Max Lucado

Your Worst Fears

Listen to Today's Devotion What’s your worst fear? Jesus did more than speak about fear. He faced it. In Mark 14:35-36, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane’s garden, “Abba, Father,’ everything is possible for you.  Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet, I want your will to be done, not mine” (NLT). The cup equaled Jesus’ worst-case scenario— to be the recipient of God’s wrath, to experience isolation from his Father. And what Jesus did with his fear shows us what to do with ours. He prayed.  He even requested the prayer support of friends. Jesus’ prayer was brief. It was straightforward and trusting. Do likewise.  Be specific about your fears.  Call them out in prayer.  Make them stand before God and take their comeuppance! Read more Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Keep Your Gaze on Jesus

Listen to Today's Devotion “‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come'” (Matthew 14:28-29 NKJV). For a few heart-stilling moments described in Matthew 14 Peter did the impossible. He defied every law of gravity and nature. Then he shifted his attention away from Jesus, and he sank like a brick. Give the storm waters more attention than the Storm Walker, and get ready to do the same. We can’t choose whether or not storms come. But we can choose where we stare during a storm. Do whatever it takes to keep your gaze on Jesus. Courage is always a possibility. Feed your fears, and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will starve. Storms are not an option, but fear is. Read more Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Look for Jesus in the Storm

Listen to Today's Devotion Peter and his fellow storm riders knew they were in trouble. According to Matthew 14:24-26, “But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.” About 4:00 a.m. the unspeakable happened. They spotted someone walking on the water. “‘A ghost!’ they said, crying out in terror!” They didn’t expect Jesus to come to them this way. Neither do we. We expect to find Jesus in morning devotionals, church suppers, and meditation. We never expect to see him in a storm. But that’s where he does his finest work, for it is in storms that he has our keenest attention. He said. “Take courage; I am here” (Matthew 14:27 NLT). Look over your shoulder friend; that’s God following you. Look into the storm friend; that’s Christ coming toward you. Read more Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

God’s Heart for Hurting Parents

Listen to Today's Devotion Jairus heard two voices and had to choose which one to heed. The first, from the servants in Luke 8:49, “Your daughter is dead.”  The second, from Jesus in verse 50, “Don’t be afraid.” We need to know what Jesus will do when we entrust our kids to him. In the case of the story of Jairus, Jesus united the household (vs. 51).  “…he let only Peter, John, James, and the girl’s father and mother go inside with him.”  Next, he banished unbelief, the scoffers. “He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise” (vs. 54 NKJV). God has a heart for hurting parents.  After all, God himself is a father. Keep giving your child to God, and in the right time and the right way, God will give your child back to you. Read more Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Entrust Children to Christ

Listen to Today's Devotion Fear turns some parents into paranoid prison guards who monitor every minute and check the background of every friend.  A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. On the other hand, fear can also create permissive parents.  Fearing that their child will feel too confined or fenced in, they are high on hugs and low on discipline.  They don’t realize that appropriate discipline is an expression of love. Permissive parents.  Paranoid parents.  How can we avoid the extremes?  We pray. Jesus’ big message to moms and dads?  Bring your children to me. Pray that your children have a profound sense of place in this world and a heavenly place in the next. Parents, we can entrust our kids to Christ. Read more Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.