bible

Do you ever have trouble believing the Word of God? Not just agreeing with it mentally, but really believing that what it says will work for you?

I do. There are times when the promises in the Word stagger my mind. There have been times when I’ve felt so defeated and the circumstances around me looked so bad that it was tough for me to believe I was “more than a conqueror” even though I knew God said I was.

What do you do when your mind staggers like that at the promise of God? You meditate on that promise.

Don’t ever worry about not having enough love inside you. The Word says God’s love is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost. God’s love is in you. What you need to do is make a decision and let it flow.

Pray this prayer today.

In Jesus’ Name, I make a fresh and strong commitment today to live the life of love, to let the tenderness of God flow through me and heal the wounded hearts of those I meet.

God’s rest. Considering the hectic, busy lives you and I live that sounds like a pretty good thing to have, doesn’t it? But exactly what is that rest? And how do we enter it?

The third and fourth chapters of Hebrews compare God’s rest with the children of Israel taking possession of the Promised Land. That land was to be a place where their every need would be met, a place of freedom from their warring enemies, a place no one would ever drive them from again. All they had to do was go in and possess it. But something kept them from it: unbelief and disobedience.

If you have a desire to give, yet financial failures keep holding you back, you may be surprised to learn that what you need is not more money. What you need is a spiritual breakthrough. You need to take the Word of God and shatter the images of poverty and lack within you. You need to replace them with a vision of the sufficiency of God. Then more things, including money, will come.

Did you know that Jesus has unlocked the prison doors of guilt that have kept you captive? It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve been. I don’t care if you’ve been a prostitute, a murderer, a thief, a drug dealer or a churchgoer who’s never made Jesus Christ Lord of your life. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation.

A new life is only a prayer away.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance. Powerful forces the Bible calls the fruit of the spirit. They’re the character traits of God Himself and when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you, He brought them with Him, so they could become your character traits too.

They’re designed to bubble up inside you, to gush forth like a powerful stream constantly protecting and cleansing you from the inside out.

Do you need a miracle? Then believe it, confess it and receive it!

"Oh Gloria, I just don't know if I can do that."

Yes, you can! You've already done it once. When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, you believed, confessed and received the greatest miracle in the universe, the miracle of a reborn spirit! Every other miracle you receive will come in exactly the same way.

You start by simply believing what God's Word says concerning your area of need, by letting that Word change your heart and mind.

You shall never fall. When you think about it, that's a startling statement, isn't it? Most of us have been tripped up by the devil so many times we don't like to think about it.

But the Word of God says it doesn't have to be that way. He says there's something that can keep us on our feet. What is it? Diligence.

If you haven't already, you need to realize how important diligence is. You need to face the fact that you simply can't live a life of victory without it.

As long as you live by the Word of God, you never have to be in the dark again. You never have to remain in confusion about which path to take. You never have to grope blindly along, struggling to find your own way.

Isn't that great? Isn't it exciting to know that the Word of God will give you all the light you need every day of your life if you'll allow it to?

Build your faith in that Word and renew your commitment to it as you make this confession today:

We're surrounded by a world which is ruled for the most part by Satan. How can we avoid getting caught up in it? How can we stand apart?

You'll find the answer in John 17:17. There Jesus was speaking to the Father about all those who would believe on Him. "Sanctify them through thy truth," He says. "Thy word is truth." Sanctify means "to separate unto." So Jesus was saying, "Separate them by the Word." The Word separates!

The Word of God is to your spirit as bread is to your body. When your body feeds on physical food, it produces a physical power called strength. When your spirit feeds on the spiritual food of the Word, it produces spiritual power called faith. And just as you can't eat one meal and then feed on the memory of it for several weeks, you can't just remember what the Word says and stay strong in faith. You have to read it. Even if you've read it a hundred times, you need to read it again.

Something very serious has been happening to the Body of Christ. We've often let the things which we have heard—the message of faith and righteousness—slip.

I'm not just talking about those believers who've been so surrounded by religion that they've never heard about the power that's theirs in Christ Jesus. I'm talking about those of us who have heard the Word and have known the thrill of living by faith.

You can never get away with disobeying God.

Some people think they can. They think that if no one finds out about it, it won't hurt anything. After all, God is merciful. He's not going to hold it against them, right? And if no one else knows...what's the difference?

When money gets tight, it's always a temptation to cut down on your giving. After all, it seems like the logical thing to do. Don't do it! You'll end up cutting off the flow of God's financial blessings just when you need them most.

The Pharisees had a heart condition that grieved Jesus. Their hearts were hard and insensitive. If you'll look in Mark 3, you'll see what I'm talking about.

God was right there in their midst, and they, of all people, should have realized it. They knew the Scriptures backward and forward, and Jesus fit every messianic prophecy written there. But the insensitivity of their hearts literally blinded them to who He was.

The hearts of the Pharisees were also hardened to the needs of the people around them.

That very same thing is still happening today.

It's easy to get your spiritual eyes fixed so firmly on the problems in your life, you overlook the blessings completely! As a result, you end up suffering through situations that should have you rejoicing.

Let me show you what I mean. Not long ago, this ministry was facing some great financial pressures. I stood in faith against them. I battled against them with the Word and in prayer.

Did you know that, according to the Word of God, there is no lack in the Body of Christ? Everything we could ever need, every problem we could ever face has been covered by the blood of Jesus. His exceeding great and precious promises have supplied it all.

Why then do many of us keep on suffering lack? Because we haven't, as Hebrews 5:13 says, become skillful in the Word of righteousness.

Are all your needs met today? If not, why not?

According to the Word of God, it's either because you're not praying about them at all or because when you do pray, you're praying wrong.

What does it mean to pray wrong? In many cases it simply means to pray without expecting results. Many believers do that, you know. They use prayer as a kind of spiritual wishbone. They just play around with it. This probably won't do much good, they think, but who knows? It won't hurt to give it a try.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God with the planting of seed and reaping the harvest. It's a simple concept. One all of us understand. Why, then, aren't all of us producing bumper crops every season? Because we're sitting around waiting for God to do all the work.

He doesn't operate that way. He'll work with you, but He won't do it all. There are some essential things you must do by faith if you want to have a crop to reap at harvest time.

If you really want to get the wisdom of God, you'll have to do more than casually read the Scriptures a few minutes a day. You'll have to feed on them night and day. You'll have to get rid of the rubbish you've been feeding into your consciousness by reprogramming your mind with the Word of God.

"Oh, Brother Copeland," you may say, "that's unreasonable!"