I’m thinking about God’s blessings. Every day I have the honor of sitting down with a book that contains the words of the One who created me. Every day I have the opportunity to let Him give me a thought or two on how to live. If I don’t do what He says, He doesn’t burn the book or cancel my subscription. If I don’t understand what He says, He doesn’t call me a dummy, He explains what I don’t understand.

As I think about my three daughters, about the wife I have and that I get to be with her for a lifetime, I shake my head and thank the God of grace. And I think–Remarkable!  I’m learning that if I open my eyes and observe, there are many reasons to look at the source of it all, and just say thanks!

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Beware of those who urge you to find happiness here in this life. You won’t find it! Guard against the false physicians who promise that joy is only a diet away, a marriage away, or a job away. The prophet denounced people like this, “They tried to heal my people’s serious injuries as if they were small wounds. They said, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right.’ But really, it is not all right!” (Jeremiah 6:14).

We won’t be all right until we get home. The Bible says, “No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). What a breathtaking verse! Anything you imagine is inadequate. Anything anyone imagines is inadequate. No one comes close. No one! All the songs about heaven, all the artists’ portrayals, all the lessons preached, poems written, chapters drafted—when it comes to describing heaven, we are all happy failures. It is beyond us!

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Do you want to know how to deepen your prayer life? The Bible instructs in Romans 12:12 to steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer. Though there are many bad habits, there are also many good ones. At the risk of sounding like a preacher—which is what I am—may I make a suggestion? Don’t prepare to pray. Just pray. Don’t read about prayer. Just pray. Don’t attend a lecture on prayer or engage in discussion about prayer.

Just pray. Posture, tone, and place are personal matters. Select the form that works for you but don’t think about it too much. Don’t be so overly concerned with wrapping the gift that you never give it. Better to pray awkwardly than not at all. And if you feel you should only pray when inspired, that’s okay. Just see to it that you are inspired every day!

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Isn’t there a time or two when you went outside for a solution when you should have gone inward? Reminds me of the golfer about to hit his first shot on the first hole. He swung and missed the ball. Swung and whiffed again. Tried a third time, and missed again. In frustration he judged, “Man, this is a tough golf course.” He may have been right.  But the golf course wasn’t the problem.

You may be right, as well. Your circumstances may be challenging, but blaming them is not the solution. Nor is neglecting them. Consider the prayer of David, who said, “Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NIV). Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is and always will be, the matter of the heart.

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There is a correlation between the way you feel about yourself and the way you feel about others. If you are at peace with yourself you will get along with others. The converse is also true. If you don’t like yourself, if you are ashamed, embarrassed, or angry, other people are going to know it. Unless the cycle is interrupted!

Which takes us to one of the kindest verses in the Bible.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives” (Matthew 11:28-29).

“Come to me,” the verse reads! Let Christ be kind to you…and as you do, you’ll find it easier to be kind to others.

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Spiritual life comes from the Spirit! (John 3:6). Your parents may have given you genes, but God gives you grace. Your parents may be responsible for your body, but God has taken charge of your soul. You may get your looks from your mother, but you get eternal life from your Father, your heavenly Father.

God is willing to give you what your family didn’t. Didn’t have a good dad? God will be your Father. The Scripture says, “Through God you are a son; and, if you are a son, then you are certainly an heir” (Galatians 4:7 Phillips).

Didn’t have a good role model? Try God. He has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. The past does not have to be your prison. You have a say in your life. You have a choice in the path you take. Choose well! Choose God!

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Maybe your past isn’t much to brag about. So do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses? Many choose the latter. Lean closely and you will hear them say, If only… If only I’d been born somewhere else…  If only I’d been treated fairly…”

If only… The white flag of the heart. Maybe you have every right to use those words. For you to find an ancestor worth imitating, you’d have to flip way back in your family album. If that’s the case, let me show you were to turn. Put down the scrapbook and pick up your Bible. Go to John’s gospel and read Jesus’ words: “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit” (John 3:6). God is willing to give you what your family did not!

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Faith is trusting what the eye cannot see!  Eyes see storms. Faith sees Noah’s rainbow. Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees His cleansing blood. Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure.  But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger, and the kiss of your Father on your face.

But wait a minute, someone asks. How do I know this is true?  “God’s power is very great for those who believe,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:19-20. “That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead.” So, the next time you wonder if God can forgive you, read that verse again.  The power that raised Christ from the grave is the power that resurrects hope in our hearts.

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If you are rehashing the same hurt every chance you get with anyone who will listen, I have a question. Why are you doing God’s work for him? “Vengeance is mine,” God declared, “I will repay” (Hebrews 10:30 NKJV). To assume otherwise is to assume God can’t do it. When we strike back we are saying, I know vengeance is yours, God, but I just didn’t think you would punish enough. I thought I’d better take this situation into my own hands.

May I restate the obvious? If vengeance is God’s, then it is not ours. God has not asked us to settle the score or get even. Ever. Forgiveness is not saying the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God is fair and he will do what is right. After all, don’t we have enough things to do without trying to do God’s work too?

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In his later years Beethoven spent hours playing a broken harpsichord. The instrument was worthless. Keys were missing. Strings stretched. It was out of tune, harsh on the ears. Nonetheless the great pianist would play till tears came down his cheeks. You’d think he was hearing the sublime. He was. He was deaf. Beethoven was hearing the sound the instrument should make, not the one it did make.

Maybe you feel like Beethoven’s harpsichord? Out of tune…inadequate…your service ill-timed or insignificant? Ever wonder what God does when the instrument is broken? How does the Master respond when the keys don’t work? Does he demand a replacement? Or does he patiently tune until he hears the song he longs to hear? If you’ve asked those questions (and who hasn’t), I want you to know that the Master Musician fixes what we can’t and hears music when we don’t! And He loves to hear the music that comes from your life.

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In the days when I was a missionary in Brazil, I went to visit one of our church leaders. We hadn’t seen him for several Sundays. Friends told me he had inherited three hundred dollars and was constructing, by hand, a one-room house. When he gave me a tour of the project, it took about twenty seconds.

I told him we had missed him and that the church needed him back. He grew quiet and turned and looked at his house. His eyes were moist. “You’re right, Max,” he confessed, “I guess I just got too greedy.” Greedy? I wanted to say, You’re building a hut in a swamp and you call it greed? But he was right. Greed is relative. Greed is not defined by what something costs; it is measured by what it costs you. If anything costs you your family or your faith, the price is too high!

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Some years ago, I read a study of what most Americans would do in exchange for ten million dollars. Among the options were. . .abandon their family, abandon their church, give up their citizenship, leave their spouse or their children. It’s not surprising to me what someone would do for ten million dollars. What’s surprising is that most would do something!

What would you do? Or better, what are you doing? “Get real, Max,” you’re saying, “I’ve never had a shot at ten million.” The amount may not have been the same, but the choices are. And some people are willing to give up their family, faith, or morals for far less than ten million dollars. Jesus had a word for that: greed. He called it the practice of measuring life by possessions (Luke 12:15).

Jesus cautioned against “all kinds of greed.” What is your price?

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Seems to me God gives a lot more grace than we’d ever imagine. We could do the same. I’m not for watering down the truth or compromising the Gospel. But if a fellow with a pure heart calls God Father, can’t I call that same man Brother? If God doesn’t make doctrinal perfection a requirement for family membership, should I?

If God can tolerate my mistakes, can’t I tolerate the mistakes of others? If God can overlook my errors, can’t I overlook the errors of others? If God allows me with my foibles and failures to call him Father, shouldn’t I extend that same grace to others?

One thing is for sure. When we get to heaven, we’ll be surprised at some of the folks we see. And some of them will be surprised when they see us!

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I’ve never been surprised by God’s judgment—but I’m still stunned by his grace! David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God’s grace becomes David the psalmist again. Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ. Zaccaeus, the crook… the cleanest part of his life was the money he’d laundered, but Jesus still had time for him.  The thief on the cross…hell bent and hung-out-to die one minute, but heaven-bound and smiling the next.

Story after story. Surprise after surprise. It seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking grace and did not find it. Search the pages. Read the stories. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and left with a stern lecture. I dare you! You won’t find it!

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A hero could be next door and you wouldn’t know it. The fellow who changes the oil in your car could be a hero in overalls! Maybe as he works he prays, asking God to do with the heart of the driver what he does with the engine. The daycare worker where you drop off the kids? Perhaps her morning prayers include the name of each child and the dream that one of them will change the world.

I know—those folks don’t fit our image of a hero. They are too…well, normal. Give us four stars, titles, and headlines. We seldom see heroes in the making and we seldom recognize heroes, but we would do well to keep our eyes open. Tomorrow’s great preacher might be mowing your lawn. And the hero who inspires that person might be nearer than you think! Maybe in your mirror!

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Changing direction in life is not tragic—but losing passion in life is! Something happens along the way. Convictions to change the world downgrade to commitments to pay the bills. Rather than make a difference, we make a salary. Rather than look outward, we look inward. And we don’t like what we see!

But God is not finished with you yet. Oh you may think he is. You may think you’ve peaked. You may think he’s got someone else to do the job. If so, think again! The Bible says, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Philippians 1:6 NCV).

Did you see what God is doing? A good work in you! Did you see when he will be finished? When Jesus Christ comes again. May I spell out the message? God ain’t finished with you yet!

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When I see a flock of sheep I see exactly that—a flock. A rabble of wool…all alike. But not so with the shepherd. To him every sheep is different. Every face is special. Every sheep has a name, and that includes you! The Shepherd you! He knows your name and he will never forget it.

He says in Isaiah 49:16, “I have written your name on my hand.” Your name is on God’s hand. Your name is on God’s lips. Perhaps you’ve never seen your name honored, or heard it spoken with kindness. If so, it may be more difficult for you to believe that God knows your name. But he does! Written on his hand. Spoken by his mouth. Your name! Keep listening…be sure to hear when God whispers your name.

From When God Whispers Your Name

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God’s grace delivered us from fear, but how quickly we return! Grace told us we didn’t have to spend our lives looking over our shoulders…but look at us glancing backward. Look at us with guilt on our consciences. Why are we so quick to revert back to our old ways? Or, as Paul candidly wrote, “What a miserable man I am. Who will save me from this body that brings me death?” (Romans 7:24).

Simply stated: we are helpless to battle sin alone. Aren’t we glad Paul answered his own question? “I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25). The same one who saved us first is there to save us still. Such is the message of grace. You are saved, not because of what you do, but because of what Christ did! And you are special because of whose you are!

From In the Grip of Grace

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You wonder why God doesn’t remove temptation from your life? If he did, you might lean on your strength instead of his grace. A few stumbles might be what you need to convince you: his grace is sufficient for your sin. You wonder why God doesn’t remove the enemies in your life? Perhaps he wants you to love like he loves. Anyone can love a friend, but only a few can love an enemy. You wonder why God doesn’t heal you? He has healed you. If you are in Christ, you have a perfected soul and will have a perfected body.

His grace is sufficient for gratitude. We can be sure of this: God would prefer we have an occasional limp than a perpetual strut. God has every right to say no to us. We have every reason to say thanks to him. His grace is sufficient.

From In the Grip of Grace

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My high school baseball coach had a firm rule against chewing tobacco and he wanted to draw it to our attention. He got our attention all right.  Before long we’d all tried it! It was a sure test of manhood. One day I’d just popped a plug in my mouth when one of the players warned, “Here comes the coach!” I did what comes naturally…I swallowed.

I added new meaning to the scripture, “I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. . .” (Psalm 32:3).  I paid the price for hiding my disobedience. My body was not made to ingest tobacco. Your soul was not made to ingest sin. Are you keeping any secrets from God…any part of your past or present? Once you’re in the grip of grace, you’re free to be honest! You’ll be glad you did!

From In the Grip of Grace

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