Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 1
The Spirit of God in our lives wants to minister grace—God’s divine favor and blessing—to us on a daily basis. Because of this, we can live in the continual blessing and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Grace did not stop when we were born again. When we leave this earth and go to be with Him, grace will have only begun. In the ages to come, He will lavish His grace upon us.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:5-8).
Salvation is a free gift of God. It comes to us by the grace of God. Salvation is more than the new birth. It is salvation in every area of our lives. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says salvation means “deliverance, preservation; material and temporal deliverance from danger and apprehension; pardon, protection, liberty, health, restoration, soundness, wholeness.” Our salvation does not stop when we are born again. Philippians 2:12 says, “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” In other words, have respect and honor unto Him and continue to work out your own salvation.
What does it mean to work out your own salvation? It simply means to follow after the Holy Spirit. Only God knows the end and the depths of salvation and the wonderful things He has prepared for us in this life. He has more in store for us than just going to heaven when we die. We are to live in the blessing and dominion of God while here on earth.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Gloria Copeland — The Comfort of the Holy Ghost
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied (Acts 9:31).
Notice the churches were multiplied when they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit is walking obedient to the promptings of your newborn spirit indwelt and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. It’s walking in His divine favor and blessing continually. It’s having God’s grace (divine favor and blessing) manifested in your life every day.
You cannot walk in the comfort of the Holy Ghost without first walking in the fear of the Lord.
Walking in the fear of the Lord is obeying Him, honoring Him, living your life according to what He says. It does not mean to be afraid of Him. It means to have such confidence in Him and respect and honor for Him that you follow Him. It means to walk in all the light you have while you look for more light.
If you walk in the fear of God, you will not do things that you know are against His will. You will not habitually sin. Proverbs 3:7 says, “...fear the Lord, and depart from evil.” You won’t say, “I’ll just commit this sin, and repent later.” That is having no fear of God. If you truly fear God, you will honor Him and reverence Him above everything and everyone else.
God must have priority in our lives. He should be given first place before ourselves, our families or anything else. The fear of God can never be second place. If God is second place, then we cannot be walking in the fear of Him. And if we walk in the fear of Him, giving Him the reverence, honor and respect He deserves, every area of our lives will be satisfied and multiplied. Jesus said it in Matthew 6:33: “But seek for (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom, and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and then all these things taken together will be given you besides” (The Amplified Bible).
All we have to do is live before our Father like little children. We must do whatever He tells us to do: “My child, let go of this thing. Make this change in your life. Put this away from you. I will help you do it. Let Me work in you.”
Do you know what we need to do? Just get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit work on our behalf. When He gives us a leading or prompts us to do something, we should just obey Him like little children. We are learning to walk in a new realm—the realm of the spirit.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Gloria Copeland — Go Ahead, Assert Yourself! Part 2
Hard times demand that you take time to be with faith up.
Once you have determined to know God—to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him—your second step is to spend time with Him. That’s always the bottom line, isn’t it? Whenever we
start pressing in, desiring to win more victories in the Spirit, desiring more power, we’re always directed back to that precious time with Him.
Look again at what Paul said, “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him...And that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection...” (Philippians 3:10, The Amplified Bible).
Think about it. If you spend an hour with God every day, that’s 365 hours a year. Don’t you think coming into His presence for an hour every day will do something for your life? Even if you just spent 15 minutes a day, that would be 90 hours a year of prayer and time with Him. An hour is just what the Lord led me to do. Follow your own heart. But see to it that you give the Father time to impart His strength into you.
Do you want Jesus’ resurrection power to flow in your life? Then get to know Him! The more you fellowship with Him, the more you’re going to look like Him, act like Him and talk like Him.
That’s not surprising, really. It’s a fact of life. When you spend time around strong people, you begin to take on their way of talking, thinking and even their mannerisms. When you spend time with Jesus, you’ll do exactly the same thing.
So, if you spend your time watching secular television and filling your mind with the world’s news, what do you think will happen? You’ll end up being like the world and living in fear instead of faith.
What you give your attention to is what’s going to be on the inside of you. And what’s inside you will determine the outcome of your situation. Your future is stored up in your heart. (See Matthew 12:34-35, New International Version.)
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Gloria Copeland — Go Ahead, Assert Yourself! Part 1
How do you get the kind of spiritual aggressiveness, the urgency it takes to lay hold of that opportunity?
First, you must determine your focus and spend time with God. The Apostle Paul said, “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him...” (Philippians 3:10, The Amplified Bible).
Notice Paul didn’t say, “One of my purposes is....” He said very specifically, “My determined purpose is....” I can promise you this: You won’t be spiritually aggressive unless you determine to be. You’ll let “...the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things” get in your way (Mark 4:19).
I need to warn you, that determination to spend time with God will run headlong into a busy life. To stay on course, you will have to bring your flesh under the rule of your spirit and be willing to simplify your life.
I discovered this as I was honoring a prophecy the Lord gave through Kenneth E. Hagin on the importance of communing with the Father:
Don’t take up all your time with natural things...give your spirit opportunity to feed upon the Word of God...to commune with the Father above and build yourself up on your most holy faith. It doesn’t take a lot of time, just an hour or two out of 24. Just pay a tithe of your time unto Me, saith the Lord, and all will be well. Your life will be changed. It will be empowered and you will be a mighty force for God.
I never was a great person of prayer. I’m really still not like some people I know. But some years ago I decided I’d pray at least an hour a day.
Can I tell you what you probably already know? When my alarm went off, I’d get up...sometimes. Other times, I’d think—and I know it was the devil—Look how dark it is outside. It’s so cold this morning. You don’t want to get up.
Sometimes in those first few weeks, I’d agree with the devil: “That’s right, I don’t,” and I’d go back to sleep. But I kept at it, and kept at it and kept at it. Eventually it became a habit with me. Now I don’t turn over and go back to sleep anymore.
You see, your body must be trained by your spirit. It will get up. My body never says to me anymore, “It’s so cold outside. It’s so dark....” My body is so used to getting up in the dark, it doesn’t even think about it.
The tithe of my time to the Lord changed my life because I purposed in my heart to not be lazy, draw back, hold back or sit down. I purposed not to spend my life wasting time on natural things. I set goals that I was going to do every day.
It wasn’t easy. When I started I could hardly pray for even five minutes—that was a long time for me. But I stayed with it. Seizing the kingdom isn’t easy. God doesn’t say it will be easy, but He does say it will be worth it.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Gloria Copeland — Finish Your Race
Just as Paul ran his race—his life’s course—there’s also a race marked out for you. God has charted that course and only you can run it. Only by pressing in to win your race will you see the fullness of God’s provision in your life.
And let me add: God didn’t choose you for that race based on your ability, intellect, or anything you could do in the natural. He planned to empower you with His ability to do the job that He prepared for you. It’s in the weakness of your natural ability that He can show Himself strong. Don’t be deceived into thinking someone else can run your race. No one can run another person’s race.
If we knew the races marked out for everyone ahead of time, we’d probably choose other people to run them. We would think, Not that person—they’ll never make it!
Let me tell you how God picks people for their tasks: He looks at the heart. He doesn’t always choose from the greatest universities. It’s difficult for Him to use those who think they can handle situations in their own wisdom and strength. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). In this verse, perfect means “devoted, consecrated, dedicated, loyal, faithful.”
I want to tell you something that will take a lot of pressure off you and will release faith action: The race you have been chosen to run is impossible to finish on your own. Everything we’re chosen to do is impossible because God wants it done by faith.
It took a lot of pressure off me when I realized God never intended for us to know how to do what He tells us to do. He never intended for me or Ken to know how to go on television. He intended to do it through us. He knows how! We just have to do what we’re told.
Our part is to maintain our fellowship with Him. His part is to do the work through us. When you’re in God, you’re in over your head all the time. Get used to it and keep on pressing in.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
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Recent Posts
- Practice Makes Perfect
- Gloria Copeland — Obeying the Spirit Part 3
- Gloria Copeland — Obeying the Spirit Part 2
- Gloria Copeland — Obeying the Spirit Part 1
- Kenneth Copeland — Our Commandment Is Love
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 6
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 5
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 4
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 3
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 2
- Gloria Copeland — His Divine Favor Part 1
- Gloria Copeland — The Comfort of the Holy Ghost
- Gloria Copeland — Go Ahead, Assert Yourself! Part 2
- Gloria Copeland — Go Ahead, Assert Yourself! Part 1
- Gloria Copeland — Finish Your Race
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