MoonglotexasDenise frames Philippians as a teaching on living a life of deeper joy and this guided journey is exactly that. Insightful, biblical centred and perspective shifting, I rate it highly on my en-JOY-ment scale and recommend it to those searching for a new understanding of a familiar passage of scripture.
Suffering from CRPS, a flare-up of that whilst reading this book, allowed me to read the book and Philippians through a lens of pain and need for comfort. Paul neither dismisses suffering nor gives it centre stage, he reminds me to make choices. It is a choice to be joyful, the strength to live it out comes from God, not me and each day I can walk in obedience no matter the circumstances. Denise surrounds this truth, sometimes harsh, in love and real-life examples of how to do it and the consequences of not.
Favourite lines:
“The words joy and rejoice appear 16 times in four brief chapters. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi reads like a “personal manifesto on how to live a life full of joy.””
“Joy is anchored in the unshakeable belief that something good – Someone good- lies beyond our present circumstances.”
“We discover joy as we accept the limits of our situation and trust the Lord to work beyond them.”
“Leaving well frees us to love those who become a part of our past as well as those who become a part of our future. We take our character with us everywhere.”
“But true harmony is only possible when believers are walking in integrity, when their manner of being is consistent wherever they go.”
The 20 steps towards a life of deeper joy I will be carrying with me, writing out and setting to memory. I loved the translation to the practical every-day life that Denise creates in this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Word-Writers-Philippians-Experience-2016-09-01/dp/B01N07L6T9/ref=tmm_pap_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1488625464&sr=8-1
Thank you to Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for this advance copy.
