Nature is God's workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done.
Max LucadoThe step between prudence and paranoia is short and steep. Prudence wears a seat belt. Paranoia avoids cars. Prudence washes with soap. Paranoia avoids human contact. Prudence saves for old age. Paranoia hoards even trash. Prudence prepares and plans, paranoia panics. Prudence calculates the risk and takes the plunge. Paranoia never enters the water.
Max LucadoThe Scripture says, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" [Psalm 118:24].Glory days are days that can happen right now. The key is understanding some basic principles that don't just apply to any one season of life but transcend all seasons of life - not allowing our circumstances to define our outlook on life, but allowing what God's Word says about life to define that outlook.
Max LucadoHe saw you in your own Gethsemane and He didn't want you to be alone..He would rather go to hell for you than to haven without you.
Max LucadoIt's my hope that as you dip your toe into the Bible's story and viewpoint, you'll find yourself feeling that the Good Book knows more about the world - and about you - than any normal book does.
Max LucadoThough we may not be able to see His purpose or His plan, the Lord of heaven is on His throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives.
Max LucadoPrayer lets God do what he does best. Take a pebble & kill a Goliath. Take the common, make it spectacular! Pray & see what He can do.
Max LucadoWho are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you." Eli to Punchinello (p. 25)
Max LucadoIf Jesus heals instantly, praise Him. If Jesus heals gradually, trust Him. When Jesus heals ultimately, you will understand.
Max LucadoJesus is not "out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help" (Heb. 4:15 - 16 MSG).
Max LucadoThere is a canyon of difference between doing your best to glorify God and doing whatever it takes to glorify yourself. The quest for excellence is a mark of maturity. The quest for power is childish.
Max LucadoForgiveness is not saying that the one who hurt you was right. Forgiveness is stating that God is faithful and he will do what is right.
Max LucadoI believe ingratitude is the original sin. I believe if Adam and Eve had been grateful for the garden of Eden they had, they would not have been so focused on the one tree they didn't have.
Max LucadoOur belief in God is not blind faith. Belief is having a firm conviction something is true, not hoping it's true.
Max LucadoReligion is intended to facilitate hope and faith. Much like a path is intended to facilitate a journey.
Max LucadoFaithful servants have a way of knowing answered prayer when they see it, and a way of not giving up when they don't.
Max LucadoOne of the greatest gifts we can give people is the hope that their death is nothing to fear - you know, not that it has no fear in it, but the promise of scripture is that God will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.
Max LucadoGod will use your mess for good. We see a perfect mess; God sees a perfect chance to train, test , and teach.
Max LucadoI don't get asked a lot of questions about science and the Bible, for example. Probably people just know I'm not very smart and I don't have an answer to those anyway.
Max LucadoI have learned that my assignment is to write books for people who do not like to read books. I really try to connect with people who are not given to spending a lot of time with an open book. Pay day to me is when somebody comes up to me and says, "I never read books but I read yours." I have a heart for that person.
Max LucadoHumility has such power. Apologies can disarm arguments. Contrition can defuse rage. Olive branches do more good than battle axes ever will.
Max LucadoI choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness, I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
Max LucadoGod offers authentic LOVE. His devotion is the real deal. But He won't give you the genuine until you surrender the imitations.
Max LucadoIt's one thing for me to tell people not to worry. It's another thing entirely to quote Matthew 6, where Jesus says, "Why do you worry? The birds of the air, the flowers of the field..." He says, "I tell you, do not worry."
Max LucadoBut it is in storms that God does his finest work, for it is in storms that God has our keenest attention
Max LucadoI don't get asked a lot of questions about who is the best political candidate or what my position is on what the Senate is about to do.
Max LucadoBethlehem was just the beginning. I call Jesus Christ's next appearance, Bethlehem, Act 2. No silent night this time, however. The skies will open, trumpets will blast, and a new kingdom will begin.
Max LucadoIf the purpose of life is just to live this life and then die, it's hard to answer the purpose of pain question; but if we can help people see from an eternal perspective - that all of this is working together to prepare us for something higher than we've ever imagined, more noble than we've ever dreamed - then we discover some hope that we can hold on to.
Max LucadoGod knows what it's like to be a human. When I talk to him about deadlines or long lines or tough times, he understands. He's been there. He's been here.
Max LucadoWe have a place where we can take people when they come to us with questions so we're not just speaking out of our own opinion. We're really speaking to them out of an authoritative place, not because of what we discovered, but because of what God says.
Max LucadoAre you on the eve of change? Embrace it. Accept it. Don't resist it. Change is not only a part of life, change is a necessary part of God's strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments.
Max LucadoThe same hand that stilled the seas stills your guilt. The same hand that cleansed the Temple cleanses your heart. The hand is the hand of God. The nail is the nail of God. And as the hands of Jesus opened for the nail, the doors of heaven opened for you.
Max LucadoOf all the things you must earn in life, God's unending affection is not one of them. You have it.
Max LucadoThe purpose of the Bible? Salvation. God's highest passion is to get His children home. His book, the Bible, describes His plan of salvation. The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim god's plan and passion to save His children.
Max LucadoThe state of your heart dictates whether you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste God's mercy.
Max LucadoThe idea of a spiritual heart transplant is a vivid image to me; once you have the heart of somebody else inside you, then that heart is there. Jesus' heart is inside me, and my heart is gone. So if God were to place a stethoscope against my chest, he would hear the heart of Jesus Christ beating.
Max Lucado