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My Favorite Book for Guidance in Finding Truth
As I begin this blog, the first resource I would like to share is Sarah Mally’s (Handcock) book, Speak Truth in Your Heart Replacing Lies With God’s Word.
This book has been a great resource for me to see through the lies that our flesh and the world tells us to believe and turn them around with scripture to see the real truth we should establish in our thought patterns.
Sarah stresses the need for Bible memorization to help combat lies.
She gives a list of the qualities of God and how they reflect on us (This is a paraphrased and partial list turned into if/then statements for emphasis. You can read the book for more precise information. See pages 50-59)
If God is all knowing, then we can trust him.
If God is everywhere, then He is with us.
If God is all powerful, then He can fix anything.
If God is Sovereign, then we can rest.
If God is unchanging, then we are secure.
If God is Righteous and Just, then He will always do the right thing.
If God is Gracious and Merciful, then He welcomes us.
If God is wise, then He knows the solution.
Sarah encourages everyone to try to see the best in others. How much better all of our lives would be if we followed through on just this one area. It goes right along with the greatest command of all (see Matthew 22:36-40).
Grace, Sarah’s sister, writes a very good article Sarah includes in the book, titled, Finding Joy in Unsolved Problems. Grace references the scriptures that tell us we are to find joy in our trials, not make it our mission to get relieved of the trial and move on. She writes, “Many of our troubles are actually treasures, as they tie the strings of our heart with His.”(see pages 152-153)
Sarah addresses the sticky situation of the dangers of Media. She says, “If you are on Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc., your purpose for being there should be to shine as a beacon of light for Jesus Christ.” (see page 157)
Sarah shows how our problems in life originate with sin. We think we can keep our sin under control and secret, but the Bible tells us to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16) Sarah quotes a friend, Mrs. Rathke who shared this: “One thing I’ve always told my kids is that if they are struggling with a sin, they need to bring that sin into the light. Satan works in darkness—in secrecy. But if we bring our sin into the light, confessing to God and others, that’s half of the struggle right there.” (see page 171)
Sarah handles the tough issues of repentance, dealing with shame, temptation, guilt and regrets. She even addresses an area most authors and speakers never address, confusion and oversensitivity. It is important to confess our sins daily to maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus, but we also need to recognize that once we confess and repent, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. (See 1 John 1:7) He also casts them as far away from Him as the east is from the west. (See Psalm 103:12) How reassuring.
Sarah speaks of the tactics of our worse enemy, Satan. She shares scriptures that show how it is possible to face down temptation and not sin. She gives examples from the Bible of people who succeeded in these areas.
This book is written for teen girls. Many people look at a book written for a certain age group and decide there is no value in it for them if they do not belong in that category. I have always extended myself to read material across the entire spectrum of ages and genre categories. I have never regretted that and learned so much more than if I stayed within books geared for my age group. What age group is the Bible written for? Hummm.
I would highly recommend this book for teen girls. After that, I would highly recommend it to mothers (it will strengthen your spiritual life as you see things addressed that were missed for you in your teenage years), teen guys (you should be looking for future wives that follow the wisdom of the scriptures and truths found here), and dads (you should know what your girls are reading and have conversations about it.)
This book is a wonderful guide to help you see God’s truth in everything you experience and strengthen your spiritual walk with the Lord.
Next week’s post: A resource for Teen Boys