Book Review: Stay By Me, Dear Friend by Julie Davis

Stay By Me, Dear Friend by Julie Davis

One of the great challenges of being a Christian is developing your personal relationship with Christ. Like most other relationships, it takes time, commitment, and interest to make progress. The goal is not simply to know the other but to love the other. When people fall in love, they think about each other all the time and want to be together all the time. It's a crazy and wonderful time. That's the way we Christians should be with Jesus, though it is much more tricky because it is so different from a romantic relationship. And it is so much more important.

Julie Davis provides a lot of devotional material to get the reader into that state of intimate friendship with Jesus. This book has, on each page, one or two related quotes, a reflection, and a short prayer. Facing pages have related materials with a shared title over the two-page spread. The reader can read one page if time is short or both pages to get some more depth or different perspectives on the same idea. The format works very well and is not tied down to days of the week or of the year. In the introduction, Davis even encourages readers to jump around. Find something useful or eye-catching or inspiring. The book is divided loosely into sections for different times of day, showing how to be aware of Jesus throughout the day, being present to Him and talking with Him like a good friend. It reminds me of Fiddler on the Roof, where the main character Tevye has a very frank and familiar way of talking with the Lord, which he does throughout his day, asking for help with a problem or complaining about a misfortune or offering advice on how to handle a situation (yes, Tevye gives advice to God!). We could all be more like Tevye and this book helps.

Highly recommended--I read through it quickly to write the review but will use it as a devotional and go through it at the proper pace.

Sample quote of a quote:

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its trouble. It empties today of its strength. Unknown [p.93]