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    Who I Want to Be: A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew
    Who I Want to Be: A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew
    Who I Want to Be: A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Who I Want to Be: A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew

    By Camy Tang, Audrey Appenzeller, Victoria Bylin and

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    About this ebook

    You are not alone.

    Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

    Matthew 11:28

     

    Thirty-one authors share their hearts and struggles in this look within the Biblical book of Matthew. We pray that from these devotionals, you will know that Jesus loves you deeply. You are not alone. There is no place you have gone that is too far away from God, and He alone can help you truly be the person you want to be.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCamy Tang
    Release dateDec 11, 2018
    ISBN9781386145523
    Who I Want to Be: A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew
    Author

    Camy Tang

    Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. She used to be a biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. On her blog, she ponders frivolous things like knitting, dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands, the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. And on her Facebook page, the silliness is unleashed. Join her online!

    Read more from Camy Tang

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      Book preview

      Who I Want to Be - Camy Tang

      Who I Want to Be:

      A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Matthew

      Compiled by Camy Tang

      Contributors:

      Audrey Appenzeller

      Victoria Bylin

      Lyn Cote

      Judy DeVries

      Danica Favorite

      Janet W. Ferguson

      Deborah Hale

      Eva Maria Hamilton

      Sharon Hinck

      Kristin Holt

      Carole Lehr Johnson

      Jill Kemerer

      Wendy Lawton

      Jackie Layton

      Catherine Lynn

      Autumn Macarthur

      Kathy McKinsey

      Dineen Miller

      Robin Patchen

      James L. Rubart

      Renee Ryan

      Regina Scott

      Morgan Tarpley Smith

      Anna Spencer

      Jennifer Spinola

      Camy Tang/Camille Elliot

      Janet Tronstad

      MaryLu Tyndall

      Lenora Worth

      Cheryl Wyatt

      Kathleen Y’Barbo

      FOREWORD

      When I saw the title of this book Who I Want to Be, this phrase came to my mind: You are not your own creation. Your life is not your project but God’s project.

      Busyness is a problem in our daily living. Hobbies, volunteering, children’s lessons, husband’s business trips……Thanks to today’s technology, you are expected to respond to work-related inquiries even when you are not in your office and are constantly concerned about information or evaluation on social networks. You are instilled by a competitive spirit wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

      Beginning a devotional journey in such a time as this is valuable for you to find the real you. I am confident that you will be able to reflect on your life’s purpose through this book and remember that your purpose is not to be happier than someone else by building up better accomplishments and experiences.

      Who you will become is more important in your life than what you accomplish. The world demonstrates our inadequacy and slaps the list of things to do in front of us. However, the God who created you prepares many blessings you are meant to receive, because it is only God the Creator who understands who you really are and desires for you to become who you want to be. This is far more wonderful than you can imagine.

      In this devotional book, 31 authors who received wonderful gifts from God wrote the treasured blessings that they received and were made aware of by God through their daily living. It is a jewelry box full of treasures received by these authors through the words in the Bible and silent meditation.

      Matthew, the author of the book of Matthew, was a Levite and his job was to collect taxes. Because of his occupation, he was lonely, hated by people, and had no confidence. When Jesus Christ found him, talked to him, and befriended him, his life was completely transformed into a life of joy. Your life would miss such blessing and joy without encountering Jesus Christ, so it is my sincere prayer for you to meet Him and be filled with His presence, as you search for who you want to be.

      In California,

      Yoshinosuke Nakao

      Pastor of Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church

      A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

      To you, our reader:

      I and my fellow authors pray that from this devotional book, you will realize that Jesus loves you deeply. You are not alone. There is no place you have gone that is too far away from God, and He can help you to be the person who you want to be.

      —Camy Tang

      Proceeds support the translation and distribution of this book by missionaries to women in Japan

      How to use this book:

      The devotionals in this book are each based on the section from the book of Matthew that is listed at the start of each piece of writing. We suggest you read the passage in Matthew, then read the devotional.

      MATTHEW 1

      The New Testament begins with a genealogy—the parentage from Abraham, the father of the Israelites, to Jesus, the Savior of the world. The fact that this gospel, this sacred text, begins with a list of names demonstrates for us how important heritage was to the Israelites—and therefore, how important it should be to us today. But it also demonstrates something else—that we are neither destined to live up to the greatness of our ancestors nor destined to repeat their sins. We can know where we came from without becoming who our ancestors were.

      What types of people did Jesus come from? There was Abraham—the man whose faith made him righteous (Romans 4:30). And there was David, considered a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). But there were some less savory folks—Rahab the prostitute and Tamar, who deceived her father-in-law and bore his children. There were countless kings in the line of David including Solomon, the wisest man of his time (I Kings 4:30) and Ahaz and Manasseh, two of the most evil men in the Bible.

      In Matthew 1, we meet Joseph, Mary’s husband, a just and kind man who didn’t want to shame his wife, even though she became pregnant before they were intimate. It also shows Joseph as an obedient man, for when the angel appeared to him and told him to take her as his wife, Joseph did what he was told, despite the snickers and rumors he very likely suffered from the people in his hometown.

      Joseph was his own man, not the same as great people in his past—Abraham and Solomon and David—nor the same as the evil ones.

      Jesus, Joseph’s son in every way except biological, also defied his earthly parentage. Whereas even the righteous ones who preceded him weren’t sinless, Jesus took after His Heavenly Father and came to earth and lived a perfect sinless life.

      Despite our parentage and upbringing, we are called to be not like our earthly parents—good or bad—but like our Heavenly Father. Holy and righteous. And by the grace

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