Thank you so much for joining me this week for the launch of my book! If you got Romance’s Rest, I pray you find Kethin’s story a blessing that sticks with you and propels you nearer, still nearer to Jesus.
If you missed anything during this tour, you can always go back and find it using the list below. And don’t forget: the series is on sale through tomorrow, so grab it now!
Romance’s Rest launched yesterday, and today you can pick up ALL SIX Taerna books for under $10! Promise’s Prayer is FREE today, and the rest of the series is on sale for 50-75% off! Plus the rest of my books are also on sale.
Now’s a great time to pick them up! And spread the word.
Romance’s Rest is a journey into the heart of God—into His covenant relationship with His people and into the depths of true covenant love. This is a message laid strongly upon my heart—a message that every believer should internalize.
The message meshed into the story of Kethin—already a favorite character—and his romance mirrors the romance of God for His people.
I encourage you to go to the pages of Scripture. As you read its stories, accounts, histories, prophecies, and exhortations, ask God to open your eyes to His covenant, of which He has left echoes on every page of the Bible.
Above all, reader, may you, too, receive and embrace the depths of God’s steadfast, loyal, infinite love for you. May that love flow through you to all those around you in ways far beyond what you can imagine. He loves you more than you can ever dream!
Today I have a character spotlight on Kethin Ellith, the main character of the book! He’s such a fun, energetic character – go check it out! It’s posted by Chelsea Burden at Light in the Tunnel.C
It’s BIBLE STUDY DAY! Today we’re looking at a specific word in Scripture that’s very important to Kethin in Romance’s Rest–and to us also. In fact, this concept can be found on every page of the Bible.
“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:16-17
God is love.
It’s the most basic, foundational principle given to us in Scripture.
There is no love apart from Him. He IS love within Himself – pure, unfeigned, uninhibited love. However, God does not merely communicate His love within Himself; He communicates it to humankind.
The method by which God has chosen to communicate His love to humans is through covenant. From eternity, God’s covenant with His people has been based upon His steadfast love, which might be called covenant love. He expressed His covenant love in four ways: through creation, through Christ, through the cross, and through daily blessings.
By first understanding how His love is communicated through the covenant and then how that covenant love is expressed in history, we can not only appreciate the grandeur of His love for us but live within it—and let it flow through us to others.
The essence of covenant is encompassed in the descriptive Hebrew word hesed. Translated mercy, lovingkindness, steadfast love, and similar terms in Scripture, hesed refers to the unchanging, strong, loyal, faithful, deep covenant love of God.
Hesed is the Hebrew word used to describe the ongoing relationship of the parties in covenant who worked out the commitment made in covenant, the keeping of its promises and responsibilities
The Power of the Blood Covenant, Malcolm Smith, p. 22
The Hebrew conception of covenant is an unbreakable, binding agreement between two parties.
Often, a covenant was initiated by a superior, such as a king or sheik, to a lesser person. Typically, the covenant parties would arrange the covenant through a mediator, establish the covenant with an oath and shedding of blood, and celebrate the covenant through a shared meal. After a covenant, the two parties were friends—friends in a far deeper way than in the modern use of the term. Such friends were obligated to protect each other, stand by each other, and love each other intimately.
That is the type of covenant that God made with His people.
Examples of covenant are found throughout Scripture—God and Abraham, David and Jonathan, Joshua and the Gibeonites, and so on. The covenant is relationship: a love relationship with committed trust far beyond anything in modern human experience. Hesed love is the foundation of this covenant: a love that gives its all for its covenant partner and delights to do so because of the covenant between them.
A beautiful picture of the covenant love of God for man is expressed in Zephaniah 3:17. He does not communicate His love like human imagination might think that He would; instead, His communication is much richer and deeper than that.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Zephaniah 3:16-17
Hebrew is an extremely descriptive language, and the word pictures hidden within the Hebrew terms in this passage give valuable insight into the covenant love of God.
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.”
This refers to Yahweh Himself – the covenant partner. “In the midst,” in Hebrew, refers to the very center, the “nearest part,” to be “within.” It stems from a word that means “to bring near” (Strong’s Concordance). Literally, God could not be any nearer to His people than that—and yet He is constantly drawing them yet nearer to Himself.
“He will save.”
Yasha, the Hebrew term for “save,” means “to be open, wide, or free; to make safe” (Strong’s). Based on this definition, God opens Himself wide to His people, making them free and safe. The entire being of God is used for His people.
“He will rejoice over thee with joy.”
To “rejoice” is to be bright and cheerful; “joy” speaks of blithesomeness and glee. The LORD God Himself brightens up to see His people—that is how much He loves them!
“He will rest in His love.”
In the midst of His joy, Father rests in the great love that He has for His people. Sometimes His joy is too deep for words; He silently enjoys being with His children. His covenant love is the basis of perfect, eternal rest.
“He will joy over thee with singing.”
The word translated “joy” is a different word than the one used in the previous portion of the verse. Gul means, “to spin around (under the influence of any violent emotion), that is, rejoice” (Strong). “Singing” is “a creaking or shrill sound, that is, shout” (Strong).
If we believed that His love for us is so strong that He spins around, leaping, dancing, skipping, singing, and shouting for joy `all around, through, and in us for the sheer delight of His love for us, how much of a difference that realization would make in our lives!
That is the love of God undisguised.
That is the deep delight of God for each one of His children. God is thrilled and excited about each of us. He is crazily in love with you and with me. Such covenant love is unimaginable. It is infinite. It is who He is. That is the communication of His covenant love to us.
Greetings, friends! Welcome to the Romance’s Rest Blog/Media Launch Tour! In honor of Romance’s Rest releasing on the 21st, we have a whole week of virtual tour fun planned.
Sales on nearly all my other books (50%-75% off!). Get all 6 Taerna books for under $9 (reg. $23.) Promise’s Prayer is FREE Wednesday through Saturday; Victory’s Voice & Surrender’s Strength are 99 cents all week; Sustainer’s Smile and Memory’s Mind are $1.99 all week; Romance’s Rest is $2.99.
Book spotlights and reviews by a number of wonderful bloggers and Instagrammers
Guests posts on true Biblical love
I call this book “a romance novel for those who avoid romance novels.” So many romance novels fail to be clean. Or they are cheesy. Or unrealistic. Or too predictable. Or simply unbiblical or inappropriate for Christians.
But just because so many romance novels aren’t edifying for a believer, that doesn’t mean the subject of romance should be completely avoided in a novel.
On the contrary, we need a new perspective on the genre. What if we forget everything we know about romance storylines and go about it as the Bible teaches?
As a covenant. As love in a manner that our overused, misused English word “love” can’t quite convey. As a reflection of God and His people – and as God in the midst of His people. From a Kingdom perspective.
Her love seems to have passed him by. Little does he know that true covenant Love is knocking at his door.
Kethin Ellith’s life is brimful: a new town, his dream job working with people and animals, an active social life, and now a spunky, godly woman who has captured his heart. But how can he have any sort of relationship with her when she’s not even interested in a single conversation?
Faeth Dale delights in being an avid flower gardener and the middle sister of a lively, close-knit family. She has her own non-negotiable reasons for avoiding all male friendships, particularly with spiritually shallow men like Kethin. But would Adon Olam give her this apparently conflicted guidance?When rejection, grief, and longing jolt Kethin’s reality, knowing love seems permanently beyond him. And what is this spiritual concept of covenant he keeps encountering? As his struggles in this new relationship with Adon Olam intertwine with the struggles of his heart, Kethin comes face to face with both the starkness and breathtaking gloriousness of divine love itself—and a decision that costs him everything.
Content guide: No violence, no language, no fantasy or magic. Squeaky clean romance. A newly-engaged couple holds hands. A few brief mentions of forward people who unsuccessfully attempt to flirt with a character
Thank you so much for joining me this week for the launch of my book! I hope you have been encouraged, blessed, and challenged to abide more and more constantly in God’s Word through this launch week. And if you got Memory’s Mind, I pray you find Kelton’s story a blessing that sticks with you and propels you nearer, still nearer to Jesus.
If you missed anything during this tour, you can always go back and find it:
It’s You! Really. If you participated in the challenge, there is no prize I could give you that is greater than the one you’ve gained this week through meditating on Scripture. I truly hope you continue. I hope you go to your “meditation spot” or head out on a “meditation walk” today. I hope you ponder a passage in your head while you go to bed tonight. I hope you continue meditating on the Ten Commandments. I pray that Scripture fills up more and more of your mind throughout the day. For that is the true reward.
Look at just this small glimpse of a few of the things God has done in and through you in just these five short days!
WHAT MEDITATORS ARE SAYING
1 Corinthians 13:1-3: “It has helped me to see areas where I am not being loving and showing myself prideful in how much knowledge, wisdom, and giving I have.”
John 15:10-11: “Our joy may not be the way it’s supposed to be, but that doesn’t matter because we get Jesus’ joy!”
Hebrews 10:16: “I was struck again by the way in which He takes the responsibility for the covenant: ‘*I* will put…'”
Exodus 20:1-3: “I want God to be the only One I worship, not just the top, but the only. Not just the one I but above all other idols, but THE ONLY!”
Exodus 20:4: “He showed me some idols I may have in my life (or may be tempted to have), and reminded me that He is a jealous God, and He desires all my love and attention!”
I Corinthians 13:4-5: “I certainly can’t love others as He has called me.”
Matthew 6:32: “I was struck again by the fact that God already knows what we need & what we’re worried for.”
2 Corinthians 4:16: “I was really struck by the contrast between the outward and inward – I looked up the words and “Perish” literally means, “rot thoroughly” while “is renewed” means to “renovate”. I liked the contrast between the utter decay and the renovation – an upgrade, if you will. It was a cool thought that while our outward man may rot away, our inner man is being renovated daily!”
Exodus 20:5-6: “Visit: to go to see in order to comfort or help. ‘I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him.’ They hate Him, yet he visits, points out their sin and says, ‘I’m here to comfort, to show you the way to redemption.’”
Revelation 5: 1-20: “Nobody is worthy to enter heaven, but by God’s grace we are allowed in, but your actions count, so you still have to act in kindness, honesty, and love.”
1 Corinthians 13:6-8: “I need to be careful of my reactions to others and be quick to seek forgiveness for not loving others as He loves me. I need to repent.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18: “I marveled how our afflictions could be ‘light’ and ‘for a moment’ and looking up the literal translations of the words highlighted that momentariness as well as calling the ‘light affliction’ a ‘light pressure’ – which somehow gave me the sense of something pressing on your arm or hand – firm, yet not actually hurting that much, versus the ‘weight’ of glory so heavy we almost can’t bear it!! I remember hearing a story of a man who used to say ‘May the Lord bless you so much you can hardly stand it!’ and that’s kind of what I thought of!!”
Exodus 20:7: “God’s name is precious and holy, and it can’t be thrown around mindlessly. It also cannot be used as a cover for our sin.”
Leviticus 26:9: “God showed me that He wants to bless us. I know this might sound super simple, but I needed that reminder.”
Testimony: “I feel happier and more grateful today than I have in quite awhile! God is good.”
2 Samuel 14:14: I loved the meanings of the words that gave “devise means” a sense of weaving a plan, which made me think of how we plot stories 😉 and I also found it cool that “banished” and “expelled” were the same word in Hebrew, which made the whole phrase say that God “weaves a plan, that his banished be not banished” – it was such a cool thought, as well as a really comforting one!! God has made a way for His banished to be brought back!!
And look at ALL THIS SCRIPTURE that has been lodged in our minds and hearts, pondered repeated, and used to hear the voice of God this week! What a reward that is! (Feel free to download and save any of these images to use as a reminder to set your mind on the Word of God.)
And, in tiny token of that reward, I’m thrilled to grant a smaller prize to one of you. I’m honored to announce that the winner of the Memory’s Mind Meditation Challenge giveaway is…
LILY!
Congratulations!
Remember, you can still preorder Romance’s Rest! It’s currently 50% off and it’s coming April 21. If you’d like to join the launch team, you can do so here.
“Now go waste time with Adon Olam. He wasted a lot of time on you.”
If I could leave you with only one message from any of my books, the message of Memory’s Mind would be the one.
Not because it’s any more true or more Biblical than the message of my other books, but because if you, reader, can truly grasp and internalize the message of Memory’s Mind, you will—I guarantee it—find every other Scriptural and spiritual truth in a far deeper and more meaningful way than I could ever convey to you.
For if you will choose to meditate upon God’s Word day and night, filling your mind and heart with Scripture to the exclusion of focus on earthly things, God will reveal Himself to you in ways far beyond my ability to express. He will prove Himself to be your perfect Teacher. He will fulfill the promises of Psalm 1 and Joshua 1 in your life.
That is why I wrote Memory’s Mind.
And that, dear reader, is my heartfelt prayer for you.
Writing a fiction story about meditation proved to be an interesting challenge. If you’ve joined the meditation challenge this week, you might have discovered that meditating doesn’t make a very captivating story. It’s boring. It’s quiet. It’s lonely. It’s a struggle.
But it’s life. It’s rest. It’s peace. It’s knowing God. It’s loving God.
Yet how does one capture all that in a novel?
Memory’s Mind ended up being two parts: one part ten years earlier and the other seven years after the first end. Part One tells the story of Kelton’s inner struggles and his journey into learning to keep God’s Word. Part Two revisits the same struggles and follows him as he continues on that journey in everyday life . . . and amid the chaos of the capital city as the death of a king with no named successor leads to a gripping struggle for the throne. Intertwining Kelton’s journey with that of the palace people proved engaging – and presented truth in a gripping way that I can’t wait for you to read.
Check out these other posts celebrating the launch today:
Welcome to the final day of the Meditation Challenge! Although it IS the final day of the challenge, I hope and pray it won’t be the final day of your meditation. My prayer is that this will be a building block to continue the habit of meditation throughout your life.
How has it gone? What blessed you the most about this challenge? What, if anything, surprised you the most? What is one thing you’ll take away from this challenge when it’s completed? Leave a comment or shoot me a message – I’d LOVE to hear from you.
Most of all, THANK YOU for joining me and meditating together this week. Let’s go forth and seek God with all our hearts today!
If you’re just joining us, it’s not too late! Hop in and meditate with us today, then enter the giveaway.
If you missed the introduction post with its tips and ideas, you can catch up on the details here.
TODAY’S VERSE You can choose any verse, but if you’d like some guidance, here are two suggestions for today!
Track 1: The Law with Liliora: Exodus 20:8(-11)
Today we’re continuing our meditation upon God’s law in Exodus 20. You might notice that we didn’t make it all the way through the Ten Commandments this week… this was intentional – to encourage YOU to continue on once the challenge is completed! But for today, let’s prayerfully fix our mind upon Exodus 20:8. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
As long as he was abiding in the law of Adon Olam, he had nothing to worry about. Receiving the Word of Adon Olam was receiving His peace—a peace that no news could move.
Memory’s Mind, Erika Mathews
Track 2: Kelton’s Favorites: Matthew 6:6
Three times he repeated the words before his mind began to wander. Shutting his eyes, he pulled his thoughts back. Thy Father which is in secret. Thy Father which is in secret. If Father was in secret, Kelton guessed he’d better be in secret as well, if he wanted to find and know Him. It couldn’t get much more secret than in this hammock, alone in the woods in the middle of nowhere. His eyes still closed, he relaxed. Somewhere in the distance, the lake lapped. Birds chattered. A wave of sleepiness rolled over him… He forced his eyes open. A squirrel scampered from tree to tree, pausing to keep a watchful eye on Kelton. Clouds rolled slowly past, peeking through the gaps in the tree leaves overhead, branches waving. Thy Father which is in secret. This was a peaceful place to find Him.
Memory’s Mind, Erika Mathews
Now go meditate!
… Now come back and enter the giveaway! Remember, you can enter every day you complete the challenge. Today is the LAST DAY to enter.
Tomorrow’s launch day, and today is the day that you can pick up ALL SIX Taerna books for under $10! Promise’s Prayer is free today only, and the rest of the series is on sale for 50-75% off! Plus the rest of my books are also on sale.
Now’s a great time to pick them up! And spread the word.
You made it to Day #4! I’m so thrilled that you’re here meditating on God’s Word together and drawing nearer to Him.
If you’re just joining us, it’s not too late! Hop in and meditate with us today, then enter the giveaway.
If you missed the introduction post with its tips and ideas, you can catch up on the details here.
TODAY’S VERSE You can choose any verse, but if you’d like some guidance, here are two suggestions for today!
Track 1: The Law with Liliora: Exodus 20:7
Today we’re continuing our meditation upon God’s law in Exodus 20. May God wash you with the water of His Word today as you spend time listening to Him through His law.
Kelton began to meditate on the law throughout the day as he tackled the ordinary home tasks alongside of Liliora.
Memory’s Mind, Erika Mathews
Track 2: Kelton’s Favorites: Matthew 6:24
“‘No man can serve two masters,’” he muttered—not too loudly but still audibly. “‘No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.’” Several times he repeated it, pondering its meaning. Since he’d first heard this passage as a small child, he’d had questions. Why did it refer to hating and loving as well as holding to and despising? Wasn’t it just two different ways of saying the same thing? Reaching the creek, he crouched at its bank and watched the slim stream sliding by. Someday perhaps he’d understand that verse. For now, he’d keep musing.
Memory’s Mind, Erika Mathews
Now go meditate! See if God leads you to prayer through your meditation before the end of your time today.
… Now come back and enter the giveaway! Remember, you can enter every day you complete the challenge.
