Above is a pic of my youngest daughter and me.
My Husband, My brother in Christ
Eye Pain, Canning Jars and the Ultimate Book On Spiritual Warfare
So, when you get a book in from Amazon that your husband ordered and it is really thick and almost 800 pages, in maybe 9 or 10 point font, with the name of an author you never heard of... you can expect that if your husband hurts his eye because he was hammering rebar into the massive backyard retaining wall he's building and suddenly misses the rebar, resulting in a big chunk of rock flying into his eye and has to run up to the ER, and then comes home in lots of pain, and unable to read before bed as he always does... well, just expect that his wife, me, will be reading to him.
So there I was, propped next to my husband as he lay there with my prescribed canning jar ice-pack full of ice, water and salt, reading a book that has a recommendation printed on the back by C.H. Spurgeon that says, "Peerless and priceless; every line full of wisdom. The book has been preached over scores of times and is, in our judgment, the best thought-breeder in all our library." Why does it seem like he just gave a review of the Bible? Now, I know the book I am writing about in this post is not the Bible and I know you are probably wondering why my husband has a canning jar on his eye. BUT. this book is WOW! and as for the canning jar... comes from desperation when I had serious eye pain and was looking for relief. I realized that the bottom rim of the cold canning jar seemed to fit into my eye most comfortably and brought the quickest relief... as long as I did not freeze my eyeball.
Let me elaborate a tad on why "The Christian In Complete Armour: The Ultimate Book On Spiritual Warfare" by William Gurnall... and no, I have not made it through all 800 pages... is an essential book to not only have in your library, but actually read; even if it is in small doses over many years... because it could possibly cause your brain to hurt a bit...
it will bring you to your knees...--David wilkerson
it will revolutionize your life....--Leonard Ravenhill
It is truly a book for the lovers of sound doctrine!!!...--Me
I read to my husband and did not want to stop, even though my throat began to hurt. When I couldn't read out loud to him any more, I made sure he was comfortable and stole away with the book. Hey, he couldn't read it anyway. And now that he can read without my help, I sneak it away and put it back for him when he gets back from work. I typically mark books up when I read them, but since this is Jon's book and he is still reading it, I have refrained from underlining and folding over pages... oh, how I want to mark that book so I can find quickly what stood out to me. But then, I think I might be underlining way too much of it.
I'd leave you with an excerpt to chew on, but I struggle with what to choose... there are so many. And if such a thick book is too overwhelming, there is The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare. But then, one reviewer says, The daily portions lose the context of the full work, but stand well enough on their own. That makes this devotional an ideal, daily revisiting for those who have read the full set. But for those new to Gurnall, or those ready to move from milk to meat, but wanting small, savory morsels, this devotional is perfect.
You decide... but I say, get them both.
