January 2015 - KCM Blog Skip to main content

Are You Afraid of the Devil?

by Kenneth Copeland

Are you afraid of the devil? Do you fear that the devil can destroy you at any given moment?

Well, if you are a born-again, Holy Spirit baptized, Bible-believing Christian, you don’t have to be scared of him. In fact, he should be scared of you. If you are living a Spirit-filled life, fully understanding your covenant rights, then you should be so spiritually fierce that every morning when you get out of bed, he shakes in his boots and says, “Oh no! He (or she) is up again!”

“Well, I’d rather not antagonize the devil,” you might say. “He’s got some serious power. He owns practically the whole world!”

No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t have the title deed to anything. Let’s look at three reasons why you don’t have to be afraid of the devil.

# 1 – You don’t have to be afraid of the devil because Jesus already defeated him.

Jesus took everything away from the devil. Through the Cross and the Resurrection, He “spoiled principalities and powers” and “made a show of them openly, triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). He completely stripped Satan of all his power and authority and left him with zero. Nada. Nothing.

#2 – You don’t have to be afraid of the devil because Jesus now owns the whole earth.

If Satan is going to control or influence anything now, he has to steal it because Jesus bought the earth back in its entirety. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). He is the “heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2), which means he owns everything that exists, and He is “upholding all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).

#3 – You don’t have to be afraid of the devil because you are a joint-heir with Jesus.

As Jesus’ joint heirs, everything that belongs to Him belongs to us and we’re jointly responsible for exercising authority over it (Romans 8:16-17). That’s why Isaiah 9:6, prophesying about Jesus, said “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” The government referred to there isn’t the political operation of Democrats and Republicans and such. It’s the governing authority of the kingdom of God which came to earth when Jesus was raised from the dead.

Jesus has given us the responsibility of enforcing the victory He’s already won over the devil. He has commissioned us to manifest the kingdom of God in power and authority on earth just like He manifested it here Himself over 2,000 years ago.

Don’t ever doubt that you are born of the same Spirit. You’ve been given His Name which is above every other name (Philippians 2:9; Ephesians 3:14-15). You’ve been made righteous with His own righteousness, raised up together with Him, and made to sit together with Him in heavenly places (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:6). As a partaker of His heavenly calling, you have the same mission (Hebrews 3:1). What’s more, Jesus Himself said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).

You don’t have to be afraid of the devil. Instead, you can be like Jesus and walk in just as much authority over the devil as He did. You can see to it that everything in your life is upheld according to the will and THE BLESSING of God.

 

Source: Kenneth Copeland, “Upheld by The WORD of His Power, 0813 BVOV, 2013 Word of His Power Conference, Word of Life Church, 2/14/13, 7:30pm (kc021413)

 

3 Rules of Faith to Stay Tough in Tough Times

by Gloria Copeland

Do you realize how close we are to the Lord’s return to this earth? The signs are all around us. Every day there are reports of wars, terrorism, natural disasters, famines and epidemics. The world today is just as Jesus described it in Matthew 24. And, as He warned, this is just the beginning!

But Jesus also said something else in that chapter-in verse 6, He said, “Don’t panic” (New Living Translation-96)! And in verse 14, as He sat down with His disciples, He told them: “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come.”

Glory to God! Before the end comes, every nation will have an opportunity to hear the good news that Jesus is Lord! And who are they going to hear it from? From you and me, that’s who! That’s the important part you and I play in God’s plan for these last days.

We’ll get the job done because we are personally committed to be part of His plan. We will be right in the middle of the battle. He has provided everything we will need to stand and give the world Jesus! We are His Body in this earth and He has us totally covered.

As we live our lives before others in these last days, they will take notice of us. They will ask us: “Why aren’t you panicking?” “Why aren’t you caving in to the circumstances?” “How do you do it?”

How Do We Do It?

Almost every day we see images from around the world of military personnel on the front lines in all kinds of situations. In the war zones, they are protected by body armor, trusting that their governments have given them the best equipment and tools to keep them safe from enemy attacks.

Just like those military personnel, we stand against an enemy-against the strategies of the devil-with God’s perfect equipment and tools protecting us.

So here’s our answer to those who watch us and ask their questions: We don’t panic, and we don’t cave in by the power of faith and love-our body armor!

In 1 Thessalonians 5, the Apostle Paul gives a clear picture to the Church as we prepare for the Lord’s return:

But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night…. But let us who live in the light think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation (verses 4-5, 8, NLT-96).

The Hebrew word for armor is a word that means “circle.” Armor makes a circle around us for protection. Faith and love, then, encircle us to protect us always from the tactics of the devil. They are the foundation of all we are as children of God.

A day came for each of us when we heard how much God loves us. And through faith we believed and received Jesus as our Savior, the fulfillment of God’s love. The salvation Jesus provides covers every area of our lives where the devil might be able to get a foothold. It covers our peace, our health, our prosperity and our relationships.

From the day we received the covering (the helmet) of our salvation, we began to grow and mature in faith and love. The more we learned from God’s Word about how much He loves us, the more we fell in love with Him and His Word. And the more we began to see that the devil has nothing in us or on us, we discovered he is powerless over our lives because of the faith and love that cover us as body armor!

Faith has never failed us, and neither has love. And they never will!

Rule #1 – Faith Always Works

Ken and I have walked by faith for many years now. We’ve lived by faith, have been healed by faith, have prospered by faith and our family has been blessed by faith.

We know that faith in God’s Word always works!

We have no place to go but to His Word to live our lives. We are totally dependent on it. It has seen us through more than 43 years of gospel ministry. It has raised our children and fulfilled God’s plan for each of their lives.

I believe these are monumental days on earth. Every day is dangerous and presents opportunities to overcome. Just like you and your family, the Copeland family has faced some pretty challenging days. But, our armor of faith has always been in place, it has always held fast and sure, and it has always protected us-no matter what the challenge. We are ready for whatever may come.

But that’s not because of anything we’ve done in ourselves. Jesus gave us His Name and the authority to overcome in every battle. We have the Word of God directing us, and keeping our thinking straight-increasing our faith. As we keep the Word in our eyes and in our ears, it tells us how to pray, how to act, how to respond, how to speak in every situation. We have the Spirit of God teaching us, guiding us into all truth, praying with us and empowering us. We really have no excuse not to face every situation with confidence!

Whatever happens in this world today or tomorrow doesn’t have to unsettle us, because we’re not of the world. The Apostle John said, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). That means, believing what the Word says-that Jesus is the Son of God (verse 5), and being armed with faith-is the victory that overcomes the world. That means depression, recession, war, famine-whatever you can think of-faith knows how to handle it all. Hallelujah!

So, we don’t have to face the days ahead in fear. We don’t have to panic! Because we live and walk in faith, we are not normal people. We are supernatural people, connected to the Lord Jesus Christ, to our heavenly Father and to the Holy Ghost, who made this world and to whom it all belongs! We are connected by faith, and faith always works!

Rule #2 -Faith Works by Love

Faith gets its strength and power from love!

God loves you! That’s probably the first word of God any of us heard that began to build faith in our hearts.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We are not in this world without a savior. When we believed that God sent Jesus to save us and received Him, we were born again. Before that, we were like a disaster going someplace to happen. Now we minister to people in disasters and say, “We’re here for you! We’re here to let you know God loves you! We’re here to help you get in on His love!”

God loves us and He loves every person in this world. What a great privilege to be messengers of His love, telling men, women, children-people everywhere-that God loves them. We get to demonstrate His love, reaching out to them in their time of need-walking with them and sharing the truth of His Word with them.

God has commissioned us to be His love in action. But we’re not out here on our own-we have His Word to show us how we are to respond to situations, regardless of what they are or how intense they may appear. We have the Holy Spirit to give us direction and understanding as He guides us through those situations. And we have the Body of Christ-we have each other-to partner with, to join resources and to do so much more together than any one of us could do alone.

Love is the fuel of faith. Paul helps us understand this in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (New King James Version):

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails….

This is what the love of God looks like in His children. Love reaches beyond itself and right into the lives of others. Our love puts other people before us. This is who we are and how we live out God’s love by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It’s what activated faith looks like as it is fueled by love. This is how the body armor of faith and love works!

Rule #3 – Stay Covered!

We may soon be facing some pretty tough times in our nation and in the world. And Jesus says we’ll see worse. But we do not have to panic or worry, because we will be continually covered and protected during these times.

There is no end to our body armor. We cannot slip out from under its cover unless we remove ourselves. The key to staying covered is simple-the Word of God.

Faith is built in our hearts and increased by the Word of God. There is no other way to receive faith and keep it built into our lives except by the Word.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:8-17, NKJV).

We were all saved by faith in God’s Word. We live every day of our lives in faith by the Word, and will continue to do so until Jesus returns. Nothing can take the Word from us-not the devil; not religious traditions. All the devil can do is lie to us about the circumstances in our lives. And religious tradition can try to make us think we can get by without the Word of God-without our body armor of faith and love. But as we spend time with the Lord in His Word, neither the devil nor religious tradition can shake our faith or stifle our love.

We can face the days ahead knowing we have nothing to fear, and that the gospel of Jesus will be preached to every nation.

Nothing can remove your body armor of faith and love-God’s got you covered!

KCM Partners With EHI to Aid Liberia During Ebola Crisis

In October 2014, KCM partnered with Earth Harvest Initiative (EHI) to help with the Ebola crisis in Liberia. Because of the faithful support of KCM Partners, we were able to donate money to Earth Harvest initiative to purchase food and needed medical equipment and supplies that directly helped with the Ebola crisis. In addition, KCM donated funds to purchase an ambulance for the city of Monrovia, so the city could have a greater capacity to transport patients. Thank you, Partners, for your faithfulness! Because of you, we were able to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Liberia!

Pictured: Ceremonies were held to turn over the donated supplies to the towns for distribution.

Ceremonies were held to turn over the donated supplies to the towns for distribution.

Pictured: The team that delivered some of the supplies

The team that delivered some of the supplies.

Pictured: Presentations were made to the people about how to avoid Ebola

Presentations were given to the people about how to prevent the spread of Ebola.

Pictured: The KCM ambulance donated to the town of Monrovia!

The KCM ambulance donated to the town of Monrovia!

6 Keys to Bring Increase in 2015

I always love the start of a new year. It’s like I have a clean slate to work from, and I will spend days and months filling it up with all the great things the Lord brings my way. I know everything in my life is for His purpose because I look to Him to guide me every day. And I know, because my heart is set on being where He wants me to be and doing what He wants me to do, every day will bring increase to my life. I am always open to receive all He has for me!

So, what are you expecting to receive this new year? Better health? Improved relationships? More effective ministry? A new job? Financial freedom?

Well, you can have exactly what you expect!

I know one thing we all desire is increase in our lives-every day in every area. And I have found that there is just no end to God’s increase. He is good to His children and His generosity toward us is everlasting. He loves us!

In our 47 years of living in the truth of God’s Word, Ken and I have discovered that increase becomes the standard of living for those who make the decision that receiving from their heavenly Father will be their way of life. When we are born again of God’s Spirit, He puts us on a path that leads us to the life we see Jesus living.

Jesus lived free of lack and worry. He was perfectly healthy. His close relationships were thriving. His every need was met and He met the need of every person who sought Him. His was a life of continual increase to the point that, even by His death and resurrection, He made the way for every person on earth to be filled with God’s glory and provision!

God’s plan has always been to bring increase to His people.

Key #1 – Make Increase Your Way of Life

As Ken and I have been on this path of increase, we have discovered keys to receiving all God has planned for us. His Word clearly tells us He has a plan for His children: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:11, New Living Translation).

Part of His plan for us is that we help you discover and live out God’s plan for you in fullness! We have learned from God’s Word that seven things in particular bring increase to our lives: walking in truth and obedience, faithfulness, diligence, tithing, sowing, believing and saying. By applying our lives to these seven things, we have opened ourselves to receiving all God has planned for us-all He needs us to have to fulfill His plan. You notice I didn’t say applying these seven things to our lives. That’s because this is not some kind of formula for receiving increase. Instead, these things have become our standard for living-they are our way of life.

Key #2 – Walk in Truth and Obedience

Many people wonder, Does God really want me to prosper? God answers that question in 3 John 2: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

In verses 3-4, the Apostle John writes, “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

If our way of life is going to be one of victory and prosperity, we must walk in the truth of God’s Word. Believers all over the world live defeated lives, far below God’s provision, because they don’t know the Word of God and have little faith.

The Word is our source for knowing God’s will and His ways. It expresses His love to us. As we obey His Word, His love is reflected in our daily living, causing us to walk through life just as Jesus walked. John made that clear when he wrote, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments…. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:3, 5-6, New King James Version).

The great commandments that Jesus walked in were love God, and love your neighbor (see Mark 12:30-31). There is a lack of love in the world today, and it leads to lack in every area of life. The Word of God and His Spirit living inside teach us how to be true lovers of God and one another. When we walk in those commandments, we discover the power to receive everything else in our lives by faith in His Word-faith fueled by love (Galatians 5:6). So, walking in truth and obedience-living in faith according to God’s Word-is essential to our receiving increase in this life.

Key #3 – Be faithful and Diligent

We all know someone who, when they first heard the truth about all God has made available to His people, grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go of His Word. But somehow their lives seemed to have gone backward. Once filled with all the good things of God, their lives have slipped into distress and struggling relationships. What happened?

They laid aside the truth of God’s Word. Things got too tough or someone began to talk them out of their faith. Maybe they just gave up.

Faithfulness and diligence are also keys to keeping yourself open to receiving all the increase God desires to bring into your life.

“A faithful man shall abound with blessings,” Proverbs 28:20 tells us.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Faithfulness in us makes us go after what God has promised to us. It knows God will bless and increase our lives just as He says. Diligence makes us keep after it…never giving up! It knows there is no other source but God and won’t look anywhere else for provision.

As we practice faithfulness and diligence, we begin to receive what Peter said we should expect:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:2-4, NKJV).

When we know that, nothing in this world can attract us, or distract us. We know our source of life and godliness, and we don’t settle for anything less than God’s will and His way of fulfilling our lives. Whatever He calls us to do, whatever He tells us to do, whatever the Word says to us-that’s the way it’s going to be!

The Spirit of God in us-the divine nature Peter talks about-is how we walk in faithfulness and diligence and receive all the things that enable us to walk as Jesus walked. He lived to love and give to others. That was His purpose, and it should be ours as well.

Key #4 – Tithe and Give

Jesus’ life was the expression of God’s love for people. Everything He did was to show them God’s salvation-to deliver THE BLESSING to them and to deliver them from the curse. Jesus enjoyed His life, His friends and everything He had received as God’s Son. Everything about His life was an investment in people to whom God led Him.

Through the principles of tithing and giving, we have opportunity to invest into the lives of people as God leads us. Tithing gets God involved in our finances. According to the words of the prophet in Malachi 3:11, tithing protects the assets God has given us: “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.”

For Ken and me tithing is part of our worship. When we locked into God’s Word on tithing, our lives began to change. Proverbs 3:9-10, for example, tells us to “honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency…and with the firstfruits of all your income; so shall your storage places be filled with plenty…” (The Amplified Bible). So, we set our tithe apart, pray over it, thank God for what He has done for us and for what our tithe will do for the ministry of the gospel. We place it into ministry where He tells us.

You may say, “I will have to become more prosperous before I can tithe.” You would be living backward doing that. Tithing is the basis for your prosperity…the foundation of increase for your life. Once you make the decision to tithe, regardless of your circumstances, prosperity will come.

In fact, you’ll find yourself looking for every opportunity to sow into the good works of ministry and into people’s lives. The truth of 2 Corinthians 9:7-11 will become a reality in your life.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God (NKJV).

Our tithing and giving are fundamental to opening the door for God to bring increase to our lives.

Jesus said it, and I believe and constantly speak it over our lives and ministry: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…” (Luke 6:38).

Key #5 – Believe and Say

Believing and saying are the final things that bring increase to your life. I say that with all confidence, because I’ve been doing both for more than 42 years and my life continues to increase. Ken and I have lived day by day, step by step, taking hold of God’s truth about every area of life-believing, confessing and receiving all His Word promises. We are living proof of it all.

Romans 10:8-10, NKJV, makes it clear:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We have discovered that the same way we received our salvation by believing and confessing, we receive all God has for us…health, good relationships, deliverance, increase.

That’s how we experience everyday life and how we deal with any distracting circumstances that come up. We go to the Word of God to find what He says about it. His Word contains the solution to every problem. It is health to our bodies. It leads us to reconciliation in all our relationships. It shows us the way to prosperity and increase in our lives.

The day we began to trust God and His promises, everything about our lives changed. We believed, and we have been believing ever since. To seal His promises in our lives, we say what the Word has to say about everything!

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith cometh by hearing…the word of God.” Now, hearing is hearing! It may begin with seeing the words on the page of your Bible, but the Word of God coming out your own mouth into your own ears-it becomes faith and it changes things!

First faith changes things in your heart and you begin to think differently…you begin to think the way God thinks. Then you begin to see things differently, the way God sees things. And when you see the truth of God’s Word, it takes over your life. You begin to increase in all the things of God!

Key #6 – Be Transformed

If people don’t learn how to think according to God’s Word, things in their lives will either stay the same or get worse. That’s why the Apostle Paul says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2, NKJV).

God needs you and me to be living proof to our world that His will for their lives, and everything that comes with His will, is always good and acceptable and perfect for them.

That’s the whole purpose of these seven things being part of your life. They will change you according to God’s Word so you can live and move in the realm of the spirit-the realm where your increased life begins-the realm where the world will sit up and take notice, and so desire what you have that they will come to Jesus!

God has promised us by His Word that we can walk in truth and obedience, we can be faithful and diligent, we can tithe and give, and we can believe with our hearts and say with our mouths. In other words, we can increase in the things of God, every day and in every way. There is no better time to bring His increase to your life than right now!