Read an Excerpt

Your Best Life Now Study Guide

Warner Faith

Chapter One

FOR MANY OF US, SOMEDAY MARKS THAT IMAGINARY MOMENT WHEN WE WILL SOME-how get a better life, recover perfect health, and magically break free from crushing debt.

We hope that special someday comes, but something deep inside us knows that someday won't come by accident or by wishing it were so.

Changed outcomes demand changed thinking. As I mentioned in the Introduction of Your Best Life Now:

"Today is the only day we have. We can't do anything about the past, and we don't know what the future holds. But we can live at our full potential right now" (p. x, emphasis added)!

1. Describe your first reaction to the above statement. Did something inside you recoil from it or immediately agree with it? Why? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

Read what Jesus and the Apostle Paul said below, and then review the statement from the Introduction above:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34 NKJV, emphasis added).

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV, emphasis added).

2. NOW, how do you feel about the statement quoted from the Introduction? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

Some people might believe these two scriptures disagree over how we should treat the future. I believe they actually work together to stress the importance of realizing the future's potential, and emphasizing the positive power of acting today.

3. Discuss or explain how you reach forward to things ahead without worrying about the future.

HINT: You put your trust in _______ and "reach forward toward things ahead" by living "at your full ______________ right ______ !" ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

If you have trouble conceiving things on the inside, then you probably have trouble receiving on the outside.

4. Take a moment to examine your thought life. Is there some barrier in your mind that produces wrong thinking? What do you think is blocking you from God's best? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

5. Write out five negative phrases you've said that began with the words "I'll never ..." Describe how those statements could potentially limit your life in some way if left unaddressed. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

6. Have you ever known someone who envisioned success in ways that resemble Tara Holland's story? What did you honestly think of that person at the time? Did you find it easy or difficult to support their dream? How do you envision your own success? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

7. How do you see yourself most of the time-are you "messing up" and failing, or are you living out a dream and achieving goals? Explain why. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

8. Small-minded thinking and God's immeasurable favor do not mix. Reflect on the following questions:

What if you were offered the chance to race through your favorite store and keep everything you could collect in 15 minutes? What kind of container would you look for? Why? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

Think of your favorite sports figures or dramatic performers. Now imagine them taking your mind-set onto the playing field or performance stage. Would this athlete be able to complete the passes, cross the goal line, or make the final three-point shot before the buzzer? Or, would they be overwhelmed by the pressure? Would that performer boldly deliver their lines and complete complex dance numbers, or become paralyzed with the fear of failure and humiliation? How would your type of attitudes and thinking affect their performance? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

HOW BIG IS YOUR BLESSING CONTAINER?

The prophet Elisha gave a curious command to a woman facing traumatic debt problems in 2 Kings 4:1-7. God offered her immeasurable favor, but she had to find containers big enough to hold God's blessing.

What parallels can you draw between her situation and the problem you are facing today?

The prophet told this wife and mother that God would multiply the little bit of oil she had. Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors; empty vessels; do not gather just a few" (2 Kings 4:3b NKJV, emphasis added). She and her son gathered every jar and container in the village and they were all filled.

The supernatural supply ended when the woman's capacity to contain it ended. God's source of supply is immeasurable. How big is your blessing container? What can you do to help increase your capacity?

Jesus said you can't "put new wine into old wineskins" (see Matthew 9:17). God is looking for a human being to contain the new wine of His Spirit, love, grace, and blessing ... What would new "wineskins" look like in your life?

9. Answer the following questions by circling the words that best describe you:

Are you soft or hard?

Are you pliable or unbending?

Do you stretch when under pressure, or do you feel ready to explode?

Is your thinking dominated by faith or by fear?

Which do you think about more: God's greatness or your weakness?

10. What is your dream or vision? Is it founded on God's abundance and does it line up with God's Word? Take time to reflect on the following questions prayerfully:

Have you released it to grow and has it come to pass?

Or, do you keep it hidden under a cloud of doubt based on thoughts of lack, limitation, and fear of the unknown? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

"The good news is, God wants to show you His incredible favor. He wants to fill your life with new wine, but are you willing to get rid of your old wineskins? Will you start thinking bigger? Will you enlarge your vision and get rid of those old negative mind-sets that hold you back?"

11. If you read about my wife, Victoria, and her vision for a new home (and my doubt-filled response to it), then you know I finally came around and linked my faith with hers. Together, we did three things that might help you. Find them in the book, list them, and describe or discuss how they may apply to your life and the lives of others close to you:

We kept on ...

a. _________________ it

b. _________________ it

c. _________________ it

GOD IS TRYING TO PLANT NEW SEEDS IN YOUR HEART!

God says, "See, I am doing a new thing! ... Do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19 NIV)

"Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23 NIV)

I had learned to handle large visions differently by the time God planted a vision in me for moving the Lakewood Church congregation into the Compaq Center: "... This time, I expanded my vision. I let the seed take root. I conceived it on the inside. I began to 'see' our congregation worshiping God in the Compaq Center in the heart of Houston".

12. What are you doing differently now? How can you allow God's seed of vision to survive in your heart? How can you avoid smothering it with doubt, fear, and unbelief? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

13. Think about the difference in thinking between the King of Saudi Arabia and the famous golfer. The king's response demonstrated thinking on a larger scale. How are you thinking right now? What are some attitudes you could change that would enlarge your vision? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

God wants to bless you, so don't limit Him with small thinking. Enlarge your vision and release Him to bless you with a God-sized blessing that brings Him glory!

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Your Best Life Now Study Guide by Joel Osteen Copyright © 2005 by Joel Osteen Publishing.
Excerpted by permission.
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