Traveling Light

If you're trembling on a tightrope of fear and worry, get ready for the best trade ever: your cares for God's calm. What if faith, not fear, could be your default reaction to circumstances? Imagine being able to walk away from worry, conquer the need to control, get rid of guilt, and end if-only thinking. That's God's offer. He wants to exchange your burdens for an abundance of mercy, gratitude, and trust. To replace striving and stress with a faith-filled life in which you'll see God's goodness, feel calm in chaos, and find peace through prayer.

Anxiety is at an all time high, but there's a prescription for dealing with it. Max Lucado invites listeners into a study of Philippians 4:6-7, where the Apostle Paul admonishes the followers of Christ, "Do not be anxious about anything...." Philippians 4:6 encourages the believer to "be anxious for nothing". As Lucado states, the Apostle Paul seems to leave little leeway here. "Be anxious of nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero."

Life is messy. Just look at Joseph. You might remember the Old Testament story. He was tossed in a pit, wrongfully imprisoned, forgotten, and dismissed. But Joseph's story contains an audacious promise. Whatever mess you face, God will use it for good. He did for Joseph, and he will for you. In the meantime don't become bitter or angry. Do what Joseph did. Trust in God.

You’re not. God’s grace - his rumbling, tumbling reservoir of strength and protection - is at work. Grace is still molding you and forming you. Strengthening you and emboldening you. Shaking you and shaping you. You are God’s masterpiece in the making. So let’s let grace do its work.

Joseph's pit came in the form of a cistern. Yours came in the form of a diagnosis, a foster home, or a traumatic injury. Joseph was thrown into a hole and despised. And you? Thrown into an unemployment line and forgotten, into a divorce and betrayed, into a bed and abused. The pit. Life is reduced to one quest: to get out and never get hurt again. Not simply done. Pits have no easy exit. Joseph's story got worse before it got better. Abandonment led to enslavement, entrapment, and imprisonment.

In Before Amen best-selling author Max Lucado joins listeners on a journey to the very heart of biblical prayer, offering hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Max reminds listeners that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Let the conversation begin.

Joel has filled this book with bold new prayers, inspiring stories, and practical tools for moving forward in faith. You will find inspiration from others who have overcome adversity and achieved their dreams. You will find proven methods for not just picking up the pieces but for building a new life better than you'd imagined.

Do you find it hard to believe that the One who made everything keeps your name on His heart and on His lips? Did you realize that your name is written on the hand of God (Is. 49:16)? Perhaps you've never seen your name honored. And you can't remember when you heard it spoken with kindness. In this book, Lucado offers the inspiration to believe that God has already bought the ticket-with your name on it.

Your mind has incredible power over your success or failure. Think Better, Live Better offers a simple yet life-changing strategy for erasing the thoughts that keep you down and reprogramming your mind with positive thinking to reach a new level of victory. As a child of the Most High God, you are equipped to handle anything that comes your way. To claim your destiny, start thinking about yourself the way God does, and delete the thoughts that tear down your confidence.

Grace. We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and pre-meal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means. But do we really understand it? Have we settled for wimpy grace? It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response.

Do you have mood swings you'd like to keep still? Are you tired of saying negative things that are harmful to others? With God's help and your cooperation, this can all change. These messages will help you: Get rid of wrong thoughts and purposely think right ones. Control your words to generate positive results. Develop emotional stability in the midst of difficulty.

We’ve never been more educated and entertained. We have technological tools our parents could only dream of, and we are saturated with information, amusement, and recreation. Yet more than ever, we are starving for hope. After 40 years of counseling and ministry, Max Lucado has learned that nothing lifts the desperate, weary heart like the promises of God. In a world full of despair, depression, anxiety, and instability, we do not need more opinions or hunches; we need the definitive declarations of our mighty and loving God.

The wilderness. Maybe you know it well. The Israelites sure did. After all, they spent 40 years wandering the desert. Victories were scarce. Progress was slow. They were free from Pharaoh but not free from fear. Saved but stuck. Sounds a lot like midlife misery. Caught in a rut. Stalled out. Running on empty. Are you mired in the same? You can name the day you became a Christian and escaped Egypt. But you can't remember the last time you defeated a temptation or experienced an answered prayer.

God loves to give people fresh starts. He wants everyone to see his blessings in new ways, so we can reach our full potential and achieve extraordinary levels of success. In this truly one-of-a-kind guide, Joel Osteen encourages growing Christians with a "How to Study the Bible" and "Bible Promises" feature to help everyone find the courage to start over and live their best lives now. In Fresh Start, listeners learn what it takes to rise to a new level of honor, a new level of influence, and a new level of favor.

Get caught! Life is full of fumbles and stumbles. Fraught with opportunities to make mistakes, occasions to feel guilty, and the drive to "do it yourself." The pressure to be self-sufficient is high, but it isn't the life God offers. The way of the world will direct you to try harder and work smarter so that you can take care of yourself and even make yourself successful. But the way of the cross will point toward the place where you stop striving... stop pushing... stop every self-initiated effort - so that you can fall into the boundless, liberating, refreshing grace of God!