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Max Lucado - Our Words, God's Words · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: Elderly couple were sitting out on the porch and he
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Speaker 1: wanted to encourage her so he said I'm proud of
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Speaker 1: you she said why he said I'm proud of you
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Speaker 1: why I'm proud of you she replied I'm tired of
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Speaker 1: you too it's not always easy to encourage someone the
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Speaker 1: words get lost in translation but we could all use
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Speaker 1: a compliment there was a fellow who stepped into a
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Speaker 1: bar and he was the only one in the bar
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Speaker 1: except for the bartender and soon the bartender disappeared and
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Speaker 1: so the fellow was surprised as he sat at the
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Speaker 1: bar and he heard the voice say my that's a
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Speaker 1: nice haircut he looked around didn't see anyone and look
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Speaker 1: where do you get your shoes shine boy they are
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Speaker 1: spick and span The fellow looked around, still didn't see anyone.
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Speaker 1: Then the voice said, it's been a long time since
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Speaker 1: I told you what a good man you are. About
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Speaker 1: that time, the bartender walked in and the fellow said,
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Speaker 1: I don't know what's going on, but I keep hearing
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Speaker 1: these nice comments, but I don't see anyone. And the
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Speaker 1: bartender said, oh, that's the peanuts. They're complimentary. They're complimentary.
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Speaker 1: I can go on all day. Finding the right way
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Speaker 1: to encourage someone is not always easy, and yet it
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Speaker 1: is absolutely essential. Discussing the beauty of a sacred home,
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Speaker 1: that is a home where God is present, we find
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Speaker 1: that words of encouragement are the lifeblood to a sacred home.
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Speaker 1: Before we begin that conversation. We want to offer a prayer,
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Speaker 1: especially for our first responders. You're likely aware that two
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Speaker 1: officers were shot in San Antonio this week. One passed away,
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Speaker 1: the other still in the hospital. And so, Heavenly Father,
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Speaker 1: we'd like to pray for Miguel Moreno's family, for the
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Speaker 1: grief that they must carry at this hour. Comfort, please,
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Speaker 1: upon his family, wife, children, and extended family. We pray
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Speaker 1: for the healing of officer Cavazos and we pray father
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Speaker 1: for all of our first responders who are so willing
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Speaker 1: to place themselves between us and danger and on this
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Speaker 1: 4th of July weekend father we extend our prayer to
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Speaker 1: to include our gratitude to live in this country thank
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Speaker 1: you for all who sacrificed to grant us this freedom
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Speaker 1: we pray in the name of Christ and all the
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Speaker 1: church said And so I don't know who came up
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Speaker 1: with the phrase, sticks and stones may break my bones,
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Speaker 1: but words will never hurt me. But that person was
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Speaker 1: never called fatso or stupid or ugly or lazy. Words
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Speaker 1: have the power to wound, but words also have the
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Speaker 1: power to heal. I believe this was the point of
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Speaker 1: the wise man in the book of Proverbs when he said,
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Speaker 1: death and life are in the power of the tongue.
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Speaker 1: And those who love it will eat its fruit. Then
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Speaker 1: he says, he who finds a wife finds a good
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Speaker 1: thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Death and life
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Speaker 1: are in the power of the tongue. What an amazing
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Speaker 1: statement to make. But haven't you seen that? Think of
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Speaker 1: the people you enjoy talking to. People you enjoy being around.
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Speaker 1: Odds are they speak life into your life with their words.
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Speaker 1: They encourage you. They lift you up. They give you
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Speaker 1: insights and wisdom. They have an ability to stir life
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Speaker 1: in your life. If you're an oak tree, they're a
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Speaker 1: summer shower. Think of the people you avoid. Odds are
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Speaker 1: they speak words of death, discouragement, cynicism, pessimism, often critical, slander, gossip.
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Speaker 1: If you're an oak tree, They are oak wilt. They
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Speaker 1: bring death. So the power of the tongue, the power
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Speaker 1: of the tongue to bring life, the power of the
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Speaker 1: tongue to bring death. And then the wise man says
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Speaker 1: something about marriage. It's interesting. He makes a statement about
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Speaker 1: the tongue, about words, and then it's as if that
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Speaker 1: makes him think about marriage. And he says he, look
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Speaker 1: at the verse again, death and life are in the
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Speaker 1: power of the tongue. And those who love it will
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Speaker 1: eat its fruit. And then he says, he who finds
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Speaker 1: a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from
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Speaker 1: the Lord. It's as if this discussion about words makes
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Speaker 1: him think about the home, which makes perfect sense because
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Speaker 1: no relationship demands careful word management more than a marriage.
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Speaker 1: No relationship demands careful word management more than than a marriage.
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Speaker 1: The more intimate the relationship, the more powerful the words.
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Speaker 1: The more intimate the relationship, the more powerful the words.
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Speaker 1: If someone doesn't like the way you drive and they
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Speaker 1: yell from their car to yours in traffic, goofus, you
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Speaker 1: don't like it. But The person doesn't know you. It's
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Speaker 1: easy to dismiss the slander. They don't know how brilliant
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Speaker 1: you are, how wise you are, how mature you are.
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Speaker 1: They don't know you, so you just can dismiss it. However,
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Speaker 1: if your spouse or your parent calls you a goofus,
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Speaker 1: you may act like it doesn't bother you, but indeed
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Speaker 1: it does. Because the more intimate the relationship, the more
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Speaker 1: powerful the The words. If that person knows you intimately,
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Speaker 1: knows you personally, then what they say affects you. And
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Speaker 1: if they criticize you, it can hurt. Conversely, when and
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Speaker 1: if they bless you, if they encourage you, oh, you
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Speaker 1: can drink that, live off of that forever. Because the
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Speaker 1: more intimate the relationship, the more important the words are.
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Speaker 1: Research projects have determined that the most reliable predictor of
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Speaker 1: a success or failure in marriage is the words spoken
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Speaker 1: one to the other. In one study, among couples who
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Speaker 1: ultimately stayed married, only five out of every hundred comments
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Speaker 1: were put-downs. In marriages that would later split up, ten
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Speaker 1: out of every comments were insults. In other words, twice
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Speaker 1: as many. Words And cruel comments are like weeds that
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Speaker 1: sprout into the weeds of divorce. In their book based
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Speaker 1: on this research, Cliff Notarius and Howard Markman wrote, hostile
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Speaker 1: put downs act as cancerous cells that if left unchecked,
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Speaker 1: erode the relationship over time. And in the end, relentless
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Speaker 1: unremitting negativity takes control and the couple can't get through
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Speaker 1: the week without major blow-ups. Who would have thought that
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Speaker 1: the most single, reliable predictor of success or failure in
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Speaker 1: a marriage isn't the amount of affection, income, or education?
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Speaker 1: It is the kind of words spoken to one another.
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Speaker 1: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
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Speaker 1: This makes common sense, but folks, it also makes spiritual sense.
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Speaker 1: You see, when you criticize somebody, when you slander somebody,
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Speaker 1: you're agreeing with the devil's assessment of that person. And
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Speaker 1: the devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
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Speaker 1: And he is a liar. He has never spoken one
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Speaker 1: word of truth ever. So if you steal, kill, and destroy,
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Speaker 1: steal hope, kill dreams, destroy self-esteem, then you're agreeing with
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Speaker 1: the devil. You're partnering with the devil. You're actually advancing
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Speaker 1: the cause of hell in someone's life. On the other hand,
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Speaker 1: when you seek to bring the best out of someone,
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Speaker 1: you are partnering with God. And your words become a
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Speaker 1: tool of the Holy Spirit in which that person can
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Speaker 1: find joy or peace or find their destiny. So don't
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Speaker 1: partner with the devil and begin agreeing with God. Stop
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Speaker 1: speaking words of death and do your best to speak
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Speaker 1: words of life. How does this happen? Well, there's one
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Speaker 1: answer that surfaces to the top quickly, and that is
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Speaker 1: speak words of encouragement. Speak words of encouragement. A little
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Speaker 1: boy said to his father, Hey, Dad, let's play darts.
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Speaker 1: I'll throw them and you say wonderful. Every person needs
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Speaker 1: to hear a wonderful word. Now and then, here's why.
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Speaker 1: There's a discouragement conspiracy afoot. Companies spend billions of dollars
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Speaker 1: to convince you that you are deficient and inadequate. Until
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Speaker 1: they can convince you that you're deficient. and inadequate, you
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Speaker 1: won't buy their product. Consequently, they have to convince you
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Speaker 1: that your face is wrinkled so you'll buy face cream.
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Speaker 1: They have to tell you that you're out of date
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Speaker 1: so you'll buy new clothes. They have to convince you
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Speaker 1: that your hair is dingy so you'll buy hair color.
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Speaker 1: Marketing companies deploy the brightest minds and employ the deepest
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Speaker 1: pockets to convince our generation that we are chubby, smelly, ugly,
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Speaker 1: and out of date. So we're under attack all the time.
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Speaker 1: Every advertisement, every billboard, every announcement is intended to tell
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Speaker 1: you that you are falling short, deficient, or inadequate. We
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Speaker 1: can relate. to the two cows who were grazing in
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Speaker 1: a pasture when a milk truck drove by. And on
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Speaker 1: the side of the truck were the words pasteurized, homogenized, standardized,
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Speaker 1: and vitamin A added. One cow looked at the other
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Speaker 1: and said, kind of makes you feel inadequate, doesn't it?
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Speaker 1: Inadequacy indwells a billion hearts. Who's going to tell them
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Speaker 1: the truth? Who's going to tell your husband the truth?
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Speaker 1: Who's going to tell your wife the truth? Who's going
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Speaker 1: to speak truth into your kids? Who's going to tell
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Speaker 1: them that they are bought by God and loved by
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Speaker 1: God and chosen by God? Who's going to tell them
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Speaker 1: that they are overseen by a loving father who takes
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Speaker 1: every challenge and turns it into something good? Who's going
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Speaker 1: to tell them that the sum total of their worth
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Speaker 1: is not found in a bank account or a way size?
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Speaker 1: Who's going to tell them that they have a destiny
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Speaker 1: that is literally out of this world. Who's going to
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Speaker 1: tell them the truth? Who's going to encourage them? Don't
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Speaker 1: you love the word encourage? As if you're placing courage
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Speaker 1: in someone. That's what courage does. The Bible says, let
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Speaker 1: us consider how we may spur one another on toward
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Speaker 1: love and good deeds. In San Antonio, we know what
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Speaker 1: a spur is. A spur activates action. Let us consider.
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Speaker 1: This is a great Greek word that means to perceive clearly,
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Speaker 1: understand fully, and consider closely. The idea is someone who's thinking,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to find a way to encourage them. It's
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Speaker 1: not just some spontaneous offhand comment, but it's premeditated. It's
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Speaker 1: planned out. How can I encourage that person? Everyone needs
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Speaker 1: a cheerleader. And so the Bible says, look for the
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Speaker 1: best in each other and always do your best to
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Speaker 1: bring it out. Try this. Sit down with your teenager
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Speaker 1: and say, can I have five minutes to tell you
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Speaker 1: what a wonderful person you are? And then just let
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Speaker 1: it go. Open the floodgates. Cover them with compliments. Embarrass him.
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Speaker 1: Drench her. And just when he or she says, I
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Speaker 1: can't take it anymore, tell them to sit down. You
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Speaker 1: got more to give. Cover them up in encouragement. Mark
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Speaker 1: Twain was speaking for us all when he said, I
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Speaker 1: can live for two months on one compliment. Find something
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Speaker 1: you like about your spouse and make a big deal
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Speaker 1: out of it. Get so focused on that one character
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Speaker 1: trait that you love that you quit thinking about the
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Speaker 1: few that you don't and you tell them how great
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Speaker 1: that is. Wives, watch the nitpicking and the nagging. Husbands,
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Speaker 1: be careful to compliment your wife when you don't have
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Speaker 1: any ulterior motive. And all those comments where you say
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Speaker 1: something critical about someone and then you say, but I
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Speaker 1: was just joking. Enough of that. If you have to
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Speaker 1: say I was just joking, you weren't. And the damage
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Speaker 1: is done. Be like the Apostle Paul who said, I
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Speaker 1: didn't skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and
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Speaker 1: encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got.
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Speaker 1: Paul was the king of encouragement. Now you may find
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Speaker 1: this difficult. Many people do. They find it easy to
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Speaker 1: criticize and to judge. But they find it difficult to
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Speaker 1: be an encourager. Could be they never saw it in
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Speaker 1: anyone else. Could be they grew up in a home
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Speaker 1: full of critics. But I think there's another reason. It
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Speaker 1: seems to me that people who find it difficult to
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Speaker 1: encourage simply need encouragement. You cannot give what you've never received.
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Speaker 1: It's not like we have a distillery of encouragement built
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Speaker 1: in us. And so those who find it difficult to receive,
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, give encouragement, it could be that they have,
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Speaker 1: their tank is on empty, and they could use a fill-up.
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Speaker 1: Remember the theme of this series, Sacred Home. The diagram
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Speaker 1: that I've shared with you, that many people see that
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Speaker 1: a marriage is consists of a he and a she
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Speaker 1: and that's it that's not a sacred home that's a
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Speaker 1: secular home that's not a home where there is God
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Speaker 1: that's a home where he is depending upon she and
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Speaker 1: she is depending upon he counting on each other to
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Speaker 1: meet all of their needs he's thinking she will fulfill
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Speaker 1: him she's thinking he will take care of me And
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Speaker 1: that's a marriage that's headed toward disaster because no human
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Speaker 1: being can successfully take care of another human being. You
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Speaker 1: cannot complete anyone. That's not your assignment. That's God's assignment.
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Speaker 1: So a sacred home is a triangular relationship in which
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Speaker 1: she goes to God, in which he goes to God,
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Speaker 1: in which she finds forgiveness in God, consequently can give
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Speaker 1: it to him in which he finds his destiny or
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Speaker 1: his identity in God and consequently is secure in his
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Speaker 1: relationship with God. And then what results is a healthier
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Speaker 1: relationship between the he and the she because God is
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Speaker 1: right in the middle. My friend Ted Owenby saw this
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Speaker 1: last night at the Saturday service and after the service
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Speaker 1: he said, a marriage without God is like two ticks
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Speaker 1: without a dog. It's pretty profound. But this principle is
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Speaker 1: easily forgotten and overlooked. We preachers are especially guilty of saying, encourage, encourage, encourage, encourage,
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Speaker 1: without reminding you where to find encouragement. Really, the Christian life,
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Speaker 1: listen to this, is more about receiving than it is giving.
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Speaker 1: And Christianity is more about what was done for us
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Speaker 1: than what we do for God. Christianity is absolutely unique
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Speaker 1: in world religions because we're more about what God has
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Speaker 1: done than what we do. It is because God has
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Speaker 1: done good for us that we then find the courage
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Speaker 1: and the ability to give it to the others. As
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Speaker 1: one apostle said, we love because he first loved us.
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Speaker 1: So do you want to love someone? Then let God
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Speaker 1: love you. Do you want to encourage someone? Then receive
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Speaker 1: encouragement from God. How does this happen? Oh, I'm so
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Speaker 1: glad you asked. Some years ago, I was passing through
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Speaker 1: a time of difficulty. I was discouraged. I really don't
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Speaker 1: remember why. But I had an idea. I set out
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Speaker 1: to find all the verses I could that described God's
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Speaker 1: encouragement to me. And I compiled them in a letter.
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Speaker 1: I recast them so they were in a letter. If
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Speaker 1: God were to write you a letter of encouragement, it
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Speaker 1: might read like this. It's in your weekend handout. You'll
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Speaker 1: see it's a letter where typically we place the outline.
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Speaker 1: You might want to keep it handy when you need encouragement.
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Speaker 1: It reads like this. Dear child of mine, I am
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Speaker 1: the one who comforts you. I bought you and complete you.
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Speaker 1: I delight in you and claim you as my own.
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Speaker 1: Rejoicing over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
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Speaker 1: I will never fail you or forsake you. You're worried
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Speaker 1: and troubled about many things. Trust me with all your heart.
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Speaker 1: I know how to rescue godly people from their trials.
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Speaker 1: Let me strengthen you with my glorious power. I did
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Speaker 1: not spare my son, but gave him up for you.
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Speaker 1: Won't I give you everything else? When you go through
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Speaker 1: deep waters and great trouble, I'll be with you. When
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Speaker 1: you go through rivers of difficulty, you'll not drown. When
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Speaker 1: you walk through the fire of oppression, You'll not be
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Speaker 1: burned up and the flames will not consume you. So
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Speaker 1: don't worry. I never tire. I never sleep. I stand
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Speaker 1: beside you. The angel of the Lord encamps around you.
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Speaker 1: I hide you in the shelter of my presence. I
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Speaker 1: will go ahead of you, directing your steps and delighting
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Speaker 1: in every detail of your life. If you stumble, you'll
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Speaker 1: not fall for I hold you by the hand. I
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Speaker 1: will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
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Speaker 1: I'll make you fruitful in the land of suffering, trading
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Speaker 1: beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for despair. I'll
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Speaker 1: live with the low-spirited and spirit-crushed. I'll put new spirit
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Speaker 1: in you and get you on your feet again. Weeping
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Speaker 1: may go on all night, but joy comes with the mornings.
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Speaker 1: And if I am for you, who can ever be
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Speaker 1: against you? You sometimes say, the Lord has deserted me.
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Speaker 1: The Lord has forgotten me. But can a mother forget
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Speaker 1: her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a
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Speaker 1: child she has born? Even if that were possible, I
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Speaker 1: would not forget you. I paid for you with the
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Speaker 1: precious lifeblood of Christ, my sinless, spotless lamb. No one
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Speaker 1: will snatch you away from me. See, I have written
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Speaker 1: your name on my hand. I call you my friend.
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Speaker 1: while the very hairs on your head are all numbered,
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Speaker 1: so don't be afraid. You're valuable to me. Give me
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Speaker 1: your burdens, and I'll take care of you. So here's
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Speaker 1: how it works. Let's say you're driving home at the
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Speaker 1: end of a very difficult day. The boss was grumpy,
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Speaker 1: the clients were cranky, and the computer system went down,
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Speaker 1: and you're discouraged. The old you would have thought, I
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Speaker 1: can't wait to get home so that he or she
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Speaker 1: can encourage me. The new you is more mature and
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Speaker 1: realizes what could be that he or she had a
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Speaker 1: bad day too. So rather than count on him or
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Speaker 1: her to encourage me, I'm going to turn to God.
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Speaker 1: And I'm going to ask God to be my source
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Speaker 1: of encouragement. So you still keep your eyes on the road,
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Speaker 1: even though you pray, you don't close your eyes, church.
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Speaker 1: But boy, you do pray. Lord, help me. It's a
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Speaker 1: rough day. Rough day. But I receive your words of encouragement.
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Speaker 1: I receive your blessing. I receive your promise that you
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Speaker 1: love me. I receive your promise that I'll never out
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Speaker 1: sin your grace. I receive the confidence that you're still
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Speaker 1: on the throne and you're overseeing the affairs of mankind.
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Speaker 1: I receive the promise that I have a destiny and
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Speaker 1: I belong to you and I've been bought by you
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Speaker 1: and you just allow the words of God to come
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Speaker 1: over you and to drench you and little by little
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Speaker 1: you'll feel those shoulders begin to lift and you'll feel
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Speaker 1: your head begin to lift and hope Will begin to
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Speaker 1: enter your heart. Now your problems may not disappear instantly.
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Speaker 1: Then again they could. But even if they don't. You
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Speaker 1: find yourself encouraged. And by the time you reach your residence.
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Speaker 1: You're not counting on another person. To encourage you. And
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Speaker 1: if they do that's gravy. But if they don't that's okay.
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Speaker 1: Because you've learned. To strengthen yourself. In the Lord. In
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Speaker 1: the Old Testament, there's a story about the time that
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Speaker 1: David's men suffered a severe loss in the battle of Ziklag,
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Speaker 1: of all places. David was discouraged, and the scripture reads
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Speaker 1: like this. Now, David was greatly distressed because the people
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Speaker 1: spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the
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Speaker 1: people was grieved, every man for his son and his daughters.
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Speaker 1: But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. His
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Speaker 1: men were wanting to stone him, and he was distressed.
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Speaker 1: But what did David do? He strengthened himself in the
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Speaker 1: Lord his God. Can you do that? There are times
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Speaker 1: when people will come with words of encouragement and strengthen you.
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Speaker 1: But it's essential that we know how to strengthen ourselves,
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Speaker 1: that we learn how to receive encouragement. for those times
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Speaker 1: in which no person comes to bring encouragement to us.
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Speaker 1: A seminary professor and his wife were on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,
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Speaker 1: enjoying breakfast one morning when a distinguished gentleman walked into
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Speaker 1: the restaurant. Everybody seemed to recognize him. He walked around
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Speaker 1: from table to table, saying hello to people, welcoming people,
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Speaker 1: almost like he was an ambassador for the town. He
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Speaker 1: came over to the table where the seminary professor and
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Speaker 1: his wife were sitting. And when he found out that
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Speaker 1: they were from out of town, the gentleman gave them
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Speaker 1: a welcome. When he found out the professor was a
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Speaker 1: teacher of the Bible, the man said, can I tell
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Speaker 1: you a story? And without even waiting for a response,
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Speaker 1: he pulled out a chair and he sat down. He
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Speaker 1: pointed through the window and he said, see that mountain
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Speaker 1: over there? At the base of that mountain is a
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Speaker 1: small town and that's where a mother gave birth to
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Speaker 1: to a baby boy many years ago. The boy grew
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Speaker 1: up never knowing his father. And in that small town,
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Speaker 1: to be an illegitimate son was, well, it was no
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Speaker 1: small stigma. He came to dread the question, who's your daddy?
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Speaker 1: When people would ask, he would duck his head and
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Speaker 1: embarrass because he never knew his father. When the boy
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Speaker 1: was 12 years old, the church that his mother attended
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Speaker 1: was assigned a new pastor. And after the service, the
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Speaker 1: pastor stood outside the church and was greeting people, most
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Speaker 1: for the first time. The single mom came by and
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Speaker 1: the minister introduced himself and heard her name. And then
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Speaker 1: he looked down at her 12-year-old son and he asked
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Speaker 1: the question the boy was hoping he wouldn't ask. Well,
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Speaker 1: who's your daddy? Maybe it was the flush of embarrassment
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Speaker 1: in the mother's face. Maybe it was the way the
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Speaker 1: boy ducked his head. Maybe it was the sudden stillness.
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Speaker 1: from the onlookers. Most likely, it was a conviction of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, which caused the minister to realize he
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Speaker 1: had stepped into awkward territory. And he lowered himself down,
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Speaker 1: eye level with the boy, and he looked and he said, oh,
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Speaker 1: I don't even need to ask. I see the family resemblance.
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Speaker 1: You're a child of God. Your father is the king
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Speaker 1: of kings. You have an inheritance. Live out of that inheritance, son.
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Speaker 1: With that, the gentleman at the table stood looking at
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Speaker 1: the seminary professor and his wife and he said, had
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Speaker 1: the pastor not said those words to me that day
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Speaker 1: many years ago, I don't know if my life would
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Speaker 1: have ever mattered or amounted to anything. But ever since
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Speaker 1: that day, When any person asks me about my father,
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Speaker 1: I tell them what the pastor told me. I'm a
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Speaker 1: child of the king of kings. My father is God.
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Speaker 1: And I have a great and wonderful inheritance. With that,
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Speaker 1: the man turned. And he began to walk away. Well,
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Speaker 1: you can imagine the seminary professor and his wife looked
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Speaker 1: at each other and then said, who was that man?
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Speaker 1: And they stopped the waitress. Do you know that gentleman
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Speaker 1: who came over to our table? And she said, oh,
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Speaker 1: everybody does. That's the former governor of Tennessee, Ben Hooper.
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Speaker 1: Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
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Speaker 1: You can change someone's life by speaking life into their life.
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Speaker 1: May your home be a home Where words of encouragement
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Speaker 1: are both received and then shared. And as a result,
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Speaker 1: life happens.