Max Lucado

Our Heavenly Father Will Help

Listen to Today's Devotion In his fine book, The Dance of Hope, Bill Frey remembers the day he tried to pull a stump out of the Georgia dirt. One of his chores as a 12 year-old was to search for stumps of pine trees that had been cut down and chop them into kindling. But there was one root system he just couldn’t pull out of the ground. He was still struggling when his father came over to watch. “I think I see your problem,” the dad said. “What’s that?” the son asked. “You’re not using all your strength.” Bill exploded and told him how hard he’d been working. “No,” the dad said. “You’re not using all your strength.” When Bill cooled down, he asked what his father meant and the dad said, “You haven’t asked me to help you.” You don’t have to do it alone, friend. Present the challenge to your father and ask for help. Will he solve the issue? Yes, he will. Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Turn to Your Father

Listen to Today's Devotion We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath!  This was the reassuring message from the miracle of the bread and fish.  In an event crafted to speak to the anxious heart, Jesus told his disciples to do the impossible: feed five thousand people. You aren’t facing five thousand hungry bellies, but you are facing a deadline in two days, a loved one in need of a cure. On one hand you have a problem. On the other you have a limited quantity of wisdom, patience, or time.  Typically, you’d get anxious. You’d tell God, “You’ve given me too much to handle.” This time, instead of starting with what you have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Turn to your Father for help! Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

God’s Near Presence

Listen to Today's Devotion God repeatedly pledges his presence to his people. To Abram, God said, “Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1 NKJV). God told Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NIV). In the ultimate declaration of communion, God called himself Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” He became flesh. He became sin. He defeated the grave. He is still with us. In the form of his Spirit, he comforts, teaches, and convicts. Don’t assume God is watching from a distance. Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret. Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath. And because the Lord is near, we can be anxious for nothing! Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Pursue Gentleness

Listen to Today's Devotion How many disasters have been averted because one person refused to buckle under the strain? It’s this kind of composure Paul is summoning when he says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:5-6 NIV). The Greek word translated here as “gentleness” describes a temperament that’s seasoned and mature.  It envisions an attitude fitting to the occasion, levelheaded and tempered. This gentleness is “evident to all.” Family members take note. Your friends sense a difference. Coworkers benefit from it.  The gentle person is sober minded and clear thinking. The contagiously calm person is the one who reminds others God is in control. Pursue this gentleness. The Lord is near. You are not alone. You may feel alone. You may think you’re alone. But there is never a moment in which you face life without help. God is near—be anxious for nothing! Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

God’s Providence

Listen to Today's Devotion Sometime ago I made a special visit to the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. I wanted to see the handwritten lyrics that hang on the wall, framed and visible for all to see. Horatio Spafford wrote them, never imagining they would become the words to one of the world’s best-loved hymns. On December 2, 1873, he received a telegram from his wife that began, “Saved alone. What shall I do?” The ship she was on had collided with another ship and had sunk. Their four daughters drowned and Anna survived.  While sailing on the ship to bring her home, Spafford wrote the lyrics to a song that would become an anthem to the providence of God. “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say…It is Well with My Soul!” Read more Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.