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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Max Lucado
Read between
November 22 - November 23, 2023
You might change the quality of your days but not the quantity.
You can lose it all, only to discover that you haven’t. God has been there all along.
God responded with this message: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (v. 15).
Learn a lesson from the king. Lead with worship. Go first to your Father in prayer and praise. Confess to him your fears. Gather with his people. Set your face toward God. Fast. Cry out for help. Admit your weakness. Then, once God moves, you move too. Expect to see the God of ages fight for you. He is near, as near as your next breath.
You may be facing the perfect storm, but Jesus offers the perfect peace.
You can select your thought pattern.
“Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Prov. 4:23 NCV).
“Anxiety weighs down the human heart” (Prov. 12:25 NRSV).
“Capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 NCV).
Make it your aim to cling to Christ. Abide in him. Is he not true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise? Is this not the invitation of his message in the vineyard?
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:4–10 NASB)
Jesus’ allegory is simple. God is like a vine keeper. He lives and loves to coax the best out of his vines.
And who are we? We are the branches. We bear fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal.
Our gentleness is evident to all. We bask in the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:7 NIV).
fruit bearing matters to God.
Our assignment is not fruitfulness but faithfulness. The secret to fruit bearing and anxiety-free living is less about doing and more about abiding.
Jesus employs the word abide(s) ten times in seven verses:
Our aim—our only aim—is to be at home in Christ. He is not a roadside park or hotel room. He is our permanent mailing address.
The good father gives the child one responsibility: “Hold on to my hand.”
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on” (Matt. 6:25). He then gives two commands: “look” and “consider.” He tells us to “look at the birds of the air” (Matt. 6:26).
Such a cool verse
He then turns our attention to the flowers of the field. “Consider the lilies” (v. 28).
Saturate your heart with the goodness of God.
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32 ESV).
Choose the tranquili-tree over the anxie-tree.
Do not meditate on the mess. You gain nothing by setting your eyes on the problem. You gain everything by setting your eyes on the Lord.
As long as Peter focused on the face of Christ, he did the impossible. Yet when he shifted his gaze to the force of the storm, he sank like a stone. If you are sinking, it is because you are looking in the wrong direction.
Engage in specific prayer. And engage in promise-based prayer. Stand on the firm foundation of God’s covenant.
replace anxious thoughts with grateful ones. God takes thanksgiving seriously.
gratitude keeps us focused on the present.
