A LSO BY M AX L UCADO
INSPIRATIONAL
3:16
A Gentle Thunder
A Love Worth Giving
And the Angels Were Silent
Because of Bethlehem
Before Amen
Come Thirsty
Cure for the Common Life
Facing Your Giants
Fearless
Glory Days
God Came Near
Grace
Great Day Every Day
He Chose the Nails
He Still Moves Stones
In the Eye of the Storm
In the Grip of Grace
Its Not About Me
Just Like Jesus
Max on Life
More to Your Story
Next Door Savior
No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
On the Anvil
Outlive Your Life
Six Hours One Friday
The Applause of Heaven
The Great House of God
Traveling Light
When Christ Comes
When God Whispers Your Name
Youll Get Through This
FICTION
Christmas Stories
The Christmas Candle
Miracle at the Higher Grounds Caf
BIBLES (GENERAL EDITOR)
Grace for the Moment Daily Bible
The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible
Childrens Daily Devotional Bible
CHILDRENS BOOKS
A Max Lucado Childrens Treasury
Do You Know I Love You, God?
God Forgives Me, and I Forgive You
God Listens When I Pray
Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for Kids
Hermie, a Common Caterpillar
Itsy Bitsy Christmas
Just in Case You Ever Wonder
Lucado Treasury of Bedtime Prayers
One Hand, Two Hands
Thank You, God, for Blessing Me
Thank You, God, for Loving Me
The Boy and the Ocean
The Crippled Lamb
The Oak Inside the Acorn
The Tallest of Smalls
You Are Mine
You Are Special
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
3:16
Its Not About Me
Make Every Day Count
Wild Grace
You Were Made to Make a Difference
GIFT BOOKS
Fear Not Promise Book
For the Tough Times
God Thinks Youre Wonderful
Grace for the Moment
Grace Happens Here
His Name Is Jesus
Let the Journey Begin
Live Loved
Mocha with Max
Safe in the Shepherds Arms
This Is Love
You Changed My Life
Unshakable Hope Study Guide
2018 by Max Lucado
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Published in association with Anvil II Management, Inc.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version . Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.
ISBN 978-0-310-09209-4
ISBN 978-0-310-09210-0 (eBook)
First Printing June 2018
Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook
Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.
Contents
O ne day when Jesus was teaching the crowds, he told a simple story about two home builders. Each of these individuals wanted to build a house. They had similar supplies and plans and identical aspirations. But one of the builders decided to construct his house on a cheap and easily accessed foundation of sand. The other opted to construct his home on a more expensive, yet more durable, foundation of stone.
Jesus explained that when the rains came down, and the streams rose, and the winds blew strong, the house built on rock did not fall, because it had an unshakable foundation. But when that same storm raged against the house built on sand, it crumpled and fell with a great crash, because it had been built on a shaky foundation (see Matthew 7:2427). Jesus point was that what separates the foolish from the wise comes down to foundation . Its not enough to just hear Gods words. To be wise and have a life that will withstand the storms, people need to build their lives on the firm foundation of Gods promises.
The heroes we will read about in this study understood this principle. They came from different walks of life: rulers, servants, teachers, laborers. They were male, female, single, and married. They were among the rich and the poor. Yet one common denominator united them: they all built their lives on the promises of God. Because of Gods promises, Joshua led two million people into enemy territory. Elijah called down fire from heaven. Daniel stood before a powerful king and interpreted his dream. The disciples witnessed miracle after miracle. Paul found a grace worth dying for. John saw a new heaven and new earth.
One writer went so far as to call such saints heirs of the promise (Hebrews 6:17 NASB ). It was as if the promise was the family fortune and they were smart enough to attend the reading of the will. Their stories were all different, but the theme was the same: Gods promises were polestars in their pilgrimages of faith . They understood that God would notindeed, could notbreak his promises. And when the rains fell and the wind and waves beat against them, they found the strength to endure, for they had built their lives on a firm foundation.
