Tag Archives: Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Jungle

May 15, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

It’s a jungle out there! And for many, hope is in short supply. What would it take to restore your hope?

Though the answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind. The first would be someone who knows the way out. And from that someone you need vision. Someone to look you in the face and say, “Don’t give up! There’s a better place than this.” Most importantly, you need direction. If you have a person with direction who can take you to the right place—ah, then you have one who can restore your hope.

To use David’s words in Psalm 23, “HE restores my soul!” God, our Shepherd, majors in restoring hope to the soul! Loneliness diminishes because you have fellowship. Despair decreases because you have vision. Confusion begins to lift because you have direction. Please note– you haven’t left the jungle. It hasn’t changed, but you have. You have hope!

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – One Step Enough for Me

May 14, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Arthur Hays Sulzberger was the publisher of the New York Times during the second World War. Because of the world conflict, he found it almost impossible to sleep. He was never able to get worries from his mind until he adopted as his motto these five words: “One step enough for me” . . .taken from the old hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”

“Lead, kindly Light. . .

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.”

God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene either. So you might as well quit looking for it. He promises a lamp to our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We don’t need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know He leads us. As Hebrews 4:16 promises, “we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – He Leads Us

May 13, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

How can a person deal with anxiety? One fellow decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to do so for a salary of $200,000 a year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, “Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?” To which the man responded, “That’s your worry!” Worrying is one job you can’t farm out—but you can overcome it.

David declares in Psalm 23:2, “He leads me beside the still waters.” He leads me! God isn’t behind me, yelling, “Go!” He’s ahead of me bidding, “Come!” He leads us. He tells us what we need to know when we need to know it. Hebrews 4:16 says, “We will find grace to help us when we need it!”

God leads us. God will do the right thing at the right time. What a difference that makes!

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Rest in His Finished Work

May 12, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

In Psalm 23:2 when David says, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures”—he’s saying, “My shepherd makes me lie down in His finished work.” With His own pierced hands, Jesus created a pasture for the soul. Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of the shepherd when, with work completed, he sees his sheep rest in the tender grass? Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of God when we do the same?

His pasture is His gift to us. This is not a pasture you have made. Nor is it one you deserve. It is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Your Shepherd invites you to nestle deeply hidden, buried, in the tall shoots of His love—and there you will find rest.

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Every Reason to be Content

May 9, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

You have every reason to be content! A man once went to a minister for counseling. He was in the midst of financial collapse.

“I’ve lost everything,” he bemoaned.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost your faith.”

“No,” the man corrected him, “I haven’t lost my faith.”

“Well then, I’m sad to hear you’ve lost your character.”

“I didn’t say that,” he corrected. “I still have my character.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve lost your salvation.”

“That’s not what I said,” the man objected.

“I haven’t lost my salvation.”

“You have your faith, your character, your salvation. Seems to me,” the minister observed, “that you’ve lost none of the things that really matter.”

We haven’t either! You and I could pray like the Puritan. He sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, “All this and Jesus too?”

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Heaven Knows Your Heart

May 8, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

All that stuff you have? It’s not yours. And you know what else about all that stuff? It’s not you! In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

Heaven doesn’t know you as the fellow with the nice suit or the woman with the big house. Heaven knows your heart. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Bible says the Lord looks at the heart. When God thinks of you, He may see your compassion, your devotion, your tenderness or quick mind, but He doesn’t think of your things.

Define yourself by your stuff, and you’ll feel good when you have a lot and bad when you don’t. Contentment comes when we can honestly say with Paul who said, “I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty” (Philippians 4:12).

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Want

May 7, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Come with me to the world’s most oppressive prison. The name of the prison? You’ll see it over the entrance. WANT! The prison of want. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want just one thing. One new job. One new car. One new spouse. They want just one. And when they have “one,” they’ll be happy. But then it happens. The new car smell passes. The new job gets old. The new spouse has bad habits.

Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. But there’s good news. You have a visitor—with a message that can get you parole. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers., “the secret of satisfaction.”

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!” What you have in God is greater than what you don’t have in life!

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – The Lord is My Shepherd

May 6, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

We want to do things our way. Forget the easy way. Forget the best way. Forget God’s way. We want to do things our way. And according Isaiah 53:6, that’s precisely our problem. “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”

Sheep are dumb. Ever see sheep tricks? Know anyone who has ever taught his sheep to roll over? No, sheep are just too dumb. Instead of “the Lord is my shepherd,” couldn’t David have thought of a better metaphor than sheep? How about “The Lord is my commander in chief, and I am his warrior!”

When David, who was a warrior, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd. He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep day and night. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And in so doing he proudly implied, “I am His sheep.”

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – God—Our Shepherd

May 5, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

God, our Shepherd, doesn’t check the weather—He makes it! He doesn’t defy gravity—He created it. Jesus said, “God is Spirit.” He has no limitations. Unchanging. Uncaused. Ungoverned. Don’t we need this kind of shepherd?

You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god. A god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle. No, you need a God who can place 100-billion stars in our galaxy, and 100-billion galaxies in the universe. A God who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10,000 connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull, and call it a brain. And you have one. He is your shepherd!

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Drop Some Stuff

May 2, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

God has a great race for you to run. Under His care you’ll go where you have never been and serve in ways you’ve never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff.

How can you share grace if you’re full of guilt? How can you offer comfort if you’re disheartened. How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms are full with your own? For the sake of those you love—travel light. For the sake of the God you serve, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

There are weights in life you simply cannot carry. Set them down and trust Him. I can’t overstate God’s promise in 1 Peter 5:7: “Unload all your worries onto Him, since He is looking after you.”

What do you say we take God up on His offer? We might find ourselves traveling a little lighter.

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – Travel Light

May 1, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

I’ve never been one to travel light. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’m prepared. I’m prepared for a baby dedication or costume party. Prepared to parachute behind enemy lines. And, if perchance, the Dalai Lama might be on my flight and invite me to dine in Tibet, I carry snowshoes. I need to learn to travel light!

Haven’t you been known to pick up a few bags? The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. An overnight bag of loneliness and a trunk of fear. A hanging bag of grief. No wonder you’re so tired at the end of the day.

God’s saying to you, “Set that stuff down. You’re carrying burdens you don’t need to bear.” “Come to Me,” He invites, “all of you who’re weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

If we let Him—God will lighten our loads!

From Traveling Light

Max Lucado – God Wants Your List

April 30, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

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 your list! He wants you to leave it at the cross.

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – You Are Included

April 29, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

It’s nice to be included. You aren’t always. Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough, and sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough. But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched one hand to the right and the other hand to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you.

Surely there has to be a limit to this love. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But David, the adulterer, never found it. Paul, the murderer, never found it. Peter, the liar, never found it. When it came to life they hit bottom. But when it came to God’s love they never did.

How wide is God’s love? Wide enough for the whole world. And you are included!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – The Symbol of Christianity

April 28, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

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. It’s design couldn’t 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 do it?

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? Or the sober or successful? No, it simply reads: “For God so loved the world!”

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – Lu-KAH-doh or Lu-KAY-doh?

April 25, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

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’s one phrase you want to say correctly!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – Jesus Takes Away the Sin

April 24, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Some people feel so saved they never serve. Some serve at the hope of being saved. Does one of these sentences describe you? Do you feel so saved that you never serve? So content in what God has done that you do nothing? The fact is, we’re here to glorify God in our service.

Or is your tendency the opposite? Perhaps you always serve for fear of not being saved. You’re worried there is a secret card that exists with your score written on it; and your score is not enough. Is that you? If so, know this: The blood of Jesus is enough to save you. John 1:29 announces that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

The blood of Christ doesn’t cover your sins, conceal your sins, postpone or diminish your sins. It takes away your sins, once and for all! So…since you are saved, you can serve!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – A Done Deal and a Daily Development

April 23, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Are a bride and groom ever more married than they are the first day? The vows are made and the certificate signed—could they be any more married than that? Imagine fifty years later. They finish each other’s sentences, order each other’s food. They even start looking alike– a thought which troubles Denalyn deeply. Wouldn’t they be more married on their 50th anniversary than on their wedding day? Marriage is both a done deal and a daily development.

The same is true of our walk with God. Can you be more saved than you were the first day of your salvation? No. But can a person grow in salvation? Absolutely. Like marriage, it’s a done deal and a daily development. Do you feel so saved, you never serve? The fact is, you and I are here for a reason, and that reason is to grow and glorify God in our service.

Max Lucado – Why Did He Do It?

April 22, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

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 – He Invites You In

April 21, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.

God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”

God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!

From He Chose the Nails

Max Lucado – Six Hours, One Friday

April 18, 2014 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.

It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.

Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

From Six Hours One Friday

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