A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God Is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need

by Cheryl Brodersen

When Guilt Wages War,
Fight for Grace Christian women repeatedly fall into the trap of self-condemnation. They choose to berate themselves in their weakness rather than fight through their pride to receive the strength only God can provide.
 
Cheryl Brodersen, ministry leader and popular speaker, knows it’s time for women to understand the daily battle they’re facing—to pinpoint their enemies, claim their God-given weapons, and examine the true prize awaiting them. God wants His daughters to live moment by moment in His victory, but first they have to see what’s at stake when they go their own way.
 
The truth about grace is simpler—and deeper—than you may realize. Discover how this life-saving, life-sustaining resource can be your motivation and means for living in freedom today.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2019

Reviews

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need by Cheryl Brodersen

4 stars

"The victory has already been assured to you by the Champion of All Grace. Jesus trains our hands for war and leads the way in this conflict. He has supplied you, by grace with everything you need to win the prize. Victory is near."

A Woman's Battle for Grace focuses on understanding grace. Brodersen presents the case that women often do not truly live by grace because they don't understand it. This novel focuses on breaking down what grace is and it's multilayered facets. She presents grace as a battle to be won and that we exist in a battlefield with many minefields to conquer.
"This book is for those who:
~struggle with condemnation.
~never seem to meet their own standards of perfection.
~feel overly burdened to meet the expectation of others.
~never feel as though they've done enough or done it well enough.
~constantly struggle with insecurities.
~are always trying to please others.
~feel substandard to other women.
~still deal with shame over the past.
~can't seem to conquer their temper.
~feel defeated.
~long to be a better person.
~want more spiritual power in their life.
~want to make a difference in their world.

This novel has great insight into grace. Grace is an area of my life where I struggle with tremendously just because I have the tendency to set high and unattainable expectations on people. This novel was really a blessing in teaching me many valuable lessons that I need a little extra guidance in walking with right now. The people in my life are also struggling with receiving and giving grace, so this novel has given me a deeper insight and knowledge beyond what I had before. Brodersen has a lot of great theological discussions and insights. Her commentary is generally spirit-filled and Bible-based, which are pluses. I also felt like God was placing the list of grace that she defines in the early chapters and my co-leader and I wrote a Bible study guide on the topic of grace with her definition. It was a convicting Life Group, not for my girls, but for myself as well. This book offered a way for Jesus to convict me in areas that I would've stay blinded to if I had not picked up this book when I was called to.

"If we don't realize God's favor, we'll walk in defeat rather than in purpose, wisdom, and victory!"

There is a drawback of this novel for me and it's a completely personal opinion. I'm going to be honest, Cheryl Brodersen isn't always the easiest person to like. In fact, there were many times when she was sharing stories about her own graceless acts that I felt uncomfortable at her complete inability to see how reckless and hurtful her actions are in the moment. Which is convicting to read about and I had to give Cheryl a lot of grace for actions and it was good to see how God convicted her heart in the moment because she was usually very selfish and her experiences could be frustrating to read about. Despite how hard it was for me to jive with Cheryl at first, I began to let God convict my heart on the message being presented and this minor drawback fell away.

"Grace is God's infusion of spiritual power to do what we can't do naturally. God never intended for us to try to live the Christian life in our own strength. If the abundant life were doable in our own strength, we would have little or no need for God. The fact is He call us to a life that is spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally impossible without the power of His grace working in and through us. This spiritual power is so great, so perfectly sufficient for every need, that it's worth the battle to experience it!"

There are some powerful messages in this novel about what grace is, the enemies of grace, the power of grace, the beauty of grace, the strength of God's grace when we are disobedient, grace's importance and how it cancels out Legalistic (or religious) living. I walked away from this book with convictions and wisdom that I lacked before. Is this the best Christian Living novel? Not in my opinion, but it was what I needed and if you are struggling to let God's grace fuel you sufficiently in your life, then this is a novel for you.

Grace is God's way of saving us, forgiving us, cleansing us, and transforming us so we can be qualified to be His instruments of grace."

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.25

Plotastic Scale: 4

Cover Thoughts: I absolutely adore this cover. It's one of my favorites that I've come across for Christian Living recently.

Thank you, Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished A Woman’s Battle for Grace by Cheryl Broderson and I give it 5 stars. I decided to read this to see if my book club would like this, because we’ve read another book by this author and enjoyed it. I can definitely say that I will be recommending this to my book club. I enjoyed this much more than I expected, and it has caused me to think a lot and have many discussions about the concepts presented. I found the stories told to be applicable and pertinent, and the book overall to be inspiring. I plan to buy this as a gift for a few friends!
Trigger Warning: There are some stories of hard times, including drug use and rape.

[AnnaG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an advance copy for an honest review.

In this book, Cheryl has written a very helpful meditation on what Grace means in your life. With engaging anecdotes from her own life, examples from history and illustrations from the Bible, Cheryl explains the importance of Grace - what it means and how it changes you. At the end of each chapter there are useful questions to reflect on a different aspect of Grace.

For myself, I found the sections that encouraged thinking about the pressure we put on ourselves and the unrealistic standards we see in advertising to be the most resonant.

[Courtney Whisenant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grace is one of the most commonly used words in church and in describing faith but what is grace really? Cheryl Brodersen does an excellent job of pointing to scriptures that provide a comprehensive definition of grace which led me to a greater understanding of how to define grace in my own life and why I should be fighting for it in my daily walk. One of the keys to victory in battle is knowing your enemy. This book opened my eyes to enemies that I hadn’t considered before and ways to avoid the 7 land mines to grace. I really liked how the author took familiar stories from the Bible, like Jonah and Paul, and pointed out the ways God demonstrated that His grace truly is sufficient. This book is a great resource for women who want to know more about grace and how it teaches us to live and serve God acceptably.

I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with anecdotes from Cheryl Brodersen's own life, A Woman's Battle for Grace: Why God is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need is an honest look at how much we need God's grace in our lives. Technically, most of the stuff here is applicable to everyone regardless of gender but Brodersen draws on examples of women from the Bible and women in her life, which somewhat skews the examples towards children and motherhood in some ways (though men can also relate. I mean I don't have children. Why is everything gendered ugh.) She also deals particularly with the false expectations of perfection, beauty standards, and self-condemnation that seems to plague women in more ways than men.

Brodersen invites you to reflect on your spiritual walk at the end of every chapter, closing with a prayer and a list of questions for consideration, which makes it great both for personal study, or for discussion with friends.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harvest House Publishers via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Woman's Battle for Grace
Why God Is More Than You Expected and Everything You Need
by Cheryl Brodersen
Harvest House Publishers
Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 22 Jan 2019


I am reviewing a copy of A Woman’s Battle for Grace Through Harvest House Publishers and Netgalley:




It is not uncommon for Christian Women to fall into the trap of self condemnation. They choose to belittle and berate themselves over their weaknesses rather than fight the pride that prevents them for asking for the strength from the Lord.


Cheryl Broderson, a ministry leader and popular speaker, knows it’s time for women to understand the daily battle they’re facing to pinpoint their enemies and claim their God given weapons, and examine the real prize that is waiting for them. We are reminded that God wants us to live moment by moment in his victory but first we have to see what is at stake and go in our direction.


We learn in this book that the truth about Grace is both simpler and deeper than you realize.



I give A Woman’s Battle of Grace five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

[Angela Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Cheryl uses a lot of real life examples along with scripture in this book. This was a very encouraging book to read. It felt like sitting down and talking with Cheryl over a cup of coffee. It’s all about God’s grace and applying it in real life. I recommend reading this book.

[Nita · Rating 5 out of 5]

We wage many battles in life including battling with ourselves. We need grace. We need to know what grace is and what grace is to our lives and our hearts. In this beautiful book you will learn about grace and where to go to find the Source of Grace. This book pulls in my heart and challenges me to drop before the throne of Grace with a humble heart!

[Ylva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grace is more than just a word. In her book, Cheryl shows her reader how to live fueled by grace each and every day. She points out the importance of grace and how easy it is to live under self-condemnation instead. No matter if it's shame, insecurities, perfectionism or not measuring up to the expectations of others, Cheryl demonstrates how to come to the throneroom of grace in these situations and how to live as a beloved, free and forgiven daughter of the King.

It is very easy to relate to Cheryl due to the personal anecdotes she uses to illustrate her points. While the book was a bit repetitive sometimes, it's written in a very accessible style.

I would recommend this book to all women struggling with living under grace as an encouragement and reminder to seek His grace daily.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Vivi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to connect with this book. I don't know if it was my not-perfect understanding of the language, but it felt to me as if the term 'grace' was used in so many ways and had so many meanings that I had a hard time really understanding its definition. It got better with time though and after the first half, I really began enjoying the book.
The discourse itself was pretty basic most of the time with some testimonials thrown in occasionally and a few discussions of passages in scripture. Still, it was a beautiful, vivid reminder of God's grace and brought me to tears several times. I especially liked Brodersen's discussion of scripture and how she showed that God is working in our lives - even in those moments we feel forlorn and god-forsaken, to make known his grace to us.

I thank Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for an ARC to read and review.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thoroughly expected to enjoy this book based on its cover and description, but instead found it time consuming, difficult to read and repetitive. While there were some encouraging testimonies and good points, I found it overall underwhelming.