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Title: The Crushed Rose
Author: Shelley K. Reichenbach
Publisher: Tate Publishing, LLC
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 1-5988613-9-5
Genre: Marriage, Divorce, Inspirational
Reviewer: Linda Germain
Available through: The Crushed Rose Website
Amazon http://www.amazon.com
Tate Publishing
It's TRUE! What we wear is important--possibly a matter of life and death. Those choices affect every aspect of our lives.
To understand the basic premise of this author's focus, she asks us to consider Holy Scripture's reminder on how to get dressed everyday:
Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil's strategies. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.
So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God's approval as your breastplate. Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace.
In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also take salvation as your helmet and the word of God as the sword that the Spirit supplies.
Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God's people. (Ephesians 6: 11-18 GOD'S WORDŽ translation)
Shelley Reichenbach has done a beautiful job of encouragement and inspiration as she offers the hand and heart of her own experience in struggling through blinding, painful trials.
In the Preface she writes, "This is a not a story about the pain endured for a season; instead, it is a story about God's love and the power of His restoration in our lives, marriages, and families. If just one person is saved, or a life is salvaged by applying the Scriptural principles that God has taught me, my spirit will rejoice with the angels in heaven!"
In this reviewer's opinion, there will be far more than one who is blessed and enlightened by her obedience to keep a journal through her darkest times and to walk us through what she calls "rooms" of spiritual growth. Each of the six chapters represents a different room.
The title of this book is a witness to standing fast on God's word and promises based on Jesus being likened to a rose; but with all He offered to mankind, he was still beaten and bruised. She explains: "The original Hebrew word [for bruised] is dakah--meaning crushed or shattered. When roses are crushed, their full aroma is released. When our Lord Jesus was crushed, His full power and salvation was released for the entire world."
Many of us can identify with the events chronicled by this strong and Godly woman. After what she thought was a happy, Christian, 20-year marriage, she was shaken to the core when the unthinkable happened, and she was face to face with the nightmare of divorce.
In teaching us about spiritual and emotional healing, this author says, with great confidence and knowledge: "We have access to the Living Waters that flow from the Throne of God. Step into those waters, asking our Lord for cleansing from all sin, and He will then begin directing your steps through his Word, toward your victory."
Her traumatic, true-life experience is an excruciatingly honest and candid introspection as she leads the reader through each room--from unbelief to renewal and restoration. This is a must read for anyone caught in a confusing and debilitating web of pain and darkness--for whatever reason. It is a call to spiritual warfare!
In her testimony that our Lord is never late, she reminds Christians to be patient, to stay the course and not give up. She made an endearing, yet powerful, observation that touched my heart: "God's phone number is Jeremiah 33:3. 'Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know.'"
There is a surprise near the end that will leave you laughing and crying! She led a woman to the Lord. When you find out just who the woman is, you will most definitely have a new perspective on God's power to change anything (and, I might add, His humor in doing so).
This is a wonderful ministering tool and a great inspiration. This reviewer highly recommends this book.
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