Quotes from Max Lucado

You cannot be anything you want to be. But you can be everything God wants you to be.

Not one bad deed has deducted from my salvation. No good deed, if there are any, has enhanced it.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35

Yet he never gave up. Bitterness never staked its claim. Anger never metastasized into hatred. His heart never hardened; his resolve never vanished. He not only survived; he thrived.

Down to Egypt. Just a few hours ago Joseph's life was looking up.

Life pulls us down.

And who are we? We are the branches. We bear fruit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness" (Gal. 5:22 NASB). We meditate on what is "true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable . . . excellent and worthy of praise" (Phil. 4:8 NLT). Our gentleness is evident to all. We bask in the "peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7 NIV).

Anchor your heart to the character of God. Your boat will rock. Moods will come and go. Situations will fluctuate. But will you be left adrift on the Atlantic of despair? No, for you have found a contentment that endures the storm.

The star Betelgeuse has a diameter of 100 million miles, which is larger than the earth's orbit around the sun.4 Why the immensity? Why such vast, unmeasured, unexplored, "unused" space? So that you and I, freshly stunned, could be stirred by this resolve: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13 NKJV).

Storms come to the obedient.

The way to deal with discouragement? The cure for disappointment? Go back and read the story of God. Read it again and again. Be reminded that you aren't the first person to cry. And you aren't the first person to be helped. Read the story, and remember—the story is yours!

Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she replied, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.