The following is a note from the author of "Redeeming Love"....in my opinion, one of the greatest love stories ever written. It's a truly compelling novel, based on the book of Hosea. There is power in this beautiful story, and it will change your life. I challenge you to pick it up...you won't want to sleep until you've finished it!
"Many Christians talk about a single conversion experience that changed their lives forever. They can tell you the day and the hour they made their decision to live for the Lord. I can’t do that.
I was reared in a Christian home. I went to Sunday school and church camp. I attended youth groups. When I filled out various forms that asked what religion I was, I checked the box that said “Protestant”. Yet for me, my actual conversion came slowly – like the changing of seasons – and with a power that still humbles me.
I will not go into details about the mistakes I made. Suffice it to say I was burdened and soul-hungry…yet even through the hardest times, I can look back and see that God showed His love and concern for me. He was constantly holding out His arms and saying, “Come to me”…
I was reared in a Christian home. I went to Sunday school and church camp. I attended youth groups. When I filled out various forms that asked what religion I was, I checked the box that said “Protestant”. Yet for me, my actual conversion came slowly – like the changing of seasons – and with a power that still humbles me.
I will not go into details about the mistakes I made. Suffice it to say I was burdened and soul-hungry…yet even through the hardest times, I can look back and see that God showed His love and concern for me. He was constantly holding out His arms and saying, “Come to me”…
We opened our house for a home Bible study, and our pastor began a study on the gospels. Then we did a study on materialism. Then we began a study on the minor prophets. We eventually came to the book of Hosea. That portion of God's Word hit me so profoundly that I knew this was the love story the Lord wanted me to write! His story, a deeply moving story of His passionate love for each of us - unconditional, forgiving, unchanging, everlasting, self-sacrificing - the kind of love for which most people hunger their entire lives, yet never find.
Writing Redeeming Love was a form of worship for me. Through it, I was able to thank God for loving me even when I was defiant, rebellious, contemptuous of what I thought being a Christian meant, and afraid to give my heart away. I had wanted to be my own god and have control of my life the way Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Now I know to be loved by Christ is the ultimate joy and fulfillment. Everything in Redeeming Love was a gift from the Lord: plot, characters, theme. None of it is mine to claim.
There are many who struggle to survive in life, many who have been used and abused in the name of love, many who have been sacrificed on the altars of pleasure and “freedom”. But the freedom the world offers is, in reality, false. Too many have awakened one day to discover they are in bondage, and they have no idea how to escape. It is for people such as these that I wrote Redeeming Love – people who fight, as I did, to be their own gods, only to find in the end that they are lost, desperate, and terribly alone. I want to bring the truth to those trapped in lies and darkness, to tell them that God is there, He is real, and He loves them – no matter what.
I used to believe the purpose in life is to find happiness. I don’t believe that anymore. I believe we are all given gifts from our Father, and that our purpose is to offer them to Him. He knows how He wants us to use them. I used to struggle to find happiness, I used to work to attain it. By the world’s standards, I was successful. But it was all meaningless vanity. Now I have joy. I have everything I ever wanted or dreamed of having: a love that is so precious I can find no words to describe it. I haven’t achieved this through my own efforts. I certainly have done nothing worth to earn it or even deserve it. I have received it as a free gift from the Lord, the everlasting God. It is the same gift He offers you, every minute, every hour, every day of your life.
I hope this story will help you see who Jesus is and how much He loves you. And may the Lord draw you to Him"
