Proof the Bible is True!

Many people attack the Bible because they think it isn’t true, but what if it can predict the future?

In the movie Back to the Future part 2, Marty McFly gets in his time machine and travels 30 years into the future. As Marty walks down the street, he sees a sports almanac in an antique store window, which lists all the scores from the year 1950 to 2000. Marty buys the book and takes it back to 1985 so he can bet on all the games. Since the outcome of every game has already been determined in history future, he would win every time. The plan backfires when his enemy, Biff Tannen, steals the book and places the sure bets, making himself rich instead of Marty.

The prophecies of the Bible can be compared to the sports almanac that Marty bought. Just as the scores of future games were recorded in his almanac, God’s predictions of future events are recorded in the Scriptures. We’re not talking about the end-of-the-world prophecies that are still waiting to be fulfilled, but the hundreds of predictions by the Old Testament prophets that have already come to pass.

How is it possible to predict the future when it hasn’t occurred? The prophets received specific information directly from God, who told them to record in the Scriptures what would happen in the future. The prophets would die long before most of their predictions would come to pass.

Time has proven the prophets to be correct. The prophet Micah (5:2) predicted the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem over 700 years before Christ was born. Zechariah (11:12) looked over 500 years into the future and foresaw the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Psalm 22 describes the crucifixion of Jesus 1,000 years into the future, prophesying His hands and feet would be pierced and lots would be cast for His garments.

God made sure these prophecies were recorded in Scripture so that we would be able to verify them after they came to pass. Jesus said, "I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He" (John 13:19, 14:29).

Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies made hundreds of years before He was born. The probability of one man fulfilling just 48 prophecies is one in 10 to the 157th power. This gives us indisputable proof God controls earthly events and the Bible is true.

CLICK HERE for More Prophecies Proving the Bible is True

 www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Evolution Can't Explain This

You were probably taught in school that evolution is a scientific fact. It isn’t. It’s only a theory that takes a great deal of faith to believe. If you think evolution might be true, here are three things you must believe.

1. To believe in evolution, you must believe that life arose from non-life. Evolution can’t explain how this happened. Brilliant scientists have tried to create life in a laboratory with the purpose of proving life arose by accident—and that no intelligence was required to do it! But they’ve failed to make it happen.

2. To believe in evolution, you must believe that all life on earth originated from a molecule in a “primordial soup.” Isaac Asimov said, “Once upon a time…perhaps two and a half billion years ago, under a deadly sun, in an ammoniated ocean topped by a poisonous atmosphere in the midst of a soup of organic molecules, a nucleic acid molecule came accidentally into being that could somehow bring about the existence of another like itself.”

Evolution claims that all life on earth—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. It takes a great deal of faith to believe that a single molecule eventually produced every living thing on the entire planet.

3. To believe in evolution, you must believe every part of the amazingly complex human body coordinated itself by accident. All 206 bones, 600 muscles, respiratory system, circulatory system, etc. are fitted in the right places and coordinated to work together. This makes it an irreducibly complex system, meaning that each part is useless without being coordinated with the other parts. For example, take away the spring of a mousetrap and the trap becomes useless. All the parts of the human body had to come together at the same time, which can’t be explained by evolution.

There’s a better answer for how we got here. The intricate design of every living thing must have 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. Even though you weren’t there to see the computer being designed and built, you have no doubt that someone, somewhere, made it happen. The same can be said for the human body.

Romans 1:20 says God’s “eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through that has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Life on earth didn’t come from a primordial soup but a supernatural God. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

CLICK HERE for more about Why Evolution Cannot Be True

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

The Monopoly Game

Dr. James Dobson once played the Monopoly game with his family where he won the game by collecting all the houses and money. After the game ended, he tossed all the pieces back into the box and realized this is exactly what many people do with their lives—collecting houses and money as if that’s all there is to life. Then when they die, everything they own is thrown back into the box and someone else plays with what they owned.

You can’t take anything with you when you die (1 Tim. 6:7), but you can send it ahead. Jesus said, “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven” (Matt. 6:20-21). If you are a follower of Christ, God has entrusted things for you to manage during this life. When you give to His kingdom and help others in need, you are laying up treasure for yourself in heaven. Your earthly resources are being transformed into something much more valuable that will last forever. This earthly life is simply a temporary world to get us ready for what we’ll be doing in His eternal kingdom.

It takes faith to let go of money and lay it up as treasure in heaven because you won’t see what you’ve laid up until after you die. But according to the promise of Jesus, whatever you’ve sent to heaven during your life on earth will be multiplied and waiting for you in heaven. I believe that “treasure in heaven” will be rewards, which are our eternal assignments according to our faithfulness.

      Your life doesn’t have to end like a Monopoly game. You can start today preparing for the next life by faithfully managing what God has given to you. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net 

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Click here to read studies on BIBLE PROPHECY, END TIMES & HEAVEN

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Why You Feel the Way You Do

Your feelings follow your thoughts like a caboose lags behind a locomotive. If your "thought locomotive" goes into the valley, then your "feelings caboose" will follow it into the valley. But if the locomotive goes up a mountain, the caboose lags behind the train at first but it will eventually follow it up the mountain. 

Here’s a test to show how thoughts affect moods:

1. When I’m happy, I’ve been thinking _______________ thoughts.

2. When I’m sad, I’ve been thinking ________________ thoughts.

3. When I’m angry, I’ve been thinking _______________ thoughts.

4. When I’m depressed, I’ve been thinking _____________ thoughts.

The answers are: 1. happy 2. sad 3. angry 4. depressing

Do you see the correlation between the way you think and the way you feel? What you think about produces the mood you are in. Your thoughts tell your emotions what to do. Emotions simply respond to the information that is fed to them.

If you watch a horror movie, you’ll be afraid even though you know the movie isn’t real. If you watch a sad movie, you’ll cry. A comedy will make you laugh and put you in a happy mood. If you’re depressed, it’s because you've been dwelling on depressing thoughts. Some depression is caused by other factors, but it’s primarily caused by dwelling on negative thoughts, which produces the feelings of depression.

What you think about is the problem, but it’s also the solution to the problem. If your thoughts affect your emotions, then your moods can be reversed by changing the way you think. Philippians 4:8 tells us to dwell on positive, healthy thoughts. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Thinking positively releases endorphins that correct the chemical imbalances caused by depression. Although God didn't explain to us the medical reasons for rejoicing, He did tell us "a joyful heart is good medicine" (Proverbs 17:22). (Slaying Your Giants, pp.179-180)

Do you want to change how you feel? Decide today to change what you think about. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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To READ SAMPLE CHAPTERS of Slaying Your Giants click here: Sample Chapters

(NOTE: The 20-Lesson Discussion Guide for Small Groups must be purchased separately)

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Calming the Storm

Jesus was on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples when a fierce storm hit. Waves were crashing over the side and the boat was filling up with water as Jesus slept in the stern (Mark 4:35-41). The disciples panicked because the ship would soon go under. Jesus was in the stern, the lowest place in the boat and the first to fill up with water. He’s covered with water—but He’s sleeping!

This is the only incident in the Bible where it specifically states Jesus is sleeping. The disciples are screaming in fear but Jesus is at perfect peace. The disciples woke Him up yelling, “Don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” From their viewpoint, it looked like God wasn’t in control and didn’t care about them. But this was a laboratory experiment to teach His disciples—and us—that He’s in control, even when our world is falling apart.

If they hadn’t awoken Jesus, He would have slept through the entire storm. I can’t imagine Jesus waking up and saying, “Whoa! I had no idea this storm was about to sink the boat. Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” Jesus could sleep because He knew His Father was in control even when He wasn’t awake.

Jesus commanded the winds to be still and the sea became perfectly calm (Mark 4:39), which proved He was in control of the storm. The disciples were amazed He could actually calm the storm simply by speaking words. And He can calm you as well. He says to your heart, “Peace, be still. Do not be troubled. Don’t be afraid.” Listen carefully, and you’ll hear Him whispering those words to your heart.

You’ll never be able to sleep through the storm like Jesus did until you first rest in the fact God is in control. God is still with you, even if He appears to be sleeping and unconcerned. If the Lord doesn’t calm the storm you’re going through, He will keep you calm as you go through the storm. Either way removes fear and brings peace.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Claiming God's Promises

It’s not enough just to know about God’s promises. We must receive the Scriptures for ourselves to make them a reality in our lives (Heb. 11:33). When prospectors discovered gold during the California Gold Rush in the 1800s, they had to “stake a claim.” Staking a claim meant they had to drive posts into the ground to claim the marked property as their own. This illustrates what it means to claim God’s promises.

You can’t see God, but you can see His promises recorded in the Bible. He wants you to stake a claim on them, which means to receive them by faith as your own personal property. Many people in the Bible chose to believe what God had promised, even when their situations looked impossible.

God promised Sarah she would have a child—and she gave birth at 90 years old. She was the first woman in history to go through menopause before she got pregnant! “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised” (Heb. 11:11). Her husband Abraham was “fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom 4:21).

Staking Your Claim: For example, if you aren’t sure God will forgive your sins, you can pray, “Lord, I receive your promises for myself. I’ve received Jesus and claim your promise that I’m your child (John 1:12). You’ve promised to forgive my sins (Eph. 1:7) and remember them no more (Heb. 10:17). You became sin for me and gave me your righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). I stand in your righteousness, not mine (Rom. 4:5)."

The fulfillment of each promise is God’s responsibility, but it’s up to us to trust Him to come through. He fulfilled every promise He made to Israel. “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45) Have you staked your claim? www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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Click here for 79 Answers to Bible Questions

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

Shake It Off!

“Shake it off” means don’t let certain nagging thoughts bother you. For example, you’re bothered because you can’t please people who will never like you. If you follow Jesus, the Lord wants to guard your heart and mind with His peace (Phil. 4:6-7).

Jesus told His disciples, “And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet” (Matt. 10:14). He told them not to let rejection bother them, but to shake it off and move on. If we let rejection stick to us, we’ll carry it with us wherever we go. That’s why we must shake it off.

The apostle Paul was on a ship that struck a reef. The passengers were stranded on the island Malta, and the natives built a fire to keep them warm. As Paul placed a stick on the fire, a viper came out the woodpile and fastened itself to his hand. He shook it off into the fire and suffered no harm (Acts 28:5).

Satan is a snake (Rev. 12:9) and wants to attach himself to your spirit so he can inject his venom. When the snake bites, you can either let it hang on—or you can shake it off. People who are bitter are full of venom because they didn’t shake it off when it first bit. When Paul shook off the snake, he suffered no harm. And if you’ll shake it off, you won’t either.

When people hate and reject you, shake it off. Don’t let condemning thoughts that aren’t from God to bother you. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace because it trusts in You.”  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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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