Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Shine Bright) through Nuts about Books. Affiliate links will be used, thank you for the encouragement this offers which costs you nothing in the end. 🙂
Shine Bright is a new devotional that runs for 60 days. it is “designed to encourage you in your relationship with God and equip you to shine bright for His glory.” (p.9) It take six weeks to develop a new habit. So why not use a devotional to help you develop the habit of spending time with God?
The Basics of Shine Bright
Shine Bright is a devotional published by BakerBooks. Nuts about books offered me this way to know God better for review. I received a hardcover copy. 60 days, each devotional 2-3 pages in length. Total pages 208, a small hardcover easily tucked away in a purse. Written by sisters Kristen Clark and Bethany Beal.
Digging Deeper
The layout of each devotional is a singular bible verse, followed by a reading, followed by either a bible passage or a singular verse to read, along with questions to think deeper about it. THOUGH, occasionally no follow up scripture was provided and just questions to ponder.
You’ll find this devotional esthetically pleasing. The layout is predictable of 2-3 pages per devotional, with what I thought, a pretty chapter heading.
As I view as a book for girls, or perhaps, very new believers, the questions were light. Something to help you think deeper about a variety of issues affecting our Christian belief. They did do some self-promotion within the devotional readings which I disliked. Save that for the close of the book please.
Some tough topics were covered and it’s HARD to know how to talk about such things sensitively. Overall, I think they did okay with some of those tough issues. By no means perfectly, but when you are writing with girls in mind, you do need to be careful right?
This devotional was lacking a bible verse index at the close of the book.
Should Shine Bright Be in Your home?
Do know that I have not read every page of this devotional Shine Bright. I haven’t had it long enough to do so. But I tell you this so you know I can’t attest to every word written. It’s not an in-depth devotional, but I find that most devotionals are not. The goal… to get people learning a new habit (at least that’s my assumption!) of spending time with God daily. The cover makes me think that this devotional is not geared toward adults, but rather toward teens as honestly, at almost 56 years old, most people wouldn’t be saying to me “Girl, you gotta do this”. 🙂
The chapter on hospitality left me feeling like it should have been more. Not just focused on throwing a party, but on the different ways people can show hospitality that still honours that gifting. So showing how a person who is gifted in a less “not throw a party” manner, but in a quieter opening up the house manner. This particular devotion, in Shine Bright, felt shallow.
So do I recommend it? Truth can be gleaned. I’ve read worse devotionals that made me want to throw them away, or left me feeling “icky” for lack of a better word. This devotional, though some parts were shallow, also had truth, and good questions to ponder. If I were rating it on Amazon… I’d give it three stars, which is what I’ll do on Goodreads.
Sounds kind of like a “meh” devo book. I know my girls crave deep, strong devotional thoughts when going through a book like this. We have leaned further and further away from anything but God’s word because the words of humans are just not as helpful as God’s own words in speaking to us.
overall .. meh would describe it. 🙂 I find I’m very critical of devotionals….