Book Review: Just like Jesus by Max Lucado

I love reading books by Max Lucado. I imagine him being a soft-spoken gentleman with a very close relationship with God who delights in pointing others to Him.

This book is such an amazing book for anyone who is in doubt or not fully convinced that it is possible to be like Jesus. Max starts and ends this book by stating that “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. More than anything, He wants you to be just like Jesus.” What an amazing revelation.

The layout of the book is a very interesting one. Max starts each chapter with a scripture, which the reader is to ponder. Then he encourages the reader step by step on ways to be like Jesus. I would not go into all the steps as that would defeat the purpose of the review, but I would highlight points I found noteworthy.

The fact that you are loved right where you are is a relief as you can be rest assured that His love does not decrease with lack of performance or mistakes. You are loved right where you are. This revelation makes one realise that as we are shown mercy and love, it is our responsibility to show that same mercy and love to others around us irrespective of how they have grieved us. As Max puts it: “Relationships don’t thrive because the guilty are punished but because the innocent are merciful”.

He also lays emphasis on the fact that having a constant relationship with Jesus (by spending time with Him and studying the scriptures) is the first step to being like Jesus. The tools needed for this are a regular time and place, an open bible and an open heart. With these tools, you are ready to be like Jesus. Being like Jesus is a process aided by these tools.

The beauty of it is that we can be just like Jesus because we have been wired to do so from the beginning of time. We need to tune in until we get to a point where separation from God is definitely death.

Bulletproof

People around me know about my love for the song “Titanium” by David Guetta and Sia. You should Google the lyrics; perhaps you would understand why I am besotted with the song.

It puts things in perspective for me: I have nothing to lose if things come at me because I am bulletproof. I have the willpower to withstand all difficulties because I know who I am and who is in me.

It takes a lot of strength to stay on track when plans do not work out or everything  seems to go wrong. The moment you decide to be happy no matter what happens, everything seems to go downhill.

Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane is a good example. 

The week before, He had been praised and welcomed on a donkey with people spreading out palm leaves and chanting songs of praise. A week later, He was in the garden, dreading what He knew must happen but having the resolve to go through with it as God had given Him the strength to despite the fact that one of His own would betray him and the others would disappear.

In the garden, He prayed fervently for God to provide Him a way to escape being sent to the cross, but He looked at the bigger picture…if He did not go to the cross, then we would all be damned. So He decided that He had nothing to lose by going to the cross but a lot to gain.

The point I want to make is this: whatever adverse situation you go through, do not consider what you may lose but what you would gain. It is with that perspective you would go through it with your head held high and a smile on your face.

Book Review: 20,000 days and counting

I am one of those readers who find it difficult to read a book by an author I am not familiar with. I tend to go for the John Maxwells, Max Lucados and John Grishams of the book world.

What attracted me to this book was the cover (and the title of the book to be honest). It struck a chord with me and I was captivated from the beginning of the book till the end.

Robert begins each of his chapters with quotes that make the reader stop and think. I actually made notes on each of the quotes. Even though some were ones I already knew, he compelled me to think about them.

There are lots of lessons to learn from this book but what I chose to focus on was his statement “what if you considered rejection to be a crucial part of your search instead of an obstacle?” Now, that wowed me.

I have faced rejection repeatedly and it has not been a pleasurable experience. That statement made me realise that the rejections I have faced could have been pleasurable if I had a different perspective. Hear me out. Once you make up your mind that you would move on and be happy in spite of any rejection, you are bound to take more chances and succeed.

He said “nos do not intimidate me. I eat nos for breakfast”. That made me literally get up from my table and think of all the steps I had not taken because of the fear of the nos.

He concludes by saying “ you have to take chances to make your dreams reality. Face your fears head-on and move rapidly. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Make lots of them! Your odds for success will increase with the number of decisions you make.” There are steps he recommends to do this and it is advisable to create time to follow them.

The perfect lady

When people ask me to be myself, I wonder if they really know who I am and what I am capable of.  I am manipulative, selfish and would generally not help anyone if unsure they would be of any use to me. Impatience defines me, and really I have no qualms detaching myself from people when I find them irrelevant to me.

So imagine how grateful I am that the Holy Spirit resides in me and helps me be more like Christ. Seriously. I really can’t be Christ-like without Him. The first thing was to take a self-assessment (which obviously I did and that’s how I know to tell you all of the above).

Secondly, I have determined that if I really want to be Christ-like, I need to understand what that even means. It isn’t being a pushover on whom people would spit and I would say thank you.  I find that it is having the confident knowledge that God lives in me and still put on the nature of a servant to serve others (not to my advantage, but that they may profit).

Philippians 2: 5-8 aptly describes Christ-likeness “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what…” (MSG).

Thirdly, it is a conscious effort. I don’t just talk about being Christ-like. I think about it. I study it. I live it with His help. I fall, dust myself up and tell myself “He has to shine through me.”.

I am not going to speak ‘Christianese’ and say, “ I am not perfect, I make mistakes”. I am perfect, and not by your standards but by His. I make mistakes but I am perfect because He said so. When I accepted Him, He made me perfect and told me in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect like my Father. And we all know that whatever He speaks comes to life.

The point is this: You cannot be like Him without Him and He won’t force you to. He is the perfect gentleman and would only work on transforming you if you totally let go of you and let Him take over.

Book Review- Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well

Billy Graham is a world renowned Preacher/Teacher/Evangelist and receiving this book was cherry on the cake.

It is a book about how to live life in one's old age...but really, we all need to learn how to enjoy our lives as it is, how to make improvements and how things should be put in the right perspective.

He shares the difficulties he has encountered in his old age, especially after losing his wife. He states the importance of having a proper relationship with God and relying on Him completely while wisely planning early for your retirement.

My review on "Where has Oprah taken us?"

When I got this book, I tried not to make an assumption about its content...I'll let you be the judge of how well I did. 

The author, Stephen Mansfield, delves into the history of Oprah's lowly beginnings to her rise over the years as a person of influence both in the media and otherwise. He points out that she seems to be a person of faith but what she professes exactly is a mystery...almost. 

The author concludes by saying "what she believes is illogical, inconsistent, arrogant, destructive and amazingly naive." 

I would not go as far as saying that because this is a

perception of what she believes, however it is true that one 

can only criticise what one sees.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://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 

Never ending wheel of complaint

It is easy to take things for granted. When you step back, you would almost be appalled at how we complain endlessly about seemingly unnecessary things. I would use this lovely weather as an example. Twitter updates from a particular set of tweeps were anticipating summer for months. They complained about how cold it was, how lazy the weather made them feel etc. Now its summer, 23 degrees and all. The same set are complaining about the sun, how hot it is, how sweaty they are all the time. 

It struck me: we can go through life complaining about anything and miss the beautiful moments we experience. If it is cold, layer up and enjoy the fact that you are not sweaty or whatever. If it is hot, see it as  an opportunity to wear clothes you ordinarily would not. It is so easy to get trapped in the vicious cycle of complaint and wake up wondering why we are never happy.

Our thoughts determine our actions to a great extent. If you make up your mind to be happy come what may, chances are that you would see an opportunity in the most dire circumstances. Stones exists and whether you turn them into stumbling blocks or stepping stones is all up to you.

"Every person takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world." Arthur Schopenhauer.