Kenneth Copeland — You Can Do It! Part 2
That’s right. These are not just good ideas I’m giving you. They are principles from the Word of God that Gloria and I have lived by for more than 30 years now. They are principles that have literally changed our lives.
They’ll change your life, too. In fact, I believe any husband and wife who will live the life of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 can have a wonderful life together. Even if they start off at zero with no love between them at all, they can end up with a successful marriage because love never fails!
“But, Kenneth, if love never fails, why do so many Christian marriages—marriages that were once based on the love of God—end up on the rocks?” you ask.
It happens because strife and envy are allowed to cut that love short. As a result, those Christian lives and marriages are drained of God’s power. They become carnal, and there is confusion and every evil work.
First Corinthians 3:3 puts it this way: “For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy…among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves…like mere (unchanged) men?” (AMP).
The moment we let envy and strife in the door, we begin to live like people out there in the world. We become like the natural, unsaved men in this scripture—fearful, powerless and defeated—instead of like supernatural, born-again, Spirit-filled people of God.
I agree with Paul. The hour is too late for us to live like that. The coming of Jesus is near at hand. And when He comes, we don’t want Him to find us spiritually sick and weak, living lives that have been poisoned by envy and strife.
We want Him to find us standing tall in the spirit—full of love, faith and power—walking in the victory Jesus bought for us.
We want Him to find us living in the light!
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Kenneth Copeland — You Can Do It! Part 1
That’s important because in this dangerous day, we need God’s blessings more than ever. We need His power. We need to be walking in our full inheritance as believers because this age is about to be brought to a close. As the Apostle Paul says:
The night is far gone [and] the day is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away) the works and deeds of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light. Let us live and conduct ourselves honorably and becomingly as in the [open light of] day; not in reveling (carousing) and drunkenness, not in immorality and debauchery…not in quarreling and jealousy. But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh (Romans 13:12-14, AMP).
The hour is late! It’s time for us to wake up. It’s time we quit allowing the devil to darken our homes, our businesses, our churches and our individual lives with strife and envy. It’s time we quit letting him pull the plug on our faith power. It’s time we started living in the light.
You may be thinking, That’s easier said than done!
I know. But you can do it.
How? Learn to watch over yourself. Pay attention to your state of mind. When you find yourself depressed or downcast, don’t just ignore those feelings. Think back. Ask yourself, “What started this downturn?”
You may realize that a particular situation sparked feelings of aggravation, jealousy or strife within you. If so, look at that situation through the eyes of God and then talk to it (see Mark 11:23).
Say, “That situation has no power over me. I refuse to allow it to bring envy and strife into my life. I yield to the forces of love and joy within me. And, Lord, I praise You for Brother Smith’s new car. I thank You that Sister Jones has those nice clothes!”
Then just start praising the Lord. Sing a song. Put on a tape that will lift you up, and force yourself to sing along. Before long, the love of God will be bubbling up out of your heart again and you’ll be singing in genuine joy.
I know you will, because I’ve done it!
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
What kinds of “evil work” will the devil bring through that open door? Everything from depression to murder. Yes, murder! That was envy’s first recorded act. It was responsible for the first human bloodshed. You can read about it in Genesis 4. There, the Bible tells us:
In course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Able brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect and regard for Abel and for his offering. But for Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and dejected? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, and you must master it (verses 3-7, AMP).
What was Cain feeling? He was feeling envy because his brother had the Lord’s approval and he didn’t.
Now, notice the Lord didn’t say, “Oh, Cain, don’t worry about that. After all, those feelings are only natural. You’re just experiencing a little sibling rivalry.”
No, He said, “Cain, sin is crouching at your door.”
We all need to heed those words. We need to realize that envy is sin. It’s the opposite of love. It is of the devil and if we let it stay in our lives, very soon we’ll be yielding to the evil spirit that governs it. That’s what Cain did, and as a result he “rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him” (verse 8, AMP).
That wasn’t an isolated incident either. You can follow the deadly tracks of envy all the way through the Bible.
Psalm 106, for example, says Dathan envied Moses and Aaron. You know what happened to him, don’t you? He was swallowed up by the earth.
Envy sparked Jacob’s sons to sell Joseph into slavery just to get rid of him. But instead of getting better, their lives grew worse. Finally, they had to go to another country to get enough food to keep their families from starving to death.
In the New Testament, the Pharisees’ attitude toward Jesus was poisoned by envy. Ultimately, we know it drove them to kill Him, for Matthew 27:18 says, “It was because of envy that they had handed Him over to [Pilate]” (AMP).
From Genesis to Revelation, you can see envy doing its sinister work, trying to stop the plan of God.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Notice I said it made a move on you, not in you. That’s an important distinction.
You see, if you’re a born-again believer, envy is not a part of your spiritual nature. It’s something the devil tries to pressure you into receiving. He dangles it in front of you like bait on a hook, hoping you’ll take a bite.
Why? Because he wants to defeat you! He wants to keep you sick, broke, sad and perpetually trapped beneath your circumstances. And to do that, he must somehow stop you from living by faith.
Since he can’t very well just come barreling in the front door and steal the faith right out of your heart, he slips in the back way. He uses envy and strife to interrupt the flow of love in your life.
The minute love is disrupted, your faith stops working too, because faith works by love (Galatians 5:6).
Many Christians don’t understand that principle, so they struggle along, quarreling and fussing with one another—and all the while wonder why their faith isn’t producing results. They don’t realize that if you want to walk in the power and blessing of God, you cannot allow envy or strife into your life. Period.
James 3:16 shows us why that’s true. It says, “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” In other words, envy and strife give the devil an open door into your life.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Other translations say, “Where there is no vision, the people go wild,” or “go out of their minds.”
Also, when you read the word “law,” the word “commandment” or the word “precept” in Scripture, it is referring to the Word of God. So without changing its meaning, turn this verse around and it can very easily be translated to read, “Where there is vision, the people prosper, and he that keeps the Word of God will walk in joy.”
The one thing God has given us to help maintain an enthusiasm of faith is to be able to look toward the future and see the vision.
And everyone must have a vision. The vision you need is found in the Word of God because the Word lays out our potential for us: What God’s Word says we can do, we can do. What it says we can have, we can have. What it says we can be, we can be.
Our potential is built in the Word of God. And that’s where you begin with your vision. If you don’t yet have a vision, you start where God has told you who you are in Him.
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland