Max Lucado - A Heart Like Jesus

God loves you just the way you are,
but he refuses to leave you that way.
He wants you to have...

A Heart
Like Jesus

Max Lucado

2002 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, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Compiled by Nancy Guthrie.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the Holy Bible, New Century Version, 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee 37214. Used by permission.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources:
The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. The King James Version of the Bible (KJV). The Living Bible (TLB), 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission. The Message (MSG), 1993. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS), J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. New American Standard Bible (NASB), 1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation. The Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

Excerpted from Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 1998).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lucado, Max.

A heart like Jesus / by Max Lucado.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8499-1774-5 (hardcover)
1. Christian life. I. Title.

BV4501.3 L84 2003
248.4dc21 2002015332

Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 16 15 14 13 12

To Dennis and Patty McDonald...
thanking God for your mighty prayers
and tender touches.

OTHER BOOKS BY MAX LUCADO

America Looks Up

An Angels Story

The Applause of Heaven

The Christmas Cross

A Gentle Thunder

The Great House of God

He Chose the Nails

He Did This Just for You

He Still Moves Stones

A Heart Like Jesus

The Inspirational Bible, General Editor

In the Eye of the Storm

In the Grip of Grace

Just for You

Just Like Jesus

A Love Worth Giving

A Love Worth Giving to You at Christmas

Traveling Light

Traveling Light for Mothers

When Christ Comes

When God Whispers Your Name

Contents

WHAT IF, FOR ONE DAY, JESUS WERE TO become you? What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your mother becomes his mother, your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Your health doesnt change. Your circumstances dont change. Your schedule isnt altered. Your problems arent solved. Only one change occurs.

What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.

What would you be like? Would people notice a change? Your familywould they see something new? Your coworkerswould they sense a difference? What about the less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they detect more joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christs heart than from yours?

And you? How would you feel? What alterations would this transplant have on your stress level? Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? Would you see sunsets differently? Death differently? Taxes differently? Any chance youd need fewer aspirin or sedatives? How about your reaction to traffic delays? (Ouch, that touched a nerve.) Would you still dread what you are dreading? Better yet, would you still do what you are doing?

Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Pause and think about your schedule. Obligations. Engagements. Outings. Appointments. With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything change?

Keep working on this for a moment. Adjust the lens of your imagination until you have a clear picture of Jesus leading your life, then snap the shutter and frame the image. What you see is what God wants. He wants you to think and act like Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5).

Gods plan for you is nothing short of a new heart. If you were a car, God would want control of your engine. If you were a computer, God would claim the software and the hard drive. If you were an airplane, hed take his seat in the cockpit. But you are a person, so God wants to change your heart.

But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person. That new person is made to be like Godmade to be truly good and holy (Eph. 4:2324).

God wants you to be just like Jesus. He wants you to have a heart like his.

Im going to risk something here. Its dangerous to sum up grand truths in one statement, but Im going to try. If a sentence or two could capture Gods desire for each of us, it might read like this:

God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses toleave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

God loves you just the way you are. If you think his love for you would be stronger if your faith were, you are wrong. If you think his love would be deeper if your thoughts were, wrong again. Dont confuse Gods love with the love of people. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with Gods love. He loves you right where you are. To quote my wifes favorite author:

Gods love never ceases. Never. Though we spurn him. Ignore him. Reject him. Despise him. Disobey him. He will not change. Our evil cannot diminish his love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. God doesnt love us less if we fail or more if we succeed. Gods love never ceases.

God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way.

Where did we get the idea we cant change? From whence come statements such as, Its just my nature to worry, or, Ill always be pessimistic. Im just that way, or, I have a bad temper. I cant help the way I react? Who says? Would we make similar statements about our bodies? Its just my nature to have a broken leg. I cant do anything about it. Of course not. If our bodies malfunction, we seek help. Shouldnt we do the same with our hearts? Shouldnt we seek aid for our sour attitudes? Cant we request treatment for our selfish tirades? Of course we can. Jesus can change our hearts. He wants us to have a heart like his.