{"id":9467,"date":"2015-10-16T20:46:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-17T01:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9467"},"modified":"2015-10-16T20:46:16","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T01:46:16","slug":"book-review-if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9467","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: If"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.markbatterson.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9468\" alt=\"book-if-2\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/book-if-2-169x300.png\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/book-if-2-169x300.png 169w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/book-if-2.png 253w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over the years I&#8217;ve become a big fan of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.markbatterson.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Batterson<\/a> and his writing. \u00a0I love the way that he challenges Christians to dream bigger and to really believe what the gospel has to say about our lives. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read several of his books. \u00a0In fact, when I checked, I have actually reviewed several of them on my blog:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8612\" target=\"_blank\">The Graver Robber<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=7720\" target=\"_blank\">All In<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=4756\" target=\"_blank\">Circle Maker<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=6049\" target=\"_blank\">Praying Circles Around Your Children<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=1316\" target=\"_blank\">Primal<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=374\" target=\"_blank\">Wild Goose Chase<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=19\" target=\"_blank\">In A Pit With a Lion On A Snowy Day<\/a>. \u00a0<em>If<\/em> was a great read&#8230;particularly in this season of my life as I truly desire to recognize that God puts opportunities in front of me on purpose for His glory and the good of others. \u00a0I don&#8217;t want to miss a thing! \u00a0Batterson&#8217;s <em>If<\/em> uses Romans 8 as the background to point the reader to Jesus and His very best for our lives.<\/p>\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and posted my notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?--><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Every moment is created by millions of ifs that combine in a million different ways to make that moment possible.<\/li>\n<li>The focus was my future, but we looked at it through the prism of my past. \u00a0It was like a connect-the-dots puzzle, with the letters spelling out God\u2019s faithfulness.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not about parsing thirty-nine verses with left-brain logic. \u00a0It\u2019s about painting a landscape of faith, hope, and love with right-brain brushstrokes.<\/li>\n<li>What if you are one decision away from a totally different life?<\/li>\n<li>The crucifixion spells the end of if only regrets. \u00a0The resurrection spells the beginning of what if possibilities. \u00a0And when this life ends, infinite what ifs await us.<\/li>\n<li>What if you rejected everything about God that wasn\u2019t God and accepted Him for who He is\u2014God is FOR you?<\/li>\n<li>Whenever I hear about a high-profile failure, I try to never respond in a holier-than-thou \u00a0fashion. \u00a0The first ting that fires across my synapses is John Bradford\u2019s famous adage: \u201cBut for the grace of God, there go I.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>When you\u2019re confessing, God is editing. And it\u2019s not just our sin that is edited out. \u00a0It\u2019s His righteousness that is edited in.<\/li>\n<li>The voice of condemnation is enemy subterfuge meant to discourage and disorient.<\/li>\n<li>The next time the enemy reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. \u00a0His failure is as certain as your forgiveness.<\/li>\n<li>The mercy bank is never closed. \u00a0And there are never insufficient funds. \u00a0The supply of grace is always greater than the demand of sin.<\/li>\n<li>If you want God to do something new, you can\u2019t keep doing the same old thing. \u00a0You\u2019ve got to do something different. \u00a0Then yo\u2019ve got to turn it into a righteous routine that you do over and over and over again. \u00a0One word of caution: Practice doesn\u2019t make perfect. \u00a0Practice makes permanent. \u00a0The key is practicing the presence of God every day in every way. \u00a0And when you get into God\u2019s presence, it\u2019s game on.<\/li>\n<li>If you really want God\u2019s best, you won\u2019t just say not to what\u2019s wrong. \u00a0You\u2019ll also say no to second best. \u00a0Good isn\u2019t good enough any more!<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019re called to advance the kingdom, not hold the fort.<\/li>\n<li>You need a vision that is bigger than the temptations you face. \u00a0You need a yes that is bigger and better than your no. \u00a0The most effective way to overcome if only regrets is going rafter what if dreams that simply overwhelm them.<\/li>\n<li>When was the last time you searched your soul, ransacked your memory, or probed your motives?<\/li>\n<li>Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. \u00a0Grace is getting what you don\u2019t deserve.<\/li>\n<li>One surefire way to be filled with God\u2019s Spirit is to be filled with God\u2019s Word. \u00a0It was the Spirit of God who inspired the original writers of Scripture, so when we read Scripture, we are inhaling what the Holy Spirit exhaled thousands of years ago.<\/li>\n<li>The quickening of God\u2019s Word makes your heart break for the things that break the heart of God. \u00a0It forms the mind of Christ in you. \u00a0And when the Word comes to full term, it gives birth to what if.<\/li>\n<li>There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.<\/li>\n<li>What if you stopped letting fear dictate your decisions?<\/li>\n<li>Nothing slows us down like trying to get ahead of God.<\/li>\n<li>God is setting up divine appointments. \u00a0All we need to do is follow His lead, exercise a little patience, and take it one step at a time.<\/li>\n<li>You can be saved without suffering, but you cannot fully identify with Christ. Suffering doesn\u2019t devalue our lives. \u00a0It adds value in the form of invaluable lessons. \u00a0It is also a multiplier of God\u2019s glory. \u00a0When compared to the eternal glory it yields, time-stamped suffering ranks as one of God\u2019s greatest gifts.<\/li>\n<li>Sometimes suffering is the catalyst that causes us to ask what if.<\/li>\n<li>Make each day count. \u00a0Live like there is no tomorrow. \u00a0Do things that will live on after you die.<\/li>\n<li>This I know for sure: God has taught me some things through my suffering that could not have been learned any other way. \u00a0God doesn\u2019t give honorary doctorates. \u00a0He awards earned degrees from the school of suffering, the school of failure, and the school of pain. \u00a0And while I wouldn\u2019t want to go through some of those experiences again, I wouldn\u2019t trade my transcript.<\/li>\n<li>What if you simplified your life by downsizing your lifestyle?<\/li>\n<li>When Jesus broke the seal on the tomb, it sealed our victory.<\/li>\n<li>You were once an idea in the mind of almighty God. \u00a0And God only has good ideas! \u00a0You are the physical manifestation of God\u2019s eternal plans and purposes. \u00a0Simply put, you are God\u2019s what if. \u00a0And just as God created you, you are called to create.<\/li>\n<li>You may not influence millions of people, but you may influence one person who influences millions. \u00a0You might be parenting or coaching or teaching or mentoring the next Henrietta Mears, the next Billy Graham, the next Bill Bright. \u00a0Whatever they accomplish for the kingdom of God is part of your spiritual downline!<\/li>\n<li>Who\u2019s on your Romans 16 list? \u00a0Who\u2019s your what if?<\/li>\n<li>You may need to do what I did. \u00a0I felt like I needed to rediscover the Holy Spirit, so I read, studied, and meditated on every snapshot of the Holy Spirit in Scripture\u2014from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.<\/li>\n<li>Ephesians 5:18 exhorts us: \u201cBe filled with the Spirit.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Colossians 1:17 says: \u201cIn him all things hold together.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Trust me, you don\u2019t want your gifts to take you farther than your character can sustain them. \u00a0That\u2019s a precarious place to be, and your success will be short-lived.<\/li>\n<li>Every ology is a branch of theology.<\/li>\n<li>In my experience, breakthrough ideas come from cross-pollination.<\/li>\n<li>Control is an illusion.<\/li>\n<li>He has a solution to every problem. \u00a0He has an answer to every question. \u00a0He has a breakthrough for every bondage.<\/li>\n<li>God doesn\u2019t just want to be worshipped out of left-brain memory. \u00a0He wants to be worshiped out of right-brain imagination too. \u00a0Few what ifs are more powerful than worship!<\/li>\n<li>Lord, I want what you want more than I want what I want.<\/li>\n<li>Where have you been wounded? \u00a0That is often where God uses us to help others. \u00a0In fact, that is part of the healing process. \u00a0Our pain is leveraged for someone else\u2019s gain. \u00a0And somehow, someway, God turns if only into what if.<\/li>\n<li>What if you let God leverage your greatest failures and deepest disappointments?<\/li>\n<li>God does not over promise or under deliver. \u00a0If we meet the conditions. \u00a0He always exceeds the expectations.<\/li>\n<li>What if the circumstances you\u2019re asking God to change are the very circumstances God is using to change you?<\/li>\n<li>What if money weren\u2019t an object and you knew you couldn\u2019t fail\u2014what passion would you pursue?<\/li>\n<li>What if you were more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes?<\/li>\n<li>Play is an innate expression of what if.<\/li>\n<li>What if you committed yourself to long obedience in the right direction?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s 16 CFR, Part 255 &lt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html\">http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html<\/a>&gt; : \u201cGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Over the years I&#8217;ve become a big fan of Mark Batterson and his writing. \u00a0I love the way that he challenges Christians to dream bigger and to really believe what the gospel has to say about our lives. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read several of his books. \u00a0In fact, when I checked, I have actually reviewed several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,35,25,16,28,17,32,18,26,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-family","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-marriage","category-north-cobb-christian","category-travel","category-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}