I am indebted to Pastor Brady Boyd for a
complimentary copy of the book, "Sons & Daughters" published by
Zondervan 2012. It was an honor to read the book and also a privilege to highly
recommend the book to others.
The book is presented in three parts. Part
1 is called The Path to Sonship; Part 2 called Living
Well-Loved; and Part 3 entitled Carriers of Grace. I will have to admit that
Part 1 really spoke to me. It seemed that on just about every page something
touched my heart. I think it is beneficial that this book is written in short,
almost essay-type readings so I could stop after each chapter, think about how
it applied to me and allow the embedded truth to sink in.
I'm like so many others who will read this
book - I get stuck in a slave mentality always looking for something to do in
order to prove my worth or better myself within the Kingdom. It's difficult to
just relax and enjoy being a son. Most
of us, even if we came out of the traditional two-parent family, grew up as
spiritual orphans. Not only did we need a Savior but we needed a Spiritual
Father. Too often we don't give God the opportunity to father us because we are
too busy trying to please Him or earn His approval. It's a tough, never ending
battle for some of us.
Allowing the truth of who we are in Christ
to become real and set us free from the slave mentality is difficult. Some days
are good but other days the lies of the enemy come through loud and clear.
I would have to say the third part of the
book - "Carriers of Grace" - dealt
more with what happens when we treat others out of our orphan spirit. We become
critical; we become thoughtless in our relationships; and we allow our
attitudes to become less than "blessable."
I loved Pastor Brady's insights into how
the orphan spirit affects marriage, our relationships with our kids and our
relationship with those we work with and those we minister to. I would have to
say that we have a mandate from God to walk in the spirit of sonship that is
offered to us and to allow God to be our Father and to accept the fact that He
is crazy about us.
The book is full of personal stories from
Pastor Brady; both his successes and what may be perceived as failures. I would
rather think of them as teachable moments because God extends His grace to us
in those moments to remind us, not only of His love for us, but His love for
those He places in our lives. Extending grace to others can only come about as
we receive God's grace and walk in relationship with Him.
