My Favorite Bible Story

First off I wanted to thank my friends who shared their favorite Bible stories with me in the comment section of a previous post. Not a single person had the same favorite. One of the things that stuck out to me was that each story had something in common: God uses unlikely people and circumstances to accomplish his will. Over and over again, you see this play out.

Mary was a young, unwed girl who found herself pregnant with God's son. Luke 1:26-38

Abigail was a wife who made amends for her husbands actions behind her husband's back and saved her family from destruction at the hand of David. I Samuel 25

David volunteered to fight the giant, Goliath, while the entire Israelite army cowered at the idea of this task. He was just a teenager with no combat skills, yet he chose to face Goliath without armor; relying on a sling shot and his faith in God. I Samuel 17

Saul was a zealous man who persecuted early Christians – even vowing to wipe out the new Christian church. After his conversion to following Christ, he changed his name to Paul and became instrumental in spreading the Gospel of Christ. Acts 9:1-31

Ruth was a Moabite who chose to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, after the death of her husband. Custom of the time would have permitted her to return to her own family. Ruth's dedication to Naomi and Naomi's God results in Ruth becoming part of the lineage of Christ. The Book of Ruth

Esther was a Jew, from the tribe of Benjamin, who finds herself married to King Xerxes of Persia. Through the course of the story, Esther must appear before the king and request that her people be saved. In appearing before the king, she risks her own life as well as the lives of her people. The Book of Esther

In all of these stories, we see that God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. And he does this over and over.

I have spent the last several days contemplating my favorite story from the Bible. I grew up reading the Bible and my favorite story has varied throughout my life depending on what is going on with me. Right now I would have to say that my favorite story is when the Lord appears to Elijah. First comes a mighty wind, then an earthquake, followed by a fire. But God does not appear as any of these things. Instead, he appears to Elijah as a gentle whisper. I Kings 19:11-13

Again we see that God does not appear in expected ways.

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The winner for the book, A Story of God and All of Us, chosen at random is: Wanda

Thank you for sharing your favorite Bible stories with me! 

Thank you to The History Channel for inviting me to participate in this giveaway.

The miniseries, The Bible, will continue to air on Sundays at 8/7C.  

Books I Read in February (#3-5)

In the month of February, I finished three books and continued with my reading of The Story {which I am reading throughout the year in conjunction with our church}. Be sure to read the last section of this post as there is a BOOK GIVEAWAY that you might be interested in.

The first book I finished this month was Song of Redemption – the second book in the Chronicles of the Kings series by Lynn Austin. I find this series to be fascinating. It gives me new incite into what it might have been like for Hezekiah to become king in the time period that he did and how difficult it might have been for him to choose to follow God and remove all of the other worship of gods at this time. As I have said before, I love historical fiction and this really gave me a new perspective on a biblical event. I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

The second book I read this month was another historical novel – The Contessa's Vendetta by Mirella Sichirollo Patzer. I read this book because it was a free Kindle download for Amazon prime readers. This story is a retelling of a classic novel Vendetta by Marie Corelli. In this novel, the Contessa is thought to die from a plague and is buried. But she is not actually dead... she escapes from her tomb to discover that she has been duped by her husband and best friend. The story is her first hand account of her revenge. It was an intriguing story that I enjoyed. I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

"Marriages either grow or they regress; they never stand still." 

The third book I read is The 4 Seasons of Marriage: Secrets to a Lasting Marriage by Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages (this book was another FREE Kindle download). I read The 5 Love Languages when Daniel and I were engaged. It is a great tool for any relationship in helping you to understand how you are different from your spouse and how to relate to and understand each other's needs. The 4 Seasons of Marriage is a follow-up to this first book and talks about how every marriage goes through the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Ideally we want to keep our relationships in the Spring and Summer phase, but inevitably, Fall and Winter will play a part in every relationship. The book offers advice on how to move out of these more difficult phases as well as how to maintain the good phases. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in bettering their relationship, regardless of what season you are currently experiencing. I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

As I continue to read The Story I find that I am enjoying reading this particular format of the biblical stories that I have grown up with. I have read through Moses leading the Israelite's out of Egypt and they are currently wandering in the dessert. 

FREE GIVEAWAY

In conjunction to reading The Story, I am looking forward to watching the History Channel's new miniseries on the Bible that will begin airing on March 3rd in the 8:00-10:00pm time slot.

From Executive Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett comes The Bible — an epic 10-part miniseries retelling stories from the Scriptures for a whole new generation. Breathtaking in scope and scale, The Bible features powerful performances, exotic locales and dazzling visual effects that breathe spectacular life into the dramatic tales of faith and courage from Genesis through Revelation. This historic television event is sure to entertain and inspire the whole family!

I am participating in a giveaway through the History Channel to promote this miniseries. If you are interested in winning the companion book to the miniseries, A Story of God and All of Us, please leave your name and favorite Bible story in the comments section (anonymous comments won't be chose. One winner will be chosen at random on March 7.