by Kenneth Copeland

Everywhere you turn these days, there is fear in the world. The Bible tells us that men’s hearts will fall them for fear of what’s coming on the earth—it seems we’re right in the middle of those times.

But as a believer, you don’t have to live in fear. You have the power over it through your heavenly Father. When you know and believe in your heart that God loves you—you won’t be afraid of anything.

As 1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!” (The Amplified Bible).

Develop faith in God’s love for you and develop a fear-free life!

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

God has established His covenant in the earth, but it is not
enough just to know this. For the covenant to be of any value,
we must have our hearts established in it. Psalm 112 is a perfect
description of the established heart. It describes the prosperous
man and gives insight into his prosperity. Let’s examine it closely.

“Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,
that delighteth greatly in his commandments.” What type of man
is blessed of God? The man who fears the Lord and delights
greatly in His commandments, in the established covenant
of God.

“His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the
upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house:
and his righteousness endureth forever.” No one can take it
away! When God gives you something, you should have no
fear of losing it. God has given you His Word. You can stand
firmly on it because it belongs to you!

“Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious,
and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man showeth
favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion [or
good judgment]. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous
shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of
evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is
established.” God has established His covenant, and this man
has established his heart in the covenant. His heart is fixed,
trusting in the Lord. You can’t scare him with bad tidings about
the fuel shortage, high interest rates or anything else. He trusts
completely and totally in the Lord and gets what he needs by
his covenant with God. When you are established and operating
in the covenant of God, Satan can’t corner you.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Abraham…Moses…David…Solomon…why did God bless
these men? Why have so few men found the blessings of God
in finance? We need to renew our minds to God’s reason for
financial blessings. In the book of Deuteronomy, we see the
predominant rule to remember in living a prosperous life: “And
thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath
gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God:
for it is he that giveth thee the power to get wealth, that he may
establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this
day” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

The predominant rule: God gives the power to get wealth.

Why? To establish His covenant.

Let’s read further from Deuteronomy 9:5-6: “Not for thy
righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to
possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord
thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform
the word which the Lord swore unto thy fathers, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth
thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for
thou art a stiff-necked people.” In other words, Moses was saying,
“God didn’t drive those people from their land because of
your righteousness. He did it because He promised to do it. He
had made an agreement with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Now
the people did everything they possibly could to keep Him
from it. They broke the covenant in every way, but God instituted
the priesthood to offer sacrifices for their sins. They had
no righteousness to rely on, so God gave them a way out. He
went to great lengths to establish the covenant even among
unrighteous people!

Deuteronomy 29:9 says, “Keep therefore the words of this
covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.”
According to this, we should be prosperous in everything we
do, but we must keep the words of the covenant.

God gave instructions along these same lines to Joshua
during the most critical situation in his life. Moses was dead
and Joshua was to take over leadership of Israel in his place,
a very difficult job to do. Moses…the man who talked with
God face to face…the man who produced water from a rock
in the middle of the desert. Moses walked in prosperity!
When he needed water, God gave him the ability to get it.
The power of God brought the water, and it was priceless!
This is real prosperity!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

Amp—If you will listen diligently to the
voice of the Lord your God, being watchful
to do all His commandments which I command
you this day, the Lord your God will
set you high above all the nations of the
earth, And all these blessings shall come
upon you and overtake you, if you heed the
voice of the Lord your God.

Blessed shall you be in the city, and
blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed
shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit
of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts,
the increase of your cattle, and the young
of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket
and your kneading trough. Blessed shall you
be when you come in, and blessed shall you
be when you go out.

The Lord shall cause your enemies who
rise up against you to be defeated before
your face; they shall come out against you
one way, and flee before you seven ways.
The Lord shall command the blessing upon
you in your storehouse, and in all that you
undertake; and he will bless you in the land
which the Lord your God gives you.

The Lord will establish you as a people
holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if
you keep the commandments of the Lord
your God, and walk in His ways. And all
people of the earth shall see that you are
called by the name [and in the presence of]
the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you.

And the Lord shall make you have a surplus
of prosperity, through the fruit of your
body, of your livestock, and of your ground,
in the land which the Lord swore to your
fathers to give you. The Lord shall open to
you His good treasury, the heavens to give
the rain of your land in its season, and to
bless all the work of your hand; and you
shall lend to many nations, but you shall
not borrow.

And the Lord shall make you the head,
and not the tail; and you shall be above
only, and you shall not be beneath, if you
heed the commandments of the Lord your
God, which I command you this day, and
are watchful to do them. And you shall
not go aside from any of the words which
I command you this day, to the right hand
or to the left, to go after other gods to
serve them.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God,
to observe and to do all his commandments
which I command thee this day, that the Lord
thy God will set thee on high above all nations
of the earth: And all these blessings shall
come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt
hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God
(Deuteronomy 28:1-2).

A fellow came up to me one time and gave me
something I was not asking the Lord for: a big car. I
would not have bought one like it if I had the money.
I drive a truck, not because I haul things, but because
I like it.

I was surprised at what this man did. I said: “Lord,
why did You give me a car like that? I never asked You
for it. If I had the money I wouldn’t have spent it on
that. Why did You do that?”

He said: Remember Deuteronomy 28? If you hearken
diligently unto the voice of My Word and do what
I ask you to do, all these blessings will come on you and
overtake you. You just got overtaken!

“That’s just wonderful,” I answered. “Do You want
me to sell it?” It irritated Him when I said that.

No, I don’t, He told me. I thought you promised
Me that if people gave money for something specific
like the television ministry you wouldn’t spend it on
anything else.

“That’s right. I never have, and I never will.”
Well, this man gave you that car to drive, didn’t he?
Not to sell it and put it into television. Why do you want
to treat him like that?

“When am I going to wake up?” I asked.

When you quit being so traditional minded, He
said. Besides, I gave you that car because I appreciate
some things you did for Me.

I had never thought about that. It embarrassed me.
I thought, I wish I had done some more things I should
have done!

This just proves what we read in the Word, that
acting on honor is thankworthy to God.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland