No matter what your faith, it’s always nice to go to bed reading a chapter of a beautiful Devotional. Rather than depressing news or social media feeds. It helps to remind us that (mostly) the world is good and full of good people. And having a faith (most people do, even in remote areas of the world) can often help, when life is feeling like it’s too much to bear, especially with present events. Also read of reasons to make time in your life for prayer.
Pilgrim is a beautiful devotional by celebrated artist Ruth Chou Simons, featuring 25 ways God’s character can lead us onward. Leave each day as a pilgrim, travelling the path that Jesus sets before you. Though the road may be rocky, God provides reminders along the way, to show that He writes your story, paves your path, and walks with you always. The book features stunning art alongside 25 devotions to help you:
- Explore proof of God’s faithfulness in both Scripture and holy life
- Engage with key theological attributes of God
- Encounter hymns from history to illuminate timeless truths
- Experience peace, from focusing your heart on God’s character
The book reminds us of profound truths, by showing us how God’s grace shape each person’s unique journey, of conforming to the image of Christ. Knowing God’s character can make all the difference. When your travels leave you worn and weary, God will not abandon you. You can lay your burdens in His hands, find hope in His presence, and follow His path as He leads you onward.
Fields of Joy is a book combining 58 Scriptures with hand-painted art and a short heartfelt truth to direct thoughts, to find joy in your Saviour. A book to help transform your mind and shape your heart, find true lasting happiness, in a world of countless counterfeits.
These short meditations encourage you to preach truth to your own heart. Find encouragement in Ruth’s words, to learn to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’. These powerful reminders of God’s faithfulness will drive you to depend further on His Word, and find lasting peace.
Beholding and Becoming is a book to introduce you to everyday workshop. What moves your heart, drives your thoughts or captures your gaze? We become what we behold, when wet our hearts and minds on Christ. Not just on Sundays or holidays, but today. This devotional includes 850 pieces of original art to elevate your gaze to the One who created all things.
Now and Not Yet is a new Bible Study Guide from Ruth. What lessons do we learn as the seasons hold, and we keep hoping for prayers to be answered. In this six-week study, you’ll explore five narratives that put God’s faithfulness to waiting people on display, and help direct your gaze from the answers, to the God you seek who meets you, while you wait.
a beautiful Devotional for the Christmas days
Emmanuel is a beautiful Christmas devotional, again with gorgeous illustrations to partake in a season of surrender, and discover the true meaning behind Christmas. This book is an invitation to rejoice in the everlasting fellowship and hope extended to us on the day of His song’s birth.
a refreshing take on the standard Devotional
Sacred Belonging is a different kind of devotional, more deep and intelligent than most of the fodder churned out in bookstores. One trauma therapist says this is ‘a devotional for all of us who feel cringey about devotionals’. In 40 days, let Cuban-American theologian Kat Armas show how reading the Bible with fresh eyes, allows us to experience God in new liberating ways.
There’s a hunger for a new kind of Christian devotional that speaks to a more liberated faith that also is more inclusive to women and people of colour. Drawing from personal narrative and Scripture, Kat highlights Biblical passages that point towards themes on creation, wisdom, spirit and the feminine. A faith where we belong to God, the earth and one another.
Kat’s other book Abuelita Faith is also an interesting read, on how strong women can be inspired by the unnamed and often overlooked theologians in society and the Bible – mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters, whose survival, strength, resistance and persistence teach us the true power of faith and love. Kat herself grew up on the outskirts of Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood, with her earliest theological beliefs coming from her grandmother, who fled Cuba during the height of political unrest and raised three children alone, after her husband passed away. She shows us how voices on the margins (people often dismissed, isolated or oppressed due to their gender, socio-economic status or lack of education) have more to teach us about following God, than we know.
Kat lives in the USA with her husband (a white male with a bright red beard, who’s covered in freckles). He regularly reads black literature and educates himself on black culture, then writes short stories about how he imagines their experiences to have been. He also once walked out of a church when the pastor (his boss) told Kat she had not asked for permission to read the Bible with some girls in church. This is real Christianity!
a (recycled) Christian Bible study journal
This Christian Bible Study Journal is by a company in England that produces beautiful Christian cards and journals, all made with recycled paper and sent in plastic-free packaging. This is a study journal to study God’s Word, and includes a suggested 30-day reading plan, with tips on how to get started.
You are encouraged to fill the 76 pages with your thoughts as you go throughout. Perfect for the novice or devout prayer study, this can help you walk with Christ during difficult times. Also makes a lovely zero waste gift.
The A5 square-spined staple-bound journals contain uncoated recycled pages with a delicate tropical leaf design on each page, plus a recycled cover that also features hand-drawn illustrations, printed with vegetable inks. Designed and printed locally, colours may vary, due to the nature of the recycled material.
