Jesus Daily: 365 Interactive Devotions by Aaron Tabor, MD Book Review and Giveaway

My Review:

 

Jesus Daily is an excellent new interactive devotional written by Aaron Tabor, founder of popular Facebook page, Jesus Daily. Each month covers a different theme and some of these themes are “Jesus is the answer, Jesus Heals, Jesus Changed My Life”, and much more. The book contains beautiful illustrations to draw readers into God’s Holy presence. It also has a nice ribbon bookmark in it to help you find the next day easier. Each day has a main scripture verse and a wonderful lesson to encourage readers through this difficult walk of life. It also enclosed a connect feature which is designed to ignite readers into reaching out and interacting with others and showing them the love of Christ.

 

I was selected to post my review today, December 3.

 

Today’s teaching told the story of the angel appearing to Mary telling her that a child was going to be born to her. Mary was told she would conceive and have a son and to name him Jesus. The angel assured her to not be afraid because she found favor from God. Imagine for a minute that an angel just appeared to you declaring you’re carrying God’s chosen child who would forever change the entire world. If you can’t imagine an angel appearing before you, then picture waiting for the results of an EPT test. Like most people who have ever taken a pregnancy test, you have mixed emotions: excitement, fear, and maybe even a little scared to death waiting for those long results to see if one’s on the way or more than one. Not to mention, Mary was engaged to be married and it wasn’t Joseph’s child. As we all know people would gossip and pass judgment and believe they had premarital sex even when it wasn’t the truth. But when God gave Mary favor it changed her life and everyone around her for generations to come.

 

It’s always tough when our circumstances don’t look good in the natural and we don’t understand His plan for our life in this present moment. In the bigger scope of looking at life, we will eventually see that His plan is far better than we will realize. But one touch of God’s favor changed her life instantly and one touch of His favor can also change yours! That dry season and drought in your life dramatically can be changed with one touch of His favor! That couple who is having infertility problems one touch of God’s favor and boom you’re expecting. The adoption process that is taking forever and suddenly you receive an unexpected call that you’re approved for adoption and everything works out. The married couple who is angry and bitter at their spouse and can’t even stand sleeping next to their spouse anymore and one touch of His favor and hearts are soften and love is rekindled. The breakup that has almost killed you’re self-worth and you’re thinking you will never find love again and one touch of God’s favor and boom you fall in love again and this time it’s with a way better person. You lost your job and you’re struggling to find another one and boom with God’s favor you find a way better job. That person who has an addiction and is struggling to be set free, one touch of God’s favor and you’re craving is gone. Sickness and disease is causing you to have immense fear in your life and one touch of His power and your body is healed.

 

Today’s devotional reminded me to always remember to notice the favor of God in small and big things. Favor can be simple things such as someone giving you a good parking space to bigger things such as receiving an unexpected financial blessing. It’s viral to take the time and pay attention to God’s favor in your life.

 

I would highly recommend checking this devotional out and seriously letting it help you to refocus on enjoying God’s presence.

 

 

I was asked by FaithWords to review a copy of this amazing new resource.

 

Thanks so very much to FaithWords for graciously providing me with an extra copy of Jesus Daily and a t-shirt to giveaway to a lucky reader during their 12 Days of Christmas promotion! 

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40 Days of Grace: Discovering God’s Liberating Love By Rich Miller Book Review

In 40 Days of Grace, Rich Miller explored the fundamental concept of grace given by a loving Creator. Rich Miller described that when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and we repented and asked for forgiveness. This very act of sacrifice lead to grace being introduced into the world. The book is written in the form of a 40 day devotional and divided into six weeks. The weekly topics include “Amazing Grace”, “Canceling the Guilt Trip”, “From Disgrace to Grace”, “From Fear to Faith”, “The Power of Humility”, “The Grace-Rest Life”. Each day has a personal story demonstrating an aspect of grace, “a thought to chew on” – a sentence to think about, “a truth to remember” – a scripture verse to mediate on, “a question to mull over”, and “talking it over with God” – a prayer to pray.

 

In one of the day’s devotional, Rich Miller revealed a personal story about struggling with guilt over his sins. About a year after he began a follower of Christ and was saved, he was in college drinking with his friends. When his brother surprising arrived and handled him a Christian book for his birthday. Rich felt guilty for his actions but soon turned back to drinking to numb his emotions. His so called friends wrapped him in a bed sheet and threw him in an elevator and pressed all the buttons where every floor could witness his drunken state. A few hours later, he managed to make it back to his room and his buddies took the notation to pick him up off his bed and shove his head into the wall. Then his roommate also stated, “Do you really think this is glorifying God?” (Page 71). Overall, he later learnt that God adopted him and chose him (See Ephesians 1:5-8) and God already has provided us grace and forgiveness of our innumerable sins. The blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross has declared that we are forgiven for our sins by his unmerited grace.

 

My favorite story that Rich Miller shared was day 6, “Grace Works”. Rich Miller noticed that his son, Brian was having trouble sharing a room with his younger adopted brother, Luke. Luke struggled with understanding boundaries and he would constantly invaded Brian’s space. When Rich’s three other children were playing a game, Luke would destroy the game and they eventually begin to shut the door where Luke couldn’t mess up the game. As parents, they had to address the issue and they told their kids that they couldn’t treat their brother that way. Brian still struggled with sharing a room with him. Rich came up with an idea and he told Brian to imagine Luke sitting there listening to him. He told him to get out the anger and the hurt and then proceed to forgiveness. Afterwards, Brian took the initiative and went and played with his brother for 45 minutes for the first time ever. This gave me great hope and I wonder if we did that as adults and forgave quickly what would happen. Grace could rapidly change our relationships with others!

 

I would recommend this magnificent book to anyone who is needing a refresher course on grace. This devotional was very entertaining to read and each day was only about three pages each. I immensely loved the prayer that was at the end of each day and they were simple and consistent with the message content. I love the way Rich Miller connected all of the stories back to undeserved grace and forgiveness. One of my favorite day devotions was entitled, “A Return to Dignity”. This one Rich Miller encouraged readers who feel ashamed to proclaim out loud these helpful paragraphs regarding sexual abuse or rape, and emotional abuse. These statements relinquishes the lies that they may have believed about themselves. I also love how he used scriptures to assist in readers finding freedom from the lies of satan. If you’re looking for a book that will convey to you the importance of grace, then this book is the one you need to read!

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher from Kregel Publications book review bloggers program."

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of 40 Days of Grace, then check it out on Amazon.com:

 

http://www.amazon.com/40-Days-Grace-Discovering-Liberating/dp/0857214438

Deeply Loved: 40 Ways in 40 Days to Experience the Heart of Jesus By Keri Wyatt Kent Book Review

In Deeply Loved, Keri Wyatt Kent has written a 40 days devotional type book to encourage readers to get closer to God and to experience His complete never ending love. God loves each of us like we’re an only child. God desires to connect intimately with each one of us and you’re supposed to enjoy being in His Holy presence. Each day contains a scripture verse and a “Presence Practice” to guide readers into studying the love of Christ in more depth.

 

Keri Wyatt Kent made a great point about setting a part quiet time for God and being intentional about seeking God’s face. Solitude benefits us because you’re more inclined to listen to God so that we can hear the things He’s wanting to convey to us. Some of us are wanting to be closer to God and have a stronger relationship with Him. But building a relationship always requires sacrifice of time on our part. An important quote was, “What advice would you give this spouse, longing to feel the love of her husband? Hopefully it’s obvious: in order to feel more connected, this person needs to spend time with her spouse. It’s that simple. Sit down on the couch and talk about your day. Go for a walk and talk about your dreams. Go golfing or sailing or enjoy some other activity together. Make love. Just be together!” (Page 43). It’s the same way with God, we have to spend time studying His word, praying, and enjoying being in His presence.

 

Day 28 entitled, “Trust” was very life changing for me and vastly revealed to me the things I worry about. Keri Wyatt Kent shared a personal story about trusting God with all of her worries, fears, and concerns. Her son injured his hand in volleyball practice and he had a sprained finger. Like any parent, her mind was going through all the worst possible outcomes. Her problems began to overwhelm her and she was stressing. Her husband is self-insured and his insurance policy doesn’t cover an orthopedic specialist. She had to trust that God had it all figured out and she didn’t have to worry. Her son’s hand thankfully healed and no trip to the doctor was needed. One important thing Keri did was write down and list what she was worried about. And she replaced her worries with things she had to be graceful for. I decided to do this as well.

 

Some of my worries are: Losing my parents, never going on a date, never marrying, never having children, not having good friendships that last through the seasons and changes of life, not being good enough, being alone, and never seeing my dreams and desires come true.

 

Things I am thankful for: Jesus dying on the cross for my sins, my salvation, a place to live, parents that love me and care for me, a family that would always be there for me, pets to love, food to eat, the ability to cook meals, music to listen to, and books to read.

 

I would recommend this wonderful book to anyone who needs a reminder that God loves you completely. God’s love is unfathomable and on this side, we won’t ever realize how much He truly does love us. This book will help readers to experience a life changing relationship with the person who created you. I immensely love how Keri Wyatt Kent related to the readers and shared personal stories and ways she became confident in the truth of God’s love. The book will reveal to you His caring loving touch in your life. If you’re longing to enhance your relationship with God and take it to a whole another level, then this book will substantially impact your life!

 

 

“I received this copy of Deeply Loved for free from Abingdon Press for this review”.


 

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

 

http://www.amazon.com/Deeply-Loved-Experience-Heart-Jesus/dp/1426744811/