Lent is an interesting time where Christians from many different church traditions and backgrounds use the time in the run up to Easter to prepare themselves for celebrating the magnificence that is Easter. Some Christian publishers bring out new devotionals each year to help people focus on Jesus, let me introduce you to two of those that may help you this year. Both of these books are a little bit different, which I quite like.
Our Radiant Redeemer by Tim Chester
Another book to be added to the mountain of work that Chester has produced. What’s different about this book? Well, Chester doesn’t do a walk through of the passion narrative, or even look at Old Testament pictures of Jesus, instead Chester does a walk through of some of the transfiguration passages in the Bible. I was intrigued at first, and really enjoyed the book as I worked through it. Focusing on the transfiguration gives you a unique insight into the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus that you don’t necessarily get anywhere else. Chester hasn’t included Sundays in the devotional, in my experience this is good to help people catch up with the readings. Instead of a devotional on the Sunday there’s a passage to read and pray through. Each devotional is short and very quickly points you to Jesus.
The book is split into seven sections;
Beginning of Lent – What radiant means
Week 1 -Radiant Person of Jesus
Week 2 – Radiant Words of Jesus
Week 3 – Radiant Love of Jesus
Week 4 – Radiant Passion of Jesus
Week 5 – Radiant Victory of Jesus
Holy Week and Easter Sunday – Radiant and Transformed
In these pages you find a Pastor who wants to point you to Jesus and be enthused to worship Him more.
Finding mercy on the way of sorrow by Robin Ham
What’s different about this book? Robin Ham does a walk through of Lamentations, a book that not many Christians will be comfortable in reading (in my experience) but a book that speaks powerfully into the sorrow that many people will be well acquainted with. In this devotional book Robin starts off with a very helpful introduction explaining why Lamentations is a helpful book for people to read today, he pulls out some of the important information about the book and three reasons why we should dwell on it. Each day, except Sundays, you’ll be directed to read a few verses from Lamentations followed by a brief devotional reflection, then there are questions or further things to think about. At the end of each devotional is a song, that you can look up online (there’s a Spotify playlist) and listen to which will help you reflect further on the themes and message of Lamentations as you respond.
My one quibble with the book is the use of different fonts on each page, which is a bit distracting for the eyes, but once you look beyond that it’s a helpful resource that might take you into a book of the Bible that you don’t know but that you might resonate with a lot.
*** I received a copy of these books from the publishers in exchange for honest reviews. This does not change the way I rate the books. My views are my own. ***
Chalmers' Blog 