May 2018 Partner Letter

Dear Partner,

Let’s begin our time together today by reading James 1:17:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Now let’s read 1 Chronicles 16:34:

O give thanks unto The LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

And Psalm 100:5:

For The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

In all 26 verses of Psalm 136, we read that God’s mercy endures forever. Oh, thank God, His mercy endures forever! I remember the first time that phrase registered on my heart. I sighed in relief and said out loud: “Oh thank You, Jesus, Your mercy endures forever!”

He is the God who saves. He is the God who heals. He is the God who BLESSES. He is the One who came to give us life, AND that we might have it more abundantly. Abundant life—not just barely getting along life. ABUNDANT LIFE! He is the God of abundance: MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Let’s look again at the last part of James 1:17: “…with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” That means He is not about to change! Why? Because HE IS LOVE, and Love is good! Now here’s where it really gets exciting. Look at Psalm 145: 8-9:

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Look at that. He is good to all. All means me. All means you. Verse 8 says He is FULL of compassion. Matthew 14:14 says Jesus was moved with compassion toward the multitude and healed their sick. In Mark 1:41, He was moved with compassion and healed the leper. Mark 6:34 says He was moved with compassion toward the multitude because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He taught them many things. In Matthew 20:30-34, He had compassion on two blind men and healed them. In Luke 7:11-15, He had compassion on the widow, raised her son from the dead and gave him back to her.

Do you suppose He is compassionate about you? Of course He is! He can’t help it. That’s who He is. In each situation, Jesus was God in action. He still is. If you, me or anyone else, will just believe that He’s the same yesterday, today and forever, we will receive the same compassion and the same results. Go before Him, worship Him, and receive His compassion. That same word translated compassion is also translated mercy.

Now look at Mark 10:46-52:

And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, LORD, that I might receive my sight.
And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Bartimaeus said, “Have compassion [mercy] on me.” It’s the same word. Compassion heals! Believe that. Bartimaeus did, and he received his sight. He never had to beg again for anything.

“But Brother Copeland, I’ve missed God and failed so many times!”

So what? Who hasn’t? Stop counting, and do like I’ve done so many times. Cry out like Bartimaeus did: “Jesus, have mercy [compassion] on me! I repent, and I receive my forgiveness now. I receive my cleansing now, by faith in Your faithfulness and mercy.” Then start thanking Him for His goodness and His healing mercy. Take it, it’s yours. Jesus paid for it.

Where does faith come in? What is it, anyway? Faith is taking an honest person at his or her word. When you do, your feelings don’t matter one way or another. That person said it was done, or that he would be there, and I believe it. What if he could not lie—not that he would not, but he could not. God cannot lie! The Bible is His WORD, His bond.

How did Sarah have faith to have a child? Let’s look at Hebrews 11:11 and see:

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

She judged Him faithful! Now look at 1 John 1:9:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He is faithful and just, or righteous, to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When? When we confess it before Him. He doesn’t wait until you feel better about it. He does it the moment you believe it. Remember what I said earlier? Your and my feelings do not matter one way or another. Period. His compassion for you, His enduring mercy, demands that you, His very own child, be forgiven, cleansed and made whole—spirit, soul, body, financially and socially. After all, you’re family. You and Jesus have the same Father and the same name. All these marvelous things belong to the whole family. You’ve seen the scripture reference at the bottom of every letter I’ve written, and I know you’ve read it many times. But let’s look at Ephesians 3:14-20 again:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

I don’t see how you can just sit there! We’re rooted and grounded in Love, in God our Father and Jesus, our LORD, who is Love Himself. You talk about compassion and mercy! That’s what the Cross was all about. His compassion and mercy for YOU. His love for YOU. Our dear friend Billye Brim said, “God loves to communicate His absolute, limitless goodness to all men. To you. To me. The only thing that limits Him from imparting His goodness to any human being is that person’s capacity to receive.”

The more you meditate on the verses I’ve written to you today, the more your faith in Jesus’ love and compassion for you will grow. You’ll be like what the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians: “Your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity [love] of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Your and my job is to take this message of the goodness of our God and the compassion of our Savior, Jesus, to all the Body of Christ and to the world. So many need to know and experience His compassion. We are agents of that Love and compassion. We are His prosperity agents with the message that Jesus does not want anyone sick or poor. He wants you well, debt free and strong. That’s what you’re sowing into. Take your BLESSING seed and worship The LORD Jesus with it. BLESS Him with it. It’s His. Then shout: “I RECEIVE THE MERCY. I’M HEALED, IN JESUS’ NAME. I BELIEVE THE LOVE. I RECEIVE THE LOVE.”

Well, I must close. Gloria and I love you so very much. Praying for you every day is such a joy. The only thing better is to see and preach to you face to face. Pray for us, please!

Until next time.

Love,