The One Year Book of Hope Devotional

The One Year Book of Hope Devotional
Written by Nancy Guthrie
Published at Tyndale
About the book
This popular devotional is now in a special LeatherLike edition! In this life, pain and disappointment are real. Maybe you’ve been wounded by a family member or friend. Perhaps you know the pain of losing someone you love or of a difficult medical diagnosis. Sometimes we need to know there’s hope for when life just hurts. Nancy Guthrie knows what it’s like to hurt—sometimes so much that there aren’t words to describe the pain. In this beautiful deluxe edition of The One Year Book of Hope, she encourages you to spend this year learning to hope when life has let you down. She offers no trite answers or quick cures; just remarkable, hopeful daily insights from the depths of Scripture and her own experiences. This year, join Nancy each day in growing closer to God—the source of all comfort.
Who is Nancy Guthrie?
Nancy Guthrie speaks at conferences around the country and internationally, and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary. She and her husband, David, are the co-hosts of the GriefShare video series used in over 8,500 churches around the world and host Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child. She is the author of numerous books including Holding on to Hope, Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow and The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament.
My Thoughts
The first thing that caught my eyes was the cover of this book.   I marvelous cover with a bird waiting on a branch to take flight.   This is own I feel sometimes when I feel low in my life – waiting for something to help be fly higher.    I know God is with me at all times but sometimes it is easy to forget that He is there and cares for me.
What should you do when life throws you curve balls or when someone close to you wounds you every time you talk to that person?   Ultimately you need to turn to God and hold on to hope.   Nancy Guthrie has written beautiful one page devotions that will uplift you in the morning and encourage you through the day.  Not only will you have a Scripture to ponder on but Nancy will write encouraging words in your devotion.   At the bottom of the page there is also a suggestion for studying a specific passage in the Bible and guide you to dig deeper in the subject covered by the devotion.
The book is divided in weeks with subjects like brokenhearted, Jesus Man of Sorrow, the Father Heart of God, Holy Spirit Comforter, Sufferers, Why?, Life, Death, The Love of God, Sovereignty of God, Protected by God, Miracles, Healer of my Soul, the Presence of God, Knowing God, God’s Name, Gifts of God, Looking to the Cross, Meaning in the Cross, Hope, the Mysteries of Heaven, Heaven Longing for Home, Resurrection, Rewards, Angels, the Enemy, the School of Suffering, My Soul Source, I AM, Storms, Parables, Paradox, the Good Shepherd, Joy, Joy Robbers, Finding Purpose in Pain, Fruitfulness, People, Self, Submission, the Glory of God, Blessing, Worship, Prayer, Word of Life, Forgiveness, Going Deeper, Who Am I?, What Does God Want?, Waiting, Perseverance, and Letting Go.   Not all weeks will be appealing to you but there is quite a few that could bring healing in anyone’s heart.    Each week has an introduction and five devotions to read and ponder on.    Once you have completed the week, you will conclude it with a special page that contains some reflection questions, a meditation as well as a prayer.  I find it a great way to wrap-up a week on a specific subject that would have touched you.
Right now, I have started the Brokenhearted week but as I am thinking that I will jump to the Storms next week as we experienced some of them over the summer.  In the midst of the tornado in our life, we were able to sense God and experience His Peace. 
Are you wondering what you can learn with this book?   Take for example the page I read today which concentrates on guarding your heart.    I particularly love the illustration the author wrote in the middle of the devotion:

Gratitude plows up the ground for God’s peace to grow.

and the she goes on with saying:

Peace is a gift of God, but we prepare ourselves to receive this gift as we pray about everything, cultivate gratitude, and refuse to surrender to worry.

This is very meaningful in my life right now for various reasons.   We are waiting for a contract to start for my husband though it also gives him the time to study a new technology in the meantime.   I am grateful for this and hope he will stay motivated.    At the same time I recognize the importance of being grateful as a way to not harden our hearts and be bitter at God when life isn’t fair with us.   I see the fruit of bitterness in the life of someone close to me and it sadden me to experience the end results of that life long bitterness.  I pray sincerely that gratefulness will invade the heart of that person and that God will show His mighty presence as well as embrace that person with love like never experience before.
As for me, well I am learning more and more to trust God on a daily basis and not to worry about the future.   God is in control and He knows what will come.  He promised me “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” over the summer and I know that He will keep this promise.    
I don’t know what life is throwing at you and what are your stumbling blocks in your walk but I know one thing since I started reading this devotion I am a little more at peace every day.    So if you are wounded, lost hope or have difficulty of seeing what God is doing, consider getting the One Year Book of Hope Devotional and read through it.   And let God be your source of comfort.  He can do great things is you let Him!
The One Year Book of Hope Devotional is available to purchase at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.