The apostle Paul wrote, “If there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors…But the truth is that Christ has been raised up…” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 20 MSG).

Jesus validated his return by vacating his tomb. Is the tomb of Jesus empty?  Did Christ discard his shrouds and march out of the tomb? Yes! His tomb has the prints of pierced feet. Those feet were nailed to a cross on Friday and lifeless in the grave on Saturday. But on Sunday the hope of Easter called them to stand, step, and walk out of the grave.

When Jesus vacated the tomb, he populated the heart of humanity with hope. And since his grave is empty, our confidence in his return is not.

Read more What Happens Next

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Hope is an endangered species. We are more troubled than we’ve been in nearly fifty years. Happiness is down.  Loneliness is up. And optimism has taken a right hook to the chin. Research from the National Institute of Mental Health is showing an epidemic of mental health problems among eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds in the United States.

You can relate. Your heart has been broken, your dreams have been shattered, your body has battled disease. And maybe you’ve wondered if this life is worth living. God’s therapy for our trepidation reads like this: “For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT). Face the problems of this life by focusing on the promises of the next.

Read more What Happens Next

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus told his followers what was going to happen the following day.  He would be abandoned by his friends and killed by his enemies.  Yet before they could voice their fears, Jesus calmed them. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he said. “You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3 NIV).

Jesus lifted their eyes. In essence he said, “Think less about your fears. Think much about your eternal home.” What would Jesus say to this troubled generation?

Read more What Happens Next

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

I consider myself a bit of an expert in airport repartee. It typically consists of one question: “Where are you headed?” We are all headed somewhere. Each day brings us closer to a final breath, a final heartbeat, a final sigh. No one is getting younger. Shouldn’t our destination be an obsession?

The Bible makes almost five hundred references to heaven. The New Testament mentions the return of Jesus more than three hundred times—one out of every thirty verses! Twenty-three of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament describe Jesus’ second coming, and on some fifty occasions we are told to be ready. If quantity equates to priority, then life after this life is a crucial issue to God.

Read more What Happens Next

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

On one side Nicodemus, representing all well-meaning, God-fearing, scripture-memorizing folk. On the other, Jesus Christ. And what the latter says to the former is so uncanny that it sends shock waves through church pews and synagogues to this very day. “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” (John 3:5-6 NLT).

The phrase “Kingdom of God” refers to a relationship with God in this life and entrance into heaven in the next. How do we receive citizenship? Be born again. In our first birth we become brand-new humans. In our second birth we become brand-new creations. And who oversees our second birth? The Holy Spirit.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV).

Make it your aim to walk in the Spirit by inviting him into the details of each day. Let this prayer be quick to come to your mind: “How am I to respond to this challenge, Lord?” Or, “Direct me, please. Which way should I go?” Pause and listen. Keep an ear inclined toward the Spirit.

For us not to consult the Spirit of God would be foolish. He is here to teach us. Our privilege is to stay in mindful communion with him. Day by day, moment by moment. Listen as the divine instructor whispers wonders in your ear. And be assured that, as you smile, the Spirit smiles with you. After all, he is your teacher.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

I recall an afternoon early in my ministry when the invitation of Jesus to the weary became the invitation of Jesus to Max. I was supposed to be studying. But I could not concentrate. I thought I had to fix everyone’s problems, shoulder everyone’s burdens, and never grow weary in doing so. After some moments I bowed my head and sighed, and this scripture came to mind:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

It was the pronoun me that got me. I had been turning to everyone and everything but him. Why did that verse come to mind? Simple – the Holy Spirit, my teacher, reminded me. The Spirit of Christ will do this for you, my friend.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

The Holy Spirit has a specific, overarching mission. His task is to teach us about Jesus. The apostle Paul echoed this point: “No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it—what God has arranged for those who love him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 MSG).

The world religions look to the teachings of their now-dead founders—Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius. Christians, however, hold to this inscrutable and beautiful promise: our teacher not only spoke, but he speaks. His wisdom is not confined to an ancient document but is part of the day-to-day curriculum of our mentor, the Holy Spirit.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Jesus doesn’t want us to think of the Holy Spirit as an it or a thing. The Spirit is a person. According to one study only four people in ten believe that the Spirit is a divine person. The rest of those surveyed either don’t have an opinion or choose to believe the Spirit is more like a power surge than a divine being who empowers and teaches us.

Can you join me in a pledge? “I hereby resolve never to call the Holy Spirit an it.” The Spirit is a person.  And Jesus calls him the Paraclete. Now translators land on different, yet similar, translations for this Greek word: “Comforter,” “Counselor,” “Advocate,” “Intercessor.” But the central message is the same: we are not alone.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Some time ago I realized my car’s gas tank was nearly empty. I spotted a convenience store and parked next to a pump. I placed the nozzle in my tank, and swiped my card, and began filling up my car. I then went into the store and bought a soda. I chatted with the store clerk. I went back to my car and washed the windshield. I was barely back on the road when I happened to look at my gas gauge. It was on empty! Knowing my attention span, I probably forgot to squeeze the lever.

I did everything except the one thing I needed to do. Have you done the same? Have you neglected the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God longs to give you his great power. Challenges come with life, but they need not define your life. Help is here.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.