Amazon Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey New Christian Books Gumroad Category:  Religion Publisher: Songdove Books ISBN-10:  9780988118102 Pages: 224 Copyright: Aug, 14, 2011 ISBN-13: 0988118106 Becoming the Bride of Christ chronicles my personal journey as I learn to live with God as unseen Husband and Father in the home. It's about learning to appropriate many Scriptural concepts that we've overly spiritualized, and bringing them down to where life is lived every day. Volume One:  “It was then that an unmistakable sensation came over me, as if God were holding me in a 360 degree embrace and saying, "NOW I can love you!" Fresh tears began to flow as I sat there soaking in a love I had never anticipated could ever flow from God to me.    I honestly had never learned that God could touch my emotions. I had never expected that God's love and talk of His Bride would be anything more than ethereal head knowledge found in the pages of Scripture. Needless to say I had to go diving through the Scriptures to make sure I hadn't suddenly snapped and fallen off the deep end.    What followed led to the lessons, discoveries and revelations found in this series!"    Becoming the Bride of Christ chronicles my personal journey as I learn to live with God as unseen Husband and Father in the home. It's about learning to appropriate many Scriptural concepts that we've overly spiritualized, and bringing them down to where life is lived every day.     This book can be read as an account of the lessons God's actively teaching me, or it can be engaged in as a personal or group Bible study.   There is quite a bit of Scripture in every chapter, as well as questions to help a person appropriate these lessons into their own life.     One of my goals is to share a story that men as well as women can read and glean from. Too often it seems presentations on the Bride of Christ have been geared toward women when Scripture says the Church, who is referred to as the Bride of Christ, is made up of men and women. I write from a women's perspective of course, but it's my desire that men will be able to gather helpful insight, not just women. After all, we are all called to live out the commands of Christ in our everyday life.    Will you join me as we learn to live this journey of Faith as the Bride of Christ in everyday life?

From Shannon
The main thing that the study helped with was simply stopping and reviewing how I viewed God and my relationship with Him. How I saw Him and dealt with Him changed too as I walked thru you story. It sent me in directions with God over my own, and how He saw and sees me. I'm still sorting thru some of the adjustments now, as I'm still processing pieces of what I read and my reactions to it. God is definitely helping me thru this process of becoming closer to Him and all that entails, especially in worshipping Him wherever I am, with all of myself. Your study definitely makes one think of where one stands with God, how they view themselves, view God, and just how they maintain that relationship. Knowing you're not the only one going thru this is always a good thing, and being able to walk thru a study to help with this relationship, and getting closer to God, is a real help!

Proven Path Ministries - Oct 2012
I was contacted by Marilynn and asked if I would be interested in doing a book review for her... and well I love reading and research into the Word of God and so of course I said yes.

So I began flipping through the pdf format of Becoming the Bride of Christ. I have to admit at first it seemed like it would be slow read... but I read on and received a blessing for doing so as I read,

The Psalmist chooses the path that pleases God by choosing to be humble
before Him. The Psalmist goes so far as to say that the circumstances God
has allowed in his life, have humbled him. How many of us would say the
same thing if we were honest with ourselves? That the circumstances God
has allowed have humbled us? I know I have to say that. I can point to time
after time when God has had to humble me for various reasons, to remind
me that I am completely and totally dependent upon Him and not anything I
can say or do of myself.

~ Marilynn Dawson

As I read further I found myself in tears... and then in praise... and then in tears... and then in praise again.

Marilynn intertwines this book with her own personal story, a fairy tale type story that is used to illustrate our relationship with Christ, music lyrics of praise and worship, and Scriptural references meant to lead from her book into the Book of all books...

This book is one that I would recommend sitting down with pen or pencil. It could even be used as a group study. I could easily see taking the songs she shares and playing them within the study time as you poured into the Scriptures.

I love the heart that is behind this book, Marilynn's desire is that you would be able to love Christ deeply and obey Him out of that great love for Him.

If you struggle with God's love for you... then this book is the book for you.
If you fear that God could not deeply love because of your past, because of your choices, because of your current circumstances... then I recommend this book to you.
If you doubt that God wants you to experience His love in a real and tangible way and have been taught that He is a far off, distant, cold and legalistic God... then please open the pages of this book... and learn to see your God through the pages of His book as you discover more of who He is and how He feels about those who are His.

"The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy"
(Zephaniah 3:17)