Susie LarsonReseñas

It's easy to follow the crowd and do the things the "common" way. Susie's call to take the higher road, live life God's way and be an "uncommon" woman is a refreshing message.

This is a Christian nonfiction book about how we live out each day seeking God’s will for every moment. Susie Larson’s premise is to show us how valuable we are to Christ and how important it is to say no to the things that God is not calling us to and to say yes to His ultimate plan for each day. The idea behind saying yes to God is to bring glory to Him in all we do. She shows us how through scripture and theological wisdom as well as stories from her own walk with Christ. She shares her experiences with us to show us how God’s best for us brings freedom, passion and joy to our everyday lives.

It is beautifully written with a very encouraging tone. There are spiritual principles and some very practical daily application that I took from this book. It is loaded with scriptural messages straight from the mouth of God to embrace us as His own. There is a lot of grace and mercy in Mrs. Larson’s words.

The format is one that can be read on one’s own or with a study group. In fact, she is starting an online study for this book in the next week or so. It closes each chapter with prayer, personal reflection questions, A Wise Word block, group discussion starters and a Faith Declaration statement. If you are looking for studies for your small group Susie Larson offers this format in several of her books.

If you are living a crazy busy life and feeling burned out and tired I encourage you to read what Mrs. Larson has to say. This is a book for people of all walks of life. The message is timeless and spans across ages to reach us where we are right now. This message is one we all need.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much and would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. I would gladly read other books my Mrs. Larson. She has a beautiful spirit about her writing and this book really gave me pause to think about how I live my days for Christ. There are changes I will make based on what she has shared. Thank you to her for pouring out her heart in this very helpful and encouraging book.

I am a reviewer for Bethany House Books and I have been given a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This is as honest as I get. :)

Prepare Him Room is meant to prepare readers for Christmas, but this Advent devotional is definitely one that can be used throughout the year. There are twenty-four entries that take us on a journey through Luke's gospel, beginning with Luke 1, and each day focuses on another chapter. Author Susie Larsen helps us view Jesus's life with a new perspective, as she shares Bible scripture, an inspiring devotion, a suggested prayer, and a closing thought for further reflection.

'As you cultivate a life of intimacy with God, and an expectancy around His ways, you'll find yourself more ready to settle into His plan, even if you don't understand it.'

Prepare Him Room is a wonderful resource, and I recommend it to all who want to deepen their understanding of God's Word.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. There was no obligation for a positive review. These are my own thoughts.½

I love the idea of this book. However, I have started it more than a few times, to just put it back down. It seems like more of a book to be used in a study group than for individual reading.

I enjoyed the questions at the end of each chapter, would you please see my review of this book at my blog. http://hike2forty.blogspot.com/2015/07/your-sacred-yes-by-susie-larson.html

"Your Sacred Yes" is a very good, thought provoking book. I know I will be praying more about what God wants me to do before I commit to things. I want God's best for me and my family and after reading this I feel better equipped to make better decisions. Will keep for a reference book for sure.

This book was amazing. I received it at a perfect time in my life. In her book, Susie shared personal accounts of how she addressed her need and tendency to overcommit. It was exactly what I needed to read and I have implemented some of her strategies in my life. I would recommend this book to overcommitted individuals everywhere.

Susie Larson writes about the dangers of overcommitment in this small volume intended to be used as a group study. She shares mostly from her own experience and intersperses Biblical verses in the text, concluding each chapter with a prayer and sets of questions--some for personal reflection, some for group discussion. Many of us have a tendency to stretch ourselves thin when we see something not being done in the local church that needs to be done. Susie encourages women to pray about those things in which they are involved and to get rid of those tasks for which you have not been called. She also shows the importance of recognizing God's voice when one is asked to take on another challenge. She recounts a time when she was about to say no but she heard the Lord telling her to say, "I'll pray about it." Larson has some good advice, unfortunately in attempting to make this into a quarterly group study, some of her message has lost its impact. The book would likely have been more powerful in a traditional book format. A couple of the chapters, particularly the bonus chapter, do not particularly fit the theme of the book well, which makes it look as if they were added to achieve a total of thirteen lessons. The author tends to use random Bible verses rather than keeping verses in their Biblical context. Since the message of the book seems to be to say "no" more often, perhaps a better title would have been Your Sacred No. The author also tends to use a wide variety of translations and paraphrases of the English Bible rather than sticking to one. This book should appeal to some women's Bible study groups, but it should only be used if the women are also engaged in a study which delves deeper into God's Word than this volume. This book was received through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program with the expectation that a review would be written.

I got this book from the Early Reviewers program. This is some good solid stuff-- know anyone who says Yes to too many things and gets overwhelmed?? I sure do. The content of this book is great -- I for some reason did not connect with the style or the way it was organized. But I needed to hear a lot of it!

A Good Read!

No doubt this book will help many people, but it was not what I had hoped. First, I do not have a problem with saying “No” – my problem is more in finding the “Yes”. Since the book was titled “The Sacred Yes” (a title I don’t really like) I thought it would focus on “yes”; but two thirds of the book was on the “wrong” yes, and how to say “no” instead. Perhaps the title should be, “The Sacred No”, though in either case, “sacred” seems not to be the right word. Second, as a man I felt like I was on the outside looking in. The book is definitely for women, despite the plea of the writer of the Forward. Third, she equates Scripture with current authors by placing a quote from each at the beginning of each chapter. Perhaps this is why she quotes so often from “The Message”, which is not a Bible translation so much as it is a commentary disguised as a translation – and not a good one at that. It has a “feel good” quality but it takes way too many liberties to be called a translation. Since I was not familiar with most of the other authors she quoted, I felt like I was listening in on a clique I knew I didn’t belong to. Perhaps because of this, I would rather she had processed what others have said and offered it in her own words, with footnotes or acknowledgements pointing back to the original writers. I suppose the plethora of direct quotes is a throwback to being a talk-show host and having guests speak for themselves, but I found the constant quotes distracting, and not at all like Jesus, who was known for speaking his own mind even when nearly everything he said was simply a re-stating of the Hebrew Scriptures, as he himself said. I’m not recommending plagiarism, simply suggesting that the author process more and write her conclusions, instead of offering a collection of quotes from other people. As it is, she came across as a name-dropper. Fourth, I was turned off by the style. Early on – eight times in a span of twelve pages, she leads into a thought with, “Here’s a truth” or “Here’s an important truth” or “Here’s an important point” or “Here’s the big one” or “Here’s a secret” or “Here’s an important point to ponder” or “Here’s the thing” (what a ‘thing’?) or “Consider the truth” . . . you get the idea. The first time, it was effective. By the third time it was a burden. The truths weren’t that spectacular that each one needed trumpets to announce them. Fifth, I’ve been burned before by broken promises, and this book was full of them – all with the unwritten expectation that if you truly seek God your life will be wonderful and productive and everything will fall into place – the Prosperity Gospel for personal satisfaction instead of (or in addition to) monetary wealth. Too many Christian books make promises that are either unrealistic or overstated. This seems to be one of them. Sixth, she speaks of “falling in love with Jesus”, which I found quite amusing after having read the Forward which bemoaned the ‘fact’ that when American Christians hear the word ‘lust’ they automatically associate it with sex. So too it seems, when American Christian authors and speaks talk of “intimacy with God” or “intimacy with Jesus” it always devolves into “falling in love with” him. My experience in counseling, limited as it has been, has taught me that “falling in love” and “intimacy” often have nothing to do with each other. “Falling in love” is emotional, and totally revolves around me – my needs, my feelings. Intimacy seems something different. Somehow, I can’t see Jesus “falling in love with” the Father; and the intimacy between them is the model for our intimacy with them. Finally, this book does what so many like it do – it takes the life God offers and reduces it to a “five step” (or in this case a “5 day”) plan. I think Jesus had a reason for not offering “Five steps to peace with God” or even “ten tips on fasting” or “a seven day retreat on prayer”. But there again I think our American culture has something to do with that. We like to have multi-step programs. But the new wine doesn’t work well in such stiff packaging.
But enough. As I said before, I am sure many people will be helped by this book, and God bless them. I may even find myself going back to the book and journalling based on the exercises at the end of each chapter – the exercises, not the text of the chapters themselves. Still, with "sacred" in the title and some of its language and emphases and the "declarations at the end of each chapter and the 5-week program, it reads more like a Sutra or a Tao than a Christian guide. As a stimulus for thought and prayer perhaps I will find it does have something to offer, but otherwise, as I said before, it simply isn’t for me.

I found this book very refreshing and truly inspiring. I love Susie's heart felt prayers written with each chapter. It's a deep book like a prayer and devotional book so one is likely not to speed read through it. It's overall effect will be life changing because the heart of the book is so very relevant for today! In order to see a bigger picture of God's heart for the world, you'll explore the personal chains of fears, insecurities and the bondage of lies and deception. I was able to grasp the torch to freedom as a daughter of God in His truth and light, and wish to pass it along to you. Let me explain a bit more on the title of Susie Larson's great book.

Does freedom matter to you? Moreover, what does freedom mean to you? Do you desire to be gloriously free? Here is what the author says, "Freedom does not mean I am able to do whatever I want to do. That's the worst kind of bondage. Freedom means I have been set free to become all that God wants me to be, to achieve all that God wants me to achieve and to enjoy all that God wants me to enjoy." If you've tasted freedom, then you must guard and protect it, recover it and be restored. I have played the song on the piano many times, The Warrior is a Child. The words of this song say well what Susie has written in her book that has captured my heart. We have identity, rights and a hope for the future. Superb writing from this author! An excellent read!

You will embark on a soul searching journey with Susie as she shares with you real life people and examples of how women reclaimed their identity, disarmed their past, embraced God's heart for justice and experienced radical change. Upon finishing Susie's book, I have been encouraged and challenged to take God more seriously and truly honor Him. I am deeply motivated to put on the daily practice and discipline of focusing more on the Lord's strengths than on my weaknesses. May you have a renewed perspective with your true identity in being defined by what you've gained in Christ's love for you.

Nothing and no one has the power to diminish your value in our Heavenly Father's love for you. Susie Larson writes strongly and passionately on this theme in her book Embracing Your Freedom. I loved this book and recommend that you buy yourself a copy. It is worth reading, like taking daily vitamins and putting on the armor as you face daily bumps in the road! Be strong, brave and free!

Susie Larson’s Embracing Your Freedom is a devotional that goes further and deeper than any other devotional for women that I’ve read. Written with a passion for living life in Christ in freedom and a heart for justice for the enslaved and abused, Larson deftly juxtaposes personal spiritual development with global social justice. Going far beyond the materialistic, give me more stuff, make my life comfortable devotionals that continue to pop up like toadstools in night soil, Larson gustily calls women to a life that matters.

Each of the four major sections begins with a true-life story of a woman in captivity, a woman who has escaped her bonds through the intervention of concerned believers and is now standing in freedom. Each of the 24 chapters begins with reflections upon striving towards liberty in our spiritual lives, believing in God’s work in us, and striving for more of Him.

Larson then deftly turns her pen to the correlations between our own search for freedom here in the west and the much more desperate struggle against physical slavery and imprisonment that is more wide spread than ever before. Each chapter closes with an empowering, faith-filled prayer for us and for those in captivity and an in-depth study session.

These study sessions are amongst the meatiest I’ve seen in any Christian title outside of full-blown Bible studies. Larson asks us to read through passages of scripture, engage in self-examination, write prayers, memorize scripture, and more. This isn’t a journey you can blaze through, and is one that you’ll likely return to more than once.

Deeply involved with the work of International Justice Mission (IJM), Larson bases much of her first-hand discoveries of justice-in-the-making and stories of newly found freedom from actual IJM cases. In fact, 50% of the author’s royalties are being donated to IJM to secure justice for those still awaiting rescue.

I highly recommend Embracing Your Freedom; powerfully written, inspiring, informative, and truly a blessing that points towards a life that’s more full of Christ than ourselves, this is one you shouldn’t miss out on.

Reviewed at quiverfullfamily.com

NCLA Review - This is a book written for women by women who themselves have struggled through a hard season of marriage. Every marriage faces crises. How we deal with them makes all the difference. It shows you from a personal point how to deal with anger, fear, worry, and self-pity—things we have all gone through. The second section talks about weights we carry and how God uses them to refine us. Things like disappointment, loneliness, waiting and imperfection are heavy loads, but when carried correctly they aren't as heavy. The third part is about making our climb to where God wants us to be. Everything we do as women affects the people around us. With God by our side, we can take one step at a time to conquer the biggest mountains we face. A good book with good explanations. It has study questions and could be used for a women's Bible study. Rating 4 —NP