Tag Archives: Max Lucado

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Chose the Nails

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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 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 – Many Gifts of the Cross

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

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Give God Your List!

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God not only wants the mistakes we have made—He wants the ones we are making. Are you drinking too much? Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage? Mismanaging your life? Don’t pretend nothing’s wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross.

1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”

Start with your bad moments. And while you’re there, give God your “mad” moments. There’s a story about a man bitten by a dog. When he learned the dog had rabies, he began a list. The doctor said, “there’s no need to make a will—you’ll be fine.” “Oh I’m not making a will,” he said, “I’m making a list of all the people I want to bite!” God wants that list!  He wants you to leave it at the cross.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Universal Symbol of Christianity

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The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity.  An odd choice, don’t you think?  Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. Its design could not be simpler. One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out like God’s love. The other reaches up, as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of His love; the other the height of His holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave His children without lowering His standards. God treated His Son as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.

Why would He? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world.” Aren’t you glad the verse doesn’t read:  For God so loved the rich?. . .the famous? The sober or the successful? No, it simply reads: “For God so loved the world!”

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – How Do you Say Lucado?

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My last name has created some awkward moments. A woman said, “Max Lu-KAH-do—I’ve been wanting to meet you.”  I let it go thinking that was the end of it.  But then a man said to me, “My wife and I’ve been trying to figure out how you say your name.  Is it Lu-KAY-doh or Lu-KAH-doh! I felt trapped…as I looked at my new friend who had been mispronouncing my name.

On an infinitely grander scale, God faces with humankind a similar issue I faced with the woman. How can He be both just and kind?  How can He redeem the sinner without endorsing the sin?  From our perspective there are only two equally unappealing solutions. From God’s perspective, however, there is a third. It’s called the Cross of Christ!  And that is one phrase you want to say correctly!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Why Did He Do It?

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Why did Jesus live on the earth as long as He did? To take on our sins is one thing; to experience death, yes, but to put up with long roads and long days? Why did He do it? Because He wants you to trust Him. Even His final act on earth was intended to win your trust.

Mark 15:22.says, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha where they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.  And they crucified Him.” Why?  Why did He endure all this suffering—all these feelings? Because He knew you’d be weary, disturbed, and angry. He knew you’d be grief-stricken, and hungry, that you’d face pain.

A pauper knows better than to beg from another pauper. He knows he needs someone who’s stronger than he is. Jesus’ message from the Cross is this:  I am that Person. Trust Me.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus’ Seamless Perfection

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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 Nails

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Canceled our Record

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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 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 – He Became Sin for Us

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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 of 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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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 in Isaiah 50:6, “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 who 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 – On-and-Off Salvation

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On-and-off salvation never appears in the Bible. Scripture contains no example of a person who was saved, then lost, then re-saved, then lost again. Where there is no assurance of salvation, there is no peace; no joy. Is this the life God creates? God’s grace creates a confident soul who declares, I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

1 John 5:13 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Trust God’s hold on you! His faithfulness does not depend on yours. His performance is not predicated on yours. His love is not contingent on your own. Your candle may flicker—but it will not expire!

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Grace–A Never Ending Supply

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Grace is simply another word for God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. Grace comes to us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We’ve barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another. John 1:16 calls it “Grace upon grace.”

We dare to stake our hope on the gladdest news of all! If God permits the challenge, he will provide the grace to meet it. We never exhaust his supply. He never says, “Stop asking so much! My grace reservoir is running dry.” Heaven knows no such words. God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear you cry, and answer every question you ask. Would we expect anything less from God? Having given the supreme and costliest gift, Romans 8:32 says, “How can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?”

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Stop the Frenzy

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Attempts at self-salvation guarantee nothing but exhaustion! We scamper and scurry, trying to please God, collecting merit badges and brownie points, and scowling at anyone who questions our accomplishments. 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.”

Jesus doesn’t say, “Come to me, all you who are perfect and sinless.” Just the opposite. He says, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

There is no fine print. God’s promise has no hidden language. Let grace happen, for heaven’s sake. No more performing for God. Of all the things you must earn in life, God’s unending affection isn’t one of them. You have it! You can rest now.

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Cause of Your Fatigue

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Most people embrace the assumption that God saves good people. So be good. Be moral. Be honest. But for all the talk about being good—what level of good is good enough? It’s an essential question; at stake is our eternal destination.

Paul said in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” We contribute nothing. Zilch. Salvation of the soul is unearned…it’s a gift. Our merit means nothing. God’s work merits everything.

Paul’s message in Galatians 3:13 is this, “Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself.” Translation– Say no to the rules and lists. Say no to slavery and performance. He asked, “Do you know what this means?” And I ask, “Do you?” If you don’t, I know the cause of your fatigue. You need to trust God’s grace.

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – We’ve Been Found Guilty

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Romans 3:10 introduces an essential truth. “There is no one righteous, not even one. . .no one who seeks God. All have turned away, there is no one who does good, not even one.”

We must start where God starts. We won’t appreciate what grace does until we understand who we are. We are rebels. We deserve to die. Four prison walls, thickened with hurt, and hate, surround us. Incarcerated by our past, our low-road choices, and our high-minded pride. We have been found guilty.

Our executioner’s footsteps echo against stone walls. We don’t look up as he opens the door and begins to speak. We know what he’s going to say– “Time to pay for your sins.” But we hear something else. “You’re free to go. They took Jesus instead of you.” The light shines, the shackles are gone, and our crimes are pardoned.

What just happened? Grace happened!

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Who Can Accuse You?

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Romans 8:33 and 34 asks, “Who can accuse the people God has chosen? Who can say God’s people are guilty?”

The answer is no one, because Christ Jesus died, he was raised from the dead, and now is on God’s right side, appealing to God for us. The accusations of Satan sputter and fall like a deflated balloon.

Then why, pray tell, do we, as Christians, still feel guilt? God uses appropriate doses of guilt to awaken us to sin. His guilt brings enough regret to change us. Satan’s guilt, on the other hand, brings enough regret to enslave us. Don’t let him lock his shackles on you.

Remember, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Whenever God looks at you, he sees Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God covering you. So, whom do you trust…your Advocate or your Accuser?

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Answer

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Today’s MP3

The wasted years of life. The poor choices. God answers the mess of life with one word–grace.

We talk as though we understand the term. Preachers explain it. Hymns proclaim it. Seminaries teach it. But do we really understand it? Have you been changed by grace? Strengthened by grace? Grace is God as heart surgeon, cracking open your chest, removing your heart, and replacing it with his own. Rather than tell you to change, he creates the change. Do you clean up so he can accept you? No, he accepts you and begins cleaning you up.

To be saved by grace is to be saved by him—not by an idea, doctrine, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod. God can do something with the mess of your life. Grace is what you need.

From GRACE

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – His Great Love

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God has a heart for hurting parents. Should we be surprised? After all, God himself is a father.

What parental emotion has God not felt? Are you separated from your child? So was God. Is someone mistreating your child? They mocked and bullied his. Is someone taking advantage of your children? The Son of God was set up by false testimony and betrayed by a greedy follower. Are you forced to watch while your child suffers? God watched his son on the cross.

Do you find yourself wanting to spare your child from all the hurt in the world? God did. Romans 8:32 says, but because of his great love for us,” he did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.” All things– including courage and hope!

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – He Knows Your Needs

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Jesus calls us to calmness with this challenge from Matthew 6:32-33. “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Seek first the kingdom of wealth, and you’ll worry over every dollar. Seek first the kingdom of health, and you’ll sweat every blemish and bump. Seek first the kingdom of popularity, and you’ll relive every conflict. Seek first the kingdom of safety, and you’ll jump at every crack of a twig.

But seek first his kingdom, and you will find it! God meets daily needs daily. Not weekly or annually. He will give you what you need when it is needed. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us boldly approach the throne of our gracious God, where we may receive mercy and in his grace find timely help.”

Let God be enough!

From Fearless

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Masterpiece

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If you pass your days mumbling, “I’ll never make a difference; I’m not worth anything,” guess what? You’ll be sentencing yourself to a life of gloom without parole! When you do that, you’re questioning God’s judgment, second-guessing his taste.

Psalm 139:14 says you were “fearfully and wonderfully made.” He can’t stop thinking about you. Psalm 139:18 confirms it. If he could count his thoughts of you, “they would be more in number than the sand.”

Why does he love you so much? The same reason the artist loves his paintings or the boat builder loves his vessels. You are God’s idea. And he has only good ideas. Paul said in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” You matter to God!

From Fearless