This is operating and using what the Bible calls “the royal
law.” Love your neighbor as yourself. Be as quick to care for the
needs of others as you are your own needs. The world knows it
exists; they call it “the golden rule,” but they don’t understand
how it functions and neither do most Christians.

This whole system of finance must be operated by faith in
order for it to function properly. My dad was tithing as God had
said, but he was not believing for the return on his giving. He
had it stacked up in heaven, yet he was getting no benefit from
it here on earth. Finally, when he learned some of these things,
he started believing God and he is better off financially today in
retirement than he was when he worked so hard. He began to
mix his faith with God’s Word concerning finances. There are
many tithers who say, “Why, I couldn’t ask God to give anything
back to me!” This shows that they don’t really know what
the Word says about tithing. When God introduced tithing in
the book of Deuteronomy, He commanded the people to say to
Him, “Look down from thy holy habitation and bless your people
with a land that flows with milk and honey.” They were
commanded to say this to the Lord!

Remember, the basic, fundamental law for establishing your
heart in the covenant of God is meditation on the Word. You
must commit yourself to the fact that God’s Word works.
Meditation is fixing your mind on the Word. Here are seven steps
to help you learn how to meditate God’s Word:

1. Apply the Word to you personally.
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word a reality in your heart.
3. Carefully ponder how this Word applies to your life.
4. Dwell on how this Word from the Lord changes your situation.
5. Place yourself in agreement with what God’s Word says about you.
6. See yourself as God sees you.
7. Begin to realize the integrity of God’s Word. You must commit yourself to the fact that God’s Word is true and that it works!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Now let’s read on from Mark 10:25.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished out of measure, saying among
themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking
upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not
with God: for with God all things are possible. Then
Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and
have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he
shall receive an hundredfold now in this time.

IN THIS LIFE! He intended to give the rich young ruler a
hundred times what he had!

Jesus said, “…an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” The moment
God begins to bless you, you will get persecuted because you
become dangerous to Satan. You begin to know that God is the
source of your success, that He is the one giving it to you, that
there is an endless supply behind you and an endless supply in
front of you. All you must do is be a channel for it and giving is
the key that opens the door. Jesus knew the spiritual law of giving,
and He operated it proficiently. He gave to the poor at such
an astonishing rate that when Judas left the room during the
Last Supper, some people thought that he must be going to give
to the poor.

Do you want a hundredfold return on your money? Give
and let God multiply it back to you. No bank in the world
offers this kind of return! Praise the Lord!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

There is another area that I want to share with you about
God’s financial system. In Mark 10:17-23, we find the story of
the rich young ruler. This is one of the most misunderstood
incidents in the whole Bible. We have read this in the light of
the world’s traditional system, thinking God wanted to break
that young man but this is not so. We have misunderstood it
for the same reason that the rich young ruler missed God—
ignorance of the Word of God. He did not know what the covenant
said. He knew “the Law” and the Ten Commandments,
but the Abrahamic Covenant covered much more than these.
God made an agreement with Abraham and promised to do certain
things if he would obey the Word; then the prophets were
raised up to add to this covenant and record it for Israel to use.
Let’s read Mark’s account of this conversation.
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came
one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good
Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest
the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not
kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud
not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered
and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed
from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him,
and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way,
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying,
and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples,
How hardly shall they that have riches enter into
the kingdom of God!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

One time I was meditating about Peter catching the fish
with the money in its mouth. I realized this was a financial
operation, so I decided to find out what God had to say. I must
have read that story 50 times and ran into a blank wall each
time! I could see that Peter needed tax money and Jesus told
him to go fishing. He caught the fish and got the money out
of its mouth. I would run that through my thinking, sometimes
for hours, then get up and say, “Well, Lord, I know it’s here
somewhere, and by faith, I claim the revelation on it!” Finally,
in prayer one day I picked up my Bible, flipped it open to that
passage, and read it once more. Then I saw something I had
read over and over again. Jesus said, “Get the money out of the
mouth of the first fish.” Peter was going to catch a mess of fish!
Then the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Daughter, don’t bind Me
to finances. I can handle the fish just as I can the money.” I saw
what I had been missing! I had been centering on the one fish.
Now if I had been in Peter’s place, I would have jerked the
money out of the fish’s mouth, run down to pay the taxes, and
then realized that I didn’t have anything to eat. I would have
been so shortsighted that I would have thrown the fish back
and missed out on the rest of the catch. If there was a first fish,
there had to be a second and so on. Peter was a commercial
fisherman and knew how to market those fish. Jesus obviously
loaded his boat again. I would have spent part of the money on
something to eat and still couldn’t have paid my taxes. I thought,
“I have been believing for the money to buy an automobile when
I should have been believing God for the automobile itself!” The
Lord said, “That’s right. You have had Me bound to that little
channel of money.” Then He said something I’ll never forget,
“Son, if I send you a cow with a bag of money around her neck,
for goodness’ sake, milk her before you send her home!” The
Lord has a tremendous sense of humor, but I didn’t know it until
I began to fellowship with Him and meditate in His Word.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

You are probably familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Are you in
Christ? If so, then you are committed to Colossians 2:2-3: “That
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and
unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of
Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
We read earlier from Proverbs that one hand of wisdom
holds riches and honor and the other hand holds length of
days. These are some of the treasures of wisdom—all of them
are hid in Christ. Wisdom is in Christ. You are in Christ.
Wisdom is in you! It belongs to you! Welcome to where the
riches are!

In financial dealings, the truly wise man, one who is operating
in the covenant of God, will not borrow money. He will not
obligate himself in this way. A man who borrows money is relying
on the world’s system of finance and will never be in absolute
control of his affairs. God has a system of finance which
will provide everything you need. It is not a sin to borrow
money, but there is a better way. Why not use it? There is a
higher life. Reach for it!

This is a very difficult area where businessmen are
concerned, but God can and will provide everything any businessman
can conceive in his heart or mind. God has a way!
This is something you grow into spiritually. If you want to
believe God for thousands of dollars to operate your business,
you will have to start by believing Him for your next shirt and
tie. As you do, you will grow into a position where you can
believe Him to provide large amounts of money. The wisdom of
God will cause these things to happen, and it comes forth only
by spending time in the Word.

Suppose Henry Ford walked up, handed you a book, and
said, “This book contains every secret that I have learned in the
automobile industry, in the manufacturing business, and in the
stock market. It has been tried and proven over a period of years
to produce absolutely if you will read it one hour each day and
meditate in it.” Would you trade an hour’s sleep for the success
Henry Ford enjoyed? This and so much more is available to you
by reading and meditating in the Word of God. Commit yourself
to it. Make up your mind and heart before God.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

The established heart comes by meditation in the Word of
God. We have seen from the book of Joshua that if a person
will meditate in the Word day and night and do all that is written
therein, he will prosper and deal wisely in his affairs. It is
through this kind of meditation in the Word that you will discover
what God has to say about finances.

Proverbs 3:13-14 says, “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,
and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise
of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold.” In other words, there is a better market for wisdom
and understanding than for gold and silver. The merchandise
of it is greater; and will provide more. Solomon proved
this. People from faraway countries heard about the wisdom of
Solomon and brought him wealth and riches because of it.

Verses 15-16, “She [wisdom] is more precious than rubies: and
all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and
honour.” Wisdom actually possesses riches and honor. Does wisdom
belong to us? Again, we go to the established covenant for
the answer. Let’s see what the Word has to say about it.

First Corinthians 1:30 states very plainly that Jesus has
been made unto us wisdom. James 1:5-6 says, “If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering.” Paul prayed in Colossians 1:9-10 “that
ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.” We
should bear fruit and succeed in every endeavor, and the wisdom
of God enables us to do this.

Now I take for granted that you understand the importance
of prayer in all these areas. Spend time before God and in His
Word. Let Him reveal to you His wisdom and His understanding.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Since God’s covenant has been established and prosperity is a
provision of this covenant, you need to realize that prosperity
belongs to you now! Someone might say, “God can see into the
future. He knows that if I had money, I would spend it unwisely
or act ugly with it. That’s why I don’t have any.” Well, you are
probably right! The fact that you have more faith in this than you
have in the Word of God and in your own competence as a
Christian is keeping you robbed. Satan sold you that lie, not
God. You must realize that it is God’s will for you to prosper (see
3 John 2). This is available to you, and frankly, it would be stupid
of you not to partake of it! When a man realizes that prosperity
belongs to him, takes the Word of God, becomes prosperous, and
then gives it away, he is valuable. The Apostle Paul learned
the spiritual law of giving and operated it proficiently. He was
strong enough in the Lord to believe for prosperity, receive
it, then give it away. This is a valuable sacrifice; it really
means something.

The Word of God says, “Give, and it shall be given unto
you again.” As you begin to operate this law, you will see
that you can’t get rid of it! As you give, it will be returned to
you faster than you can keep giving it away! As we read in
Deuteronomy 8:18, God gives us the power to get wealth in
order to establish His covenant. He does it because He said
He would! When you fully realize that you have Him and
He has you, that you can do all things through Christ who
strengthens you (see Philippians 4:13), all the pride in your
heart melts and you know that without Him you can do nothing.
As you begin to understand these things, you won’t be
afraid to give. You won’t be afraid to turn loose of it. When you
give, you will receive and have even more to give, a constant
flowing! Praise the Lord!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

From the time of Adam’s fall, man was cursed. Through
the years he was trained under deception and did not have the
necessary spiritual knowledge and understanding to escape it.
After several generations had passed, Adam’s teachings to his
own sons had been forgotten, and no one knew anything about
God or about spiritual law. Most of the things God had said
were absolutely foreign to the human mind. Jesus said “Give,
and it shall be given to you again,” but this is contrary to our
thinking. We say, “That’s stupid! It doesn’t make sense…anybody
knows that if you give it away, you won’t have it anymore!”
But God knows the foundation principle of the law of
giving. Satan knows it too, but he will try to deceive you in
order to keep you ignorant, weak and powerless so that he can
govern you.

When God made His covenant with Abraham, most people
could not understand. As long as they obeyed God, they were
blessed. However, when they relied on their own understanding,
they would go back under the curse again. God was telling
them, “If you won’t follow My Word and do what I tell you,
there is nothing I can do for you. I cannot usurp authority over
your own free will.”

Let’s stop and consider for a moment that when God made
His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He promised
to take care of them and their descendants. They were free men!
Consequently, every Jewish slave who bore the lash under
Egyptian rule was a free man! There was only one problem…
they didn’t know it! Therefore, God called Moses and gave him
the ability and authority to write down the covenant God had
made with Abraham. This way, the people would know what
had been done and what had been agreed to. Moses went forth
in the name of the covenant, performed miracles by the power
of God in the face of Pharaoh, and led God’s people out of
bondage. They could have gone free 400 years before, but they
didn’t know their covenant! God has laid out His innermost
thoughts and desires, His perfect will, in the form of a contract
and placed them in the Bible. They are available to set us free
from Satan’s authority, by the Spirit of God in the Name of
Jesus. Jesus said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free” (John 8:31-32).

We have seen from the Word that the covenant of God has
been established. We have seen that prosperity is a blessing of
Abraham and that poverty is under the curse of the law. How
does this affect us as members of the Body of Christ under the
new covenant?

Galatians 3:13-14, 29 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed
is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. And if ye be Christ’s,
then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Jesus bore the curse of the law in our behalf. He beat Satan
and took away his power. Consequently, there is no reason for
you to live under the curse of the law, no reason for you to live
in poverty of any kind. Many born-again believers live in spiritual
poverty, spiritual malnutrition. They are mighty, spiritual supermen
in the embryo but not growing an ounce because they are
not being properly fed. Spiritual growth comes only by feeding
and acting on the Word of God. “Desire the sincere milk of the
word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

All the words God spoke to Joshua would have been useless
if he had disobeyed and not meditated in the Word day and night.
Only by meditation in the Word will you be able to see how to do
what is written there. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks
in his heart, so is he. Learn to take the Word of God and meditate
in it. Then when the world says, “There’s no way out,” you can
just smile and say, “Oh yes, there is a way. His Name is Jesus.”

God said, “If you will meditate in My Word, you will prosper
and have good success.” In other words, you will deal wisely in
all the affairs of life. If you do this, prosperity will be no problem.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what situation you are in,
if you can deal wisely in all the affairs of life, you will triumph.
Paul and Silas proved this when they were in jail. They praised
God at midnight, and evidently they dealt wisely in that affair
because the prison doors popped open!

A good businessman knows that making money is not his
biggest problem. Anyone can make money if he knows how to
deal wisely. He can take 50 cents and turn it into a fortune if he
knows exactly what to do with it. If you knew exactly how to
deal wisely with the money in your purse or billfold—if you
knew what to do, where to go, whom to talk with, and what to
say—success would be inevitable.

The truly successful man is one who knows the Lord, has
learned to believe God, and can share it with others. This man
is valuable to God, to himself, to the people around him, and
he is dangerous to Satan.

Remember, it is God who gives the power to get wealth in
order that His covenant may be established. God and His Word
are one. When you are in the presence of the Word of God, you are
in the presence of God Himself. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
There is no way that you can have God manifest in your life
without His Word. Now there are special manifestations of God’s
grace, but the Christian is not supposed to live on these. We are
to live a constant manifestation of God’s presence from His
Word. You keep His Word, and He will manifest Himself to you.
Nothing thrills me more than to know that if I wake up in the
middle of the night with some problem, all I have to do is reach
for my Bible. This is the manifestation of the power of God. It
will work every time for anybody who will use it! When you
realize that this manifestation of God is available all the time and
begin to walk in the light of it, you will become prosperous.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Now I want you to realize the uniqueness of Joshua’s situation.
This is the moment when both the natural world and the
spiritual world are hanging in the balance. These are God’s people;
if they fail, there will be no Jesus! If God fails them, there
will be no redemption! God must keep His covenant alive in
the earth in order to bring forth Jesus, the Redeemer. He had to
have a man who would listen to Him.

At this critical time in history, where does God put the
exclamation point? What does He deem important? He speaks
to Joshua and says,

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all
the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be
with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong
and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou
divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto
their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very
courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according
to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded
thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left,
that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth;
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou
mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success…be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with
thee withersoever thou goest (Joshua 1:5-9).

In verse 5, we see the key to wealth and prosperity once
again: “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Here is God manifesting Himself to man! Jesus said the same
thing in Matthew 28:20, “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world.” He said in John 14:16 that He would send the
Holy Spirit as our comforter to abide with us forever. Prosperity
is a byproduct of God walking with us and manifesting Himself
to us.

God could have told Joshua many things—to fast so many
days each week or to pray so many hours each day. He could
have said, “If you’ll believe Me, I’ll do great miracles,” or “If
you’ll believe Me, there will be a cloud by day and a pillar of
fire by night.” He could have said, “You’ll not have to worry
when you come to another Red Sea or when your enemies
come against you.” But He didn’t say anything of the kind. At
this important hour in Joshua’s life—at this vital time in the
plan of redemption—God said, “This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then
thou shalt have good success.” Another translation says, “You
shall deal wisely in all the affairs of life.”

What did God put first? Meditation in His Word.

With one word of His mouth, He established Psalm 138:2
that says He has magnified His Word even above His Name.
You see, when you put the Word of God first in your life and
it becomes your final authority, prosperity is the result. It is
inevitable because the Word of God covers every situation in
life. THE WORD IS FINAL AUTHORITY.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland