Max Lucado - The Lucado Inspirational Reader: Hope and Encouragement for Your Everyday Life

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THE
LUCADO
INSPIRATIONAL
READER

THE
LUCADO
INSPIRATIONAL
READER

HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT
for YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

MAX LUCADO

2011 Max Lucado

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Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NCV are from the New Century Version. 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are from The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version. 1946, 1952 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Scripture quotations marked TLB are from The Living Bible. 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Scripture quotations marked NEB are from the New English Bible 1961, 1970 by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the English Standard Version. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Any italic in scripture quotations reflects the authors own emphasis.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lucado, Max.
The Lucado inspirational reader : hope and encouragement for your everyday life / Max Lucado.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8499-4830-5 (hardcover)
1. Christian life--Miscellanea. I. Title. II. Title: Inspirational reader.
BV4501.3.L84605 2011
248.4--dc23

2011033369

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Marcelle Le Gallocelebrating thirty years
of glad service at the Oak Hills Church

Contents

H eartfelt thanks to the hundreds of folks who have contributed time and talent to the creation of these books for the last twenty-five-plus years. Editors, publishers, designers, printers, sales teams, bookstore workers, illustrators, publicistsIm grateful.

A few key team members have provided oversight to every single page of each book: Karen Hill, Liz Heaney, Carol Bartley, Steve and Cheryl Green, Susan Ligon, and David Moberg. I cannot say enough about your contributions. Thank you.

And deepest love to the dearest family this side of heaven.

The Bible
A Mine to Be Quarried

O n a trip to the United Kingdom, our family visited a castle. In the center of the garden sat a maze. Row after row of shoulder-high hedges, leading to one dead end after another. Successfully navigate the labyrinth, and discover the door to a tall tower in the center of the garden. Were you to look at our family pictures of the trip, youd see four of our five family members standing on the top of the tower. Hmmm, someone is still on the ground. Guess who? I was stuck in the foliage. I just couldnt figure out which way to go.

Ah, but then I heard a voice from above. Hey, Dad. I looked up to see Sara, peering through the turret at the top. Youre going the wrong way, she explained. Back up and turn right.

Do you think I trusted her? I didnt have to. I could have trusted my own instincts, consulted other confused tourists, sat and pouted and wondered why God would let this happen to me. But do you know what I did? I listened. Her vantage point was better than mine. She was above the maze. She could see what I couldnt.

Dont you think we should do the same with God? God is... higher than the heavens (Job 22:12 TLB). The LORD is high above all nations (Ps. 113:4 NASB). Can he not see what eludes us? Doesnt he want to get us out and bring us home? Then we should do what Jesus did.

Rely on Scripture. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your beliefs. Jesus told Satan, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4 NASB). The verb proceeds is literally pouring out. Its tense suggests that God is constantly and aggressively communicating with the world through his Word. God is speaking still!

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