Do You Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins?

Before the Reformation, Martin Luther was in a monk’s cell, weeping because of the guilt he felt due to the sins he had committed. Just then he heard another monk nearby who was reciting the Apostle’s Creed:

“I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the…”

Martin Luther stopped him and said, “Wait! What did you just say?” The monk said, “What do you mean what did I just say?”

Luther said, “That last part. What was that again?” The monk replied, “Oh that. I said, ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’” 

“The forgiveness of sins,” Luther said, as if savoring each word. “I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Then there is hope for me. Maybe there is a way to God.”

Martin Luther must have recited that creed many times before, but he had never really thought about what he truly believed. Do you believe in the forgiveness of all your sins? When you repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord, God says, “I will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12).

But what if you’ve committed the most vile and hideous sins imaginable? The blood of Jesus is MORE POWERFUL than any sin and cleanses you from every sin (1 John 1:7,9). Instead of beating yourself up with guilt, spend your time thanking God for forgiving you.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com   www.makinglifecount.net

I Touched His Sore Spot

One Sunday morning I greeted a friend as he entered the church. When I shook his hand, I placed my other hand on his shoulder. He immediately recoiled in pain, moaning "Owww!"

I had gently touched him on his shoulder, the same thing I had done to several other folks that morning. However, no one else had pulled away from me. This man reacted differently because He had injured his shoulder a few days before. He pulled away from me because I had touched his sore spot.

Suddenly I understood how physical injuries can teach us about spiritual wounds. A person with a wounded spirit will react abnormally to an innocent comment that wouldn’t hurt a healthy person. The slightest touch on their hurting area causes them to recoil in pain and lash out at others. And that’s why hurting people will hurt other people. They are protecting their sore spots to keep from being hurt again.

How can you detect when people have inner wounds? They are typically in a bad mood. If you make an innocent comment that triggers a painful memory, they will either lash out or withdraw in pain. That’s not a normal reaction.

A person with a toothache cannot fall in love because it’s hard to love others if you are hurting inside. All your attention goes to your pain. A wounded person’s greatest need is to be healed, and healing typically begins by forgiving the person who hurt you.

God can heal you. He says, “For I will restore you to health and I will heal your wounds” (Jer. 30:17). The sooner you deal with the issue that hurt you, or forgive the person who hurt you, the faster you will heal. Two weeks after I touched my friend’s sore spot, his shoulder was healed—and that’s when he started acting normally again. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

Watch the Matt Maher song “And All the People Said Amen”

Everyone is Playing "Deal or No Deal"

This devotional comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals  

The popular TV show “Deal or No Deal” is a game played with 26 numbered briefcases containing different amounts of money from one cent to $1 million. The contestant doesn’t know which case has the million dollars. The player chooses to eliminate cases one at a time. Each case is opened to reveal the amount inside.

The banker then offers the player a guaranteed amount of money to quit playing. If the offer is refused, the player keeps choosing briefcases to possibly win more money or lose it all.  

On one episode, a woman had eliminated all but two briefcases. One case contained $1 million while the other only had $5,000. The banker offered her a guaranteed deal of $530,000 if she would quit playing. She could take home over a half million dollars if she would accept his deal, or she could turn down the deal and take a 50/50 chance at winning $1 million. No one in their right mind would turn down the guaranteed $530,000 deal to keep gambling.

The audience yelled for her to go for the $1 million. A family member begged her to take the guaranteed $530,000. Instead, she listened to the audience and yelled, "No deal! I KNOW that I'm going to win the million dollars!" They opened the case she had picked, which only contained $5,000. She made the wrong choice and forfeited $530,000!

Everyone is playing Deal or No Deal with their souls. Jesus said, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37). We’re betting our eternal souls that what Jesus taught about the afterlife is either true or not true. Like the woman choosing between the two suitcases, we are choosing between two eternal destinies—heaven or the place of torment.

Jesus died for your sins and is offering you a guaranteed deal of eternal life (John 3:15-17). If you will give your life to Him, He will rescue your soul for all eternity. If you ignore His offer, you’re gambling your soul. Deal or No Deal? www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

Click here to find out how to make the right deal for your soul.  

Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

The following Devotional comes from my book Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals  

This is a true story. A pastor in Ohio asked a member of his church, who was a surgeon, if he could be in the operating room to watch an open-heart surgery. The doctor permitted him to observe. 

The physician began the surgery, removed the woman’s heart, repaired what was wrong, and placed it back into her chest. As he massaged her heart to get it going, it wouldn’t beat. He tried to start it using other procedures, but nothing worked.

In an act of desperation, the surgeon knelt down beside his patient and whispered, “Mrs. Johnson, this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly and your heart has been repaired, but you need to tell your heart to beat again.” When he finished saying those words, immediately her heart began beating!

Even though the surgeon did everything necessary to repair her heart, the patient needed to cooperate with him. By an act of her will, she had to start her own heart beating. This story inspired singer Randy Phillips to write the song, Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.

Maybe you’ve been rejected or you’ve lost a loved one—and your heart has stopped beating. Perhaps your spouse betrayed you and your heart has been devastated. You’ve lost hope and your will to live. Remember, God is the great physician who can repair your heart—but you have to tell your heart to beat again.

Tell your heart to love again. Command your heart to hope again. No matter what tragedy you’ve been through, God still has plans for the rest of your life. He will “restore your soul” (Ps. 23:3) so you can move forward with your life. The rest of your life can be the best of your life. Just tell your heart to beat again. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

To listen to the video of Randy’s song with lyrics click here “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again”

He Found WHAT in the Sewer?

The following Devotional comes from Amazing Stories & Daily Devotionals

Roy Parrino has a job most people wouldn’t want. He works in a sewer in Orange County, California. Roy spends his days cleaning out miles of sewer lines in the Los Angeles area—braving toxic fumes, avoiding discarded syringes, and wading through filthy muck that’s been flushed down toilets. “You really have to psych your mind up for it,” Parrino says. “Remember, you’re going into the filthiest environment there is. It’s like being in a big toilet.”

 

Maybe you’re in a “sewer” right now. You’re stuck in a stressful workplace, surrounded by hateful people with toxic attitudes. How can we keep a positive attitude in the middle of an intolerable situation like that? Doesn’t the Bible say to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4) and “consider it all joy when we encounter trials” (James 1:2)? How is that possible?

 

You may not choose your circumstances, but you can choose how you view them. Every situation contains both good and bad, but you can choose what you'll focus on. It’s easy to see what’s wrong, but it takes determination to look past the filth and search for something good that God wants you to find.

The first day on the job, Roy climbed out of the sewer holding a 2-carat topaz ring that he had found. Parrino has found gold necklaces, bracelets, and even diamond rings while working in sewers. If Roy can find jewels in a sewer, then you can find something good in your messy situation.

You can find something positive in every situation if you’ll search for it. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find” (Matt. 7:7). No matter where you work and what you’re going through, you’ll never be happy unless you develop a positive attitude. The next time you’re up to your neck in sewage, just remember that you can find diamonds in your sewer—if you’ll search for them.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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