I SURRENDER ALL {GIVEAWAY}

One of my favorite Bible teachers is Priscilla Shirer. That girl can speak to my heart in a way no one else can. She inspires me, encourages me, teaches me, and challenges me. Her new book, I Surrender All, is from the movie The Forge that came out this summer. I've been reading I Surrender All, and once again, Priscilla has hit me to my very core, in such a good way.

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all

I Surrender All has always been one of my favorite songs. It is such a beautiful and powerful reminder to give everything to God. Too often we say, "God, I give it all to You. Oh, wait! You can't have this thing. This one is mine. But you can everything else." And we hold onto our anger, guilt, shame, addiction, fear, worry, future, marriage, children, and more.

Priscilla says, "We're afraid that surrendering the whole of ourselves to Him, giving Him full access to our entire lives, will cause disruptions to our preferred way of living our lives. We fear His intrusive touch might disorder the life we've built or are trying to build. We're uncomfortable thinking He might go around looking into places we've intentionally hidden from view. We're avoidant of the work He might require of us if He finds something that needs adjustment, renovation, perhaps even a complete overhaul. We do not want His purifying gaze of conviction roaming freely throughout the home of our hearts, our minds, and our actions. So we say to Him, in essence...Come in as Savior. But not as Lord."

I don't know about you, but I've tried things my way. I've held onto things that I should have given to God. I thought I knew better than He did. I was afraid of the work He would require of me. I held so tightly that instead of everything being okay, I made it worse in some situations. Had I just surrendered all to Him, the outcome may not have looked like I wanted, but it would have been far better than I could have ever imagined. We have to surrender everything to God. Every area. Every part. Everything.

In I Surrender All, Priscilla teaches us to surrender everything we have, need, are, becoming, want, face, and everywhere we go; everything, all for Jesus. Each chapter ends with thought provoking questions to help you continue to dig deeper.

To check out I Surrender All, click HERE.

Giveaway:
To enter to win a copy of I Surrender All, leave your name and email address in the comments. One reader will be selected at random and emailed from jenifer@jenifermetzger.org on November 27th.

Disclaimer:
Many thanks to Lifeway Christian Resources for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Christmas is right around the corner and I am really looking forward to it this year. Christmas has always been one of my favorite days of the year, I love everything about it. In 2019 my grandfather passed away on Christmas morning, which tainted the day for our family. Then losing my grandmother almost two years later, the holidays just haven't been the same. Last year I didn't feel the Christmas spirit in the least.

We put our Christmas tree up days before Christmas. We didn't decorate anything else in the house. I didn't watch a single Christmas movie or listen to any Christmas music. I just wanted nothing to do with the day. But this year I am ready to get back to the wonder, hope, joy, love, and peace that Christmas brings when we put our eyes on Jesus.

I have been reading Matthew West's new book, Come Home for Christmas and it has been blessing me in ways I didn't even realize I needed. Come Home for Christmas invites its readers into the true heart of Christmas.

Matthew says, "We throw the word joy around all the time, but I think we need to take a moment to think about what it means when we sing about it in Christmas carols or even when we read about it in Scripture. We use joy for so many different things- 'Opening that present brought me joy,' 'The Cubs winning the World Series brought me joy,' or 'Getting that raise brought me joy.' But the joy of getting a new iPhone can't be the same joy we find in the Bible."

He goes on to say, "The first Christmas exploded joy into the world, and as Jesus grew up and began His ministry, joy was a theme of His teaching. In fact, Jesus boldly promised that joy comes from Him."

Whether, like me, you have struggle with the holidays or you have been gearing up for the season for weeks, Come Home for Christmas is a book you will want to read. You will love the stories Matthew shares and you will walk away encouraged and excited for the holiday season.

To pick up your copy of Come Home for Christmas, click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {11.18.24}

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is
God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

The Bible tells us to be thankful in all circumstances. All. Not some. Not sometimes. Not just in the good. In all circumstances. I don't know about you, but that isn't always easy to do. Sometimes things happen in life that bring us down, cause hurt, pain, chaos, and are just downright hard. Yet, we are still supposed to be thankful.

He isn't saying we have to be thankful for the bad thing itself. He's saying we can still be thankful despite what we face. Thankful because He is still God and He is still with us. Thankful because we have salvation and hope. So no matter what we face, we can still find reason to be thankful.

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

3780. A fun ladies game night at church.

3781. Spending Saturday deep cleaning my home.

3782. Relaxing Saturday evening with my husband.

3783. Amazing Sunday at church.

3784. Sunday afternoon nap.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.

NOUN, ADJECTIVE, OR VERB?

I am horrible at grammar. Horrible. The fact that I have a blog is amazing. The fact that I've written books is, well, miraculous.

Nothing about grammar makes sense to me. Predicate nominative? Say what? Dangling modifier? Huh? What are these things? Why do I need to know them?

While grammar is beyond me, I do understand what nouns, verbs, and adjectives are. So today I want to ask you a question. Is your worship a noun, verb, or adjective?

We often use the word worship as an adjective. Just think of your church. We go to worship services with worship teams and worship bands who play worship songs. We also use worship as a noun when we say things like, "I went to worship service."

To continue reading, please join me at Woman to Woman Ministries. Click HERE.

WEEKLY BLESSINGS {11.11.24}

No one has greater love than this:
to lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13 CSB

Saying "thank you" is important. We should thank God for who He is and all He has done. We should thank others for their kind deeds and gifts. But sometimes, thank you doesn't seem like enough. On this Veteran's Day, I think of all the veterans -past, present, and future. I think of their loved ones left home to worry. I think of those who lost a loved one as a causality to serving our country. I am so very thankful for every veteran. For risking their own health and life just to protect mine.

What is something you are thanking God for today?

Continuing to count God's sweet blessings...

3775. All of the veterans -past, present, and future. Thank you will never be enough. 

3776. All of the families of veterans, their sacrifice is just as important.

3777. An incredible leadership summit for the leaders of our church to plan 2025.

3778. A beautiful celebration of life service for one of my pastors growing up and a dear family friend.

3779. Morning sunshine.

It's your turn! Share something you are praising God for. I would love to rejoice with you.