God expects you to be sensitive and to listen to the promptings—that unction, that inward witness. According to Hebrews 4:12, the Word of God divides between the soul and the spirit. It will distinguish
within you between your natural mind and your spirit—between what is coming from your mind and what is coming from your spirit. If you want to walk in the spirit, you will have to spend time studying in and meditating on the Word and praying in the spirit.

The more you grow in the Lord, the more your soul will come into agreement with God. The more your soul is renewed to think like God thinks, the easier it will be for you to be led by the Holy Spirit.

We were born again in God’s image on the inside, but the Holy Spirit will begin to change us on the outside as we obey Him. As we walk with Him and obey Him, the Spirit of God within us will manifest the presence of Jesus until Romans 8:29 is fulfilled: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

As we begin to think like He thinks, the things of God will become so great that the things of the world will seem ridiculously insignificant.

Let loose the Spirit of God in your life. Walk in that anointing. Abide in that anointing. The Spirit of God is leading you, counseling you, teaching you, ministering grace to you every day of your life.

When we receive that unction from God, giving us direction, we are to obey. We are not to mentally question it. We are not to talk ourselves out of it. We are not to reason it away. (But, of course, we judge all direction by what God has already said in the written Word concerning His will and the laws of the Spirit. He will never tell us to do something that is crosswise to His Word.) When the Spirit of God rises up within us, we must act. That is what makes God able to manifest Himself in our lives, from one degree of glory to another.

Obedience opens the door that nothing else will open. Being obedient to the Spirit of God opens the door for God to honor us in full measure. God is able to work His perfect will in our lives when we honor Him, reverence Him and abide in Him. Whatever we do toward Him, we open the door for Him to do toward us.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Psalm 91:9-10, 14-16

KJV—Because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge, even the most High, thy
habitation; there shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling…Because he hath set his love upon
me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him
on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:
I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him, and honour him. With long life will I
satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Amp—Because you have made the Lord
your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling
place, There shall no evil befall you, nor
any plague or calamity come near your
tent…Because he has set his love upon Me,
therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on
high, because he knows and understands
My name [has a personal knowledge of My
mercy, love and kindness; trusts and relies
on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no,
never]. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer
him; I will be with him in trouble, I will
deliver him and honor him. With long life will
I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.

Psalm 103:1-5

KJV—Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that
is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who
healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth
thy life from destruction; who crowneth
thee with loving kindness and tender
mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good
things; so that thy youth is renewed
like the eagle’s.

Amp—Bless—affectionately, gratefully
praise—the Lord, O my soul, and all that is
[deepest] within me, bless His holy name!
Bless—affectionately, gratefully praise—the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all
His benefits, Who forgives [every one of] all
your iniquities, Who heals [each of] all your
diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit
and corruption; Who beautifies, dignifies and
crowns you with loving-kindness and tender
mercies; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity
and desire at your personal age] with
good; so that your youth, renewed,
is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!

Psalm 107:19-21

KJV—Then they cry unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
He sent his word, and healed them,
and delivered them from their destructions.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness, and for his wonderful works to
the children of men!

Amp—Then they cry to the Lord in their
trouble, and He delivers them out of their
distresses. He sends forth His word and
heals them and rescues them from the pit
and destruction. Oh, that men would praise
[and confess to] the Lord His goodness and
loving-kindness, and His wonderful works to
the children of men!

Psalm 118:17

KJV—I shall not die, but live, and declare
the works of the Lord.

Amp—I shall not die, but live, and declare
the works and recount the illustrious acts of
the Lord.

Moffatt—I shall not die, but live to proclaim
the Eternal’s deeds.

NEB—I shall not die but live to proclaim
the works of the Lord.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God
in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye
receive me not: if another shall come in his own
name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe,
which receive honour one of another, and seek
not the honour that cometh from God only?
(John 5:42-44).

These men were playing the honor game with
each other. That is why they would not recognize
Jesus for who He was and render to Him the honor
due Him as a prophet of God. They chose their own
honor rather than that which comes from God only.
Honor that comes from God only is something
that belongs to God. It does not belong to men.

Jesus was talking about all the aspects of God’s
honor that we discussed in the last chapter—power
over the devil, power over our bodies, spiritual communication,
eternal life, etc. God is the source of all these honors.

I could preach to you about receiving
them and promise them to you, but they can only
come from Jesus. He has been given all authority in
heaven and earth.

I have the honor and the authority that comes
from God to minister to you, to tell you about the
honor and to allow His gifts and honors to flow
through my spirit, and even at times through my
hands. Yet, they do not come from me, but from Him.

Counterfeit Honor

Another part of the honor game is using counterfeit
honor instead of the real thing. Counterfeit honor
is false honor—nothing but pride.

Did you ever hear someone say, “I’m a man of honor;
our family fights for its honor”? He is not fighting for
honor, but for pride—the kind of honor that once was
used to justify two men dueling at daybreak because
of a supposedly insulting remark.

Today, that kind of honor will provoke one person
to attack another because he doesn’t ride the
same kind of motorcycle—or maybe because he
does. It will cause gangs of young people to square
off against one another. They get in the middle of a
vacant lot or even on a crowded street with chains,
knives, bats and guns just because someone is found
on the wrong turf.

That’s not honor. That’s the pride of a fool. It’s the
counterfeit of the real thing and it’s deadly.
If you recognize that as counterfeit honor, if you
know from where it comes, you can take the negative
side of it, flip it over and recognize the real thing.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Let every soul be subject unto the higher
powers. For there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that
resist shall receive to themselves damnation
[condemnation] (Romans 13:1-2).

Paul says that anyone who resists civil authority
resists the authority of God and will receive damnation
or condemnation. This is a continuation of Romans
12 in which Paul was speaking about the Christian
Church, the Body of Christ, acting and preferring one
another in honor. He warns that if we do not honor one
another, including those in authority over us, the devil
will move in our households and destroy us.

What if the government is totally against Christianity
and threatens to imprison anyone for preaching
the gospel? That is a dishonorable government. No
question about it. But that does not mean the people
in office are not ordained of God. It means they are
ignoring the ordination that God has placed upon
them. It is available to them if they only knew it.

What the Lord is saying here through the
Apostle Paul is that Christians still carry honor
about them, even in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation.

The people in East Germany got hold of the Word
of God concerning the authority of the believer. They
prayed and believed God, asking Him for guidance
and deliverance. I have talked to pastors in that totalitarian,
anti-Christian society who had to operate
underground for years. Every one of them said to me:

“We had to learn to love those political leaders who
were trying their best to damn us to hell. We walked
in honor. We began to see that we could pull down
those demonic powers that were opposed to us and to
the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Our fight is not against flesh and blood
(Ephesians 6:12).

These men said they prayed and asked God for
their situation to be changed without bloodshed,
and it was.

It was a different story in Romania. The believers
there, although lovely Christian people, were not
walking in a revelation of their authority from God,
so their deliverance has not been as quick or as
complete and certainly not without bloodshed.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland