January Book Recommendations

As we start a new year, have you already set aside a stack of books you’d like to read? I have a pile of good books I hope to read this year. But I’m always looking for new books and authors as well. =) Let me know what some of your favorites are, and here are a few recommendations from me to start the year. 

 

Fiction –

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer 

I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by this author, but this is one of my favorites. This Texas historical romance is a story of redemption, love, and God’s mysterious ways of working all things for good. An ex-outlaw kidnaps a preacher as a gift for his daughter’s birthday—not knowing that her only wish/prayer is for her father’s salvation. The cowboy-turned-preacher is nothing like the old ex-outlaw expected. Through ups and downs, the main characters learn to trust and follow the Lord’s leading and watch Him do the miraculous in their lives. This story has heart, humor, (a little more melodrama than I prefer, but that’s okay), and a happy ending. 

 

Non-Fiction –

The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God by Jep Robertson

This memoir about Jep and Jessica Robertson is real, honest, and filled with hope. I appreciate their willingness to share the hard and painful things in order to declare how powerful God’s grace has been in their lives. We all have broken places, but God’s grace is greater, and this couple testifies to that through sharing their story. 

(FYI there are serious issues mentioned in this book, and, while not graphic, it was sad and difficult to read in places. But God’s grace triumphs!)

 

Devotional –

Faith Alive: A 6-Week Devotional for Mothers by Anna Hawkes Cabral

This devotional is also encouraging for women in general, not just mothers. I appreciated how Anna emphasized God’s unconditional love, His power at work in our weaknesses, and His grace to live out daily faith in Him. The devotions are short with a focus verse and a reflection question or action step at the end. This devotional provides a way to pause for a few minutes in a busy day to focus on Jesus and His love for us.  

 

He Calls You Friend

Recently I had the privilege of being a judge in a book award contest. It was an interesting experience and one that God used to remind me of some important truths. 

As a first-round judge, my job was to look for mistakes—typos, punctuation, grammar or spelling errors, etc. I wasn’t looking for all the things the author did well. I was looking for every little mistake that didn’t measure up to the standards of book publishing. It was a very different reading experience than reading for pleasure or reading a book written by a friend. In those cases, I look for the good things. I applaud what the author did well and the parts I enjoyed. And it’s easier to overlook any mistakes that I do see. (I still see them even when I’m not specifically looking for them—occupational hazard.) 

As I thought about this, Jesus gave me such a vivid picture of our relationship with Him. Yes, God is the righteous judge. But He has already judged all of our sin when Jesus took it on Himself at the cross. As a judge, God punished Jesus for my sin, and then God declared me righteous with Jesus’ own righteousness! I no longer stand before God as judge. I stand with Jesus—who has called me “friend.” And while Jesus still sees my mistakes, sins, and failures (He’s God, He sees it all), He looks at me as a friend. Jesus focuses on all the moments I turn to Him, all the times I submit my will to His, all the times I rely on His strength not my own . . . all the good things, not the mistakes. 

I don’t know if that encourages you like it did me, but I hope so. God wants us to believe the truth about Him. And the truth is that He isn’t hovering over us waiting for us to mess up so He can judge us for it. That’s why Jesus came—to take the punishment our sins deserve. And to move us from “defendant” to “friend.”

Take a moment to picture Jesus treating you like the best friend possible. Imagine Him looking at all the good things about you, cheering you on, encouraging you in every godly decision, reminding you how precious and loved you are . . . That’s who He is. That’s how He sees you.

There’s another lesson I’ve learned in this process: I don’t want to act like a judge. Being a book judge is hard enough. You’d think that grammar and writing have a standard set of absolute rules, but they don’t. There are many areas where it could go one way or another way, depending on the context, genre, style of the writer, etc. The same is true in life. While some things are absolute truth and clearly right or wrong, there are many choices that could go one way or another way. I don’t want to judge other people, especially over things that are not absolute truth. I’m not the author of their story. I’m not the one who knows everything. And I’m not perfect. Only God is qualified to be the judge because He is all those things. He is both righteous and gracious.

At the beginning of this new year, I feel like this message is so important to carry with us. If you’re like me—a sinner, saved by God’s grace—I want to remind you that Jesus calls you friend. May that sweet truth transform the way you see God and how you think He sees you. And for those who don’t yet know this message, I want to tell them that Jesus took their place so that they can be judged righteous before God—and come to know Him as their friend. Such a gift still astounds me. I pray it will be a theme we carry all year. 

He calls you friend.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” –John 15:9-15