...ok, this blessed me beyond my wildest imaginations! I thought I had the 'forgiveness' thing down - at least most times. This perspective is incredibly reviving for me.
I didn't ask what you want to do. I didn't ask what your automatic fleshly reaction is. I already know that.
Your natural, knee-jerk response is the same as mine. You want to strike back. You want to do something or say something that will even the score. If you can't manage that, you might settle for a few hours (or days or years) of feeling sorry for yourself. You might try to ease your wounded feelings by telling someone how wrongly you've been treated.
On a purely natural, human level that's how we all want to react when someone does us wrong. But I want to tell you something today. If you're a born-again child of the living God, you have no business just reacting to things on a natural, human level.
God has called and equipped you to live on a higher level. He's given you the power to respond in a supernatural way when someone does you wrong. He's given you the power to respond in love.
"Oh, Brother Copeland, that's too hard. I don't want to do that!"
Yes, you do - and here's why. If you will train yourself to respond God's way, you can take mistreatment and transform it from the curse the devil intends it to be into a seed of tremendous blessing in your life.
When you learn to obey God in the face of persecution, you can literally get rich - in the areas of finances, favor and opportunity - off the very persecution the devil sent to keep you down.
Serious Business
Make no mistake, that is the devil's intention. He sends people across your path to offend you and mistreat you for the express purpose of stealing the Word of God - and the anointing that goes with it - out of your life. Mark 4:17 says, "...persecution ariseth for the word's sake."
The devil knows how powerful you are when you are anointed. He knows because he once was anointed himself. The Bible says before evil was found in him, he was the "anointed cherub." So it is his one ambition to trick you into cutting yourself off from that anointing.
That's why he sends bigots to insult you and thieves to steal from you. That's why, whenever he can, he goads people around you into being insensitive and unappreciative. He wants you to get offended and cut off your supernatural power supply.
Most believers don't realize it, but that's what offenses do. You can see that in Matthew 11:4-6. There, the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked if He was truly the Anointed One. Jesus answered and said to them:
Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
We need to realize, my friend, that offenses are serious business. They are sent by the devil to rob us of the anointing and block the flow of the blessings of God. That fact alone should be enough to make us decide never, ever, to be offended again.
I know I've made that decision. I've determined that no matter how someone may insult my intelligence, my beliefs or even my race, I'm not willing to lose my anointing over it.
No matter how they treat me, or what they might call me, I will not take offense.
Now I realize someone may be reading this and thinking, Yeah, that's easy for you to say! Nobody says and does the things to you like they do to me!
That may be true. Although I am an Indian, and have had ample opportunity for offense, where race is concerned, I know there are many people who have suffered much more mistreatment than I have. But I can say this: No matter what color you are, you are welcome in more churches than I am. I've had entire books written for the express purpose of criticizing me. How many books have they written about you?
I only bring those things to your attention because I want you to know that dealing with offenses isn't any easier for me than it is for anyone else. I've come up against some hard people and some hard situations in my life. So I know if God can see me through, He can do the same for you.
Rejoice!...No Kidding
Once we decide we will take a devil-sent opportunity for offense and turn it into a harvest of blessing, the first thing we need to know is what God wants us to do in that situation. If we're not supposed to strike back, if we're not supposed to get our feelings hurt and go off in a huff, what are we supposed to do? I Peter 4 answers that question:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you...(verses 12-14).
God doesn't want us to cry and complain when someone does us wrong. He doesn't want us to sue them. He wants us to REJOICE!
I can just hear your old flesh groan: "Man, you have to be kidding! I'm supposed to rejoice when someone does me wrong? What do I have to rejoice about?"
Plenty!
According to Jesus, persecution sets you up for blessing. It opens you up for great rewards! Jesus made that very clear in Luke 6. He said:
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven...(verses 22-23).
To get the full meaning of what Jesus was saying there, you have to realize what the word blessed means. It's not just a weak, religious sentiment. To be God-blessed means you're empowered by Almighty God Himself to prosper and succeed. It means you're empowered by the Holy Spirit to be exceedingly happy with life and joy in spite of any outside circumstances.
Think about that for a moment. When people mistreat you, they're actually giving you the opportunity to receive greater measures of power and success from the Spirit of God. They are opening the door for you to step up to a higher plane of heavenly reward!
Religion has taught us that we couldn't enjoy such heavenly rewards until after we die. But nothing could be further from the truth. God intends for us to make use of our heavenly rewards here on this earth where we need them!
You see, as believers, we each have a heavenly account that functions much like a natural bank account. The Apostle Paul refers to that account in his letter to his Philippian partners. He commended his partners for giving to him, not because he wanted gifts from them, but because he desired fruit that would abound to their account.
Paul's partners had made deposits in that heavenly account through their giving, so he was able to boldly say, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Jesus also spoke of that heavenly account when He said:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rustdoth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
If you've studied the Word under this ministry any length of time, I'm sure you already know how to lay up treasure in your heavenly account by giving financially into the work of God. You know about the spiritual law of seed, plant and harvest. You know that when you give to God of your material resources, He multiplies it and gives it back to you a hundredfold (Mark 10:30).
But let me ask you this: Did you know you can do the same thing with persecution? Did you know that you can plant it as a seed by obeying God, by leaping and rejoicing in it instead of taking offense?
Sure you can! And when you do, it will bring forth a harvest of blessing!
What's more, because persecution attacks your soul and the very anointing of God on your life - which is far more precious than anything money could buy - the value of the harvest it brings is absolutely priceless. The seed of persecution when planted according to the Word will be worth far more to you than any financial seed you could ever plant!
Now, I'll be honest. It's a tough seed to sow. You have to sow it out of commitment. It doesn't feel good to do it. But the harvest is worth the pain.
I know that not only from my own experience, but from watching the experience of others. One friend of mine, for instance, has refused to take offense at the bigotry directed against him because of the color of his skin. He has so succeeded in blessing and loving the white people who have persecuted him that now some black people are mad at him. "He doesn't even know he's black anymore!" they'll say.
But my friend doesn't take offense at them either. He just prays for them and goes right on gathering up his harvest. It's quite a harvest, too! That man has favor everywhere he goes. He's invited to places few people get to go. He's blessed financially beyond most people's wildest dreams.
The man is getting rich off racism!
It's Worth More as a Seed
Someone might say, "Well, that sounds good! I wonder if it would work like that for me?"
It will if you'll put it to work. Look back at that passage in Luke 6:27 where Jesus explains this principle and says, "I say unto you which hear...." In other words, this will work for anyone who will listen. All you have to do is hear it and do it.
...Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.... But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again (verses 27-30, 35-38).
For the most part, we've misunderstood what Jesus was saying there about turning the other cheek and giving to the guy who tries to steal from us. We thought He was saying we should just lie down and let people run over us.
But that wasn't His point at all!
He was trying to teach us about this seed, plant, harvest principle. He was trying to show us how to get blessed. He was saying, "Don't sue the person who stole your shirt and try to get your shirt back. Give it to him. Then give him your coat too. Those things will be worth more to you as seeds than they would be if you kept them. If you'll sow them instead of fighting to keep them, the power of God will go to work on your behalf. He'll multiply that seed and bless you with a hundred times as much!" If you fight, you do it on your own. If you give, all of heaven will get in the situation with you.
I'll never forget the first time God was able to get the truth of that principle through to me. It was years ago when Gloria and I were on our way to preach a meeting in San Francisco. I was walking through the airport with a little Minolta camera hanging over my shoulder. Back then, that was the ministry camera and Gloria was the ministry photographer. So that camera was important to us.
I had walked around that airport for a while when suddenly I realized my camera was gone. Someone had stolen it right off my shoulder! To put it very mildly, I was irritated.
I started looking around the airport for the thief. I thought, If I find you, you turkey, I am going to whip you good!
But right in the middle of my upset, the Spirit of God interrupted my thinking. If you take that attitude, He said, you'll lose that camera!
"What are you talking about, Lord?" I answered. "I've already lost it!"
No, it isn't gone yet.
I'd learned from Brother Oral Roberts about the seed, plant, harvest principle, so I caught on to what the Lord was telling me in a flash. I said, "Lord, I see it!" Then I turned to Gloria and said, "Listen, let's agree on this. I'm giving that camera to whoever took it off my shoulder. I'm sowing it as a seed into that person's life and I'm praying that God will use it to get him saved. I'm believing that every time he touches that camera, the anointing of God will come on him and draw him to Jesus. Even if the police catch the thief with the camera in his hand, I will say, 'Don't charge that man with any crime. I have given him that camera.' "
Of course, Gloria agreed and we boarded the plane to San Francisco. After we got settled in our seats, I started talking to the Lord about the seed I'd planted. I said, "Lord, I know that camera had value and we need a camera in this ministry. But I don't want another Minolta. It's a good camera, but it doesn't have enough range to do what I need. What I want is a Nikon F."
This was back in the early '70s when just the body of a Nikon F was worth anywhere from $700 to $900. The two lenses I needed were worth about the same amount, so to buy the whole outfit, I might have to pay up to $1800. But I wasn't worried. I had my seed in the ground and I started getting excited. I started expecting the harvest.
What a Deal!
Can you see what happened to me? I could have been sitting there seething over that stolen camera. I could have been sitting there getting offended, cutting myself off from the anointing of God. But I wasn't! I had forgotten all about that thief. I was too busy being thrilled with the new camera God was giving me to worry about how the thief had done me wrong!
A few days later, Gloria and I were walking along the street in San Francisco when I spotted a Nikon F camera box sitting in the window of a small shop. I went in and asked the store clerk how much they wanted for it.
"We don't have a Nikon F," she answered.
"Yes, you do. It's right there in the window."
She reached over and got it, looked puzzled and carried it to a Japanese gentleman in the back of the store. "How much is this?" she asked him.
He threw up his hands and said something in Japanese that I didn't understand. So I just dug around in my pocket and found some traveler's checks. "Here," I said, "I have $250. Will you sell it to me for that?"
"OK!" said the Japanese man.
Of course I was excited about getting just the body of a Nikon F for that price. But before I had a chance to say anything about it, the store clerk dug around in a drawer, found a Nikon 50 mm lens and handed it to me along with the camera. Glory to God, my crop was coming up!
It wasn't finished yet, either. Just a few days later in another city, Gloria and I were walking along the street again and we stopped in a camera store. I looked up and noticed that way up high on the top of a display shelf there was a lens case for a Nikon 200 mm lens.
The same thing happened again. The store owner didn't know he had it, and didn't know what to charge for it. So he sold it to me for $100!
I don't mind telling you, by the time that deal was done, I was almost hoping someone would steal something from me. But then I realized, Hey, I can give it - without someone having to steal it! I liked that kind of harvest!
You'd like that kind of harvest too, wouldn't you?
Well, you can have it. Just start taking those opportunities for offense and planting them as seeds. Instead of crying over how badly you've been hurt, turn those hurts into harvests and start at the devil. Take everything ugly he has ever thrown at you and sow it as a seed.
Begin now by praying:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, right now I sow as seed in the kingdom of God every hurt, every bad feeling, every theft, and every evil thing any person has ever done or said to me, my family or my ministry. I release every person who has ever hurt me and I forgive them now. I lift each one of them up to You and I pray for those people. I pray, Father, that they'll come into a greater knowledge of You. I pray that their spirit be saved on the Day of the Lord.
Now I declare before You, My God in heaven, that I expect a reward. I believe Your Word and by faith I set my sickle to my harvest. I believe I receive a hundredfold return for every wrong deed done to me, every unkind word spoken to me and every dime stolen from me. I expect to receive a blessing of equal benefit. I claim it. It's mine and I have it now in Jesus' mighty Name!
As you can see, my original post was not to advocate any man. Again, I do NOT follow popular opinion - prosperity nor anti-prosperity. TV evangelist or anti-TV evangelist.
You all seemed to be interested in expressing deep seated opinions against the man in question - your prerogative. but again, the post did not start, continue nor end by advocating KC. It indeed referenced him as the author and that set off the attacks against him. I insist, love is not disrespectful. If you love God, you will follow HIS commandments and acknowledge you are not a "know it all". God help us all. Spiritual pride tripped Mr. Lucifer.
I think you guys miss the point. I'm already here. I'm already in it. The prosperity Gospel is real. It works. The Word of God works. The Gospel is prosperous. It's good news! It can't help but be that way. Some choose to call it prosperity Gospel. The Gospel is good news. What do you think that does to God to indicate that His Gospel is anything other than that? Is that a compliment to Him? NO! He wants you to acknowledge that His Gospel is prosperous and real and works. You have two choices. You can continue living below your privileges because you would rather quabble over something or you can jump in here with me and live it. God is good!
Don't back down sister Shunammite. It's okay. You can believe what Kenneth Copeland says or any other godly Bible teacher. They teach the word of God. It's the Word they're teaching. You check it yes, but you don't have to back down and say hey I don't take what anybody says just because they say it. There are godly, proven, Spirit-filled teachers of the Bible who tell us the whole truth. It's okay to learn from them. It's what's intended to be. God wants us to learn from them. Don't be apologetic for learning from them. Be perfectly acceptable with accepting what they give from the Word of God. Don't feel like you have to defend putting up teaching from a good, godly Bible teacher that will help us.
I will not post any more on this topic. I'm too busy living the life to argue about it.
I want to make myself clear that Im not judging you.....only the prosperity gospel in general,I love you ladies as sisters in christ ,so please dont hate me,but i am compelled by god to do this,its not my choice!I have to defend the truth in Christ!
I want to thank God for the different views that everyone contributed in this topic. I just joined this site recently and I know this post might be a little too late but I hope y'all can find the peace to read what God is impressing on my heart to share.
I have been blessed by God with eternal life through Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, and that is the greatest treasure in my life that I will hold on to in this life and in the life to come. Thank You Lord.
The word of God is truth, period.
In this discussion, I realized that both sides have come up with scriptures from the Bible, good scriptures to explain their beliefs concerning the teachings of prosperity which is awesome because the more scriptures you have, the simpler it becomes in finding a common ground and thus, a solution.
Firstly, I want to make it clear that I am no expert on these types of issues but by the grace of God and through His Holy Spirit I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I wouldn�t dare say that "I can't".
Please consider these questions:
1) Will God's words ever contradict itself?
2) Am I building my brother/sister up in the word of God by the word of God, or am I using God's word to tear down what God's word has already built up in my brother/sister's life?
1) We all know that our God is Holy. To be Holy means 'to be pure in motive.' Therefore what He says is what He means and what He means is what He says. He does not have any hidden motive, what you see is what you get when it comes to God.
God's word cannot conflict and contradict itself, and yet we are here quoting HIS word and using it against each other to correct!? Can God's word be corrected by God's word!? Better yet, can God be corrected by His own words!? Of course not, Him and His word are one!
To say that the prosperity gospel is a lie is to call God the Father and Jesus a liar. Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords said in Mark 10:29~30,
"I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this PRESENT AGE and in the AGE TO COME, eternal life."
On the other hand, to say that the "poverty" gospel is not true is also wrong! Before Mark 10:29~30, Christ clearly stated that to be qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God you must forsake all and follow Him.
The rich young man is a good example for us to learn from.
Many believers make the mistake that God is pin pointing rich people here but that is only a little fraction of its entire truth. God is more into principle. What He is trying to get across to us here 'is the commitment of a rich/successful man toward his business or success.' A wealthy man doesn't become rich over night. He invests all of his time and money and knowledge every other resource into his business to make it a success.
Jesus said where your treasure is there your heart will be also. That is why Christ told the rich man (Mark10:21), sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have 'treasures in heaven.' In order for the rich man to have become perfect, he had one area in his life that had to be fully surrendered to God, which was his financial/business life.
You can be a homeless guy and be filthy rich in your love for alcohol that it prevents you from entering the Kingdom of God. You can be in the middle-class and have an ungodly lover, and when Jesus tells you to leave him/her and follow Him you just can't do it, because you have 'invested so much of your resources' in the relationship that cutting off one of your own fingers would be a walk in the park than breaking up with the person. So now you know, that you don't have to have a bank account as big as Donald Trump's or Bill Gates' to fall into the category of what Jesus calls "rich". We are all "rich" in our own individual ways.
We are to check what we invest our resources in and make sure they are all built on the foundation called Jesus Christ! The longer we hold on to those temporary things, the greater are the probabilities of losing our eternal life. But just remember that with God all things are possible.
Thus, I believe with all my heart that it is not a sin to be wealthy materially or physically as long as you are bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit and are covered by the blood of Christ.
2) I become very nervous when a believer tries to "re-convert" a convert who is already following Christ! If and when the Bible says it, please don't fight it and leave it alone. God's word will never subtract God's word, it will only add and build up. Lets not go hitting and punching our own body which is the Body of Christ. God will never say things that are contradictory. If it sounds conflicting to you, I pray that God will reveal more of His Holiness to you.
With that, I hope you are encouraged to know that your God has been leading you on the right path thus far and will continue to lead you in the way that you should go. Let us help one another and keep pressing on until we see Him face to face.
This is a very interesting topic. I was discussing the danger in extreme charasmatic teachings. There is another man on television named Michael Murdock who says just believe and give your money to his ministry and he promises (mike does) that you will be returned 10 fold by God.. But from what I understand, God isn't a stock broker. God doesn't work like Wall Street. God is God. And God has spoke. Don is right, the verses he points out accurately display the attitude we need to have, the rich on earth will be poor in heaven. It clearly says in many proverbs as well that riches are found in wisdom not earthly possessions.... In fact i would go so far as to say that Jesus is kind of..... not really pro rich (not saying being rich is a a sin in itself... it's a gateway) because Luke 12:33 says to "sell your possessions and give to the poor....etc, for where your treasure is so is your heart" The bible promises us that He will be with us, but it never promises wealth, fame, power, or success... I mean you can believe what you believe and Im not trying to convince anybody anything more than what is written... God promises us a kingdom in heaven. Read the book of "Ecclesiastes" if you really want to know what God thinks about Fame, Power, Money, Greed, Drugs, Wine, Sex, and other folly..... Im not passing judgement on Copeland or Murdock.... But as one Christian to another, be weary of what they say.... God wants you to be cheerful, but if it takes money and fame to make you cheerful you have missed the point. ONLY GOD CREATES JOY AND HE ALONE IS WORTHY TO BRING JOY! Amen, and God Bless anybody who is following the thread.. This is an important issue....
There is a wave of smooth talking "Christian" who really are not doing God's work..... It's deceptive, so be careful... please.
"I dont want to start a whole thing here,but i must speak my piece!Word faith and prosperity gospel are false teaching,they reduce god to some kind of santa clause!When you concentrate on blessings that you receive on earth you miss the whole point of the gospel!Jesus did not sacrifice his life so you could have a new lexus!I suggest reading timothy(the whole thing)As long as christians make it about what god can do for them,they are mislead!"
manofgod42...amen and amen! Right on, brother...right on. this kind of preaching is what turns me off from preachers like Joel Osteen (and others, he's just the first one I thought of). It's not right to treat God like a vending machine. We aren't going have our (to quote Mr. Osteen) "best life now." In fact, I don't want it now. If this is my best life, I don't want it. Not that I have a bad life, but things aren't perfect. My best life comes only after I have suffered for Jesus here on earth and eventually see Him face to face. Prosperity/word of faith preaching IS wrong. Thanks for sticking to the truth. You are truly what your screen name declares, a man of God.
at the devil. Take everything ugly he has ever thrown at you and sow it as a seed.