Does Time Heal All Wounds?

In the 1963 Canadian Football League championship game, QB Joe Kapp got into a fight with Angelo Mosca, who was a defensive lineman on the opposing team. The referee stepped in and broke up the fight. After the game was over, they continued to dislike each other.

Forty-eight years later in 2011, the two former pro football players were invited to appear at a luncheon for the Canadian Football League. Joe Kapp was 73 years old and Angelo Mosca was 74 years old. When the two players were introduced, the luncheon's host give Kapp an olive branch to give to Mosca as a peace offering. Everyone thought it would be a light-hearted moment about their feud and would bring a laugh from the audience.

Instead of handing it to him, Kapp pushed it into Mosca’s face and then punched him. Mosca retaliated by hitting him with his cane. Like the referee did 48 years before, the host stepped in and broke up the fight. Both men were still angry over an incident that happened in 1963. If time could heal wounds, 48 years should be enough time.

God put a time limit on how long to be angry. It’s not 48 years, but less than 24 hours. “Be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day” (Eph. 4:26 NCV). If you don’t throw water on the fire before the sun goes down, your anger will keep flaring up—even 48 years later.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Forgiveness does. Whatever was done to you, it’s time to let it go. Forgive and release the wrongdoing into God’s hands. It’s the only way to have peace of mind. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY “Who are the Two Witnesses in Revelation?” CLICK HERE

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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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Knocking Until the Door Opens

Late one afternoon when the office was ready to close, the business manager finally allowed a life insurance salesman to see him. The manager told the salesman, “You should feel highly honored. Do you know that I have refused to see seven insurance men today?” 

“I know,” replied the salesman. “I’m them!”

Jesus told a parable about a man who went to a friend’s house at midnight and knocked on his door, asking for bread (Luke 11:5-8). His neighbor told him to go away. But the man kept knocking on the door, knowing his friend wouldn’t get any sleep until he opened the door and gave him bread. Jesus concluded, “Because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he wants.”

The man did not give him the bread because of their friendship. The only reason for granting his request because the man kept pounding on the door. Jesus used this as an illustration of the kind of persistent faith that He’s looking for. Persistence is the most overlooked way to receive God’s blessings. (If God Knows What I Need, Why Should I Pray? p.81)

What if he had quit knocking after the first refusal? He might have thought, “It must not be God’s will or he would have opened the door on the first knock.” But it was God’s will because he finally received the bread.

What if the four men who carried the paralyzed man to Jesus would have turned around because of the crowd around the house? (Mark 2:2-12). They could have given up and said, “It must not be God’s will.” But they persisted and lowered him through the roof. And it was God’s will because Jesus healed the man.

What if the Canaanite woman had turned around after Jesus ignored her? (Matt. 15:22-28). She could have said, “It must not be God’s will.” But it was God’s will because she persisted and Jesus healed her daughter.

Sometimes you won’t get what you're praying for because it’s not His will. But what if you don’t get it because you quit knocking too soon? God won’t get mad at you for pounding on His door. He might even open it and give you the bread you need.  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

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The Wrong Solution to the Problem

Suppose one morning your car doesn’t start, so you replace the battery. Your car still doesn’t start, so you put in another battery. Your car still doesn’t start. You replace the battery again. You keep doing this and before long you have a garage full of batteries, never realizing that the car is out of gas. You’ve chosen the wrong solution to your problem.

Many people look for the wrong solutions to their problems. Choosing the wrong solution not only doesn’t solve the problem, but usually makes your situation worse! For example:

Situation #1 Boy and girl fall in love, both thinking they’ve found “the one.” Wrong Solution: Decide to live together in same bedroom (Heb. 13:4). If it works out they will get married. Right Solution: Choose to live separately and stay sexually pure until marriage (1 Thess. 4:3). If they are meant for each other God will bless their marriage.

Situation #2 You have high credit card debt, a new car payment, and can barely make your payments. Wrong Solution: Keep buying more with your credit card and get Pay-Day loans to cover the difference (Prov. 22:7). Right Solution: Cut back on spending. Downsize to a less expense car. Sell unnecessary items to pay off your credit card. (Rom. 13:8)

Situation #3 Your 13-year old daughter wants to go to a party where you know there will be drinking. Wrong Solution: Give her permission to go but make her promise to not drink (1 Cor. 15:33, Prov. 13:20). Right Solution: Don’t let her go but instead let her invite a couple of friends to your house under your supervision (James 1:5).

What problem are you’re dealing with? Wrong solutions bring immediate relief but ultimate unhappiness. Right solutions are usually more difficult at first but bring peace and happiness. Many problems are caused because we haven’t obeyed what God has told us. Jesus said, “And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) Are you doing it God’s way? www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

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WATCH VIDEO TEACHING (21 min.) “How Will God Provide for Me?” (Click and scroll down)

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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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Seeking to Impress Others?

A businessman’s office wall was covered with award plaques and framed documents. On it was a diploma from Harvard Business School, a “National Salesman of the Year” award, and a letter from the President of the United States. A visitor was impressed by his honors and asked, “How did you manage to accomplish so much in such a short time?” “It really wasn’t that hard,” the man replied. “I have a sign-printing business.”

Hypocrisy is trying to impress others by pretending to be something that we’re not. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they performed their religious duties “to be seen” by men (Matt. 6:1). “To be seen” in Greek is theathemai which is where we get our word “theatre.” The actors on the Greek stage performed in the theatre and craved for the applause of their audience.

The Pharisees were religious actors, playing the role of a righteous person in the “theatre” of street corners, synagogues, and the temple. They longed for applause of people rather than the applause of God.

In the age of social media, seeking to be popular and please people is a danger for us as well. The apostle Paul said, “For am I seeking the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ” (Gal. 1:10).

Don’t sacrifice what you know to be true for fear of what others think. Only one opinion matters. God’s. www.makinglifecount.net

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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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How Do We Know The Titanic Really Sank?

The Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, but how do we know for sure? No one alive today was there when it sank. So does that mean it never happened? Do you have to swim to the bottom of the Atlantic to see it with your own eyes before you will believe?

Approximately 1,500 passengers drowned but 700 people survived the tragedy. Those survivors were eyewitnesses to the accident, and newspapers recorded their comments about what they saw. No one living today questions whether or not the Titanic sank because we have a record of the eyewitness reports.

How do we know Jesus rose from the dead? Just like we know about the Titanic—through the eyewitness reports. Paul writes, "He was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time...then He also appeared to James and all the apostles...and He appeared to me (Paul) also." (1 Cor. 15:6-8).

But here's the real proof. The disciples were so convinced of His resurrection they were willing to die for Him. And most of them did. When they were threatened with death and offered their release if they would deny Christ, they would not renounce Him. 

Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down. Thomas was killed with a spear. James was executed with a sword. Phillip was crucified. They were so convinced Jesus was resurrected that nothing could change their minds—even torture and death.

Fact: Jesus did rose from the dead. He's worth following for the rest of your life. Can you believe it? www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: Did Jesus die on Friday or Wednesday?

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Making Life Count Ministries

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Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Hate Yourself or Love Yourself?

Should you hate yourself or love yourself? Author Leanne Payne has said, "If we are busy hating the soul that God loves and is in the process of straightening out, we cannot help others. Our minds will be riveted on ourselves—not on Christ who is our wholeness.”

When Jesus said to hate your own life (Luke 14:26), He meant for us to hate selfishness. He did not mean to hate yourself as a person that God created. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39) because you can’t honestly tell someone God loves them if you don’t believe it about yourself.

A prison chaplain told me, “Do you know why prisoners commit crimes? It’s because they hate themselves. And if they hate themselves, how can they love others? If they don’t have respect for themselves, why would they respect anyone else and their property? That’s why it doesn’t bother them to steal or kill. They don’t love others because they don’t love themselves.”

This chaplain knows how prisoners think because he too was once incarcerated. He killed someone when he was younger and was sent to prison. During his time in jail a chaplain told him about God’s love and led him to the Lord. After serving his sentence and released, he went back into prison as a chaplain. He now teaches prisoners they need to receive God’s love and accept themselves as His creation. Only then can they respect others.

God demonstrated His love for you by dying for you (Rom 5:8). “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit (5:5). When you allow God’s love to enter your heart, you will love yourself as He loves you—and then you can extend that love to your neighbor. Have you learned to love yourself? It’s not selfish. It’s what God wants. www.makinglifecount.net

TO READ MORE CLICK HERE

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Making Life Count Ministries

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Every Decision is a Trade

When you make a decision it’s like making a trade—you give up something to get something else. You go to a furniture store, hand cash to the salesperson and walk out with a chair. You’ve traded your money for furniture. When you exchange wedding vows, you’ve decided to give up single life for married life. A wise decision is when you “trade up” and gain something better than what you had before.

To make a wise decision you must

1. Correctly determine the value of what you have and what you want. If you misjudge the value of either one, you’ll make a foolish decision.

2. Consider the long-term outcome. Instant gratification is short-lived while delayed gratification means waiting to get something much better.

Jesus told a rich young ruler if he would sell his possessions and give to the poor, he would gain “treasure in heaven” that would last forever (Mark 10:21). He was offering him something of much greater value. But the man didn’t believe what Jesus told him and walked away disappointed. Why? He misjudged the value of both what he had and what he would receive. He owned much property and didn’t want to give it up. He thought this short-term life was more important than the long-term next life. That was 2,000 years ago. Do you think he regrets his decision?

Esau traded his birthright (his inheritance) for a bowl of soup because misjudged the value of both his birthright and the bowl of soup (Gen. 25:32). He thought his inheritance was worth nothing and the soup extremely valuable. He was hungry (instant gratification) and said, “What use is the birthright to me?” Later he realized his foolish mistake and cried because he couldn’t get it back (Heb. 12:17).

The next time you need to make a decision think about the value of what you’re trading. Ask yourself, “Will I better off many years from now?” www.makinglifecount.net

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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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