Book Review: A Jewel of the Kingdom

When I picked up A Jewel of the Kingdom by Cho Larson and began reading, memories surfaced of earlier days.  I remember my mentors pressing me to ask God for the desire to prophesy.  I remember feeling intimidated, studying Scripture and asking God to use anybody but me to prophesy revelations of Him.  I remember witnessing flawed vessels who created chaos in Christian meetings.  Over the years, I grew less ambivalent.  My pendulum swung from “this is crazy” to “I can’t live without it.”  

What exactly is this gift of prophecy?  How do I know if this gift of the Holy Spirit is for me?  What is the purpose of this gift of prophecy?

The gift of prophecy is the kind of gift that has to be ministered in the correct Scriptural order.  What is that order?  What do I look for in judging if a prophecy is the real thing before I embrace it?

The author addresses all these questions and much more.

A healthy church allows the gift of prophecy letting God’s spirit produce awe in His people, building them up and strengthening them and sometimes convicting them of sin.

When this gift is abused, do I shy away and think that prophecy is not necessary? I cheat myself when I neglect its importance.  Reading this book helps me to be less fearful of making a mistake.  I'm encouraged to embrace a loving God and his gifts so that I can love Him back and serve Him with a passion knowing God uses flawed people for His purpose. 

The book lays out the checks and balance system for Christian believers in a group setting that allows the gift of prophecy.  When believers are accountable, hidden sin cannot stay hidden!  It’s beautiful when we understand God's order.

I find it inspiring to reflect on Jesus making his bride beautiful with treasures that are spiritual.  Author Larson writes that we should desire this gift of prophecy, to wait for it, and to adhere to Jesus Christ. 

The author’s writing style made it easy to read.  His confidence and boldness as a teacher got my attention and I sat up straight learning and enjoying the journey of this teaching of the wonderful gift of prophesy.  You will too!

Book Review: Overcome Failure: Get Back on Your Feet

Author Ifeoma Samuel’s new book, Overcome Failure, is a must have for anyone who is human.  Don’t we all fail and find it hard to pick ourselves back up?  Especially if it’s a red face blunder type of failure and I think just about every one of us has experienced that in life.

The author reminds us who we are and to whom we belong:  trust God.  We don’t have to be perfect; God is the perfect one!

I like declarations from God’s Word and speak them over my life to remind myself of true reality.  Declarations from the Word are included here.

The advice to overcome critics helps me to know that if criticism evokes growth, I keep it.  If it is not meant for good, it should be discarded.

The author suggests ways to overcome embarrassing situations.  I have found myself in loads of those and checked off the list of what to do!

I nodded in agreement with this book when it comes to fear of failure and ways to overcome.  My favorites were saturating myself with God’s Word, really believing it!   The other is developing an attitude of gratitude.

I liked the emphasis on God’s Word, not just positive thoughts and statements.   Clever positive words have never held their strength compared to the power of what God says.  There is nothing like His promises!

The ending of this book targets faith and I know developing faith always overcomes fear.  Faith gets us to the finish line.

I highly recommend Overcome Failure.  It comes with a companion study guide and will be available for purchase on August 16, 2016.

Dr. Ifeoma Samuel is an author and blogger.  Visit her blog, Purposeful and Meaningful, http://purposefulandmeaningful.blogspot.com

Book Review: Treasures of the Kingdom

Treasures of the Kingdom is the second book in the Kingdom Series, written by Author Cho Larson.  The book features a Biblical explanation of the Holy Spirit’s role in the Christian Church as well as the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian believer.

Larson’s teaching is clear.  He uses Scripture with examples to point out the true objective of God’s purpose for us in the Body of Christ to not only live powerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives, but fellowship corporately with the intentional purpose to honor a holy God with the free flowing gifts of the Holy Spirit.

How do we enter into worship that our God so deserves?

What are the steps of true worship?

How do I know how to serve God with the gifts He provides?

How do I break free of all the fleshly trappings that bind me so I can worship freely and serve a Holy God?

What does a healthy church look like when believers follow the Biblical requirements of gathering corporately and allowing the Holy Spirit to control the service?

What should I be cautious about when I see gifts of the Holy Spirit misused?

These questions and many more are answered in this valuable book.  After each chapter, the author asks a series of questions that I found helpful in understanding all that I have read.  Room to journal is provided as well.  I also liked the prayers that the author included to lead us to talk to God about it.

Treasures of the Kingdom is one of those books that instructs me, leads my heart to repent and also helps me commit what I’ve learned to Almighty God.  I highly recommend this book.

My review is an honest account of what I have read and how it affected my life.