66 Love Letters. A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story

393 Pages·2009·1.6 MB·English

by  Larry Crabb

PRAISE FOR 66 LOVE LETTERS
“My longtime friend and colleague, Larry Crabb, has always had a way of
getting to the heart of the matter in people’s lives and in the Bible too. He is a
master at it, blessed by God in it. In this book he brings the story and message of
the Bible, book by book, into the story of our lives. The books are many, but the
story is one, and the life story of each of us fits into it. This is the story that
explains our stories. Larry shows how that is true, and I personally thank him for
it.”
—RICHARD E. AVERBECK
PROFESSOR, OLD TESTAMENT AND SEMITIC LANGUAGES,
TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL
“From a counseling perspective, there is nothing more important than feeling
that you are loved. In 66 Love Letters Dr. Larry Crabb not only points us to but
also walks with us through an exploration of the only true source of pure,
unconditional love: the love of God. A uniquely fresh approach to Scripture, you
will find and experience—maybe even for the first time—the amazing love story
that is all about God and you.”
—DR. TIM CLINTON
PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN COUNSELORS
“Larry Crabb holds that our stories—yours and mine—are part of a bigger story:
God’s. Walking us through the sixty-six books of the Bible, he invites us into the
conversations we might have with God. Insightful. Helpful. Honest. Human.
Pivotal. Larry pulls back the curtain on His Story and invites us to participate in
the drama that is biblical life.”
—ELISA MORGAN
PUBLISHER, FULLFILL™; AND AUTHOR, She Did What She Could
“Larry Crabb carefully examines each of the sixty-six pieces of the biblical
jigsaw puzzle and then fits them together, revealing a stunning picture of God’s
grace. I think this might be his magnum opus. I know it is a must-read for
anyone who doesn’t see God’s love in every book of the Bible.”
—GARY W. MOON, PHD
VICE PRESIDENT, RICHMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY;
AND AUTHOR, Apprenticeship with Jesus
66 Love Letters
66 Love Letters
A CONVERSATION WITH GOD
THAT INVITES YOU INTO HIS STORY
DR . LARRY CRABB
© 2009 Larry Crabb
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for
brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas
Nelson, Inc.
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Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible: New International
Version®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing
House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. © 1993, 1994,
1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. © 1982 by Thomas
Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-8499-4687-5 (IE)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crabb, Lawrence J.
66 love letters : a conversation with God that invites you into His story / Larry Crabb.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8499-1966-4 (hardcover)
1. Bible—Meditations. 2. Bible—Outlines, syllabi, etc. I. Title.
BS491.5.C69 2010
242’.5—dc22
2009040819
Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my daughters-in-law,
Kimmie and Lesley,
whose hunger to know God through His Word
inspired me to write this book
We ask, “Where does God fit into the story of my life?”
when the real question is,
“Where does my little life fall into the great story of God’s mission?”
—CHRISTOPHER J. H. WRIGHT
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Finding Your Place in God’s Story
How this Book Can Speak to You
PART ONE: A FALL, A PROMISE, AND THE STORY BEGINS
Love Letter One: Genesis
I Have a Plan: You Are Invited to My Party
Love Letter Two: Exodus
You Must Know Me to Trust Me
Love Letter Three: Leviticus
Holiness Comes Before Happiness: Holiness Happiness
Love Letter Four: Numbers
Making You Holy Is Hard Work for Both of Us
Love Letter Five: Deuteronomy
You Fail Me, but I Never Fail You
PART TWO: HISTORY GIVES AWAY THE PLOT
Love Letter Six: Joshua
Learn to Hate Sin More Than Suffering
Love Letter Seven: Judges
Sin Is in You, Lodged Deep
Love Letter Eight: Ruth
I Have the Cure
Love Letter Nine: 1 Samuel
The Cure Will Hurt
Love Letter Ten: 2 Samuel
The Cure Will Make You Great
Love Letter Eleven: 1 Kings
Do Not Make Solomon’s Mistake: Success Is Not Greatness
Love Letter Twelve: 2 Kings
Failure Is an Opportunity, Not a Defeat
Love Letter Thirteen: 1 Chronicles
Emptiness Now, Fullness Later; That Is a Promise
Love Letter Fourteen: 2 Chronicles
Real Trust Develops in the Dark
Love Letter Fifteen: Ezra
I Am Here: I Will Make You Holy and Whole
Love Letter Sixteen: Nehemiah