The Disheveled Man's Book Review

I don't know about you, but I really appreciate a good book review.  There are many places to get book reviews:
1.  Friends
2.  Family
3.  Favorite Magazine
4.  Book Review Journal (I would be impressed with anyone who actually uses this method!)
5.  Internet
6.  Spying on what others are reading while waiting for kids' activities or doctor appointments
7.  A Disheveled Man

Wait, Disheveled Man...what in the world am I talking about?  Read on...

It was about the year 2000 and I was working at a Christian bookstore.  Now I was used to people asking me if I had read the book they were holding.  Of course, they were hoping to hear a personal review that would make them feel better about parting with the money that seemed very content in their wallet.

There were also times where people decided that the store was their own personal book club hoping to entertain us for blocks of time with a detailed synopsis of their book and how we should be sure it was the next book we would read.  Usually, these customers were women, in their 30's or early 40's, with kids, who were just enjoying some adult conversation wherever they could get it!  (I didn't get that concept then as a married without kids 20-something, but I get it now!)

And then there was the day the Disheveled Man came in.  Unkempt in his appearance, he began to speak to me about a book.  A book that changed his life and, no, it was not the Bible.  He had a different book in mind.  He said to me, "This book changed my life.  If you are ever looking for a book to change your life, this is the one you should get."  The book he was referring to was "Victory Over the Darkness" by Neil Anderson.

I didn't give this man or his book any more thought once he left the store.  Other than his scraggly appearance, there was nothing unusual about customers recommending their books to the employees of the store.

Well, about 3 years later, my life was in crises.  I had come to grips with the fact that I had an anger problem that needed to be addressed.  Anger was affecting my life in many ways.  I began to go to Christian counseling.  While I was going through counseling, the Disheveled Man was brought back to mind and, unbelievably, I actually remembered the title to the book!  I read this book - and it did change my life.

I will never know for sure, but I must tell you that I wonder if I met an angel that day.  So unassuming, so easy to castoff in my mind, so easy to unintentionally throw into a stereotype of a less-than-review-worthy person.  Yet, it was THIS person that I remembered 3 years later.  It was the book that HE suggested that I was so easily able to recall.  It was THIS book that God used to jump start the changes that so desperately needed to happen.

This is not to say that this book is more life-changing than the Bible.  That can never and will never be true.  Rather, this book is filled with Scripture.  I was unable to apply the Bible to my life in the ways necessary to evoke change.  This book used Scripture to make the point.

The point is this:  If our identity is in Christ, then if all else is stripped away, we will be fine.  We will be better than fine - we will be blessed and filled and over-flowing with the Holy Spirit!  We will experience love.  We will experience joy.  We will experience peace.  We will experience patience.  We will experience kindness.  We will experience goodness.  We will experience faithfulness.  We will experience gentleness.  We will experience self-control.

This is an area that I have to consciously ask God to help me with:  keeping my identity in Christ.  It is so easy to believe that life will rule our Christ.  That we will do what we want in life and He can have full reign over what is left - if there is anything left at all. The only way it works is to have Christ rule our life.

No matter what happens in life, Christ is ruling my life.  I must submit to Him.  I must be obedient to Him.  I must have faith that He will do what He promises to do:  Love me, care for me, keep me safe and secure in His arms, show me His plans for my life which include plans to give me a hope a future.

Mamas, we must have faith and believe that He is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do! 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Galatians 5:22-23a

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

 goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control;