Every month we would like to give you a glimpse of a book recommended by a fellow Bricklayer.  Melissa Pena shares below about how this book helps us understand more about friendship with God and how that translates into our relationships with others.

In the book Embracing the Love of God, author James Bryan Smith explores the gentle heart of God for His people; His tender heart for us and those around us. Smith gives a fresh take on familiar Christian themes of acceptance, forgiveness, and care through the use of anecdotes, scripture, and moving insights.  In each page, Smith guides the reader through how deeply knowing God’s love for us impacts all of our relationships- with God, ourselves, and others.

My first read through of this book was a very timely one as I read it during a time when I found it very difficult to accept myself and extremely challenging to forgive someone in my life.  I was convicted, transformed, and healed through the words found in this book. While initially the themes sounded so commonplace to me, Smith provides such profound insight that I found myself truly learning about God’s great love all over again. I highly recommend this book & hope you enjoy!

Some stand out quotations from the book:

“For too long, I was impressed with my ‘commitment’ to Christ; now I am only impressed with Christ commitment to me.” 19

“Real, genuine acceptance begins at the point of weakness.” 51

“Accepting God’s offer of forgiveness humbled me because I could do nothing to earn it. All I could do was stand in awe, which, incidentally is a good place to stand.” 70

“It is not our offender’s desire to be forgiven that has prompted us to forgive, it is our desire to be free.” 104