I love to read for many reasons.
It's an escape, provides mental adventure that ignites the boundaries of my imagination, challenges me, pushes me to think outside the box of conventional wisdom, provides me great laughter and sometimes a heart stirring soul aching groan.
It also helps calm my spirit when I have to fly because...well I've never quite been a fan of hurtling 50k ft over the earth in an aluminum bullet at 500 mph .
I can be a princess, set sail on the 7 seas, be a pirate, a secret agent, have superpowers, realize I'm not alone in my struggles, draw closer to my Lord, find better strategies to parent my children, discover tips on enriching my marriage and so on and so on.
There is no way I can mention every book I've ever read in this list but these are the ones that stick out to me. The ones that when I look at the cover I have an emotional connection with.
#76
Redeeming Love is a story inspired by the book of
Hosea found in the Bible. Set in California in the year 1850, the story is about a young girl, Sarah, who was rejected by her father and left alone by her beloved mother. At a tender age, Sarah is sold to a brothel. There she is raised and used as a prostitute. The loving little girl that Sarah was is transformed into an angry young woman, Angel, embittered by a life of constant hurt and betrayal. With every man that enters her room, Angel feeds the hate and bitterness until it threatens to destroy her. Every desperate attempt to change her life is met with utter failure.
I relate to her battle with self hatred and the war within to accept
Christs unconditional love.
Charlotte’s Web opens the door to a magical world, which a young girl named Fern finds herself a part of. Fern spends her free time with Wilbur the pig whom she loves and the other barn animals who play a large part in the life of Wilbur. Charlotte A. Cavatica, the large grey spider, befriends Wilbur and helps him deal with the shocking news that his life will end as bacon on someone’s plate. Charlotte goes as far as coming up with an interesting plan that only this spider could carry out with the help of Templeton the rat (who never does anything unless there is something in it for himself) to help Wilbur escape death. This was one of the first books I remember reading and it's ending still brings me to tears and reminds me of the verse
#78
One of the best books I've read in the past five years. A compelling story about two men: Ron and Denver, the unlikely friendship formed between them, and God's redemptive story weaved throughout their shared lives. While it is a tale of deep pain and difficult circumstances, what is beautiful about the book is the element of nearly-unbelievable redemption. An entirely nonfictional book that calls us to evaluate our life in light of the greatest love and compassion.
#79
The fight for the mind.
It truly is a battlefield!!! I've struggled my entire life with
TAKING MY THOUGHTS CAPTIVE!
This book teaches how to renew our mind through the Word and stand victoriously at battle's end. Satan whispers in our ear and we begin to process that thought. What happens to us then? How do we process that thought? Do we dwell on it? Do we dismiss it? Or do we battle it.
The Bible tells us that Satan is out to kill, steal and destroy everyone. If he can plant a distraction to occupy our mind then he somehow wins. But if we fill our mind with Scriptures and learn to speak those scriptures, we can defeat Satan and even deter him for bothering us!
#80
Beth Moore can do no wrong for me with her writings. This study of selected passages from the Book of Isaiah, draws several parallels between the captive Israelites and today's Christians, in order to show how to make freedom in Christ a daily reality.
In my lifelong pursuit of freedom this book has become the basic black of my library wardrobe.
#81
Fear seems to be in the driver’s seat these days. Finances are tumbling, rockets are launching, and seemingly solid institutions are teetering. The economy is failing...wars and rumors of war kind of stuff. It's tough for folks to know where to turn. Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.
I don't typically live my life in fear or make fear based decisions but fear has been an acquaintance on more than one occasion.
What If we could hover a fear magnet over our heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain?
#82
I never considered taking on a set of books. While pregnant with my first child I was on strict bedrest. I had a miscarriage with our first and would do anything, even if it meant standing on my head for 9 mos to keep my baby safe.
I found profound escape through the wardrobe with Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. The seven books constituting the Chronicles of Narnia tell how Aslan the Lion, son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, sings Narnia into being from nothing and later saves it from evil by sacrificing himself and rising again. He spares nothing to make others good if they are open to change.
C.S. Lewis created a masterpiece of Christian Allegory of Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection.
#83
As a fairly new Christian and avid reader of fiction I could not set these down. I will preface this as I did with The Shack...Caveat lector. I found this series to be real page turners. There is an Evangelical fervor in these books that gets my blood pumping. Is it theologically on point, no but I find the Tribulation fascinating and to find the true story of the tribulation of course you must dig into the book of Revelation. It's fascinating. Dare I even say I believe we are being ushered into that time presently and God is awakening His bride.
#84
Governance of God in all things.
With almost every word I absorbed from the pages of this awe inspiring book I was brought back to that very thought....Governance of God in all things!
I think think of how Corrie's sister Betsie was covered in lice in Ravensbruck. Later Corrie realizes that these very lice kept the guards at a far distance.
This autobiography of Corrie ten Boom's survival through the Nazi occupation of Holland in WWII left me in great reverence. Her survival and tenacity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the face of such travesty changed the coarse of my very life, my very view of this Great God I serve and His workings in the finite details of my life.
She made it her life's mission to give testimony to the fact that love and goodness can prevail in even the darkest hell.
I'm in awe and inspired by her faithfulness.
#85
I've read that The Shack has been received among Christians with decidedly mixed reviews. While many have acclaimed it as a groundbreaking story that brings to life heart-stirring theology, others insist that some of what it teaches is patently unbiblical.
Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: "If you haven't read The Shack, don't!"
Driscoll, whose multi-campus non-denominational church is packed with 6,000 people each weekend in the least-churched corner of the nation, says he is "horrified" by Young's book. He says "it misrepresents God.
Is it heretical?
I read it strictly as a book of fiction. Not a book with any theological value. I did find that it stretched my minds eye view of the heavenlies and gave me a reminder of God's sacrifice on the cross not just for the lovely but for the people who make really awful choices and commit heinous acts if they turn to Him for forgiveness and confession.
It's not a book for the faint of heart. The book seeks to provide answers to the always timely question "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" It's a tale that revolves around Mack (Mackenzie) Philips.
Four years before the story begins, Mack's young daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation. Though her body was never found, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer who preyed on young girls....
As with any book, filter with with true Word of God and His Holy Spirit! Caveat lector
#86
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| Much afraid leaves the valley of fear and becomes a new creation! |
A timeless allegory dramatizing the yearning of God’s children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory. We follow Much-Afraid on her spiritual journey as she overcomes many dangers and mounts at last to the High Places. There she gains a new name and is transformed by her union with the loving Shepherd.
The thing about this book is that it lays bare the deepest longings and fears of our hearts in following God--following Him when we can't see ahead of us, when we feel like we're going in circles, when we feel like He is not taking us where we want to go, and how following Him can mean laying down the deepest desires of our hearts just because God asks us to, and we know Him to be good and loving.
#87
I read this over and over to my children. They could not get enough of Punchinello. Frankly I couldn't either. Every single time I read the book I would get a knot in my throat. The kind you get when you are trying really hard not to cry. This story is not just for children. Not at all. I found healing between the covers. A healing word from the Lord that I, Robin, am special in His sight. Precious and loved exactly how I am.
You Are Special is heart warming tale in which Eli helps Punchinello understand how special he is, no matter what other Wemmicks may think. . It is about small wooden people called the Wemmicks who put golden star stickers and gray dot stickers on each other all day long. The golden star stickers go to the talented, well liked, smart, and beautiful Wemmicks. The gray dot stickers go to the chipped, scratched, and uncoordinated Wemmicks, and to those who cannot speak eloquently. A Wemmick, named Punchinello, is one who receives gray dots all day long and is very sad about it. It is affecting his self esteem and he believes that something is really wrong with him.
He meets Lucia, a Wemmick who is beautiful ...you are just going to have to read it J
