Go With the Flow!

This world is constantly plagued by shortages. Have you ever noticed that?

It seems everybody is always running short of something. You never hear anyone say, "Oh my, I have more time than I need...I have more money than I can use...I have so many solutions, I'm having to hunt problems just to keep up!"

Such words sound ridiculous in a world ruled by scarcity and lack. Yet, the truth is, those are the kinds of words you and I should be saying all the time.

After all, as born-again children of God, we don't belong to this pitiful world. We're in it, Jesus said, but we're not of it (John 17:15-16). We belong to the kingdom of God—and there are no shortages in that kingdom. It has an abundant supply of any resource you could ever need.

Many believers never tap into those resources because they think God's kingdom is just a religious concept, a theological theory. But it's not.

It's real—and we can live in it.

Actually, the word kingdom means "dominion." God's kingdom is where God has dominion. Of course, since God has absolute dominion in heaven, every child of God will ultimately enjoy the blessings of His kingdom. But, praise God, we don't have to wait until we get to heaven! If we'll give God dominion in our lives here and now, we can experience "days of heaven upon the earth" (Deuteronomy 11:21).

"But Gloria, I just don't understand how that's possible. Everything in this world around us is falling apart. There's nothing heavenly about it!"

True. That's why Christians who depend on this world aren't doing very well these days. They're limiting themselves to the world's technology, abilities and answers, and they're getting the world's results.

In other words, they're looking to the outside instead of looking on the inside.

As a believer, everything you will ever need and everything God has ever promised is on the inside of you right now. The extra $500 a month you need for your family is in there. The new car you need is in there. The healing you need, the answers you need, the miracles you need—all of them are right there in your heart.

How can I be so sure? Because God Himself lives in you. He came to dwell there the moment you were born again—and He is the source of all things.

His Spirit is a wellspring of life, bubbling up continually within you. And unlike the wells of the world, this one never runs dry! Jesus Himself assured us of that in John 4, where He said, "Whosoever drinketh of this [natural world's] water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (verses 13-14).

Just think about that! Through the supernatural spring of His Spirit, God is continually imparting to us strength and power, guidance and counseling. He is providing us with a reservoir that will keep us fully supplied, not according to the meager resources of this earth, but according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

All we have to do is step into the Holy Spirit's flow and we'll have everything we need.

The problem is, most people (Christians included) don't know anything about that divine flow. So they just paddle around in the natural stream of things trying to keep their heads above water as the circumstances and shortages of the world drag them under.

But it's time for us to get wise! It's time to stop going with the flow of the natural, worldly things around us, and to start going with the flow of the Spirit instead.

From the Desert to the River

How do you go about yielding to that supernatural flow? First, you must hear and obey the Word of God. You must put that Word in your heart and bring it out of your mouth, not just once or twice, but consistently. You must follow the instructions God gives in Proverbs 4:20-23:

My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life (amp).

If you're attending to God's Word, when you have a problem, you won't think of going to the world first. You'll go to the Word. You'll find out what God has promised to do for you.

Once you've found that promise, you'll put it in your heart. You'll believe it. You'll speak it. Then faith will come alive inside you. Once faith comes alive concerning that situation, the power of God will explode in your heart and you'll start walking in victory.

Everything in the natural world may look just as dark as it ever did. Everyone in the world may still be telling you how impossible your situation is. But that won't matter because you'll know you've stepped out of the stream of circumstances and into the river of God.

And once God's river starts to flow from within you, the whole natural realm has to yield to it. Bad situations, poverty, sickness and lack of any kind must bow their knees to His supernatural supply!

I'll never forget how desperate Ken and I were when we first tapped into the supernatural flow. We were so broke and so in debt that it seemed we would never get out. Ken was a student at Oral Roberts University, and the only regular income we had was the $100 a month he received for co-piloting Brother Roberts' airplane.

We lived in a dumpy, old house furnished in early Goodwill. People were threatening to sue us, and we had a history of failing financially at everything we tried to do.

How had we gotten in that terrible shape? Just by flowing with the natural forces of this world. We hadn't set out to mess things up. We had done the best we could, but the defeat and lack (what the Bible calls the "curses") of the world had overtaken us.

Then one day, the Word of God came to me. He didn't speak to me in an audible voice. He just quickened a scripture to my heart as I was reading the Bible. The scripture was 2 Corinthians 9:8:

And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation] (amp).

At that moment, there appeared to be no way Ken and I would ever have an abundance of anything except needs. Yet in the face of that impossible-looking situation, I chose to believe God's Word. I began to say, "God is able to make every earthly blessing come to me in abundance! God is able!"

Ken believed it too, and together we began to tap into the flow of the Spirit. We started talking prosperity instead of poverty. We stopped borrowing money. And we started obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit where our finances were concerned.

Eleven months later, we were completely debt free.

Financially speaking, we had been total failures. Yet simply because we believed God and obeyed His Word, He was able to turn that failure around. He was able to supply us not according to the shortages of this world, but according to His riches in glory.

The Great Equalizer

Since that time, I've never wanted to live any other way. I love knowing that every day as I go about my daily work—whether it's planting flowers, writing letters or taping a television program—there is a flow of the Spirit of God in me to empower and enable me and to provide for me.

If I'll yield to it, that flow will make me a much greater success than I could ever be on my own...and it will do the same for you.

You see, the Spirit of God is the great equalizer. When you're yielding to Him, it doesn't matter which attributes you have or which ones you lack in the natural world. It doesn't matter if you're a person of a high intellect or a low one. You may be dumb as can be on your own, but you're smart when you're flowing in the Spirit, because through Him, you're connected to accurate information.

In fact, even if you're very intelligent, you are still going to be disappointed in life and live way beneath God's best for you if you don't learn to follow the voice of the Spirit. Because no matter how smart you are, in your own ability, you're not as smart as God.

"But Gloria, I don't think God speaks to me like He does to you."

Yes, He does. You just haven't been tuning in to Him. Jesus promised that His sheep would hear His voice (John 10:3). So believe that promise and begin to turn your ear toward Him by spending time each day in the Word and in prayer.

As you do that, you'll find there's a Word from God whenever you need it—a prompting—about anything in life. Not only in spiritual things, but God will enlighten you and give you answers in every situation if you will just learn to flow in His Spirit.

That's how Jesus operated when He was on earth. The Bible says, "the Holy Ghost descended...upon him" (Luke 3:22) and from that time on, He began to have manifestations of the Spirit in His ministry. Jesus said clearly that He didn't do the miracles, healings and other wonderful things that happened everywhere He went. He said it was the Father in Him Who did them.

Take the Plunge!

Am I saying we can live like Jesus? Yes, I am! We have been born of God and filled with His Holy Spirit.

After all, the same Spirit Who descended on Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan River comes upon us when we're baptized in the Holy Spirit. And that Spirit gives us power to do the same works He did. If you doubt it, go back and read the book of Acts again. All the way through that book you'll see miraculous, amazing things occurring. You'll see miracles performed, people healed, devils cast out—not by Jesus Himself, but by people like Peter, John, Phillip, Stephen and Paul.

Acts 9 tells of a time when Peter even raised a woman named Dorcas from the dead. Verse 42 says because of that miracle "many believed in the

Lord." Of course, they did!

That's the way God meant for His gospel to be preached. He never meant for people to believe His Word is true just because we say so. He wants manifestations of the Spirit to accompany and confirm it.

In this last, great move of God on the earth, people are going to start seeing those manifestations again. Signs and wonders are going to follow the Word just like they did in the book of Acts. That's exciting, isn't it? But what's even more exciting is this: If you're preaching the Word of God, those signs are going to follow you!

You and I don't have to be bystanders who just watch what God is doing. We can be part of it if we want to be, and I'm telling you right now—I want to be!

I want to be right in the middle of it. I want to be under the spout where the glory comes out! I don't want to be tangled up with natural endeavors that won't even matter to me a year from now.

God didn't put me in this end-time generation so I could fritter away my time on the temporal things of the world. He didn't baptize me with the

Holy Spirit so I could give all my time and attention to some silly thing that I won't even remember next year. He equipped me with His power so I could flow in the spirit and accomplish eternal things for Him that will last forever!

He sent me here to show forth His mighty deeds and display His love (1 Peter 2:9). That might shock some people, but it is true nevertheless. After all, Jesus Himself said, "as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (John 20:21).

How did the Father send Jesus? He sent Him anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power (Acts 10:38). And that's how He is sending us! He is sending us to live like Jesus lived.

To do that, we must get out of the world's flow. We must stop being limited by its sickness, poverty and lack of power. We must start living in the flow of the Spirit. We must start living a life of abundance, blessing, health and increase. A life that acts like the Word of God is true—that lets the Holy Spirit lead, and lets love light the way.

That kind of life is available now to every believer who is willing to step into it. It is ready to flow from within you and provide you with everything you need to become all that Jesus has called you to be.

So if you're still on the bank of this mighty Holy Ghost river, watching and wondering whether you should take the plunge, let me encourage you to go for it. Don't wait another minute. Jump on in...the water's fine!

Prayer for Salvation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). I am calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life according to Romans 10:9-10. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." I do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead.

I am now reborn! I am a Christian—a child of Almighty God! I am saved! You also said in Your Word, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: HOW MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13). I'm also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the utterance (Acts 2:4).

Begin to praise God for filling you with the Holy Spirit. Speak those words and syllables you receive—not in your own language, but the language given to you by the Holy Spirit. You have to use your own voice. God will not force you to speak. Worship and praise Him in your heavenly language—in other tongues.

Continue with the blessing God has given you and pray in tongues each day.

You are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer. You'll never be the same!

Find a good Word of God preaching church, and become a part of a church family who will love and care for you as you love and care for them.

We need to be connected to each other. It increases our strength in God. It's God's plan for us.

Gloria Copeland is an author and minister of the gospel whose teaching ministry is known throughout the world. Believers worldwide know her through Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns, magazine articles, teaching tapes and videos, and the daily and Sunday Believer's Voice of Victory television broadcast, which she hosts with her husband, Kenneth Copeland. She is known for "Healing School," which she began teaching and hosting in 1979 at KCM meetings. Gloria delivers the Word of God and the keys to victorious Christian living to millions of people every year.

Gloria has written many books, including God's Will for You, Walk With God, God's Will Is Prosperity, Hidden Treasures and Are You Listening. She has also co-authored several books with her husband, including Family Promises, Healing Promises and the best-selling daily devotional, Pursuit of His Presence.

She holds an honorary doctorate from Oral Roberts University. In 1994, Gloria was voted Christian Woman of the Year, an honor conferred on women whose example demonstrates outstanding Christian leadership. Gloria is also the co-founder and vice president of Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas.

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