Max Lucado Daily: GIVE GOD ALL YOUR MISTAKES - March 18, 2026
God not only wants the mistakes we’ve made—He wants the ones we’re making. Are you drinking too much? Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage? Mismanaging your life?
Don’t pretend nothing’s wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross. 1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”
Start with your bad moments. And while you’re there, give God your “mad” moments. There’s a story about a man bitten by a dog. When he learned the dog had rabies, he began a list. The doctor said, “There’s no need for you to make a will—you’ll be fine.” “Oh, I’m not making a will” he said, “I’m making a list of all the people I want to bite!” God wants that list! He wants you to leave it at the cross.
He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart
Zacchaeus
1–4 19 Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
5–7 When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”
8 Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”
9–10 Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”
The Story About Investment
11 While he had their attention, and because they were getting close to Jerusalem by this time and expectation was building that God’s kingdom would appear any minute, he told this story:
12–13 “There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, ‘Operate with this until I return.’
14 “But the citizens there hated him. So they sent a commission with a signed petition to oppose his rule: ‘We don’t want this man to rule us.’
15 “When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.
16 “The first said, ‘Master, I doubled your money.’
17 “He said, ‘Good servant! Great work! Because you’ve been trustworthy in this small job, I’m making you governor of ten towns.’
18 “The second said, ‘Master, I made a fifty percent profit on your money.’
19 “He said, ‘I’m putting you in charge of five towns.’
20–21 “The next servant said, ‘Master, here’s your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don’t suffer fools gladly.’
22–23 “He said, ‘You’re right that I don’t suffer fools gladly—and you’ve acted the fool! Why didn’t you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?’
24 “Then he said to those standing there, ‘Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.’
25 “They said, ‘But Master, he already has double …’
26 “He said, ‘That’s what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.
27 “ ‘As for these enemies of mine who petitioned against my rule, clear them out of here. I don’t want to see their faces around here again.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
by Alyson Kieda
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Ecclesiastes 4:8-12
a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9–10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
Today's Insights
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon—“the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1)—examines life as he’s lived it. He discusses human life—achievements, hard work, pleasures, and the pursuit of knowledge—to show that without God our human endeavors won’t give us a meaningful life. In chapter 4, Solomon extols the value of community. A person driven by his selfish, competitive spirit to outdo his neighbors (v. 4) is one who lives a lonely, miserable, and meaningless existence (vv. 7-8). In contrast, Solomon writes of another person, who works in collaboration with others instead of in competition. He commends the advantages of companionship in times of inadequacy and adversity. Cooperation is better because it’s mutually beneficial. As believers in Jesus, we belong to the body of Christ, the church, so that we don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. We can reach out and help each other succeed (see vv. 9-10).
Join Rasool Berry as he speaks with Grammy award-winning artist Lecrae as he shares how his community supported him through his career.
Made for Community
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12
When my husband, Alan, and I decided to move across the country to Philadelphia to further his education, I didn’t have a job lined up, and we had no idea how we would afford student housing. On a Sunday, shortly before we were to leave, a church acquaintance introduced us to a former student of the university Alan was to attend who knew of an affordable apartment. Then, before we left, a workmate gave me the name of a contact at a Christian ministry. God answered our prayers and gave us opportunities—including an apartment and a job—through His people. Friends and family helped us move and ushered us on with prayer.
The author of Ecclesiastes wrote about the benefits of not going through life alone: “Two are better than one” (4:9). Two get more work done, can help each other through struggles, offer companionship, and ward against danger (vv. 9-11). He went on to say, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). A community has even greater benefits. More resources, more support.
Alan and I benefited from the community we left behind. And God helped us build a new community to help us feel at home in the big city. If you feel alone, ask God to help you find a friend, a good church, or a place to serve in a community.
Reflect & Pray
What communities are you a part of? How do you help each other?
Dear God, thank You for surrounding me with friends and family. Please help me to invite others into Your community.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves . . . perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. — 2 Corinthians 7:1
Have I recognized that God, through his promises, has a claim on me? We delight in God’s promises to us and count on their fulfillment, and it is right that we should. But Paul reminds us that this is only the human side of the equation. The divine side is that God wishes us to become pure and holy out of reverence to him.
Have I understood that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Or do I have a habit that obviously can’t stand the light of God upon it? Through sanctification, the Son of God is formed inside me, but the story doesn’t end there. I must transform my natural, physical life into a spiritual life through obedience. God educates us down to the scruple, examining every aspect of our character. Keep yourself clean in your daily walk, and when God begins his inspection, rid yourself at once of any impurity his gaze reveals. The goal is to bring yourself, in both body and spirit, into perfect harmony with the nature of God.
Are my thoughts and outlook in perfect agreement with the Spirit inside me? Or am I intellectually defiant? Am I forming the mind of Christ and obeying God? Jesus never spoke of his right to himself. Rather, he maintained an inner watchfulness, continually submitting his spirit to his Father. I too have the responsibility of keeping my spirit in agreement with the Lord’s Spirit. If I do, then by degrees Jesus will lift me up to where he lived—in perfect consecration to his Father’s will, paying no attention to anything else.
Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God getting his way with me? Are other people seeing more and more evidence of him in my life? Be serious with God and happily leave the rest alone. Literally, put God first.
Deuteronomy 32-34; Mark 15:26-47
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything.
Shade of His Hand, 1200 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
STUCK IN A HOLDING PATTERN - #10223
I was on a flight from Chicago to Newark, and I was busily working until suddenly the pilot put on the brakes. We weren't really near Newark yet, so I tried to figure out what's going on. It looked as if the plane was beginning to circle, and our wing was dipped down a little bit. So pretty soon I said, "You know, I believe I've seen that house before. Those trees look familiar." I got to see them again, and again, and another time. Yep, we were in that time warp that is dreaded by every frequent flier called the holding pattern. We weren't standing still. No, I'm happy to say we were not standing still. That wouldn't have been good. But we were using up time, we were using up fuel. We were in constant motion; we just weren't making any progress.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stuck in a Holding Pattern."
That leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Philippians 3, beginning in verse 12, where Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Now, if anyone could have been satisfied with where he was spiritually it would be the Apostle Paul. He was living one of the greatest Christian lives in history. You can tell from this passage that in spite of that he is refusing to stay in spiritual neutral. He's certainly not going to go in reverse and live on his spiritual memories. "Forgetting the things that are behind" he says. No, he's in high gear. He says, "I'm forgetting what's back there. I'm pressing on. I haven't got it all yet. I want the rest of Jesus. I want to know Christ!"
Paul never flew, but I don't think he would have liked the holding pattern. You know, maybe you're in a holding pattern right now spiritually. You started on your journey with Jesus. You've made some progress, but somewhere along the way you slowed down and you're circling ground that you've covered before. You're not standing still; you're just circling in this holding pattern.
Churches get in holding patterns. Ministry organizations get in holding patterns. Oh they keep their calendar full: time for the banquet, time for this activity, time for the board, time for the committee. But are they taking any new ground for the Lord?
Spiritually healthy people are restless people. They're aggressively pursuing more of God's power in their lives than they've ever tasted before. They want a more intimate relationship with Jesus than they've experienced yet. They desire to have a greater effectiveness in praying than they've ever had before. They want to make a greater difference with the rest of their life than they've ever made before. Am I describing you - this restlessness for more in prayer, more of God's power, more intimacy with Jesus; knowing Him better than you've ever known Him; making a greater difference for Him?
These kinds of spiritual healthy people want to make more of a difference than they've ever made. Is that you? Is that your church? Let it begin with you, breaking out of your holding pattern, getting moving again. See, it begins when you say, "Lord, I'm tired of this plateau. Activity is not obedience. I know that. Busyness is not power. I want all You have, Lord, I want more of You than I've ever tasted before. I want to make more of a difference with my life than I've ever made before."
Find some other people who feel the same way and pursue the Lord together in prayer times. Make it a discipline to find new ground in God's Word, to get to Him daily. Circling the same ground in that airplane, I was restless to get on toward the goal. And it was a good feeling when we finally started moving in the right direction.
Aren't you tired of a spiritual holding pattern?
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