Come with me to the hill of Calvary. Watch as the soldiers press a knee against a forearm and a spike against a hand. As the soldier lifts the hammer to strike it, think about the hand that received the nail. The fist doesn’t clench—the moment isn’t aborted.

A mallet drove a nail into the hand, not just of a carpenter, but into the hand of God. Fingers that formed Adam out of clay and furrowed truth into tablets felt the pain of crucifixion. The same hand that stilled the seas stilled your guilt. And as the hands of Jesus opened for the nail, the doors of heaven opened for you.

From He Chose the Nails

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

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. Jesus never knew the fruits of sin—until he became sin for us. And when he did, all the emotions of sin tumbled in on him. Can’t you hear the emotion in his prayer at the cross? “My God, my God, why have you rejected me?” (Matthew 27:46). These are not the words of a saint. This is the cry of a sinner. He stood silent as a million guilty verdicts echoed in the tribunal of heaven.

Do you want to know the most amazing thing about the One who gave up the crown of heaven for a crown of thorns? He did it for you. Just for you.

From He Chose the Nails

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Have you ever wondered why God gives us so much?  We could exist on far less! God could have left the world flat and gray—we wouldn’t have known the difference. But he didn’t. Why give a flower its fragrance? Why give food its taste?

Jesus asked, “If you hardhearted, 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 for them?” (Matthew 7:11 TLB).

Every gift reveals God’s love—but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion. Not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood. The gifts of the cross! Have you taken time to open these gifts? If you do, perhaps you will hear him whisper, “I did it just for you.”

From He Chose the Nails

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Just suppose you were to stand on a stage while a film of every secret and selfish second of your life was projected on the screen behind you? Wouldn’t you shout to the heavens to have mercy?

Imagine what Christ felt on the cross! Scripture says “He personally carried all our sins in his body. . .” (1 Peter 2:24). See Christ on the cross? That’s a gossiper hanging there. See Jesus? Embezzler. Liar. See the crucified carpenter? He’s an addict and murderer.

Hold it, Max. Don’t you lump Christ with those evildoers. I didn’t. HE did. More than place his name in the same sentence, he placed himself in their place. With hands nailed open, he invited God, “Treat me as you would treat them!” And God did.

“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Matthew 27:46). Why did Christ scream those words? So you’ll never have to.

From Next Door Savior

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

On a trip to the United Kingdom, our family visited a castle. In the center of the garden was a maze—row after row of shoulder-high hedges—one dead end leading to another. By successfully navigating the labyrinth, you discovered the door to a tall tower in the center of the garden. I just couldn’t figure out which way to go. Then I heard a voice, “Hey, Dad, back up and turn right.” Do you think I trusted her? I listened. It was my daughter calling from the tower. Her vantage point was better than mine. She was above the maze. She could see what I couldn’t!

Don’t you think we should do the same with God? “God is. . .higher than the heavens” (Job 22:12 TLB).  The Psalmist says, “The LORD is high above all nations” (Psalm 113:4).

Can he not see what eludes us? Doesn’t he want to get us out and bring us home? Of course he does!

From Next Door Savior

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

You lead a common life. Punctuated by occasional weddings, job transfers, bowling trophies, and graduations—a few highlights—but mainly it’s the day-to-day rhythm you share with the majority of humanity. Do commoners rate in heaven? Does God love common people?

God answers these questions in a most uncommon fashion. If the word common describes you, take heart—you are in fine company because it also describes Christ. When you list the places Christ lived, draw a circle around the common town named Nazareth. For thirty of his thirty-three years, Jesus lived a common life. Aside from that one incident in the temple at the age of twelve, we have no record of what he said or did for the first three decades he walked on this earth.

Next time you feel common, take heart! God uses the common to do uncommon things.

From Next Door Savior

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Do you want to go to heaven? It doesn’t matter how religious you are or how many rules you keep. You need a new birth; you need to be “born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5-6 NLT).

Religious rule keeping can sap your strength. It’s endless! No prison is as endless as the prison of perfection. Her inmates never know when they are finished. Christ, however, gifts you with a finished work. He fulfilled the law for you at the Cross. Gone is the fear that having done everything, you might not have done enough. You climb the stairs, not by your strength, but his.

God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV). God will change you, my friend, from the inside out!

From Next Door Savior

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

My friend Roy was sitting on a park bench one morning as he watched a little guy struggling to get on the school bus that stopped just a few feet away. He was leaning down frantically trying to “un-knot” a knotted shoestring. All of a sudden it was too late—the door was closing. The little boy fell back on his haunches and sighed. Then he saw Roy. Tears in his eyes he looked at the man on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”

Jesus loves that request. Life gets tangled. People mess up. You never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” Jesus had a way of appearing at such moments. Peter’s empty boat. Nicodemus’s empty heart. Matthew with a friend issue. Look who shows up. Jesus, our next door Savior!  And we ask, “Do you untie knots?” His answer is “Yes!”

From Next Door Savior

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Exactly what is worship?  I like King David’s definition: “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3 NASB). Worship is the act of magnifying God. Enlarging our vision of him.  As we draw nearer, he seems larger. Isn’t that what we need? A big view of God? Don’t we have big problems, big worries, big questions? Of course we do. Hence we need a big view of God. Worship offers that. How can we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy” and not have our vision expanded?

A vibrant, shining face is the mark of one who has stood in God’s presence. After speaking to God, Moses had to cover his face with a veil (Exodus 34:33-35). After seeing heaven, Stephen’s face glowed like that of an angel (Acts 6:15; 7:55-56). God is in the business of changing the face of the world!

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

In the 19th century an anonymous Russian monk set out to live in unceasing communion with God. In a book entitled, “The Way of the Pilgrim,” he tells of having one prayer constantly in his mind: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The prayer became so internalized he constantly prayed it.

Perhaps you and I should take note. By the time your life is over, you will have spent six months at stoplights, a year and a half looking for lost stuff (double that number in my case) and a whopping five years standing in lines. Why don’t we give these moments to God? Simple phrases like, “Thank you, Father.” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord.” “You are my resting place, Jesus.” Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen or the office became a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts!

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

It’s a wonderful day indeed when we stop working for God and begin working with God! For years I viewed God as a compassionate CEO and my role as his loyal sales representative. He had his office and I had my territory. I could contact him whenever I wished. He encouraged me, rallied behind me, and supported me, but he didn’t go with me. At least I didn’t think he did.

Then I read 2 Corinthians 6:1 that says, “We are God’s fellow-workers.” Fellow workers? Co-laborers? God and I work together? Rather than report to God, we work with God. Rather than check in with him and then leave, we check in with him and then follow. We are always in the presence of God. There is never a nonsacred moment! His presence never diminishes. Our awareness of his presence may falter, but the reality of his presence never changes!

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

When my daughters were crib-size and diaper laden, I would come home, shout their names and they’d run to me with extended arms and squealing voices. We’d roll on the floor, tickle tummies and laugh and play. Their only request of me was, “Let’s play, Daddy.” And I made no demands of them, except, “Don’t hit Daddy with the hammer.” My kids let me love them.

But suppose they had approached me as we often approach God. “Hey, Dad, glad you’re home. Here’s what I want!” And I would have wanted to say, “Why don’t you just climb up on Daddy’s lap and let me tell you how much I love you?”

Ever thought God might want to do the same with you? Oh, he wouldn’t say that to me. He wouldn’t? How long has it been since you let him try? Just let God love you.

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

A not-so-bright fellow saw a sign in a travel agency window: Cruise–$100 cash. He walked in and when the fellow at the desk asked for the money, the not-so-bright guy started counting it out. When he got to one hundred, he was whacked on the head. He woke up in a barrel floating down a river. Another not-so-bright guy floated past and said, “Say, do they serve lunch on this cruise?” The first not-so-bright guy answered, “They didn’t last year!” It’s one thing not to know. It’s another to know and not learn.

Paul urged his readers: “Put into practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me” (Philippians 4:9 RSV).

If you want to be just like Jesus—spend time listening for him in his word until you have received your lesson for the day.  Then apply it!

From Just Like Jesus

Home

It’s not that we don’t have ears…it’s that we don’t use them! Scripture has always place a premium on hearing God’s voice. The great command from God through Moses began with the words, “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV).  Proverbs 8:34 says, “Happy are those who listen to me.”

Jesus urges us to listen like sheep. “The sheep recognize his voice. . .they follow because they’re familiar with the shepherd’s voice” (John 10:3-5). Each of the seven churches in Revelation is addressed in the same manner: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; 3:22).

Our ears, unlike our eyes, do not have lids. They are intended to remain open! How long has it been since you had your hearing checked? When God sows seed your way, what is the result? Remember,“Faith comes from hearing…” (Romans 10:17).

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Oh the power of a godly touch. Have you known it? The doctor who treated you, or the teacher who dried your tears? Haven’t we known the power of a godly touch? Can’t we offer the same? Perhaps you already do. You can use your hands to pray over the sick and minister to the weak. If you aren’t touching them personally, your hands are writing notes, making calls, or baking pies. And you have learned the power of a godly touch.

But others of us forget how significant one touch can be. Or we fear saying the wrong thing, so we say nothing at all. Aren’t we glad Jesus didn’t make the same mistake? Keep in mind the perspective of the lepers in the world. They aren’t picky or finicky. They’re just lonely—yearning for a godly touch. Jesus touched the untouchables of the world. Will you do the same?

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

Our Savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes away our sin. Jesus said, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. I did this as an example so that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:14-15).

Those in the circle of Christ had no doubt of his love; those in our circles should have no doubts about ours. More often than not, if the one in the right volunteers to wash the feet of the one in the wrong, both parties end up on their knees. Please understand. Relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished, but because the innocent are merciful.

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

How could we ever hope to have the heart of Jesus as the Bible promises? Ready for a surprise? If you are in Christ, you already have the heart of Christ. Paul said it succinctly in Galatians 2:20…“Christ lives in me.” And Paul explains it with these words, “Strange as it seems, we Christians actually do have within us a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16 TLB).

Strange is the word! If I have the mind of Jesus, why do I still have the hang-ups of Max? God is willing to change us into the likeness of the Savior. Here’s my suggestion. Let’s imagine what it means to be just like Jesus. How did he forgive? When did he pray? Why didn’t he give up? Let’s “fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). Perhaps in seeing him, we will see what we can become.

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you? Would you still do what you’d planned to do for the next twenty-four hours?

It’s dangerous to sum up grand truths in one statement, but I’m going to try. If a sentence or two could capture God’s desire for each of us, it might read like this: “God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”

That’s good to know, right? You are tweakable. You aren’t stuck with today’s personality. Where did we get the idea we can’t change? If our bodies malfunction, we seek help. Shouldn’t we do the same with our hearts and our attitudes? Jesus can change our hearts. He wants us to have a heart like his. Can you imagine a better offer—than to be just like Jesus?

From Just Like Jesus

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

There’s an expression in the Bible that’s always fascinated me. When referring to someone’s death, it says he died “full of years.” It’s used to describe Abraham, Isaac, and Job. Abraham and Isaac lived two of our lifetimes. That’s a lot of years.

It could also express the idea that the years of their lives were full, busy with God’s packed agenda. I don’t want to live 180 years, but I want to live all the years of my life doing everything I can to make sure they fulfill all God wants me to do.

Getting old is inevitable. But are you going to hobble and groan your way to the grave—or race your rickety old wheelchair downhill to your funeral? We’re all going to end up the same way, but we can sure have fun getting there! I know what I want…what about you?

From Max on Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home

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? Jesus 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. Perchance you will hear Him whisper, “I did it just for you!”

From He Chose the Nails

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Home