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"Let God be enough! He knows your needs. Seek Him! He will give you everything you need!" - Max Lucado

This last winter break, Carolyn and I had a wonderful time with our families. We enjoyed the deep sense of security and comfort that only comes from being around loved ones. There was need to 'do' anything. We were able to simply 'be ourselves.' It was amazing! Thankfully, I also have this type of relationship with God. I love sitting down on the couch with my Bible and enjoying a deep conversation with Him.

There are times, however, when I find ...

"God had come near.

He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused, and dirty.

No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party. No hoopla.

Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of stargazers, there would have been no gifts."

(Max Lucado - "It Began In a Manger")

God broke into this world in a way that no one expected ...

I'm not entirely sure why, but there are times when I feel that God is far away. Why would God, the almighty Maker of the universe, care about what I am doing at home, in my office or in my car?

Gratefully, Max Lucado reminds me that He is near:

"God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy . . . He has not chosen to seclude Himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.

He has drawn near. He has involved Himself in the car pools, heartbreaks, and funeral ...

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the 23^rd Psalm. Yeah, the famous one from David that starts off by saying, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." What exactly did David mean? I turned to Max's book, Travelling Light, to gain some insight but I didn't expect this question:

"Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away. If your happiness comes from something ...

". . . it was supposed to go my way!"

I got rejected. Not once. Not twice, but seven times! My future was starting to look bleak. One by one, the doors closed and I didn't get a single college acceptance letter that semester. "This is unbelievable," I thought! I was a part of school and church leadership, received a "leader of tomorrow" award, had above-average grades and was otherwise a 'well-rounded' student. Rejected when my friends got into Harvard, Yale and Princeton, I was a mess. How could this be? This was my story . . . it was supposed to my way!

"God ...

I'm a competitive person. Naturally, therefore, I like to win! That's why I chose the winning team in life. Yes. Life!  I don't need to worry about the future - no matter what happens I will be OK because I have victory in Christ.

Sometimes, however, I don't live as if I am a winner. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders and I forget that the most important thing in life has already been taken care of.

This is why I'm so thankful that Pastor Max Lucado encourages me to set my ...