The Journey
Lead Me On: Letting God and His Word have Impact on Our Lives, Daily
Interesting and straightforward, The Journey encourages living a life that befits Jesus’s sacrifice.
Linda Letkemann’s The Journey is a guide to overcoming stress and growing in the Christian faith to enjoy the life that followers of Jesus are called to.
Imparting knowledge and faith with a deep understanding of the Christian walk, the book is composed of three different parts. It first explores the nature of God and God’s word, explaining why obedience to God cultivates a life of fulfillment. Its next section focuses on thriving in all matters of life, from its social and financial to its personal aspects. In the third part, rising above challenges and waging war against evil are given preeminence. In between, specific issues that many Christians encounter, as well as hindrances to progress, are addressed. Scriptures relating to the subject matter are quoted and give weight to the book’s messages.
A handful of personal accounts dot the narrative, adding a flavor of candidness and depths of meaning, showing how the book’s messages are particularly relevant in today’s world. Deferential and self-effacing, they recount instances when the author made mistakes and reflect on what she learned along the way. They are great lesson points that acknowledge the difficulties involved in living a life of reverence to God but still offer encouragement.
The book’s purpose is spelled out intelligibly. Sections and subsections are clearly marked. In some cases, curiosity-piquing questions are put forward, then well-thought-out explanations are provided. Under the topic of crisis in marriage, for example, two sympathetic questions are posed: is there is an easy way out, and what can be done? On financial issues, questions like “How did we get here?” are examined. Language is clear and the voice is assertive. Christians are encouraged to understand their faith and not to be content settling for the unexceptional.
Common impediments to faith are touched upon with care, including apathy, misguided attitudes towards God, and feelings of hopelessness. Letkemann does not shy away from exploring tough topics like sexual purity; instead, she dives in headlong, pointing to the Bible as the authority behind her perspective. For example, to defend the notion that God will act, the story of Jonathan and his army fighting against the Philistines is discussed.
Explanations are sometimes overly lengthy. Many sections contain too much detail and too wide a range of information. However, impressive work still shines through, particularly in the third section, in which tactics and strategies for overcoming the devil are explained in detail. Faith is described as a weapon against fear, while living a life of surrender to God is suggested as a technique to avert evil. The value of learning to resist “the enemy” is clearly outlined.
The three-section breakdown serves the book well, parsing its heavy material into graspable chunks. The sections work well together to inspire Christian growth.
Interesting and straightforward, The Journey encourages living a life that befits Jesus’s sacrifice.
Reviewed by
Edith Wairimu
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
