Spring Into Summer

Suddenly we went from jackets and wellies to t-shirts and bare feet! 
We just visited friends in Berlin and came back to full blown summer at home.
It's hot here, and I'm trying to soak in as much summer as I can. 

Free lunch every day for the kids at the community playground, the beach, ice creams, sand everywhere.. 
Summertime is good indeed.

One of my readers asked about what I've been reading. Well, a lot. I read the bible (and I highly recommend it to everyone of course ;) ) and a lot of other books. 
I would like to recommend  a few of them.

Merlin Carothers: Prison to Praise  (and Power in Praise) (Kiitä sittenkin ja Kiitoksen voima)

"Many people list this as the most unusual book they have ever read. Millions say it changed their lives and introduced them to the solution to their problems. This is not a book about a prison with bars, but about a prison of circumstances-and how to be set free!"

This book really is something else. When I was reading it, I actually recognized the same truth behind it, than what I experienced when I was healed. When you unconditionally hand over the control of your life to Christ, you are at the same time ACCEPTING ANYTHING that He decides to give you. You ACCEPT HIS WILL. These books go further, to teach us (with many many examples from his own experience and from those around him) how we should be thankful for EVERYTHING in our lives, the good and the seemingly bad, and how radically that will change our lives. 

If you trust your Lord, you trust that every hair on your head is counted, and that your best interest is what He has in mind. We don't always see it, we fight it, we moan and complain. We are really saying that we don't trust God. We don't believe he has everything covered, that we can truly depend on Him, even if He has told us so.  It was astounding to me, that the moment I told God that I was His to do whatever He needed to do with, if I should stay sick then it must be so.. that was the moment I was freed. Yet I still find myself getting frustrated about petty little things that don't go my way. I really believe there is truth in this, so I try now to give thanks about everything in my life. I'm so much a work in process, though! But it doesn't work until you belong to Jesus. If you have not handed over your life, given up control, then you are in charge, and you cannot either thank God or blame God for your circumstances. You are on your own because you choose to be. When you are His, He WILL take care of you and walk right by your side. Then you need to know it and believe it, and thank Him every day for it. 



Two other books I read and liked talk about getting closer to God in a real way. You can talk to Him, and you can get answers. Really! I wish I'd known that long time ago. The Holy Spirit is not just an abstract idea, He is the third person of the Holy Trinity. You know, One God, three personalities. (How can God be One and yet three? Think about a cube. It has six sides. Each side is it's own part, an individual side of the box, perhaps painted a different color, but yet all of them are parts of the one cube and you can't take out one of the sides and still have a cube!). 
He was sent to us to be our guide and comforter. He is real. His job is to glorify Jesus and bring understanding of scriptures. 


John Bevere: Drawing Near: A Life of Intimacy with God  (Lähesty Jumalaa)

"In Drawing Near, John Bevere invites readers to explore a life of intimacy with God. Emphasizing the need for obedience, he urges us to practice-just as we would practice anything we hope to improve-our communication with the Holy Spirit. Understanding that prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue, Bevere encourages us to listen at the Father's feet. "

*NOTE: In one paragraph he mentions physically disciplining his child. I DO NOT advocate that. I didn't want to toss aside the whole book because of that issue, however. The book has so much merit and we can hardly expect to read many books where we agree with 100% of what is written.


John Ortberg: The Life You've Always Wanted (Elämä jota kaipaan)

"The heart of Christianity is transformation---a relationship with God that impacts not just our 'spiritual lives,' but every aspect of living. "

We tend to be so focused on this world. This life. We keep asking God to give us good things in this life. But the greatest gift He is offering is eternal salvation, through repentance and accepting Jesus as our savior. He is offering us Eternity. In the Bible it says to seek first the Kingdom of God, and all other things will be added. It means that when you give up your life to Jesus and seek Him first, He will then take care of the other stuff. The focus should not be on the stuff of the world. Our greatest wish and prayer should be to know Him better!

We need to understand God's perspective is indeed eternity. If our perspective is this earthly 80 years or so, we will never understand what He wants us to prioritize and why, and we will never be happy.