A diving accident left Joni Eareckson paralyzed. Her handicap didn’t keep her from marrying Ken Tada, but it almost kept her from the joy of the wedding. While waiting to go down the aisle, she discovered across her beautiful wedding dress a big, black grease mark courtesy of her chair. The bouquet of daisies on her lap slid off center, her paralyzed hands unable to rearrange them. She felt far from a picture-perfect bride.

But as she looked down the aisle, she saw her groom. She says, “Grease stains? Flowers out of place? Who cares! The love in Ken’s eyes washed it all away. That’s what changed me.” She forgot about herself. Everything changes when you look at your groom!

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You don’t have to be weird to follow Jesus. You don’t have to stop liking your friends to follow him – just the opposite!

Sometime ago I was part of a foursome for golf that included two preachers, a church leader, and a guy who wasn’t a Christ follower. The thought of four hours with all of us didn’t appeal to him. His best friend, a Christ follower—and his boss—insisted, so he agreed. I’m happy to report that on the ninth hole he said, “I’m so glad you guys are normal.” I think he meant this: “I’m glad you didn’t get in my face or club me with a King James driver. Thanks for laughing at my jokes and telling a few yourself.”

We didn’t lower standards, but neither did we saddle a high horse. Discipleship is sometimes defined by being normal.

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Several years ago, I joined thousands who ran through the streets of San Antonio, raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, happy to log three miles and donate a few dollars to the cause. A few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons.

But no runner was more passionate than one I spotted. A bandanna covered her bald head, dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She’s been there.

So has Jesus. Whatever you’re facing, he knows how you feel. So go to him! He is able.

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

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Isaiah 53:2 describes Jesus as having “no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.” Heads didn’t turn when Jesus passed.

Are your looks run-of-the-mill and are your ways simple? So were his. Questionable pedigree, simple home, an ordinary laborer with ordinary looks. Are you poor? Jesus knows how you feel. Ever feel taken advantage of? He understands the meaning of obscurity. Whatever you’re facing, he knows how you feel.

And he’s not ashamed of you. Hebrews 2:11 says, “Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” So go to him. After all, you’re part of the family!

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

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Most families keep their family secrets a secret. Some stories remain unmentioned at the family reunion and unrecorded in the family Bible. That is, unless you’re Jesus. He displayed the bad apples of his family tree in the first chapter of the New Testament. Rahab was a Jericho harlot. David was one day writing psalms, another day seducing his captain’s wife. But did Jesus erase their names from the list? Not at all!

If your family tree has bruised fruit, Jesus wants you to know, “I’ve been there.” The phrase “I’ve been there” is in the chorus of Christ’s theme song. To the lonely, he whispers “I’ve been there. To the discouraged, Christ nods his head and sighs, “I’ve been there.” When you turn to him for help, he runs to you to help. He’s been there!

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. Tightening shoes by wrapping strings together? Nothing easy about that. Who came up with the idea of shoes anyway?

My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench watching kids gather and play at the bus stop.  One day a little fellow struggled to board the bus, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment. All of a sudden it was too late. The bus door closed. With tear-filled eyes he looked at Roy on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”

We never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” And when we do, who shows up? Jesus, our next-door Savior. Go ahead, ask him: “Do you untie knots?” “Yes,” he will say.

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

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2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness…” As we behold him, we become like him.

It’s a principle I experienced first-hand when an opera singer visited our church. He sat right behind me. He tried to contain himself, but how can a tuba hide in a room of piccolos? I was startled. Inspired. Emboldened by his volume. I lifted mine. Did I sing better? No. But did I try harder? No doubt. His power brought the best of me.

Could your world use a little music? If so, invite heaven’s baritone—Jesus Christ—to cut loose. Who knows? A few songs with him might change the way you sing!

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

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Do you visit the Grand Canyon for the T-shirt or the snow globe? No. The reward of the Grand Canyon is the Grand Canyon. The wide-eyed realization you’re part of something ancient, splendid, powerful and greater than you.

The cache of Christianity is Christ. Not money in the bank or a car in the garage or a better self-image. The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowship with him. Walking with him. Pondering him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you’re part of something endless, unstoppable, unfathomable! And that he, who can dig the Grand Canyon with his pinkie, thinks you’re worth his death on Roman timber. Christ is the reward of Christianity.

Read more Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust

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“Who do you say I am?” Jesus asks of Peter. “I, uh, I believe…um, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Maybe he wasn’t that hesitant. But if he was, you can hardly fault him. How many times do you call a callous-handed nail bender from a one-camel town the Son of God?

You remember the drawings with the question, “What’s wrong with this picture?” We’d look closely for something that didn’t fit—like an astronaut on the moon with a pay phone in the background. Pay phones aren’t found on the moon, and God doesn’t chum with common folk or snooze in fishing boats. But Colossians 2:9 says he did: “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body.” All God, all man. Don’t we need a God-man Savior?

Read more No Wonder They Call Him Savior: Experiencing the Truth of the Cross

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Some days never come. Go to the effort. Invest the time. Make the apology. Take the trip. Do it! The seized opportunity renders joy. The neglected brings regret.

Remember Mary’s extravagance in pouring expensive perfume over Jesus’ head? And Jesus’ disciples criticizing her. “Why waste that perfume?” they said. “It could have been sold for a great deal of money and given to the poor” (Matthew 26:8-9). Do not miss Jesus’ prompt defense of Mary in Matthew 26:10: “Why are you troubling this woman?” he said. “She did an excellent thing for me.”

Don’t miss Jesus’ message. There is a time to pour out your affections on one you love. When the time comes, seize it!

Read more Cast of Characters: Lost and Found

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