by Kenneth Copeland
Start today practicing the life of love. One way to do that is by practicing God’s presence in your daily life. Develop an awareness that Love is constantly with you by talking to Him all the time.
And when you talk to Him, just get real. First thing in the morning when you open your eyes say, “Good morning, Lord. I love You and praise You today. I’m so glad You never leave me nor forsake me. I receive Your love for me and I want You to know my desire is to be a blessing to You. Help me, teach me and train me—whatever You desire for me to do, I’ll be willing and obedient. I’ll do it with a happy heart.”
When you start to practice God’s presence like that, it will change how you act throughout the day. You’ll start being more loving and kind—even when other people aren’t around to notice—because you’ll know the Lord is there and you have no desire to grieve Him.
Think of how Jesus spent time with His Father during His earthly ministry. He would get up a great while before daylight so He could pray. He would spend a whole night in prayer, communicating with His heavenly Father. After Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Ghost came upon Him and anointed Him, He spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying. Then the Scripture says He left that place in the power of the Holy Spirit.
As a result of His time with the Father, He knew what He was to do and He did it! He perfectly pleased God. Afterward when Satan came to tempt Him, Jesus knew exactly what to do to have victory.
We need to let Him teach us. We need to read His words as if we have never heard them before. Picture in your mind Jesus talking to you now, saying to you the same words He spoke to the disciples.
In Christian circles we have been raised in such a sloppy way with an attitude of “just get born again and live anyway you want to,” that it has cost us the blessings God wants to manifest in our midst.
Getting born again is not something you just do so you will miss hell. He tells us to go win the lost, so we do it, but this is not the entire purpose of the Church. Our purpose is to please God—to be His special possession in the earth and do whatever He tells us to do. We should cleave unto Him, live in fellowship with Him, and be vitally united with Him. We should spend enough time with Him that we hear and recognize His voice so we can be pleasing to Him. When we do that, winning the lost will be the result.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
God’s Word to you is “I will be with you.” When Moses asked, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh?” God’s answer was, “I will be with you.” After Moses’ death, God told Joshua the same thing: “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage…” (Joshua 1:5-6).
Even if you get into trouble by your own thinking, God will honor you if you accept correction: “…whoever heeds correction is honored” (Proverbs 13:18, New International Version). Glory to God! If you press into His kingdom, stretching toward your prize, and remain correctable, He will make sure you stay headed in the right direction. He is with you and for you.
Do you wonder where your attention is? Watch your life. Watch what motivates you and what you’re thinking about. Your words will follow your actions. So keep watch and don’t let divine things lose out.
Don’t be dismayed. Don’t lose your courage. Do what you’re called to do.
You have everything it takes to be a winner—everything you need to be part of the glorious, victorious end-time army of God. As Kenneth E. Hagin said in a prophecy God gave him in 1977, “You can be a part of that army if you want to be. Purpose in your heart that you’ll not be lazy, that you’ll not draw back, hold back or sit down. But purpose in your heart that you’ll rise up and march forward and become on fire.”
Get aggressive. Press in. Lay hold of the kingdom of God with every bit of force you can muster. That’s the price you pay to win this race. But one thing is certain—the eternal victory you gain will be worth it all.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
While preaching the gospel across this country,
I have realized one main thing the Lord is saying
to His people: God is a winner—He is not
a failure. Consequently, His people are winners
and not failures. We are to have a victorious
attitude in Christ!
In Ephesians 4:23, the Apostle Paul told
the Church to have the spirit of their minds
renewed. In other words, they should have
their whole attitude renewed. We need to
renew our minds to the Word of God—to the
fact that Jesus has overcome the world.
We’ve all heard it said, “It’s not whether
you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”
That is nonsense! If you play the game right,
you’ll win! There is no substitute for being a
winner. Man was created as a dominating lord.
He was given dominion over the earth and
everything that crept, flew, crawled and
breathed in the earth. Man is a winner—he
does not know how to graciously accept
defeat. When he accepts defeat and failure as
his lot in life, he lowers himself, not only
below other principalities and powers, but he
lowers himself below the devil and even below
the animal kingdom.
I’m reminded here of something George
Patton said as a general in the Army of the
United States. He was a great commander with
a God-given insight into war. (You might ask:
“Does God give men insight into war?” Yes.
Look at David—God showed him how to
fight. There are some men called of God to
handle the garbage jobs—the blood-and-guts
jobs—that have to be done. Many times these
jobs have been glorified by men, but they are
not glorious jobs!) George Patton was one of
these garbage men. He knew how to win a war
and said it this way: “Some of you men have
come with your minds made up to die for
your country. That’s not the way to win a war!
The way to win a war is to make your enemies
die for theirs!” He had his mind made up to
win—and dying wasn’t the way to do it. That
man had a winning attitude.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
