"In difficult times it's tempting to get sour and say, "I don't understand it. I was doing the right thing, being my best, and this setback came out of nowhere." You have to do as Job did and draw a line in the sand and say, "I am not going to go through life with a bad attitude. I'm not going to let what's happened to me, what didn't work out, or who did me wrong keep me from becoming who I was created to be. Father, thank You that You're fighting my battles. You being for me is more than the world being against me." That's what allows God to bring you out better. But too often we're holding on to hurts, disappointments, and things we don't understand. This poisons our attitude, takes our passion, and makes us negative and critical. You have to let it go and quit going back to it. It's over and done. Move forward." (Joel Osteen, Empty Out the Negative)
As the title of this book suggests, this book is about emptying out the negative and filling ourselves with the positive or right thinking and right people in our lives. He teaches that if you dwell on negative thoughts, these thoughts will draw in more negative: more fear, more worry, and more defeat.
We all have had bad things happen to us; however, none of these bad things can keep us from our destiny. He says, "When thoughts tell you, You've been through too much. You lost a loved one. The business didn't make it. Your friend walked out on you. Nothing good is in your future, don't believe those lies. Get in tune with God and say, "Father, thank You that You have beauty for these ashes. Thank You that what was meant for my harm, You're turning to my advantage." When you're in tune with God, He'll pay you back for the wrongs. The prophet Isaiah says, "He will give you double for the unfair things that happened." Instead of thinking you've seen your best days, you can say, "Lord, thank You that double is coming. Thank You that my latter days will be better than my former days." The author teaches that God wouldn't have allowed these bad things in your life if He wasn't somehow going to use them for your advantage.
To sum up, this book is about switching from negative thoughts, negative people to positive thoughts, Biblical thoughts, and people who will pull you up higher. This is a perfect time to do this, just before the new year!