Everyday Faithfulness

I am finishing up reading this new book that is coming out at the end of this month, Everyday Faithfulness by author Glenna Marshall. This book is coming out in a time when most things have been shut down due to the coronavirus, but are now opening up. One thing I enjoyed while we were on stay-at-home orders, was the downtime, that not having to be anywhere, not running from here to there or needing to rush. My mind is more focused, importantly! This is something I definitely want to keep as we start doing things once again. I want to learn from this time and this book offers up some great wisdom and Biblical truth for remaining faithful in the everyday, ordinary.
I do know that there will be seasons where I will be called to be here and there. So it is in that, that I need to remember that I can persevere in a busy time and remain faithful. “Perseverance in Christ is our daily work.” She says writes. “God has given us the means we need to persevere today, twenty years from now, and all the days in between. Through His Word, prayer, and the church we are equipped to draw near to God, hold fast to our confession of faith, and remain rooted in truth through the people of God.” What does this look like, she writes “A determination to follow Jesus more today than yesterday.” She writes more about this in what it looks like, when your hands are full, in a season of waiting, doubt, and suffering. How God has given us everything we needed. I liked how she shared stories from everyday people, what it looks like to live faithful, to provide us encouragement.
This book was a breath of encouragement in biblical truth. If you are going through a time of wondering, doubting, suffering, pick up this book and be reminded of God’s faithfulness in your ordinary days.

I highlighted...a lot from this book! It was really good, informative while also being uplifting. Tips for Bible study and prayer were also throughout the book and I appreciated it all. "Sometimes we suffer because we sin, sometimes we suffer because others sin and sometimes we suffer without ever knowing a reason for it."

My favorite, I think was "Faithful believers fight their sin. And this commitment to fight sin is a mark of true, saving faith." I think this book would be great for seasoned, long term believers, as well as newer believers. It isn't admonishing but realistic and would be a great asset for new believers. I look forward to more from this author!

“The Christian’s perseverance keeps her life rooted in the habits and practices that keep her near the Father’s side so that her spiritual maturity is pleased to grow.”

Though seemingly addressed toward women, book is good for anyone who find themselves wondering what a life of perseverance and faithfulness looks like, and how to guard against the distractions and devices that will pull us away from that life, and how to invoke spiritual disciplines in the heart and mind.

Glenna gently, but directly, addresses the excuses we all have as it pertains to neglecting the everyday disciplines that lead to everyday faithfulness. She takes the reader through different tendencies which keep us from a life of faithfulness toward God and shows us what a life of everyday faithfulness looks like.

Throughout the book, Glenna points back to practical habits (Bible reading, prayer, engaging in church life and corporate worship) that do us well in cultivating a life of faithfulness. She also warns of how we can fall into laziness and passivity, thus leading us to unfaithfulness.

I appreciate that throughout the book she returns to the basic disciplines (Bible reading, prayer, and actively participating in the life of the church), reminds us specifically why these are so crucial in different seasons of life and sets of circumstances. Glenna reminds us of how the Gospel informs these different circumstances or seasons and offers practical solutions for moving toward a life lived in faithfulness.

I most appreciate how, chapter after chapter, Glenna paints a detailed picture of how integral the local church is to our pursuit of the faithful life. She reminds us to engage and pursue our brothers and sisters in the church, both to offer and to receive God’s truth, goodness, and love.

For the one pursuing perseverance in their faith, Glenna provides gracious truth and pointed warnings by showing us both biblical wisdom and scriptural examples of how God moves and works in and through His people—through the reader—to achieve His glory and their good.

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley for my honest feedback, but was not required to leave a positive review.

Faithfulness is an everyday calling. It's regular, it's ordinary, it's taking a really long view of the Christian life. It's reshaping our desires for immediate fruit and committing to following Jesus for the long haul. It's getting up every single day and believing that God is your treasure, that the gospel of Jesus is worth your every breath, and that he is enough. Faithfulness is doing this again tomorrow and the next day and 10 years from now.

Confronting your faith is healthy thing to do. Examine it. Is it weak, is it self-righteous? What do you base your faith on? Glenna Marshall takes faith as we apply it every day to every circumstances. Our faith determines our purpose and our hope. She opens up the text with the example of a farmer. We have to grow our faith with diligent work. Ignoring the weeds will only lead to despair and an overwhelming spirit. If that is you right now, do not lose heart. There is work to be done but it makes you stronger for all the right reasons.

The 9 chapters address faithfulness starting what is everyday faithfulness.
Faithful When You're Just Not Disciplined
Faithful When your hands are full
Faithful when you're waiting
Faithful when you doubt
Faithful when you're suffering
Faithful when your heart is cold
Faithful when you sin
Faithful to the end.

There will be times when you question your faith and ask where is God. Being faithful is for our good and sanctification. It is not a pie in the sky but it connects us to the heart of God with our questions, our doubt and pain. It is in obedience our faith grows. The first step in obedience is to look at the author of our faith. Another faith grower is the church and other Christians around you to encourage and walk with you.

The text is helpful in reminding that faith is what pleases God and why. Highly recommend.

A Special Thank you to Crossway Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Everyday Faithfulness by Glenna Marshall discusses remaining faithful in the midst of different situations or decisions. There is very little storytelling or narrative and rarely quotes women, although it relies heavily on quotes from several men - particularly John Piper. Perhaps this was an oversight, but it's a shame and comes across as lazy. There are countless women to read, interview, research, or listen to on this topic. In addition, this book is clearly meant to be read by women - but only those who are married, as Marshall discusses faithfulness in terms of your marriage and parenting. I was excited to read this book, intrigued by the topic, but ultimately it was quite a disappointment. There's so much more that could have been said about "everyday faithfulness" and it doesn't live up to its description.

This book came just at the right time for me. I feel like I've been in a spiritual dry spell for a while now, and Glenna Marshall's Everday Faithfulness has encouraged my heart. She promotes everyday faithfulness, sticking with the spiritual disciplines day in and day out, because growth often happens over the long haul. Just because I'm not seeing progress, doesn't mean it's not happening. Just like when we don't see a baby niece or nephew often, we notice their growth more than parents who see them every day, I may not see my growth today, but later I will be able to look back and see how God has been growing me, even through what I think are the dry times. But, the key is that I have to keep on persevering in the disciplines. Thank you so much, Glenna, for encouraging my Everyday Faithfulness! It's a highly practical, encouraging and biblically-based book. It's one I am sure I'll come back to over and over again at various seasons and still find that it's absolutely applicable!

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Every so often, God will direct me to books which really speaks to me. This is one of those books. For me, this title was a quick read, not only because I wanted to review it, but I became completely involved with it. However, I have to add, this title has already been placed on my re-read list. First chance I get, this book is going to be the subject of a study on ' faithfulness '. I cannot wait to revist this title and become lost in faithfulness. All who read this book will no doubt be blessed.

Everyday Faithfulness
The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World
by Glenna Marshall


Crossway

Crossway

Christian
Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 02 Jun 2020





I am reviewing a copy of Everyday Faithfulness through Crossway and Netgalley:






Everyday Faithfulness is about remaining close to God, even when times are busy. It is about settling apart that time for God.









We are reminded that Faithfulness to Christ isn’t a one time decision, it is a daily decision. We are reminded too that Faithfulness In God cannot be sequestered to a faded memory of standing next to a pastor in front of a church and signing your name to a membership card. Nor can it depend on mountaintop experiences like conferences or concerts for nourishment. It can’t breathe between tiny spurts of Bible reading or emergency prayers. It can’t grow disconnected from the truth of Scripture, and it is unlikely to flourish apart from the body of Christ.







Like any living thing that grows, blossoms, and produces fruit, Faithfulness requires daily feeding and watering to grow. In order to be faithful to Christ, dying to ourselves needs to be a daily process. We need to not give in to desires that do not come from God.







Everyday Faithfulness stops us from going back to the lives we had before coming to Christ. It can be challenging at times, but God promises us to be there for us..







We are reminded that Jesus tells us to abide in him, which leads to fruit bearing. We need to exercise in the individual spiritual disciplines and the corporate ones. Though it isn’t always easy, abiding in him is not a complicated thing. To use Jesus’s vine/branch imagery, abiding means being attached to him. And being attached to him means feeding your faithfulness to him with what he has given us. Friends, we always come back to his good words that fill up the pages of our Bibles. Remember, Jesus tells us that the way we love him and remain in his love is to obey his commandments (John 14:15). Obedience to his commandments cannot be done apart from knowing what those commandments are and building our life around them.






The way you abide in Christ today is the way you had to abide in Christ yesterday, and the way you will abide in him tomorrow. We grow in Christ by spending time in prayer and fellowship with him in a daily basis. And though in life we will have difficult times, he will be with us in times of pain, heartbreak, times of suffering.






We are reminded too the importance of what we watch, what we listen to, and what we believe.






I give Everyday Faithfulness five out of five stars!





Happy Reading!

This is a good book for young women who think they are too busy with family or career to maintain a faithful discipline of engaging the Word, prayer, and worship. Now is the time to establish a commitment to daily spiritual disciplines. Now is the time to realize God fulfills our deepest desires. Now is when it is important to develop the strength required for troubled times.

Spiritual growth doesn't happen by accident. Marshall suggests we need to create a long term plan. Daily perseverance is required to build habits that will serve us the rest of our lives. Even carving out small amounts of time for Bible reading and prayer will result in benefit. Even if we fail for a time, start again. Determine that today will be better than yesterday. Remember that our spiritual life is an example to others, such as our children.

Marshall provides practical ideas for remaining faithful in busy or troubled times. She has good teaching on being faithful while waiting, having doubts, feeling spiritually dry, having sinned, and suffering, being open and accepting support from others. She also reminds us of the ultimate fruit of a life of everyday faithfulness.

I highly recommend this book. It is good encouragement for young women to commit to a life of everyday faithfulness. It is also a good reminder that it is never too late, regardless of age, to benefit from a committed and continued spiritual devotion to the things of God.

Food for thought: “We settle for far less when we hang our contentment on anything other than God.” (Loc 684/1699)

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

What a beautiful and timely book (for me)! Who doesn’t struggle sometimes to know what it looks like to live a faithful life? Everyday Faithfulness gives biblical and practical applications to help you remain faithful during hardships, the mundane, and everything in between!

People often use words like faith, faithful, and faithfulness to describe their beliefs and religious purposes. When we ponder about them, what do they actually mean? How do they play out in the real world? In our fast-paced world of infused with expectations of immediate gratification, it is particular challenging to practice the spiritual life in a world of speed. Author Glenna Marshall calls it a "demanding world." Unfortunately, as far as spirituality is concerned, it is a form of speed thrills but kills. We cannot think of spirituality in terms of microwave or Internet speed. The world is used to things fast and easy. Spirituality works slowly and more challenging in many aspects. Marshall's observation is spot on: As far as spirituality is concerned, we need to think like a farmer. From seeding to weeding, watering to pruning, sowing to harvesting, spiritual growth is essentially doing our best while letting God do the rest. A farmer mentality refuses to be rushed but plods consistently, plows regularly, and believes faithfully. That means being able to stay the spiritual course regardless of what happens. Out of her own struggles, Marshall manages to take a hard look at the reality of the world challenges. As she places these challenges alongside the need for faith, she shows us the meaning of everyday faithfulness. For her, everyday faithfulness means:

- Taking the long view
- Practicing perseverance
- Realizing that Spirituality is not a switch but a lifelong journey
- Growing in maturity
- Not a one-time decision but a constant choosing the path of Christ
- Reflecting the heart of Christ in all of our decisions
- Not reverting back to our former way of life
- Following Christ whatever it takes
- ...

This is followed by eight chapters that describe how everyday faithfulness plays out. When one does not feel as disciplined as needed, just stay the course of the practices of prayer and Scripture reading. Follow the plan as best as possible. When one feels overwhelmed, take a break or rest but never give up. When answers are not forthcoming, learn contentment in Christ and learn not to succumb to decisions made out of impatience. When in doubt, go back to the assurance of faith and God's promises. When suffering, keep our focus on Jesus trusting that no pain will ever be too much for us to bear. When in sin, fight it earnestly. All through the book, there is one common theme: Perseverance in spite of obstacles.

My Thoughts
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The big idea in this book is about maintaining a farmer's mentality when it comes to faith matters. We cannot quit simply because the ground is too hard to plow or the fertilizer too pungent to bury. Life is difficult. Sin can often weigh us down to the point of dejection. Farmers know that there are things they have to do. They need to soften the ground, sow seeds, water the seedlings, and constantly ensuring the appropriate amount of sunlight and protection needed from the elements. Like the farmer tending to the needs of the plants, we need to tend to the needs of our souls. It is easy to talk about faithfulness when things are going well. When the reality of life clashes with uncomfortable facts, it is a different challenge altogether. Just like fair-weathered friends who spend time with us when the sun is up, and abandons us when the rains come down, faith cannot be a fair-weathered matter. If faith is real, it must be able to survive the elements of everyday life. Marshall has given us a book to remind us on this very fact. As one who has personally encountered and overcome different challenges, she takes us through the many different routes that could derail our faith walk, and shows us how in faithfulness we can overcome.

As I read the book and the stories that accompany the chapters, I can sense the honest personal battles the author had been going through. One of the struggles centers around spiritual disciplines. Most of us have experienced moments of dryness and discouragement before. In those times, it is tempting to just give up. Marshall then notes the greater temptation of letting our hurried and harried lifestyles drag us further from our spiritual journey. It is one thing to lack desire for spiritual practices when times are hard. It is yet another to replace this with the things of the world. Put it another way, it is ok to pause or take a break in order to have some rest and restoration. It is yet another to use the same time of rest to go busy ourselves with worldly concerns. I think this is where many of us fall into temptation of worldly concerns. The parable of the Sower is most applicable here. If we are the soil that wants the seed to grow rapidly without foundation, we will soon wither. If we are the soil that makes the seed grow amid thorns, we might get choked. If we are the soil that are not conducive for the seeds to grow and flourish, we will not bear fruit. Everyday faithfulness is about cultivating this soil for the best spiritual result. This requires the farmer mentality. Indeed, if one can learn of this mentality in this book, it would have worth every cent.

Glenna Marshall is a pastor's wife and a mom of two boys. She battles with infertility and has chosen adoption as she deals with chronic illnesses. Through her struggles, she has learned to trust God more through the lens of Scripture.

Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Everyday Faithfulness by Glenna Marshall is a beautiful book on -- everyday faithfulness. In her book, Glenna Marshall considers what does Christian faithfulness really look like when life is hard or maybe sometimes just plain ordinary. We hear the words faith and faithfulness a lot, yet maybe we don't always quite know how to practically define what faithfulness looks like. In the changing seasons of life, it is easy to become focused on ourselves and on our circumstances and forget to turn to the Lord or to spend time with Him.

All in all, Everyday Faithfulness was an encouraging book for me. I loved that throughout the book, the author encouraged the reader to connect to a church and a church community, as I think that is so important. Spiritual growth doesn't happen overnight and I loved the encouragement throughout, to focus on the Lord and on the small moments of everyday faithfulness.

I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a review. However, I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

“I see her all the time—the Christian woman who wants to follow Jesus but can’t seem to get past life’s hurdles to know Him in His Word . . . She’s the person who thinks one day she’ll wake up holier without having fed the faithfulness that holiness requires. She’s me,” writes Glenna Marshall, “and, likely, she’s been you.” In her new book, Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World, Glenna shows us how to build habits into our lives that will aid in knowing and enjoying Christ now, so “with God’s help, we’ll follow Him more tomorrow than we did today.”

In this book, Glenna Marshall encourages us to do what we already know we should be doing and to do it consistently: read the Bible, pray, and be involved in the local church. My favorite part of each chapter was the vignette describing a faithful woman from Glenna's life that we can look to as an example. As I read those, I thought of the faithful women I know in my life and what a blessing they have been to me. Thank you NetGalley and Crossway for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Not only did the cover catch my eye (it’s even more beautiful up close!) but the title is what really drew me in because, let’s be honest, it is not easy to be consistent in everyday faithfulness.

I loved that Glenna was honest about the struggles of that from the start, including sharing her own difficulties and those of other everyday women she has had the pleasure of knowing. But she’s very clear that despite the difficulties, being in the word, praying, and being a part of a church community are needed to build endurance and persevere when things get hard.

Glenna takes each barrier to being consistently invested in these things and breaks it down using scripture and real life examples. She knows firsthand that busyness, suffering, seasons of spiritual dryness and more can make it difficult but she lays down the law that being rooted in the Word, our relationship with God and our community in the Church are what gets us through these rough spots.

I loved taking a chapter a day and praying about these areas of my life. This was a fantastic book that I would read again.

Excellent, Highly recommend. Exactly what I needed to hear in this season of life.
Biblical and practical application.

An inspiring and well-written book on living the Christian life in an effective, purposeful manner. I was encouraged by this author’s thoughts, and know that these thoughts will have a positive impact on my life. I’ll be returning to it again at those times I need a boost to not growing weary in everyday faithfulness.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.