Quotes from Max Lucado

In the great trapeze act of salvation, God is the catcher, and we are the flyers. We trust. Period.

Turn your attention away from the problem, and for a few minutes celebrate God. It does you no good to obsess yourself with your trouble. The more you stare at it, the bigger it grows. Yet the more you look to God, the quicker the problem is reduced to its proper size. This was the strategy of the psalmist.

Jesus wept" (John 11:35).

Imagine that . . . unworthy of the touch of a man, yet worthy of the touch of God.

Failure is a form of quicksand. Take immediate action or you'll be sucked under.

Behind the frantic expressions on the faces of humanity is unresolved regret.

What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift? (1 Cor. 4:7 NLT)

Don't settle for one-night stands in the arms of a stranger. Be obsessed with your wedding date. Guard against forgetfulness. Be intolerant of memory lapses. Write yourself notes. Memorize verses. Do whatever you need to do to remember. " Aim at what is in heaven. Think only about the things in heaven" (Colossians 3:1–2).You are engaged to royalty, and your Prince is coming to take you home.

We have a heavenly Father who is with us through every trial.

We are at our best when we are giving. In fact, we are most like God when we are giving.

Do you see the intentionality in those words? "I will lift up my eyes." Do not meditate on the mess. You gain nothing by setting your eyes on the problem. You gain everything by setting your eyes on the Lord.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, 'I will. Be healed!' And immediately the man was healed from his disease" (Matt. 8:3).

Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light: Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.4

Since he bore the sin of the murderer and adulterer, he felt the shame of the murderer and adulterer. Though he never lied, he bore the disgrace of a liar. Though he never cheated, he felt the embarrassment of a cheater. Since he bore the sin of the world, he felt the collective shame of the world.

our ability to logically figure everything out is not the basis for our acceptability before God. Our salvation is based on what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. What we must be right about is the fact that we cannot be right about everything and are therefore completely dependent on God's graciousness and mercy. (This is an excerpt from Lucado's Vision and Beliefs statement on his website.)

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light" (James 1:17 MSG).

You do things God does. Think. Question. Reflect. You blueprint buildings, chart sea crossings, and swallow throat lumps when your kids say their alphabet. You, like Adam, have a soul.

Sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive, still colorful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do, the flower will never live again.

As long as Peter focused on the face of Christ, he did the impossible.

You can talk to God because God listens. Always.

Can you imagine the restaurant host removing his tuxedo coat and offering it to me? Jesus does. We're not talking about an ill-fitting, leftover jacket. He offers a robe of seamless purity and dons my patchwork coat of pride, greed, and selfishness. "He changed places with us" (Gal. 3:13). He wore our sin so we could wear his righteousness.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23–24).

What did the torn curtain mean? For the Jews it meant no more barrier between them and the Holy of Holies. No more priests to go between them and God. No more animal sacrifices to atone for their sins.

In 1900 the average person living in the United States wanted seventy-two different things and considered eighteen of them essential. Today the average person wants five hundred things and considers one hundred of them essential.