02
May

Slow Reader Thursday: There Has to Be More than This…

Stack of books

Keith A. Turley‘s book, More than This, is yet another book I procured because I heard him speak at the writer’s conference I attended. For those of you who are tired of hearing me drone on about the writer’s conference, here’s the good news: You only have to suffer through one more book that I purchased from the conference and it’s a very interesting novel.

Again, I heard Keith speak in a workshop at the conference and was struck that his writing is devotional in nature and started by accident as he sent his friends emails about what he was reading each day. Often, I find myself doing the same thing, minus the emails. At first I thought Turley restricted himself to Biblical quotations  each day, but I was so wrong. Turley may happen upon a quote somewhere, anywhere and use that as his focus for the day.

Often I found my thoughts going in a different direction from his after reading the quote. But thankfully, Turley leaves space below his reflections for the reader to jot down their own notes. He knows me too well!

The devotionals towards the end of his book, beginning on page 105, were more thought-provoking for me, but perhaps that was because I read them all in one session when I was in a better frame of mind or could concentrate better??? Here are a few that struck me:

1. “When I read His word I need to act on them, not just walk away with a warm fuzzy feeling or good intentions…I need to realize that it may take time for my actions, or even my intentions, to bear fruit.”

2. “His desire for me is that I would allow the Holy Spirit to fill me, to lead me, to work with me and in spite of me….The hard part is determining which are my responsibilities and which are His. How much am I supposed to do? If I fail at work I thought God was leading me to do, does that mean it wasn’t meant to be done or does it mean I didn’t allow for His strength?…if I did [know,] I probably wouldn’t try some things that seem too daunting.”

3. “The fact…remains that often [others] are not out there screaming they are His instruments….Think about how you are His worker even at times when you think you are not doing anything to minister to others.”

Some of Turley‘s thoughts and cited quotes will definitely make the Quotes page soon!

Tomorrow’s Post: Moon over Texas?

You might also like: Live!, Jesus Poetry Slam, Laughter from Heaven, not a fan., The Hole in our Gospel, i am not but i know I AM, and 20 Books.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 6:50 am and is filed under Slow Reader Friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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