Kenneth Copeland Ministries Australia

Advice. The world is absolutely full of it. Mention a problem and a dozen people will offer their solutions.

 

Some believers spend a lifetime bouncing back and forth, following first this bit of advice, then that. Some listen, weigh the various opinions, and try to decide which is right. A few toss it all away and think strictly for themselves. Yet they all end up the same way...facing failure again and again.

           

Then there are the others. Those incredibly powerful believers who move mountainous problems with amazing success and, as Psalm 1 says, who seem to prosper in whatever they do. Ever wonder where they get their advice?

           

Well, I can tell you. They get it directly from the Word of God. No matter how persuasive the opinion of others might be, Jesus has the last word in their lives.

           

He has a solution for every problem you'll ever face. And Jesus doesn't just tell you what to do. He'll tell you how to do it and then fill you with the power to follow through. His Word is our answer from first to last. Listen to what He says in Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

           

When Jesus says, “I am the Almighty," He isn't just making an elegant speech. He is talking to you and me. He knows the kinds of problems we face and the needs we have. He knows we need someone all mighty to see us through. And He wants us to know that when we need strength and deliverance that is all mighty and not lacking, He's the One we need.

           

Just think for a moment about who He is! He's the One who takes care of us and our families, the One who leads us and guides us. He's the One who starts His work in us and the One who finishes it. He's not only the Author of our faith, but the Finisher as well!

           

Too many times, we have the wrong idea about who has all the power. Believers are quick to say how powerful the devil is. Like the fellow who was sick in bed and someone asked him, “Well, did you rebuke the devil?" His weak reply was, “Listen, brother, I'm in no shape to antagonize anyone!" This poor fellow had the wrong idea. You and I are more powerful than all the demons in hell even while we're lying flat on our backs. Why? Because of the Almighty One. Jesus is His name. He is the Almighty. No one is mightier than He.

           

He is also the Alpha and Omega--the Beginning and the Ending. In other words, He is saying, “I started all of this, and I will finish it.” Jesus is the Creator of all that has been created. He was here when it all began, and He will be here to bring this Age to its close. And He’s guaranteed success to everyone who will base their lives on His Word.

           

Clearly His Word ought to be the last word in every situation you face in this life! Yet so many believers just drift along unaware of much that He’s said. They wish for the best and wind up disappointed. Don’t let that happen to you.

           

Make a decision now to take God at His Word and stand on it in the face of every kind of criticism, in the face of even the most adverse situations. Adopt the attitude that live or die, sink or swim, you are on the Word to stay. Make God’s Word the final authority in your life. What you’ll actually be doing is making Jesus the Alpha in every situation. When you let Him be the Alpha, standing steadfastly on His Word no matter what happens, He will also be the Omega. In other words, your situation will eventually come in line with the Word of God.

           

The key is to begin with the Word. No matter what you are faced with, you do not have to take a “what will be will be” attitude. The devil will run rampant over you with that kind of thinking. God has given you His Word. He has promised to watch after His Word to perform it (Jer. 1:12). And He expects you to take it and stand on it so that He can perform it for you.

           

What is your present situation? Find out what the Word says about it and establish the Alpha word. You can’t end up with God’s promises fulfilled in your life unless you begin with the promises. Start with the Alpha word and stand steadfastly until you get the Omega word.

           

No matter what your problem may be, God has promised you deliverance from it. It is not His will for you to be subject to the beggarly elements of this world. He wants you to be delivered from the evil of this present world, as well as that of the world to come (Gal. 1:4). So, whatever evil you are facing today, find out exactly what God’s Word says about it and begin with the Word.

           

Once you do that, follow the apostle Paul’s instructions in Colossians 1:23. There he says “continue.” Continue in the Word until you become rooted and grounded in it. Don’t be moved away from the hope of the gospel. Don’t let adverse circumstances steal your hope. Be constant. Continue in and with the Word, no matter what happens. Give it time to grow in you.

           

Jesus said that the whole kingdom of God is as a man who plants a seed in the ground. Then he sleeps and wakes, night after night. And one day the seed comes up so that it can produce a harvest (Mark 4:26-29). First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But the seed continues in the ground. It doesn’t grow for a day or two and then lay off three, and grow real fast for another day and then quit again. No! Seeds grow 24 hours a day. Then when the seed is mature and the fruit is ripe, you put in the sickle and take in your harvest.

           

Standing on the Word is the same way. The Word is the seed that you plant in your heart. Then you continue in the Word until it produces fruit in your life. Jesus said, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8;31,32). It’s continuing in the Word that makes you a disciple. A disciple is one who is disciplined, and discipline means you are consistent at good habits.

           

Consistency is hard for most of us. But, let me tell you, it is vital. There is a revelation of God that comes from consistency that the inconsistent person will never see. You may be a person of faith and prayer, but if you aren’t consistent about it, if you don’t keep yourself constantly in the Word of God, you’re going to miss out. There is power in constant consistency.

           

Don’t procrastinate any longer. Take the time to base what you are doing and how you are living every day on the Word of God. Continue in the Word. Do it every day. You can’t base today on yesterday’s Bible study. You are going to have to base today on today’s Bible study. You are going to have to start with the Word today, stay on the Word all day, and then end the day with the Word. Then tomorrow will be a new day, and you’ll do it again! God’s Word is life. Choose it first and last every day.

           

You may be saying, “Brother Copeland, I just don’t have time for that!” If so, you’d better find the time, or you’re never going to succeed at what you’re doing.

           

If you will discipline yourself to start with the Word and continue in it, you can avoid fouling things up. Once your life gets thrown out of order, you will have to go to the Word to get it straightened out. Start with the Word and get things going right from the very beginning. Then continue in it. Be constant. Be consistent.

           

God is not fickle. He doesn’t change His mind from one day to the next. You can rely on Him. He’s constant. He’s consistent and that’s the way he wants you to be. He is saying the same thing today that He said yesterday. The Word doesn’t change. Continue in the Word, and you’ll become consistent too.

           

Continuing in the Word will also strengthen your faith. Being constant--not wavering--gives faith an opportunity to rise up and flush your mind of fear and doubt and unbelief. It you’ll continue in the Word, you can have as much faith that your kids will come into the kingdom of God as you once had fear that they would ruin their lives on drugs. You can have as much faith that God will heal you as you once had fear that you wouldn’t get well. But it’s continuing that will give you that kind of confidence.

           

You continue in the Word by answering every symptom of sickness with what the Word says. God bless doctors, but their word is not the last word. God’s Word is the final word. Jesus is the Omega--no one else!

           

You also continue in the Word by answering every situation that is contrary to your redemption in Christ with what the Word says. Thank heaven for God-appointed lawyers, but their word is not the last word. Thank God for pastors anointed of the Holy Ghost. But unless they are speaking the counsel of God's Word, their word is not the last word. Scrutinize everything you hear and every situation that comes your way with the Word. If it is contrary to God's Word, don't receive it as the final word.

           

Once you've determined what God has to say--then act on it. Act, live, and conduct yourself as though His Word is true even when circumstances around you seem to indicate it's not.

           

Someone asked, “How will I know whether I'm acting in faith or acting in presumption?" My answer is, if you are acting on the Word, stay with it. If it's presumption, your staying in the Word will turn it into faith somewhere down the line. You may make some mistakes, but the worst mistake you could ever make is being afraid that God's Word will fail. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the Word will never pass away. It will never fail, so act on the Word and not on anything else. Stay with the Word and God will bring whatever correction you need to lead you to the “straight and narrow."

           

In order to place everything you hear and everything that happens to you under the scrutiny of the Word, you have to read it, study it, and hear it preached. Just like you cannot feed your stomach on what you remember potatoes taste like, you can't feed your spirit on what you remember the Word of God says. You have to feed your heart with the Word every day.

           

That Word will not only strengthen your faith to stand against adversity when it comes, but it will also make you free from the sin that is trying to hang on to you. The psalmist David said, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Ps. 119:11). The Word strengthens you against sin and every other evil work the devil would like to use to keep you bound.

           

Once you recognize a situation that is contrary to God's Word, you must establish your stand on the Word through prayer. Pray exactly what the Word says. For example, Isaiah 54:17 promises that no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

           

One of our partners and I prayed according to this verse when he was facing a lawsuit. After we prayed together, we agreed that God's Word was the final word in this lawsuit, not the allegations against him.

           

He went to court, and they just couldn't beat him. But he didn't win that case because of his keen and witty lawyers. He won because he was innocent and because he had stood on the promise of God. Jesus was the Omega in that situation because we established His Word as the Alpha word, prayed according to it, and refused to accept anything else.

           

Now, don't make the mistake a lot of people make by sitting around begging for something God has promised you in His Word. Just believe His promise, thank Him for it, and receive it by faith. Then look in the Word and find out how you should pray about it.

           

For example, a lot of people want to beg God to save their loved ones. But He has already promised the salvation of your whole household (Acts 16:31). The correct scriptural prayer would be to bind up the devil who is blinding the minds of those who do not yet believe (2 Cor. 4:4) and then to pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest to speak the Word to them (Luke 10:2). The Word will be a light unto their path and eventually they will "see the light" and choose to make Jesus the Lord of their lives. After all, it's the Word that brings people to believing, and it's the Word that gets us born again.

           

Once you have found out the promise of God and then prayed according to it, then act on Colossians 2:6, 7, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How do you walk in Him? Verse 7 tells you. Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

           

Abound therein with thanksgiving! A lot of people have been taught faith over the last several years, and a lot of people have been abounding with thanksgiving.

           

But it seems hard to get the two together. Faith folks just want to confess the Word all the time, but they don't praise God very much. And those who like to praise God just want to jump and shout and dance and have a good time in the Lord, but you can't get them to get very serious about the Word. Success comes from combining the two. Confess the Word and abound therein with thanksgiving!

           

Just keep praising God in the midst of what's happening around you. Keep praising Him for the answer until it comes. You know Jesus is the Alpha. You have begun with Him. Just keep praising Him all the way through until He shows Himself to be the Omega--the final word in your circumstance.