My family lives in a coastal climate, where the changing of seasons is not very recognizable. I had to borrow this pic of a place in Kentucky, just to have one that fits the autumn theme! Just a little further south of us, there is no changing seasons at all. But nobody, and I mean NO BODY can avoid the changing seasons of life! As I read Do You Know Who I Am, the newly released book by Angela Thomas, I was reminded of several seasons I’ve lived through as a humble traveler on the journey to maturity in Christ. I haven’t arrived yet … I’m still very much a work in process! That’s why I enjoyed this new resource from Angela. It is helping me put some of the more common ‘seasons’ into perspective.

In her book, Angela covers a dozen different seasons which are familiar to many maturing believers. I’d like to share a bit of Angela’s insight about a couple of those seasons:

• Do you know I am afraid to dream big? God replies: I AM Worthy.

  I’m sure you know first hand that this world is a dream stealer. Just about the time you decide to head for the Eiffel Tower dream in your life, hurricane-force storms blow through to discourage your plans. The weary heart and the exhausted body can decide to play it safe. But God does not intend our lives to unwind and taper off. We have been given one lifetime, and He purposes that we keep growing, keep improving, keep building His kingdom, and keep dreaming of how we might make His glory known. We are supposed to persevere. Follow through. Go the distance. It’s just that sometimes I forget why. Mostly I forget who God is … He is WORTHY!

• Do you know I am invisible? God replies: I AM the God who sees.

  I had four babies in seven years. Ten years of changing diapers every single day. Lots of baby love. Lots of baby talk. They became my world, and I didn’t want it any other way. But what happens in those years is emotionally draining for anyone. Invisibility creeps in to cover your life. No one can see all that you do and the dreams that you dream. Except for the God who SEES.

  If you have lived through devastating physical abuse, rape, or incest, I am so very, very sorry for every pain you have known. And I am incredibly angry that such horrific sin has been committed against you. Women tell me that such a tragedy can make you feel invisible, taking away the light in your life and your hope for the future. Can I tell you what I know about God? He saw it all and He sees you now. He promises to be your Deliverer and your Healer. You are not invisible to Him, nor have you been assigned to live an invisible, broken life. God offers forgiveness to your offender, but for those who refuse to repent and trust His Son, He promises a judgment … He is the God who SEES!

I wish I could share a snippet from every chapter, but it would make for a book-sized post! But I will give the title of each chapter. At least then you can have an idea of what she’s offering in this resource.

• Do you know I am trembling inside? He is my comfort.
• Do you know I am worn out? He does not grow weary.
• Do you know I am suffering with a thorn? He is my sufficiency.
• Do you know I am a sinner? He is my Savior.
• Do you know I am lonely? He is here.
• Do you know I am undisciplined? He is my strength.
• Do you know I am hesitant? He is generous.
• Do you know I am ordinary? He is my King and my Father.
• Do you know I am broken? He is my Redeemer.
• Do you know I am disappointed? He is my Hope.

I’m sure you can see how helpful this resource is. I’ve highlighted so much of my copy, that it looks like a child’s coloring book! But I love keeping track of info I think might bless someone, and this book is filled with exactly that sort of thing.

Do You Know Who I Am, the newly released book by Angela Thomas.

On His Exciting Journey,

Photo courtesy of: Adri’

Perhaps idol worship is more rampant today than it was in Bible times, only we don’t carve them out of wood, we carve them out by picking and choosing the characteristics of God we like, and with these we make a new god that is comfortable with how we are living, even when we are not living according to His Word.

A.W. Tozer says it well in the following quote from his excellent book:

The Knowledge Of The Holy

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt worship has taken place. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true.

I recently read a commentary by Ray Comfort, from Way of the Master, in which he describes a conversation that is a perfect example of today’s idolatry. He said a lady told him that her god would not send anyone to Hell because he is a loving god. He told her that she was right, her god couldn’t send anyone to Hell because the god she believes in is an imaginary god! But the God of the Bible does … this is why we NEED to get familiar with what God has revealed about Himself in His Word. If we add to, or take away from, what the Bible teaches about Holy God, we are creating an idol.

I have really enjoyed learning about God’s personality, His attributes in The Knowledge Of The Holy . This is one book I would highly recommend for every believer.

On His Exciting Journey,

The stories of lives that have been touched by Debra’s example were wonderful, but they really seemed to be secondary in this book, as it’s focus was more on Ron and his rocky relationship with his father. Maybe the stories are better suited for an interactive blog-type of media, where the emails and letters could be regularly updated, and those who are looking for a sense of direction about how to reach out to their community could find examples and encouragement.

Pearls of Wisdom

All of that being said, there were some pearls of wisdom in this book. One such pearl was found in Denver’s dialogue about helping the poor and needy.

But when you reachin out to folks, ‘specially if you just reachin out when other folks expects it, you got to ask yourself – is you doin it for God, or is you doin it for you? The things you do for nothin is the things you keep forever … If you doin it for somethin, you already done got paid. God don’t pay no overtime.

Well said, Denver! Further over in the book, Denver offers a profound insight to those of us who are suspicious about what is done with ‘our’ blessings once we have handed them over to a needy person.

I was sho ‘nough happy to hear that story ’cause it shows that even if you bless some needy person just a little bit, God might use other folks down the line to weave your little gift into a bigger blessin. And if you bless folks, you gon’ get the blessin back, no matter what they does with the money. So you give the gift with no strings attached, and let God take care a’ business on the other end.

I plan to keep Denver’s ‘sermons’ in mind as I try to live by the law of love … “He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know Me?” says the LORD” (Jer 22:16 NLT).

On His Exciting Journey,

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This is my personal review of What Difference Do It Make?: Stories of Hope and Healing, written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore and published by Thomas Nelson.

It was when he treated Denver Moore to a cup of coffee at Starbucks that he got his second lesson about the law of love. He couldn’t have bought a better education from an ivory league collage. No, what he was about to learn from this new found friend was far more than head knowledge … it sunk deep down into his soul. What he got from Starbucks that day was about to change more than just his life, it was going to change a community!

In this true story of Debra and Ron Hall, we see a beautiful example of God’s love received and funneled through to those who are often considered untouchable … the homeless. Because we receive God’s blessings, a river of blessings should flow from us, and that is exactly the kind of life Debra Hall lived. Same Kind of Different As Me is an amazing story of a woman whose tender heart understood that caring for the poor and needy is how we show the love of Christ. I consider myself blessed to have learned this lesson from the beautiful testimony of Debra Hall’s life.

On His Exciting Journey,

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This is my personal review of Same Kind of Different As Me, written by Ron Hall and Denver Moore and published by Thomas Nelson.

I’m writing a negative review for my latest Thomas Nelson book review project. While I appreciated the point of the book, which was that we should make an effort to live a more meaningful life by making choices that challenge us, the author calls it ‘living a better story’, I have to ask a few questions.

Although the meat of the book was insightful, and it inspired me to live a better story by ‘pointing to the horizon’ and overcoming some obstacles to get there, I just can’t neglect mentioning the fact that some of the content in this book is inappropriate, and it should have been edited out. If the writer wasn’t mature enough to know better, then the editor of Thomas Nelson, a Christian publishing company, should have taken care of it.

Keeping it real,

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This is my personal review of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, written by Donald Miller and published by Thomas Nelson.

Several months later, she had an allergic reaction to dust, which set off a mild case of asthma, for which two asthma inhalers were prescribed. Apparently, the strength of the meds was too strong or conflicting or who knows what, but it landed us in the ER late one evening with her having a severe panic attack. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I seriously considered lying on the bed beside her and having a panic attack of my own!

Fears! EVERYBODY has them … health concerns, financial woes, fear of not mattering, fear of overwhelming challenges, fear of violence, fear of really trusting God with your life … the list could go on and on. These days, there are PLENTY of opportunities to fall into the pit of despair because of fear. I know I’ve been wrestling with it, and I’m thinking you are too. That’s why the timing of Max Lucado’s new book, Fearless, couldn’t be better. With soothing words and insightful wisdom, based on the solid principles of Scripture, Max offers encouragement and strategies for combating some of our most common fears. For instance, this rousing encouragement is given in the chapter titled “What If Things Get Worse?”

Avoid Pollyanna optimism. We gain nothing by glossing over the brutality of human existence. This is a toxic world. But neither do we join the Chicken Little chorus of gloom and doom. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” Somewhere between Pollyanna and Chicken Little, between blind denial and blatant panic, stands the levelheaded, clear-thinking, sill-believing follower of Christ. Wide eyed, yet unafraid … Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

That’s powerful stuff! Stuff you would hear the coach say in the locker room before you faced your most fierce rival. Oh, wait … that IS who we are facing! Thanks for the pep talk, Coach Max!

On His Exciting Journey,

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This is my personal review of Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear, written by Max Lucado and published by Thomas Nelson.

It’s a woman who disregards popular American culture where her marriage is concerned. Her standards are different … higher actually … than the standards considered politically correct. She doesn’t buy into modern-day ideologies where her marriage is concerned. She has learned that God’s role for a wife today is the same as it was in the Garden of Eden.

Pearls of Wisdom

I gained some fantastic wisdom from this book and a whole new outlook on my role as a godly wife. The authors, Connie Grigsby and Nancy Cobb, transparently share their own journey out of political correctness and into the role of helpmate. Here are five pearls to give you an idea of the wisdom they share:

• A wise wife does not buy the lie that it is her husband’s ‘job’ to make her happy.
• A wise wife understands that her feelings cannot be her guide … she does not wait till she no longer feels angry to forgive her husband.
• A wise wife understands that respecting her husband brings glory to God.
• A wise wife understands that she does not have to treat her husband like he treats her … marriages cannot be healthy with an attitude that says, “I’ll do my part when he does his.”
• A wise wife understands that she is 100 percent responsible to God for her behavior as a wife.

Let’s Grow Together!
I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit, recently, to pull this book off my shelf and scan through it, and it awakened an excitement in me all over again! God has such a beautiful plan for marriages, and with good reason too … He intended the marriage to be picture of the believer’s relationship with Christ, but Satan has done a number on the marriage and muddied up the picture.

Sooooo … I’ve been talking about the book again, and women are getting interested again! Most Christian women KNOW their marriage should look different from what they see in our world today, but they need help recognizing God’s perfect plan AND Satan’s sneaky traps. That’s why I’m going to study this book again … and I’m inviting women of any age to join me. I plan to do it on Thursday mornings at our house (which is in the Picayune City limits). I’ll wait until the fall when the kiddies are settled back into their school routine, but I’m giving a heads up now, so you can make room for it on your busy calendars.

If you live in the Picayune area, and you’re interested in studying with other women who want to strengthen their marriage, leave a note in the comments section, or email me, or Facebook me if you’re reading this note there, and I’ll get back with you about the time and directions and such.

On His Exciting Journey,