Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World (Kindle Location 867). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That’s a good thought isn’t?   I haven’t ever really stopped and tried to come up for a reason why that is true but Max has. He says, “Your future matters more than your past. God’s grace is greater than your sin. What you did was not good. But your God is good. And he will forgive you. He is ready to write a new chapter in your life. Say with Paul, ‘Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us’ (Phil. 3:13–14 TLB).” He then says, “Denalyn and I enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant the other night. About the same time we received our bill, we received a visit from a church member. He spotted us and came over to say hello. After we chatted for a moment, he rea...

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World (Kindle Location 608). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. We live in a world of anxiety, don’t we?   I mean, don’t you watch TV or read Facebook?       Max says, “So what do we do? Control everything? Never board a plane without a parachute. Never enter a restaurant without bringing your own clean silverware. Never leave the house without a gas mask. Never give away your heart for fear of a broken one. Never step on a crack lest you break your mother’s back. Face anxiety by taking control. If only we could.” He goes on, “That’s why the most stressed-out people are control freaks. They fail at the quest they most pursue. The more they try to control the world, the more they realize they cannot. Life becomes a cycle of anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure; anxiety, failure. We can’t take control because control is not ours to take.” He then says, “The...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life (p. 178). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’ve just been out walking by and looking at the Pacific Ocean and I’ve just had two things came to me: One, God sure does know how to create and two, he sure knows how to create big.   His Ocean is way bigger than the largest city in the world that we have created and way more beautiful.   And he also is the one who created you and me and he still is interested in us even though we possibly have messed up.   Erwin says, “I wonder how many times God has asked us, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ and in false humility, we stammered and said, ‘Whatever you want to do, Lord, is fine.’” He goes on, “The psalmist David tells us that we are to delight ourselves in the Lord and he will give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4). This means we need to kn...