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Ian's Reviews > Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone
Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone
by
by
I've read a few of Elyse Fitzpatrick's books now and when I saw that she was updating one I had NOT previously read I willingly volunteered to read an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) of the new version.
Idolatry continues to be a key challenge for believers. Anything that limits our love for God is an idol and from her years counselling people and in her own life Fitzpatrick is able to see how idols can take root in our hearts and weave their way through our everyday thoughts and actions.
For many of us we are aware of idols in our life but we can tend to either downplay their significance or attempt to kill them off ourselves. With tremendous Biblical teaching Fitzpatrick outlines how critical it is to be dealing with our idols but also letting the Holy Spirit manage the process.
What I particularly appreciated about this book is how practical it is. Fitzpatrick provides a step-by-step process for identifying potential idols in your life and provides herself as an example to demonstrate the process. Further, she outlines how to deal with them via prayer, repentance, and practical obedience.
For many of us we believe we can kill sin in our life through willpower or self-discipline and in the excellent Chapter 9, Fitzpatrick explains that fundamentally habitual sin is a heart problem. Our desires are fallen. The enemy who prowls around us all day every day uses those desires to tempt us to sin. Hence, we can only kill off sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was able to fend off Satan in the wilderness because from the very beginning of His life His desire was always to please the Father.
The book ends with a powerful Chapter on deepening our love and reverence for God. Like Jesus, if our desires are increasingly refocused to pleasing the Father dealing with temptations when they strike will get easier.
I highly recommend this book. Each chapter ends with "Further Thought Questions" which help you digest the content and apply it to yourself. In addition, the publisher provides a study guide (PDF) on their website which I'm planning to use when I give the book a second reading.
As I mentioned above I was provided with an ARC by the publisher but was in no way influenced to provide a positive review.
Idolatry continues to be a key challenge for believers. Anything that limits our love for God is an idol and from her years counselling people and in her own life Fitzpatrick is able to see how idols can take root in our hearts and weave their way through our everyday thoughts and actions.
For many of us we are aware of idols in our life but we can tend to either downplay their significance or attempt to kill them off ourselves. With tremendous Biblical teaching Fitzpatrick outlines how critical it is to be dealing with our idols but also letting the Holy Spirit manage the process.
What I particularly appreciated about this book is how practical it is. Fitzpatrick provides a step-by-step process for identifying potential idols in your life and provides herself as an example to demonstrate the process. Further, she outlines how to deal with them via prayer, repentance, and practical obedience.
For many of us we believe we can kill sin in our life through willpower or self-discipline and in the excellent Chapter 9, Fitzpatrick explains that fundamentally habitual sin is a heart problem. Our desires are fallen. The enemy who prowls around us all day every day uses those desires to tempt us to sin. Hence, we can only kill off sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was able to fend off Satan in the wilderness because from the very beginning of His life His desire was always to please the Father.
The book ends with a powerful Chapter on deepening our love and reverence for God. Like Jesus, if our desires are increasingly refocused to pleasing the Father dealing with temptations when they strike will get easier.
I highly recommend this book. Each chapter ends with "Further Thought Questions" which help you digest the content and apply it to yourself. In addition, the publisher provides a study guide (PDF) on their website which I'm planning to use when I give the book a second reading.
As I mentioned above I was provided with an ARC by the publisher but was in no way influenced to provide a positive review.
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Reading Progress
January 26, 2016
–
Started Reading
February 6, 2016
– Shelved
February 6, 2016
– Shelved as:
idols
February 6, 2016
– Shelved as:
christian-non-fiction
February 7, 2016
–
Finished Reading
