I wanted to let each of you know that my devotional book, The Heartbeat of God, is now being sold at a wonderful boutique called Philanthropy, in these three locations: Franklin TN, Houston TX, and Orlando FL. This store's motto is "fashion with compassion"; with this statement alone, one can see this is not your usual every-day retail store.

See their website's words of description: "Philanthropy is the recognized leader in cause-driven retailing. We curate and design our own apparel, home and gift products with purpose, passion, style, and quality offering our customers a unique platform for giving through our commitment to give a minimum of 10% of every sale to charity through local, national and global opportunities. The cornerstone of every Philanthropy store is the Prayer chapel. Our stores, our brand, our message is all centered around the idea of prayer. Prayers of thanksgiving, prayers for healing, prayers of hope, prayers of despair, loss and pain, prayers to the God of heaven who hears our prayers. We have hope not in the answers to our prayers, but in the one who answers them, in His time and His way. It is because of this hope, that we in turn share the love of Christ with others. We continually strive to be a generous expression of the heart of God in all we do as a company."

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love in words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

I'm thankful that the devotional prayer book, The Heartbeat of God, has found a home.

(the above crown, top AND bottom, says it all)Are you looking for a Christmas Devotional for yourself, personally, or for your family?

I invite you to read Who Is this Jesus? And Why Did He Come? This bookletis a simple, consice 25-day devotional, starting on December 1st, that will point you and your family to the heart of the Christmas Season: JESUS…Who HE IS, and Why HE CAME. Each day holds one truth to ponder in order to keep your Savior on the forefront of your mind and in the center of this season.

Check out this FREE ON-LINE devotional on my website:www.respitefortheweary.com.(See the picture of the devotional cover on the sidebar and click.)

May you and your family be blessed as you choose to cultivate a heart of worship this season for the King of kings, the Lord of lords, our Immanuel.
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Dear Faithful Readers and Friends of mine,

Please consider yourself personally invited to my book signing, The Heartbeat of God. I will be selling and signing books and my brother-in-law David Baxter will be having an amazing art exhibit. This event will take place in a beautifully renovated historic home, so mark your calndars for a meaningful and fun fall outing.

I hope to see you this Saturday, October 22! See the invitation below for more details.

His love, Chris

Dear Friends,

This is a gentle reminder about my recently released book. If you are looking for a 365 day devotional for Mother's Day, graduations, or newly weds please keep The Heartbeat of God in mind.

Locally, the books can be purchased at Hot Pink in Brentwood (231 Franklin Rd.). You can also order them from Amazon,amazon.com and from Clear Day Media Group,cleardaymediagroup.com. I have had many encouraging comments from readers thus far, and I continue to pray it will be a blessing to all those who read it.

With sincere thanks,
Chris

Dear Readers who are local to the Nashville/Brentwood/Franklin area,

I just want to let you know that my new 365 day devotional, The Heartbeat of God, is now being sold at:

 HOT PINK  

Hg Hill Shopping Center

231 Franklin Rd. Brentwood 37027

These books will make great Christmas gifts for family and friends. For those who are not local, the books can still be ordered from www.cleardaymediagroup.com.Thank you, friends, for your interest and encouragement concerning my website and now, this book.

May His Name be lifted high,
Chris

This morning I woke up struggling with deep emotions. Sometimes the circumstances of life can push me into a dark pit of despair. I hurt for people who are hurting. My heart aches for those who are suffering physically, those who are grieving emotionally, and those who are battling spiritually. Is there any hope at all in the midst of intense pain, heart breaking sadness, and heart aching struggle?

As I poured my wrestling thoughts out to the Lord in confusion and grief, He then poured into me, in perspective and love. He reminded me where to fix my gaze:Set your mind on the things above not on the things that are on earth. (Col. 3:2)So often, when I focus on the darkness only, I forget about the Light. In the midst of situations that I cannot understand, I must recall to my mind, the Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." (Lam. 3:22-24)

So yes, there is hope; it's in Him and Him alone. Nothing on this earth makes sense without the Hope of Glory shining His redeeming light into it. So shine on, sweet Savior. Shine your light into our pain, into our sorrow, into our struggle. We need You.

As you can imagine, my session with my Wise Counselor was pretty intense this morning; but I now have His peace to push through. Just to make His point clear to me, I was blessed with a complimentary, God-designed picture to remind me where to fix my eyes in the midst of dark times. I looked out of my window to see this magnicent sunrise.

From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. Ps 113:3

Arise, shine; for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. Is. 60:1-2

The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. (Num. 6:24-26)

Yes, in the midst of darkness, I will steadfastly gaze on the Hope of Glory, Jesus Christ.