If you’ve known me for a while, you know that I love books. I also love giving away books! This week, I am giving away a copy of I Am David: 10 Lessons in Greatness From Israel’s Most Famous King by Jimmy Evans.
Pastor Evans serves as senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He also serves as senior elder of Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, Texas, and is the founder and CEO of Marriage Today. He is the host of “The Overcoming Life,” a daily television program dedicated to seeing people thrive in their walk with God. He is the best-selling author of multiple books.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it a 4.5/5 stars for content and a 4/5 for presentation.
This book has a myriad of amazing principles any believer can apply to his/her life. I felt like I was drinking from a firehose to absorb it all. My pen started running out of ink because I was underlining so much. In my opinion, that’s the best kind of book!
I Am David will be a book I’ll refer back to again and again. Even though I am familiar with King David’s story, I learned new things about him and his life that I can apply to my own. I Am David includes a Study Guide and Leader Guide at the end of the book. Another aspect of the book that I love are the powerful prayers included at the end of several chapters.
Some of my favorite quotes from the book include:
- “As you will soon discover, his life was far from perfect, but that didn’t keep him from greatness. Despite his challenges and failures, David made key decisions at strategic moments in his life that then paved the way for his success.”
- “Your mistakes are not what will keep you from attaining the greatness for which God has destined you. What determines whether you become a true champion or not is what you do about those mistakes.”
- “Others who have experienced a measure of greatness will not finish strong and live in the fullness of God’s dream for their lives until they face and overcome the pain from their past.”
- “If you are going to achieve great things for God, you must accept the fact that you will have resistance.”
- “By remembering God’s unbroken record of faithfulness to you, you can rest knowing He is working something beyond what you could imagine. Even in your darkest hour, you can encourage yourself and hold on to the One whose character, promises, and plans never change toward you.”
I gave a 4.5/5 rating for content because there were a few sentences in one chapter suggesting that Bathsheba bathed on her rooftop so that David could see her. This potential motive is not indicated anywhere in 2 Samuel 11 where their affair is documented. While I suppose it is a possibility, I don’t know if it’s accurate. According to what I have studied, it was common for women in that time to bathe on the rooftop for privacy.
I didn’t give the book a full five stars for presentation because of very minor things: There were a few copy-editing errors I caught. I also didn’t understand why there were many italicized words in the Scripture quotations. Normally italics distinguish emphasis, but the verses didn’t make sense when I read them that way. Also, the copyright page indicated several different Bible translations being used throughout the book, but the translation references were not noted in any of the Bible quotes. Most people probably might not notice these things, but with my background in journalism and editing, I caught them. I did enjoy the overall spacious layout, the fonts, and pull quotes though!
To enter to win the free copy I’m giving away, click below. There are multiple ways to gain entries. Deadline is midnight Sunday, June 14th.
a Rafflecopter giveawayI Am David would make a great gift for Father’s Day or a birthday. To get your copy, you can visit my Amazon store here.
*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book as part of the Blog About Blogger Network to read and one to give away in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
*This post contains affiliate links.
