Customer Reviews

Live Abundantly: A Study in the Book of Ephesians (Fresh Life Series)

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Live Reflectively

Lessons from the Watershed Moments of Moses

Live Abundantly

A Study in the Book of Ephesians

Lenya Heitzig & Penny rose

Two new Bible studies from the Fresh Life Series. The series was created for women who want to delve deeper into the Word but don't have the time commitment for much beyond the 20 minutes a day that these books utilize. Taking a directed study approach the reader will learn to lift up prayers to God, answer questions about God's word, learn about the passage and what it means to them, and listen to quotes from well-known authors on their thoughts.

Live Reflectively takes a deeper look at Moses and see how certain situations helped to shape his life and ministry, much as we can look at our own circumstances. Live Abundantly takes a fresh approach to the book of Ephesians and all that God has in store for us in our spiritual treasures.

Both of these books would be great in a Bible study group with a few other women wanting to grow closer to God. They can also easily be used with your morning coffee before your day begins. Just enough to get you going and delving into God's word deeper.

I received a copy of these books in exchange for an honest review from B & B Media. Published by David C Cook Publishing www.davidccook.com

In 2002, I led my women's Bible study group in the completion of Heitzig's and Rose's *Pathway to God's Treasure*, a study of the book of Ephesians. I have completed a lot of other wonderful studies in the decade since then, but this study in Ephesians remains one of my favorites. Thus, I was delighted to find that the out-of-print study I wanted to tell my friends about is now back in print, revamped for the Fresh Life Series from David C. Cook and given a new title, *Live Abundantly*.

If you are looking for a way to get into God's word daily, I highly recommend this study.

"Live Abundantly" is a Bible study that focuses on the book of Ephesians. There are twelve lessons and each lesson is broken down into five days. There are five elements to each daily lesson which are:

1. Lift Up ~ which encourages us to lift up prayer to God.

2.Look At~ which encourages the user to look up scriptures.

3.Learn about~ helps the user understand what the text means.

4.Live Out~ challenges the user to apply the lessons to their life.

5. Listen To~ are inspiring quotes from other believers.

I have really enjoyed using this Bible study that comes from the Fresh

Life Bible Study Series, which is a series of Bible studies that were

created by women for women. Even though I only used the "Live

Abundantly" briefly I learned several things that I didn't know, such as Ephesians is an epistle from an apostle. Simply put, epistles are ancient letters between two or more parties. This is certainly a Bible study that I will reuse each time I read The Book of Ephesians.

Recommended to anyone who is looking to grow in God's word by studying the Bible.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by B&B Media in exchange for an honest review.

Live Abundantly by Lenya Heitzig and Penny Rose is a new chapter in the Fresh Life Bible Study series. LA studies the book of Ephesians to inspire readers to live a life full of meaning and purpose through the Lord. I love this series because it only asks twenty minutes a day from the reader and has a fairly structured format with helps to Lift up, Look at, Learn about, Live out, and Listen to. Each lesson has five weekday sessions giving readers the weekends off so you don't have to feel bad if you miss a day. This is one of the richest studies I've found in the series. Paul's epistle comes to life in the writers' hands, and I found myself really wanting to make my life reflect all that God has given me, to embrace my gifts and use them the way He created me to. This is truly a fantastic Bible study series that I would recommend to anyone wanting to understand the Bible better as well as strengthen their relationship with God.

LIVE ABUNDANTLY is a twenty-minutes-a-day study of the book of Ephesians.

Conveniently divided up into daily readings, each day begins with a "Lift Up" which is a prayer for God's guidance as you start the days study.

Then the book goes into a "Look At" section which is a brief introduction to the scripture verse or passage that you'll be reading. Following that is a series of questions for you to answer (with room to answer, if you want to write in the book) and more scripture verses for you to look up, read, and answer the questions about.

The "Live Out" section has some activities for you to follow, such as more verses to journal about, words for you tow journal about, prayers of thanksgiving to write, and activities "good deeds" for you to do.

It is followed by more thoughts about the lesion and an inspirational quote by someone.

There is also a "Learn About" section in the side margins that includes definitions, thoughts and explanations that deal with things in the lesson.

LIVE ABUNDANTLY is a book that you can use to study the Book of Ephesians on your own, or in a small group. If you are the leader of a small group there are suggestions for the leaders to follow.

I highly recommend this study as it is a deep detailed study of scripture and you'll come out of it with a deeper understand of each verse or passage. This is not a quicky-devotion, but one with a bit more meat on it for the believer who wants to delve deeper into scripture.

These are excellent bible studies written for women by women. Women have a difficult time finding extra time in their day to take part in extra study but this series promises that the lessons will take only 20 minutes, and they do, I timed them. In those 20 minutes the student learns about the person who wrote the biblical passage or is the subject of the biblical passage, as well as what God wants us to learn about how to live life as a Christian. Each chapter, five per week, is set out in the same manner Lift up, a prayer to God, Look at, what the passage is about who wrote it and why, Learn about, side bars that explain words or cultural meanings of the passage, Live out, ways in which the student can apply the lesson to her own life, and Listen to, quotes from famous people that apply to the lesson. I liked the aspect that the authors used other biblical references to dig deeper into the passage to clarify it's meaning. Although the study focused on one book of the Bible it wasn't restricted to just that book. These studies can be done by a single person or a small group. There is a section to help a small group leader involve her group in discussions. There is plenty of room on the pages to add your answers but I prefer to use a notebook. Definitely a great series of biblical studies.

I was provided a copy of these books by B & B Media Group Inc. I was not required or expected to write a positive review of this product. The review is my opinions only.

Live Reflectively: A study of the book of Ephesians and Live Abundantly: Lessons from the Watershed (Moses) are both excellent devotions.

I like the fact that the books were a little wider than the average book allowing space for journaling and jotting down thoughts or additional scripture (or things that you might want to work on). Though they say that this is a 20 minute devotional I think most people will find that it can last a lot longer than that. The actual devotional is short however it is followed with questions for reflection and with additional scripture. I thought this was unique to this devotional as it really pushes the reader into the scriptures instead of taking the devotional as is. The format causes the reader to really take time on self-reflection and searching the scripture. I believe this type of study will help a Christian get the meat of the scripture instead of the milky watered down version of diluted scripture in devotional story telling style. Both of these studies will bring about growth and maturity as well as cause a reader to ask more questions and there by search the scriptures more. The questions make it easy to apply the scripture and devotion to ones self.

I have really enjoyed these and will be recommending them to the ladies of our church.

Thanks to B&B Communications for this review copy.

Live Reflectively and Live Abundantly are really nice devotional books. They look very "Spring-y". They're a little bit wider than the average devotional, which leaves more room to write if you choose to do so in the book. I'd actually recommend a separate notebook, since there is a great deal of journal opportunity with all the questions. I think it's great that they are part of a set. You can collect all of them, and they really are lovely books!

All of that said, they aren't really for me. I don't have anything negative to say about them, though. The devotionals are very short. They are suppose to be 20 minute studies. It might take you 30 seconds to read the devotional, so the rest of the 20 minutes is really spent on answering questions, journal entries, and Bible reading(which is always a good thing!). I'm just not the "answering questions and journal entry" kind of person. As much as I would like to be, I've just had to get honest with myself and realize it's just not for me. Also, I have different beliefs than what the authors do. Again, I don't say any of that to be negative! IF you like to do a great deal of writing with your devotionals, I highly recommend you give these a try! And, if I knew someone that liked writing with devotionals, I wouldn't hesitate to give these as gifts.

I'm adding this in:

I gave the Live Reflectively book to my momma, and after talking to her last night, she loves it! She loves all the questions and reflecting. She also told me that she's already learned a great deal about Moses that she didn't already know. It was almost enough to convince me I should try again! ;) So, that proves it's really all about what your tastes are.

*Thanks to B&B Media Group for my review copies in exchange for my honest opinion!

Live Reflectively: Lessons from the Watershed Moments of Moses by Lenya Heitzig . Live Abundantly: A Study in the Book of Ephesians by Lenya Heitzig & Penny Rose.

Both books have the same basic outline or format as the other:

1. Lift Up...a prayer that pertains to that day's reading/study

2. Look At...a description of the circumstances in those verses

3. Live Out...a personal introspection and application of the verses

4. Listen To...a quote(s) from well-known figures pertaining to that lesson

5. Learn About...definitions of words and background information

The weekly introduction and some of the specific days give additional information or examples to help us understand the passages for that week and/or day. The personal examples are a great addition in learning how to Live Out what we are learning.

Of the two books, I find the book, Live Abundantly, has more personal application questions than Live Reflectively, which appeals to me more personally. This may be due to the type of book being studied. Exodus tends to have more historical information, where as Ephesians tends to be more application-minded. You will learn much from both.

Before becoming a Christian, I thought the Old Testament was irrelevant. Shortly there after, I did a study on the Minor Prophets that included most of the Old Testament. Boy, was I ever wrong! It's relevant!

Both books are excellent in format, questions, application, and prayer requests. Don't be afraid to pick up both books and dig deep!

Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me these review copies. No monetary compensation was exchanged

The reader is presented with the "Fresh Life" series familiar breakdown, of 5 days of study for each study, ancedotes and interesting tidbits, that really livens up that days studies, occasional word studies that really eliminates the need of a Lexicon or Concordance, unless you have the time (or if you have an ipod, ipad or tablet) to use them.

Despite the fact that the book promises, 20 minutes of bible study, each day, the reader, like myself, will find themselves on a surprisingly deeper journey into the bible and in this case, Ephesians, than what one normally would expect from a "short bible study", so you will find yourself, really getting into a very deep, "meaty" bible study with each of the "Fresh Life" series and finding yourself, surprisingly getting more out of a short bible study, then other bible studies may provide.

I found myself not only hook, but thinking, this is a series that is worth investing in, not only for personal bible time, but makes for a great bible study for small groups, that often are short, not only on time, but you won't find yourself having to bring several books, or having to worry about intensive prep time.

It's all there, with engaging study questions, side notes that are informative, attention grabbing anecdotes and more that really livens up that day study and every so often, a brief word study.

With Ephesians, its probably a widely read book in the bible, but the authors of the "Fresh Life" series, really have brought Ephesians to life in a whole new way and along with it, a deeper look at the importance of Ephesians and the place it has, along with the message it holds, for the follower of Christ.

This is something I would recommend for a new believer, maybe a busy friend or mom that I know in my life, that is finding it difficult to find time for a quality bible study, and like myself, want something that is in depth but can accommodate a busy schedule, without sacrificing the quality of the study.

"Live Abundantly: A Study in Ephesians" really shows that its not about the quantity of time that is spent, but rather quality and this is a high quality bible study that will help not only encourage women to take a deeper look into the bible, but makes it understandable, accessible and accommodating for any schedule.

Be prepared for a bible study, that, although it appears to be short and simple, will take you on a deep journey into the Bible.

****Thank you to First Wild Card Tour and David Cook Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book****