Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change (Resources for Changing Lives)
This has been the most important book I have read on Biblical Counseling. It explains how each one of us as a believer is competent to counsel each other using Scripture and prayer and the Holy Spirit. In fact, as we talk to each other, we actually are counseling each other. As we discuss our relationships with each other, as we seek other's advice on how to handle our children, we counsel each other. What are we using to give advice? The latest child raising book? The advice given from a trusted pastor? Even "very good" advice needs to be based on the Word of God. We can lead our brothers and sisters in Christ to the Lord to glean His wisdom on all of the problems that we face in this life. After all, the Bible says that it is sufficient for all of life and godliness...2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Think Biblically!: Recovering a Christian Worldview
This is an awesome book that helps you figure out where your thinking doesn't line up with the Bible. And it was honestly more often than I thought. This book has articles by many different Professors that teach at the Master's College. It starts with the assertion that the Bible is sufficient for everything that we come up against in life... well that is what scripture itself says!! So, if that is true, then how do we think about scripture, creation, science, economics, the nations, being male or female, psychology, education, history, culture, or our government... these are some of the essays that challenge us to align our thinking with what the Bible says. 
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Ever have one of those days when it feels like you are never going to get anywhere? I have... and boy does this verse minister to my heart. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me... even when I feel like I will never be useful to Him. He will not forsake me. I am fashioned by Him, I am the work of His hands. He loves me steadfastly, never changing, his love endures forever. And I will get there... I will be useful to Him... God's purpose for me will be reached. He promises that in His Word.
All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
Imagine when all the kings of the earth will acknowlege the Lord. The glory of the Lord is so much greater than the glory of any of the leaders of the countries on earth. My heart longs for when things will be made right again. The Lord sees the lowly, all of the people that the leaders take advantage of in their countries. The haughty he knows, but yet from afar.
What trouble are you walking in? What enemies are you dealing with? The Lord preserves our lives and He delivers us. What comfort there is in these few verses. He will make things right in a day coming up that only He knows. He does see the poor, the afflicted, the lowly... He sees our trouble, He knows our enemies, and He perserves and delivers us. My heart can rest in that today.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
When I pray, He hears, He answers.
He may not immediately bring about what I have asked,
but that doesn't mean He hasn't answered.
He strengthens my soul to withstand
my circumstances.
Has someone hurt me? He loves me.
Has something overwhelming happened? He comforts me.
Has someone I love needed something? He assures me.
Do I want something to happen? He hears me.
He strengthens my soul.
I rest in that.
I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for
Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness,
for You have exalted above all things,
Your name and Your word.
When I have sought Him, when I have run from Him,
when I have cried, when I have been furious,
when I am filled with joy, when I am heartbroken,
when I am disappointed, when I laugh,
when I sin, when I praise Him, when I am lonely...
He loves steadfastly - no matter what I do
He is faithful - even when I am faithless
His name and His word are exalted.
His name and His word are alive.
His name and His word are filled with power
for me
for you
I bow down and give Him thanks
for who He is...
without Him, I can do nothing...
I have recently spent time in Psalm 138 and I keep coming back to it..
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart (v1)
I have so very much to be thankful for. I have been recording in my journal the things that I am thankful for each day... and as I think about what I am thankful for, I can't help but praise the One who has given it all to me...
I know where I have been and I am so thankful that God has saved me, redeemed my life, and continues to prune me in order to shape me more and more in His image...
I give Him thanks with my whole heart.
Another point that my pastor made in the sermon yesterday had to do with opening our eyes to the spiritual realm to see how God is already at work in our lives. He talked about Elisha in 2 Kings 6: 16-18. Elisha's servant was looking at what he could see - there were way more enemy people around than what they had in their army. In verse 17 Elisha prayed... "Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." What happened next was awesome: "So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." So, with the Lord, they had enough to defeat the enemy, and that is what happened.
But the cool point that the pastor made was that God was already there. The young man couldn't see what God was doing, but that didn't mean that God wasn't doing something. How I needed to hear those words... God is doing something even when I can't see it.
What are you discouraged about in your life? What overwhelming circumstance are you facing where you can't see what God is doing? Just because we can't see - doesn't mean that God isn't at work...
Today the pastor made a point that I really needed to hear again...it's not about me.
So many times life is pressing in... the stuff of life is always in front of me. I get very caught up in my circumstances - very good things, biblical things even... that God doesn't seem to be doing... that I want Him to do... and I get discouraged.
But it's not about me.
God will work in my life in a way that will ultimately glorify Himself. What brings Him glory will ultimately be for my good. When people asked what sin the blind man or his parents committed that resulted in his being blind, Jesus said it wasn't a result of sin - but so that God would be glorified in his life.
Jesus can conquer whatever is happening in your situation. Why? So the world will see and believe in Him.
