Your Best Life Now for Moms

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.

FaithWords

Hachette Book Group, USA

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Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com.

First eBook Edition: April 2007

ISBN: 978-0-446-53993-7

Change Your Mind AND EXPAND YOUR WORLD

WE SERVE THE GOD WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE . . . and motherhood. Never settle for a small view of God. He wants to do big things and new things in our lives. God wants us to be constantly increasing, to be rising to new heights. He wants to equip you for the vast responsibilities that mother-hood entails. He wants to increase you in wisdom and help you make better decisions. He wants to pour out "His far and beyond favor" on you and your children (Ephesians 2:7).

But do you believe it? Or are you focused on your mothering failures and flaws and feelings of being overwhelmed and never being a good enough mom? Is your own wrong thinking keeping you from God's best?

It's time to enlarge your vision. To live your best life now, you must start looking at life through eyes of faith, visualizing the life you want to live. See your family prospering. See your children growing in the faith. See your marriage restored. You must conceive it and believe it is possible if you ever hope to experience it.

To conceive it, you must have an image on the inside of the life you want to live on the outside. This image has to become a part of you, in your thoughts, your conversations, deep down in your subconscious mind, in your actions, in every part of your being. If you develop an image of victory, success, health, abundance, joy, peace, and happiness, nothing on earth will be able to hold those things from you.

"See," God says, "I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19). Perhaps God is asking you this question today. "Don't you see what I want to do, and are you making room for it in your thinking?"

The truth is, 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 no way. 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 life around.

Get rid of small-minded thinking and start thinking as God thinks. Think big. Think increase. Think abundance. Think more than enough for you and your children!

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CONSIDER GOD'S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD

"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

NO LANGUAGE CAN EXPRESS THE POWER AND BEAUTY AND HEROISM AND MAJESTY OF A MOTHER'S LOVE. IT SHRINKS NOT WHERE MAN COWERS, AND GROWS STRONGER WHERE MAN FAINTS, AND OVER THE WASTES OF WORLDLY FORTUNE SENDS THE RADIANCE OF ITS QUENCHLESS FIDELITY LIKE A STAR IN HEAVEN.

—E. H. CHAPIN

BUT THE ANGEL SAID TO HER, "DO NOT BE AFRAID, MARY, YOU HAVE FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD. YOU WILL BE WITH CHILD AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS."

— LUKE 1:30–31

God Is on YOUR SIDE

AS A WOMAN, PERHAPS YOU'VE CONSIDERED what the Virgin Mary must have felt like when the angel told her that she would conceive without knowing a man. In other words, God was saying it would happen through supernatural means. The power of the Most High God would come upon her and cause it to happen by His Spirit. And the reassurance given was profoundly simple: "For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

Similarly, God is constantly trying to plant new seeds in your heart. He's constantly trying to get you to conceive, to give up antiquated ideas, and spark new bursts of creativity within. He's trying to fill you with so much hope and expectancy that the seed will grow and bring forth a tremendous harvest.

Will you allow that seed to take root? It starts by being willing to change your thinking and start believing for something bigger. Interestingly, when Jesus wanted to encourage His followers to enlarge their visions, He reminded them, "You can't put new wine into old wineskins" (Matthew 9:17). He was saying that you cannot have a larger life with restricted attitudes. Will you stretch your faith and vision and get rid of those old negative mind-sets that hold you back?

Get beyond the barriers of the past and expect God to do great things in your life. Start making room in your thinking for what God has in store for you and your family. You must conceive it in your heart and mind before you can receive it. The key is to believe, to let the seeds God is placing in your life to take root so they can grow. Expect God's favor, just as Mary did, to help you break out of the ruts and rise to new heights. Expect to excel in whatever you do.