The Neglected Spiritual Discipline
By: Andrew Farley
ISBN: 9780801015182
Publisher: Baker Books
Publication Date: 7/1/14
Format: Other Format
My Rating: 4 Stars
Jesus didn't come to get you to do more or work harder. He came to give you rest!
Jesus calls us to exchange the heavy yoke around our necks for something he said is "easy" and "light." So why are many Christians feeling weighed down and burned out? The simple answer is that we're constantly being told we should "do more" and "be more" for God.
Bestselling author Andrew Farley calls this what it is--works-based religion--and presents us with a surprising paradox: good works spring from spiritual rest. So if you long to experience true release from the crushing expectations that the world--and the church--often throws your way, you'll find lasting hope in this unexpected message.
My Review
A special thank you to Baker Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
RELAXING WITH GOD by Andrew Farley, is a remarkable book of God’s grace, a simple yet profound empowering journey with powerful truths to live by.
Farley describes everything he was doing twenty-three years ago in order to grow spiritually and feel closer to God. From praying all the time, studying the Bible for hours each day and sharing his faith.
However, his belief system was both complicated and exhausting, and was not working. Despite his sincere commitment to God, he had nothing to show for it. No peace, or joy—He was going to heaven but there was nothing about his present life that appealed to anyone.
Today all this has changed and he describes exactly how to soak in the unconditional grace of God, to allow the Spirit to flood the mind with thoughts of love and acceptance.
How to enjoy safety and security in Jesus and how to allow God to transmit His radiant life through his own. He no longer battles guilt and fear and the path ahead is not foggy, but clear. Now he celebrates Jesus like never before.
What caused this transformation?
Things are different on the inside. Through his experience of crashing and burning and starting over. God taught him some truths that literally saved his life. God wants us to relax which he shares with readers in RELAXING WITH GOD.
As we wrestle with the idea of relaxing with God, our current programming—the way we’ve always believed or done things—may attempt to steal our freedom. We have to peel away those layers of restless rhetoric in order to gaze at the full splendor of God’s grace. Ditch the guilt and find the real freedom and relaxation that Jesus talked about, the kind we have always longed for.
I liked this part – while some Christians are running themselves ragged trying to get God to like them, others seems to believe God is already satisfied with who they are, and they are just being themselves. Some experience anxiety, while others enjoy rest.
Relaxing with God is designed to help readers discover this new way of rest, abandoning religious error and rethinking every motivation in life. Christianity is a human‘s nature being returned to its innocent or righteous state and the Spirit of God being restored to his rightful place within us.
An engaging book, also includes a seven part study experience with helpful and insightful scriptures and topics of discussion. God wants us to rest and exposes our spiritual enemy as the author of religious anxiety. Farley conveys the simplicity of God's grace with precision and clarity.
It's time for us to relax with God and enjoy His life to the fullest with honesty with Bible-based powerful truths and messages for a simpler life, as the author speaks to the heart, as we enjoy life to the fullest and experience true freedom in Jesus Christ, versus just a religious obligation.
