Max Lucado (22 page)

A. What do you think you have in common with Jesus? List several items.

B. How can Jesus help you face hunger, sorrow, and death?

2. Jesus never missed the mark. Equally amazing, he never distances himself from those who do.

A. Why is it important that Jesus never missed the mark?

B. How can Jesus be an example for you in dealing with difficult people?

3. Jesus wasn't ashamed of David. He isn't ashamed of you. He calls you brother; he calls you sister. The question is, do you call him Savior?

A. Why wasn't Jesus ashamed of David? Why isn't he ashamed of you?

B. Do you call Jesus your Savior? Explain.

4. One word from you, and God will do again what he did with David and millions like him: he'll claim you, save you, and use you.

A. What difference does it make to you that God has claimed you for his own?

B. How do you think God wants to use you? What mission has he assigned you?

Marching Orders

1. Read Hebrews 4:14–16.

A. Why should having Jesus as our great high priest better enable us to “hold firmly to the faith we profess” (NIV)?

B. How is Jesus able to understand our weaknesses?

C. How is our great high priest different from us?

2. Read 1 John 4:9–11.

A. How did God show his love for us? What was the pur-pose of this action (v. 9)?

B. Why did Jesus come into this world, according to verse 10?

C. What conclusion does John reach, based on what he has said in verses 9–10?

3. Read Hebrews 2:11–18.

A. According to verse 11, what does Jesus call those he saves? Why does he call them this?

B. What was the purpose for Jesus becoming human, according to verses 14–15?

C. Why can Jesus fully understand any problem or challenge you face, according to verses 17–18? How does this make him the perfect helper for you?

Battle Lines

Spend some time thanking God for claiming you, saving you, and using you. Ask him to use you to bring others to him, and then look for ways to bless others as God has blessed you. Review the five stones with which you've been equipped to face your giants.

NOTES

Chapter
1

1
. Author's paraphrase

2
. See Exodus 9:22–23; Joshua 6:15–20; 1 Samuel 7:10.

3
. Author's paraphrase

4
. Emphasis mine in this list of scriptures

Chapter
3

1
. Attributed to George Eliot.

2
. Names and details have been changed.

Chapter
4

1
. Eugene H. Peterson,
Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday
Christians
(San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 65.

Chapter
5

1
. Malachi Martin,
King of Kings
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980), 206.

2
. “Reinstated,”
Favorite Stories from Bob Russell,
vol. 5, CD-ROM (Louisville, KY: Living Word, Inc., 2005).

Chapter
6

1
. http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/media

2
. M. Norville Young with Mary Hollingsworth,
Living Lights, Shining
Stars: Ten Secrets to Becoming the Light of the World
(West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing, 1997), 39.

Chapter
7

1
. Ernest Gordon,
To End All Wars: A True Story About the Will to Survive
and the Courage to Forgive
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 105–6, 101.

2
. Hans Wilhelm Hertzberg,
I and II Samuel,
trans. J. S. Bowden (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), 199–200.

3
. Gordon,
To End All Wars,
101–2.

Chapter
8

1
. Associated Press, “450 Sheep Jump to their Deaths in Turkey,” July 8, 2005.

2
. C. J. Mahaney, “Loving the Church,” audiotape of message at Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD, n.d., quoted in Randy Alcorn,
Heaven
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 2004), xxii.

Chapter
9

1
. Peterson,
Leap Over a Wall,
112.

Chapter
10

1
. C. S. Lewis,
A Grief Observed
(San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1961), 24.

2
. F. B. Meyer,
Abraham,
quoted in Charles R. Swindoll,
The Tale of the
Tardy Oxcart: And
1
,
501
Other Stories
(Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998), 254.

3
. Ann Kaiser Stearns,
Living Through Personal Crisis
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1984), 6.

4
. Thomas P. Davidson,
I Called Him Roosk, He Called Me Dad: A Collection
of Thoughts About a Father's Faith, Love, and Grief After Losing His Son
(privately printed), 36–37.

Chapter
11

1
. George Arthur Butterick, ed.,
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible: An
Illustrated Encyclopedia,
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1962), s.v. “Urim and Thummin,” and Merrill C. Tenney, gen. ed.,
Pictorial Bible Dictionary
(Nashville: Southwestern Company, 1975), s.v. “Urim and Thummim.”

2
. F. B. Meyer.
David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King
(Fort Washington, PA: Chris-tian Literature Crusade, 1977), 101–2.

Chapter
13

1
. Some scholars suggest that “sons of Abinadab” in 2 Samuel 6:3 should be understood in the broader sense of “descendants of Abinadab” (Earl D. Radmacher, gen. ed.,
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary
[Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1999]). See also 1 Samuel 7:1, where Eleazar is called Abinadab's son.

Chapter
14

1
. Fred Lowery,
Covenant Marriage: Staying Together for Life
(West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing, 2002), 44.

2
. Lowery,
Covenant Marriage,
45.

Chapter
16

1
.
San Antonio Express News
, “Does Texan have a prayer of trading domain name?” April 23, 2005.

Chapter
18

1
. Paul Aurandt,
Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story,
ed. and comp. Lynne Harvey (New York: Bantam Books, 1978), 107–9.

Chapter
19

1
. The offering exceeded our expectations.

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