Book Review: All to Jesus by Robert J. Morgan

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Robert Morgan

and the book:

All to Jesus

B&H Books (October 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Rick Roberson for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robert J. Morgan is a best-selling, Gold Medallion Award-winning author whose over twenty-five books include Then Sings My Soul, The Red Sea Rules, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart and The Children's Daily Devotional Bible. A staff writer for Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Points Magazine, he has also served as pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee, for three decades. Morgan and his wife have three daughters and ten grandchildren.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

"Cast all your cares on him." "Love the Lord with all your heart." "I can do all things . . . ." Most would be surprised at how often the word "all" appears in the Bible-literally thousands of times. And with each description of God's comprehensive promises, each reminder of our complete blessing in Christ, each appeal for our full and total surrender, His reputation grows larger before our eyes. We see again what He can do. We see again who we can be.

Based on the Bible's sizeable emphasis on this tiny yet powerful word "all," best-selling author and pastor Robert J. Morgan has created a remarkable 365-day spiritual growth experience in his new devotional, All to Jesus: A Year of Devotions (B&H Books, October 2012). A choice sampling of the Bible's most "all"-encompassing statements, All to Jesus will surround believers each day with inspiring stories, personal reflections and the encouraging assurance that they are cared for in ways they never imagined.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: B&H Books (October 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1433677865
ISBN-13: 978-1433677861

MY REVIEW:

I collect devotional books :). I'm so pleased to add All to Jesus to my collection. I really enjoyed devouring this book of 365 devotions, based on the Scriptures that contain the word "all". Each devotion is a page long and begins with a Bible verse. Many of them include wonderful, insightful stories, poems, parts of hymns, or quotes. I didn't realize that so many Scriptures have the word "all" (5,675 according to the author). This book helps me to take time to really ponder these Bible verses and thank God for all He is and all He does. He is truly all I ever need! Some of my favorites (I have tons) are Day 16 (Genesis 14:20), Day 22 (Ecclesiastes 3:20), Day 26 (Isaiah 38:16), and Day 33 (Job 1:22). Bonus: This book also includes a link for readers to get free downloads of more than 40 hymns. There are 9 blank prayer pages at the end of the book where you can write down your prayers. All to Jesus would make a lovely gift for any Christ's followers! 

"There are many philosophies in the world; but really, only two: Hope and Despair. Without Jesus Christ and His Word, all other philosophies ultimately end in existential gloom...Life is ultimately meaningless without God." ~Robert J. Morgan (from Day 22)

AND NOW...THE FIRST WEEK:

He is all in all to me,
And my song of songs shall be, Hallelujah, O My Savior,
I am trusting only Thee.

Fanny Crosby

Introduction

One evening several years ago when troubled about a particular matter, I sat at the dining room table and picked up my Bible. I turned to a little book near the back and read through 1 Peter, thinking the old fisherman might have an encouraging word for me. When I got to the last chapter, I came across verse 7: “casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” It was a verse I knew well, indeed had memorized it; but now I saw something I’d never seen before. It said: “casting ALL your care upon Him.”

Q&A with Robert Morgan, Author of All to Jesus Permission to reprint is authorized with credit given to Robert Morgan Can you tell us how your new devotional, All to Jesus, came into being? One night when I was troubled, I found 1 Peter 5:7, a verse of Scripture I had known for years:Casting all your care on Him for He cares for you. The word "all" struck me. I'd never seen it before. The verse would have been wonderful without it, but its inclusion lifted the promise to infinity. No burden or problem was beyond the reach of 1 Peter 5:7. I could cast "ALL" my burdens on Him without limitation. That mademe wonder if there were other verses in the Bible that were similarly modified with that little adjective and I found over 5000 of them. We selected 366 "alls" for this book. What is "the largest little word in all the world" and why do you think so? Someone said: "All means all and that's all all means." We often use the word "omni" to describe God--He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and so forth. The little word "all" is the earthly application of God's omni-qualities. It takes His infinite nature and shows us what it means to us here and now. The Lord doesn't waste words in His Book. In the verses above, the alls could easily have been left out; yet there they are. Seems it's one of God's favorite words. He used it thousands of times, often in passages that would have read nicely without it; yet the all maximizes the meaning to the absolute. It's the largest little word in the world, taking already-strong statements and broadening their applications to virtual infinity, which, after all, is what one would expect from an omnipotent Father. How many times is “all” mentioned in the Bible? Why do you believe God uses the word so frequently? The word “all” appears in the Bible 5,675 times. God loves to speak in all-encompassing superlatives because He is eternal and infinite. According to 2 Corinthians 9:8, He is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. What are a few of your favorite “all” verses and why? All things work together for the good of those who love God —Romans 8:28 You have thrown all my sins behind Your back—Isaiah 38:17 Even the hairs of your head have all been counted—Matthew 10:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart—Matthew 22:37 Trust in the Lord with all your heart—Proverbs 3:5-6 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened—Matthew 11:28 Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life—Psalm 23:6 (NIV) Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you—Matthew 6:33 What do you hope readers will take away from their daily readings of All to Jesus?  Each of these devotions is excerpted from my pulpit ministry and represents what I believe to be solid exposition of Scripture, sprinkled liberally with stories, quotes and interesting tidbits of truth. Each reading calls us to total faith and total obedience, based on the totality of God’s grace. Because He is our All in All, we can say, “All to Jesus.”