Recommendations based on "The Text God Text and You Shall Receive ..."

"In When Things Don’t Go Your Way, Haemin Sunim offers readers a warm and reassuring path through the most challenging moments of our lives. By sharing his hard-won wisdom, he guides us from hardship to self-discovery, helping us to stay centered and feel whole." -Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and co-host of the Dear Therapists podcastFrom renowned Zen Buddhist teacher Haemin Sunim, a guide to turning life's challenges into opportunities for self-discoveryHave you ever felt like life has thrown you a curveball? Are you struggling to overcome unexpected challenges and setbacks?While loss, heartbreak, and loneliness are all part of the human experience, in this warm guide, internationally bestselling author Haemin Sunim shows us that these moments can actually be rare opportunities for self-discovery, serving as stepping stones to greater things in life.Drawing on Zen Buddhist philosophy and Sunim’s own experiences, When Things Don't Go Your Way helps you navigate life's challenges with resilience and grace. Whether you're dealing with rejection, uncertainty, loneliness, conflicts in relationships, or burnout--or simply seeking to improve your mental and emotional well-being--Sunim offers a new spiritual perspective, one that helps us face life's challenges with greater ease and understanding, and offers solace and courage when we need it the most.

In a world that's difficult to make sense of, and a season that's so often overtaken by consumerism, here you'll find heart-stirring illustrations and thought-provoking meditations designed to show you the raw, powerfully sacred story of Christmas in a new light.Has the joy of the holiday season become painfully dissonant with the hard edges of life? Do you feel weary from the way Christmas has become a polished, predictable brand? You aren't alone. For too many of us, Christmas has lost its wonder. What if we stopped treating the Christmas story as something that happened a long time ago and started believing that it's a story that's still happening today?From celebrated artist and storyteller Scott Erickson comes Honest Advent, 25 days of illustrations and meditations that will help you rekindle the wonder of this season. Honest Advent creates a space for you to encounter the Incarnate Christ in unexpected places: like a pregnancy announcement in an era of political unrest and empirical bloodshed, the morning sickness of a Middle Eastern teenager, and the shocking biology of birth that goes far beyond the sanitized brand of Christmas as we know it today.Within the pages of Honest Advent, Erickson teaches us the valuable lessons he's learned about: Finding hope and light in the darkest winters What it means to embrace the unexpected How God uses everyday vulnerability to help us understand ourselves, and our faith, betterThrough powerful benedictions, prayers, and questions for honest reflection, you'll discover how the wonder of God-with-Us is still happening today: in your unexpected change of plans, your unaccomplished dreams, your overcrowded lodging, and your humble stories of new beginnings.Praise for Honest Advent:"Scott Erickson's beautifully crafted book helped me see God-with-Us with fresh eyes. Honest Advent is no shallow seasonal gift book; it's an invitation to explore the divine flourishes of everyday human vulnerabilities. A transformative read, regardless of the time of year."--Jonathan Merritt, author of Learning to Speak God from Scratch"Beautiful. Evocative. A wake-up call to the mystery of life."--John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

"In his life and writing, Michael Yankoski walks a tightrope between action and contemplation, and, behold, in ways we can all learn from, he manages to find a sort of essential balance." — Philip Yancey, author of What's So Amazing About Grace"This book is a joy to the soul and a delight to the heart. It is destined to become a classic within the genre of contemporary spiritual and religious writing." — Phyllis Tickle, compiler of The Divine HoursFrustrated and disillusioned with his life as a Christian motivational speaker, Michael Yankoski was determined to stop merely talking about living a life of faith and start experiencing it. The result was a year of focused engagement with spiritual practices—both ancient and modern—that fundamentally reshaped and revived his life. By contemplating apples for an hour before tasting them (attentiveness), eating on just $2.00 a day (simplicity), or writing letters of thanks (gratitude), Michael discovered a whole new vitality and depth through the intentional life.Guided by the voice of Father Solomon—a local monk—Yankoski's Sacred Year slowly transforms his life. Both entertaining and profound, his story will resonate with those who wish to deepen their own committed faith as well as those who are searching—perhaps for the first time—for their own authentic encounter with the Divine.

From the international bestselling author of Awareness, a pocket-sized guide that will bring you to new levels of spiritual awareness.The Way To Love contains the final flowering of Anthony de Mello's thought, and in it he grapples with the ultimate question of love. In thirty-one meditations, he implores his readers with his usual pithiness to break through illusion, the great obstacle to love. "Love springs from awareness," de Mello insists, saying that it is only when we see others as they are that we can begin to really love. But not only must we seek to see others with clarity, we must examine ourselves without misconception. The task, however, is not easy. "The most painful act," de Mello says, "is the act of seeing. But in that act of seeing that love is born." Anthony De Mello was the director of the Sadhana Institute of Pastoral Counseling in Poona, India, and authored several books. The Way To Love is his last.

Winner of the Gold Medallion Award and an inspirational best-seller for over twenty years, Where is God When it Hurts? Has been revised and updated by the author to explore the many important issues that have arisen during that time. Sensitive and caring, this unique book discusses pain--physical, emotional, and spiritual--and helps us understand why we suffer from it and how to cope with our own and that of others. Using examples from the Bible as well as the author's personal experiences, this expanded edition speaks to everyone for whom life sometimes doesn't make sense. Philip Yancey can help us discover how to reach out to someone in pain even when we don't know what to say. It shows us how we can learn to accept without blame, anger, or fear that which we cannot understand.

An empowering guide to the gift of singleness that will help you leave shame in the past and let go of anxiety about the future in order to thrive today—from a thirtysomething single pastor who understands that the struggle is real.“Raw, relatable, and encouraging.”—New York Times bestselling author Granger SmithRyan Wekenman has been an unmarried pastor for over a decade. He’s heard all the usual questions: “Are you dating anyone? Any wedding plans in the future?” But he knows the real question they’re asking is, “Hey, do you think you’ll be single for the rest of your life?”Ryan believes that singleness isn’t a curse to endure. Rather, it’s a gift to enjoy, even if at times it can be hard to see it that way. But he has discovered firsthand—and from hundreds of meetings with other single people—that we are often consumed by regrets or shame from the past, together with worry or fear of the future, making it feel impossible to find peace in the present.But it doesn’t have to be that way. Single Today shares Ryan’s perceptive anecdotes, thought-provoking questions, biblical insight, and disarming humor as he invites you into his journey of learning to fully embrace his current reality.Single Today will encourage you to• gain practical tools to help handle the annoying and uncomfortable situations single people get placed in• learn how to talk to family and friends about your singleness with confidence• practice opening your heart and embracing true intimacy• stop believing your marital status is keeping you stuck• start living the full and abundant life available todayNo amount of shame will change the past, and no amount of worry will fix the future, but with a little faith and work, you can start thriving today.

What if you could ask God anything? What would you ask? And how would he answer?Chelsea Chambers is on her own. After a public split from her NFL superstar husband, Chelsea takes a bold step out of the limelight and behind the counter of the Higher Grounds Cafe, an old-fashioned coffee shop in dire need of reinvention. But when her courage, expert planning, and out-of-this-world cupcakes fail to pay the bills, this newly single mom finds herself desperate for help. Better yet, a miracle.Then a curious stranger lands at Chelsea's door, and with him, an even curiouser string of events. Soon, customers are flocking to the Higher Grounds Cafe, and not just for the cupcakes and cappuccino. They've come for the internet connection to the divine. Now the cafe has become the go-to place for people in search of answers to life's biggest questions.When a catastrophe strikes and her ex comes calling, Chelsea begins to wonder if the whole universe is conspiring against her quest to make it on her own. After a shocking discovery opens her eyes to the unseen world around her, Chelsea finds the courage to ask, and heaven answers in a most unexpected way.

Discover hope for your life today as you explore God’s plans for the future.New York Times bestselling author John Eldredge offers you a breathtaking look into God’s promise for a new heaven and a new earth.All Things New is for you if you’ve ever…Wonder if the difficult things you go through matterFeel anxious about the future and your loved ones' futuresFear that your dreams won’t come trueWant to understand what God has planned for your life All Things New helps you understand the simple but revolutionary idea that, according to the Bible, heaven is not our eternal home--the New Earth is. As Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew, the next chapter of our story begins with "the renewal of all things," by which he means the earth we love in all its beauty, our own selves, and the things that make for a rich life: music, art, food, laughter, and all that we hold dear. Everything shall be renewed "when the world is made new."More than anything else, how you envision your future shapes your current experience. If you knew that God was going to restore your life and everything you love any day; if you believed a great and glorious goodness was coming to you--not in a vague heaven but right here on this earth--you would have a hope to see you through anything, an anchor for your soul, "an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God" (Hebrews 6:19).Most Christians (most people for that matter) fail to look forward to their future because their view of heaven is vague, religious, and frankly boring. Hope begins when we understand that for the believer nothing is lost. Heaven is not a life in the clouds; it is not endless harp-strumming or worship-singing. Rather, the life we long for, the paradise Adam and Eve knew, is precisely the life that is coming to us. And that life is coming soon.

Becoming who you were before the world told you who you had to be. You're not alone when it comes to experiencing shame or fear of not being enough. Shame isn't felt only by those who have gone through failure or trauma or been told they'll never amount to anything. Many people—even those who are considered successful—struggle with a sense that they are deficient or inadequate. Drawing on a rich variety of personal experience, Scripture, spiritual formation classics, psychology, and relational neuroscience; award-winning author and pastor Ken Shigematsu shows how a deep, experiential encounter with the love of God can heal us of our shame, make us whole again, and inspire us to fulfill our purpose by making a faithful contribution to the world. Now I Become Myself will help you: Break free of an unhealthy self-image and from jealousy of others' achievements. Discover how beauty and spiritual joy can help you overcome the unhealthy shame you're clinging to. Create space in your life to draw close to Jesus and deepen your sense of God's boundless love for you. Written with pastoral compassion and understanding, Shigematsu's stories and teachings will uplift you and help you break free from the feeling of not being enough so that you can find rest in the security of God's grace. Each chapter concludes with a prayer exercise intended to nurture your relationship with the God who formed you in love and created you in beauty.

You don't have to keep striving for freedom. You can live into the freedom you already have in Christ.In You Are Free, Rebekah Lyons--author of Rhythms of Renewal--reveals her journey of releasing stress, anxiety, and worry to uncover the peace that comes from Jesus Christ.Have you bought into the lie? So many of us do. We measure our worth by what others think of us. We compare and strive, living our lives for the approval of others. Pressure rises, fear and anxiety creeps in, and we hustle to keep up.But Jesus tells us that he gave his life to set us free, giving us purpose and calling us to live in that God-given freedom and purpose. Maybe we're afraid to live in this truth because we can't even believe it. Rebekah reminds us that Christ doesn't say we can be or may be or will be free. He says we are free. Do you dare to believe it?In You Are Free, Rebekah invites you to:Overcome the exhaustion of trying to meet others' expectations and rest in the joy that God's freedom bringsFind permission to grieve past experiences, confess your areas of brokenness, and receive strength in your journey toward healingThrow off self-condemnation and step boldly into what our good God has for youDiscover the courage to begin again and use your newfound freedom to set others free Freedom is for everyone who wants it--the lost, the wounded, and those weary from all of the striving. It's for those of us who gave up trying years ago and for those of us who are angry and hurt, burnt out by the Christian song and dance. You are the church, the people of God. You were meant to be free.Join Rebekah as she helps you discover the freedom that comes when we learn that God is enough.