Planted with a Purpose: God Turns Pressure into Power by T.D. Jakes Book Review

In Planted with a Purpose, T.D. Jakes explored the topic of discovering your purpose amidst having to face crushing experiences along the way. Even in your pain, you can still find unexpected blessings. Jakes opens up about how he had his own crushing circumstances and one of these was when he witnessed his mother dying. Around this time, he was also speaking at other churches more, his books were becoming best sellers, and even getting a movie deal. He also shared close to this time his daughter become pregnant at thirteen. Critics was spreading their opinions and he felt depressed and crushed along with losing his mother. He shared how during these crushing times we may feel crushed and broken and we may question our suffering and where is God during it. In the book, Jakes looks at biological growth of a human and how the seed becomes a human. He revealed how no person remains a fertilized ovum and how we each grew to something greater. He shared how the Word discussed all seasons of life and how it has a beginning, middle, and the end. He explored the seed in Abraham and how the promise was found in Jesus and how we apart of the vine and how fruit eventually grows. This in turn is to illustrate our fruit bearing from our lives and God can use for our greater purposes. Throughout the book, Jakes also looked at the process of wine making and crushing the grapes, fermenting, and collecting the wine. He explored how our life is like the process of winemaking. He discussed how we have to wait and how with each generation we hate having to wait for things, such as marriage, babies, good job, eating, texting, and much more. We want everything now. Jakes shared in his own life how he had to wait seven years before he preached and he already had many messages worked on. During this time, God was working on building his character, nervousness, heart, and wisdom. 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is ready to discover their purpose in life and they may currently be going through a crushing season. But Jakes encourages readers to hold on to hope and he explains how God will use everything in every season of our lives to help us find our true purpose. I immensely connect with how transparent Jakes was in sharing about the pains he felt his life with losing his mother and with his daughter become pregnant and getting thrown a curve ball in life. He shared how God used both of theses to help him find his purpose in life and how God doesn’t waste anything in our life. I liked how he looked at Jesus life and how He took our sins and how during his crushing season, He was preparing us for when we will meet Him in Heaven. I also was encouraged when Jakes reminded readers of the righteous found in Christ and God already sees us as He is. If you’re looking for a book on discovering your purpose, then read this book! 

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

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

https://www.amazon.com/Planted-Purpose-Turns-Pressure-Power/dp/154601781X

Crushing: God Turns Pressure into Power by T.D. Jakes Book Review

InCrushing, T.D. Jakes explored what believers need to do when they experience heartache and pain and they feel like they are being crushed and unable to get back up. He starts the book out by revealing the big news of when his world fell apart. His teenaged daughter became pregnant at the age of thirteen. A few months prior he watched his own mother die from Alzheimer’s. Jakes was very real in sharing all of his questions and statement he said to himself during this time. He wondered how he failed as a father and what he could have done differently. He shared with readers on how experiencing a crushing we are forced to choose to reply on God as our guidance. Years later, Jakes shared how now his daughter is married and how his grandson has turned into a great man. The crushing feeling his daughter had to feel when her life changed now, she able to see how God turned into something good. Throughout the book, Jakes describes the process of fermentation from grapes into wine. He also went into detail about how he was thrown another curveball a few years later when his son had a heart attack and Jakes was preaching in another country. This led Jakes into looking at why we suffer and the sadness and fear Mary must have felt when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. 

I would recommend this excellent book on crushing and how God can change and turn anything around for good. We all experience pressure and pain in our lives no can escape it. When we go through bad things, we can decide to rise above it or be crushed from the pain. I liked how Jakes compared to crushed to how grapes are crushed and how they are left to ferment and then they are made into great wine. Many of us like to rush the process of moving forward through whatever painful event we are facing. But often times the bad times immensely help us to grow into the person God wants us to become. I also liked how Jakes explored the story of how Jesus turned water into wine and how Jesus can turn our lives around. The book contained many Biblical stories to illustrate how others in the Bible handled pressure. If you’re looking for inspiration book, then read this book!

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

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

https://www.amazon.com/Crushing-Turns-Pressure-into-Power/dp/1455595373