Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 71). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is the truth.   Max says, “Not eye sight, a matter of distorted vision that lenses can correct, but I-sight. Poor I-sight blurs your view, not of the world, but of yourself. ”   He goes on, “Some see self too highly. Maybe it’s the PhD or pedigree. A tattoo can do it; so can a new truck or the Nobel Peace Prize. Whatever the cause, the result is the same. ‘I have so many gifts. I can do anything.’”   He then says, “And don’t we also know the other extreme: ‘I can’t do anything’?   Forget the thin air of pomposity; these folks breathe the thick, swampy air of self-defeat. Roaches have higher self-esteem. Earthworms stand taller. ‘I’m a bum. I am scum. The world would be better off without me.’” And have you at one time felt each of these poor I-sights?   “Two extremes of poor I-sight. Self-

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 70). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I love a story that Max tells.   He says, “The bank sent me an overdraft notice on the checking account of one of my daughters. I encourage my college-age girls to monitor their accounts. Even so, they sometimes overspend. What should I do? Let the bank absorb it? They won’t. Send her an angry letter? Admonition might help her later, but it won’t satisfy the bank. Phone and tell her to make a deposit? Might as well tell a fish to fly. I know her liquidity. Zero. Transfer the money from my account to hers? Seemed to be the best option. After all, I had $25.37. I could replenish her account and pay the overdraft fee as well. Besides, that’s my job. Don’t get any ideas. If you’re overdrawn, don’t call me. My daughter can do something you can’t do: she can call me Dad. And since she calls me Dad, I did what d

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life   (p. 65). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Are you someone who hurts because you are lonely? Max says, “Lonely people fight feelings of insignificance. What do you do with such thoughts? No one knows me. No one’s near me. No one needs me. How do you cope with such cries for significance? Some stay busy; others stay drunk. Some buy pets; others buy lovers. Some seek therapy. And a few seek God.” He continues, “He invites us all to. God’s treatment for insignificance won’t lead you to a bar or dating service, a spouse or social club. God’s ultimate cure for the common life takes you to a manger. The babe of Bethlehem. Immanuel. Remember the promise of the angel? ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, ’  which is translated,  ‘ God with us.’ (Matt. 1:23).” He goes on, “For thousands

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life  (p. 51). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Max starts this chapter with, “Tucked away in the cedar chest of my memory is the image of a robust and rather rotund children’s Bible class teacher in a small West Texas church.” He continues, “Here is why I tell you about her. She enjoyed giving us each a can of crayons and a sketch of Jesus torn from a coloring book. We each had our own can, mind you, reassigned from cupboard duty to classroom. What had held peaches or spinach now held a dozen or so Crayolas. ‘Take the crayons I gave you,’ she would instruct, ‘and color Jesus.’ And so we would. We didn’t illustrate pictures of ourselves; we colored the Son of God. We didn’t pirate crayons from other cans; we used what she gave us. This was the fun of it. ‘Do the best you can with the can you get.’ No blue for the sky? Make it purple. If Jesus’s hai