Symbols are important. Some of them, like communion and baptism, illustrate the cross of Christ. They symbolize salvation, demonstrate salvation, even articulate salvation. But they do not impart salvation. Do we honestly think God would save his children based upon a symbol? What kind of God would look at a religious hypocrite and say, “You have never loved me, sought me or obeyed me, but because your name was on the roll of a church in the right denomination, I’ll save you?”
Our God is abundant in love and steadfast in mercy. He saves us, not because we trust in a symbol, but because we trust in a Savior! Without God, all are lost. God justifies the believer, not because of the worthiness of his belief, but because of Christ’s worthiness!
From In the Grip of Grace
Category Archives: Max Lucado
Max Lucado – We Don’t Know Enough · September 12
God is the One who judges. We don’t know enough! We condemn a man for stumbling this morning, but we didn’t see the blows he took yesterday. We judge a woman for the limp in her walk but cannot see the tack in her shoe. Only one who has followed yesterday’s steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. How can you dismiss a soul until God’s work is complete? Philippians 1:6 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.”
Be careful! A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next. Don’t call Noah a fool. You may be asking him for a lift. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Do not judge before the right time; wait until the Lord comes.”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – We Don’t Know Enough
God is the One who judges. We don’t know enough! We condemn a man for stumbling this morning, but we didn’t see the blows he took yesterday. We judge a woman for the limp in her walk but cannot see the tack in her shoe. Only one who has followed yesterday’s steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. How can you dismiss a soul until God’s work is complete? Philippians 1:6 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.”
Be careful! A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next. Don’t call Noah a fool. You may be asking him for a lift. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Do not judge before the right time; wait until the Lord comes.”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Universal Strategy of Impunity
It’s the universal strategy of impunity. Even kids use it. If I can get my dad more angry at my brother than me, I’m off scot-free. So I accuse…I compare. Rather than admit my own faults, I find faults in others. The easiest way to justify the mistakes in my house is to find worse ones in my neighbor’s house.
Such scams don’t work with God! God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees through all smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done. Did you think just because he is such a nice God, he would let you off the hook? God is kind, but he’s not soft. He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change. We aren’t good enough to judge. Can the sick mock the ill? Can the blind judge the deaf? Can the sinner condemn the sinner? No. Only One can judge…it is God.
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Judging Others
It is one thing to have a conviction; it’s another to convict the person. Paul said in Romans 2:1, “If you think you can judge others” here is a stern reminder for you, “God judges those who do wrong things, and we know that his judging is right.”
It is our job to hate the sin. But it is God’s job to deal with the sinner. God has called us to despise evil, but he has never called us to despise the evildoer. But oh, how we would like to! Is there any act more delightful than judging others? There’s something smug and self-satisfying about slamming down the gavel…“Guilty!” Judging others is a quick and easy way to feel good about ourselves. But that’s the problem. God doesn’t compare us to them. They are not the standard. God is. And compared to him, Paul argues in Romans 3:12, “There is no one who does anything good.”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Settling for Crumbs
Rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation! No wonder there is no wonder. We have figured it all out. Ever wonder why people sleep in on Sunday mornings, whether in bed or in the sanctuary? They’ve seen it all. Why get excited? They know it all! There’s nothing sacred. The holy becomes humdrum.
Can you see why Paul says in Romans 1:24 that people became full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other? You’ve got to get excitement somewhere. If there’s no purpose to this life, nothing sacred about this life, what’s to keep us from doing whatever we want? How does God feel about such a view of life? Well, let me give you a hint. How would you feel if you saw your children settling for crumbs when you had prepared for them a feast?…Exactly!
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – The Purpose of Life
As surely as a child breathes, he will someday wonder, “What is the purpose of my life?” Some search for meaning in a career. My purpose is to be a dentist. Fine vocation but hardly a justification for existence. They opt to be a human doing rather than a human being. They work many hours, because if they don’t, they have no identify. For others, who they are is what they have. They find meaning in a new car, a new house, new clothes. They are great for the economy because they’re always seeking meaning in something they own. Sports, entertainment, cults, sex, you name it. Paul says in Romans 1:22, “Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead.” Contrast that to God’s vision of life when he said, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us!” (Ephesians 2:10).
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Moral Absolutes
When I was nine years old, I complimented a friend’s model airplane. He said, “I stole it!” He could tell I was stunned because he asked, “Do you think that was wrong?” When I told him I did, he answered simply, “It may be wrong for you, but it’s not wrong for me. I know the owner. He’s rich…I’m not.”
What do you say to that argument? If the majority opinion determines good and evil, what happens when the majority is wrong? A godly view of the world has something to say to my childhood thief. You may think it’s right. Society may think it’s okay. But the God who made you said, ‘You shall not steal’—and he wasn’t kidding. The hedonist’s world of no moral absolutes works fine on paper and sounds great in a college philosophy course, but in life? Paul described it best in Romans 1:21, “Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Consequences
Are there any consequences for a godless pursuit of pleasure? Is there a price for living for today? The hedonist says, “Who cares? I may be bad, but so what? What I do is my business.” He is more concerned about satisfying his passions than in knowing the Father. His life is so desperate for pleasure that he has no time or room for God. He believes there is no truth beyond this room. No divine factor. Is he right? Is it okay to spend our days thumbing our noses at God and living it up? Paul says, “Absolutely not!”
According to Romans 1, we lose more than stained-glass windows when we dismiss God. We lose our standard, our purpose, and our worship. The apostle says “their thinking became useless. Their foolish minds were filled with darkness. They said they were wise, but they become fools.”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Holy Hostility
Many insist God loves us so much he cannot be angry at our evil. They don’t understand that love is always angry at evil! Paul said in Romans 1:18, “God is against all the evil and wrong things people do.”
This is a revelation to many who assume God is a harried high-school principal, too busy monitoring the planets to notice us. He is not. God says his anger is directed against any thing and any one who suppresses the knowledge of truth. God loves his children, and hates what destroys them. It simply means that he loves you and hates what you become when you turn from him.
Call it holy hostility! A righteous hatred of wrong. A divine disgust. The question isn’t, “How dare a loving God be angry?” It’s, “How could a loving God feel anything less?”
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – The Anger of God
Do not confuse the wrath of God with the wrath of man. The two have little in common. We get ticked off because we’ve been overlooked, neglected, or cheated. It’s the anger of man. God does not get angry because He doesn’t get his way. He gets angry because disobedience always results in self-destruction.
What kind of father sits by and watches his child hurt himself? What kind of God would do the same? Do we think he giggles at adultery? Or snickers at murder? Does he shake his head and say, “Humans will be humans?” God is rightfully angry. Our sins are an affront to his holiness. Habakkuk 1:13 says, his eyes are “too good to look at evil; he cannot stand to see those who do wrong.” God is angry at the evil that ruins his children. He cannot be indifferent that his creation is destroyed and his holy will trodden underfoot.
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Soaring and Sitting
Perhaps you’ve seen the sight! Tethered to a high-speed boat, the parasail lifts the rope-clinging customer six hundred feet into the air. High above, the passenger hangs on and enjoys the view, letting the boat do the work. What choice does he or she have? To reach such heights, help is needed. To maintain such heights, power is mandated. No person can self-elevate to such a level.
Watching as one of my daughters flew high above on the parasail, I thought, “Isn’t this a picture of grace? Look at her, soaring and sitting.” Those two words seldom appear in the same sentence. Especially religious sentences. We tend to think soaring and working; soaring and striving, soaring and struggling. But soaring and sitting? It happens. It happens when you let the boat do the work. It happens when you let God do the same.
From In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado – Standing on His Promises
We come to Christ in an hour of deep need. We realize that all the good works in the world are puny when laid before the Perfect One. So we beg for help. Then we hear his voice; and step out in fear, hoping that our little faith will be enough. With precious, wobbly steps, we draw close to him.
We stand upon his promises. It doesn’t make sense that we’re able to do this. We don’t claim to be worthy of such an incredible gift. When people ask how in the world we can keep our balance during such stormy times, we don’t boast. We point to the One who makes it possible. “Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to They cross I cling,” we sing. “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved,” we declare. And we never look back! May that be the anthem of your life.
From In the Eye of the Storm
Max Lucado – A Pat on the Back
How often do you see people more concerned about getting a job done right than they are about saving their necks? Too seldom, right? But when we do—when we see a gutsy human taking a few risks—ah, now that’s a person worthy of a pat on the back. So…
Here’s to the woman whose husband left her with a nest of kids to raise and bills to pay, but who somehow tells me every Sunday that God has never been closer.
Here’s to the single father of two girls who learned to braid their hair.
Here’s to the girl who was told to abort the baby but chose to keep the baby.
Here’s to the doctor who treats more than half of his patients for free.
Here’s to all of you reckless lovers of life and God.
So what if you forgot about pleasing the crowd. Most of us aren’t even in your league.
From In the Eye of the Storm
Max Lucado – Was Jesus Christ Really God?
John 1:1-18
The divinity of Jesus Christ is one of the most controversial issues facing every human being. It is also the most critical. Our faith hangs in the balance on this question.
There are many who say they believe in Jesus and in God, but do not think that Jesus is God. They believe many good things about Him, however. They accept Him as a teacher. They marvel at Him as a healer. They revere Him as a philosopher, revolutionary, and social reformer. And yet, they cannot—or rather will not—accept Him as Lord.
I want to be crystal clear on this matter. You can believe all of these wonderful things about Jesus. You can go so far as to laud Him as a prophet sent by almighty God. But if you do not accept that He is one with God—the Savior who died for your sins—then you do not know Him at all.
Now, you may have heard people argue that Jesus Himself never actually claimed to be God. This is simply not true. Time and again in the Gospels, Jesus places Himself on equal footing with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 10:30; 14:6-14). The truth is, if Jesus was not truly God’s Son, then as C. S. Lewis observed, He was either a lunatic or the world’s most detestable liar.
If you’re the least bit uncertain about this eternal question, don’t let another minute pass before taking steps to figure out the answer. Take the time to examine the Gospels. Talk to your pastor or believing friends. Settle for yourself the life-changing question, “Was Jesus Christ really God?”
Max Lucado – Guard Your Attitude
It’s easy to forget who is the servant and who is to be served. The tool of distortion is one of Satan’s slyest. When the focus is on yourself, you worry that your co-workers won’t appreciate you or your leaders will overwork you. With time, your agenda becomes more important than God’s. You’re more concerned with presenting self than pleasing Him. You may even find yourself doubting God’s judgment.
Remember Martha criticizing her sister Mary, “Lord don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work? Tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40). What had Mary chosen? She’d chosen to sit at the feet of Christ. God is more pleased with the quiet attention of a sincere servant than the noisy service of a sour one!
Guard your attitude. If you concern yourself with your neighbor’s talents, you’ll neglect your own. But if you concern yourself with yours, you could inspire both!
from He Still Moves Stones
Max Lucado – A Voluntary Act of Gratitude
Worship happens when you are aware that what you’ve been given is far greater than what you can give. Worship is the awareness that were it not for God’s touch, you’d still be hobbling and hurting, bitter and broken. It is the glazed expression on the parched face of a desert pilgrim who discovers the oasis is not a mirage.
We have tried to make a science out of worship. We can’t do that! We can’t do that any more than we can sell love or negotiate peace. Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior, by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer. If you and I can go days without feeling an urge to say “thank you” to the One who saved, healed, and delivered us, then we would do well to remember what He did!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Max Lucado – Our Reluctance
Perhaps the most amazing response to God’s gift is our reluctance to accept it. We feel better if we earn it. So we create religious hoops and hop through them—making God a trainer, us his pets, and religion a circus.
If only, when God smiles and says we are saved, we’d salute him, thank him, and live like those who’ve just received a gift from the commander in chief. We seldom do that, though. To accept grace is to admit failure. We opt to impress God with how good we are rather than confessing how great he is. We dizzy ourselves with doctrine. Burden ourselves with rules. We think that God will smile on our efforts. But He doesn’t. God’s smile is not for the healthy hiker who boasts that he made the journey alone. It is, instead, for the crippled leper who begs God for a back on which to ride!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Max Lucado – By Grace Through Faith
The supreme force in salvation is God’s grace. Not our works. Not our talents. Not our feelings. Not our strength. Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God’s goodness. Faith is not an award given to the most learned. It’s not a prize given to the most disciplined.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”
We, like Paul, are aware of two things. We are great sinners and we need a great Savior. Salvation is God’s sudden, calming presence during the stormy seas of our lives. Death is disarmed. Failures are forgiven. Life has real purpose. And God is not only within sight—He is within reach!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Max Lucado – One Option: God
When you recognize God as Creator, you will admire Him. When you recognize His wisdom, you will learn from Him. When you discover His strength, you will rely on Him. But only when He saves you will you worship Him.
It’s a “before and after” scenario. Before your rescue, He was high on your priority list, but He shared the spot with others. Then came the storm, the rage, the fight. Despair fell like a fog. Could you turn to your career for help? Only if you want to hide from the storm, not escape it. Lean on your status for strength? A storm isn’t impressed with your title. Suddenly you’re left with one option–God. And when you ask, genuinely ask, He will come. And from that moment on, He is not just a deity to admire, or a master to obey. He is the Savior. The Savior to be worshiped!
From In the Eye of the Storm
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 