Joyce Meyer - The Confident Mom: Guiding Your Family with Gods Strength and Wisdom

Battlefield of the Mind (over three million copies sold)

God Is Not Mad at You

Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits

Do Yourself a Favor Forgive

Power Thoughts

Living Beyond Your Feelings

Eat the Cookie Buy the Shoes

Never Give Up!

I Dare You

The Penny

The Power of Simple Prayer

The Confident Woman

Look Great, Feel Great

Approval Addiction

The Love Revolution

Any Minute

Start Your New Life Today

21 Ways to Finding Peace and Happiness

A New Way of Living

Woman to Woman

100 Ways to Simplify Your Life

The Secret to True Happiness

Reduce Me to Love

The Secret Power of Speaking Gods Word

Love out Loud Devotional

The Confident Woman Devotional

Hearing from God Each Morning

New Day, New You Devotional

Battlefield of the Mind Devotional

Ending Your Day Right

Starting Your Day Right

Several years ago, my friend, John Maxwell, was speaking at one of our annual womens conferences, and he opened with a remark that drew a huge response. He said, Confidence is the uplifting feeling you have before you truly understand the situation.

John was joking, of course, but even so, I think every mother in the crowd could identify with his statement. As moms, weve lived it. Most of us can recall all too well the nave sense of certainty we first felt at the prospect of motherhood. We can easily remember the idyllic dreams we once had about our soon-to-be-born little bundles of joy.

We also remember when the reality of the situation set in.

Little bundles of joy grew into teething toddlers who cried and threw up on us every time we got dressed up to go out. They threw temper tantrums and tried to drink out of the dog bowl. Soon, instead of feeling sure of ourselves, we started wondering if we really have what it takes to do this right. We started seeing our shortcomings, focusing on our failures, and feeling inadequate.

Im sure you know what Im talking about. Every mom (no matter how awesomely competent she may appear to be) has lost her confidence at one time or another. But, thank God, there is a way to get your confidence back. Its actually possible for us as mothers, at any stage in our lives, to regain, not the false and fleeting kind of confidence my friend John was talking about, but the real thing: the kind that keeps us looking forward with assurance even when things are going wrongthe kind that keeps us looking up instead of down, in spite of our mistakes. The kind that enables us to laugh at our imperfections and be positive about ourselves and what we can do instead of worrying about what we cant do.

Im convinced that right now Christian mothers everywhere are crying out for such confidence. God didnt create us to raise our children under a cloud of insecurity. Insecurity saps our faith. It robs us of our joy. It cheats us out of the boldness we need to really excel at what God has called us to do.

Even professional athletes know this is true. Recently a former basketball great was explaining why some competitors remain average while others excel. He said, The difference between a good player and a great player is supreme confidence. You cannot lose your confidence! Although he was talking sports at the time, the same could be said about being a motherwith one important adjustment: The difference between a good mom and a great mom is her supreme confidence in her supreme God.

The apostle Paul put it this way: For we who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3 NKJV).

I love that verse, dont you? I like the idea of getting my attention off my own natural flaws and inabilities and putting all my confidence in Jesus! I enjoy my life a lot more when I live that way. I also get greater things accomplished. Ive found its amazing what we can do when we stop struggling to meet lifes seemingly impossible demands in our own strength and just lean back on the power and promises of Godbecause with God, nothing is impossible.

Thats why ministry isnt hard for me. It used to be, because I made it hard. I complicated it by pushing myself to be perfect and condemning myself over every mistake. I worried about pleasing other people and wore myself out trying to impress them. But Ive come a long way toward giving all that up. These days, I just depend on God and get up every day determined to have a good time in Jesus. As a result, ministering has become easy for me. Its just what I do, and I do it with Jesus helping me all the way.

Though ministry and motherhood are different, they have this in common: They are both divine callings. And when God calls you to do something, He gives you the grace, faith, and anointing (power of the Holy Spirit) to do it. Whats more, He sticks with you every step of the way. And helping you get a greater revelation of that reality is what this book is all about.