Believe the Love Kenneth Copeland

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
1 John 4:16 One day I was walking along a highway through a park praying and I asked a simple question, "Lord, what do You want me to tell Your people?" Without a moment's hesitation, these words came ringing through my spirit and my mind: Tell them how much I love them. They were so filled with love and compassion that it defies words to express it. For days afterward all I could think of was 1 John 4:16. "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us." We've read about God's love. We've heard about it. But I don't think many of us have really believed it. If we did, it would totally change everything about us and everything around us. It's that love that caused Jesus to lay down His life for us and to experience for Himself all the pains and weaknesses we experience. It's that love that says to us, even when we feel so unworthy, "Come to Me and get what you need. Don't be shy about it. I've been there. Come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Think about it. God is in love with you--so in love, He's given you everything He has! He's given you all the healing, all the wisdom, all the wealth, all the strength you could ever need. "But what about my terrible past?" That's what His mercy is for! It's taken care of your past. It's covered every sin and failure you ever had. All you have to do now is believe and receive His love. What a shame it is that people suffer at the hands of sickness and disease and every other cursed thing just because they can't believe the love God has for them. Don't let that happen to you. Learn to believe the love. Believe the love God has for you. It's already been released in the blood of Jesus. Believe the love. It's already been released in Jesus' Name. Believe the love. It's already been released in His Word.

Meditate that scripture over and over. Say it to yourself again and again all day, "I believe the love Jesus has for me." Once it gets down into your heart, you'll never be the same again. Scripture Reading: Psalm 139:1-18 Love Is the Power Charge Kenneth Copeland

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. Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 Peace at Home

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
James 3:16 Have you ever noticed that the easiest place to remain self-centered is at home? There's an incentive to be lovely with others, but with your family you are tempted to allow yourself more selfish privileges as if it didn't count there. Before I was a Christian, I was more courteous and nicer to friends than to my own family. I was more demanding and less forgiving with those dearest to me than with anyone else. But after I made Jesus Lord of my life, I realized all that had to change. Gloria and I began to learn through the Word how important harmony is within our family. We learned that if we wanted the power of agreemeent (see Matthews 18:19) to work in our lives, we could not allow strife in our home. Strife drops the shield of faith, stops prayer results, and invites Satan and his cohorts into your midst. Discord is deadly. It paralyzes the power of God in your life. Don't allow the enemy to stop at your own front door by allowing strife in your home. If you do, you'll be no threat to him anywhere else. Put the power of harmony to work in your family. Determine that. Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-13 A Covenant of Love Kenneth Copeland

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave...and He gave...and He gave. That is the message the Bible brings us from beginning to end. It sounds simple enough. Yet few of us really comprehend it. We can understand the idea of a God of power. We can understand a God who desires to be served. But an Almighty God who loves us so much that He desires, above all, to give to us? That can be hard to believe.

For thousands of years, God has been working to drop the revelation of His love into the hearts of men. He's made loving promises of blessing and protection. But He's always faced that same obstacle--human beings who just couldn't bring themselves to believe those promises were true. The story of Abram is a perfect example. He wasn't accustomed to the idea of a God who gives. After all, he'd grown up as a worshiper of the moon, and the moon had certainly never seemed interested in doing anything for him. Then he encountered El Shaddai, the greatest Being of all. The one Almighty God. And the first thing this El Shaddai wanted to do was give to him. God's promises so astounded Abram that he couldn't believe them. "Lord," he asked, "how can I know I'm really going to receive these things?" (Gen. 15:8). Do you know how God answered him? By cutting a blood covenant with him. That covenant settled forever any question Abram could ever have about God's love and loyalty. Once blood had been shed, he knew God meant what He said. God did the same thing for you. He cut a blood covenant with you. And He sacrificed His own Son to do it. Jesus' broken body and shed blood have become the eternal proof of God's love for you. Through Communion, He's urged you to remember them again and again so that when your faith in His promises begins to waver, you "might have a strong consolation" (Heb. 6:18). Get a revelation of God's love for you by meditating on the covenant He's made with you. Get out the bread and the cup. Go before the Lord with them and take Communion thinking about the body and blood of Jesus that enables you to be a blood-covenant member of the family of Almighty God. Let them settle forever the question of God's love for you. You'll never again have to doubt His promises once you believe in His love. Scripture Reading: Genesis 15 That Your Prayers May Not Be Hindered Kenneth Copeland

But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another.
1 John 1:7 One area of our lives we believers need to particularly guard is the area of our relationships. We simply have to heed the Word of God where they're concerned.

Let's not fuss with one another and criticize one another so much that we hinder the forces that God has given us to make us successful in this world. Strife also causes trouble in the spirit realm. It opens the door to the devil. It keeps our prayers from being answered. It even keeps our angels from moving on our behalf! Peter wrote to husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 to live considerately with their wives. He said, "...bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint-heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered." Husbands and wives. Parents and children. Co-workers. Fellow church members. All of us need to wake up to the danger of strife and start walking in love. Shed the light of God's Word on your relationships. Dig into and get a revelation of the fact that we are all part of each other. Recognize that, as Ephesians tells us, we are one Body and one Spirit, and be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of that Spirit (Eph. 4:3-4). Let the power of God flow in all of your relationships. Learn to walk in the light! Scripture Reading: Romans 15:1-7 Leaving the Pain Behind Kenneth Copeland

Love...is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it pays no attention to a suffered wrong.
1 Corinthians 13:5 Have you ever tried to forgive someone and found you simply couldn't do it? You've cried about it and prayed about it and asked God to help you, but those old feelings of resentment just failed to go away. Put an end to those kinds of failures in the future by basing your forgiveness on faith rather than feelings. True forgiveness doesn't have anything at all to do with how you feel. It's an act of the will. It is based on obedience to God and on faith in Him. That means once you've forgiven a person, you need to consider him permanently forgiven! When old feelings rise up within you and Satan tries to convince you that you haven't really forgiven, resist him. Say, "No, I've already forgiven that person by faith. I refuse to dwell on those old feelings." Then, according to 1 John 1:9, believe that you receive forgiveness and cleansing from the sin of unforgiveness and from all unrighteousness associated with it including any remembrance of having been wronged!

Have you ever heard anyone say, "I may forgive, but I'll never forget!" That's a second-rate kind of forgiveness that you, as a believer, are never supposed to settle for. You're to forgive supernaturally "even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). You're to forgive as God forgives. To release that person from guilt permanently and unconditionally and to operate as if nothing bad ever happened between you. You're to purposely forget as well as forgive. As you do that, something supernatural will happen within you. The pain once caused by that incident will disappear. The power of God will wash away the effects of it and you'll be able to leave it behind you once and for all. Don't become an emotional bookkeeper, keeping careful accounts of the wrongs you have suffered. Learn to forgive and forget. It will open a whole new world of blessing for you. Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-37 Live the Love Life Kenneth Copeland

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
1 John 2:5-6 There is nothing--absolutely nothing--that is more important than learning to love. In fact, how accurately you perfect the love walk will determine how much of the perfect will of God you accomplish. That's because every other spiritual force derives its action from love. For example, the Bible teaches us that faith works by love. And answered prayer is almost an impossibility when a believer steps outside of love and refuses to forgive or is in strife with his brother. Without love, your giving will not work. Tongues and prophecy will not work. Faith fails and knowledge is unfruitful. All the truths that you have learned from God's Word work by love. They will profit you nothing unless you live the love of God. First Corinthians 13:4-8 paints a perfect picture of how love behaves. It's patient and kind. It's not jealous or proud. It doesn't behave rudely or selfishly and it isn't touchy. Love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? But don't despair. You are a love creature. God has recreated your spirit in the image of love. And He has sent His love Spirit to live

in you and teach you how to love as He loves. You can live the love life. Why not begin today? Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 No Offense Kenneth Copeland

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
1 John 2:10 Whenever you find yourself stumbling into failure or sin, check your love life. Sit down with the Lord and ask Him to show you if you're in strife with anyone or if you've taken offense. If you have, the devil can come in and trip you up. As a preacher, I've seen that happen countless times. I'll be preaching about something and some believer will get upset with me about it. He'll decide I'm wrong and go off in a huff--and first thing you know, he's in trouble. Mark 4:17 tells us the devil uses those kinds of offenses to steal the Word from our hearts. He causes us to get crosswise with each other. Then he's able to pull the plug right out of us and drain the Word like water from a bucket. Don't ever let that happen to you. If you hear a preacher or another believer saying something that rubs you the wrong way and you catch yourself getting offended say, "Oh no you don't. You're not stealing the Word out of me, you lying devil." Then get right down on your knees and repent before God. Search the Word and listen to the Spirit within you and find out what you should do. If you still feel what that person said to you was wrong, pray for him. Remember, taking offense never comes from God. He says we're to be rooted and grounded in love. So reject those feelings of offense. Give yourself to that person in love and in prayer. You'll be able to walk right on through that situation without ever stumbling at all. Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:1-11 The Father's Heart Kenneth Copeland

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

 Luke 15:20 How much love do you have for sinners? That may sound like a strange question, but it's one I want you to think about today. All too often, once we get saved and get our lives cleaned up a little bit, we lose our compassion for those who are still lost. We look at the drunk stumbling down the street or the guy at the office who lies to the boss and tells dirty jokes and turn up our spiritual noses. But if we ever truly understood the heart of our heavenly Father, we'd never do that again. Jesus told a story that can give us a glimpse of that heart. It's the story we call the prodigal son. You've probably heard it many times, how the son rebelled and dishonored his father, and how the father, in spite of it all, received him home with joy when he repented. But there's one phrase in it I want to draw your attention to today. It's this one: "But when [the prodigal son] was yet a great way off, his father saw him." That phrase gives such a moving glimpse of the heart of that loving father. It tells us that even before his boy had repented, even during those long days when he was up to his eyebrows in sin, that father was watching for him, longing for him to come home. Every morning he scanned the horizon, hoping to see the silhouette of his returning son. And the last thing every night, he'd look again... straining his eyes in hope. His son was constantly on his mind, and his heart was always full of love for him. The kind of gut-wrenching love that, on the day his son came home, drove that father to run to him and kiss him. That's the kind of heart our heavenly Father has for those who are lost. It's the kind of heart He had for you while you were still wandering in the world. It's the kind of heart that embraced you with open arms even when you were still covered with the grime of sin. There's a whole world full of weary people out there who haven't yet found that embrace. They're more than just "sinners," they're our potential brothers...lost ones in desperate need of a loving heavenly Father. God forbid we should ever turn up our noses at them. May He help us instead to start bringing them home. Scripture Reading: John 8:1-11 Develop the Love Kenneth Copeland

And what this love consists in is this, that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching. This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love guided by it and following it.
2 John 1:6 Quite simply, God says love is keeping His commandments. That brings love out of the indefinite into something explicit. But God has done more than define love for you. He's given you instructions so that you can know how to love as He loves. By giving you His Word, God has given you His love manual in black and white. All you have to do is follow it and you'll be walking in love. If you've made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, you've already taken the first step of obedience. The love of God has been born within you. But, unless you take steps to develop it, that love will remain hidden within you. Love works in much the same way as the force of faith. Like faith, love becomes active through knowledge of the Word. Become love conscious by confessing and acting on God's Word today. As you meditate these scriptures, see yourself living the love life. See yourself walking in accordance with and guided by the commandments of Jesus. Develop the love He has hidden in you. Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:3-11 A Healthy Dose of Love Gloria Copeland

Love...is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it--pays no attention to a suffered wrong.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Walking in love is good for your health. Did you know that? It's true! Medical science has proven it. Researchers have discovered that hostility produces stress that causes ulcers, tension headaches, and a host of other ills. Now when you think of hostility, you may think of the type of anger you feel when something serious happens. But according to the experts, that kind of thing isn't what causes the worst problems. It's the little things: when the dry cleaners ruin your favorite outfit, for example. Or when the cafeteria lady puts gravy on your mashed potatoes after you've specifically told her not to. Sound familiar?

Just think how much stress you could avoid by being quick to forgive, by living your life according to 1 Corinthians 13 and not counting up the evils done to you. Imagine physical and emotional benefits of living like that! If you've allowed yourself to be habitually bound by hostility, that may sound like an impossible dream, but it's not! Because as a born-again believer, you have the love of God inside of you. If you'll yield to that love, it will set you free. Remember when Jesus called Lazarus forth from the grave? He was alive but still bound in the grave clothes. Jesus commanded the bindings to be loosed so that Lazarus could be free to walk. Jesus wants that same kind of freedom for you. So get into agreement with Him. Say to those deadly habits that have you bound, "In the Name of Jesus, loose me and let me go! I'm putting hostility, unforgiveness and selfishness behind me. I'm going on with God. I'm going to live the life of love!" Remember: It doesn't take a medical miracle to turn your life around. All it takes is a decision to yield to the force of love. Do it today! Scripture Reading: Proverbs 4:10-27