I have a huge bookshelf in my room teeming with treasures that have completely transformed my mind and heart. In one way or another, each writer has given me a new way to look at life, the gospel, or my Savior Jesus Christ. So trying to choose a few to share was almost impossible. But I thought it might be fun to try. The 4 I decided to highlight aren’t necessarily my top 4 (that changes depending on the day!), but they’ve each had a profound impact on my life.
So for any book lovers like me who’ve been looking for something new that will light up your heart, consider giving one of these wonderful nuggets a try! 🙂
P.S. I just copied the summaries from Amazon because they do a much better job than I ever could capturing the essence of these books. I know I could have made it more personal, but with my schedule this weekend, this will have to do! Click on the picture if you want to read reviews or learn more about the authors. ENJOY!
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest has sold over 13 million copies worldwide and is considered one of the most popular religious books ever written. These captivating words of wisdom from Oswald Chambers have challenged and inspired readers for more than 80 years.
Oswald Chambers was a teacher and preacher whose messages cut to the heart of the gospel. His wife, Biddy, transcribed his lectures and sermons and compiled them into books, the most popular being My Utmost for His Highest. The title is taken from a thought in one of his sermons: “Shut out every consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only—My Utmost for His Highest.”
Chambers was a man completely devoted to Christ, and his life and writings clearly portray that. This daily devotional has inspired countless people to drink deeply from the biblical truths that Chambers so passionately championed.
Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
Uniquely inspired treasures from heaven for every day of the year by missionary Sarah Young.
Jesus Calling is a devotional filled with uniquely inspired treasures from heaven for every day of the year. After many years of writing in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever she believed He was saying to her. It was awkward at first, but gradually her journaling changed from monologue to dialogue. She knew her writings were not inspired as scripture is, but journaling helped her grow closer to God. Others were blessed as she shared her writings, until people all over the world were using her messages. They are written from Jesus’ point of view, thus the title Jesus Calling. It is Sarah’s fervent prayer that our Savior may bless readers with His presence and His peace in ever deeper measure.
Spiritual Lightening by M. Catherine Thomas (for LDS readers)
Challenges are a necessary part of mortality. But as author M. Catherine Thomas points out, the suffering that accompanies challenges can be lessened and our joy increased through a more informed faith. Her concepts of “spiritual lightening” suggests that spiritual principles and powers can both enlighten minds and lighten burdens. Practical as well as refreshingly insightful, this book illuminates many of those principles. Working from a base of solid gospel scholarship and personal experience, the author discusses such topics as the difference between self-confidence and confidence in God, overcoming spiritual discouragement, women and the priesthood, separating fear from love in parenting, and healing through repentance. This thought-provoking book points the way to deeper understanding, personal peace, and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are We Special? The Truth and the Lie About God’s Chosen People by Jeffrey S. Reeber and Steven Moody (for LDS readers)
Have you ever felt you might be special?
Where does that feeling come from and what does it really mean?
The truth is that we are special, because we are all beloved children of our Heavenly Father, and we enjoyed a special, personal relationship with Him before coming to earth. Having left His presence, we feel a void, a homesickness that reminds us that we are more than mortal beings and inclines us toward our Father and His love.
But we are sometimes persuaded by the lie that we are more special than others. The lie lifts us above others, creates feelings of entitlement, and convinces us that the void we feel signifies our personal destiny for glory. It inclines us to seek fame, prestige, or wealth as proof of our superiority over others.
Each of us is constantly enticed by this truth and this lie, and we respond to both using four strategies to manage our acceptance or denial, each with its defining feature of pride, despair, selfishness, or true discipleship. In Are We Special?, authors Jeffrey Reber and Steven Moody show us how to increase our acceptance of the truth and denial of the lie in order to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
