Max Lucado Daily: Everyday Blessings

Don’t Miss the Headline

2012-02-10T06:01:28+00:00

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:16

God notices the grateful heart!

Don’t miss the headline here. God notices the grateful heart.

Does God have an ego problem? No. But we do. Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack, so we can see the blessings we possess. Nothing blows the winter out of the day like a Caribbean breeze of thankfulness.

If you look long enough and hard enough, you’ll find something to bellyache about. So quit looking! Take your eyes off the weeds. Collect your blessings.

I Thessalonians 5:16 says “Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks—whatever happens. That’s what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.”

Gratitude is always an option. Make it your default emotion—and you’ll find yourself giving thanks for the problems of life.

Impossible you say? How do you know? How do you know until you give every day a chance?

Oh Boy—My Favorite!

2012-02-09T06:01:11+00:00

“Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1”

Imagine with me, the diary of a dog.

8:00 a.m.— Oh boy! Dog food—my favorite!
9:40 a.m.— Oh boy! A walk—my favorite!
And so it goes—Oh boy!—my favorite!

On the other hand consider the cat!

Day 283 of my captivity. While they dine lavishly on fresh meat, I’m forced to eat dry cereal. I’m sustained by the mild satisfaction I derive from ruining a few pieces of furniture.

One grateful, the other grumpy. Same house. Same master. Yet two entirely different attitudes.

So which diary reads more like yours?

Gratitude! It’s the firstborn child of grace, the appropriate response of the blessed. Immerse yourself in the curriculum of grace! It’s so easy to be distracted. So easy to be ungrateful!

Oh boy! My favorite! It’s a day changer!

Choose to make every day—a great day.

New Every Morning

2012-02-08T06:01:38+00:00

“The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23”

You said the wrong words, took the wrong turns, loved the wrong person, reacted the wrong way.

You spoke when you should’ve listened, judged when you should’ve trusted, indulged when you should have resisted.

But don’t let yesterday’s mistakes sabotage today’s attitude!

So, what makes the difference?

Daily drenching rains! Deluges keep the ground moist, the trees wet, and the lightning impotent.

Lightning strikes you as well. Thunderbolts of regret can ignite and consume you. Counter them with downpours of God’s grace, daily washings of forgiveness.

Once a year won’t do. Once a month is insufficient. Weekly showers leave you dry. Sporadic misting leaves you combustible! You need a solid soaking every day!

Choose to make it a great day—every day!

Yesterday’s Gone

2012-02-07T06:01:40+00:00

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Psalm 33:21

You no longer have yesterday. It slipped away as you slept.

Sorry, what’s gone is gone. The second hand of the clock refuses to tick backward. You no longer have yesterday.

This is the day the Lord has made! Live in it. You must be present to win!

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it! Let the words sink in. God made this day, ordained this hour, designed the details of this wrenching moment.

Each day emerges from God’s drawing room. Including this one!

Eighty-four thousand heartbeats. One thousand, four hundred and forty minutes. A complete rotation of the earth. A gift of twenty-four unlived, unexplored hours.

Here’s a day changer for you… If you can stack one good day on another and another, you’ll link together a good life!

Choose to make it a great day—every day!

Give the Day a Shot

2012-02-06T06:01:01+00:00

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5

“This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad in it!”

This one, Lord? This surgery day? This exam day? This sending my firstborn off to college day?

That last one took the starch out of my shirt! We packed Jenna’s stuff, loaded up the car, and left life as we’d known it for eighteen years.

The day was necessary. The day was planned. But the day undid me! I was a mess.

But God made this day. So I decided to give the day a chance, change my view and imitate the Psalmist, “I will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Give the day a shot. An audition. A swing at the plate.

An hour is too short, a year too long. Days are the bite-sized portions of life, the God-designed segments of life management.

A day changer! Choose to make it a great day—every day!

Go To God

2012-02-05T06:01:08+00:00

“Anyone who is having troubles should pray.” James 5:13

Have you taken your disappointments to God? You’ve shared them with your neighbor, your relatives, your friends. But have you taken them to God?

Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God.

Absolute Love

2012-02-04T06:01:43+00:00

“His love has taken over our lives; God’s faithful ways are eternal.” Psalm 117:2
The Message

God’s love for you is not dependent on how you look, how you think, how you act, or how perfect you are. His love is absolutely nonnegotiable and nonreturnable. Ours is a faithful God.

Wired for Disaster

2012-02-03T06:01:24+00:00

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23”

We often do to our day what I did to a recent bike ride.

My friend and I were on a hill-country trek. Within a half hour my thighs ached and my lungs heaved like a beached whale. I could hardly pump the pedals.

That’s when my riding partner discovered the problem. Both rear brakes were rubbing my back tire. It was a ride destined to be a tough one!

Don’t we do the same? Guilt presses on one side. Dread drags the other.

And we sabotage our day, wiring it for disaster! Downloading tomorrow’s struggles.

How about a day changer? Here’s my proposal: consult Jesus. He has something to say about our days.

Give us day by day our daily bread. Take up your cross each day and follow Me!

Give the day a chance. Fill it with God.

Choose to make it a great day—every day!

You Have Today

2012-02-02T06:01:47+00:00

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Psalm 90:14

You can’t spend tomorrow’s money, celebrate tomorrow’s achievements—or resolve tomorrow’s riddles.

You have today!

Paul rejoiced in prison. David wrote Psalms in the wilderness.

Paul and Silas sang in jail. And Jesus prayed in the garden of pain.

Suppose—you choose not to work or worry your day away, but decide to give it a fair shake.

You trust more. Stress less.

Amplify gratitude. Mute the grumbling.

And what do you know? Before long the day is done and—surprisingly decent.

It’s what I call a day changer! So you resolve to do the same the next day and the next.

Days become weeks. Weeks become months. Months become years of good days.

It’s the way good lives are built. One good day at a time!

“This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad in it!”

Have a great day—every day!

Imagine the Difference

2012-02-01T06:01:53+00:00

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I leaned back into my beach chair, interlaced my fingers behind my head, and closed my eyes. That’s when it happened.

No warning. Just bombs away! PLOP!

I looked up just in time to see a seagull giving high feathers to his buddies on the beach!

Count on it—into each day a bird will plop! Traffic will snarl. Friends will forget. Spouses will complain.

Who has a good day on these days? Most don’t—but couldn’t we try?

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

This day? Rejoice in it? God invites us to!

Could we rejoice smack dab in the midst of this day? Imagine the difference if we could. How’s that for a day changer?

Have a Great Day—Every Day!

And while you’re at it—keep an eye on the seagull with the silly grin!