This is operating and using what the Bible calls “the royal
law.” Love your neighbor as yourself. Be as quick to care for the
needs of others as you are your own needs. The world knows it
exists; they call it “the golden rule,” but they don’t understand
how it functions and neither do most Christians.

This whole system of finance must be operated by faith in
order for it to function properly. My dad was tithing as God had
said, but he was not believing for the return on his giving. He
had it stacked up in heaven, yet he was getting no benefit from
it here on earth. Finally, when he learned some of these things,
he started believing God and he is better off financially today in
retirement than he was when he worked so hard. He began to
mix his faith with God’s Word concerning finances. There are
many tithers who say, “Why, I couldn’t ask God to give anything
back to me!” This shows that they don’t really know what
the Word says about tithing. When God introduced tithing in
the book of Deuteronomy, He commanded the people to say to
Him, “Look down from thy holy habitation and bless your people
with a land that flows with milk and honey.” They were
commanded to say this to the Lord!

Remember, the basic, fundamental law for establishing your
heart in the covenant of God is meditation on the Word. You
must commit yourself to the fact that God’s Word works.
Meditation is fixing your mind on the Word. Here are seven steps
to help you learn how to meditate God’s Word:

1. Apply the Word to you personally.
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word a reality in your heart.
3. Carefully ponder how this Word applies to your life.
4. Dwell on how this Word from the Lord changes your situation.
5. Place yourself in agreement with what God’s Word says about you.
6. See yourself as God sees you.
7. Begin to realize the integrity of God’s Word. You must commit yourself to the fact that God’s Word is true and that it works!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Now let’s read on from Mark 10:25.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished out of measure, saying among
themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking
upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not
with God: for with God all things are possible. Then
Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and
have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he
shall receive an hundredfold now in this time.

IN THIS LIFE! He intended to give the rich young ruler a
hundred times what he had!

Jesus said, “…an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” The moment
God begins to bless you, you will get persecuted because you
become dangerous to Satan. You begin to know that God is the
source of your success, that He is the one giving it to you, that
there is an endless supply behind you and an endless supply in
front of you. All you must do is be a channel for it and giving is
the key that opens the door. Jesus knew the spiritual law of giving,
and He operated it proficiently. He gave to the poor at such
an astonishing rate that when Judas left the room during the
Last Supper, some people thought that he must be going to give
to the poor.

Do you want a hundredfold return on your money? Give
and let God multiply it back to you. No bank in the world
offers this kind of return! Praise the Lord!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

The first and most important rule for you to follow in operating
in the power of God and living by faith is this: 100 percent
committal to the Word of God and its authority in your
life. As God told Joshua, the best way to prosper is by meditation
in the Word. Don’t just study it; there is a difference
between meditation and study. Study involves digging in the
Word, running references in a concordance, and so forth; but
meditation many times covers only two or three verses of scripture.
Read a verse several times. Roll it over in your mind; be
quiet and listen to God for 20 or 30 minutes. This has been the
way I have learned many things about the Word and about
Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit of God can say enough in one sentence
to last you a month! He was sent here to teach us the
deep things of God (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Let me give you an example from my own experience. Some
time ago, I decided to find out how to operate financially
according to the Word of God. I believed that God had a financial
system that most Christians did not know. This was evident
in my dad’s life. My parents decided when they married that
they would tithe their income for the rest of their lives. They
knew very little about believing God for finances. My dad relied
on his ability to work. He was an excellent sales representative
and God blessed his business. When I entered the ministry and
started studying the Word of God, I read where God said to
bring the tithes into the storehouse and He would open the windows
of heaven (see Malachi 3:10). Well, I could look at my dad
and see that this wasn’t working in his life. He made more than
a good living, but he worked for every dime he got! So I began
to study this and question the Lord about it.

One thing that He showed me was the pride element in
most businessmen, especially the ones who worked hard like
Dad. You couldn’t give my dad anything; he was the giver! If
God wanted to give him something, He had to channel it
through the business or Dad would actually get uncomfortable
and embarrassed if someone tried to give to him. This is wrong.
God showed me that most businessmen don’t know how to
receive simply because of their pride.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Give, give, give—not take, take, take. That’s the
way we must live. In order to give, we have to make
ourselves vulnerable. That’s what Jesus did. He made
Himself vulnerable when He gave Himself for us.
Losing sight of ourselves will cause us to find life.

Remember how Jesus put it? “He that findeth his
life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake
shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). The man who seeks to
keep his life will eventually lose it, but he who gives
up his life for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom will
find it.

The person who gives will find life, dominion,
authority—and honor. When he gives his life, or puts
it at risk, when he makes himself vulnerable obeying
the Word of God, he places himself in a position in
which God can trust him with dominion, authority,
riches, life—and what else? Honor.

Honor Brings Responsibility

But if an individual is dishonorable, he will be
unable to handle the dominion, authority, riches and
honor that come upon him. Instead, he will allow
them to handle him. Soon, he will honor the gifts
rather than the Giver. God will not allow that to go
on for long. It is not part of the covenant, the blood sworn
contract between God and His people.

A minister friend of mine named Tommy Tyson
said it best. He heard a word from the Lord and
described it like this: “Oh, it blessed me. Here came
the miracle I was praying for. But after the miracle
came the responsibility of what to do with the
miracle.

If you have a miracle outpouring of souls
coming into the kingdom of God, you’re going to
be responsible for those little spiritual babies. You’re
going to have to handle that miracle. That’s when
the hard work comes in. You can’t just walk away
and wash your hands of it.”

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland