It’s so easy to get into a rut. Life can get so mundane and routine and sometimes it takes some unforeseen circumstance to knock you down and make you realize all the things you have unknowingly taken for granted. For Emma Jameson it was the ending of a relationship. She’s in her late twenties, feeling sad and lonely, and at a crossroads. Isn’t life supposed to be better than this? Where is she supposed to go from here? Where is God in all of this?

Haven’t we all had times like these in our lives? Those moments when life doesn’t go the way you expected it to and you don’t know which way to go?

After a note telling Emma to go through the next open door she decides to take a chance. What does she have to lose? She walks through a door and suddenly is in Biblical times walking with Jesus! As a Christian, this is something I have always dreamed of. To be able to ask Jesus whatever you want and to be able to see Him actually teaching the disciples, walking on water, and performing miracles. To see His smile and hear His voice. So amazing! The author did a wonderful job of bringing the Bible to life.

This book is such a treasure and so easy to read. The author has a wonderful way of bringing you into the story and the entire book just flows. It reminded me that there are things that I can do in my Christian walk but then there are things that I simply cannot do and it’s time I stopped trying and “instead, start abiding.” ( )

Emma Jameson can’t seem to get past her break-up with Jason. While he’s moving on with his life, she’s stuck, struggling with why God allows lives to be painful, why the Gospel seems so irrelevant to her life.

When she receives an invitation for “a real adventure with Jesus,” she follows the instructions to walk through the nearest open door and finds herself in the first century where Jesus takes her through several well-known Gospel accounts.

Combining fiction with Gospel narrative, the author pulls readers into the moment along with Emma. Each story, [Mary and Martha, raising Lazarus, the woman at the well, among others] offers readers insight and greater understanding. The well-drawn crucifixion scene is particularly moving and is acutely compelling. Together, the scenes in which Jesus gently teaches Emma result in a powerful, thoughtful discourse on what it means to grow in faith. Emma asks all the questions readers might wish to ask if they’d found themselves in her position; the answer, always encouraging, always thought-provoking, is revealed to be a Person.

This message in this short, easy-to-read narrative is likely to remain with readers long after they’ve turned the final page.

Highly recommended. ( )

I have mentioned this before… some books are hard for me to review. Open is one such book. The reason that Open is difficult for me to review is the fact that God is using its message, along with John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan (a bible study that I am currently going through), to work on a painful personal stronghold in my life. I was hurt deeply a few years ago. The kind of hurt that has radically changed the lives of my family. I need to get past that offense. Both of these books…one fiction, one a bible study…are like a one-two punch at the heart of me. Therefore, I can’t break the story down analytically. All that I can say is that God is using the works of David Gregory and John Bevere to show me the sin of holding onto an offense. I am lovingly being reminded that Christ is the answer. He is the healer. What I have specifically received from Open is a reminder of the personhood of Christ. That as a believer I need to love and seek Christ. Christ hasn’t given me a series of steps/rules to be followed… items to be checked off a mythical list of required acts for good Christians. Instead, He calls me to seek after Him. To worship Him. To love Him.

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21

God always has impeccable timing. It is only God that can orchestrate a friend inviting me to a bible study while at the same time I finally pick up Open to read (a book that I am very late in reviewing… I should have already read it). I pray that God will use Gregory’s story in your life as He is doing in mine.

Soli Deo Gloria!

I received a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

For all of my reviews visit my blog at http://www.blessedandbewildered.com ( )