For whatever reason I did read this before it was archived, but I didn't write a review. Jen Wilkin once again provides a fantastic read about the attributes of God that we as Christians can imitate (although not perfectly). She has a away of making these attributes easy to understand without dumbing anything down and still keeping a lot of the depth of the discussion. I highly recommend this and any of Jen Wilkin's other works.

This is my third 5-star read by Jen Wilkin and once again she delivered! I have now read all her books and had the opportunity to see her speak. She challenges and inspires me on so many levels. One of her trademark teachings is the idea that so many inspirational and devotional books geared for women are intended to engage them on an emotional level. She says we must be connect with God's Word on an intellectual level because he says we are to love Him with all our heart, soul and MIND. And that is exactly what this book does. It challenged my brain to think and dig deeper. It didn't just pull out a few random verses and create a little devotional to fit them. No, she uses his Word, to show us how we need to reflect His character everyday. I would encourage everyone to pick up this book, as well as her 2 previous works. You won't be disappointed!!

* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

Jen Wilkin is such an amazing author! Her books have helped countless women realize that they can study theology and that they don't have to be satisfied with fluff Bible studies aimed at making women feel good about themselves. In His Image, along with None Like Him and Women of the Word, is a game changer. There are a lot of great thoughts in here; so much could be underlined or highlighted!

"Sometimes we ask What is God’s will for my life? when we should really be asking Who should I be? The Bible has an answer: Be like the very image of God."

In "In His Image" Wilkin explores ten characteristics of who God is, He is holy, loving, just, good, merciful, gracious, faithful, patient, truthful, and wise. And through her book we can understand who God intends for us to be. Through Christ, we discover how God’s attributes impact how we live Following His will and being conformed to His image will lead us to find freedom and purpose.

This book nails the premise of seeking God’s will. The very fact that we are currently able to breathe in and out means that we are recipients of His mercy. I love how she spoke on justice, mercy, and grace. She said that justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. She called mercy and grace sisters. She talks about God and all His amazing attributes and HOW, we as His children, are to walk in the light of these truths about Him and us as we are made in His Image. I highly recommend this read and look forward to reading more from her in the future.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first exposure to Jen Wilkins, although I've heard a lot about her. She is a solid Bible teacher. Some real life examples, but a lot of exegeting from Scripture. I'd especially recommend this book to a new believer who was wanting to make sure her doctrinal understanding was sound.

Jen breaks down the characteristics of God that we as humans are able to emulate. This book is organized in a way that makes sense and makes for an easy read. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter allow you to go deeper.

This is one solid, Biblically based book that every Christian should read! It’s my first Jen Wilkin book and she’s definitely become one of my new favorite authors now!
This book focuses on the question “what is God’s will for my life?” and answers it by digging deeper into 10 attributes of God that we are to be reflecting in our sanctification process.
I wouldn’t label this as a “light read” because it’s certainly not fluff, but it is easy to understand and very easy to draw applications from.
Each chapter finishes with reflection questions and prayer prompts which were both very useful and practical.
I appreciated the many times Jen uses personal examples and stories that make the book even more relatable...like her confession of finding herself caught in a lie while in the midst of writing the chapter about truthfulness!
I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
*I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is an encouraging, inspiring, and convictIng study on the attributes of God. This book was refreshing. It’s not a Christian “self-help” book, but one that is grounded in Scripture. Jen Wilken writes with conviction and purpose. She includes examples from her own life and the lives of others as practical application, but the heart of this book comes directly from the Scripture she uses to introduce and teach each attribute. The first chapter on God’s holiness is worth the cost of the book. As you read through the chapters describing 10 of the attributes of God and how these apply to our lives, you are invited into a closer walk with Him. At the end of each chapter, there are questions and scripture references for further thought. This book would be great for a weekly study with a group, as well as for individual study.

I highlighted quite a few passages in this book, and I’ll be going back through this again for a slower, thoughtful study.

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

For me, Jen Wilkin's book In His Image was such a beautiful reminder of things my mind knows and my heart forgets. I love the way Wilkin's marries scripture with personal and practical stories that help the reader engage with not only her as an author, but with Christ Himself through Scripture. I would highly recommend this book for groups to discuss together as it is the perfect balance between discussion topics and deep theological dives into the image of God in us.

This book is a practical and very readable book on ten attributes of God. Shorter chapters make it read like a daily devotional. Though not deep seminary level material, there is a depth to Jens writing that I often find lacking in many Christian books written for primarily a female audience. I felt encouraged and challenged as I read, as my desire is to live a life that reflects Gods character. This is a book that I would not hesitate to gift to a friend. I plan to use it in my book club.

A better question for the Christian wanting to know God's will for his/her life, is not what should I do but who should I be?

We are bombarded with what should we do. From our anxieties and fears to our hopes and dreams, we can get our hearts and minds in tizzy when it comes to knowing what God's will is for our life. Knowing God's will comes to not what we can do but who we are. Our example is of Christ on who we can be.

Jen Wilkin is one of my favorite teachers in bible study. She directs her readers to the root of the problem and redirects them to the solution. It does seem like pie in the sky to say Jesus is the solution, but it is more than just saying it, it is directing our hearts to Jesus. We cannot focus our actions without dealing with our hearts. If we are dealing with anger, we must deal with the root of our anger. If we are dealing with addiction, we must deal with the root of addiction. Not dealing with the root, will always lead us in circles and in despair.

The 10 Ways God Calls Us is a call to God's attributions. Starting with his holiness It is from his holiness that all of his attribution are rooted in. His faithfulness his rooted in holiness. Wilkin gives scriptural definitions of God's attributions and how we can emulate them. It is vital that we know his word to know him.

I was reminded of what agape love really means. It is unconditional because it is not met with a need. We can love with an agape love when we do not have the expectations of others meeting our needs. We can love freely. I can love my children but they do not meet my need of food, clothes and intimacy. We do need those to survive, however, it is important to see what the root of love really is. Is it a love based on need or meeting the needs of others. That is what makes love so complex. Loving others and God is part of the will of God and for our joy.

There is so much in this study and I highly recommend Jen Wilkin in general. She is solid bible teacher. She teaches with compassion and truth.

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

In His Image

10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character

by Jen Wilkin

Crossway

Christian , Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 31 May 2018

I am reviewing a copy of In His Image through Crossway and Netgalley:

If you are looking for a book that encourages you to grow closer to the Lord then In His Image is just the book for you.

Jen Wilkin helps us to explore who God is. God is of course Holy. We are encouraged to both chase Holiness and grow in it. We are reminded too that God is love! We are reminded too that God is of course good! God is also Merciful. God is also Gracious. We are reminded too that God is faithful and patient.

Wilkin’s reminds us God is truthful, he is also wise.

I give In His Image five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Another great book by Jen Wilkin! She takes us straight to the simplicity of God’s will for our lives, yet touches so deeply on the depths of its treasures. I highly recommend this book.

Jen Wilkin is an author I'm starting to love. I love her writing style, her thoughts and how much scripture she includes in her books. In His Image is all about how we can reflect the character of God and not by just one example, but she gives us 10 different ways to do so. This is not a book you want to fly through. This is a book you want to pace yourself with and use a Bible with to take in-depth notes and really grasp the points that Jen shares. I love that this is an interactive one in which she gives the reader verses to read and meditate on, questions to reflect on and a place to write out a personal prayer based on the chapter read. Jen talks about things we should all know, but don't really put too much thought into.

This is a book that would be perfect in a book club setting, but I think this even better as a personal read to really reflect on your personal relationship with God. I totally recommend this gem!

This book makes an audacious claim, that after reading this book, we will never have to ask what God's will is for us in the conventional way. Instead of "What should I do?" ask the better questions: "What should I be?" Knowing what we ought to become would guide all of our questions pertaining to our goals, our future, and our desire to honour God. This simple but highly effective paradigm shift puts us on a whole new path forward as far as seeking God's will is concerned. It is essentially following that narrow way, the kingdom road, the path of God's character. We turn our search for something outside of ourselves into an awareness of an inner need for change. We become less interested in spiritual information and look toward spiritual formation. We follow less in the ways of the world and more in the way of Christ. Ways like being holy to be more like God. Being more loving to grow beyond human limited love toward spiritual freedom that loves beyond limit. We learn about God's goodness that we could aspire to emulate. That light is not just about doing good things. It's about reflecting Christ's goodness. We learn about just law, just discipline, just wrath, and just character. We learn mercy, graciousness, faithfulness, patience, truthfulness, and wisdom, all of these attributes are exactly what we need and all could be found in God. The goal is to become better people ourselves. The way is to reflect Christ's character. Turn away from the world. Turn toward Christ. Move forward to become more and more like Christ each day. The 10 ways that Wilkin has listed can help kickstart our journey to become more like God.


Three Thoughts
First, this book addresses a popular question at a lay level. Written clearly and directed at a general Christian public, she poses the need to change the way we ask questions about God's will. I have read many books on Christian discernment and the ways to find the will of God. Many of these books are weighty and packed with information that might be too daunting for busy people hard-pressed for time. By changing the question, Wilkin frees herself from being compared to the other heavier volumes and more theological treatments about what God's will is.

Second, her point about moving from "doing" to "being" is nothing new but still bears repeating due to the importance and frequency of people asking about it. Many spiritual masters have spoken widely about this. Some even turn it into humourous quips like "Do-Be-Do-Be-Do" or clever phrases like "let's be human BEings instead of human DOings." If something is important, repetition is no problem. The problem lies in our tendency to forget things we have heard and seen.

Third, without practice, this book would vanish into the background while we await another book about God's will. The best questions could be asked. The best answers could be given. Until we learn to apply it ourselves, we will not progress beyond head knowledge. Begin with any of the 10 ways Wilkin has listed. If you could practise even one, that would be massive already. For the more adventurous, there are plenty of inspiration from the Bible to grow more into the image of Christ. Take the fruit of the Spirit; the gifts of the Spirit; and the call to love one another in ways described in 1 Corinthians 13. The Bible would be an invaluable resource. Hopefully, this book would inspire people to dig deeper into the Word themselves, so that they could grow beyond just 10 ways.

A useful book to help guide our constant search to be better people each day.

Jen Wilkin is wife, mother of four kids, and a popular contributor on several Christian websites. She leads women bible studies regularly and calls The Village Church as her spiritual home.

Rating: 4 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.

Many of us have asked: What is God’s will for my life? What should I do? In her book, Jen Wilkin turns these questions around and asks: Who should I be? Using ten attributes of God, she shows how the Bible is actually very clear about the will of God for our lives. We should look more and more like the One who made us and formed us into His image.

One of the highlights of this book is the reflection section at the end of each chapter. It includes scripture passages and thought provoking questions to help the truths of the book stick. I highly recommend In His Image!

In this book, we are reminded that, as image bearers of God, we are called to reflect characteristics of God. The book discusses ten in-depth - holy, loving, just, good, merciful, patient, graceful, truthful, faithful, and wise - and encourages us with ways we can better reflect God to others. The end of each chapter has questions for reflection and a prayer prompt.

I enjoyed reading more in-depth on each of the ten qualities and receiving insight on what they look like reflected in us. I enjoyed that the opposite of each quality was discussed as well.

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. The goal of the book is to know God and allow him to make us more like Him. Wilkin gently but firmly guides the reader to know more about Gods character and challenges us to desire to reflect that character. Very practical. The application side of the book is fabulous. Wilkin has such a great way of saying it like it is but in a loving way. EVERYTHING is backed by scripture. This is not fluff. It is deep and meaty. I read it slowly so I could chew on every nugget of wisdom. My understanding of who God is has increased tremendously after reading this book. My bible reading has also gotten better with this increased understanding of who God is. Great book.
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley and he publisher in exchange for my honest review. It was so good I bought a copy!

In His Image digs deep into some of the major the characteristics of God and how we can and should be reflections of Him to the world. The book looks at God Most Holy, Loving, Good, Just, Merciful, Gracious, Faithful, Patient, Truthful, and Wise. Hopefully this doesn’t come as a shock to you, that even though we are created in His image, we are not (nor will we be) perfectly like Him. As sinners, we are in need of a Savior. While Jesus comes in and changes our hearts, we will still wrestle with sin in our life. That doesn’t mean we should embrace it or brush it under the rug as nothing, but it should be active in our minds to turn from our sins and strive to be more Christ-like.

Jen uses practical, real-life stories to explain deep, theological principles. Just as Jesus spoke in parables, we can begin to understand complex truths we don’t fully understand, when they are explained using stories we do. She also used plenty of scriptures to back up what she was saying. She gave God’s Word the ultimate authority and not merely our life understandings.

One piece that stuck out to me in the book was when Jen talked about our desire for God’s will in our life. How often do we go to God and ask Him “What should I do?” Not saying we should never pray that, but she poses that we should ask the question “Who should I be?” Our desire for God’s will in our lives should be more than just knowing what to physically do in this life, but about transforming our hearts to be more like Christ. She says “without meaning to, we can begin to regard our relationship with God primarily as a means toward decision making.”

I appreciate how the book was written to not only teach, but encourage and correct. First she shares about how God is each of the characteristics for the chapters. Then she shares both how we should and how we shouldn’t live, to be a better image-bearer of Him. She doesn’t pretend to be perfect herself, but instead shares her own flaws and need for Jesus. She also doesn’t shy away from sharing things we probably need to be actively convicted on to change in our lives (ex: patience). God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but if Jesus has truly changed our hearts, it should change how we act and think in this life. Instead of living for ourselves, our eyes should be focused on God.

I highly recommend this study, and hope that it can be a blessing and encouragement to you as well 🙂

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and the author in hopes of an honest review. I was not obligated to give a positive review. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

We are called to be ambassadors for God, every day we should be striving harder and harder to be like Him. Rather than what should I do? We should be asking how can I be like you?. In this book, we learn how to draw closer to Him, and how to reflect Him in our lives.

This book is great as an independent study, or as a group in a church setting.