Friday, July 15, 2011

Book review: Embrace Grace

Embrace Grace: Welcome to the Forgiven Life. Liz Curtis Higgs. 2006. Waterbrook Press. 160 pages.

I've been waiting for you. Holding this good news close to my heart, longing to share it. And now here you are, standing on the threshold. 

Embrace Grace is a nice devotional book for women. The book creatively yet effectively combines quotes from people like you and me--people who've written to Liz Curtis Higgs through the years to share their stories, their struggles, their frustrations, their hopes--with passages from Scripture. I don't know if this will make sense to you or not, but the book has a very communal feel to it which was nice. I think no matter who you are, no matter where you are in your life, in your spiritual life, you can feel isolated and out of sorts or out of touch. Am I the only one who feels like this? Am I the only one who struggles with this? The book can feel very intimate, very personal in places. It's nice to know that you're not alone, that other people have been where you are, that there is hope and grace and forgiveness. And the Scripture!!! Well, let's just say that I loved how she incorporated Scripture in her narrative. It was encouraging and uplifting, very supportive, very motivational.

If you want to know more about the Father, more about his Son, more about the Holy Spirit--and lots more about human nature--look no further: the Bible is the book for you. And if your spiritual life is starting to wilt, nothing refreshes like Scripture. We can fall in love with him all over again, just by opening his Word. God knew hope alone would not sustain us. We need something to hold in our hands and read with our eyes and study with our minds and speak with our mouths and store in our hearts. Something tangible. Something trustworthy. Something timeless. Whenever I long to get my heart in tune with God, I read the gospel of John. As a writer, I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the language. As a woman, I am undone by the beauty of the Savior. (51-2)
The more I read, the more I am convinced the Bible isn't simply a book. It's a love letter. (56)
The place God's Word holds in our lives is crucial. Because interspersed among the verses that uplift and inspire us are equally important verses that admonish and convict us. You know... the verses we don't underline or memorize. The ones we gloss over, hoping they mean something other than what they clearly state. (70)
Guilt is an unwanted gift from below. Grace is a much-needed gift from above. (109)


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

No comments: