Gloria Copeland

7/29/2019 Gloria Copeland

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I

f you were to ask me to name the mostimportant principle of Christian living

Ive ever learned, I would answer youwithout hesitation. It is the secret ofdaily communion with God. That is,without question, the No. 1 priority ofthe Christian life. It is the key that opensevery door.

Yet it is the one thing manyChristians cant seem to findtime for.

When you think about it ,thats astonishing. No othergroup of people since Adam andEve has had the opportunity tofellowship with God the way wecan. The Creator and Ruler ofthe entire universe has madeHimself available to meet withus as believers every day. He sent

Jesus to the cross to shed Hisblood so that we could enter into theholy of holies and draw near to Him anytime we desire.

God Himself has flung open to us thedoor of fellowship and said, Im here foryou. Just draw near to Me and Ill drawnear to you. Spend time with Me and Illgive you the wisdom you need. Ill

strengthen you and equip you and help

you in every area of your life.But for the most part, Christians have

been too busy to take Him up on it.Well, Gloria, you might say, consid-

ering how much we have to do these days,thats understandable.

Is it? Suppose you woke up one morn-ing, walked into your kitchen and found

Jesus Himself sitting at yourtable. Would you be too busy tostop and talk with Him? Would

you leave Him sitting there alonewhile you rushed through thebusiness of the day, talked on thephone, watched television andthen fell, exhausted, into bed?No! That would be unthinkable!

Yet that is what we do, dayafter day, when we let the busy-ness of living crowd out our time

with the Master. That is what wedo when we neglect our fellowship withHim. We miss the counsel He wants togive us.

Like Martha, we become worriedand troubled about many things (Luke10:41, NKJV).Yet all those things wouldbe taken care of if we would stop andspend time with the Lord. All would be

well if we would follow Marys example

C o v e r S t o r y

BY GLORIACOPELAND

TIMEAT THE MASTERS FEET

Daily

communion

with God

is the

No. 1 priority

of the

Christians

life.

IF YOU WANT TO BE A POWERFUL FORCE FOR GOD, MAKE

FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS YOUR TOP PRI ORITY.


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and do the one thing that is needfulspend time at Jesus feet.

D I S C O V E R I N G G O D S P L A N Why is thattime so important? Because in those pre-cious hours and moments alone in Godspresence, we truly get to know the Lord.

We discover His plan for our lives, and welay hold of the wisdom and grace to carryit out. As we fellowship with the Lord, wereceive His direction and His power todo what we are divinely designed to do.

I know that from experience. The timeIve spent with the Lord in the Word and inprayer has literally shaped my life. I shudderto think where I would be todaywithout it.

When I was growing up, myworld was so small I could hardlythink beyond the little Arkansastown where I lived. The only dream

I had back then was to hold a sim-ple job. I had no sense of purposeor divine destiny. I couldnt beginto imagine the life I have now. I cer-tainly couldnt have asked God for

it because I didnt know this kind oflife was available!

Even after Ken and I answeredGods call to the ministry, we hadno idea what Gods plan for uswas. We were living in a tiny house in Tulsawhile Ken attended Oral Roberts Univer-sity. One day Ken went down to theriverbed to pray about the future and God

spoke to his heart, telling him that he wasgoing to preach to nations.

We couldnt imagine going to nations.We hardly had enough money to drivefrom Oklahoma to Texas to visit Kensfamily. How were we ever going to travelto nations?

It didnt seem possible. But now,more than 35 years later, not only have

we traveled to nations but also we reach

out to people worldwide almost everyday of the week through our ministryoffices and TV broadcasts.

How have we done it? By staying in con-stant fellowship with Godby spendingtime with Him daily through His Word andthrough prayer, by hearing His voice and

following His guidance one step at a time.

D O N T L E A V E H O M E W I T H O U T I T

Frankly, I have had to do it that way becauseI dont have the natural ability or resourcesto do what God instructed us to do. I knowwhat Jesus said of Himself is also true ofmeI can of myself do nothing (see John

5:30). If Im going to do anythingworthwhile, I have to abide in Jesusand be obedient to Him.

Thats why I rarely do anythingin the mornings before I pray. Mytime with the Lord is so vital, I

dont leave home without it! Imake a connection with God thevery first thing and talk to Himwith my understanding, and in theSpirit with other tongues.

If I have a business meeting, Iwant to know what He has to sayabout the issues well be dis-cussing at that meeting. I believefor the wisdom of God. I dont

want to go in there and be dependent onnatural knowledge.

If I am ministering, I have to be anointedby His Spirit, or I might as well stay home.

Gods wisdomHis way of doing thingsisavailable in every area of our lives, and Iknow I need it. I cant afford to engage inactivity before Ive spent time with God.

Thats necessary for you, someonemight say. You and Kenneth are preach-ers. It takes the supernatural power ofGod to do what you do.

Whether you know it or not, it takes the

supernatural power of God for you to do

The time

Ive spent

with the Lord

in the Word

and in

prayer

has literally

shaped

my life.


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what youre called to do, too! Even if youre

not in the fivefold ministry, God has a divinecalling and purpose for you to fulfill. Eph-

esians 2:10 says that He has predestined,or planned beforehand, good paths for allof us to walk in and good works for us to do.

But there is only one way well ever beable to do themby abiding in Jesus and

communing continually with Him.Jesus left no doubt about that. He said:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch

cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abidesin the vine, neither can you, unless you

abide in Me. I am the vine, you are thebranches. He who abides in Me, and I inhim, bears much fruit; for without Me you

can do nothing (John 15:4-5).The wordabideJesus used has a sense of

permanency about it. It doesnt mean tocome in and go out. It refers to the placewhere you remain and dwell continually.

When Ken and I travel, we might stayin a hotel for a week. We live there tem-

porarily, but we dont abide there. Weabide in our home in Fort Worth, Texas.Thats where our belongings are. Thats

the place we continually return to. Thatswhere we live.

When Jesus said, Abide in Me, Hewasnt saying, Visit Me when you go tochurch on Sundays and whenever you

have a big problem. He wasnt talkingabout a sporadic or temporary arrange-

ment. He was instructing us to make thatplace of dependency on Him and com-

munion with Him the place we continu-ally remain. He was telling us to make itour permanent dwelling place.

And He immediately told us why wemust do that. Its because if we dont,we wont be able to produce the proper

fruit in our lives. If were not continuallywalking with Him and talking with

Himcontinually spending time in His

Word and listening for His direction on

the insidespiritually we wont be able

to accomplish anything.

L A M I N A T E D T O T H E L O R D Once we expe-rience the divine power that comes to usas we abide in Jesus, it is easy to see that if

we want to live victoriously, we must firstand foremost maintain our daily union

and communion with Him. That is ourmost important responsibility.

If we will maintain that union, God

will take care of everything else.Unfortunately, however, many Chris-

tians do just the opposite. They become sobusy maintaining the other things in theirlives that they dont take any time to spend

with God. They spend their lives main-taining their houses, their lawns, their cars

and their jobs. They even find time tomaintain their hair and their fingernails.Yet they neglect the one thing that is vital

to their lives and well-being: They neglecttheir union with God.

To be in union means to be joinedtogether with something or someone.When two things are united with each

other, they are joined so tightly togetherthat they become like one substance. You

might say they are laminated to each other!But he who is joined to the Lord is

one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). According to

Strongs Concordance, the Greek wordtranslatedjoined comes from the wordmeaning to glue.

When we dont take time to fellowship

regularly with the Lord, we dont live asthough were united with Him. Despiteour best efforts, we end up doing things

He wouldnt do. When we say things Hewould never say, our actions reveal that wedefinitely arent laminated to Him.

Thats why spending time with Godeach day is so vital. Its during this time

that we become unified with Himnot

just in our spirits but in our souls. As we


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read and meditate on His Word or fel-

lowship with Him in prayer, we begin to

think as He thinks. We begin to act as He

acts and talk as He talks.

As we spend more time with God, we

become more familiar with His direction

and instruction. Were better able to dis-

tinguish His guidance moment by moment

so that we can walk out His perfect will for

our lives every day.

By spending time in fellowship with the

Lord, we become so in tune with Him that

when He tells us to do something, we hear

Him and obey. We become so closely

joined to Him that our desires, thoughts,

words and actions become a reflection of

the One with whom we are united.

A T I T H E O F Y O U R T I M E How much time

should we set apart to spend with the

Lord each day to cultivate the kind of

union Ive described?

The Bible gives us no hard and fast

rule. We must each be led by the Holy

Spirit. There may be seasons in our lives

when He draws us into extended hours of

fellowship with Him. There may be sea-sons when our daily times with Him, while

consistent, are not as long.

In a meeting I attended more than 20

years ago, a prophecy given by a minister

I highly respect echoed that thought. He

said by the Holy Spirit that if we would

just take a tithe of our timean hour or

two out of every dayand spend it with

God, our lives would be changed andempowered, all would be well, and we

would be a mighty force for God.

When I heard that, I took God at His

word. I decided to get up an hour earlier

every morning so I could spend time

with Him before I began my day.

That decision has proved to be one of

the most important decisions of my life.

It changed my life and me. Now, spend-

ing the first part of my day in prayer and

the Word is such a habit for me that even

when Ken and I are traveling and I have

to get up at 3 or 4 oclock in the morning,

I do it because I am addicted. I must have

my time with God!

Just as the Lord promised through the

word of prophecy I heard more than 20

years ago, the hour or two a day Ive

spent with God has continually changed

and empowered me. Instead of burning

out due to the demands of ministry, my

fire for the Lord gets even stronger as

the years go by.

Everything is good in my life and the

lives of my family. My children and grand-

children are healthy, blessed and serving

the Lord. All is well, as He said it would

be.

Ive discovered for myself that what

Jesus said to Martha is eternally true. The

best part of the Christian life, the one

thing that is truly needful, is time spent

with Him. We can be assured of victory in

every area of our lives if, through the

Word and prayer, well draw near every

day and sit at the Masters feet.

GLORIACOPELAND is the author ofToKnow Him (Harrison House), fromwhich this article is adapted. Formore on her ministry, see Meet Our

Authors (p. 7).

G O I N G D E E P E R

For further study on this topic:

To Know Him

by Gloria Copeland (Harrison House)

Knowing God Intimately

by Joyce Meyer (Warner Faith)

A Call to the Secret Place

by Michal Ann Goll (Destiny Image)

To get connected with us, visitSpiritLed

Woman online atwww.spiritledwoman.com.


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