Osteen - Starting Your Best Life Now: A Guide for New Adventures and Stages on Your Journey

Copyright 2007 by Joel Osteen Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scriptures noted AMP are taken from Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scriptures noted NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures noted NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scriptures noted TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scriptures noted NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scriptures noted THE MESSAGE are from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scriptures noted KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Literary development and design: Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Portions of this book have been adapted from Your Best Life Now, copyright 2004 and Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now, copyright 2005 by Joel Osteen. Published by FaithWords.

Faith Words

Hachette Book Group USA

237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com.

First eBook Edition: April 2007

ISBN: 978-0-446-53994-4

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PRESENTED TO

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FROM

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DATE

The future is yours for the taking! is an often quoted expression of hope passed on to graduating seniors, new employees, and wide-eyed couples on their wedding days. Yet we all know that while some people grab life with enthusiasm and take control of their futures, such a grandiose promise doesnt always pan out for everybody. Why is that?

Happy, successful, fulfilled individuals have learned how to live their best lives now. They make the most of the present moment and new opportunities, and thereby enhance their future. You can, too. No matter where you are or what challenges you face, you can start to enjoy your life right now.

Many people end up going through life with low self-esteem, focusing on the negative, feeling inferior or inadequate, always dwelling on reasons why they cant be happy. Others put off their happiness until some future date. Unfortunately, someday never comes. Today is the only day we have. We cant do anything about the past, and we dont know what the future holds. But we can live at our full potential right now!

In this book, you will discover just how to do that. Within these pages, you will find seven simple, yet profound, steps to start your best life. >

In Starting Your Best Life Now, well explore how to:

Enlarge your vision

Develop a healthy self-image

Discover the power of your thoughts and words

Let go of the past

Find strength through adversity

Live to give

Choose to be happy.

I CHALLENGE YOU TO BREAK OUT OF THE BARELY GET BYMENTALITY, to become the best you can be, not merely average or ordinary. To do that, you may have to rid yourself of some negative mind sets that are holding you back and start seeing yourself as doing more, enjoying more, being more. That, my friend, is what it means to live your best life now!

ENLARGE
Your Vision

We serve the Most High God

and His dream for your life

is so much bigger and better

than you can even imagine.

Never settle for a small view of God.

Start thinking as God thinks.

Think big.

Think increase.

Think abundance.

Think more than enough!

To start living your best life now, you must start looking at life through eyes of faith, visualizing the life you want to live.

From the time she was a little girl, Tara Holland dreamed of becoming Miss America. After two years as runner-up in the Miss Florida pageant, she was tempted to give up, but she chose instead to focus on her goal. She rented videos of every pageant she could find and watched them over and over again. As Tara watched each young woman crowned a winner, she pictured herself receiving the crown and walking down the runway in victory.

So when Tara was crowned Miss America in 1997, taking that long walk down the runway came as natural to her as breathing. Afterward, a reporter asked her if she was nervous about being on television, in front of millions, accepting her crown. No, she said, I wasnt nervous at all. You see, I had walked down that runway thousands of times before. She was simply living out the dream she had practiced so many times in her mind.

SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?

What do you want to do with your life? What are your dreams? If you could write your best life story today, what would it say?

Is your first reaction to hesitate? Perhaps you most often see and describe yourself in terms of past experiences or present limitations. Perhaps you see yourself more in terms of losing or just surviving rather than fulfilling your dreams.

If youve packed away your dreams, dare to unpack them today. Its time to enlarge your vision. Dare to ask God to rekindle those dreams in your heart and mind. He wants to do big things and new things in your life. God wants us to be constantly increasing, to be rising to new heights. He wants to pour out His far and beyond favor on you (Ephesians 2:7).

Quiet your heart and receive Gods Word: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Friend, if you will get in agreement with God, this can be the greatest time of your life. With God on your side, you cannot possibly lose. He can make a way when it looks as though there is none. He can open doors that no man can shut. He can cause you to be at the right place, at the right time. He can supernaturally turn your dreams into reality.

NEVER ALLOW YOUR OWN WRONG THINKING TO KEEP YOU FROM GODS BEST.

Eliminate a barely-get-by mentality and let Gods seed take root.

Centuries ago, wine was stored in leather wineskins rather than bottles. When the wineskins were new, they were soft and pliable, but as they aged, they became hardened and couldnt expand. If new wine was poured in an old wineskin, the container would burst and the wine be lost.

Interestingly, when Jesus wanted to encourage His followers to enlarge their visions, He reminded them, You cant put new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9:17). He was saying that you cannot have a larger life with restricted attitudes. He is trying to do something new, but unless were willing to change our thinking, well miss His opportunities for us.