It’s time to talk about a life of love. Of course, when say “love” here, I’m not talking about the emotional counterfeit the world calls love. That kind of love is dependent on circumstances and feelings.
God’s love isn’t like that. It’s constant. It’s unconditional. The chief ingredient of the God-kind of love is self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one loved. It continues to love people whether or not it receives a response. Divine love is not self-seeking. It is self-giving.
God doesn’t just love the lovely. He loves the unlovely, too. No matter how bad or mean someone might be, if they’ll turn to Him, He’ll cleanse them and forgive them.
That’s the way God loves us! We see the way He loves us in detail in 1 Corinthians 13:

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails… (verses 4-8, The Amplified Bible).

Just as Abraham raised the knife to slay Isaac, the angel of the Lord called out to him and said, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Genesis 22:12).

Then Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket. He took the ram and offered it as a sacrifice to the Lord in place of his son. God found in Abraham a man who would obey Him to the degree of giving up his son.

Through Abraham’s life we see a picture of God’s love for you and me. Just as Abraham didn’t withhold his son from God, neither did God withhold His only begotten Son, Jesus, from us. He sent Jesus into the world and allowed Him to die on the cross so the world could be redeemed. And just as Abraham received back his son from the dead, God received back His only begotten Son when Jesus was raised from the dead.

Just as Abraham demonstrated faith as a father, so Isaac demonstrated faith as a son—willing to be offered as a sacrifice without a struggle. He was not a small child, he could have protested. But he had been trained in the way he should go—to obey his father in all things.

During his life, the Lord spoke to him as He had to his father Abraham. The Lord appeared to Isaac when he was grown, years after he was spared his life: Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws (Genesis 26:2-5).

God performed His oath to Isaac because Abraham had obeyed His voice and kept His commandments. Obedience was the condition of the oath. Had Abraham not obeyed God, He would not have fulfilled His promise. Had Isaac not obeyed God, disobedience would have stopped the promise in his life.

Isaac and his seed were Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. If we are in Christ, we are also heirs according to the promise. The Apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith….For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:13-14, 26-29).

Jesus came to redeem Abraham’s seed. God sees the Church, as well as Abraham’s natural descendants, as that seed. We have been grafted in through faith in Jesus Christ, the Anointed. It is our blood-bought right through Him.

However, our obedience determines how much of Abraham’s blessing is manifested in our lives. That is a choice we must make. Am I going to be faithful to God and obey Him? Yes! At all costs!

Gloria Copeland

Abraham’s obedience was promoted by his faith! Because he believed God he was able to hope when, in the natural, there was no hope that he would become the father of many nations. He didn’t consider his own body, even though naturally speaking it was too old to produce children. Or that Sarah was not only past childbearing age, but also that she had never been able to bear children.

But God gave Abraham a promise. God made a covenant with him and that is what Abraham believed. In other words, Abraham didn’t believe what he saw, but he believed what God said. The Word says he did not “stagger at the promise of God.” He did not give place to unbelief. He was strong in faith and fully persuaded that God was able to perform what He had promised.

Throughout his life, God appeared to Abraham at different times and told him exactly what to do. Genesis 17:1-2 says:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect [upright]. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

So Abraham obeyed God’s voice and followed His directions. The following passage from The Amplified Bible is a picture of Abraham’s total obedience to the Father:

[Urged on] by faith Abraham when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. [Prompted] by faith he dwelt as a temporary resident in the land which was designated in the promise [of God, though he was as a stranger] in a strange country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs with him of the same promise. For he was waiting expectantly and confidently, looking forward to the city which has fixed and firm foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God (Hebrews 11:8-10, The Amplified Bible).

By the supernatural power of God Sarah bore Abraham a son named Isaac. God gave Abraham the ultimate test as a father: to offer up his son Isaac on the altar. Look at this through Abraham’s eyes for a moment. Isaac was the son through whom he was to be the father of many nations. How could he do it? There was only one way—by faith.

By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test—that is, while the testing of his faith was still in progress—had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received and welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your descendants be reckoned. For he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead (potentially sacrificed), he did [actually] receive him back from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19, The Amplified Bible).

Gloria Copeland

Faith is believing God’s Word enough to act on it. James 2:26 says, “…faith without works is dead also.” Weymouth says, “For just as a human body without a spirit is lifeless, so also faith is lifeless without obedience.” Faith is acting on God’s Word.

Abraham is a great example of obedience and faith. In Genesis 12:1, God told Abraham to get out of his country and go away from his relatives to a land that He would show him:

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.

Verse 4 of this chapter then says, “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him….”

When the Lord told Abraham that he would have seed as numerous as the stars, the Bible says, “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham and Sarah had never been able to have children, even in their youth. The same day God promised him seed, He made a covenant with Abraham (whose name at the time was Abram) declaring “unto thy seed have I given this land…” (Genesis 15:18).

Later God changed his name from Abram to Abraham which meant “father of many nations.” Therefore, every time Abraham declared his new name saying, “I am Abraham,” he was declaring, “I am the father of many nations!”

Isaac was the result of Abraham’s believing what God said to him, even though it was a natural impossibility for him to have a son. Romans 4:3 says, “…Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform (Romans 4:13, 16-21).

Gloria Copeland

And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him] (Genesis 5:24, The Amplified Bible).

Enoch diligently heeded the voice of the Lord. In the New Testament book of Hebrews, he is described clearly:

By faith Enoch was conveyed to another place [namely, heaven], with the result that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had conveyed him to another place [heaven]. For before his removal [from earth to heaven] he had witness borne [to him], that testimony still being on record, to the effect that he pleased God (Hebrews 11:5, Wuest).

Enoch walked with God. He pleased God. And then God took him! Did you get that? Enoch walked so closely with God that one day he just didn’t come back! He was so close to God, because of his obedience to God, that he didn’t die a natural death. He was lifted right into heaven.

Can you, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, say you have pleased God and walked with Him so closely that you could be lifted right up to heaven? If you are born again and alive when Jesus returns, that is what is in store for you. Enoch, being translated out of an evil world, typifies the saints (the glorious Church) who will soon be removed from this earth, who will be changed from mortality to immortality, without their bodies passing through the grave (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).

Enoch is an inspiring example of walking with God.

Gloria Copeland

Now, think again about that question I asked you earlier. How much do you want to succeed in life? Enough to change what you’re saying? Enough to change where your attention is focused? Enough to act on the Word of God even when the rest of the world is telling you it will never work?

If you want it that much, the Word of God guarantees you’ll get your fill of success in life. Good success. Not the kind the world gives, but God’s own brand of success.

Success the world’s way has a price tag of misery attached to it. But Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

I will warn you of this, though. Satan won’t like it if you choose the way of success. He’ll do whatever he can to stop you, and since he knows God’s success formula, he knows exactly what tactics to use.

He’ll pressure you to say negative things. He’ll try to distract you from the Word and get your attention on anything—it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it isn’t the Word.

His goal is to stop your faith. He knows it’s the only force that can cause impossible situations to change.

He also knows that it comes from the Word of God. So when he sees that Word going in your heart and hears it coming out your mouth, he doesn’t just sit there. He starts talking. Doubtful thoughts will come into your mind, thoughts that are just the opposite of what God’s Word says.

But those thoughts don’t become yours unless you believe them and speak them. That’s what he wants you to do, of course. If the Word says you’re healed, he’ll tell you you’re sick. If the Word says you’re forgiven, he’ll say you’re still guilty. If the Word says your needs are met, he’ll tell you they’re not.

But if you won’t let go, if you keep the Word in your mouth and in your heart, you can’t lose. There’s no force the devil can bring against you that will overcome the Word of God. It will make you a winner every time.

So if you’ve been wanting good success and it’s been eluding you, quit wondering whether you have what it takes to make it—and remember instead Who is with you. Then turn to the Word of God and put God’s success formula to work in your life. Start talking it. Start thinking it. Start doing it.

Before long, you won’t be chasing success…it will be chasing you!

Gloria Copeland

One of the greatest enemies of real faith is a thing I call mental assent. People who operate in mental assent read the Word and think they believe it, but when pressure comes, they don’t act on it.

Mental assenters say, “I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I believe I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus because the Bible says so.”

But when sickness actually comes and attacks their bodies, they stop saying, “By His stripes I’m healed,” and start saying, “I’m sick.”

Real faith believes what the Word says even though your eyes and your feelings tell you something different. Faith doesn’t care what the symptoms are. It doesn’t care what the circumstances look like. It’s not moved by what the banker or the doctor or the lawyer or the bill collector says.

Faith in God’s Word will change the symptoms. It will change the bank. It will bring the money to get the bills paid. Faith will turn every defeat into victory. It is God’s success formula!

But you have to give that faith an opportunity to work. You have to keep God’s Word in your mouth and meditate on it in your heart “that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success” (AMP).

Gloria Copeland

The final step of God’s success formula involves action. We must act as though the Word we’ve been talking and meditating is true—even when circumstances seem to say otherwise.

If that puzzles you, read what Jesus said in Mark 11:

Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall
have them (verses 22-24).

Notice Jesus didn’t say we should believe we’ve received what we ask for when we see it. He said to believe you receive when you pray.

Now, if you follow His instructions, how do you think you’re going to act? Are you going to walk around all depressed and joyless? Are you going to stand around wringing your hands worrying?

No! You’re going to rejoice and praise God for the answer to your prayer. You’re going to act like you’ve already received it.

Right here is where many people miss it. They know God’s Word works, but they fail to act on it.

You may have been studying the Word for 20 years. You may know how to live by faith better than anyone around. But, remember, it’s not what you know that will bring you through in victory—it’s what you do.

You can walk in faith consistently through 10 trials that come your way and experience great success. Yet on the 11th one, if you neglect to act on the Word, you’ll fail. Although the string of victories in your past is a wonderful thing, it’s what you do today that will get you through today’s test or trial.

Gloria Copeland

“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth.” That’s the first element of supernatural success God gives us in this verse. I like to say it this way: Talk the Word.

When I say talk the Word, I don’t mean just every now and then when you’re feeling spiritual. I mean continually. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God said you should talk His Word “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (NIV).

That’s pretty much all the time, isn’t it? At home, at work, in the grocery store—wherever you are—keep the Word of God in your mouth.

Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So when you’re continually talking about what God says, what He’ll do and what His promises are, you’re going to be growing in faith because you’re hearing the Word from yourself all the time.

Some people find it hard to talk the Word that much. They just can’t seem to do it! If you’re one of them, let me tell you why that is.

Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45). If you’re focusing most of your attention on natural things—watching secular television, going to the movies, thinking about worldly matters, worrying about your job and family—then that’s what is going to be in your heart in abundance. And that’s what you’re going to talk about.

To change what’s coming out your mouth, you must refocus your attention. Turn it toward God’s Word and keep it there. Fill your heart with an abundance of the Word, and your mouth will get in line.

Gloria Copeland

Once you’ve set your mind on things above and you’ve begun to talk the victory, simply continue to do the things you’ve learned. In other words, keep marching!

Keep reading and meditating on the Word. Keep acting in faith. That’s really all it takes to win even the most complicated battles.

You don’t have to know all the answers to your situation. You don’t need a great amount of talent or ability. God has all the ability you could ever need and knows all the answers, so all you have to do is trust Him and continue doing what you know to do.

Notice, I said continue doing. Just thinking about it won’t work. Just knowing it won’t get you through. It is not what you know that counts in this fight of faith—it is what you do!

James 2:26 says that faith without corresponding action is dead. So take action! Don’t just say you believe God’s Word, act like you believe it.

If you will do that, you’ll suffer no defeat. You might experience a few temporary setbacks, but you will triumph in the end. And when your life in this earth is through, you’ll be able to say those glorious words once written by the Apostle Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)! You’ll be able to stand tall for eternity as a victorious soldier of the Lord. And Jesus will be able to say to you, Well done, good and faithful servant!

Gloria Copeland