Jesus In Me by Anne Graham Lotz

When Lotz's husband died a few years ago, she found great comfort and strength from God through the Holy Spirit. She shares her spiritual experiences and adds stories from others and from the Bible. While there is some exploration of the character and work of the Holy Spirit, most of the book is a memoir of her path of learning to enjoy and trust the Spirit more and more.

Lotz's writing style is a pleasure to experience. She is open and honest about her experiences, sharing the good times and the troubling ones. Rarely will one admit the times when she thought she heard the Spirit but things did not turn out as expected. Most of her book, however, is about her knowing the Spirit as Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, and Counselor.

Lotz includes a good bit of teaching too. She writes about how God strengthens us through hardship and how the Spirit convicts us of sin and disciples us. She also reviews the many roles the Holy Spirit has in our transformation to become more like Christ. “He is a divine necessity,” she writes. (3)

My favorite part of the book was the section on purpose, a great challenge. If we see our purpose as being physically fit or traveling or being a career success, what happens when we are diagnosed with a debilitating disease? If we make our life's purpose to glorify God, we can carry it out no matter our circumstances. (121)

Lotz has included good teaching in several appendixes. She helps us learn how to hear the Spirit by reviewing her Bible reading process. She also has good teaching on being filled with the Spirit and staying filled, a self-examination of sin, and the various gifts of the Spirit.

This is a good book for any Christian but particularly for those who have recently experienced the loss of a spouse or another loved one. Lotz wrote the book in the context of the loss of her husband and it is good encouragement that believers are never alone. The Holy Spirit is always our constant companion.

You can read a sample here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Anne Graham Lotz is an international speaker and the best-selling, award-winning author of numerous books, including Just Give Me Jesus. Her Just Give Me Jesus revivals have been held in more than thirty cities in twelve different countries with hundreds of thousands attendees. She has been profiled on 60 Minutes and has appeared on programs such as Larry King Live, the Today show, and the Sean Hannity Show. Named one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation by the New York Times, she is the president of AnGel Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the former chairperson for the National Day of Prayer. You can find out more at https://www.annegrahamlotz.org/

Multnomah, 288 pages.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.