by Max Lucado
According to Romans 8:15–16, how does the Holy Spirit affect our identity?
According to Romans 5:5, how does the Holy Spirit allow us to experience the love of God?
According to Romans 8:26–27, how does the Holy Spirit help us in prayer and in times of need?
After learning more about the Holy Spirit, would you say you use the Spirit’s power in your life? Why or why not? How could you use the Spirit today in prayer, for help, or to experience God’s love?
Chapter 8
Shelter in His Protection
How do you think God sees you? When he considers you, what does he think about? Be honest, and write down whatever comes to mind. What kind of things did you write down—negative, positive, a mix of both?
Why do you believe God sees you this way?
Max writes, “We assume God cares for the purebreds of the world. The clean-nosed, tidy-living, convent-created souls of society” (p. 58). Have you ever made this assumption about God? Why or why not?
Psalm 91:1–6 says: “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday” (NLT).
How is God described in this passage?
Based on this passage what does God promise you?
According to the first two lines, who gets to benefit from these promises?
Psalm 91 says those who find shelter in God will be protected from harm. In times of loneliness, fear, or trouble, this beautiful promise is a strong anchor, worthy of memorizing for such times. Have you ever felt protected by God in a difficult circumstance in your life? If so, how did this affect your faith?
On the other hand have you ever felt that God was absent during a difficult time? If so, how did it affect your faith?
How does our perspective differ from God’s when it comes to the difficulties in our lives? (See p. 61.) How does this affect the way you see your circumstances today or a difficulty you may be facing?
What promises from Psalm 91 do you need to apply to this circumstance? Or how could these promises have been helpful during a difficulty you faced in the past?
Chapter 9
Settle Down Deep in His Love
Which person do you believe loves you most in this world? A parent, sibling, partner? Why did you select this person?
How do you know this person loves you?
How does this person’s love for you make you feel?
First John 4:16 says, “God is love.” What does it mean for God to be not just loving but to be love itself?
Regarding Pipín Ferreras, the record-breaking diver, Max says, “Having plunged the equivalent of five stories, where can he turn and not see water? To the right, to the left, beneath him, above him . . . Can a person go equally deep into God’s love?” (p. 66). What is your answer to this question?
Have you felt the depth of God’s love in such a way that everywhere you turned, it was there? If so, describe that experience.
Read the following verses. “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you” (Deut. 7:7–8).
“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8 TLB).
“May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself” (Eph. 3:17–19 TLB).
According to Deuteronomy 7:7–8, why does God love us?
According to Romans 5:8, what was God’s ultimate act of love for us?
According to Ephesians 3:17–19, what is the nature of God’s love?
Look back at your answer to question 1. According to these verses how is God’s love different from this person’s love in your life?
Spend some time reading Ephesians 3:17–19 again. Personalize the passage by replacing “you” and “your” and “yourselves” with “I” and “my” and “myself.” How could this assurance of God’s love help you as you go about your day and week?
Part 3 | Ground Yourself in His Promises
Chapter 10
Hold On to Your Soul Anchor
Is there anything in your life—a person, a circumstance, a relationship—that you have lost hope in? If so, why? When was the last time you felt hopeful about this situation?
Hebrews 6:19–20 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” What is the purpose of an anchor?
How can hope be an anchor in our lives?
More specifically how is Jesus our hope and anchor?
Max tells the story of Jonathan McComb, who tragically lost his family in a flood. Yet during his family’s funeral Jonathan preached a message of hope. Have you ever experienced hope during a seemingly hopeless time? If so, what gave you hope, and how did it help you persevere through this “hopeless” time?
Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (NKJV). What is significant about the word abound in this passage?
How would your daily life change if you were abounding in hope in God?
Max asks, “Is what I’m hooked to stronger than what I’ll go through?” (p. 83). How would you answer that question today?
Does your answer give you more or less hope regarding the situation you described in question 1?
Max says, “People of the new beginning make daily decisions to secure their anchors in the promises of God” (pp. 83–84). He suggests remembering these promises by writing them down. Spend some time writing down any promises you’ve read in Scripture or promises you feel the Lord has given you. Reflect on how the assurance of these promises makes you feel and how they could give you hope today.
Chapter 11
Choose Faith
It is one thing to know the promises God has made. It is another to believe he will keep them. Based on your experience and relationship with God at this point in your life, do you believe he keeps his promises? Why or why not? It’s okay if your answer is not a simple yes or no. Explain where you would place yourself on the spectrum today.
Read some of the promises below that God has made in Scripture. “Weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5).
“The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all” (Ps. 34:19).
“The LORD sustains them on their sickbed
and restores them from their bed of illness” (Ps. 41:3).
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2).
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. . . . I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2 ESV).
“My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Which of these promises do you most need today, and why?
Which promise is easiest for you to believe, and why?
Which promis
e is hardest for you to believe, and why? What would you need to believe about God in order to believe this promise?
Max asks an important question when it comes to trusting God’s promises: “Does God’s integrity make a difference?” (p. 89). How would you answer this question?
What do you believe about God’s integrity, and why?
Max gave an example of trusting in his pilot’s integrity when the pilot told the passengers their planes wouldn’t leave without them. In your life who has great integrity?
How does this affect your trust in this person’s words?
Max refers to a man who had lost his twenty-four-year-old daughter but still clung to the promises of God. The man said, “Faith is a choice” (p. 88). What do you think about this statement? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Have you ever had to choose faith? If so, how did choosing faith affect your circumstances or your attitude toward those circumstances?
Is there an area of your life right now in which you feel you need to choose faith? If so, what could it look like to choose faith today?
Chapter 12
Let Your Father Fight for You
Hebrews 13:5–6 says, “For [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’” (NRSV). What do you fear that someone else can or will do to you?
How does this fear affect your life?
How does it affect your faith in God and his protection?
Max points out that the Greek word for helper in Hebrews 13:6 is boēthos. What is the significance of this word? (See p. 95.)
How does knowing this definition help you understand how God protects you?
We often think of God as someone who loves us, knows us, or directs our path, but do you often think of God as someone who fights for you? Why or why not?
This image of God fighting on our behalf is depicted often in the Old Testament. Read the following verses. “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles” (2 Chron. 32:7–8 NKJV).
“Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for my help” (Ps. 35:1–2 NKJV).
According to 2 Chronicles 32:7–8 what was the difference between Israel’s army and Assyria’s?
Is someone fighting against you right now? If so, how have you responded to that fight?
“What do you think would happen if you did what the psalmist did in Psalm 35 and asked God to fight against those who fight against you, rather than taking on the fight yourself?”
Perhaps the ultimate proof that God fights for us can be seen on the cross when Jesus fought sin on our behalf and was victorious. How can the promise that you have been saved for eternity bring perspective to what you fear today?
How can this promise increase your faith and trust in God’s protection?
Chapter 13
Keep Believing God’s Promise
Read Matthew 1:1–6, 16 below. “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. . . .
“And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ” (NKJV).
Why did Matthew begin his gospel this way? (See pp. 100–102.)
Underline the names of people in this passage who had a tainted past. Why did Jesus’ lineage include characters like these?
When you think about your past, what do you focus on and feel—mistakes, regrets, happy memories, heartache, love? How does your past affect your present?
How does your past affect the way you relate to God?
What significance or promise does Jesus’ name bring to his lineage? How could Jesus redeem the way you feel about your own history?
How could the promise of Christ help you begin again despite a spotted past?
Matthew 24:13 says, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (NKJV). Do you feel that your faith endurance right now is strong, weak, or somewhere in between? Note that the verse doesn’t say “he who has an ironclad faith” or “he who never waivers in his faith.” It simply says “he who endures.” What does that say to you?
How could this idea of endurance give you hope in your own faith journey?
Of the promises you studied in this section, which one stands out the most to you, and why? What promises of God do you need to cling to in order to endure to the end?
What promises of God do you need to remember to simply endure today?
Part 4 | Influence Your World
Chapter 14
Be You
Max opens this chapter by saying, “No one else has your ‘you-ness’” (p. 107). How would you describe your you-ness? What makes you you? Is this an easy or difficult question for you to consider, and why?
Scripture has quite a bit to say about the way God created us individually. Read Psalm 139:13–18 below. “For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.”
What does this passage say about how God created you?
What does it say about how God feels about you?
What does it say about who you are and your unique qualities?
Considering what makes you you, what are some special qualities you imagine God thought of as he created you?
Although Scripture encourages it, being yourself in a culture marked by comparison and competition is not easy. Do you feel as though you are generally able to be yourself in your work environment, in your relationships, in your faith? Why or why not? Perhaps you feel as though you can be yourself in some situations but not others. What makes the difference?
In what situations is it easier to be yourself?
In what situations is it more difficult to be yourself?
We are unique in personality, and we are also unique in our gifts and occupations and what we can bring to the world because of them. Read 1 Corinthians 12:4–11: “God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful” (THE MESSAGE).
According to this passage where does God hand out his gifts?
What is the purpose of these gifts?
What would you say are your God-given gifts?
Which of those gifts are you actively using today?
How does comparison steal our sense of worth and value? Do you
ever fall prey to the comparison trap? If so, whom do you typically compare yourself to, and why?
How do you feel about yourself after you have compared yourself—your looks, your accomplishments, your talent, etc.—to someone else?
What do you think would change if you stopped comparing yourself to others? How would it affect your thoughts, what you do, how you view others, and how you view yourself?
Chapter 15
Share What God Has Given
Max tells a powerful story about childhood friends Arthur and Skinner. Based on this story how do you think Arthur felt about his friend Skinner? What makes you think this? Is there anyone in your life you feel this way about—someone for whom you would sacrifice anything? If so, who is this person, and why do you feel this way about him or her?
Think of an instance when someone made a significant sacrifice for you. Explain what happened and how the sacrifice affected your relationship. Have you made a significant sacrifice for someone else? How did that sacrifice change you personally?