The Power of I Am is the title of the newest Joel Osteen book on the market which was released in the middle of September. I immediately bought the book and started to read it, and recently I finished the book. So, how did I like it? Here is my The Power of I Am review.
Everyone who has read a Joel Osteen book, listened to one of his sermons or simply seen a picture of him has an opinion about him. If you speak with Christians they also have their thoughts on Joel Osteen, from the high praise to those characterizing him as a a false preacher with wrong doctrines. Let me just before you continue to read tell you that I am a big fan of Joel Osteen and his work, his books have had a big impact on my life and I admire how this guy with the help of God is able to share the gospel with millions every year through his books, online sermons and the work originating from Lakewood Church in Houston. But, let me continue with my thoughts related directly to his later book The Power of I Am.
My The Power of I Am review
This is the third Joel Osteen book I read, the first book was Become a Better You and the second book was Break Out. I remember reading Become a Better You on a holiday and I really enjoyed every single moment and the joy of reading every chapter and every line. Now some years later I still enjoy the Joel Osteen books, but I would like to compare them with a fantastic sweet cake. It has a delicious taste, but make sure not to eat to much if it at the same time. You will want to digest the cake and enjoy it, and then later taste it again and enjoy it again. However, after eating the same cake for a long time it might get a little bit boring, and that is a bit how I feel now after finishing my third Joel Osteen book. How come?
All the chapters are packed with encouraging messages about who I am in Christ. How I speak and think about myself will very much impact my actual life, so whether I say I am strong or I am weak will have a big influence on whether I will actually reach my goals or not. Whether I say I am a winner, or I am a looser, will also lead me in the direction of either victory or failure. The messages in this book is of great importance and of big need in our world today! That is exactly what this book is about, understanding and believing in the Word of God, telling me who I actually am in Christ.
If you have never read a Joel Osteen book before, feel free to start with this one, and it will be of great encouragement to you and I believe it will help you on your way towards growth. It helped me as well, but once you have read a couple of Joel Osteen books you realize that he is very much saying exactly the same in every single book, just writing it with different examples and from approaching the subjects from different angles. But, if you would compress all the books of Joel Osteen to 3-4 sentences it would look something like this:
“You are talented! You are gifted! You are a winner, and whatever you touch will prosper! It might not seem perfect now, but God is in control and at the right time he will promote you!”
I believe that our world is in desperate need of these books. But, for me I needed some time to get through it, because this was not for me like when I read The Oath by Frank Peretti (a book I just had to keep on reading all the time). It was sweet cake that I had to eat in portions!
[stextbox id=”info” caption=”Do not miss out on the last chapter!”]If you get tired of reading the book, I still suggest that you read the last chapter of the book which for me was a breath of fresh air. This is not about how God will do a miracle in my life if I stay faithful, and how he will promote me as long as I believe, but how I can be the miracle in the life of people around me in need of a miracle! It reminds me of the book “It’s not about me” by Max Lucado which I read a few years ago, a book I by the way can warmly recommend. Here are two quotes from the last chapter that I really liked:
- But true religion gets dirty. True religion doesn’t hide behind stained glass or fancy clothes. It goes to where the needs are.
- We come to be encouraged and filled up and strengthened. But our real assignment begins when we leave the building. Look around and find the discouraged. Listen for the cries for help.[/stextbox]
Quotes from The Power of I am
Here you can find some of my favorite quotes from The Power of I Am.
It’s like this story I heard about the mayor of a small town. He was in a parade, riding in a float down Main Street with his wife next to him. While he was waving to all the different people, he spotted in the crowd his wife’s former boyfriend, who owned and ran the local gas station. The mayor whispered to his wife, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t marry him? You’d be working at a gas station.” “No. If I would’ve married him, he’d be the mayor.” She whispered back, “No. If I would’ve married him, he’d be the mayor.”
The Scripture says, “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Just because we’re a person of faith doesn’t exempt us from difficulties.
If you’re always talking about the problem, it’s going to drain you. When you talk defeat, strength is leaving. Energy is leaving. Creativity is leaving.
If you will start taking steps of faith, doing what you can, God will do what you can’t.
The way you know you’re really believing is that you have a rest.
When you feel overwhelmed and you’re tempted to take everything into your own hands, you have to make yourself be still. The battle is not yours. The battle is the Lord’s. But as long as you’re fighting it, trying to make it happen your way, trying to pay somebody back, upset, worried, then God is going to step back and let you do it on your own.
Too often we get our performance mixed up with our identity. You may have failed, but you are not a failure. That’s what you did. Failure is an event. That’s not who you are. You are a child of the Most High God.
Notice, when people persecute you, give you a hard time for honoring God, or make fun of you for going to church, don’t let that bother you. They’re not really doing it to you. They’re doing it unto God. Saul was harming believers, yet God said, “You’re persecuting Me.” God took it personally.
“The anointing to us is like gasoline to a car.” You can have the most expensive car with a huge engine, a beautiful exterior, and luxuries inside, but if you don’t put gasoline in it, it’s not going to do you much good. In a similar way, you’ve been made in the image of Almighty God. You are full of incredible potential. You have seeds of greatness. The fuel you need to release your greatness, to overcome obstacles, and to accomplish dreams is the anointing on your life. The anointing is only activated where there is faith.
Conclusion of my book review
The Power Of I Am is a great book by Joel Osteen with encouraging messages and showing the importance of understanding who you are in Christ and confessing truths about yourself instead of lies. Life and death can be found in our words, so we have to decide for ourselves in what direction we want to go and how we want to use our words. If you have not yet read any Joel Osteen books this is a great start, but if you have read a couple of Joel Osteen books already, it might be that you feel as if this is kind of repeating the books you have already read from the same author.
What do you think? Please write your thoughts on the book, I would love to hear what you think!
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