book chapter 3

From chapter 3 of the book Become A Better You by Joel Osteen…




Our external appearance, to God, is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is or what your ethnic background is. It doesn’t matter how many weaknesses or flaws you have. You have the DNA of Almighty God. You come from a long line of champions.

Consider this: Your Heavenly Father spoke the galaxies into existence. Your elder brother defeated the enemy. Think about some of your natural ancestors:

Moses parted the Red Sea. There’s great faith in your bloodline.

David, a shepherd boy, defeated Goliath with only a few pebbles he picked up from a brook. That is courage in your bloodline.

Samson toppled a building. There’s supernatural strength in your bloodline.

Daniel spent an entire night in a lion’s den and wasn’t harmed. Divine protection flows through your bloodline.

Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem when all the odds were against him. Determination and persistence pulsate through your bloodline.

Queen Esther put her life on the line to save God’s people. Sacrifice and heroism are in your bloodline.

Do you understand? You come from a bloodline of champions. You are not ordinary; you are a thoroughbred. It doesn’t matter what your present condition looks like; you need to know that inside you flows the blood of a winner. On the inside of you are seeds of greatness. Take a better look at your bloodline. On the inside of you is champion after champion. You are the seed of Almighty God.

That’s why you must quit focusing on your weaknesses and get a bigger vision for your life. David said, “God, all of my days you ordained before one of them came to be.” In other words, you may be a mere thirty, forty, or fifty years of age, but God has been working on you for a long time. He had you planned long before you were born. You are extremely valuable; you are not ordinary; you come from great stock. You’ve been destined to live in victory, destined to overcome, destined to leave your mark on this generation.

You come from superior stock. God brought you out of His best.

“But you don’t know the life I’ve led,” I hear you saying. “I’ve failed here and I’ve made mistakes over there, and I still have this addiction.”

That doesn’t change your bloodline; it doesn’t change what’s in you. You may never have realized how valuable you are. Perhaps you never realized the price God paid for you. You need to recognize what you have on the inside. It says in First Corinthians that you were bought with a high price. God gave His very best for you, His only Son. So please don’t go around thinking that you are worthless, that you don’t have a future. You are a champion on the inside. It’s in your blood.

It doesn’t matter where you are right now. You may have made mistakes. You may have failed a thousand times, but understand that it does not change your value in God’s eyes. You are not here on earth by accident. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. He has an assignment for you. And it’s not just to drift around in mediocrity.

Perhaps you have never fully considered what you have on the inside. You may have made mistakes, but don’t let your mistakes keep you down. Get back up and go again. Your errors or wrong choices do not change your bloodline. They don’t change what’s in you. Oftentimes, society will write a person off when he or she fails or makes poor choices, but God is not that way. God sees your potential. He knows what you’re capable of being. He’s the one who designed you, and He knows that you can still do great things. It’s in your blood.

He has programmed you with everything you need for victory. That’s why every day you can say things like, “I have what it takes. I am more than a conqueror. I am intelligent; I am talented. I am successful; I am attractive; I am an overcomer.” God put all those things in your bloodline.

Always remember your spiritual bloodline is more powerful than your natural bloodline. You have been handpicked by Almighty God. You have His royal blood flowing through your veins. Put your shoulders back and hold your head up high knowing that you have been chosen. You’ve been set apart before the foundation of the world. Understand your value and shake off inferiority or insecurity. The “champion” is already within you, just waiting to be discovered. It’s in your blood.

David said in Psalm 139:13, “God, You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Verse 16 of that psalm says, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” Notice, David is saying that God saw us before we were born. Before Adam and Eve, before Abraham, before Moses or your grandparents, God knew you. In other words, your parents didn’t simply get together and decide to have a child. You were preordained to be here before the foundation of the world.

God is the great architect of the universe. He planned everything, and prearranged for you to be here at this particular time in history. That’s one reason why we should feel a sense of destiny and value.

Your value is based solely on the fact that you are a child of the Most High God. We are His most prized possession.

God knew you weren’t going to be perfect. Why don’t you lighten up and give yourself a break? Quit beating yourself up over everything you’ve done wrong. After all, you can’t change the past. If you’ve made mistakes, just say, “God, I’m sorry; I repent. Help me to do better next time.” Then let it go and move on. If you hold on to it, you open the door to guilt and condemnation. Before long, you’ll be going around with a “poor old me” mentality.

“I don’t deserve anything. I’m just a weak worm of the dust,” I hear people say. No, you’re not a weak worm of the dust; you are a child of the Most High God. Hold your head up high, put your shoulders back, and start acting like a child of the Almighty God.

You are a person of destiny. You didn’t just happen to show up. God was thinking about you before you were ever born. The Bible says that He has meticulously made everything about you.

God designed you as you are on purpose. You are an original. Quit being negative and critical toward yourself and start enjoying yourself as the unique creation of God.

Take what God has given you and make the most of it. You are valuable to God. I heard somebody put it like this: If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If God carried a wallet, your photo would be in it.

Your attitude should be, “I may have a lot to overcome, people may have tried to push me down, maybe I didn’t get the best breaks, but that does not change who I am. I know I can fulfill my destiny.” You should go out each day expecting good things, anticipating God’s blessings and favour. God has planned all of your days for good, not evil.

Remember, we are called overcomers. That means we’re going to have obstacles to overcome. You can’t have great victories without having difficult battles. You’ll never have a great testimony without going through a few tests. The enemy always fights the hardest when he knows God has something great in store for you.

If you’ve had unfair things happen to you, or people have robbed or cheated you, the Scripture says that God will bring you out with twice what you had before. If you are struggling through tough times, start declaring, “I’m coming out of this experience with twice the joy, twice the peace, twice the honour, twice the promotion.” Every day when you get up, declare, “This is going to be a day of victory in my life. I’m expecting God’s unprecedented favour. Promotion, favour, increase, they’re all on the way.”

You can be happy and free in this life, not simply in heaven one of these days; you can accomplish your dreams before you go to heaven!

How can you do that? By tapping into God’s power inside of you.

The Bible says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” The curse is behind any kind of defeat – sin, mistakes, wrong choices, fear, worry, constant sickness, unhealthy relationships, or bad attitudes. Please understand that those are all things from which you have already been set free. But here’s the catch: If you don’t appreciate and take advantage of your freedom, if you don’t get your thoughts, your words, your attitudes going in the right direction, it won’t do you any good.

You may be sitting back waiting on God to do something supernatural in your life, but the truth is, God is waiting on you. You must rise up in your authority, have a little backbone and determination, and say, “I am not going to live my life in mediocrity, bound by addictions, negative and defeated. No, I’m going to do like the Apostle Paul and start pressing forward. I’m going to take hold of everything God has in store for me”

God has loosed our chains of addictions, of personal defeats, of bad attitudes. The problem is we’re not walking out of them.

You need to realize you have already been set free. Two thousand years ago, God loosened your collar. Now, it’s up to you to start walking out of it.

How do you do it? Change your attitude. Quit saying, “I can’t do it; I’ll never be well; I’ll always be in debt. I’ve got too much to overcome.”

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is inside you. There is nothing in your life you cannot overcome; no hurt is too deep that you cannot forgive. You have the power to let go of the negative things of your past. You may have been knocked down a thousand times, but you have the power to get back up again. The medical report may not look good, but you have the power to stand strong.

Refuse to sit back and accept things that are less than God’s best.

You can never change what you tolerate. As long as you accept it and accommodate it, you’re gong to stay right where you are. But you don’t have to live that way.

Don’t ever say, “I’ll never see my dreams come to pass; I’ll probably never get married.” Or, “My bills are so high, and my income is so low, I don’t think I’ll ever get out of debt.” No, turn that around. You need to be saying, “I am more than a conqueror. I will fulfill my destiny. God is supplying all of my needs.”

You must press in if you’re going to take hold of everything God has in store for you.

You CAN rise higher. You CAN be a better person, a better parent, spouse, co-worker, or a better leader. God has more in store for you.

Don’t talk about the way you are, talk about the way you want to be.

“Well, my grandmother had diabetes. My mother has diabetes. It looks like I’m going to have it, too.” When you think like that, you’re planning to be diabetic. You need to put your foot down and say, “Grandmother may have had it. Mother may have had it. But as for me and my house, we’re redeemed from diabetes. I’m going to live under the blessing and not the curse.” Don’t make plans for negative things.

Sometimes you have to show the enemy that you’re more determined than he is.

Get rid of that weakness mentality. Start thinking powerful thoughts, such as I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST. I AM A VICTOR AND NOT A VICTIM. Remember, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is inside you. You collar has already been loosed. The price has already been paid. It’s up to you to rise up and walk in your authority.

The Old Testament prophet Joel said, “Wake up the mighty men.” You are a mighty man or woman; don’t settle for anything less than God’s best. Stir up the gift on the inside. Keep your dreams alive. Make a decision today that from now on, you are going to live under the blessing and not the curse. As you do, you’ll discover that Almighty God has already loosened the leash in your life and has given you the power to break free from things that have held you back in the past.