We've all done....No Harm Done

Insensitivity makes a wound that heals slowly!

Words like, “Whoa–she’s put on some weight!” Or a question carelessly asked, “Trish, is it true you and Brian are separated?”

If you were to tell the one who threw these thoughtless darts about the pain they caused, the response would be, “Oh, but I had no intention. . . it was just a slip of the tongue.”  No one’s at fault.  No harm done.

But as the innocent attackers go on their way excusing themselves, a wounded soul is left in the dust.  God says, “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3).

The message is clear.  Excuses are shallow when they come from those who claim to be followers and imitators of God. Insensitive slurs may be accidental—but they’re not excusable!

Keep Pitching!

Reliable

Reliable! Liable means responsible. Re means over and over again.

I’m wondering if someone’s listening who’s a saint of re-liability? If you are, I can’t resist the chance to say two things. The first?  Thank you!

Thank you teachers for the countless Sunday school lessons prepared and delivered with tenderness.Thank you senior saints for a generation of prayer. Thank you missionaries for your bravery in sharing the timeless truth. Thank you preachers. You thought we weren’t listening, but we were.

Thanks to all of you who practice on Monday what you hear on Sunday.  It’s on the back of your fidelity that the Gospel rides. You are reliable! You get the job done.

I said I had two things to say.  What’s the second? Keep pitching! Your Hall of Fame award is just around the corner.

Blind Ambition

Success at all cost.  Becoming a legend in one’s own time. Climbing the ladder.  King of the mountain.  Top of the heap. We call it blind ambition!

We make heroes out of people who are ambitious.  We hold them up as models for our kids. And rightly so, for this world would be in bad shape without people who dream of touching the heavens. Ambition is a gift in the soul which creates disenchantment with the ordinary.

But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige. The husband who feeds his career with twelve-hour days, the social-conscious mother who never misses a chance to serve on a committee.  “It’s all for a good cause,” she fools herself.

Blind ambition.  Distorted values. God won’t tolerate it. Blind ambition is a giant step away from God and a step closer to catastrophe!

God sent a SAVIOR

Every Christmas I read this reminder that came in the mail several years ago. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.

But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior!  Christmas cards. These punctuated promises. Phrases filled with the reason we do it all anyway. He became like us, so we could become like him. Angels still sing and the star still beckons.

Isaiah 9:6 proclaims, “God has given a son to us. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God. Prince of Peace.”

Ah, the wonder of it all is that He loves each one of us like there was only one of us to love!

Touch The World

Where will God go to touch the world?  What a great thought… and an even better question!  It’s that time of year when we hear about the virgin birth. And yet it’s more, much more, than a Christmas story. It’s a story of how close Christ will come to you!

The first stop on his itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep within Mary for an answer. Better still—look deep within yourself. “Christ in you, the hope of glory!” (Colossians 1:27).

Christ grew in Mary until he had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem.  And every day you live will be a Christmas.

Deliver Christ into the world!

GRACE

The Grace-given, Give Grace

The grace-given—give grace!  Is grace happening to you?  Is there anyone in your life you refuse to forgive?  If so, do you appreciate God’s forgiveness toward you?  Do you resent God’s kindness to others?  Do you grumble at God’s uneven compensation?  How long has it been since your generosity stunned someone?

Since someone objected, “No, really, this is too generous?”  If it’s been awhile reconsider God’s extravagant grace.  Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity.”

Let grace unscrooge your heart.  Like Peter encourages us in 2 Peter3:18, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

When grace happens, generosity happens.  Unsquashable, eye-popping, big-heartedness happens!  You simply can’t contain it all.  Let it bubble over.  Let it spill out.  Let it pour forth.

On YOUR knees

Blessed are the Meek

A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus.  Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main area and admire the ancient church.You can also enter the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King.There’s one stipulation, however.  You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t go in standing up. The same is true of the Christ. Blessed are the meek, Jesus explained. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees.

While the theologians were sleeping, and the elite were dreaming, and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus.

Terrible Memory....

His Loving Forgetfulness   Hear this powerful passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galations 3:27). We have “put on” Christ. When God looks at us He doesn’t see us; He sees Christ. Wewear Him.  We’re hidden in Him; covered by Him. Presumptuous, you say?  Sacrilegious? It would be if it were my idea.  But it isn’t, it’s His. We’re presumptuous not when we marvel at His grace, but when we reject it.  And we’re sacrilegious not when we claim His forgiveness, but when we allow the haunting sins of yesterday to convince us God forgives but He doesn’t forget. Do yourself a favor. Take the Roman nails of Calvary and board up the door. Believe in His loving forgetfulness, in His graciously terrible memory. From God Came Near     12.16.13.mp3 A year-end letter from Max!   Dear Friends, Merry Christmas!  We have much to be grateful for in 2013, and you are high on the list! We are grateful for your words of encouragement, your open hearts, your gifts of faithful prayer, and financial support. The opportunities God has provided this year have amazed us!  The UpWords radio broadcast airs over 2400 times daily across the US and internationally. Our website,MaxLucado.com, continues to be a ‘hub’ for millions across the globe to access and share encouraging messages of hope in Christ. Perhaps you, like 150,000 others, receive our email devotional each weekday. We are privileged to experience a growing global reach through the broadcasts of GRACE and You’ll Get Through This which air on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). With the addition of the advent series,God Came Near, three series are currently being shown. Since the September 2013 release of the book, You’ll Get Through This, we’ve been privileged to share, with audiences across the country, the truth of God’s faithfulness and provision in difficult times. One of the most exciting things this year was the culmination of several years’ prayerful dreaming about a movie.  The Christmas Candle, a beautifully created motion picture made its way into theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom in November.  By early December it was also showing in Australia. It is our prayer you will continue to partner with us as we step out in faith, responding to the opportunities God lays before us in 2014. We have prayed for God to expand our global reach, and He is doing so in ways we could never have accomplished without his supply. Thank you for sharing in our vision. We hope you will keep the ministry of UpWords and MaxLucado.com in your prayers. It is our desire, above all else, that God is honored and pleased with our efforts. As you contemplate possible year-end financial gifts, we pray you might consider UpWords. You can donate online atwww.maxlucado.com/donate or by phone at 1-888-764-9606.  We also gladly receive snail mail at P.O. Box 692170, San Antonio, TX 78269. May you experience the abundant grace of Jesus Christ in this holiday season! Max Lucado         Enjoy & share these 1-minute video devotionals for Christmas   See all the One-Minute Devotionals from #ChristmasCandleMovie There’s still time to order for Christmas delivery!      UpWords Partners help make these emails & more available for free atMaxLucado.com.  Spread hope worldwide · Free Max Lucado sermons · more Partner with Us UpWords · 12175 Network · San Antonio, TX 78249  unsubscribe | update subscription preferences

G FOR GRACE

Grace Forgets

Do you actually believe God would make a statement like, “I will not hold their sins against them”—and then rub your nose in it whenever you ask for help?”  Was He exaggerating when He said He would cast your sins as far as the east is from the west? (Psalm 103:12).

Are you really forgiven?  Does He really forgive and forget?  Yes, but you and I don’t. You still remember. That horrid lie. That jealousy. That habit. That business trip.

Do you think God is the voice that reminds you of your past?  Was God teasing when He said, “I will remember your sins no more?”  You and I just need an occasional reminder of God’s nature, His forgetful nature.

It’s against God’s nature to remember forgiven sins. He is the God of perfect grace. Grace forgets. Period.

What if WE could Blot out?

He Doesn’t Remember

I was thanking the Father for His mercy. I began listing the sins He’d forgiven. “Remember the time I. . .”  I was about to thank Him for another act of mercy.  But then I stopped.  Something was wrong. The word “remember” seemed displaced, off-key. It was like a baseball game in December… It didn’t fit.  Does He remember?

Then I remembered His words in Isaiah 43:25, “I am He who blots out your transgressions, and I will not remember your sins.” Wow!  That’s a remarkable promise. God doesn’t just forgive, he forgets.  He destroys the evidence. He clears the hard drive. He doesn’t remember my mistakes.

He doesn’t remember! For all the things He does do, this is the one thing He refuses to do!

Fulfillment...what is your source?

Seeing Jesus

In John 14:9 Jesus says, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

Should a man see only popularity, he becomes a mirror, reflecting whatever needs to be reflected to gain acceptance.

Should a man see only power, he becomes a wolf—prowling, hunting, stalking elusive game.  There’s always another world to conquer or another person to control.

Should a man see only pleasure, he becomes a carnival thrill-seeker, alive only in bright lights and titillating entertainment. Driven by passion, willing to sell his soul.Seekers of popularity, power, and pleasure. The end result is the same:  painful un-fulfillment.

Only in seeking his Maker does a man truly become a man. For in seeing his Creator man catches a glimpse of what he was intended to be. It is in seeing Jesus that man sees his Source!

Expect

A Lack of Vision

“We were hoping the doctor would release him.”

“I thought the job was in the bag.”

Words painted gray with disappointment. What we wanted did not come.  What came, we didn’t want. The result?  Shattered hope.  What kind of God would let me down like this? The foundation of our world trembles.

So tear-filled are our eyes and so limited is our perspective. It’s not a lack of faith, but a lack of vision. Our petitions are limited to what we can imagine—an earthly kingdom. We roll in the mud of self-pity in the very shadow of the cross. If we would just remember the heavenly body that awaits us, we’d stop complaining that he hasn’t healed this earthly one. Hope is not what you expect—it’s what you would never dream!

Never Dream Possible

Unpredictable Dependence

You have to wonder—if God’s most merciful act is His refusal to answer some of our prayers! We piously ask for His will and then pout if everything doesn’t go our way.

The problem is not that God doesn’t give us what we hope for. It’s that we do not know the right thing for which to hope. Hope isn’t what you expect—it’s what you would never dream. It’s a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming ending. It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see, not his grandson, but his son. It’s Moses standing at the promised land, not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the crucified Christ.

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed. It’s far greater than that.  It’s a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks!

Art Gallery

God is!

Look around you! Rather than shocking the globe with an occasional demonstration of deity, God has opted to display his power daily. Proverbially. Pounding waves.  Prism-cast colors. Birth, death, life.  We’re surrounded by miracles. God is throwing testimonies at us like fireworks, each one exploding, “God is!  God is!”

The Psalmist marveled at such holy handiwork. “Where can I go from your Spirit?” he questioned with delight. “Where can I go from your presence? (Psalm 139:7).

We wonder, with so many miraculous testimonies around us, how we could escape God.  But somehow we do. We live in an art gallery of divine creativity, and yet are content to gaze only at the carpet.

The next time you hear a baby laugh, take note as His Majesty whispers ever so gently, “I’m here!”

 From God Came Near/page 84/85

The bridge

God Revealed

When God chose to reveal himself to mankind, what did He use?  A book?  A church?  A moral code?  No. To limit God’s revelation to a cold list of do’s and don’t’s is as tragic as looking at a Colorado roadmap and saying you’d seen the Rockies!

When God chose to reveal himself, he did so through a human body. The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails. And his tears—oh, don’t miss the tears—they came from a heart as broken as your or mine ever has been. People came to him.  Touched him.  Followed him. He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit.  He chose instead to be Jesus.

Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. It’s man who creates the distance. It’s Jesus who builds the bridge!