thoughts by Max Lucado Archives - Page 31 of 42

Published July 12, 2013

The World Needs Servants

by Max Lucado

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (NKJV)

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

Jesus came to serve. He selected prayer over sleep, the wilderness over the Jordan, irascible apostles over obedient angels. I’d have gone with the angels. Given the choice, I would have built my apostle team out of cherubim and seraphim or Gabriel and Michael, eyewitnesses of the Red Sea rescues and Mount Carmel falling fires. I’d choose the angels.

Not Jesus. He picked the people. Peter, Andrew, John, and Matthew. When they feared the storm, he stilled it. When they had no coin for taxes, he supplied it. And when they had no wine for the wedding or food for the multitude, he made both.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/07/12/ml_the-world-needs-servants/

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Max Lucado
From: Cure for the Common Life
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2005)

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://maxlucado.com/about/

Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published April 13, 2013

Just Like Jesus

by Max Lucado

When they were young, my daughters loved playing “dress-up.” They’d put on their mom’s shoes, fill up a grown-up purse with crayons and pretend grown-up scenarios. For the moment, they wanted to be just like mom.

Don’t we do the same? We look at ourselves, with our immaturity, our sinfulness, and we want to clothe ourselves in something better. We want to be just like Jesus. This seems like an impossible goal until we accept one simple truth: God will help us. He loves us. Not only does God love each of us exactly as we are, but he wants us, little by little, to become like him. Why? Because he wants us to have a heart like his.

Need to hear that message a few more times? Don’t we all? God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way! He wants you to be just like Jesus!

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
(Ezekiel 36:26).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/04/13/ml_just-like-jesus/

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Max Lucado
From: Just Like Jesus

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published February 22, 2013

Footprints of Discipleship

by Max Lucado

“All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” John 13:35 (NCV)

Watch a small boy follow his dad through the snow. He stretches to step where his dad stepped. Not an easy task. His small legs extend as far as they can so his feet can fall in his father’s prints.

The father, seeing what the son is doing, smiles and begins taking shorter steps, so the son can follow. It’s a picture of discipleship.

In our faith we follow in someone’s steps. A parent, a teacher, a hero–none of us are the first to walk the trail. All of us have someone we follow.

In our faith we leave footprints to guide others. A child, a friend, a recent convert. None should be left to walk the trail alone.

It’s the principle of discipleship.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/02/22/ml_footprints-of-discipleship/

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Max Lucado
From: The Inspirational Study Bible
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1995)

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published February 17, 2013

All Things New

by Max Lucado

Can an acorn become a rose? Can a whale fly like a bird? Can lead become gold? I don’t think so!

My dad’s a doctor. My grandfather’s a doctor and everyone expects ME to be a doctor—but I want to study music! God—what am I missing?

You can’t be anything you want to be. But you can be everything God wants you to be. If God didn’t pack within you the people skills of a salesperson, or the world vision of an ambassador, can you be one? An unhappy, dissatisfied one—maybe! God doesn’t pre-fab or mass-produce people.

Revelation 21:5 says, “God makes all things new!” He didn’t hand you your granddad’s bag or your aunt’s life; he personally and deliberately packed you! Live out of the bag God gave you. Enjoy making music!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/02/17/ml_all-things-new/

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Max Lucado
From: Max on Life

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published February 11, 2013

The Forgiveness of Christ

by Max Lucado

The dilemma was: “I know the Bible says I’m forgiven. But my conscience says I’m not!”

If this question hits home… If you haven’t accepted God’s forgiveness, you’re doomed to live in fear. And no pill or pep talk can set you at ease. Am I right? You may deaden the fear, but you can’t remove it. Only God’s grace can do that!

Have you accepted the forgiveness of Christ? If not, do it! The Bible says “if we confess our sins, God is faithful–not just to forgive us, but He cleanses us from all unrighteousness! 1 John 1:9?

Make it your simple prayer: Dear Father, I need forgiveness. I admit I’ve turned away from you. Forgive me, please. I place my soul in Your hands and I trust in your grace. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now! Live forgiven!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/02/11/ml_the-forgiveness-of-christ/

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Max Lucado
From: Max on Life

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published February 7, 2013

Suffering with Dignity

by Max Lucado

This question has been asked of me: “It breaks my heart to see patients who pray every day for miracles, and still they suffer. What do I tell them?”

The last years of my dad’s life were scarred by A.L.S., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It took him from a healthy mechanic to a bed-ridden paralytic. He lost his voice and his muscles. But he never lost his faith. It wasn’t so much what he said, but more what he didn’t say. Never outwardly angry or bitter, Jack Lucado suffered with dignity.

After my dad’s funeral, a man told me it was because of my dad’s example that he became a Jesus follower. I’ve wondered, did God orchestrate my father’s illness for that very reason? Knowing the value God places on one soul—I wouldn’t be surprised. And imaging the splendor of heaven, I know my dad is not complaining!

“Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/02/07/ml_suffering-with-dignity/

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Max Lucado
From: Max on Life

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://maxlucado.com/about/

Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published January 11, 2013

A Father’s Pride

by Max Lucado

“God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.” 2 Peter 3:9 (NCV)

[To those who embrace Christ as Savior,] he has promised a new birth.

Does that mean the old nature will never rear its ugly head? Does that mean you will instantly be able to resist any temptation?

To answer that question, compare your new birth in Christ to a newborn baby. Can a newborn walk? Can he feed himself? Can he sing or read or speak? No, not yet. But someday he will.

It takes time to grow. But is the parent in the delivery room ashamed of the baby? Is the mom embarrassed that the infant can’t spell…that the baby can’t walk…that the newborn can’t give a speech?

Of course not. The parents aren’t ashamed; they are proud. They know that growth will come with time. So does God.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2013/01/11/ml_a-fathers-pride/

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Max Lucado
From: A Gentle Thunder
Used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published December 23, 2012

The Arrival

by Max Lucado

God had entered the world as a baby.

Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor; perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him -so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.

Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can’t remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn’t figured it all out. The mystery of the event puzzles him. But he hasn’t the energy to wrestle with the questions. What’s important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes he remembers the name the angel told him to use – Jesus. “We will call him Jesus.”

Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph’s saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33)

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.

She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!

This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.

Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.

Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking.

Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/12/23/ml_the-arrival/

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Max Lucado
From: God Came Near

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published November 25, 2012

Three Questions

by Max Lucado

I’ve got three questions for you today!
The next time you’re mired in a bad day, check your outlook with these three questions:

1) What do I feel guilty about?

2) What am I worried about?

3) What am I about?

Reflect on your answers with these reminders!

Yesterday – forgiven.

Tomorrow – surrendered.

Today — clarified.

Here’s my proposal. Consult Jesus! The Ancient of Days has something to say about our days. In Colossians 3:2, the Apostle Paul says, “Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground. Look up, and be alert to what’s going on around Christ–that’s where the action is.” In Matthew 11:30, Jesus says, “The load I give you to carry is light.”

Jesus’ design for a good day makes sense! His grace erases guilt. His oversight removes fear. His direction removes confusion.

Saturate your day in His grace. Entrust your day to His oversight. Give the day a chance!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/11/25/ml_three-questions/

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Max Lucado
From: Great Day Every Day

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published October 29, 2012

Heavens “Whoever” Policy

by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in Him shall not perish . . .” (John 3:16)

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” (Mathew. 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.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/10/29/ml_heavens-whoever-policy/

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

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published October 12, 2012

God Sees Value

by Max Lucado

Alicia only weighs 22 pounds and is much shorter than children her age. She suffers from progeria—a genetic aging disease that strikes one child in 8-million. She’s bald. Her hearing is bad. Her stamina is that of an old person. And she’s only ten.

Mostly, she’s patient with the constant curiosity. But at times it gets to be too much for her mother and she lashes out. Who could blame her? Such is the nature of parental love—a love regardless of imperfections. Not because the parent is blind. Just the opposite. They see vividly. She sees Alicia’s inability as clearly as anyone. But she also sees Alicia’s value.

So does God! God sees us with the eyes of a Father. He sees our defects, errors, and blemishes. But He also sees our value. Each human being is a treasure. A source of joy!

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” Mark 6:34

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/10/12/ml_god-sees-value/

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Max Lucado
From: In the Eye of the Storm

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published September 1, 2012

Focus on God’s Majesty

by Max Lucado

“You have not seen Christ, but still you love Him. You cannot see Him now, but you believe in Him.” 1 Peter 1:8

Some years ago a sociologist accompanied a group of mountain climbers on an expedition. Among other things, he observed a distinct correlation between cloud cover and contentment. When there was no cloud cover and the peak was in view, the climbers were energetic and cooperative. When the gray clouds eclipsed the view of the mountaintop though, the climbers were sullen and selfish.

The same thing happens to us. As long as our eyes are on God’s majesty there is a bounce in our step. But let our eyes focus on the dirt beneath us and we will grumble about every rock and crevice we have to cross. For this reason Paul urged, “Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth”.
(Colossians 3:1-2)

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/09/01/ml_focus-on-gods-majesty/

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Max Lucado
From: The Great House of God

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
http://maxlucado.com/about/
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published August 13, 2012

The Soul Killer

by Max Lucado

“The payment of sin is death.” Romans 6:23 (NCV)

Sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive, still colorful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do, the flower will never live again. Surround it with water. Stick the stem in soil. Baptize it with fertilizer. Glue the flower back on the stem. Do what you wish. The flower is dead….

A dead soul has no life.

Cut off from God, the soul withers and dies. The consequence of sin is not a bad day or a bad mood but a dead soul. The sign of a dead soul is clear: poisoned lips and cursing mouths, feet that lead to violence and eyes that don’t see God…

The finished work of sin is to kill the soul…..

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/08/13/ml_the-soul-killer/

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Max Lucado
From: the Grip of Grace
Used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published July 11, 2012

A Friend in High Places

by Max Lucado

“God has put all things under the authority of Christ.”
(Ephesians 1:22)

Christ is running the show. Right now. A leaf just fell from a tree in the Alps. Christ caused it to do so. A newborn baby in India inhaled for the first time. Jesus measured the breath. The migration of the belugas through the oceans? Christ dictates their itinerary. He is –

“the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:15-16)

What a phenomenal list! Heavens and earth. Visible and invisible. Thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities. No thing, place, or person omitted. The scale on the sea urchin. The hair on the elephant hide. The hurricane that wrecks the coast, the rain that nourishes the desert, the infant’s first heartbeat, the elderly person’s final breath -all can be traced back to the hand of Christ, the firstborn of creation.

Firstborn in Paul’s vernacular has nothing to do with birth order. Firstborn refers to order of rank. As one translation states: “He ranks higher than everything that has been made.” (v.15) Everything? Find an exception. Peter’s mother-in-law has a fever; Jesus rebukes it. A tax needs to be paid; Jesus pays it by sending first a coin and then a fisherman’s hook into the mouth of a fish. When five thousand stomachs growl, Jesus renders a boy’s basket a bottomless buffet. Jesus exudes authority. He bats an eyelash, and nature jumps. No one argues when, at the end of his earthly life, the God-man declares, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18).

The Christ of the galaxies is the Christ of your Mondays. The Star maker manages your travel schedule. Relax. You have a friend in high places. Does the child of Arnold Schwarzenegger worry about tight pickle-jar lids? Does the son of Nike founder Phil Knight sweat a broken shoestring? If the daughter of Bill Gates can’t turn on her computer, does she panic?

No. Nor should you.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/07/11/ml_a-friend-in-high-places/

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Max Lucado
From: Next Door Savior
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2003)

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

Published June 23, 2012

The Shadow of a Doubt

by Max Lucado

Sunday mornings. I awake early, long before the family stirs, the sunrise flickers, or the paper plops on the driveway. Let the rest of the world sleep in. I don’t. Sunday’s my big day, the day I stand before a congregation of people who are willing to swap thirty minutes of their time for some conviction and hope.

Most weeks I have ample to go around. But occasionally I don’t. (Does it bother you to know this?) Sometimes in the dawn-tinted, pre-pulpit hours, the seeming absurdity of what I believe hits me. The fear that God isn’t. The fear that “why?” has no answer. The valley of the shadow of doubt.

To one degree or another we all venture into the valley. In the final pages of Luke’s gospel, the physician-turned-historian dedicated his last chapter to answering one question:
how does Christ respond when we doubt him?

For both the dejected Emmaus bound disciples (Luke 24:13-35) and the frightened upper room disciples (Luke 24:36-49): A meal is served, the Bible is taught, the disciples find courage, and we find two practical answers to the critical question, what would Christ have us do with our doubts?

His answer? Touch my body and ponder my story. We still can, you know. We can still touch the body of Christ. We’d love to touch his physical wounds and feel the flesh of the Nazarene. Yet when we brush up against the church, we do just that. “The church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself ” (Ephesians 1:23 NLT).

Christ distributes courage through community; he dissipates doubts through fellowship. He never deposits all knowledge in one person but distributes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to many. When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries . . . When we mix, mingle, confess, and pray, Christ speaks.

The adhesiveness of the disciples instructs us. They stuck together. Even with ransacked hopes, they clustered in conversant community. They kept “going over all these things that had happened” (Luke 24:14 MSG). Isn’t this a picture of the church—sharing notes, exchanging ideas, mulling over possibilities, lifting spirits? And as they did, Jesus showed up to teach them, proving “when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there” (Matthew 18:20 MSG).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2012/06/23/ml_shadow-of-a-doubt/

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Max Lucado
From: Fearless (now in paperback)
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2009) Max Lucado

Used by permission
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Max Lucado Thoughts by Men

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