Gloria Copeland

Whenever Ken and I talk about living by faith, I know there are some people who think, Oh, that's easy for you. You're preachers. You have it made! And, in some ways, we do. We have it made because our calling demands that we give God our attention, and giving God your attention always brings success.

Jesus has redeemed us from the curse. Many of us have been well taught about that redemption where sin, sickness and poverty in our own lives are concerned. But we often fail to realize that redemption has power over the destruction the devil tries to bring on our children's lives as well.

The book of Proverbs gives us a very basic principle of success. It is this: If you want God to honor you and bless you in any area of your life, you're going to have to honor Him in that particular area.

If you want God to bless you financially, you're going to have to honor Him with your money, or as this verse puts it, with the firstfruits of all your increase. In other words, you're going to have to tithe.

One thing the world needs to see is good examples. They need to see believers walk in love and purity and faith in their homes, in their schools and in their businesses.

Have you ever wanted to take on some really big project in the kingdom of God, but the Lord just wouldn't seem to let you? If so, there's probably a good reason why.

You can see what I'm talking about if you'll read about what God did with the children of Israel after He brought them out of Egypt. He wanted to take them on into the Promised Land. But before He could do it, God had to know if they would obey Him. He had to know if they would listen to His voice. Because if they didn't, the enemies they were about to face would wipe them out.

There's an old Full Gospel tradition that says God gets glory from the wonderful way His children bear pain and agony and that the world is impressed by that. What a lie! That's simply a tool of the devil to keep God's children in bondage.

People of the world already have all the pain and agony they want. They aren't looking for a way into it. They are looking for a way out. They don't care what you preach. It's the religious people who get worried about that. The world, the sinners, are smarter than that. All they care about are the results.

Have you ever noticed that those who have the most exciting, faith-inspiring testimonies are those who've been under pressure at some time in their lives? They're the people who stayed faithful when the pressure was on. They're the people who believed God's promises of prosperity in the midst of desperate financial situations or trusted God for healing in the face of a terminal disease.

Do you ever have trouble hearing from God? Do you find yourself caught in confusing circumstances needing guidance, and yet even after praying and reading the Word—you're still not sure what God wants you to do?

I've had that experience. I knew His written Word and acting on it changed my life. But I was uncertain when I had to make decisions about things the Word didn't specifically address. Things like whether to move to one city or another, for example.

We're to live in hope. We're to rejoice. So, when Satan comes to steal your victory and tell you that God is not going to help you this time, you just think on the Word of God and start rejoicing. Rejoice that you're in Him. Rejoice that heaven is your home. Rejoice that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Rejoice. Brag on God today. The devil can't stand it!

The Amplified Bible translates Matthew 11:12, "...a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion."

I want you to get violent today. Yes, violent, determined, zealous. I want you to get so committed to the things of God that you'll withstand any attempt to take them away from you.

Hopelessness. As this age draws to a close, that's a feeling that's going to be more and more common among the people of this world. But, you know, it's something we as believers never have to feel! Because no matter how much pressure comes on the earth, no matter how dark the natural circumstances around us are, we know that we have hope in the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Victors! More than conquerors! That's what the Bible says we are. I know you've heard that many times before, but today I want you to let the reality of it really sink in. I want you to spend some time meditating about what those terms actually mean.

The dictionary says that victory means "final and complete supremacy or superiority in battle or war, success in any contest or struggling involving the defeat of an opponent or the overcoming of obstacles."

I once heard about a great man of God who looked in the mirror every day when he put on his suit and said, "Suit, everywhere you go today, God goes in you." And you know, he's right. If you have united yourself to God by receiving Jesus as Lord, everywhere you go today...God goes too!

As believers, we need to start becoming more conscious of that. We need to train ourselves to be constantly aware of God inside of us, talking to us, teaching us, counseling us, empowering us and enduing us with Himself.

When Jesus said those words, He wasn't just giving us a prescription for getting to heaven. He was telling us how to live a superior life right here on earth.

You see, there's a high life that we can live right here, right now. But to get in on it, we have to lay down the way of life that most of us are accustomed to. We may have to let go of the very things we've been trying so hard to latch on to. We have to set our hearts instead on doing what God wants us to do.

Is there actually a divine purpose behind the bad things that happen in your life? Could it be that the sicknesses and calamities you experience are somehow a part of God's plan for you?

We often think of "laying down your life" for someone else in terms of dying. That's what Jesus did. He loved us so much He laid down His life by dying in our place so that we could live.

But now, He's asked us to lay down our lives in a different way. He's asked us to show our love, not by dying for others, but by living for them.

Exactly what does that mean?

Grace teaches us! The "Spirit of grace" instructs us from the inside. Let the Holy Spirit of God counsel you and teach you how to live in this present world.

Did you catch that? He said all who live godly lives are going to suffer persecution. Not just the super-saints, not just the missionaries in hostile lands—but all.

If you're going to live for God, you're going to run into persecution somewhere along the line. The devil's going to make sure of it!

Now I'm not saying that to frighten you or to depress you. I'm saying it because I want you to be prepared.

When you're wise to the strategies of the devil, it's harder for him to use them successfully on you to confuse you and get you off track.

Is it possible to live free from fear in this dangerous and unpredictable world? Yes, it most definitely is! Because protection is a solid promise of God.

But it's not a promise that's offered to just anyone. It is promised to those who abide in the Lord. To abide means "to dwell, to remain and to continue." To abide in the shadow of the Almighty is to live in continual union with Him, keeping His Word and obeying His voice. Those who abide in the Lord can live without dread of what the devil will do.

Great things happen when you continually confess the mercy of God. Faith rises up on the inside of you. The reality that God loves you begins to sing through your spirit.

What's more, it brings honor to your Father when you believe His Word and magnify His love and mercy. You honor Him when you speak of His goodness and lovingkindness, when you talk about Him as your Father of love who does only good. It blesses Him when you praise Him as the great God of the universe who is eager to bless and who even gave His own Son because He so loved the world.