A Perfect Mess: Why You Don't Have to Worry About Being Good Enough for God

by Lisa Harper

On those days when French fries litter the floor of your minivan, when you think bad words about other drivers, when your smile hides an anxious heart–in those moments when you fall short of all you’d hoped to be–what does God see when He looks at you? In your less-than-lovely moments, God sees a precious daughter in need of His perfect love.In this liberating look at how God adores and transforms imperfect people, Bible teacher Lisa Harper weaves poignant stories of her own personal foibles with a fresh take on selected Psalms to reveal a loving Father who remains your greatest champion even when you don’t feel anywhere close to holy.Join Lisa in discovering what happens when we stop trying to hide our inadequacies and doubts and instead trust God with our anger, frustrations, flaws, and regrets. As you accept God’s loving invitation to exchange your junk for His joy, you’ll find the imperfect pieces of your life shaped into a glorious pattern of divine grace.

Genres: Faith, Nonfiction, Christian, Christian Non Fiction, Spirituality, Inspirational, Christian Living

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Lisa Harper is a hilarious storyteller and theological scholar―a gifted communicator whose writing and speaking overflows with colorful, pop-culture references that connect the dots between the Bible era and modern life. “Her God-given ability to not merely teach the Word but package it in a way that stirs the heart and calls to action is incomparable” says Priscilla Shirer. For six years Lisa served as the director of Focus on the Family's national women's ministry where she created the popular Renewing the Heart conferences. The next six years found her serving on the local level as the women's ministry director at a large church in Nashville. As the author of eleven books, and a Masters of Theological Studies with honors from Covenant Seminary, she is now a sought-after Bible teacher and speaker. Lisa was on the Women of Faith national arena tour and speaks at many other large events as well as at hundreds of churches all over the world. Lisa describes her greatest accomplishment to date as getting to be Missy’s mama.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoy Lisa Harper's easy way of explaining scripture to us. This book took a look at several of the Psalms and helped me understand that God does not expect me to be perfect, but that he expects me to look to him in all things.

[Jordan Higginbotham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be my first choice if I ever taught a women’s Bible study. Harper presents the Psalms in a way that is easy to understand. However, at times it felt a little “surface-y.” I appreciate her humor and REALLY appreciate that she brings Biblical references directly into the writing rather than mentioning stories without the book, chapter, and verse to correlate.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Lisa Harper is one of my favorite writers (and favorite people), and this is my favorite book she’s ever written! I love how she connects words and connects our hearts. She makes old truths so today. I feel safe with her. I think this might be how Jesus would talk if He were walking around in our lives, in our times. I sense His presence in the middle of my mess. This book is a gift. Give it to yourself.”

–Lisa Whelchel, author of the bestseller Creative Correction and The Facts of Life and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me


Author, Columnist and Speaker:

I recently reviewed, “A Perfect Mess: Why You Don’t Have to Worry About Being Good Enough for God” by Lisa Harper for First Wild Card. Lisa Harper has a regular column with “Today’s Christian Woman” magazine and is author of several books. She has a vocal resume of six years with Focus on the Family. She has spoken at many non-denominational events like Women of Faith, Moody Bible and Focus on the Family conferences. She also has a master’s of theological studies from Covenant Theological Seminary.

About A Perfect Mess:

A Perfect Mess includes an interactive question section for study-groups or personal reflection. Each of the twelve chapters begins with a quote and ends with a “right-now” relevance of Psalm, a reflection section titled - Enough About Me. What About You? and contains 5-7 questions. She does not discuss all of the 150 chapters in the Book of Psalms and could not in just one volume.

My Thoughts:

A Perfect Mess would be a great addition to add for Sunday school class, and/or a small Bible study. I believe you will enjoy Lisa’s humorous reflections that she shares about her own life and how she incorporates the life of David from the Book of Psalms in this delightful bible study.



You can find this book sold online at Random House and many other wonderful Christian book stores.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/di...

[Victor Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Harper on our radio show “Kingdom Highlights”, about her new book, "A Perfect Mess" published by Waterbook Press. I have to say that Ms. Harper is an excellent Bible teacher and I am going to go out and acquire all of her previous books and be ready for all her new ones simply because she is that good.

The best way to describe what this book is all about is to use the very words of Ms. Harper, "you'll realize that no matter how many messes you've made in your life, you are absolutely adored by your heavenly Father." When was the last time anyone showed you that no matter how bad the mess you were in you were still perfectly loved by God? Well in her book, Ms. Harper takes us on a journey through 12 chapters and 13 Psalms to show us just that.

I hung on every word. Here is something that most people do not know; I was never a fan of Psalm 1. I don't really know why, perhaps I really didn't understand it but after reading Ms. Harper's take on Psalm 1 it has moved up into my top 20. With great humor Ms. Harper guides us through the Psalms showing us why the Psalm was written, giving us little "inside stories" to enhance our appreciation of what we are reading and bringing us into the Throne Room to stand before the King and let us see that He has a great, big smile on His face just for us.

In my opinion everyone needs this book. I know I sure did and do. I will read this book again and again because I need to be reminded of God's great love often and this book will do it every time. I recommend it highly.

[Tabitha · Rating 2 out of 5]

In A Perfect Mess, Lisa Harper, tells a story about a great Christian leader who at first was “much more interested in ideas than individuals.” I walk away from this book thinking maybe she should have paid a little more attention to those words she wrote. Right before that she tells how she is convinced that it is rare to find a happy skinny woman, but isn’t that an attack at an individual? Why is that woman skinny? Maybe she just has a really good metabolism, or maybe she is sick and you are seriously giving her a hard time about that? If you read this Ms. Harper please don’t take offense to that and start coming up with ways of how to attack me as another story you tell about a book reviewer suggests. Someone close to me recently was very ill and everyone called her anorexic, while she was fighting death and Crohn’s disease. Unfortunately those two stories really stuck out to me, because the rest of the book is actually a very insightful look into Psalms. The informational inserts where extremely interesting though sometimes the placement was distracting. However, I would recommend this book to any Christian.

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

[Christy Trever · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper is a refreshing look at the Psalms. Harper chooses 13 Psalms that are fairly representative of the different types: laments, praise, royal, etc and covers them in twelve chapters that can easily be read in one sitting. After the chapter are a few insightful questions that will truly encourage readers to make the Psalms personal. I've read other studies of the Psalms, but this one has to be my favorite. Harper is deeply and passionately in love with God and her joy radiates on every page. Her enthusiasm for the study of the Bible and love for God is catchy and readers can't help but want the kind of relationship she has with the Father. Her anecdotes are deeply personal and perfectly suited to each chapter. This is the rare Bible study that will leave the reader smiling and their heart overflowing with love for God.

[Nicole]

I'm not sure what to rate this book. She goes over a fews psalms and some of what she said I really liked. But the way it was presented felt like it was trying to hard to appeal to women with its jokes and often made me roll my eyes. I wish she would not do that because I do feel like she had some good stuff to say but I almost gave up on it because of that. I wouldn't recommend this book to others though I did copy out some of her quotes to keep. Perhaps those jokes go over better when she speaks, but for me I don't see why so many try to make books feel more for just women. Women can handle real books. I have never felt excluded by reading Keller, C,S. Lewis, Nouwen or many others. It doesn't need to have silly jokes about clothes and shoes to keep a girl interested. I have been given another book by her and I will read it eventually because she does have some good things to say.

[Marylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books that prompt you to pause and reflect on what you read in the Bible.
I also love books that have humor and fun, quirky examples for us all to relate to.
This is one of those books!
Lisa Harper is a wonderful, interesting, crazy woman who LOVES the Lord and wants everyone to understand what the Bible is saying. She does it in such a creative way that you can’t help but have it sink into your soul and make you dwell on what she says.
Before buying this book, I saw a short video series by her on the Psalms, and then I found this book, which led me to know I needed to buy it. I used it as a daily devotional and took my time going through it.
I was not disappointed and now recommend it to all of you who want a deep dive into a selected group of chapters in the Book of Psalms. I bought two books: one paperback and one e-book.
You won’t regret getting it!

[Diana Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Very inspiring and funny at times.

Lisa Harper is a very good communicator whether in print or speaking. She knows her Bible well and can share it's content
and meaning easily. I enjoyed reading this book about selected Pslams. I gained some insight to these Pslams and how they relate to me today.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks at the psalms and how they apply to our lives. I found the book a bit hard to read, though I appreciated all the biblical background knowledge that was included. Through the psalms, Lisa shows that we don't need to have it all together, we just need God! There were discussion questions in each chapter that would make this a great small group read.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the information of the book and the witty stories of Lisa Harper. My only thing was there was a lot of words I had to look up to understand them. I love her wide vocabulary usage, but it did get old to have to look up words to understand.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first devotional type book I have read on my own. I have been struggling with the idea of being perfect and this has definitely helped me see that God does not expect me to be perfect. Therefore I should not expect myself to be perfect for anyone.

[Jeremy Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a lovely comfort for me to read. It got me realising that guilt is not part of any sacrament from God. So now, even when my prayer life or my devotion sinks through like sand, I know that I have a gracious Redeemer who loves me as I am. As. I. Am. I love this book!

[Becky Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend! I kept finding myself stopping to write excerpts in my journal. Love reading her insightful books. They help you find a clearer understanding of what you just read in the bible. Like little "cliff notes" to help ya study. 😘

[Bobbi Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some insights were thought provoking and made for good book club discussion, but was also a light read, well suited for those new to faith or who don’t have a desire to read long, philosophical books.

[Samantha Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a daily devotional. It was a longer devotional each morning but well worth it. She is a great writer and story teller.

[Evie Loves · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some chapters that were better than the others.

[Debbie Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read, so real and genuine, so encouraging!!! Loved studying the word and reading this book along with some friends!!

[Amy Jayasuriya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a lot of good information. For some reason though I had a hard time completing it, it took two tries.

[Candy Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this easy to read and apply book. She took real-life circumstances and made them connect to the psalms. I enjoyed learning fun facts about the psalms and making connections to the psalms.

[Cynthia Reffner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving read intertwined with the book of Psalm. Made me look at The Book of Psalms in a completely different light. Thank You Lisa for your insight.

[Kimberly Danley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Lisa’s stories that are so authentic and relatable. She has a strong faith and is not afraid to use it! Beauty from ashes in the midst of the mess.

[carrie young]

Deep probing questions in each chapter

A great book for self exploration , Lisa is always hilarious charming and funny and she oozes honey out of yourself

[Windi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful overview of some of the Psalms.

[Emma Madrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book…highly recommend for new believers in Christ because it teaches about God’s perfect love and how nothing can keep us from His love

[Terri Borkgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Harper writes a beautiful study on this topic of imperfection.She takes the reader through the Gospels and the Psalms on the life of Jesus and David Bringing her own experiences in it as well.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the explanations of the Psalms that were chosen. I just wish there were more chosen Psalms chosen to discuss.

[Kristin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Loved everything about this book! Lisa Harper is so easy to relate to and makes studying Psalms very enjoying! Good job!

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books that prompt you to pause and reflect on what you read in the Bible.
I also love books that have humor and fun, quirky examples for us all to relate to.
This is one of those books! Lisa Harper is a wonderful, interesting, crazy woman who LOVES the Lord and wants everyone to understand what the Bible is saying. She does it in such a creative way that you can’t help but have it sink into your soul and make you dwell on what she says.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading the book of Psalms so I was pretty happy when I found out this devotional book was taking us on author Lisa Harper's personal journey through them.

I love the fact that this book is so different than most of the devotional books that I've read in the past. I was taken on a ride of personal experiences and unashamed honesty in relating to the Word of God. I felt deeply moved, cracked several laughs, and nearly couldn't put this book down as author Lisa Harper knows by the grace of God exactly how to keep her audience captivated by words on a page.

Through reading this book, I couldn't help sharing with friends and family how much I was enjoying it. This great devotional book would be wonderful for personal use as well as group bible study.