Posts Tagged ‘mercy’
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 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 — 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 — Spiritual Answers VS Natural Problems
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
The Body of Christ needs to major in mercy. It is what
gives us the proper spiritual perspective on the minors. We
must see that the problems in the natural, physical realm
cannot be solved with just natural realm solutions. It takes
a spiritual answer to solve a natural problem.
However, trying to answer a spiritual problem with
a natural answer is even more impossible. We cannot get
rid of demons with aspirins. That natural answer will
not work, yet this is what has been happening in church
so frequently. We have gathered committees to take care
of spiritual problems and dealt with them in the natural
realm. We have asked the person who upsets the church
service to leave, instead of getting a prayer group together
and interceding for them.
We have attacked cancer the wrong way too. We have
approached it as if it were from the natural realm. We
have failed to understand that all diseases are not on the
same level in the spirit realm. Some infirmities are more
natural than others, but cancer is not natural and neither
is arthritis or leprosy. Bitterness is their root cause.
Therefore, when it comes to curing cancer and other
such spiritual problems, we are not limited to natural
means. We can attack the spirit that is causing them with
the mercy and compassion of God. In the power of God, we
can stand on the Name of Jesus and His redemptive blood.
We can take His Word and drive that spirit out.
We must learn not to be governed by the minors in the
natural realm. Evangelist Smith Wigglesworth said, “I am
not moved by what I feel; I am not moved by what I see; I’m
moved by what I believe.” And I like to add: “I believe the
Word of God, and with the Word of God, I can change the
way I feel and what I see.” This is the proper perspective.
The earthly ministry of Jesus is our example of mercy
in operation. His was a ministry of mercy and comfort. He
said, “I did not come to destroy the law; I came to fulfill
it (Matthew 5:17).” And He did by extending His mercy
to us. The Church has not always recognized the mercy
of God. They have been approaching God like He is able
to heal them, but are unsure that He will.
That would be the same as if your child came to you
and said, “Dad, I want to go to college and I know you
love me, and I know you would help me if you could. I am
just not sure whether you can afford it or not.” But if that
child said, “Daddy, I want to go to college and I know you
can help me, but I don’t know whether you will or not.”
That is an outright insult.
We do not have to approach God either way. We do
not have to wonder about His will concerning salvation,
healing or prosperity. We already have His will written
down in the Word of God for us to know.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Possessing The Mercy Of God Part 3
Posted by admin | Filed under Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
I know people who come to meetings where I preach
and spend their entire time criticizing what I have on and
miss what I say. I am not saying you should not dress well.
I think you should represent Jesus Christ in a right way by
looking your best with what you have. If you are faithful
over little, He will make you master over much. However,
we need to put our emphasis in the right places. Many
times we have done just the opposite.
Another minor that we have majored in is sacrifice. It
seems like everyone has wanted to give up something for
God. God desires mercy rather than sacrifice. Mercy is the
major. Mercy is when you give to people out of your heart
because you love them and want to see them prosper.
Please do not misunderstand me. Sacrifice is necessary
in an obedient Christian’s life and needs to be studied. If you
will learn mercy while you are learning how to sacrifice,
then your sacrifice will count. The Apostle Paul said that
even if he gave his body to be burned and gave everything
he had to the poor and did not have love, he would gain
nothing. So, if you major in the sacrifice without the mercy,
it doesn’t do any good. You do not impress God.
When you give from a mercy motive, it starts flowing
toward you. As I begin to give, it is given to me again.
The more I give, the more I receive and vice versa.
It then becomes a continuous cycle of reaching out to
others. This is the way mercy works.
Gloria Copeland
