Sunday, May 31, 2020

The Way That Seems Right



Years ago before GPS, my wife and I were traveling in our car to a retreat in North Carolina. She had been to the retreat center a year before, but I hadn’t been there. On the way she said, “This road doesn’t seem right. I don’t remember going this way last year.” I told her, “The road map says we’re on the right highway.”

Later we came to an intersection. Cindy said, “It seems like we need to be turning left.” Again I looked at the map. “The map says we’re supposed to turn right here.” Trying to keep from laughing, I asked, “Do you think we should follow the map, or what seems right?” She giggled. We followed the map’s directions and arrived at our destination, just like it said.  

It reminded me of the verse, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 16:29). Many people travel through life guided solely by what seems right to them. They’re only thinking about having fun, doing whatever they want, and never thinking about where the road is leading them. It won’t end well for them.

God provided the Bible as our road map to guide us through life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). It teaches us about relationships, decision-making, marriage, salvation, and how to live. And it’s always right, even when our feelings try to pull us in the wrong direction.

So when you need guidance, ask yourself, “What does the Bible say about this?” God will show you the right way to go. Just follow His directions. 
www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 
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Last week we looked at the Sadducees and what they believed.
This week’s BIBLE STUDY: Who Were the Pharisees?  

Receive these devotionals (free) by email: You can subscribe in the box on the right at www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com (Your email will not be given out. You’ll receive an email when the new devotional is posted)

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

Sunday, May 24, 2020

A Deceived Person Doesn't Know He's Deceived


The Humane Society in Battle Creek, Michigan, received a phone call about two ducks that were trapped by the ice on a frozen pond. Manager Mike Pearson rushed to pond, inched his way out on the ice and rescued the ducks. Both wooden decoys are expected to survive.

Not everything that looks real is real. A deceived person believes things that aren’t true. Herod heard about Jesus doing miracles and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him” (Matt. 14:2).

Herod had John’s head cut off while he was in prison (14:10). The king knew John was dead, but now he believed that John rose from the dead and put his head back on! Herod believed John rose from the dead, which wasn’t true. But when Jesus actually did rise from the dead, he didn’t believe in His resurrection, which was true.

God used Paul and Barnabas to heal a man who had never walked. The people said, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us” (Acts 14:11). They wrongly believed Paul and Barnabas were the pagan Greek gods, Hermes and Zeus, and worshipped them. But then some agitators from Antioch and Iconium deceived them in a different way, and convinced them to stone Paul (14:19). Deception not only leads people to the wrong conclusions, but also to the wrong actions.

Is it possible that you believe things that aren’t true? It’s always wise to pray, “Lord, if I am deceived about something, please show me the truth.” Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com
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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Sunday, May 10, 2020

How Is It Possible to Love Your Enemy?


Corrie Ten Boom was a prisoner in a German concentration camp during WWII. Years later, while speaking in a church in Munich, she spotted in the congregation a former SS soldier who stood guard at the shower room door at Ravensbruck. When the church was dismissed, the former Nazi guard came up to her and said, “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein. To think that Jesus has washed my sins away!” He reached out to shake her hand.

Corrie kept her hand by her side as vengeful thoughts boiled within her. Here she stood, face to face with the evil soldier who had been so cruel to her. She prayed, “Lord Jesus, forgive me for hating him and help me to forgive him.” She struggled to raise her hand, but couldn’t. Again she prayed, “Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.”

As she slowly lifted her hand and grabbed his, an incredible thing happened. She said, “Into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our own forgiveness that the world’s healing hinges. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.” (Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place, p. 238)

How is it possible to love your enemy? God can and will do it through you. “For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9). Jesus will give you love for your enemy, just as He did with Corrie. All it takes is being willing to do it. www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com
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Receive these devotionals (free) by email: You can subscribe in the box on the right at www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com (Your email will not be given out. You’ll receive an email when the new devotional is posted)

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