" Disclosure: I received this book free from NetGalley and Revell Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 |
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog
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APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it
On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
"LifeGrowth Guide - You're Already Amazing" by Holley Gerth
Sunday, April 3, 2016
"40 DAYS of DECREASE ... " by Alicia Britt Chole
"40 Days of Decrease
A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast."
By Alicia Britt Chole
Book Description: "...40 Days of Decrease guides readers through a study of Jesus’ uncommon and uncomfortable call to abandon the world’s illusions, embrace His kingdom’s reality, and journey cross-ward and beyond." |
"40 Days of Decrease... A Different Kind of Hunger. A different Kind of Fast" by Alicia Britt Chole 'is a beautiful invitation to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection in a more meaningful way than ever before' so this is why after reading a 6 day sampling with You Version reading plans, I chose this book for this past season of Lent ... to really reflect more deeply in the entire experience of the "40 days" leading up to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I hoped this season of preparation of my heart might be different, with the discipline of reading and participating in these "40 Days of Decrease" which is meant to "guide readers through a study of Jesus’ uncommon and uncomfortable call to abandon the world’s illusions, embrace His kingdom’s realities, and journey cross-ward and beyond" so that I might be "awed" as I read [40fast(dot)com]. {I even subscribed to the author's blog} ... I really hoped I might experience that 'full embrace' as I read in the author's gift of eloquence and thoughtfulness with words ... I wanted what she experienced to be what I might experience minus perhaps the suffering. Perhaps I did not put forth as much effort and intensity as she clearly has in this well documented, researched and thorough book on fasting, lent and "decrease". Her words are poetic and profound. Her insights and deep thoughts are amazing. But for me, it was a bit overwhelming. I guess my "awe" was more in the many facets of her writing and information than the "awe" that I desired during my 40 days.
Honestly I have mixed feelings about "40 Days of Decrease" with more of a sense of overload after each day's devotional part of the reading for that day. Perhaps it's just me, but Alicia Britt Chole definitely writes on a higher level than I am at, and I found there is so much 'content', that it was hard for me to simply read, focus and understand. Often I would have to read and then re-read until I could understand what was written. Alicia Britt Chole is definitely a gifted wordsmith and clearly this "40 Days of Decrease" took much research and time as well as a genuine heart of seeking all God has ... she even started off with a very personal prologue of a "Grand Reduction" in her life.
Honestly I have mixed feelings about "40 Days of Decrease" with more of a sense of overload after each day's devotional part of the reading for that day. Perhaps it's just me, but Alicia Britt Chole definitely writes on a higher level than I am at, and I found there is so much 'content', that it was hard for me to simply read, focus and understand. Often I would have to read and then re-read until I could understand what was written. Alicia Britt Chole is definitely a gifted wordsmith and clearly this "40 Days of Decrease" took much research and time as well as a genuine heart of seeking all God has ... she even started off with a very personal prologue of a "Grand Reduction" in her life.
"... Lent had come half a year early. God asked me to fast mental and physical strength. He invited me into holy weakness. I found Jesus there. We often think of Jesus’ fast beginning when He stepped into the Judean wilderness. But the fast actually began three decades earlier when the Glory of heaven was wrapped in plain paper and given as a gift to mankind. The Grand Reduction had begun. Jesus fasted omnipresence and clothed Himself with flesh. He fasted being worshiped by angels and accepted the disregard of man. He fasted the Voice that birthed planets and submitted to the silence of thirty hidden years " ... |
"We are duly thankful, challenged, and inspired by Jesus’ forty-day fast from food in the Judean wilderness. Perhaps we should likewise be grateful, awed, and humbled by His thirty-year fast from praise, power, and potential in Nazareth. It takes a great deal of strength to choose weakness." |
THIS IS NOT AN EASY READ
"When He calls us to fast strength—when He drafts us into decrease—God’s purposes are clear: "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:2–3) "To humble us, to test us, to know what is in our hearts . . . such is the sifting power of helplessness. In our daily lives, we may prefer self-reliance. But perhaps utter dependence is the truer friend of our souls " |
" Disclosure of material connection:
I received this book free from the publisher Thomas P. Nelson through the book review blogger's program BookLook Bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
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Some people have a gift of reviewing concisely, I try to give you a true sense of what I encounter as I read and am blessed by the greats like Alicia Britt Chole, even if my review was not as favorable, I was truthful and true to my simple but lengthy way.
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