Four Steps That Ensure Victory

These are four steps that Brother Copeland learned from Kenneth Hagin that ensure victory. He has used and practiced them and they have brought victory over and over again in his life. They are in line with God's Word. 1. Make the decision: I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED, I WILL RECEIVE FROM GOD. (I John 5:4-5). 2. Resist Satan: REFUSE TO ENTERTAIN HIS THOUGHTS. (II Corinthians 10:3-5; James 4:7). 3. GIVE YOUR ATTENTION TO GODS WORD (Proverbs 4:20-22). Fix your mind on God's Word (Joshua 1:8). 4. REFUSE TO SPEAK WORDS CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE RECEIVED (Mark 11:23-24). Answer every doubt immediately with the Word of God. Answer every symptom of sickness, unforgiveness, lack, strife, fear, etc. immediately with the Word of God

Expect the Glory!

by Kenneth Copeland
Its exciting to have your needs met by faith in the Word of God! Its great to receive healing when youre sick. Its marvelous when God lifts you out of financial difficulties and supplies your needs supernaturally. It is a thrilling experience when, by standing in faith on Gods promises, you step out of trouble and into victory. If you know what thats like, youre probably saying, Oh, yes! Amen, Brother Copeland. Thats the greatest way to live! There was a time when I would have agreed. But fasten your seat belt, my friend. God has shown me in His Word that He has something even better for us. Its a life so powerful, it exceeds anything we could ever ask or think, a life so full of the fiery light of God that darkness of every kind flees from its very presence. Im aware that there are some religious folks who would rather I didnt say such things. They dont think we should ever expect anything grand and glorious in this worldjust in the world to come. They try to keep people from getting their hopes up. But I want you to know something right now: My greatest intention is to get your hopes up. When I say hope, Im not talking about the weak, wistful kind of wishing the world calls hope. Im talking about real, Bible hope, the kind of hope the Apostle Paul was referring to when he said: For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ [the Anointed of God], according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed... (Philippians 1:19-20). The terms earnest expectation and hope found in that scripture come from two Greek words, each of which can be accurately translated hope. Paul put both of them side by side for emphasis. If youll research them, youll find they mean a confident expectation, a happy anticipation of good, a strained expectancy and eager longing. They refer to an expectation so strong that it absorbs all your attention. Raise Your Sights

If you know how to live by faith, youve experienced that kind of hope. Maybe youve been sick, for example, and you set your hope on the fact that by the stripes of Jesus, you were healed (I Peter 2:24). You began to meditate on those scriptures until you built an inner image of yourself healed. As that image grew more crisp and clear, you began to expector hope forthat image to become reality. Eventually, faith rose up, put substance to that internal image and turned it into an external reality. What you did was activate the scriptural process described in Hebrews 11:1: Faith is the substance of things hoped for.... That spiritual process always works the same way. Hope forms the image according to the Word, then faith rises up and gives substance to that image, making it a reality in the natural, physical realm. So, in the light of all God has promised us in His Word, what are you and I to expect? What should we be hoping for? What inner image should so capture our hearts and minds that it is all we can see? Certainly, healing is great. Financial supply is also great. But could it be that God has something even grander for us to fix our hope upon? Yes, He does according to Romans 5:1-2: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ [the Anointed One]: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Read that last phrase again. It says were to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! Were to expect the glory, not just the healing! As long as you just expect healing, youll always be battling it out with your flesh. But if you expect the glory, youll be raising your spiritual sights to something bigger than healing. Youll be expecting the very presence of God to rise up in you so powerfully that instead of believing for healing every six weeks, youll walk in divine health every day! When you expect the glory, youll start living like what you really arejoint heirs with Jesus! Thats Heavy, Man What do I mean by the glory? The first time the glory is mentioned is in the book of Genesis and its referring to the wealth of God. So, Gods glory includes His wealth, but its much, much more than that. The word glory actually means heavyweight. God is heavy with everything you could ever want or need. He is so heavy with healing that if everyone in the whole world believed Him for healing at once, no one would have to wait until tomorrow to get healed because God got tired. In the book of Exodus, Gods glory could be seen going before the Israelites in a pillar of a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Habakkuk described Gods glory as lightning-like shafts of splendor that streamed from His hands. ...and there [in the sunlike splendor] was the hiding place of His power (Habakkuk 3:4, The Amplified Bible). And when Ezekiel saw God in His glory, he said He was a fire from the loins up and from the loins down (Ezekiel 8:2). The fire of God is called the glory. The wind of God is called the glory. The smoke of God is called the glory. The fullness of God is called the glory. It is all the glory because the glory of God refers to the supernatural life and essence of God. The very power that makes Him God! Many have thought that kind of awesome glory must be reserved for God and God alone. Not according to the Bible. Psalms 8:5 tells us that in the beginning man was crowned with that glorycrowned with the same fire and flame of beauty that was on God Himself. To crown means to anoint! God put His hands on their heads and crowned them with His own presence and glory so that they began to shine just like He shines. They were not standing unclothed and vulnerable to the elements but surrounded and protected by a shimmering force field of glory.

That glory was lost to mankind when Adam sinned. But what most believers dont realize is that the glory was restored when Jesus was resurrected! Romans 6:4 says not only that Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father but also even so [or by that same glory] we also should walk in newness of life. You and I are supposed to be walking in the glory! We get a glimpse of what thats like in the Bible account of the glory flowing out of the Apostle Peter with such force that people were healed as he walked by them: Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them (Acts 5:15). It wasnt Peters shadow that healed them but that field of glory that surrounded him. Thats what God put hope in you to expect. The glory! Not just healing. Not just increase of finances. Not just deliverance. All those things are great and theyre all available to us, but God wants us to raise our expectations higher than that. He wants us to expect the glory! Everything we could ever need, and more than we would ever want, can be found in the glory of God! Its a Mystery Where is that glory? Not off in heaven somewhere, waiting for some great prophet of faith to pull it down. Not hovering out there behind heavens gates. It is inside you! It is inside you! I can just hear your mind working: Oh, man! I just cant understand how that can be! I know you cant. Its a mystery! As the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 1:26-27: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ [or the Anointing] in you, the hope of glory. Do you realize what that verse is saying? Its saying that the anointing of Jesus Himself, the very glory of God that raised Him from the dead, is residing right now within you and every other believer on the face of this earth. II Corinthians 4 confirms that fact, saying: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure [what treasure? the glory of God!] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.... For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (verses 6-7, 11). You are as big on the inside as all of heaven! The glory of God is in you. The faith of God is in you. The love of God is in you. The mind of Christ, the Anointed One, is in you. All the fruit of the spirit is in you. Healing is in you. Deliverance is in you. All the wealth of heaven itself is in you. Those things were born in you when you were born again and they ought to be flowing out of that mortal, subject-to-death, meat-and-blood-and-bone body youre living in right now! The glory of God should be pouring out of that earthen vessel! Why isnt it? Because weve never developed the expectancy for it. Weve had the idea that glory will only come when God decides Boy, Im going to show them something today. They havent seen My glory for 2,000 years. Then, Pow! He just shoots the earth with some big glory gun! No! The glory of God is within us! It is going to manifest when we meditate on the glory of God so much that hope rises up and provides an image. Then faith will release the glory of God from the inside of us where we cant see itto the outside where we can see it! Remember the words Jesus spoke to Martha when Lazarus died? He told her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:40).Those words are just as true for us as they were for Martha. If well believe for the glory, if well meditate on the Word of God until we develop our hope and begin to intensely expect the glory, then faith will become the substance of itand well begin to see it.

Does that sound wild to you? Well, its not! If youll go back and read the Bible, youll see thats what Christianity is all about. God intended for the Body of Christ to walk through this earth with such a manifestation of His presence in our lives that it would either scare people spitless...or draw them into the kingdom of God! The Apostle Paul, knowing God intended us to have a foretaste of the resurrected body right here on the earth, wrote: [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him...and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection...that if possible I may attain to the...resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body] (Philippians 3:10-11, The Amplified Bible). Ive experienced little touches of that kind of glory and, believe me, Im eager for more. More is coming, too! Ashes Under Our Feet Malachi 4:2-3 promises: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Notice that scripture said Sun of righteousness not Son of righteousness. Its talking about a bright, blazing glory. And the wings it refers to arent birds wings, theyre flames of fire that are shaped like wings. But most exciting of all is the fact that Malachi didnt say that He shall go forth. He said, [You] shall go forth. You and I are the ones who are going to go forth with this blazing glorythe same glory that appeared as a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day...the same glory that filled the temple with such power the priests couldnt approach the altar without being knocked backward...the same glory that raised Jesus from the dead...the same glory that God said would fill the whole earththat same glory is what well use to tread down the devil until he is ashes under our feet! The expectancy of that glory is going to grow so strong between now and Jesus return that it is going to fill churches. Its going to come on congregations with such power that people are going to run from all over the neighborhood to find out what it is. The glory is coming! Your confession of faith and your expectancy are going to pull it out of you, and youre going to walk in that glory right in the face of hell and everything it has to offer. Dare to release your expectancy of the glory. Before long youll realize...you havent seen anything y

God Has Your Miracle on His Mind

by Gloria Copeland
What do you need from God today? Stop and think about that for a moment. It's a serious question. Picture yourself the way you want to be, healthy and whole in every area of your life. That is the will of God for you, you know. I Thessalonians 5:23 says, He desires you to be "preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)" (The Amplified Bible). God wants you to be sound and complete. It's His perfect will for you to be whole, undamaged and intact spirit, soul, and bodybefore Jesus returns. In light of that fact, let me ask you again: What changes would you need God to make for His will to be fulfilled in your life? What would it take for you to be whole? It would take a miracle. That may well be what you're thinking right now. If so, I am here to tell you God has one for you. He has as many miracles as you need. He is the God of the miraculous.

What's more, He is thinking about you today. That's amazing, isn't it? The fact that the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth has you and me on His mind is almost more than we can comprehend. Yet we know it's true because the Psalmist says, "How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!" (Psalms 139:17-18, The Living Bible). Just imagine that! When you woke up this morning, God was thinking about you. He was aware of your needs. He was mindful of the blessings He has laid up for you and He was making plans to get them to you. In other words, when you awoke this morning God had your miracle on His mind. Every Part Precious I preach about healing a lot and healing is wonderful. But sometimes you need more than healing, you need a miracle. A miracle is different. A miracle is something that is absolutely impossible apart from the supernatural working of God. It's something that cannot happen by natural means. If you have a disease, you need healing. But if you have a part missingif you were born without fingers or toes, for example, you need a miracle. For years, it's been prophesied that we will see those kinds of miracles again in the Body of Christ. It's been prophesied that we'll see all the miracles the early church saw and even greater miracles than those. I sense in my heart we're there! I truly believe it. They might say, "Surely, you don't expect to see somebody grow a part on their body where there was no part before!" Yes, I do. God has parts for people! The Bible says He made all of our parts before we were born and we can easily believe that. Why is it so unthinkable that He could add another part at a later time if it's needed? Just before the verses we read that tell of God's thoughts about us, Psalms 139 says: I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect [or unformed]; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them" (verses 14-16). According to those verses, God wrote down all your members (every part of you) in His book. And because God does all things well, He didn't write them down as broken or missing. He wrote them down as whole and intact. My friend Billye Brim has revelation of that so she speaks to her body according to those scriptures. She says, "My parts are written in God's book. So, parts I command you to be the way God designed you to be. I command you to be whole and complete in agreement with God's book. All my parts are intact with nothing missing, nothing broken. All the parts of my body function and work as they're designed. I receive what the Book says about me!" You may not have thought God cared about your parts but He does. Your parts are as important to Him as they are to you. He made them for you and He wants you to have them the way He made them. We need to get that revelation because God is ready to restore some parts. He wants to work miracles! Expect the Impossible I am fully expecting to see those miracles in the days and months to come. In times past, we've had people who were very small in stature because of disease or abnormality come to Healing School and ask us to pray for them that they might grow. Naturally, their DNA had patterned their body to be very small. But that's not their heavenly DNA. That's not how God designed them to be. That's just something that happened as a result of the

devil's work in this world. Through thousands of years of getting people to sin, he's been able to mess up God's perfect plan for people-not only spiritually but physically. Well, what do you think God did when He saw that the devil's work had perverted His divine plan and made that person abnormally small? Do you think He said, "Oh, my. I guess the devil won this time. I'd better go back to My book, scratch out My perfect physical plan for this person and write in 'midget-size,' instead." Certainly not. God never changes. He just kept the original entry in His book which says that person's DNA is perfect. Now He's waiting for somebody to agree with Him and believe for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. If faith in the Word of God is spoken and released without wavering, I believe we can see that small person GR-O-W up and become normal right before our eyes. You might think that would be impossible and, naturally speaking you'd be right. "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "All things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23) so we need to start believing. We need to start expecting the impossible! It's Never Too Late Of course, people with physical abnormalities or missing parts aren't the only ones who need miracles. Miracles are also needed when natural circumstances have gone on so long that it looks like it's too late for a turn around. Abraham and Sarah needed that kind of miracle, for example. They needed a child for their lives to be whole and intact. Yet they were well past childbearing age when God told them He was going to give them one. They were about 100 years old. No doubt, their natural thought was, Even if God did heal our barrenness, it's too late for us now. We're too old. That kind of thing can't happen this late in the game. But God did it for them, didn't He? He proved that it's never too late for a miracle. A friend of ours experienced a "never too late" kind of miracle in his family. His name was Justus Du Plessis and although he went home to be with the Lord a couple of years ago, he experienced some amazing things during his lifetime as a Pentecostal minister in South Africa. On one occasion his father was desperately ill. In fact his father's death was so imminent that the doctor who came to see him went ahead and filled out his death certificate. After the doctor left, the church members gathered around to pray and while they were praying, he was healed. Do you know what he did? He got up, took a shower, milked the cows and then walked to the doctor's house to return his death certificate. Talk about a miracle coming late in the game! You know it's late when you have to take back your own death certificate! Clearly with God, it's never too late for a miracle. The Definitive Factor Okay now, you may be thinking, if God wants to give me a miracle and I want to receive one-what's the problem? Why hasn't a miracle already taken place in my life? For a miracle to get from heaven to earth, a divine connection has to be made. Miracles aren't magic. They don't just happenpoof!because God decides to wave His miracle wand one day. No, miracles primarily occur when people put themselves in position to receive them. To find out how to position yourself for a miracle, you can study the miracles in the New Testament. As you do you'll see patterns emerge. You will find certain elements were most always involved when miracles happen.

The first of those elements is faith. Whenever a miracle takes place someone on earth is believing. It might be the person who needs the miracle. It might be the person who is ministering. It might be someone praying for the one who is in need. The situations may vary, but the fact remains that it is faith in God which connects the power of heaven with the need on earth. For a miracle to happen someone has to believe that God is willing and able to do itand do it now. Galatians 3:5 confirms that. There the Apostle Paul, rebuking the Galatians for their legalism, asks this question: "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?" (The Amplified Bible). The answer is obvious. God works miracles because we believe! We could look at one miracle after another and see that truth in action. In Mark 5, when the woman with the incurable issue of blood receives her healing, Jesus says, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 34). In Mark 10, when blind Bartimaeus receives his sight, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 52). In Luke 17, when the leper is not only healed but his body parts are restored and made whole from the disease that had eaten them away, Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (verse 19). In Acts 3, when Peter and John heal the man who was crippled from birth, they give glory to the name of Jesus. And Peter says, "His name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness" (verse 16). It's interesting to notice that the power of God isn't mentioned in most of those instances, just the faith of the people. I think that's because God's power and His willingness to heal and work miracles never changes. The variable is people's faith. Faith is the definitive factor. Just Do It As important as faith is, however, that alone won't get the whole job done. You can't just sit around believing on the inside and doing nothing on the outside. For faith to come alive you have to take action. As James 2:26 says, "faith without works is dead." You can see the connection between "doing" and receiving in the very first miracle Jesus ever performed. I especially like to think about this miracle because it was clearly not a miracle Jesus planned to do. It was one that was drawn out of Him by the person who most wanted that miracleHis own mother Mary. John 2 tells us that she and Jesus were attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the host ran out of wine. Mary looked to Jesus to do something about it. He told her His time to do such things had not yet come but her faith was unshaken. She continued to expect a miracle and she turned to the servants and said: Whatever He says to you, do it. Now there were six waterpots of stone standing there, as the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing) demanded, holding twenty to thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. So they filled them up to the brim. Then He said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the manager of the feast [to the one presiding, the superintendent of the banquet] (verses 5-8, The Amplified Bible).

What happened when the servants did what Jesus said? They saw a miracle. The water was turned into wine! It would serve us well to always remember what Mary told the servants that day. She said, "Whatever He tells you to do, do it." That's one of the major keys to receiving a miracle. Whatever the Lord says to youdo it. If the Lord tells you to get up and run, get up and run. If He tells you to dance and shout, then dance and shout. One time a man attended Healing School and during the meeting the Lord told him to run. He didn't want to run in the meeting so he ran out the door, ran outside and ran around the block. If you think that's silly, think again because he came back in healed! Whatever the Lord tells you to do, do it! If he tells you to repent of something, you repent. If he tells you to forgive someone, forgive them. He knows what you can do that will bring you into position to receive. So listen for His instructions, then obey! Kick Doubt Out Once you've believed and acted on your faith, refuse to doubt or fear. When the devil comes to you and says, You're not going to get that miracle. You don't deserve it. Remember how many times you've failed God. Refuse to entertain those doubt-producing thoughts. Instead, just answer him and say, "Bless the Lord, I don't get what I deserve. I get what Jesus bought for me. I get the mercy of God. I get a miracle!" Every time I think about refusing doubt and fear, I think about the story of Jairus. Initially, when he came to Jesus his daughter needed a healing. She was very sick and Jairus believed if Jesus came and laid His hands on her she would be healed. But before that healing could take place, Jairus' daughter died. Suddenly the girl didn't just need a healing, she needed a miracle. Do you know that Jesus wasn't disturbed by that? He knew that God could work a miracle just as easily as He could perform a healing. So he said to Jairus, "Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing" (Mark 5:36, The Amplified Bible). We know that this worked because the little girl was raised up whole. That's a good word for all of us who are positioning ourselves for a miracle. No matter what the devil says, no matter what circumstances may say, no matter what our natural senses might try to tell us, if we'll refuse to doubt, refuse to fear and keep on believing God, our miracle will surely come!

Speration Freedom
by Kenneth Copeland
All over the world right now freedom is under attack. The United States and nations standing with her against the forces of terror are continually on alert. They are constantly threatened with violence by those who hate their liberty. They are under assault by hidden foes intent on using all the devilish ingenuity they can muster to bind free nations everywhere and imprison them behind invisible bars of fear. You know all that as well as I do. But do you know that your personal freedom is under that same kind of vicious attack? Do you know the devil is working night and day to rob you of your liberty in Jesus? Do you know he is continually assaulting you with threats and lies meant to rob you of God's blessings and put you back in bondage to the evils from which you, as a born-again child of God, have already been freed?

If you don't, it's time you found out. It's time you got wise to the devil's schemes and launched your own "Operation Freedom" on the battlefield of life. How? By employing the one weapon that Jesus said would guarantee your freedomthe truth. What Worked for Jesus Will Work for You "The truth?" you may ask. "That's all I need to be liberated from the bondages of the devil?" Absolutely. Jesus Himself said so. In John 8, we find Him speaking to a group of new believers. Just moments before, they had put their faith in Him. No doubt they were just like you and me when we first believed on Himfull of enthusiasm and eager to be like the Lord. They were probably looking at Him thinking, Wow, this Man isn't in bondage to anything! He casts out devils. He heals sickness and disease. He isn't held captive by sin like we've been. I want to be His disciple! I want to be like Him! But there was one big problem. They didn't have the first idea of how to go about it. So at that moment, Jesus gave them the information they needed. He gave them the key that would unlock every door for them. He said: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). Have you ever read those verses and wondered how Jesus knew the truth would make those people free? He knew it because He had proven it in His own life. He had always lived in accordance with the truth of God's Word. Just a few verses earlier He had explained and said, "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things..The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" (verses 28-29). Most Christians don't realize that Jesus had to live by faith and obedience to God's Word just like we do. They make the mistake of thinking that He was able to live free from all the bondages and hindrances of the devil when He walked this earth because He was the Son of God. "Jesus couldn't have sinned" they say. "He couldn't have been sick. He couldn't have been afraid. After all, He was divine. He was God!" Yes, He was (and is) God.but He also was (and is) man. He could have sinned. Thank God He didn't, but He could have. We know that because the Bible says He "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). Even though Jesus is God, when He came to earth He laid down the rights, privileges and power that belonged to Him as God and lived as a man. As Philippians 2 says, He "stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity].in that He became like men and was born a human being" (verse 7, The Amplified Bible). What made and kept Jesus free, what held Him up and made Him strong was not His divine willpower. It wasn't even the fact that Almighty God was His Father. What made Him free was the fact that He walked on the Word of God! He said what His Father said. He did what His Father told Him to do. He lived on the Father's Word continually, night and day, and that Word kept Him free. So when those new believers needed to know how they could be His disciples, since a disciple is "one who is like his teacher," Jesus told them to do the same thing He had been doing. He said, "Keep on listening to Me like I listen to My Father. I'll keep on giving you His words, then you'll know the truth and that truth will make you just as free as I am!" Heavenly Freedom Here on Earth Think about that for a moment and let the reality of it hit you. The Word of God is the Word of freedom! Continuing in that truth is what made Jesus free.and continuing in that truth is what will make you free.

Actually you are already free. You stepped into that freedom the minute you were born again. The instant you believed the truth about Jesus and acted on it by receiving Him as your Lord and Savior, freedom was imparted into your spirit. God Himself made you a new creation. He made you righteous with His own righteousness. He wiped out your sinful past and gave you His own nature. He delivered you out of the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of the light of His Son. He set you freefreer than you ever dreamed you could be! (See Romans 8:2.) Most Christians haven't even begun to comprehend the kind of freedom they've been given in Jesus. Some will never experience it until they get to heaven. But we don't have to wait until then to enjoy it. If we'll continue in the Word, we can live in heavenly freedom right here on earth. "Well, Brother Copeland, I have sickness in my body and I don't know what to do about it." Go to the Word of God and get the truth about it and it will make you free. "I'm bound by bad habits and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to kick them." Go to the Word of God and get the truth about it. Then continue in that truth and it will make you free. "But I have real problems! I've been to doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists. I've been counseled by highly trained therapists and even they haven't been able to help me." Then they're not telling you the truth. All the medicine, psychology and psychiatrics in the world piled into one place cannot do what the Word of God can and will do in your life. The experts in those fields may tell you a lot of natural facts. They may give you a lot of information about your circumstances. They may even be able to provide some temporary help or relief. But Jesus said it's the Word of God that's the truth (John 17:17). So if they're not giving you the Word, they cannot make you free. Don't Buy the Lies Am I saying you should deny or ignore the natural facts and circumstances of life? Not at all. I'm saying if you want to be free, you must face them squarely and change them by faith in the Word of God. You see, facts are neither truths nor lies. They are simply temporary conditions. Truth is what God says about those conditions. Lies are what the devil says about them. If continuing in the truth of what God says about natural conditions and circumstances will make you free, then continuing in the lies the devil tells you about them will keep you bound, won't it? Certainly it will. That's why the devil lies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No wonder Jesus called the devil the father of lies! (John 8:44) Lies are the weapons of terror the devil uses to threaten and intimidate you. They're the prison bars he uses to lock you up in sin, sickness, sorrow and lackthe very things from which Jesus has set you free! When sickness attacks us, the devil lies to us and says, You might as well just go to bed.You're not going to get healed this time.This sickness is just your cross to bear...God wants to use it to teach you something. When we encounter financial needs, the devil lies and says, The money you need isn't going to come in time.You're never going to find a better job.You've always been poor and you'll always be poor.But that's OK, poverty is just God's way of keeping you humble. When we're in trouble and need deliverance, the devil lies to us and says, God won't help you out of this situation.After all, it's your own fault.He's just going to leave you in it to teach you a lesson. The devil will go on and on telling us junk like that. But the truth of God's Word proves it's all a deception. It tells us plainly that Jesus didn't come to leave us sick, poor and sad. He said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).

That's what Jesus was doing during His earthly ministry and since He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) that's what He is doing today! Tell the Truth About It One person who truly grasped this revelation was my mother. She was a true prayer warrior who loved God and was just plain brutal toward the devil. People knew that when she ministered to them, she would tell them the truth and it would make them free. So when she had a Monday night prayer group at her house, people just flocked to it. One evening, I was coming up her front walk after one of those Bible studies and I overheard a couple of Baptist preachers talking as they came out the front door. One of them turned to the other and said, "In all the years I've been in ministry, I've never had much sympathy for the devil," he said. "But after that woman got through with him, I kind of felt sorry for him, didn't you?" I always laugh when I think of it because that's just the way my mother was. She was rough on the devil. I remember one man she prayed for who probably thought (at least for a few minutes) she was pretty rough on people too. He was a young pastor named Jimmy Hester and when he first started coming to my mother's Bible study, he was concerned about his health. Although he was a young man, most of the men in his family including his father and grandfather had died young of heart disease and Jimmy was already showing signs of it. After the Bible study, Jimmy went to my mother for prayer and began to tell her the problem. "My grandfather died of heart trouble. My father died of heart trouble," he said. "Now I have high blood pressure and heart trouble myself." "I thought you said you were a preacher!" exclaimed my mother. "I am," said Jimmy. "Then tell me the truth about that," she demanded. "I just told you the truth. My grandfather died of heart trouble. My father died of heart trouble. Now I have high blood pressure and heart trouble myself." What Does the Bible Say? At that point, my mother literally boxed his ears! She grabbed them with both hands and began shaking his head from side to side. "Tell me the truth about it!" she said. "I told you the truth about it!" he answered in exasperation. "Do you have any idea what Isaiah 53 says? Do you have any idea what I Peter 2:24 says?" she asked (all the while still shaking his head by the ears). "They say that by Jesus' stripes you were healed!" Jimmy stood there, stunned, as the revelation hit him. Later he said to me, "People had told me I wasn't going to live very long. My doctors had given me bad reports. But your mother got through to me with the truth and suddenly I realized I had been believing the lies of the devil. It hit me so hard, I just walked out in a daze. "Kenneth, your mother saw the spirit of death on me. She knew she had to change my thinking quickly or I was going to die." Once Jimmy got hold of that truth he didn't let it go. He started attending my mother's Bible study regularly and growing in faith. His blood pressure began to settle down. His health began to improve. Why? Because he continued in the truth and that truth made him free. I talked to him years later on his 60th birthday. He'd just had a physical and his doctor had told him he was in perfect health with the heart of a 16-year-old. The last I heard, Jimmy was still out preaching the gospel all over the world. It's Your Choice

That's a good story, isn't it? It's an inspiring story. But it's Jimmy Hester's story. The question is, what's your story going to be? Now that you know your freedom is under attack, now that you know the thief has come to steal, kill and destroy the abundant life Jesus has given you, what are you going to do? It's your choice. You can believe the lies of the devil, take the facts at face value and end up imprisoned in sin, sickness, sorrow and lack. Or you can dig into the Word of God, build your faith, take a stand on the truth and launch your own "Operation Freedom." You can keep your ear tuned to the words of the Master and live just like He did. You can conquer sin, cast out devils, heal the sick and have every need met according to God's riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Sure, there will be battles along the way. There will be challenges to face and overcome. But if you continue in God's Word (the Perfect Law of Liberty), you will end up being a real disciple of Jesus because you will know the truth and the truth will make you free!

Understanding Redemption
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF version God is able to establish us in the faith according to the plan of redemption which had been hidden over the ages. After the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God spoke and outlined that plan. What He laid down put Satan out of business completely. Praise God! He has commanded that the plan of redemption be revealed to His people by His Word. This outline will help you, step by step, understand the reality of it and prevent Satan from lording over you. 1. The Plan of Redemption Called for an Incarnation (The Union of Divinity With Humanity in Jesus Christ) Man was the key figure in the Fall. Therefore, it took a man, Jesus, to be the key figure in the redemption of man. When we were born into this world, ruled by Satan, we did not naturally know God. Therefore, the objective of the incarnation is that men may be given the right to become children of God by receiving the nature of God (John 1:12-13; II Peter 1:3-4). 2. Redemption Comes From Knowledge God's divine power has already provided everything that pertains to life and godliness. You can escape from the corruption in the world and partake of the divine nature of God. And you can have peace and grace multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (II Peter 1:1-4). It's there for you! But this revelation knowledge is not sense knowledge - doctrine, philosophies and creeds - it is the reality and full truth of the Word of God revealed by the Holy Spirit (James 3:13-18). Revelation knowledge is literally knowledge brought to you by revelation! 3. Satan's Lordship Has Been Broken Revelation 12:11 tells us that the believers overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, or confession. Confession brings possession. Boldly confess, "I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of my testimony. I am redeemed from the lordship of Satan. I can stop his assignments every time" (II Corinthians 10:4; James 4:7). Satan is not the head of the Church. Jesus is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 4:15-16, 5:23; Colossians 1:18, 2:10). Satan has no rule over you. Hallelujah! 4. You Are Bought With a Price

I Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us we are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is received from God. This means that we don't own ourselves. We were bought with the price paid through the plan of redemption. Because of that, we should glorify God in our bodies and spirits. 5. God's Response When you begin to take your place and assume your rights and privileges in Christ, then God begins to respond to you. The Word gives us our inheritance (Acts 20:32; Colossians 1:12). As you study the scriptures in this outline, our prayer is that you come to the full knowledge of who you are in Christ, especially in light of the redemption plan. God will bless you! Amen!

Our Position of Authority as Believers

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by Kenneth Copeland
When you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, Colossians 1:13 says you were delivered from the power of darkness. The word power is literally translated authority. You have been delivered from the power, or authority, of darkness and placed into Gods kingdom. Jesus said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore... (Matthew 28:18-19). That power was given to you as part of your inheritance in Christ Jesus. You have entered into this position of authority because you are in Him. The Word says that righteousness has come upon all men (Romans 5:18). You may ask, Then why dont all become righteous? Because in order to receive it, you have to act on righteousness from the point of authority. Nov. 2, 1962, I used my authority as a human being and made a choice. I made the decision to receive Jesus as Lord of my life. At that moment, the righteousness that had been upon me came inside me. I was made the righteousness of God in Christ. II Corinthians 5:21 says, He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Secured Our Power and Authority Jesus succeeded in securing all power by going to the cross, dying a horrible death, suffering the penalty for sin and defeating Satan in the pit of hell. He came to earth as a man for one reason: to recapture the authority Satan had stolen through Adams disobedience in the Garden. Jesus was called the last Adam (I Corinthians 15:45). After securing that power and authority, He freely gave it over into the hands of those who would believe on Him you and me. It is not enough for us to simply accept Jesus work at Calvary. We are held responsible for much more. Jesus words in Mark 16 were not intended for the early Church alone. His words are just as vital and real today as when they were first spoken. Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead. His words to them form the basic foundation for the work of the New Testament Church. It was at that time He delegated the authority to carry out that work. Beginning in verse 15, Jesus said: Go ye into all the world, and

preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover ( Mark 16:15-18). We Have Authority to Preach the Gospel Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Every born -again believer has the authority and responsibility to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in this earth. If you cant go, you can send someone in your place. And these signs shall follow them that believe.... Notice who is to do all these things: them that believe. The signs will follow the believers who act in faith and boldly speak in Jesus Name. They shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall lay hands on the sick. Believers are the ones with the power and authority to do these things. Verse 20 says, They went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. God will confirm His Word, but first it has to be spoken forth. That is where you and I come in. God does not preach; He has given us the authority to do the preaching. God will not lay hands on the sick. He will bring the healing, but you and I as believers must lay hands on the sick by faith, believing God will perform His Word. We Have Authority to Stand Against Satan One of the most vital areas of the believers authority is his power to successfully stand against Satan. Ephesians 4:27 says, Neither give place to the devil. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul describes the armor that we as believers are to wear in combat against Satan. He explains each piece of that armor. It is the armor of God. But not once does he say that God will put the armor on you or that God will fight the devil for you. You is the understood subject of these verses. He says, [You] be strong in the Lord. [You] put on the whole armour of God, that [you] may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [You] take the whole armour of God, that [you] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, [you] stand. God has given you the power and the authority to stand against Satan and his destructive works. He has provided the armor, but it is your responsibility as a believer to put on that armor and stand against the devil. James 4:7 says, [You] resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The armor and the weapons are at your disposal. God is there with you to back His Word; but all that is worthless unless you take your position of authority and assume the responsibility to use what He has provided. You have the power and the authority to take the Word of God, the Name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and run Satan out of your affairs. Dont pray and ask God to fight Satan for you. You are the one in authority. Take your responsibility and speak directly to Satan yourself and stand your ground firmly. He will flee! We Are Seated With Him in High Authority In Ephesians 1, Paul prayed a prayer for the body of believers in Ephesus. One part of that prayer was that they know the exceeding greatness of his power to [those] who believe ( Ephesians 1:19). That exceeding great power is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies. Ephesians 1:21 tells us that Jesus is seated far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named. The work God did in Jesus was supreme. He raised Jesus from the dead and set Him far above all other authoritynot only in this world, but also in the heavenly world. Then verses 22-23 say that

God has put all things under His feet and made Him head over the Church which is His body. Where are the feet? They are in the body. As believers, we are part of His body and we are seated with Him in that highly exalted place of authority. Praise God! Look at Ephesians 2: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (verses 1, 5-6). We are seated together with Him. Where? Far above all principality and power and might and dominion. As a believer, you have accepted the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary. Therefore, you are part of His body and are seated with Him in that heavenly place, equipped with the same power, the same authority that He has. The great power that God worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead is the same creative power of God that worked in you to make you alive when you were dead in your trespasses and sins. The moment you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, that same power was exercised on your dead, unregenerate spirit, causing it to be reborn in the likeness of God Himself. Any man who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation: old things have passed away, all things are new, and all things are of God (II Corinthians 5:17-18). We Have the Power of Gods Word to Exercise Our Authority And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (Mark 4:35-40). Jesus spoke the words, Let us pass over unto the other side, and there was enough power and authority in those words to accomplish the job. One thing I want you to notice is that Jesus did not take command of the ship to see that His words were carried out. He walked to the back of the boat and went to sleep. Jesus delegated the authority to His disciples and they accepted it. But when the storm came, they were filled with fear that the boat would sink. Jesus had to carry out the responsibility of authority, which He had delegated to them, by rebuking the wind and the sea. Do you see the parallel here? You are the captain of your ship. You have control over your own life your spirit, your soul and your body. Jesus has delegated power, or authority, over Satan to you as a believer. You are to give him no place in your life. You are born of the Spirit of God. You are filled with the Spirit of God. You have been given the Word of God. Those three elements are enough for you to carry out your spiritual authority here in the earth. You dont need any more power. You have all the power necessary. You simply have to exercise your authority. Jesus has already done everything necessary to secure the authority and power over sin, sickness, demons and fear. You have to employ the faith action to receive that authority and join forces with Him in this earth. You are the one to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We Have Authority to Act as New Creations Hebrews 2:14 says, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. Jesus partook of flesh and blood, so that you could partake of spirit

and life. For you to partake of that spirit and life, you must take the responsibility of standing in the place of authority as the new creation in Christ Jesus that you are. You are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God (I Peter 1:23). It was the Word of Almighty God that was injected into your spirit man to bring about the new birth in your life. When the Church was first beginning, Acts 12:24 described it as the Word growing and multiplying. The Word is in you, but you are the one who must be willing to allow it to work in you. Ephesians 4:21-24 says, If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. You are the one in authority. It is your responsibility to put off the old man the unregenerate man that you were before you accepted Jesus. The Holy Spirit does the actual work in you, but you must make the decision to allow Him to do it. God has never forced His will on any person. You put off the old man. You use the Word of God to renew your mind. You put on the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. We Can Minister and Walk From a Point of Authority Gods power is in His Word. He is upholding all things by the word of his power ( Hebrews 1:3). You need to learn to minister and walk from a point of authority. In His earthly ministry, Jesus said such things as Be thou made whole. Take up your bed and walk. Then Peter said to a lame man, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). He too ministered and spoke from a point of authority. Its time for you as a believer to begin to act that way. You have obtained an inheritance, and in that inheritance you have been given all authority. The God of the universe lives inside you! He lives and walks in you. Become God-inside-minded and you will begin to walk in this point of authority. Keep right on building yourself up in your inheritance. You live in a world that is full of evil influences. Satan would like you to forget the reality of being born again and never realize your place of authority in Christ Jesus, because if you do, that power you walk in makes you absolutely dangerous to him. He has no defense against you when you walk in the power of Gods Word. When you see in the Word that you are in Christ Jesus, that you are in Him, then confess it with all your heart. Then you will be strong, standing in a point of authority and operating in your inheritance in Him. As you do this, the power of God will always be available to work in your behalf. Praise God! It is important to understand that God knows how to bring you out of trouble. There is nothing God doesnt know how to handle. Psalms 34 outlines eight steps to follow to come out of trouble. 1. The first thing to do is pray. Verse four begins, I sought the Lord. Your part is to pray and invite Him into your life. 2. You must trust God. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him (Psalms 34:8). Put the whole balance of your life, your security, in the Lord. Rely on the character, strength and ability of God to deliver you. Fear and unbelief, which are a lack of trust in God, will hinder or stop you from receiving Gods help.

3. Fear the Lord. This does not mean to be afraid of Him, but to give Him honor and respect. Take whatever you find in the Word, knowing it is true, and put it into your life. When God speaks, quickly make changes or adjustments. 4. Seek the Lord with all your heart. Listen to the prompting of the inward witness. The counsel of God will deliver you out of trouble. God will protect you, keeping you safe from injury, harm and destruction. He will preserve you by instructing and teaching you, but you must make the effort to listen and learn. Trusting Him causes His mercy to surround you. 5. Dont criticize and judge others. Brother Copeland says there are two times to pray for a personwhen hes right and when hes wrong. It is the Lords job, not ours, to bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts (I Corinthians 4:5). Your part is to keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit (Psalms 34:13). 6. Depart from evil. Psalms 34:14 says, Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive unto God. When sin calls your name, dont respond to it. When God calls your name, be quick to respond.

7. Determine to do good (verse 14). You are to be like Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). Be busy doing good, praying and ministering to others. 8. Seek peace. Dont be the one who brings discord, quarreling, fighting and strife. Instead, be the one who brings peace, calmness and harmony (verse 14). Receiving Gods power and deliverance is not automatic. Your deliverance is controlled by how yo u see God, how you treat God, how you listen to Him and how you obey Him. You must come to a new place of faith and trust in God. You will never be able to fathom with your mind the counsel of the Lord. His wise counsel may even appear to us to be foolishness. But He is far smarter than we are. When you seek God, trust Him, hear His counsel and do what He tells you. He will bring you out of trouble.

A Confession of Victory Over Defeat

Thank You Lord that the devil is a powerless, defeated foe! And, in Christ Jesus I am victorious! I am not moved by overwhelming feelings or past failures because God is bigger and more powerful than anything and everything Ive ever been through. I walk in the promises God has for me and my mind is transformed by His Word. I command all strongholds to bend their knee to the authority of Jesus Christ! No matter what my situation looks like, I choose to believe Gods truth and tear down the devils lies. I am not defeated! I have set my hope in Jesus and by faith I walk in victory!

Confession References (Colossians 2:13-15, I Corinthians 15:57, I John 4:4, Romans 12:2, II Corinthians 10:3-5, II Corinthians 1:10-11, I John 5:4)

Overcoming Confession
Lord, I cried out to you in my time of distress, and You heard my voice. You have made me victorious over __________. Therefore, by faith I am an overcomer! I meditate on and obey Your Word as I am going through this situation, and therefore I have good success. I will not think on what past result were, but instead stay faith focused on what I know is comingtotal freedom! Thank You for making me free from ________. You have already delivered me from my enemy. Confession References (Psalms 18:6, Psalms 50:15, Joshua 1:8, Psalms 18:17, 19)

Deliverance from Habits Confession

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF version Thank you Lord that I am redeemed from the curse, and that I am delivered from ________. You have plucked my feet out of the net. I am trusting in and obeying Your Word and will have good success and victory over _________. I believe that no weapons formed against me shall prosper! In fact, by faith I overcome every temptation and put on the full armor of God! Through this journey You restore my soul. I earnestly seek You, thirst for You and long for You. I praise You with my lips and bless Your Name. Thank You for Your loving kindness. You have given me the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing will hurt me. You are for me, none can be against me! Confession References (Galatians 3:13, Psalms 25:14-15, Joshua 1:8, Isaiah 54:17, I Corinthians 10:13, Ephesians 6:10-18, Psalms 63:1-5, Luke 10:19, Romans 8:31)