“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” — Mark 9:23

Are you making plans for the holidays or a vacation? Perhaps you’ll be traveling somewhere—to your hometown to visit a friend or to the mountains or the beach. Maybe you will spend quiet time at home, or friends or family will be coming to your house.

Whatever your plans are, start to see that event before you now. Are you getting excited about it? Do you have the vision of it happening? Can you picture it in your heart?

When my family and I make plans for vacations or holidays, there are numerous arrangements to make, such as ordering airline tickets or making hotel reservations. Sometimes the preparations seem endless.

But as the fulfillment of that vision draws closer, a new excitement builds within me. I can see the winter snow coming down back home on Cape Cod at Christmas. I look forward to being with my parents or seeing mysister again. I have a vision for spending time with my children or sharing special time with my wife, Terri.

As I’ve thought about this, it has occurred to me that if we can catch a vision for the events in our lives, how much more should we have a vision for heaven and the things of God?

How much more should we long to see our churches filled so that we are continually building larger auditoriums with bigger altars and more seating.

We should be a people of vision.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Matthew 21:21-22
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 16:14-18
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, 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.

Luke 6:19
And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Luke 9:2
And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Luke 13:16
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Acts 5:16
There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Someone might say, “I’m going to believe God.” Well, what
about Him are you going to believe…that He is God? This is
fine, but it won’t go very far. You must find out what the covenant
says God has agreed to do. A businessman has that much
sense. When two people enter into partnership together, they
must know what to believe. If they don’t, they will get into a
misunderstanding. Both of them can be completely honest and
still destroy the partnership simply because they do not understand
each other and do not know what to expect from one
another. To avoid this, they must come together, decide the
terms of their partnership, and write them down. When they
make this agreement (or covenant) together, they know what to
expect from each other.

You as a believer have God’s covenant, God’s Word. It is
available to you. However, if you don’t put it to use, you are on
the same level as the man who does not know salvation is for
him. He is hell-bound. You are poverty-bound or bound in
some other area where the Word gives you freedom. If you do
not use the covenant, you will live in defeat. This was true in
my life. I was born again and filled with the Holy Spirit but
lived almost four years in total defeat as a Christian, particularly
in the area of finances. I was trying my best to believe God. My
intentions were good, but I had no idea of what was available
to me and no knowledge of what God had provided in Jesus
Christ. Satan kept me behind the eight ball continually! You
see, a man can have a million dollars in the bank, but if he can’t
write a check, he is as destitute as the next guy!

A good illustration of this is the man who saved his money
to come to America. He scrimped and saved and finally got the
money for a boat ticket with just enough money left to buy a box
of crackers and some cheese. He rationed it to provide a little
each day until the boat landed. During the voyage, he would
look into the dining room where everyone was eating and then
go back to his room and eat his little food ration. When the boat
was anchoring in the New York Harbor, a steward stopped him
and said, “Sir, I’ve noticed that you haven’t eaten a meal throughout
this trip. Is our service offensive to you? Is the food unsatisfactory?”
The man answered, “Oh, no! I’m not offended. It’s just
that I only had the money for my ticket. There wasn’t enough
left over for meals.” Then the steward said, “Well sir, the meals
were included in the ticket!” You see, those meals were his, but
he didn’t know it! His ticket was an agreement. It belonged to
him, but he didn’t know the terms of the agreement! He had as
much right to those meals as the captain of the ship, but he settled
for crackers and cheese instead. Most Christians have been
“eating crackers and cheese” by not knowing their covenant with
God, by not knowing what is already theirs through Jesus Christ.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

God has established His covenant in the earth. Everything
He does is determined by this covenant. Jesus of Nazareth
was born into this world, died on the cross, went to hell, paid
the sin price, and was raised from the dead because of the covenant
God made with man. God does not show partiality by
choosing certain people to save or to heal; His blessings are for
all the people who meet the conditions of the covenant (see
1 Peter 2:24).

God has established His covenant—for salvation, for healing,
for deliverance, for prosperity—and these provisions of the
covenant are set out in God’s Word. His Word is His covenant,
His bond. When you consider a person’s word, you think of his
integrity: Will he do what he says? Is his word good? Is his name
good? A person’s name is judged as good or bad by whether or
not he keeps his word. Your name doesn’t make your word
good. Your word makes your name good. Herein lies the power
in the Name of Jesus; His Name is good because His Word is
good. God has magnified His Word even above His Name (see
Psalm 138:2).

God’s covenant has been established in the earth. Now man
must establish his heart in God’s covenant. It is the combination
of the established covenant of God and your established heart
in this covenant that produces results. If your heart is not
established in the covenant, then the covenant will never mean
anything to you. Ephesians 2:12 says, “That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world.” Being without God is spiritual bankruptcy.
It doesn’t matter what God has done—if you don’t know about
it or can’t get in it, you are spiritually bankrupt. Eventually, you
will become physically bankrupt in one form or another. You
will have nowhere to turn. You can’t depend on your physical
capabilities because your flesh just isn’t enough to get you through.
Certainly, this is true of your mind, your mental capabilities. Men
with the strongest minds in the world are committing suicide at
an alarming rate!

A man without God in the world is a man without a covenant.
He has nothing to believe. He has nothing to rely
on. There are many Christians who actually do not know what
to believe. They say, “How does this work? I’m trying my best
to believe God, but I just can’t seem to do it!” There are many
fine, upstanding people—born again, filled with the Spirit of
God—who are absolutely defeated in every area of their lives
(physically, mentally, socially and financially). Why? Because
they don’t know the covenant. If they don’t know what God has
said, there is no way He can reach them.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland