If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 1:5
Take Time to Listen
by Kenneth Copeland
When you're facing a problem, the very first thing you should ask God for is wisdom. Not money. Not power. Not even healing. But wisdom.
God's wisdom is the key that will unlock every door in your life. It will turn your every failure into success. So, stop wasting your prayer power begging God for things you think you need and spend some time instead listening to what He has to say about your situation.
If you've never tried that before, practically speaking, here's what you need to do.
First: Lay out the entire problem before the Lord, not because He doesn't know what you're going through, but because laying it out helps you. It helps you see things from a more objective point of view.
I remember when I used to take my problems to my father, A. W. Copeland. Somehow, when I was explaining them to him, they began to look different to me. I'd get a new perspective, and as I talked, he'd point out areas I hadn't considered yet. Explaining your problems to God, point by point, will help you accomplish the same thing.
Second: Listen for the Spirit of God to advise you. Pay particular attention to what He says through the written Word. Most likely, the care of your problem has choked the Word of God right out of your heart (Mark 4:18-19). If so, you need to get the Bible and begin to put that Word back in again. Then the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you through it.
As you're listening, be sure to remain teachable. Be ready to accept rebuke if necessary. Be very honest with God. Look for ways in which you've been wrong and confess them to Him. It's all right. Those sins won't come as any surprise to Him. He already knows about them. Confession just gives you the opportunity to get rid of them.
Third: Act on the wisdom God gives you. Let go of your own methods and put His methods into operation. Be obedient. If you don't, that wonderful wisdom won't do you any good at all.
As you pray today, set aside your own ideas and start seeking the wisdom of God. It's the only thing that can permanently solve the problems you've been facing. It's truly the most precious gift God has to give.
Seek wisdom
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Press on in Patience by Gloria Copeland
...be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:12
You've been walking by faith. You've been believing God to meet your need. But what do you do when the results seem slow in coming and you are tempted to give up?
Be patient!
There is not much said about patience these days. But, when it comes to receiving from God, it is just as important as faith.
It will make the difference between success and failure for you.
Patience undergirds and sustains faith until the result is manifested. After you have meditated on the promises of God and have them in your spirit, patience will encourage you to hold steady. Patience is power. It has the courage to refuse the lie of Satan that says the Word is not working for you. It knows that God's Word has never failed. Patience will not draw back in fear but will press forward in faith until you have the answer.
When the results of your faith seem slow in coming, don't give up! Continue to put the Word first, with patience, and you will surely receive the promise of God
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Do Not Pitch Your Tent Near Sin
Genesis 13:12
Common English Bible (CEB)
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled near the cities of the valley and pitched his tent close to Sodom.
I was reading the book of Genesis and came across the above scripture. I stopped and pondered it a couple of times. I was stuck on the words: "and pitched his tent close to Sodom." Those words standing alone do not have significant meaning. But combine them with verse 13 which reads,
Genesis 13:13
New Century Version (NCV)
13 Now the people of Sodom were very evil and were always sinning against the Lord.
I found it interesting that Lot chose to pitch his tent in the direction of sin. The enemy is very subtle. The book of James tells us to be cautious regarding our desires for sin. The desires lead us down the wrong path and when fully manifested brings forth death (James 1:14-15). By pitching his tent near sin, Lot gazed upon the wickedness and was drawn into it.
Genesis 14:12 tells us that Lot began living in the city of Sodom. So he went from just looking on sin to actually living it! Have you ever woke up one day and found yourself in a sinful situation? That's because you did not stop the desire as it began to brew inside you.
Even Jesus was tempted but chose not to sin (Hebrews 4:15). We have to turn away from sinful acts that try to draw our attention from God. Think about it: why does the enemy want to get you into sin? Because sin stops the power of God from operating in your life.
Whenever you are tempted, begin to praise God for deliverance. Praise God that you choose His ways and will not sin. Cast down those thoughts and think on the excellence of God (2 Cor 10:5; Phil 4:8). As long as the earth remains, we will face temptations. But we do not have to pitch our tent towards the temptation.
God sent Abram to save Lot. God sent Jesus to save us. Since we have been saved from sin, let's not pitch our tents in its direction.
Common English Bible (CEB)
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled near the cities of the valley and pitched his tent close to Sodom.
I was reading the book of Genesis and came across the above scripture. I stopped and pondered it a couple of times. I was stuck on the words: "and pitched his tent close to Sodom." Those words standing alone do not have significant meaning. But combine them with verse 13 which reads,
Genesis 13:13
New Century Version (NCV)
13 Now the people of Sodom were very evil and were always sinning against the Lord.
I found it interesting that Lot chose to pitch his tent in the direction of sin. The enemy is very subtle. The book of James tells us to be cautious regarding our desires for sin. The desires lead us down the wrong path and when fully manifested brings forth death (James 1:14-15). By pitching his tent near sin, Lot gazed upon the wickedness and was drawn into it.
Genesis 14:12 tells us that Lot began living in the city of Sodom. So he went from just looking on sin to actually living it! Have you ever woke up one day and found yourself in a sinful situation? That's because you did not stop the desire as it began to brew inside you.
Even Jesus was tempted but chose not to sin (Hebrews 4:15). We have to turn away from sinful acts that try to draw our attention from God. Think about it: why does the enemy want to get you into sin? Because sin stops the power of God from operating in your life.
Whenever you are tempted, begin to praise God for deliverance. Praise God that you choose His ways and will not sin. Cast down those thoughts and think on the excellence of God (2 Cor 10:5; Phil 4:8). As long as the earth remains, we will face temptations. But we do not have to pitch our tent towards the temptation.
God sent Abram to save Lot. God sent Jesus to save us. Since we have been saved from sin, let's not pitch our tents in its direction.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Defeat Your Giant by Kenneth Copeland
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 1 Samuel 17:26
You may be facing a giant today. He may be a giant of sickness or failure, of financial shortage or another kind of trouble. But don't let him scare you. You have a secret weapon. A weapon that once turned a shepherd boy into a bear-busting, lion-killing, giant-slaying champion. That weapon was a blood covenant with Almighty God. Back in David's day, circumcision was the sign of that covenant. So, when he called Goliath uncircumcised, David was saying: This guy may be a giant; he may be strong; but he has no covenant with God and that's why I can kill him. Like David, you, too, have a covenant. But yours is better. The covenant David had offered a wealth of blessings to those who kept it, but it also included curses for those who broke it.
Yours doesn't. Yours is a New Covenant that Jesus bought with His own blood. It doesn't depend on your ability. It depends on Him and what He has already done. He has done it all! All you have to do is believe it and receive it.
Right now, read Deuteronomy 28:16-68. That's a list of the curses Christ has freed you from. You might even call it a list of the giants Jesus has already slain for you. It contains every diabolical thing the devil could ever use to destroy you. Read it and rejoice.
God has healed you and delivered you from those things! Don't let any giant intimidate you. You have a blood covenant with Almighty God. There's no uncircumcised circumstance on the face of this earth that can take your victory away from you
You may be facing a giant today. He may be a giant of sickness or failure, of financial shortage or another kind of trouble. But don't let him scare you. You have a secret weapon. A weapon that once turned a shepherd boy into a bear-busting, lion-killing, giant-slaying champion. That weapon was a blood covenant with Almighty God. Back in David's day, circumcision was the sign of that covenant. So, when he called Goliath uncircumcised, David was saying: This guy may be a giant; he may be strong; but he has no covenant with God and that's why I can kill him. Like David, you, too, have a covenant. But yours is better. The covenant David had offered a wealth of blessings to those who kept it, but it also included curses for those who broke it.
Yours doesn't. Yours is a New Covenant that Jesus bought with His own blood. It doesn't depend on your ability. It depends on Him and what He has already done. He has done it all! All you have to do is believe it and receive it.
Right now, read Deuteronomy 28:16-68. That's a list of the curses Christ has freed you from. You might even call it a list of the giants Jesus has already slain for you. It contains every diabolical thing the devil could ever use to destroy you. Read it and rejoice.
God has healed you and delivered you from those things! Don't let any giant intimidate you. You have a blood covenant with Almighty God. There's no uncircumcised circumstance on the face of this earth that can take your victory away from you
Monday, February 20, 2012
Do you want to get well?
John 5:5-6
Common English Bible (CEB)
5 A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
When I first read this story in the bible, I thought that was an odd question for Jesus to ask a person who battled an infirmity for 38 years. However, when you read the entire story in context. Jesus' question makes complete sense.
John 5:2-9 NLT
Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
Notice the man's reply when Jesus asked if he wanted to be well. "I can't."
The word can means "to be able to, have the ability, power or skill to." So cannot is the exact opposite. Meaning, you do not have the ability, power or skill to accomplish a goal. But that is not a true statement.
The bible says, we can do all things through Christ (Phil 4:13) and that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5). Given that we are under the new covenant, sealed with the blood of Jesus, we have the ability to make changes in our lives. Each of have endured hurts, disappointments and other life challenges. Yet, the bible says that Jesus healed us. I believe that applies to all forms of healing: emotionally, physically and spiritually.
So we revert back to the question: Do you want to be well? Either someone brought the man to the pool everyday or he lived there, whichever, he somehow received the necessary substances to sustain life for 38 years! He could have exerted energy by rolling, crawling, or whatever to get to the pool. Instead, he laid there day after day, month after month, and year after year waiting for someone to help me.
Are you that way? You struggle with the same situations over and over again crying out to God for help. God has provided all the help we need in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Let's stop making excuses and pick up our mats and walk. Jesus provided the victory. Let's choose to maintain it by having actions with our faith.
Put the Word into action today and change your tomorrow!
Common English Bible (CEB)
5 A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
When I first read this story in the bible, I thought that was an odd question for Jesus to ask a person who battled an infirmity for 38 years. However, when you read the entire story in context. Jesus' question makes complete sense.
John 5:2-9 NLT
Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
Notice the man's reply when Jesus asked if he wanted to be well. "I can't."
The word can means "to be able to, have the ability, power or skill to." So cannot is the exact opposite. Meaning, you do not have the ability, power or skill to accomplish a goal. But that is not a true statement.
The bible says, we can do all things through Christ (Phil 4:13) and that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5). Given that we are under the new covenant, sealed with the blood of Jesus, we have the ability to make changes in our lives. Each of have endured hurts, disappointments and other life challenges. Yet, the bible says that Jesus healed us. I believe that applies to all forms of healing: emotionally, physically and spiritually.
So we revert back to the question: Do you want to be well? Either someone brought the man to the pool everyday or he lived there, whichever, he somehow received the necessary substances to sustain life for 38 years! He could have exerted energy by rolling, crawling, or whatever to get to the pool. Instead, he laid there day after day, month after month, and year after year waiting for someone to help me.
Are you that way? You struggle with the same situations over and over again crying out to God for help. God has provided all the help we need in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Let's stop making excuses and pick up our mats and walk. Jesus provided the victory. Let's choose to maintain it by having actions with our faith.
Put the Word into action today and change your tomorrow!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Exchange Rate
2 Corinthians 8:9
Common English Bible (CEB)
9 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he was rich, he became poor for our sakes, so that you could become rich through his poverty.
1 Peter 2:24
New King James Version (NKJV)
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Isaiah 61:3
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
The word exchange means, "to give up for something for something else." Jesus performed the greatest change known to man kind. Jesus laid aside His rights and privileges as the second part of the Godhead to take on the sins of the world. (Phil 2:6). Why did He make that choice? So that we would have the right to enjoy and access life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
The above scriptures outline for us the terms of the exchange. Jesus took our poverty so that would have the right to experience wealth in this life. The word "rich" in that verse is translated plouteo in the Greek. It means: to be wealthy, be increased with goods, rich. That is speaking of actual wealth. Cash Money! But in order to experience that wealth, we have to accept the exchange with Jesus. We have to choose to seek Him and not the things. God gives the things when He is priority in our lives (Matthew 6).
Partake in the exchange. Give God your junk and take on His goodness. See yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22). See yourself as an heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17). Take on His provision, His joy, His deliverance, His wealth, His mindset.
Jesus agreed to the exchange for the joy that was set before Him. Seeing all His children enjoy the life that God intended. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool (Hebrews 12:1-2). He is the triumphant Victor. Exchange your defeat for His victory!
Common English Bible (CEB)
9 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he was rich, he became poor for our sakes, so that you could become rich through his poverty.
1 Peter 2:24
New King James Version (NKJV)
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Isaiah 61:3
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
The word exchange means, "to give up for something for something else." Jesus performed the greatest change known to man kind. Jesus laid aside His rights and privileges as the second part of the Godhead to take on the sins of the world. (Phil 2:6). Why did He make that choice? So that we would have the right to enjoy and access life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
The above scriptures outline for us the terms of the exchange. Jesus took our poverty so that would have the right to experience wealth in this life. The word "rich" in that verse is translated plouteo in the Greek. It means: to be wealthy, be increased with goods, rich. That is speaking of actual wealth. Cash Money! But in order to experience that wealth, we have to accept the exchange with Jesus. We have to choose to seek Him and not the things. God gives the things when He is priority in our lives (Matthew 6).
Partake in the exchange. Give God your junk and take on His goodness. See yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22). See yourself as an heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17). Take on His provision, His joy, His deliverance, His wealth, His mindset.
Jesus agreed to the exchange for the joy that was set before Him. Seeing all His children enjoy the life that God intended. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool (Hebrews 12:1-2). He is the triumphant Victor. Exchange your defeat for His victory!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A Proven Success by Kenneth Copeland
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet....For this my son...was lost, and is found.Luke 15:21-22, 24
Prove yourself. In today's world, that's what you constantly feel you have to do, right? On the job, among friends, even at home you're always working to win the approval you need. Working to convince those around you that you deserve the salary, the friendship, and even the love they give you. Is there any escape?
You better believe there is! It's called grace. Unearned and undeserved favor and acceptance. And there's only one place you can find it--in the heart of God Himself. There's no better picture of God's grace in action than in the story of the prodigal son. Few of us today can really feel the impact of that story like those first Jewish listeners Jesus told it to. You see, by their standards the prodigal son had committed some of the most despicable acts possible. He'd not only taken advantage of his father and spent his inheritance in riotous living, he'd left the nation of Israel and made covenant with a foreigner--a pig farmer! That was as low as you could get.
In their eyes, that boy's rebellion was so serious his father's only recourse was to disown him. But that's not what this father did! He welcomed his repentant son home with open arms. He offered him grace--unmerited favor--that was based on the father's love rather than the son's performance.
Next time you catch yourself struggling to make up to God for something you've done wrong, working to win His approval, let the story of the prodigal son set you free. Let it remind you that, in spite of your sins, your Father has received you with open arms. He's put a robe of righteousness on your back and His signet ring on your hand. He's put the shoes of sonship on your feet!
Do you feel unworthy of all that? God hasn't based His relationship with you on your worthiness. He's based it on His love for you. You don't have to struggle to prove yourself to Him. As far as He's concerned, you're a proven success
Prove yourself. In today's world, that's what you constantly feel you have to do, right? On the job, among friends, even at home you're always working to win the approval you need. Working to convince those around you that you deserve the salary, the friendship, and even the love they give you. Is there any escape?
You better believe there is! It's called grace. Unearned and undeserved favor and acceptance. And there's only one place you can find it--in the heart of God Himself. There's no better picture of God's grace in action than in the story of the prodigal son. Few of us today can really feel the impact of that story like those first Jewish listeners Jesus told it to. You see, by their standards the prodigal son had committed some of the most despicable acts possible. He'd not only taken advantage of his father and spent his inheritance in riotous living, he'd left the nation of Israel and made covenant with a foreigner--a pig farmer! That was as low as you could get.
In their eyes, that boy's rebellion was so serious his father's only recourse was to disown him. But that's not what this father did! He welcomed his repentant son home with open arms. He offered him grace--unmerited favor--that was based on the father's love rather than the son's performance.
Next time you catch yourself struggling to make up to God for something you've done wrong, working to win His approval, let the story of the prodigal son set you free. Let it remind you that, in spite of your sins, your Father has received you with open arms. He's put a robe of righteousness on your back and His signet ring on your hand. He's put the shoes of sonship on your feet!
Do you feel unworthy of all that? God hasn't based His relationship with you on your worthiness. He's based it on His love for you. You don't have to struggle to prove yourself to Him. As far as He's concerned, you're a proven success
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