Divine Boot Camp

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by Max Lucado

 

God told Elijah to “hide in the Kerith Ravine…I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there” (1 Kings 17:2-4 NIV).

Why would God do this? To protect Elijah from Ahab and Jezebel for one thing. The crown had posted an APB. Search parties were dispatched. What better place for Elijah to hide than in the rugged landscape of his homeland?

And God sent Elijah to Kerith to prepare him for the future. Remember, the world had gone crazy. Abhorrent behavior—child sacrifice, worship of idols, temple prostitution—had been normalized. God needed a steadfast prophet to stand against such a tide.

To prepare Elijah for his assignment, God led him into the wilderness. It was there the prophet learned to radically trust God. Call it divine boot camp. Be patient. God is working on you.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

Spiritual Muscle

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by Max Lucado

 

Spiritual muscle is developed not by sitting but by acting. Not by listening but by doing.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like” (James 1:22-24 NLT).

You turn away, pause, and wonder, Did I comb my hair? Such a question would betray one truth, and that is lack of attention. James indicts us for doing the same. We go to church. We hear a message, enjoy a few songs, but are we changed? Do we worry less and pray more? Are we less concerned about our will and more concerned about God’s? Let’s not be lookers. Let’s be doers.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

Strength to Ride the Storm

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by Max Lucado

 

Do you feel it is you against the world? Not so, my friend. Outnumbered by foes and outdone by fear? Please reconsider. Surrounded by adversity? Perhaps. Yet, you are also encircled by divinity. With God’s help you can ride these raging rapids with unbreakable courage.

Immovable. Determined. Square-jawed and resolved. Like the prophet Elijah who “…went and did according to the word of the Lord…” (1 Kings 17:5 NKJV). Elijah affirms a positive answer to these questions: Can a person maintain faith in a world that has little? When a culture belittles belief, can a believer beget strength? Yes! With God’s help, we will discover strength to ride this storm, an unbreakable courage and steadfast faith.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

Enter…Elijah

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by Max Lucado

 

Ancient Israel had the scruffy hills of Gilead, and somewhere in this rugged land Elijah came to believe in a mighty Yahweh who refused to share his glory with others. He confronted Ahab and Jezebel with a surgical strike. Baal was regarded as the god of fertility, yet Baal’s veil was about to be yanked back. Jehovah has declared a drought.

Does Elijah have some encouragement for our generation? Absolutely! The story of Elijah offers us hope. Elijah shows us that one person following a living God is greater than hundreds of people praying to a lifeless one.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

Ahab and Jezebel

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by Max Lucado

 

“Ahab was king over Israel for twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before God than anyone yet—a new champion in evil!” (1 Kings 16:29-30 MSG).

There’s a reason parents don’t name their kids Ahab or Jezebel. Ahab not only neglected the faith of his fathers, but he also embraced the false gods of his enemies. Yet this evil king did more—he married Jezebel.  She was vile, she endorsed a religion that promoted temple prostitution and child sacrifice, she and her husband systematically killed the Lord’s prophets. The Ten Commandments were treated as ten suggestions, and the temple of worship was a relic of history.

God, however, will not sit idly while his covenants are trashed. He will not stay silent while his will is mocked. But he will act.

Read more Unbreakable Courage

Our Heavenly Father Will Help

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by Max Lucado

 

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

 

Turn to Your Father

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by Max Lucado

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

 

God’s Near Presence

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by Max Lucado

 

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

 

Pursue Gentleness

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by Max Lucado

 

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

 

God’s Providence

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by Max Lucado

 

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