Tag: good book
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How to Take Thoughts Captive When You Feel Like You’ve Lost It
You wouldn’t think it’s possible to get lost in a stand-up shower. But for me, this is a regular occurrence. The cream-colored fiberglass is smooth, except for droplets of water dripping slowly down. I stand there shivering in my hastily tugged on and slightly dampened clothing, unaware of where I am, why, or the fact…
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God Made Martha
“What’s a Martha?” my husband asked when he saw the title of the book. “Martha from the Bible,” I replied, tapping the subtitle. He read it out loud: “good news for the woman who gets things done.” Laughing, he said, “that’s you!” Tackling common misconceptions, Reid addresses the reasons Jesus corrected Martha when she grew…
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Getting to Know the Holy Spirit
“The Holy Spirit isn’t an ‘it,’ but a person. You can say ‘He’.” I don’t remember who told me that, or when. But someone did, and it sparked a Bible-quisition when I was a new Christian. The more I read about the Holy Spirit in Scripture, the more excited I was about the reality that…
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How to Talk to People
“Christian college,” was sandwiched in the middle of the sentence I said to the hair dresser as she sprayed and combed. We were about two minutes into my haircut and she was asking why I’d moved to the area and what my husband’s new job was. Her flinch was made more noticeable by twitch of…
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Her Utmost for His Highest
The greenish book seemed odd to me as I quickly paged through. “Thank you,” I murmured with confusion as the older woman patted my hand and said she’d be praying. I was off to the mission field, and she’d given me a copy of Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. She didn’t know it,…
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For the Love of Stories
Honest to goodness, I don’t remember where I used to find or read them. All I recall is the anticipation and delight every time a new copy made its way into my hands. Reader’s Digest was my favorite magazine as a child. At one point, I memorized which sections featured jokes or humorous stories- I’d…
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It’s Not Me, It’s You (And That’s Okay)
“It’s not me, it’s you….” The bad breakup line always seemed so unfair. It’s been my habit to live life assuming there’s always something I can do…some level of responsibility I have to take if I’m truly loving. But over the years, I’ve met the people-pleasers dilemma: some people aren’t pleasable. Living this truth has…
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Remember When You First Heard about Jesus?
Do you remember when you first heard about Jesus? Or God? Or church? I mean the first, first time. When the words were brand new and meant nothing yet to you. Most of us don’t remember that “first” precisely. These are words and concepts that may have been whispered over you in the womb or…
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God Leads One Step at a Time
The first time I heard “The Very Next Thing” on the radio in my car, I memorized most of the words. Or rather, they just stuck. I was basically a sitting duck for the message. Spinning my wheels in a rut, I’d been so afraid of unknowns I was letting obligation determine my next steps…
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Connecting God’s Power to Our Anchor in Christ
To me, Jesus walking on water isn’t the craziest part of the story recorded in Matthew 14. Peter’s response is. What would inspire a man to say “IF it’s you, Jesus, command me to walk on water too?” If I was skeptical that the guy defying physics was actually Jesus, I still would’ve settled for…