Deuteronomy 4:9-10
KJV—Only take heed to thyself, and keep
thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the
things which thine eyes have seen, and
lest they depart from thy heart all the
days of thy life: but teach them thy sons,
and thy sons’ sons; specially the day that
thou stoodest before the Lord thy God
in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me,
Gather me the people together, and I will
make them hear my words, that they may
learn to fear me all the days that they
shall live upon the earth, and that they
may teach their children.

NIV—Only be careful, and watch yourselves
closely so that you do not forget
the things your eyes have seen or let them
slip from your heart as long as you live.
Teach them to your children and to their
children after them. Remember the day
you stood before the Lord your God at
Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble
the people before me to hear my words so
that they may learn to revere me as long
as they live in the land and may teach
them to their children.”

Amp—Only take heed, and guard your life
diligently, lest you forget the things which
your eyes have seen, and lest they depart
from your [mind and] heart all the days of
your life; teach them to your children, and
your children’s children; especially how
on the day that you stood before the Lord
your God in Horeb, the Lord said to me,
Gather the people together to Me, and I
will make them hear My words, that they
may learn (reverently) to fear Me all the
days they live upon the earth, and that
they may teach their children.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7
KJV—And these words, which I command
thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And
thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up.

NKJV—And these words which I command
you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you
sit in your house, when you walk by the
way, when you lie down, and when you
rise up.

NIV—These commandments that I give
you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you
walk along the road, when you lie down
and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21
KJV—Therefore shall ye lay up these my
words in your heart and in your soul, and
bind them for a sign upon your hand, that
they may be as frontlets between your
eyes. And ye shall teach them your children,
speaking of them when thou sittest
in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, when thou liest down, and when
thou risest up. And thou shalt write them
upon the door posts of thine house, and
upon thy gates: That your days may be
multiplied, and the days of your children,
in the land which the Lord sware unto
your fathers to give them, as the days of
heaven upon the earth.

NIV—Fix these words of mine in your
hearts and minds; tie them as symbols
on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up. Write
them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates, so that your days and
the days of your children may be many in
the land that the Lord swore to give your
forefathers, as many as the days that the
heavens are above the earth.

Gloria Copeland

Your born-again spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, should
have a place of dominion over your being. Your spirit
is re-created in Christ Jesus to rule over your soul
(mind) and your body (flesh).

As you learn by experience to walk in the spirit,
remember God’s Word comes to us in two ways: (1)
by the written Word, and (2) by the Holy Spirit
speaking to our spirits. We begin with the assurance
that God’s written Word is our sure word. The Holy
Spirit will never lead you contrary to the written Word
of God. If you receive a prompting that is in opposition
to the written Word, you’ll know it’s not from the
Holy Spirit.

Simply ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to follow
Him. Give Him control of your life and He will reveal
to you the will of God, step by step. He knows how
to bring you to maturity. All He requires of you is
your attention and your obedience.

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes)
from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your
hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions
that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to
which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were
also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative),
[giving praise to God always] (Colossians 3:15, amp).

This was one of the first verses the Lord revealed to
me years ago concerning making a decision. Let peace
be your umpire! I have learned to check my heart for
peace. If I am agitated in my spirit about something, I
don’t do anything until that changes. Before I take
action, I wait until I have peace in my spirit. Continue
to inquire of the Lord until you know.

Another scripture that helped me was Proverbs Roll
your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them
wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to
become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans
be established and succeed.

I roll my works upon the Lord and expect my thoughts
to become agreeable to His will. I expect Him to
energize in me the power and desire to will and to
work for His good pleasure, satisfaction and delight.
(See Philippians 2:13, amp.)

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be
not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart
from evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7). This is also a vital
scripture on receiving direction. These three verses
helped me as I was maturing in the Lord. God was so
faithful to reveal these simple instructions to me early
in my Christian walk.

He will not tell you to part the Red Sea the first day
you begin to walk as a Christian! You will start where
you are. If you’re a baby Christian and have not grown
spiritually, you will start in kindergarten! (If you don’t
look just like Jesus, you are not fully grown.)

The Holy Spirit will begin to reveal areas in your life
that need to be corrected. He will not send you on
some world-changing errand. But He will begin to lead
you to mortify the deeds of your body so you can
begin to live in the power of God. Romans 8:13-14
tells us this: “but if ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Children of God grow up to be mature sons and daughters
by obeying the Holy Spirit concerning their lives.

All along, you’ve probably been receiving direction
from the Holy Spirit, telling you that you need to
make certain changes in your life. But many times
Christians aren’t too interested in hearing God deal
with them on this level—not realizing that this is
where walking in the spirit begins. They want to hear
something BIG from the Holy Spirit, like Go to China.

If you don’t follow the Holy Spirit in the area of
correcting your own life, you would be of little value
to God when you got to China!

Many times we are like Peter in the Garden of
Gethsemane. He was willing to die for Jesus. He was
willing to go to jail! He was ready to do something
big and important. Anything! Nothing would have
been too great!

Jesus said, “Watch and pray.” “No, Lord, that’s not
what I had in mind.” Peter didn’t follow Jesus’ will in
something simple. Jesus wanted him to pray so that
when temptations came he would overcome them.
Peter didn’t follow God in praying, so when the
pressure came, he didn’t follow God in action. As a
result, he suffered a major defeat.

Jesus didn’t want him to die. He didn’t want him to
go to jail. He didn’t even want him to go to China.
He wanted him to pray!

There’s no leading from the Holy Spirit that is
insignificant. If it’s from God, it’s priority. We should
have this attitude of meekness: “Father, there’s
nothing too great or too small. Reveal Your will to
me and I’ll do it.

Gloria Copeland

God is requiring that we get our priorities right. The

things of this world steal from us time and energy we

should be giving to the things of the spirit. You can get

so caught up in using your faith for the affairs of this

world that your desire will be for the things of the world

instead of for God.

Be cautious of the thorns of life. The Scripture says the

cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the

lusts of other things enter into the heart and choke the

Word until it cannot produce (Mark 4:18-19). People who

give their thoughts and energy to gratifying the flesh will

not walk in the power of God.

I’m not talking about sin. Obviously, we will not consistently

walk in the power of God with sin in our lives. But I am talking

about the attention and affection of our hearts being given

to this natural, physical world instead of to God. We are

either walking after the natural world or after the spiritual

world. Many have tried to have the best of both worlds.

You may have a little success that way, but you will not

experience the blessings and power of God to the degree

He desires for you. God requires more of us because we

have revelation knowledge of His Word. “For unto whomsoever

much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).

We are a generation to whom much has been given. God

has not trained us in His Word so we can consume it on

our own lusts, but to equip us to walk in the spirit while we

live in a natural, physical world. We have a job to do. He

has taught us to use our faith to harvest souls. We have to

learn to walk in the spirit to fulfill God’s plan for this hour.

A well-known preacher prophesied:

But as you walk with the Lord, as you prepare your heart,

as you feed upon His Word, as you listen to what the Spirit

of God says, your heart shall be prepared and your mind will

be changed until you will flow in the supernatural as naturally

as a bird will fly in the air. And you’ll flow in the supernatural

as naturally as a fish will swim in the water. And you’ll flow in

the supernatural as naturally as you will breathe the very air.

We will not even be conscious of using our faith, because it

will be so very natural and normal to walk in the spirit! But to

do this we must let go of our allegiance to this natural world.

It holds no security anyway. Jesus said, “For whosoever will

save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for

my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mark 8:35).

If we try to hold on to the natural things of this world instead

of serving God with our whole hearts, we will miss out on the

glorious things of the Spirit.

When Kenneth and I first heard about living by faith,

we were in desperate circumstances. We didn’t know

any better than to be sick and in debt. It was easy to

dedicate ourselves to the Word, because we had no

other answer. We couldn’t do anything else.

We were broke! But as we honored God’s Word, God

honored His Word and prospered us. We came to a

place where we were no longer desperate, but could

do financially, whatever we wanted to do.

It takes a lot more faithfulness to be totally dedicated

to God now that we are prosperous than it did when we

were broke. Today we serve Him, not out of desperation,

but because we love Him and are devoted to Him.

Just think about it. God has people in the earth who

know how to use their faith. We know how to put the

Word to work, and we’re going to serve Him. Now, God

has something to work with…faithfulness!

Gloria Copeland