Wednesday's Word of the Week - A Good, Healthy Struggle

God is using your struggles to toughen you up!

It’s like viewing a movie after you’ve read the book. When something bad happens, everyone else gasps at the crisis on the screen. Not you. Why? You’ve read the book. You know how the good guy gets out of the tight spot.

God views your life with the same confidence. He’s not only read your story, he wrote it. His perspective is different, and his purpose is clear. One of God’s cures for weak faith? A good, healthy struggle.

Consider it a gift when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into open and shows its true colors. Scripture says, let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-3)

Join with the Old Testament prophet Isaiah who resolved, “I will trust in him and not be afraid!” (Isaiah 12:2)

From Come Thirsty by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Taking Out the Trash

Who wants to live with yesterday’s rubble? Who wants to hoard the trash of the past? You don’t, do you? Or do you?

I’m not talking about the trash in your house, but in your heart. Not the junk of papers and boxes but the remnants of anger and hurt. Do you rat-pack your pain? Amass offenses? Record slights?

A tour of your heart might be telling. A pile of rejections. Accumulated insults. No one can blame you. They’re innocence takers, promise breakers, and wound makers. They’re everywhere and you’ve had your share.

Jesus answered Peter’s question in Matthew 18:21 and 22 when he asked: “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus said. “Seventy times seven!”

Do you want to give every day a chance? Jesus says to get rid of the trash. Give the grace you’ve been given!

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - God is Enough

Let’s face it–anxiety or worry have no advantages! They ruin our health, rob us of joy, and change nothing! Our day stands no chance against the terrorists of the Land of Anxiety.

But Christ offers a worry-bazooka. Remember how He taught us to pray? “Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11” This simple sentence unveils God’s provision plan: live one day at a time.

Worry gives small problems big shadows. Corrie ten Boom said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.” And Romans 8:28 affirms: “Every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

Most anxiety stems, not from what we need, but from what we want. Philippians 4:4 says, “delight yourselves in the Lord, yes, find your joy in Him at all times!”

If God is enough, you’ll always have enough!

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - The Secret of Success

An accomplished Ironman triathlete told me the secret of his success. He said, “You last the long race by running short ones.” Don’t swim 2.4 miles; just swim to the next buoy. Rather than bike 112 miles, ride 10, take a break, and bike 10 more. Never tackle more than the challenge ahead.

Didn’t Jesus offer the same counsel? He said in Matthew 6:34, “So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

When asked how he managed to write so many books, the author explained that he’d never written a book. All he did was write one page a day.

Face challenges in stages. You can’t control your temper forever, but you can control it for the next hour.

Remember, you last the long race by running the short ones!

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - He Is Able

If your Father is God and you have a problem on your hands, what do you do? Scripture tells us what to do.

Is your problem too large? Ephesians 3:20 says, “God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Is your need too great? 2 Corinthians 9:8 reminds us, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance.”

Is your temptation too severe? Hebrews 2:18 says, “God is able to help us when we are being tested.”

Is your future too frightening? Jude 24 tells us, “God is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.”

Make these verses part of your daily diet. God is able to accomplish, provide, help, save, keep, subdue. He is able to do what you can’t. Go to Him!

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Seeing You

Why does God love you so much?

For the same reason the artist loves his paintings. You are His idea!

Ephesians 2:10 confirms that we are “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

In the movie Hook, Peter Pan had become old and looked nothing like the Peter the lost boys knew. In the midst of the boys shouting that this was NOT Peter, one of the smallest boys pulled him down to his level. He places his hands on Peter’s face, moved the skin around and reshaped his face. The boy looked into Peter’s eyes and said, “There you are, Peter!”

Shh. Listen. Do you hear?

God is saying the same words to you. There you are! There you are!

He’s seeing you and loving the you he sees.

From Fearless by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Vanderlei de Lima (2004 Olympics Athens)

At five feet, five inches, Vanderlei de Lima is shorter than some fifth graders. Don’t let his size fool you. The body may be small, but the heart is bigger than the Olympic Stadium in Athens. That’s where he received the 2004 bronze medal for the marathon.

He should’ve won the gold. He was leading when a deranged protester hurled himself into the runner–forcing him off course. De Lima resumed the race. But in the process he lost his rhythm, precious seconds, and his position. But he entered the stadium punching the air with his fists, both arms extended, weaving for joy!

I’m taking notes on this guy! He reminds me of another runner. Paul, the imprisoned apostle. His chains never come off. The guards never leave. He may appear to be bumped off track, but he’s actually right on target. Christ is preached. The mission is being accomplished.

Run the race!

Paul said, “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. I Corinthians 9:23-24”

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - I Messed Up

We’ve all messed up. Said the wrong words, loved the wrong person, reacted the wrong way…walked when we should have waited, indulged when we should have resisted.

You’ll mess up more if you let yesterday’s mistakes sabotage today’s attitude!

The Bible says, God’s mercies are new every morning. Receive them. Learn a lesson from them.

Thunderbolts of regret can ignite and consume you. What makes the difference? Counteract them with downpours of God’s grace, daily washings of forgiveness.

Once a year won’t do. Once a month is insufficient. Sporadic mistings leave you combustible. Weekly showers leave you dry. You need a solid soaking every day!

Lamentations 3:22-23 says “The Lord’s love never ends; His mercies never stop. They are new every morning.”

What a gift He has given to you. What more do you need?

From Great Day Every Day by Max Lucado

Wednesday's Word of the Week - Do you trust Him?

The sky is dark. Sudden waves of water tilt up our sailing vessel until we see nothing but sky and then downward until we see nothing but blue. I learned this about sailing: there is nothing swell about a swell!

Eyes turned first to the thunderclouds, then to the captain. We looked to him. He was deliberate and decisive. He told some of us where to sit, others what to do, and all of us to hang on. And we did what he said. Why? We knew he knew best.

Such winds test our trust in the Captain. Does God know what he’s doing? Why did he allow the storm? The conditions worsen, and his instructions perplex. How do you respond? Can you say about God what I said about our captain?

I know God knows what’s best. I know I don’t. I know he cares. Do you trust him?

“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10

From Max Lucado's book, Come Thirsty