Are peace, joy, and significance on your wish list? How about redemption, forgiveness, the salvation of your soul? Each of these descriptors bring us to the main event: grace. Saving grace, God’s immeasurable gift intended for all. Regardless of accomplishments or station in life, despite sins of the past, anyone can receive the free gift of grace.
Yet too often we take God’s incomparable gift for granted—despite the fact that God’s very Son paid for it with his body, breath, and blood. Understandably, we often find ourselves caught up in the daily routine of life, not taking time to reflect on the enormity of God’s mercy.
So here’s a suggestion: give yourself the gift of a few moments spent in the world of God’s grace. Read pastor Max Lucado’s unique, stirring insights into God’s role as grace-giver. Spend some time reflecting on the gift of grace, in all its magnificent meaning.
Let grace, the gift for all people, speak to you personally through these pages.
My review:
The subtitle of this book is "Thoughts on God's Great Grace", and that is what the book is about. The chapters are short, only going two or three pages, all on different aspects of Jesus coming and dying for us. Though it is not advertised as such, it would make a great devotional the way it is set up.
As with all of Max's books, the pages are interspersed with personal stories and anecdotes to get his point across. It is an interesting and helpful little book, and it helped bring afresh to me the reality of what God has done for me and how immeasurable His grace is.
This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review.
About the author:
In just under two decades of writing, Max Lucado has accomplished more than most writers hope for in a lifetime. Most of his books have appeared on one or more best seller lists, including those published by the "New York Times," "USA Today," "Publishers Weekly," and the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). Aside from hardcover books, Lucado's writings have also been published as children's books, videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, music CDs, mass paperback booklets, apparel, giftware, bookmarks, calendars, study Bibles, workbooks, curricula, and plush products. In spring 2003, Hallmark/Dayspring Cards launched a new gift card line featuring excerpts from Lucado's writings--and has already sold more than one million cards.
All this success has drawn more than a little attention to a previously low-profile Texas author and minister. Lucado has been featured in a wide range of media, including "USA Today," "Larry King Live," and "NBC Nightly News." He has spoken at the National Prayer Breakfast before the President of the United States. He has traveled with internationally renowned musicians as a special speaker on their music tours, such as the highly successful "Come Together & Worship Tour" (sponsored by Chevrolet) with Grammy Award-winning artists Michael W. Smith and Third Day.
Journey to the Top
Lucado was born in 1955 in San Angelo, Texas, and raised in Andrews, Texas, the youngest of four children. His father was an Exxon oil field mechanic who, Lucado remembers, always smelled of grease cleaner. "It makes it easy for me to see a God who is loving and kind--because my dad was," he says. His mother was a nurse who grew up working in the cotton fields.
Lucado went through a period of rebellion against his parents' values and their God during his teens and into college. But it wasn't long before he found himself drawn back to his roots, back to God. He married, spent time serving as a missionary in Brazil, and returned to the States, where he began working as a church minister and writing on the side.
Secret to Success
From all accounts, Max Lucado is not a man consumed by sales, awards, and achievements. He often turns down media interviews since they impede on family and ministry commitments. He spends the bulk of his week serving as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. And he is truly surprised by his own success--more impressed by his one-in-a-million wife and three amazing daughters than by his successful writing career.
The Gift for All People is available from Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing.
Thanks to Multnomah for the review copy.
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