Living the Extraordinary Life: Nine Principles to Discover It

Living the Extraordinary Life by Charles Stanley provides the path to abundant living for both the Christian and the unbeliever looking for answers in today's hectic society. It is a study of nine principles that Dr. Stanley has discovered in his walk with the Lord. They include: God's Grace is the Starting Point; Trust the Lord, and He will move Heaven and Earth to Accomplish His Purpose; Obedience Always Brings Blessing; Knowing God's Will is Worth the Wait; and Fight Your Battles on Your Knees, and You'll Win Every Time. "Are you wrestling against forces that seem out of your control? Is life's treadmill going faster that you are? If you answer yes...you are running your own life." And therein lies the problem for each of us. In this age of instant everything, if we don't get-or find-the answer yesterday, we ignore God and try to solve problems our way. Dr. Stanley shows through Scripture and example the wisdom and blessing that is ours when we slow down, prioritize, and submit to God. We were created with a "God" hole in us. When we try to fill that place with anything but God, we are bound to fail. When we ignore God's rules and warnings, we set ourselves up to fall. Developing a relationship with our Father takes time and effort, but is worth it. His way is seldom easy, but yielding to it always results in blessing and a deeper relationship with Him. The fruit of the Spirit is proof of His love to us and through us to others. It is proof of the Extraordinary Life possible to each one of us. Living the Extraordinary Life is a great Bible study for individuals or small groups. At the end of each chapter there are a few questions and extra Scriptures to study. He also has provided journaling pages at the back. - Linda Demorest, Christian Book Previews.com

Last year up until the present time has been the strongest in my life in my Christian walk and my soul was in an intense spritual warfare with dark forces. I almost wanted to abandon my faith, and give in to thoughts of despair, worthlessness, and I had thoughts of doing things that I cannot even write about on here, needless to say they were all lies from the evil one. I read this book and it really opened my eyes to the tricks of the devil and how he uses our weaknesses and the things we care most about, against us. This book is very thorough and make no mistake about it, the devil is out to destroy people...

What is this book about? The first part is about recognizing who is against us and our Christian walk and what methods that enemy uses to get at our hearts, minds, emotions, will, etc. Then the book covers the Armor of God, what it really is, how we use it and how it is designed to help us in the offense and defense our our spiritual lives. Lastly the book covers some other key ways to protect you and your family from the enemy that seeks to destory us. Some practical methods are provided with a focus on aspects of prayer and how to pray for you and your loved ones so we all "stand firm and resist the devil." How I rate Christian books: 1) Is the majority of the book content I can use (great) or can the material be condensed down to a page or two with the rest as filler stories to support the minimalist points in the book (ack! please no!)? This book falls into the first and preferred book form that I like to read. There are some stories but they are rare, pointed and brief. Thank you Mr. Stanley for getting to the point and making it clear! 2) As a Christian book does it use scripture throughout, repeatedly or are vague quotes given that sound like scripture but you aren't sure because no verse reference is given or footnote to a bibliograpy provided? Again this book hits a big win with providing Scripture to support the claims made. It provides the reference and often times the actual verse too. The last "Christian" book I read (something titled Wild at Heart) didn't have its first solid page of scripture till pg 96 out of 200. Makes you wonder. . . 3) Does the author stick to one or two "literal" translations or switch to many different versions of a Scripture to prove a point when its obvious other versions don't necessarily say that exact same thing? Again this book sticks with one or two mainstream versions and doesn't find obscure versions so the author can just make a point that doesn't exist in Scripture or can easily be taken out of context based on the obscure version used. 4) Was I left with practical and theologically sound information or theoretical, pep-talk propaganda that makes me feel good but I'm still vague on what I should do next in my life? Again the theology seemed balance and well presented, especially with such a sensitive topic that is often taken to one extreme or the other. The advice given can be followed by anyone and are Scripturally based. I now have some direction on how to better prepare myself to win the spiritual battles ahead and bring my family along for the victory in Christ Jesus. Overall, this is one of the best Christian topic books I've ever read.

This book already has me making some very necessary changes in my life. It's not a matter of works per se; however, this book really helps you recognize the various sins that every one of us struggles with and what we can do to keep the enemy from winning the struggle. I confess to a spirit of greed and materialism, and I'm now eager to make some changes. For instance, I love to purchase Christian books; however, I already have so many I haven't even read yet, so my first step is to not look at any more of the Christian book catalogs that I get in the mail. I will always see something I just have to have, but by not putting myself in certain sections of the stores (like the jewelry or make-up sections) and buying only what I went into the store for in the first place (necessities), I will greatly help the lust of my eyes and greed in my heart. This book makes you realize that the Lord has given His best for us and that we need to do our best to please Him. I feel very excited to do this for Him, even though I know there will be times of struggle. The great thing I also learned in this book is that I can always call on the Lord during those times of stuggle and ask for His help (I've already told Him I can't do it on my own). Thank the Lord for people like Charles Stanley who understand the Lord's ways better than I do and explains it in such an exciting way, not a condemning way. I love this book - a great book indeed!

This book is all about the devil, and it is so thought provoking. Often I found myself having to go back and re-read the sentence, because there was so much to learn from it. I am definitely more aware of how to resist the devil and his games now that I've read this book. This is a must read for everyone!