One day it dawned on me.  I had become the very thing I hate–  a hypocrite.  

A pretender.  Two-faced. I’d written sermons about people like me. Christians who care more about their appearance than integrity.

I knew what I needed to do.  I’d written sermons about that too!  1 John 1:8-9 says,

“If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins because we can trust God to do what is right.”

I needed to confess. What is confession?  Well confession is not complaining.  If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining. Confession is a radical reliance upon grace.

Maybe you need to do what I’ve done in the last few days.  You just need to confess.  God will hear your confession.  And in your confession you will find a wonder of God’s grace.  You see grace creates an honest confession.  And then his great grace, receives it.

By Max Lucado
used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
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Read more GRACE

FURTHER READING

Grace to Keep on Yielding

Lavish Grace

God’s Grace

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The secret to loving is living loved. It’s the forgotten first step in relationships. Remember Paul’s prayer? “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love” (Ephesians 3:17 NLT).

Many people tell us to love. Only God gives us the power to do so. We know what God wants us to do. “This is what God commands. . .that we love each other.”  (1 John 3:23). But how can we? How can we be kind to those who are unkind to us? How can we love as God loves? By being loved. By following the principle: receive first and love second. God loves you personally…powerfully…passionately! He loves you with an unfailing love. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded!

By Max Lucado
Used by Permission
From: A Love Worth Giving

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

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God moves us forward by healing our past!   Can he really? 

Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?  Of course He can.  In fact, God cares about justice more than we do.  We’re reminded in Romans 12:17-19, “Never pay back evil for evil…never avenge yourselves.  Leave that to God, for He has said that He will repay those who deserve it.”

We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished.  Escape to Fiji and sip mai tais on the beach.  Not to worry.  Scripture says, “God will repay,” not “God might repay.”  God will execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness.  Unlike us, God never gives up on a person.  Never!  Long after we’ve moved on, God is still there– probing the conscience; stirring conviction; always orchestrating redemption.  Think you need to fix your enemies?  That’s God’s job.

By Mas Lucado
Used by permission

From:  You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Turbulent Times
learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

FURTHER READING

Why Worry Yourself Sick? – by Muriel Larson

Did You Know that You are Someone Special?

A Poem of Hope

Reasons to be Thankful

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You will never go where God is not! Envision the next few hours of your life. Where will you find yourself? In a school? God indwells the classroom. On the highways? His presence lingers among the traffic. In the hospital, the boardroom, the living room, the funeral home? God will be there.

Acts 17:27 says, “He is not far from each one of us.” Each of us. God doesn’t play favorites. All people can enjoy God’s presence. But many don’t. They plod through life as if their only strength was their own. As if their only solution comes from within and not from above. They live God-less lives. Lay claim to the nearness of God. Grip God’s promise like the parachute it is. Repeat it to yourself over and over: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

By Max Lucado
used by permission
From: You’ll Get Through This

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
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FURTHER READING

In His Presence

Living in God’s Presence

My Life Has Purpose

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A wall of water eclipsed Peter’s view. A wind gust snapped the mast with a crack. Peter shifted his attention away from Jesus and toward the storm, and when he did, he sank like a brick in a pond. Give the storm more attention than the Storm Walker and get ready to do the same. Whether or not storms come, we cannot choose. But where we stare during a storm, we can.

God’s call to courage is not a call to naïveté or ignorance. We aren’t to be oblivious to the overwhelming challenges that life brings. We are to counterbalance them with long looks at God’s accomplishments. The scripture says, “We must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1 NASB).

Today, do whatever it takes to keep your gaze on Jesus.

By Max Lucado
Used by Permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

Further Reading

•   When Confusion Prevails
•  What a Friend We Have in Jesus
•  Salvation Explained

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The first miracle of Jesus was at a wedding—no small event.  For several days, there was gift-giving, speech making, food-eating, and wine-drinking.   Hospitality was a sacred duty  The absence of wine was a social embarrassment.  Mary asks her son to help, and he tells her that his “time has not yet come.” But he changed his plan to meet the needs of his friends.

This miracle tells us that what matters to you matters to God. You are his child.  So go ahead. Tell God what hurts.  He won’t turn you away or think it’s silly.  Hebrews 4:15-16 says,

“For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses…Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace.”

Does God care about the little things in our lives?  You better believe it.

By Max Lucado
used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

From: He Still Moves Stones

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

FURTHER READING

Attributes of God

God is Thinking about You

Father God’s Intimate Love Letter to You

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John didn’t know on that Friday what you and I now know. He didn’t know that Friday’s tragedy would be Sunday’s triumph. John would later confess that he “did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead. John 20:9

That’s why what he did on Saturday is so important.

We don’t know anything about this day; we have no passage to read, no knowledge to share. All we know is this: When  Sunday came, John was still present. When Mary Magdalene came looking for him, she found him.

Jesus was dead. The Master’s body was lifeless. John’s friend and future were buried. But John had not left. Why? Was he waiting for the resurrection? No. As far as he knew, the lips were forever silent and the hands forever still. He wasn’t expecting a Sunday surprise. Then why was he here?

You’d think he would have left. Who was to say that the men who crucified Christ wouldn’t come after him? The crowds were pleased with one crucifixion; the religious leaders might have called for more. Why didn’t John get out of town?

Perhaps the answer was pragmatic; perhaps he was taking care of Jesus’ mother. Or perhaps he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Could be he didn’t have any money or energy or direction – or all of the above.

Or maybe he lingered because he loved Jesus.

To others, Jesus was a miracle worker. To others, Jesus was a master teacher. To others, Jesus was the hope of Israel. But to John, he was all of these and more. To John, Jesus was a friend.

You don’t abandon a friend, not even when that friend is dead. John stayed close to Jesus.

He had a habit of doing this. He was close to Jesus in the upper room. He was close to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was at the foot of the cross at the crucifixion, and he was a quick walk from the tomb at the burial.

Did he understand Jesus? No.

Was he glad Jesus did what he did? No.

But did he leave Jesus? No.

What about you? When you’re in John’s position, what do you do? When it’s Saturday in your life, how do you react? When you are somewhere between yesterday’s tragedy and tomorrow’s triumph, what do you do? Do you leave God’ – or do you linger near him?

John chose to linger. And because he lingered on Saturday, he was around on Sunday to see the miracle.

By Max Lucado
From: He Chose the Nails
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about/

photo credit: Christopher Brown. Creative Commons license.

FURTHER READING

• The Easter Story – the story of Christ’s death and resurrection
• Who’s Got the Body?   A short, documented examination of evidences for Jesus’ resurrection.  By Rusty Wright
• Jesus has Forgiven you, but Have you forgiven Yourself ?

Easter Poems:

• When I say… “I am a Christian”
• The Light of the World

The post On Saturday appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.”  1 Corinthians 12:7 MSG

Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you. He custom designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment. Mine like a gold digger the unique-to-you nuggets from your life.

When I was six years old, my father built us a house. Architectural Digest didn’t notice, but my mom sure did. Dad constructed it, board by board, every day after work. My youth didn’t deter him from giving me a job. He tied an empty nail apron around my waist, placed a magnet in my hands, and sent me on daily patrols around the building site, carrying my magnet only inches off the ground.

One look at my tools and you could guess my job. Stray-nail collector.

One look at yours and the same can be said. Brick by brick, life by life, God is creating a kingdom, a ‘spiritual house’ (1 Peter 2:5 CEV). He entrusted you with a key task in the project. Examine your tools and discover them. Your ability unveils your destiny. “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). When God gives an assignment, he also gives the skill. Study your skills, then, to reveal your assignment.

Look at you. Your uncanny ease with numbers. Your quenchless curiosity about chemistry. Others stare at blueprints and yawn; you read them and drool. “I was made to do this,” you say.

Heed that inner music. No one else hears it the way you do.

What about you? Our Maker gives assignments to people, “to each according to each one’s unique ability” (Matthew 25:15). As he calls, he equips. Look back over your life. What have you consistently done well? What have you loved to do? Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.

You have one. A divine spark.  An uncommon call to an uncommon life. “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (1 Corinthians. 12:7 CEV). So much for the excuse “I don’t have anything to offer.” Did the apostle Paul say, “The Spirit has given some of us“  Or, “The Spirit has given a few of us.” No. “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others”  Enough of this self-deprecating ‘I can’t do anything.’

And enough of its arrogant opposite: “I have to do everything.” No, you don’t! You’re not God’s solution to society, but a solution in society. Imitate Paul, who said, “Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us” (2 Corinthians 10:13 NLT). Clarify your contribution.

Don’t worry about skills you don’t have. Don’t covet strengths others do have. Just extract your uniqueness. “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you.” (2 Timothy. 1:6 NASB).

By Max Lucado
From: Cure for the Common Life:
used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://www.maxlucado.com/about/

FURTHER READING

What is in Your Hands

Hand Picked

Called

The post An Uncommon Call to an Uncommon Life appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Jesus not only did a work for us; he does a work in us! Colossians 1:27 tells us, The mystery in a nutshell is just this – Christ is in you. He commands our hands and feet, requisitions our minds and tongues. Romans 8:29 declares,

“He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.”

We’ll never be sinless, but we will sin less. And when we do sin, we have this assurance: the grace that saved us also preserves us. We may lose our tempers, our perspective, and our self-control. But we never lose our hope. Scripture promises

“He is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!” (Jude 24).

By Max Lucado
Used by permission
From: Because of Bethlehem

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

FURTHER READING

• God is with me—even in the Dark

• The Living Word Inside Me Makes the Difference

• Poem: Will They See You in Me?

The post Christ is in You appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Do you know anyone who is wounded and afraid? Do you know anyone who is guilty and embarrassed? Do you know anyone who needs a cloak of love? “Love covers a multitude of sins,” the scripture says in 1 Peter 4:8. Love doesn’t expose. It doesn’t gossip. If love says anything, love speaks words of defense. Words of kindness. Words of protection.

Do you know anyone who could use some protection? Of course you do. Then give some. Pay a gas bill for a struggling elderly couple. Promise your kids that, God being your helper, they’ll never know a hungry day or a homeless night. Tell your husband that you’d do it all over again and invite him on a honeymoon. Make sure your divorced friends are invited to your parties. Do you know anyone who needs a cloak of love? Then, give it.

By Max Lucado
Used by Permission
From: A Love Worth Giving

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

FURTHER READING

He Grants Protection and Serenity

Surrounded by God’s Protection

God’s Protection

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“His name will be…Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NCV)

Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious One in a human womb.

The Omnipotent, in one instant, made Himself breakable.  He who had been Spirit became pierceable.  He who was larger than the universe became an embryo.  And He who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.

God had come near.

By Max Lucado
From: Everyday Blessings
Used by permission

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about/

FURTHER READING

More Christmas Articles
New Year Articles

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In Matthew 1:23, God called himself, “Immanuel”—which means, God with us!

Not just “God made us.” Not just “God thinks about us.” Not just “God above us.” But God with us. God where we are. He breathed our air and walked this earth. God. . .with. . .us!

Bethlehem was just the beginning. Jesus has promised a repeat Performance. Bethlehem, act 2. No silent night this time, however. The skies will open, trumpets will blast, and a new kingdom will begin. He will empty the tombs and melt the winter of death. Death, you die! Life, you reign! The manger dares us to believe the best is yet to be. I love Christmas because it reminds us how “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God!”

By Max Lucado
Used by Permission
from “ Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God.

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:    
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

FURTHER READING

>> More Christmas Content

• The Christmas Story – the story of Jesus Birth
• Marvelous Love – A Story of a Mother’s Love
• The Gift of Forgiveness – A Christmas tree, an angry mom , regret and and forgiveness as adults

• ---

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