Introduction
Introduction
Everyone loves a good story. Some of your fondest childhood memories may be of a parent or grandparent reading you your favorite bedtime story. During your school years, you may have read books by authors like Beverly Cleary, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, or Charles Dickens.
When you pick up your Bible and read the Gospels, you learn that Jesus was a skillful storyteller. People followed Him and longed for a compassionate glance, a healing touch, or an answer to their desperate need. When crowds gathered around Him, He didn’t teach like the Pharisees, dispensing long lists of rules to follow. Instead, Jesus gave them the truth in the form of parables. People loved good stories then, and they love them now.
But as appealing as it is to sit down with a good book, women today may feel they don’t have as much time as they would like. In spite of all the modern conveniences we have, we are busier than ever. Many women work, attend Bible studies, contribute to their communities, and care for their families. And in the midst of living our lives, sometimes we deal with issues our mothers and grandmothers never dreamed of.
So for today’s busy women, we have compiled 365 one-page devotionals that are written in story form in Journey: Day by Day. Rather than the expository style of writing that you may find in your Sunday school lesson, these devotionals are real stories written by women, for women. They realistically address the problems and challenges we face while offering the hope and encouragement found only in the person of Jesus Christ through cultivating a deep, abiding relationship with Him.
I pray that as you take a few minutes to read each devotional and meditate on each verse, You will allow the Lord to speak to your heart. And dear sisters, I pray as you read this book, He will help you grow closer to Him. Because “He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).
Susan Nelson