Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Good Questions - Minister Max Lucado

Transcript

Good Questions - Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

0:00
Speaker 1: You know, if the world is safe, you can thank
0:02
Speaker 1: a mom. I mean, who else would tell us to
0:06
Speaker 1: take vitamin C? Who else knows the recipe for chicken
0:10
Speaker 1: noodle soup? Who else thinks it's necessary to put mayonnaise
0:15
Speaker 1: in the fridge? We all should. But moms do. And
0:21
Speaker 1: mom's safety records really leave the safety records of dads
0:28
Speaker 1: in the dust. We dads don't notice the fruit flies
0:32
Speaker 1: over the trash can. We don't mind the dog licking
0:35
Speaker 1: the pacifier. Why wash the dishes if you're just going
0:40
Speaker 1: to use them again in a few hours? DNA destined
0:44
Speaker 1: men to battle bad guys, not bad colds. Remember the
0:50
Speaker 1: old joke? How many men does it take to change
0:53
Speaker 1: a roll of toilet paper? Nobody knows. It's never happened.
1:01
Speaker 1: Given a few exceptions, it's mom who makes the house
1:04
Speaker 1: a haven. It's mom who knows the health insurance policy
1:08
Speaker 1: numbers and the time that's passed since the vaccination. It's
1:14
Speaker 1: mom who reminds us to be careful. The phrase, wash
1:19
Speaker 1: that fruit before you eat it is, at least in
1:21
Speaker 1: my memory, in the voice of my mother. The closest
1:26
Speaker 1: my father ever came to such a statement was, you
1:29
Speaker 1: better eat that fruit before I get it. My wife,
1:33
Speaker 1: Dean Lynn, scarcely entrusted me with the safety of our
1:37
Speaker 1: infant daughters. Her concern was warranted. On one occasion, she
1:42
Speaker 1: left me babysitting and returned to find that I didn't
1:45
Speaker 1: change a diaper the entire evening. I told her I
1:49
Speaker 1: was just following the instructions, and I showed her the
1:52
Speaker 1: bag where the diapers came. The package read 8 to
1:55
Speaker 1: 10 pounds. Laughter Crude, but clever, I thought. On the
2:07
Speaker 1: rare occasion that she left me with an overnight shift,
2:10
Speaker 1: she notified 10 other moms. And she wrote an epistle
2:16
Speaker 1: of instructions, including paragraphs like, the baby aspirin is in
2:21
Speaker 1: the medicine chest. Give yourself five extra minutes to open
2:24
Speaker 1: it as the cap is daddy proof. Depress the cap
2:29
Speaker 1: and turn it counterclockwise or clockwise. from third base to
2:32
Speaker 1: second base to first base. And if someone throws up,
2:36
Speaker 1: don't you dare call for the neighbor's dog again. Guys
2:41
Speaker 1: need these kind of reminders. Not moms. What Brinks is
2:47
Speaker 1: to bank deposits, moms are to kids. God's security system.
2:53
Speaker 1: The hands of a mom are thermometer sensitive. Her eyes
2:57
Speaker 1: can see through bathroom doors. Her nose can detect a
3:01
Speaker 1: dirty sock two bedrooms away. And her mouth speaks the
3:05
Speaker 1: vernacular of motherhood. Insightful warnings like, cover your mouth when
3:09
Speaker 1: you sneeze. If your friends ate glass, would you do
3:13
Speaker 1: it too? My favorite from my mom, if you break
3:16
Speaker 1: a leg on that bike, don't you come running to me.
3:22
Speaker 1: When it comes to protection, we think of moms, don't we?
3:26
Speaker 1: God did. Eight centuries before the birth of Jesus, the
3:33
Speaker 1: children of Israel living in Jerusalem were under attack. His
3:38
Speaker 1: people were desperate. But Zion, and that's a word often
3:43
Speaker 1: used in the Bible for the children of Israel. But
3:45
Speaker 1: Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has
3:50
Speaker 1: forgotten me. They were afraid. All they saw were enemies
3:56
Speaker 1: encircling them. And they thought God had forsaken them, that
3:59
Speaker 1: God had forgotten them. And God answered their fears by
4:03
Speaker 1: pointing of all places to the nursery, to the Hebrew nursery,
4:08
Speaker 1: where their fears accurate. Had God forgotten them? Here are
4:12
Speaker 1: the words of God. I'm so happy to introduce you
4:16
Speaker 1: to this scripture if you've never seen it before. It's
4:18
Speaker 1: in Isaiah 49, 15 and 16. God speaking here says,
4:24
Speaker 1: can a mother forget the baby at her breast and
4:28
Speaker 1: have no compassion on the child she has born? And
4:31
Speaker 1: though she may forget, I will not forget you. I
4:36
Speaker 1: have engraved you on the palms of my hands. See,
4:40
Speaker 1: your walls, speaking of Jerusalem, are ever before me. Perhaps
4:47
Speaker 1: you've needed similar assurance. Perhaps you've wondered if God has
4:51
Speaker 1: forsaken you Or forgotten you. Perhaps you're acquainted with this.
4:56
Speaker 1: That we can call our deepest panic. And that is
4:59
Speaker 1: that God has forsaken me. The Lord has forsaken me
5:02
Speaker 1: they said. The Lord has forgotten me. Could there be
5:06
Speaker 1: any deeper fear. Any more fundamental anxiety. That God has
5:13
Speaker 1: forgotten or forsaken us. A disaster rode into Jerusalem. In
5:18
Speaker 1: the form of a Babylonian army. City walls were broken down.
5:24
Speaker 1: The temple was destroyed. And the best and the brightest
5:27
Speaker 1: youth had been marched off to a distant land. And
5:30
Speaker 1: those people who were left behind, worried that God had
5:33
Speaker 1: forsaken them, that God had forgotten them. Maybe you've felt
5:38
Speaker 1: the same. Midnight moments in a hospital bed and the
5:43
Speaker 1: monitor beeps and the IV drips. You can hear the
5:47
Speaker 1: nurses chattering down the hall. And you can't sleep and
5:51
Speaker 1: you just stare at the wall and you wonder, has
5:53
Speaker 1: God forsaken me? Has God forgotten me? Or maybe after
5:59
Speaker 1: years of treadmilling a dead end job and not being
6:03
Speaker 1: able to find another option, you're thinking, is God near?
6:08
Speaker 1: Or has he forgotten me? Or maybe when your prayers
6:12
Speaker 1: for a child are met with an empty tomb and
6:16
Speaker 1: an empty, empty womb, I'm sorry. in an unused crib.
6:21
Speaker 1: Maybe you've wondered, is God near? Has he forgotten me?
6:27
Speaker 1: Or maybe temptation sucks you out to see again. Dare
6:31
Speaker 1: you ask for God's mercy yet one more time? Is
6:34
Speaker 1: he near? Does he care? Are you acquainted with such panic?
6:40
Speaker 1: If so, God has an answer for you and he
6:44
Speaker 1: gives you the sweetest picture. He asked the question. In fact,
6:48
Speaker 1: could you read this with me? The words of God.
6:52
Speaker 1: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and
6:55
Speaker 1: have no compassion on the child she has born? Though
6:59
Speaker 1: she may forget, I will not forget you. You need
7:05
Speaker 1: a picture of my protection, God says. You need a
7:09
Speaker 1: description of my devotion, God asks. Well, I'll tell you
7:12
Speaker 1: where you can find one. In the nearest nursery. slip
7:17
Speaker 1: in quietly, pull up a chair next to the rocker,
7:21
Speaker 1: and sit and watch. Watch the mother as she cradles
7:24
Speaker 1: the infant. Watch the infant nurse from her mother. Could
7:29
Speaker 1: God have given a greater picture? I mean, think about
7:32
Speaker 1: the mom in that moment. What's her highest priority? Her
7:38
Speaker 1: priority is the protection of that baby. The nourishment of
7:41
Speaker 1: that baby. The provision of that baby. She has one priority,
7:46
Speaker 1: and that is that baby. God says, that's my devotion
7:50
Speaker 1: to you. Think about the plight of the infant. Is
7:55
Speaker 1: she cold? Well, maybe she was, but no more. She's
7:59
Speaker 1: held close to her mother's body. Does she labor? No.
8:04
Speaker 1: The mother does all the work. Is she needy? Well,
8:08
Speaker 1: she was needy. And she cried out and her mother came.
8:13
Speaker 1: And she's not needy any longer. She's warmed. She's held.
8:17
Speaker 1: She's fed. Don't we long for such a place? Could
8:21
Speaker 1: there be a better place than the arms of a mother?
8:25
Speaker 1: God's question is, can a mother forget the baby at
8:30
Speaker 1: her breast and have no compassion on the child she
8:34
Speaker 1: has born? How would you answer that question? How would you?
8:39
Speaker 1: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast? Can
8:43
Speaker 1: she have no compassion on the child she has born?
8:47
Speaker 1: That's a ridiculous question. Can you even envision, can you
8:51
Speaker 1: conjure up the idea of a mother feeding a baby
8:55
Speaker 1: and saying, now, who are you? Somebody remind me who
9:00
Speaker 1: this baby is. Can a mother forget the baby? Can
9:04
Speaker 1: a mother have no compassion upon the child that she
9:08
Speaker 1: has born? Even if the baby was unplanned, even if
9:12
Speaker 1: the mother is unwed, even if the parents are unprepared,
9:17
Speaker 1: the mother will always, right moms? The mother will always
9:22
Speaker 1: have the most loyal, devoted, even biased devotion to that child.
9:30
Speaker 1: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast? God asks.
9:34
Speaker 1: Can a mother have no compassion for the child she
9:37
Speaker 1: has born? But if in some unimaginable circumstance, the mother
9:45
Speaker 1: forgot the child or had no compassion, then God says,
9:50
Speaker 1: though she may forget, I will not forget you. Would
9:57
Speaker 1: you please receive that word right now? God has not
10:01
Speaker 1: forgotten you. He has not. And he never, never will.
10:09
Speaker 1: The answer and the proof is in this. The greatest pledge.
10:14
Speaker 1: Look what God says. See, I have engraved you. I
10:19
Speaker 1: have engraved you, not just your name, but your life,
10:23
Speaker 1: your whole story. I have engraved you on the palms
10:27
Speaker 1: of my hands. Your walls, speaking of Jerusalem, are ever
10:33
Speaker 1: before me. Your walls have collapsed, but I can see them.
10:37
Speaker 1: Your life is a challenge, but I can see you.
10:40
Speaker 1: I have engraved your name on the palm of my hands. Friend,
10:44
Speaker 1: your name is not buried in some heavenly file. God
10:49
Speaker 1: never glances at your name tag to jog his memory
10:53
Speaker 1: of you. He knew you before you were born. He
10:57
Speaker 1: knows the day that you will die. He has measured
11:00
Speaker 1: the span of your life. And he has chosen you
11:05
Speaker 1: and has invited you to come and spend forever with him.
11:10
Speaker 1: Your name is written. Your life is written on the
11:15
Speaker 1: palm of his hand. Your story, in other words, is
11:19
Speaker 1: ever in the eyesight of God. Someone told you otherwise?
11:26
Speaker 1: Someone told you that you could out-sin God's grace? That
11:30
Speaker 1: you could out-run God's affection? Someone told you that He
11:33
Speaker 1: would forget you because you so often forget Him? Hogwash. Hogwash.
11:42
Speaker 1: The Bible from start to finish, from Genesis to Revelations,
11:46
Speaker 1: Elevates the great promise of God. That he will never
11:50
Speaker 1: forget you. He will never forsake you. Even though we
11:53
Speaker 1: do forget him. And though we have forsaken him. Our
11:58
Speaker 1: love does not make him love us more. Our failure
12:02
Speaker 1: to love does not make him love us less. His
12:05
Speaker 1: love does not depend upon us. He loves because he
12:10
Speaker 1: is love. And your best deeds will not increase his love.
12:16
Speaker 1: Your worst deeds will never diminish it. And you have
12:18
Speaker 1: never lived one unloved day, nor ever will you. Such
12:25
Speaker 1: is the love of God. Would you receive it? Even
12:29
Speaker 1: in my heart, I sense that people resist it. They
12:33
Speaker 1: can't believe it. And you come by your caution, your hesitancy,
12:37
Speaker 1: honestly enough, because the world can be so hard on you.
12:40
Speaker 1: And there have been others, maybe even those in your family,
12:43
Speaker 1: who promised to love you and then they never did.
12:46
Speaker 1: Please do not filter God's love through earthly experience. Let
12:54
Speaker 1: God be who he has declared to be, and that
12:57
Speaker 1: is a God of endless love. He is loyal to you.
13:03
Speaker 1: And regarding that loyalty, there's no question. But sometimes regarding
13:07
Speaker 1: our trust, there is question. I wonder if a baby
13:14
Speaker 1: being nursed by the mother would ever have the same
13:20
Speaker 1: insecurities that we have regarding God. Can you imagine a
13:24
Speaker 1: child being held and fed by the mother having thoughts like, well,
13:28
Speaker 1: I sure hope she doesn't drop me. Or I hope
13:31
Speaker 1: she doesn't change her mind. Well, you know, I cried
13:35
Speaker 1: so much last night. I'm not sure she's going to
13:37
Speaker 1: really feed me. She may not even change my diaper.
13:40
Speaker 1: She may turn me over to Locato. I bet she's
13:45
Speaker 1: tired of me. I don't even know how to help.
13:47
Speaker 1: I can't work. I can't vacuum. I can't contribute. Babies
13:51
Speaker 1: don't have those thoughts, boy, but we do, don't we?
13:54
Speaker 1: Don't we? We worry about disappointing God, overstaying our welcome,
13:59
Speaker 1: out sinning His grace. We worry that we won't deserve
14:02
Speaker 1: a place in His arms. He might forget us or
14:05
Speaker 1: drop us or forsake us. You know, we didn't always
14:08
Speaker 1: have such concerns for those of you who are Christians.
14:13
Speaker 1: You might remember when you first came to Christ. And
14:17
Speaker 1: you came with such childlike faith. You just said a prayer.
14:23
Speaker 1: You just cried out to Him like a child would
14:25
Speaker 1: cry out to a mother. And He accepted you. He
14:28
Speaker 1: forgave you. As the years pass, sometimes we We change
14:34
Speaker 1: and we lose that childlike faith. Maybe we slip and fall.
14:38
Speaker 1: Maybe we succeed and stand. Maybe we struggle with shame
14:42
Speaker 1: or maybe we struggle with pride. Some people feel that
14:45
Speaker 1: they're too bad for God's arms. Some people feel they're
14:49
Speaker 1: too big for God's arms. But God calls all of us.
14:54
Speaker 1: And his message is clear. You're never so bad. You're
14:57
Speaker 1: never so big that you don't need to be held
15:00
Speaker 1: in the strong arms of your heavenly father. the Apostle
15:05
Speaker 1: Paul said, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
15:12
Speaker 1: continue to live your lives in Him. Just as you
15:15
Speaker 1: received Him, when you were so trusting, so dependent, maintain
15:20
Speaker 1: that childlike posture because God's love for you has never changed.
15:26
Speaker 1: One more verse, still in the book of Isaiah, God says,
15:30
Speaker 1: for the mountains may move and the hills disappear, But
15:35
Speaker 1: even then, my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant,
15:39
Speaker 1: look at that word, covenant promise of blessing will never
15:45
Speaker 1: be broken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
15:53
Speaker 1: The flight departing Orlando for Atlanta was populated primarily by
15:59
Speaker 1: business workers, people who were traveling to Atlanta or some
16:05
Speaker 1: other location for the purpose of work. Most everybody on
16:11
Speaker 1: the plane had their laptop or had a book to
16:13
Speaker 1: read or had a project upon which they needed to
16:17
Speaker 1: turn their attention. But there was one exception, a very
16:20
Speaker 1: notable exception. There was a mom and her four-year-old daughter.
16:28
Speaker 1: And when everybody else on the plane began doing their
16:31
Speaker 1: work or reading their books, she and her daughter pulled
16:36
Speaker 1: out a coloring book and some crayons. They chose to
16:42
Speaker 1: pass the time just engaged in playtime. Everybody assumed it
16:49
Speaker 1: would be an uneventful flight, but just a few minutes
16:54
Speaker 1: into the flight, a few thousand feet in the air,
16:57
Speaker 1: it became obvious that was not the case. The plane
17:00
Speaker 1: jerked to the right and then jerked to the left.
17:02
Speaker 1: And then the pilot came over the intercom saying, we
17:05
Speaker 1: have a problem with our hydraulic system. We're not sure
17:08
Speaker 1: we can get the landing gear down. We're returning to Orlando.
17:12
Speaker 1: Prepare yourself for a bumpy landing. Fear took over the
17:20
Speaker 1: interior of the plane. Faces turned ashen with anxiety. Several
17:29
Speaker 1: passengers lost their composure. but not the mom. According to
17:37
Speaker 1: a businessman who was seated just across the aisle from her,
17:40
Speaker 1: who later wrote this story, he overheard the mother's voice,
17:47
Speaker 1: a calm, reassuring mother's voice, as she turned to that
17:51
Speaker 1: four-year-old and said, Honey, you know I love you. You
17:57
Speaker 1: know you're my special girl. And I'm so proud of you.
18:01
Speaker 1: You know that, right? Yes, mommy. And the mom said,
18:08
Speaker 1: sometimes things happen that are not our fault. But whatever happens,
18:14
Speaker 1: always remember that you have a mom who loves you.
18:20
Speaker 1: And then the mom did the most surprising thing. Not surprising,
18:25
Speaker 1: but unexpected. She reached over and she unbuckled the seatbelt
18:31
Speaker 1: and That her daughter was wearing. And she extended it.
18:35
Speaker 1: And she unbuckled her seatbelt. And then stood and stepped
18:39
Speaker 1: over her daughter. And carefully placed herself. In her daughter's lap.
18:45
Speaker 1: And then put the seatbelt around them both. As if
18:49
Speaker 1: to say if any harm comes to this child. It
18:51
Speaker 1: has to first pass through me. Well the landing gear reengaged.
18:59
Speaker 1: There was no crisis. And there was no crash. And
19:02
Speaker 1: they landed safely. Don't you know that little girl has
19:07
Speaker 1: that memory? Deeply deposited in her conscious.
19:15
Speaker 2: Existence.
19:15
Speaker 1: That she has a mom who would die for her.
19:21
Speaker 1: What word would you use to describe that kind of love? Well,
19:29
Speaker 1: when you come up with the word, apply it to
19:32
Speaker 1: all moms. And then also apply it to our heavenly father.
19:40
Speaker 1: The one who has engraved your name on the palm
19:44
Speaker 1: of his hands. Your life is right there in the
19:49
Speaker 1: palm of his hands. right next to the wound, the
19:52
Speaker 1: scar from the cross and the nails. And he did
19:57
Speaker 1: die for you. He did cover you. And he did
20:02
Speaker 1: receive upon him the punishment for your sins and mine
20:07
Speaker 1: so that he could leave that door to heaven wide open.
20:12
Speaker 1: How great is His love for you. Let's pray together.
20:17
Speaker 1: Gracious Lord, how can we ever thank You enough? We
20:21
Speaker 1: cannot plumb the depths of Your love. What's that old song, Lord?
20:31
Speaker 1: Could we with ink the oceans fill? And were every
20:36
Speaker 1: person on earth a scribe, no person could Tell of
20:41
Speaker 1: your love for us, the love that will never die.
20:47
Speaker 1: So thank you, Lord. And I do pray, Father, for
20:50
Speaker 1: somebody in here hearing these words saying, well, I know
20:53
Speaker 1: he loves me, but would you please take that hesitancy
20:56
Speaker 1: out of their heart? The greatest gift you can give
20:59
Speaker 1: is your love. Why would we resist it? For God
21:02
Speaker 1: so loved the world that he gave his one and
21:06
Speaker 1: only son. For whoever believes in him will not perish.
21:10
Speaker 1: But have everlasting life. Thank you. Thank you. Through Jesus
21:16
Speaker 1: we pray. Amen.
21:27
Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
21:34
Speaker 2: somewhere out there. That's enough for me.
21:43
Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me Don't need
21:47
Speaker 3: promises to keep Just the thought that you are breathing
21:53
Speaker 3: Somewhere in this world I see Even if I'm not
21:58
Speaker 3: beside you Even if.
22:00
Speaker 4: You never know There's a quiet kind of comfort Just
22:06
Speaker 4: in knowing you still glow I don't need.
22:12
Speaker 2: To forever I just need you to exist.
22:22
Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
22:26
Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
22:31
Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
22:36
Speaker 5: to look my way You don't have to be my home.
22:42
Speaker 6: It's enough to know you're living In a world I'm
22:47
Speaker 6: not alone I won't chase you through the distance Won't
22:56
Speaker 6: disturb your chosen life I'll just keep you in my silence.
23:01
Speaker 2: Like a star that shines at night Through the dark
23:07
Speaker 2: and through the blue.
23:13
Speaker 6: I still think of.
23:14
Speaker 7: You You don't have to feel the same Just as.
23:24
Speaker 5: Long as you're still out there Calling softly through my
23:30
Speaker 5: days You don't have to look my way You don't
23:34
Speaker 5: have to be my home It's enough to know you're
23:40
Speaker 5: living In a world I'm not alone.
23:59
Speaker 6: I don't need to be your light I don't need
24:03
Speaker 6: to cross your mind All I need is just the
24:07
Speaker 6: truth That you're somewhere.
24:11
Speaker 2: Still alive.
24:15
Speaker 1: You don't have.
24:15
Speaker 8: To stay with me You don't have to feel the
24:20
Speaker 8: same Just as long as you're still out there Calling
24:26
Speaker 8: softly through my days You don't have to look my
24:31
Speaker 8: way You don't have to be my home It's enough
24:36
Speaker 8: to know you're living
24:41
Speaker 6: In a world I'm not alone