Spiritual Feasting

This is a book which I recommend for anyone who is serious about following Jesus. Jenny’s Spiritual Feasting revelation will both encourage and challenge you as she helpfully unpacks the mystery of the two sides of the cross. On one side is suffering, which we still encounter in many forms; on the other we celebrate the victory of Jesus and the thrill of a new joy-filled life of feasting with Him at the table He has prepared for us in whatever difficult circumstances, or whatever unappealing 'menu' we may face.

This book is inspired, accessible and immediately draws you in. It is written with vivid stories and illustrations throughout. You could choose to nibble at the edges, but I would urge you to tuck wholeheartedly into this sumptuous feast. Deeply moving at times, it is challenging and thought-provoking in equal measure. It’s also the sort of book you want to come back to regularly, for digesting alone or chewing over within church groups.

Getting to grips with the radical call of Jesus should always be our priority, if we say we’re following Him. When it feels as though the world is unravelling around us, marching to the beat of another Kingdom’s drum becomes increasingly crucial. We need to press in to authentic relationship with Jesus through every circumstance life throws at us. How else will we see His Kingdom come? True surrender means that 'feasting' with Him, as Jenny points out, will be a daring, dangerous, exciting adventure. Break out of your comfort zones and enjoy something far more effective and fruitful; I dare you!

There are two things to consider when purchasing a book: the message in the book and the messenger who wrote the book. In Spiritual Feasting, the messenger and author is Jenny Sanders. I have known her for more than twenty-five years. She is creative, intelligent, witty, sensitive, loyal to God and her family and an experienced writer. In this book she has chosen a subject that affects everyone: how to feast when you don’t like the menu. That has a familiar ring to it, doesn’t it? Jenny reminds us that it’s not what you’re eating that determines your health; it’s what’s eating you that determines your health.

This book will inspire and empower you to move from surviving to thriving in the midst of the storms of life. I encourage you to read and apply it.

A friend once suggested that the problem with many followers of Jesus is that they get stuck at the cross. It’s an endless cycle of sin management and nothing beyond it, never becoming free indeed. Jenny Sanders has given us the meat of the fuller journey, dispelling the shallow pursuit of happiness, and instead providing the keys for experiencing life, life to the full!

This book is the overflow of the passion of the author. Her words will inspire you to feast on the goodness of the love of the Father who has spread a table before you! Pull up a chair and feast!

Jenny Sanders makes her proclamation, as did the psalmist of old, that, 'As for God, his way is perfect' (Psalm 18:30). The words in this book are not merely theoretical truths. Because the author has lived in the good of them for many years, they come across imbued with clarity and power.

We all need to learn to look beyond secondary causes and third parties, knowing when to echo the words of the Saviour, 'Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?' (John 18:11). There are situations in which to simply respond with the two words, 'Yes Father.' It is called 'the grace of acceptance', and it has the power to change and enrich our lives, as it has done for Jenny.

Jenny Sanders takes us on an inspirational journey through the feast that God lays before us, as we learn to follow Him. Spiritual Feasting is essential reading for anyone who, through all the ups and downs of life, yearns for something more than either bland and stodgy religion or superficially appealing spiritual bling. Jenny describes, with many examples, how we are invited into greater and deeper intimacy with the One who is not only the Bridegroom and giver of the feast, but is Himself the very Bread of life. She shows how, as we learn to engage with both the blessings and the sorrows in our lives, we can discover the hand of God and find a deeper nourishment in our relationship with Jesus.

This is a book you will want to return to again and again.