She Wasn't Expecting This to Happen

My daughter Hannah practiced for several weeks for the high school varsity cheerleader tryouts. She had been a junior varsity cheerleader, and only 3 varsity spots were open in a school of 2,000 students. Her best friend, Melissa, who was already a varsity cheerleader, practiced with Hannah every day to help her win one of the vacant spots. They kept talking about how fun it would be to cheer together. Melissa taught her the proper way to jump and how to always keep a smile on her face. She kept telling her, “You can do it, Hannah! I know you can!”

Over 100 girls showed up to compete for the 3 spots. The results would be posted at 9:45 pm. At 10:00 pm, Hannah came home, sobbing uncontrollably. My wife and I rushed over to comfort her. I told her, “It’s okay that you didn’t make varsity. We’re glad that you tried.”

Hannah continued to cry. She finally settled down and said, “I did make the varsity, but the judges demoted Melissa from varsity to junior varsity and gave me her place on varsity. I hurt so badly for her. She’s devastated!”

We were stunned. In a weird twist of fate, Hannah took Melissa’s position on varsity, and Melissa took Hannah’s position on J.V. “I don’t want to be a varsity cheerleader now,” Hannah said. “I’m going to ask for my junior varsity position back so Melissa can stay on varsity.” I told her, “I don’t think the judges would allow that.”

Hannah got up and drove over to Melissa’s house, where they cried together. She didn’t want to leave her alone, so that night she slept on the floor next to her friend.

I always enjoyed watching Hannah lead cheers at football games, but my fondest memory was when she demonstrated the love of Jesus and slept on the floor next to a hurting friend. Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39), and we’ll never be able to do this until we first feel the pain that they feel.   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net 

The Shoe Repair Shop

A man was cleaning out his desk and found an old ticket stub for shoes he had left in a shoe repair shop five years earlier. He went to the shop and said, “I found this ticket for some shoes I brought in five years ago. I don’t suppose you still have my shoes, do you?”

The shoe repairman said, “I’ll go in the back room and check.” He returned saying, “Yes, we still have them. They’ll be ready next Friday.”

Procrastination means putting something off because we don’t want to do it right now. Sometimes it’s due to our lack of discipline. At other times it’s due to indecisiveness. Or maybe we think the problem will go away if we ignore it.

When Pharoah refused to set the Hebrew people free from slavery in Egypt, God sent a plague of frogs to make his life miserable. Frogs covered the land and many hopped into Pharoah’s house, into his bedroom, and into his bed (Ex. 8:3). 

Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to ask the Lord to remove all the frogs from the land and “then I will let the people go.” Moses told Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you that the frogs be taken away from your houses?” Pharoah said, “Tomorrow” (Ex. 8:8-10).

Why would he want to spend one more miserable night with frogs hopping all over him when he could get rid of them now? Perhaps he thought the frogs would go away on their own during the night. But the real reason for the overnight delay was struggling with giving up all that free labor. Putting off the decision only make the problem worse.

Delaying what we need to do usually makes the situation worse than if we would have done it immediately. The “things-to-do” list keeps growing and becomes so overwhelming that we never want to deal with it. The grass grows taller. The credit card balance gets larger. The needed car repairs keep adding up.

Proverbs 20:4 says, “A lazy farmer doesn’t plow when he should, so at harvest time he has no crop.” Don’t put off what needs to be done. Tackle each dreaded duty one task at a time. Don’t let the frogs sleep in your bed for another night. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net 

Check Your Baggage Here

Before you can board an airplane, you must first have your baggage checked. The TSA agent is checking your bags to make sure that you’re not carrying too much weight or if you have something explosive packed inside. It’s okay to carry clothes in your suitcase, but it’s not okay to carry bombs.

You also need to check the baggage you’re carrying on your soul for the same things. A burden is an invisible weight that you carry on your soul. How do you accumulate excess baggage? By continually mulling over the problems that bother you. Each time you dwell on a problem, it weighs you down. Add another problem and the baggage gets heavier. If you keep adding weights to your soul, you will eventually get depressed. To check your baggage, you must inspect 3 different suitcases.

PAST BAGGAGE (YESTERDAY). Inside this suitcase is GUILT (refusing to believe Jesus will forgive all your sins), GRUDGES (wanting to punish those who have hurt you), REGRETS (wishing you could go back in time to change a bad decision)

FUTURE BAGGAGE (TOMORROW). Inside this suitcase is WORRY (refusing to trust God to supply what you need) and BEING IMPATIENT. While worry dreads the future, being impatient is too eager to get to the future and isn’t happy with the present. (“I can’t wait to get out of here. I can’t wait to get married. I can’t wait to change jobs” etc.)

PRESENT BAGGAGE (TODAY). This is the only suitcase you should be carrying because you can only live TODAY.  Even so, if you pack too many things in this suitcase, it becomes too heavy to carry. If you take on too many responsibilities, you will get STRESSED OUT.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…and you will find rest for your souls for My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30). We carry excess baggage because we haven’t learned from Jesus how to correctly think and live.

To get rid of your excess baggage, you must "Cast your burden upon the Lord" (Psalm 55:22). Put your problems in His hands. Notice that God does not automatically remove your burdens from you. He instructs you to cast them to Him. You must LET GO of them. After you cast your problems into God’s hands, the weight will be lifted off your soul because your problems are in His hands now.   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

The Preacher Who Lost His Voice

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

Some people believe God healed people in biblical times, but they’re not sure if He still heals today because they know some people who weren’t healed. However, just because someone isn’t healed doesn’t mean that no one can be healed today. While some people claim God healed them, it’s not often when a miracle is caught on a recording. The following healing was actually captured on audio:

Duane Miller was pastor of First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas. In 1990, he lost his voice due to a virus that infiltrated the nerves in his vocal cords. Over the next 3 years he went to 63 specialists, who told him he would never speak normally again. Even so, he continued to teach the Bible in a loud whisper to the best of his ability.

In 1993, he was teaching a church class on Psalm 103, which was being recorded on audio. As he was teaching through his whisper, he said, “The Psalmist says, ‘Bless the Lord oh my soul.’ One of the benefits is ‘He heals all my diseases.’ In verse 4 He says, ‘and redeems my life from the pit.’ Now, I like that verse a whole lot…”

At that moment, he felt something happen in his throat. He stopped whispering and started talking! As he continued to speak, his voice got stronger and clearer. He paused, realizing he had just been miraculously healed, and said, “I don’t understand this right now. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the moment…” The class was stunned, realizing they had just witnessed a miraculous healing, and started cheering.

As he choked back tears, he continued, “I’m, uh… sounds funny to say, I’m at a loss for words! Thank you Lord!” Miller has continued to speak normally since that day. We serve a living God who still does miracles because Jesus said, “The things that are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

We can learn a few things from this. Duane Miller didn’t become bitter at God because he wasn’t healed for 3 years. He continued to serve the Lord, even when he had to teach God’s Word in a whisper. He still believed God could heal today, even though he was told he would never speak normally again. We should all follow those three examples.    www.makinglifecount.net 

You can listen to the recording of the moment he was healed by CLICKING HERE.  You can visit Duane Miller’s website at www.nuvoice.org

Trusting God When You're Depressed

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

Pastor and writer Frederick Buechner was terribly depressed about a number of things going on in his life. He was parked on the side of the road in his car, praying for God to speak to him. At that moment, a car came down the highway with a license plate that read “TRUST.”

Buechner said, “Out of all the words in the dictionary that I needed most to see, it was the word TRUST. What do you call a moment like that? Something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while? The Word of God? I am willing to believe that maybe it was something of both.”

Frederick wrote about this experience in a periodical, which was read by the owner of the vehicle, who happened to be a trust officer in a bank. The man found out where Buechner lived and brought him the TRUST license plate to give to him. Fred propped it up on a bookshelf in his house to remind him that God hadn’t forgotten about him. (FrederickBuechner.com, Dec. 17, 2017)

We all experience trials “so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). When Daniel was in the lion’s den, he trusted God to protect him from certain death. When Abraham left Ur and didn’t know where he was going, he trusted God to guide him (Heb. 11:8).

When Elijah was hiding by the brook Cherith, he trusted God to provide food for him (1 Kings 17:4). When David faced the giant Goliath, he trusted God to give him victory (1 Sam. 17:37). When Job lost his health and everything else, he said, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is confident that something good will happen, but trust has confidence in the good God who makes it happen. David wrote, “This I know, that God is for me …. In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid” (Psalm 56:9,11). If you are going through a difficult time, that might be a good verse to tape to your bookshelf or your bathroom mirror.  www.makinglifecount.net  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

The Job Applicant

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

In the early 1900s, when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Morse code is a method of sending text messages one letter at a time by tapping out electronic signals on a telegraph key board, as seen by the telegraph operator in the movie Titanic.

Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. He walked into a busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. The receptionist instructed the job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.

The young man sat in the waiting room and filled out his form. A few minutes later, he got up and walked into the inner office. The other applicants in the room looked at each other in disbelief. Since his name had not been called, they thought he was unfairly jumping ahead of them.

Shortly after that, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and told the other applicants, “Thank you for coming, but the job has been filled.” One applicant complained, “That’s not fair! He was the last to come in, and we didn’t get a chance to be interviewed.”

The employer replied, “The entire time you have been sitting here, the telegraph has been sending the message in Morse Code: IF YOU UNDERSTAND THIS MESSAGE, COME NOW INTO THE INNER OFFICE. THE JOB IS YOURS. None of you deciphered the message, but this man did. He’s hired.”

Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). All the applicants heard the sound of the telegraph, but only one had “ears to hear.” Ears to hear means willing to obey what God tells you to do. Every believer can hear God speak if they are willing to do what He says. If you hear His voice, don’t just sit there. Get out of your chair and follow His instructions. www.makinglifecount.net   www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

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