Osteen - I Declare

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Copyright 2012 by Joel Osteen

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Scripture quotations noted AMP are from The Amplified Bible. Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Scripture quotations noted NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN 978-1-4555-1771-8

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O ur words have creative power. Whenever we speak something, either good or bad, we give life to what we are saying. Too many people say negative things about themselves, about their families, and about their futures. They say things such as, Ill never be successful. This sickness will get the best of me. Business is so slow I dont think I will make it. Flu season is coming. Ill probably catch it.

They dont realize they are prophesying their futures. The Scripture says, We will eat the fruit of our words. That means we will get exactly what weve been saying.

Here is the key; youve got to send your words out in the direction you want your life to go. You cannot talk defeat and expect to have victory. You cant talk lack and expect to have abundance. You will produce what you say. If you want to know what you will be like five years from now, just listen to what you are saying about yourself. With our words we can either bless our futures or we can curse our futures. Thats why we should never say, Im not a good parent. Im unattractive. Im clumsy. I cant do anything right. Ill probably get laid off.

No, those thoughts may come to your mind, but dont make the mistake of verbalizing them. The moment you speak them out, you allow them to take root. There have been plenty of times where Ive thought something negative and Im just about to say it, but Ill catch myself and think, No. Ill zip it up. Im not speaking defeat into my future. Im not speaking failure over my life. I will turn it around and speak favor into my future. I will declare, Im blessed. Im strong. Im healthy. This will be a great year. When you do that, you are blessing your future.

I have written this book of thirty-one declarations so you can bless your future one day at a time, one month at a time. My hope is that you will take just a moment each day to bless your future with one of these positive, inspiring, and encouraging declarations. If you read one declaration and story each day, I believe you will put yourself in a position for Gods blessings.

When we were looking to renovate the former Compaq Center in Houston so it could serve as the new Lakewood Church, our architects told us the project would cost millions more than wed originally estimated. I was shocked by the figures they gave us. After I got up off the ground, I thought, Thats impossible. I could never raise that much money. There is no way that will happen.

The thoughts were there, but I knew better than to verbalize them. My attitude was, If I prophesy my future I want to prophesy something good. Im not saying what I feel. Im not saying what it looks like in the real world. No, Im saying what God says about me.

My declaration was, God is supplying all of our needs. He is Jehovah-Jireh; the Lord our Provider. This may seem impossible but I know God can do the impossible. Where God gives vision He always provides provision.

I made sure to have a report of victory and we saw this dream come to pass. Proverbs 18:21 says, Life and death are in the power of our tongue. What are you saying about your future? What are you saying about your family? What are you saying about your finances? Make sure the words you are sending out are in the direction you want your life to go.

If youre a baseball fan, you probably know who Jos Lima was. During the 1990s he was the star pitcher for the Houston Astros. One season he won twenty-one games and was considered one of the best pitchers in the league. But something interesting happened. When the Astros moved from the Astrodome to their new ballpark downtown, the fence in left field was much closer than the fence in the Astrodome. And of course, this favors the hitters. It makes it more difficult on the pitchers.

The first time Jos Lima went to the new ballpark he stood on the mound. When he looked out into left field and saw how close the fence was, the first words out of his mouth were, Ill never be able to pitch in here. The fence is way too close.

Do you know he went from being a twenty-one-game winner to being a sixteen-game loser? It was one of the biggest negative turnarounds in Astros history. What happened? He prophesied his future. Those negative thoughts came, and instead of ignoring them, he made the mistake of speaking them out. When you speak it out youre giving life to your faith. As Proverbs 6:2 says, We are snared by the words of our mouth.

When I was a boy there was a gentleman who owned the company that took care of our church grounds. He was a very nice man, kind and friendly. But he always had a negative report. Every time I talked to him he told me how hard life was and how business was slow and his equipment was breaking down. He was having problems at home. One of his children was acting up, on and on. I saw him twice a week for probably ten years. I cannot remember one time when he did not have a negative report. And Im not making light of his situation. The point is he was prophesying defeat. He was cursing his future. He didnt realize he was being snared by the words of his mouth.