May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in he inner man by the (Holy) Spirit [Himself]—indwelling your innermost being and personality. May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell—settle down, abide, make His permanent home—in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints (God’s devoted people, the experience of that love) what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; that you may really come] to know—practically, through experience for yourselves— the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience); that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God—[that is] may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself! Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams—To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen—so be it (Ephesians 3:16-21, The Amplified Bible).

I believe with all my heart that His Church is rising up glorious in our day. His Body is coming to the place for which He has waited thousands of years. As we make ourselves available to God and obey Him, He will be able to manifest Himself in the earth as He has yearned to do.

So choose to be in the right group. Join in with those who fear God, who speak of His goodness and mercy, who honor and respect Him. Choose to allow Him in every part of your life…and watch His goodness unfold!

Gloria Copeland

To be holy is to be “sanctified, and meet for the master’s use” (2 Timothy 2:21). Sanctified means “set apart.” Set apart from what? From the world! God wants us to be so caught up in spiritual things that we lose interest in carnal activities and pursue Him with all our heart.

He doesn’t want us to simply obey a set of rules because it’s the “right thing to do.” That’s law instead of spirit. God wants us to live holy lives because we have a heartfelt desire to please Him. When we spend time with the Lord, we want to do the things that please Him. Our desire is for spiritual things, not the things of the flesh. It shouldn’t be a “head thing” but a “heart thing.” Time with Him separates us to Him. He wants us to love Him so much that we want to be wholly dedicated to Him!

And He doesn’t want us to consider such holiness as something out of the ordinary. He wants us to take the attitude of the Apostle Paul, who said to the believers at Rome: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

Being wholly dedicated to God is your reasonable service. It’s not something above and beyond the call of duty. It’s not something that is just expected of preachers and ministers. God expects us all to live holy. He says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

Certainly such a life will require us to make some sacrifices. It will cause us to suffer in the flesh at times. But it will be worth it. For “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

When you see the power and glory of God start to flow in greater measure through you, you won’t regret you made those sacrifices; you’ll be glad! When you lay hands on a crippled person and see him raised instantly out of a wheelchair, you’ll be glad you turned down that carnal movie your friends were going to see. You’ll be glad that you gave up those hours of sleep so you could spend extra time in the Word and in prayer.

When you speak in the Name of Jesus to someone in bondage and the devil instantly flees and they go free, you won’t be wishing you’d spent more time pleasing yourself; you’ll be thanking God you chose to please Him instead.

You may think I’m being overly dramatic, but I’m not. Those things are going to happen—not just at the hands of famous preachers and full-time ministers, but at the hands of everyday believers. We’ve already started to see it. But we’re just on the edge of what’s coming. We haven’t seen anything yet!

The prophets of God are telling us that we are about to see the greatest outpouring of God’s power this earth has ever known. It’s been said that if we were told all that’s about to happen, we would not be able to believe it because the magnitude of it is so great.

Glory to God, we are about to see multitudes of Christians put aside the distractions of this age and rise up in the strength of God Himself! We are about to see believers conformed to the image of Jesus! We are about to see the Church God has always dreamed of—a Church holy and without blemish!

Determine in your heart to be a part of it all. Make up your mind that you won’t be sidelined by doing petty things that please yourself. Dedicate yourself to live wholly pleasing to the Father and get ready for a life of power!

Gloria Copeland

Not only is God able to do that, it is His will for us. It is His end-time plan. But whether or not that divine plan will come to pass in our own individual lives is up to us. If we want to be a part of God’s plan, we must do our part of God’s plan.

That’s how it has always been. In Genesis 18:19, God said of Abraham: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”

Abraham’s part was to cooperate with the Lord. If Abraham didn’t do that—if he didn’t obey what God told him to do—God couldn’t fulfill His promise to make Abraham a father of many nations, even though it was His will.

The same is true for us today. It is God’s will that we be conformed to the image of Jesus. It is His will to manifest Himself in our lives just as He manifested Himself through Jesus’ life. But He cannot do it until we do our part.

Our part is simply this: to walk pleasing before Him—to think His thoughts, to speak His words. In other words, to walk in His ways.

If we want to fulfill our divine destiny and enjoy the fullness of the power of God in our lives, we must make a decision and a determination to stop living to please ourselves and start living every moment of every day to please the Father. We must walk out the prayer the Apostle Paul prayed for the Colossians: “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power” (Colossians 1:9-11).

Notice that verse connects pleasing the Lord with the manifestation of God’s glorious power. It says they come together.

The life of Jesus was proof. He said, “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29).

We talk a lot about the fact that God will never leave us nor forsake us. And it’s true, He is always with us. But we have to admit, His power is not always in manifestation.

In Jesus’ life, however, God’s power was constantly in manifestation. Every moment of every hour of every day, Jesus walked in the measureless, manifested power and presence of God because He always did those things that pleased the Father.

I am able to do nothing from Myself—independently, of My own accord—but as I am taught by God and as I get His orders. [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give decision.]
Even as I hear, I judge and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will—I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose—but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me (John 5:30, amp).

“And He Who sent Me is ever with Me; My Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him” (John 8:29, AMP).

God was able to say of Him, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).

Gloria Copeland

Right now you may be thinking, My, this soldier business sounds rough. I’m not sure I can do it.

Yes, you can!

How? By following two more golden words of advice the Apostle Paul gave Timothy:

1. “Constantly keep in mind Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [as] risen from the dead…” (2 Timothy 2:8, The Amplified Bible).

2. “Continue to hold to the things that you have learned…” (2 Timothy 3:14, The Amplified Bible).

When you face the pressure of battle, when stress and trouble come and you feel you’re about to faint, look up! Focus your attention on the heavenly truth that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and you are in Him! That means when He arose, you arose. When He defeated the devil, you defeated the devil. His victory is your victory!

Think about that when the devil is telling you that you’re not going to make it. Then turn the tables on him and tell him a few things for a change! Say:

Satan, I remind you that Jesus triumphed over you. I remind you that He spoiled you and made a show of you; that He took away all the authority you had. The Bible says you’ve been brought to naught! You’re nothing, but I am Jesus’ own representative here on the earth. I have His power and act in His Name. I’m seated with Him in heavenly places. All I have to do is stand in the victory Jesus has already won. The only way you can defeat me is by convincing me to quit and that’s the one thing I won’t do! I won’t accept defeat. I won’t let you talk me out of my victory. I will stand and endure until I win—so you might as well surrender right now.

Or, just say:

“In the Name of Jesus, get out of my presence!”

That’s the way a good soldier talks. And that’s the way you’ll talk too when you constantly keep in mind Christ Jesus has risen from the dead! That’s the way you’ll think when you turn your attention away from the impossible problems before you and focus instead on God, with whom all things are possible. As Colossians 3:1-4 says:

If then you have been raised to life with Christ, your heart must be set on the great realities of that heavenly sphere, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Your constant concern must be with the heavenly realities, not with worldly trivialities. For you died to this world, and now you have entered with Christ into the secret life of God. When Christ, who is your life, comes again for all the world to see, then all the world will see that you too share his glory (The New Testament, A Translation by William Barclay).

Gloria Copeland

Today, we are no longer restricted from the presence of
God’s glory. The New Covenant tells us very plainly that
the God who shined out of darkness has “shined in our
hearts, to give [us] the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
God put His glory in us because His mercy endures forever.
His mercy was greater than all the sin in the whole world.

When Jesus, God’s Son said, “Let this cup pass from Me”
(Matthew 26:39), the Father could have done so. God could
have said, “I will not bring all the sin of fallen humanity on
the One righteous person who has walked the earth since
the Garden of Eden.” However, His mercy and enduring
compassion was greater than what was about to happen
to His Son.

Mercy overcame.

Jesus followed the example of His Father. He was
always moved and led by compassion. He never acted
on His own motives and ideas. Compassion and mercy
dictated to His mind even when His body was suffering.
It welled up within Him and produced joy—the joy that
caused Him to endure the cross, despising the shame
(Hebrews 12:2).

Gloria Copeland

Since the Garden of Eden, God has had to deal with man at
arm’s length because of the glory surrounding His being. It would
overwhelm man if God appeared to him in the full manifestation
of His power. He once revealed to Moses that no man could look
into His face and live and then only allowed him a glimpse of
Himself from behind. He said, “I will put you in the shadow and
cleft of a rock. I will hold My hand over your face as I allow My
goodness to pass before you.” (See Exodus 33:19-23.)

Mercifully, God protected Moses from the intense
power that radiated from His face, knowing that even the
shadow of His presence would be too much for him.

However, this distance between man and Himself
was not in God’s original plan. He had created Adam and
clothed him in His own light and glory. Adam did not
know he was naked.

Before Adam sinned, all he knew was the fire of God’s
glory around his body. However, after the Fall of Man,
Adam lost that fire and could no longer fellowship with
God in His presence as he had before. If he had, the glory
of God which consumes all, sin would have consumed him
as well.

God wanted to restore our relationship with Him so
He could walk and talk with us like
He did with Adam. His desire is to
have fellowship with us. He sent Jesus
to the earth to pay the price for man’s
sin. Through Jesus, the glory of God
came wrapped in human flesh so that
once again man and his Creator could
have contact.

Jesus was born of a virgin, without sin. The Holy Spirit
hovered over Mary and there was conceived in her a holy.
thing (Luke 1:35). Jesus was born not of a natural man, but
God Himself caused life to come into Mary’s womb. God’s
life flowed into His human body.

The glory of God did not consume Jesus as it would
a sinful man. Instead, it became a flowing stream of
healing that radiated from the person of Jesus. A vivid
illustration of this is the account of Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when His clothes and face literally shone
with the glory of God.

Gloria Copeland