"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

Amazing I love this book because its very positive, inspirational, and encouraging. Some of its philosophy is similar to "The Prayer of Jabez," and some religious folks might be uncomfortable with the positive and prosperous mentality. Let's face it we are all human, we want to be happy, and live well, and no one wants to live miserably or be unhappy, or poor. Even the Bible supports this. There are many examples where people suffer but then they get blessed and prosper, the story of job would be one. Why wouldn't God want people to be happy and to live well. Even the Bible in John 10:10 talks about living life abundantly or to the fullest, depending on which bible version you are reading from. Joel Osteen isn't saying that life is a bed of roses, because its a tough life. I've had people who were my friends betray me, had people take advantage of me because I used to be naive, I had a lot of very bad and crappy things happen to me. I'm only in my early twenties but so much junk has happened to me and my family. Joel isn't saying that life won't be hard, it will be but you can learn from it and live better. The past seven years of my life have been nothing but depressing and terrible. I have had so much discouragement and unhappiness for the past seven years. Seven years is a long time and I couldn't live like that anymore. I've been able to turn it all around because I have been able to forgive and let go, and Joel's sermons have helped me do that. I decided to not give up on myself or my dreams, and am working hard to accomplish the things that I want to do in my life. Many christians shy away from living happy lives as if being miserable will make them more "holy" and that's not reality folks. Life will be hard but you can choose to be positive, choose to let go of hard feelings and forgive, choose to take yourself out of negative environments, and make a better life for yourself. There's nothing wrong with material things as long as you don't become greedy. Even the bible says that God will give us our hearts desires (Psalm 37:4). There's nothing wrong with that. But its certainly not going to fall from heaven, you need to do your part in life. That's usually the tough part.