Thursday, March 22, 2007

God Loves Me, So What!


God Loves Me, So What! is written by Guy Doud. This is a practical book about believing in God, learning ways to stand firm in one’s faith, and discovering ways to stand firm consistently. This book was written for our youth – those challenging, yet inspiring young children in the teens. Guy Doud reaches out to them and shares with them at their level.

The Tooth Fairy, Cupid, and Santa Clause were all real to me and to most of my friends during my early childhood years. Now that I am getting older, my childhood years tend to increase. At this point in my life, “childhood years” mean the years between 1 and 24. At any rate, the author talks about our early childhood beliefs in Santa and the Tooth Fairy and the day our faith in them ended. As these make believe characters fade so does our innocent belief in God and all that surrounds one’s Christian faith.

Through simple language, real life experiences, and practical advice, Guy Doud discusses the reality of God and the importance of maintaining a belief in Him. Best of all, he uses his gift of communication to reach out to our youth (a.k.a. ages 1-24).

The eight chapters cover the reality of God, the ABC’s of a situation, how to play (P-pray, L-learn, A-Act, and Y-yeild), and how to apply one’s faith in the home. Guy Doud provides his readers with two very powerful acronyms: 1) PLAY and 2) ACTS. The acronym PLAY is a simple, yet practical way to remember what to do when one faces any type of situation (whether it is serious or not). First you go to God in prayer. Second you turn to His word, the bible, and learn what He has to say about the situation. Third you take action based upon what you learned. In other words, you do something about the situation. Finally you yield to God’s guidance. In our daily lives we face a daily battle. In this battle there are only two sides: God’s side and Satan’s side. When a situation presents itself, we need to decide which side of the fence we will wage war from.

The author also provided his readers with the acronym of ACTS. This acronym is handy when one buckles down to pray. ACTS is nothing more than a sensible order to one’s prayer. This makes a lot of sense to me. When I pray, I typically bulldoze through it requesting answers and/or solutions to my pressing questions and/or dilemmas. Guy Doud simply suggests that when one begins to pray, he/she should keep in mind ACTS. When you begin your prayer, you should spend sometime adoring God for who He is. After some time in adoration of God one then confesses his/her sins. Thirdly, one moves into the arena of thankfulness. We thank God for all the things He has done for us. Lastly, we move into the realm of supplication – we lift up our requests to Him. I have to admit that I have begun to structure my prayers after this simple acronym. This uncomplicated prayer structure has added structure and focus to my conversations with God.

This is a book worth picking up if you or someone you know is facing the basic question, “God Loves Me, So What!” I enjoyed the journey as I’m sure others will also.

NO AR QUIZ :(

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