Lent

Begin. Just Begin! by Max Lucado

What difference will my work make?

God’s answer: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to
see the work begin” (Zech. 4:10).

Begin. Just Begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just
ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he
sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit,
the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane.

On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German
shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief
explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks,
none of which exploded.

Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive charge. They
were clean and harmless and with one exception, empty. The exception contained
a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it a message had been scrawled in the Czech
language. Translated, the note read: “This is all we can do for you now.”

A courageous assembly-line worker was disarming bombs and scribbled the note.
He couldn’t end the war, but he could save one plane. He couldn’t do everything,
but he could do something. So he did it.

God does big things with small deeds.

From Cure for the Common Life Copyright 2005, Max Lucado

Learning to Trust the Master by Max Lucado

A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-
middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily
delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it’s only a
car wash.

Never occurred to him—ahem, to me—that the car wash would scare my dog. But
it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses
toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with
brushes. Duck! We’re under attack.

“Don’t panic. The car wash was my idea.” “I’ve done this before.” “It’s for our own
good.” Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus
the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She
just did what dogs do; she wailed.

Actually, she did what we do. Don’t we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at
hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move
north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what’s
happening, we react as if he’s speaking Yalunka. We don’t understand a word he
says.

Is your world wet and wild? God’s greatest blessings often come costumed as
disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary.

Jerusalem’s collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.

Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the
enemies. Label it the dog-in-the-passenger-seat view.

The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised.
His plan is right on schedule. Even in—especially in—death, Christ is still the
king, the king over his own crucifixion.

Can’t he do the same for you? Can’t he turn your Friday into a Sunday?

Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.

He’s smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her
at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children’s book. When I asked
her name, she watched as I began to write, “To Amy …”

She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, “How
did you know how to spell my name?”

She was awed. You aren’t. You know the difference between the knowledge of a
child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a
human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling “Amy” to
him. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9).

I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She’s howling less. I don’t think she
understands the machinery. She’s just learning to trust her master. Maybe we’ll
learn the same.

From Next Door Savior © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado
He Can Do The Impossible by Max Lucado

The kingdom of heaven. Its citizens are drunk on wonder.

Consider the case of Sarai. She is in her golden years, but God promises her a son.
She gets excited. She visits the maternity shop and buys a few dresses. She plans
her shower and remodels her tent … but no son. She eats a few birthday cakes
and blows out a lot of candles … still no son. She goes through a decade of wall
calendars … still no son.

So Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands. (“Maybe God needs me to
take care of this one.”)

She convinces Abram that time is running out. (“Face it, Abe, you ain’t getting
any younger, either.”) She commands her maid, Hagar, to go into Abram’s tent
and see if he needs anything. (“And I mean ‘anything’!”) Hagar goes in a maid.
She comes out a mom. And the problems begin.

Hagar is haughty. Sarai is jealous. Abram is dizzy from the dilemma. And God
calls the baby boy a “wild donkey”—an appropriate name for one born out of
stubbornness and destined to kick his way into history.

It isn’t the cozy family Sarai expected. And it isn’t a topic Abram and Sarai bring
up very often at dinner.

Finally, fourteen years later, when Abram is pushing a century of years and Sarai
ninety … when Abram has stopped listening to Sarai’s advice, and Sarai has
stopped giving it … when the wallpaper in the nursery is faded and the baby
furniture is several seasons out of date … when the topic of the promised child
brings sighs and tears and long looks into a silent sky … God pays them a visit
and tells them they had better select a name for their new son.

Abram and Sarai have the same response: laughter. They laugh partly because it
is too good to happen and partly because it might. They laugh because they have
given up hope, and hope born anew is always funny before it is real.

They laugh at the lunacy of it all.

They laugh because that is what you do when someone says he can do the
impossible. They laugh a little at God, and a lot with God—for God is laughing,
too. Then, with the smile still on his face, he gets busy doing what he does best—
the unbelievable.
He changes a few things—beginning with their names. Abram, the father of one,
will now be Abraham, the father of a multitude. Sarai, the barren one, will now be
Sarah, the mother.

But their names aren’t the only things God changes. He changes their minds. He
changes their faith. He changes the number of their tax deductions. He changes
the way they define the word impossible.

From The Applause of Heaven © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) Max Lucado

Water for Your Soul by Max Lucado

Where do you find water for the soul? Jesus gave an answer one October day in
Jerusalem. People had packed the streets for the annual reenactment of the rock-
giving-water miracle of Moses. Each morning a priest filled a golden pitcher with
water from the Gihon spring and carried it down a people-lined path to the
temple. He did this every day, once a day, for seven days. “On the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:37–38).

He “stood and shouted” (NLT). The traditional rabbinic teaching posture was
sitting and speaking. But Jesus stood up and shouted out. Forget a kind clearing
of the throat. God was pounding his gavel on heaven’s bench. Christ demanded
attention.

He shouted because his time was short. The sand in the neck of his hourglass was
down to measurable grains. In six months he’d be dragging a cross through these
streets. And the people? The people thirsted. They needed water, not for their
throats, but for their hearts. So Jesus invited: Are your insides starting to
shrivel? Drink me.

Internalize him. Ingest him. Welcome him into the inner workings of your life.
Let Christ be the water of your soul.

Toward this end, I give you this tool: a prayer for the thirsty heart. Carry it just as
a cyclist carries a water bottle. The prayer outlines four essential fluids for soul
hydration: God’s work, God’s energy, his lordship, and his love. You’ll find the
prayer easy to remember. Just think of the word W-E-L-L.

Lord, I come thirsty. I come to drink, to receive. I receive your work on the cross
and in your resurrection. My sins are pardoned, and my death is defeated. I
receive your energy. Empowered by your Holy Spirit, I can do all things
through Christ, who gives me strength. I receive your lordship. I belong to you.
Nothing comes to me that hasn’t passed through you. And I receive your love.
Nothing can separate me from your love.

Don’t you need regular sips from God’s reservoir? I do. I’ve offered this prayer in
countless situations: stressful meetings, dull days, long drives, demanding trips,
character-testing decisions. Many times a day I step to the underground spring of
God and receive anew his work for my sin and death, the energy of his Spirit, his
lordship, and his love.

Drink with me from his bottomless well. You don’t have to live with a dehydrated
heart.

Receive Christ’s work on the cross, the energy of his Spirit, his lordship over your
life, his unending, unfailing love. Drink deeply and often. And out of you will
flow rivers of living water.

From Come Thirsty © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado

When You Speak, God Hears by Max Lucado

Those who pray keep alive the watch fires of faith. For the most part we don’t
even know their names. Such is the case of someone who prayed on a day long
ago. His name is not important. He is important not because of who he was, but
because of what he did.

He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend. His friend was sick, and Jesus could help,
and someone needed to go to Jesus, so someone went. Others cared for the sick
man in other ways. Some brought food; others provided treatment; still others
comforted the family. Each role was crucial. Each person was helpful, but no one
was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.

John writes: “So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you
love is sick’” (John 11:3, emphasis mine).

Someone carried the request. Someone walked the trail. Someone went to Jesus
on behalf of Lazarus. And because someone went, Jesus responded.

In the economy of heaven, the prayers of saints are a valued commodity. John the
apostle would agree. He wrote the story of Lazarus and was careful to show the
sequence: The healing began when the request was made.

The phrase the friend of Lazarus used is worth noting. When he told Jesus of the
illness, he said, “The one you love is sick.” The power of the prayer, in other
words, does not depend on the one who makes the prayer but on the one who
hears the prayer.
We can and must repeat the phrase in manifold ways. “The one you love is tired,
sad, hungry, lonely, fearful, depressed.” The words of the prayer vary, but the
response never changes. The Savior hears the prayer. He silences heaven so he
won’t miss a word. The Master heard the request. Jesus stopped whatever he was
doing and took note of the man’s words. This anonymous courier was heard by
God.

John’s message is critical. You can talk to God because God listens. Your voice
matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the
attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be
ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses
no one, it impresses God—and he listens.

Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Purified and
empowered, the words rise in a delightful fragrance to our Lord. “The smoke
from the incense went up from the angel’s hand to God” (Rev. 8:4). Incredible.
Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.

One call and heaven’s fleet appears. Your prayer on earth activates God’s power
in heaven.

You are the someone of God’s kingdom. Your prayers move God to change the
world. You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this
much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an
amazing thought!

When you speak, Jesus hears.

And when Jesus hears, the world is changed.

All because someone prayed.

From For These Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing © (Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Untangling Life's Knots by Max Lucado

It’s your best friend’s wedding. “I’ll take care of the reception,” you’d
volunteered. You planned the best party possible. You hired the band, rented the
hall, catered the meal, decorated the room, and asked your Aunt Bertha to bake
the cake.

Now the band is playing and the guests are milling, but Aunt Bertha is nowhere
to be seen. Everything is here but the cake. You sneak over to the pay phone and
dial her number. She’s been taking a nap. She thought the wedding was next
week.

Oh boy! Now what do you do? Talk about a problem! Everything is here but the
cake …

Sound familiar?

It might. It’s exactly the dilemma Jesus’ mother, Mary, was facing. Back then,
wine was to a wedding what cake is to a wedding today.

What Mary faced was a social problem. No need to call 911, but no way to sweep
the embarrassment under the rug, either.

When you think about it, most of the problems we face are of the same caliber.
We’re late for a meeting. We leave something at the office. A coworker forgets a
report. Mail gets lost. Traffic gets snarled. The waves rocking our lives are not life
threatening yet. But they can be. A poor response to a simple problem can light a
fuse.

For that reason you might want to note how Mary reacted. Her solution poses a
practical plan for untangling life’s knots. “They have no more wine,” she told
Jesus (John 2:3). That’s it. That’s all she said. She didn’t go ballistic. She simply
assessed the problem and gave it to Christ.

It’s so easy to focus on everything but the solution. Mary didn’t do that. She
simply looked at the knot, assessed it, and took it to the right person. “I’ve got
one here I can’t untie, Jesus.”

“When all the wine was gone Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more
wine’” (John 2:3).

Please note, she took the problem to Jesus before she took it to anyone else. A
friend told me about a tense deacons’ meeting he attended. Apparently there was
more agitation than agreement, and after a lengthy discussion, someone
suggested, “Why don’t we pray about it?” to which another questioned, “Has it
come to that?”

What causes us to think of prayer as the last option rather than the first?

From A Gentle Thunder Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2006) Max Lucado

I Will Speak to You in Your Language by Max Lucado

Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross.

It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. John 19:19

The framer of our destiny is familiar with our denseness. God knows we
sometimes miss the signs. Maybe that's why he has given us so many. The
rainbow after the flood signifies God's covenant. Circumcision identifies God's
chosen, and the stars portray the size of his family. Even today, we see signs in
the New Testament church. Communion is a sign of his death, and baptism is a
sign of our spiritual birth. Each of these signs symbolizes a greater spiritual truth.

The most poignant sign, however, was found on the cross. A trilingual, hand-
painted, Roman-commissioned sign.

Every passerby could read the sign, for every passerby could read Hebrew, Latin,
or Greek—the three great languages of the ancient world. "Hebrew was the
language of Israel, the language of religion; Latin the language of the Romans,
the language of law and government; and Greek the language of Greece, the
language of culture. Christ was declared king in them all." God had a message for
each. "Christ is king." The message was the same, but the languages were
different. Since Jesus was a king for all people, the message would be in the
tongues of all people.

There is no language God will not speak. Which leads us to a delightful question.
What language is he speaking to you? I'm not referring to an idiom or dialect but
to the day-to-day drama of your life. God does speak, you know. He speaks to us
in whatever language we will understand.

There are times he speaks the "language of abundance." Is your tummy full? Are
your bills paid? Got a little jingle in your pocket? Don't be so proud of what you
have that you miss what you need to hear.

Are you hearing the "language of need"? Or how about the "language of
affliction"? Talk about an idiom we avoid. But you and I both know how clearly
God speaks in hospital hallways and sickbeds.

God speaks all languages—including yours. Has he not said, "I will ... teach you in
the way you should go" (Ps. 32:8 NIV)? Are we not urged to "receive instruction
from His mouth" (Job 22:22 NASB)? What language is God speaking to you?

And aren't you glad he is speaking? Aren't you grateful that he cares enough to
talk? Isn't it good to know that "the LORD tells his secrets to those who respect
him" (Ps. 25:14)?

Think a word of thanks to him would be appropriate? And while you're at it, ask
him if you might be missing any signs he is sending your way.
From He Chose the Nails Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2001) Max Lucado
Open Arms by Max Lucado

If you ever wonder how in the world God could use you to change the world, look
at the people God used to change history. A ragbag of ne’er-do-wells and has-
beens who found hope, not in their performance, but in God’s proverbially open
arms.

Abraham- God took what was good and forgave what was bad and used “old
forked tongue” to start a nation. Moses- would you call upon a fugitive to carry
the Ten Commandments? God did. David- his track record left little to be desired,
but his repentant spirit was unquestionable. Jonah- God put him in a whale’s
belly to bring him back to his senses. But even the whale couldn’t stomach this
missionary for too long.

On and on the stories go: Elijah, the prophet who pouted; Solomon, the king who
knew too much; Jacob, the wheeler-dealer; Gomer, the prostitute; Sarah, the
woman who giggled at God. One story after another of God using man’s best and
overcoming man’s worst.

The reassuring lesson is clear. God used (and uses!) people to change the world.
People! Not saints or superhumans or geniuses, but people. Crooks, creeps,
lovers, and liars—he uses them all. And what they may lack in perfection, God
makes up for in love.

Jesus later summarized God’s stubborn love with a parable. He told about a
teenager who decided that life at the farm was too slow for his tastes. So with
pockets full of inheritance money, he set out to find the big time. What he found
instead were hangovers, fair-weather friends, and long unemployment lines.
When he had had just about as much of the pig’s life as he could take, he
swallowed his pride, dug his hands deep into his empty pockets, and began the
long walk home; all the while rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his
father.

He never used it. Just when he got to the top of the hill, his father, who’d been
waiting at the gate, saw him. The boy’s words of apology were quickly muffled by
the father’s words of forgiveness. And the boy’s weary body fell into his father’s
opened arms.

The same open arms welcomed him that had welcomed Abraham, Moses, David,
and Jonah. No wagging fingers. No clenched fists. No “I told you so!” slaps or
“Where have you been?” interrogations. No crossed arms. No black eyes or fat
lips. No. Only sweet, open arms. If you ever wonder how God can use you to make
a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used and take heart.
Look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.
And, by the way, never were those arms opened so wide as they were on the
Roman cross. One arm extending back into history and the other reaching into
the future. An embrace of forgiveness offered for anyone who’ll come. A hen
gathering her chicks. A father receiving his own. A redeemer redeeming the
world. No wonder they call him the Savior.

From No Wonder They Call Him the Savior © (W Publishing Group, 1986, 2004) Max Lucado

The Touch of God by Max Lucado

May I ask you to look at your hand for a moment? Look at the back, then the
palm. Reacquaint yourself with your fingers. Run a thumb over your knuckles.

What if someone were to film a documentary on your hands? What if a producer

were to tell your story based on the life of your hands? What would we see? As
with all of us, the film would begin with an infant’s fist, then a closeup of a tiny
hand wrapped around mommy’s finger. Then what? Holding on to a chair as you
learned to walk? Handling a spoon as you learned to eat?

We aren’t too long into the feature before we see your hand being affectionate,
stroking daddy’s face or petting a puppy. Nor is it too long before we see your
hand acting aggressively: pushing big brother or yanking back a toy. All of us
learned early that the hand is suited for more than survival—it’s a tool of
emotional expression. The same hand can help or hurt, extend or clench, lift
someone up or shove someone down.

Were you to show the documentary to your friends, you’d be proud of certain
moments: your hand extending with a gift, placing a ring on another’s finger,
doctoring a wound, preparing a meal, or folding in prayer. And then there are
other scenes. Shots of accusing fingers, abusive fists. Hands taking more often
than giving, demanding instead of offering, wounding rather than loving. Oh, the
power of our hands. Leave them unmanaged and they become weapons: clawing
for power, strangling for survival, seducing for pleasure. But manage them and
our hands become instruments of grace—not just tools in the hands of God, but
God’s very hands. Surrender them and these five-fingered appendages become
the hands of heaven.

That’s what Jesus did. Our Savior completely surrendered his hands to God. The
documentary of his hands has no scenes of greedy grabbing or unfounded finger
pointing. It does, however, have one scene after another of people longing for his
compassionate touch: parents carrying their children, the poor bringing their
fears, the sinful shouldering their sorrow. And each who came was touched. And
each one touched was changed.

From Just Like Jesus Copyright (W Publishing Group, 1998, 2001) Max Lucado
Guilt and Grace by Max Lucado
Sometime ago I read a story of a youngster who was shooting rocks with a
slingshot. He could never hit his target. As he returned to Grandma’s backyard,
he spied her pet duck. On impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the
duck was dead. The boy panicked and hid the bird in the woodpile, only to look
up and see his sister watching.

After lunch that day, Grandma told Sally to help with the dishes. Sally responded,
“Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you Johnny?”
And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So, Johnny did the dishes.

What choice did he have? For the next several weeks he was at the sink often.
Sometimes for his duty, sometimes for his sin. “Remember the duck,” Sally’d
whisper when he objected.

So weary of the chore, he decided that any punishment would be better than
washing more dishes, so he confessed to killing the duck. “I know, Johnny,” his
grandma said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole
thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally
make a slave out of you.” (Steven Cole, “Forgiveness,” Leadership Magazine,
1983, 86.)

He’d been pardoned, but he thought he was guilty. Why? He had listened to the
words of his accuser.

You have been accused as well. You have been accused of dishonesty. You’ve been
accused of immorality. You’ve been accused of greed, anger, and arrogance.

Every moment of your life, your accuser is filing charges against you. Even his
name, Diabolos, means “slanderer.” Who is he? The devil.

As he speaks, you hang your head. You have no defense. His charges are fair. “I
plead guilty, your honor,” you mumble.

“The sentence?” Satan asks.

“The wages of sin is death,” explains the judge, “but in this case the death has
already occurred. For this one died with Christ.”

Satan is suddenly silent. And you are suddenly jubilant. You realize that Satan
cannot accuse you. No one can accuse you! Fingers may point and voices may
demand, but the charges glance off like arrows hitting a shield. No more dirty
dishwater. No more penance. No more nagging sisters. You have stood before the
judge and heard him declare, “Not guilty.”

From In the Grip of Grace Copyright (W Publishing Group, 1996) Max Lucado
“Treat Me As I Treat My Neighbor.” by Max Lucado

Are you aware that this is what you are saying to your Father? Give me what I
give them. Grant me the same peace I grant others. Let me enjoy the same
tolerance I offer. God will treat you the way you treat others.

In any given Christian community there are two groups: those who are
contagious in their joy and those who are cranky in their faith. They’ve accepted
Christ and are seeking him, but their balloon has no helium. One is grateful, the
other is grumpy. Both are saved. Both are heaven bound. But one sees the
rainbow and the other sees the rain.

Could this principle explain the difference? Could it be that they are experiencing
the same joy they have given their offenders? One says, “I forgive you,” and feels
forgiven. The other says, “I’m ticked off,” and lives ticked off at the world.

It’s as if God sends you to the market to purchase your neighbor’s groceries
saying, “Whatever you get your neighbor, get also for yourself. For whatever you
give him is what you receive.”

Let’s take this a step further. Suppose your neighbor’s trash blows into your yard.
You mention the mess to him, and he says he’ll get to it sometime next week. You
inform him that you’ve got company coming and couldn’t he get out of that chair
and do some work? He tells you not to be so picky, that the garbage fertilizes your
garden. You’re just about to walk across the lawn to have a talk when God
reminds you, “Time to go to the market and buy your neighbor’s groceries.” So
you grumble and mumble your way to the store, and then it hits you, “I’ll get even
with the old bum.” You go straight to the skim milk. Then you make a beeline to
the anchovies and sardines. You march right past the double-chocolate ice cream
and head toward the okra and rice. You make a final stop in the day-old bread
section and pick up a crusty loaf with green spots on the edge.

Chuckling, you drive back to the house and drop the sack in the lap of your lazy,
good-for-nothing neighbor. “Have a good dinner.” And you walk away.

All your brilliant scheming left you hungry, so you go to your refrigerator to fix a
sandwich, but guess what you find. Your pantry is full of what you gave your
enemy. All you have to eat is exactly what you just bought. We get what we give.

Some of you have been eating sardines for a long time. Your diet ain’t gonna
change until you change. You look around at other Christians. They aren’t as sour
as you are. They’re enjoying the delicacies of God, and you’re stuck with okra and
anchovies on moldy bread. You’ve always wondered why they look so happy and
you feel so cranky. Maybe now you know. Could it be God is giving you exactly
what you’re giving someone else?

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) Max Lucado

Take Every Thought Captive by Max Lucado

Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions. Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s temper

tantrum. Today’s bigotry is tomorrow’s hate crime. Today’s anger is tomorrow’s
abuse. Today’s lust is tomorrow’s adultery. Today’s greed is tomorrow’s
embezzlement. Today’s guilt is tomorrow’s fear.

Could that be why Paul writes, “Love … keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor. 13:5
NIV)?

Some folks don’t know we have an option.

Paul says we do: “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ”
(2 Cor. 10:5).

Do you hear some battlefield jargon in that passage—“capture every thought,”

“make it give up” and “obey Christ”? You get the impression that we are the
soldiers and the thoughts are the enemies.

It was for Jesus. Remember the thoughts that came his way courtesy of the
mouth of Peter? Jesus had just prophesied his death, burial, and resurrection, but
Peter couldn’t bear the thought of it. “Peter took Jesus aside and told him not to
talk like that.… Jesus said to Peter, ‘Go away from me, Satan! You are not helping
me! You don’t care about the things of God, but only about the things people
think are important’” (Matt. 16:22–23). See the decisiveness of Jesus?

What if you did that? What if you took every thought captive? What if you took
the counsel of Solomon: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run
your life” (Prov. 4:23).

You are not a victim of your thoughts. You have a vote. You have a voice. You can
exercise thought prevention. You can also exercise thought permission.

Change the thoughts, and you change the person. If today’s thoughts are
tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s
love? Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel
about others?

Paul says absolutely! It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the
good stuff in. It’s not enough to keep no list of wrongs. We have to cultivate a list
of blessings. The same verb Paul uses for keeps in the phrase “keeps no list of
wrongs” is used for think in Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think
about these things” (RSV). Thinking conveys the idea of pondering—studying and
focusing, allowing what is viewed to have an impact on us.

Rather than store up the sour, store up the sweet.

From A Love Worth Giving © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado

They Don’t Know What They Are Doing by Max Lucado

Anger. It’s a peculiar yet predictable emotion. It begins as a drop of water. An

irritant. A frustration. Nothing big, just an aggravation. Someone gets your
parking place. Someone pulls in front of you on the freeway. A waitress is slow
and you are in a hurry. The toast burns. Drops of water. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Yet, get enough of these seemingly innocent drops of anger and before long
you’ve got a bucket full of rage. Walking revenge. Blind bitterness. Unharnessed
hatred. We trust no one and bare our teeth at anyone who gets near. We become
walking time bombs that, given just the right tension and fear, could explode.

Yet, what do we do? We can’t deny that our anger exists. How do we harness it? A
good option is found in Luke 23:34. Here, Jesus speaks about the mob that killed
him. “‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”

Look carefully. It’s as if Jesus considered this bloodthirsty, death-hungry crowd

not as murderers, but as victims. It’s as if he saw in their faces not hatred but
confusion. It’s as if he regarded them not as a militant mob but, as he put it, as
“sheep without a shepherd.”

“They don’t know what they are doing.”

And when you think about it, they didn’t. They hadn’t the faintest idea what they
were doing. They were a stir-crazy mob, mad at something they couldn’t see so
they took it out on, of all people, God. But they didn’t know what they were doing.

And for the most part, neither do we. We are still, as much as we hate to admit it,
shepherdless sheep. All we know is that we were born out of one eternity and are
frighteningly close to another. We play tag with the fuzzy realities of death and
pain. We can’t answer our own questions about love and hurt. We can’t solve the
riddle of aging. We don’t know how to heal our own bodies or get along with our
own mates. We can’t keep ourselves out of war. We can’t even keep ourselves fed.

Paul spoke for humanity when he confessed, “I do not know what I am doing.”
(Romans 7:15, author’s paraphrase.)

Now, I know that doesn’t justify anything. That doesn’t justify hit-and-run drivers
or kiddie-porn peddlers or heroin dealers. But it does help explain why they do
the miserable things they do.

My point is this: Uncontrolled anger won’t better our world, but sympathetic
understanding will. Once we see the world and ourselves for what we are, we can
help. Once we understand ourselves we begin to operate not from a posture of
anger but of compassion and concern. We look at the world not with bitter frowns
but with extended hands. We realize that the lights are out and a lot of people are
stumbling in the darkness. So we light candles.

From No Wonder They Call Him the Savior © (W Publishing Group, 1986, 2004) Max Lucado

Hard Hearted by Max Lucado

Hardhearted people are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness;
they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds
and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live
for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. (Eph. 4:17-19)

A hard heart ruins, no only your life, but the lives of your family members. As an
example, Jesus identified the hard heart as the wrecking ball of a marriage. When
asked about divorce, Jesus said, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives
because our hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.” (Matt.
19:8) When one or both people in a marriage stop trusting God to save it, they
sign its death certificate. They reject the very one who can help them.

My executive assistant, Karen Hill, saw the result of such stubbornness in a

pasture. A cow stuck her nose into a paint can and couldn’t shake it off. Can-
nosed cows can’t breathe very well, and they can’t drink or eat at all. Both the cow
and her calf were in danger. A serious bovine bind.

Karen’s family set out to help. But when the cow saw the rescuers coming, she set
out for pasture. They pursued, but the cow escaped. They chased that cow for
three days! Each time the posse drew near, the cow ran. Finally, using pickup
trucks and ropes, they cornered and de-canned the cow.

Seen any can-nosed people lately? Malnourished souls? Dehydrated hearts?

People who can’t take a deep breath? All because they stuck their noses where
they shouldn’t, and when God came to help, they ran away.
When billions of us imitate the cow, chaos erupts. Nations of bull-headed people
ducking God and bumping into each other. We scamper, starve, and struggle.

Can-nosed craziness. Isn’t this the world we see? This is the world God sees.

Yet, this is the world God loves. “For God so loved the world…” This hard-
hearted, stiff-necked world. We stick our noses where we shouldn’t; still, he
pursues us. We run from the very one who can help, but he doesn’t give up. He
loves. He pursues. He persists. And, every so often, a heart starts to soften.

Let yours be one of them.

When my daughters were small, they liked to play with Play-Doh. They formed
figures out of the soft clay. If they forgot to place the lid on the can, the substance
hardened. When it did, they brought it to me. My hand were bigger. My fingers
stronger. I could mold the stony stuff into putty.

Is your heart hard? Take it to your Father. You’re only a prayer away from
tenderness. You live in a hard world, but you don’t have to live with a hard heart.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

Practicing the Presence by Max Lucado

How do I live in God’s presence? How do I detect his unseen hand on my

shoulder and his inaudible voice in my ear? A sheep grows familiar with the voice
of the shepherd. How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are
a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before
you step out of bed, step into his presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to
roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer. Personally, I don’t
get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God
the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal.
Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it’s
nothing more than “Thank you for a night’s rest. I belong to you today.”

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. The mature
married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don’t need to fill
the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent
with God. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 niv). Awareness of God is
a fruit of stillness before God.

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have
learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered
anywhere, in any setting.

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God.

By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon.
Simple phrases such as “Thank you, Father,” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,”
“You are my resting place, Jesus” can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You
needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let
the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your
whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind
settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank him for the
good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength.
And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: “He who watches over
Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4 niv). If you fall asleep as you
pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

From Just Like Jesus Copyright (W Publishing Group, 1998, 2001) Max Lucado

Second Chance by Max Lucado

I know I’d read that passage a hundred times. But I’d never seen it. Maybe I’d
passed over it in the excitement of the resurrection.

But I won’t miss it again. It’s highlighted in yellow and underlined in red. You
might want to do the same. Look in Mark, chapter 16. Read the first five verses
about the women’s surprise when they find the stone moved to the side. Then
feast on that beautiful phrase spoken by the angel, “He is not here, he is risen,”
but don’t pause for too long. Go a bit further. Get your pencil ready and enjoy this
jewel in the seventh verse (here it comes). The verse reads like this: “But go, tell
his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.

Did you see it? Read it again. (This time I italicized the words.)

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”

Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure.

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of
heaven wanted to help him back up again. “Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left
out. Tell him that one failure doesn’t make a flop.”

Whew!
No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.

Not many second chances exist in the world today. Just ask the kid who didn’t
make the little league team or the fellow who got the pink slip or the mother of
three who got dumped for a “pretty little thing.”

Not many second chances. Nowadays it’s more like, “It’s now or never.” “Around
here we don’t tolerate incompetence.” “Not much room at the top.” “Three strikes
and you’re out.” “It’s a dog-eat-dog world!”

Jesus has a simple answer to our masochistic mania. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world?”
he would say. “Then don’t live with the dogs.” That makes sense doesn’t it? Why
let a bunch of other failures tell you how much of a failure you are?

Sure you can have a second chance.

Just ask Peter. The message came loud and clear from the celestial Throne Room
through the divine courier. “Be sure and tell Peter that he gets to bat again.”

It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The
next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before
he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they
say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all
the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would
cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—
much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.

But in Jesus, Peter found both.

From No Wonder They Call Him the Savior © (W Publishing Group, 1986, 2004) Max Lucado

He Wants to Comfort You by Max Lucado

My child’s feelings are hurt. I tell her she’s special. My child is injured. I do
whatever it takes to make her feel better.

My child is afraid. I won’t go to sleep until she is secure.

I’m not a hero. I’m not a superstar. I’m not unusual. I’m a parent. When a child
hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps.

And after I help, I don’t charge a fee. I don’t ask for a favor in return. When my
child cries, I don’t tell her to buck up, act tough, and keep a stiff upper lip. Nor do
I consult a list and ask her why she is still scraping the same elbow or waking me
up again.

I’m not a prophet, nor the son of one, but something tells me that in the whole
scheme of things the tender moments described above are infinitely more
valuable than anything I do in front of a computer screen or congregation.
Something tells me that the moments of comfort I give my child are a small price
to pay for the joy of someday seeing my daughter do for her daughter what her
dad did for her.

Moments of comfort from a parent. As a father, I can tell you they are the
sweetest moments in my day. They come naturally. They come willingly. They
come joyfully.

If all of that is true, if I know that one of the privileges of fatherhood is to comfort
a child, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me?

Why do I think he wouldn’t want to hear about my problems? (“They are puny
compared to people starving in India.”)

Why do I think he is too busy for me? (“He’s got a whole universe to worry
about.”) Why do I think he’s tired of hearing the same old stuff? Why do I think
he groans when he sees me coming?

Why do I think he consults his list when I ask for forgiveness and asks, “Don’t you
think you’re going to the well a few too many times on this one?”

Why do I think I have to speak a holy language around him that I don’t speak
with anyone else?

Why do I not take him seriously when he questions, “If you, then, though you are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11)

Why don’t I let my Father do for me what I am more than willing to do for my
own children?

I’m learning, though. Being a parent is better than a course on theology. Being a
father is teaching me that when I am criticized, injured, or afraid, there is a
Father who is ready to comfort me. There is a Father who will hold me until I’m
better, help me until I can live with the hurt, and who won’t go to sleep when I’m
afraid of waking up and seeing the dark. Ever. And that’s enough.

From The Applause of Heaven © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) Max Lucado
Gratitude for Ungrateful Days by Max Lucado
“Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is
what God wants for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NCV). Look
at the totality of those terms. Always be joyful. Pray continually. Give thanks
whatever happens. Learn a lesson from Sidney Connell. When her brand-new
bicycle was stolen, she called her dad with the bad news. He expected his
daughter to be upset. But Sidney wasn’t crying. She was honored. “Dad,” she
boasted, “out of all the bikes they could have taken, they took mine.”

Make gratitude your default emotion, and you’ll find yourself giving thanks for
the problems of life. Need spice in your day? Thank God for every problem that
comes down the pike. Is any situation so dire that gratitude is eliminated? Some
of the ladies at the Women of Faith Conference thought it was. This great
organization fills arenas with women, and women with hope. The president, Mary
Graham, told me about one particular weekend in which a shortage of space
tested everyone’s patience.

The floor had 150 fewer seats than needed. The arena staff tried to solve the
problem by using narrow chairs. As a result, every woman had a place to sit, but
everyone was crowded. Complaints contaminated like feedlot fragrance. Mary
asked Joni Eareckson Tada, a speaker for the evening, if she could calm the
crowd. Joni was perfectly qualified to do so. A childhood diving accident has left
her wheelchair-bound. The attendants rolled her onto the platform, and Joni
addressed the unhappy crowd. “I understand some of you don’t like the chair in
which you are sitting. Neither do I. But I have about a thousand handicapped
friends who would gladly trade places with you in an instant.”

The grumbling ceased.

Yours can too.

Impossible, you say? How do you know? How do you know until you give every
day a chance?

From Every Day Deserves a Chance Copyright (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007) Max
Lucado
Perfect Love by Max Lucado

Isn’t it good to know that even when we don’t love with a perfect love, he does?
God always nourishes what is right. He always applauds what is right. He has
never done wrong, led one person to do wrong, or rejoiced when anyone did
wrong. For he is love, and love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices
with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6 NASB). God passes the test of 1 Corinthians 13:6.
Well, he should; he drafted it. So where does this leave us? Perhaps with a trio of
reminders. When it comes to love:

Be careful.

Until love is stirred, let God’s love be enough for you. There are seasons when
God allows us to feel the frailty of human love so we’ll appreciate the strength of
his love. Didn’t he do this with David? Saul turned on him. Michal, his wife,
betrayed him. Jonathan and Samuel were David’s friends, but they couldn’t
follow him into the wilderness. Betrayal and circumstances left David alone.
Alone with God. And, as David discovered, God was enough. David wrote these
words in a desert: “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.…
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Ps. 63:3, 5 NIV).

Be prayerful.

What if it’s too late? Specifically, what if you’re married to someone you don’t
love—or who doesn’t love you? Many choose to leave. That may be the step you
take. But if it is, take at least a thousand others first. And bathe every one of those
steps in prayer. Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Ask God to help you love as he loves.
“God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love” (Rom. 5:5
CEV). Ask everyone you know to pray for you. Your friends. Your family. Your
church leaders. Get your name on every prayer list available. And, most of all,
pray for and, if possible, with your spouse. Ask the same God who raised the dead
to resurrect the embers of your love.

Be grateful.

Be grateful for those who love you. Be grateful for those who have encouraged
you to do what is right and applauded when you did. Do you have people like that
in your world? If so, you are doubly blessed. Be grateful for them. And be grateful
for your Father in heaven.

From A Love Worth Giving © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado
“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.” by Max Lucado

What a statement of trust! Whatever you want me to have is all I want. Some days
the plate runs over. God keeps bringing out more food and we keep loosening our
belt. A promotion. A privilege. A friendship. A gift. A lifetime of grace. An eternity
of joy. There are times when we literally push ourselves back from the table,
amazed at God’s kindness. “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my
enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup fills with blessing” (Ps. 23:5
MSG).

And then there are those days when, well, when we have to eat our broccoli. Our
daily bread could be tears or sorrow or discipline. Our portion may include
adversity as well as opportunity.

This verse was on my mind last night during family devotions. I called my
daughters to the table and set a plate in front of each. In the center of the table I
placed a collection of food: some fruit, some raw vegetables and some Oreo
cookies. “Every day,” I explained, “God prepares for us a plate of experiences.
What kind of plate do you most enjoy?”

The answer was easy. Sara put three cookies on her plate. Some days are like that,
aren’t they? Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not. Sometimes our
plate has nothing but vegetables—twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and
squash. Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion
may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good? Most days, however, have a bit
of it all. Vegetables, which are healthy but dull. Fruit, which tastes better and we
enjoy. And even an Oreo, which does little for our nutrition, but a lot for our
attitude.

All are important and all are from God.

The next time your plate has more broccoli than apple pie, remember who
prepared the meal. And the next time your plate has a portion you find hard to
swallow, talk to God about it. Jesus did. In the garden of Gethsemane his Father
handed him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to
heaven. “My Father,” he prayed, “if it is possible may this cup be taken from me.
Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).

Even Jesus was given a portion he found hard to swallow. But with God’s help, he
did. And with God’s help, you can too.

From The Great House of God © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001) Max Lucado
Anvil Time by Max Lucado

On God’s anvil. Perhaps you’ve been there. Melted down. Formless. Undone.
Placed on the anvil for…reshaping? (A few rough edges too many.) Discipline? (A
good father disciplines.) Testing? (But why so hard?)

I know. I’ve been on it. It’s rough. It’s a spiritual slump, a famine. The fire goes
out. Although the fire may flame for a moment, it soon disappears. We drift
downward. Downward into the foggy valley of question, the misty lowland of
discouragement. Motivation wanes. Desire is distant. Responsibilities are
depressing.

Passion? It slips out the door. Enthusiasm? Are you kidding? Anvil time.

It can be caused by a death, a breakup, going broke, going prayerless. The light
switch is flipped off and the room darkens. “All the thoughtful words of help and
hope have all been nicely said. But I’m still hurting, wondering…..”

On the anvil.

Brought face to face with God out of the utter realization that we have nowhere
else to go. Jesus in the garden. Peter with a tear-streaked face. David after
Bathsheba. Elijah and the “still, small voice.” Paul, blind in Damascus.

Pound, pound, pound.

I hope you’re not on the anvil. (Unless you need to be, and if so, I hope you are.)
Anvil time is not to be avoided; it’s to be experienced. Although the tunnel is
dark, it does go through the mountain. Anvil time reminds us of who we are and
who God is. We shouldn’t try to escape it. To escape it could be to escape God.

God sees our life from beginning to end. He may lead us through a storm at age
thirty so we can endure a hurricane at age sixty. An instrument is useful only if
it’s in the right shape. A dull ax or bent screwdriver needs attention, and so do
we. A good blacksmith keeps his tools in shape. So does God.

Should God place you on his anvil, be thankful. It means he thinks you’re still
worth reshaping.

From On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image tyndale house 2008
The Blacksmith's Shop by Max Lucado

In the shop of a blacksmith, there are three types of tools. There are tools on the
junk pile: outdated, broken, dull, rusty.

They sit in the cobwebbed corner, useless to their master, oblivious to their
calling.

There are tools on the anvil: melted down, molten hot, moldable, changeable.

They lie on the anvil, being shaped by their master, accepting their calling.

There are tools of usefulness: sharpened, primed, defined, mobile.

They lie ready in the blacksmith’s tool chest, available to their master, fulfilling
their calling.

Some people lie useless: lives broken, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams
dashed.

They are tossed in with the scrap iron, in desperate need of repair, with no notion
of purpose.

Others lie on the anvil: hearts open, hungry to change, wounds healing, visions
clearing.

They welcome the painful pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer, longing to be

rebuilt, begging to be called.

Others lie in their Master’s hands: well tuned, uncompromising, polished,

productive.

They respond to their Master’s forearm, demanding nothing, surrendering all.

We are all somewhere in the blacksmith’s shop. We are either on the scrap pile, in
the Master’s hands on the anvil, or in the tool chest. (Some of us have been in all
three.)

From the shelves to the workbench, from the water to the fire…I’m sure that
somewhere you will see yourself.

Paul spoke of becoming “an instrument for noble purposes.” And what a
becoming it is! The rubbish pile of broken tools, the anvil of recasting, the hands
of the Master- it’s a simultaneously joyful and painful voyage.

And for you who make the journey—who leave the heap and enter the fire, dare to
be pounded on God’s anvil, and doggedly seek to discover your own purpose—
take courage, for you await the privilege of being called “God’s chosen
instruments.”

From On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image

© (Tyndale House, 1985, 2008) Max Lucado

Changing Our Nature by Max Lucado

My dog Molly and I aren’t getting along. The problem is not her personality. A
sweeter mutt you will not find. She sees every person as a friend and every day as
a holiday. I have no problem with Molly’s attitude. I have a problem with her
habits.

Eating scraps out of the trash. Licking dirty plates in the dishwasher. Dropping
dead birds on our sidewalk and stealing bones from the neighbor’s dog.
Shameful! Molly rolls in the grass, chews on her paw, does her business in the
wrong places, and, I’m embarrassed to admit, quenches her thirst in the toilet.

Now what kind of behavior is that?

Dog behavior, you reply.

You are right. So right. Molly’s problem is not a Molly problem. Molly has a dog
problem. It is a dog’s nature to do such things. And it is her nature that I wish to
change. Not just her behavior, mind you. A canine obedience school can change
what she does; I want to go deeper. I want to change who she is.

Here is my idea: a me-to-her transfusion. The deposit of a Max seed in Molly. I

want to give her a kernel of human character. As it grew, would she not change?
Her human nature would develop, and her dog nature would diminish. We would
witness, not just a change of habits, but a change of essence. In time Molly would
be less like Molly and more like me, sharing my disgust for trash snacking, potty
slurping, and dish licking. She would have a new nature. Why, Denalyn might
even let her eat at the table.

You think the plan is crazy? Then take it up with God. The idea is his.
What I would like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature
from the inside out! “I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out
the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts
of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and help you live by my rules and carefully
obey my laws” (Ezek. 36:26–27 NCV.).

God doesn’t send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he sends us to the
hospital to be given a new heart. Forget training; he gives transplants.

Do you understand what God has done? He has deposited a Christ seed in you. As
it grows, you will change. It’s not that sin has no more presence in your life, but
rather that sin has no more power over your life. Temptation will pester you, but
temptation will not master you. What hope this brings!

It’s not up to you! Within you abides a budding power. Trust him!

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6 NIV.). God will do with you what I only dream of doing
with Molly. Change you from the inside out. When he is finished, he’ll even let
you sit at his table.

From Next Door Savior © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Is This All There Is? by Max Lucado

Something is awry—we feel disconnected. We connect with a career, find

meaning in family, yet long for something more.

We feel the frustration I felt on Christmas morning, 1964. I assembled a nine-

year-old’s dream gift: a genuine Santa Fe Railroad miniature train set, complete
with battery-powered engine and flashing crossing lights. I placed the locomotive
on the tracks and watched in sheer glee as three pounds of pure steel wound its
way across my bedroom floor. Around and around and around and . . . around . . .
and around . . . After some time I picked it up and turned it the other direction. It
went around and around and around . . .

“Mom, what else did you get me for Christmas?” Similarly, our lives chug in long
ovals, one lap after another.

First job. Promotion. Wedding day. Nursery beds. Kids. Grandkids. Around and
around . . . Is there anything else? Our dissatisfaction mates with disappointment
and gives birth to some unruly children: drunkenness, power plays, eighty-hour
workweeks, nosedives into sexual perversions—all nothing more than poorly
disguised longings for Eden. We long to restore what Adam lost. As someone
once said, “The man who knocks on the door of a brothel is seeking God.”
Where and when the brothel fails, Jesus steps forth with a reconnection
invitation. Though we be “dead in [our] transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1) and
separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18), whoever believes that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God (I John 5:1). Reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting
from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.” (John 1:13.) Don’t
miss the invisible, inward miracle triggered by belief. God reinstates us to
Garden-of-Eden status. What Adam and Eve did, we now do! The flagship family
walked with God; we can too. They heard his voice; so can we. They were naked
and unashamed; we can be transparent and unafraid. No more running or hiding.

“Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and
have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts
now!” (1 Pet. 1:3–4 MSG).

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

Laws of the Lighthouse by Max Lucado

The first of the year is known for three things: black-eyed peas, bowl games, and
lists. Some don’t eat black-eyed peas. Others hate football. But everybody likes
lists.

The Bible certainly has its share of lists. Moses brought one down from the
mountain.

There are lists of the gifts of the Spirit. Lists of good fruit and bad. Lists of
salutations and greetings. Even the disciples’ boat got into the action as it listed
in the stormy Sea of Galilee. (If you smiled at that, then I’ve got a list of puns
you’d enjoy.)

But the greatest day of lists is still New Year’s Day. And the number one list is the
list I call the Laws of the Lighthouse.

The Laws of the Lighthouse contain more than good ideas, personal preferences,
and honest opinions. They are God-given, time-tested truths that define the way
you should navigate your life. Observe them and enjoy secure passage. Ignore
them and crash against the ragged rocks of reality.

Smart move. The wise captain shifts the direction of his craft according to the
signal of the lighthouse. A wise person does the same.

Herewith, then, are the lights I look for and the signals I heed:

– Love God more than you fear hell. – Once a week, let a child take you on a
walk. – Make major decisions in a cemetery. – When no one is watching, live as if
someone is. – Succeed at home first. – Don’t spend tomorrow’s money today. –
Pray twice as much as you fret. – Listen twice as much as you speak. – Only
harbor a grudge when God does. – Never outgrow your love of sunsets. – Treat
people like angels; you will meet some and help make some. – ‘Tis wiser to err on
the side of generosity than on the side of scrutiny. – God has forgiven you; you’d
be wise to do the same. – When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust his heart. – Toot
your own horn and the notes will be flat. – Don’t feel guilty for God’s goodness. –
The book of life is lived in chapters, so know your page number. – Never let the
important be the victim of the trivial. – Live your liturgy.

To sum it all up: Approach life like a voyage on a schooner. Enjoy the view.
Explore the vessel. Make friends with the captain. Fish a little. And then get off
when you get home.

From In the Eye of the Storm © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Hand Delivered Bouquets by Max Lucado

Through Christ, God has accepted you. Think about what this means. You cannot
keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you.

Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey. You’re
going to get cut, dished, dropped, and kicked around. You cannot keep people
from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By
letting his acceptance compensate for their rejection.

Think of it this way. Suppose you dwell in a high-rise apartment. On the window
sill of your room is a solitary daisy. This morning you picked the daisy and pinned
it on your lapel. Since you have only one plant, this is a big event and a special
daisy.

But as soon as you’re out the door, people start picking petals off your daisy.
Someone snags your subway seat. Petal picked. You’re blamed for the bad report
of a coworker. Three petals. The promotion is given to someone with less
experience but USC water polo looks. More petals. By the end of the day, you’re
down to one. Woe be to the soul who dares to draw near it. You’re only one petal-
snatching away from a blowup.

What if the scenario was altered slightly? Let’s add one character. The kind man
in the apartment next door runs a flower shop on the corner. Every night on the
way home he stops at your place with a fresh, undeserved, yet irresistible
bouquet. These are not leftover flowers. They are top-of-the-line arrangements.
You don’t know why he thinks so highly of you, but you aren’t complaining.
Because of him, your apartment has a sweet fragrance, and your step has a happy
bounce. Let someone mess with your flower, and you’ve got a basketful to replace
it!

The difference is huge. And the interpretation is obvious.

God will load your world with flowers. He hand-delivers a bouquet to your door
every day. Open it! Take them! Then, when rejections come, you won’t be left
short-petaled.

God can help you get rid of your anger. He made galaxies no one has ever seen
and dug canyons we have yet to find. “The LORD … heals all your diseases” (Ps.
103:2–3 NIV). Do you think among those diseases might be the affliction of
anger?

Do you think God could heal your angry heart?

Do you want him to? This is not a trick question. He asks the same question of
you that he asked of the invalid: “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6). Not
everyone does. You may be addicted to anger. You may be a rage junkie. Anger
may be part of your identity. But if you want him to, he can change your identity.
Do you want him to do so?

Do you have a better option? Like moving to a rejection-free zone? If so, enjoy
your life on your desert island.

Take the flowers. Receive from him so you can love or at least put up with others.

From A Love Worth Giving © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado

On The Anvil by Max Lucado

With a strong forearm, the apron-clad blacksmith puts his tongs into the fire,
grasps the heated metal, and places it on the anvil. His keen eye examines the
glowing piece. He sees what the tool is now and envisions what he wants it to be—
sharper, flatter, wider, longer. With a clear picture in his mind, he begins to
pound. His left hand still clutching the hot mass with the tongs, his right hand
slams the two-pound sledge upon the moldable metal.

On the solid anvil, the smoldering iron is remolded.

The smith knows the type of instrument he wants. He knows the size. He knows
the shape. He knows the strength.

Whang! Whang! The hammer slams. The shop rings with the noise, the air fills
with smoke, and the softened metal responds.

But the response doesn’t come easily. It doesn’t come without discomfort. To
melt down the old and recast it as new is a disrupting process. Yet the metal
remains on the anvil, allowing the toolmaker to remove the scars, repair the
cracks, refill the voids, and purge the impurities.

And with time, a change occurs: What was dull becomes sharpened, what was
crooked becomes straight, what was weak becomes strong, and what was useless
becomes valuable.

Then the blacksmith stops. He ceases his pounding and sets down his hammer.
With a strong left arm, he lifts the tongs until the freshly molded metal is at eye
level. In the still silence, he examines the smoking tool. The incandescent
implement is rotated and examined for any mars or cracks.

There are none.

Now the smith enters the final stage of his task. He plunges the smoldering
instrument into a nearby bucket of water. With a hiss and a rush of steam, the
metal immediately begins to harden. The heat surrenders to the onslaught of cool
water, and the pliable, soft mineral becomes an unbending useful tool.

“For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These
have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory
and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:6-7)

From On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image

. © (Tyndale House, 1985, 2008) Max Lucado

Thump-Thud, Thump-Thud by Max Lucado

When a potter bakes a pot, he checks its solidity by pulling it out of the oven and
thumping it. If it “sings,” it’s ready. If it “thuds,” it’s placed back in the oven.

The character of a person is also checked by thumping.

Been thumped lately?

Late-night phone calls. Grouchy teacher. Grumpy moms. Burnt meals. Flat tires.
You’ve-got-to-be-kidding deadlines. Those are thumps. Thumps are those
irritating inconveniences that trigger the worst in us. They catch us off guard.
Flat-footed. They aren’t big enough to be crises, but if you get enough of them,
watch out! Traffic jams. Long lines. Empty mailboxes. Dirty clothes on the floor.
Even as I write this, I’m being thumped. Because of interruptions, it has taken me
almost two hours to write these two paragraphs. Thump. Thump. Thump.

How do I respond? Do I sing, or do I thud?

Jesus said that out of the nature of the heart a man speaks (Luke 6:45). There’s
nothing like a good thump to reveal the nature of a heart. The true character of a
person is seen not in momentary heroics but in the thump-packed humdrum of
day-to-day living.

If you have a tendency to thud more than you sing, take heart.

There is hope for us “thudders”:

Begin by thanking God for thumps. I don’t mean a half-hearted thank-you. I

mean a rejoicing, jumping-for-joy thank-you from the bottom of your heart
(James 1:2). Chances are that God is doing the thumping. And he’s doing it for
your own good. So every thump is a reminder that God is molding you (Hebrews
12:5-8).

Learn from each thump. Face up to the fact that you are not “thump-proof.” You
are going to be tested from now on. You might as well learn from the thumps—
you can’t avoid them. Look upon each inconvenience as an opportunity to
develop patience and persistence. Each thump will help you or hurt you,
depending on how you use it.

Be aware of “thump-slump” times. Know your pressure periods. For me,

Mondays are infamous for causing thump-slumps. Fridays can be just as bad. For
all of us, there are times during the week when we can anticipate an unusual
amount of thumping. The best way to handle thump-slump times? Head on.
Bolster yourself with extra prayer, and don’t give up.

Remember no thump is disastrous. All thumps work for good if we are loving and
obeying God.

From On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image

. © (Tyndale House, 1985, 2008) Max Lucado

Honor God in Your Work by Max Lucado

Heaven’s calendar has seven Sundays a week. God sanctifies each day. He
conducts holy business at all hours and in all places. He uncommons the common
by turning kitchen sinks into shrines, cafés into convents, and nine-to-five
workdays into spiritual adventures.

Workdays? Yes, workdays. He ordained your work as something good. Before he

gave Adam a wife or a child, even before he gave Adam britches, God gave Adam
a job. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to
cultivate it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15 NASB). Innocence, not indolence,
characterized the first family.

God views work worthy of its own engraved commandment: “You shall work six
days, but on the seventh day you shall rest” (Exod. 34:21 NASB). We like the
second half of that verse. But emphasis on the day of rest might cause us to miss
the command to work: “You shall work six days.” Whether you work at home or
in the marketplace, your work matters to God.

And your work matters to society. We need you! Cities need plumbers. Nations
need soldiers. Stoplights break. Bones break. We need people to repair the first
and set the second. Someone has to raise kids, raise cane, and manage the kids
who raise Cain.

Whether you log on or lace up for the day, you imitate God. Jehovah himself
worked for the first six days of creation. Jesus said, “My Father never stops
working, and so I keep working, too” (John 5:17 NCV). Your career consumes half
of your lifetime. Shouldn’t it broadcast God? Don’t those forty to sixty hours a
week belong to him as well?

The Bible never promotes workaholism or an addiction to employment as pain

medication. But God unilaterally calls all the physically able to till the gardens he
gives. God honors work. So honor God in your work. “There is nothing better for
a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good” (Eccles. 2:24
NASB). Here is the big idea:

Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do
it) every day of your life (where you do it). At the convergence of all three,
you’ll find the cure for the common life: your sweet spot.

From Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot © (Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 2005) Max Lucado
Hidden Heroes by Max Lucado
A revival can begin with one sermon. History proves it. John Egglen had never
preached a sermon in his life. Never.

Wasn’t that he didn’t want to, just never needed to. But then one morning he did.
The snow left his town of Colchester, England, buried in white. When he awoke
on that January Sunday in 1850, he thought of staying home. Who would go to
church in such weather?

But he reconsidered. He was, after all, a deacon. And if the deacons didn’t go,
who would? So he put on his boots, hat, and coat and walked the six miles to the
Methodist Church.

He wasn’t the only member who considered staying home. In fact, he was one of
the few who came. Twelve members and one visitor. Even the minister was
snowed in. Someone suggested they go home. Egglen would hear none of that.
They’d come this far; they would have a service. Besides, they had a visitor. A
thirteen-year-old boy.

But who would preach? Egglen was the only deacon. It fell to him.

And so he did. His sermon lasted only ten minutes. It drifted and wandered and
made no point in an effort to make several. But at the end, an uncharacteristic
courage settled upon the man. He lifted his eyes and looked straight at the boy
and challenged: “Young man, look to Jesus. Look! Look! Look!”

Did the challenge make a difference? Let the boy, now a man, answer. “I did look,
and then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness rolled away, and at
that moment I saw the sun.”

The boy’s name? Charles Haddon Spurgeon. England’s prince of preachers. Did
Egglen know what he’d done? No. Do heroes know when they are heroic? Rarely.
Are historic moments acknowledged when they happen?

You know the answer to that one. (If not, a visit to the manger will remind you.)
We seldom see history in the making, and we seldom recognize heroes.

But we’d do well to keep our eyes open. Tomorrow’s Spurgeon might be mowing
your lawn. And the hero who inspires him might be nearer than you think.

He might be in your mirror.

From When God Whispers Your Name Copyright 1994, Max Lucado
See What Happens by Max Lucado
God does uncommon works through common deeds.

A friend of mine saw proof of this truth as he cared for victims of Hurricane
Katrina. Being a physician, he gave his time and talent to treat some of the 12,500
New Orleans evacuees who ended up in San Antonio.

One survivor told him a riveting story. As the water rose around his house, this
New Orleanian swam out a window. With two children clinging to his back, the
man found safe refuge atop the tallest building in the neighborhood. Other
people joined him on the roof. Soon a small circle of people huddled together on
what would be their home for three days until they were rescued.

After an hour on the building, the man realized he was on a church. He patted the
rooftop and announced to the others, “We are on holy ground.” His news jogged
the memory of another roof dweller. She looked around at the area, crawled over
to the steeple, hugged it, and proclaimed, “My grandfather and grandmother
helped build this church!”

Do you think those grandparents ever imagined God would use their work to save
their granddaughter? They surely prayed for God to use that building to save
souls…but they couldn’t have imagined he would use it to save their grandchild
from a hurricane. They had no idea how God would use the work of their hands.

Nor do you.

What difference do selfless deeds make? Do you wonder if your work makes a
difference? I’m envisioning a reader at the crossroads. One recently impacted by
God. The divine spark within is beginning to flame. Should you douse it or fan it?
Dare you dream that you can make a difference?

God’s answer would be, “Just do something and see what happens.”

From Cure for the Common Life Copyright 2005, Max Lucado

The Common Life by Max Lucado

“Is not this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:3). Jesus’ neighbors spoke those words.
Amazed at his latter-life popularity, they asked, “Is this the same guy who fixed
my roof?” Note what his neighbors did not say: “Is not this the carpenter who
owes me money?” “Is not this the carpenter who swindled my father?” “Is not
this the carpenter who never finished my table?” No, these words were never
said. The lazy have a hard time hiding in a small town. Hucksters move from city
to city to survive. Jesus didn’t need to. Need a plow repaired? Christ could do it.
In need of a new yoke? “My neighbor is a carpenter, and he will give you a fair
price.” The job may have been common, but his diligence was not. Jesus took his
work seriously. And the town may have been common, but his attention to it was
not. Mountain flowers in the spring. Cool sunsets. Pelicans winging their way
along the streams of Kishon to the Sea of Galilee. Thyme-besprinkled turf at his
feet. Fields and fig trees in the distance. Do you suppose moments here inspired
these words later? “Observe how the lilies of the field grow” (Matt. 6:28) or “Look
at the birds of the air” (Matt. 6:26). The words of Jesus the rabbi were born in the
thoughts of Jesus the boy. The maker of yokes later explained, “My yoke is easy”
(Matt. 11:30). The one who brushed his share of sawdust from his eyes would say,
“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the
log that is in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:3).

He saw how a seed on the path took no root (Luke 8:5) and how a mustard seed
produced a great tree (Matt. 13:31–32). He remembered the red sky at morning
(Matt. 16:2) and the lightning in the eastern sky (Matt. 24:27). Jesus listened to
his common life. Are you listening to yours? Rain pattering against the window.
Silent snow in April. The giggle of a baby on a crowded plane. Seeing a sunrise
while the world sleeps. Are these not personal epistles? Can’t God speak through
a Monday commute or a midnight diaper change? Take notes on your life. Next
time your life feels ordinary, take your cue from Christ. Pay attention to your
work and your world. Jesus’ obedience began in a small town carpentry shop. His
uncommon approach to his common life groomed him for his uncommon call.
From Next Door Savior Copyright 2003, Max Lucado

Forever Young by Max Lucado

"Whoever tries to keep his life safe will lose it, and the man who is prepared to
lose his life will preserve it." LUKE 17:33 (PHILLIPS)

“There are two ways to view life,” Jesus is saying, “those who protect it or those
who pursue it. The wisest are not the ones with the most years in their lives, but
the most life in their years.”

What Annie Dillard says about writing in The Writing Life is true about life: “One
of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, play it, lose it all, right
away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or
for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.”

There is a rawness and a wonder to life. Pursue it. Hunt for it. Sell out to get it.
Don’t listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second-rate life and
want you to do the same so they won’t feel guilty. Your goal is not to live long; it’s
to live.

Jesus says the options are clear. On one side there is the voice of safety. You can
build a fire in the hearth, stay inside, and stay warm and dry and safe. You can’t
get hurt if you never get out, right? You can’t be criticized for what you don’t try,
right? You can’t fall if you don’t take a stand, right? You can’t lose your balance if
you never climb, right? So, don’t try it. Take the safe route.

Or you can hear the voice of adventure—God’s adventure. Instead of building a

fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow God’s impulses. Adopt the
child. Move overseas. Teach the class. Change careers. Run for office. Make a
difference. Sure it isn’t safe, but what is?

You think staying inside out of the cold is safe? Jesus disagrees. “Whoever tries to
keep his life safe will lose it.” I like the words of General Douglas MacArthur
when he was seventy-eight: “Nobody grows old by merely living a number of
years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but
to give up interest wrinkles the soul.”

From He Still Moves Stones Copyright 1995, Max Lucado

The Desires of Your Heart by Max Lucado

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4 NIV I recently met a twenty-year-old, just discharged from the
military, and pondering his future. He bore a square jaw, a forearm tattoo, and a
common question. He didn’t know what to do with the rest of his life. As we
shared a flight, he told me about his uncle, a New England priest. “What a great
man,” the ex-soldier sighed. “He helps kids and feeds the hungry. I’d love to make
a difference like that.”

So I asked him the question of this chapter. “What were some occasions when
you did something you love to do and did it quite well?”

He dismissed me at first. “Aw, what I love to do is stupid.”

“Try me,” I invited.

“Well, I love to rebuild stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

He spoke of an old coffee table he had found in a garage. Seeing its potential, he
shaved off the paint, fixed the broken legs, and restored it. With great pride, he
presented it to his mom.

“Tell me another time,” I prompted.

“This one is really dumb,” he discounted. “But when I worked at a butcher shop, I
used to find meat on the bones others threw out. My boss loved me! I could find
several pounds of product just by giving the bone a second try.”

As the plane was nosing down, I tested a possibility with him. “You love to
salvage stuff. You salvage furniture, salvage meat. God gave you the ability to find
a treasure in someone else’s trash.”

My idea surprised him. “God? God did that?”

“Yes, God. Your ability to restore a table is every bit as holy as your uncle’s ability
to restore a life.” You would have thought he’d just been handed a newborn baby.
As my words sank in, the tough soldier teared up.

See your desires as gifts to heed rather than longings to suppress, and you’ll feel
the same joy.

Reflect on your life. What have you always done well and loved to do?
From Cure for the Common Life Copyright 2006, Max Lucado

Believe and Receive by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in him shall not perish . . .”

Can I really trust that “whoever believes in him shall not perish”?

Jesus’s invitation seems too simple. We gravitate to other verbs. Work has a
better ring to it. “Whoever works for him will be saved.” Satisfy fits nicely.
“Whoever satisfies him will be saved.” But believe? Shouldn’t I do more?

The simplicity troubles many people.

We expect a more proactive assignment, to have to conjure up a remedy for our

sin. Some mercy seekers have donned hair shirts, climbed cathedral steps on
their knees, or traversed hot rocks on bare feet.

Others of us have written our own Bible verse: “God helps those who help
themselves” (Popular Opinion 1:1). We’ll fix ourselves, thank you. We’ll make up
for our mistakes with contributions, our guilt with busyness. We’ll overcome
failures with hard work. We’ll find salvation the old-fashioned way: we’ll earn it.

Christ, in contrast, says to us: “Your part is to trust. Trust me to do what you
can’t.” By the way, you take similar steps of trust daily, even hourly. You believe
the chair will support you, so you set your weight on it. You believe water will
hydrate you, so you swallow it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip
it. You have faith the doorknob will work, so you turn it.

You regularly trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish.
Jesus invites you to do the same with him.
Just him. Not Moses or any other leader. Not even you. You can’t fix you. Look to
Jesus . . . and believe.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

Heaven's "Whoever" Policy by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in him shall not perish . . .”

Some years ago I took a copy of God’s “whoever” policy to California. I wanted to
show it to my Uncle Billy. He’d been scheduled to visit my home, but bone cancer
had thwarted his plans.

My uncle reminded me much of my father: squared like a blast furnace, ruddy as

a leather basketball. They shared the same West Texas roots, penchant for cigars,
and blue-collar work ethic. But I wasn’t sure if they shared the same faith. So
after several planes, two shuttles, and a rental-car road trip, I reached Uncle
Billy’s house only to learn he was back in the hospital. No visitors. Maybe
tomorrow.

He felt better the next day. Good enough to come home. I went to see him. Cancer
had taken its toll and his strength. The recliner entombed his body. He
recognized me yet dozed as I chatted with his wife and friends. He scarcely
opened his eyes. People came and went, and I began to wonder if I would have
the chance to ask the question.

Finally the guests stepped out onto the lawn and left me alone with my uncle. I
slid my chair next to his, took his skin-taut hand, and wasted no words. “Bill, are
you ready to go to heaven?”

His eyes, for the first time, popped open. Saucer wide. His head lifted. Doubt
laced his response: “I think I am.”

“Do you want to be sure?”

“Oh yes.”

Our brief talk ended with a prayer for grace. We both said “amen,” and I soon left.
Uncle Billy died within days. Did he wake up in heaven? According to the parable
of the eleventh hour workers, he did.

Some struggle with such a thought. A last-minute confessor receives the same
grace as a lifetime servant? Doesn’t seem fair. The workers in the parable
complained too. So the landowner, and God, explained the prerogative of
ownership: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (v.
Matt. 20:15 RSV).

Request grace with your dying breath, and God hears your prayer. Whoever
means “whenever.”

And one more: whoever means “wherever.” Wherever you are, you’re not too far
to come home.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

He's Been There by Max Lucado

“. . . shall not perish but have eternal life . . .”

On a trip to China, I rode past Tiananmen Square in a bus full of Westerners. We

tried to recollect the causes and consequences of the revolt. Our knowledge of
history was embarrassing. One gave one date; another gave a different one. One
person remembered a certain death toll; someone else disagreed. All this time our
translator remained silent. Finally one of us asked her, “Do you remember
anything about the Tiananmen Square revolt?”

Her answer was solemn. “Yes, I was a part of it.”

We quickly grew quiet as she gave firsthand recollections of the bloodshed and
oppression. We listened, because she’d been there.

We who follow Christ do so for the same reason. He’s been there . . .

He’s been to Bethlehem, wearing barn rags and hearing sheep crunch. Suckling
milk and shivering against the cold. All of divinity content to cocoon itself in an
eight-pound body and to sleep on a cow’s supper. Millions who face the chill of
empty pockets or the fears of sudden change turn to Christ. Why?

Because he’s been there.

He’s been to Nazareth, where he made deadlines and paid bills; to Galilee, where
he recruited direct reports and separated fighters; to Jerusalem, where he stared
down critics and stood up against cynics.

We have our Nazareths as well—demands and due dates. Jesus wasn’t the last to
build a team; accusers didn’t disappear with Jerusalem’s temple. Why seek
Jesus’s help with your challenges? Because he’s been there. To Nazareth, to
Galilee, to Jerusalem.
But most of all, he’s been to the grave. Not as a visitor, but as a corpse. Buried
amidst the cadavers. Numbered among the dead. Heart silent and lungs vacant.
Body wrapped and grave sealed. The cemetery. He’s been buried there.

You haven’t yet. But you will be. And since you will, don’t you need someone who
knows the way out?

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2007) Max Lucado

Believe in Him by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in him shall not perish . . .”

The phrase “believes in him” doesn’t digest well in our day of self-sufficient
spiritual food. “Believe in yourself ” is the common menu selection of our day.
Try harder. Work longer. Dig deeper. Self-reliance is our goal.

And tolerance is our virtue. “In him” smacks of exclusion. Don’t all paths lead to
heaven? Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and humanism? Salvation comes in many
forms, right? Christ walks upriver on this topic. Salvation is found, not in self or
in them, but in him.

Some historians clump Christ with Moses, Muhammad, Confucius, and other
spiritual leaders. But Jesus refuses to share the page. He declares, “I am the way,
and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6
RSV). He could have scored more points in political correctness had he said, “I
know the way,” or “I show the way.” Yet he speaks not of what he does but of who
he is: I am the way.

Many recoil at such definitiveness. John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 sound primitive in
this era of broadbands and broad minds. The world is shrinking, cultures are
blending, borders are bending; this is the day of inclusion. All roads lead to
heaven, right? But can they?

The sentence makes good talk-show fodder, but is it accurate? Can all approaches
to God be correct? Every path does not lead to God.

Jesus blazed a stand-alone trail void of self-salvation. He cleared a one-of-a-kind

passageway uncluttered by human effort. Christ came, not for the strong, but for
the weak; not for the righteous, but for the sinner. We enter his way upon
confession of our need, not completion of our deeds. He offers a unique-to-him
invitation in which he works and we trust, he dies and we live, he invites and we
believe.
We believe in him. “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he
sent” (John 6:29 NCV). This union is publicly dramatized in baptism, for to be
baptized, as Paul wrote, is to be baptized into Christ. (Gal. 3:27)

Believe in yourself? No. Believe in him.

Believe in them? No. Believe in him.

And those who do, those who believe “in him shall not perish but have eternal
life” (John 3:16).

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

Choosing the Uncommon Life by Max Lucado

One can’t, at once, promote two reputations. Promote God’s and forget yours. Or
promote yours and forget God’s. We must choose.

Joseph did. Matthew describes Jesus’s earthly father as a craftsman (Matt.

13:55). He lives in Nazareth: a single-camel map dot on the edge of boredom.
Joseph never speaks in the New Testament. He does much. He sees an angel,
marries a pregnant girl, and leads his family to Bethlehem and Egypt. He does
much, but says nothing.

A small-town carpenter who never said a Scripture-worthy word. Is Joseph the

right choice? Doesn’t God have better options? An eloquent priest from
Jerusalem or a scholar from the Pharisees? Why Joseph? A major part of the
answer lies in his reputation: he gives it up for Jesus. “Then Joseph [Mary’s]
husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away secretly” (Matt. 1:19).

Mary’s parents, by this point, have signed a contract and sealed it with a dowry.
Mary belongs to Joseph; Joseph belongs to Mary. Legally and matrimonially
bound.

Now what? His fiancée is pregnant, blemished, tainted … he is righteous, godly.

On one hand, he has the law. On the other, he has his love. The law says, stone
her. Love says, forgive her. Joseph is caught in the middle. But Joseph is a kind
man. “Not wanting to disgrace her, [he] planned to send her away secretly” (v. 19
NASB).

A quiet divorce. How long would it stay quiet? Likely not long. But for a time, this
was the solution.
Then comes the angel. “While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit’ ” (v. 20).

Mary’s growing belly gives no cause for concern, but reason to rejoice. “She
carries the Son of God in her womb,” the angel announces. But who would believe
it? Who would buy this tale? Envision Joseph being questioned by the city
leaders.

“Joseph,” they say, “we understand that Mary is with child.”

He nods.

“Is the child yours?”

He shakes his head.

“Do you know how she became pregnant?”

Gulp. A bead of sweat forms beneath Joseph’s beard. He faces a dilemma. He

makes his decision. “Joseph … took to him his wife, and did not know her till she
had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS” (Matt.
1:24–25).

Joseph tanked his reputation. He swapped his reputation for a pregnant fiancée
and an illegitimate son and made the big decision of discipleship. He placed
God’s plan ahead of his own.

Would you be willing to do the same? God grants us an uncommon life to the
degree we surrender our common one. “If you try to keep your life for yourself,
you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life” (Matt.
16:25 NLT). Would you forfeit your reputation to see Jesus born into your world?

From Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot © (Thomas Nelson Publishers,
2005) Max Lucado

Just a Moment by Max Lucado

It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment.

As moments go, that one appeared no different than any other. If you could
somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the
ones that have passed while you have read these words. It came and it went. It
was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless
moments that have marked time since eternity became measurable.

But in reality, that particular moment was like none other. For through that
segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the
creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and
placed her most precious one in a human womb.

The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit
became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And
he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the
nourishment of a young girl.

God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created.

God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against
the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother.

God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one

whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands
that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt
weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing
women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet
got tired. And his head ached.

To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it?
It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the
humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger.
Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit
his thumb with a hammer.

He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine
that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable.

But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let him be as human as he intended to
be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he
pull us out.

It all happened in a moment. In one moment … a most remarkable moment. The

Word became flesh.
There will be another. The world will see another instantaneous transformation.
You see, in becoming man, God made it possible for man to see God. When Jesus
went home he left the back door open. As a result, “we will all be changed—in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)

The first moment of transformation went unnoticed by the world. But you can bet
your sweet September that the second one won’t. The next time you use the
phrase “just a moment, … ” remember that’s all the time it will take to change this
world.

From God Came Near © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Every Knee Shall Bow by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in him shall not perish . . .”

How could a loving God send sinners to hell? He doesn’t. They volunteer.

Once there, they don’t want to leave. The hearts of damned fools never soften;
their minds never change. “Men were scorched with great heat, and they
blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not
repent and give Him glory” (Rev. 16:9 NKJV). Contrary to the idea that hell
prompts remorse, it doesn’t. It intensifies blasphemy.

Remember the rich man in torment? He could see heaven but didn’t request a
transfer. He wanted Lazarus to descend to him. Why not ask if he could join
Lazarus? The rich man complained of thirst, not of injustice. He wanted water for
the body, not water for the soul. Even the longing for God is a gift from God, and
where there is no more of God’s goodness, there is no longing for him. Though
every knee shall bow before God and every tongue confess his preeminence
(Rom. 14:11), the hard-hearted will do so stubbornly and without worship. There
will be no atheists in hell (Phil. 2:10–11), but there will be no God-seekers either.

But still we wonder, is the punishment fair? Such a penalty seems inconsistent
with a God of love—overkill. A sinner’s rebellion doesn’t warrant an eternity of
suffering, does it? Isn’t God overreacting?

Who are we to challenge God? Only he knows the full story, the number of
invitations the stubborn-hearted have refused and the slander they’ve spewed.

Accuse God of unfairness? He has wrapped caution tape on hell’s porch and
posted a million and one red flags outside the entrance. To descend its stairs,
you’d have to cover your ears, blindfold your eyes, and, most of all, ignore the
epic sacrifice of history: Christ, in God’s hell on humanity’s cross, crying out to
the blackened sky, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).
The supreme surprise of hell is this: Christ went there so you won’t have to.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope Copyright (Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2007) Max
Lucado

God Believes in You by Max Lucado

The tale involves a wealthy father and a willful son. The boy prematurely takes his
inheritance and moves to Las Vegas and there wastes the money on slot machines
and call girls. As fast as you can say “blackjack,” he is broke. Too proud to go
home, he gets a job sweeping horse stables at the racetrack. When he finds
himself tasting some of their oats and thinking, H’m, a dash of salt and this
wouldn’t be too bad, he realizes enough is enough. It’s time to go home. The
gardener at his father’s house does better than this. So off he goes, rehearsing his
repentance speech every step of the way.

But the father has other ideas. He “had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him.”

We don’t expect such a response. We expect crossed arms and a furrowed brow.
At best a guarded handshake. At least a stern lecture. But the father gives none of
these. Instead he gives gifts. “Bring out the best robe … a ring … sandals.… And
bring the fatted calf … and let us eat and be merry” (Luke 15:11–23 NKJV). Robe,
sandals, calf, and … Did you see it? A ring.

Before the boy has a chance to wash his hands, he has a ring to put on his finger.
In Christ’s day rings were more than gifts; they were symbols of delegated
sovereignty. The bearer of the ring could speak on behalf of the giver. It was used
to press a seal into soft wax to validate a transaction. The one who wore the ring
conducted business in the name of the one who gave it.

Would you have done this? Would you have given this prodigal son power-of-
attorney privileges over your affairs? Would you have entrusted him with a credit
card? Would you have given him this ring?

Before you start questioning the wisdom of the father, remember, in this story
you are the boy. When you came home to God, you were given authority to
conduct business in your heavenly Father’s name.

When you speak truth, you are God’s ambassador.

As you steward the money he gives, you are his business manager.

When you declare forgiveness, you are his priest.

As you stir the healing of the body or the soul, you are his physician.

And when you pray, he listens to you as a father listens to a son. You have a voice
in the household of God. He has given you his ring.

God believes in you. And, I wonder, could you take some of the belief that he has
in you and share it with someone else?

You and I have the privilege to do for others what God does for us. How do we
show people that we believe in them?

Do not withhold encouragement from the discouraged. Do not keep affirmation

from the beaten down! Speak words that make people stronger. Believe in them
as God has believed in you.

From A Love Worth Giving © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado

Serve One Another by Max Lucado

Jesus “set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became
human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling
process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient
life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that:
a crucifixion” (Phil. 2:7–8 MSG).

Let’s follow his example. Let’s “put on the apron of humility, to serve one
another” (1 Pet. 5:5 TEV). Jesus entered the world to serve. We can enter our
jobs, our homes, our churches. Servanthood requires no unique skill or seminary
degree. Regardless of your strengths, training, or church tenure, you can …

Love the overlooked. Jesus sits in your classroom, wearing the thick glasses,
outdated clothing, and a sad face. You’ve seen him. He’s Jesus.

Jesus works in your office. Pregnant again, she shows up to work late and tired.
No one knows the father. According to water-cooler rumors, even she doesn’t
know the father. You’ve seen her. She’s Jesus.

When you talk to the lonely student, befriend the weary mom, you love Jesus. He
dresses in the garb of the overlooked and ignored. “Whenever you did one of
these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me”
(Matt. 25:40 MSG).

You can do that. Even if your sweet spot has nothing to do with encouraging
others, the cure for the common life involves loving the overlooked. You can also
…

Wave a white flag. We fight so much. “Where do you think all these appalling
wars and quarrels come from?” asks the brother of Jesus. “Do you think they just
happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and
fight for it deep inside yourselves” (James 4:1 MSG). Serve someone by
swallowing your pride. One more aspect of servanthood…..

Every day do something you don’t want to do. Pick up someone else’s
trash. Surrender your parking place. Call the long-winded relative. Carry the
cooler. Doesn’t have to be a big thing. Helen Keller once told the Tennessee
legislature that when she was young, she had longed to do great things and could
not, so she decided to do small things in a great way. Don’t be too big to do
something small. “Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that
nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort” (1 Cor. 15:58 MSG).

A good action not only brings good fortune, it brings God’s attention. He notices
the actions of servants. He sent his Son to be one.

When you and I crest Mount Zion and hear the applause of saints, we’ll realize
this: hands pushed us up the mountain too. The pierced hands of Jesus Christ,
the greatest servant who ever lived.

From Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot © (Thomas Nelson Publishers,
2005) Max Lucado