Background Image

...

For Years I Thought My Assignment Or The Church's Assignment Was To Articulate The Gospel And Nothing More. Now I Believe That If We Don't Support The Verbal Expression Of The Gospel With Physical Demonstration Of Compassion, We Are Not Imitating Jesus.

-Max Lucado

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

For Years I Thought

Max Lucado

...

For Years I Thought My Assignment Or The Church's Assignment Was To Articulate The Gospel And Nothing More. Now I Believe That If We Don't Support The Verbal Expression Of The Gospel With Physical Demonstration Of Compassion, We Are Not Imitating Jesus.

Views: 8

Topic

More From Max Lucado

The Peace Of God, Which Surpasses All Understanding, Will Guard Your Hearts And Minds Through Christ Jesus . As We Do Our Part Rejoice In The Lord, Pursue A Gentle Spirit, Pray About Everything, And Cling To Gratitude, God Does His Part. He Bestows Upon Us The Peace Of God. Note, This Is Not A Peace From God. Our Father Gives Us The Very Peace Of God. He Downloads The Tranquility Of The Throne Room Into Our World, Resulting In An Inexplicable Calm. We Should Be Worried, But We Aren't. We Should Be Upset, But We're Comforted.

For Seven Years Ancient Israel Could Not Be Stopped In The Joshua Book. I Have Found This To Be A Great Imagery And Analogy For The Christian Life. As Christians, We Have The Same Images. We've Come Out Of Egypt (been Saved) We've Crossed Over, And Jesus Christ Is Our Moses And Our Joshua.

I Don't Think God Is A Gender. He Presents Himself As A Father But He Comes To Us With The Tenderness Of A Mother. In Some Of The Parables, He Is The Housewife Who Cleans The House Looking For The Lost Coin. So I Think We Can Miss The Point If We Get Too Concerned About The Gender Of God.

If God Is Enough For You, Then You'll Always Have Enough, Because You'll Always Have God.

There Is No Way Our Little Minds Can Comprehend The Love Of God. But That Didn't Keep Him From Coming.

Meet Your Fears With Faith.

Every Faith Has Its Story; Every Faith Has Its Roots.

If Today Were Your Last, Would You Do What You're Doing? Or Would You Love More, Give More, Forgive More? Then Do So! Forgive And Give As If It Were Your Last Opportunity. Love Like There's No Tomorrow, And If Tomorrow Comes, Love Again.

I Think That I Speak A Lot Like I Write.

Are 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.

In Order To Find Jesus, Every One Of Us Needs Direction. God Gives It. The Story Of The Wise Men Shows Us How. The Star Sign Was Enough To Lead The Magi To Jerusalem. But It Took Scripture To Lead Them To Jesus.

Live In Such A Way That The World Will Be Glad You Did.

The Life Of Jesus Christ Is A Message Of Hope, A Message Of Mercy, A Message Of Life In A Dark World.

The Great Promise Of Scripture Is That Every Day Is A Day That's Worth Rejoicing In.

To Live As God's Child Is To Know That You Are Loved By Your Maker Not Because You Try To Please Him And Succeed, Or Fail To Please Him And Apologize, But Because He Wants To Be Your Father. Nothing More.

The Wizard [of Oz] Says Look Inside Yourself And Find Self. God Says Look Inside Yourself And Find [the Holy Spirit]. The First Will Get You To Kansas. The Latter Will Get You To Heaven. Take Your Pick.

God Has No Cousins, Only Children.

Faith Is Not The Belief That God Will Do What You Want. It Is The Belief That God Will Do What Is Right.

If We Think That This Life Is All There Is To Life, Then There Is No Interpretation Of Our Problems, Our Pain, Not Even Of Our Privileges. But Everything Changes When We Open Up To The Possibility That God's Story Is Really Our Story Too.

I Think There Is, Not In The Sense That I Enjoy It, But That It's An Important Question. It's The Question, "does The Presence Of Pain Mean God Doesn't Care? Does God Not Love Me Anymore?" I Think That's A Very Common Connection We Tend To Make.

There Is Nothing On Earth That Can Satisfy Our Deepest Longing. We Long To See God. The Leaves Of Life Are Rustling With The Rumor That We Will - And We Won't Be Satisfied Until We Do.

I Just Love Preaching.

If You Have A Pulse, You're Going To Have Pain.

Just When The Truth About Life Sinks In, His Truth Starts To Surface. He Takes Us By The Hand And Dares Us Not To Sweep The Facts Under The Rug But To Confront Them With Him At Our Side.

We're Important, But Not Essential; Valuable, But Not Indispensable. We Have A Part In The Play, But We Are Not The Main Act. A Song To Sing, But We Are Not The Featured Voice. God Is.

It's Always Better To Step Down From The Pedestal Than To Be Pulled Off Of It.

History Is Not An Endless Succession Of Meaningless Circles But A Directed Movement Toward A Great Event.

My Conversations With Trump Supporters Have Left Me With More Questions Than Answers.

Let Your Failures Refine You, Not Define You.

First, God Does Not Send People To Hell. He Simply Honors Their Choice. Hell Is The Ultimate Expression Of God's High Regard For The Dignity Of Man. He Has Never Forced Us To Choose Him, Even When That Means We Would Choose Hell.

It Seems To Me That The Prayers Of The Bible Can Be Distilled Into One. The Result Is A Simple, Easy-to-remember, Pocket-sized Prayer: Father, You Are Good. I Need Help. They Need Help. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Let This Prayer Punctuate Your Day.

Praise Is The Highest Occupation Of Any Being

Worry Is Anti-trust. If You're Worried, You Don't Trust Something: Your Kids, Their Friends, Strangers, The Church, Even God. Can He Take Care Of Your Children? Certainly. Jesus Says, 'i Tell You, Stop Being Anxious And Worried About Your Life.' Pretty Blunt. Stop It! Easier Said Than Done, Huh? Worry Tests Your Trust, So Hand Your Children To God And Let Him Babysit Your Babies When You're Not Around. He's Pretty Good At It!

Remember, You Are Special Because I Made You. And I Don't Make Mistakes.

Greed Is Not Defined By What Something Costs; It Is Measured By What It Costs You. If Anything Costs You Your Faith Or Your Family, The Price Is Too High. Such Is The Point Jesus Makes In The Parable Of The Portfolio.

Examine The Platforms Of Both Parties. Examine The Character Of Both Parties. Get Down On Your Knees. Say, Lord, Help Me Make This Decision. And Then Go Vote.

I Never Told Anybody I Wanted To Write, I Kind Of Fell Into It Backwards.

Patience Is More Than A Virtue For Long Lines And Slow Waiters. Patience Is The Red Carpet Upon Which God's Grace Approaches Us.

Every Movie Really Does Have A Message. Somebody Somewhere Is Trying To Make A Point Or Advance A Cause Or Promote Their Agenda. There's Nothing Wrong With That. They Try To Do So In An Entertaining Fashion.

I Think "creative Preaching" Is Redundant.

Live In Such A Way That You Would Not Have To Change Your Plans.

Our Tendency Is To Be Converted To Church And Not To Christ.

Baptism Is The Initial Step Of A Faithful Heart.

All I Know Is That The Stable Is Empty, And The Horse Is Gone. The Rest I Don't Know. Whether [in The Future] It Be A Curse Or A Blessing, I Can't Say. All We Can See Is A Fragment. Who Can Say What Will Come Next [and What Is Good Or Bad In The Long Run]?

Jesus Took Your Punishment, And God Gave You Credit For Jesus' Perfection.

The Greater Your Cares, The More Genuine Your Prayers

Jesus Said, "my Father Is The Gardener...he Trims And Cleans Every Branch That Produces Fruit So That It Will Produce Even More Fruit".

Engage With The Bible. Meditate On It Day And Night. Think And Rethink About God's Word. Let It Be Your Guide. Make It Your Go-to Book For Questions. Let It Be The Ultimate Authority In Your Life.

I Co-pastor Now, So I Preach Six Months, Then Another Guy Preaches Six Months. So That's Really Why I'm Preparing For January, Because I'll Finish In June; Then I'll Be Writing And Doing Other Projects For The Rest Of The Year.

God Saves. Specifically He Will Save His People From Their Sins.

I Just Love Those [saying Of Christ ]: "father Forgive Them, They Know Not What They Do. I Thirst. It Is Finished. Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit. Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise." That Was Really The Heart Of The Second Book I Wrote Called No Wonder They Call Him Savior.

Democracy Is The Right Choice And Is The Greatest Form Of Government Ever Created.

Answer The Big Question Of Eternity, And The Little Questions Of Life Fall Into Perspective.

There Is A Time For Risky Love. There Is A Time For Extravagant Gestures. There Is A Time To Pour Out Your Affections On One You Love. And When The Time Comes - Seize It, Don't Miss It.

I Think That The Holy Spirit Works Through The Pastors Of The Church. It Helps Me Avoid The Trap Of Writing To The Reading Market. It Helps Me Stay A Pastor First, Because They Have No Agenda; They Are Not Thinking: "this Would This Be A Good Book Someday." They're Thinking: "how This Will Help Bob And Suzy Who Are Going Through A Tough Marriage? What Series Can Encourage Them?" And So I Really Bow To Their Preference.

I Get One Hour, Really 25 Minutes In A Sermon On A Weekend, To Combat All The Hours Of The Week That People Are Told You Are What You Have Through Billboards, Commercials, And Sitcoms, And So Forth.

There Is Not A Hint Of One Person Who Was Afraid To Draw Near Him [jesus]. There Were Those Who Mocked Him. There Were Those Who Were Envious Of Him. There Were Those Who Misunderstood Him. There Were Those Who Revered Him. But There Was Not One Person Who Considered Him Too Holy, Too Divine, Or Too Celestial To Touch. There Was Not One Person Who Was Reluctant To Approach Him For Fear Of Being Rejected.

Relationships Don't Thrive Because The Guilty Are Punished But Because The Innocent Are Merciful.

All Of My Sermons Become Books. I've Been Accused Of Having No Unpublished Thought. I Encourage Pastors To Do That. I Think There Are So Many Great Sermons That Never Really Get Circulation.

Fear May Fill Our World, But It Doesn’t Have To Fill Our Hearts.

God Uses Every Possible Means To Communicate With You.

If You Knew That Only A Few Would Care That You Came, Would You Still Come? If You Knew That Those You Loved Would Laugh In Your Face, Would You Still Care? If You Knew That The Tongues You Made Would Mock You, The Mouths You Made Would Spit At You, The Hands You Made Would Crucify You, Would You Still Make Them? Christ Did.

Christ Became One Of Us To Redeem All Of Us.

Maybe You've Had The Experience Where Somebody's Asked You A Question And You Give An Answer, Then Later In The Day You Think, "oh, I Wish I'd Said That!" I Tend To Journal These Things And Put The Answers In Sermons.

I Accepted The Forgiveness Of God. I Got Off Track As An Adult And Because I Believe In God's Grace, I Believe That Gave Me Strength Then To Get That Little Part Of My Life Realigned, To Not Play Games About It, To Confess It, To Ask For Forgiveness From God And Ask Others To Forgive Me As Well And Then Move On.

Bitterness Is The Trap That Snares The Hunter

It'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."

We Live In The Most Multicultural, Multiracial, Multiethnic America Ever, And I Get The Sense That Because Of That Reality So Many Of Us Are Turning Nativist.

Forgiveness Is Unlocking The Door To Set Someone Free And Realising You Were The Prisoner!

For All Its Peculiarities And Unevenness, The Bible Has A Simple Story. God Made Man. Man Rejected God. God Won't Give Up Until He Wins Him Back. God Will Whisper. He Will Shout. He Will Touch And Tug. He Will Take Away Our Burdens; He'll Even Take Away Our Blessings. If There Are A Thousand Steps Between Us And Him, He Will Take All But One. But He Will Leave The Final One For Us. The Choice Is Ours. Please Understand. His Goal Is Not To Make You Happy. His Goal Is To Make You His. His Goal Is Not To Get You What You Want; It Is To Get You What You Need.

Humility Has Such Power. Apologies Can Disarm Arguments. Contrition Can Defuse Rage. Olive Branches Do More Good Than Battle Axes Ever Will.

The Key Is This: Meet Today's Problems With Today's Strength. Don't Start Tackling Tomorrow's Problems Until Tomorrow. You Do Not Have Tomorrow's Strength Yet. You Simply Have Enough For Today.

Thoughts Have Consequences. Healing From Anxiety Requires Healthy Thinking. Your Challenge Is Not Your Challenge. Your Challenge Is The Way You Think About Your Challenge. Your Problem Is Not Your Problem; It's The Way You Look At It.

God Must've Had A Blast. Painting The Stripes On The Zebra, Hanging The Stars In The Sky, Putting The Gold In The Sunset. What Creativity! Stretching The Neck Of The Giraffe, Putting The Flutter In The Mockingbird's Wings, Planting The Giggle In The Hyena. And Then, As A Finale To A Brilliant Performance, He Made A Human Who Had The Unique Honour To Bear The Stamp, In His Image.

We Will Find Grace To Help Us When We Need It

Don't Measure The Size Of The Mountain; Talk To The One Who Can Move It.

What Is This Love That Endures Decades, Passes On Sleep, And Resists Death To Give One Kiss? Call It Agape Love, A Love That Bears A Semblance Of God's.

There Is No Religion Like Christianity, It Is Not One Religion Among Others, It Is Completely Different, Its Mixing Apples And Oranges.

When You Read The Bible, It's As Though It Reads You.

When We're In The Middle Of A Difficult Time, We Have To Speak Against That Lie That Says, "god Is Not Here." We Have To Draw Near To God.

Difficult Times

Can You Imagine A Life With No Fear? What If Faith, Not Fear, Was Your Default Reaction To Threats?

When God Is All You Have, Then All You Have, Is All You Need.

God Is God. He Knows What He Is Doing. When You Can’t Trace His Hand, Trust His Heart.

It's Against God's Nature To Remember Forgiven Sins

Actions In Heaven Begin When Someone Prays On Earth. What An Amazing Thought!

We Act Like God's Only Good When The Outcome Is Good. We Say, 'we've Got A Good God Because I've Got A Good Job.' But What If I Don't Have A Good Job? Does That Mean God's Not Good Anymore?

When You Are In The Final Days Of Your Life, What Will You Want? Will You Hug That College Degree In The Walnut Frame? Will You Ask To Be Carried To The Garage So You Can Sit In Your Car? Will You Find Comfort In Rereading Your Financial Statement? Of Course Not. What Will Matter Then Will Be People. If Relationships Will Matter Most Then, Shouldn't They Matter Most Now?

No One Can Do Everything, But Everyone Can Do Something

When Jesus Died On The Cross, So Did Your Sin; When He Rose From The Dead, So Did Your Hope.

You Are Who God Says You Are. Spiritually Alive. Heavenly Positioned. Connected To The Father. A Billboard Of Mercy. An Honored Child.

We Preachers, People Entrust Us With Their Time Week After Week. I'm Still Stunned That People Will Let Me Talk To Them For Thirty Minutes About Anything I Want To. It's A Wonderful Treasure That We Are To Steward.

Nothing Fosters Courage Like A Clear Grasp Of Grace... & Nothing Fosters Fear Like An Ignorance Of Mercy

It's No Wonder, That God's Anxiety Therapy Includes A Large, Delightful Dollop Of Gratitude. The Anxious Heart Says, "lord, If Only I Had This, That, Or The Other, I'd Be Okay." The Grateful Heart Says, "oh, Look! You've Already Given Me This, That, And The Other. Thank You, God."

I Spent The Better Part Of A Week Trying To Figure Out How To Organize These Stacks Of 30 Years Of Conversations And Dialogues. I Finally Began Clustering Them In These Different Categories, And I Ended Up With The Ones You Listed.it's Interesting To Me The Kinds Of Questions I Haven't Been Called To Wrestle With. For Example, I Don't Know What This Says, But I'm Not Asked A Lot Of Political Questions.

Every Other Religion Is A Salvation By Self, Christianity Is A Salvation By Christ.

No Matter What The Storm Clouds Bring, You Can Face Your Pain With Courage And Hope. For Two Thousand Years Ago-six Hours, One Friday-christ Firmly Planted In Bedrock Three Solid Anchor Points That We Can All Cling To. For The Heart Scarred With Futility, That Friday Holds Purpose. For The Life Blackened With Failure, That Friday Holds Forgiveness. And For The Soul Looking Into The Tunnel Of Death, That Friday Holds Deliverance.

Worry Divides The Mind.

If We Are To Be Just Like Jesus, We Must Have Regular Time Of Talking To God And Listening To His Word.

Hope Is Not A Granted Wish Or A Favor Performed; No It Is Far Greater Than That. It Is A Zany, Unpredictable Dependence On A God Who Loves To Surprise Us Out Of Our Socks.

Pastoring The Flock With Words. I Love That. We Always Have A Prayer Time In The Middle Of Our Service. We Take About Eight Or Ten Minutes Before I Preach, After We've Sung, And Invite People To Come Forward For Prayer. That's A Tender Moment To Me. I Don't Preach Much In That, But I Like To Speak To The People.

Let God Have You, And Let God Love You - And Don’t Be Surprised If Your Heart Begins To Hear Music You’ve Never Heard And Your Feet Learn To Dance As Never Before.

I Wanted To Talk About How Grace In And Of Itself Changes Us. It Changes The Way We Treat Other People, The Way We View Our Lives, The Way We Treat Our Purpose And Our Eternal Identity.

God Is Kind, But He Is Not Soft. He Takes Us Firmly By The Hand And Leads Us Into A Radical Life Change.

Nails Didn't Hold God To A Cross. Love Did.

Be Quick To Pray. Stop Talking To Yourself. Talk To Christ.

God Offers Authentic Love. His Devotion Is The Real Deal. But He Won't Give You The Genuine Until You Surrender The Imitations.

One 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.

Shadow Of Death

Parents, What Are Your Children Learning From Your Worship? Do They See The Same Excitement As When You Go To A Basketball Game? Do They See You Prepare For Worship As You Do For A Vacation? Do They See You Hungry To Arrive, Seeking The Face Of The Father? Or Do They See You Content To Leave The Way You Came?.....they Are Watching. Believe Me. They Are Watching.

God Rewards Those Who Seek Him. Not Those Who Seek Doctrine Of Religion Or Systems Or Creeds. Many Settle For These Lesser Passions, But The Reward Goes To Those Who Settle For Nothing Less Than Jesus Himself. And What Is The Reward? What Awaits Those Who Seek Jesus? Nothing Short Of The Heart Of Jesus.

A Woman's Heart Should Be So Hidden In God That A Man Has To Seek Him Just To Find Her.

Tragically, Some People Believe They Are Going To Heaven When They Die Just Because A Few Drops Of Water Were Sprinkled Over Their Heads A Few Weeks After Their Birth. They Have No Personal Faith, Have Never Made A Personal Decision, And Are Banking On A Hollow Ceremony To Save Them. How Absurd.

Being Religious Without Knowing The Cross Is Like Owning A Mercedes With No Motor. Pretty Package, But Where Is Your Power?

When God Looks At You, He Doesn’t See You; He Sees The One Who Surrounds You. That Means That Failure Is Not A Concern For You. Your Victory Is Secure.

In The Great Orchestra We Call Life, You Have An Instrument And A Song, And You Owe It To God To Play Them Both Sublimely.

Worry Is To Joy What A Hoover Vacuum Cleaner Is To Dirt: Might As Well Attach Your Heart To A Happiness-sucker And Flip The Switch.

Forgiveness Doesn't Diminish Justice; It Just Entrusts It To God. He Guarantees The Right Retribution.

There Are Some People That Say I Need To Be More Academic In My Teaching, I Need To Be More Disciple Developing Focus, Probably True. But Where My Heart Is, Is With People Who Are Just Passing Through Difficult Time. I Want To Put Literature In A Form That Is Accessible For People Who Don't Particularly Read Books.

Sometimes When You Read The Bible, You Find Yourself Asking, "how Does This Book Know That About Me? How Does It Know That About Our World - Especially When It Was Written So Long Ago?"

I Think That A Church Should Be Setting The Pace For Social Justice.

For Those Who Never Pray, Maybe Now You Will. For Those Of Us Who Attempt To Pray, Maybe We Can Pray More.

God Has A Timeline. And Because Of Bethlehem, We Have An Idea Where We Stand On It.

It Was A Matter Of Going Back Through A Lot Of Sermons And Remembering The Questions And Conversations, Where These Ideas Came From. So The Book [max On Life] Is Really Kind Of A Second Chance To Answer These Questions.

If God Is Willing To Be Born In A Barnyard, Then Expect Him To Be At Work Anywhere - Bars, Bedrooms, Boardrooms, And Brothels.

Want To Snatch A Day From The Manacles Of Boredom? Do Overgenerous Deeds, Acts Beyond Reimbursement. Kindness Without Compensation. Do A Deed For Which You Cannot Be Repaid.

Prayer 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.

You Long For One True Friend? You Have One. And Because You Do, You Have A Choice. You Can... Ponder The Malice Of Your Monster Or The Kindness Of Your Christ.

God Wants To Help You Find Your Way Home.

There Are Many Things In Life Over Which You Have No Choice. But The Greatest Activity Of Life Is Well Within Your Dominion. You Can Choose What You Think About. You Can Be The Air Traffic Controller Of Your Mental Airport. You Occupy The Control Tower And Can Direct The Mental Traffic Of Your World. Thoughts Circle Above, Coming And Going. If One Of Them Lands, It's Because You Gave It Permission. If It Leaves, It's Because You Directed It To Do So. You Can Select Your Thought Pattern.

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

If I Succeed, I Will Give Thanks. If I Fail, I Will Seek His Grace.

Even Though You May Not Understand How God Works, You Know He Does.

Very, Very Rarely Will I Leave San Antonio To Speak Somewhere Else. I Used To Do That, And It Just About Wore Me Out, So I Quit Traveling.

Fredrick Buechner Kind Of Loosened Up My Clerical Collar, You Might Say.

Confession Is The Act Of Inviting God To Walk The Acreage Of Our Hearts. “there Is A Rock Of Greed Over Here, Father. I Can’t Budge It. And That Tree Of Guilt Near The Fence? Its Roots Are Long And Deep. And May I Show You Some Dry Soil, Too Crusty For Seed?” God’s Seed Grows Better If The Soil Of The Heart Is Cleared.

What I May Intend For A Story To Communicate And What A Story Ends Up Communicating Could Be Two Different Things. And It Could Be An Even More Positive Thing.

We Get A Lot Of Unsolicited Manuscripts Here. Im Not Even A Publisher, But We Get Several A Week. I Dont Read Them, But I Do Glance Through Some Of Them, And Some People Dont Need To Be Writing, They Have Something Else.

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.

God Crowns Us. Most People Crown Their Christmas Trees With Either An Angel Or A Star. God Uses Both.

I Don't Know How To Answer The Problem Of Deep Pain Without A Deep Hope In Eternity.

I Certainly Don't Mean To Leave The Impression That Anxiety Can Be Waved Away With A Simple Pep Talk. In Fact, For Some, God's Healing Will Include The Help Of Therapy And/or Medication. If That's The Case, Do Not For A Moment Think That You're A Second-class Citizen Of Heaven. Ask God To Lead You To A Qualified Counselor Or Physician Who'll Provide The Treatment You Need. This Much Is Sure: It's Not God's Will That You Lead A Life Of Perpetual Anxiety. It's Not His Will That You Face Every Day With Dread And Trepidation.

Jesus 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).

Your Goal Is Not To Know Every Detail Of The Future. Your Goal Is To Hold The Hand Of The One Who Does And Never, Ever Let Go.

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.

Aren't You Glad That God Doesn't Give You Only That Which You Remember To Thank Him For?

I Think To Trust In The Sovereignty Of God Does Not Excuse My Personal Responsibility. Just The Opposite - It Equips Me To Be Personally Responsible.

Though 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.

When You Keep The Porch Light On For The Prodigal Child, You Do What God Does Every Single Moment.

Be A Child Again. Flirt. Giggle. Dip Your Cookies In Your Milk. Take A Nap. Say You're Sorry If You Hurt Someone. Chase A Butterfly. Be A Child Again.

In March 2011 I'm Trying To Decide On A Sermon Series That I Will Preach In January 2012. So, I'm About Six Months Out.

I Could Easily Go Through All My Books And Mark The Ones That Were Original, Mark The Ones That Were Adapted Or Pre-published That I've Found. I'm Guessing Though That Probably 75% Of Them Are Personal Events. I Just Love A Personal Story.

Jesus Will Empty The Tombs And Melt The Winter Of Death.

Stay Strong! Your Test Will Become Your Test-imony, Your Mess Will Become Your Mess-age.

God Sees Us With The Eyes Of A Father. He Sees Our Defects, Errors And Blemishes. But He Also Sees Our Value.

People Assume When They Come Into A Church And See A Person Up There Speaking, 'that Person Must Be A Good Person.' My Challenge Through The Years Has Been Believing That: 'i Guess I Must Be A Really Good Person.' I Struggle With It. It Just Helps Me To Keep That Confessional Posture.

A Couple Of Things Have Helped. One Is That I Dont Travel Any, That Takes A Lot Of Time From Peoples Schedules, If They Travel, So I Dont Travel.

We're Also A Multi-site Church, So We Have Other Pastors On Other Campuses Who Want To Read The Message Before The Video Plays On The Weekend Services. So It Just Works Better For Me.

The Next Time You Are Called To Suffer, Pay Attention. It May Be The Closest You'll Ever Get To God.

To Accept Grace Is To Admit Failure, A Step We Are Hesitant To Take. We Opt To Impress God With How Good We Are Rather Than Confessing How Great He Is.

When Grace Happens, Generosity Happens. Unsquashable, Eyepopping Bigheartedness Happens.

God Loves Us Too Much To Indulge Our Every Whim.

Heaven Is Beyond Our Imagination . . . . At Our Most Creative Moment, At Our Deepest Thought, At Our Highest Level, We Still Cannot Fathom Eternity.

There 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.

I Think The Hardest One Had To Do With Suffering. It Had To Do With All Of Our Church Members And Friends Passing Through Difficult Times. Sometimes It's The Global Climate: Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Radiation. I Think These Kinds Of Questions Are Absolutely The Most Difficult, Yet We Need To Be Ready To Respond To Them Because We Have To Be Able As Pastors To Walk People Through These Valleys, These Tough Times In Their Lives.

Yesterday You Can't Alter, But Your Reaction To Yesterday You Can. The Past You Cannot Change, But Your Response To Your Past You Can.

Jesus Gives Us Hope Because He Keeps Us Company, Has A Vision And Knows The Way We Should Go.

God Knows Just The Place Where You'll Be Placed. He Has A Barren Living Room In Desperate Need Of Warmth And Joy. A Corner Of The World Needs Some Color. He Selected You With That Place In Mind.

I'm Convinced That The Christian Claim Is Really True, That This Is Just A Warm Up To The Big Event. That This Is Just The Appetizer To The Feast, And If We Can Plug Into That And Understand That This Part Of Our Story Is Just The Introduction, It Is Not Even The First Line Of The First Paragraph, It's Just The First Letter Or First Word. We Are Just Getting Started.

After A Hard Day Scrambling To Find Your Way Around In The World, It's Assuring To Come Home To A Place You Know. God Can Be Equally Familiar To You. With Time You Can Learn Where To Go For Nourishment, Where To Hide For Protection , Where To Turn For Guidance. Just As Your Earthly House Is A Place Of Refuge, So God's House Is A Place Of Peace.

The Prodigal Son Story Is, I Think, The Greatest Short-story Ever Written. It Has Such Drama In It, Such Great Characters, It's So Clear And Concise, And It's Entertaining In The Sense That Everyone Can Relate To It. But You Have No Doubt What Our Lord Was Trying To Communicate In The Heart Of That Story. So The Truth Was Not Sacrificed On The Altar Of Entertainment In That Case. And It Can Be.

I Try To Be Honest; I Really Do Try Not To Exaggerate The Story. I Try To Be Accurate.

We May Forget Him, But God Will Never Forget Us. We're Forever On His Mind And In His Plans.

I Was About 21 When I Read That [mere Christianity], And My Faith Was Really Being Shaken During Those Days. Its A Great, Classic Book.

When Grace Happens, We Receive Not A Nice Compliment From God But A New Heart. Give Your Heart To Christ, And He Returns The Favor.

If Anybody Understands God's Order For His Children, It's Someone Who Has Rescued An Orphan From Despair, For That Is What God Has Done For Us. God Has Adopted You. God Sought You, Found You, Signed The Papers And Took You Home.

What I'm Urging People To Do Is Trust In The Sovereignty Of God.

Sovereignty Of God

A Little Rain Can Straighten A Flower Stem. A Little Love Can Change A Life.

Worship Is The Thank You That Can't Be Silenced

People Of Each Generation In The Twentieth Century "were Three Times More Likely To Experience Depression" Than People Of The Preceding Generation.

What You Do For A Tree, God Does For You.

God Didn't Overlook Your Sins, Lest He Endorse Them. He Didn't Punish You, Lest He Destroy You. He Instead Found A Way To Punish The Sin And Preserve The Sinner. Jesus Took Your Punishment, And God Gave You Credit For Jesus' Perfection.

There Is A Difference Between Grace And Mercy. Mercy Is The Decision Of God Not To Punish Us. But Grace Is The Decision Of God To Save And Bless Us.

Grace And Mercy

God Saves, Not God Empathizes, Cares, Listens, Helps, Assists, Or Applauds.

We See A Hearse; We Think Sorrow. We See A Grave; We Think Despair. We Hear Of A Death; We Think Of A Loss. Not So In Heaven. When Heaven Sees A Breathless Body, It Sees The Vacated Cocoon & The Liberated Butterfly.

Faithful Servants Have A Way Of Knowing Answered Prayer When They See It, And A Way Of Not Giving Up When They Don't.

When We See Death, We See Disaster. When Jesus Sees Death, He Sees Deliverance!

We 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.

Listen Carefully To The Feedback Your Readers Give You. Dont Write Unless People Want You To Write, A Lot Of People Write Just Because They Want To Write.

Christianity Teaches Salvation By Grace Through Faith, Every Other Religion Teaches Salvation Through Works And Merit.

No Acts Are Random Or Wasted.

Our Moods May Shift, But God's Doesn't. Our Minds May Change, But God's Doesn't. Our Devotion May Falter, But God's Never Does. Even If We Are Faithless, He Is Faithful, For He Cannot Betray Himself. He Is A Sure God.

Let's Be The People Who Look At The Hurting Until We Hurt With Them. No Hurrying Past, Turning Away, Or Shifting Of Eyes. No Pretending Or Glossing Over. Let's Look At The Face Until We See The Person.

You Know People Just Assume, 'well, All My Life I'll Be A Worrier.' That Doesn't Have To Be True. There's A Way To Drink From God's Presence So Much That Worry Begins To Dissipate.

How Grimy Did God Get When He Reached Down To Clean You Up? How Grimy Are You Willing To Get In Order To Be An 'imitator Of God'?

Choose Satisfaction Over Salary. Better To Be Happy With Little Than Miserable With Much.

Fear Creates A Form Of Spiritual Amnesia

We Might Question God's Actions, Decisions, Or Declarations. But We Can Never, Ever Question His Zany, Stunning, Unquenchable Affection.

The Apostle Paul Never Seemed To Exhaust The Topic Of Grace - What Makes Us Think We Can? He Just Kept Coming At It And Coming At It From Another Angle. That's The Thing About Grace. It's Like Springtime. You Can't Put It In A Single Sentence Definition, And You Can't Exhaust It.

If We Can Understand That Death Is Not The End But Is Really A Transition Into The Next Life, The Great Part Of Life, That Frees Us Up Into Receiving God's Courage And His Help.

I Try To Help People See They're Going To Have These Times In Which They Turn Away, In Which They Deny Christ And Their Faith Grows Cold, Their Convictions Weakened; But Jesus Is Waiting.

Others Have Promised And Failed. But God Has Promised And Succeeded. He Loves You With An Unfailing Love.

Trending Author

Harold MacMillan

Category