A Lineage of Grace

Our bookgroup discussed this book last night...a compilation of five short stories of five unlikely women God chose to play key roles in the lineage of Jesus Christ. So timely (Advent) to reflect on how God sovereignly wove this lineage throughout HIStory into a tapestry of amazing(!) grace.

Book 1 - Unveiled

Tamar - a woman of hope. Betrayed & abused by the men who controlled her future, she yearned for justice (not retribution).

Book 2 - Unashamed

Rahab - a woman of faith. A woman w/ a past (a harlot) to whom God gave a future.

Book 3 - Unshaken

Ruth - a woman of love. As a young widow, she gave up everything, expecting nothing & God honored her.

Book 4 - Unspoken

Bathsheba - a woman who received grace. Her beauty stirred the passion of a king. Her pain moved the heart of God.

Book 5 - Unafraid

Mary - a woman of obedience. All eternity had been waiting for this moment. She responded in simple obedience to God's call.

***

To faithfully trust &/or obey God is a unique struggle for each woman yet the common denominator I find is a conscious choice each made at some point to trust & obey God despite their circumstances &/or failures. It seems, as a result of their struggles to remain faithful, their faith was actually being strengthened & perfected in that process - & "here" is where I could relate to each one of them to some degree.

The author builds her stories on biblical facts but uses creative license to fill in details that are not available there. She weaves cultural insight into each story that allows the reader to relate on a personal level to the characters portrayed. The only downside I see to reading Christian fiction of this nature is that if readers aren't familiar w/ the actual Biblical accounts, it would be difficult to decipher fact from fiction - but I really like that the author acknowledges that the Bible itself is the ultimate authority on people of the Bible & encourages her readers to read it for themselves to gain a greater understanding of its continuity, consistency & confirmation of God's plan for the ages ... that includes them!

I also like that the book includes Jesus' death & resurrection bc I've learned that when people ask questions such as Why/How could a loving God allow ______________ (fill in the blank w/ whatever comes to mind & I can assure you it will have been caused by - &/or the result of - someone's sin at some point in HIStory) one needs only to point them to the cross to help them understand the great length God went to - to provide a Savior ...

¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
^{John 3:16 - 18}

A blogger friend , Yiota - who lives in Greece, accepted an invitation to read the book "along w/ us" as well. Despite that it took a long time to get there & arrived at a very busy time, evenso - she read Mary's story & posted her thoughts here: http://shellsbellsflowersshowers.blogspot.com/2009/12/lineage-of-grace.html