When God Does Not Heal

The following Devotional comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Randy Frieouf was a member of our church who suffered with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As the months passed, his health continued to worsen. He was confined to a wheel chair, and finally to a bed. Many people were praying for him during this time.

One day my 13-year-old daughter Hannah said, “Dad, I had a dream last night that Mr. Frieouf was walking.” I told her, “Let’s keep praying for him. I believe that all things are possible with God.” The next week Hannah told me, “Dad, last night I had another dream that Mr. Frieouf was walking!” Again, I encouraged her to keep praying for him. 

Not long after this, we received the phone call that Randy had passed away. When Hannah heard the news, she got upset and hurried into the bedroom. A few minutes later, she came out of the room and said, “Dad, I asked God why Mr. Frieouf died after I had those dreams. God just spoke to me.”

“He did? What did He say?” Hannah said, “He told me to read Psalm 1:1, but just the first part. Dad, I didn’t know what that verse said, so I looked it up. God told me to read just the first part of the verse.”

She held out an open Bible and read from it. “The first part of Psalm 1:1 says, ‘How blessed is the man who does not walk.’ Dad, the man who does not walk is Mr. Frieouf! Do you think He told me this to let me know he is happy in heaven?” “Yes, that’s exactly why He told you that,” I said. “He wants you to know that he’s blessed in his eternal home in heaven.”

I believe we should pray for healing no matter how dire the situation my appear. In fact, I’ve seen God do miracles when people were seemingly beyond hope. Jesus said, “The things impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27). 

However, when our prayers aren’t answered, we can find comfort in the fact that believers who aren’t healed will receive complete wholeness in heaven. That’s why God sent the message to Hannah, “How blessed is the man who does not walk!” www.makinglifecount.net  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

The Tinted Lenses We Look Through

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Pastor Ed Manning said a woman in his church approached him to ask a question. As she drew closer to him, he tipped his head back to look through the bottom lenses of his bifocal glasses to focus on her more clearly.

“There you go again!” the woman snapped. “You stick your nose up in the air every time I talk to you! Who do you think you are? I’m sick of your arrogant attitude!”

Pastor Manning was stunned by her outburst of anger. “You don’t understand,” he explained. “I’m not sticking my nose up in the air at you. I just can’t see you when you get near me. I’m tilting my head back so I can see you through the bottom half of my bifocals.”

The woman had been harboring resentment toward him, thinking he had been looking down on her. It wasn’t true, but that’s how she viewed their relationship. Pastor Manning looked at her through bifocals, but Kathy looked at him through rejection glasses.

The world is filled with people who misinterpret what they see. It has been a problem since biblical times, when Saul viewed David through jealousy glasses (1 Sam. 18:6-9). Ten spies sneaked into the land of Canaan, looked through inferiority glasses and said, “We became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Num. 13:33). The vineyard workers looked through envy glasses, compared wages per hour, and griped about their pay (Matt. 20:10-16). The Pharisees viewed Jesus through judgmental glasses, trying to find fault with the perfect Son of God (Luke 6:7).

The sinfully-tinted glasses are as many as the corrupt attitudes that contaminate our hearts. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). When we’re pure in heart, it not only clears up our vision to properly see God, but it also helps us see others correctly. www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

June is Humility Month

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

June is Humility Month because “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5). God doesn’t take kindly to those who flaunt themselves and what they do. But don’t take my word for it. On three different occasions Jesus said everyone who thinks of himself as great will be brought down (Matt. 23:12, Luke 14:11, 18:14). When King Nebuchadnezzar lifted himself up, he went insane. When King Belshazzar mocked God by drinking wine from the gold and silver vessels taken from the temple, he died that night. (Dan. 4:30-33, 5:1-30).

And then there’s King Herod Agrippa who died in an unusual way. Acts 12:21-23 tell us: “And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. And the people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”  

The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived 37-100 AD, confirmed this event. “[Herod] put on his garment made wholly of silver … his garment being illuminated by the reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner,” giving him a brilliant appearance. “A severe pain also arose in his bowels in a most violent manner … and [he] said, ‘I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life.’” (Antiquities of the Jews 19.8.2)

Imagine watching this. Herod enters the theatre in a robe of silver. The sun reflects off the silver coat, making him look as if he’s glowing. The crowd cries out that he’s a god, and he receives their worship. Then, at that moment, he falls over dead “because he did not give God the glory.” 

How do we humble ourselves? Simply by yielding completely to God and asking Him take control of our lives. We live according to what He wants and not how we want. Pride always dies when we shine the spotlight on God instead of ourselves. www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

It Would Take a Miracle to Save Their Marrage

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

After 16 years of marriage, Suzanne and Jim Shemwell were ready to call it quits. She confided with friends that it would take a miracle to save her marriage. They constantly argued and divorce seemed like the only option.

But then, on March 5, 2003, they were stranded in a blizzard on a snowmobile trip in Boise National Forest 7,000 feet above sea level. For the next 5 days and nights, they had to rely on each other for their very survival. Trapped on a freezing mountaintop, fighting frostbite and hunger, Jim and Suzanne stopped arguing and began cooperating. They had previously communicated with insults and hateful words, but their desperate situation in the woods made them focus on encouraging and comforting each other. They were finally rescued on March 10, 2003.

Ironically, their experience of being stranded together in the icy forest caused them to appreciate each other like never before. Instead of getting divorced, they decided to renew their wedding vows on March 10, 2004 in Boise National Forest.. Not only were their lives saved on March 10, 2003, but their marriage was also saved. They are still happily married in 2025.

Jim and Suzanne had lost something in their marriage, but then found it again. It reminds me of the parable Jesus told about a woman who lost something valuable in her home. She searched carefully until she found it, and then called friends to share the good news and rejoice (Luke 15:8-9). 

That parable can also apply to homes today. Many couples have lost something valuable and desperately need to find it. First, they must realize they’ve lost something precious. Then they must diligently search together until they find it, and then they will rejoice together. And if they can’t find it in the house, they might need to get lost together in a blizzard on a freezing mountaintop.  www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

The Passenger Had to Fly The Plane

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

David Gibbs and his friend were in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska flying in a small plane to Anchorage when the pilot passed out. Neither one of the passengers knew how to fly the plane. David sat in the pilot’s seat, but he couldn’t see anything because they were flying in a storm. His friend called on the radio and was connected to Anchorage Emergency. 

The man in the tower said, “I’ve found you on the radar. If you want me to get you home safe, you’ve got to promise me you’ll obey my voice. You can’t see me, but I can see you. If you don’t do what I say, you won’t make it.  

“You’re four minutes away from a mountain. You’re going to crash into that mountain unless you follow my instructions.” David followed his orders and got the plane turned away from the mountain.

The voice continued, “You’re an hour and a half away from Anchorage and there’s a lot of bad weather ahead of you. You’re in for a rough ride. I want you to listen to me and not look outside. I don’t want you to pay attention to the storm, just my voice. If you start watching the storm, you will die. But if you listen to me, I’ll take you through it.”

Later the voice said, “I’m going bring you in down the runway. At the foot of the runway are some lights shaped like a cross. The cross is the way home.” As the plane was coming down to land, David could see the cross. He bounced the plane on the runway and landed safely. When the plane stopped, the pilot woke up! The voice in the tower said, “Thanks for listening. I watch them crash and burn all the time because they won’t follow my voice.” 

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Trust His voice to guide you through life. You can’t see Him, but He can see you.    www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS AMAZING STORY on YouTube 

Even Caesar Confirmed the Resurrection

After Christ’s Resurrection, a Roman Emperor issued a decree for people to stop stealing bodies from Judah’s sepulchers. Without realizing it, he was confirming Christ’s Resurrection! The Nazareth Inscription is a powerful piece of extrabiblical evidence that Christ’s Resurrection was already being proclaimed shortly after He was raised.

The inscription is on a marble tablet written in Greek. Since the discovery was published in 1930, no scholar has produced evidence to disprove its authenticity. It’s an abridged decree by either Tiberius (14-37 AD) or Claudius (41–54 AD), pronouncing the death penalty in Israel for anyone caught robbing bodies from tombs. (Normally, grave robbers stole valuables, not bodies!) It refers specifically to “sepulcher sealing tombs,” a special type used in Israel.

This “Decree of Caesar” is known as an imperial rescript, having the force of law. Rescripts frequently dealt with unusual legal, religious, or political issues arising in a specific region. The text fits both the style and structure of other rescripts of Claudius. Matthew records one of the first responses to reports of Jesus’ Resurrection. The Jewish authorities invented a lie that the disciples had stolen the body (Matt. 28:13). Their goal was to spread an alternative story explaining why the body was missing and the tomb was empty. The Nazareth Inscription is very likely the Roman response to that very same problem.

In his dialogue with a nonbelieving Jew, Justin Martyr (AD 100–165) also refers to these early attempts to explain away the empty tomb of Jesus: “Yet you not only have not repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.”

The Nazareth Inscription forces skeptics to deal more deeply with the two major competing views of events: believing in the Resurrection of Christ or believing that His disciples stole His body from the tomb to perpetrate a great religious fraud. The account of Christ’s Resurrection was first circulated by the Apostles themselves, according to Scripture, and it was not a later invention by Christians of the post-apostolic period. The inscription is excellent evidence confirming this truth, and it brings to mind Paul’s statement, “If Christ is not risen … your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). (Henry B. Smith, Answers in Genesis, April 1, 2015)  www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  

Do You See What Actually Happened There?

The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

The Archbishop of Paris was preaching to a large congregation in Notre Dame cathedral. He told the story of three rebellious young men who wandered into the cathedral one day. Two of the men made a bet with the third man that he would not make a fake confession to the priest. He accepted the bet and went to the priest for confession, making up a story about a sin he had committed.

When he finished, the priest said, “Go to the crucifix over there, kneel down before it, and repeat three times, ‘All this you did for me and I don’t really care.’” The young man knelt before the crucifix, looked up at the face of Jesus on the cross and said, “All this you did for me, and I …”

He choked up and tried again. “All this you did ...” He couldn’t go any further. His heart broke and he started sobbing. For the first time in his life, he understood what Jesus had done for him by sacrificing His life. The archbishop finished his sermon by saying, “You might think I made up this story, but it’s true. I was that young man!”

What should we see when we look at the cross? We see Jesus taking our sins upon Himself. “He Himself bore our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:14). We see Him opening the door into heaven “so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus didn’t have to die for us, but He did, so that we could spend eternity with Him. 

People who look at the cross and walk away unchanged do not see what happened there. Do you see it? Do you see what actually happened at the cross? Most people don’t see it. I hope you do. www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com