Monday, February 25, 2019

A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need by Cheryl Brodersen

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A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need by Cheryl Brodersen

4 stars

"The victory has already been assured to you by the Champion of All Grace. Jesus trains our hands for war and leads the way in this conflict. He has supplied you, by grace with everything you need to win the prize. Victory is near."

A Woman's Battle for Grace focuses on understanding grace. Brodersen presents the case that women often do not truly live by grace because they don't understand it. This novel focuses on breaking down what grace is and it's multilayered facets. She presents grace as a battle to be won and that we exist in a battlefield with many minefields to conquer.
"This book is for those who:
~struggle with condemnation.
~never seem to meet their own standards of perfection.
~feel overly burdened to meet the expectation of others.
~never feel as though they've done enough or done it well enough.
~constantly struggle with insecurities.
~are always trying to please others.
~feel substandard to other women.
~still deal with shame over the past.
~can't seem to conquer their temper.
~feel defeated.
~long to be a better person.
~want more spiritual power in their life.
~want to make a difference in their world.


This novel has great insight into grace. Grace is an area of my life where I struggle with tremendously just because I have the tendency to set high and unattainable expectations on people. This novel was really a blessing in teaching me many valuable lessons that I need a little extra guidance in walking with right now. The people in my life are also struggling with receiving and giving grace, so this novel has given me a deeper insight and knowledge beyond what I had before. Brodersen has a lot of great theological discussions and insights. Her commentary is generally spirit-filled and Bible-based, which are pluses. I also felt like God was placing the list of grace that she defines in the early chapters and my co-leader and I wrote a Bible study guide on the topic of grace with her definition. It was a convicting Life Group, not for my girls, but for myself as well. This book offered a way for Jesus to convict me in areas that I would've stay blinded to if I had not picked up this book when I was called to.


"If we don't realize God's favor, we'll walk in defeat rather than in purpose, wisdom, and victory!"

There is a drawback of this novel for me and it's a completely personal opinion. I'm going to be honest, Cheryl Brodersen isn't always the easiest person to like. In fact, there were many times when she was sharing stories about her own graceless acts that I felt uncomfortable at her complete inability to see how reckless and hurtful her actions are in the moment. Which is convicting to read about and I had to give Cheryl a lot of grace for actions and it was good to see how God convicted her heart in the moment because she was usually very selfish and her experiences could be frustrating to read about. Despite how hard it was for me to jive with Cheryl at first, I began to let God convict my heart on the message being presented and this minor drawback fell away.


"Grace is God's infusion of spiritual power to do what we can't do naturally. God never intended for us to try to live the Christian life in our own strength. If the abundant life were doable in our own strength, we would have little or no need for God. The fact is He call us to a life that is spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally impossible without the power of His grace working in and through us. This spiritual power is so great, so perfectly sufficient for every need, that it's worth the battle to experience it!"

There are some powerful messages in this novel about what grace is, the enemies of grace, the power of grace, the beauty of grace, the strength of God's grace when we are disobedient, grace's importance and how it cancels out Legalistic (or religious) living. I walked away from this book with convictions and wisdom that I lacked before. Is this the best Christian Living novel? Not in my opinion, but it was what I needed and if you are struggling to let God's grace fuel you sufficiently in your life, then this is a novel for you.


Grace is God's way of saving us, forgiving us, cleansing us, and transforming us so we can be qualified to be His instruments of grace."

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.25

Plotastic Scale: 4

Cover Thoughts: I absolutely adore this cover. It's one of my favorites that I've come across for Christian Living recently.


Thank you, Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
 
Have you read A Woman's Battle for Grace? What are some of your favorite Christian novels? Let me know down below in the comments! 

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