Suppose you give me a gift. Let’s say you present me with a new tie. I take it out of the box, examine it and say thank you, and then reach for my wallet. “Now, how much do I owe you?” I ask.

You think I’m kidding. “It’s a gift,” you say, “you don’t need to pay me.”
“I understand,” I respond, but show I really don’t by asking, “Could I write you a check?”

In trying to buy your gift, I’ve degraded your grace. I’ve robbed you of the joy of giving. How often we rob God. Have you considered what an insult it is to God when we try to pay him for his goodness? Sly is the scheme of Satan! He causes us to question grace, to earn it. What is it God wants us to do? Just believe…believe the One he sent. And receive the gift he gives. “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29 - Max Lucado ... See more

It was a tense deacon’s meeting. Apparently there was more agitation than agreement, and after a lengthy discussion someone suggested, “Why don’t we pray about it?” To which another questioned, “Has it come to that?”

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. We think, God doesn’t want to hear my problems. He’s got famine and the Mafia to deal with. I don’t want to trouble him with my mess. The last thing you should worry about is being a nuisance to God. If that’s your thought, may I share with you a favorite verse of mine? “Because He delights in me, He saved me” (Psalm 18:19).

God can live anywhere in the universe and he chose your heart. He’s crazy about you! Why don’t you talk to him? - Max Lucado ... See more

God is more patient with us than we are with ourselves. We assume if we fall, we aren’t born again. If we have the old desires, we must not be a new creation. If you’re anxious please remember what Paul said in Philippians 1:6, “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.”

In many ways your new birth is like your first. In your new birth God provides what you need; someone else feels the pain, and someone else does the work. And just as parents are patient with their newborn, so God is patient with you. But there’s one difference. The first time you had no choice about being born. This time you do. The power is God’s. The effort is God’s. The pain is God’s. But the choice is yours - Max Lucado ... See more

I had planned to nap during my trip. But the fellow next to me had other ideas! Knowing I couldn’t sleep, I opened my Bible.

“What ya’ studying there, buddy?” I told him, but he never heard.

“The church is lost,” he declared. “Hellbound and heartsick. Christians are asleep. They don’t pray. They don’t love. They don’t care.” And with that he began listing all the woes and weaknesses of the church.

I shouldn’t have let it bug me, but it did. God’s faithfulness has never depended on the faithfulness of his children. He is faithful even when we are not. When we lack courage, he doesn’t.

I’ll probably never see that proclaimer of pessimism again, but if you do, will you give him a message for me? God’s blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith. That’s what makes God…God! And that is what makes the church strong - Max Lucado ... See more