Let me tell you about an incident that happened in our family. It will show you clearly what I mean. One of Gloria’s younger brothers went home to be with the Lord quite suddenly because of a car wreck.
Stanley’s departure took us all by surprise. No one was prepared for it.

When we got the news, the spirit of grief attacked like a flash, trying to get a foothold. I walked up and down my den floor fighting it in the Name of Jesus. Every time my emotions would try to rise up, I’d
say, “No, no, no! I will not partake of sorrow. I partake of joy and gladness.” Up and down I walked, praising God until it was whipped.

Once I got grief and sorrow out of the way, I began praying for Gloria’s mother, Mary. As I prayed, the force of compassion came up on the inside of me so powerfully that it just gushed up through me. When it did, I had a vision. I saw Stanley in heaven. I saw him just as plainly as I’ve ever seen anyone.

To fully appreciate the vision, you have to understand that Stanley was a brick and rock mason, a very powerful man, physically. He worked hard with his arms so he used to cut the sleeves out of his shirts. You just couldn’t get him to wear a shirt with sleeves in it.

When I saw him that day, he was running across a pasture. (Yes, a pasture! Heaven’s not made of clouds, you know. The earth is a copy of heaven, so the two look a lot alike.) Anyway, he was wearing
a robe, a good-looking robe, and life was all over him. The wild thing was, that robe didn’t have any sleeves in it!

Now isn’t that just like Jesus to give Stanley a robe without any sleeves in it? When I saw him, the Lord spoke to me and said, Tell Mary I snatched him out of that truck before the collision. He never knew anything about it.

Here’s what I want you to see. If I’d let grief and sorrow come in and take over the way they tried to, I wouldn’t have been able to receive that wave of compassion. I wouldn’t have been moved by God’s power, and I certainly wouldn’t have seen Stanley. I wouldn’t have seen anything but grief and sorrow.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Grief and sorrow are dangerous. Years ago, God started jerking the wraps off them and unveiling their true nature to me in a startling way. He showed me that they’re not the innocent emotions we’ve thought they were. They are actually spirit beings sent by the devil himself to steal, kill and destroy.

In fact, grief and sorrow were part of the devastating, satanic barrage Jesus took on Himself when He died on the cross. Isaiah 53:4 says: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” That phrase, “griefs and sorrows,” can also be translated sickness, weakness and pain. But any way you translate it, they’re all pieces of the same destructive puzzle.

Grief and sorrow are part of the devil’s game. They are the ever-present, shadowing companions of death. Jesus bore them on the cross, so we wouldn’t have to. Yet countless Christians are still shouldering them today. In doing so, they’re ignoring the direct command in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, where we are clearly told to “sorrow not!”

Let’s read that scripture: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again....”

Stop there and notice that according to those verses, sorrow is only for those who have no hope, who don’t believe that Jesus died and rose again.

So, obviously, it’s not for you! As a believer, you do have hope—not just where physical death is concerned but in every other circumstance as well. In order to partake of sorrow about a particular situation, you’re going to have to reject the hope you’ve been given through Calvary concerning that situation. You can’t have hope and sorrow at the same time!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

It comes disguised as a simple, “healthy” emotion. Then, little by little, it drains you dry. It is devious and destructive, and it’s the constant companion of death itself.

Singing the blues. It’s one of humanity’s favorite pastimes. Everyone does it in one form or another. Drunks balance on bar stools and blubber about how hard life is. Christians clutch their hymnals and sing mournfully about the same thing.

They all think they’re doing it because they’re sad. But they’re not. They’re doing it because, in a peculiar kind of way, they like it.

I first realized this years ago, before I met Jesus, when I was singing in nightclubs and bars. It seemed that no matter where I went, some guy would come stumbling up to me and ask me to sing Melancholy Baby—not so he could forget about his sorrows, but so he could burrow more deeply into them. So he could really, really get into the blues.

On the surface that may seem strange. But, the truth is, you’ve probably done the same kind of thing yourself. We all have.

Why would we actually choose to feel sorrow? Because sorrow has an emotional kick to it. It offers a surge of feeling that, in the beginning stages, is almost intoxicating.

The great blues singers have made their living off people who wanted to feel that rush of emotion. But it’s interesting to note that the really great blues singers don’t usually live very long. Take Billie Holiday, for example. People begged to hear her sing because the spirits of grief and sorrow within her were so intense they just seemed to reach out and grab you when you heard her. Yet those same spirits that made her blues so gripping, drove her to destruction.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

There is one particular area in which the
Body of Christ has been trouble-minded for a
long time. We have taken one verse of
Scripture, lifted it out of context, and misused
it terribly. In Romans 8:28 the Apostle Paul
wrote this, “And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.” You
have probably heard this quoted over and
over again in the light of trouble.

All the way through Romans 8, Paul is
talking about the difference between the law
of death and the law of life—that these are
two different laws. He tells us that we are not
governed by the law of death, we have been
delivered from it. “The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). He shows us
the difference between being carnally minded
(or flesh-minded) and being spiritually
minded (or Word-minded). He says, “For to
be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). There
is the division between the two. You can’t be
trouble-minded and spiritually minded at the
same time. Trouble isn’t born by the Spirit of
God—it is born by Satan.

Now, look at Romans 8:26, “Likewise the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:
for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought: but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us.”
The Spirit of God is not interceding
for us—He is helping us to intercede.
That’s His ministry. The Holy Spirit leads us and
takes up where we fall short of spiritual knowledge.
The word translated helpeth actually is
three Greek words combined. It literally says
“takes hold together with us against.” This verse
literally reads, “The Spirit takes hold together
with us against our infirmities.”

For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought: but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God. And
we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren.
(Romans 8:26-29)

The Apostle Paul is talking here about
intercessory prayer—how it works, how it
operates. By being trouble-minded, we have
subconsciously read verse 28 like this: “For
we know that all bad things work together
for the good of those that love God.” But it
doesn’t say that at all! It wasn’t talking about
bad things—it was talking about good
things—about intercessory prayer.

He says in verse 29, “he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
What tools does the Holy Spirit use to conform
us to the image of His Son? The nine
gifts of the Spirit, the Name of Jesus, the
blood of the Lamb, the Word of God, and
everything that the New Testament guarantees
the believer in this life and in the world
to come. When the believer begins to move
into intercession, when he begins to intercede
for the Body of Christ as he should,
then these tools come together and operate
against our infirmities, so we pray accurately
and powerfully by the anointing of the Holy
Spirit. In this way, all these things work
together for the good of those that love God.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Psalm 68:19-20
NKJV—Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads
us with benefits, the God of our salvation!
Selah. Our God is the God of salvation; and to
God the Lord belong escapes from death.

AMP—Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our
burdens and carries us day by day, even the
God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and
calmly think of that]! God is to us a God of
deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord
belongs escape from death [setting us free].

NIV—Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens. Selah. Our God
is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord
comes escape from death.

NAS—Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears
our burden, The God who is our salvation.
Selah. God is to us a God of deliverances; and
to God the Lord belong escapes from death.

Psalm 91:16
KJV—With long life will I satisfy him, and show
him my salvation.

Moffatt—I will satisfy him with long life, and
let him see my saving care.

TLB—I will satisfy him with a full life and give
him my salvation.

Psalm 94:17-18
NIV—Unless the Lord had given me help, I
would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O
Lord, supported me.

KJV—Unless the Lord had been my help, my
soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said,
My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held
me up.

AMP—Unless the Lord had been my help,
I would soon have dwelt in [the land where
there is] silence. When I said, My foot is slipping,
Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord,
held me up.

Moffatt—If the Eternal had not been my help,
I would have soon passed to the silent land.
When I think my foot is slipping, thy goodness,
O Eternal, holds me up.

Psalm 103:1-4
Moffatt—Bless the Eternal, O my soul, let all
my being bless his sacred name; bless the
Eternal, O my soul, remember all his benefits;
he pardons all your sins, and all your sicknesses
he heals, he saves your life from death.

KJV—Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that
is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth
all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from
destruction.

AMP—Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise)
the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest]
within me, bless His holy name! Bless
(affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord,
O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His
benefits—Who forgives [every one of] all your
iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your
diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit
and corruption.

NIV—Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost
being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your
diseases, who redeems your life from the pit.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Deuteronomy 5:16
KJV—Honour thy father and thy mother, as
the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that
thy days may be prolonged, and that it may
go well with thee….

AMP—Honor your father and your mother,
as the Lord your God commanded you, that
your days may be prolonged and that it may
go well with you….

Moffatt—Honour your father and your
mother, as the Eternal your God has ordered
you, that you may have a long life and that all
may go well with you….

NIV—Honor your father and your mother, as
the Lord your God has commanded you, so
that you may live long and that it may go well
with you….

Psalm 33:18-19
KJV—The eye of the Lord is upon them that
fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
to deliver their soul from death, and to keep
them alive in famine.

AMP—The Lord’s eye is upon those who fear
Him [who revere and worship Him with awe],
who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and
loving-kindness, to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

Moffatt—The Eternal’s eye rests on his
worshippers, who rest their hopes upon his
kindness, that he may rescue them from death,
and during famine-days keep them alive.

NIV—The eyes of the Lord are on those
who fear him, on those whose hope is in his
unfailing love, to deliver them from death and
keep them alive in famine.

Psalm 56:12-13
KJV—O God...thou hast delivered my soul
from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from
falling, that I may walk before God in the light
of the living?

AMP—O God...You have delivered my life
from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that
I may walk before God in the light of life and
of the living.

Moffatt—O God...thou hast saved my life from
death, my feet from stumbling, that I might live,
ever mindful of God, in the sunshine of life.

NIV—O God...you have delivered me from
death and my feet from stumbling, that I may
walk before God in the light of life.

Psalm 66:8-9
KJV—O bless our God, ye people, and make
the voice of his praise to be heard: Which
holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our
feet to be moved.

AMP—Bless our God, O peoples, give Him
grateful thanks and make the voice of His
praise to be heard, Who put and kept us
among the living, and has not allowed our feet
to slip.

Moffatt—Bless our God, O ye nations, sound
his praise aloud, who keeps us safe in life, and
never lets us come to grief.

NIV—Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound
of his praise be heard; he has preserved our
lives and kept our feet from slipping.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries