what's on your current reading list? or what have you read that you recommend?
CURRENTLY READING // women of the word: how to study the bible with both our hearts and our minds - jen wilkin.
i am only on the second chapter and every single page is either highlighted, marked, or underlined. i cannot recommend this book enough. wherever you are in your walk with Christ, this book is a must-read. we all know the importance of studying the bible, but often times we have no clue where to start. in this book, jen offers insight and tools to help navigate studying the Word of God. her approach is more of an explanation than a how-to, which is why i like it so much. here are a couple of great quotes:
we must turn around our habit of asking "who am i?". we must first ask, "what does this passage teach me about God?" before we ask it to teach us anything about ourselves. we must acknowledge that the bible is a book about God.
the heart cannot love what the mind does not know. we must love God with our minds, allowing out intellect to inform our emotions, rather than the other way around. // this was HUGE for me. i've tried to feel something when i study the bible. that section was an eye-opener.
OTHER RECOMMENDED READS
// love does - bob goff.
God didn't make it a three-strikes-and-you're-out sort of thing. it's more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so that we can swing for the fences again. and all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.
// crazy love - francis chan.
Jesus isn't just making a cute little analogy here. He is addressing those who aren't willing to give everything, who won't follow Him all the way. He is saying that lukewarm, half-hearted following is useless, that it sicken our souls. He is saying that this kind of salt is not even fit
"for the manure pile". wow. how would you like to hear the Son of God say, "you would ruin manure"? when salt is salty, it helps manure become good fertilizer. but lukewarm and uncommitted faith is completely useless. it can't even benefit manure. [referring to luke 14:34-35]
// the valley of vision: a collection of puritan prayers and devotions - arthur bennett.
Lord, high and holy, meet and lowly, Thou has brought me to the valley of vision, where i live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin i behold Thy glory. let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, The life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.
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