On The Path Of Winners BY BAYO OGUNMUPE How Persistence Aids Success

On The Path Of Winners

BY BAYO OGUNMUPE

How Persistence Aids Success

WHATEVR you do, persistence ensures success. For example, if your prayers are not being answered, ask yourself the following: One, how is my relationship with the creator? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” Psalms 66:18.

  Anything that adversely affects your relationship with God also affects your prayers. Friendship gives you favour, intimacy gives you access. Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you,” John 15:7.

  Two, how strong is your faith? Without faith, it is impossible to please Jehovah, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,” Heb. 11:6. Notice three words – (A) ‘Believe,’ God’s deepest longing is to be believed, regardless of emotion or circumstance. (B) Diligently. When you pray, put your heart and soul into it. Paul speaks of ‘labouring’ in prayer, Col. 4:12. (C) Him: God isn’t some force out there. He is your Heavenly Father, who knows that you need all these things.

  Your priority should not be getting your needs met, but building your relationship with Jehovah. Three, I am showing patience and persistence? Until God’s time finally came, how God tested his patience. Joseph was tested by the very promise God gave him. Can’t you hear satan whisper, I thought the dream said you were to be the prime minister, what are you doing in prison? But it only looks like a prison, in reality, it is the birthplace of destiny. Joseph saw God’s promise fulfilled – in God’s time. With perseverance you will attain greatness too.

  Being double minded is the cause of the failure of the majority of humanity. The Bible says, “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” A dream that isn’t clear won’t get you anywhere. What do you want to accomplish? In other words what is your take on success? If you don’t define what success means to you, you won’t be able to achieve it. Most people don’t get what they want because they don’t know what they want. Instead of saying I want to get out of debt, say, “I will pay off all my credit balances by 31 December.” Instead of saying “I need to improve my leadership skills,” say: “I will read one leadership book every month.”

  Being specific doesn’t necessarily mean having every little detail thought out before hand. But your main goal should be clear. The rest will unfold as you move forward, making adjustments as you go. The answer is, you must pursue your goals single handedly. “Fix your gaze directly before you,” Prov. 4:25. Your mind might drift and dream at no effort, but it takes great effort to set your mind at a task and developing a goal. Your dream is rooted in you, according to your experience, circumstances and talents. Let your intuition guide you. Just keep working at your dream for a clear dream is worth fighting for. Get a clear sense of where you are, what you know, and what you want, you are well on your way of embracing the thing God put you on earth to do.

  Moses spent the first two-thirds of his life working out what Jehovah wanted him to do, trying to do things in his own way, only to fail. But he had a heart for God and a vision from the Almighty. Eventually Moses succeeded. In the same vein, you can succeed.

  Be passionate about your goals. Nehemiah was passionate about rebuilding Jerusalem. When his enemies tried to sidetrack and discourage him, he answered, “I am working so I cannot come down.” Passion is the starting point for all achievement. There has never been anyone who achieved anything of value, who wasn’t passionate about it. Passion is the energy that fuels your dream. The road to success is cluttered with adversaries and distraction. If you don’t have the right mindset your dreams can die there. Don’t dispair. Remember God gave you your dream, go back to Him in moments of dispair.

  Our champion this week is Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and former First Lady of the United States. Born in October 1947, in Illinois, she was the 67^th Secretary of State, serving under President Barrack Obama from 2009 to 2013. She previously represented New York in the U.S. Senate (2001 to 2009). Before that as the wife of President Bill Clinton, she was First Lady from 1993 to 2001. Also in 2008 presidential election, Hillary was a leading candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

  Hillary Rodman earned a Juris Doctor’s degree from Yale Law School in 1973. Then, she had a stint as a congressional counsel, she moved to Arkansas in 1974 and married Bill Clinton in 1975. As first lady of the United States she polarized response from the American public. She was the only First Lady to have been subpoenaed, testifying before a federal jury in 1996 regarding the Whitewater controversy. But she was never charged with wrongdoing in investigations during the Clinton presidency. Her marriage also endured the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.

  Thereafter, Hillary was elected the first female senator from New York State, she is the first First Lady ever to have run for public office. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, she supported military action in Afghanistan and the Iraq War Resolution. But subsequently, she objected to the Walker Bush Administration’s conduct of the Iraq war. Senator Clinton was re-elected in 2006, running in the 2008 primaries, Hillary won for more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history. She narrowly lost to Illinois Senator Barack Obama who went on to win the national election.

  President Obama appointed her as Secretary of State. She was at the forefront of the U.S. response to the Arab Spring, advocating for the U.S. military intervention in Libya. Hillary visited more countries than any other secretary of State. She advocated a strategy for asserting U.S. leadership and values by combining military power with diplomacy and U.S. skills in economics and technology. She encouraged empowerment of women everywhere. She is poised to run for president again in 2016.