Every Piece of Me , livre ebook

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2017 by Jerusha Clark
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www .bakerbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-0925-9
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations labeled MSG are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Scripture quotations labeled NCV are from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NET are from the NET Bible®, copyright © 1996–2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT 1996 are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Endorsements
“For every woman who’s ever believed something false, for every one of us who longs to be known and loved, Jerusha Clark’s words and wisdom will lead you on the path to living more fully and beautifully. You will be left challenged and inspired to walk with Jesus in a whole new way.”
Jill Savage, founder, Hearts at Home; author, No More Perfect Marriages
“If you have ever doubted your worth, struggled with fear, or longed for a dynamic, satisfying faith, read this book! Every Piece of Me will help you to identity wrong thinking and lead you to a better understanding of who you really are as a follower of Jesus Christ. Jerusha Clark honestly shares her own toxic beliefs and vulnerably points her readers to transformed thinking based on a biblical belief system. I highly recommend this book for personal study and for small group use. An added bonus is an outstanding list of recommended books for going deeper on the subjects covered in each chapter. Don’t miss this remarkable resource!”
Carol Kent, speaker; author, Unquenchable: Grow a Wildfire Faith that Will Endure Anything
“Jerusha’s chapter on ‘satisfying your true hunger’ is so relevant—I can use this right away with the women we serve! Thank you, Jerusha, for sharing God’s truth in such a practical way to bring freedom and balance to so many who need it.”
Constance Rhodes, founder and CEO, FINDINGbalance, Inc.; author, Life Inside the “ Thin” Cage
“If you’ve ever wanted to have a wise counselor or big sister walking with you through the challenges of life, this book may be the answer. Jerusha writes like a friend who is beside you and who has been there, tackling the tough questions that plague every woman. There is true spiritual food and encouragement to be found in Every Piece of Me. ”
Dr. Juli Slattery, psychologist; co-founder, Authentic Intimacy
“In Every Piece of Me, Jerusha invites us into a deeply honest, refreshing story that speaks to every woman in search of her true identity, worth, and purpose. This book reads like a dear friend, getting real next to me on the couch, curled up in a blanket, with a cup of hot tea or coffee, and a box of tissues between us. As a reader, I exhaled as I discovered that Jerusha’s journey, like mine, has been rugged at times, and yet it has led her to the same place the Lord has led me: to look at God, the ‘Great I AM,’ for all that I am and all that I am meant to be. Thank you, Jerusha, for this poignant, beautiful book. It will no doubt help women everywhere discover the peace of knowing what they look like in God’s heavenly eyes.”
Jennifer Strickland, founder, URMore.org; speaker; author, 21 Myths ( Even Good) Girls Believe About Sex, Beautiful Lies, and More Beautiful Than You Know
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my beloved Jeramy Alan, for faithfully loving every piece of me and to my dear friends Lynette Fuson and Rebekah Guzman, who believed in these words when they were just impassioned ideas.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 2
Copyright Page 3
Endorsements 4
Dedication 5
Introduction 9
1. Since You Are Precious and Honored . . . 15
2. Do You Want to Be Well? 27
3. From Fear to Freedom 39
4. You’re Always In 59
5. Satisfying Your True Hunger 77
6. I’m Not Afraid of the Dark Anymore 95
7. The Unforced Rhythms of Grace 115
Selah: Introducing the Way, the Truth, and the Life 135
8. Making Good Decisions in a Choice-Crazy World 141
9. Discovering (and Loving!) the Real You 161
10. Giving Your Life So That Others Might Live 181
11. So Much More to Life than This 201
Benediction 219
Acknowledgments 223
Notes 227
About the Author 235
Back Ads 237
Back Cover 240
Introduction
I don’t know what it is about church, but I’m always ravenous by the time the final worship song plays. In fact, if I’m not careful, my mind begins to wander to whatever delectable lunch options imagination presents. Have you experienced something similar?
Consider this: you’re sitting in church, stomach starting to rumble while listening to the sermon, when suddenly the preacher proclaims, “I am the bread of life. If any of you are hungry, come, eat of me, and you will have life everlasting!”
Uhhh . . .
Or what if the next time you attended a memorial service, someone stood up and declared, “Don’t be afraid! I am the resurrection and the life. If you believe in me, you will never die.”
At our church, security would kindly—albeit firmly—escort someone who made these statements out the door. These are claims so dramatic that they border on the preposterous; on the lips of anyone I know, these words would sound insane.
Yet Jesus, the One on whom I stake my life and breath, made these very assertions. He also claimed to be the Light that expels all darkness, the True Vine, the Good Shepherd, the Door, and the Way.
These aren’t exactly everyday declarations. Most people don’t walk around comparing themselves to symbols of horticulture, animal care, or the natural world. But when Jesus makes these claims, they resonate with us in deep and undeniable ways. When Christ begins a phrase with “I am,” his words reverberate grace and confidence in our hearts. He speaks truth that sets us free.
Why? How?
The story begins hundreds of years before Jesus’s birth, when a man called Moses stumbled upon a bush that, though engulfed in flames, did not burn up. Unsurprisingly, this got Moses’s attention. From within the fire, God declared, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them. . . . [Moses,] I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt,” out of bondage, into the land of promise (see Exod. 3:2, 7–8, 10).
Moses was incredulous: You want me to speak to the most powerful ruler in the world , God? On your behalf?! Why on earth would he listen to me?
“Who should I say sent me?” Moses finally spluttered.
God responded simply: “Tell them I AM sent you” (see Exod. 3:11–14).
The Lord chooses to be known as Yahweh, the Great I AM. Throughout Scripture, he refers to himself more often by this name than any other. In doing so, God defines himself without reference to any thing, person, or trait. He IS , and that is enough.
Women find themselves in a far different situation. When we introduce ourselves, we typically describe ourselves in terms of our relationships (the wife, mother, daughter, sister, or friend of someone else) or in terms of our accomplishments (our title, position, education, or accolades). When our identity is wrapped up in these external things, however, we inevitably—and exhaustingly!—strive to prove ourselves worthy of love, attention, or affirmation.
God never meant for us to focus on whether we are “enough,” whether we measure up. He made us—every piece of us—to be just as he IS .
I discovered this while exploring seven powerful statements made by Jesus and beginning with the same phrase—“I am.” In using these words, Christ connects himself inextricably with the story of God’s people and, more significantly, the revelation of God’s very identity as the Great I AM. He shows himself to be the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).
When Jesus came down, the unchangeable, eternal, all-powerful God opened himself to us. Through Christ, the Great I AM becomes personally knowable and lovable. He offers us the way, the truth, and life everlasting. Jesus invites us to fix our identity on God alone, freeing us from fear, bitterness, busyness, and other toxins that steal our joy and limit our influence for the kingdom. It’s radical, earth shattering, and breathtakingly beautiful. I can’t wait to explore it with you!
With kindness and