Max Lucado Quotations | Page 4

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.

We act like God's only good when the outcome is good. We say, 'We've got a good God because I've got a good job.' But what if I don't have a good job? Does that mean God's not good anymore?

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?

Where we might think of sin as slip-ups or missteps, God views sin as a godless attitude that leads to godless action.

Every time we equip the church with a verse, chapter or a story from the Bible, we're really placing another weapon in the hands of the Holy Spirit that He uses to challenge and strengthen the church. I think that's very important.

We need hope. There's nothing worse than to live a life of despair. For a person to have no hope just sucks the blue out of every sky.

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. “There is a rock of greed over here, Father. I can’t budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence? Its roots are long and deep. And may I show you some dry soil, too crusty for seed?” God’s seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared.

Let your failures refine you, not define you.

Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God.

Democracy is the right choice and is the greatest form of government ever created.

Don't quit. For if you do, you may miss the answer to your prayers.

Don't measure the size of the mountain; talk to the One who can move it.

You need someone to lift your spirits. You need someone to look you in the face and say, "This isn't the end. Don't give up. There is a better place than this. And I'll lead you there.

I think we pray, we make a clear-headed decision, and then we quit being so mean to each other. We've got to stop that.

Your requests change history because your prayers change God!

The purpose of the Bible is simply to proclaim God's plan to save His children.

Be a child again. Flirt. Giggle. Dip your cookies in your milk. Take a nap. Say you're sorry if you hurt someone. Chase a butterfly. Be a child again.

We've got to realize there's something bigger than who is in the White House. And that is the spirit of camaraderie and peace that keeps our nation together.

No one can pray and worry at the same time. When we worry, we aren't praying. When we pray, we aren't worrying.

Apple trees bear apples, wheat stalks produce wheat, and forgiven people forgive people.

Which would you prefer? To be king of the mountain for a day? Or to be a child of God for eternity?

God's solution is a prayer away!

The duty of the branch is to cling to the vine.

All I did was collect a few of the questions I've been asked through the years, write up a brief response and put them in this publication. As a pastor, you get asked questions and receive emails. Many of them I had answered, but just in conversation. So we kind of re-crafted the question and answered it. It turned out to be an interesting exercise. I hope it's encouraging for people.

Has worrying about tomorrow every changed it?

God loves us too much to indulge our every whim.

Is it possible for an unbaptized believer to be saved? Yes, definitely. Should every believer be baptized? Yes, definitely.

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks.

I've never really prided myself as being quick on my feet.

Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter

I choose faithfulness...Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that they father will not come home.

Scripture often reminds us that it's not enough to have ears - we must use them.

You are the only you God made... God made you and broke the mold.

Maybe you've had the experience where somebody's asked you a question and you give an answer, then later in the day you think, "Oh, I wish I'd said that!" I tend to journal these things and put the answers in sermons.

Don't be defined by your failures, be refined by them.

God's highest desire is not to make us rich, successful or popular. His goal is to make us His

The past does not have to be your prison. You have a voice in your destiny. You have a say in your life. You have a choice in the path you take.

It was a matter of going back through a lot of sermons and remembering the questions and conversations, where these ideas came from. So the book [Max on Life] is really kind of a second chance to answer these questions.

Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers.

I think the hardest one had to do with suffering. It had to do with all of our church members and friends passing through difficult times. Sometimes it's the global climate: tsunamis, earthquakes, radiation. I think these kinds of questions are absolutely the most difficult, yet we need to be ready to respond to them because we have to be able as pastors to walk people through these valleys, these tough times in their lives.

Christ entered our world. As a result, we can enter His.

When grace moves in... guilt moves out

To accept grace is to admit failure, a step we are hesitant to take. We opt to impress God with how good we are rather than confessing how great he is.

The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be.

We (Christians) are always in the presence of God. There is never a non-sacred moment! His presence never diminishes. Our awareness of His presence may falter, but the reality of His presence never changes.

You're never without hope, because you're never without prayer.

I think there is, not in the sense that I enjoy it, but that it's an important question. It's the question, "Does the presence of pain mean God doesn't care? Does God not love me anymore?" I think that's a very common connection we tend to make.

Here's what you need to keep in mind. You no longer have yesterday. You do not yet have tomorrow. You have only today. This is the day the Lord has made. Live in it.

Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as Heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you."

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.

God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way.

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?

The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint.

‎Mark it down: God loves you with an unearthly love. You can't win it by being winsome. You can't lose it by being a loser. But you can be blind enough to resist it

Mark it down. You will never go where God is not.

God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear you cry, and answer every question you ask.

My main concern is with the anxiety that has settled upon America.

When we put someone in our jail cell of hatred, we are stuck guarding the door.

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!

It's not about winning or losing, but love and respect.

To be active in a church social life or church activities or even a church mission to help the hungry or reach the poor, but really our dedication has to be born out of an infatuation with Jesus.

But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.

What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?

On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.

I noticed people would read these short articles I was assigned to write for our church bulletin and they would say, Boy, thats good stuff. I got letters from people around the country saying, Thats really good. And I thought, Is it really?

Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you.

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.

God does uncommon things through common people in common places.

God gives us people to love and things to use, not things to love and people to use.

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

Theres some inherently unique characteristics of Christianity, the chief of which is that Christianity teaches that we are saved by what Christ has done for us, instead of we are saved by what we do for God.

Want to snatch a day from the manacles of boredom? Do overgenerous deeds, acts beyond reimbursement. Kindness without compensation. Do a deed for which you cannot be repaid.

Jesus tends to his people individually. He personally sees to our needs. We all receive Jesus' touch. We experience his care.

After a hard day scrambling to find your way around in the world, it's assuring to come home to a place you know. God can be equally familiar to you. With time you can learn where to go for nourishment, where to hide for protection , where to turn for guidance. Just as your earthly house is a place of refuge, so God's house is a place of peace.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. God tapped humanity on its collective shoulder, "Pardon me," he said, and eternity interrupted time, divinity interrupted carnality, and heaven interrupted the earth in the form of a baby. Christianity was born in one big heavenly interruption.

I never told anybody I wanted to write, I kind of fell into it backwards.

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.

God's mercies are new every morning. Receive them.

He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future.

Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity.

I was never really lead by [my parents] and didnt sense any leading from the Lord to go into writing.

A few songs with Him might change the way you sing. Forever.

God has forgiven you; you'd be wise to do the same

I remember enjoying writing those, theres two clues of a gift: you enjoy doing it and people enjoy you doing it.

Of all the things you must earn in life, God's unending affection is not one of them. You have it.

God sees in you a masterpiece about to happen

There is something about keeping Him divine that keeps Him distant, packaged, predictable. But don't do it. For heaven's sake, don't. Let Him be as human as He intended to be. Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can He pull us out.

I have a great staff at the church; they protect me and allow me to focus on more of what I do best.

A little rain can straighten a flower stem. A little love can change a life.

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.

Worry divides the mind.

Let God have you, and let God love you - and don’t be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you’ve never heard and your feet learn to dance as never before.

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.

We have a place where we can take people when they come to us with questions so we're not just speaking out of our own opinion. We're really speaking to them out of an authoritative place, not because of what we discovered, but because of what God says.

It deeply concerns me that somebody who knows little or nothing about the Christian faith would hear Mr. Trump call himself a Christian and then make a decision based on the Christian faith, based on his behavior.

Our belief in God is not blind faith. Belief is having a firm conviction something is true, not hoping it's true.

When a Christian stops growing, help is needed. If you are the same Christian you were a few months ago, be careful.

Those who successfully go through tough times do so because they keep insisting.

I work in theology and Christian books all day long, when Im studying, so its just kind of nice to pick up something different. The books that have influenced me, theres not just one book that was a watershed, although Mere Christianity was as much as any.

Be quick to pray. Stop talking to yourself. Talk to Christ.