This book is written by John Eldredge, a bestselling author, counsellor and teacher – an author whom both my husband and I have come to adore! I admire his style of writing that speaks the truth in love. He is the president of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God. John and his wife, Stasi, are the authors of various other best-selling books like Wild at Heart (John) and Captivating (John and Stasi).

We live in soul-scorching times. The 24-7 onslaught of contemporary life–with its never-ending feed of global tragedies and shrieking demands for our attention, to say nothing of the ordinary pressures of work, family, friends, and community–has left us ragged, wrung-out, and emptied. But if we already have no margin in our lives, how do we find room to change things?

In his life-changing new book, John Eldredge distills a lifetime’s wisdom about healing into a series of practical, ready-to-implement practices for putting yourself back together. These simple steps will enable you to begin recovery, help you focus on what matters most, disengage from the tragedies of this broken world, and discover the restorative power of beauty. The practices include

• the one-minute pause,
• benevolent detachment,
• practicing kindness,
• getting outside, and
• stepping back from technology.

The practices explained here are ready for the taking. You don’t need abandon your life to get it back. You can restore it here and now. And you will never be the same.

In Get Your life Back, John Eldredge shares everyday practices to get your soul back to a place of health and purpose. The aim of this book is to offer simple and sustainable ways of restoring your soul so that you can receive more of God.

I have to be honest as I write this book review… I did not look for this book; it came across my path unexpectedly and had such a profound impact on my spiritual life and day-to-day living.

When my husband set his mind on reading this book, I just tagged along. Goodness – was I in for a life-changing book! I have come to change the way I do small, everyday things. I take time to slow down, to think about what I am thinking about, as I sip my earl grey tea during mid-morning breaks. I monitor my soul’s well-being by checking whether I have become irritated by things I used to love. I have become disinterested in meaningless activities like watching mindless tv and robotic scrolling on my phone.

The soul has always been a difficult thing for me to understand – a mystery of some sort. The other aspects of my well-being, like my physical body and my spirit, are things that I understood and felt equipped to nurture. Feeling sick or unhealthy? Take care of your physical body by feeding it with the right nutrients and exercising. Feeling spiritually empty or disconnected? Reconnect with God by spending time with Him and fellow believers. Feeling soul-scorched or heartbroken? Sorry, I don’t really know how to help you there… I guess you can practice some self-care and talk to a close friend?

My soul remained a boggling concept that I could not connect to God and the purpose for which he created it. However, I really believe that John Eldredge has been led be the Holy Spirit to write this book in order to demystify this important part of our being.

This book holds a necessary message for anyone living in our day and age. Our capacity for life is lessened by the digital age we live in, the rapid pace of the world, and traumatic events that are constantly happening around us. All of these things take away from life – our life with God, our soul’s wellbeing and basically anything that is supposed to bring joy and purpose to our lives. Thus, we need to recognise the “soul-scorching hour” we’re living in. God is the creator of our souls and he wants to fill it. Yet, He is unable to do this if the vessel of our soul is broken, ragged and unable to receive Him.

Each chapter of the book offers an accessible way in which you can restore your soul.

The one-minute pause helps you settle down for sixty seconds to come back to yourself and God. This practice, alongside benevolent detachment, allows you to take a moment to be still and let everything go that frazzles you.

Follow the book’s simple steps to unplug from technology to do real things like going for a walk, building a puzzle or creating something beautiful.

You will be challenged to open your clenched soul to experience beauty’s healing power. Beauty can be found in our country’s epic travel destinations like Table Mountain and the vast Karoo landscape, as well as more intimate spaces like the morning sun streaming through your kitchen window and the succulent plant you use to decorate your home.

I am absolutely overcome by the power of this book’s practical steps to add substance to one’s day to day living. I find myself grabbing the book every now and again to remind myself to take a time out, to experience beauty in small things, to practice kindness towards myself, and to care for the neglected places in my soul. All this, in order to live a more carefree life as God instructs us to do in His Word.

Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you – 1 Peter 5:7 

Get your copy of Get Your Life Back from CUM Books and other leading book stores for R365.

René Louw

René is a work-from-home freelance writer, wife, postgraduate English student and language tutor. She loves creating work that is fresh, to-the-point, and makes difficult subjects easy to understand. She lives in Bloemfontein, central South Africa, and and loves to read, jog, paint and spend time in nature when she’s not working.

freelancewritingbyrene.journoportfolio.com/

The post How to Get Your Life Back appeared first on Cup of Faith.

I’ve recently turned 23 and I think that the time close to one’s birthday is useful for doing all-round reflection on your life. For me, this entails looking back at the little more than twenty years of my life which, thus far, includes my first year of marriage, my four years of tertiary studies, my school years and childhood. A prominent theme that I can unmistakably notice throughout all of these seasons, is my complete dependence on God’s instruction for each season.

Every decision I had to make required a meticulous ear for God’s say on the matter- from choosing to study a Bachelor of Arts in 2017, to deciding on Bloemfontein as the city where my husband and I were to kick-start our first year of marriage. However, I believe that my life is as much a testimony of choosing God for myself, as it is a reflection of my obedience to His will.

I chose God for the first time when I was ten years old as I found myself in a kids’ church upper room that was drenched in the tangible presence of God. It is here where I felt God touch me and I knew that there was something bigger and better than my world of school, family, sport, and anything else that basically makes up a young teens’ life at this stage.

Growing up, I was very fortunate to be part of a Christian family that regarded a faith-based life and the local church as important aspects to building a successful life in partnership with God. It is because of my parents that I attended kids’ church on a regular basis and where I got to meet God-loving teachers who taught Word-based Sunday school lessons and who led Spirit-filled worship every Sunday.

This undoubtedly aided my walk with God, although, I soon learned that salvation and choosing to follow God could not be regarded as my own life choices as I was merely riding on my parents’ decisions. I realised this during worship one Sunday morning.

I clearly heard God saying to me, “You still have to choose Me.” I was confused by this statement and said to God, “But, I do choose You. I am a Christian and I come to church. What more do you want me to do, God?”

“I want YOU to decide that you want to follow me.”

I slowly understood what God was getting at. He wanted me to make my own decision – apart from what my family or friends had decided. He wanted me to choose Him for myself.

This was in 2008, and since then, I’ve come to realise that choosing God for myself would remain an ongoing journey. I had to choose God when I went to high school and life started getting complicated – as most teenage years do. I guess more than anything, choosing God meant that I had to pursue a living, abiding relationship with Him. I had to learn to make time for Him as any relationship needs time to grow. I learned to become accustomed to His voice as it says in His Word, “My sheep recognise my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Most of all, I had to learn to regard His opinion about me, as the only one that mattered. In today’s society, we sometimes feel that others are constantly gazing over our shoulder, whispering their opinion into our ears as they advise us how to live our life. However, God says in Romans 12 verse 2 that “We are in this world, but not of this world.” This verse speaks to a number of things, but for me, it acts as a reminder that I am part of God’s family, a spiritual being designed for a divine purpose that He set out for me. I do not form part of the world’s society, because I was adopted into God’s family as soon as I made the conscious decision to follow Him, back when I was ten-years old.

These lessons continue to form part of the process that is choosing God for myself, every day. Even though it started off as a small, but earnest decision at the young age of ten, it remains the most adventurous and rewarding commitment still today, fifteen years later.

I am pretty sure that my testimony will continue to change and transform as I grow deeper in God and undergo more of life’s challenges. Yet, for now, I believe that looking back on how far you’ve come, can be such an encouraging act as it strengthens your faith in both God’s steadfast character and your personal ability to adapt and grow.

What are some of the lessons that you’ve come to learn since giving your life to God? Leave your response in the comments section – I’d love to learn some faith-based life-nuggets from you!

René Louw

René is a work-from-home freelance writer, wife, postgraduate English student and language tutor. She loves creating work that is fresh, to-the-point, and makes difficult subjects easy to understand. She lives in Bloemfontein, central South Africa, and and loves to read, jog, paint and spend time in nature when she’s not working.

freelancewritingbyrene.journoportfolio.com/

The post Choosing God for Myself appeared first on Cup of Faith.