Category Archives: KJV Resources
The Good Wife’s Guide
Are you a good wife? Is there room for improvement? Or do you have it all figured out? I know I fail big time, especially when my emotions get in the way. Fortunately I have a husband who loves me and puts up with my moods and character flaws. Still, that’s no reason to continue. I recently read a book by the Time Warp Wife and was blessed by her words of wisdom.
This Mom’s Review of The Good Wife’s Guide
This book is written for women — all women. Even working wives will want to read this. The author understands the need for some women to work outside the home. She encourages you to make sure your decisions, including the one to work outside the home, are grounded in faith.
Discipline and Self-Sacrifice is a section of the book that really grabbed my attention. I’ve been battling with discontentment over unmet goals and neglected priorities. As I listen to the author describe me, I realize the problem is me. No, she’s not pointing the finger directly at me or passing judgment in the pages of the book. God is using this woman’s wisdom to convict me regarding issues I’ve been battling for several years. It’s exactly what I need to hear!
Some things the Lord has laid on my heart as I read this book:
- My need to serve my family with joy, rather than begrudgingly
- The importance of prioritizing faith and family above other things.
- The best way to handle conflict in my marriage
I’ve read many books and articles on they Whys and Hows of setting goals based on priorities and proper time management. The author has really put it altogether in a way that moves the heart with conviction and hopefully the hands and feet with change.
Included in the book are some household helps, including house cleaning recipes and deep cleaning guides.
While this book is written from a work-at-home mom’s perspective, I found the book to be just as insightful for the mom who works outside her home.
Scripture translation used in this book: NIV, KJV
$4.95 eBook
Book Description:
In The Good Wife’s Guide author Darlene Schacht encourages women to joyfully serve their families. In doing so she offers reasons for achieving a well-managed home backed by scripture and gleaned from experience. As well she provides readers with detailed cleaning and organizing schedules for practical application.
The Good Wife’s Guide encourages women to make faith and family their first priorities from a place of sacrificial love. It reminds women that they were created with a specific purpose in mind, which is that of being a help meet. In supporting our husbands and living in unity we reflect God’s blueprint for marriage.
About the Author:
Darlene Schacht is an ordinary mom, living an extraordinary life, because of who she is through Jesus Christ. As help-meet to her husband Michael, she guides and nurtures their four children, leading them toward a deeper walk of faith.
Her work has been published in anthologies by Thomas Nelson, Tyndale Publishing and Adams Media. As well she has co-authored a book with actress Candace Cameron Bure, the award-winning and New York TimesBest-Seller, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness.
If you haven’t read the eBook, I encourage you to. Read more about the book or grab your copy of The Good’s Wife Guide.
Disclosure: Affiliate link included for an eBook I personally recommend.
Mornings with Jesus 2012: Daily Encouragement for your Soul {Review & Giveaway}
“Be still and know that I am God” is one of the most beautiful verses from the Bible, but it’s not easy to practice in this busy world. Mornings with Jesus will help you do just that—“be still” in Jesus’ beautiful and powerful presence. For those who are seeking a deeper experience in their relationship with Christ, Mornings with Jesus offers a fresh perspective of who Jesus is (the Healer, the Son of God, the Comforter, the Good Shepherd) and what that means for day-to-day life. With a warm and friendly voice, 365 short devotional writings on the character and teachings of Jesus encourage readers to greet each day by drawing near to Him and inviting His presence into their day.
Spend time with Jesus at the beginning of each day and experience His nearness and peace in a new way throughout the year. Each day’s selection includes:
- a Bible verse
- an entry based on Jesus: His words, miracles, and parables; His wisdom, compassion, and comfort; His mystery, power, divinity, and humanity
- a “faith step” that will inspire and challenge readers to apply the day’s message to their lives
This Mom’s Review
I have trust issues. I recently discovered this. I trusted Jesus to become my Savior when I was just 12 years old. Yet, I keep finding myself trusting my own judgment and my own ideas more often than God’s direction or God’s conviction upon my heart.
I’ve also discovered a few other things about myself as I read through the devotions found in this book. The testimonies and stories shared in this book were uplifting and some prompted me to get back to basics with God. I want that close relationship I once had with God.
I’ve been too busy and too moody for God, too.
As I read about Lindsay, a young girl diagnosed with a rare disease idiopathic chondrolysis, I saw something in her that I want. Here she was headed to the hospital. Instead of worrying and complaining about her situation, she posted on her Facebook wall these words:
Off to Children’s Hospital … I trust that we will get good news! But, whatever news the doctor has for me I am determined to receive as a blessing, believing Jesus knows best and He is in control of my life.
She is someone who trusts and praises God, despite her physical circumstances. I don’t want to be a groaner anymore. I want to praise God. I want to trust God. I want to believe God and everything I find in His Word.
This devotion includes Scripture from the following translations: KJV, CEB, CEV, ESV, MSG, NAS, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV, RSV, TLB, and TNIV. Authors include Tricia Goyer, Keri Wyatt Kent and Camy Tang. Included in the back of the book is a Scripture reference and a topical index.
I received this book and the giveaway copy from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. Read reviews of other book lovers participating in the book blog tour. Book available for purchase, if you don’t want to wait around for the giveaway!
Enter to win Mornings with Jesus 2012: Daily Encouragement for your Soul
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The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional by Stormie Omartian
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
and the book:
Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2011)
***Special thanks to Karri James of Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***
Stormie Omartian is the bestselling author (more than 13 million books sold) of The Power of a Praying® series, which includes The Power of Praying® for Your Adult Children, The Power of a Praying® Wife, The Power of a Praying® Husband, and The Power of Prayer™ to Change Your Marriage. Her many other books include Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On, The Prayer That Changes Everything®, The Power of a Praying® Woman, and The Power of Praying® Through the Bible. Stormie and her husband, Michael, have been married more than 37 years and are the parents of two adult children.
Visit the author’s website.
New from bestselling author Stormie Omartian is a book close to her own heart—The Power of a Praying® Wife Devotional. Following up on the insights and prayers of The Power of a Praying® Wife (more than 3.5 million books sold) 100 brand-new devotions, prayers, and supporting Scriptures offer a praying wife fresh ways to pray for her husband, herself, and her marriage.
These easy-to-read devotions will increase any wife’s understanding, strength, and peace, as well as provide her with perspective on the situations and challenges she faces. And each prayer will help both husbands and wives be more attuned to the Holy Spirit so they can do what’s right without allowing negative emotions or unclear thinking to get in the way.
A must-have for anyone wanting God’s best for this most important relationship.
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Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736926925
ISBN-13: 978-0736926928
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
As a wife, you need the kind of prayer habit that doesn’t give up or allow discouragement to get in the way, but instead persists and keeps on praying and asking.
When God told Abraham He intended to determine if Sodom was deserving of destruction, Abraham then interceded, praying on behalf of however many righteous people might be there. He asked God if He would destroy Sodom if fifty righteous people were found there, and the Lord said He would not. Abraham then asked if He would destroy the city if forty-five righteous people were found there, then forty people, then thirty, then twenty. Each time Abraham asked, God said He would not destroy it for that many people. Finally Abraham said, “Suppose ten should be found there?” And God said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten” (Genesis 18:32). As it turned out, only four righteous people were there, so God destroyed it. But Abraham had stopped asking at ten.
We need the kind of persistence in prayer that causes us to continue asking as Abraham did. Too often we stop short. Perhaps Abraham stopped asking because he couldn’t imagine that there wouldn’t be at least ten righteous people in Sodom. Or perhaps by then God had proved His point and revealed His intentions. God knew the city was wicked enough to destroy, but He saved the four righteous people—which were Lot, his wife, and their two daughters (Genesis 19:29).
Your prayers are powerful to save too. So keep asking and continue seeking, and don’t ask for crumbs when God wants to give you the banquet. When it comes to praying for you and your husband and your marriage, ask God to help you persist in prayer for even what may seem impossible. Ask for your marriage to not only be saved, but to be good. Ask for it to not only be good, but to be great. God doesn’t say “No” to what is His will. If your husband has a strong will that refuses to submit to God’s will, persist in praying that God’s will wins out.
My Prayer to God
Lord, I pray You would help me to be persistent in prayer—to ask and keep asking for what I believe is Your will. I know anything less than love, selflessness, kindness, peace, and generosity of soul is not Your will in my relationship with my husband. Help me to persist in praying for nothing less than the high standard You have for our marriage. Give me a vision of how You want me to pray. Show me the way You want our marriage to be and help me to pray accordingly so that it becomes all that.
I know I cannot force my husband’s will to be anything other than what it is, but You can touch his heart and turn it toward You. I pray You would do that. May he welcome Your Lordship in his life. Help me to pray consistently and passionately, and to persevere no matter what is happening. I thank You in advance for the great things You are going to do in both of us and in our marriage.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
This Mom’s Review:
Praying is one of my weak areas. I get frustrated with my husband, my children and even myself. Instead, I should be praying. That’s what Stormie reminded me of while I was reading her new devotional.
The contents of the book are divided into “When I…”, “When He…”, and “When We…” devotionals. You’ll read one of each, then the author starts over with the same pattern. It’s a good way to steer the reader (you or me) away from focusing all on herself or all on her husband. Instead, there is turn-taking in whom the reader prays for — herself, her husband, her marriage.
Some topics covered that are heavy on my heart include:
When I Have to Rise Above the Things That Irritate Me – This one helped me with some resentment I’ve been holding for someone other than my husband.
When I Need to be Delivered from Bad Habits – This one left burn marks. Not really, but I have some bad habits that I can’t seem to overcome. The author was straight forward with me and to my dismay is correct.
When He Carries a Heavy Burden – This one prompted me to react and worry less and pray for my husband more. He has so much on his plate and sometimes I’m a burden rather than a blessing to him.
Those are just a few! This book makes a great devotional, prayer prompter and mind renewer!
Spiritual Warfare for Women: Winning the Battle for Your Home, Family, and Friends
Do You Know How to Protect Your Family, Your Friends–and Yourself? The enemy is real, and his mission is to hurt you, your family, and your relationships. But the enemy has no weapon that could ever compare to God’s love.
Leighann McCoy, women’s minister and speaker, shows how sometimes the most significant spiritual battles are the ones you fight inside yourself. With warmth and wisdom, she offers practical tips on identifying and combating Satan’s most powerful attacks, helping you find the victory that comes through knowing who God is and who you are in Him. Spiritual warfare doesn’t always mean plunging headlong into the enemy’s camp with sword raised high. Sometimes it comes down to a more subtle war between the lies that imprison and the Truth that will set you free.
This Mom’s Review of Spiritual Warfare for Women: Winning the Battle for Your Home, Family, and Friends
Spiritual warfare is a topic that has been taught in church. Yet, I pictured it as something that just affects my spiritual growth. In this book, I see just how Satan can and has attacked many areas in my life: my marriage, children, friendships, health and church; which are areas covered by the author. (See the table of contents). I think the chapter that spoke to me most was about friendships with other women. I find myself getting into pity parties and telling myself I don’t need my friends. I now understand why I need those female friendships. God has given us friendships for vital reasons shared in this book. In addition to that chapter, the reader of this book will learn about God’s love, Satan’s character and methods, and who we are in Christ. All these things will help us win the battle for our homes, families, and friends.
In the beginning of the book, fear is discussed. Here is a quote from the book that really stuck in my mind – page 15:
“… We truly worship that which we fear most… Our fear drives us to adjust our behavior so that we honor the object of our fear.”
This is a smart observation. God tells us to fear Him and we’re to worship Him – a healthy, God-revering fear. This little quote has prompted me to think about my fears and the attention they get in my life. I’ve never looked at it this way before, so when I read this, some light was shed on some things in my life that line up with what the author has said.
This is the first time I’ve read a book written by Leighann McCoy. I am interested in reading more of her books!
Bible translations include NIV, ESV, HCSB, The Message, NASB, NLT, and KJV.
Questions & Answers with Author Leighann McCoy
You say in your book that because you grew up in a denomination that taught very little about spiritual warfare you developed your own theology that proved to be
“grossly false.” What was wrong with your theology?
My false theology went something like this: What you don’t know can’t hurt you. Only people who are a little bit wacky get involved in that sort of thing. And, just don’t go there. As a pastor’s wife in a small church, I learned that what I didn’t know hurt me more because I never saw the battle coming. Then I looked around and watched as many people I’d consider reasonably sane were targeted for attack. And perhaps the most powerful lesson came when I realized that you don’t have to go looking for the battlefield; it comes to you.
What is your definition of spiritual warfare?
Spiritual warfare is a battle between God and Satan. It is a war that began in the heavenlies before Adam and Eve ever arrived on the scene. And although the war was won at the cross, battles continue today with us at the center of them. Spiritual warfare involves Satan’s attempts to bring pain, suffering and heinous evil into our lives (and into the world) that.
How do you define the “win” in spiritual warfare?
The “win” is defined by whether or not followers of Christ proclaim or profane the name of God. When we encounter an attack and respond to that encounter with courage, confidence, and great faith in the power and love of God, we win. When we encounter an attack and respond to that encounter with defeat, discouragement, and a lack of faith in the power and love of God, the enemy wins.
In your book you mention women who think they’ve “out-sinned the love of God.” What do you mean by that, and how does that thought process impact spiritual warfare?
I’ve met many women who live in constant awareness of their failures. While they intellectually understand that Jesus died for their sins, they have a hard time understanding that He completely forgives them for that particular sin. In chapter 3 of my book I shout the truth that you cannot out-sin the love of God. I encourage the reader to camp out at the foot of the cross long enough to realize that when Jesus declared sin’s price tag paid in full…it was paid in full. Who would know how much sin cost better than God’s only begotten Son? The impact this has on spiritual warfare is huge. If the Enemy can somehow paralyze us with guilt, shame, and remorse, we’ll live our lives hiding from the presence of God rather than walking with Him on this adventure called life.
You mention throughout your book the power of God’s Word. You even talk about “Post-It Note” warfare. What is that?
Post-It Note warfare is simply taking verses from the Bible, printing them on Post-It Notes, and sticking them wherever you’ll see them throughout your day: on the mirror in the bathroom, just above the kitchen sink, on the steering wheel in your car, anywhere you will look. Then, throughout the day, read those verses aloud in order to
take your thoughts captive to the lordship of Christ.
More Questions & Answers with Leighann McCoy (pdf file).
A copy of the book was provided by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review. Sneak a peak via Scribd.com, then grab a copy from Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, BarnesandNoble.com or your local bookstore.
The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser
Book Summary
Anne “Perri” Singleton’s world is defined by the security of family, the camaraderie of friends at an exclusive Atlanta girls’ school, and an enviable social life. She isn’t looking for new friends when Mary Dobbs Dillard arrives from Chicago. Besides, “Dobbs,” the passionate and fiercely individualistic daughter of an itinerant minister, is her opposite in every way.
But just as the Great Depression collides disastrously with Perri’s well-ordered life, friendship blossoms–a friendship that will be tested by jealousy, betrayal, and family secrets…
With her endearing characters and poignant storytelling, Atlanta native Elizabeth Musser vividly re-creates the charm of her beloved city amid the poverty and plenty that shaped the 1930s.
About the Author
Elizabeth Musser, an Atlanta native, lives in southern France with her husband and their two sons. Her acclaimed novel, The Swan House, was a Book Sense bestseller list in the Southeast and was selected as one of the top Christian books for 2001 by Amazon’s editors. Searching for Eternity is her sixth novel. Visit Elizabeth’s Web site at www.elizabethmusser.com
This Mom’s Review
True friendship is a rarity in this world and must be valued when found. This story is about just that. Two teenage girls, who are as opposite as can be, find themselves newly placed in the other’s life. In contrast, you find God showing himself to a rich girl who’s just now seeing loss in her life, while reminding the poor girl who’s been given the opportunity of a paid education of His Greatness. I found refreshment in the faith discovered and held on to by the characters. I found familiarity in the flaws of some of the characters, especially the father who holds on to the pain and guilt of his past. This is a book that I found myself laughing and crying within the pages. Although it is just a story, it had great influence on my own spiritual state and has given me a boost in getting back to my desire for God’s Word and all it holds. ’m holding onto this one for my daughter.
The book contains scripture from the King James Version, as well as the English Standard Version.
Thanks to Bethany House for the sending me the copy in exchange for my honest review. You can grab a copy from Amazon, Christianbook.com, BarnesandNoble.com and your local bookstore.
