I AM says, "You are"

Note: This will not be my typical book review!

Have you ever read a book that was exactly what you needed? Have you ever had God hit you over the head with an idea? A bunch of times? It kind of makes you stop and say, "I think I'm supposed to be learning something here". I've had that experience over the past couple of months. Before I tell you about I AM says, "You are...", I have to tell you about events leading up to today. Near the end of February, I accepted a chance to be part of the blog tour for I am says, "You are..." by some unknown (to me) author CJ Rapp. I agreed and didn't think much about it. I am the women's ministry coordinator at church, and a couple of days later, we selected the theme for our women's retreat: Daughters of the King. I downloaded a theme pack from Event Planner's Friend. The sample invitation had the speaker: CJ Rapp. Hmmm....funny I should see her name again!

Flash forward a month. After 9 months of trying to schedule it, my life purpose coach and I met to do my life plan. One of the biggest revelations that I had was that I had been listening to negative self talk and projecting it on to other people. (Basically, I was putting words in their mouths based on my insecurities and fears.) My husband had tried to point this out over the years, I was kind of seeing it with him. But I had never realized how much it effected all of my life. This opened the door for me to clean out a lot of stuff from my life that was keeping me back. Over the past 5 weeks, my husband has been speaking Truth into my life and reminding me of my true identity. During this time we narrowed the theme of the retreat from Daughters of the King to Finding your true identity in Christ. Each of the four speakers were going to be focusing on an area related to this. One on finding your identity, another on really realizing your identity. I knew my talk needed to be listening to what God says about my true identity. But God wasn't done getting my attention. (Sometimes, us thick-headed people need more reminders!) I was looking at my calendar to see what book was next on my "must read" list to review. I pulled out I AM says, "You are..." and just about fell out of my chair when I read the subtitle: Understanding your Identity in Christ. Speechless, I just walked in and showed the cover to my husband. Then I began chapter titles. John's comment was, "That sounds like what I was just telling you." (And it was!) Now that you have the back story, I am thrilled to introduced you to I AM says, "You are..." Understanding your Identity in Christ. This is a 30 day study. Each day begins with a "I AM says, "You are..." statement. (Such as "You are forgiven" and "You are loved".) Next is a teaching point that describes how me struggle to believe this statement. This is followed by a "What do you think?" question. Next is "Taking out the trash" where the reader has the opportunity to identify the thoughts that are contrary to Scripture in our lives. Then we have learn how to Replace the Trash with the Scripture. Here CJ shares Scripture to remind us of who we are. This is followed by more discussion questions. Some days have a challenge activity.

I AM says, “You Are…” Understanding Your Identity in Christ is the first book by Bible teacher and speaker CJ Rapp. Not only does this book explore your rock solid identity in Christ, it also helps the reader identity patterns of thinking that threaten healthy self-esteem. For each daily devotional, questions have been included. These questions provide an opportunity for personal study or for sharing the journey with a small group. It’s perfect for women’s ministry groups to use as a six week study. For more information about CJ Rapp visit her website at www.cjrapp.com

CJ shares some awesome insight and gives practical advice for incorporating the truths of God's Word into your everyday life. I would highly recommend this book to any woman (or man!) who is struggling to find out who she is in Christ.

Oh...I forgot one final "coincidence". I'm participating in the blog tour on April 30th, and the retreat starts May 1st. I will be sharing on Saturday.