Did you know that there are tens of thousands of promises in the Bible, and 7,487 of them are from God directly to mankind? They are spread throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, written in different generations, different locations and even different centuries; but they are all inspired by God, and they all belong to us through Jesus. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NKJV). What’s more, every one of God’s promises to us are backed by the blood of Jesus that He shed on the cross, thus ratifying God’s COVENANT with us. This means that when we make Jesus our Lord, we enter into COVENANT with God. As we activate that COVENANT by faith, we are enabled to experience His blessing in every area of our lives. This gives us full access to all the promises of God found in His Word, and it’s easier than you think!
Walk by Faith
What do you need today? Abundance? Health? Peace of mind? Relationships to be restored? God wants to bless you with whatever you need. Ephesians 1:3 tells us, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
To receive what you need today, and all that you’ll need in the future, you’ll want to walk by faith—and faith is a lifestyle, based on blood-backed, precious promises from the Word of God. In his book The Two Covenants, Andrew Murry, a 19th-century theologian, wrote: “Blessed is the man who truly knows God as his Covenant God; who knows what the Covenant promises him; what unwavering confidence of expectation it secures, that all its terms will be fulfilled to him; what a claim and hold it gives him on the Covenant-keeping God Himself. To many a man, who has never thought much of the Covenant, a true and living faith in it would mean the transformation of his whole life.”[1]
To help you learn how to walk by faith in the new year and activate all that God has promised you, we want to share an excerpt from Kenneth Copeland and Greg Stephen’s new book, God, The Covenant and The Contradiction. Let this story from Kenneth Copeland’s early ministry life inspire you. In it, he learns what it means to be in Covenant and to experience THE BLESSING of Covenant. Consider it a lesson in receiving the Covenant promises of God.
Faith Is an Act
When I first started attending Oral Roberts University and serving Brother Roberts as part of his flight crew, I was also his driver, which afforded me the opportunity to see firsthand the anointing on his life and ministry. I saw the power of God at work to heal and deliver. In meeting after meeting, I saw the miraculous take place. And the more I saw, the more I wanted that same anointing that was on Brother Roberts to be on the ministry God was calling me to. Like Brother Roberts, I wanted to see people set free—as God had set His people, Israel, free.
The first time I heard this powerful man of God minister to his partners, I also wanted to become a partner. It was so strong on me! I remember watching as I saw people sow into his ministry and connect their Faith with his. I saw how they were tangibly joining with him in ministry. That was covenant!
When Brother Roberts encouraged people who weren’t yet partners with him to sign up and pledge to give ten dollars a month, I was ready to do it. However, I was so broke, as they say, I couldn’t pay attention. I had no money at all. Still, I was determined to become a partner of Oral Roberts Ministries.
In that first partner meeting, the ushers passed out envelopes to the people along with short, wooden pencils for them to use to fill out their offering envelopes. Looking at the pencil I held in my hand and recognizing it was all I had to give at that moment, I put it in the envelope. I also checked the box on the envelope indicating that I was now a partner with Oral Roberts Ministries.
Isn’t that how God made His Covenant with us? “God so loved the world, that He gave His only…” (John 3:16). So, I gave my “only”!
About that time in the meeting, I heard someone behind me say, “Hey, you!” When I turned around, it was a woman trying to get my attention. She had no idea who I was, but she said, “During this entire meeting The LORD has been worry warting me to give you ten dollars.”
I said, “Give it here, lady. I’ll take it. Thank you!” Then I caught the usher, put my ten-dollar bill in the envelope, and put the pencil in my pocket. I was a partner!
As soon as I returned home, I could hardly wait to tell Gloria we were partners with Oral Roberts Ministries for ten dollars per month. Gloria said, and I quote, “Kenneth, where will we ever get ten dollars a month?”
I realized that she had not heard the partner message. So, I preached it to her the best I could remember. “Gloria,” I said, “we can have Oral Roberts’ anointing for ten dollars a month.” She became as excited as I was, and we are still partners today with Richard Roberts and Oral Roberts University.
Here’s my point: Every covenant must be activated by Faith. And you and I are the ones who must put Faith into action. That’s the reason The LORD instructed Gloria and me to always call our Partners “Covenant Partners.” We are in covenant with our Partners to pray for them every day, ministrywide. Gloria and I pray for our Partners at every meal. They are ever on our minds.
It’s one thing to know we have a Covenant…it’s another thing to live in that Covenant and experience the full extent of its benefits. How do you possibly do that?
To begin with, once you hear The WORD of God, once you hear God’s promises to you…then you apply corresponding action. You act. You do something, and you do whatever you do in Faith. Faith is an act. For me, I activated my covenant relationship with Brother Roberts and his ministry by giving what I was able to give—a pencil—while believing for more. And when the “more” came, I gave it too! On top of that, Gloria joined her Faith with mine when I told her what I had done.
Of course, through the years, Gloria and I have had differences of opinion about things, but we discussed them and based our conversations on what The BOOK says. For instance, in 1968 I was preparing to preach at Grace Temple Church in Fort Worth, Texas. The Spirit of God directed me in the evening service to preach from the thirteenth chapter of Romans. My chosen text was the first verse: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” I was going to center up on verse 4, which says, “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil”; and then continue through the rest of the chapter.
However, I landed hard on the eighth verse: “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
In my mind, there went the airplane, as we couldn’t finance any part of it!
Gloria was in another room, so I called for her. I still had my Bible in my hand with my finger on those words, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.”
I could tell by the look on her face that her dream home had just vanished.
This incident shows the heart of Gloria Jean Copeland. She put her finger on my Bible—at that verse—and boldly stated, “If that’s what The BOOK says, that’s what we’re going to do.”
We entered a binding covenant based on Deuteronomy 28:12: “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to BLESS all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow” (KJV).
That’s THE BLESSING.
Now in the curse of the Law, the Bible says in verses 43 and 44: “The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shall not lend to him: he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail.”
Once that was established with us, Galatians 3:13-14 (KJV) came alive in our hearts and this ministry: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that THE BLESSING of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
from Kenneth Copeland and Greg Stephen’s new book, God, The Covenant and The Contradiction.
Again, what is it that you need today? Go to God’s Word. Find the blood-backed, COVENANT promise that covers your need. And activate your faith by taking corresponding action.
What have you heard God say?
What is His promise to you?
What corresponding action can you take?
To read more about God’s blood-backed COVENANT promises to us, click here to order your copy of God, The Covenant and The Contradiction by Kenneth Copeland and Greg Stephens.
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