A Spiritually Encouraging & Fun Package

While we were in CO a special package was delivered to our door:

BOOKS!

I am such a sucker - I can't keep rewards points in my account for anything.

We started our women's bible study The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in Psalms & Proverbs and I just love the author, Nancy Guthrie.  While I was Amazon-ing her name, so many other books she's written came up.  I was ready for a new devotional so I took full advantage!

I was praying for so much grace to enter life again in Garner after a week of vacation.  Right before we left, there were some hard meetings for Brian in addition to the everyday "wear-and-tear" emotionally & spiritually of being in the ministry full-time.  I was ready to shut myself up in the house!  

So last night after unpacking, I sat down and ate up five of these devotionals.  After losing two babies to a genetic disorder at 6 months, Nancy Guthrie knows all about finding your hope outside of this world and its circumstances.  She writes to you as a friend.

The following quote encourages believers to be grateful for life with Christ (as well as a million other earthly blessings) despite circumstances that scream "Just quit":

Gratitude plows up the ground for God's peace to grow.  This is the kind of peace in the midst of pain that is foreign and unintelligible to the world, and can only come supernaturally.  Peace is a gift of God, but we prepare ourselves to receive this gift as we pray about everything, cultivate gratitude, and refuse to surrender to worry.

(Based on Philippians 4:6-7)

 Be Still, My Soul -Embracing God's Purpose & Provision in Suffering is a devotional edited by Nancy Guthrie with big names (classic and contemporary) as authors of the individual devos.

The first one I read is by Tim Keller.  It is soooo good!  It's titled Suffering: The Servant of Our Joy.

He writes that we are the first culture to be surprised by suffering - how true!  I have been surprised by my "suffering" because I had nothing more stressful than a big test or a teacher evaluation in my life before full-time ministry!    What a wuss I've been.  

Keller, in this first devotional, goes on to say how the people of Corinth (II Cor. 11:24-28), Job's friends and most Christians today say, "If God is with you, this wouldn't happen...etc."  Paul doesn't say that, though.  "Paul says that the suffering and hardship he has experienced is not a denial of the gospel, but a confirmation of the gospel."  "Jesus' suffering and death led to a greater life..."  Suffering leads to not only greater spiritual life in those around Paul (and Christians), but also in him (and in you and me!).  I LOVE his analogy for this:

It's like what happens to an acorn.  Do you know how much power there is in an acorn?  An entire huge tree can come out of one small little acorn.  And out of that tree can come innumerable other trees.  One acorn has the power to fill a continent with wood.

But only if it dies.  Only if it "falls to the ground and dies" (John 12:24) is that enormous power released.

Every human soul in the image of God has infinitely more life potential than an acorn.  Every soul has the capacity for compassion, beauty, greatness, composure, and character - but it will not be released until there is death, the death that comes through suffering and trials.

How do we know that this will work?

II Cor 4:14 "... because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence."

Yay!  I could go on & on - this devotional is awesome.  If you have any pain or suffering in your life (don't we all!?), then it's a must purchase.

 

I haven't started this one yet, but I love Gary Thomas.  Hoping I can bless Brian with ideas from this book.

Fearlessly Feminine - Boldly Living God's Plan for Womanhood by Jani Ortlund is a book that was highly recommended by a seminary-wife friend of mine.  I can't wait to get started.

On our trip, I read the fictional novel Gilead by Marilyn Robinson.  It was very good - I mostly enjoyed the random, wise quotes in it.  The setting is Gilead, Iowa in 1956.  A dying Presbyterian pastor is writing to his seven-year-old son about his life.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel Home about this pastor's best friend (a Congregationalist minister in the same town) whose wayward son is coming Home.  The back says, "Home is a luminous and healing book about families, family secrets, and faith from one of America's most beloved and acclaimed authors."

Happy reading!  Please pass along to me any devotionals or books you've been enjoying recently.