Book Nook: On Giving Advice to God (both volumes)

I think I know better. Too often my thoughts and actions suggest that I think I even know better than God! I wish God would see things my way. Shall I give advice to God? I am not the only one. Adam’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden; Jesus’ doubting disciples; our pride today – people have consistently considered their foolishness greater than God’s wisdom. Such is the nature of our sinful wisdom which only leads to destruction in this life and the next. 

That’s why we so desperately need God’s Word, His wisdom. That’s where Daniel Deutschlander takes us – to God’s Word – with his two-volume devotional, On Giving Advice to God. The first volume focuses on the life and work of Christ for our salvation as it follows the half of the Church year from Advent, Christmas and Epiphany to Lent, Easter, and Jesus’ Ascension. The second volume spans the Pentecost/Trinity half of the church year, with emphasis on our maturing in the faith and sharing it with others. 

Valuable for Christians seeking daily spiritual refreshment, each devotion highlights a Bible passage, contrasting what amounts to our sinful opinions and advice regarding life’s problems with God’s merciful and gracious solutions. Reading each devotion, I was reminded how my ways and any advice I would offer fall short of God’s perfection. If I had my way, the result would be a life of sorrow and disaster. Then, with fresh insights into familiar Bible stories, Pastor Deutschlander points me to the Bible where I see God’s wisdom and perfect plan which rescues me from myself, the devil, and eternal death. Pastor Deutschlander points me to Jesus and the cross, and I see God’s abounding grace. 

Brian Heinitz, Henderson, Nevada


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Author: Brian Heinitz
Volume 105, Number 8
Issue: August 2018

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