Max Lucado: The Power of Gratitude
Dear Friend,
This Christmas, my favorite word is Thanks. Just the word lifts the spirit. To say "thanks" is to celebrate a gift. Something. Anything. Animals. Bald spots. Chocolate. Dictionaries and Denalyn. To say "thanks" is to cross the line from have-not to have-much, from the excluded to the recruited. "Thanks" proclaims, "I'm not disadvantaged, disabled, victimized, scandalized, forgotten, or ignored. I am blessed."
Gratitude is a dialysis of sorts. It flushes the self-pity out of our systems. Jesus was robustly thankful. He was thankful when Mary interrupted the party with perfume. When he hugged children and blessed babies and watched blind people look at their first sunsets, Jesus was thankful. When the disciples returned from their first mission trip, he rejoiced: "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth" (Luke 10:21).
So, thank you, Jesus, for modeling gratitude.
And thank you, Friend, for your encouragement, prayers, and financial support of UpWords Ministries. Your partnership in this ministry enables us to extend the reach of UpWords to countless souls around the world. Daily, millions are encouraged through the radio program, daily email devotions from MaxLucado.com, internet, special messages, and television teaching on TBN. God has graciously provided these opportunities to share his message of hope, and we consistently pray that this ministry brings him honor, glory, and a stepping stone for more souls to find the grace and peace that only he can give.
All of us at UpWords are grateful to you and look forward to 2015. Let me thank you in advance for your continued prayers and financial support.
May God's peace and joy fill your hearts this Christmas!
Gratefully, Max Lucado
Deuteronomy 27
Moses commanded the leaders of Israel and charged the people: Keep every commandment that I command you today. On the day you cross the Jordan into the land that God, your God, is giving you, erect large stones and coat them with plaster. As soon as you cross over the river, write on the stones all the words of this Revelation so that you’ll enter the land that God, your God, is giving you, that land flowing with milk and honey that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised you.
4–7 So when you’ve crossed the Jordan, erect these stones on Mount Ebal. Then coat them with plaster. Build an Altar of stones for God, your God, there on the mountain. Don’t use an iron tool on the stones; build the Altar to God, your God, with uncut stones and offer your Whole-Burnt-Offerings on it to God, your God. When you sacrifice your Peace-Offerings you will also eat them there, rejoicing in the Presence of God, your God.
8 Write all the words of this Revelation on the stones. Incise them sharply.
9–10 Moses and the Levitical priests addressed all Israel: Quiet. Listen obediently, Israel. This very day you have become the people of God, your God. Listen to the Voice of God, your God. Keep his commandments and regulations that I’m commanding you today.
11–13 That day Moses commanded: After you’ve crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Ben-jamin. And these will stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14–26 The Levites, acting as spokesmen and speaking loudly, will address Israel:
God’s curse on anyone who carves or casts a god-image—an abomination to God made by a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who demeans a parent.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who moves his neighbor’s boundary marker.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who misdirects a blind man on the road.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who interferes with justice due the foreigner, orphan, or widow.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his father’s wife; he has violated the woman who belongs to his father.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who has sex with an animal.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who has sex with his mother-in-law.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who kills his neighbor in secret.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on anyone who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
God’s curse on whoever does not give substance to the words of this Revelation by living them.
All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 14, 2025
by
Elisa Morgan
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
John 7:37-39
On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
Today's Insights
Jesus’ words in John 7:37-39 were delivered during Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). This feast commemorated the seasons of wandering in the wilderness following Israel’s exodus from Egypt and was celebrated in part by living in temporary shelters during the feast, as their ancient ancestors would’ve done. The Bible Knowledge Commentary notes that practices for this festival included “a solemn procession each day from the temple to the Gihon Spring. A priest filled a gold pitcher with water while the choir sang Isaiah 12:3. Then they returned to the altar and poured out the water. This ritual reminded them of the water from the rock during the wilderness wanderings (Numbers 20:8-11; Psalm 78:15-16).” The water ritual would’ve been given new clarity by Christ’s promise of “rivers of living water” (John 7:38), which refresh us when we’re weary and exhausted as those waters refreshed the children of Israel so long ago.
An Empty Juice Box
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38
When I led a ministry for moms of preschoolers, we hunted for an image to describe the unending demands that mothers experience. Changing diapers. Wiping noses. Picking up toys. It turns out the image was right in front of us: a disposable juice box collapsed in on itself. Moms can feel like empty juice boxes. That ministry served moms by leading them to the Source of living water that can fill them to the full—Jesus.
In John 7, Jesus went to the Festival of Tabernacles (v. 10), commemorating God’s provision during the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings. This festival included a water-pouring rite symbolizing the fruitfulness that only moisture produces and foreshadowed the spiritual rain the Messiah would bring. Jesus fulfills what the ancient festival anticipated. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (vv. 37-38).
At times, we can feel like empty containers. Weary from caregiving. Worn from working. Exhausted by everyday responsibilities. The unending demands draw us dry! But when we live in relationship with God, He provides springs of living water within our hearts to refresh and refuel us no matter how many cares and concerns try to drain us.
Reflect & Pray
What tasks deplete and drain you? How can you take a break from your daily tasks to experience God’s filling Spirit within you?
Dear God, thank You for dwelling in me by Your Spirit. May I continually draw from the living springs You provide.
Discover A Prayer for the Holy Spirit by Reclaim Today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 14, 2025
The Great Life
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. — John 14:1
Whenever we become confused by something in our personal experience, we’re in danger of blaming God. But God isn’t in the wrong; we are. Confusion means there is some perversity in our thinking or behavior that we refuse to give up. The instant we do give the thing up, everything becomes as clear as daylight. But as long as we’re trying to serve two separate ends—our own and God’s—we’ll meet with perplexity. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on him. Once we have this attitude, we’ll find that nothing is easier than living the saintly life. Difficulty comes when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit and use it for our ends.
“My peace I give you.” Whenever you obey God, he always responds by giving you the seal of his peace—the witness of an unfathomable peace, the supernatural peace of Jesus. Whenever peace fails to arrive, wait until it does or find out the reason why it doesn’t. If you act on impulse or in a burst of heroism, the peace of Jesus will not witness to you. You’ll have no confidence in God, and nothing will seem simple, because the spirit of simplicity is born of the Holy Spirit, not of your own decisions.
Questions and perplexities arise whenever I cease to obey. When I’m obeying, problems never come between me and God. Any problem that arises serves only to keep my mind awake and amazed at his revelation. When I’m walking in obedience and I encounter problems (and I will encounter many), it only increases my ecstatic delight, because I know that my Father knows, and that I’m going to get to watch and see how he unravels what appears to be an impossible situation.
Joel 1-3; Revelation 5
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed, 395 L
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