Kenneth Copeland - Thanksgiving Is the Big Gun of Faith
— Hello everybody. We're Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. Welcome to the "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast and happy Thanksgiving day. Praise God. This is not a day to get together and fuss about politics.
— Amen to that.
— No, no, no, no, no. It's a day of giving thanks. Now, real thanksgiving is praise. And praise and giving thanks is the big gun of faith. Hey, Paul and Silas in that dungeon they'd been beaten nearly to death. They prayed, but they praised God.
— Yes they did.
— Oh Gloria. Right in the middle of that place, they began to give thanks and praise God. And it was so loud, they sang so loud. The prisoners heard them.
— That's right.
— Now, you can't do that without faith. It takes a faith in God and faith in his love, that the so strong that you just not moved by what you feel of what you see, you're moved only by what you believe. And I believe this book. Hallelujah.
— Yes Amen.
— And Thanksgiving, Oh, it is so powerful.
— Praise God.
— The eighth and the ninth Psalm, it'll still the enemy. Now, think about this Gloria, God inhabits the praise of his people. When we pray, we come into his presence. When we praise and worship, he comes into us.
— Praise, in that good
— Oh, thank you Jesus we worship you and praise you. We give thanks today especially in this nation. Our nation is being turned around and to the casual look, those that are not aware of spiritual things and not aware of what's going on around them. It looks like the nation is just going down the drain. No, a million times. No, it's not going down the drain. Glory to God. Thank you Jesus.
— Thank you Lord.
— We praise you for it Jesus.
— Hallelujah.
— Amen. Gloria, let's look here. Well, let's first read our golden text in Mark 11:22. "Jesus answering sayeth to them, have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he says. Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray believe that you receive them and you shall have them. When you stand praying, forgive". Glory to God. If you have ought against any. "That your Father, which is at in heaven may forgive you, your trespasses".
— "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you".
— Well, what you do unto others is what they do unto you. That's spiritual law. Now, let's look here in the book of Ephesians. I wanna show you something. You have what you say... Now verse 29 of the fourth chapter of the book of Ephesians. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers". Now, look at the fifth chapter and the fourth verse. Well, let's back up and start with first word. "Be ye therefore followers or imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling, savor, but fornication and all uncleanliness and covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh a saints. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking," Foolish talk. What's that? Idle words? "Nor foolish talking nor jesting". You know what jesting would be, a dirty joke. Humor is good and something that's clean it brings joy and a smile to your face, but he's talking about nasty jokes, "Which are not convenient but rather the giving of thanks". If you're having trouble with your words just start praising God. Lord, put a watch over my mouth I don't sin against you with my words. Amen?
— Amen.
— Remember this, Oh, I need the protection of the 91st Psalm. Oh God I need it. How do you invoke the 91st Psalm? "He that dwells in the secret place with the most high but on the shadow of the almighty, I will say of the Lord"
— "He is my fortress".
— He is my fortress. He is my God, in him do I trust. And man, he will deliver me.
— That's what it says. Right here. Fill your mouth with thanksgiving.
— Praise God.
— Amen. I remember Gloria, when that disc blew up in my back, man, I'm telling you I fell on the floor. I was taking a shower. On Sunday morning after Saturday night we closed Southwest Believers' Convention. And man, that thing blew up in my back, knocked me to the floor and I couldn't get up. I've never experienced pain like that. Anyway, later I got out there bound on the back porch show and I'm praising God out there. Oh, that thing Lord, Oh, it hurt. Well, my left leg was hurting me. Whoa, dear Lord. And Brother Keith said, "Praise God, my right leg don't hurt. Praise God". Hey, there's this is big?
— Praise something.
— Oh yeah. See, pain is in the thought life. We can prove that 'cause it puts you to sleep you don't feel it. It's in the brain. It's in the same area where you think. And so I'm out there on that back porch. "Oh, this thing is hurting". So I got two heating pads and wrapped them around my left leg and turned them up as high as I could get them, took the sash out of my... Couple of my robes and tied them on there. Had my leg jacked up here like this, turn them under and just make it hurt more than that other hurt and trying to do something. And I started praising God, "Oh, praise God. I wanna thank you for that green grass. I wanna thank you for the blue sky. I wanna thank you for this wonderful home you've given Gloria and me. I wanna thank". Just shouting just loud as I could, just at the top of my voice. And it would eased down, I said, "Oh, glory". And it would kick right back in. But the louder I got, the stronger it came against that. Just praise and just shouting at the top of my voice. And as long as I would do that, it would come down. So now I experienced a little bit there of what Paul and Silas experience. Now, of course what I had wasn't, don't hold a light to what had happened to them. But it's the same principle, but you have to do it by faith. You have to do it by faith. You have to have faith in God. "I don't know why you let this happen to me". Oh, shut up. That's idle words from hell. That's just blasphemy to accuse God of letting something happen to you or to accuse him of putting it on you. Don't ever do that. That's an oppression of the devil, glory to God. Now, put thanksgiving in your mouth. Hallelujah.
— Praise God
— Let's go over. Now, we're going to get into something here in believing that we receive. In the fourth chapter of the book of Philippians. Now, verse four "Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand". The moderation there, the Greek word is unselfishness. "Be careful for nothing". That word careful there means care felt. The Classic Amplified translates it as anxious, anxiety, worry. Worry is a sin, Gloria.
— Yes, it is.
— It's a sin because Jesus said, "Worry takes it out for tomorrow". Why are you laying there worried about it ain't nothing you can do about it.
— You can't worry in faith.
— No, you can't do it.
— Impossible.
— No, because all worries is fear-based. It's death-based.
— Sure.
— "So be anxious for nothing. Don't be anxious or fearful or worry about anything, but in everything, say it with me, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God". Now, listen, John 16:23 and 24, Jesus said, "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you, ask and receive that your joy may be made full". Now, I go before him, Mark 11: 23 and 24, say it, "Believe it in your heart everything that you desire, believe you receive them you shall have them".
— It also lets you know that he wants your joy full.
— Yes. Absolutely. And here he said rejoice. So, you take the Word. I mean, I do it all the time. Just a couple of nights ago, I got up out of bed and went in something on my vision board there. And I got up and went in there and John 16 and read it. Before the Lord, before my own eyes, and that picture had on my vision board there for the continuing miracle that I need in my lower back, I'm not just healing, I'm healed. I don't have any sickness disease and hadn't had for years. But that got damaged in those bones that are damaged in there and so forth. And my miracle is happening.
— Your miracle,
— It is happening.
— Yes it is.
— Anyway, and I just read those verses right there. Well, he said whatsoever I asked the Father in his name, he'd give it me. Therefore, whatsoever thing I desire when I pray believe I received them and I shall have them. On what grounds? I've asked. And he said he would. His Word is all I need.
— That's right.
— But now I don't need to go back in there and say, "You know, I didn't get it, I'm asking again". No, no, no, no, no, no, no. After that what do you do? Let's go back over there again. Let's go back to it again Philippians 4 "Be anxious, don't worry about anything, but in everything, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving". You thank him for it. Oh God, I thank you. I have a new spine from my brainstem to my tailbone. Glory to God, hallelujah. And what little dab of discomfort and so forth is in there now I could care less. My Uncle Pete, Oh, I tell you what Pete Owens. I mean that man, hah, he didn't know what pain was. Be all I ever saw.
— You know I'd... "Oh, my Uncle Pete said I had worsen than that on my upper lip". I don't care if you...
— I didn't get any sympathy.
— No, if he was hurting so bad he had tears coming out of his mouth. He'd just smile, what a man. Anyway, "With thanksgiving". The Classic Amplified says, "Continue to make your wants known by giving thanks". You have prayed. You have received it in Jesus' name by faith. Praise God, hallelujah. That is mine, I own it.
— That didn't say continue to ask, really. When you think about it, it said "Continue to make your wants known" I take that continue to praise that you got it.
— Yeah, that's exactly what he's saying here. "Being anxious about it, don't be worried about anything, but in everything by prayer," Now, you need to start with prayer.
— And thanksgiving.
— You need to start with John 16:23 in the other prayer scriptures and so forth and stand on them. Hey sweetheart, let me tell you something, the Word of God is the answer to the prayer.
— That's right.
— The promises of God and the facts of God. By his stripes you were healed is not a promise. That's a fact. You can stand on that forever. Glory to God. It belongs to you in the name of Jesus. Now, 1 John, turn to that really quick. This is such a powerful 1 John 1 "If we walk in the verse seven in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins and we feel better about it and don't feel so sorry and so guilty," No, no, no, no, no. It doesn't have anything to do with your feelings. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". When? Right then.
— Yeah
— I've done it. I felt so bad, just missed it, just tears in my eyes, and I told him, I said, "I'm not going over there and preach tonight. I can't, I can't do it". I got mad that afternoon and I won't go into what
— Surely not at me.
— No, no, no no, dear heart, no And I said, I'm not going over there. He said why? I said, "You know why". He said, "No, I don't know why". I just replied, "I said, I'm not going over there and stick up my big bony number one finger and say stuff thus say of the Lord. Geting mad and doing and saying what I did. He said, "Did you confess it"? "Yeah". He said, "And I don't know what you're talking about". Well, it struck me Gloria. And I've remembered that until this very day. It has nothing to do with the way I feel, it has to do with what he promised. I can stand up there particularly on a sin of unforgiveness. And that's the big one. That's the one he mentioned. Forgive if you have ought against anyone.
— That's right.
— It says so. Sir, I confess the sin... Oh, don't call it your problem call it by it's nasty name. I confess the sin of unforgiveness in the name of Jesus. Oh, please forgive me... And I receive my forgiveness, sir thank you very much. And now, sir I receive my cleansing from all unrighteousness, thank you very much sir. I'm forgiven and I'm clean. Thank you very much sir. I'm a soldier in the army of the Lord. I obey orders. Now, the feelings may still be just roaring at you, that's flesh that doesn't have anything to do with... But by faith, I had to do it by faith. I know he heard me 'cause it's his will it's his Word. I know he heard me. And when we know he hears us we have the petition that we desired of it. Now, what do you do? You just back off and say, praise you Jesus, praise you Jesus. All unrighteousness has been cleansed out of me. Now, thank God I'm ... I stand before you righteous in your eyes because I'm righteous and I've been made the righteousness of God in Christ. I'm not righteous in myself, but in him, I am. Gloria, he didn't create any unrighteous new creatures. He didn't create any unworthy new creatures 'cause we were created in the image of Jesus.
— Correct,
— Isn't that wonderful.
— Yeah it is.
— Now you can shout and give thanks over that. Big gun of faith is thanksgiving. I mean it'll overcome your fear, you can start screaming. You're praising God and dancing before the Lord, it's called a sacrifice of praise. You need to praise till you get out beyond your comfort zone. When you get way... Ooh, do I want to do that? That's when you need to just throw a wall-eyed fit. Just like David, just praise and thanks until... Not until your wife says that's the most vulgar thing I've ever seen.
— That's what she said, wasn't it?
— That's what she said. You remember what he said? "Woman, I'm gonna get more vulgar still. He's out there and just screamed".
— You ain't said nothing yet.
— No, he wasn't acting. like a king he just slung off all of his royal robes and got out there and got out there in the street and he drunk with the common people. He's just out there shoutiong and a praising and then dancing and glory to God. Oh, hallelujah. Praise.
— Hallelujah.
— Praise. You praise long enough, the spirit of worship comes. And when that spirit of worship comes, just stay there the glory will fall. And in that glory, is healing and mercy. Glory to God.
— Thank you Lord.
— Isn't that wonderful? Oh Father, we just worship you and praise you. How much time I've got there?
— Thank you, Father.
— In this last minute here. The apostle Paul said in verse 20... No, no no. Excuse me Lord. "And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your heart and mind". You do that, you start praising, you start giving thanks, the peace of God comes and it'll garrison up around your mind. It'll keep your heart, your mind through Christ Jesus. Listen to this, listen to this. "Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are good report of the being in virtue if there be any praise, think on these things". Yeah, but I... Oh God, I got so much pain. It's not going to work this time. No, don't be thinking that. You've already taken John 16:23 before the Father and it's yours you've received it. Don't you allow that come into your mind. I don't care if you dream something about dying during the night or you get up from there. Don't you tolerate that in your mind. You say this right now, my mind is my mind.
— My mind is my mind.
— I think what I tell it to think.
— It thinks what I tell it to think.
— I think what's true.
— I think what's true.
— Honest.
— Just.
— Pure.
— Lovely.
— Good report.
— Hallelujah.
— Victory report.
— Yeah.
— Hallelujah.
— Well, it's true that that old... No, no that's not a good report. Fix that mind. We're out of time.