Posts Tagged ‘Holy Spirit’
The Image of Love
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by Gloria Copeland
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).
Gloria Copeland — Travel Light
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Once you’ve made the decision to finish your race, there’s one other element of spiritual aggressiveness to put into motion. Patience.
Patience doesn’t sound very aggressive, does it? But it is. In Hebrews 12:1-2 Paul says we are to run our race with patience and without encumbrance: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith….”
Think about those Olympic runners. Think of them pushing themselves to the limit, focusing on the goal, training themselves day after day—with what? With patience! In the Greek, that word means “steady continuance.”
Patience means you don’t quit. You keep doing what you know to do. Sometimes you may not see results for a while. But eventually, if you keep pressing, you’ll get there. As Kenneth E. Hagin said, “God doesn’t settle up every Saturday night, but He does settle up.”
Weights and sin are two different things. But both of them must be removed if we’re going to continue running.
Weights are things that pull you down into the natural realm when you ought to be soaring in the Spirit. So let go of whatever holds you back! Press into the Spirit and run.
Sin is revealed by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s conviction. You know when you have sinned. Confess
it. Deal with it, so you can run. Lay it aside and get
back on track.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Salvation Through Mercy Part 2
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
It was out of the love and mercy of God that salvation
was born. Then, in Titus 3:3-5 it says:
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and
hating one another. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost.
The word love in this passage is sometimes translated
“pity.” This is not a good substitute. It should be correctly
translated “mercy” as it is in other places. The thought here
should be that just as salvation is an act of mercy, so is the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to us as mercy and
comfort. He also prayed and asked the Father to send us
the Comforter, who has the same ministry of mercy to us
that Jesus had.
When a person makes Jesus the Lord of his life, the
Holy Spirit changes the nature of the person on the inside.
Then, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the outer man
begins to be changed. Romans 12:2 tells us we are not to be
conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing
of our minds. The Holy Spirit reveals the Word of God
to us, and if we are obedient to His Word, our habits and
behavior begin to change. The outer man is not changed
overnight. The Holy Spirit conforming you to the image of
Jesus is a process.
A good illustration of this is the difference between a
mule and a racehorse. You can take a mule and raise him
in the stable with thoroughbreds. You can give that mule
the same food and treatment as a thoroughbred racehorse.
You can even do plastic surgery on his ears and make him
look pretty good. But when you take him out there to the
starting gate and that bell goes off, the mule is a mule and
there is no doubt about it. He gets left behind. Why? He is
not a mule on the outside, he is a mule on the inside.
God in His mercy knew you could not do anything
about the junk on the inside of you. So instead of asking
you to clean yourself up, He asked you to receive Him
and let Him clean you up. It was His mercy that hung on
the Cross and sent you the Holy Ghost to be a Comforter
to you.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — His Words Are Health And Life
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Galatians 3:5
KJV—He therefore that ministereth to you
the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you,
doeth he it by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith?
Amp—Then does He Who supplies you
with His marvelous (Holy) Spirit, and works
powerfully and miraculously among you, [do
so on the grounds of your doing] what the
Law demands, or because of your believing
and adhering to and trusting in and relying
on the message that you heard?
Moffatt—When He supplies you with the
Spirit and works miracles among you, is it
because you do what the Law commands or
because you believe the gospel message?
NEB—I ask then: when God gives you
the Spirit and works miracles among you,
why is this? Is it because you keep the
law, or is it because you have faith in the
gospel message?
Proverbs 4:20-24
KJV—My son, attend to my words; incline
thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not
depart from thine eyes; keep them in the
midst of thine heart. For they are life unto
those that find them, and health to all their
flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life. Put away from
thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put
far from thee.
Amp—My son, attend to my words; consent
and submit to my sayings. Let them
not depart from your sight; keep them in
the center of your heart. For they are life to
those who find them, healing and health to
all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance
and above all that you guard, for out
of it flow the springs of life. Put away from
you false and dishonest speech, and willful
and contrary talk put far from you.
Moffatt—My son, attend to what I say,
bend your ear to my words; never lose
sight of them, but fix them in your mind;
to those who find them, they are life, and
health to all their being. Guard above all
things, guard your inner self, for so you live
and prosper; bar out all talk of evil, and
banish wayward words.
NEB—My son, attend to my speech, pay
heed to my words; do not let them slip out
of your mind, keep them close in your heart;
for they are life to him who finds them, and
health to his whole body. Guard your heart
more than any treasure, for it is the source
of all life. Keep your mouth from crooked
speech and your lips from deceitful talk.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Offer Yourself
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
This scripture in Romans 12 is talking about crucifying the flesh, as is Galatians 5:24-25: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” We are admonished to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We are to lay aside our own natural desires in order to fulfill God’s desires. The Wuest translation of Romans 12:1 says we are to “place [our] bodies at the disposal of God….”
According to the Bible, then, this is only our reasonable service—though it might seem an unreasonable demand to some. Why is it our reasonable service? Because Jesus gave His body as a living sacrifice for us. We have been bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The Greek word translated Lord means “master” or “owner.” Jesus became your new owner the moment you made Him the Lord of your life. Most Christians want to be born again but will not allow Jesus to be Lord in their lives. They want to continue to walk in the darkness of this world, when they could be walking in the light of God.
“[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13, amp). We have been transferred into the kingdom of God and are to place our bodies and minds under His authority, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live under the dominion of God.
This sacrifice of our bodies is to be a holy and well-pleasing (acceptable) sacrifice. The Greek word thusia, translated sacrifice, denotes “the act of offering.” We are to make an offering of our bodies. We are the offering God desires. He wants to change our bodies from a dedication to worldliness to a dedication to godliness.
How do we do this? We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. W.E. Vine says the word renew means “the adjustment of the moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God.” We are to adjust our thinking to the mind of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us to think like God thinks and to act like God acts. As we do this, the outward expression of our bodies will begin to match the inward expression of Jesus. We will begin to walk in the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Lay down your own desires in order to fulfill His desires.
This is not an unreasonable thing for God to ask. It is only your reasonable service, because you have been bought with such a precious price. Jesus purchased you with the crucifying of His own flesh, and shed His own blood to redeem you. He became a living sacrifice for you. The least you can do is give your body to Him, for you are not your own. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)
There is a decision to be made. Are you going to serve your own interests or the Lord Jesus? I believe you are going to decide to offer yourself as a living sacrifice. And when you do, you’ll find you don’t have to fight the war between your flesh and spirit, but your spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, will stop the war! As you obey the Holy Spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death.
Gloria Copeland
