Knit Together

I finished reading "Knit together" by Debbie Macomber. It is an inspiring book written to women. Debbie explains in the beginning of her book that all of her previous books have been fiction, when she was asked to write this book. When she said that she did not know if she could do it, she was challenged to put her lectures into book form. This book is the result.
Her writing style is very laid back and easy to read. She is an encourager and the main thrust of her book is that God has "knit" us from our mother's womb for a purpose.
Being a knitter herself, she using this as a basis from which to work, that of a skilled knitter creating something beautiful.
This book is a light read, but she does include many Bible verses as well as inspirational stories of how God worked in her own life, as well as those she loves.
I would encourage looking into this if you are struggling with self-image or doubt that you can serve God where you are. One of her strongest emphasis is that God has a purpose for all His children. If you are chosen by God, He will gift you and show you His plan for you (keeping with the knitting theme, there is a pattern He is following). We may not alway see the end result ourselves, but we can trust that He has the pattern correct.
The rest of the book goes into how we can find that goal for our life, and then how to implement it with God's help. It even deals with overcoming objections that others may have in our conviction of God's leading. Her own personal story is an inspiration for those who are being told they cannot do what they have a heart to do.
She desired to write from an early age, but was a mediocre student in school. It turns out she was dyslexic, but in those days such things were not diagnosed. She lived in a rural community and higher education was not deamed important, so she married young and started raising a family.
Her desire to write never left her, and she began writing short stories. Some were sold, but she continued to desire to be a published author. She finally wrote a book and was going to have it evaluated by editors at a conference for writers she was attending. Put yourself in her place, only ten manuscripts were chosen and hers was one of them. So she thought it would be a positive thing. Imagine she dismay when hers was used as the example of what NOT to do.
After the conference she timidly approached the editor that critiqued her, and asked what she could do to make her manuscript better. The editor told her to throw it away and consider another career.
Returning home crestfallen, she began to doubt herself and her calling. Making her long story short, she read an encouraging story that said basically - one editor's junk is another's gem. So she submitted it to another publisher, was accepted and the rest is history. She has many awards to her name and has published 100s of successful fiction books. I look forward to reading more of her works.

Idols of the Heart

Idols of the Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick is a must read for all Christians. In her introduction she asks two questions of herself and the reader:
Do I love Him (God) with everything that I am, or are there other loves in my heart that clamor for my attention?
Do I worship additional gods, or is He always, and in every case, the supreme Ruler who receives my undivided passion and devotion?

It may seem like an easy thing to say yes to these questions. But as she goes through the Bible and examples in the Scriptures, the reader is really challenged to evaluate their own heart. Idolatry is the most common sin in the scripture. It is the sin that Israel was constantly committing, and the one we think is so easy to keep. But is it? God expects total and complete devotion from His people, we either love Him and Him alone, with our WHOLE heart! or we are guilty of idolatry.

I especially liked the way she refers to our modern way of thinking that God will act in our time frame, when and how WE want. Have you ever thought that was idolatry? Who have you just put in control of your own life? Not God, because we have just dictated to Him how our life should go, rather than waiting on Him to work His perfect work in and through us. (Patience is my personal weakness and I really have to struggle to "wait on the Lord." I really prefer to be in control, but that is my sin nature popping up its head and I am constantly having to repent and pray about it.)

There are 12 chapters in this small but powerful little book, each dealing with a way in which we break the first commandment to have no other gods. At the end of each chapter the author asks a series of questions to challenge the reader to apply the content of the chapter. This feature makes this an excellent study guide for an individual as well as groups.

Chapter 1 - Rachel's Gods and You

We all know the story of Rachel, the beautiful sister that Jacob was willing to work 14 years for. How her father tricked Jacob into marrying her sister, Leah, first. But do we gain the insight into Rachel's idolatry? It is easy to glance over, when finally Jacob can take his family back to Canaan, what does Rachel do? She steals the family gods from her father. (several other commandments are broken here as well, but we will not take time to go over them all.) What was at the core of Rachel's problem? She "wasn't satisfied with the blessing that God had given her in Joseph (the son she begged God for). She wanted more." (p. 21)

She also did not totally look to God for answers, she depended on her husband, or blamed him as the case may be. She ultimately turns to the false gods and thinks these are what she needs to be satisfied and get what her heart desires.

This chapter challenges us to be aware that idols are not some external object that we worship, but they can be "thoughts, desires, longings and expectations we worship in place of the true God. Idols cause us to ignore the true God insearch of what we think we need." (p. 23)
In other words, anything we feel we cannot live without has become an idol in our life. It may even be an honorable, God honoring desire, such as a godly husband, or children, or a god-honoring career. But if we view this need as all consuming and something we "must have or I die" and God has not chosen to give it yet, then we have just created an idol of that desire.

Chapter 2 - Undivided Adoration

This chapter starts with the story of Martha and Mary. When Jesus says to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42), how many of us does this convict? We can sometime get so involved in serving others, that we forget the Lord we are serving. Do we spend enough time at the feet of Jesus seeking the "good part"? The reader is challenged to ask themselves: do I really know, acknowledge, worship and glorify God as my only true God?

Using the Westminster Confession as the basis, we are challenged on page 34 to ask the following questions:
Do I think of God continually or only infreguently, such as when I want or need something?
Do I meditate on the character of God - His holiness, His goodness, His love?
Do I remember Him in everything I do and say, or do I rarely think of Hm?
Am I highly esteeming Him, or do I highly esteem or value other things?

The author then goes to two fathers in the Old Testament to illustrate whether we truely honor and trust God as we aught. Eli, who failed because he sought to please his sons more than honor God, and Abraham who trusted God totally, even with his precious sons very life. Do we have that kind of whole-hearted devotion to God?

The chapter ends with Peter's denial of Jesus, though he thought in his own strength he would not. Do we fear the good opinion of others more than Jesus? More than likely we too would fail just as Peter failed. In fact, I am convinced we do if we are depending on our own strength as Peter did at that time. But we have the same saviour Peter did, who does not leave us alone to our own failings, but is praying for us that God will give us the strength we need to accomplish His glorious will. Do we really and truely believe this? Or do we only turn to Jesus when we have already failed. Go back over the questions above again with an honest and open heart.

I don't want to go through the rest of the book at this time, because I want you to read for yourself the other challenges and encouragements it has to give. When you have, then let's discuss it together. I will give a brief insight into each chapter, and then wait to hear from the readers of this blog.

Chapter 3 - Of First Importance - The Ten Commandments and their necessity in the Christian's life.

Chapter 4 - The Heart Changer - The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Chapter 5 - Better Than Life - What do we desire more than life itself? What is our highest good? What will really bring us true happiness?

Chapter 6 - Knowing Your Heart - How God will work in us to change our heart to love Him totally.

Chapter 7 - Thinking about Your God - "Your mind, particularly your conscience, is to examine every thought and cast down those that are raised in opposition to the true knowledge of God. EVERY thought MUST be brought into obedience." (emphasis mine, pg. 121)

Chapter 8 - Longing for God - Our strongest desires are what will ultimately define our worship.

Chapter 9 - Willing to Obey - Who truly has the control over our will?

Chapter 10 - Resisting Your Idols - The work of sanctification and the resisting of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 11 - Crushing Your False Gods - Repentance and confession the way to putting off our sins and putting on holiness.

Chapter 12 - Delighting in God - Does your worship truly move you to worship God with your whole heart, soul and mind?

God bless you dear reader in your pursuit of godliness and giving your heart totally and absolutely to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Welcome to our blog

Ladies,
It was discussed Saturday about the possibility of starting a blog site that is dedicated to reading. So I have taken the bull by the horns so to speak and created one. Since I am not the most creative in these matters, my site is called "What we are reading". My first act will be to invite the ladies of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Corpus Christi, to suggest some books to be read. There can also be suggestions on how to handle the reviews and comments, etc.
I will be looking forward to your input.
I am currently reading a book called "Knit together" by Debbie Macomber. I just finished "Idols of the Heart" by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I will start two separate threads for each book, and you can enter in as you read them.
Reply to this post with your suggestions of other books, either recommendations or books you would like to read together. If it is a recommendation, then feel free to start your own blog on that book.
I look forward to hearing from you all.