(By Joyce Meyer) Many years ago, when the Lord first called me into ministry, I felt Him prompting me to quit smoking. I had smoked since I was 9 years old, and frankly, I liked it. My flesh did not want to quit smoking…and it was hard. My husband, Dave, used to smoke, but when he decided to quit, he just did it one day with seemingly no struggle at all, which only added to my frustration. I, on the other hand, quit and started again multiple times before I was successful.
I had to “get it” that until I loved God and wanted to please Him more than I wanted to smoke, I was going to keep going back to it. And the key to loving God more than anything and anyone else meant spending time with Him, getting to know Him and developing a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him. See, the truth is you resemble whoever you hang out with. As I spent more and more time “hanging out” with Jesus, the more I began to resemble Him. And the more I became aware of the things in my life that were not like Him. We all have attitudes, habits or mindsets that we wrestle with and want to change. But it’s important to understand that on our own, we can’t change our heart—only God can do that. READ MORE
