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I Do Not Know When Christ Is Coming Back. No One Knows. But I Do Think The Environment Is Getting More And More To The Point Where We Can Look For His Return.

-Max Lucado

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I Do Not Know

Max Lucado

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I Do Not Know When Christ Is Coming Back. No One Knows. But I Do Think The Environment Is Getting More And More To The Point Where We Can Look For His Return.

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I Think You Could Say Every Pastor Is Writing This Book [ Max On Life]; For Many It Just Never Gets Published.

Religion Is Intended To Facilitate Hope And Faith. Much Like A Path Is Intended To Facilitate A Journey.

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.

God Is Able To Accomplish, Provide, Help, Save, Keep, Subdue... He Is Able To Do What You Can't. He Already Has A Plan. God's Not Bewildered. Go To Him.

God Loves People Just The Way They Are, But He Loves Them Too Much To Leave Them That Way!

Who Was Jesus? God Saves.

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

Sow Seeds Of Hope And Enjoy Optimism. Sow Seeds Of Doubt And Expect Insecurity

Real Courage Embraces The Twin Realities Of Current Difficulty And Ultimate Triumph.

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.

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.

God Would Rather Give Up His Son..than Give Up On Us

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.

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'?

You Have A God Who Hears You, The Power Of Love Behind You, The Holy Spirit Within You, And All Of Heaven Ahead Of You. If You Have The Shepherd, You Have Grace For Every Sin, Direction For Every Turn, A Candle For Every Corner And An Anchor For Every Storm. You Have Everything You Need.

When Troubles Come Our Way, We Can Be Stressed And Upset, Or We Can Trust God. Caleb Could Have Cursed God. He Didn't Deserve The Wilderness. He Had To Put His Dreams On Hold For Four Decades. Still He Didn't Complain Or Grow Sour.

I Was Never Really Lead By [my Parents] And Didnt Sense Any Leading From The Lord To Go Into Writing.

I Do Think There Is Great Strength, Though, In Starting A Sermon With A Story, Then Returning To That Story At The End. That Puts Book Ends To A Sermon. It Is A Real Simple Technique That Communicates To The Audience That There Is A Sense Of Closure, That They Have A Package Here, Or We Began And We Closed With This. I Think That's Just A Nice Technique.

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.

Our Prayers May Be Awkward. Our Attempts May Be Feeble. But Since The Power Of Prayer Is In The One Who Hears It And Not In The One Who Says It, Our Prayers Do Make A Difference.

I Think You Can Tilt Too Far To The Side Of The Story Where The Message Is Just Simply Entertainment. So I Think Your Goal Has To Be To Craft In One Sentence What The Truth Is You Are Trying To Convey. And Then You Find Or Create A Story That You Wrap Around That Truth.

The 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.

You'll Get Through This. It Won't Be Painless. It Won't Be Quick. But God Will Use This Mess For Good. In The Meantime Don't Be Foolish Or Naïve. But Don't Despair Either. With God's Help You Will Get Through This.

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

I Think We Live In Slavery To Fear. Most People Don't Have An Answer To The Death Question And Really Don't Even Have A Philosophy. That Is A Puzzle To Me. I Think Even If I Was Not A Christian, I Would Want To At Least Have A Personal Solution To The Death Question. Otherwise, Death Is Just A Frightening Thing.

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

God Gives Us People To Love And Things To Use, Not Things To Love And People To Use.

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

I See That A Lot In My Own Life And In The Lives Of Others.does The Presence Of Pain Mean The Absence Of God?

I've Never Disclosed For Whom I'm Voting.

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.

The Claims Of Christ Are Always On Trial, And We Remain Under Oath! We Are His Witnesses For Truth.

If God Had A Refrigerator, Your Picture Would Be On It.

I'd Like To Think I'm Going Upriver In Talking About World-view Topics Rather Than Particular Political Or Controversial Topics.

Controversial Topics

On The Eve Of The Cross, Jesus Made His Decision. He Would Rather Go To Hell For You Than Go To Heaven Without You.

There's An Antidote To Our Fears- Trust. If We Trust God More,we Can Fear Less.

Your Home Is Your Giant-size Privilege, Your Towering Priority.

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

I Was Raised In The Greatest Of Homes... Just A Really Great Dad, And I Miss Him So Much... He Was A Good Man, A Real Simple Man... Very Faithful, Always Loved My Mom, Always Provided For The Kids, And Just A Lot Of Fun.

What Did Jesus Come To Do? God Saves.

Your Challenge Is Not Your Challenge. Your Challenge Is The Way You Think About Your Challenge. Your Problem Is Not Your Problem; It Is The Way You Look At It.

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

No One Can Teach Your Child Like You Can. No Nanny, Bible School Teacher, Aunt, Or Uncle Has Your Authority. What A Phenomenal Privilege Is Yours.

In A Sense We're All Children Of God - Jesus Is Called The One And Only Son. Monogeneo Is The Word, God's Only "genetic" Child. He Bears The Very Essence Of God. What We Say About God We Say About Jesus. So The Promise Rises And Falls On The Identity Of Jesus.

We Are Such A Sound-bite Culture; People Are So Accustomed To Flipping Through Their Television So Quickly That We Only Have Just A Few Seconds To Grab Someone's Attention.

All Of My Books Began As Sermons, So Really The Heart Of The Message Is Still The Same.

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 Would Love To Have A More Earnest Prayer Life! In My Life, Prayer Is The Single Most Difficult Discipline. I Love God And There's Something In Me That Would Rather Do Things For God Than Talk To God. I'm Not By Nature A Mystical, Devotional Person. I Like To Do Things. And So It's A Challenge For Me To Have A Faithful Prayer Life, But I Know God Loves Me And He's Not Mad At Me. He Just Wishes I Would Slow Down And Turn Things Over To Him. And That's What I Think You Achieve Through Prayer.

There's Something About Compassion That Causes Society To Say, 'we're Going To Take This Person Seriously.' Take Mother Teresa. She Was Confrontational On Abortion, But She Wasn't Rejected By Society.

It's Okay To Rest. Jesus Fights When You Cannot.

I Do Believe That Leaders Have To Be Held To A Higher Standard, Especially Christian Leaders. I Put Myself In That Camp.

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.

Matthew Loved The Magi. He Gave Their Story More Square Inches Of Text Than He Gave The Narrative Of The Birth Of Jesus. He Never Mentions The Shepherds Or The Manger, But He Didn't Want Us To Miss The Star And The Seekers. It's Easy To See Why. Their Story Is Our Story.

We May Speak About A Place Where There Are No Tears, No Death, No Fear, No Night; But Those Are Just The Benefits Of Heaven. The Beauty Of Heaven Is Seeing God.

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

Unhappiness On Earth Cultivates A Hunger For Heaven. By Gracing Us With A Deep Dissatisfaction, God Holds Our Attention.

Anger Is The Noise Of The Soul; The Unseen Irritant Of The Heart; The Relentless Invader Of Silence.

You Don't Have To Be Dishonest To Communicate The Gospel.

How Can A Person Deal With Anxiety? You Might Try What One Fellow Did. He Worried So Much That He Decided To Hire Someone To Do His Worrying For Him. He Found A Man Who Agreed To Be His Hired Worrier For A Salary Of $200,000 Per Year. After The Man Accepted The Job, His First Question To His Boss Was, "where Are You Going To Get $200,000 Per Year?" To Which The Man Responded, "that's Your Worry.

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time. When We Worry, We Aren't Praying. When We Pray, We Aren't Worrying.

The Purpose Of The Bible Is Simply To Proclaim God's Plan To Save His Children. It Asserts That Man Is Lost And Needs To Be Saved. And It Communicates The Message That Jesus Is The God In The Flesh Sent To Save His Children.

God Wants To Help You Find Your Way Home.

I Believe The Bible Tells A Story We Recognize As True. I Don't Just Mean It Tells An Accurate Story - Though It's Telling That The Bible Stands Tall Even After More Than 2,000 Years Of Secular Criticism.

Revenge Is The Raging Fire That Consumes The Arsonist.

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

Worry Divides The Mind.

The Bible Urges Us To Be Respectful To All People, Especially People With Whom We Have Disagreements, To Never Libel People, To Never Label People.

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.

See Your Enemies, Not As God's Failures, But As God's Projects.

My First Encounters With Faith Came About The Time I Was A Boy Scout, At About 14 Or 15. I Made The Logical Deduction That They Operate The Same Way; I Treated My Faith Like Earning A Merit Badge, And Everything About Christianity Was About Earning Merit Badges.

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

Seek Beauty And Miss Love. But Seek Love And Find Both.

The Maker Of The Stars Would Rather Die For You Than Live Without You. And That Is A Fact. So If You Need To Brag, Brag About That.

Reading The Bible Can Be Like Meeting Someone You Don't Know Who, Oddly, Somehow Seems To Know You Deeply. It's Uncanny.

Meeting Someone

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.

I Don't Get The Impression That Most Sources Of Media - Like Television And Movies - Are Trying To Get Out A Positive Message, Necessarily. My Impression Is They're Trying To Get A Message Out That Promotes Their Personal Opinion, Position Or Belief And They're Trying To Do Something That Makes Money. They Want To Turn A Buck.

Personal Opinions

My Thinking Is That Miracles Exist To Reveal God, But Miracles Don't Exist For God To Do Me Any Favors.

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

My Book Centers In On The New Testament, The Goal Being To Help A Person Who Wants To Understand The Bible To See How What God Did As Revealed In The New Testament Will Reveal To Them Their Own Personal Story.

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

My Co-pastor Is Randy Frazee. Randy Is The Brightest Bulb In This Box. He Really Has A Feeling For What A Church Needs In Terms Of Maturity, So I Listen To Him.

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

I've Never Really Prided Myself As Being Quick On My Feet.

We Will Never Be Cleansed Until We Confess We Are Dirty. And We Will Never Be Able To Wash The Feet Of Those Who Have Hurt Us Until We Allow Jesus, The One We Have Hurt, To Wash Ours.

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

God Loves You Because He Has Chosen To Do So.

Do You Believe That God Is Near? He Wants You To. He Wants You To Know That He Is In The Midst Of Your World. Wherever You Are As You Read These Words, He Is Present.

Your Requests Change History Because Your Prayers Change God!

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.

The Wonders Of Nature Call To You. The Promises And Prophecies Of Scripture Speak To You. God Himself Reaches Out To You.

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.

When It Comes To Christ, You've Got To Do The Same. Call Him Crazy, Or Crown Him As King. Dismiss Him As A Fraud, Or Declare Him To Be God. Walk Away From Him, Or Bow Before Him, But Don't Play Games With Him.

God Would Prefer We Have An Occasional Limp Than A Perpetual Strut.

The 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.

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

Sovereignty Of God

If Relationships Matter Most Then [at The End Of Our Lives], Shouldn't They Matter Most Now?

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.

Discover This Mystery: As You Help Others Face Their Days, You Put Life Into Your Own. And Life Is Exactly What Many People Need.

Those In The Circle Of Christ Had No Doubt Of His Love; Those In Our Circles Should Have No Doubt About Ours.

The Land Of Promise Is For Those Who Simply Remain To The End.

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.

When You're Full Of Yourself, God Can't Fill You. But When You Empty Yourself, God Has A Useful Vessel.

Full Of Yourself

I Don't Have Any Desire To Retire In The Sense Of Not Doing Anything. Because As Long As The Lord Gives Me Strength I Want To Keep Writing And Keep Preaching. I Love What I Do.

Somewhere, Sometime, Somehow You Got Tangled Up In Garbage, And You've Been Avoiding God. You've Allowed A Veil Of Guilt To Come Between You And Your Father. You Wonder If You Could Ever Feel Close To God Again. The Message Of The Torn Flesh Is You Can. God Welcomes You. God Is Not Avoiding You. God Is Not Resisting You. The Curtain Is Down, The Door Is Open, And God Invites You In

God's Greatest Blessings Often Come Costumed As Disasters. Any Doubters Need To Do Nothing More Than Ascend The Hill Of Calvary.

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

You Weren't An Accident. You Weren't Mass Produced. You Aren't An Assembly-line Product. You Were Deliberately Planned, Specifically Gifted, And Lovingly Positioned On The Earth By The Master Craftsman.

If You Knew Jesus Was Returning Tomorrow, How Would You Feel Today? Anxious, Afraid, Unprepared? If So, You Can Take Care Of Your Fears By Placing Your Trust In Christ. If Your Answer Includes Words Like Happy, Relieved, And Excited, Hold Tightly To Your Joy.

God Will Use Whatever He Wants To Display His Glory. Heavens And Stars. History And Nations. People And Problems.

You Are Heaven's Halley's Comet; We Have One Shot At Seeing You Shine.

The 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.

Outlook On Life

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.

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

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.

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.

What Makes A Christian A Christian Is Not Perfection But Forgiveness.

My Parents, They Were Good, Godly People, But They Never Said, You Need To Write.

The 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.

Fear Corrodes Our Confidence In God's Goodness.

Confidence In God

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?"

The People Who Make A Difference Are Not The Ones With The Credentials But The Ones With The Concern.

The Book, Max On Life, Is Really Kind Of A Second Chance To Answer These Questions.

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.

Though You See Nothing, He Is Acting.

Find Joy In The Ordinary.

Bread Of Life? Jesus Lived Up To The Title. But An Unopened Loaf Does A Person No Good. Have You Received The Bread? Have You Received God's Forgiveness?

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

Which Would You Prefer? To Be King Of The Mountain For A Day? Or To Be A Child Of God For Eternity?

Does God Care If I'm Sad? Look At The Tear-streaked Face Of Jesus As He Stands Near Lazarus's Tomb.

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

Most Of My Sermons Are Inspirational, And I Believe People Need That Encouragement.

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.

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

Philosophers Can Debate The Meaning Of Life, But You Need A Lord Who Can Declare The Meaning Of Life.

Meaning Of Life

I'm A Preacher First And A Writer Second, Although My Role Is Changing A Bit At The Church. I'm Going To Bring On A Co-teacher, But I'll Still Be A Pastor And A Writer.

We're All Travelers, All Sojourners.

I Think Theres Just This Mystique Of Writing A Book That Appeals To People. A Person Has To Really Check Their Motives And Say, Am I Really Being Called By God To Do This? Or Is This Just Something That Would Look Neat In My Funeral? I Dont Mean To Be Harsh But I Think A Person Really Needs To, So They Wont Be Disappointed.

I Remember Enjoying Writing Those, Theres Two Clues Of A Gift: You Enjoy Doing It And People Enjoy You Doing It.

Don't See Yourself As A Product Of Your Parents Dna, But Rather As A Brand New Idea From Heaven.

If God Was Willing To Wrap Himself In Rags And Drink From A Mother's Breast, Then All Questions About His Love For Us Are Off The Table.

Here's What I Really Love: I Love A Funny Story That I Can Tag A Serious Line On The End Of.

Love The One Who Wears Your Ring. And Cherish The Children Who Share Your Name. Succeed At Home First.

I 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.

Are You Weary? Catch Your Breath. Are You Strong? Reserve Passing Judgment On The Tired.

I Really Enjoyed Reading The Writings Of Fredrick Buechner, I Havent Read Anything By Him In Probably A Decade But About 20 Years Ago I Read Four Or Five Books Of His And It Helped Me.

God Meets Our Needs One Day At A Time.

So Immediately I'm Trying To Think: What Are Some Of These Times When We Feel We're Losing Our Hold On Christ, And What's The Fear We're Trying To Address? I Try To Get Into That Quickly.

In The Manger God Loves You; Through The Cross God Saves You. But Has He Taken You To His Home? Not Yet.

I Picked Up This Book Called Blue Mountain, Supposed To Be A Really Good Book On The Civil War.

God Has Work For You To Do.

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."

Two Types Of Voices Command Your Attention Today. Negative Ones Fill Your Mind With Doubt, Bitterness, And Fear. Positive Ones Purvey Hope And Strength. Which One Will You Choose To Heed?

If God Had A Refrigerator, Your Picture Would Be On It. If He Had A Wallet, Your Photo Would Be In It. He Sends You Flowers Every Spring And A Sunrise Every Morning... Face It, Friend. He Is Crazy About 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.

Baptism Separates The Tire Kickers From The Car Buyers.

To Me That's Always A Little Satisfying - To Find An Underdeveloped Topic And Start Developing It.

A Split Second Is Nothing Compared To Twenty-four Hours. On God's Clock You're In The Middle Of Your Millisecond. Compared To Eternity, What Is Seventy, Eighty, Ninety Years?

Some People Find The Gift Of Salvation. For Others The Gifts Are Smaller: A Kind Word, A Good Deed. But All The Gifts Are From God.

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.

A Book Should Be A Garden That Fits In The Hands. Word-petals Of Color. Stems Of Strength. Roots Of Truth. Turn A Page And Turn The Seasons. Read The Sentence And Enjoy The Roses.

God's Highest Desire Is Not To Make Us Rich, Successful Or Popular. His Goal Is To Make Us His

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

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, 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.

No One Can Pray And Worry At The Same Time.

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

I Don't Have A Lot Of Time In The Sermon Anyway. The Sermon Is Only 25 Minutes, Which To Me Is Frighteningly Short. So I Feel As If I Need To Get Into That Pretty Quickly And Make It As Practical And Accessible As Possible.

The Promised Land, For Many People, Though, Is Something That's Far Off In The Future. People Are Saved, But They Don't Feel Victory. They Feel Like They're In A Wilderness And They're Wandering. And So This Book Of Joshua Gives Us A Picture Of How We Can Come Out Of The Wilderness In Our Own Spiritual Lives And Enter Into A Season Of Victory.

To Call Yourself A Child Of God Is One Thing. To Be Called A Child Of God By Those Who Watch Your Life Is Another Thing Altogether.

Conflict Is Inevitable But Combat Is Optional.

Compassion In Evangelical Churches Is Out Of Balance. When I Talk About It, I Get A Lot Of Glazed Expressions.

Forgiveness 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.

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.

Does The Presence Of Pain Mean The Absence Of God? I Try To Help People See That God Uses Pain, That Pain Is One Of The Ways God Shapes Us Into The Kind Of Beings He Wants Us To Be For Eternity.

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

Has Worrying About Tomorrow Every Changed It?

Peace Happens When People Pray. "cast All Your Anxiety On Him Because He Cares For You" Casting Is An Intentional Act To Relocate An Object. Let This "throwing" Be Your First Response To Bad News. As You Sense Anxiety Welling Up Inside You, Cast It In The Direction Of Christ. Do So Specifically And Immediately. Find A Promise Of God That Fits Your Problem, And Build Your Prayer Around It. These Prayers Of Faith Touch The Heart Of God And Activate The Angels Of Heaven. Miracles Are Set Into Motion. Your Answer May Not Come Overnight, But It Will Come. And You Will Overcome.

Waiting Is A Sustained Effort To Stay Focused On God Through Prayer And Belief.

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

If Jesus Heals Instantly, Praise Him. If Jesus Heals Gradually, Trust Him. When Jesus Heals Ultimately, You Will Understand.

Thats Usually What I Gravitate To, I Read The Perfect Storm, Then I Read Into Thin Air .

Our God Is Abundant In Love And Steadfast In Mercy. He Saves Us, Not Because We Trust In A Symbol, But Because We Trust In A Savior.

You Present A Challenge To Satan's Plan. You Carry Something Of God Within You, Something Noble And Holy, Something The World Needs - Wisdom, Kindness, Mercy, Skill. If Satan Can Neutralize You, He Can Mute Your Influence.

What Causes Us To Think Of Prayer As The Last Option Rather Than The First? I Can Think Of Two Reasons: Feelings Of Independence And Feelings Of Insignificance.

All My Books Come Out Of Sermons, And I'm Really A Pastor Who Writes Rather Than A Writer Who Pastors.

If You Are 8 Hours A Day In A Job You Hate, You're Not Going To Be A Very Good Spouse; It Can Contribute To Chemical Dependency, Financial Mismanagement.

Yes, Your Family History Has Some Sad Chapters. But Your History Doesn't Have To Be Your Future. The Generational Garbage Can Stop Here And Now.

I Think "creative Preaching" Is Redundant.

Be Gone, Sorrow, Sickness, Wheelchairs, And Cancer! Enough Of You, Screams Of Fear And Nights Of Horror! Death, You Die! Life, You Reign!

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

If 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.

One Of The Secrets In Life Is That We Really Lead A Better Life When We're Living For Others Than We Do When We're Living For Ourselves, And I Think That's The Way For Our Creator Intended For It To Be, Is That If We Can Live For Other People, We Really Leave This World In A Different Way.

The One Who Saved Your Soul Longs To Remake Your Heart. Let's Fix Our Eyes On Jesus. Perhaps In Seeing Him, We Will See What We Can Become!

Jesus Will Press His Thumb Against The Cheek Of Humanity And Wipe Away All Tears.

I 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.

From My Perspective, Most Of My Life Has Been Dealing With The Day-to-day, Kitchen-to-bedroom-to-living-room-to-garage Life With People. Most People Are Just Trying To Figure Out How To Love The People In Their World, To Love Their God And To Deal With Some Of These Questions About God.

Not Everybody Can Create A Foundation That's Worth A Billion Dollars, But All Of Us Can Figure Out Those Things We Do. I Really Think God Loves Us Too Much To Give Us An Assignment We Don't Enjoy Doing.

The Next Time You Find Yourself Alone In A Dark Alley Facing The Undeniables Of Life, Don't Cover Them With A Blanket, Or Ignore Them With A Nervous Grin. Don't Turn Up The Tv And Pretend They Aren't There. Instead, Stand Still, Whisper His Name, And Listen. He Is Nearer Than You Think.

Don't You Need A Fountain Of Love That Won't Run Dry? You'll Find One On A Stone-cropped Hill Outside Jerusalem's Walls Where Jesus Hangs, Cross-nailed And Thorn-crowned. When You Feel Unloved, Ascend This Mount. Meditate Long And Hard On Heaven's Love For You.

Our Kids Were God's Kids First... We Tend To Forget This Fact, Regarding Our Children As "our" Children, As Though We Have The Final Say In Their Health And Welfare. We Don't. All People Are God's People, Including The Small People Who Sit At Our Tables.

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.

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