You won't really get excited about the Word of God until you realize that it's more than just a collection of divinely-inspired promises. It's a living force that literally carries within it the power to make those promises become a reality in your life.
Is it tough for you to believe such a thing is possible?
It shouldn't be. You see it happen in the natural world all the time.
You're spiritually "grown up" or mature when, through practice, you have trained your senses to discern between good and evil. You've practiced walking in the spirit and renewing your mind by the Word of God until even your flesh habitually goes God's way instead of the world's way.
Stop and think for a moment. Aren't there some things your old flesh used to pressure you to do before you made Jesus Lord of your life that you don't even want to do anymore?
The living Word of Almighty God is the only power strong enough to discipline your flesh. It's the only power that can cause you to think, look, talk and act like a born-again man.
When I became a Christian, I was dominated by a horrible smoking habit. I tried to quit every way I could think of but nothing worked. After months of struggling and failing, I decided to attend some meetings in Hilton Sutton's church in Houston, Texas. Before I went into those meetings, I tucked my cigarettes above the sun visor in my car and left them there.
So many believers are unsure of their ability to hear God or know His voice. They're always afraid that they won't be able to tell when the Spirit of God is talking to them.
What they don't realize is this: Hearing the voice of the Spirit is a privilege that the Bible says belongs to every believer (Romans 8:14). All we have to do to exercise that privilege is to receive it by faith and put ourselves in a position to hear.
Next time the devil tries to tell you that you can't hear God's voice, remember that.
Years ago, God spoke a phrase to Gloria's heart that I've never forgotten. She'd been asking Him to teach her to walk in the spirit, to operate more fully in the supernatural power of God.
In consistency lies the power, He said.
That revelation was tough for me. In the natural I'm anything but consistent. My human nature tends to be up one day and down the next. But, praise God, I don't have to depend on my human nature to get me by. I have Jesus Christ living within me and He's the same yesterday, today and forever!
People go to great lengths trying to wring knowledge from God when all they need to do is go to the Bible. God's not holding Himself back from anyone. It's His will for every man and woman to walk in revelation of Him.
"Well now, Brother Copeland," you might say, "God's not going to give all these sinners out here a revelation." Really? Why do you think He sends evangelists to preach to them? Why do you think He sent His Word? To reveal the truth!
Being peculiar. That's not something most of us work to achieve, is it? But, you know, we should.
God has called us to be peculiar—to stand out from the rest of the world as living proof of His power and His love (1 Peter 2:9).
He doesn't, for example, want us to share the ailments of the world. He doesn't want us to share their sickness and poverty and failure. He's never wanted that for His people.
Walking in the spirit. That's the key to overcoming the flesh. If you follow the prompting of the Spirit of God within you, you won't be dominated by the pressure your flesh tries to put on you.
As you listen to the written Word and the Holy Spirit telling you what to do, you'll constantly be making little adjustments in your life according to what He says. And those little adjustments will keep darkness from overtaking you.
Choosing to side with God's Word is a continual challenge. It's not something you do just once. It's a process of choosing to believe and act upon the Word of God over and over in every circumstance.
There's just no two ways about it. If you want to live a life of blessing, you're going to have to make your words agree with what God says. Not just for a few hours or a few days, but all the time.
And if you've ever done that, you know it's not easy. As time wears on and the circumstances around you appear to be stubbornly determined to stay in the same miserable condition they've always been in, it's hard to keep on speaking God's Word. But you have to do it if you ever want your harvest of blessing to come in.
Recently, God has been raising up ever-growing numbers of people who are hungry. Hungry to know their Lord in a deeper way. Hungry to serve Him—in pulpits, on mission fields, in homes, in office buildings and anywhere else He might choose to send them.
They are people who simply aren't content to find the path of least resistance and coast their way into heaven. No, they're determined to run the race...to run, as the apostle Paul said, to obtain the prize. Spiritually speaking, they are on the road to excellence.
Are you among them?
Right now, at this very moment, you have hidden within you a treasure that can change the world. A treasure that can change a man's eternal destiny, that can take him to heaven and save him from hell. A treasure that can turn a person's poverty into prosperity, his sickness into health, his sorrow into joy.
You have within you the all-powerful Word of God.
Don't keep it to yourself. Plant it wherever you go! Sow it into the hearts of those you meet. Share it at every opportunity.
"But I don't know how!" you may say.
How long has it been since you were backed into a corner, hemmed in by a seemingly insurmountable problem? If you're anything like most folks, it hasn't been very long. Some of us spend years trying to work our way out of financial binds only to end up more bound by debt than ever. Others work fanatically on marriages that, despite their best efforts, deteriorate from year to year. Still others fight battles against fear or depression, drug addiction or disease.
As you fight the good fight of faith today, remember this: Your mind is where the battle will take place. Whatever you allow to captivate your mind will rule your life. Will it be the Word of God or the lies of Satan?
The decision is yours.
If you want the Word to reign, make up your mind now to resist the devil when he comes to plant doubts within you. Refuse to surrender to the circumstantial pressure he brings your way. Decide at the outset that you will not succumb to this trial. Dig your heels in and stand immovable upon the promises of God.
Like the bursting forth of waters. I love that phrase! It paints such a powerful and accurate picture of a breakthrough.
Do you remember the story of the little boy who saw a leak in the dam and plugged up the hole with his finger? He knew that the force of the water flowing through that one tiny hole would have enlarged the leak with every second that passed. And, as the dam gave way to the pressure, that tiny trickle would have quickly become a raging flood.
The world's order of things is unsure and indefinite. Desperate words of uncertainty are crying out daily from radio, television and newspapers. Everything around us seems to be in turmoil.
But, praise God, if you're a believer you have something you can depend on: the unchanging Word of God!
God has no double standard. He doesn't say one thing today and something else tomorrow. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Jesus is the beginning and the ending. He is the Almighty. When He told us that in the book of Revelation, He wasn't just giving us a general piece of information about Himself. He was giving us a powerful truth we can apply now, today!
Let me show you how. He said He is the beginning. So no matter what challenge or situation you may be facing right now, you need to start with Him. John 1:1 says Jesus is the Word. That means, if you're going to start with Jesus, you're going to start with the Word. Don't do anything until you find out what the Word has to say about it.
Have you ever been in a room full of babies? Infants crying. Crawlers hollering for certain toys. Toddlers pushing and whining to get their way. It can be quite a handful, can't it?
We have what we say. As believers, we know that's a vital biblical truth. We can see it in Mark 11:23, Matthew 21:21, James 3:2 and many other verses. Yet we often let it slip.
We allow ourselves to begin talking like the world instead of talking the Word. And eventually we get what we've been asking for—a big mess.
When it comes to faith, a lot of believers feel like they have one foot nailed to the ground. No matter how hard they try, they just can't seem to make any progress.
If you'll watch them, you can see why. They literally haven't "gotten themselves together." One minute they'll be telling you, "Oh yes, amen, I believe the Word," and the next minute they'll be spouting unbelief like it's going out of style. "I know God says He'll prosper us, but I'll tell you what, my business is doing so badly, it's about to give me ulcers. I can't sleep at night for worrying."