Lots of Free e-books by Beth Moore

I have found a lot of free books by Beth Moore (one of my favorite Bible Study teachers) and at first I just downloaded one, because we have the others in our church Media Center, but then I thought…it takes me a lot longer to read a non-fiction book, so I better go ahead and get these while they are free. I don’t know how long they will be free, so I advise you go ahead and download them today!  Always double check the price before downloading since prices do change suddenly.  Also, I haven’t checked to see if they are free on other e-readers, so if you have a nook, or another type of reader, you know how to check your “store” to see if they are there and if they are free.  So….here they are:

• FREE on Kindle:  Believing God by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Believing God Day by Day: Growing Your Faith All Year Long by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  When Godly People Do Ungodly Things by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  To Live Is Christ by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  The Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Further Still by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  A Heart Like His:  Intimate Reflections on the Life of David by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Breaking Free Day by Day by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Breaking Free by Beth Moore
• FREE on Kindle:  Jesus, the One and Only by Beth Moore

Isn’t this exciting!!!!  Thank you Beth, your publishers and whoever else is responsible for offering these fantastic e-books for free!  Click on Beth Moore‘s name here and be directed to her website and you’ll find all kinds of wonderful things!!!

FREE e-Books – Today Only – September 24, 2013

• FREE (9/24) on Kindle:  The Eyes of My Heart: Seeing God’s Hand in the Everyday Moments of Life by Tracie Peterson (compliments of Bethany House Publishing)-  This is a devotional by Tracie Peterson, a best selling fiction author.  It sounds wonderful.
• FREE (9/24) on Kindle:  The Art of Caregiving: How to Lend Support and Encouragement to Those With Cancer by Michael S. Barry (compliments of David C Cook Publishing)

The LORD, My Life Preserver

“Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” (Ruth 2:20 NKJV)

In 1966 my brother dropped out of college to join the Navy.  He feared he would be drafted, and by enlisting in the Navy, he thought he was taking control of his future.  He arrived at Great Lakes Training Center in the middle of winter.  Almost immediately, swimming lessons began.  Later on, my brother referred to his instructor’s teaching method as the “sink or swim” method.  He claims that on the very first day, he and the other recruits were literally pushed into the pool.  Experienced swimmers and life preservers were at the ready in case a man floundered, but my brother did not know this at the time.  Therefore, the experience was terrifying.

Elimelech and Naomi thought that by going to Moab during a famine, they would be more likely to control their future. They were wrong. In Moab, Naomi loses her husband and her sons and has to return to Bethlehem as a widow.

Sometimes in life, we feel like we have been pushed into a pool full of water before having learned how to swim.  Though we know God is there, we wonder how, when, or through whom our help will come.  Naomi was aware of God.  She knew He was responsible for putting an end to the famine. (Ruth 1:6)  She asked the Lord to bless her daughters-in-law. (Ruth 1:8-9)  From Naomi and her family Ruth learned about God, which is evident in the commitment Ruth makes, not only to Naomi, but to Naomi’s God: “Your people will be my people and your God my God.”(Ruth 1:16 NIV) This commitment would not have come about if Naomi had not been a believer, albeit a very confused one in her time of sorrow.

I never noticed it in previous readings, but it was Ruth, and not Naomi, who took the initiative to provide for herself and Naomi. After they arrived in Bethlehem, she volunteered to glean in the fields: “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” (Ruth 2:2 NIV)  This is how she met Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, who offers her his protection and later pledges to marry her.

Naomi returns from Moab in mourning.  She flounders as helplessly as someone who does not know how to swim.  Like a life guard at a pool, Ruth reaches out to Naomi and clings to her.  In Bethlehem, Ruth brings Naomi new hope and a grandson.  God fulfills his plans for Naomi through Ruth, and through Naomi and Ruth He fulfills His plan for us all. Through Ruth and her grandson, David, Jesus Christ is sent, to be our Lord and Redeemer, our Savior and the Bridegroom of His Church.

Dearest Heavenly Father,

There is nothing in our lives that you cannot use for your glory.  You can use our pain, our suffering and our disappointments to accomplish your purposes. You can even use us to rescue those who are thrust into turbulent waters.  We give you permission to use us, Lord. We volunteer to reach out to those who need love, patience, hope and encouragement, because you first loved and reached out to us in our time of need.

In the name of Jesus, LORD and Redeemer,

Amen

Golden Books are what sweet dreams are made of :)

I love this sweet woman’s blog! She is in Australia and I consider her a good friend. Christian Sisters. This post today brought back lots of good memories for me. I hope you’ll read it all the way to the end and visit her blog often.

“Come With Me! I Mean…Go Back!”

“With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.  But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mother’s homes.” (Ruth 1:7-8 NLT)

In Ruth 1:19-20, which we examined in last week’s devotional, Naomi declares herself to be bitter.  Naomi’s bitterniess comes from her grief, and this grief is leading to what we call depression in modern times.

In Chapter 1 of Ruth, we learn that Naomi has lost her husband and her sons.  Naturally, Naomi is grieving.  Then she hears that the famine is over in Canaan.  So she decides (vs. 7) to go back home together with her two daughters-in-law.  On the way there, she changes her mind.

She changes her mind?  Why?  I can imagine how disturbing this must have been for Ruth and Orpah.  Traveling requires preparation both mental and physical. Both women had come to terms with Naomi’s decision and they were willing to accompany Naomi to Canaan.  They had packed their bags, said their goodbyes, and prepared themselves for the unknown.  Now in the middle of nowhere, Naomi changes her mind?  How odd is that!

Well, maybe it is not as odd as it seems.  Depressed people suffer from an inability to make decisions.  They are lonely and in need of companionship, but they push people away.  Naomi knows she is not herself.  She realizes she is poor company for herself and others.  She is depressed and bitter.  Perhaps, she does not want to subject her daughters-in-law to the bitterness she feels.  Instead, she decides to get through it alone.

Have you ever been there?  Have you ever had a friend who suffered from depression?  All of us are mildly depressed from time to time, but it passes.  One of the indicators of depression in my own life is when I stop calling or writing to my mother.  I want to share my successes with her, but not my troubles. However, my mother knows me too well.  If I neglect to write or call, her mother’s heart knows her baby is hurting.  She will then call me and her first words are: “Is anything wrong?  I haven’t heard from you in a while.”  This of course opens the floodgates, and once I share my burdens, I feel lighter.

Verse 14 tells us “…Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.”  What a blessing for Naomi to have Ruth!  When our depressed friends or family members try to push us away we have a choice.  We can leave or cling to them, remaining steadfast till they get through their depression.  When we are the ones suffering from depression, we may experience contradictory feelings. We may want to be left alone, and at the same time long to be supported.  In truth, we are never alone.  God is with us.   He was with Naomi. She just had not realized it yet.

Dearest Heavenly Father,

Sometimes we do not know whether we are coming or going.  You have the power to give us direction.  Forgive us for not turning to you for help, and thank you for placing friends and family members in our lives whom we can count on to remain faithful and steadfast through our times of trouble.  Thank you for your Son, Jesus, who bore our sins and made our burden easier to carry.  We commit to be faithful and steadfast when others in our lives need us to be strong for them, because we know our strength comes from you.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Free and Discounted E-Books – May 12, 2013

Here are just a few free e-books and some that are greatly reduced.  You can also look through our older posts of Free E-Books on our main page headings.  Some books stay free for a long time, while others do not.  Some come and go as freebies.  So it might say it’s not free any longer (my earlier posts I would update, now not enough time), but now they may be free again.  It’s like a treasure hunt.  Just MAKE SURE the amount is $0 before downloading!

• FREE on Kindle:  Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola
• FREE on Kindle and Nook:  The Maiden of Mayfair (Tales of London #1) by Lawana Blackwell (I love her books!)
• FREE on Kindle and Nook:  The Holy Bible: HCSB Digital Text Edition
• $2.51 on Kindle and $2.99 on Nook:  52 Things Kids Need from a Mom by Angela Thomas
• $2.99 on Kindle:  Thorns in Eden and The Everlasting Mountains by Rita Gerlach.  I’ve read one of her books and enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to reading this one.  I hate to admit it, but it was free on this past Friday, but I didn’t see it until late Friday night and hoped it would still be free on Saturday.  It was not.  It may become free again one day, so it’s your decision.

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A Season of Tending by Cindy Woodsmall 5-11-13

FREE – Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle

This is fantastic…had to pass it along first thing this morning to make sure you all have a chance to get this while it’s free.  You can check out our guest review of this book here.  Thank you Tyndale House Publishers for this great freebie!

• FREE (May 5-8 only) on Kindle and Nook :  Sparkly Green Earrings: Catching the Light at Every Turn by Melanie Shankle (this is also free on Apple, Christianbook.com, eBooks.com, kobo, koorong)

Friday Gleanings by Carmen – March 8, 2013

John Martin (1789-1854)

“…The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.” Genesis 19:12

Tuesday at our Bible study on The Patriarchs by Beth Moore, we were discussing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  One of the ladies in our study noticed Genesis 18:20 and Genesis 19:12.  In the first passage, God, Himself tells Abraham: “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.”  In the second passage the angels tell Lot: “…The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”

My friend’s question was: “Where did the outcry come from?”  It certainly did not come from the people who were sinning in each of these cities, or from Abraham or Lot.  Then who was crying out to the Lord?

My first thought was the people who had been wronged by those living in Sodom and Gomorrah.  Surely there were kingdoms and nations in the vicinity that had at one time or another been affected by the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah.  This may be so, but on more careful examination, I have concluded that the outcry came from the evil actions themselves.

Loving a good question, I searched the Scriptures and found two places where this happens.  The first is Genesis 4:10.  After Cain kills Abel, there is nobody to accuse him, “But the Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!’“  What this passage says to me is that even when a sin is done in secret, even when there are no witnesses to a crime and no survivors to cry out to the Lord, the LORD hears the outcry.  In this case, the shed blood of Abel is crying out to the Lord for justice.

The other passage is James 5:4: “Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.” In this case, even if the harvesters did not cry out to God, the “withheld pay”, the injustice with which the harvesters were treated would cry out to the Lord.

God, who has his eyes and ears and heart trained on us at all times, hates sin and injustice.  He is concerned, involved and caring.  It matters to him when his creatures are wronged, maligned or destroyed.  Sin is an aberration that demands to be made right.  Therefore, in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah the very flagrant sin of the people there, cried out to God.  Injustice cries out for Justice. Sin can only be made right through direct intervention from a perfect God.

Dearest Heavenly Father,

After you formed the earth, and the moon, and the stars, and created man, You said: “It is very good.”  When sin mars the goodness of the universe, you notice. You hear the outcry.  You listen to our prayers.  You hear the groaning of those who love you.  It is because of that very love, that you sent us Jesus.  Thank you that His righteousness has made us righteous.  Thank you for His sacrifice of atonement, which has cleansed us and for his love that sustains us day by day.

In His precious name,

Amen

Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle (Marsha, Guest Reviewer)

Melanie Shankle, the author of “Sparkly Green Earrings,” is a talented writer.  Her book is a hoot!  I would like to encourage women of all ages and stations in life to read this book because of Melanie’s candid and often hysterical accounts of marriage and motherhood.  She also shares throughout the book of her love of Jesus.  She doesn’t claim to have it all together as a wife and mother, in fact, she is very transparent about sharing her shortcomings.  I found her book to be very refreshing.  It’s an easy read and would be well-worth your time.

Marsha

(Marsha, our pastor’s wife, is the one who told me about this book.  I did my research and it did sound great.  Marsha shared a story in the book about Melanie’s first experience with a toddler having a stomach virus and you just can’t believe how funny that story is!  You’ve got to read this book.  Thank you, Marsha, for recommending this book and for being the first to read it and give a review!  Click on the underlined link above and you’ll be directed to Melanie’s blog and you can watch a trailer of the book.)

 

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver – 5 Stars!

I must admit two things right up front:

1. I love fiction and very rarely read non-fiction.
2. It took me about 5 months to read this book.

Now that the confession is over with I must tell you that this is a fantastic book!!!  The reason it took me so long to read it had nothing to do with the author or the book, but me…it just seemed like there was always a great fiction book calling my name.  But I should have stuck this one out and finished it in record time.

I am truly a “Martha”, but I’m also “lazy”, so that makes me a “lazy Martha”.  But I want so much to be a “Mary”.  Sitting in the living room with Jesus and listening to His every word.  Being so devoted to Him I would pour out my entire life at His feet as a love offering.  But I also want to be a “non-lazy Martha” and be out delivering food to the shut-ins, the grieving, the poor & volunteering for every activity at church. But neither personality comes easy to me.  And Joanna Weaver does not make me feel guilty about this.  Neither does Jesus!

Joanna says in the first chapter, “Just mention the names Mary and Martha around a group of Christian women and you’ll get knowing looks and nervous giggles.  We’ve all felt the struggle.  We want to worship like Mary, but the Martha inside keeps bossing us around.”  Isn’t that true?

Throughout this book, Joanna takes us on a journey, her journey, our journey, from being in a kitchen surrounded by menus, grocery lists, dishes, and all the junk that seems to accumulate on the counters and the kitchen table, to the living room, sitting calmly at the foot of Jesus, soaking in every word and not feeling guilty about our “to do lists”.

She finally ends this book with a revelation that you can do both, it doesn’t have to be one or the other, so long as we put Jesus first then “both of us” can become one.  Surrendering all to Jesus.  The struggle doesn’t end, we are after all humans and we constantly fail, but we have Jesus to pick us up, dust us off, and say “Follow me”.

You’ll love this book, just like I did.  The writing was excellent and the stories compelling.  You’ll want, just like me, to go out and get her other books. I just hope this time I can read it quicker!

Please visit Joanna Weaver’s website to read more about her and her books.  She also has a blog and a Bible reading guide and much more.

We have this book in the Media Center, so now that I’m finally finished, you can come in and check it out.