Category Archives: Max Lucado

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Trust the Cross

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Max Lucado

My dog Salty knows he isn’t supposed to get into the trash. But let the house be human free, and dark side of Salty takes over. If there’s food in a trash can, the temptation is to
great. That’s what happened the other day. I got mad, but I got over it. I cleaned up the mess and forgot about it. Salty didn’t! He kept his distance. When I finally saw him, his tail was between his legs, 
his ears drooping. He thinks I’m mad at him. He doesn’t know I’ve already dealt with his mistake.

Somewhere, sometime, you got tangled in garbage…and you’ve been avoiding god. You wonder if you could ever feel close to God again.The message of his torn flesh on the cross is — you can. The door is open. Don’t trust your conscience. Trust the cross. You’re welcome in God’s presence!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

from He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Eternal Choices

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Max Lucado

God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences. Isn’t this the reminder of Calvary’s trio?  Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ?  Why not six or ten?  Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center?  Could it be the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts?  The gift of choice. The two criminals were convicted by the same system.  Condemned to death.  Equally close to the same Jesus.  But one changed and one did not.

You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you?  You look back and you say, “If only I could make up for those bad choices.”  You can.  When one thief on the cross prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him.  When the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him.  He allowed him the choice. And he does the same for you and me.

Then (the thief) said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:42-43

from He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – It is Finished

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Max Lucado

Picture if you will, a blank check.   The amount of the check is “sufficient grace.”  The signer of the check is Jesus.  The only blank line is for the payee.  That part is for you!  May I urge you to spend a few moments with your Savior receiving this check?  Reflect on the work of God’s grace. The nails that once held a Savior to the cross.  His sacrifice was for you.  Express your thanks for His grace.  Whether for the first time or the thousandth, let Him hear you whisper, “Forgive us our debts.” And let Him answer your prayer as you imagine writing your name on the check.

No more deposits are necessary.  So complete was the payment that Jesus used a banking term to proclaim your salvation.  “It is finished”  (John 19:30)!  Perhaps I best slip out now and leave the two of you to talk.

from The Great House of God

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Put on Christ

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Max Lucado

Scripture often describes our behavior as the clothes we wear. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter urges us to be “clothed with humility.” David speaks of evil people who clothe themselves “with cursing.” Garments can symbolize character, and like His garment, Jesus’ character was seamless. The character of Jesus was a seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth—from God’s thoughts to Jesus’ actions. From God’s tears to Jesus’ compassion. From God’s word to Jesus’ response. All one piece. A picture of the character of Jesus.

But when Christ was nailed to the cross, He took off His robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe. He wore our sin so we could wear His righteousness.

From He Chose the Nail

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Pride and Shame

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Max Lucado

Pride and shame.  You’d never know they’re sisters. They appear so different. Pride puffs out her chest. Shame hangs her head. Pride boasts.  Shame hides. Pride seeks to be seen.  Shame seeks to be avoided.

But don’t be fooled, the emotions have the same impact. They keep you from your Father. Pride says, “You’re too good for him. Shame says, “You’re too bad for him.” Pride drives you away, shame keeps you away. If pride is what goes before a fall, then shame is what keeps you from getting up after one. God the sinless and selfless Father, loves us in our pride and shame.

The Greek word for reconcile means to render something otherwise.  Reconciliation touches the shoulder of the wayward and woos him homeward.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Choice is Yours

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Max Lucado

It would’ve been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal.  I’ll take good health and a high IQ. I’ll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism!  It would’ve been nice—but it didn’t happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren’t given a voice or a vote.

But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal.  Wouldn’t you agree? Have we been given any greater privilege than that of choice? You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You’ve chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career; even the wrong spouse.

You look back and say, “If only…if only I could make up for those bad choices. You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Nail of God

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Max Lucado

God has penned a list of our faults. The list God has made, however, cannot be read. The words can’t be deciphered. The mistakes are covered. The sins are hidden. Those at the top are hidden by His hand; those down the list are covered by His blood. Your sins are blotted out by Jesus. The Bible says that He has forgiven you all your sins. He has utterly wiped out the written evidence of broken commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross.

He knew the source of those sins was you, and since He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, Jesus Himself chose the nails. The hand is the hand of God. The nail is the nail of God. And as the hands of Jesus opened for the nail, the doors of heaven opened for you!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – He Canceled the Record

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Max Lucado

How would you feel if a list of your weaknesses were posted so that everyone, including Christ Himself, could see?  Yes, Christ has chronicled your shortcomings. And, yes, that list has been made public. But you’ve never seen it. Neither have I.

Come with me to the hill of Calvary.  Watch as the soldiers shove the Carpenter to the ground and stretch His arms against the beams. One presses a knee against a forearm and a spike against a hand.  Jesus turns His face toward the nail just as the soldier lifts the hammer to strike it. Couldn’t Jesus have stopped Him?

Through the eyes of Scripture we see what others missed but what Jesus saw.  Colossians 2:14 says, “He canceled the record that contained the charges against us.  He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross!”

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Cry of a Sinner

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Max Lucado

What is the fruit of sin? Step into the briar patch of humanity and feel a few thistles. Shame.  Fear.  Disgrace.  Discouragement.  Anxiety! Haven’t our hearts been caught in these brambles?

The heart of Jesus, however, had not.  He had never been cut by the thorns of sin. Anxiety?  He never worried.  Guilt?  He was never guilty. Fear?  He never left the presence God, He never knew the fruits of sin until He became sin for us.

Can’t you hear the emotion in His prayer?  “My God, my God, why have you rejected me?”  These are not the words of a saint.  This is the cry of a sinner.

And these are words we should say, but these are words we don’t have to say because Jesus said them for us.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – We Have a Problem

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Max Lucado

Can you live without sin for one day?  No? How about one hour?  Can you do it?  No?  Nor can I. And if we can’t live without sin, we have a problem.

Proverbs 10:16 says that we are evil and “evil people are paid with punishment.”  What can we do? Observe what Jesus does with our filth. He carries it to the Cross.

God speaks through Isaiah 50:6 when he says, “I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” Mingled with His blood and sweat was the essence of our sin. Angels were a prayer away. Couldn’t they have taken the spittle away?  They could have, but Jesus never commanded them to. The One whose chose the nails also chose the saliva. Why?  The sinless One took on the face of a sinner, so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Unwrapping the Gifts of the Cross

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Max Lucado

Much has been said about Jesus’ “gift of the Cross.” But what of the other gifts? What of the nails, the crown of thorns?  The garments taken by the soldiers?  Have you taken time to open these gifts?

He didn’t have to give us these gifts, you know. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more.  So much more.

Search the scene of the Cross—and what do you find? A wine-soaked sponge.  A sign.  Two crosses beside Christ. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, “You did this for me?” Dare we think such thoughts?

Let’s unwrap these gifts of grace– as if for the first time. Pause and listen.  Perhaps you will hear Him whisper, “I did it just for you!”

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Gifts of the Cross

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Max Lucado

Oh, the things we do to give gifts to those we love! Grownups in toy stores, dads in teen stores, wives in the tool department, and husbands in the purse department. We’re at our best in giving.

Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less.  He could have left the world flat and gray, we wouldn’t have known the difference. But He didn’t.  He splashed orange in the sunrise and cast the sky in blue. If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would He?

In Matthew 7:11, Jesus asked, “If you sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask Him?”

God’s love came not wrapped in paper, but in passion.  Not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood. The gifts of the Cross!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – You Are His

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Max Lucado

God’s grace defines you! Society labels you like a can on an assembly line. Stupid. Unproductive. Slow learner. Fast talker. Quitter. But as grace infiltrates, criticism disintegrates. You know you aren’t who they say you are. You are who God says you are.  Spiritually alive; heavenly positioned…“seated with him in the heavenly realms” and “one with Jesus Christ.”

Of course, not all labels are negative. Some people regard you as clever, successful. But it doesn’t compare with being “seated with him in the heavenly realms!” God creates the Christian’s resume! Grace defines who you are. The parent you can’t please is as mistaken as the doting uncle you can’t disappoint.

Listen, God wrote your story. He cast you in his drama. You hang as God’s work of art, a testimony in his gallery of grace. According to Him, you are His. Period.

From Cast of Characters

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Spiritual MRI

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Max Lucado

We can’t live with foreign objects buried in our bodies or our souls. What would an X-ray of your interior reveal?  Remorse over a poor choice?  Shame about the marriage that didn’t work, the temptation you couldn’t resist?  Guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating.  Sometimes so deeply embedded you don’t know the cause.

And you can be touchy, you know.  Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul. Would you like an extraction?  Here’s what you do. Confess! Ask God to help you.  Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Confession.  You see, confessors find a freedom that deniers don’t.  If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins!  He will cleanse us.  Not might, could, would, or should.  He WILL!

From Grace

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Radical Reliance on Grace

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Max Lucado

One day it dawned on me.  I had become the very thing I hate:  a hypocrite.  A pretender.  Two-faced. I’d written sermons about people like me.  Christians who care more about their appearance than integrity.  I knew what I needed to do.  I’d written sermons about that, too.

1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.”

I needed to confess. What is confession? Confession is not complaining. If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining.  Confession is a radical reliance on grace.

Maybe you need to do what I’ve done the last few days and confess.  You just need to confess.  God will hear your confession and you will find a wonder of God’s grace.  You see, grace creates an honest confession and His great grace receives it!

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Not Just Mercy, But Grace

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Max Lucado

We are poor, spiritually for sure; monetarily, perhaps.  We’ve buried our dreams, desires, and aspirations.  Like the mother with Lupus or the businessman in the unemployment line, we’re out of options.

Yet Christ approached us while we were yet sinners!  “Will you cover us?” we asked him, and grace smiled.

He gave us grace. Not just mercy, mind you, but grace. Grace goes beyond mercy. Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance.  Grace threw him a party. Mercy prompted the Samaritan to bandage the wounds of the victim. Grace prompted him to leave his credit card as payment for the victim’s care. Mercy forgave the thief on the cross. Grace escorted him into paradise. Mercy pardons us. Grace woos and weds us.

Grace does this! Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in his eye and an offer that’s hard to resist.

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Grace Soaked

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Max Lucado

Most people keep a pot of anger on low boil!  But you aren’t most people. Look at your feet. They’re wet, grace-soaked. Jesus has washed your feet…he has washed the grimiest parts of your life.

To accept grace is the vow to give it.  You don’t endorse the deeds of your offender when you forgive them. Jesus didn’t endorse your sins by forgiving you. The grace-defined person still sends thieves to jail and expects the ex to pay child support. Grace sees the hurt full well. But it refuses to let hurts poison the heart.  Where grace is lacking, bitterness abounds.  Where grace abounds, forgiveness grows.

So, let the hands of God wipe away every dirty part of your life. Then look across the room and wash someone else’s feet. Let grace begin and continue in you!

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Grace Chooses to See Forgiveness

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Max Lucado

Victoria Ruvolo doesn’t remember the 18-year-old boy leaning out the window holding, of all things, a frozen turkey.  He threw it at her windshield. Crashing through the glass, it shattered Victoria’s face like a dinner plate on concrete.

John 13:14-15 says, “Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.  Do as I have done to you.”

Victoria Ruvolo did that.  Months later, she stood face to face with her offender in court.  No longer cocky, he was trembling, tearful, and apologetic.  Six months behind bars, five years’ probation.  Everyone in the courtroom objected. He sobbed, and she spoke, “I forgive you. I want your life to be the best it can be.” The reduced sentence was her idea. “God gave me a second chance at life, and I passed it on,” she said!  Grace chooses to see God’s forgiveness!

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – So Many Hurts

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Max Lucado

If hurts were hairs—we’d all look like grizzlies! So many hurts. When teachers ignore your work, their neglect hurts. When your girlfriend drops you, when your husband abandons you, when the company fires you, it hurts.  Rejection always hurts.

People bring pain. Sometimes deliberately. Sometimes randomly. So where do you turn?  Hitman.com?  Jim Beam and friends?  Pity Party Catering Service?  Retaliation has its appeal, but Jesus has a better idea! Grace is not blind. It sees the hurt full well. But Grace chooses to see God’s forgiveness even more. Hebrews 12:15 urges us, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Where grace is lacking, bitterness abounds. Where grace abounds, forgiveness grows. Forgiveness may not happen all at once. But it can happen with you.

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Enough of This Frenzy

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Max Lucado

Attempts at “self-salvation” guarantee nothing but exhaustion. We scamper and scurry, trying to please God, collecting merit badges and brownie points, scowling at anyone who questions our accomplishments.  The result?  The weariest people on earth.  We so fear failure that we create the image of perfection.  Call us the church of hound-dog faces and slumped shoulders. Stop it!  Once and for all, enough of this frenzy!

Hebrews 13:9 says, “Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules.”  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus promises, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

There is no fine print. A second shoe isn’t going to drop. God’s promise has no hidden language. Let grace happen. You have His unending affection. Stretch yourself out in the hammock of grace. You can rest now!

From GRACE