Top 804 Quotes & Sayings by Max Lucado - Page 12

Were studying in Philippians, and Im trying to figure out this passage, Paul says I want to know Christ. What does that mean? See, hes fascinated by Jesus. I think thats a desire Id like to have on my heart, to know more about Jesus.

Examine the platforms of both parties. Examine the character of both parties. Get down on your knees. Say, Lord, help me make this decision. And then go vote.

Kind of the bottom line for me, I don't think people come to the church where I preach to hear my view on politics.

We've got to realize there's something bigger than who is in the White House. And that is the spirit of camaraderie and peace that keeps our nation together.

Are you weary? Catch your breath. Are you strong? Reserve passing judgment on the tired.

Your home is your giant-size privilege, your towering priority.

Be kind to yourself. God thinks you're worth his kindness. And he's a good judge of character.

I don't have a lot of time in the sermon anyway. The sermon is only 25 minutes, which to me is frighteningly short. So I feel as if I need to get into that pretty quickly and make it as practical and accessible as possible.

God's love supply is never empty.

You are saved, not because of what you do, but because of what Christ did. And you are special, not because of what you do, but because of whose you are. And you are his. And because we are his, let's forget the shortcuts and stay on the main road. He knows the way. He drew the map. He knows the way home.

It's against God's nature to remember forgiven sins

It was a matter of going back through a lot of sermons and remembering the questions and conversations, where these ideas came from. So the book [Max on Life] is really kind of a second chance to answer these questions.

You can endure change by pondering His permanence.

I think you could say every pastor is writing this book [ Max on Life]; for many it just never gets published.

Choose satisfaction over salary. Better to be happy with little than miserable with much.

Listen carefully to the feedback your readers give you. Dont write unless people want you to write, a lot of people write just because they want to write.

I don't get the impression that most sources of media - like television and movies - are trying to get out a positive message, necessarily. My impression is they're trying to get a message out that promotes their personal opinion, position or belief and they're trying to do something that makes money. They want to turn a buck.

I think to trust in the sovereignty of God does not excuse my personal responsibility. Just the opposite - it equips me to be personally responsible.

I think there is, not in the sense that I enjoy it, but that it's an important question. It's the question, "Does the presence of pain mean God doesn't care? Does God not love me anymore?" I think that's a very common connection we tend to make.

I do believe that leaders have to be held to a higher standard, especially Christian leaders. I put myself in that camp.

We serve a good God who oversees the affairs of mankind.

Jesus spoke to those who had turned their backs on history. He spoke to those who had blatantly ignored sign after sign, servant after servant.

To be active in a church social life or church activities or even a church mission to help the hungry or reach the poor, but really our dedication has to be born out of an infatuation with Jesus.

I think what happens is that we're so busy as pastors that we never get around to trying to turn that material into a book. It's a shame because there is so much good material out there that needs to be published.

Sometimes I wonder if we don't see Christ's love as much in the people he tolerated as in the pain he endured.

I just love those [saying of Christ ]: "Father forgive them, they know not what they do. I thirst. It is finished. Into Your hands I commit My spirit. Today you will be with Me in paradise." That was really the heart of the second book I wrote called No Wonder They Call Him Savior.

You may not be down to your final heartbeat, but you may be down to your last paycheck, solution, or thimble of faith. Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.

Real courage embraces the twin realities of current difficulty and ultimate triumph.

Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you'll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder.

Being religious without knowing the cross is like owning a Mercedes with no motor. Pretty package, but where is your power?

I think the hardest one had to do with suffering. It had to do with all of our church members and friends passing through difficult times. Sometimes it's the global climate: tsunamis, earthquakes, radiation. I think these kinds of questions are absolutely the most difficult, yet we need to be ready to respond to them because we have to be able as pastors to walk people through these valleys, these tough times in their lives.

Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness.

How does God deal with your bitter heart? He reminds you that what you have is more important than what you don't have. You still have your relationship with God. No one can take that.

I was praying about what I needed to teach. I felt it wasn't time to move out of the theme of Romans, which is salvation by grace through faith.

Christ became one of us to redeem all of us.

My concern is that somebody would make a decision against Christianity because of Mr. Trump's behavior.

Your challenge is not your challenge. Your challenge is the way you think about your challenge. Your problem is not your problem; it is the way you look at it.

We are presumptuous not when we marvel at His grace, but when we reject it.

Aren't you glad that God doesn't give you only that which you remember to thank him for?

Do you understand what God has done? He has deposited a Christ seed in you. As it grows you will change. It's not that sin has no more presence in your life, but rather that sin has no more power over your life.

I think you have to be very careful about any story that puffs you up.

If you're looking for a place with no change, try a soda machine.

How grimy did God get when He reached down to clean you up? How grimy are you willing to get in order to be an 'imitator of God'?

Nature is God's workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done.

I know what I'll be preaching in the spring, what I'll be preaching in the summer, and what I'll be preaching next fall.

If you get a lot of good feedback from people, thats a sign that you have a strength or gift in writing, if not ... try singing.

God's goal is not to get what you want; it is to get you what you need.

Do you believe that God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know that He is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, He is present.

We have the freedom to pray and the freedom to love the God of our heart. And we have been forgiven by the only one who could condemn us. We are truly free.

It's nothing mystical, necessarily. It's nothing secretive. It's just what we do with our body we do with our soul.

I think you can tilt too far to the side of the story where the message is just simply entertainment. So I think your goal has to be to craft in one sentence what the truth is you are trying to convey. And then you find or create a story that you wrap around that truth.

The Prodigal Son story is, I think, the greatest short-story ever written. It has such drama in it, such great characters, it's so clear and concise, and it's entertaining in the sense that everyone can relate to it. But you have no doubt what our Lord was trying to communicate in the heart of that story. So the truth was not sacrificed on the altar of entertainment in that case. And it can be.

We are such a sound-bite culture; people are so accustomed to flipping through their television so quickly that we only have just a few seconds to grab someone's attention.

A split second is nothing compared to twenty-four hours. On God's clock you're in the middle of your millisecond. Compared to eternity, what is seventy, eighty, ninety years?

Want to learn to forgive? Then consider how you've been forgiven.

As long as you hate your enemy, a jail door is closed and a prisoner is taken. But when you try to understand and release your foe from your hatred, then the prisoner is released and that prisoner is you.

I'm first a pastor and then a writer.

Hiding out with the enemy brings only temporary relief.

Live in such a way that the world will be glad you did.

You cover 50 yards on the playing field of faith with a story that downplays your success. You cover 3 yards, or you may even end up backward, with anything that up-plays or promotes you.