Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Because it’s a new month, there is a whole big list of Kindle deals to consider. There are some strong titles there!
Logos users will want to look at this month’s free and almost free books. Also, lots of great resources from Zondervan are on sale this month (which includes the excellent Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Collection).
(Yesterday on the blog: A Celebration of Friendship)

Barbara reflects on the reality that sometimes “you can do everything ‘right,’ so to speak, and end up with a life seemingly in shambles.”

“Remember, even in our sinfulness, when we fall, we shall rise. The Lord is our light in the darkest times, and His grace is sufficient to lift us up. Let this truth encourage and strengthen you in your walk with Christ.”

We have all heard a good number of negative or alarming assessments of AI. This one considers some of the tremendous benefits it may bring. There are some exciting possibilities!

“I raised four daughters. That is to say, together with my highly-committed and sensible wife, Trudi, I raised four daughters. I must admit, though, that sometimes it feels like they raised me. Nothing highlights one’s sinful tendencies more effectively than raising children. Every parent reading right now knows what I mean.”

It is good to occasionally revisit the matter of Bible translations to consider why we use the Bible we use.

“Are you numbered with the wheat, or are you grouped with the tares? Jesus warned that the church would contain both. Which are you?” Greg Koukl wants you to consider and helps you do so.

Their lives sounded pretty good. They sounded better than mine, if I was comparing…And for a moment I wanted it. I wanted it all.

A proverb is compact wisdom, knowledge in chunks, a library in a sentence, the electricity of many clouds discharged in one bolt, a river put through a mill-race.
—De Witt Talmage

The Bible is unique among all books in that it is living and active. “You received the word of God, which you heard from us…” says Paul to one of his churches, “not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The Bible is living and working within believers because of the unique ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Before his ascension, Jesus promised that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). In fact, what the Spirit would bring is so good and so important that Jesus could actually say, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you” (John 16:7).
The promised Spirit has come, and one of the great helps this Helper performs is a kind of tutoring. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says it well: “Unlike any other book that has ever been written, the Bible is alive; and it comes with a personal tutor—the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.” After taking up residence within us, the Spirit illumines the truths of the Bible to our minds and hearts so we can know them, so we can understand them, and so we can joyfully do them.

I’m thankful for this lovely review of Seasons of Sorrow from Sola Network.

I added some Kindle deals yesterday and will keep an eye out for more today.
(Yesterday on the blog: A Family and Personal Update)
Friends Who Fell Away: When Apostasy Comes Close to Home
“The memories, on most days, seem better left forgotten. Never has remembering sweet Bible studies tasted so bitter. Flashbacks of late-night conversations and time spent in prayer press inconsiderately upon the wound. In that large group, I can still hear his profession of faith echo. I thought I heard angels sing at his surrender. So long we had prayed for his salvation. Now, he no longer walks with Jesus.”
Holiness Is Transgressive
Brett McCracken reflects on attempts to be shockingly transgressive. “Because ‘transgression’ in contemporary pop culture has become ubiquitous to the point of banality. Transgressing gender binaries in fashion, pushing the envelope of sex and nudity on TV, ratcheting up gore in horror movies, celebrating ‘completely filthy’ chart-topping singles—it’s all so pervasive by now that it’s tiresome, as ‘transgressive’ as the khaki section of Old Navy.”
How Unanswered Prayers Have Shaped My Faith
Ruth Davidar Paul considers an unanswered prayer and says, “thinking about that prayer, I realised that it has been integral in cementing my faith, as incongruous as that may seem.”
Where Can I Find a Biblical Reason NOT to Gamble?
Biblical Counseling Coalition has a series this week on gambling meant to explain why Christians should not gamble.
What to Do When You Think a Friend Is Considering Suicide
“Over the last four years, I’ve been invited to churches, schools, and conferences all over the world to speak. What do you think my number one requested talk has been? It’s not the problem of evil, homosexuality, biblical justice, or even the existence of God. It’s suicide. More than 30% of the time, my host wants to hear about suicide. Why? Why is this issue so much more popular than all the others?”
Do You Carry More Than You Should?
I appreciate this article about Jesus telling his disciples that he would be going away. “In the wait, Jesus helped them anchor themselves in the One trustworthy for each and every day. He strengthened their faith then for later. When the time did come for the disciples to bear Jesus’ death, weakness turned to power, grief to joy, and the whole world turned upside down.”
Flashback: Procrastination Is a Failure to Love
…this is exactly what makes procrastination such an ugly and offensive sin. It is inherently self-centered. It is a form of self-love.

There is one song that you will sing every hour your first ten years in heaven, and the refrain of that song will be: “I am so glad God did not let me have it my own way!” —DeWitt Talmage