Book Reviews, Family Christian, My Faith

Our Glory Days

October 8, 2015

How do you feel about your life right now? How about your faith? Do you feel like you’re just plugging along, waiting for something amazing to happen? Do you feel like you’re just enduring, not enjoying, this journey of life?

I get it. We’ve all been there. Life can be hard sometimes. We get so weighed down by all the obligations we have. Read your scriptures – check. Go to church – check. Make dinner and clean your house – check. Play with you kids – check. Read with your kids – check. Babysit for your neighbor – check. Take dinner to someone in need – check. Pay your bills – check. Go grocery shopping – check. There is so much to do every day, so much running around. So many things on our to-do lists… So how do we stop and find the joy in our life? There’s got to be more than checking off our to-do list, right?

In his book Glory Days, Max Lucado takes us through the book of Joshua, and tells us exactly how we can transform our mundane days into our own glory days. He says, “Canaan… does not represent the life to come. Canaan represents the life we can have now!” This book was a great reminder to me that we can have joy, now!
And so, how do we do that? How do we develop and live with joy? Max has not 1, but 14 ideas of what we can do to live in our own promised land, now. While they are all great, I want to share my top 3 with you. (And then you should definitely pick up the book to read the other 11!)
Inherit Your InheritanceMax reminds us that God has already won. God has already blessed us to be able to win our own battles. You alone may not be able to break habits, forgive others, or fight temptation, but God can. Through God, all things are possible. This is such a simple thing, but one I often forget. Christ has already died for us, God is guaranteed a win at the end of this war. All we need to do is remember that, and stay on His side. With Him, we can always win.
Unpack Your BagsOften we’re unsure and unconvinced that God wants us, that God loves us, that we can trust Him. But we can. There is scripture after scripture in the Bible that tells us so. (Romans 8:38-39 is a favorite of mine that tells us so.) Max reminds us that God’s word is sure, that we are joint-heirs with Christ. In order for God to work fully through us, we need to “unpack our bags,” and stay a while, and join completely with Him. Only then can we experience the full blessings He has in store for us.
Pray Audacious PrayersYou guys already know how I feel about prayer. It is our greatest tool. Max tells us that our prayers must be bold. We must call upon Him in all things. God may already know the consequences of our decisions and the longing in our hearts, but He wants to hear it from us. We can use prayer, and we can use it boldly.
I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into Glory Days. I know I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think you will, too. Living a joyful life is possible, right now, today! I know this is true. And as for me, I’m going to re-claim my joy, are you?
I received free product from Family Christian in exchange for an honest review.All opinions are my own.