The Beauty of an Uncluttered Soul: Allowing God's Spirit to Transform You from the Inside Out by Carla Gasser and Illustrated by Vivian Kammel Book Review

In Beauty of an Uncluttered Soul, Carla Gasser has written a new book about transforming your soul. In the book, she used an acronym for the word, SOUL to guide readers into decluttering their lives. It stands for searching, observing, using, and leaning. She explored the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 and how we can experience these qualities in our lives. These included, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”. Each devotional type explored each fruit of the Spirit. She revealed how we can make three piles to unclutter our souls and to make room for peace in our lives. One of the ways was in giving away our worries and fears. We can learn to give them to God and not to be concerned about them any longer. There are countless things that we are constantly worried about and it’s stealing our peace and it’s time we learn to throw them away and declutter our souls. She also included a special section about the tool’s readers will need while they read the book. These included, a Bible, art supplies, pen/pencil, notecards, journal, helpful terms (in the back of the book), and questions.

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is ready to study and learn more about the fruits of the Spirit and they are searching on how to declutter their souls. I immensely enjoyed how she broke down each fruit of the Spirit and how she looked at each one by using the SOUL acronym in order to explore the meaning behind each fruit. I liked how she included different scriptures throughout each study on the fruits of the Spirit. One of my favorites was when she discussed the topic of kindness and she included examples on how to reach out to others and show them kindness. Some of these included, compliment the waiter or waitress on excellent services maybe tipping more, making meals for your neighbors or people in need, giving a gift package to delivery people, letting people cut us in line, and much more. I also liked how Vivian illustrated the book to make it more appealing to readers and to keep them engaged. Most of them was of nature, trees, flowers, leaves, and fruit. I liked how she included questions and left some room where readers could answer the question inside the book. I also liked how they included a yellow ribbon bookmark where readers can bookmark their reading spot. 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Beauty of an Uncluttered Soul, check it out on Amazon.com: 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Uncluttered-Soul-Allowing-Transform/dp/0764235184

 

Do Life Differently: A Strategic Path Toward Extraordinary by Jeff D. Reeter Book Review

In Do Life Differently, Jeff D. Reeter explored the topic of learning to lead yourself first, where in turn you can lead others more effectively. He begins the book by sharing a story about how he was lost in the wilderness when he was on a hunt to find the elusive elk in the high country of the Uncompahgre National Forest in Colorado. He shared his experience and how he was able to find his way back to the campsite. Later on, he shared what he learned from being lost and how he eventually took professional guided hunts and gained in knowledge. He was also able to learn to lead himself and how he always tries to enjoy the adventure of the trip. He explained to readers on how we need to strive to be extraordinary in our businesses, family, relationships, health, and overall life. Many of us are settling for being just an ordinary spouse, employee, friend, church member, and health. Jeff encouraged readers to take inventory of how God has made each of us unique. We need to discover our passions, experiences, skills, and talents and use them to reach our best authentic self. He opened up about how readers can get unstuck in life and how we can move from a life of survival to a life of significance. 

 

 

 

 

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who is ready to live an extraordinary life and they are ready to live their life in a different way. I liked how Jeff choose to focus on a different aspect of leadership. He shared the importance of leading yourself first. This is something that many other leadership books incline to not look at. I also enjoyed how he encouraged readers to create their own master action plan that will help you to reach your five-year vision you’re moving towards. I immensely enjoyed how he shared a story about what he learned while leading a signature talk session with a group of college students. One of the activities, he asked them to do was write down their future dreams for their marriage, vocation, health, spiritual growth, and community involvement. He also tried it with adults in their 40s and 50s. The adults tend to complain and get irritated. The younger students tend to dream and write down their dreams. He discovered the main difference is that older adults have already had life crush some of their dreams and some chose to follow the crowd. I liked how he explained how readers can achieve a life of significance at any age and in this book, he will guide readers into doing just that. 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Do-Life-Differently-Strategic-Extraordinary/dp/154603692X/

The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible by Tara-Leigh Cobble Book Review

In The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble has written a brand new chronological reading plan following along to the Bible. In the first part of the book, she explained how she struggled with understanding and reading the Bible. She admitted she sometimes had a lack of desire or motivation to read the Bible even though she was in full time ministry. She shared her mistakes and how she viewed the Bible as a big to do list and how if she did everything correctly God would be please with her. She realized when she read the Bible front to back, she was able to better grasp what the scriptures mean as part of a whole. She also explored the background of who wrote each book of the Bible. Her approach to the Bible in this book shows more of a highlight of what readers read in their daily reading of the Bible. She focused more on the character of God and less on when the temple was built, destroy, or rebuilt. Her goal is for readers to learn the truths found in scriptures and to be able to stand firm when life doesn’t turn out like you imagined. She used mainly the ESV version when she was quoting scriptures. Each day included a highlight and a recap of what occurred in the chapter and a “God shot”. 

 

 

 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to understand what they are reading in the Bible and they are wanting to get closer to God. I immensely liked how the book included a few paragraphs of what the chapters meant and it was a nice recap that was written with details in order to explain what readers just read. She used the ESV version but readers could also follow along with whatever version they chose to. I also enjoy the aspect of it being in chronological order to help readers to better understand what is happening. She did sometimes jump around but when she did it, she explained why she did so. She made it easier to understand what I was reading in the Bible chapters and how they can assist me in developing a deeper relationship with my Creator. I also liked how she included a God shot moment and, in this section, she explained God’s character found in these verses. She also encouraged readers to look for their own snapshots of God in their daily living. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Recap-One-Year-Reading-Understanding/dp/0764237039

How to Forgive When It Feels Impossible by Peter Horrobin Book Review

In How to Forgive When It Feels Impossible, Peter Horrobin explored the topic of forgiveness and how we can choose to forgive ourselves for our mistakes and to forgive others for their shortcomings. He begins the book by explaining that many of us have locks on our hearts and we block others from entering our homes and hearts. Many of us are dealing with painful events and we don’t know how to do deal with unresolved unforgiveness. He described to readers that there is a better way and there is a master key that Jesus gave us. The master key is prayer and most importantly the prayer of, “father forgive them because they don’t know, what it is that they are doing”. Jesus prayed this over the people who crucified him and drove nails into his skin. Jesus taught us how to forgive others who harm us and curse us. Peter revealed how this act of prayer can transform our relationship with Christ and how the Holy Spirit power can be released into our lives. He discovered the four main areas: reputation, sexuality, time, and health where people can be robbed of and the only thing we can do is learn to heal from the pain. In the book, he shared the eight steps to gain freedom and to forgive and heal from the pain and hurt that you are feeling inside. 

 

 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who needs to learn how to forgive and they are ready to seek true freedom. I liked how real and truthful Peter was in explaining the power of forgiveness and the keys that we can chose to unlock in our lives by following Jesus’ example and choosing to forgive. I liked how he included a whole chapter of personal stories about people who found healing in forgiving either themselves or someone else. The stories included being molested, abused, accidents that happened to them, parent conflicts, betrayed, robbed, and much more. One of the forgiveness stories, I was surprised to read about was the one about Jim. When Jim was a little boy, his father told him to jump in his arms off the roof. His father didn’t try and catch him and he just stepped aside and let him hit the concrete. Thankfully, Jim didn’t died but his chest was crushed and he had trouble breathing for years because of that event. After he chose to forgive his dad, he was healed and the asthma and the side effects of that event are completely gone now. This story was heartbreaking to read that a dad would purposely let harm come to his son. I enjoyed how Peter walked readers on eight steps to get freedom from the pain of the past and forgiving when it seems impossible to do so. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of How to Forgive When It Feels Impossible, check it out on Amazon.com: 

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/How-Forgive-When-Feels-Impossible/dp/0800799992/

Rekindle the Altar Fire: Making a Place for God’s Presence by Chuck D. Pierce and Alemu Beeftu Book Review

In Rekindle the Altar Fire, Chuck D. Pierce and Alemu Beeftu explored the topic of the altar and how we can find our way back to God’s holy altar. They looked at how different people in the Bible and how every new beginning and how they built one. Some of these included, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, Saul, and much more. In the book, he began by looking at how the Israelites was under oppression and they kept losing their crops to the Midianites. Gideon built an altar and called it; the Lord is peace. God instructed him to remove his father’s idol altar to Baal and built another altar to God. People were upset and demanded Gideon to be put to death eventually there was a battle and they gained freedom from the Midianites. The authors explained they both hoped to see a fire of God spreading to every nation. They shared how God’s people were blessed because of them building an altar and declaring, believing, and building a relationship with God changed their lives. They looked at 8 kinds of fire: Holy Spirit, love of God, God’s word, holiness, worship and prayer, impurity, hell, and ministry. The book will teach readers how to build an altar and a covenant for a deeper relationship with Christ. 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is sick of the evil in the world and they are ready to rededicate their lives to God. This book will help readers to build an altar to God and to relight the fire in their hearts for going richer and deeper in their relationship with Christ. I immensely enjoyed the passion of both of the authors and how they were able to get a fresh fire for the love of Christ and how they hope they it will spread to all of the nations of the world. I liked how the book explained how we can dive deeper into our worship and we can reflect His glory and how we can learn to pray for things on earth to be like they are in Heaven. 

 

 

 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”

 

 

 

 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Rekindle the Altar Fire, check it out on Amazon.com:

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Rekindle-Altar-Fire-Making-Presence/dp/0800799798/  

The Return: A Novel by Nicholas Sparks Book Review

The Return is a novel that follows Trevor Benson, who is a disabled Navy veteran. He was injured during his deployment in Afghanistan on September 9, 2011.  A mortar blast occurred outside the hospital that he was working at as a physician. He had a scar on his face, his pinkie and ring finger was gone on his left hand, his left ear was gone, and his torso had scars from the shrapnel. He suffered insomnia and PTSD from the horrible event. He moved back to New Bern, North Carolina after his grandfather unexpectedly passed away and he had to learn how to take care of the bees that his grandfather had. He revealed what his last words his grandfather told him before he died and he didn’t understand what he was trying to tell him. In the book, it will all come together towards the end of the book. He eventually met the local deputy sheriff and he explained how he thought someone broke into his grandfather’s cabin. But it took a while to discover that was missing. He tried to build a romantic love with the deputy but she is holding back from falling love. Another big issue in town, is Callie a girl who lives in the trailer park close to the cabin. He feels like Callie is hiding what really happened to his grandfather and he believes she knows more than she is letting known. Trevor learned the importance of returning home to find healing, love, and forgiveness. 

 

 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who enjoys romance mixed with a little mystery. I will say that the book was a little slow read and it took time for the plot to build up and to get moving along. Once, it got going it became a good book. I loved the story behind Trevor’s story and liked how it had a recovering veteran theme. I enjoyed the budding romantic it had between the deputy and him and her secrets was one I didn’t see coming. I think readers will be surprised to read what she was hiding from him. I also liked how Callie’s secret added another element to the story and his grandfather’s story. It was thrilling to read along trying to discover who she really is and what she was hiding. I also liked how the hardcover book had two cover designs and how readers could make it become a Christmas theme design. I will also say that the book doesn’t have a Christmas theme to it the cover design is more made to be like a Christmas gift if you so desire. 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Return-Nicholas-Sparks/dp/1538728575