UpWords with Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

A Little Over a Lifetime

by Max Lucado

Will I learn what God intends?  If I listen, I will.  A little girl returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, "Did you learn anything?" "I guess not," the girl responded.  "I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next day. . ."

Such is the case with learning. And such is the case with Bible study.

Understanding comes a little at a time over a lifetime. James said:  "The man who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of doing so is not the man who hears and forgets.  He puts that law into practice and wins true happiness." (James 1:25).

The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried.  Proverbs 2:4 says to "search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure."

And we need to do it today, and the next day, and the next....

From Just Like Jesus

[Judy Harder]

Our Memory

by Max Lucado

There's a direct correlation between the accuracy of our memory and the effectiveness of our mission.  If we're not teaching people how to be saved, it's perhaps because we've forgotten the tragedy of being lost. If we're not teaching the message of forgiveness, it may be because we don't remember what it was like to be guilty. And if we're not preaching the cross, it could be that we've subconsciously decided that—God forbid—somehow we don't need it.

In what is perhaps the last letter Paul ever wrote, he begged Timothy not to forget. He urged Timothy to "Remember Jesus Christ—raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel. . ." (2 Timothy 2:.

When times get hard, when people don't listen, when tears come,  when disappointment is your bed partner, when fear pitches its tent in your front yard, when death looms, when shame weighs heavily... always remember Jesus!

[Judy Harder]

What's Done is Done

by Max Lucado

What do you do with your failures? Could you do it all over again, you'd do it differently. You'd be more patient. You'd control your tongue. You'd finish what you started. You'd get married first. But as many times as you tell yourself, "What's done is done," what you did can't be undone.

That's part of what the apostle Paul meant when he said, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23). He didn't say, "The wages of sin is a bad mood."  Or "The wages of sin is a hard day." Read it again.  "The wages of sin is death."  Sin is fatal.

What do you do?  Don't we all long for a father who will love us?  A father who cares for us in spite of our failures? We have that kind of a father.  A father whose grace is strongest when our devotion is weakest.  Your failures are not fatal, my friend!

[Judy Harder]

What We Do to Him

by Max Lucado • March 29

How we treat others is how we treat Jesus.

The soldiers bowed before Jesus, making fun of him, saying 'Hail, King of the Jews!'  They spat on Jesus.  They began to beat him on the head.  Then they led him away to be crucified." (Mark 15:18-19).

The soldiers' assignment was simple.  Take the Nazarene to the hill and kill him.  But they wanted to have some fun first.  Strong, armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead Galilean carpenter and beat up on him. The beating was commanded.  The crucifixion was ordered.  But the spitting?  Spitting isn't intended to hurt the body—it can't.  Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does.

Ever done that?  Maybe you haven't spit on anyone, but have you gossiped?  Raised your hand in anger?  Ever made someone feel bad so you would feel good? Our Lord explained this truth in Matthew 25:40:  How we treat others is how we treat Jesus!

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

From He Chose the Nails

[Judy Harder]

God's Workshop

by Max Lucado

I remember knowing kids whose fathers were quite successful. One was a judge. The other a prominent physician. I attended church with the son of the mayor. "My father has an office at the courthouse," he could claim. Guess what you can claim? "My Father rules the universe!""

Scripture says, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies announce what his hands have made."  (Psalm 19:1) Nature is God's workshop. The sky is his resume. You want to know who God is? See what he has done. You want to know his power? Take a look at his creation.

How vital that we pray, armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. Pray with any lesser conviction and your prayers are timid, shallow, and hollow. But spend some time walking in the workshop of the heavens. Seeing what God has done—seeing what your Father has done and watch how your prayers are energized!

[Judy Harder]

Just for You
by Max Lucado

Behold the sun!  Every square yard of it is constantly emitting 130,000 horse power, the equivalent of 450 eight-cylinder car engines.  Consider the earth! Our globe's weight is estimated at six sextillion tons—that's a six with 21 zeros!  Yet it's precisely tilted at twenty-three degrees or our seasons would be lost in a melted polar flood.

If God is able to place the stars in their sockets and suspend the sky like a curtain—do you think it remotely possible God is able to guide your life? Could it be He is mighty enough to light your path? Jesus said, "Look at the birds in the air.  They don't plant or harvest or store into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them.  Why do you worry about clothes?"  (Matthew 6:26).

Next time a sunrise steals your breath, say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it?  I did it just for you!"
from The Great House of God

[Judy Harder]

Only You and God

by Max Lucado

When I lived in Brazil I took my mom and her friend to see Iguacu Falls, the largest water falls in the world. I'd become an expert by reading an article in National Geographic magazine. Surely, I thought, my guests would appreciate their good fortune in having me as their guide.

To reach the lookout point, you must walk a winding trail that leads through a forest.  I used the time to give a nature report to my mom and her friend. I caught myself speaking louder and louder.  Finally I was shouting above the roar.  Even my mother would rather see the splendor than hear my description.  So, I shut my mouth.

There are times when to speak is to violate the moment.  When silence represents the highest respect. The word for such times is reverence.  The prayer for such times is "Hallowed be Thy name!" (Matthew 6:9).

from The Great House of God 

[Judy Harder]

Dealing with Debt
by Max Lucado

Doesn't someone owe you an apology? A second chance? An explanation? A thank you? A childhood? A marriage? Your parents should have been more protective. Your children should have been more appreciative. Your spouse should be more sensitive. What are you going to do? Few questions are more important.

Dealing with debt is at the heart of your happiness. Jesus speaks of the grace we should share. He says: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14).

It reminds me of the story of a huge grizzly bear in the center of Yellowstone Park feeding on discarded camp food. No one dared draw near. Except a skunk who walked toward the food and took his place next to the grizzly. The bear didn't object. He knew the high cost of getting even! We'd be wise to learn the same thing.

[Judy Harder]

Dealing with Debt
by Max Lucado

Doesn't someone owe you an apology? A second chance? An explanation? A thank you? A childhood? A marriage? Your parents should have been more protective. Your children should have been more appreciative. Your spouse should be more sensitive. What are you going to do? Few questions are more important.

Dealing with debt is at the heart of your happiness. Jesus speaks of the grace we should share. He says: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14).

It reminds me of the story of a huge grizzly bear in the center of Yellowstone Park feeding on discarded camp food. No one dared draw near. Except a skunk who walked toward the food and took his place next to the grizzly. The bear didn't object. He knew the high cost of getting even! We'd be wise to learn the same thing.

[Judy Harder]

Chocolate Ice Cream or Okra?

by Max Lucado

Jesus said:  "The way you give to others is the way God will give to you." (Luke 6:38).

It's as if God sends you to purchase your neighbor's groceries.  "Whatever you get your neighbor, get also for yourself."  I'm crazy about double-chocolate ice cream, so I buy my neighbor double-chocolate ice cream.  But suppose your neighbor's trash blows into your yard.  He's in no rush—says he'll get to it next week.

You're just about to have a talk when God reminds you, "Time to go to the market and buy your neighbor's groceries." You march right past the double-chocolate ice cream toward the okra and rice. You drive back and drop the sack in the lap of your lazy, good-for-nothing neighbor. "Have a good dinner."

The next time you go to your pantry, guess what you find? What will you be eating?  Chocolate ice cream or okra?  It's up to you.

from The Great House of God