Posts Tagged ‘grace’
Gloria Copeland — Lessons in Obedience – Noah
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Throughout the ages God’s Spirit continually has striven with a wicked people. At more than one point God was close to annihilating the entire human race. Noah is an example of how obedience saved mankind from being destroyed from the face of the earth.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast…for it repenteth me that I have made them (Genesis 6:5-7).
But He remembered Noah. Noah became the man of the hour. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord…. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:8-9).
One man saved the human race—one man who dared to be obedient to God. Noah was the last righteous man on earth. God waited as long as He could. He waited until there was only one righteous man left. Think about that!
Thank God, Noah did not do like many people today and say, “There is just too much pressure for me to live in this evil generation. After all, I’m only one man. What can I do?”
Noah heard the voice of the Lord and he obeyed. God said, “Build an ark,” so Noah built an ark. The people around him scoffed and made fun of him, but that did not stop Noah. Walking in obedience to God was more important to him than what other people had to say.
In Genesis 7, God said to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (verse 1). “And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him” (verse 5). Because of one man’s obedience, the entire human race and the animal kingdom were saved from destruction.
And they went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh, in which there was the breath and spirit of life. And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded [Noah]; and the Lord shut him in and closed [the door] round about him (Genesis 7:15-16, The Amplified Bible).
The future of the race of man was in Noah’s hands. He was faithful to do all that God asked of him. He and his family were supernaturally preserved because he obeyed God.
While we are on this earth, evil circumstances will try to rush in like a flood and overcome us. But as long as we are walking in obedience, God will make an ark around us for protection. He will shut the door to evil and nothing can open it. The same principle will work in reverse when we disobey God. The door will close, only this time in front of us, keeping us outside, unable to live the kind of life God wants us to live.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Mercy Replaces Judgment
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Once we have been made new on the inside, we have a
responsibility to learn and study and keep ourselves away
from the filth. Even when we fall down, if we repent of
our sin, God will cleanse us. When we deserve judgment,
God gives us mercy. And the Word says in 1 Corinthians
11:31 that if you will judge yourself, you will not be judged.
God will judge us in mercy and not with the world. He is
merciful to those who judge themselves.
Most of the time, I am harder on myself than He is. In
judging ourselves, we need to remember to forgive ourselves
and walk in the forgiveness God gives us. The Bible says
to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we go overboard in
judging ourselves, we are not going to be able to love our
neighbor because we will not be able to love ourselves.
God sent mercy and not judgment to us in the form of
Jesus. He was born into the world, died on the Cross and
was reborn from the dead by the mercy of God.
First Timothy 1:14-15 says: “And the grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief.”
The Apostle Paul was talking about himself as the
chief of sinners. He meant that salvation was extended
to every human being on the earth through the abundant
mercy of God. The message is true for everyone, and on
that basis it is worthy for them to accept it.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Salvation Through Mercy Part 1
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
One of the things God wants us to know is that
salvation springs forth from His mercy. Our redemption
was conceived, built, carried out and brought into
operation from a mind of mercy. A mind of wrath could
never have provided redemption. It would have destroyed
us and wiped out all mankind, but God was not willing to
destroy any of us.
If God had destroyed Satan, according to spiritual law,
He would have also destroyed all of Satan’s subjects. Death
would have flowed from the devil to all who served him.
And sadly, the devil is god over a lot of people.
Jesus came down on Satan’s level (where we were) in
order to bring us redemption from Satan’s authority. He
had to come down to us. When Adam bowed his knee to
an alien spirit, he made Satan his god and gave him his
crown. Adam subjected himself to Satan.
Ephesians 2:1-4 says:
And you hath he quickened (or made alive), who
were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved).
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — You Are Promised Healing
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
James 5:14-16
KJV—Is any sick among you? let him call
for the elders of the church; and let them
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise
him up; and if he have committed sins, they
shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one
to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much.
Amp—Is any one among you sick? He
should call in the church elders—the spiritual
guides. And they should pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the Lord’s name.
And the prayer [that is] of faith will save
him that is sick, and the Lord will restore
him; and if he has committed sins, he will
be forgiven. Confess to one another therefore
your faults—your slips, your false steps,
your offenses, your sins; and pray [also] for
one another, that you may be healed and
restored—to a spiritual tone of mind and
heart. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer
of a righteous man makes tremendous power
available—dynamic in its working.
Moffatt—Is anyone ill? let him summon the
presbyters of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord; the prayer of faith will restore
the sick man, and the Lord will raise him
up; even the sins he has committed will be
forgiven him. So confess your sins to one
another and pray for one another, that you
may be healed; the prayers of the righteous
have a powerful effect.
2 Peter 1:2-4
KJV—Grace and peace be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God, and
of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine
power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that
by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust.
Amp—May grace (God’s favor) and peace,
(which is perfect well-being, all necessary
good, all spiritual prosperity and freedom
from fears and agitating passions and moral
conflicts) be multiplied to you in (the full,
personal, precise and correct) knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord. For His divine
power has bestowed upon us all things that
[are requisite and suited] to life and godliness,
through the (full, personal) knowledge
of Him Who called us by and to His own
glory and excellence (virtue).
By means of these He has bestowed
on us His precious and exceedingly great
promises, so that through them you may
escape (by flight) from the moral decay (rottenness
and corruption) that is in the world
because of covetousness (lust and greed),
and become sharers (partakers) of the divine
nature.
NEB—Grace and peace be yours in fullest
measure, through the knowledge of God
and Jesus our Lord. His divine power has
bestowed on us everything that makes for
life and true religion, enabling us to know
the One who called us by his own splendour
and might. Through this might and
splendour he has given us his promises,
great beyond all price, and through them
you may escape the corruption with which
lust has infected the world, and come to
share in the very being of God.
Gloria Copeland
