Quintessentially Quilly

I love my daily devotion time. I almost always have at least one devotional, and often two, at hand. I love using a devotional to start my day and I generally keep a thematic devotional as well to start my study time.  When I remember to start my day by praying and focusing on God, time and my emotions rarely get away from me. Taking time for daily spiritual centering brings me back to who I am and what my life is about. It helps me live beyond myself.

For the past several weeks I have started my days with, The One Year Book of Encouragement. Each devotional consists of a few brief paragraphs, a prayer and a Bible verse. Though brief, they are powerful and thought provoking.

Like many devotionals, The One Year Book of Encouragement is a compilation of wisdom. Each devotion (365 of them) was taken from the works of such great Christian theologians and educators as Mother Teresa, Amy Carmichael, Martin Lewis, C.S. Lewis, Billy Gram, Oswald Chambers, Henri Nouwen, Joni Eareckson Tada, John Wesley, Philip Yancey, D.L. Moody, Thomas à Kempis and more.   I choose to start my day with a devotional that presents random lessons because it provides me with food for thought on topics I may not have chosen to explore on my own.

The Book:
The One Year Book of Encouragement is a collection of insights from assorted Christian authors, past and present—from Oswald Chambers and Philip Yancey to John Calvin and John Wesley. Draw encouragement every day from the wisdom of the ages with this One Year book—it’s bound to be a classic!

The Editor:
Harold Myra served as the CEO of Christianity Today International for 32 years. Under his leadership, the organization grew from one magazine to a communications company with a dozen magazines, copublished books, and a major Internet ministry.

Myra started his journalistic career with Youth for Christ magazine, which under his leadership became Campus Life magazine.

Author of five novels, numerous children’s and nonfiction books, and hundreds of magazine articles, Myra has taught writing and publishing at the Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois. He holds honorary doctorates from several colleges, including Biola University in California and Gordon College in Massachusetts.

Myra has received various awards, among them the prestigious Magazine Publisher’s Award and the James Deforest Murch Award from the National Association of Evangelicals. The Evangelical Press Association presented him with its highest honor, the Joseph T. Bayly Award, for his triple career as an editor, author, and publishing executive.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Press.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”