“Come and rest a while.” Mark 6:31 is the first verse you read in this book, and how appealing it is. First, come . . . set yourself apart in a quiet place and come to the Word. Secondly, rest a little while . . . this isn’t always easy in this fast-paced life we live. But when I take a few minutes in the early morning and pick up this little devotional book, I find myself digging into that verse in my Bible and don’t realize that I just spent an hour or more reading and studying!
To Live with Christ
Bo Giertz is best known for his classic novel, The Hammer of God, which has been translated into eleven languages. Dr. Robert Kolb calls it “The best treatment of Law and Gospel in the history of Lutheran theology.” Incredibly, Giertz wrote his classic in six weeks, but it is considered one of the most influential and important theological books in Swedish history. It was with this backdrop that I began reading To Live with Christ, a daily devotional translated by Bror Erickson. The devotional is fairly long (more than 800 pages) and is organized by the Church Year, starting with the season of Advent. Each devotional begins with a verse from the pericope text, a devotional, and a short prayer.
Little Visits with God
Wiggling, talking, whining, disobeying, the struggle is real. What struggle? The difficult task of sitting everyone down for family devotions. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes the effort doesn’t seem worth the payoff. My husband and I are always on a quest to find engaging ways to interact with our daughters about spiritual things. Usually we can incorporate these conversations into everyday life, but we also like to strive for some semblance of a family devotional time. Enter Little Visits with God. No devotional is perfect, but this one comes close.
Up to Jerusalem
John A. Braun has provided to us a devotional book entitled Up to Jerusalem: Devotions for Lent and Easter. This book includes 55 devotional readings with each one being made up of a short passage of Scripture, lasting about three pages, and ending with a short prayer. The back cover of the book suggests that it will take around ten minutes to go through each reading. In these pages, the author takes us through the last days of Jesus’ life beginning with the raising of Lazarus from the dead and ending with the Resurrection and Christ’s appearances after Easter.
What Jesus Means to Me
Pastor Herman Gockel addresses the issue of the meaning of Jesus Christ in the life of a Christian in his devotional style work, “What Jesus Means to Me.” In this rather short book, the subjects of life, pardon, peace, power, provision, companionship, hope, truth, assurance, joy, and heaven are viewed in light of the promises of Jesus and the Bible.