Outlive Your Life

Photo Credit: melissademing.com 

"..when we love those in need, we are loving Jesus. - Max Lucado

I'd like to begin my review by sharing one of my favorite excerpts from this book.

The sheep will react with a sincere question: When? When did we feed, visit, clothe, or comfort you (vv. 34– 39)? Jesus’ answer will sound something like this. 

“Remember when you got off the subway?  It was a wintry Washington morning. Commuters were bundled and busy and focused on their work.  You were, too, mind you.

But then you saw me.  Yes, that was me! Standing between the coffee kiosk and the newsstand, that was me. I was wearing a baseball cap and a scarf and playing a fiddle. The mob rushed past as if I were a plastic plant. 

But you stopped. I knew you were busy. You looked at your watch twice. But still you stopped and remembered me. You stepped over to the coffee stand, bought me a cup, and brought it over. I want you to know I never forgot that.”

This is the second book I've read by Max Lucado.  No wonder his books are highly recommended in book reviews. "Outlive Your Life" is all about living a life with meaning and purpose by making a difference in the lives of others. Every chapter in this book also contains a prayer, reflections and action plans.


Here are some of my favorite extracts:

- Your life will never be lived by anyone else. p47

- We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives,
not just in heaven but here on earth. p57

- God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. p71

- “Save one life. Save the world.” - Talmud p75

- “God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Rom. 12:6)

- “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again”(John 6:35)

- He has drenched his world in grace. It has no end. It knows no limits. p117

- Make sure you receive the bread. And once you do, pass it on. After all, if we don’t, who will?

- When believers agree, Jesus takes notice, shows up, and hears our prayers. p131

- No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. p136

- As you welcome strangers to your table, you are welcoming God himself. p153

- We still encounter people on the road. And sometimes we sense a peculiar
warmth, an affection. We detect an urge to open our doors to them.
In these moments let’s heed the inner voice. We never know whom we may be hosting for dinner. p163

- Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you
a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. (1 Peter 4:9)

- Works done in God’s name long outlive our earthly lives. p176

- First, kind eyes meet desperate ones. Next, strong hands help weak ones.
Then, the miracle of God. We do our small part, he does the big part, and life at the Beautiful Gate
begins to be just that. p182

- Imitate the disciples. Linger long and often in the presence of Christ.
Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words. Gaze into his face.
Talk to him. Courage comes as we live with Jesus.

- To do a good thing is a good thing. To do good to be seen is not. p220

- Slay the desire to be noticed. Stir the desire to serve God. p223

- “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my
anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along
the path of everlasting life” (Ps. 139:23–24)

- His to-do list? Help for the body and soul, strength for the physical and the
spiritual, therapy for the temporal and eternal.
“This is my mission statement,” Jesus declared. p234

- no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. p247

- You’ve forgotten how big God is. p260

- Our big God blesses our small faith. p263

- Take time to remember. “Look at what you were when God called you” (1 Cor.1:26).
Remember who held you in the beginning. Remember who holds you today. p265

- “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30)

- What gift are you giving that he did not first give? What truth are
you teaching that he didn’t first teach? You love. But who loved you first?
You serve. But who served the most? What are you doing for God that he could not do alone? p269

- ..when we cross the field and cheer for the other side, everyone wins. p290

- God never sends you where he hasn’t already been. p308

- God calls us to change the way we look at people. p333

- Prayer requires minimal effort. No location is prescribed.
No particular clothing is required. No title or office is stipulated. p348

- Be sure to bathe your mission in prayer. p354

- He is still listening. Are we still praying? p358

-Who had time to notice beauty in the midst of busyness? Most did not. p364

- “We all float on the same ocean. When the tide rises, it benefits everyone.” p365

- ..when we love those in need, we are loving Jesus. p366

- The works of mercy are simple deeds. And yet in these simple deeds, we serve Jesus. p370

- None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. p376

- "Expect no credit for good deeds." p414

Don't Forget the Bread

Photo: covingtonfumc.com

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again” -(John 6:35)

Extracts from the book Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado.

"The grain-to-bread process is a demanding one. The seed must be planted before it can grow. When the grain is ripe, it must be cut down and ground into flour. Before it can become bread, it must pass through the oven. Bread is the end result of planting, harvesting, and heating.

Jesus endured an identical process. He was born into this world. He was cut down, bruised, and beaten on the threshing floor of Calvary. He passed through the fire of God’s wrath, for our sake. He “suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all —was put to death and then made alive —to bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18)

...Make sure you receive the bread. And once you do, pass it on. After all, if we don’t, who will?"

My blessed Savior and Lord. I praise you for freely

giving me the Bread of Life. You replaced my

darkness with your light, my fear with your security;

and my despair with your hope. Remind me every day

Father, that the Bread of Life I have in Jesus comes to

me by your grace and through your love and that it

delights your generous heart when 1 tell others where

they can find and partake. Make me into an eager

ambassador of Jesus Christ. Turn my fear into

boldness so that heaven’s streets may be filled with

men and women who love the Savior, in part because

they first heard of his grace and mercy from my lips.

In Jesus’ name I pray amen.

The Time Keeper

“We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have.” 
- Mitch Albom

We are always thinking about time. We count it by year down to its smallest measurement. Sometimes we wish it would speed up or slow down. But what happens if time stops?

This is a story of 3 people. One who wanted to stop time. Another who wanted to slow it while the other who wanted to extend it.

This is another book you can't put down once you started reading. Mitch Albom never fails to amaze me with his way of writing. Quoted from the book, “Remember this always: There is a reason God limits man’s days.” “What is the reason?” “Finish your journey and you will know.”

I recommend that you read this book. Journey with these 3 characters and life's great lesson. 

Here are some extracts from the book that I've highlighted:

-Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out. -p27

-That night he observed a quarter moon through the clouds, and he used it to mark the moment, the light of the night they were wed. -p44

-Consider the word “time.” -p48

-Before you measure the years, you measure the days.p78

-Learn what you do not know...“Understand the consequences of counting the moments.” -p106

-He was watching Dor the way a father watches a sleeping son. p102

-“Learn what you do not know,” the old man said. “Understand the consequences of counting the moments.” p106

-People fretted over missed chances, over inefficient days; they worried constantly about how long they would live, because counting life’s moments had led, inevitably, to counting them down. Soon, in every nation and in every language, time became the most precious commodity.P135

-But man invents nothing God did not create first. p152

-Mankind is connected in ways it does not understand—even in dreams. P152

-“You marked the minutes,” the old man said. “But did you use them wisely? To be still? To cherish? To be grateful? To lift and be lifted?” p173

-“Remember this always: There is a reason God limits man’s days.”

“What is the reason?” “Finish your journey and you will know.” p174

-Then a French mathematician tied a string to a timepiece, put it around his wrist, and man began to wear time on his body.

-“What time is it?” became one of the world’s most common questions, found on page one of every foreign-language instruction book. p235

-But a man who can take anything will find most things unsatisfying. And a man without memories is just a shell. p270

-“We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have.” p294

-But you grab a moment, or you let it pass. p313

-…knowing something and understanding it were not the same thing. p321

-And when hope is gone, time is punishment. p351

-What was the constant? Movement. Yes. With time there was

always movement. The setting sun. The dripping water. The pendulums. The spilling sand. p359

-…hurting ourselves to inflict pain on others is just another cry to be loved. p414

-Time is not something you give back. The very next moment may be an answer to your prayer. To deny that is to deny the most important part of the future.”

“What’s that?”

“Hope.” p425

-“Ends are for yesterdays, not tomorrows.” p426

-“With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can’t appreciate what we have.” p450

-There was always a quest for more minutes, more hours, faster progress to accomplish more in each day. The simple joy of living between sunrises was gone. p453

-Man wants to own his existence. But no one owns time.” p453

-But fates are connected in ways we don’t understand. p459

-We do not realize the sound the world makes—unless, of course, it comes to a stop. Then, when it starts, it sounds like an orchestra. p467

-..someplace far away— someplace indescribable in the pages of a book—a man named Dor and a woman named Alli run barefoot up a hillside, tossing stones, laughing with their children, and time never crosses their minds.

Photo: Abellardo Morell

Be Still

Photo: Grazel Gorriceta

How good it is to pause!
Lord, I would like to slow down right now.
Why so much commotion?
Why so much frenzy?
I do not know how to stop.
I have forgotten to pray.
Now I close my eyes and
wish to talk to you, Lord.
I wish to open up myself to your universe,
but my eyes cannot bear to stay closed.
I feel a frantic agitation invade my entire body;
it comes and goes, a prisoner of haste.
Lord, I would like to stop right now.
Why such a hurry?
Why such unrest?
I cannot save the world.

I am merely a drop of water
in the immense ocean
of your marvelous creation.
What is really important
is to seek your presence.
What is really important
is to stop from time to time,
and to proclaim your greatness,
your beauty, your splendor, and your love.
What is urgent is to listen to you
and to let you speak within me,
to live in the depth of things
and to take the time to look
constantly for you in the
silence of your mystery.

My heart continues to beat,
but in a different way.
I am doing nothing,
I am not hurrying,
I am simply before you, Lord.
And how good it is to be before you. Amen.

Source: Prayer and Life Workshops

How To Live A Life of Miracles

Photo: SVP

Don't allow your problems to stop you from living a life to the full. - Bo Sanchez

I got this book as freebie in my second year of subscribing Kerygma Magazine. 3 lessons I've learned after reading this book: 1. Everyday is a miracle. 2. I am a miracle. 3. I can be a miracle to others.  


Here are some quotes I've highlighted:

-When people around you curse --turn a deaf ear. Transform their curses to become inner fuel to reach your goals. p54

-God never sees a failure, only a champion in you. p55

-Problems and promises go together. Your problems are standing in front of the promises of God. p60

-If you want success in your life, you have to be vision-oriented, not problem-oriented. p61

-If you want God's promise of abundance to happen in your life, you have to dirty your hands. -p62

-If you want a blessing from God, you don't give up. You do whatever it takes to get it. Do what you have to do one more time but do it in a different way. p65

-When we fail, we automatically think we're losers. No we're not. You can never be a loser because you come from God. 

-When we mess up, God still looks for something good to look at and celebrate that part of us. p66

-Don't allow your problems to stop you from living a life to the full. p69

-No one is a victim unless you allow yourself to be one. Nothing can stop you from living life with joy. p81

-If you want to live a life of miracles, unforgiveness is one thing that must be thrown away. p88

-Forgiveness is, first of all, a gift I give myself. p96

-Wish blessing upon those who hurt you -- and that blessing will comeback to you. p100

-So imagine a gigantic tank of blessings that's filled to the brim. God has given every blessing you need in your life already. That tank has your name on it. It's yours! All you have to do is open the faucet. p102

-Give sacrificially. Not to earn brownie points with God. Not to avoid curses. But because you love. p107

-It isn't the percentage that matters but how much is left after you give. p108

-The happiest people in the world are the givers. p112