31 Verses to Write on Your Heart

Here are the words of hope you’re looking for when your faith needs a boost or a friend needs encouragement. Chosen by more than a thousand women as their favorite verses in the Bible, each one is worth learning, worth sharing, worth remembering,

You’ll find verses you already know and love: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). Others may be less familiar but are no less powerful: “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). All of them capture the truth of God’s goodness, mercy, and love for His own.

Best-selling author Liz Curtis Higgs invites you to experience—

A deeper, richer understanding of thirty-one treasured verses.
A fresh look at how these timeless truths can impact your life.
A new passion for memorizing Scripture, verse by verse.
Thirty-one creative ways to keep them in your heart forever.

With a study guide included, 31 Verses to Write on Your Heart is a daily devotional and a small-group Bible study, wrapped in a lovely gift book overflowing with joy!

 Liz goes through 31 different verses, part by part and sometimes word by word often going back to the Greek meaning of the words. There are verses about strength, honor, love, and perseverance and verses for encouragement, hope, and honor.  Some of the 31 scriptures she has chosen may be well-known while others may be a little more obscure, but they will all touch your heart. Each chapter ends with a brief and lovely prayer, as well as some helps to memorize the Bible verse in the form of a memory tip, the verse typed out in the NIV version, and then space for you to look it up and write it in a different translation.  Higgs' book is an excellent resource which will not only help you memorize the scripture, but it will also encourage you in your spiritual walk.

I highly recommend this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Blogging for Books, as part of Waterbrook Multnomah’s Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a 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: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Listen Love Repeat

Our culture is self-obsessed – in our schedules, relationships, and especially online. (Can you say selfie?) But in this near-narcissism, people are less content than in decades past. Why? Because we forgot the joy that comes from putting others first. Doing so requires us to live alert, listening for “heart drops,” hints from those in our lives who need a helping hand or a generous dose of encouragement. Living alert lifts our own spirits, showing us that blessing others blesses us even more.

Listen, Love, Repeat offers biblical teaching and suggests doable actions that are simple, heart-tugging, sentimental, even sneaky and hilarious. This message:

• Presents scriptural examples of those who lived alert, including Jesus, who noticed those who least expected to be seen.

• Explains the role of good works for followers of Christ. They aren’t our ticket to heaven but they are our marching orders on earth.

• Gives creative ideas for showing love to friends and family, and suggests practical ways to reach out to the lonely, the marginalized, the outcast, and the odd duck. Additionally, it helps you comfort the grieving, showing what you can do when you don’t know what to say.

• Provides inspiration for blessing the “necessary people” in your life, those often-overlooked souls who help you get life done every day, and teaches you how to hug a porcupine by genuinely loving the hard-to-love.

As we scatter love, we create a safe space where we can openly share the gospel. We get to see lives changed right before our eyes. Most importantly, Listen, Love, Repeat will enable you to live a life that is full of kind deeds, not to selfishly shout, “Hey! Look at me!” but to humbly implore, “Will you look at Him?”

This book is like having a conversation with a wise, sweet friend. Karen encourages us to show kindness to others, even those we don’t know. Who in this hard world doesn’t need a little kindness? Each chapter focuses on a different type of person you may encounter: a community helper that helps fulfill a daily necessity, someone grieving, someone lonely, someone who appears to be eternally cranky, someone that you are already close to and love at home. It's difficult to remain other-centered in this world.

I was privileged to be on the launch team for this book and received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really Bad Girls of the Bible

Discover the Truth About
God’s Sovereignty
from the Bible’s Really Bad Girls.

Eight of the Bible’s most notorious females strut across the pages of Really Bad Girls of the Bible with troubles that still hit home in the twenty-first century.

The Medium of En Dor crossed over to the dark side. Jael stood up to a ruthless enemy. The Adulteress was caught between a rock and a hard place. Athaliah made a bid for power that ended badly. Bathsheba captured the wandering eye of a king. Herodias made a cruel request of her husband. Tamar exchanged her widow’s weeds for a harlot’s garb. And the Bleeding Woman had a serious health issue only a great physician could handle.

  “Higgs does such a remarkable job telling their stories that many of the Good Book's ‘bad girls’ become downright sympathetic.… Higgs is a refreshingly astute biblical commentator…(and) ably points readers to ‘good girl’ tips they can apply from the Bible’s cautionary tales.”
—Publishers Weekly 

Really Bad Girls of the Bible shines a spotlight on God’s sovereignty, demonstrating one life-changing truth: God rules the lives of those He loves with mercy, compassion, and hope.

Includes Discussion Questions and a Study Guide

This is a great book to read to understand the women in the Old Testament. From the poor judgment of Bathsheba to the blatant evil of Athaliah, both bad and good girls alike can learn from the errors of women who lived thousands of years ago. Each chapter begins with a modern short story before approaching the topic for that chapter. After the biblical topic, the Ms Higgs speaks of what lessons we can learn from that chapter. I loved the insight she gave. I recommend this study to all women who feel unacceptable to God.

I received a copy of the book from Blogging for Books and I have written an honest review.

A Baxter Family Christmas

Two years have passed since the terrible car accident that took the life of John Baxter’s daughter, Erin, her husband and three of their four daughters. Prompted by grief, and missing his daughter, John has invited a stranger for Christmas Eve dinner—Kendra Bryant, the transplant recipient who now has Erin’s heart.

In light of their father’s idea, Ashley and her brother Luke don’t think it’s right. They want to protect their ten-year-old niece, Amy—the only surviving member of the accident. But John is determined and believes meeting this woman is something his deceased daughter would want.

At the same time, Maddie West, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Brooke Baxter West, is praying for meaning this Christmas. Could she find it in a newfound friendship with a boy she never expected to see again? Maddie believes in miracles, especially at Christmastime, but this is a stretch even she can’t imagine.

Meanwhile, Kendra Bryant has been struggling these past few years to find purpose in the tragedy that gave her a second chance. She believes the invitation to see the Baxters and witness their unwavering faith in God can instill peace and happiness back into her life.

Heartwarming and touching, filled with love and redemption, A Baxter Family Christmas brings together two families in the aftermath of loss and in the midst of an unfolding love story, all with the help of one very special child.

I have enjoyed reading all the previous books about the Baxter family. This was a very emotional story as well as a beautiful story of redemption, hope, forgiveness and joy.  I recommend it as a heartwarming story full of love and tenderness, an excellent example of sharing faith with others.