Book Review: Jesus Calling Devotional Bible, NKJV Enjoying Peace in His Presence, edited by Sarah Young

No doubt that Sarah Young has written an inspiring, beautifully penned short pieces of writing based on Sarah's own personal journey notes where she claimed are based on God's impression upon her heart. Her writings were written in first person pronoun, so that, as the readers read them, it is as if, God is speaking directly to them. Whether those words are the direct results of God's speaking to her, no one can verify as they are subjective and personal.


Although these notes are scripturally based, but, I do find her to be rather presumptuous of her to relay those words to the readers as if God is speaking to them in the exact manner and arrangement. Our God is a God of creativity and He can use any part of the Bible at different times and in different manner to speak to different people of different background through the Holy Spirit. The danger of these kinds of writings would be to promote readers to rely on reading them exclusively and not through the Bible. A good devotional writer would be one who would encourage his/her readers to depend and rely more and more on the Holy Bible to understand the guidance and will of God with the help, guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit, Thus, serving pieces of writing like these would be as if she is serving pieces of chewed food for re-ingestion.

Therefore, although these writings are inspiring, the readers should ultimately rely on the Holy Spirit and the Bible alone and not through secondary means in order to draw close to God.

See a review by Tim Challies on this book here:
http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/jesus-calling


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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this e-book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. 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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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Book Review: God's Love Letters to You. A 40-Day Devotional Experience By Larry Crabb

This book is a 40-day devotional messages taken from the eternal story of God’s Love, the Bible, as revealed in the conversational experience of 66 Love Letters.

Each devotional reading is based on twenty Old Testament and twenty New Testament books of the Bible.

Written to help the reader listen to what God is saying in His Word, God’s Love Letters to You offers a life-changing encounter with God through the story He is telling.

Author Larry Crabb brings the big picture of God’s story into clearer focus, helping readers catch an enticing glimpse of how each of these forty books of the Bible advances the story.

Although I like Larry Crabb's style of writings and his biblical view on psychology, I wish that the main devotional message is scripturally referenced. Except for the introductory scripture verses that appear at the beginning of each day's message, there is very little scripture back-up in this book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this e-book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. 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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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