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Remember when you sought a night’s rest and got a colicky baby? Remember when you sought to catch up at the office and got even further behind? You can add to the list of interruptions sorrow, excitement, and bedlam. Sound familiar? Take comfort—it happened to Jesus too.

You may have trouble believing that. You probably believe Jesus knows what it means to endure heavy-duty tragedies. You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear. Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of my life? Of your life? For some reason this is harder to believe. Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He has had to climb out of bed with a sore throat. He has been kept awake late and gotten up early. Jesus knows how you feel.

Read more The Lucado Inspirational Reader

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Focus on who Jesus really is and be motivated to praise God from a place of genuine love and joy. 

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If your confidence is determined by validation, your performance will be, too. In this episode of the Maxwell Leadership Podcast, John is sharing 4 keys to shifting from reliance on recognition to resilient self-assurance!

After John's lesson, Mark Cole and Chris Robinson discuss his insights to help you apply them directly for your life and leadership.

Key takeaways:

• Value the process over the event.

• Don't take yourself too seriously.

• Never wait for someone else to raise the bar for you.

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Quiet Confidence: Leading Without the Applause Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John's teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/QuietConfidence and clicking "Download the Bonus Resource."

Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member.

I have so much guilt and regret over how I treated people during my lifetime. How can I find relief? The Ten Commandments says "no other gods before Me" yet we worship and pray to Jesus. Isn't that a contradiction? I lost my husband and then became physical with another man. Does this mean I lose my salvation and miss out on Heaven?

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What if your studio felt less like a grind and more like a sanctuary—where ideas arrive with ease, your hands stay light, and joy returns to the work? We walk you through a simple, repeatable flow for co-creating art with God that turns pressure into partnership and fear into freedom.

We start with intimacy and the bold posture of assuming connection with the Holy Spirit. From there, we show how revelation naturally follows—through scripture, quiet impressions, colors, and emotions—and why a spirit-led sketchbook becomes your best tool for stewarding ideas. Then comes agreement: the decisive yes that silences resistance and opens a path through creative block. You’ll learn how to trade self-judgment for trust and move with the grace that arrives with each new nudge.

Response is where presence meets craft. We explore what it means to be filled and skilled: curating a beautiful, ordered studio; developing technique; and staying attentive while you work so excellence grows without perfectionism. Finally, we reach incarnation—the moment ideas take form and your painting, song, sculpture, or story carries God’s life beyond your studio. Think of your work as an altar of remembrance and a table of encounter that speaks now and years from now.

Along the way, you’ll hear practical practices, scriptures like John 15, John 16, and Exodus 31, and a short activation to use before and after you create. If you’re ready to step into creative flow with God—steady, joyful, and deeply grounded—this conversation is your on-ramp. Subscribe for more, share with an artist friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review with the step you’re starting this week.

For more resources for Christian Artists, visit https://www.matttommeymentoring.com 

Find out more about The Created to Thrive Foundations Course 

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