How to Handle Criticism

The Pharisees kept trying to find fault with Jesus even though He was sinless. “And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely …in order that they might find reason to accuse Him” (Luke 6:7). If Jesus couldn’t escape criticism, neither will you. Do you know any of these critics?

Perfectionist Pete. Quick on the flaw. No one can ever reach his unattainable expectations, including himself.

Sarcastic Sally. Cuts others down by using snide remarks to make herself look better.

Teasing Tom. Makes jabs by joking. Rips others apart under the guise of humor. Excuses himself by saying, “Can’t you take a joke?”

Gossiping Gilda. Talks about people behind their backs but not to their faces. Exaggerates others’ faults and shows no mercy.

Angry Allen. An “in-your-face” guy. His anger boils over and reprimands you face-to-face, not caring how it devastates you.

Preying Pauline. Exposes others’ faults through prayer requests. “We need to pray for Marlene. I think she might be pregnant and doesn’t know who the father is.”

Jealous Jane. Feels threatened by others and points out their imperfections to make her rivals look ugly.

How can we handle being criticized? The same way Jesus did. He only sought to please His Father and ignored His critics. Paul said, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10). Seek to please God more than people and the sting of criticism won’t bother you. www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: “Resolving Conflicts”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

The Blind Girl Couldn't See the Toys

At Christmastime in 1897, a newspaper reporter in Boston saw three little girls standing in front of a store window full of toys. One of them was blind. He overheard the other two trying to describe the toys to their blind friend. The reporter said he never thought of how difficult it would be to explain what something looks like to someone who is blind. He wrote a story about the three girls for his newspaper.

Two weeks later, the reporter attended a gospel meeting conducted by Dwight L. Moody. He wanted to write a critical article attacking the evangelist. To the reporter’s surprise, Moody quoted from his newspaper article about the three girls at the toy store window.

Moody said, “Just as the blind girl couldn’t visualize the toys, so an unsaved person can’t see Jesus Christ in His glory.” Moody preached that God opens the eyes of anyone who acknowledges his sin and accepts Christ by faith. The newsman was touched by Moody’s words and realized he was a blind man who needed his eyes opened. That day he accepted Jesus as his Lord.

People who are in darkness cannot see. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel” (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness (John 8:12). Everyone is like that reporter and only Jesus can open our spiritual eyes. Have your eyes been opened? If so, you’ll see God and live your life differently. www.makinglifecount.net 

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BIBLE STUDY: “Why Did Jesus Need to be Born of a Virgin?”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Learning to Swim

When I was a kid I took swimming lessons at the neighborhood pool. The easy part was when I grabbed on to the side of the pool while someone held me up as I learned how to kick. Then came the hard part--learning how to float.

It was hard for me to believe that the water would hold me up without any effort of my own. I would try to float, but then my feet would immediately drop down so I could stand up. I didn’t fool anyone when I did that awkward “half swim” where I walked along the bottom of the pool while moving my arms like I was swimming.

The instructor kept telling me to trust him—that the water really would hold me up if I would just relax. But that was the problem. I couldn’t relax when I thought I was going to drown. Then one day, and I quit trying to float and just went limp. To my surprise I didn’t sink. For the first time in my life I floated—without any effort on my part. When I totally surrendered to the water and quit struggling, the water held me up.

That’s how we learn to trust God. Inwardly we go limp. We quit trying to trust Him and submit to His complete control. In absolute surrender, we say, “Lord, I’m totally depending on you to come through for me.” David continually put his trust in God and relaxed:

“I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever” (Ps. 52:8).

“In God I have put my trust” (Ps.56:4)

“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid” (Ps. 56:11).

“My soul trusts in You” (Ps. 57:1)

“Trust in Him at all times, you people” (Ps. 62:8)

David learned how to float by relaxing and placing his complete trust in God rather than himself. And we must do the same. www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY  “What does it mean to be born of water?”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Everyone is Placing a Bet

The lottery just reached $1 billion and millions of people are betting they’ll win. And everyone on the planet is placing a bet as to whether or not the Bible is true. You’re not betting with money but with your eternal soul. Jesus said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” (Mark 8:36). You will either be right or wrong. Before you place your bet, you’d be wise to carefully examine some evidence you weren’t taught in school.

The evidence the Bible is true is found in the many predictions about the future that it makes, which have come to pass. Hundreds of Bible prophecies that have been fulfilled is irrefutable proof the Bible is true. Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies. The probability of one man fulfilling just 48 prophecies is one in 10 to the 157th power. That’s enough proof to place your bet.

But what about evolution? You’re betting that life arose from non-life and that all life on earth arose from a molecule from a “primordial soup.” You’re betting that every elephant and every ant, every fish and every bird, every person and every gnat, every tree and every blade of grass in the entire world came from this one molecule. Scientists have purposely tried to create life in a laboratory to prove that life arose accidentally with no intelligence involved! They’ve never done it.

Consider the complexity of the human body. For example, how can evolution produce an eye? The body has 206 bones, 600 muscles, respiratory system, and circulatory system, which are all coordinated to work together. Each part is useless without being coordinated with the other parts. Take away the brain and it doesn’t work. Take away the heart or the lungs and it doesn’t work. All the parts of the human body had to come together at the same time. Evolution can’t explain this.

The complex design of the human body had to come from an Intelligent Designer. Your computer has many complex parts that work together as a unit, and you know an intelligent person designed and coordinated each part so that it can function. The same can be said for the human body.

This isn’t hard to figure out. Which makes more sense? I’m betting my soul that the Bible and everything Jesus taught about the afterlife is true. I hope you’ll make the right choice. www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY  “Was Judas a believer?

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Getting Out of the Rut

The picture on your left show ruts formed by wagons in the 1800s on the Oregon Trail. When the rut first started it was shallow. But the more it was traveled on, the deeper the ruts became—and the harder it was to get out of it. It has been said that years ago a sign on the road said, “Avoid this rut or you will be in it for the next 25 miles.” Even so, it was possible to get out of the rut if they were determined to do it.

When we keep doing the same things over and over, we start developing a rut. There’s nothing wrong with doing the same daily routine if we’re faithfully doing God’s will. But the problem comes when God calls us to make a major change and do something entirely different. It might be changing your career, getting married, moving to another city or making a life-changing decision.

Sometimes God places His blessing outside of your comfort zone and then asks you to come get it. To get something that you’ve never had before, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before. You’ll probably make a number of major changes in your life, but don’t do it without considering these things:

1. Make sure God is leading you. Don’t make a major change unless you’ve prayed about it and have God’s peace in your heart. God promises to lead you on the right path. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

2. Count the cost before you do it. Jesus said, “For which of you, when he wants to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to finish it?” (Luke 14:28) Every decision is an exchange—you’re giving up one thing to get something else. When you get married, you give up single life for married life. If you don’t count the cost before making the decision, you won’t stick with it.

3. Trust God to give you the power to make the change.  A wagon can only get out of the rut by being jolted out of it. You can’t do it in your own power, but you can get out of any rut through the power of the Holy Spirit. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). 

Once you've done these things, then move forward and don't look back. Looking back will only make you doubt your decision. www.makinglifecount.net   

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BIBLE STUDY  “Does everything happen for a reason?”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Little Things Are Actually Big Things

Jesus told us little things are actually big things. He said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). Sometimes God will give us something small as a test to see how trustworthy we’ll be in handling it.

Martha Berry founded a school for needy children in 1902. She once asked Henry Ford (owner of the Ford Motor Company) for a million dollars to help her school. He didn’t donate the huge amount she requested, but gave her a dime. Instead of being insulted, she accepted the dime and bought peanuts for her school children to plant.

They harvested the peanuts and used it to plant a larger field. Eventually they harvested enough peanuts to buy a piano for their music students. Martha wrote a letter to Mr. Ford telling him how they had used his dime to grow enough peanuts to buy a piano. Ford was so impressed by her faithfulness with the dime that he gave her school a million dollars! (Making Today Count for Eternity, p.149).

Don’t gripe about your insignificant job or the small amount of money you handle. God's watching to see what you’ll do with it. “For who has despised the day of small things…they are the eyes of the Lord which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth” (Zech. 4:10).

Martha died in 1942 and never saw the future of her little school, which is now Berry College in Georgia. You may never see on earth what your faithfulness will produce in the future. But if you’ll faithfully manage your little things on earth, the Lord promises to give you something really big in heaven. www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY  “Little Things God will Reward in Heaven”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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God Always Has Perfect Timing

Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, was a newly licensed pilot and was flying from Vero Beach, Florida to Longview, Texas. He met with bad weather over Mobile, Alabama and air traffic controllers told him to fly north toward Jackson, Mississippi in order to avoid the approaching storm.

As he rose above the clouds, the instrument panel lights flickered. A minute later the radio and instruments went dead; then all the lights went out. Franklin realized he was in a desperate situation so he prayed for God to intervene.

He dropped below the clouds hoping to see the ground. When he spotted the distant lights of Jackson, he headed for the airport's rotating beacon. He circled the control tower and since he didn't have any electrical power, lowered the landing gear manually. At that moment, the runway's emergency landing lights came on and he landed.

As soon as he was on the ground, the lights went off. “That's odd,” he thought, “at least they could have waited until I taxied to the ramp.” After he got out of the plane, a man from the tower asked, "Who gave you permission to land?" No one in the tower had seen the small plane circling overhead. 

Why would the lights be turned on if they hadn't seen him? They “just happened” to be turned on by an air traffic controller who was explaining to his visiting pastor what he would do in case a plane ever attempted to land without radio communications! At the exact moment when Franklin needed the lights, the controller turned them on without knowing the plane was there. (Franklin Graham, "When the Lights Went On,” Dimensions for Living, 1992).

God’s timing is always perfect. The ram was caught in the thicket at the exact moment Abraham was about to offer up Isaac (Gen. 22). The fish with a coin in its mouth bit on Peter’s hook at the right time so he could pay the temple tax (Matt. 17). Mary arrived in Bethlehem at the right time to give birth to Jesus and fulfill the prophecy of Micah 5:2.

Maybe you’ve been praying for something for a long time and nothing has happened—yet. God knows the exact time when He will answer. Since His timing probably isn’t the same as yours, remove the deadline you’ve placed on Him. Be patient and keep trusting God even though you don’t know when it will happen. www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY  “How Did We Get the Bible?”

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com