I received this book for free from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Incredible, Powerful & Engaging Story of Women in the Bible by Jumoke Akinniranye Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on December 13, 2016
Pages: 144
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
You will be inspired, challenged and encouraged to arise and journey with the Lord as women of the Bible did!
Join Jumoke Akinniranye in exploring the incredible, inspiring lives of many of the women in the Bible. In a time when women are searching for their true identity in God, this book will give you a good insight and understanding of the strength, gifting and weaknesses of these extraordinary women, allowing you to grasp the truth that they were ordinary woman, just like you, who chose to walk in the fullness of God's purpose for their lives.
This book will give you the confidence and assurance you need to boldly journey with the Lord as these women did - despite the challenges they had to confront and overcome. It will also show you how each of them was able to anchor their abilities and gifts to the Lord.
I believe that through this book you will receive a greater revelation of the Father's heart for women, which will help you in your journey with the Lord as you read it.
JUMOKE AKINNIRANYE is an accountant by profession. She was born in the UK and raised in Nigeria, the third child of Christian parents. She had a major encounter with the Lord in April 2009, spanning a continuous nine months, during which she received an unprecedented presence of God and was called into the offices of Apostle and Prophet. Jumoke resides in Hertfordshire, England with her two sons Ore and Seun.
While I was drawn in by the title of this book, I honestly thought I would end up not liking it. After all, I usually get annoyed with non-fiction Christian books for some reason. There always seems to be something that just bugs me about them. Not so much for this one.
Jumoke Akinniranye paints a fuller picture of some of the most prominent women of the Bible, giving insight as to how they might have felt, what the culture of the time was like and how they fit into that culture, and showing what we can learn from them. She even includes women who set bad examples, such as Queen Jezebel – so we can learn from their mistakes.
One of my favorite sections was on Martha and Mary from the New Testament. We all know the story of how Martha got fed up with Mary not helping her with the work that needed to be done while Jesus was visiting and basically asked Him to tell Mary to get up and help her. Then after Lazarus died, when Jesus arrived, she argued with him about various things. In all honesty, I see a lot of Martha in me. I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t shut up and listen, I’d be arguing because I overthink everything.
I must say there was one spot that I was a bit flustered with – the story of Sarah/Sarai. In this section, the author states that nothing is known of Sarah’s lineage, but that’s not actually true. In Genesis 20:12, when Abraham is answering to Abimelek as to why they lied about Sarah being his sister instead of his wife, Abraham answers that she really is his sister – the daughter of his father though not of his mother, who happened to become his wife. So we know that Abraham and Sarah share a father. But this is just something minor in comparison to the lessons this book as for women of faith.
I definitely recommend this book to any woman looking to grow her faith and see how God could use her to serve Him.
