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Posts Tagged ‘heart’

Gloria Copeland — Harden Not Your Heart

21 Jan

Kenneth And Gloria Copeland

For so many years I walked on the written Word of God and depended on it. It changed my life. The Word renewed my thinking. I began to think like God thinks in many ways. But one area in which I was insecure was making decisions when the Word did not give me specific directions.

The Word does not tell us whether to move to another city or what person to marry. We have to make these individual decisions by the direction of God’s Spirit in our spirits. We have to learn to listen to our spirit who is being communicated with by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:16 says the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits.

You cannot wait until you see a burning bush or hear an audible voice to follow God. If you did, you would not know where you are going most of the time. I wish it were so plain when God talks to us that we could hear His audible voice, but that audible voice happens too rarely to rely on for everyday guidance.

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness…. Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts (Hebrews 3:7-8, 4:7).

You must be willing to hear His voice and harden not your heart. How do you harden your heart? You resist the Word of God and the promptings of the Spirit. You decide, “No, that is not my will; I have decided to go another way.” You might not make that actual declaration, but if the Spirit of God leads you to do something and you fail to do it, essentially you are saying, “I shall do my own will in this matter.” If you harden your heart, it is unbelief to the written Word and to the voice of the Spirit of God that comes up within you. Harden your heart and you will not live in rest.

One definition of harden is “to make firm, solid or rigid.” In Ezekiel 36:26, God says He will take away the stony heart and give a heart of flesh, or a soft heart, a pliable heart. You could say it is a heart that the Holy Spirit can maneuver.

So, if you harden not your heart, what happens to you?

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:9, 11).

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Gloria Copeland — Faith: A Violent Force Part 2

15 Dec

Kenneth And Gloria Copeland

The faith-filled lifestyle is ordained by God and is the only walk that works. It works by principles and laws that God put into operation.

To live this lifestyle, faith must be in two places—in your heart and in your mouth.

If faith is only in your heart, then it’s not expressing itself and therefore, can’t be applied to the natural realm around you. When you’re in the midst of a struggle, save yourself some time—just look at the opening right under your nose. That’s usually the answer to “What have I been doing wrong?” You’ve been talking the problem instead of the answer. On the other hand, if it’s only in your mouth and not in your heart, then there’s no real force behind it because faith comes from the heart.

Faith is the only force that will change natural things or natural circumstances. It is the only force that can apply itself to the natural realm to change or move a mountain.

But you won’t have that powerful faith if you’re influenced by the world’s goods and feeding on its information. The source you draw from determines what is going to be on the inside of you and what will come out.

You may know God’s promises. But if you don’t take the time to put God’s Word in your heart—even though you might be able to “say” the right things—your words won’t come out in power to move your mountain.

Maybe you are feeding on God’s Word, and yet the situation you face still seems impossible. I know it’s hard to speak words of faith when you’re facing such hard times. But don’t stop feeding on the only thing that can change your situation. Remember, you were born again so that you could accomplish hard things—impossible things!

I think it was a great blessing that Ken and I were in our own impossible situation financially when we first began to hear the word of faith. (I didn’t think it was a blessing then, of course, but I do now!) Our finances were minus zero at that point in our lives. We didn’t have anything but our debts.

We were so desperate we had to believe God. It was the hardest believing we ever did because we didn’t know very much

It was easier for us to believe our way out of the $6 million deficit we faced a few years ago than it was to believe for the little amount we needed back then. But do you know, when it came down to it—when we needed to receive that $6 million—we did exactly the same thing we did the first time we ever believed for grocery money.

We fought the fight of faith. We got aggressive with the Word.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Kenneth Copeland — Jesus Will Help You to Be Sensitive

08 Jul

Kenneth And Gloria Copeland

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, it is impossible to be sensitive in your spirit. An unregenerate spirit is only full of woe and hate. You can’t be sensitive and loving with a dead spirit. You could resolve to be loving and kind from now on and it won’t last, because it is not the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. The kind of sensitivity we are talking about is the life of God. The Bible says that those who have blinded minds are alienated from the life of God. 

Yet, through the new birth, God has promised to give you a new heart. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). A deep sensitivity will come and abide inside you.

It is the very heart of God. You will have a heart of flesh that can feel the deep sensations of the heart of God. When He is grieved, you will be grieved. When He is full of joy, you will be full of joy. The life of God residing in your spirit is essential to your eternal salvation. Jesus said, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). His life in you, is your assurance of victory in this life.

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5). You can overcome all the pressures and problems of the age we live in through Jesus Christ and sensitivity to His Spirit, His life and His compassion abiding in you.

You do not have to be defeated by inflation, depression, divorce, religious traditions, or sickness and disease. The Greater One indwells you. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). 

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can receive Him now. I want you to join me now in praying this prayer. Don’t just read it; make a conscious effort to speak these words from the very depths of your being. When you finish praying, you will be born again:

Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus, I present myself to You. I pray and ask Jesus to be Lord over my life. I believe it in my heart, so I say it with my mouth: Jesus has been raised from the dead. This moment, I make Him the Lord over my life. Jesus, come into my heart. I believe that I am saved this moment. I believe that I am a child of Almighty God. I am reborn. I am a Christian. I believe that I have a sensitive heart and that I can know the very heartbeat of God.

I renounce sin, Satan, and all he stands for. I renounce the past and look to Jesus for the future. Now, I purpose to be sensitive to Your life and nature in my heart. By the help of the Holy Spirit, I will outwardly express the image of Jesus that I inwardly possess. Thank You for the power, the ability and the privilege, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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