Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He is best known for stories which could be broadly described as suspense thrillers with major twists and unforgettable characters, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans.
This fall, I’ve invited a few friends to share what God is teaching them. I hope their words are an encouragement to you as you continue to awaken to the joy and delight that comes with being a child of God.
by Ted Dekker
AD30 is a sweeping epic of struggle and romance and betrayal set in ancient Arabia and Palestine.
But more, it’s a story of the empowerment and grace that breaks the boundaries of gender to grant a freedom and liberty for a woman named, Maviah.
Even more, it’s the story of all women, bound by shame for not measuring up to the expectations they place on themselves, passed down for generations.
Maviah, a Bedouin from Arabia, is a woman who struggles with an identity of shame as the daughter of a fallen ruler who has rejected her. Her journey leads her to an unexpected invitation by Yeshua to now be called a daughter of a new Father. A God she doesn’t even believe in. Yet Yeshua speaks of this Father who longs for her without any judgment in intimate terms.
Dare she believe such good news?
Have you considered this?
Here are the 4 words you need to hear today:
God believes in you.
Your true Father believes in who He has created you to be, exactly as you are today.
No matter what your point of origin here in this world or the unpredictable storms that rise to crush you in this life, you have become the daughter of a new Father, who is both with and within you right now.
You are more powerful than any storm that threatens you.
Fear is faith in the threats of the storms that rise against you. Yeshua (Jesus) has empowered you to bring peace to those rising waves of shame and failure. They hold no power over you. Listen to the words of Maviah herself, and see if you can find your own voice.
This week, we’re giving away 3 copies of AD30 by Ted Dekker.
An excerpt from AD30:
I HAD HEARD of kingdoms far beyond the oasis that gives birth to life, kingdoms beyond the vast, barren sands of the Arabian deserts. I had lived in one such kingdom beyond the great Red Sea, in a land called Egypt, where I was sold into slavery as a young child. I had dreamed of the kingdoms farther north, where it was said the Romans lived in splendor; of the silk kingdoms beyond Mesopotamia, where wonder and magic ruled.
But none of these kingdoms was real to me because I, Maviah Daughter of the great sheikh Rami, was born into shame without the hope of honor.
I was a Bedu who was not free, a woman forever unclean, a mother unworthy of a husband, an outcast imprisoned by those mighty pillars of the desert, subject of no kingdom but death.
But there came into that world a man who spoke of a different kingdom with words that defied all other kingdoms. Some said that he was a prophet from their God. Some said that he was a mystic who spoke in riddles meant to infuriate the mind and quicken the heart, that he worked wonders to make his power evident.
Some said he was a messiah who came to set his people free. Still others, that he was a fanatical Zealot, a heretic, a man who’d seen too many deaths and too much suffering to remain sane.
But I came to know him as the Anointed One who would grant great power to those few who followed in his way.
My name is Maviah, daughter of Rami bin Malik.
His name was Yeshua.
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The three winners will be selected and announced on Friday.
