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Posts Tagged ‘offering’

Gloria Copeland — The Power of Praise and Tithing

05 May

Kenneth And Gloria Copeland

Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send
now prosperity.
” Again, as in Deuteronomy 26, you are saying to
the Lord, “Send us prosperity.”

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we
have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is
the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice
with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art
my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will
exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:
for his mercy endureth for ever.

When you start giving this way, just as a praise to God, things
will begin to happen in your financial life. Praise is a tremendous
tool in releasing the power of God. Combined with the law of
giving, it is unbeatable! There is no standard return on giving as
a praise to God, and it took David from sheepherder to king of
Israel. Do you think God loves poverty? Read a literal Hebrew
translation or The Amplified Bible and see the vast amount of
money David put into building the temple. It was millions of
dollars! David was a prosperous man. The Bible says he was a
man after God’s own heart. Where do you suppose he got all his
wealth? From the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who gave
him the power to get wealth.

Now we have discussed these different areas of making
deposits, but there are times when you can combine some of
them and be even more blessed by it. I remember when I was
preaching a meeting that God had said would be a turning
point in my ministry. I wondered if He meant it to be a turning
point the wrong way! The first evening service we had eight
people. My first offering was $4.25. Naturally, I was stumped,
so I went before the Lord and asked, “What in the world am I
going to do?” He said, “You are going to believe Me!” Then He
showed me some things from His Word and circumstances
began to pick up. The offering got all the way up to $33 one
night! I decided to send it home to my wife and the Lord said,
“$33 won’t pay your bills. If you believe My Word about tithing,
if you believe that Jesus will take your money and worship
Me with it, why don’t you tithe now on the amount you are
needing and expecting in the future offerings of this meeting?
In fact, your $33 will do just fine.” That’s all He said. From
then on it was up to me; it involved faith on my part. You see,
the money belonged to me. The Lord didn’t demand that I
tithe beforehand. All I actually owed in tithes was $3.30; He
wanted me to give as a praise to Him for what I expected Him
to do, and that is exactly what I did. I combined tithing with
giving as a praise to God and the Lord blessed the meeting in
every way. It started with eight people, but by Friday night
people were literally sitting in the windows because there
wasn’t enough room to seat everyone. That meeting turned out
to be the best meeting I had ever had financially up to that
time. Praise the Lord! Can you see the blessings that are available
in these things?

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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Kenneth Copeland — Psalm 118, A Praise Offering

28 Apr

Kenneth And Gloria Copeland

The Word says God inhabits the praises of His people (see
Psalm 22:3) and that He will maintain our right and our cause
when we praise Him (see Psalm 9:1-4). God instructed me to
use Psalm 118 when I give a praise offering. Let’s examine it.

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because
his mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, that his
mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now
say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let them now that
fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever. I
called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me,
and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side.

By the time I reach this last phrase, I am about ready to
shout! The Word says that if God is for you, then nobody can
successfully remain your enemy (see Romans 8:31).

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do
unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help
me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate
me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence
in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence
in princes. All nations compassed me about: but in
the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed
me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name
of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about
like bees; they are quenched as the fires of thorns.

This word thorns stands for “strife.”

For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. Thou
hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord
helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and is
become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand
of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

Of course, the “right hand of the Lord” is Jesus. You are
praising Jesus when you do this.

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the
Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath
not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of
righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the
Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous
shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me,
and art become my salvation. The stone which the
builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will
rejoice and be glad in it.

You have probably heard this last verse all your life, but
with the whole psalm around it and in the light of what it is for,
you can see its full significance.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

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