Just Continue That Thought...

  A thought by Max Lucado, from his book,  Begin Again   (p. 9). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Max says, " The guide ahead of him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, weary and hot, asked in frustration, 'Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?' The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, 'I am the path.'" Max goes on, "We ask the same questions, don’t we? We ask God, 'Where are you taking me? Where is the path?' And he, like the guide, doesn’t tell us. Oh, he may give us a hint or two, but that’s all. If he did, would we understand? Would we comprehend our location? No, like the traveler, we are unacquainted with this jungle. So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself. "Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick.  &qu

A thought by Max Lucado, from his book,  Begin Again   (p. 7). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a very good question for some. Maybe you? Max says, " Though the answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind. "The first would be a person. Not just any person. You don’t need someone equally confused. You need someone who knows the way out. Someone you can trust. "And from him you need some vision. 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. You can begin again. There is a better place than this. And I’ll lead you there.' "And perhaps most important you need direction. If you have only a person but no renewed vision, all you have is company. If he has a vision but no direction, you have a dreamer for company. But if you have a person with direction—who can take you from this place to the right place—ah, then you h

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Begin Again   (pp. xii-xiii). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And maybe that is what you need? Max says, " Sometimes all we need is a little hope.  "That’s all Noah needed. And that’s what Noah received." He goes on, "The old sailor stares at the sun bisected by the horizon. One could hardly imagine a more beautiful sight. But he’d give this one and a hundred more for an acre of dry ground and a grove of grapes. Mrs. Noah’s voice reminds him that dinner is on the table and he should lock the hatch, and he’s just about to call it a day when he hears the cooing of the dove. This is how the Bible describes the moment: 'When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!' (Gen. 8:11). "An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to have the bird—but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise.

  A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 95). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) This is a great story. Max says, "Ask those who watched Kayla Montgomery run, and they will tell you that Kayla was a steady runner, a sturdy runner. Whip thin and determined, she was one of the fastest long-distance racers in the country. Trained eyes took note of her stride and strong finish. Her performance on the high school squad in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, caught the attention of coaches, competitors, and colleges. She set distance records, won state titles, competed in nationals, and eventually landed an athletic scholarship to Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. "Had you watched her run, you would have been impressed." He goes on, "Here is what you never would have imagined: she ran with no feeling in her legs. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of fifteen. The dise

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 77). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) But that is not the end.  Max says, "It ends with a was-blind man worshiping Christ. Is this not the desire of Jesus for us all?" Good, good question. He goes on, "Apart from Christ we are blind. We cannot see our purpose. We cannot see the future. We cannot see our way out of problems and pain. We cannot see Jesus. But he sees us, from head to foot. He knows everything about us. "When I was a fifth grader, the optometrist gave me a vision test. If God tested your spiritual vision, would you pass the test? Can you see the meaning of life? Have you caught a vision for eternity? Most of all, can you see God’s great love for you? The hand you sense on your face is his. The voice you hear is his." He then says, "It is not his will that we grope blindly through life. He wants us to know why we are on ea

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 66). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   Don't do it. Please, don't do it! Max says, "Row the boat and bail the water, but above all bid Christ to enter your sinking craft. Believe that you are never alone, that our miracle-working God sees you, cares about you, and will come to your aid. For all you know he may perform an immediate deliverance. You may reach your destination before you have a chance to wipe the rain off your face." He goes on, "He is still the great I AM. When we find ourselves in the midst of Galilean waters with no shore in sight, he will come to us. "The next time you pray, Is anyone coming to help me ? listen for the response of Jesus: I AM with you in the storm. Yes, yes he is. Will you reach out to him? Will you? Yes, yes!

  A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 60). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   We all have storms in our lives, don't we? Max says, "No one gets through life scot-free. At one point or another the sky will darken, the winds will rage, and we will find ourselves in a modern-day version of the Galilean gusher." John 6:16–18 (NIV) says, "When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough." Max goes on, "The hearts of the followers began to sink as their boat was certain to do. Their skin was soaked, throats hoarse, eyes wide. They searched the sky for a break in the clouds. They gripped the boat for fear of the waves. They screamed their prayers for help. But they heard nothing. "If only Jesu

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 56). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   And I know that what we have been going through has really overwhelmed so many of us, hasn't it? Max says, "You aren’t alone. You aren’t without help. What bewilders you does not bewilder him. Your uphill is downhill for him. He is not stumped by your problem. When you present your needs to him, he never, ever turns to the angels and says, 'Well, it finally happened. I’ve been handed a code I cannot crack. The demand is too great, even for me.'" No, he doesn't say that. Max then says, "You may feel outnumbered, but he does not. Give him what you have, offer thanks, and watch him go to work. Your list of blessings will be so long you’ll need to buy a new hard drive for your computer so you can store it." He is not stumped by all of this. So, will you turn to him, present your needs, offer hi

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 53). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   And the same could be said of us, his followers today, in what we are going through. Max says, "After all, they’d seen water turned into wine and a lame man walk. We’d like to see more spunk, more grit. More 'We can’t, but you can, Jesus!' But they and the silent others showed no spark. They counted the hungry people, the money in their bag, and the amount of bread and fish. They did not, however, count on Christ. "And he was standing right there! He could not have been nearer. They could see, hear, touch, maybe even smell him. Yet the idea of soliciting his help did not dawn on them.  "Even so, Jesus went right to work." John 6:10–13, "Jesus said, 'Please get the people seated.' (There was a lot of grass there.) The people sat down; they numbered about five thousand men. So Jesus took

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone  (p. 38). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   It is no fun to be stuck, is it?  Max says, "Odds are you’ve never been stuck in a ventilation duct, on a roller coaster, or in a toilet, (he has just told stories of people being stuck in those places) but you have been stuck. Lodged between a rock and a hard place, unable to escape. Mired in the mud of resentment, bogged down in debt, trapped in a dead-end career, up to your waist in the swamp of an unsolvable conflict. Stuck. Stuck with parents who won’t listen or employees who won’t change. Stuck with a harsh boss or a stubborn addiction. Stuck" He goes on, "The man near the pool of Bethesda didn’t use the word stuck, but he could have. For thirty-eight years near the edge of a pool, it was just him, his mat, and his paralyzed body. And since no one would help him, help never came." Later Max says, &q

A thought by Max Lucado from his book,  You Are Never Alone (p. 31). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a very good question and a difficult one, isn't it?   Max says, "May I approach this topic gently? Before I suggest an answer, may I tell you I am sorry we have to discuss the question? I’m sorry you have a yet-to-be-answered prayer. I’m sorry the job did not materialize, the spouse did not apologize, or the cancer chose to metastasize. I’m sorry you find yourself between Cana and Capernaum. Life has its share of dark, dank moments. "And Christ will not remove all the pain this side of heaven." Max goes on, "Did someone tell you otherwise? Did someone assure you that God permits only blue skies and rainbows and sunbeams? They misspoke. Read the Bible from the table of contents in the front to the maps in the back, and you will not find any promise of a pain-free life on this side of death. "B

A though by Max Lucado from his book, You Are Never Alone,  (p. 21). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.   (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) There was both quantity and quality in this first miracle of Jesus. Max says, "Cooking wine would have sufficed. Convenience-store vintage  would have met the expectations of the guests. A modest sip-with-pizza-on-a-Tuesday-night quaff would have been enough for Mary. But it was not enough for Jesus. Something powerful happens when we present our needs to him and trust him to do what is right: he is 'able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think' (Eph. 3:20)." He goes on, "It simply falls to us to believe—to believe that Jesus is king of each and every situation. So make your specific request, and trust him to do, not what you want, but what is best. Before you know it, you’ll be raising a toast in honor of the One who hears your requests." I know, I know, we want more and more and

A thought by Max Lucedo from his book, You Are Never Alone (p.6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Oh, we need to believe that, don’t we? Max says, “Jesus touched wounds. He spoke words of hope. Lives were improved. Blessings were bestowed. There was a message in his miracles: ‘I am here. I care.’ “Had Jesus wanted just to make a case for his divinity, he could have materialized a flock of birds out of thin air and caused trees to uproot and float away. He could have turned creeks into waterfalls or rocks into bumblebees. Such deeds would have demonstrated his power. But Jesus wanted us to see more. He wanted to show us that there is a miracle-working God who loves, cares, and comes to our aid.” He goes on, “Do we not need this message today? “This book is a child of the quarantine. I completed it during the days of coronavirus. When I began writing it, some months ago, Covid-19 was unknown to most. Phrases like ‘social dist

A thought by Matt Perman, from his book, How to Get Unstuck (p. 48). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, let’s clarify what he means. Matt says, “It would be a mistake to conclude that since God ultimately gets us unstuck, we should not take action ourselves.” He goes on, “Sometimes, there literally is nothing we can do but wait. In those cases, waiting is what we must do. But when there is something we can do, we are to do it . Not as a substitute for prayer but flowing out of our prayers… We do not stop working because God is working, and neither does God stop working because we are working. Rather, God works in our working . His work is first, but we are to take action to do what is in our power. Then we can rest, knowing that the results are left to God. “Martin Luther captured this perfectly: ‘Work and let him give the fruits therefore! Rule, and let him prosper it! Battle, and let him give victory!

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. 95).  Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.   (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And the story of Joseph from the Old Testament is such a story. Max says, “In the chaos called ‘Joseph’s life,’ I count one broken promise, at least two betrayals, several bursts of hatred, two abductions, more than one seduction, ten jealous brothers, and one case of poor parenting. Abuse. Unjust imprisonment. Twenty-four months of prison food. Mix it all together and let it sit for thirteen years, and what do you get? The grandest bounce back in the Bible! Jacob’s forgotten boy became the second most powerful man in the world’s most powerful country. The path to the palace wasn’t quick; it wasn’t painless, but wouldn’t you say that God took this mess and made it into something good?” He goes on, “And wouldn’t you think he can do the same with yours? Tally up the pain of your past. Betrayals plus

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. 70).  Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.   (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Thanks, Max, that’s good news! The Bible in Jeremiah 30:24 (NIV) says, “The LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart.”  Max says, “There is nothing trite about your wheelchair, empty pantry, or aching heart. These are uphill, into-the-wind challenges.  But nor are they random. God is not sometimes sovereign. He is not occasionally victorious. He does not occupy the throne one day and vacate it the next. This season in which you find yourself may puzzle you, but it does not bewilder God. He can and will use it for his purpose. “God is in all days.  Stay focused on God.  ‘Be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 NKJV) reads the sign on God’s waiting room wall. “You can be glad because God is good. You can be still because He is active. You ca

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. 61).  Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And this that we are going through right now is a struggle. Max says: “• My e-mail today contains a prayer request for a young mother just diagnosed with lupus. Incarcerated by bad health.  • I had coffee yesterday with a man whose wife battles depression. He feels stuck (chain number one) and guilty for feeling stuck (chain number two).  • After a half-century of marriage, a friend’s wife began to lose her memory. He had to take her car keys away so she wouldn’t drive. He has to stay near so she won’t fall. They had hopes of growing old together. They still may, but only one of them will know the day of the week.” And so many of us feel imprisoned in our homes by this virus that we are facing.  He goes on, “Each of these individuals wonders, Where is heaven in this story ? Why would

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. 18).  Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, what is it? Max says, “Your destiny. Can we talk about it?” Max then says, “ You are God’s child.   He saw you, picked you, and placed you. ‘You did not choose me; I chose you’ (John 15:16). Before you are a butcher, baker, or cabinetmaker; male or female; Asian or black, you are God’s child. Replacement or fill-in? Hardly. You are his first choice. “… He chose you. The choice wasn’t obligatory, required, compulsory, forced, or compelled. He selected you because he wanted to. You are his open, willful, voluntary choice. He walked onto the auction block where you stood, and he proclaimed, ‘This child is mine.’ And he bought you ‘with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19 NKJV). You are God’s child.” Max goes on, “You are God’s child

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. 9). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Look at this verse in Genesis 50:20 NASB, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Max says, “Joseph tied himself to the pillar of this promise and held on for dear life. Nothing in his story glosses over the presence of evil. Quite the contrary. Bloodstains and tearstains are everywhere. Joseph’s heart was rubbed raw against the rocks of disloyalty and miscarried justice. Yet time and time again God redeemed the pain. The torn robe became a royal one. The pit became a palace. The broken family grew old together. The very acts intended to destroy God’s servant turned out to strengthen him. “God, the Master Weaver. He stretches the yarn and intertwines the colors, the ragged twine with the velvet

A thought by Max Lucedo, from his book, God Will Carry You Through (p. vii).  Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.   (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And we need this today, don’t we? Max reminds us, “Isaac’s last-minute reprieve from certain death at the hand of obedient Abraham. The children of Israel rescued from the brick-pits of Egypt. Saul became Paul, liberated from a path of hatred and violence. And all the redeemed, delivered from destruction by the gift of a Savior. “Again and again, stories of heavenly oversight and divine rescue capture our imagination and help build our trust that the same God will do the same for us. In stories of old, our heavenly Father demonstrated his might with divided seas, guiding clouds, blinding lights, miraculous healings, unquenchable fires. “The same God who stepped in and rerouted history cares about our own struggles, fears, tears, and hopes. Facing financial woes, relationship dead ends, or hea