Joyce Meyer daily sermons for today :Perseverance is a great element of success.

Perseverance is a great element of success.

If you  knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Always remember that nobody can make you give up if you refuse to, and nobody can keep you from succeeding if  you won’t give up. My point is that your success in life or any  venture is between you and God. As long as what you are attempting to do is in His will for you, He will help you do it, if you will do your part. I have said many times, “We are partners with God in life. He will always do His part, but are we willing to do our part?” I pray that we always are.
Some of the habits you will be working on will come more  easily than others, and I don’t know that I have a good answer
as to why.

During the years I have been working out at the  gym with a strength coach, she often tries to help me learn things that will enhance the benefit of the exercise I am doing, things like standing certain ways, or not slouching my shoulders  while I am doing certain exercises, or not dropping my head but keeping it erect. Some of them become a habit after she  reminds me only two or three times, and some of them I still
need to be reminded of after six years. But I have already decided that I am not giving up no matter how long it takes me
to get it right.

One of the hardest things for me to remember when I am doing my exercises has been to not do them too fast. I think
most of us want to get it over with, and my personality is  a conquer-and-move-on personality anyway, so between these
two things I have needed a lot of reminders to slow down so the muscle I am using gets the intended benefit. Well, the good
news is that at this point when I hear my coach say, “Slow down,” I already know she is going to say it. I am finally recognizing it myself when I do things too fast, so that means I am very close to overcoming in that area. Yeah!

Habits are things that we often do unconsciously, and to break bad ones we have to become conscious and aware that
we are doing them and then move on to being aware before  we do it so we can choose not to do it. It is a process, and if
you are a person who gives up easily, you won’t get very far.
So make a decision right now that you are in for the long haul and that you are willing to have the pain for the gain.
You might be wishing that you could have a coach for all areas of life to remind you when you are doing the wrong thing
so that you can do the right thing. If that is true, then I have good news for you. You can count on your life coach, the Holy
Spirit, to always remind you when you are getting lax in one of your good habits and beginning to revert to old ones. He brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).
Life coaches have become popular today. They are people who help clients learn how to live their lives in the best way possible, and their training covers many areas of life. I am sure they are a blessing to lots of people, and ifyou want to pay one
you can, but you already have the best one that has ever been available, and that is the Holy Spirit. He teaches us all things.
Jesus said,But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor,
Advocate, Strengthene, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place,to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will
remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everythingI have told you.
John 14:26

Isn’t that wonderful news! We don’t have to try to do it alone. We have a Divine Helper Who will not only remind us what to do but willstrengthen us to be able to do it. Lean
Him at all times! I can promise you that if you will not give up,
He certainly won’t give up on you.
When you’re weary and tempted to give up, just
remember that your breakthrough may only be one day away.
As you begin your journey of developing better habits and
breaking bad ones, you might want to start with a couple that might be a little easier for you to have some quick victories
under your belt before tackling some of the harder ones. Don’t  keep putting the harder ones off too long, however, or you just
might never get around to them. The ones that are the most difficult are probably the ones that will be the most beneficial
to you when you have had victory. If a door is difficult to open,don’t walk away, just push a little harder.