Dear Partner,
The closing days of 2023 are just around the corner. So what’s next? You and I are people of The BOOK. According to 2 Corinthians 5:6-7:
- Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from The LORD:
- (For we walk by faith, not by sight.)
There it is. “We are ALWAYS CONFIDENT”! How and why? Because we walk by faith and not by sight! Looking back can bring condemnation. Condemning ourselves will never change or fix anything. Let’s read what the Spirit of God is saying through the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:1-6
- There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit
- For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
- For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
- That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
- For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Read it again. How much condemnation? NONE! It is, however, conditional: “Walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” Or, walk after The WORD. Read on in verses 7-10:
- Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
- But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
We are not in the flesh but in the spirit. I’ve known of wonderful Christian people who had the idea that if I could just get out of the flesh and into the spirit things would begin working out for me. What is that? Walking by sight, or by feelings, and not by faith. If The BOOK says, “But you [Kenneth] are not in the flesh but in the spirit,” then my confession of faith must agree with what The WORD of God says. Does the Spirit of God dwell in me? Yes. That happened Nov. 2, 1962, a little after 8 p.m. I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and He did! Then in Jan. ’63, He baptized Gloria and me with the Holy Spirit and power. We must never, ever entertain the idea that born-again people don’t have the Holy Spirit within! Let’s settle that forever. Everything must be backed by, “What says the living WORD of God?” His WORD is our light and guide. We began this letter in 2 Corinthians 5, so let’s continue with verses 17-21 in the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, and then take a praise break and shout:
- Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
- But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].
- It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
- So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.
- For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
“But, Brother Copeland, I feel so unworthy.”
I’m not interested in how I or anyone else feels! We are NEW CREATIONS. Unworthiness is gone forever! We are in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus isin us. Now we must see to it that His WORD becomes first place and final authority in our lives. How? By walking by faith? Yes, but there’s more to it than that. The faith walk also requires the Love walk. Let’s turn to Ephesians 5:1-2, AMPC:
- Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as wellbeloved children [imitate their father].
- And walk in Love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.
What does that mean? Back up and read Chapter 4:31-32 (AMPC):
- Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).
- And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Look carefully at that last, powerful statement and command: “FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER [READILY AND FREELY]”!
“How can I ever do that? You have no idea what they did.”
“AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU”! Faith works by Love. Look at Galatians 5:6 in the AMPC:
- For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through Love.
And now look at Romans 5:3-5, also in the AMPC:
- Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.
- And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.
- Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s Love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.
Whatever happened in 2023 is swallowed up by the Love of God that has been shed abroad in our innermost beings by the Spirit of Love Himself. Look at 1 John 4:16, AMPC:
- And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the Love God cherishes for us. God is Love, and he who dwells and continues in Love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
Our God does not HAVE Love. No! He IS Love.
In closing, we must answer the question in our hearts and minds about 2024. The answer is written in Philippians 3:13-14, AMPC:
- I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
- I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
Forgetting what lies behind, let’s press on toward the goal to win (VICTORY)! You may be pressing toward financial goals. Are you a faithful tither, or are you just hit and miss with your tithing? Change that, and start doing it consistently today! Do you have healing and health goals? First Peter 2:24 is the answer to that. Maybe you are pressing toward the goal of resolving family problems. First Corinthians 13:4-5, in the AMPC, is your answer:
- Love endures long and is patient and kind; Love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
- It [Love] is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
Verse 8 says, “Love never fails [never fades out or…comes to an end].”
As you sow your BLESSING seed this month, sow it with an expectant heart. Never get upset over politics! Pray, seek God and VOTE! Your ballot is your seed. If you don’t vote, you just cast your vote against God’s choice. Vote, remembering our first president, George Washington’s covenant with the Almighty God in Genesis 17. He said: “You’ll be our God, and we will be your people.” Remind the God, who is more than enough, of our country’s covenant with Him. Proverbs 29:2 says it all:
- When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
We are always one day closer. To what? THE RESURRECTION, Christmas, your birthday, your greatest desire and the answer to your greatest need. Philippians 4:19-20 in the AMPC says:
- And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
- To our God and Father be glory forever and ever (through the endless eternities of the eternities). Amen (so be it).
God Loves you, we Love you, and Jesus is LORD!
