Let the Journey Begin

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice.

Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite Him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-ness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

Excerpted from Let the Journey Begin by Max Lucado © Thomas Nelson.

How bold are your prayers?

I have a question for you on this National Day of Prayer! How bold are your prayers? As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic, he was reading in his cabin, and became aware of heavy winds knocking the ship off course. He responded in prayer and a colleague wrote it down:

“Almighty and everlasting God. . .Thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the water floods. . .command those winds and these waves that they obey Thee. Take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.”

On deck his colleague found calm winds and the ship on course. Wesley made no mention of the answered prayer. His friend wrote, “So fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted he was heard.”

How bold are your prayers?

From More to Your Story

Max Lucado

Amazing facts:

From the time the Prophet Micah verbalized God’s rebuke at the way the Jews were treating the poor until the time a poor carpenter and his fiancée arrived in Bethlehem, devout Jews knew that King David’s birthplace was where the Messiah would also be born.

Micah wrote the following about the town of Bethlehem seven hundred years before Jesus was born: “Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting”. And of that Ruler, he prophesied, “He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.… Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”.

http://carlacrosby.blogspot.com/2016/04/micah-27.html

Place your trust in God alone!

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

Christ, in contrast, says to us; your role is to trust. Trust me to do what you can’t. By the way, you take similar steps of trust daily. You believe the chair will support you, so you set your weight on it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip it. You daily trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish.

Jesus invites you to do the same with him. But just him. Not another leader. Not even yourself. Just Christ. Look to Jesus…and believe!

From 3:16

So very true!

Do a simple exercise with me. Measure your life against just these four standards from the Ten Commandments:

You must not steal. Have you ever stolen anything? A paper clip? A parking space? …you, thief.

You must not lie. Those who say they haven’t– just did.

You must not commit adultery. Jesus said, “If you look at a woman with lust, you’ve committed adultery in your heart” (Matthew 5:28).

You must not murder. Before you claim innocence, Jesus said “Anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder” (Matthew 5:22).

Jesus made his position clear: “Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). So where does that leave us? It leaves us drawing hope from 1 Corinthians 15:3. Christ died for our sins—in place of—on behalf of! So, don’t measure yourself by keeping commandments. Measure yourself by the cross.

From: 3:16

Max Lucado

Fun time with Ashley and Shelby at her track meet at FU on Wednesday!

Amen

My hangover was terrible, but I could survive that.

The nausea was palpable, but I knew it would pass.

The discipline was severe, but I deserved it.

What I couldn’t bear was the guilt.

Our family tree is marked by a blight of alcoholism. My dad made it clear: alcohol abuse leads to trouble and that trouble leads to misery. More than once I promised that I would never get drunk.

Then why did I? Why did I, at the age of 16, get so ragingly inebriated that I could not drive? Why did I drive anyway? Why did I drink so much that I went to bed with head a-spinning and stomach a-turning?

When I awoke the next morning I had a pounding head, a disappointed father, and most of all, a guilty conscience. It sat in my gut like a concrete block.

Have you felt it?

Your descent may not have involved alcohol. Yours involved sex, fist fights, theft, lies, drugs or angry outbursts.. Your guilt may be the result, not of a moment in life, but a season of life. You failed as a parent. You blew it in your career. You squandered your youth or your money. Guilt. This guilt is one of the seeds that produce the weed of anxiety.

Surprised? Lists of anxiety-triggers typically include busy schedules, unrealistic demands, or heavy traffic. But we must go deeper. Behind the frantic expressions on the faces of humanity is unresolved regret. In fact, history’s first occasion of anxiety can be attributed to guilt.

“That evening [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees” (Genesis 3:8).

What has happened to the first family? Up until this point there was no indication of fear or trepidation. They didn’t hide from God. Indeed, they had nothing to hide. “Adam and Eve were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25).

But then came the serpent and the forbidden fruit. They said “yes” to temptation and “no” to God. And, in a moment, everything changed. They covered themselves with leaves and hid in the bushes. They did what anxious people do; they engaged in a flurry of cover-ups.

Note the sequence. Guilt came first. Anxiety came in tow. Guilt drove the truck. Anxiety bounced in the flatbed. Adam and Eve didn’t know how to deal with their failure. We pay a high price when we don’t appropriately respond to ours.

Let’s go back to the story of 16-year-old Max, the teenager who wakes up in a pigpen of guilt. Suppose he opts to treat his sin with an Adam and Eve approach. He downplays and/or dismisses the event. Maybe he opts for the road of self-punishment. Then again, he could just get drunk again and escape the guilt, for a time, till he sobers up.

What will happen to Max if he never discovers a healthy treatment for failure?   What kind of person does unresolved guilt create? An anxious one; forever hiding, running, denying, pretending.

Guilt sucks the life out of our souls.

Grace, on the other hand, restores it.

No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than did the Apostle Paul. He was an ancient version of ISIS, taking believers into custody and spilling their blood. (see Acts 8:3). He was a legalist to the core. (see Philippians 3:4-6). He had blood on his hands and religious diplomas on his wall. But then came the Damascus Road moment. Christ found Paul, and Paul found grace. He was never the same. “But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone” (Philippians 3:7).

I can bear witness to the transforming power of this grace. For four years I lived with the concrete block of guilt; not just from that first night of drunkenness, but a hundred more like it. The guilt made a mess of me and I was headed toward a lifetime of misery. But then I heard a preacher do for me what I’m attempting to do for you: describe the divine grace that turns prodigals into preachers. When he asked if anyone would like to receive this grace, iron chains could not have held me back. Truth be told, chains had held me back. But those chains of guilt were snapped and I was set free.

That was forty years ago. In the intervening years, I’ve known anxiety. But I have never had an anxious moment that was due to unresolved guilt. In Christ, I found a forgiveness that is too deep to be plumbed, too high to be summited. Do you know this grace? If not, we may have stumbled upon a major source of your anxiety. You thought the problem was your calendar, your marriage, your job. In reality, it is unresolved guilt.

Release it to him. Tell him what you did and tell him you are sorry. Ask him to replace your guilt with peace, tranquility, and hope.

Don’t drown in the bilge of your own condemnation. God is ready to write a new chapter in your life. Say with Paul: “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14).

© Max Lucado
April, 2016

The tooth fairy strikes again!

they grow way too fast :(

You are part of God's plan

I have a feeling most people who defy and deny God do so more out of fear than conviction. For all our chest pumping and braggadocio, we are anxious folk—we can’t see a step into the future, we can’t hear the one who owns us. No wonder we try to bite the hand that feeds us.

But God reaches and touches. If he’s touching you, let him. Mark it down–God loves you with an unearthly love. You can’t win it by being winsome. You can’t lose it by being a loser. But you can be blind enough to resist it. Don’t. For heaven’s sake, don’t. For your sake, don’t!

Others demote you. God claims you. Let the definitive voice of the universe say, You are part of my plan!

From 3:16

~Max Liucado

~another Max Lucado

This is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life!”

When I read these words, I realize these words are to Scripture what the Mississippi River is to America—an entryway into the heartland. Any serious consideration of Christ must include them! God so loved the world.

We’d expect an anger-fueled God. One who punishes the world, forsakes the world—but loves the world? This world? And He loves us so much that he gave his. . .declarations? Rules? Dicta? Edicts? No! The mind-bending claim of John 3:16 is this: God gave his Son–his only Son. Scripture equates Jesus with God. God then, gave himself. So that whoever believes in him shall not perish!

From: 3:16 The Numbers of Hope

Ezekiel 18:30-32

God is faithful when we are not. God is merciful when we are not.  Restoration requires action on our part. When we humble ourselves before Him and repent of our sins against Him He is gracious to forgive and to restore us to Himself. He wants no man to perish but all to have eternal life with Him in Jesus Christ…His salvation that He provided for man’s redemption. Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, “The Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.” (John.1:14)

The operative word here being among. He donned the costliest of robes, a human body. He took a common name—Jesus—and made it holy. He could have lived over us or away from us. But he didn’t. He lived among us!

And to us all he shared the same message, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. . .I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am” (John. 14:1,3).

Live with an ear for the trumpet and an eye for the clouds. And when he calls your name, be ready. You will look up, and he will reach down and take you home. . . when Christ comes!

From When Christ Comes

Max Lucado

another excerpt from Max Lucado

I once shared a class with a girl who got engaged. I don’t remember much about the class except the hour was early and the teacher was dull. I don’t even remember the girl’s name. I do remember that she didn’t stand out in the crowd. She was shy and not very confident.

One day, however, her hair changed and her outfit changed. Even her voice changed. She spoke with confidence. What made the difference? Simple. A young man she loved looked her squarely in the eye and said, “Come and spend forever with me.” He proposed to her. His love for her convinced her she was worth loving.

God’s love can do the same. It can change us! The Bible says, “God has loved you with an everlasting love; He has drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Jesus can live without us—but He doesn’t want to!

From When Christ Comes

Last night I watched 2 of my grandchildren sing at Our Lady of Perpetual Hope...amazing!

Max Lucado

The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to kill thirty-thousand people! One father refused to believe his son was dead. He dug in the rubble—refusing to quit. After thirty-eight hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice! The father called his son’s name, and the voice answered him, “Dad, it’s me!” Then the boy added these priceless words: “I told the other kids not to worry—if you were alive you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved, too. Because you promised!”

God has made the same promise to us in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23. “Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will become alive again.”

Christ’s resurrection is the keystone in the archway of the Christian faith. His death is real. His resurrection is sure! Trust him.

From When Christ Comes

65...OMGoodness

How the heck did I get this old? Thank you Father for getting me through all the nuances of this crazy thing I call life! Jessie one of my oldest and dearest friends sent me flowers. The Fulton clan took us to the China Buffet for dinner on Friday. Timmy fixed me Lobster and steak on Saturday. The Moloney group fixed us dinner at their home on Sunday!

I had a beautiful birthday weekend with my babies! I love my little family

Just breathe!

John 14:2, “Trust in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms.”

John 14:1-3

Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. . .I will come back and take you to be with me. . .” 

!Max Lucado

Nathaniel Hawthorne came home heartbroken. He’d just been fired from his job in the customhouse. His wife, rather than responding with anxiety, surprised him with joy. “Now you can write your book!” she said. He wasn’t so positive. “And what shall we live on while I’m writing it?” he asked. To his amazement she opened a drawer and revealed a wad of money she’d saved out of her housekeeping budget. “I always knew you were a man of genius,” she told him, and “I always knew you’d write a masterpiece.”

She believed in her husband. And because she did, he wrote. And because he wrote, every library in America has a copy of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” You have the power to change someone’s life simply by the words you speak.

From A Love Worth Giving

Wisdom

DECENCY FOR PRESIDENT

 - February 24, 2016

As the father of three daughters, I reserved the right to interview their dates. Seemed only fair to me. After all, my wife and I’d spent 16 or 17 years feeding them, dressing them, funding braces, and driving them to volleyball tournaments and piano recitals. A five-minute face-to-face with the guy was a fair expectation. I was entrusting the love of my life to him. For the next few hours, she would be dependent upon his ability to drive a car, avoid the bad crowds, and stay sober. I wanted to know if he could do it. I wanted to know if he was decent.

This was my word: “decent.” Did he behave in a decent manner? Would he treat my daughter with kindness and respect? Could he be trusted to bring her home on time? In his language, actions, and decisions, would he be a decent guy?

Decency mattered to me as a dad.

Decency matters to you. We take note of the person who pays their debts. We appreciate the physician who takes time to listen. When the husband honors his wedding vows, when the teacher makes time for the struggling student, when the employee refuses to gossip about her co-worker, when the losing team congratulates the winning team, we can characterize their behavior with the word decent.

We appreciate decency. We applaud decency. We teach decency. We seek to develop decency. Decency matters, right?

Then why isn’t decency doing better in the presidential race?

The leading candidate to be the next leader of the free world would not pass my decency interview. I’d send him away. I’d tell my daughter to stay home. I wouldn’t entrust her to his care.

I don’t know Mr. Trump. But I’ve been chagrined at his antics. He ridiculed a war hero. He made mockery of a reporter’s menstrual cycle. He made fun of a disabled reporter. He referred to the former first lady, Barbara Bush as “mommy,” and belittled Jeb Bush for bringing her on the campaign trail. He routinely calls people “stupid,” “loser,” and “dummy.” These were not off-line, backstage, overheard, not-to-be-repeated comments. They were publicly and intentionally tweeted, recorded, and presented.

Such insensitivities wouldn’t even be acceptable even for a middle school student body election. But for the Oval Office? And to do so while brandishing a Bible and boasting of his Christian faith? I’m bewildered, both by his behavior and the public’s support of it.

The stock explanation for his success is this: he has tapped into the anger of the American people. As one man said, “We are voting with our middle finger.” Sounds more like a comment for a gang-fight than a presidential election. Anger-fueled reactions have caused trouble ever since Cain was angry at Abel.

We can only hope, and pray, for a return to decency. Perhaps Mr. Trump will better manage his antics. (Worthy of a prayer, for sure.) Or, perhaps the American public will remember the key role of the president is to be the face of America. When he/she speaks, he/she speaks for us. Whether we agree or disagree with the policies of the president, do we not hope that they behave in a way that is consistent with the status of the office?

As far as I remember, I never turned away one of my daughter’s dates. They weren’t perfect, but they were decent fellows. That was all I could ask.

It seems that we should ask the same.

© Max Lucado
February 21, 2016

Can I get an Amen?

Everyone is looking for joy. Marketing companies know this. Every commercial promises the same product: joy. Want some joy? Buy our hand cream. Want some joy? Sleep on this mattress. Want some joy? Eat at this restaurant, drive this car, wear this dress. Every commercial portrays the image of a joy-filled person. Even Preparation H. Before using the product, the guy frowns and squirms in his chair. Afterwards, he is the image of joy.

Joy. Everyone wants it. Everyone promises it. But can anyone deliver it? It might surprise you to know that joy is a big topic in the Bible. Simply put: God wants his children to be joy-filled. Just like a father wants his baby to laugh with glee, God longs for us to experience a deep-seated, deeply rooted joy.

The joy offered by God joy is different than the one promised at the car dealership or shopping mall. God is not interested in putting a temporary smile on your face. He wants to deposit a resilient hope in your heart. He has no interest in giving you a shallow happiness that melts in the heat of adversity. But he does offer you a joy: a deep-seated, heart-felt, honest-to-goodness, ballistic strong sense of joy that can weather the most difficult of storms.

Peter referred to this joy in the opening words of his epistle.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (I Peter 1:8-9 ).

Who was Peter addressing when he spoke of unspeakable joy? He was speaking “To God’s chosen people who are away from their homes and are scattered all around the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Pet. 1:1).   Peter was speaking to persecuted Christians–people who had been driven from their cities, separated from their families. Their rights had been taken. Their property had been taken. Their possessions had been taken. Their futures had been taken, but their joy had not been taken. Why? Go back to Peter’s Epistle again- this time in another translation: “You have never seen Jesus and you don’t see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him” (I Pet. 1:8). The source of their joy? Jesus! And since no one could take their Jesus, no one could take their joy.

What about you? What has been taken from you? Your health? Your house? Have you buried a dream? Have you buried a marriage? Buried a friend? As you look at these burial plots of life, is your joy buried there, too?

If so, you may have substituted courageous joy for contingent joy. Contingent joy is always dependent upon a circumstance. Contingent joy says I’ll be happen when…or…I’ll be happy if. I’ll be happy when I have a new house or a new spouse. I’ll be happy when I’m healed or when I’m home. Contingent joy depends upon the right circumstance. Since we cannot control every circumstance, we set ourselves up for disappointment.

Envision the person who buys into the lie of contingent joy. As a young person they assume, if I get a car, I’ll be happy. They get the car, but the car wears out. They look for joy elsewhere. If I get married, I’ll be happy. So they get married, then disappointed. The spouse cannot deliver. This goes on through a series of attempts. If I get the new job… if I can retire… If we just had a baby. In each case, joy comes, then diminishes.

By the time this person reaches old age, he has ridden a roller coaster of hope and disappointment. He becomes sour and fearful. Contingent joy turns us into wounded people.

Courageous joy, however, turns us into strong people. Courageous joy sets the hope of the heart on Jesus and Jesus alone. Since no one can take your Christ, no one can take your joy.

Think about it. Can death take your joy? No, because Jesus is greater than death.

Can failure take your joy? No, because Jesus is greater than your sin.

Can betrayal take your joy? No, because Jesus will never leave you.

Can sickness take your joy? No, because God has promised– whether on this side of the grave or the other–to heal you.

Can disappointment take your joy? No, because though your plan may not work out, you know God’s plan will.

Death, failure, betrayal, sickness, disappointment. They cannot take your joy, because they cannot take your Jesus. And Jesus promised, “No one will take away your joy” (Jn. 16:22).

Is that to say your life will be storm-free? Is that to say no sorrows will come your way? No. “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). Is that to say you will never cross the drylands of sorrow? No. But that is to say your sorrow will not last forever; “Your grief will turn to joy” (Jn. 16:20).

Years ago I lived on a houseboat that was docked on the Miami River. The level of the river would rise and fall with the tide. The boat rocked back and forth with the river traffic. But though the level changed and the boat rocked, we never drifted. Why? Because we were anchored to a concrete sea wall.

Courageously joyful people have done the same. They have anchored their hearts to the shoreline of God. Will the boat rock? Yes. Will moods come and go? No doubt. But will they be left adrift on the Atlantic of despair? No, for they have found a joy which remains courageous through the storm. And this courageous joy is quick to become a contagious joy.

Christians of the New Testament church were not known for their buildings or denominations or programs. They were known for their joy. “They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts. They praised God and were liked by all people” (Acts 2:46-47).

The early Christians were joyful Christians. In fact you might argue that there is no other type. In the purest sense, the phrase joyful Christian is redundant. We shouldn’t need the adjective. We don’t put the word dead in front of cadaver or wet in front of water or handsome in front of Max. (Just kidding.) Ideally, we shouldn’t have to put joyful in front of Christian.

But we do. We do because we tend to major in contingent joy and not courageous joy. But God can change that.

Assess your joy level: Are you joyless? Do you spread more pessimism than you do hope? If so, God can help you. Grimness is not a Christian virtue.

Believe that joy is possible!

Don’t give in to despair. What Jesus said to his followers, he says to you. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Be open to the possibility of a joy from heaven. Joy may be elusive, but it is never gone. Sometimes it just takes some work.

My friend Jerry has taught me the value of gratitude. He is 78 years old and regularly shoots his age on the golf course. (If I ever do the same, I’ll need to live to be a 100). His dear wife Ginger battles Parkinson’s disease. What should have been a wonderful season of retirement has been marred by multiple hospital stays, medication, and struggle. There are many days that she cannot keep her balance. Jerry has to be at her side. Yet Jerry never complains. He always has a smile and a joke. And he relentlessly beats me in golf. I asked Jerry his secret. He said, “Every morning Ginger and I sit together and sing a hymn. I ask her what she wants to sing. She always says, ‘Count Your Many Blessings.’ So we sing. And when we get to the line that says ‘name them one by one’, we do just that: we stop singing and start naming our many blessings, one by one. And when we are through, recognizing the truth of those many, many blessings does much more to relieve her pain and my anxiety than any of her meds could do.”

Anxiety thrives in the petri dish of if only. It doesn’t survive in the world of already. For that reason, treat each anxious thought with a grateful one.

Take a moment and follow Jerry’s example. Look at your blessings.

Do you see any friends? Family? Do you see any grace from God? Love of God? Do you see any gifts? Abilities or talents? Skills?

As you look at your blessings, take note of what happens. Sorrow grabs his bags and slips out the back door. Unhappiness refuses to share a heart with gratitude. One heartfelt thank you will suck the oxygen out of its world. So say it often.

Who is to say God won’t give the same to you? Why don’t you call out to him?

Ask God, “Lord, what is separating me from joy?”

Ask him to replace your contingent joy with courageous joy. Ask him to help you anchor to the firm rock on his shoreline. Ask him to show you the joy that cannot be taken. He will. He will stir a revival of contagious joy in your heart.

©Max Lucado
February, 2016

His hands, His feet

There are as many opinions and attitudes as there are people in this world. We cannot control how others view us but we can manage how we others in our diversities!

We are the Body of Christ and we need to act accordingly!

know yourself....

True humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but thinking accurately of yourself. When Paul writes in Philippians 2:3 “Consider others better than yourselves,” he uses a verb that means to calculate. The word implies a conscious judgment resting on carefully weighed facts. To consider others better than yourself, then, is to say that you know your place.  True humility is quick to applaud the success of others.

~Max Lucado

Max Lucado

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love does not envy!” A number of years ago I learned of a new church across town. A friend came to me with this report: The church is great. It’s bursting at the seams—the largest one in town. A more spiritual Max would have rejoiced. A more mature Max would have thanked God. But the Max who heard the report did not act mature or spiritual. He acted jealous. Rather than celebrate God’s work, I was obsessed with my own. I wanted our church to be the biggest. Sickening!

In a profound moment of conviction, God let me know that the church is his church, not mine. The work is his work, not mine. And my life is his life, not mine. My job was not to question him, but to trust him. The cure for jealousy? Trust!

From A Love Worth Giving

Luke 6:35 says, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”

Impossible on our own? 

Yes... until  you fully comprehend the sacrifice that God made to forgive your sins.

Thank you Jesus!

faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is LOVE

1 John 4:19 it says, “We love, because he first loved us.” 

Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

I am so thankful for the love of God which enables me to love those closest to me and those the farthest away...because He loves all of His creation and I love Him.

Max Lucado

Suppose you were to stand on a stage while a film of every secret and selfish moment of your life was projected on the screen behind you? Would you not scream for the heavens to have mercy? And would you not feel just a fraction of what Christ felt on the cross? The icy displeasure of a sin-hating God?

The Bible says Christ carried all our sins in his body. See Christ on the cross? That’s a gossiper hanging there. See Jesus? Embezzler….liar…bigot. Hold it, Max! Don’t you lump Christ with those evildoers. I didn’t. HE did. More than place his name in the same sentence, he placed himself in their place. And yours! With hands nailed open, he invited God, Treat me as you would them.  And God did. “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Matthew 27:46). Why did Christ scream those words? It’s simple–so you will never have to!

we miss you Jamey!

you are always in my thoughts....the loss never lessens we just learn to live with it. I love you my sonny one...I love you!

From the inside out!

I always read Max excerpts after I do my Bible Study in the morning. I gauge my accuracy many times on confirmation of his teaching that day, Today I hit the mark...yeah! God is faithful to let me know I am on the right track :)

From Next Door Savior
~Max Lucado

My dog Molly couldn’t be a sweeter mutt. 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. What kind of behavior is that? It’s dog behavior!

Here’s my idea: a me-to-her transfusion. I want to deposit in her a kernel of human character. As it grows, will she not change? You think the plan is crazy? What I’d like to do with Molly, God does with us. He changes our nature from the inside out. God doesn’t send us to obedience school to learn new habits; he deposits a new heart–his heart–within us. Forget training; he gives transplants!

中国新声代 李成宇 谭芷昀 《You Raise Me Up》

Live with the confidence that comes in the power of Jesus!

Satan can disturb us, but he cannot defeat us. The head of the serpent is crushed!

A petroleum company was hiring strong backs and weak minds to lay a pipeline. Since I qualified, much of a high-school summer was spent shoveling in a shoulder-high West Texas trough. One afternoon the digging machine dislodged more than dirt! “Snake!” shouted the foreman. We popped out of that hole faster than a jack-in-the-box. One worker launched his shovel and beheaded the rattler.

That scene is a parable of where we are in life. In Revelation 20:2 John calls Satan, “that old snake who is the devil.” Has he not been decapitated? Not with a shovel, but with a cross. So how does that leave us? Confident—in Jesus’ power over Satan! Trust the work of your Savior!

From Next Door Savior

~Max Lucado