Sunday, July 15, 2012

A Heart Like His

Summary: We all go through times when we feel insignificant or times when we feel certain that we have experienced a degree of failure from which there is no return. This is not a reality we experience alone, but is one that a man after God’s heart experienced as well. From shepherd, to refugee, to king of Israel, David exhibited the purest virtues and the most heinous sinfulness, but through it all his relationship with the Lord continued to grow.

A Heart Like His looks at this bond of mutual love and admiration between a man who was not unlike any of us and the one true God who is all good and all powerful. Beth Moore walks us through an exploration of David’s incredible life, drawing spiritual insights from a man who boldly fulfilled his divine destiny not merely by what he did, but who he loved and served. Bringing lessons from David’s life to bear on your own, this picture of a man who loved and followed God will help you to serve with a heart focused on Him no matter the circumstance.

Available here for the first time in trade paper, this new edition also features an excerpt from Moore’s David: Seeking a Heart Like His Bible study.


My Take: This has been one of my favorite Bible study reads of the last couple years. It has quite a few things that make it stand out. One is that I like Beth Moore's style. She takes any subject and makes you feel as if you're sitting in her living room and talking about it with just her and maybe some snacks and a nice cup of coffee or tea. She has a conversational approach that I like.

She also has great subject matter. The life of David shows the best and worst of man. It gives us this wonderful example of how we can seek God in good and bad times and how God can use us in spite of our weakness - and oftentimes because of it. There is so much treasure to learn from how David honored God and how he failed as well.

Even the way the book is organized is brilliant. The chapters are short so you can easily fit them into any busy schedule. She has included any necessary Bible verses so you don't need to have anything but the book in order to do the study (though she encourages you to use your own Bible to read more passages). I also love how the study is arranged in order by how the events played out historically - so you can see how one decision led to another and so on.

This is the kind of study that is approachable and useful for Christians in many stages of their walk with Christ. It is straightforward and simple enough for new Christians, but there is enough meat and challenging material for those who have loved the Lord for many years. I want to thank the publisher for providing my copy. It did not influence my review.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Update - Missing in Action?

Sorry I haven't been around. I went to the ER on Sunday, had minor surgery on Thursday, and have to go back for a small . . . procedure this Friday. In between it was tons of pain. I had three kidney stones, one of which was a half an inch in diameter and - well, blocking one side of things and the other two stones. The ER doctor said it was the largest stone he'd ever seen. Isn't it great to be distinguished like that? {picture me shaking my head and laughing}

Honestly I'd heard kidney stones hurt like the dickens but I had no idea. Add some fibro and IBS to the mix and I felt like I was being killed. They asked me that whole 1-10 pain scale and I think I said something totally un-witty like 20. She didn't laugh.

They stuck me five times because I was so dyhdrated. I never knew it before this, but extreme pain can make you sick to your stomach and I couldn't keep anything down.

The bruises have faded and I am feeling almost like myself. Next week I should be back to normal. I have some computer problems I'm fighting. I haven't been able to access my blog. I finally realized I can use IE instead of Mozilla, but I'd still like to fix the problem for "real." I also am losing my monitor. It flickers and goes dim. I've ordered a new one, but that is limiting my online time because it's very hard on my eyes.

I hope you all are doing well. Hugs and blessings ~