My Ministry for the Lord!

Don’t Stop at the Gate

Richard — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:00:13 +0000

Don’t Stop at the Gate

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
(Hebrews 4:16)

When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, one of the privileges you received was the right to come to the throne room of God any time you want to. Think about that! You have the right to go boldly before God and obtain whatever you need.

Even though that’s clearly what the Bible says, many people don’t go boldly into the throne room. Instead they think, “I could never go in to where God is. I’ll just stand out here and yell and hope He hears me.” I used to be guilty of that myself.

I remember one day I was in prayer, begging and pleading, bombarding the gates of heaven for revival. After I’d been at it a little while, the Lord spoke to me. “What are you doing?” He said.

“I’m bombarding the gates of heaven with prayer for revival,” I answered.

“Kenneth, how big is My city?” He asked me.

“As far as I can tell from what the Bible says, it’s about 1200 cubits or somewhere around 1500 miles square and 1500 miles high.”

“Then why are you bombarding the gates? Assuming that My throne is in the middle of the city that leaves you about 750 miles short! And, by the way,” He added, “those gates aren’t locked. Why don’t you quit bombarding them and just come on in?”

After I repented for mimicking old traditional prayers without thinking, I remembered that the Word says, “Come boldly to the throne” and I’ve been coming boldly ever since.

Do you need to receive something from God today? Don’t waste time standing around outside heaven’s gates. Through Jesus you belong in the very throne room of God. So come right on in. The door is always open for you.

Scripture Study: “Hebrews 4:14-16, Hebrews 5:1-9″

Don’t Stop at the Gate is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Be Willing to Wait

Richard — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:00:19 +0000

Be Willing to Wait

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.”
(Proverbs 21:23)

There’s just no two ways about it. To live a life of blessing, we have to make our words agree with what God says. Not just for a few hours or a few days, but all the time.

If you’ve ever done that, you know it’s not easy. As time wears on and the circumstances around you appear to be stubbornly determined to stay in the same miserable condition, it can be hard to keep on speaking God’s Word. But you have to do it if you ever want your harvest of blessing to come in.

When Kenneth started preaching prosperity, I sat out there and listened to him with holes in the bottom of my shoes. But we knew our financial problems didn’t change what the Word of God said. We knew His prosperity promises were true even if we hadn’t been able to tap into them yet. So, even though we felt foolish at times, we just kept on talking about God’s generous provision for us.

I realized later that Word went to work for us from the first day we began to believe it and speak it and order our lives according to it. Our prosperity crop began to grow the moment we started putting seeds in the ground. It just took time for them to come up.

Sometimes, believers don’t last that long. They start planting well enough, but then when they don’t see immediate results, when the bank account gets low and rent is past due, they get discouraged and begin to speak words of lack and defeat. They tear up their crop with the words of their own mouth, and they never get to enjoy the fruit of it.

The next time you strike out on faith, whether it’s in the financial realm or any other area, keep that in mind. Determine from the beginning that you’re not going to let that waiting period discourage you. Then hang on until the Word of God is manifested in your life. Put patience to work and keep your words in line. You will receive your harvest.

Scripture Study: “Proverbs 18:4-8, 20-21″

Be Willing to Wait is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Behold the Lord

Richard — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:00:12 +0000

Behold the Lord

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
(Romans 12:2)

Inside, you’re perfect–born again in the image of Jesus Himself. But outwardly do you find yourself falling frustratingly short of that perfection? Is there a solution? Yes! The secret lies in “the renewing of your mind.”

Romans 12:2 tells us that, if you’ll renew your mind, you can actually be “transformed.” That word “transformed” is translated from the Greek word from which we get the term “metamorphosis.” It’s used in Scripture in two other places.

One of those places is when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount as He spoke with Moses and Elijah. The other is found in 2 Corinthians 3:18. It says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Changed, transformed, transfigured! Those are powerful, exciting words, and they describe what will happen to you as you spend time beholding the Lord in the Word and in prayer. As you spend time renewing your mind, your outer being will be transformed in much the same way as a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly. Instead of conforming to the image of the world, you’ll begin to conform to the image of the reborn spirit within you which is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Take time to get away from the world and study God’s Word. Meditate on it and let it change you from the inside out. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind and release the beautiful spiritual butterfly that’s living in you!

Scripture Study: 2 Corinthians 3:6-18

Behold the Lord is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Joy: A Very Real Force

Richard — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:00:09 +0000

Joy: A Very Real Force

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
(Nehemiah 8:10)

Joy. It’s not a warm, happy feeling you’re supposed to have now and then when things are going well. It’s much more than that. Joy is one of the most powerful spiritual forces in the world.

Look again at Nehemiah 8:10 and I’ll show you why. If you were to diagram that scripture and remove the phrase, “of the Lord,” you would find what it’s truly saying is this: Joy is strength. The two are interchangeable.

That’s what makes joy so crucial. You can’t live a life of faith without being strong in the Lord–and when God wants to make you strong, joy is what He uses to do the job!

Joy is not just a state of mind. It is not a fleeting emotion. Joy is a very real force, and the devil doesn’t have anything that can stand up against it. Just as fear has to yield to faith, discouragement has to yield to joy.

Since joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, you already have it residing within you. But you must develop it, confess it, and live by it if you want to enjoy its power.

Whatever circumstances you are facing today, you can be full of joy. You can be strong in the Lord. You can draw on the supply of the Holy Spirit within you and come out on top.

Rejoice!

Scripture Study: Psalm 18:28-50

Joy: A Very Real Force is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Put the Word First

Richard — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:11 +0000

Put the Word First

“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.”
(Proverbs 4:5-6)

Recently, God has been raising up ever-growing numbers of people who are hungry. Hungry to know their Lord in a deeper way. Hungry to serve Him–in pulpits, on mission fields, in homes, in office buildings, and anywhere else He might choose to send them.

They are people who simply aren’t content to find the path of least resistance and coast their way into heaven. No, they’re determined to run the race…to run, as the apostle Paul said, to obtain the prize. Spiritually speaking, they are on the road to excellence.

Are you among them?

If so, I want to share four simple words that, I believe, will enable you to run the race like a winner:

Put the Word first.

Whether your goal is to be an excellent evangelist or a first-rate engineer in the service of the Lord, it is the wisdom that comes from the Word of God that will get you there.

Jesus said it this way: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

So commit yourself right now to do whatever it takes to totally saturate yourself with the Word of God. Use every available moment to read, study, listen to, and meditate on it.

I know it won’t be easy, but if you’ve made a definite decision to amount to something in the ministry of Jesus Christ and you are determined to take the Great Commission seriously, then be diligent. Put the Word first and there will surely be glorious victories ahead.

Scripture Study: Proverbs 4:1-18

Put the Word First is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Sin Stained…or Blood Washed?

Richard — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:00:16 +0000

Sin Stained…or Blood Washed?

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
(Hebrews 10:16-17)
The Bible tells us that under Levitical law, an animal had to be offered every year to atone for the sins of the people. That word atone means “to cover” and it’s used continually throughout the Old Testament.

But let me tell you something exciting. It’s never used in the New Testament. The Greek word used to describe what Jesus did for us on the Cross is a different word altogether. It doesn’t just mean “to cover”–it means “to remit; to do completely away with something.”

Do you know what that means? It means there is no longer a sin problem. Jesus solved it!

When you made Him your Lord, He didn’t just cover your sins, He put you into right standing with God and recreated you by the Spirit of God as if sin had never existed.

Many believers haven’t fully grasped that magnificent truth. Are you caught up in what I call sin consciousness? Do you keep thinking of yourself as sin stained instead of blood washed?

“Well, after all Brother Copeland, I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.”

No, you’re not. You were an old sinner, but grace changed you forever into the very righteousness of God. You are now His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus! As far as God is concerned, your past life is forgotten. It died the death of the Cross.

Think about that. Let it sink into your consciousness until you rise up boldly and receive the freedom from sin that’s yours in Christ Jesus. Receive the righteousness that only the Lamb of God can give.

Scripture Study: Hebrews 9:11-26

Sin Stained…or Blood Washed? is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Welcome to the Big League

Richard — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:00:58 +0000

Welcome to the Big League

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
(Matthew 5:11-12)

When persecution comes, don’t sit around whining about it. Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for yourself. Despite what you may think, that persecution hasn’t come because the devil gets his kicks out of picking on you. It comes because you’ve become a threat to him. It comes because you’ve put the Word in your heart, and he knows that if he doesn’t get it out, you’re going to cause him more trouble than he can handle.

So rejoice! Heavy duty persecution means you’ve made it to the big league. It means the devil is taking you so seriously that he’s sending in his best players in an effort to get you out of the game!

The players that make it to the Superbowl don’t look for some way out of it, do they? They don’t say, “Boy, I sure wish I didn’t have to be in that Superbowl game. Those guys are the biggest, meanest players in the country. “Maybe I’ll get sick and I won’t have to play.” No! They relish the opportunity. “Let me at ‘em,” they say. “I’ve worked all my life to get here and now I’m going to prove I’m the best!”

That’s how you should be when the devil challenges you. You should accept that challenge with joy, knowing you’re going to come out a winner. After all, your God is sufficient to see you through. He never stops and wonders if He’s going to have enough resources to get you over your problems this time. He knows He can beat anything the devil brings against you.

So, when persecution comes, trust Him and rejoice, knowing that you’ve made it to the big leagues now!

Scripture Study: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Welcome to the Big League is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

A Hidden Treasure

Richard — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:00:10 +0000

A Hidden Treasure

“The sower soweth the word.”
(Mark 4:14)

Right now, at this very moment, you have hidden within you a treasure that can change the world. A treasure that can change a man’s eternal destiny, that can take him to heaven and save him from hell. A treasure that can turn a person’s poverty into prosperity, his sickness into health, his sorrow into joy.

You have within you the all-powerful Word of God.

Don’t keep it to yourself. Plant it wherever you go! Sow it into the hearts of those you meet. Share it at every opportunity.

“But I don’t know how!” you may say.

Then start learning. Let these three steps help guide the way.

One: Make a decision. Make up your mind and heart today that you are going to share the Word with others no matter what! Determine right now that it’s the most important thing you’ll ever do. Commit to it. Once you’ve done that, you’ll find the rest is easy.

Two: Prepare yourself. Spend time meditating in the Word each day. Allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you. That will make it easy for you to minister to others. You’ll be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be able to hear His voice. He’ll help you know what to say in each situation.

Three: Stay in faith. Once you’ve shared the Word with someone, trust God for the results. The Word of God does not return void. Even if they seem indifferent to you, even if it appears the Word had no effect, keep believing. Your faith will keep that Word alive inside them, and eventually, it will do its transforming work.

You have hidden within you a treasure that can change the world. What are you going to do with it today?

Scripture Study: 2 Corinthians 4:1-7

A Hidden Treasure is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

A Proven Success

Richard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:00:13 +0000

A Proven Success

“And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet….For this my son…was lost, and is found.”
(Luke 15:21-22, 24)

Prove yourself. In today’s world, that’s what you constantly feel you have to do, right? On the job, among friends, even at home you’re always working to win the approval you need. Working to convince those around you that you deserve the salary, the friendship, and even the love they give you.

Is there any escape?

You better believe there is! It’s called grace. Unearned and undeserved favor and acceptance. And there’s only one place you can find it–in the heart of God Himself.

There’s no better picture of God’s grace in action than in the story of the prodigal son. Few of us today can really feel the impact of that story like those first Jewish listeners Jesus told it to. You see, by their standards the prodigal son had committed some of the most despicable acts possible. He’d not only taken advantage of his father and spent his inheritance in riotous living, he’d left the nation of Israel and made covenant with a foreigner–a pig farmer! That was as low as you could get.

In their eyes, that boy’s rebellion was so serious his father’s only recourse was to disown him.

But that’s not what this father did! He welcomed his repentant son home with open arms. He offered him grace–unmerited favor–that was based on the father’s love rather than the son’s performance.

Next time you catch yourself struggling to make up to God for something you’ve done wrong, working to win His approval, let the story of the prodigal son set you free. Let it remind you that, in spite of your sins, your Father has received you with open arms. He’s put a robe of righteousness on your back and His signet ring on your hand. He’s put the shoes of sonship on your feet!

Do you feel unworthy of all that? God hasn’t based His relationship with you on your worthiness. He’s based it on His love for you. You don’t have to struggle to prove yourself to Him. As far as He’s concerned, you’re a proven success.

Scripture Study: Luke 15:11-32

A Proven Success is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!

Love Is the Power Charge

Richard — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:00:15 +0000

Love Is the Power Charge

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:12-13)

Love. It is the first and foremost command Jesus gave us, yet all too many believers neglect to follow it.

I’m talking about believers who can quote tremendous amounts of scripture and who may speak the Name of Jesus 35 or 40 times a day, yet they’re rough and insensitive to the needs of their friends and family. They’re so busy “serving God,” they don’t have time to serve people. Strife is their hallmark.

You may have been saved 45 years; you may talk in tongues all day long; but if you have strife in your heart and you’re not living by the love commandment of Jesus, spiritual things are foolishness to you.

When you’re in that condition, the Name of Jesus won’t work. Faith won’t work because the Bible says that faith works by love. In fact, none of the gifts of the Spirit will work if you don’t have love. First Corinthians 13 says so.

Do you want to see the incredible power of God released through your life? Then start putting the love command in action. Start loving those around you.

Love is the power charge, friend. God’s power package just won’t work without it. That’s why we’ve seen so many power failures in the Body of Christ. Starting today, you and I can turn those failures around. We can make up our minds to let the Word dwell richly within us. We can set our hearts on keeping the commands of Jesus and speak His Name with confidence and authority. And, most important of all, we can begin to love one another.

Then we will truly see the power of God begin to flow.

Love Is the Power Charge is a post from: My Ministrey for the Lord!