Product Description
There is an epidemic of insecurity in society today. Many people suffer from an unhealthy need for affirmation. They are not capable of feeling good about themselves. For some the quest for approval becomes an actual addiction, as they seek self-worth from the outside world because they can’t find it within themselves. Joyce Meyer understands the need for seeking approval from others to overcome feelings of rejection and low self-esteem. The good news, she says, is that there is a cure. God provides all the security anyone needs. Her goal is to provide a pathway toward freedom from the approval addiction.
#1 by Daniel J. Knight on January 5, 2010 - 5:10 pm
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Positives: Points out that you must trust what Jesus for your works to be worth anything in God’s eyes (something that many false Christians and agnostics don’t realize.)
Negatives (She makes many errors):
She confuses the difference between God’s will and his desire, saying that it’s Gods will for everyone to be “secure” (actually it’s God’s DESIRE for everyone to turn to him, not just to have a right outlook. But it’s his WILL that only a few do). That may not seem like a big deal but it is for various reasons I won’t get into.
Moving on:
She forgets that we should be ashamed of our shameful flesh, saying:
“I made a decision that I had no reason to be ashamed (of herself)”. But what’s Scripture say to this female pastor?:
Ezra, a Jewish Christian, prayed: “O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.”
Even though Scripture says “if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed” – 1 Peter 4:16, how many Christians suffer for doing right but more so for doing wrong? Joyce knows most Christians sin often so she should be teaching that most Christians should be ashamed. But of course we all know what happens to the church’s donations when you start complaining about sin and we all know what happened to the prophets when they prophesied against the rebellious.
I’m not saying her book should say, “Your all sinners, we’ll be punished if we don’t stop sinning,” but that to say we shouldn’t focus on sin at all is wrong. If you don’t focus on it, or aren’t aware of it, you’ll keep on sinning. A correct message would have been, “Though we sin, remember to pray to God to restrain us from doing so, and to allow us to obey him perfectly so that we can have constant joy.”
She also thinks that getting rid of anxiety involves not “concentrat(ing)” on our sin: “we can concentrate on our sin and be miserable…” but Scripture does not say not to ever concentrate or focus on our sin, but rather not to mourn over sin we’ve already mourned over and instead to “think about that which is lovely” and to go on doing good works with joy. Why does it matter? Because to NOT concentrate on our sin would be to ignore something which the bible says is serious and to stop doing, but if you ignore what it is you are diong how can you stop it? It isn’t some “oh well / whatever” matter.
She also claims that it isn’t the job of Christians to achieve but to believe, (achieve, meaning to strive to do good!) but rather to trust in Christ knowing that we won’t be perfect. Yet another stupid charismatic quip to confuse people! Hello, knowing that Christ does not expect us to be perfect does not mean to disobey his command to “BE PERFECT AS YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT”.
I also thought it would have been better if she included an explanation as to why people with a pure heart sin, which by not explaining, can confuse a lot of people contemplating becoming a Christian and might see it as a contradiction and then reject Christianity based on that.
On top of all that, this book shouldn’t be bought or read because Joyce is in violation of Scripture’s command that married women not speak when the church is congregated (at the very least on Sundays) and for not covering her hair. That has everything to do with whether or not you should buy this book because God commands to shun any Christian who after justly being rebuked over the same matter three times does not heed those rebukes.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by saint james on January 5, 2010 - 7:12 pm
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I feel sorry for all the silly people who bought Joyce Meyer’s book without using the Search Inside tool provided by Amazon or those who went to the book store with out browsing the book. Caveat Emptor! Don’t blame Joyce Meyer.
Joyce Meyer has combined a kind of pop-quasi-Christian psychology book that could probably compete with Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now” if it were marketed as well. Joyce Meyer is a stern-faced woman who has severe convictions about her biblical beliefs. She is on television daily and has written many books and booklets.
Far too many Christian authors keep churning out book after book that lead Christians to believe that by purchasing a “how to” manual written by a Christian author, teacher, minister, etcetera, they will find paradise on earth. Learning to please God is a lifelong process for true believers. Someone who has a true personality disorder that is based in a self image based on the approval of others will probably recieve minimal help from Meyer’s book. It contains quick answers with nice stories to inspire and uplift. Such content makes for a “feel good book” but
not a scholarly attempt at healing a mind that is wounded.
Rating: 2 / 5
#3 by Casey101 on January 5, 2010 - 7:34 pm
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I enjoy self-help, self-exploring books. However, it is disturbing yet another self help book reads more on being the right type of Christian then being a better you, regardless of your faith!
I am a Christian. A person of faith with an open mind. I believe that the diversity amoung people are to be celebrated rather than feared and I won’t tell people what God wants them to believe.
I do belive that it is rare indeed when one person can tell another what God thinks about any controversial issue.
This book would have saved me a lot of “here we go again”, er, time, if Ms. Myers could have written it with out all the Christian Right B— S—!
Rating: 1 / 5
#4 by YoungOne on January 5, 2010 - 9:45 pm
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to an eternity in misery; and eternity in hell. This quote is from Enjoying Everyday Living with Joyce Meyer. I am puzzled why people like her or her books. She stands up onstage looking like a bulldog-rarely smiling, and delivers this kind of garbage. She even takes her cameras to the streets to ask other people what it means to believe in God or be a Christian, and then cuts back to her show to tell every one how wrong they are-how doctrinally incorrect they are.
I wonder if people like Meyer ever truly think. I mean deep down think. I wonder if they ever feel a true emotion, besides the ‘Lord told me…” or “God spoke to my heart and said….” Or the Holy Spirit was ministering to my spirit yesterday and…” These types of people brain you with the Bible before you see it coming. No matter how laid back they seem-no matter how ultra modern and stylish they appear, they have to keep an element of fear involved. Hell has to be dangling in front of you.
God made you with free will but damns you for using it. And if you use it in ANY other way than Meyer’s narrow, circumspect way, then God allows you to take your place with all the demons of hell in the company of Satan for ever and ever and ever.
Rating: 1 / 5
#5 by Freudian Park Ranger on January 5, 2010 - 10:31 pm
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I originally saw the advertisements for this book on the NYC Subway. It is marketed as a ’self-improvement’ book. What I expected was a semi-clinical, psychological guide to research, define, and offer solutions for the obsessive need to please others. The Amazon webpage gives some insight into its spiritual tangent. I admit I never utilized the ‘Search Inside’ feature (please do before buying.).
This book instantly goes into the scriptures and becomes more of a tool to become a good Christian rather than solving one’s problems. I’d like to emphasize that I do believe in God and am moderately religious. But, this book is so far off that It could never be used in psychology classes, except perhaps at the Christian Science Reading Room. Obviously, the popularity of this book is through the urging of the ‘Religious Right’. At one point I thought I was reading a Dana Carvey ‘Church Lady’ skit when the book alludes to doubt being caused by…Satan. The book basically combines passages from the Bible combined with ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ type stories. This type of writing is great if you’re quabbling over a pound of nails at the General Store…but for a reader from New York City (formerly Sodom and Gomorrah)where the weak are killed and eaten, it doesn’t carry a lot of weight. Ms. Meyer does bring up some useful points, but it’s hard to shave off two-thirds of the book to get to it. Instead, I will save you all the money I spent and give you Joyce Meyer’s premise: “Take stock in yourself, find God and/or Jesus, don’t worry about pleasing others, only worry about pleasing God and/or Jesus.” The End.
What’s more, if you need more of the same information, you can just wait until the next Jehovah’s Witness comes to YOU.
Well, I guess the book has worked for me. I have now annoyed every bible-thumper reading this. They don’t approve and I don’t care. What’s more,I have pleased God. You see I have been honest and straightforward…Now isn’t that special?
Poststatement: If you have noticed, all reviews with a low rating of this book have a large amount of people rating how helpful it was. And the consensus is??? You guessed it…not helpful by a landslide. On the other side, look at the amounts for the high ratings…hmmm. Come on Joyce and friends, do you think the American public is so stupid?
Rating: 2 / 5