Habits for Our Holiness

Many are the number of books available on Christian Living. 

Rare is a book that puts different habits into one book (outside of the Bible).

So Philip Nation undertook the very high standards and responsibility of composing a book on the spiritual disciplines. He starts with actually loving Jesus and surrendering our lives to Him. 

The second chapter focuses on worship and not just in the manner of singing or rather listening to someone on a stage sing. Completely pleased with the way addresses this because people often think worship is just the beginning of Sunday service, the singing portion. But worship goes beyond that into the way we live and what we spend our time, affection, and resources on. 

The third chapter is on bible study. Praise God! And he makes clear the difference between devotions, basic reading and actual study of the bible. Yes, there is a difference. And unfortunately many I know get to devotions and because they may get a couple verses in the devotion, they stop there as if its a full meal and not a snack. 

Then the fourth chapter focuses on prayer. Yet another spiritual discipline that even I have to rein in. Prayer is a conversation with God, there's dialogue and too often we treat prayer like a monologue simply dumping on God then continuing on with our day OR treating Him like a genie (available to grant our wishes). 

The fifth chapter is on the discipline of fasting. Because it is something we are expected to do. Jesus doesn't say IF you fast but WHEN you fast, meaning it is supposed to happen. 

The sixth chapter covers fellowship. Again something else we are expected to do. We are expected to spend time with other believers in corporate fellowship and worship. Even if large crowds are uncomfortable, there are house churches (we need more of these) and bible study or belong groups, you can join. 

The seventh chapter addresses rest. Because there is a such thing as doing too much and even God rested.  

The eighth chapter focuses our attention on simple living. Something capitalist America struggles with. There's always the quest for more, more bigger, for better, for brand names. And there's the idea of being like the early church, live simple and be generous. 

The ninth chapter reminds us to serve. Jesus did not come to be served BUT to serve others. And we must also remember to serve others. 

The tenth chapter exhorts us to submission. Because that word is dirty, especially to women and almost always comes with a negative retort. Submission is to get under the mission, which is literally what we signed up for when we chose Jesus and when we get married. 

The eleventh chapter concerns spiritual leadership. Knowing that there is good and there is bad and we must always seek to serve God and lead people to God. 

And the final chapter like Jesus final instructions exhorts us to disciple-making. The end of the great commission is to make disciples. Our testimony can't end with us. And we have to help steward those we lead toward Jesus. Help then stay on the narrow path. 

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. This is one of those books that once you read you're expected to act on what you know. Once you read and gain a base understanding of these spiritual disciplines, you will be held responsible for what you do or don't do.  And on that note, I do recommend reading. Especially new believers who may want and need a base understanding of these spiritual disciplines.

Remember: It's hard to do what you don't understand just like you can't love what you don't know.

{I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest review.}

Kingdom Prayer

Prayer. An ever-important topic in Christian life and highly important discipline in the Christian life. There are so many books on what prayer is and how to do it. 

But most people treat prayer like a honey-do list or like they are making wishes. I know at one point in my life I was too. There was a time when I said what I wanted to happen. Then, I would get up and kept going with my day. I never once stopped to see what God had to say back. But prayer is so much more than that.

In this book from 2016 (yes I am late reviewing), Dr. Tony Evans seeks to exhort the reader to change our approach to prayer. Prayer is a humbling experience in approaching God. Dr. Tony Evans puts it like this, "If you want to know the temperature of your spiritual life, check the thermostat on your prayer life." This is crucial and takes me right to Revelation 3:16 when the Lord says because you are neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. The Lord speaks in terms of temperature when it comes to our walk in following Him. 

So there are 16 chapters in this book broken down into 3 sections. 

The first section is on the concept of prayer, what prayer is. If you have no clue what prayer is or why it is important then you want to start there. There is authority and access that comes with prayer. There is a relationship with God that comes with prayer. And prayer has to be persistent. It's not something you do as a one-off or as a last resort. 

In the second section, we delve into the context of prayer, which is why we are praying. Oftentimes the only way to make it through certain circumstances and situations is through consistent prayer and communing with God.

But then comes section 3, where the heavy lifting is. See we don't mind praying, but we don't want to give up anything but sometimes a response or an answered prayer only comes through fasting while you're praying. And this section gives us clarity on fasting in this context as well as understanding other conditions for prayer. For example, chapter 14 guides us in having pure intentions with our prayer. 

This book here is a MUST have. This is one of those resource books that may be read more than once and will definitely be highlighted through.

{FYI, I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.}

Made for This

Jennie Allen! Love her books! They get to the nitty-gritty of surrender. And morphed into IF: Gathering (IF: Table, IF:Local), a ministry that seeks to gather people together into groups of all sizes and demographics to study God's Word together. 

This book is 40 days and it has released right in time for Lent (also a 40-day event). The goal is to do this book during Lent (what Jennie is currently promoting). The book itself is broken down into 4 parts (check below for photos of the Table of Contents). It is the embodiment of Anything (2015) and Restless (2014) morphed into one interactive book. It challenges and inspires. It requires you to engage. It prompts you to make life-altering changes. Changes that exhorts you to draw near to God so that He will draw near to you.

Part One is completely Anything. Praying the Anything Prayer. I will go anywhere you choose Lord.  I will do anything You ask of me, Lord. ANYTHING Lord, here I am. And this is a BOLD prayer to pray. This is a surrendering of one's self and entire life unto God. And you need to mean it and be willing to follow through when God responds. 

Part Two, answer the call. God calls. He beckons. He points, He moves. And it is up to us to hear and to respond. I'll be honest, the first step to hearing is to spending time with God.

Part Three: Working out the details, the threads. There's a process of walking out the surrender. It will not be easy and it will require obedience to whatever God sets forth. Those threads are important, no matter how big or small.

Part Four: The future. It's okay to dream for the future and plan. Even if God throws the monkey wrench later, it is okay. How do we take what we learn about ourselves and about God in this 40 days journey and let it apply to the rest of our lives? Because that is the real goal, right? For lasting impact, not just to feel good or feel challenged in the moment then, write off once the 40 days are up.

Highly recommend. And if you have not read Anything and Restless. Please get them and read them while going through this book. It will make a HUGE difference.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Do my children 'Believe'?

If you've been following along for the couple months, you will notice there are quite a few books by Randy Frazee in the 'Believe' series on here.

 

(This is the first book)

 

(This is the second book.)

 

(This is the one for middle aged children ,not quite teenagers yet not preschool or kindergarten)

 

Now there is the Believe Storybook.

 which we (hubby and I trade off) read to our preschool aged son, who absolutely loves the book. I mean, no one is allowed to touch the book without his permission (lol). As wife and mom it does my heart GOOD to see my children are passionate about the Word of God. They ask questions during our reading time. I love the illustrations inside the book and the fact that it is a hardback and very large. Like the previous books in the series, there are key questions, think section, act section, be section, and the Jesus Answer.

 

This is the Act part of Daniel's story, Total Surrender.

Here is an idea of how large the book is, that's a roku remote.

 

This is the think section before Abram & Sarah's story.

 

I think this book is great to start young children because of the way it is broken down. Believe doesn't just tell the stories of the bible, but it explains how those stories apply to us and how they relate to Jesus. And that's the baseline of everything, everything comes back to Jesus.

 

As parents, that's what we want to give our children a foundational love and belief in Jesus. Strong to last them through the rebellious and curious teen & young adult years of life. Strong enough to see them through the storms of life. Strong enough that they will share with their friends. Strong enough that God will be pleased with us for shepherding their hearts.

 

 

 

{FYI: I received this book from the Booklook Bloggers Program in exchange for my HONEST review.}

 

 



Becoming Spiritually Strong

How many of us are spiritually weak? We have no self discipline. We don't fast. Our prayer life is nonexistent. We don't study our bible regularly. We don't take time to make ourselves known to God and to know Him. And by know I mean have a relationship with Him not just know about Him.

Kristen Feola, author of the Ultimate Daniel Fast, has done it again. She has released Spiritually Strong, a 6 week guide to building your body and soul.

As someone who has struggled with their faith, I wish I'd had this book many years ago. However I am thankful to have it now. As I am reading it, I am truly enjoying the insight and practical tips for exercising the spiritual muscles. People don't always tell you that it takes consistency (especially when you don't feel like and trust me there will be many days when you don't feel like it) to studying the bible, to building a prayer life, to being disciplined, to fast, to eat in a healthy manner, to serve others, and to practice good stewardship. I think in this day and age of society this really needed. 

Many of the people in my generation pride themselves on what they can do. On being able to buy whatever they want (and buy they do, I can't say anything I am guilty of it too). Yet many don't speak of practicing self discipline to be a good steward over your finances. I don't want to hear about the donations because those are done out of the goodness of your heart. Fasting is something that is needed to hear from God. Sometimes you need to not be plugged into this world & to be still, be quiet, and listen for the voice of the Lord. Going to church on Sunday is not enough, we need to study (not just read) your bible regularly. We need to pray daily, sometimes several times a day. Many times my prayers happen while going about my day, washing or cleaning. With three children I don't always have the luxury to be alone and pray.

I enjoy this book because Kristen takes the time to help believers (new and old) to gird themselves up. She writes on ways to become strong, on how necessary it is to study so that you can wield the Sword (the Word of God). I love this book because this is the kind of legacy I want to leave to my children.

-take rest in the Lord our God who cares for us.

Kristin

The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast

Right now, there is so much going on in my life. I'm not really in a place to blog heavily. So for now I'll just be posting a book reviews until this season and this storm passes.

This book is pretty awesome. It is separated into sections, the first breaks down the Daniel fast and the reasons why we do the fast. It helps us to understand the spiritual and physical demands of the Daniel Fast. The second section is a 21 day devotional, written to coincide with the 21 day length of this Daniel Fast. The devotions are personal and have testimonials from people who have done this Daniel Fast. The third section is a cookbook. It has over 100 hundred recipes that you can replicate at home. Appetizers, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks are included in the third section of this book.

Personally I did the Daniel Fast last month and it was hard. I think it was especially hard for me because I was literally stressed out the entire fast and even got sick a few times from being stressed and barely eating. I would recommend not to deal with any stressful situations while on this fast.

I do recommend taking the book with you daily to read over the devotions and even keeping a journal of your prayers and when they are answered.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher through the BookLookBlogger program in exchange for my honest review of this book.}