Is Your Heart at REST? Read on…
Friends! It’s STILL February and you know what that means for all you lovebirds—and even if you don’t consider yourself a lovebird, hearts and valentine’s abound this month (PLUS WE HOPE SOME CHOCOLATE AS WELL…). I’ve discovered a new book all about the heart.
This book was recommended to me by a friend who’s a voracious reader. Her recs are always a delight... This book is by Christy Nockels called The Life You Long For: Learning to Live from a Heart of Rest.
What first impressed me about this book were the many endorsements, all endorsers of which you’d recognize. Three favorites come from:
Jennie Allen who says, “Christy Nockels is a gentle, strong voice shepherding us into a fuller life with Jesus at the very center. This book will restore your weary soul.”
Priscilla Shirer says, “…Each chapter shimmers with insights that underscore the spiritual disciplines that are increasingly overlooked and undervalued:
Abiding in Christ,
Accepting His love,
Resting in His providential care, and
Choosing a lifestyle of contentment.
In other words, this book is pure grace.”
Lisa Harper’s endorsement is a beautiful visual: “God has gifted Christy Nockels with such a keenly observant heart and a poetic psalmist kind of voice, which makes her a safe and compelling tour guide into the transformative topography of divine grace.”
“Safe and compelling tour guide” is exactly how you feel Christy nurtures us readers. It’s like meeting her daily for a cup of coffee and a gallon of grace-filled advice. Her style is so fun and her honesty is laugh out loud funny.
My all-time favorite word in the Bible is “beloved.” (Liz Curtis Higgs started that ball rolling…) Readers will delight in Christy’s lessons on each one of us being God’s beloved, in fact the three parts of the book are called:
Part One: The Calling of the Beloved
Part Two: The Community of the Beloved
Part Three: The Capacity of the Beloved
Three lessons we’ll learn in the book in the chapter called His Banner Over Me is Love create grand anticipation…check these out:
“Living from your BELOVEDNESS changes everything.
Experience the catapulting capacity of His REST.
Finding TRUE REST in God.”
Christy’s not only a gifted writer, she also leads worship, writes songs, and ministers to countless women. She and her husband, Nathan, make quite the musical team, all the while enjoying their three children.
Another favorite lesson is: “Worship is a weapon.” (One bonus included are some of the lyrics of songs Christy has written. Just beautiful!)
Checkout her website: www.ChristyNockels.com
This book would also be good for a small group or book club to do as there are Discussion/Reflection Questions at the end of each chapter. Pertinent Scripture is also dotted throughout each chapter, reinforcing Christy’s points.
My favorite new-to-me concept are the diagrams we’re given on “Living Outside-In” vs. “Living Inside-Out.” These alone are worth the purchase of this book! Don’t miss these… They are also fantastic visuals to equip you to live as “The Beloved of God.”
Christy’s writing is filled with reassurance. Some points are reminders many of us already know but may have forgotten, while some are new and wonderful and cause you to breathe a sigh of relief, quite literally.
Allow me to give you just one example from Psalm 34:5 which promises,
Christy adds, “Remember, Beloved, you can never go wrong in the looking to the Lord!” This is followed by a beautiful quote from A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God, “Faith is the gaze of a soul upon a saving God.” (You can find more on this in Chapter 5, Those Who Look to Him which also includes three secrets to juggling when life feels like we’re juggling a lot.)
Don’t miss the beautiful visual of our hearts being like a honeycomb. This is found in chapter 9, Heart Like a Honeycomb and I promise it will bless your socks off! Even in hard times, Christy reminds us God’s Word is “a healing balm.” You’ll learn about an “electric honeycomb.” Mind-blowing to say the least.
Christy’s friend also taught her, “The honeycombed-heart, it’s not just for storing up sweetness, it’s stability in uncertainty!” Christy adds, “The surrendered heart, postured to receive from God, becomes a heart of strength.”
She closes this enriching chapter with,
Friends, these are just a few tidbits from The Life You Long For: Learning to Live from a Heart of Rest. I can’t recommend it enough!
Do yourself a favor and RUN, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and snag this book. You will be forever blessed, refreshed and recharged, ready to tackle this wild world.
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”