Quotes from Max Lucado

But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don't be foolish or naive. But don't despair either. With God's help you will get through this.

Joseph's story just parted company with the volumes of self-help books and all the secret-to-success formulas that direct the struggler to an inner power (dig deeper). Joseph's story points elsewhere (look higher).

We long for the call to come home. But until He calls, we wait.... And how do we wait? With patient eagerness. (See rom. 8:25,23) Patient eagerness. Not so eager as to lose our patience, and not so patient as to lose our eagerness. ...we grow so patient we sleep!... ... Or we are so eager we demand. We demand in this world what only the next world can give. No sickness. No suffering. No struggle.

You can't see the warden. You can't see the locks. But you can see the prisoners. You can see them as they sit on their bunks and bemoan their fate. They want to live, but they can't because they are doomed to do what they most want to avoid—they will die. Imagine Jesus seeing us in our "prisons" of fear:

You've already learned, haven't you, that a promise made is not always a promise kept? Just because someone is called your dad, that doesn't mean he will act like your dad. Even though they said "yes" on the altar, they may say "no" in the marriage.

Meditation PRAYER OF SAINT PATRICK I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of the sun, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of the wind, Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth, Firmness of the rock. I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, I arise today Through the mighty strength Of the Lord of creation.1

521It does little good to make the trip and miss the journey!

You grow weary of unrest. You're ready to be done with sleepless nights. You long to be "anxious for nothing." You long for the fruit of the Spirit. But how do you bear this fruit? Try harder? No, hang tighter. Our assignment is not fruitfulness but faithfulness. The secret to fruit bearing and anxiety-free living is less about doing and more about abiding.

The hand squeezing the handle was not a Roman infantryman. The force behind the hammer was not an angry mob. The verdict behind the death was not decided by jealous Jews. Jesus himself chose the nails.

what you have in Christ is greater than anything you don't have in life. You have God, who is crazy about you, and the forces of heaven to monitor and protect you. You have the living presence of Jesus within you. In Christ you have everything

You will never go where God is not.

faith: faith is the deeply held belief that God will keep his promises