Tag Archives: Max Lucado

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Max Lucado – What Really Matters

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A man once went to a minister for counseling.

“I’ve lost everything” he bemoaned.

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s not what I said!” the man objected, beginning to lose patience.

The minister explained, “Well, you have your faith, your character, and your salvation.  Seems to me, you have lost none of the things that really matter.”

We haven’t either.  You and I could pray like the Puritan who sat down to a meal of bread and water.  He bowed his head and declared, “All this and Jesus too?”  Can’t we be equally content? Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment is great gain!”

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Max Lucado – Your Stuff Isn’t Yours

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When one of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. leave?” His reply? “All of it!”  No one takes anything with him.  Think about the things you own—all your stuff. Then let me remind you—your stuff isn’t yours. And you know what else?  Your stuff isn’t  you.

Jesus explained in Luke 12:15 that life isn’t defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.  Contentment comes when we can honestly say with the Apostle Paul, “I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have.  I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty.” (Philippians 4:11-12).

You have so much! You have a God who hears you, the power of His love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. You have everything you need!

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Max Lucado – The Prison of Want

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Come with me to the most populated prison in the world. It’s name is WANT—the prison of want. You’ve seen her prisoners. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want a new job. A new house. A new spouse.  If you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less—you’re in the prison of want. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it—you’re in the prison of want!

The good news is, you have a visitor. It is the psalmist, David. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers, “the secret of satisfaction.” From Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David has found where discontent goes to die. It’s as if he’s saying, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in this life.”  Oh, that you and I could learn to say the same!

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Max Lucado – All Like Sheep

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Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all have wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way.”  You wouldn’t think sheep would be obstinate.  Of all God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of himself. Sheep are dumb.  Have you ever met a sheep trainer?  Ever seen sheep tricks?  Know anyone who’s taught his sheep to roll over?  No.  Sheep are just too dumb.

When David said in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” couldn’t he have come up with a better metaphor than a Shepherd for sheep?  When David, who was a warrior and ambassador for God, searched for an illustration of God, he remembered his days as a shepherd.  He remembered how he lavished attention on the sheep.  How he watched over them. David rejoiced to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and in doing so, he proudly proclaimed, “I am His sheep!”

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Max Lucado – Do it God’s Way

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In the game of golf, logic says, “Don’t go for the green.” Golf 101 says, “Don’t go for the green.”  But I say, “Give me my driver, I’m going for the green!”  Golf reveals a lot about a person.  I don’t need advice—whack!  I can handle this myself—clang!

Can you relate? We want to do things our way.  Forget the easy way and forget the best way. Forget God’s way. Too much stubbornness. Too much independence.  Too much self-reliance.  All I needed to do was apologize, but I had to argue.  All I needed to do was listen, but I had to open my big mouth.  All I needed to do was be patient, but I had to take control.  All I had to do was give it to God, but I tried to fix it myself.

Scripture says, “Do it God’s way.”  Experience says, “Do it God’s way.”  And every so often, we do!  We might even make the green.

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Max Lucado – Your Middle C

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When author Lloyd Douglas attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse with a retired music professor who lived on the first floor. Douglas would stick his head in the door and ask, “Well, what’s the good news?” The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his chair and say, “That’s middle C.  It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now.  The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!”

You and I need a middle C.  A still point in a turning world.  An unchanging Shepherd. A God who can still the storm.  A Lord who can declare the meaning of life.  And according to David in Psalm 23—you have one. The Lord is your shepherd!  He is your middle C!

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Max Lucado – An Unchanging God

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You and I are governed. The weather determines what we wear. Gravity dictates our speed and health determines our strength. We may change these forces, alter them slightly, but we never remove them.  God is an unchanging God, an uncaused God, and an ungoverned God. He doesn’t check the weather; He makes it. He doesn’t defy gravity; He created it. He isn’t affected by health; He has no body.

Jesus said, “God is spirit.” (John 4:24). Since He has no body, He has no limitations—equally active in Cambodia as He is in Connecticut.

“Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?” asked David. (Psalm 139:7)  God–Unchanging.  God–Uncaused.  God–Ungoverned. Only a fraction of God’s qualities, but aren’t they enough to give you a glimpse of your Father?

Psalm 90:2 says,  “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God!”

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Max Lucado – A Great Race to Run

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God wants to use you my friend, but how can He if you’re exhausted?

The other day when I was getting ready for my run, the sun was out, but the wind was chilly.  Jacket or sweatshirt?  The Boy Scout within me prevailed and  I wore both.  Got my cell phone, my water bottle. So no one would steal my car, I pocketed my keys.  I looked more like a pack mule than a runner!  Within half a mile, I was pealing off the jacket.

That kind of weight will slow you down. What’s true in jogging is true in faith.  God has a great race for you to run.  But you have to drop some stuff.  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!

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Max Lucado – Learn to Travel Light

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I don’t know how to travel light.  But I need to learn. You can’t enjoy a journey carrying so much stuff—so much luggage. Odds are, somewhere this morning between the first step on the floor and the last step out the door, you grabbed some luggage.

Don’t remember doing so?  That is because you did it without thinking. That’s because the bags we grab aren’t made of leather, they are made of burdens. The suitcase of guilt.  A duffel bag of weariness, a hanging bag of grief.  A backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of fear. Lugging luggage is exhausting!

God is saying, “Set that stuff down.  You’re carrying burdens you don’t need to bear.” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

I need to learn to travel light!

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Max Lucado – We’ve Figured it Out

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Ironic isn’t it?  The more we know, the less we believe! Strange, don’t you think?

We understand how storms are created. We map solar systems and transplant hearts.  We measure the depths of the ocean and send signals to distant planets.  We’re learning how it all works!  And for some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty!  The more we know, the less we believe.

But knowledge of the workings should not negate wonder. It should stir wonder!  Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Why then should we worship less?  We’re more impressed with our discovery of the light switch than with the one who invented electricity. And rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation!

No wonder there is no wonder!  We think we have figured it all out!

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Max Lucado – A Love That Never Fails

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A love that never fails!  Hard to imagine, isn’t it?  Has human love ever failed you?  I’m guessing your answer may be, “Yes it has—more times than I like to admit!” I Corinthians 13:8 promises that “love never fails!” Not God’s kind of love anyway.

I sense you may be so thirsty for this type of love. Those who should have loved you, did not.  Those who could have loved you, didn’t. You were left at the hospital.  Left at the altar. Left with an empty bed.  Left with a broken heart.  Left with your question, “Does anybody love me?”

Listen to heaven’s answer:  God loves you—with a love that never fails.  Personally.  Powerfully.  Passionately.  God loves you with unfailing love!

And His love, if you’ll let it, can fill you!  Come thirsty, my friend, and drink deeply!

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Max Lucado – Just Be Normal

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You don’t have to lower your standards.  Or saddle a high horse.  Just be nice.  Normal and nice.  Discipleship is sometimes defined by being normal!  You don’t have to be weird to follow Jesus.  You don’t have to stop liking your friends to follow Him.  Just the opposite.  A few introductions would be nice.  Do you know how to grill a steak?

A woman in a small Arkansas community was a single mom with a frail baby. Her neighbor would stop by every few days and keep the child so she could do her shopping.  After some weeks her neighbor shared more than time; she shared her faith, and the woman followed Christ. The friends of the young mother objected.  “Do you know what those people teach?” they contested.  “Here is what I know,” she told them.  “They held my baby.”

I think Jesus likes that kind of answer, don’t you?

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Max Lucado – Classy, Not Sassy

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The San Antonio Spurs make people yawn. I’ve read the reports: when the basketball team plays, most of the nation tunes out. Our city goes whacko, but, to the dismay of television networks, sports fans slide into summer hibernation. They are the winningest pro franchise in the country over the last 15 years, but, for the lack of hype, you’d think they were cellar dwellers of a bowling league.

I think I know why. The Spurs have fostered the rarest of qualities in pro sports: humility.  Humility climbed off the plane a couple of decades ago in the form of David  Robinson. Bigger markets offered more lights and hype, but David was content with playtime and victories. I’ve called David a friend for most of those years. I’ve seen the rings he won, the honors he’s received, but I’ve never seen a chest bump or a court side strut.  I’ve seen David pray often and preach occasionally, but I’ve never seen him swing an elbow or get a coach fired.  I’ve heard him brag about his wife, kids and Savior, but I’ve never heard him bemoan his salary or city.

David paved the way for Tim Duncan who quietly goes about the task of winning championships (four and counting) and scoring baskets. Then there are the covey of former Spurs who seem determined to love every kid and visit every school in San Antonio: Sean Elliot, Bruce Bowen, George Gervin. Classy.

I’m not going to overdo this. I’m a pastor, not a sportswriter. But this much needs to be said. Every so often someone does it right. This team did, and does. It’s good to know that humility is alive and well on the basketball court. Even if the rest of the country snoozes.

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Max Lucado – Untying Knots

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Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. And, oh the advice.  Everyone had a different approach.  Can’t anyone agree?  On only one thing.  You need to know how!

My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench each morning. One day he noticed a little fellow struggling to board the bus. He was leaning down, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring.  He grew more anxious by the moment—eyes darting back and forth between the shoe and the ride.  All of a sudden the door closed.  The boy fell back and sighed. That’s when he saw Roy.  With tear-filled eyes he 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!” Look who shows up. Jesus, our next door Savior.

“Do you untie knots?”  He answers emphatically, “Yes!”

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Max Lucado – At Once, Man and God

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Christ—at once, man and God.  Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body.” Jesus was not a godlike man, nor a manlike God.  He was God-man. What do we do with such a person? One thing is certain, we can’t ignore Him.  He is the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; He is the entire league. The head of the parade?  Hardly.  No one else shares the street.

Dismiss Him?  We can’t.  Resist Him?  Equally difficult.

Don’t we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us.  A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch.  Strong enough to trust.  A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.

As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8, nothing compares to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

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Max Lucado – The Fort Knox of Faith

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The Fort Knox of faith—is Christ!  Fellowship with Christ.  Walking with Him.  Pondering Him.  Exploring Him.  The heart-stopping realization that in Him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable and unfathomable.  And the fact that He who can dig the Grand Canyon with His pinkie, thinks you’re worth His death on Roman timber.

Christ is the reward of Christianity. Why else would Paul make Jesus his supreme desire?  He said, “I want to know Christ.” (Philippians 3:10).

Scripture says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another.”  (2 Corinthians 3:18)  As we behold Him, we become like Him.

Do you desire the same? The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a healthy body or a better self-image.

The Fort Knox of faith—is Christ!

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Max Lucado – The Names of God

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In the three years as I came to know my wife, Denalyn, our relationship evolved. And with each change came a new name.  She went from acquaintance to friend to eye-popping beauty to date to fiancée and wife. Now she is confidante, mother of my children, life-long partner.  The more I know her the more names I give her.

And the more God’s people came to know him, the more names they gave him.  Elohim, strong one or creator.  Jehovah-raah, a caring shepherd. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. These are just a few of the names of God which describe his character.  Study them, for in a given day, you may need each one of them.

God, the shepherd who leads, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm, the physician who heals the sick, the banner that guides. And most of all…He Is!

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Max Lucado – God Adopts Us

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When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us! It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more.  He gives you his name.  It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came.  In fact sometimes the child came with no decision.  I’ve heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I’ve never heard of an unplanned adoption.

If anybody understands God’s ardor for his children, it’s someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home!

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Max Lucado – His Perpetual Presence

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When God led the children of Israel through the wilderness, he didn’t just appear once a day and then abandon them. The pillar of fire was present all night; the cloud was present all day. Our God never leaves us!

Matthew 28:20 holds the promise of Jesus, “I will be with you always.” Our faith takes a quantum leap when we understand the perpetual presence of the Father. Our Jehovah is the fire of our night and the cloud of our day. He never leaves us!

Heaven knows no difference between Sunday morning and Wednesday afternoon. God longs to speak as clearly in the workplace as he does in the sanctuary. He longs to be worshiped when we sit at the dinner table, not just when we come to his communion table.

You may go days without thinking of him, but there’s never a moment he’s not thinking of you!

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Max Lucado – Don’t Settle for Anything Less

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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 2nd Corinthians 3:18, “And 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!