Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Romans 4:16-21
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Romans 8:2, 11
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

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.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Galatians 3:13-14, 29
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.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Matthew 21:21-22
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mark 11:22-24
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 16:14-18
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Luke 6:19
And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Luke 9:2
And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Luke 13:16
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Acts 5:16
There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Then the story continues with, “Jesus…said unto him, One
thing thou lackest.” What he lacked was a working revelation of
the covenant. The young man only did as he was supposed to.
He presented himself as knowing the Word, and Jesus tested
his knowledge by saying, “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.” What did the young man
do? He walked off sadly because he had great possessions. Jesus
could have stopped him right then and explained what He
meant, but if He had, the man would have obeyed in the natural
and not by faith. If he had asked Jesus to explain Himself,
He would have. Each time His disciples asked Him to explain a
parable, He did, but He never explained it in order to get them
to act on it. If the man had really known the covenant, he
would have thought, “What does the covenant say about giving to
the poor?” He would have remembered Proverbs 19:17 that
says, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and
that which he hath given will he pay him again.” This was the
biggest financial deal that young man had ever been offered,
but he walked away from it because he didn’t know God’s system
of finance. He didn’t take the time to inquire; he just
assumed that God wanted to break him. Instead of being Word minded
that young man was money-minded.

When the rich young ruler walked away, Jesus said, “How
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”
Then an interesting thing happened. The next verse says, “And
the disciples were astonished at his words.” We have just taken
it for granted that Jesus and His disciples didn’t have anything.
But the Bible describes Peter, James and John as professional
fishermen. They owned more than one boat, and they had
household servants! When Jesus spoke those words, it shook
them. It was adverse to what they had seen. They were astonished
at His words! Jesus was not poor in His ministry. He had a
treasurer! Turn off your religious head and read the Word of
God as if it were your newspaper.

Another point I want you to grasp is the reality of Jesus’ words,
“Come, take up the cross, and follow me.” What does “the cross”
refer to? The “cross we are to bear” is selfish, unlovely people. The
greatest commandment is that we love one another. Unfortunately,
some people are not easy to love, but we are to love them anyway.
We are to bear one another’s burdens and uphold one another. We
must stop strife with the love of God. This is our cross. Do you
realize the significance of His words, “Come…follow me”? These
are the words Jesus spoke to every man He commissioned as an
apostle. When I saw this, the Lord said, “Wouldn’t this man have
been the logical replacement for Judas?” Judas failed because of
the love of money. He even stole from the bag! This young ruler
was an excellent businessman; he was honest and had operated
the covenant from his youth. He was perfect for the job, but he
turned his back on this tremendous opportunity to follow Jesus.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

Before you begin meditation in the Word, you must commit
yourself to the absolute truth of John 10:10. “The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Whenever I read something that seems contradictory to this, I
immediately stop and straighten out my thinking. The truth is
hidden in some way, and I rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal it to
me. God is not our problem. He does not steal from us. He is
the giver of all good things! When you commit yourself to this
basic truth, you block Satan and deal a deadly blow to deception.
As long as you are open to it, Satan will prove that God
wants you to live in poverty and in sickness to teach you
humility. He will try to convince you that the rich young ruler
couldn’t receive eternal life because he had money, but Satan is
a liar and the father of lies!

Here is how the Lord revealed the truth to me: As I read
Mark 10:20, “And he answered and said unto him, Master, all
these have I observed FROM MY YOUTH,” the Lord spoke to me
and said, “See, this is why he was rich.” Then He pointed me to
Deuteronomy 8:18 about the Lord giving power to get wealth
in order to establish His covenant. This young man was evidently
walking in this part of the covenant. The Lord said, “Do
you think I would ask something from him that I hadn’t given
him in the first place?” You must realize these two facts: (1)
God is the only reason you have anything, and (2) He will
never ask you to give up something without giving you something
better in return.

Verse 21 says, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him.” Now
some people think that God doesn’t like people with money,
but this says that when Jesus looked at the young man, He
loved him…before He said anything about giving away his possessions.
You see, He loved him and what He said was to the
man’s advantage.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

The first and most important rule for you to follow in operating
in the power of God and living by faith is this: 100 percent
committal to the Word of God and its authority in your
life. As God told Joshua, the best way to prosper is by meditation
in the Word. Don’t just study it; there is a difference
between meditation and study. Study involves digging in the
Word, running references in a concordance, and so forth; but
meditation many times covers only two or three verses of scripture.
Read a verse several times. Roll it over in your mind; be
quiet and listen to God for 20 or 30 minutes. This has been the
way I have learned many things about the Word and about
Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit of God can say enough in one sentence
to last you a month! He was sent here to teach us the
deep things of God (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Let me give you an example from my own experience. Some
time ago, I decided to find out how to operate financially
according to the Word of God. I believed that God had a financial
system that most Christians did not know. This was evident
in my dad’s life. My parents decided when they married that
they would tithe their income for the rest of their lives. They
knew very little about believing God for finances. My dad relied
on his ability to work. He was an excellent sales representative
and God blessed his business. When I entered the ministry and
started studying the Word of God, I read where God said to
bring the tithes into the storehouse and He would open the windows
of heaven (see Malachi 3:10). Well, I could look at my dad
and see that this wasn’t working in his life. He made more than
a good living, but he worked for every dime he got! So I began
to study this and question the Lord about it.

One thing that He showed me was the pride element in
most businessmen, especially the ones who worked hard like
Dad. You couldn’t give my dad anything; he was the giver! If
God wanted to give him something, He had to channel it
through the business or Dad would actually get uncomfortable
and embarrassed if someone tried to give to him. This is wrong.
God showed me that most businessmen don’t know how to
receive simply because of their pride.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

It is the responsibility of every member of the Body of
Christ to believe God for the abundance He provides. When
one of us falls short in this responsibility, the whole Body of
Christ suffers because of that one cell. (You may not use your
little finger very much, but if it is sore, your whole hand suffers.)
As believers, we have a responsibility to provide for the
needs of our brothers and sisters around the world. If we lack,
they will suffer for it.

Now you can see that the basic reason for the operation of
faith is to meet the needs of mankind. You may not need much
money to be happy and successful in your own life, but people
are starving and dying throughout the world. Someone must
provide for them. They don’t know how to get it for themselves.
There are even preachers going hungry! The biggest complaint
from people is that all the preachers are wanting money. Do you
know the best way to stop that complaint? Give to them! Don’t
get into strife with them; bless them with your giving and pray
for them.

The covenant is yours. The wisdom of God is yours. It
resides within you. Bring it to the surface by meditating in the
Word of God and giving God the opportunity to share His system
with you. When you let Him be your source of supply, you
can live independently from the world’s system. The Word
states so plainly in 2 Corinthians that without aid or support
you can continue to be generous in every good work. This is
the attitude God is looking for. This man is unlimited in the
things of the Lord. Praise God!

When we began plans for our first television series, people
said that we couldn’t do it because of the tremendous cost of
such an operation. One man offered us, at half price, an estimate
of $750 per finished minute. For a 60-minute program,
the total production cost would have been $45,000. The
thought of financing a weekly series for one year at that price
was overwhelming! For a series of five programs, they quoted
us $350,000. Then the Lord said, “Why don’t you give Me a
chance? You’ve asked the experts about it; now let Me in on it!”
So I did. God moved—and we filmed the five-part series for
$3,750! The Apostle Paul said, “…the world is crucified unto me,
and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

You must realize that prosperity is the will of God for you.
Knowledge of His will brings results. Once you know for sure
that something is God’s will, you should not be without it any
longer. If you do not know that healing belongs to you, you
will hesitate, wondering if it is God’s will and never establish
it in your own life. You will never really believe it for yourself.
Many people have been healed through the prayers of other
believers and still have difficulty with their health even after
God has healed them a dozen times. However, once they see
in the Word that healing belongs to them, that Jesus bought
and paid for it at Calvary, that He bore the stripes, then they
will not accept sickness again. Why? Because the Word
becomes established in their hearts and a force rises up within
them—the force of faith. This is also true in prosperity. Poverty
is under the curse of the law, and Jesus Christ has redeemed
us from the curse and has established us in abundance, not
bare necessity!

Stop and think for a moment. What is your heart established
in? Sin or righteousness? Death or abundant life?
Sickness and disease or healing and divine health? Poverty or
prosperity? Faith or fear?

The only way you will establish your heart so that it is
absolutely fixed—concrete and immovable, trusting in the
Lord—is by the Word of God. Go to the Word and feed on it:
read it, study it, meditate in it. Then your heart will be established,
fixed, trusting in the Lord, and Psalm 112 will be a
description of your life in Christ Jesus.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

God has established His covenant in the earth, but it is not
enough just to know this. For the covenant to be of any value,
we must have our hearts established in it. Psalm 112 is a perfect
description of the established heart. It describes the prosperous
man and gives insight into his prosperity. Let’s examine it closely.

“Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,
that delighteth greatly in his commandments.” What type of man
is blessed of God? The man who fears the Lord and delights
greatly in His commandments, in the established covenant
of God.

“His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the
upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house:
and his righteousness endureth forever.” No one can take it
away! When God gives you something, you should have no
fear of losing it. God has given you His Word. You can stand
firmly on it because it belongs to you!

“Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious,
and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man showeth
favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion [or
good judgment]. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous
shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of
evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is
established.” God has established His covenant, and this man
has established his heart in the covenant. His heart is fixed,
trusting in the Lord. You can’t scare him with bad tidings about
the fuel shortage, high interest rates or anything else. He trusts
completely and totally in the Lord and gets what he needs by
his covenant with God. When you are established and operating
in the covenant of God, Satan can’t corner you.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

In Deuteronomy 28, we see the blessings that come from
obeying the Word of God. For instances, verses 11-12 state,
“And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of
thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy
ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give
thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure.” You see,
God blessed Abraham and his descendants with prosperity
because He swore it in the covenant. Praise God!

Then beginning with verse 15, we find an outline of the
curse of the law. “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments
and his statutes…that all these curses shall come upon thee,
and overtake thee.” This curse spells complete and total poverty
in every area of life. Poverty is not a blessing of God. To believe
that it is, that it carries with it some sort of humility, is to
believe that God is the author of the curse, and He is not! God
is the author of the blessing.

God did not curse Adam; He built a garden for him and provided
everything he could possibly ever need or want. Satan is
the one who brought in the curse. When Adam united with
Satan, everything in the earth was cursed. Then the covenant
God made with Abraham provided an umbrella—a protection,
an avenue of escape from this curse. As long as Abraham walked
with the Lord and listened to His Word, he was protected; but
the moment he disregarded the voice of the Lord, relying on his
own understanding, he would step from under this protective
umbrella and become vulnerable to Satan once again.

Why does it seem so difficult to get along with God? He
knows the difference between right and wrong and the foundation
laws upon which these values are constructed. He has
understanding and wisdom about the laws governing life. He
established His system to work a certain way, then Satan
deceived us into believing that the opposite was true. God is
not being disagreeable with us. He is refusing to agree with
Satan. This happened with Eve in the Garden of Eden. God had
said, “If you eat the fruit, you will surely die.” Then Satan came
along and convinced her that it wasn’t true by saying, “Can it
really be that God has said…?” He convinced her that God’s
Word was not true, so she disobeyed God and Adam followed
her. The law functioned and at that very moment they died
spiritually. Physical death was to follow years later.

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

We have seen from the Word that God has established His
covenant in the earth, but what about the new covenant? The
Word says it is a covenant of righteousness based on better
promises. As we have read in Deuteronomy, God called Israel
stiff-necked and unrighteous. According to the new covenant,
we have been made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.
God does not see us as a stiff-necked people. (He sees us many
times as an untaught people because we do not know the covenant,
but we are not stiff-necked and unrighteous.) He sees us
through the blood of the Lamb: spotless, blameless, beyond
reproach. Israel was the servant of God; we are the sons of God
(see Galatians 4:7). We need to realize our rights as His
children and citizens of the kingdom of God.

To illustrate, let’s look at the parable of the prodigal son
from Luke 15. For many years we have read this story without
realizing its full significance, and it has a very important application
in the area of prosperity which has been entirely overlooked.
As we have read about the prodigal son coming home,
we’ve stopped there. Our minds have been on him, but what
about the other son? The prodigal son took his inheritance and
squandered it. When he returned home, his father killed the
fatted calf and threw a big party welcoming him with open
arms. Then the other son came in, saw what had happened and
got mad at his father. He said, “I have stayed here with you, and
you have never even given me a little goat. Yet when he goes off
and wastes his money, you celebrate by killing a calf for him!”
Then his father said, “But, son, everything I have belongs to
you.” In other words, he was saying, “You could have had a fatted
calf anytime you wanted it. It belongs to you. I’m pleased
that your brother has come home, but you could have had it for
the asking!” You see, the other son would have settled for a
goat when the calf was his all the time! The inheritance
belonged to both sons; only one took advantage of it. The older
son did without because of the littleness of his thinking. Most
Christians are cheating themselves out of their full inheritance
in Jesus Christ because of the littleness of their thinking. By not
knowing their covenant, they do not know their rights as children
of Almighty God!

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland