Awaiting the Manger by Ocieanna Fleiss

 Discover Jesus in the Old Testament

Celebrate the hope of Christmas as you witness how God has written the promise of Immanuel, “God with us,” into human history! Awaiting the Manger journeys with you through the Advent season, illuminating how God used the lives of ordinary people to foreshadow Christ’s coming during the centuries and even millennia before his birth.

Through daily readings, you’ll dive into Old Testament stories brought to life with vibrant cultural and historical insights. You’ll explore each account first through the perspective of those who lived it, and then by uncovering how it fits into the sweeping arc of our redemption. Each reading is followed by a devotional prompt, including a

• reflection question to encourage journaling or discussion
• prayer to spark heartfelt conversation with God
• Scripture passage for further study
• Christmas hymn to inspire individual or family worship

Awaiting the Manger will enrich your experience of Advent and your understanding of the Old Testament as you rejoice in the tenderness and compassion God has shown his people from the very beginning. 

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Awaiting the Manger: Whispers of Advent in the Old Testament: Fleiss, Ocieanna: 9780736987783: Amazon.com: Books

Hi friends and readers,

I'll list three (hopefully) interesting facts about me. (The third one's the most exciting.)

One, I've been writing since I was a kid. My favorite part of writing is sharing the truth of God's Word--that he loves us like there's no tomorrow--through both fiction and non-fiction.

Two, I've been blessed with with four amazing kids--two of which are teenagers! I love my family. They are the joy of my heart, but let's be real, parenting is hard. Sometimes I know I couldn't make it through a single day without God's help.

Finally, a few years ago I died. I was lying in my bed watching TV and my heart stopped. My husband gave me CPR until the paramedics revived me. This event changed EVERYTHING in my life. Mostly, it taught me to love like I never had before. You can learn more about my cardiac arrest story at ocieanna.com.

The Gift of the Outsider by Alicia Akins

 

Too often, cultural belonging becomes a battle, and its winners gain the world: access, comfort, safety, community. Yet for those on the margins—set apart from their culture by differences such as ethnicity, class, ability, and faith—God offers something even greater.

The Gift of the Outsider celebrates the blessings found in unbelonging—and calls Christians of all backgrounds to love and listen to their community’s outcasts. As a Christian, a Black American, a woman, and an expatriate, author Alicia J. Akins offers heartfelt reflections on her own experiences as an outsider. She illuminates how we can

• cherish the unique gifts that God bestows on those who endure loneliness and adversity
• encourage and humbly receive the invaluable insights outsiders of all kinds have to offer
• delight in how the differences within God’s people reflect his majesty—and how Christ’s reign unifies all believers

Compassionate and biblically grounded, The Gift of the Outsider enriches today’s broader conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion, and is sure to encourage and challenge outsiders and insiders alike.

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The Gift of the Outsider: What Living in the Margins Teaches Us About Faith: Akins, Alicia J, Oshman, Jen: 9780736984232: Amazon.com: Books

No Author picture available 

Alicia J. Akins is an author who finds herself at home both nowhere and anywhere. Her interest in how differences can be our strengths has taken her across the globe and after living and working in Asia for five years, she considers it a second home. She is a master’s student at Reformed Theological Seminary, Washington D.C., and has previously published Invitations to Abundance, also with Harvest House. You can find more of her writing at FeetCryMercy.com​ and follow her on Twitter ​@FeetCryMercy.

Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating by Barb Raveling GIVEAWAY!

 

Author Barb Raveling has been caught in the bondage of emotional eating, stuck in a cycle of gaining and losing weight—but she’s also experienced how submitting to Christ’s commands healed her broken relationship with food. In Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating, Barb shares what she’s learned to help you regain control over what, when, and why you eat.

These 100 exercises based on biblical teachings will change how you see food, dieting, and weight loss. As you read, you will

• grow closer to God as you honestly and humbly present your struggles to Him
• build boundaries to stop you from using food as a coping mechanism—and make emergency plans for when you’re tempted to overindulge
• find freedom from strongholds by focusing your mind on God’s desires for your heart

When you trade the lies that lead you to overeat for the truths that set you free, you’ll find yourself craving closeness with God above all else. Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating will help you build effective strategies for maintaining a spiritually satisfying relationship with food.

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Say Goodbye to Emotional Eating: 100 Renewing Exercises to Help You Break Free from the Control of Food: Raveling, Barb: 9780736985598: Amazon.com: Books

Barb Raveling is a podcaster and author of seven books and Bible studies in the area of personal growth. Her top-ranked podcasts, Taste for Truth and the Christian Habits Podcasts, have earned over a million downloads and continue to inspire people to break free from their strongholds and grow closer to God. Barb writes from her own experience (she's been consistently renewing her mind for life change since 2000) and her education as an executive Christian coach, certified through Coach Approach Ministries. You can connect with Barb at barbraveling.com.

By Way Of Deception by Amir Tsarfati

 Nuclear Deception 

 
The Mossad has uncovered Iran's plans to smuggle untraceable weapons of mass destruction into Israel. The clock is ticking, and agents Nir Tavor and Nicole le Roux can't act quickly enough.

Nir and Nicole find themselves caught in a whirlwind plot of assassinations, espionage, and undercover recon, fighting against the clock to stop this threat against the Middle East. As they draw closer to danger—and closer to each other—they find themselves ensnared in a lethal web of secrets. Will they have to sacrifice their own lives to protect the lives of millions?

Inspired by real events, authors Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn reteam for this suspenseful follow-up to the bestselling Operation Joktan. Filled with danger, romance, and international intrigue, this Nir Tavor thriller reveals breathtaking true insights into the lives and duties of Mossad agents—and delivers a story that will have you on the edge of your seat.

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By Way of Deception (A Nir Tavor Mossad Thriller): Tsarfati, Amir, Yohn, Steve: 9780736986427: Amazon.com: Books

Amir Tsarfati was born in Israel and has lived there most of his life. Since fulfilling his mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Force, he has continued as a major in the IDF Reserve. Amir has been a tour guide in Israel for the last twenty years, and served as chief tour guide of Sar El Tours and CEO of Sar El Tours and Conferences. In 2001, he became founder and president of Behold Israel – a non-profit organization which provides worldwide real-time access to reliable sources of news and information about Israel from within the powerful context of Bible history and prophecy.

Amir is married to Miriam, and together they have four children. His home overlooks the valley of Megiddo (Armageddon) which is a constant reminder of the call that the Lord has placed on him to teach from the Bible what God’s plans are for the end of times.

Daniel's Final Week By Donna Vanliere

 

A mysterious leader returned from the dead.
A planet filled with fallen angels.
An execution order against millions.
Yet amidst these evils, God’s hope prevails.
After his apparent resurrection, beloved leader Victor Quade is hailed internationally as God. Yet when Victor mandates that everything from purchasing groceries to seeing a doctor will require a mark of allegiance to him, Emma Grady and her friends in New York know they must flee.

Meanwhile, in Israel, the Jewish people worship Victor as a messiah, not realizing he intends to seal their doom. As Jews and Jesus-followers around the globe lose their lives, Zerah Adler strives to protect as many as possible in this violent, volatile time.

In this spellbinding conclusion to the end-times trilogy that began with The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, bestselling author Donna VanLiere brings the stories of Emma and Zerah to a riveting close. In the final chapters, you’ll discover what God’s Word reveals about the glorious future that awaits you and see that things aren’t spiraling downward but are actually looking up! 

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Daniel's Final Week: VanLiere, Donna: 9780736980494: Amazon.com: Books 

..a mom, a wife, an animal lover, and a closet comedian at home. She's passionate about cooking (...and eating), reading, movies and teaching, inspiring, challenging and encouraging dreamers! She doesn’t like watching sports on TV but is a huge fan of athletes under five feet tall who call her Mom. Donna also loves to write books. As a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, her 14 titles include The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing - both of which were adapted into movies starring Rob Lowe, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Neil Patrick Harris. Both movies garnered stellar ratings for CBS, including the highest rated made-for-TV movie of the year. The Christmas Hope starring Madeline Stowe was adapted by Lifetime Television, and her movies The Christmas Secret and The Christmas Note when aired were among the highest rated movies in the history of the Hallmark Movies and Mystery channel. Donna's non-seasonal novel's, The Good Dream, Angels of Morgan Hill and non-fiction works like Finding Grace and High Calling - the biography of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband - capture the same warmth and poignancy as her Christmas books.

Donna has won a Retailer's Choice Award for Fiction, a Dove Award, a Silver Angel Award, two Audie Awards (seven nominations) for best inspirational fiction, has been a nominee for a Gold Medallion Book of the Year and is an inductee in the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges Hall of Excellence joining such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Hugh Downs, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Senator John Glenn. She also serves on the board of directors for National House of Hope, a residency program that is offered in several states for abused and at-risk teens. (By the way, if you’re looking for a place to give or to serve, look no further than here… www.NationalHouseofHope.org)

Donna's mini-van is staring down 200,000 miles as she runs her kids to school, drama and tennis practices, Tae Kwon Do, church, and the grocery store all while promising her editor to meet her book deadlines (...which occasionally does happen). She loves to spend her summers with her family around the swimming pool or a campfire.

One of Donna’s great loves is teaching and speaking. She has appeared at countless events around the country including keynote addresses at the prestigious Patricia Adams Lecture Series at Heidelberg University, Women of Faith, Among Friends Conferences and Extraordinary Women.