Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson 2009 (for more info click here)
Today is a special day because Max Lucado’s newest book, Fearless, is being released everywhere. As an official Book Review Blogger for Thomas Nelson, I am one of the lucky ones who received this book last week to read and review in preparation for today. Because it’s my day to blog, you get to hear it from me. And you want to hear about it. Especially if you live your life in fear...
I’m not a deep thinker. I like skimming along the surface, taking words for what they say, not looking for a hidden meaning. I don’t like reading between the lines. In Fearless, Max Lucado has written so many profound sentences, I had to stop many times to think about them. And yet, I understood them. Here’s an example: ‘Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia.’ I read that sentence one morning and it stayed with me throughout the day. The urge to pass it on became unbearable so finally, I tweeted about it and added, ‘Wow’. A simple feeling to a simple sentence. But what a sentence: If you accept fear, you forget God.
Here’s another: 'Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for heaven’s sake don’t offer it a bed for the night.’ I understand this too. Max is telling me there will always be fear but it’s up to me if I want it to control my life. I don’t. But can I stop it? Our imaginations have a way of getting away from us at times.
Everyone just has one or two deep fears, right? Well, according to Max, one of our biggest fears is that we don’t matter. ‘We fear nothingness, insignificance…We fear that in the last tabulation, we make no contribution to the final sum. We fear coming and going and no one knowing.’ He then goes on to say this is the reason we’re so upset when people forget to phone us, or they forget our name, etc. I never thought of it that way before. These kinds of thoughts lead us to thinking that we really aren’t anything special. We put ourselves down. He says, ‘If you pass your days mumbling, “I’ll never make a difference; I’m not worth anything,” guess what? You will be sentencing yourself to a life of gloom without parole. Even more, you are disagreeing with God.’ Whoa! That can’t be right. But Max gives scriptural references to back this up.
Each chapter in Fearless has a biblical story to show how Jesus attempted to calm fear. ‘Do not be afraid’, ‘Do not fear’, ‘Have courage’, ‘Take heart’, ‘Be of good cheer’. These are only some of the words of Jesus used to soothe our fears and instill peace. Max says Jesus spoke words similar to these 21 times and yet He only talked about loving God and your neighbor 8 times. Max says in Fearless, ‘If quantity is any indication, Jesus takes our fears seriously.’
So if fear is everywhere, and Christ knew mankind would face fear on a continual basis, it’s just a part of life, right? Yes, but there are things you can do so you’re not living under a mantle of fear. In Fearless, Max offers a checklist you can follow to reduce your stress from fear. And he teaches you how to be specific with your fears so you can pray effectively.
And if you think you’re one of the lucky ones who have escaped the terror of fear due to a higher position in life, Max says to look around you because the ‘Accumulation of wealth is a popular defense against fear. Since we fear losing our jobs, health care, or retirement benefits, we amass possessions, thinking the more we have, the safer we are.’ Even here, Max goes to his Bible to back up this statement.
I have to admit, until this book, I’d only read one Max Lucado book and that was for kids. Yes, I liked it. But I like this one even better. It’s not just what Max is saying, it’s the way he says it. It’s like he’s sitting across my kitchen table sharing a cup of coffee. I can hear him talking to me as I read his words. His mastery over words is powerful, yet his statements are simple, poetic and lyrical. I read part of Fearless to my hubby as he drove us to church on Sunday. Afterward, my 14 year old son asked if he could read Fearless when I’m finished with it. I was stunned. I felt like explaining the book doesn’t come with an on/off switch nor are there little creatures or vehicles zipping across the screen.
And that’s the beauty of Fearless. It crosses the ages because fear itself is ageless.
My rating for Fearless is Excellent (5 stars). I recommend you give this book to friends and family, whether they’re full of life or on their death bed, whatever the age.
What do you fear? Do you have one numbing fear? Or lots of nuisance fears? Please leave a comment with your email address included (with spaces or brackets around the "@" so net spiders, etc, can't phish your address) to be entered in this draw. I will pick one email address from all those submitted until , Thurs night, Sept 10th. The winner will receive the mini Fearless book Imagine Your Life Without Fear. And because I’m a prairie girl living on the prairies, the winner will also receive a new copy of Prairie County Fair, a Barbour Books anthology.
I’m not a deep thinker. I like skimming along the surface, taking words for what they say, not looking for a hidden meaning. I don’t like reading between the lines. In Fearless, Max Lucado has written so many profound sentences, I had to stop many times to think about them. And yet, I understood them. Here’s an example: ‘Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia.’ I read that sentence one morning and it stayed with me throughout the day. The urge to pass it on became unbearable so finally, I tweeted about it and added, ‘Wow’. A simple feeling to a simple sentence. But what a sentence: If you accept fear, you forget God.
Here’s another: 'Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for heaven’s sake don’t offer it a bed for the night.’ I understand this too. Max is telling me there will always be fear but it’s up to me if I want it to control my life. I don’t. But can I stop it? Our imaginations have a way of getting away from us at times.
Everyone just has one or two deep fears, right? Well, according to Max, one of our biggest fears is that we don’t matter. ‘We fear nothingness, insignificance…We fear that in the last tabulation, we make no contribution to the final sum. We fear coming and going and no one knowing.’ He then goes on to say this is the reason we’re so upset when people forget to phone us, or they forget our name, etc. I never thought of it that way before. These kinds of thoughts lead us to thinking that we really aren’t anything special. We put ourselves down. He says, ‘If you pass your days mumbling, “I’ll never make a difference; I’m not worth anything,” guess what? You will be sentencing yourself to a life of gloom without parole. Even more, you are disagreeing with God.’ Whoa! That can’t be right. But Max gives scriptural references to back this up.
Each chapter in Fearless has a biblical story to show how Jesus attempted to calm fear. ‘Do not be afraid’, ‘Do not fear’, ‘Have courage’, ‘Take heart’, ‘Be of good cheer’. These are only some of the words of Jesus used to soothe our fears and instill peace. Max says Jesus spoke words similar to these 21 times and yet He only talked about loving God and your neighbor 8 times. Max says in Fearless, ‘If quantity is any indication, Jesus takes our fears seriously.’
So if fear is everywhere, and Christ knew mankind would face fear on a continual basis, it’s just a part of life, right? Yes, but there are things you can do so you’re not living under a mantle of fear. In Fearless, Max offers a checklist you can follow to reduce your stress from fear. And he teaches you how to be specific with your fears so you can pray effectively.
And if you think you’re one of the lucky ones who have escaped the terror of fear due to a higher position in life, Max says to look around you because the ‘Accumulation of wealth is a popular defense against fear. Since we fear losing our jobs, health care, or retirement benefits, we amass possessions, thinking the more we have, the safer we are.’ Even here, Max goes to his Bible to back up this statement.
I have to admit, until this book, I’d only read one Max Lucado book and that was for kids. Yes, I liked it. But I like this one even better. It’s not just what Max is saying, it’s the way he says it. It’s like he’s sitting across my kitchen table sharing a cup of coffee. I can hear him talking to me as I read his words. His mastery over words is powerful, yet his statements are simple, poetic and lyrical. I read part of Fearless to my hubby as he drove us to church on Sunday. Afterward, my 14 year old son asked if he could read Fearless when I’m finished with it. I was stunned. I felt like explaining the book doesn’t come with an on/off switch nor are there little creatures or vehicles zipping across the screen.
And that’s the beauty of Fearless. It crosses the ages because fear itself is ageless.
My rating for Fearless is Excellent (5 stars). I recommend you give this book to friends and family, whether they’re full of life or on their death bed, whatever the age.
What do you fear? Do you have one numbing fear? Or lots of nuisance fears? Please leave a comment with your email address included (with spaces or brackets around the "@" so net spiders, etc, can't phish your address) to be entered in this draw. I will pick one email address from all those submitted until , Thurs night, Sept 10th. The winner will receive the mini Fearless book Imagine Your Life Without Fear. And because I’m a prairie girl living on the prairies, the winner will also receive a new copy of Prairie County Fair, a Barbour Books anthology.
Oh Anita, what a great review! This sounds like a wonderful book. Max Lucado is an excellent writer. As you said, his prose always reads lyrical but simple.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny: just two days ago I blogged about my biggest fear-- heights. (Or at least my most irrational fear). Since knowing Jesus, I'm able to understand that my fears are feelings and nothing more--but they do not rule my life. :)
May God bless you all today!
Good Morning Anita Mae and Gwen
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Inktropolis
I do recall the 'voice' of Max Lucado that you refer to, Anita Mae. I remember reading it and thinking his writing was like a conversation he was having with me. Talk about touching your heart!
I think sometimes when I see certain people acting on faith and doing great things that they must be fearless. Perhaps it's more like they have learned how to hand off their fears. I want so much to learn to do that!
My greatest fear is that I've failed in the most important thing in the world - to have my now-adult children want the security and richness of a life where Jesus is their savior. I know He can make up for my erratic modeling of a Christian while they were children, but do I even do my part well enough now?
I love the way that Max Lucado has such a unique perspective. Such memorable snippets could only come from the relationship he has developed with God. He proves that ministry comes in a multitude of forms, from the pulpit to the soup kitchen, to scrawls of ink on a leaf of paper. There is no end to the creative ways God reaches out to people.
ReplyDeleteGood morning! What a lovely post, Anita. You are so right: Max Lucado has a way of stating truths plainly, yet elegantly: his words stick with me. I think it's telling that as creatures made in the image of a relational God, one of our biggest fears as people is insignificance with others.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is losing my family. Typical mom stuff. But among my irrational fears is rats. Yeah, I know they make good pets. But we lived with some for a while as newlyweds, ewwwwww.
Thanks for the review, Anita. Interesting thought "Max offers a checklist... and he teaches you how to be specific with your fears so you can pray effectively."
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest fears is flying! And I am a frequent flyer. Actually already 4 flights this year and expect 8 more before the end of the year. So will be more specific about those flights!
Book sounds like one I would enjoy. Do have a few of his books.
Haven't figured out where to put my email address for the drawing but I will eventually.
Have a great day in the Lord.
Thanks, Anita! I'm savoring the complete work of Oswald Chambers, one meaty bite at a time, so I totally understand what you're saying about a sentence sticking to your ribs.
ReplyDeleteHow about this one? "God does not expect us to 'imitate' Jesus. He expects the life of Jesus to be manifested in our flesh."
Oswald Chambers on "The Christian Worker's Spiritual Life"
Good morning, Inktropolis.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were scared of heights, Gwen. Now I wish I'd planned to go with you next Wed night when you go exploring the Rockies out of Denver. :(
Hey Deb, I know what you mean. We didn't raise our eldest daughter, now 30, as a believer and I regret it every single day. But I also believe God is talking to her heart and one of these days, she'll call or announce on FB that she's accepted Him. :)
You said it, Lisa. I can honestly say the only reason I haven't read his works earlier is because I'm not a fan of non-fiction other than the Bible and a small devotional we get at church. I'm an avid reader, yes, but I usually read what I write which is romance.
Sounds like a great book. Thanks for passing on the word Anita.
ReplyDeleteI read a great comment recently that said worry requires a component of pride, because we must think that somehow we can fix things ourselves instead of turning them over to God.
I'm known in my family for an irrational fear of tidal waves. It's because I used to have a lot of scary tidal wave dreams. I finally learned that tidal waves in dreams represent feeling overwhelmed. I stopped having them once I understood the meaning.
On the other hand, over-committing and feeling overwhelmed is still probably one of my biggest concerns.
Dina
In case anyone else is wondering, All you do to leave your e-mail is type it in along with your post. Be sure to include brackets or spaces around the @ so that net spiders can't phish your address and start spamming you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susanne, I appreciate that. Rats as a newlywed? Now you see, that's a physical presence which can play havok with your mind because you can hear the little guys and see evidence of their travels.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of my fear of dogs. I won't go into why I fear them, but a few years ago I was cutting across an empty arena parking lot and a huge yellow dog was walking toward me. I didn't recognize him as belonging to anyone in town. He walked right toward me.
At that point I had a choice to either change my path or trust God. I chose the latter. And you better believe I started praying. I prayed I would become invisible to the dog. I prayed he wouldn't even be able to smell me. And I kept praying. 50 feet. 40 feet. Closer and closer.
The urge to run was so strong, yet I clung to my faith. God had never failed me yet even though it looked like this dog stared right at me.
The distance closed. Just a few feet away I realized he wasn't really looking at me at all, but behind me. Still, I held my breath as we passed with merely a foot of separation. Sure I could have moved over and given more room, but why would I? God was with me whether I detoured two or twenty feet. I chose not to.
And the dog acted as if I wasn't even there.
With due respect to Max Lucado, that was one time I didn't mind being insignificant.
Hi Anita,
ReplyDeleteI love Max Lucado's writing. I think the last one I read was, Traveling Light. This book is one I will have to buy. My oldest child lives in irrational fear caused by OCD, which is caused by anxiety. and what is anxiety all about? FEAR. Now that's a vicious cycle. So many people with anxiety will benefit from this book as well as many others. Thanks for the heads up.
Theresa, please do give us your email address. Usually we just add it at the bottom of our comment. The ones who commented before you are all Inkies or, members of this group blog, and aren't eligible for the drawing. But you can be sure I add my email address to other blogs. :)
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of a story Susan May Warren told at a workshop last ACFW conference. She was in an airport and spotted a woman, obviously nervous, who kept pulling out a book entitled something about getting over your fear of flying.
I believe this book, Fearless could do as much for you. And it isn't so much 'getting over it' because fear like flying or like Gwen's fear of heights, above, may always be with you. But it's learning how to function effectively while acknowledging the fear exists.
Max talks about praying for specifics. If you'd allow me to, whenever you have a flight to catch, shoot me off an email with the specifics and I'll pray for you. My email is:
anitamaedraper [@] hotmail [dot] com
Thank you for visiting Inktropolis today, Theresa.
"God does not expect us to 'imitate' Jesus. He expects the life of Jesus to be manifested in our flesh."
ReplyDeleteWow, you're right, that is a profound statement. Kinda makes you sit up and look around to see if anyone's watchin', eh?
Thanks for the reference, Patti.
...worry requires a component of pride, because we must think that somehow we can fix things ourselves instead of turning them over to God.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Dina, I can see that. It's like an echo of my pastor's sermon on Sunday: If you see someone who needs to be ministered to, God doesn't ask you to go over there personally and do it. In Luke 10:2 we read, '...Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ Pastor Lorne said it's our job to ask Him as Lord of the harvest, to send someone to minister. God doesn't require us to do it all ourselves.
Thank you for sharing, Dina.
You're welcome Jill. Actually, my reasons for becoming a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson was very selfish to start with because I loved the idea of receiving good quality books for free.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, the 2 books I've read so far have blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. It's just another one of those God things. :)
Hi, Anita: Wonderful review. This sounds like a 'must read' for me. Last year on Seekerville I was asked to blog about finaling in a contest. My blog was entitled, Fear of Success. I got so many comments and suggestions, I was amazed. You mean I wasn't the only one fearful of succeeding? I've tried to push it aside and trust my Lord, but every little bit of help is embraced. I look forward to my first Max Lucado read.
ReplyDeleteConnie
Connie - I just looked it up:
ReplyDeleteit was posted on June 30th, 2008 at www.seekerville.blogspot.com
It's an amazing testimony. In it you said, God had more faith in me than I had in myself.
That statement fits someone very dear to my heart. It seems everyone can see her talent but herself. Thank goodness we have a God who doesn't give up on us when we doubt Him.
Thank you for sharing, Connie.
Wonderful post, girlie!
ReplyDeleteFear is something that we could probably spend a week talking about. Hmmm....
Where is my calander?
Just a week, Gina? LOL
ReplyDeleteI feel maybe it should be a recurring theme. I have soooo many fear stories...
It's not like fear will ever go away while we walk this earth and bringing them into the open and acknowledging them is so much better than keeping them hidden.
Although I have to admit, it's hard admitting a fear to anyone.
Great post, Anita. I struggled with fear so much that the second novel I ever wrote was all about wrestling with fear and learning to trust God. I've made great strides in the big fears. Now its the little, daily ones that crop up that are the hardest for me to weed out!
ReplyDeleteFear that I'll leave this earth with things undone. Yet also the fear that comes with perfectionism.
ReplyDeleteYet, I don't fear as much as I used to. I trust God more now than I ever have.
Now its the little, daily ones that crop up that are the hardest for me to weed out!
ReplyDeleteSo, D'Ann, you have a fear of fears. Hmmm... now that's deep. It's almost as if your big fears have burst and scattered baby fears (growing fears) all over. That's got to be annoying. But don't forget to call out when you need us (the Inkies) okay?
I'd really like to read your 2nd novel some day. Some of the best books are born from the experience of hardship and struggle.
Yet, I don't fear as much as I used to. I trust God more now than I ever have. Oh, Patricia, I'm glad you feel that way.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about leaving with things undone. If Christ beckons me this second, I'm gone however I really would like to see my 2 boys become the men God intended.
And if I'm being honest here, I have to admit one of my biggest fears is having a heart attack before I get to see my first book sitting on a bookshelf. I say heart attack because I'm overweight and out of shape, so it's actually quite plausible. And I've dreamt about being published for shhhh over 35 yrs now so I'd really like to see that come to fruition.
Thank you for stopping by and visiting today. I haven't been getting around the blogs much lately so it's really nice to see you here. :)
great post Anita!
ReplyDeletei'm so glad you review books so well. i'm familiar with Max Lucado - mostly from the children's side because he's got some things animated *heh*
my present fear is the unknowns that will be popping up when the time comes for my little one to be born. i'm not fearful of whether or not he'll be healthy or anything like that - he's too covered in the prayers of my parents and other family members. i guess it's more of the birthing process and hoping i, as a parent, don't mess things up too much.
i'm choosing not to accept that fear and reject it for the sneaky little lie the Devil wants to inject into my life - but it's a daily denial thing. boy, do i wish i could just reject it once and be done with it!
anyhoo, i'm loving this blog. FYI for all the Inksters.
thanks for sharing Anita - God really does use you well.
nm8r67 at hotmail dot com
DebH, you brought joy to my heart. I'm thrilled to hear you're loving our blog. My hope and prayer is that God will take the gift of and passion for writing that this group has and use it to uplift, challenge, and educate our readers as we grow to know each other.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, may Jesus be manifested in this blog as He lives through us.
Hi Deb, I'm so glad you found me here. I should've known you'd like the children's books. ;D
ReplyDeleteIf you can believe it, I didn't have any fears about childbirth for my first one. I was 20 and I couldn't fathom anything going wrong. Later, as I matured, came the fears and possibilities of things happening.
I think I just called you mature. Heh. You know we're praying for you.
Just remember the words of David in Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
That one sentence speaks of your duty as a parent and God's promise if you comply. It's our assurance that if we raise our kids to know God, God will take care of the rest.
Bless you and little guppy. Oh, and hubby too.
Thanks Anita for your encouraging words. I put you into my address book. Next flights are Oct 10 - two flights with a 6 hour layover. When I get on the plane I take a few minutes and say power, love and sound mind, Then I feel His peace sweep over me. I go through this every time I get on a plane.
ReplyDeleteSo enjoying the comments section along with the blogs. It is like having a conversation. What time do you usually post the daily blogs?
Thanks writers for letting us readers join you.
mrstgr {at} msn {dot} com
Theresa,
ReplyDeletethe blogs go up in the wee hours, right after midnight for the most part. Sometimes our dear west coasters are still up and we know that not everyone works a 9-5 day.
I have a strong fear of cockroaches. This is due to a bad experience I had with one when I was a little girl. I woke up because I felt something crawling on my chest. I scratched at the spot because it was so itchy and felt some liquid and some pieces of something as a result. When I turned on the light to see what it was I saw that I had squished the roach. Ever since I have had a horrible fear of even being near one. No matter how hard I pray I can't seem to let it go.
ReplyDeletecherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hey Theresa, I'm real glad you came back. I've got your flight date in my iPod. I'll be praying over the course of Oct 10th for you.
ReplyDeleteFurther to what Debra says, if the poster is a procrastinator like me, or if we have technical problems, it could be later. But we try for soon after midnight.
Thanks for asking Theresa. It gives me an incentive to get them out at midnight if I know someone's waiting for it. :)
Oh Cherie, what a horrible experience. I'm guessing the combination of surprise, your youth and the ickiness of the roach itself have ingrained the horror into your consciousness.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what else to say but I sure can pray for you:
Dear Lord, I lift Cherie up to you. She can't forget the experience of crushing a cockroach on her chest as a child. That horror did not come from you. Lord you said in your Word you would give us the desires of our heart if we ask with a truthful heart in your name. It is my desire and it is Cherie's desire that you replace this crippling memory with one that does come from you. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Hey Anita,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you reviewed this book. I absolutey love Max Lucado's writing, and like Jill, the most recent one I read was Traveling Light. I'm ashamed to say it was quite a while ago. Several years ago, I was lucky enough to meet Max and hear him speak. He came to my small corner of the Northwest. He's as captivating a speaker as he is a writer.
Fear...I have alot of those little nuisance fears. Like Therese, flying absolutely terrifies me. And will you girls still love me if I tell you...um...like Monk, germs give me the heebie jeebies. Well, I can't help it. And I'm trying to overcome it. It's such a funny coincidence, Anita, that you did this book right now. I have been working on a blog about Fear. I'm trying to get it posted on my site in the next week or so.
You really captured the spirit of this book well, and I am adding it to my list of books to buy next payday. I absolutely loved the comment "If you accept fear, you forget God." I'm going to try and memorize that along with the scripture a very dear, very wise friend reminded me of: God did not give us a spirit of fear.
Amen.
I really need to work on trusting Jesus to help me conquer my fears.
Hey Suzie, I sure would like to hear Max Lucado speak some day. Wouldn't that be neat if the ACFW could get him as keynote speaker some year?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure who Monk is, but germs give me the heebie jeebies, too. In fact, I'm so glad our church has dropped the practice of greeting everyone during the service. We are a small church of about 60 incl'g the kids, so it doesn't take long for us to shake hands with everyone but then you sit back in your pew for another 60-90 mins. I mean, I'm like most people and I touch my face, etc while I'm listening to the service but I was never sure what was on my hands. It sounds gross, but it's a fact of life, especially with kids. So, I'd say a prayer and ask God to kill all the germs on our hands. I believed it worked, but I still felt better when that pastor left and we stopped the practice.
Do you really think it's a coincidence? I think it's a God thing.
Thank you for your nice words. I appreciate them. And yes, the scripture about the 'spirit of fear' is also in the book. :)
And Suzie, we all need to work on conquering our fears. Some of us just hide them better than the rest. Thank you for sharing with us.
Anita,
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have any fears. As I am in my seventies I wonder how much longer I will last, but I don't view the end with any fear.
I had quite a shock about 15 years ago, when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had just finished reading an article about it in the "Scientific American," and it was horrific. I soon came to realize that I was to receive good treatment, and the bad examples in the magazine articles were about men who had not received early treatment. So I left the worrying to the surgeons. I still do that and see them once a year so they don't have to keep worrying.
What interested me is that Patti quoted you as saying "God does not expect us to 'imitate' Jesus ..." Where did you say that? Have you some other writings that I should be reading? That saying I will ponder as I fall asleep tonight.
Stewart
smeealaska[@]gmail.com
Thinking this comment section could go on....
ReplyDeleteYears ago when I first met my father-in-law, we got home from church, he said all right everybody wash the fellowship off. HA Glad we now have hand sanitizer.
Fear and worry, Hummmm. They can go together but don't have too. Fears can become worries if we let them. Fears - heights, rats, flying, cockroaches, cancer are part of life we have to face. I really don't feel I have a fear of death. But I just do not like thinking of getting into a confined space for hours. So I have learned to overcome it by praying, always getting an isle seat and just do it. Each time I fly i have to do it all over again. HA
Daily walking with the Lord - trusting Him -giving our worries to Him then fear will pop up. Then we become over comers.
Anita, Your daughter is on my prayer list
Hmm, our friend Stewart brought up an interesting point, so I went and looked up "imitatators" on Bible gateway.
ReplyDeleteThe NIV version is the one that uses the word "imitators," but the other versions expressed the same concepts.
1.Ephesians 5:1
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
2.1 Thessalonians 1:6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
3.1 Thessalonians 2:14
For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews,
But Patti, I love Oswald Chambers too, and I think the sentiment he expressed is very important. I think manifesting Christ is even more effective than merely immitating Him. It's a sort of Christianity that flows from the inside out, which is so much better than trying to fix ourselves from the outside in.
I did the My Utmost for His Highest devotional everyday last year, and it was really life changing. Hmm, I didn't think of that one for my non-fiction blog. That's okay, though, I think it will come through in everything I share. It had that deep of an effect on me.
Dina
Good morning, Stewart. Thank you for trying to give me too much credit, but what Patti actually said was:
ReplyDeleteHow about this one? "God does not expect us to 'imitate' Jesus. He expects the life of Jesus to be manifested in our flesh."
Oswald Chambers on "The Christian Worker's Spiritual Life"
You spoke of prostrate cancer...my hubby had the same 2 yrs ago. They caught it early and he decided on surgery as the 1st treatment. He worked in the oil field for the next 6 months until the day before he went into the hospital. The next 6 wks was... not nice ... then he went back to work. He didn't require further treatment and healed completely. God is so good. Hubby is cancer free. I don't think a day goes by when we're not praising God for directing the surgeon and giving him the knowledge to recognize and remove all the cancer.
And now I'm glad your surgeons did the same for you, Stewart. Thank you for joining in the discussion.
Theresa, I appreciate you keeping Crystal in your prayers. Thank you.
ReplyDelete~~~~
Hey Kel, I wish I could get the Fearless eBook as well. It's the kind of book I'd like to keep on my iPod b/c of all the biblical references. But then, the mini-version I'm giving away in the draw has them all listed. At firswt I didn't want to give this one away but christianbook.com is selling them very cheap. I'm thinking of asking the church if they want me to order one for every family. Perfect for purse and even stocking stuffers.
Speaking of which... I can't enter you if you don't give me your email addy. Yes, you know I know it but them's the rules, girlfriend...
This book really got me excited as coincidentally one of my favorite preachers is Keith Moore, of Moore Life Ministries and he has a teaching where he specifically says that the opposite of Faith is Fear. I can tell you I recite this over and over and over.
ReplyDeleteThe area I have to guard is worry which is a form of fear. Worry is something we are taught to do.
By worrying we show we care. Right? LOL. Well I was raised that way. But in truth we need to turn it over to Him.
Thanks for introducing me to this new release. I'm so excited I'm counting on my fingers and toes who I am going to buy a copy of it for. :)
Hey Tina, thanks for coming to visit us here.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said, the opposite of Faith is Fear it reminded me of this:
when you feel really stressed, look at the word backwords and you get: desserts... Yum. When people do this, their body starts to relax. :)
By worrying we show we care.
Of course we do. We have to show something and we're not going to laugh. Of course the problem is that we should take that worry and lay it at the Master's feet and walk away. But so many of us reach down before we leave and pick it up again. We say we've handed it over to Him but really, we're carrying it on our backs like a backpack.
Thanks for sharing, Tina.
Anita, I'm part of the team trying to get the word out on this book. I just started reading it a couple of nights ago and it's overwhelming! I can't STAND when people write in books, but I can't help it with this one. I feel like if it don't underline what's struck me, I might not be able to go back and find it. I feel like every word I've been reading has been profound. I read each chapter title and I think, "crud, that's me!"
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to write a quote on my blog every day. I'm also putting it on FB. I think that the words on the pages of Fearless are timeless and for everyone. We each fall into one of the fears that Max listed.
Unlike you, I haven't even read one of his kids books. This will be the first Lucado book and I'm glad I've got it.
Like you, I'm not a deep thinker. I read the words on the page of a book for what they are. I don't go for the hidden meaning, because I typically miss it. Give me a parable and I'd need about 5 people to translate it for me. Same as you, I had the strongest urge to pass on what I was reading so I immediately wrote to get permission to share short quotes!
Our book club is even reading it next month. I'm so glad. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
Blessings,
Mimi B @ Woven by Words
Thank you, Mimi. I really appreciate you taking the time to visit Inktropolis and share your thoughts with us.
ReplyDelete