The Joy of an Uncluttered Life by Joyce Meyer Book Review

Joyce Meyer has written a brand-new devotional featuring ways to combat stress and to live your life in peace. Most of us are struggling with feeling stressed, burned out on living, frustrated that things aren’t going our way, burdened down by our problems, and much more. She shared how we can have joy, peace, and fulfillment again. She explained how at times she was so very overwhelmed and was complaining about her schedule then she realized that she was the one who was making her schedule. She revealed how even in scripture, Jesus stated that he has come to let us enjoy life and it more abundance to the fullest. 

 

 

 

One of my favorite chapters discussed how to know God is on our side. She begins by explaining how 10% of people won’t like us. Sometimes we can’t even do anything to change that. There are people who will accept us and like us. We have to remember that God is for us and it doesn’t matter who is against us. He will never leave us or forsake us. Joyce shared how we should focus on what we do have in life and not on what we feel like we are missing. One of the tips, she had for us is to focus on Jesus and don’t get upset when people don’t like us. God is for us and through Him we are able to do whatever we are called to do in life. 

 

 

Another favorite chapter was focusing on one task at a time. She explained now more effective we can be if we choose to focus on one task at hand. We can learn to stay concentrated and disciplined. She shared how in scripture we are told to not be anxious about anything. We need to learn to practice on living one day at a time and not worried about the future or what could happen. We need to learn to enjoy the current activity we are doing. This will in turn cause us to enjoy our lives more. 

 

 

I would recommend this inspiring devotional to anyone is ready to experience life more and they are tired of being burdened down by their problems. The principles enclosed in this devotional can assist you in improving the outlook on your life and help you to live it more abundantly. It was a very easy and quick daily read and you need to put into practice what you are reading to really grow. 

 

 

“I received this book free from Hachette Book Group/ Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Uncluttered-Life-Joyce-Meyer-ebook/dp/B0CK8CNCDS/

I Bet You Think This Book Is About You: How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Pride and Gain the Rewards of Humility by Chad Veach Book Review

In I Bet You Think This Book is About You, Chad Veach has written a book about our ego and how pride affects our life negatively and how we can in turn to becoming humble. He begins about how pride has gotten in our way before in apologizing to a friend or family member we have wronged, pride might have cause us to treat others rudely, or it could have kept us from learning a new skill. Pride makes us want to look good and achieve fame. We are determined to get our own way. We want to promote ourselves and make ourselves look good. And there is countless exampled found in Proverbs about the dangers of pride. Instead, he teaches readers on how we can display humility. Some of these include listening more than you talk, treat people with respect, apologize quickly, admit your mistakes, not easily offended, you study to learn more, seek feedback to improve, just to name a few. He explained how even Google admits to searching for job candidates that display humility and they are willing to step back and embrace and listen to the ideas of others. They believe this helps you learn and grow. 

 

 

One of my favorite things was about the humility test. These included the service test and choosing to do things we might consider below us. The failure test and how we get back up after experiencing a setback. The delay test and how to wait the waiting periods. The criticism test and handling the negative comment we face. The comparison test and can we allow someone to be better than us and not get jealous. Another helpful area was about the humility cycle and how we can relearn how to be humble.

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book about becoming humble to anyone who is ready to break free from their ego’s and they are tired of living for only themselves and they are seeking more happiness. It was interesting learning more about pride and how we can avoid falling into the pitfalls. I have read all of his other books and he just keep digging deeper into scriptures and sharing principles that will change our lives. 

 

 

 

“I received this book free from Hachette Book Group/ Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1546007032/ 

7 Lies That Will Ruin Your Life: What My Journey from Porn Star to Preacher Taught Me About the Truth That Sets Us Free by Joshua Broome Book Review

In 7 Lies that Will Ruin Your Life, Joshua Broome explored the lies that we are believing and how they can destroy us, if we let them. He shared how he was once a famous porn star who went by a different stage name, Rocco Reed. When he was out in public, he would often get recognized. He made over a million dollars. He was nominated for 18 awards and won Best Male Star three years in a row. He went into detail about when he felt his lowest and hit rock bottom. He experienced a wake up call that changed his entire life. He had just finished filming a scene in Atlanta. He was dealing with the effects of erectile function medication. He contemplate how many pain pills he could take to end his life. He recalls separating them into four groups on three. He still had his paycheck in his pocket from the film. He glanced at the check and felt shame and he didn’t want his mother or brother having to see the website’s name when they found it uncashed. He had planned to avoid the bank teller like he normally does. Today, he chose to interact. The teller asked him he was okay. She called him by his real name, Joshua. This made him feel seen. He realized that he ran from everyone and was numb from sex and fame. He explained how when he was a kid he loved attention and he chased after momentary success. He was changed by Jesus and now he is a speaker who shares his testimony. He has even tried to get the government to enact the Protect act and this would require government ID to be required to access porn. Also, he has tried to get a bill to allow performers to retract their consent at a later date and the videos would have to be removed.

One of my favorite chapters discussed imitation intimacy and how suicide rates are increasing and it’s top leading cause of death. Gen z is now also being referred to as the loneliness generation despite us being more connected with social media and phones. He clarified how scriptures even state how man isn’t supposed to be alone. This has lead to porn to becoming more socially acceptable. He had difficulty in getting close to others because of fear of his past being brought back up. He explained the difference between lust and love and how his wife helped him to discover what love is. He shared how he grew in intimacy with God and reveals how we can to. 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is dealing with the effects of watching porn and they are seeking to change their lives around. I liked how each chapter enclosed a prayer, a personal declarations, scriptures reflection. All of these helped in connecting the lessons together and providing us with the courage to battle the lies. I immensely liked reading about Joshua’s story and it was telling in revealing the negative impacts of the porn industry. It was inspiring to read about how Jesus forever changed his life and he found true freedom.   

I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-That-Will-Ruin-Your/dp/154600565X/ 

Excellence by Joel Osteen Book Review

 

In Excellence, Joel Osteen encouraged readers to be people of excellence and to follow God with great character and integrity. Mediocrity is being more popular and people prefer to do the bare minimum to just get by. We would rather be average. Some may even be slacking off or arriving late to work. He instructed us to not follow the crowd and to take pride into our own work. Joel explained how instead God has called us to be above and to be people of excellence and integrity. In the work setting, we should be a model employee for our company. We should be on time, have a great attitude, and going above and beyond. The new trainee should be able to look up to us for guidance. Scriptures even declare how if a solider tells us to carry his gear for one mile we should instead carry it for two and be good steward. Joel even went on to share how he chooses to rewatch his online services. He personally helps his video editor to edit his sermons before they are broadcasted on TV. He studies each one to see what he could improve on and also the lighting and camera angles. He doesn’t want people to become stagnant. In the book, he reminded readers that they represent God and should be people of excellence. This applies to our appearance and work ethic. This book is a small compact book with a  mixture of some of the material found in You Can, You Will, The Power of I Am, and Break Out. 

One of my favorite examples he used was about a young man who had a dream of being a professional football player. He did well in school and performed great at the sport. He was just a little shorter than the coaches thought he should be. They didn’t think he had what it took in college sports. He went to a junior college and worked delivering pizza. He quit football completely. He delivered it one day to a family and a ten year old boy asked him why he was delivering pizza. He thought about the boys comments and then he got his motivation back and started training again. He gained about 70 pounds and grew stronger. He tried out for a major university and worked his way up to a star player. He went on to become an NFL player. Joel asked readers if they had settled for less than God’s plan for you. He explained how we are created to be the head and not the tail. We need believe that we are well equipped to handle whatever we need to do. 

Another impactful story was about a professor who was handing out tests for his students. He decided to provide with a special incentive as their last test. They could hand in the test and get an automatic C and they wouldn’t have to take the test. About half of the test opted to take that route. The rest of the students were given the test and he encouraged them and told them he was proud of their hard work. When they flipped over the test, it told them they made an A. Joel instructed readers to be the second group and to strive for excellence. The A’s would have been worth the risk if they would have only believed. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is seeking encouragement and they are ready to have a spirit and mindset of excellence. I appreciated how real he was in sharing how we shouldn’t be settling for less than God’s best. We need to be on time at work and having a positive attitude that we are working for God. He encouraged readers to not slack off and to focus on work when we are supposed to be working. We can choose to not settle for mediocre instead we can go above and beyond. He shared how he picks up trash he finds in his church and how we don’t need to become so big that we don’t help others. I really enjoyed how this book was a compilation of three of his different books and it’s very easy to study the principles enclosed in this book. 

I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Excellence-Joel-Osteen/dp/1546007563 

Connect to Your Calling by T. D. Jakes Book Review

In Connect to Your Calling, T.D. Jakes has written a brand new book about discovering your calling. He share the hidden truth that each of us hold the key to our own calling, purpose, and sense of fulfillment. Instinct is the key. He explained how he has met many people are unfulfilled and how they hate going into work every day. They don’t know their calling. He looked at instinct and how our creativity, resourcefulness, knowledge all work together to provide us fulfillment. He encouraged us to take inventory of what’s inside us first. He used a lot of animal references throughout the book to get his message across. He explained the role of cages and how they still choose to lock the cages at the zoo. It’s mainly because animals are drawn to the wild even though their needs and food is provided for them and they have it made inside the cage. He compared this to a role of an entrepreneur. He shared how he had to choose to move to Dallas and how God instructed him to move their and buy a church property and built a church. He admitted how he hasn’t ever regretted moving to Dallas. He discovered his calling. 

One of my favorite stories was about what he witnessed when he toured Nike’s headquarters. One of the displays had a tennis show stuck in a waffle iron. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman teamed up and created a new sole for better running and it was inspired by a waffle iron and they were able to follow their instincts. They were able to come up with a concept for a brand new shoe. This story was very inspiring. 

I would recommend this awesome book about our calling to anyone who is questioning their path. This book will provide readers with the tools to search out what God has for them. This book is a small compact book to make it easier for readers to study the principles. 

I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Connect-Your-Calling-T-Jakes/dp/1546029354/

Speak the Blessing: Send Your Words in the Direction You Want Your Life to Go by Joel Osteen Book Review

 

In Speak the Blessing, Joel Osteen has written a new book about speaking out life giving words over our lives and unlocking the power in our mouths. He begins the book by sharing how his church begins every service with a daily declaration filling with everything they are in Christ. It referred to as “I Am”. Joel has seen how the power of your words can change your life. When we send out the words in the direction and way, we want our lives to go, we can witness our lives improving. He explained how if we are wanting to be healthy, we need to declare that we are healed this helps to release the healing in our lives. He shared how scriptures tells us to declare we are strong even if we feel weak. He opened up about his mother had to choose to declare that she was healed. She was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1981 and not given a good medical report and outcome. She would actively read and speak scriptures over her life. She would declare that she would live and not die and forty-three years later she is still alive and was healed. 

 

 

One of my favorite chapters discussed telling ourselves a new story. Our current story comes from how we choose to see ourselves. It can come from our past and how we were raised our failures. This is limiting ourselves and we are believing what we are telling ourselves. We can make a new decision and write a new story. God has declared that we are a masterpiece, a victor, and an overcomer. He can turn around anything negative that we have faced and cause it to work out for our good. He encouraged readers to take the pen back and rewrite a new story. He used this chapter to share the challenges he encountered when his father passed away and he had to step up and pastor the church. He was transparent in revealing how he thought he couldn’t ever get up and speak to the church and he had fear. He was more typically quiet then his father was. He had to do what he instructed readers to do. He had to tell himself a new story and that God has equipped him and he was anointed to do what he was called to do. 

 

 

 

 

I would this awesome book to anyone who is seeking a book about the power of your mouth. This book can assist you in speaking truth over your life and it can teach you on to send the words in the right direction. One of my favorite stories was about how our story may be limiting and Joel told a story about a bear who was forced to live in a cage and went they tried to resend her into the wild she wouldn’t go. She got out of the cage but the cage wouldn’t get out of her. This is a very insightful story about the story we tell ourselves can cause us to remain stuck in life. I loved how positive this book was and how it taught readers to prophesy their future and to stop cursing your future. The principles in this book can greatly change your life just learn to speak them out! 

 

 

 

 

I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Blessing-Send-Words-Direction/dp/1546005110/  

Do the New You: 6 Mindsets to Become Who You Were Created to Be by Steven Furtick Book Review

 

In Do the New You, Steven Furtick explored how we can discover our God given identity. He explained how God wants us to see ourselves as He see us. The goal of this book is to assist readers in aligning our mindsets with God’s vision for our lives. In the book, he explored six key declaration readers can declare over their lives daily. Some of these include, “I’m not stuck unless I stop, Christ is in me. I am enough, God is not against me, but he’s in it with me, working through me, fighting for me, and much more. He begins the book by looking at Jeremiah and how he became a prophet. God had to help him see how He chose him first and how He created him in his mother’s womb. God knew him before anyone else and He knew the real him. God appointed him and when Jeremiah began to believe that everything radically changed. 

 

 

One of my favorite discussions was about how Christ is inside us and we are more than enough. He stated how many us are spending our time wrestling with ourselves and doubting who we are. There are countless voices who are trying to make us feel less than and we’re constantly reminded of how we are falling short of someone else. We are accepting our insufficiency as our true identify. He explained how Christ is inside us and He told his disciples that we must realize that He is the Father and you are in me and I am in you (John 14:19-20). Jesus also goes on to teach a lesson about how He is the vine and we are the branches and how we can bear fruit. Steven reminded readers that we are sufficient in Christ and we don’t have to prove our worth. He encouraged readers to accept themselves and become the best version of you. He told a personal story about how his son, Elijah was taking a fishing trip with his friends. This brought back memories of how he would fish with his own dad but didn’t enjoy it. He never taught his own son how to fish and he felt like a bad dad for not showing him. He felt like he wasn’t enough of being a father. He had to be careful not to turn this into his identify. Instead, he had to remember that Jesus is enough and our identity needs to be in that. 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone is struggling with being themselves and they comparing themselves to others and feeling less than. This book is very powerful in helping readers to change their mindsets and align their thoughts to match Christ. I immensely liked how the story about the trading card and how he willingly fell for a trick from the owner when he opened up a Michael Jordan card. He didn’t know the value and worth of the card and he used this example to explain to readers how being inexperience and the dangers of not recognizing our worth. We can be handing over our character, confidence, peace, good reputation, and joy and missing out on God’s best for our lives. This book is very insightful and I believe is one of the best from Steven. The stories are relatable and if we would put into practice the principles we will see our lives changed! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from Faith Words for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Do-New-You-Mindsets-Created/dp/1546006826/

The Pathway to Success: Letting God Lead You to a Life of Meaning and Purpose by Joyce Meyer Book Review

In The Pathway to Success, Joyce Meyer explored the real meaning of being successful and understanding what God considers success. The world thinks we are successful if we have a good career, become famous, being wealthy, and receiving recognition. Scriptures explain that we are to be in the world but not of the world. A number of people we view as successful really are struggling with addictions behind the scenes and have poor relationships. Joyce teaches readers that our identity isn’t found in what we do. It is instead found in whose we are. Our true value is in our relationship with Christ. She walks readers through how we must first discover what’s in our hearts and what our purpose is. In the book, she opened up about her journey to her ministry. She included her story about her abuse, first marriage, divorce, marrying Dave, and growing her ministry through the different stages. 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite chapter was about words and how our thought affect our success. It first begins in our thoughts and then they will produce the words that will come out of our mouths. It has been estimated that the average person has 6,000 thoughts a day and often it is mixed with both positive and negative thoughts. We get to choose which we think about on a daily basis. She explained how critical it is to be extremely careful in how we talk about things and the danger in not allowing them to match up in our prayer life. We must pray and believe that good things will happen. We can see ourselves as successful and believe it. She teaches readers on how to rely on our faith and to speak words that will exercise faith and not allowing fear to control us. I also liked how she enclosed a special section about people who have succeeded and tips on how others have been able to do so. One of the ways is turning failure into a fresh start. 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who ready to get on the path to success. In immensely loved the core message of this book and how God sees our success and what He views as being successful. I loved how she explained the importance of putting God first in our lives and how this will impact and change our entire lives. Another impactful lesson is the section on ten things God’s word says about us. These are very powerful scriptures to let get down into our spirit and let it change us. This book contains a vast knowledge of what is means to be successful. 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Faith Works for my honest review.”

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pathway-Success-Letting-Meaning-Purpose/dp/1546029222/

The First Christmas Night Written by Keith Christopher and Illustrated by Christine Kornacki Book Review

 

 

The First Christmas Night is a children’s book about the first night of Christmas covering Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. It begins the popular rhyme “not a creature was stirring”. Peace on earth was arriving and redemption is coming. The baby was being born in a manager. The wise men were visited by an angel telling them about Jesus. 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome children’s book to children aged 1-6. I immensely loved how creative and detail the illustration were in this book. They are truly breathtaking and you can see the awesome features and how realistic the faces of the wise men bring Jesus gifts and it’s probably one of my favorite pages in this book. I liked how this book contained some rhyme to make the story of Christmas even more fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords/Worthy Kids for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/First-Christmas-Night-Keith-Christopher/dp/1546003630/

Christmas Miracles: True Stories of God’s Presence Today by Karen Kingsbury Book Review

 

In Christmas Miracles, Karen Kingsbury has written a brand-new book filled with collections of Christmas stories. She begins the book by sharing how critical it is to remember the true meaning of Christmas and to recall the miracles that Jesus was and how He performed miracles. The first miracle was when Jesus was born of a virgin. In this book, she shared personal stories from others that all are based on Christmastime and we can see firsthand the fingerprints of God. 

 

 

She begins the book by sharing a story of her dad. Her dad was one of her biggest fans and he loved to read her colored pages, poems, and short stories. He would tell her how the world one day would know of her writing. He declared that she would become a best-selling author. When she wrote her first Baxter family book, he told her it would be a huge hit and one day be made into a movie. He could just see it happening. He had type 2 diabetes. He eventually became very sick and was instructed to start dialysis in hope he would make it another year. He discovered a song for their family “Have I Told You Lately… that I Love You” that Rob Stewart had recently redone the classic song. He kept reminding them of this song while he was sick and in 2007, he suffered a heart attack. She shared how over the years they would hear this song randomly on the radio at just the right moment that they needed it. She shared also how Rob Stewart took their picture for them in Manhattan. At first, they didn’t know who he was. She was able to explain to him how much the song meant to them and he thanked them and said they didn’t know how much he needed to hear that. It was also confirmed by the Today show when she told them the story and he even appeared in a video call. 

 

 

Another favorite story was about Jessica’s gift. Jessica Warner was born with cerebral palsy and couldn’t walk. One Christmas, she asked her mother why her legs didn’t work like other children. She explained how she was born early and how she had to fight to live. She shared how God told her that she was special. They stopped taking her to church after her first birthday. She got tired of the comments. Her grandparents were taking her to church with them. Her father purchased her pink ballet slippers because he believed she would be healed and able to one day dance in them. He was in denial and this caused them to become separated and their marriage and love for each other grew apart. He would work more and more to avoid the pain. Jessica at age 4 started noticing how they never hugged or kissed anymore. They finally decided on getting a divorce lawyer. She prayed for God to help and to cause them to love each other again. One Christmas, the pastor was going to be telling the Christmas story and she begged her parents to go. He told the story and also instructed them to lay something down at the Savior’s feet. It needs to be something you love or something you need to let go of. Jessica laid down her favorite doll at the feet of Jesus at the nativity scene. This inspired her dad to lay down a note and the slippers stating how he would accept Jessica. He realized that he had to learn to live with her having cerebral palsy where she could learn to live with it. This in turn led to them not getting divorced and their marriage was saved.

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome Christmas book to anyone who is ready to be inspired and touched this holiday season. I loved how the stories would make you laugh, cry, and just to be encouraged with hope. The stories are all based on true stories and they will provide you with the hopes in Christmas miracles coming true. I also liked how she include a reading discussion guide to make it easier to read in a small group setting or a book club. 

 

 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Hachette Book Group/Faithwords for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Miracles-True-Stories-Wonderful/dp/1546005528