“AMAZED BY GRACE,” by Sheri Dew, Deseret Book, $15.99, 75 pages (nf)
When she was asked to speak at Brigham Young University’s Women’s Conference about the doctrine of grace, Sheri Dew was overwhelmed, the CEO of Deseret Book writes in the introduction of “Amazed by Grace.” As she prepared and discussed it with women she knew, Dew realized that grace was something many didn’t understand.
One friend fired off a list of questions about grace, and Dew explored four of those in her 2014 Women’s Conference presentation titled “Sweet Above All that is Sweet” and also in more depth in the recent book “Amazed by Grace.”
The four questions (and four chapters in the book) are: “What is grace?” “What difference can grace make in our lives?” “How does the Savior make his power available to us?” and “What must we do to gain access to that power?”
She shares scriptures, quotes from past and present general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and personal experiences to answer each question.
“Grace is divine power that enables us to handle things we can’t figure out, can’t do, can’t overcome or can’t manage on our own,” Dew writes in the first chapter on “What is grace?”
In the second chapter about what difference grace can make, she writes: “Faith in the Lord and in his grace, coupled with obedience and earnest seeking can literally turn weakness into strength.”
In the third chapter on how the Savior makes his power available, Dew shares how women have access to priesthood power. “Through his grace, he has made his highest, holiest spiritual privileges available to both men and women.”
To help answer the fourth question of “What must we do to gain access to that power?” Dew writes: “We can indicate by the choices we make and the way we live our lives that we want to be part of the kingdom of God more than we want anything else. And that is discipleship.”
Dew is straightforward as she writes thorough answers that while easily understood, give much to think about and apply. She also isn’t afraid to share difficult personal experiences as she illustrates the impact of grace and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Dew previously served as a counselor in the Relief Society general presidency and is the author of two biographies of LDS Church presidents among other books.
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