Joel Osteen encourages ‘extraordinary’ living Print
Written by Leslie Santamaria   
Wednesday, 04 September 2013 04:09 PM America/New_York

Houston pastor presents practical steps for believers who want to break out of ‘average, unrewarding’ lives

 

The shift is coming, says Joel Osteen, No. 1 New York Times best-selling author and pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church. The preacher with the famous smile encourages believers who feel stuck in present circumstances by reminding them that God is about to move in a new way, causing them to accomplish more than they might have ever imagined.

“You were not created to just get by with an average, unrewarding, or unfulfilling life,” Osteen writes. Rather, each person is meant to leave a mark on the current generation, and it is time for believers to pursue dreams again—dreams of increase, favor, promotion, contracts, good ideas, improved relationships and more.

Osteen_BreakOut_HCThis, he says, is why he has written Break Out! 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life, which FaithWords releases this month.

The turn away from defeatist living begins in a person’s thinking, asserts Osteen. The keys to being breakout-minded are: believing bigger; focusing on God, not circumstances; praying bold prayers; keeping the right perspective; and not settling for anything less than the fullness of God’s plan. 

Osteen explains that as a believer puts these five keys into action, God releases floods of goodness and propels him into his predestined extraordinary life.

In regard to praying boldly, Osteen suggests reminding God of His promises in Scripture. 

“What God promised, He will do,” he writes.

“Because you have been faithful and honored God, I believe and declare, God will put you in a position you could have never gotten to on your own. … What should have taken you forty years to accomplish God will do in a split second. You’re coming into acceleration,” he writes.

However, Osteen cautions readers that the fulfillment of a dream might not happen overnight, and along the way to God saying yes, “there will be nos.” 

Many people quit too soon, but Osteen adds: “God wouldn’t have given you the dream, the promise wouldn’t have come alive, if He didn’t already have a plan to bring it to pass.”

To order Break Out!, call FaithWords at 800-759-0190.