the only way to have peace of mind. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net