The Answer That Never Changes

Leave it to Jesus to answer with four words the questions that all the newscasters and pundits in the world can't answer with a million. Leave it to Him to solve today's complex problems with a scripture so simple even a child can understand it, and so broad it covers every possible situation.

"Have faith in God," He said in Mark 11:22.

"But Brother Copeland,what are we going to do about the economy?" Have faith in God. "What are we going to do about the government?" Have faith in God. "What are we going to do if countries around the world go bankrupt? What will we do if there's a flu pandemic? What will we do if oil prices continue to skyrocket?" Have faith in God.

"Oh, come on,that can't be the answer to everything," someone might argue. "Jesus said those words 2,000 years ago and times have changed since then. Problems are more serious than they used to be. This world is in a bigger mess."

I know it. That's what's so great about Mark 11:22. The person who bases his life on it never has to change his lifestyle to suit the times, the economy or anything else.

Faith in God never changes because God never changes. He's the same yesterday, today and forever!

Gloria and I can personally attest to it.

We first started learning how to live by faith more than 45 years ago. I was a student
at Oral Roberts University and we were just getting started in ministry. We needed everything back then. We didn't have much of an income and, although God had called me to preach, I didn't have a single invitation.

But we'd gotten the revelation that Jesus is the Source of our life; He's the Supplier of all our needs and desires. So we sat down together at the little table Gloria had made, took Communion, and committed ourselves and our ministry to The LORD.

We promised Him we'd never ask for a place to preach, we'd never preach anywhere based on a financial arrangement, and we'd never ask or pressure anyone for money. "LORD, You are the Source of this ministry," we said. "We will give and expect a harvest, trusting You to meet all our needs."

That day, with a quality decision that changed our lives forever, we committed to have faith in God.

While we were still praising and worshiping The LORD at our little homemade table, the phone rang. I answered to find it was my pastor, Brother Harold Nichols, in Fort Worth. He was calling to ask me to preach at his church a few days hence.
I accepted the invitation, went to Fort Worth intending to preach Friday,Saturday and Sunday and wound up preaching a series of meetings that lasted three weeks! We had a glorious time and I've been busy ever since.

Of course, that was just the beginning for us. We've learned a lot more about having faith in God since then (and I'm sure we'll be learning for all eternity) but there are three things in particular we've discovered that every Christian needs to know.

1. Have Faith in The WORD

The first is this: To have faith in God is to have faith in His WORD. The two can't be
separated because God and His WORD are one. As John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

To have faith in The WORD means I believe I am what The WORD says I am, I can do what The WORD says I can do, and I can have what The WORD says I can have.

I found out just how important it can be to believe those things one day just a few months after I started preaching. Gloria and I had just come home after ministering on the road, and my dad—who was handling the ministry finances at the time—greeted us with some potentially alarming news.
Handing me a strip of adding machine paper with the figure $5,000 printed on it in red, he said, "We need this much money right now!"

It doesn't sound like a lot these days, but back then $5,000 seemed like an impossible
amount. I'd never seen that much money in my whole life.

I immediately went into Dad's office, turned his chair around, got on my knees and put my Bible in front of me next to that strip of paper with the red numbers on it.

Turning from one scripture to another, I reminded myself that God's WORD says He'll supply all my need "according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). I reminded myself that Jesus said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you," and "what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (John 16:23;Mark 11:24).

Then, I started reading the prayer Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:14-16: "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...."

That's about as far as I got when something went off in me.

If God will grant me according the riches of His glory, I thought, I can write out a heavenly grant for $5,000 and simply believe I receive it!

Then I went back to John 16:23 and read it in the Amplified translation. "And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me [you will need to ask Me no questions]. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am]."

Then, Mark 11:24, The Amplified Bible: "For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]."

I'm telling you, I came out of that office hollering as loud as I could. Everyone started asking what happened, and I said, "We just got our bills paid, that's what happened! I got a grant from heaven!"

Sure enough, the money came right on in just a few days later.
That wasn't a one-time event, either. Gloria and I have been writing out heavenly grants ever since. Instead of sending appeal letters to people and begging for offerings, we've always increased the income of this ministry by putting our faith in The WORD and saying, "LORD, from this time forward, we must have so much per month to do what You've called us to do.

We believe we receive it and thank You for it, in Jesus' Name."

2. Have Faith in Love

Another important thing I've learned about living by faith is this: Since "God is love," to have faith in God, we must have faith in love. We must believe in the love God has for us, and have confidence that when we keep His command to "love one another," we'll be blessed as a result (1 John 4:8, 11).

In other words, we must believe that, in the end, love always prevails.

I've seen the love way win in my life and ministry again and again. One time many years ago, I saw it transform one of the stickiest situations I'd ever encountered. I was preaching a series of meetings in a little town and things had been going well for a while.

In a week's time, the attendance had increased to about 300 people. That was a big crowd in those days!    

One night, however, as I was preaching on the reality of righteousness, having a great time, a woman stood up and interrupted my message by speaking out loudly in other tongues.
Although I appreciate the gifts of the Spirit, I knew right away something wasn't right. It felt like someone had thrown a wet blanket over the whole room.

"Ma'am, would you hold that for just a moment, please?" I said.

She didn't pay any attention to me. She just kept talking on and on. In fact, she got louder.

So I asked again...and she ignored me again. Then I told her. Again, she just got louder.

I didn't know what else to do so I just waited for her to finish. Then I said, "Well, we lost where we were in the Spirit, so I'm just going to take this opportunity to teach you about this...."

Once again, I was interrupted, not by the woman but by the man sitting next to her. "Brother Copeland," he said, "she can't hear you. She's stone-deaf."
I found out later, he'd been using this woman to destroy meetings like mine on a regular basis. He'd take her into services and tell her, "I'll let you know when it's time for your gift." Without her ever realizing what was going on, he'd used her to disrupt the services of traveling ministers, turn the crowd against them and drive them out of town.

The same thing was about to happen to me. The attitude of the congregation had already shifted. They were feeling sorry for her and mad at me. I didn't know what to do. I was young in ministry and had never faced anything like this. So I did what my spiritual fathers—Oral Roberts and Kenneth E. Hagin—had taught me to do: I stopped, got quiet for a moment, and looked on the inside of me. When I turned inward, the word of The LORD came to me. Call her up and lay hands on her. I'll open her ears.

I never would have thought of that on my own. I was too irritated about the situation. But God wasn't because He is love.

So I did what He said, He did what He promised, and she got healed. She went home that night with her hearing restored, and the people went home having seen a miracle.

Now, that's what I call a great meeting—and it happened because I had faith in God and faith in love.

Go the love way. It wins every time!

3. Have Faith in Light

Here's a third thing I've learned over the years: The Bible not only says, "God is love," it also says, "God is light" (1 John 1:5). Therefore, having faith in God is having faith in light. It's believing that:

• There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. (Luke 12:2)

• The Spirit of truth...will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. (John 16:13)

• He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. (1 John 2:10)

When you have faith in light, you can rest assured that everything you need to know to triumph in every situation will be revealed to you. You can be confident that the devil can't hide anything from you to keep you in bondage and under the curse. You know that because you're a child of the light, the wisdom of God is inside you.

Personally, I found out years ago, if I have faith in the light, I don't have to depend on the world or the news media to get my information (which is good because they don't know anything until after it happens). I can look to God and He will show me things to come.

That gives me an edge!
God can take $1.50 and turn it into enough wealth to take care of me for the rest of my life, because He knows where this economy is going. He has inside information.

I don't have enough space here to tell you how much—just in terms of dollars and cents that kind of information has meant to this ministry over the years. But I can tell you this: By giving us light about how to handle our finances, God started preparing us for the crash of 2008 decades in advance.

He taught us how to build this ministry debt free so that when people with big mortgages were finding themselves upside down, we didn't have a care in the world. He showed us how to generate our own electricity with natural gas that we pump from ministry property, so when energy prices went through the roof, we didn't miss a beat. He gave us our own water wells and our own sewage plant.

The LORD led us into those things so gradually, I didn't fully realize what He was doing until one day He asked me this: What would happen if everyone just stopped giving to your ministry?

"LORD, I don't want to think about that!" I answered.

I want you to think about it, He said. What would happen to the ministry?

I considered all the things I just told you and then it hit me. Nothing would happen! The bank couldn't repossess anything we own because we don't owe any money on it. We produce, on our own property, all the basic services we need to keep things going. So Gloria and I would just grab our Bibles, hit the road and keep on preaching.

We wouldn't have to change our lifestyle because we're already living by faith!

"But Brother Copeland, God doesn't give me the kind of light He gives you."

Yes, He does. Jesus said so. All you need to do is start believing Him.

Build your faith in the light by taking His words and saying, "I believe hidden things will be revealed to me. I believe the Holy Spirit guides me into all truth and shows me things to come. I walk in the light and don't stumble over anything."

Faith comes by hearing The WORD, so as those words come out of your mouth and into your ears and your mind, they'll produce faith in your heart.

It doesn't matter how messy this world gets, or how many crises it goes through, if you'll keep believing God and operating by faith in His Word, His love and His light, you'll never have to change your lifestyle to suit the times. You won't have to listen to the newscasters and the pundits to find out what to do.

While they're still asking a million questions, wondering how we're going to handle the economy, the government and everything else, you'll already have the four-word answer that never changes: Have faith in God!

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