I'm not the best at writing reviews, but I feel its important for me to give my thoughts about a book while its fresh in my mind. As much as I love to read, books start to run together after a few years and this is definitely a book I want to remember.
Rebekah Lyons has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Maybe it's her down-home way of speaking, maybe its that she doesn't claim to have it all figured out, but is willing to keep taking steps of faith and encouraging others to do so as well.
I think believers and unbelievers alike struggle with feeling "stuck." In the Christian circles, we refer to it as "in bondage." We feel like there are a bunch of dos/don'ts that we have to live by and that every blessing from God, every good thing in our life requires us to DO something.
This book was refreshing in reminding me that it's NOT about what I do--it's what I ALREADY AM. Even if you don't struggle with these concepts, this is a book to read because it will help you understand what 90% of those around you feel. The questions at the end of each chapter were some of the most thought-provoking ones I've read--I'm still pondering some of my answers.
There were so many great quotes in this book. This post will be long, but I wanted to capture my faves here:
"We weren't made to keep up. We were made to be free. To be who we already are."
"If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make ou useful in His hands." --Oswald Chambers
"And here's the thing about despair: It overtakes the place meant for hope. It steals the belief that healing is possible."
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."--Fredrick Buechner
"Calling is where our talents and burdens collide."
"As children of God, we have a corporate calling to love God and make Him known. What's amazing is that this calling looks different for each of us based on our talents and the burdens we feel for others. We don't have to stress about finding our 'thing,' but simply ask God to reveal His plans for us."
"No matter your calling, God chose you for a mission and he has appointed a purpose for you well before you were born. This purpose is to bring glory to Jesus, to be his very hands and feet And if the task is daunting, remember this: as he calls you, he leans in and whispers, 'Don't worry; I'll empower your work."
"Confession begins with repentance and ends with declaration."
"Public affection cannot heal private rejection."
"What God begins with the natural, he fulfills with the supernatural."
"What if disciple-making is not just talking about God, but inviting others to talk to God, to confess, repent, and then, with boldness, to petition to him? What if disciple-making is about giving people the freedom to ask, no matter how big or impossible the request?"
"Falling isn't so scary once you lean into the wind. After all, that's how baby birds learn to fly; they freefall to fly."
"Home is wherever God is. And God is ever with me."
"You cannot see the unknown until you release the known."
"Sometimes it takes a stripping away of what we know in order for us to be willing to stop and learn."
"The old covenant was about what we bring to him: our annual offering, our covering of sin to become restored with God. The new covenant is all about what Jesus brings to us: his offering, his blood to forgive our sins, and his righteousness credited to us, making us right with God."
"God doesn't measure worth in terms of ability, but in terms of identity."
"If we cannot grieve, we cannot be comforted."
"Grief is our most powerful confession, because it cracks our hearts open wide."
"Every time we express grief, we allow Jesus to absorb our pain. When we live out the freedom we have been given to grieve, Jesus take our grief upon himself and replaces it with comfort."
"Mental and emotional healing can take longer than physical healing, because emotional ailments often stay hidden for much longer and therefore have deeper roots. It is hard to heal what has been hidden and sometimes God calls us to sit in the emotional pain for weeks, months, or even years before the fullness of his haling comes."
"The secret to strength is weakness."
"Surrender says, 'The calling you've laid before me is too great. I cannot fathom it. Still, I will obey. I will trust that you go before me."
"God chose Moses BECAUSE he was weak, God wanted Moses to know he was only able to lead the people because God was with him, giving him everything he needed to do the job."
"Joy is not the absence of darkness. Joy is the confidence that there darkness will lift."
"Courage is meant to en-courage others."
"There comes a moment for each of us wherein we must decide--will we be brave, or will we remain enslaved to fear?"
"Bravery is moving scared. Bravery requires stepping out."
"Our bravest moments come from trusting, from falling into the plan of God."
"If he is the one who sets this thing in motion, he is the one who completes it."
"Freedom is for those who have nothing else to protect."
"Confession is the gateway to freedom. We are nothing without him. We are everything IN him."
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