What Are My Favorite Max Lucado Books? (I've worked with him for 18 years)

Full disclosure: I’m not exactly an objective reviewer on Max Lucado’s books. I haven’t talked or written about this publicly much, but I’ve worked with Max for the last 18 years as a researcher. What that means is that I do a good bit of “nerd work” on the subject or part of the Bible he is interested in writing about. Because of this unique role I have a more insider’s view into his process, as I read very early chapter first drafts. It also means I care more about the endnotes of his books than most any living person.

I should point out that Max writes all the sentences, not using the ghost-writers so many famous people use, and I tell you, he has such a God-gifted way with words, even in first drafts. Although I know he works very hard at it too, it’s not just natural gifting.

Recently I looked through all of Max’s titles, which alone fill half of a bookcase in my home. That got me asking myself this question:

What are my favorite Max Lucado books?

So, here are my top picks pulled from my Max Lucado shelves (all from the last two decades) and why I picked them:

You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for your Turbulent Times

One of Max’s best skills is telling stories, not just stories from his life, but also stories from scripture. And for me there’s nothing quite as good as when he’s following one character through an entire book. You’ll note that four of the books that made this list are books focused on just one character in the Bible. I love that. It’s so rewarding to dive into a Bible character and learn from his or her life.

This book Max released more than a decade ago does that with Joseph, a character we know more about than almost any other person in the Bible. We have information from his life as a youth, young man, middle-aged man, and old man. This gives us quite the biography span for someone who lived almost 4,000 years ago!

Max does a great job in this title of getting us into the sandals of a man who was let down by others, betrayed, and forgotten over and over again in life. You learn compelling lessons about not giving up in tough times, and how God guides you through it all.

*This book has now been re-released under the equally appropriate title: Never Give Up.

You Were Made for this Moment: Courage for Today and Hope for Tomorrow

In my opinion there are only a handful of good books and commentaries on Esther (I read dozens in the lead up to this book) and I can honestly say this book by Max is the best book on Esther that exists today. It’s wonderful. He does such a great job of retelling the story and helping you not only learn about her life and times, but to also consider how your own times might require for you to step up and have courage.

I loved how we were able to see into the complexities of Esther’s crisis and how she navigated it with keen wisdom and uncommon strength. She became a hero of mine through this book, and it would be hard for someone to read it and not end up with a similar outlook. This one came out in 2021.

God Never Gives Up On You: What Jacob’s Story Teaches Us About Grace, Mercy and God’s Relentless Love

Just last year in 2023 Max returned to the book of Genesis to write about one of the most fascinating characters in the entire Bible: Jacob. While a lot of characters in scripture seem super-heroic, Jacob is full of flaws and problems. He responds to things in unique ways that don’t often seem righteous. I love how the Bible doesn’t just show us the heroic people, and even someone as central to the Jewish people as Jacob are shown with their warts and all.

I love how Max “takes us there” with Jacob and translates it well for us to relate to. It really gives hope to the rest of us who might not feel all that heroic. In Max’s words, Jacob “led with a limp” (in more ways than one) and he becomes not only relatable, but the God who he served who gave him grace after grace, time and time again, just leaps off the page. I dig it.

Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference

The book of Acts in the Bible is a tricky one to write about, but such a crucial book to dive into for each and every Christian. Max does a phenomenal job in this book from 2012 showing how essential your connection is to a broader Christian community making a difference in the world. By entering into the lives of those living through the very earliest churches that were formed, you start to understand how the idea of “church” just means joining something bigger than you and making a bigger impact than anything you can do alone.

If you’ve never fully grasped what the very earliest churches were like, this book helps you go there and walk with the people who started the very first churches in history, right after Jesus rose from the dead. I love that!

It’s also kinda awesome, and in keeping with the message, that Max has given away the royalties from this book to World Vision and other ministries of faith-based compassion.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

Max makes the bold claim in this book that “the most common command of Jesus was do not fear” and he backs it up going through each and every time Jesus talked about fear or told us not to fear. We each face an onslaught of emotions that we struggle with, but each and every one of us has big fears, and this group gives some great help to all of us.

I love how this one keeps us tightly walking through situations with Jesus directly, and helps us get to know our Savior in a special way. That’s a great gift of Max’s writing, and one he weaves into the other books above that aren’t even directly about Jesus or the New Testament. I would suggest that the two words that most represent the subjects Max writes about in every book are GRACE and JESUS. So if you’re into either of those I’m sure you already love my favorite author’s stuff (but again, I’m kind of biased).

So, what’s your favorite Max Lucado book? Leave a comment and let us know which one and why:

Before you head out, I should mention Max has a brand new book that just dropped entitled What Happens Next: A Traveler's Guide Through the End of This Age.