Renewal E-Book

sharon merz

• Herausgeber: Inscript Books
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Did you catch it? The word “new” is conveniently nestled in the word “real.” That’s what a vibrant spiritual journey can do for a believer – make them feel “real new.”
In selecting the cover image, photographer and friend Vicky Pannella reflects how it connects with the author’s testimony. “It’s a story of healing, restoration, being made whole and new replacing the old. Sometimes only small repairs are needed, other times total replacement is the ‘fix’ until all parts are in harmony. When the damage has eroded a large part of the original beyond our repair capabilities, we must rely on expert advice. Who better to supply the advice and repairs than the original creator and His followers. Careful and periodic maintenance, guided by the expert, then needs to follow the repair to ensure things continue to work as they were intended. … The first part is the story of how easily the damage can creep in and, after a period of time, overwhelm. The image … [is] a visual of remaining upright while weathering difficult circumstances.”

Leseprobe

Renewal

A Spiritual Journey

By Sharon Merz

Renewal: A Spiritual Journey

© 2023 by Sharon Merz

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriptures in this book are quoted from The Holy Bible, New In-ternational Version ®, NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ® Used by permis-sion. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the HolyBible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights re-served.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV ® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Pub-lishers.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023916177

ISBN: 978-1-957497-29-7

Printed in the United States of America.

Cover photo by Vicky Pannella.

Design by Heather Lipe, Woodchuck Arts.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Also by Sharon Merz

Dedication

Introduction

Part 1: The Beginning of My Journey

1: High Anxiety

2: A New Chapter

3: The Front Pew of the Country Church

4: Beyond Reading

5: "Amazing Things"

6: On the Move, Part 1

7: On the Move, Part 2

8: On the Move, Part 3

Poem: Renewal

Part 2: Preparing for the Journey

9: Spiritual Nutrition

10: Little Bookmark, Big Impact

11: Time with Him

12: Find Your Path

13: It's Time

Poem: Just a Closer Walk With Thee

Part 3: The Beginning of Your Journey

14: Exploration: SPECK

15: Exploration: Vowels (AEIOU)

16: Exploration: SOAP

17: Deep Read

18: Additional Readings

19: Extended Verison

20: Habit Forming

Heart Notes

Foot Nptes

About the Author

Landmarks

Cover

Also by Sharon Merz:

Strength for the Body & Soul

31 Recipes, Readings & Reflections

Dedication

Proverbs 11:30: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.”

This book is dedicated to Stephanie

Johanpeter, whose prayers and sound advice helped start me on my path toward “Renewal.”

Sadly, she passed away as this book was being finished, but her lively spirit continued to drive me toward completion.

It is my prayer that at least one person reading this book will find the same “renewal” that I have thanks to the wisdom of “Pastor Jo.”

Proverbs 13:14:

“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turn-ing a person from the snares of death.”

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:2

English Standard Version

ix

Introduction

Have you ever heard the caveat, “be careful what you say on Facebook”?

This book is black-and-white proof of that.

Three large states currently separate me from my friend Doug Apple. But we are close because of some “life overlap” that often puts us on the same page.

Oddly enough, we’ve never met in person. However, Doug grew up in the “little town” where I later lived as an adult. We both attended the same university and earned Journalism degrees just one year apart, although his focus was in radio broadcasting and mine was in newspapers and printing.

We both enjoy writing Bible-based devotions, so we have connected in a way that most people wouldn’t understand. Writers tend to look at things differently, so Doug and I understand somewhat how each other’s brains work. Because of these “coincidences,” it’s natural for us to comment on each other’s Facebook posts.

x

Like that one day.

Doug actually records his excellent devotions because they air on the Christian radio station which he manages, but he posts the script as well as the audio link to “My Heart is on Fire” on his Facebook page. One particular day, his devotion included an exhortation that his readers and / or listeners develop the habit of a regular quiet time.

I couldn’t resist.

“A regular quiet time has certainly changed my life and strengthened my faith! I would be happy to help anyone who’s not sure about the logistics or how to get started! (I’ve actually led seminars because I’m so passionate about it!)”

In typical Doug fashion, he replied, “Sharon, have you written about it? You’ve got me curious!”

Knowing I had already started down a slippery slope that I wasn’t sure was wanted, I hedged slightly. “I have a little. My former church in town here became involved in discipleship growth, and a regular quiet time that includes responding to God’s

xi

word was the cornerstone. A ‘devotional life seminar’ was a regular offering and I was highly involved.”

I continued, “Studies have shown a regular quiet time to be the most significant factor in spiritual growth.”

Doug prodded, “Maybe it’s time to write up your story and personal testimony and your tips into one tidy little devotional!”

We switched to private messaging to continue the conversation, and “Renewal” is the result of that exchange.

I confess that my “personal testimony” wasn’t something I looked forward to sharing. Indeed, even writing about the pain and anxiety was uncomfortable to me at times, even though the actual experiences were more than a decade ago.

Doug gave me those much-needed pushes as I was starting the process. There is no doubt in my mind that Doug Apple is remarkably skilled in both writing and encouraging!

I now encourage you to begin your own

spiritual journey toward

“Renewal.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encour-age one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

xiii

Part 1

The Beginning of MyJourney