Showing posts with label Devotional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devotional. Show all posts

9.24.2014

Jim Greene's Unlocking Your Spiritual Greatness Book Blitz and Giveaway

  Title of Book # 1: Unlocking Your Spiritual Greatness
ISBN:  978-1-105-46980-0
Genre: Spiritual Maturity, Christianity, Discipleship Training
Publisher: LuLu Enterprises, Inc.
Publication Date: 2005, 2011
Just like there are specific physical exercises that are good for physical conditioning, there are specific spiritual exercises that are good, in fact, essential for our spiritual conditioning and growth. If you want to grow spiritually, you have to do spiritual exercises. (1Timothy 4:8)
This book looks to Jesus for “duplicate-able” activities for the model for our growth. For years Christian writers have identified specific activities regularly evidenced in his earthly life and called them Spiritual or Christian Disciplines. I believe that if it was useful for Jesus to be disciplined in his worship and praise to God, then it is useful for us as well. Further, I believe that the inclusion of Christian Disciplines in our lives, or what I call the Disciplined Training Approach places us in obedient submission to God and that is where we are supposed to be. 
Book excerpt:
God has outlined a plan for living that when followed will bring us into a closer fellowship with Him. All the treasure in the world will not purchase it, but God will provide it for free to whosoever really wants it. No matter how worthless you may think you are, you can become one of the greatest treasures in the world.  You can become the person God wants you to be, equipped with all the supernatural power for the Kingdom work He wants you to do!   
Simply put, if you hear what God tells you, trust that He will not lead you astray and do what you’re told to do, you will experience the peace God planned for you. More than that, the consequences of ignoring God can be anxiety, frustration, depression and even eternal separation from Him.
People, however, are not simple.  In fact, we go to great lengths to take something simple and complicate it.  Our relationship with God should be personal, based on the time we spend with Him.  We can’t manufacture a relationship with Him, but we can come to know him based on our personal experiences.
If you want to be blessed, comforted or reassured in a small way, then exercise a small amount of faith.  If however, you need your life changed... it may take more. It starts with regular prayer, regular meditation and regular listening. It continues when we do things outside our comfort zone and that’s exactly where faith begins.
Your life will change when you realize God’s ability
zone is greater than your comfort zone.
Purchase at:
  Title of Book #2   God’s Answer, Praying the Scriptures Back to God
God gave us the Bible as a constant reminder of His love and plan for us. More than a historical document, it is truly alive. As we read His Word and become heart-linked with Him, a supernatural transformation begins to take place in us.  God’s Word is alive and we can’t comprehend it all at once. That explains why you can read a passage several times over weeks or months and receive a different message from the same verses.
God gave us prayer as an avenue or vehicle that He designed for us so we could be in constant communication with Him. God’s Answer seeks to bring you to His Throne of Grace, where prayers are answered, (Hebrews 4:16) so that you can claim the promises God makes about today’s problems. That’s a tall order, so let’s look at what He said about prayer in His Living Word, the Bible.
Several times He promises us that He will hear and in fact, answer our prayers. It would be great to think that we always get what we want or that we could just name it and claim it, but that simply is not the case. What we can claim is the promises God makes and we will be exploring those. Let’s examine a few passages and see what they reveal beyond God hearing us and answering our prayers.
Purchase at:  Jim’s website  WestBow Press  Amazon
  Title of Book #3        A Place of Faith, When There is No Place Else to Go
What or where is the place of faith?  Is it a physical location? No, it is where we are when we step out into the unknown in a blind, yet obedient faith because that is all we have left.  Our Christian vocabulary is filled with ideas, quotes and even promises from God that are meant for comfort and reassurance. As real as God’s Word is, what happens when all has been recalled and rehearsed and we still find ourselves alone at the place of faith. A Place of Faith defines faith from a real and practical viewpoint, then develops it’s progression from a measure of faith, to a step and then a leap of faith.  Most importantly, time is spent on the Enemy of Faith and the Trial of Faith and finally, The Results of Faith. Each chapter concludes with a hymn that reinforces the points made in the chapter and a few reflection questions.
Purchase at:  Jim's website   WestBow Press   Amazon
  
   Title of Book #4  Living on the Dark Side of Faith
While faith has two sides, they are both sides of the same thing. The word faith cannot be substituted for the word belief or theology. It is more than a collection of thoughts about religion. It is more than simply believing in the existence of God, the demons in Hell do that. The faith we speak of is in God and how, though we may not see how, He will provide for His beloved. The faith we have is certain; it is the evidence of things to come. It begins with a measure and increases with experience and that often means a trial or test of our faith. </ div>
Purchase at:  Jim’s website  Lulu







About the author:

Jim Greene makes his home in Knoxville, TN in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. An avid backpacker, his countless hours in the outdoors have often blessed him with many topics to write about.
As a layman Sunday School teacher, he challenges himself and his class to strive for and enjoy a closer relationship with God. Each of his books look to God as the ultimate authority in our lives. He is the author of Unlocking Your Spiritual Greatness, God’s Answer, A Place of Faith, When There is Nowhere Else to Go, and Living on the Dark Side of Faith. His next book is entitled, When Waiting isn’t Working.
Jim feels God speaks to him personally through journaling and his books primarily came to answer a question in his life. They may just help you too.

Pump Up Your Book and Jim are teaming up to give away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
Terms and   Conditions:
Winner will be contacted via email on October 1, 2014.
VOID WHERE PROHIBITED
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unlocking Our Spiritual Greatness Book Blitz Schedule
September 2
September 3
September 4
September 5
September 8
September 9
September 10
September 11
September 12
September 15
September 16
Little Shepherd</ div>
September 17
September 18
September 19
September 22
September 23
September 24
September 25
September 26

6.08.2014

30 Days to a More Beautiful You ~ Review

30 Days to a More Beautiful You
A Devotional for Girls
By Kylie Bisutti

30 Days to a More Beautiful You is a devotional to help girls navigate the idea of what is true beauty.  The world is pushing the idea of selling our appearance to calculate our true worth when God is telling us just the opposite.

As a former Victoria's Secret Runway model Kylie has some unique insights into why the world wants us to define our worth by the amount of skin we show and how much we are willing to give away of ourselves.

By buying into the world view of beauty we are selling ourselves short and we won't find true contentment.  We'll be insecure because outer beauty can so easily change, but if we focus instead on our inner beauty we will transform our heart and soul.

30 Days to a More Beautiful You offers 30 days of verses and personal insights into how we've allowed ourselves to be confused and how we can rise above it and find our true worth and beauty in God and not the world.  This devotional would be a perfect gift for any young lady who is trying to discover who she is.  I think that ages 12 and up would benefit from the insights they can glean from it.  I also think parents of younger girls could use this as a guide to help steer their daughters to understanding where their true beauty can be found.

I was provided a copy of this book by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

About the Book
Despite what the world leads us to believe, true beauty has nothing to do with outward appearances. The more we focus on what we look like on the outside, the more insecure we become.

Fortunately, God doesn’t measure our worth by how we look. We have value simply because we are His children. The more we focus on getting our hearts right with the Lord and honoring Him, the more secure and confident we will become—and the more we will exude true beauty.

In 30 Days to a More Beautiful You, former Victoria’s Secret Runway Angel Kylie Bisutti gives a complete inner-beauty makeover with succinct devotional readings designed to transform your heart, body, mind, and soul and put you on the path to becoming a happier, healthier, more beautiful you.

The perfect gift for every young woman, this devotional will forever change the way you define the word 
beautiful.