A Layman's Daily Devotional was written by a layman for laypeople of all ages. It is mostly devoid of theological terms, so it is easier for the average person to understand. There are applicable illustrations to help people comprehend the message from Scripture and its application to the message of the day. There is a devotion for every day of the year, and several devotions for specific days in the Christian calendar, as well as for days on which we honor both mothers and fathers. The reader will likely gain a closer relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through daily use and may also develop a closer relationship with family members when used as a family devotion. The changing and challenging circumstances in our world today require closer relationships with both God and family. A Layman's Daily Devotional lends itself to development of both relationships. With few exceptions, each devotion is a stand-alone devotion. This book would make a meaningful gift to a young person venturing out on their own, who could develop the habit early of spending time each day with God, which is always a good way to start every day. A Layman's Daily Devotional is written such that it can be used year after year throughout one's life.

Your day-by-day guide to living out the message of the mega bestseller Not a Fan. Perfect for those looking to take the next steps in being a disciple of Jesus. Not a Fan calls you to consider the demands and rewards of being a true disciple. With frankness sprinkled with humor, Pastor Kyle Idleman invites you to live the way Jesus lived, love the way he loved, pray the way he prayed, and never give up living for the One who gave his all for you. This devotional offers 75 days of insights, stories, encouragement, and biblical truth and inspiration. Each devotional gives you a scripture to focus on, a story or insight that illustrates one of the Not a Fan principles, and most importantly, a "Do Something About It" section that helps you with simple ways to put the principles in practice immediately. Also available: Not a Fan Spanish edition, journal, student and teen editions, small group study, and more.

What might happen if you and your family found ways to be thankful every day? Most of us admit to being overworked, hurried, anxious, lonely, and battered by uncertainty. We want to be thankful for all that we have, but the chaos of our lives holds us back. We know that experiencing gratitude can reduce our stress, lead to a happier home, and make us feel more optimistic about ourselves and the world around us. Yet our ability to be grateful often ebbs and flows. When life is good, it’s easy to feel grateful, but when life is full of hurts and challenges, gratitude takes a back seat. But the hope of more—more peace, more Jesus, more appreciation for the people in our lives that often go overlooked—keeps us trying to find ways to be thankful. In The One Year Daily Acts of Gratitude Devotional, through relatable stories, encouraging Scripture, and reflection questions, we are invited to shift our focus and increase our gratitude. Each day this year, find easy-to-do ideas for incorporating gratitude into our lives and uncover the good that God was doing all along.

One woman's startling firsthand account of her struggle to protect her children while facing the man she married, a combat veteran plagued by addiction, rage, and depression born from PTSD. Sharlene peered out the window into the blackness that enveloped her yard. She couldn’t see them, but she knew they were out there--police officers and a SWAT team holding their positions in the wood line out her front door, their weapons trained with deadly precision pointing at her home.“Don’t let them shoot at my kids!” she shouted into the phone to the dispatcher as her drunk, enraged, and armed husband picked up the other line, “Go on, get the hell out of here then!”When she first met Sean seven years earlier, Sharlene never imagined that he’d someday be the catalyst to this terrifying scene. Sean was handsome in his camouflage fatigues, looking proud and just a little cocky. Unlike any other man she had ever met, he was an easy, charming conversationalist and his sincerity was unmistakable. The two married and started a family.But Sean’s drinking soon took over, and signs of depression and his raging outbursts amplified. Something was seriously wrong. He never talked about his tours overseas, including his seven-month peacekeeping mission in the aftermath of Slobodan Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing campaign, but there were signs that what he experienced in Bosnia left him reeling at his core. As Sean’s behavior grew increasingly worse, Sharlene’s obsessive worry for his well–being trumped her basic needs. She knew that her husband was suffering from tremendous inner turmoil--which she later learned was PTSD--and she hoped, more than anything, to nurse him back to the loving partner and father she knew he could be.A powerful story of pain and forgiveness, horror and hope, Blind Devotion gives voice to the thousands of families who are struggling to heal and to achieve a sense of normalcy stolen by the trauma in their lives.

If you’re unhappy because the Mass has become for you routine – or even boring and tedious – these pages are for you. They teach you eight simple ways to make your every Mass a joyful time of piety and intense devotion. Explaining the spiritual meanings behind the signs and symbols, words and actions of the Mass, author Christopher Carstens teaches you spiritually-enriching ways to enter the church building, make the Sign of the Cross, pray the Opening Prayer, listen to the Readings, prepare your soul at the Offertory, participate in the Eucharistic Prayer, receive Communion, and even respond to the Dismissal. Soon – with the help of author Carstens wise suggestions – you will be surprised to find each Eucharistic Celebration a fountain of peace for you, a profound refreshment for your soul. Among other things you’ll learn from these pages: The meaning of the “sacramental principle”: if you don’t understand it, then Mass is almost surely flat for youHow each element of the Liturgy has a sacramental quality about it, and can be for you a grace-filled encounter with JesusHow to transform your prayers at Mass into a conversation with GodWhy silence – both within the liturgy and outside of it – is a necessary element of that conversation with GodThere’s a proper spiritual way to make the Sign of the Cross (do you know what it is?)How the Creed can be for you the highpoint of the Liturgy of the WordWhy, during the collection, you should also explicitly offer Christ your heartThe best way in the Mass to participate in Jesus’ saving work: do you know what it is?What you should desire in order to receive the Eucharist most efficaciously (and what that desire presupposes in you)Coming and going through the church doors: what, each time, it should mean for you spiritually Plus, at the end of each chapter, a list of action items for the next time you go to Mass, and much, much more to awaken in you the bright spirit of joyful devotion that we are all called to have at Mass.

'A glorious love story' – Sarah Winman, author of Still Life Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award A stunning story about the impossible lengths we go to for the ones we love, with a breathtaking twist, from the bestselling author of Burial Rites, Hannah Kent. Hanne and Thea’s friendship is a miracle. Before, Hanne always felt apart from the local girls, but with Thea it all came easy. Suddenly she could imagine a future for herself, a happy one, by Thea’s side. But when their tight-knit community embarks on a long and brutal journey to Australia, in search of new freedoms on old land, Hanne and Thea’s bond must find a way to survive the most impossible devastation. Will their love prove too strong for even Nature to break? 'Extraordinarily daring . . . a remarkable novel, an almost visionary celebration of the death-defying power of the women’s love' - Sunday Times 'Exquisite . . . it's taken root in my heart' – Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies 'So beautiful and so raw . . . Devotion is impossibly good' – Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock

It’s summer and the season for friends, picnics, and nights out on the countryside. Mayra loves planning events. Her latest endeavor, planning a surprise birthday party for Victor, should be the event of the summer. And if she’s lucky, he’ll get the hint that she has a soft spot in her heart for him. Victor is too busy for all the summer events he used to love. He’s inherited a farm and will spend every free moment he has making sure things run smoothly. When Victory and Mayra’s plans go astray, they’ll discover there is more to friendship and romance…and each other. *** People visit Ashbrook for the rural Montana experience. They stay because of the friends and family they make along the way.

High-Stakes Drama Meets High-Tension Romance In 1883 Michigan, Lily Young is on a mission to save her lost sister, or die trying. Heedless of the danger, her searches of logging camps lead her to Harrison and into the sights of Connell McCormick, a man doing his best to add to the hard-earned fortunes of his lumber baron father. Posing during the day as a photographer's assistant, Lily can't understand why any God-fearing citizen would allow evil to persist and why men like Connell McCormick turn a blind eye to the crime rampant in the town. But Connell is boss-man of three of his father's lumber camps in the area, and like most of the other men, he's interested in clearing the pine and earning a profit. He figures as long as he's living an upright life, that's what matters. Lily challenges everything he thought he knew, and together they work not only to save her sister but to put an end to the corruption that's dominated Harrison for so long.

Elk hunting can serve as one of life’s greatest teachers. From the thrill of the hunt to the low of failure and disappointment, hunting elicits a full range of emotions. God lessons are all around us if we simply pause and listen. With over forty years of hunting experience, Brad Schwin has experienced both the highs and lows of the hunt. Utilizing both hunting successes and humorous failures, each reader will be drawn in by these gripping tales from the elk woods. Join Schwin on this forty-day journey, learning scriptural principles as they connect to real-life hunting examples, to both encourage and challenge your faith. Intended to be used for quiet time at home, around the campfire, or deep in the backcountry, readers will find daily encouragement within its pages.

This is a seven-day devotional that allows for self-study and devotion on how to wage spiritual warfare to battle and slay the enemy. This is a book for prayer warriors and those who want to become one. You will discover more about putting on the full armor of God; truth and righteousness; peace; The Shield of Faith, salvation and the Word of God; how God will fight your battles; how to keep on praying; and finally how to be ready to fight the enemy cause "This Means War"! Be Strong in the Lord! In order to conquer the enemy; in order to stand against the enemy's strategies; we must be strong in the Lord, draw strength from him and put on the armor the whole armor of God. The only way to draw strength from God is to read and study his Word, stay in worship and devotion, and through prayer and praise unto Him, develop a trusting relationship with God. To God be the glory!