Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Take Back Your Life

August 26, 2020 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’m about a week into “Take Back Your Life: A 40-Day Interactive Journey to Thinking Right so You Can Live Right,” a new devotional from pastor Levi Lusko. It’s written like bible-based pep talks and has already prompted lots of thoughts in my mind and journal. I suppose that’s the point – and I’ve still got 34 days left to go!

I especially loved Day #5, “If You Say So.” Lusko writes about how God spoke the world into being in Genesis 1 and then how God spoke himself into the world when the Word became flesh with Jesus, who is the living Word. Words matter. And the ways Lukso ties that simple philosophy to transformation is powerful. 

We have a similar power of speech because we are made in God’s image, so what we say about something matters. We feel about situations and circumstances what we speak about them.

“Your words can unlock a life of love or one you loathe. It is up to you whether the self-fulfilling prophecies you articulate become a delight or a dungeon.” – Levi Lusko in “Take Back Your Life”

He concludes each chapter with a “Breathe, Think, and Live” section with questions and suggestions. From Day #5, I have found myself thinking about this one: When have you noticed yourself using words to hurt, tear down, or complain about yourself in your day-to-day life? What would it mean to use them to build and heal in those areas? Of course, then I think about my words to myself, to others (especially my kids!), and about circumstances out of my control. The ripple effects with words are vast and lasting.

About the book

Every person has a mission and a God-given potential to impact the world, whether they recognize it or not. But life presents challenges and traps us in a helpless, hopeless loop of anxiety and fear.

In “Take Back Your Life,” a blend of bestselling books “Through the Eyes of a Lion” and “I Declare War,” pastor Levi Lusko leads readers on an interactive journey to take back your life. With biblical truth and perspective, this step-by-step journaling process will help you get out of your own way by learning to think right so you can live right, find purpose by discovering that God will do great things with your imperfect progress, and learn that your pain is not an obstacle to being used by God but an opportunity to be used like never before.

This is more than a book; it’s an intimate self-analysis tool that will help you recognize what’s weighing you down or holding you back, and equip you to embrace it head-on as you become the best version of yourself. Start thinking right, so you can live right.

This 320-page hardcover book is published by Thomas Nelson (Aug. 4, 2020).

Find free downloads, an online Bible study, and other resources at the book’s website.

I was glad to download the Take Back Your Life guide for Kids: “The Me I Was Born to Be!” I’ve got this ready to go so my eighth-grade girl can read aloud during our morning ride to school. I’m hoping for good discussions with my kids who are 13, 10, and almost 5.

This guide is a four-day devotional that will help you kids grow in confidence and adjust their thinking to set them up for success. It’s a tool kit that will be the perfect conversation starter for you and your kids — and especially in this season of uncertainty and loneliness, it will help you explore together what it looks like for them to bravely step into the victorious life God has been dreaming of for their futures.

This free bonus resource includes four days of devotional content that corresponds with days of “Take Back Your Life,” lunch box notes to print out and send with your kids lunch to brighten their day, a worksheet to help kids work through their emotions, and reminder cards to print out to encourage the whole family. (Get it here!)

About the author

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church located in Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Utah. He is the bestselling author of “Through the Eyes of a Lion,” “Swipe Right,” and “I Declare War.” Levi also travels the world speaking about Jesus. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven. 

Giveaway

And there’s a copy for one of you! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win. I’ll randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Enter giveaway here!

*****

Many thanks to Propeller Consulting and Harper Collins Christian Publishing for providing two copies of “Take Back Your Life” for me to review and share with you in exchange for this review. Choice of winners and opinions are 100 percent my own and not influenced by monetary compensation.

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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