Gloria Copeland Standing with You for God’s Master Plan for Your Life
About Gloria Copeland
With a passion for Scripture and a determination, Gloria Copeland has been teaching about the life-changing power of God’s Word for more than 40 years. Read MoreLive Long, Finish Strong
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Gloria Copeland — Overcoming Through DedicationPosted on September 30th, 2009
The question arises: “If walking in the spirit is
the key, how do I start?” Romans 8:5-13 is the answer.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things
of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because
of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
If you put your mind on the things of this world,
you’re going to walk after the flesh. You may not want to,
but if you play around with the world long enough,
you’ll go in that direction. If you continue in sin,
you will become dominated by it. You’ll become a slave
to whatever spirit you continually yield yourself to obey
(Romans 6:16). It’s your choice. Do you want to follow
after your flesh, or do you want to mind the things of the spirit?
The reward of following after the spirit is life
and peace. The whole world is seeking satisfaction,
but they’re seeking it in the things of this world.
They have no peace because they’re carnally minded.
Peace and fulfillment will not be found in the things of the flesh.
A carnal mind is simply one that is not subject
to the law of God. The Amplified Bible says sin is
“lawlessness…being unrestrained and unregulated
by His commands and His will” (1 John 3:4).
The carnally-minded man thinks the way the
world thinks. The spiritually-minded man thinks God’s
thoughts. He keeps his mind on the things of the spirit
and conforms his thought life to the Word of God.
There is no other way to enjoy life and peace
except to be spiritually minded and subject to God (Romans 8:5-6).
As you yield your mind and body to
the ways of God, His life will come out of you
and quicken, or make alive, your mortal body.
Your spirit man will rise up and become dominant.
The voice of your flesh will subside and you’ll
overcome evil with good. You will notice in the
New Testament that the Apostle Paul wrote continually
to the churches about mortifying the deeds of the
body through the Spirit.
Romans 8:13-14 should be read together:
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but
if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God.” Led to do what?
Led to mortify the deeds of the body!
The Holy Spirit will prompt or lead you
to mortify the deeds of your body.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Train Your Flesh to ObeyPosted on September 23rd, 2009
Before you experienced the new birth, your body was
trained to enforce evil practices. You were dominated
by outward influences. As you yield yourself more and
more to God, you are retraining your flesh to enforce
the things of God (Romans 6:16-23).
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word
of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use [or through practice] have their
senses [bodies] exercised to discern both good and
evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14).
It isn’t easy at first, but through practice, your body
will discern the difference between good and evil. It’s
not something you have to fight. If you’ll walk in the
spirit, when temptation comes, the Holy Spirit will lead
you to mortify the deeds of your body and you’ll resist
the temptation. You’ll find that the more you walk in
the spirit, the more your body is affected and brought
under obedience to God. The Spirit of God will have
an effect on your natural body. Proverbs 4:20-22
substantiates this, saying the Word of God is “life unto
those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is quick [alive],
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword….”
His Spirit is in His Word so it will bring health to your
body. The Word of God and the Spirit of God will
quicken—make alive, give life to—your flesh. Jesus
said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Proverbs 4:23
says to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of
it are the issues [forces] of life.”
As these issues or forces of the reborn spirit are
released through your will, they crucify the desires
of the flesh and demand that it obey God. These forces
are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. (See
Galatians 5:22-23.) Doesn’t love, joy and peace benefit
you physically? These issues of the spirit will quicken
your mortal flesh and train it to enforce the things of
God rather than reject them.
Once we have given ourselves totally to God, how do
we get to the place where our spirits are the
dominating force? I believe 1 Peter 4:1-2 is speaking
very directly to us today:
So, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you,
arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose
[patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God].
For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the
mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has
stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases
God], So that he can no longer spend the rest of his
natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires,
but [he lives] for what God wills (amp).
As believers, we are called to enter into the sufferings
of Jesus (1 Peter 4:13). Religious tradition has taught
that these sufferings are trials, sickness, disease,
poverty, etc., but the Bible says Jesus was our
substitute. When He paid the price for sin, He redeemed
us from all the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13;
Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
First Peter 4:1 says we need to arm ourselves with
this thought: I would rather suffer in the flesh than
fail to please God. Thinking this way releases the Holy
Spirit to strengthen and empower us to overcome.
Our will releases Him to impart Himself to us. We
must make the decision whether we will please
ourselves or please the Father. “For he that hath
suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” That person
has stopped pleasing himself and the world so he
might please God. And that’s what God is calling us
to do. He’s asking us to give ourselves. He’s asking us
to serve.
Jesus said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any
man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John
12:26).You cannot serve yourself and your own interests
and serve Jesus at the same time. You have to make a
decision, “Who am I going to serve? Am I going to
serve my own interests and go after the natural things
that are in the world—after my natural desires? Or am
I going to serve the Lord Jesus, who bought me?”
“For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased
from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his
time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of
God” (1 Peter 4:1-2). And that’s where we want to
live—in the will of God.
To enter into His sufferings simply means to give
up the desires of our flesh in order to walk in the
spirit. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me” (Matthew 16:24). It would be accurate to say,
“let him deny his flesh,” or “let him deny selfishness.”
Taking up our cross is denying ourselves the luxury of
walking after the flesh. We must disregard our own
interests and desires in order to walk in the spirit.
God must be allowed to be Lord of our lives. Jesus
suffered in that He came to the earth and lived in a
natural body just like yours and mine. He was
tempted by the weakness of the flesh, yet He never
sinned. Jesus suffered through His obedience.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able
to succour [Greek: aid, relieve, help] them that are
tempted (Hebrews 2:16-18).
We are tempted in the flesh. That’s the way we
suffer. That’s the way Jesus suffered when He was
living on the earth.
We are to suffer the crucifying of our flesh by
bringing it into obedience to God so His glory can be
revealed in us.
The little suffering we do by commanding our flesh
to be obedient is nothing compared to the glory that
will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). We are only
giving up the things in this life that work death in us.
The wages of sin is death and the gift of God is life.
Death has no sting when it has been swallowed up in
life. First Corinthians 15:56 reveals that sin is the
sting of death. Sin gives death its place.
First Corinthians 15:24-26 says, “Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power. For he must
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
“But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings,
rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and
splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with
triumph [exultantly]” (1 Peter 4:13, amp). God wants
to reveal His glory in you!
These scriptures are all saying the same thing: We
are to render our flesh obedient to God so we might
know, or experience, Him and the power of His
resurrection. The Apostle Paul said:
[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him
[that I may progressively become more deeply and
intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and
recognizing and understanding the wonders of His
Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I
may in that same way come to know the power
outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over
believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as
to be continually transformed [in spirit into His
likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if
possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral]
resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead
[even while in the body]…. So let those [of us] who
are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind
and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you
have a different attitude of mind, God will make that
clear to you also (Philippians 3:10-11, 15, amp).
The manifestation of the glory of God in our lives
depends on our bringing our flesh under subjection.
If we don’t have control over our flesh, then the Holy
Spirit doesn’t have control over our flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live…. For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:13, 15-18).
As the Holy Spirit leads us to mortify the deeds of
our bodies, as many as obey will grow up to be the
full grown, or mature, sons of God. We can live the
life of God right here in the earth. Jesus said the
kingdom of heaven is within you. We can live that
high life Jesus spoke about. We can live in a position
for the Spirit of God to flow through us to the world
and reveal Him to them. That’s our calling.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — The Holy Spirit Is Our HelperPosted on September 16th, 2009
The Holy Spirit will strengthen you with might in
your inner man to overcome the weakness of living
in a natural body. “But if the Spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:
11).
The Holy Spirit does not do the strengthening by
Himself. He comes to our aid. He is our helper. When
we pray in other tongues, the Spirit of God bears us
up in the weakness of our flesh—the part of us that
is earthy and natural—and brings us God’s answer to
the situation or problem.
Through the operation of the Holy Spirit within us,
we are no longer held in bondage to the natural
world. Our part is to give Him place and then yield
the control of our lives to Him. This allows the
supernatural power of God to flow in our behalf to
bring to pass the will of God. When we give place to
the Holy Spirit and obey Him, we are allowing God
to be God in our lives.
The Bible says, “He that speaketh in an unknown
tongue edifieth himself” (1 Corinthians 14:4). The
phrase edifieth himself means “builds up himself.”
Verse 14 says, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue,
my spirit prayeth….” Praying in the spirit is praying in
other tongues. When we pray in other tongues, we
allow the Holy Spirit to express His will through us.
After the new birth, I think it is most important to
give the Holy Spirit control over your life. Jude tells
us that we—the beloved—are to build ourselves up
on our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost.
Whatever weakness of the flesh you have, praying
in the spirit—in other tongues—will overcome that
weakness and give you victory. If you’ll spend time
praying in the spirit every day, you’ll find earth’s
bondages can no longer restrain you. The law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes you free from the
law of sin and death. The Holy Spirit Himself is
enforcing your deliverance.
“For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth,
but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:
14). Praying in other tongues is the groaning too deep
to utter in our known language.
We can’t articulate in our known language those
things too deep for our understanding. But when we
pray in the spirit—in tongues—we’re not praying
according to our own understanding, or our own
limited knowledge, but according to the unlimited
wisdom and knowledge of God. We can pray beyond
our own knowledge. Thank God for praying in other
tongues! It will overcome our lack of knowledge and
spiritual insight.
Had we been taught after conversion to give place
to the Holy Ghost by praying in other tongues every
day, and to expect and obey the leading of the Holy
Spirit, our Christian lives would be far different.
Praying in the Holy Spirit and obeying the promptings
of our spirit would have kept us under the control of
the Holy Spirit while we were renewing our minds
with the written Word of God.
The believers Paul was teaching in the book of
Romans did not have the New Testament written in
a book. They had a letter from Paul. The complete,
written Word of God was not offered to them as it is
to us.
But they could go on to perfection—spiritual maturity
—by the operation of the Holy Spirit. Even though
we have the written Word as our textbook, we must
not fail to follow the Holy Spirit. In both the Old and
New Testaments, God has always been willing to
deal with His people, not only by written statutes
and ordinances, but also by His voice.
He admonished Israel if they would keep His Word
and obey His voice, He would be God in their lives
(Exodus 19:5; Jeremiah 7:23). When they came before
the walls of Jericho, it was His voice speaking to them
that gave them victory instead of defeat.
There is another side to this. Had Israel not been
keeping the written statutes and ordinances, they
would not have heard the voice of God that brought
them deliverance. We must learn to follow both the
written Word and the moment-by-moment direction
of the Holy Spirit.
Praying in the spirit is one of the weapons of our
warfare that is mighty (supernatural) through God to
the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).
God wants the Church of Jesus Christ to launch
an attack against the devil’s strongholds, and to pull
them down. We are to cast Satan out of his control
on this earth. Peter quoted Psalm 110:1 on the Day
of Pentecost, saying: “The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy
footstool” (Acts 2:34-35).
Jesus is going to sit at the right hand of the Father
until His enemies are under His feet. Who will do
that? The Father said, “Until I make thy foes thy
footstool.” God, by His Spirit, who was sent forth
on the Day of Pentecost to indwell born-again, new
creatures in Christ Jesus, is going to put Jesus’
enemies under His feet! The last enemy that will be
destroyed on the earth is death (1 Corinthians 15:
25-26).
The Church of Jesus Christ, by the power and control
of the Holy Spirit, is going to defeat death, as well as
every other enemy of God. The Bible tells us the
Church is going to overthrow Satan’s control of the
earth. The earth already belongs to Jesus, for He
said, “All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven
and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Why has Satan stayed in control, even though he
has no authority? Because the Church has been
carnally minded instead of spiritually minded. God is
demanding that we change.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Re-createdPosted on September 9th, 2009
When you walk after the promptings of the spirit,
you walk after the new man on the inside. The law
of the Spirit of life that comes out of that new man
will make you free from the law of sin and death.
Bondages will no longer be able to bind you. The law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is more powerful
than the law of sin and death. You could never have
been born again if it were not so.
The moment you decided to make Jesus the Lord of
your life—and acted on it—you were born again. All
the devils in hell couldn’t stop you. The law of the
Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus has made you free.
You were re-created. You became a new creature in
Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). Old things passed
away and, behold, all things became new! Now, walk
after those new things. While you are still in this body
and living in a world going in the opposite direction,
you can look and act just like God by yielding to His
Spirit. God gave you His Holy Spirit to make you holy
as He is holy.
God is calling us to follow Him. He’ll reveal His glory
in the earth through us. He wants us to walk in the
same dominion and anointing Jesus Himself
experienced on this earth!
We wouldn’t dare say Jesus did not come in the flesh.
He lived here in a physical body. The Bible says He
was tempted in every way we are, yet He didn’t sin
(Hebrews 2:16-18).
Jesus overcame sin in the flesh. He dominated His
body through His spirit and communicated with God.
Jesus began His ministry on a 40-day fast, exercising
authority over His flesh from the very beginning. He
lived in submission to God by knowing God’s Word
and walking according to the promptings of His inner
man, anointed by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ prayer life was
absolutely amazing. He prayed for people all day long.
Then He prayed all night, fellowshiping with the
Father. Mark 1:35 says He arose “a great while before
day,” or before dawn, to pray. Jesus kept His flesh
under submission by praying and spending time with
the Father. That’s exactly what He told His disciples
to do. “Pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Luke
22:46).
Why did Jesus come in the flesh? Because fallen man
had been given over to sin. We were in a “sin body”
with a “sin nature.” There was no redemption for us,
no escape from our predicament. Someone had to
take our place and pay the price for our sin. Jesus
paid that price and condemned sin in the flesh.
He set you and me free from the power of sin. We
have been set free from sin in the flesh. Galatians
5:16 says if we’ll walk after the spirit, we’ll not
fulfill the lusts, or desires, of the flesh!
Religious men have placed a lot of rules on the
believer and said, “You can’t do this, and you can’t
do that.” Laws are weak because of the weakness
of the flesh. The Bible doesn’t say, “Clean up your
life and then walk in the spirit.” It says that if you
walk in the spirit, you’ll not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Pray God’s WillPosted on September 2nd, 2009
Since you can only do the will of God one day at
a time, you need to find out each day what His will is.
First Corinthians 2:7 says, “But we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery….” When we pray in tongues—in
the spirit—we’re speaking mysteries, decreeing the
plan of God, which we don’t understand or even
know in our natural minds. But because we’re spiritual
beings, we trust the Word of God and pray as the
Holy Ghost gives us utterance. Though, in our natural
minds, we don’t know what we’re praying for, we
know it’s good, because we know when we pray in
the spirit, we’re praying the perfect will of God.
If we’d all begin praying the will of God, His work in
the earth would be done quickly. Isn’t that what
Jesus told the disciples to pray? “Thy will be done in
earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). His will must
be prayed. As we pray in the spirit, He can use our
mouths and our authority, even if we don’t mentally
know what we’re saying. (See 1 Corinthians 14:13-14.)
We’re speaking forth the mysteries of God and giving
Him place to display and manifest His glory and to fulfill
His plan—His hidden plan to repossess the earth.
As we pray His will in the spirit, the Holy Spirit begins
to reveal to our minds what God is doing and how we
individually fit into that plan. Supernatural understanding
comes to our minds.
God knows exactly how to deliver His children. Just as
He knew how to deliver the children of Israel from the
bondage of Egypt, He knows how to deliver us. Have
you ever thought about how God delivered the children
of Israel and read about it in such a way that you
realized the Bible is not just a storybook? It took some
doing, but it really happened! Read the book of Exodus
with the understanding that it’s your God and Father
who did this. The One who lives in you!
When God gets ready to deliver His people, you’d
better look out, Pharaoh! In all his splendor and glory,
Pharaoh had to eat dirt when God got ready to deliver
His people. God knew exactly how to bring them out.
And He knows exactly how to bring you and me to
that place of being the glorious Church without spot
or wrinkle. He knows exactly how to do it! And He is
going to do it!
I get excited when I think about all of us coming before
the Lord, praying the mysteries of God into the earth.
If we’ll get in the spirit, walk in the spirit, pray in the
spirit and intercede in the spirit, we’ll bring the mysteries
of God into our very presence in our lifetime. God has
never told us to do anything we couldn’t do. He’s never
commanded us to be spiritual beyond what He has
made us able to do. Each of us can pray in the spirit
—in tongues—every day. You don’t even have to be
smart to pray in tongues! You just have to be full of
the Holy Ghost.
The devil doesn’t have a chance if we’ll just be obedient
to God. When we walk in the spirit, we’re agreeing with
God. If you and I are in agreement with God, we’ll
automatically be in agreement with each other. By
the Spirit of God, the unity of our faith becomes a
reality. We’re learning to agree with God in His Spirit!