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 — Responding With Compassion Part 5Posted on May 26th, 2010
The compassion and mercy of Jesus operated as a force
against illness and disease. A good illustration of this is
in Mark 1:40-42 when a leper came to Jesus and asked
to be made clean. Verse 41 says, “And Jesus, moved with
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and
saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” As soon as Jesus had
spoken, the leprosy immediately departed from him, and
he was cleansed.
The Bible does not say, “immediately he was healed.”
It said that immediately leprosy itself departed, indicating
that the spirit life behind the disease left. When
that happened, the man’s body regained its health. The
force that drove the leprosy out was the compassion of
God released in the words that Jesus spoke and through
His hands.
The mercy of God governed Jesus in every situation.
After He healed the leper, Jesus instructed him not to say
anything about his healing but to show himself to the
priest. However, Mark 1:45 through Mark 2:1 says: “But
he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze
abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more
openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places:
and they came to him from every quarter. And again he
entered into Capernaum….”
The leper went out and stirred up the countryside to
the point where Jesus had to retreat to Capernaum. He
called attention to his healing until there were so many
people that Jesus could not even minister to all of them.
Jesus went to Capernaum. The crowds flooded Him there
as they had in the desert. It says in Mark 2:1-4:
And again he entered into Capernaum after some
days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
And straightway many were gathered together,
insomuch that there was no room to receive them,
no, not so much as about the door: and he preached
the word unto them. And they come unto him,
bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne
of four. And when they could not come nigh unto
him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was: and when they had broken it up, they let
down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Your sins are
forgiven you.” What a statement of mercy! He paid no
attention to them taking apart the roof. Through mercy,
He saw their faith. Through mercy and forgiveness, He
ministered healing and deliverance.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Responding With Compassion Part 4Posted on May 19th, 2010
Don’t ever come against somebody’s faith, even if you
do not think they are strong enough. Get in there and help
them. That is what Jesus did. He was governed by mercy
and compassion instead of by legalism, rules and fear. If
He had been afraid Peter was going to drown, He would
have started sinking Himself.
Peter walked on the water based on the Word of Jesus,
“Come.” As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he made it.
But when he started looking at the wind, he became afraid
and began to sink.
As he started to sink, Peter cried, “Lord, save me.” The
Bible says:
Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they
were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then
they that were in the ship came and worshipped
him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
And when they were gone over, they came into
the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that
place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all
that country round about, and brought unto him
all that were diseased; and besought him that they
might only touch the hem of his garment: and
as many as touched were made perfectly whole
(Matthew 14:31-36).
All this took place because Jesus was moved with
compassion out in the desert. In the life of Jesus, compassion
took a higher priority than anything else. It caused Him to
continually reach out to others and respond to their need.
Matthew 20:30-34 is a good example of this:
And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way
side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried
out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of
David. And the multitude rebuked them, because
they should hold their peace: but they cried the
more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of
David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and
said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They
say unto him, Lord that our eyes may be opened. So
Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their
eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight,
and they followed him.
Jesus had compassion on them, not just for them. The
two blind men had caught sight of the fact that mercy
would do the job. They cried, “Have mercy,” and Jesus was
moved with compassion. The power of His mercy was
released and brought them their eyesight.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Responding With Compassion Part 3Posted on May 12th, 2010
The nature of compassion is to give you a part of what
it possesses. This is how it works. For example, in spite
of His personal circumstances, Jesus prayed and
ministered to the people all day long and then provided
for their physical nourishment.
After all this had taken place, it says in Matthew 14:22
that “Straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into
a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he
sent the multitudes away.” Jesus had a reason in His heart
for telling them to go. I am satisfied that the Spirit of God
directed Him, in the middle of ministering to the people,
to go to the other side of the lake where more ministry
awaited Him, more sick, desperate people needing help.
Compassion was still directing Him.
He sent the disciples to the other side of the lake and
spent the evening in prayer. Matthew 14:23-28 picks up
the story: “And when he had sent the multitudes away,
he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the
evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was
now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the
wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night
Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.”
His compassion for them brought about this miracle.
The Spirit of compassion, the Holy Spirit, revealed they
were in trouble. He then enabled Jesus to walk on the water
to get to them: “And when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and
they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And
Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me
come unto thee on the water.”
Because Peter cornered Jesus by saying, “If it be You,”
Jesus could not answer Peter any other way but to say,
“Come.” Jesus knew Peter did not have the level of faith to
walk on that water, but He didn’t rebuke him for stepping
out on what little faith he had.
Gloria Copeland
Gloria Copeland — Compassion, In The Face Of TragedyPosted on May 5th, 2010
In every situation, the compassion of God controlled
Jesus. Even in the face of personal tragedy when Herod
beheaded His cousin, John the Baptist, Jesus triumphed
over His emotions.
Jesus and John had shared a special kinship that began
even before they were born. John’s mother, Elizabeth,
and Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent most of their pregnancies
together.
So when Jesus heard of John’s death, Matthew 14:13
says that “He departed thence by ship into a desert place
apart.” Jesus wanted to get out of town away from the
people and go to a place to pray. But it says, “When the
people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of
the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude,
and was moved with compassion toward them, and he
healed their sick.”
Even in the face of personal tragedy, compassion
moved Jesus to act and meet the needs of the people. After
He finished preaching, He called the members of His
own staff together to give the people something to eat. He
knew that the people were so hungry they would faint if
He sent them away. All that was available was a few fish
and loaves. Nevertheless, He commanded His disciples to
bring the food to Him and instructed the multitude to sit
down. In His compassion, He blessed the food, multiplying
it so there was more than all of them could eat.