Tag Archives: Max Lucado

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God is For You

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Max Lucado

Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31,  “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

The question isn’t simply, “Who can be against you?” You could answer that one.  Who is against you? Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, and fears imprison. Were Paul’s question, “Who can be against us?” we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them.

But God is for us.  God is for us.  God is for us! Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you; but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans. God!

God is for you.  Not “may be,” not “has been,” or “was,” but God is!  He is for you. Today.  At this hour.  At this minute. As you hear this, He is with you. God is for you!

From  The Lucado Inspirational Reader

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Reward

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Max Lucado

God rewards those who seek Him! Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus Himself.

And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.  Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus?

Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same.  Isn’t it just like Jesus!

From Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – What He Says He Will Do

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Max Lucado

God will always be the same. No one else will. Companies follow pay raises with pink slips. Friends applaud you when you drive a classic and dismiss you when you drive a dud. Not God. God is always the same. James 4:1 says, with Him, “there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

Catch God in a bad mood? Won’t happen. Fear exhausting His grace? A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first. Think He’s given up on you? Wrong. Did He not make a promise to you?

God is not a human being, and He will not lie. He is not a human, and He does not change His mind. What He says He will do. What He promises will come true. His strength, truth, ways, and love never change.

Hebrews 13:8 declares “He is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Trust him…what He says, He will do!

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Builds the Bridge

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Max Lucado

People came to Jesus. My, how they came to Him!  They touched Him as He walked down the street; they followed Him around the sea; they invited Him into their homes and placed their children at His feet. Why?  Because He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be—Jesus.

There’s not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Him. There were those who mocked Him. Those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected.

Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul.

Remember. It’s man who creates the distance. It is Jesus who builds the bridge!

From The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Accepting God as Your Father

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Max Lucado

I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will! Let God give you what your family doesn’t.

How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept Him as Lord, another to recognize Him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept Him as Father.

To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe.

To accept Him as Savior is to accept His gift of salvation offered on the cross.

To regard Him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done!

God has proven Himself as a faithful father. Now, let God fill the void others have left. You’re His child and “God will give you the blessing He promised!” (Gal. 4:7).

From  The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Becoming Like Him

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Max Lucado

Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we’re being changed from “glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes.  We take on His heart.

And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it’s a delight.

The Psalmist says, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).

Nothing—nothing compares with it!

From The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Study Your Children

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Max Lucado

Crankcase oil coursed my dad’s veins.  He repaired engines for a living. Dad loved machines.

But God gave my dad a mechanical moron, a son who couldn’t differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. Dad tried to teach me.  I tried to learn.  Honestly, I did. Machines anesthetized me.  But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books?

He gives him a library card.  Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that.  You know what he didn’t do? Never once did he say:  “Why can’t you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?”

Study your children while you can. The greatest gift you can give your child is not your riches, but revealing to them their own!

From The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Fill in the Blank

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Max Lucado

How would you fill in the blank: a person is made right with God through. . . what?

A person is made right with God through. . .being good. Pay your taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don’t drink too much or drink at all. Christian conduct– that’s the secret.

Suffering. There’s the answer. No, it’s doctrine. That’s how to be made right with God.

No, no, no. All of the above are tried.  All are taught.  But none are from God. In fact, that’s the problem.  None are from God. Who does the saving, you or Him?

Romans 3:28 says, “A person is made right with God through faith.” Not through good works, suffering, or doctrine. Those may be the result of salvation, but they’re not the cause of it.

Salvation comes through faith in God’s sacrifice. In the gift of His Son. It’s not what you do…it’s what He did.

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Where is God When I Hurt?

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Max Lucado

The Bible says in Romans 8:28 that “in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.” Do this simple exercise.  Remove the word everything and replace it with the symbol of your tragedy. How would Romans 8:28 read in your life?

In hospital stays God works for the good.

In divorce papers God works for the good.

As hard as it may be to believe, you could be only a Saturday away from a resurrection.  Hours from that precious prayer of a changed heart. “God, you did this for me?”

Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, Paul said.  “The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.” (Romans 15:4).

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Just for You

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Max Lucado

I’m about to tell you something you may find hard to believe. You don’t have to agree with me, but I’d like you to consider it with me.  Here it is.  If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings and spray light on the desert in the mornings. If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree.

Because He did it all for you.  And He’s waiting for you to discover His gift, for your eyes to pop, your heart to stop. He’s waiting for the moment between the dropping of the jaw and the leap of the heart. For in that silence He whispers, I did it just for you.

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Kindness

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Max Lucado

They sat on opposite sides of the room, a man and a woman, bidding on an adorable puppy at a school auction. Others dropped off, but not this duo. Back and forth until they’d one-upped the bid to several thousand dollars.

No longer about a puppy, but about victory. This was the Wimbledon finals, and neither player was backing off the net.  Finally the fellow gave in and didn’t return the bid. Going once, going twice…going three times. Sold!

You know what she did?  Amidst the applause, she walked across the room and presented the puppy to the competition. Suppose you did that with your competition. With your enemy.  Suppose you surprised them with kindness?  Not easy?

No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness. Paul equates the two in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Came to Serve

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Max Lucado

God’s cure for the common life includes a strong dose of servanthood. It’s a timely reminder. As you celebrate your unique design, be careful. Don’t so focus on what you love to do that you neglect what needs to be done.

A 3:00 AM diaper change fits in very few sweet spots. Visiting your sick neighbor might not come naturally to you. Still the sick need to be encouraged, and diapers need changing.

The world needs servants. People like Jesus who did not come to be served, but to serve. He chose remote Nazareth over the center-stage in Jerusalem, his dad’s carpentry shop over a marble-columned palace, and three decades of anonymity over a life of popularity.

He selected prayer over sleep, the wilderness over the Jordan, feisty apostles over obedient angels. I’d have gone with the angels, given the choice.

Not Jesus.  He picked the people. He came to serve! May we do the same.

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Every Life is Long Enough

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Max Lucado

We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one?  A person’s days on earth may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass.  James was not speaking just to the young when he said, “Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away.” (James 4:4 NCV).

In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better.

And this is important.  Though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones who have gone on before us, they don’t.  Ironically, the first to accept God’s decision of death is the one who dies.

While we’re mourning at a grave, they’re marveling at heaven. While we’re questioning God, they’re praising Him!

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Knows How You Feel

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Max Lucado

Remember when you sought a night’s rest and got a colicky baby? Remember when you sought to catch up at the office and got even further behind? And you can add to the list of interruptions sorrow, excitement, and bedlam.  Sound familiar?

Take comfort—it happened to Jesus too. You may have trouble believing that. You probably believe Jesus knows what it means to endure heavy-duty tragedies.  You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear.  Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of my life? Of your life?

For some reason this is harder to believe. But Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He has had to climb out of bed with a sore throat. He has been kept awake late and has gotten up early.

Jesus knows how you feel!

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Simply “Church”

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Max Lucado

The church names we banter about?  They don’t exist in heaven.  Because it’s not the denomination that saves you.  And I wonder, if there’re no denominations in heaven, why do we have denominations on earth?

I know this is a crazy thought—but what would happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their names simply to “church?”  And then when people chose which church to attend, they wouldn’t do so by the sign outside, they’d do so by the hearts of the people inside.

And then, when people were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn’t be a label but just a location. And then, we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us—our common Father.

Crazy idea?  Perhaps.   But I think God would like it.  It was His idea to begin with!

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – He Gives Us What We Need

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Max Lucado

One morning Denalyn was with me in the car.  “I’m about to remind you why you married me,” I told her as we drew near to the intersection.  “See that long line of cars?  See that humdrum of humanity?  It’s not for me…hang on!”  I swerved from the six-lane onto the one-lane and shared with my sweetheart my secret expressway to freedom.

“What do you think?” I asked, awaiting her worship.

“I think you broke the law,”  she responded.

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“You just went the wrong way on a one-way street!” she answered.

I did.  She was right.  I had missed the “do not enter” sign.

Before coming to Christ, we all had our share of shortcuts. What we consider shortcuts God sees as disasters. He doesn’t give laws for our pleasure.  He gives them for our protection. He knows what we need!

from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God and Your Destiny

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Max Lucado

Every event of your day is designed to draw you toward God and your destiny. To the degree we believe and accept God’s vision for our lives, we’ll get through life.  When people junk us, we’ll stand up. God can use this for good. When family members sell us out, we’ll climb to our feet. God will recycle this pain. We may stumble, but we do not fall.  Why?

Ephesians 1:11 tells us that God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.  Everything means everything.  No exceptions. Everything in your life is leading to a climactic moment in which Colossians 1:20 says, “Jesus will reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.”

You will get through this. God will give you a hope and a future! God will use this for good.

From You’ll Get Through This

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Forgiveness

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Max Lucado

Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity!”

The word opportunity in this verse means territory or ground. In other words, anger gives ground to the devil. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room.  Believe me, he’ll move in and stink up the place. Gossip, slander, temper—anytime you see these, Satan has claimed a bunk. Don’t even give him the time of day. Tell him to pack his bags and hit the road!

Begin the process of forgiveness.  Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them, too. If he thinks they’re worth forgiving, they are. Does that make forgiveness easy? No. Quick? Seldom. Forgive your enemies? Forgive them. You’ll get through this!

From You’ll Get Through This

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Evil. God. Good

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Max Lucado

It’s the repeated pattern in Scripture.  Evil. God. Good.

Evil came to Job.  Tempted him and tested him. Job struggled. But God countered.  He spoke truth; declared sovereignty. And Job, in the end, chose God. Satan’s prime target became God’s star witness.  Good resulted.

Evil came to David and he committed adultery. Evil came to Daniel and he was dragged to a foreign land; to Nehemiah and the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. But God countered.  Because He did, David wrote songs of grace; Daniel ruled in a foreign land; and Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem with Babylonian money. Good happened.

The Bethlehem innkeeper told Jesus’ parents to try their luck in the barn.  That was bad.  God entered the world in the humblest place on earth.  That was good. With Jesus, bad became good like night becomes day; regularly, reliably, refreshingly.  And redemptively.

Evil. God. Good.  When God gets in the middle of life—evil becomes good!

From You’ll Get Through This

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – No Easy Solutions

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Max Lucado

Life turns every person upside down.  No one escapes unscathed. Not the woman who discovers her husband is in an affair. Not the teenager who discovers a night of romance has resulted in a surprise pregnancy.

We’d be foolish to think we’re invulnerable. But we’d be just as foolish to think evil wins the day. The Bible vibrates with the steady drumbeat of faith; God recycles evil into righteousness.

I don’t have an easy solution or magic wand.  But I have found something—or Someone—far better.  God Himself. When God gets in the middle of life, evil becomes good. Trust God. No, really trust Him! He will get you through this. Will it be easy or quick?  I hope so.  But it seldom is. Yet God will make good out of this mess. That’s His job.

From You’ll Get Through This