UpWords with Max Lucado

[Judy Harder]

Trash Talk
by Max Lucado

The Garbage Project was conducted by a researcher convinced we can learn a lot from the trash dumps of the world.  He was called a garbologist! What's it like to be a "garbologist?" When he gives a speech, is it referred to as "trash talk?" Are his business trips called "junkets?" Though I prefer to leave the dirty work to the garbologist, his attitude toward trash intrigues me.

Suppose we changed the way we view the garbage that comes our way? The days that a dumpster couldn't hold all the garbage we face: hospital bills, divorce papers, pay cuts. What do you do when an entire truck of sorrow is dumped on you? Jesus said, "If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar." (Matthew 6:22-23 MSG).

How we look at life–even the garbage of life–determines how we live life!

[Judy Harder]

God Adopts Us

by Max Lucado

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us! It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more.  He gives you his name.  It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came.  In fact sometimes the child came with no decision.  I've heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I've never heard of an unplanned adoption.

If anybody understands God's ardor for his children, it's someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home!

from The Great House of God

[Judy Harder]

At Once, Man and God

by Max Lucado

Christ—at once, man and God.  Colossians 2:9 says, "For in Christ there is all of God in a human body." Jesus was not a godlike man, nor a manlike God.  He was God-man. What do we do with such a person? One thing is certain, we can't ignore Him.  He is the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; He is the entire league. The head of the parade?  Hardly.  No one else shares the street.

Dismiss Him?  We can't.  Resist Him?  Equally difficult.

Don't we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us.  A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch.  Strong enough to trust.  A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.

As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8, nothing compares to "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

[Judy Harder]

The Names of God
by Max Lucado

In the three years as I came to know my wife, Denalyn, our relationship evolved. And with each change came a new name.  She went from acquaintance to friend to eye-popping beauty to date to fiancée and wife. Now she is confidante, mother of my children, life-long partner.  The more I know her the more names I give her.

And the more God's people came to know him, the more names they gave him.  Elohim, strong one or creator.  Jehovah-raah, a caring shepherd. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. These are just a few of the names of God which describe his character.  Study them, for in a given day, you may need each one of them.

God, the shepherd who leads, the Lord who provides, the voice who brings peace in the storm, the physician who heals the sick, the banner that guides. And most of all... He Is!

[Judy Harder]

Your Middle C
by Max Lucado

When author Lloyd Douglas attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse with a retired music professor who lived on the first floor. Douglas would stick his head in the door and ask, "Well, what's the good news?" The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his chair and say, "That's middle C.  It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now.  The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!"

You and I need a middle C.  A still point in a turning world.  An unchanging Shepherd. A God who can still the storm.  A Lord who can declare the meaning of life.  And according to David in Psalm 23—you have one. The Lord is your shepherd!  He is your middle C!

[Judy Harder]

A Spiritual MRI

What would an X-ray—an MRI—of your soul reveal?  Regrets over teenage relationships?  Remorse over a poor choice?  You become moody, cranky.  You're angry, irritable.  Understandable, you have shame lodged in your soul.

Interested in an extraction?  Confess.  Request a spiritual MRI.  Psalm 139: 23-24 is just that:

"Search me, O God and know my heart;
try me, and know my anxieties;
and see if there's any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."

We need a prayer of grace-based confession.

God, I've done what you say is wrong. 
Would you wash away my guilt and make me clean again.

No chant or candle needed.  Just an honest prayer of confession.  Try it!

From GRACE

[Judy Harder]

He Leads
by Max Lucado

Worrying is one job you can't farm out, but you can overcome it. There's no better place to begin than in Psalm 23:2  "He leads me beside the still waters," David declares. "He leads me."  God isn't behind me, yelling, "Go!"  He's ahead of me bidding, "Come!"  He's in front, clearing the path, cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks, He warns, "Watch your step there."

Isn't this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day. But He told them to collect only one day's supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

God is leading you! Leave tomorrow's problems until tomorrow!

From Traveling Light

[Judy Harder]

One Step is Enough
by Max Lucado

Arthur Hays Sulzberger was the publisher of the New York Times during the Second World War. Because of all the world conflict, he found it almost impossible to sleep.  He was never able to set aside worries from his mind—until he adopted as his motto these five words, "one step enough for me." He took it from the old hymn, "Lead Kindly Light."

Lead, kindly light. . .
Keep Thou my feet;  I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

God isn't going to let you see the distant scene either. So you might as well quit looking for it. God does promise a lamp for our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We don't need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know that Hebrews 4:16 promises  "we will find grace to help us when we need it."

From Traveling Light

[Judy Harder]

God Hates Arrogance

by Max Lucado

Proverbs 16:18 reminds us as humility goes before honor, "pride goes before a fall."

Ever wonder why churches are powerful in one generation but empty the next? The Bible says, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud. God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven't done anything to be arrogant about. Is there a Pulitzer for ink? Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant?  Of course not. They are only tools. So are we. We may be the canvas, the paper, or the scalpel, but we are not the one who deserve the applause.

David declares who does in Psalm 23, "He makes me, He leads me, He restores my soul... for His name's sake." For His name's sake! No other name. This is all done for God's glory. He takes the credit, not because He needs it, but because He knows we cannot handle it!

From Traveling Light

[Judy Harder]

God Loves Humility

by Max Lucado

God loves humility!  Could that be the reason He offers so many tips on cultivating it?

May I (ahem) humbly articulate a few? Do you want to be humble?  Assess yourself honestly.  Don't take success too seriously. Celebrate the significance of others. Don't demand your own parking place. Never announce your success before it occurs. Speak humbly. One last thought to foster humility. Live at the foot of the cross.

Paul said in Galatians 6:14:  "The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging." Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self-esteem need attention? You don't need to drop names or show off. You need only to pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this:  The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that's a fact.  So if you need to brag, brag about that!

from Traveling Light