Steadfast Love

Bible study work book

This past week I completed the study of Psalm 107 with a book titled Steadfast Love by Lauren Chandler. The study was with a group of about twenty women at my church on Wednesday evenings.

Over seven weekly sessions the student reads Psalm 107 nearly every day to examine different seasons of our lives and to reveal what we depend upon to anchor our sense of security.

What we discover is that most of us are counting on false anchors to give us happiness and security (such as education, money, relationships, our health). But happiness and security are desires not assured to anyone in this earthly life. So where do we turn? How do we weather the storms that threaten to undo us? 

A careful examination of Psalm 107 and other related scriptures reveals Holy God as the only dependable anchor for the soul and to bring us through the storms of life.

I recommend this book for small Bible study groups, where discussion can flow more easily and with less intimidation than what comes with a larger number of people. There is a 10 - 15 minute video accompanying each week's lesson for viewing with the group. 

The homework is not overwhelming: 5 days each week, taking about 30 minutes for each lesson. You can skim through the study without the homework but the experience is made richer and rewarding when the student spends that one-on-one time with God in His Word.

The author, Lauren Chandler, is a wife and mother of three children. Her husband is the lead teaching pastor at The Village Church in Dallas, Texas. In addition to writing, Lauren leads music and worship in her church and across the country with traveling groups.

Lauren's story accompanies the workbook
(sold separately)

In addition to the workbook, Lauren has a quick-read hard cover book telling more specifically her story of how God has demonstrated His steadfast love through her life thus far. This book tells how she was inspired to write the Bible study.

I recommend both the study and the hard cover book if you want to bring to the surface your false anchors and learn to depend on God's steadfast love to sustain your life.

While a person can feel a bit 'undone' to realize she is depending on a false anchor, she can learn to rely on God to be her true source of happiness and security.

Both books are available through Lifeway, Amazon, Christianbooks.com and Barnes and Noble.

From My Library

Shared with permission from
Little Birdie Blessings

Hello dear readers,

It's been a little over a week since I began taking time off from writing blog posts so I could accomplish  other things. 

I can't say in honesty that I've been resting much, as the pretty graphic above would imply, but I have used the time away from blogging to sew on a baby quilt for my next great-nephew due to be born this summer, to cook some serious nutrient-dense meals (a hobby of mine), and to read  books, the titles of which I will share with you today.

Sue sent this book for my birthday. Not only is this a captivating testimony but my friend knows the author personally, which made the story all the more intriguing.

Both Beloved and I read it from cover to cover in one sitting -- it was that interesting. I recommend this book because it is a story that has unfolded in recent years and addresses issues we hear about in today's political and social climate. The author's journey from Islam to Christianity is real, frightening, and sobering while completely sincere. Her faith in Christ is joyful in spite of personal sacrifices that have been very tough.

Her book is available at this link.

This is another book I received as a gift. I am using it several mornings a week during my private quiet times with the Lord. If you are not familiar with Susie Larson, you should check out her website at http://www.susielarson.com

I subscribe to her Daily Blessings, which is a prayer she has written out that you can pray over yourself that will teach and encourage you greatly, all solidly based on Scripture. A link to this is at her website.

In reading this book my personal prayer life is growing and getting better results. You can find her book at this link.

Would  you believe I am actually acquainted with the author of this book?! Terry is a member of our Sunday morning Bible study class at church. I met him through his wife at a Women's Ministry activity several months ago. 

He has earned a living in radio and retail, but his real heart is in writing, and he is very prolific. He writes about many topics, but my favorites are his poetry about family and travel, especially ocean scenes. 

His work is heavily influenced by his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which tells you this is a "safe" book to pick up, knowing the pages will not take you to places you do not want to go. 

I read a copy of this book from my public library, but you can also find it at Barnes and Noble and at this link.

On a lighter note, this is the book I am currently reading when I have a few minutes to kill before starting dinner, going to bed, or leaving the house. It is Christian fiction by Tracie Peterson, who has written over one hundred books for clean entertainment with a good dose of history. The book can be purchased at this link.

I believe I have mentioned this book before. I am going through it for a third time. Beloved and I used it two years ago for our nightly devotions together. 

This book came to us in a sort of unusual way. One day in November of 2014 the doorbell rang. Beloved was at home and answered the door. A man handed this book to him, saying that he was a representative from In Touch Ministries, which is headed by Dr. Charles Stanley, a ministry located in Atlanta, Georgia, which we have helped to support for many years. The book was a gift and that was all -- hand delivered to us from Atlanta to Colorado!

I read the one-page devotional thought every day on my way to the kitchen before breakfast. I cannot tell you how many times the verse and the thoughts following it have given me insight and direction for the exact matters I will be facing that day! I wish I had this book earlier in my life to help mature my thinking and behavior -- but now is not too late. 

I highly recommend this book. It can be purchased at this link.

So, from my reading room to yours, maybe one of these books will spark your interest.

Beth Moore's First Novel

Note: there is no Wednesday Hodgepodge today. Our Hodgepodge hostess is entertaining family from out of town. She will be back next week.

After years of writing a truckload of Bible studies, touring all over the United States and internationally, speaking in simulcasts, and appearing with a small part in the movie War Room with Priscilla Shirer, she has managed to find the time to write her first novel.

I love Beth Moore and have greatly benefitted from her Bible studies, but those who know me well are aware that I feel she takes too long to get around to making her point in both her speaking and her writing. Where are the editors to trim it down?! I mean, she wears me out at times! 

However, she is beautiful, fun to watch, has a trendy wardrobe, never has a bad hair day, is blessed with a great sense of humor,  is a knowledgeable Bible teacher and is most especially effective with those who are younger than me. That's just her style and it works for her. But since she wears me out, I have not done her studies over the last few years.

When I saw that she had written a novel, my first thought was to not pick it up. But upon further reflection, I decided that maybe all that wordiness would be a positive thing in a volume of fiction.

From the first couple of pages, I was hooked. The story was unpredictable, did not preach at the reader, and had me wondering where it would lead. It centers in New Orleans, a place very unfamiliar to me, and even a little scary.

But knowing Beth as I do, I felt 'safe' in her pages. Even when one of the characters pulled out a deck of Tarot cards, something I know to be very unchristian, I knew Beth would not take her readers to places or conclusions we should not embrace.

As I got into the second half of the book, I actually slowed down my reading because I enjoyed it so much, I did not want to hasten  the end!

Eventually I did get to a place where I could not put the book down and sure enough, it came to an end. 

That's all I'll say about it. Read it for yourself. I think you will like it.

Slender Reeds - a book review

https://www.amazon.com/Slender-Reeds-Texie-Susan-Gregory/dp/1634099605

Slender Reeds - Jochebed's Hope is historical fiction based on the Old Testament. Author Texie Susan Gregory enjoys writing the stories of unknown mothers in biblical times.

Jochebed is the mother of Moses, but this tale begins long before his birth, just as she becomes betrothed to a widower with no children.

The story centers around Jochebed and her beloved mother who both live a hard life as basket-makers in Egypt, long after their predecessor Joseph has been forgotten by the Pharaohs.  Fellow slaves, who are supposed to be their friends, tend to shun them because of the events surrounding Jochebed's father's death. 

Jochebed, along with her two closest friends, Shiphrah and Lili, share much in common as well as great differences that divide them as they are bent over with the twisting circumstances of life.

Moses is not introduced to the story until the last quarter of the book, but all that goes on before his birth explains how he ended up floating in a basket cradle in the crocodile-infested Nile River.

Author Susan Texie Gregory has done her homework on Egyptian history and religion with her lengthy descriptions. Today's sophisticated readers will marvel how such alien beliefs could be taken seriously.

Maybe it's just me, or perhaps I try to read too many pages when I am sleepy, but with this book I had trouble keeping some of the characters straight. Mention was made of them at the beginning and then little to nothing was said about them for many chapters. When they reappeared, I didn't remember who they were.  

But with that said, I would probably agree to read more of Ms. Gregory's books because her research is fascinating.  My plan would be to make a list of each character's name as they appeared in the story, along with the page number. Then if they got buried in the plot and arose later on, I could return to where they first appeared and make the connection.

I wonder, do any of my readers resort to such tactics?