Kenneth Copeland - Why Do People Miss Their Turn?
— Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank You. Oh, dear Lord Jesus, thank You for being our wisdom. Thank You for being our knowledge. Thank You for the written covenants of God. We have Your thought, we have Your heart, in everything You said, everything You did. We have it in these two covenants, and we are so thrilled about it. We have Your wisdom. We have Your knowledge. We have Your power. We have Your Spirit. We have Your Word. We have Your Word for it. In the name of Jesus, Father, we thank You.
— Amen. Thank You, Lord.
— Amen.
— Jeremy.
— You, sir.
— What we're talking about, never underestimate. Just as we came in from Tulsa, and I asked my mother if she'd scramble me some eggs because I was hungry. I'd just driven down. And Gloria said she didn't want anything. The telephone rang. I had just taken a bite or two of those eggs. She said, "Oh, Kenneth, get up from there. Get up from there. Aunt Eilie's on her death bed. Get up from there. We got to go". I said, "Mother, now wait a minute. Just slow down. I'm going to finish my eggs". Now, I'm doing the same thing on the inside that she's doing. I finished my eggs. They tasted like rubber. She's, "Come on, let's go". I said, "Mother, I'm going to go back to the bedroom and I'm going to change my shirt. This shirt is sweaty and nasty". "Kenneth, will you please hurry up"? I didn't know what to do. Don't ever let the Devil see you sweat. I went back, changed my shirt, and I said, "Mother, you drive, and you slow down. Don't get in a hurry". And so, I just sat there on the passenger side, praying in the Spirit. On the way to that hospital, I heard this, "Touch her breast bone and say, "Aunt Eilie, open your eyes, now". That's all I had. We got over there. They had moved her to another room, waiting for the doctor to come by and sign the death certificate. Her daughter was on the phone, making funeral arrangements. We walked in there, and you say things when you're under that kind of an anointing, you say things kind of rough. I said it too rough. But I didn't say it loud, or anything. I said, "Loust, just shut up and put the phone down". And she did. I walked over there to her. Now, Aunt Eilie had always been frail. She always looked like she needed to gain weight. And so, anything wrong with her, you could see it. And my mother said, "Look, Kenneth, right there". And it was exactly the point that the Spirit of the Lord pointed out to me. So, this was the wisdom of God, but I had to have time enough to get it. She was already dead. And my mother said, "See that, right there, Kenneth, that thing is just choking her to death". It was right in that same spot. I just touched it. I said, "Aunt Eilie, open your eyes, now". She said, "Kenneth, what are you doing here"? I said, "I came to pray for you".
— Yeah.
— She lived two more years, in her own house, by herself. And then, one afternoon the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my mother and said, "Go pray for Eilie". That was my mother's aunt, my great aunt. And so, she went by there and she was just sitting there in her favorite chair in her little house. And my mother came in there and said, "Eilie, is it time for you to go"? "Well, yes," she said. "He's then right there for a good little bit, but I just told him to wait a minute". Now, good Southern Baptist Saint of God. And so, mother said, "Come on, I'll help you into the bedroom". So, they got in there, and mother just tucked her in. She said, "Now, Eilie, just lay your head back there, and let it go". She had never done this in her life. She just laid back her head, and she was gone. She spoke in tongues on her way out. And she began to praise him. See, he's in there, all the time.
— Yeah. Thank You, Father.
— Amen. Isn't that precious?
— So good.
— We just took the time to be still and know that he's God.
— Yeah.
— And he always has a plan, and it's always a good plan, and it's always a wise plan.
— Thank You, Lord.
— If you take the time to hear it.
— There people, Pawpaw, living under pressure in every area of life. But one of the main pressure points, I think, that the enemy uses, is the clock.
— Sure it is.
— This ticking clock. You're running out of time. You're running out of time. A couple of days ago on the broadcast, you were remembering that time when I was 18 years old sitting in the car with you, stressed about my future.
— Yeah.
— It takes an elder, sometimes, to say to you from their perspective, "Boy, slow down. You got more time than you think you've got. Relax". But there's more faith in that than you realize, because faith itself is a rest.
— Oral Roberts, Granville Oral Roberts, he was so totally and completely focused on God, and on the meetings, and on the miracles, and the healing ministry. But God had taught him seed faith before he ever got into the healing ministry, to sow that financial seed. He'd talk about wisdom. We were in Oklahoma City. Of course, I was driving the car, and headed on the way to the venue. And, "Ken". I jumped. He said, "People will always tell you, you can't do it. You do these three things, and you'll always be a success. Find out the will of God. Confer no longer with flesh and blood. Then, get your job done at any cost". I was sitting there. Now, just as quickly as we arrived, I got my pad out of my pocket and wrote it down.
— Wisdom.
— Wisdom. We still do that.
— Yeah. And I'm so thankful for that day that you and I talked in the car, because one of the things that did when you encouraged me just, "Jeremy, you don't have to know everything, right now. Just do what's in front of you to do". That's what Brother Roberts was saying. Find out the will of God.
— Find out the will of God.
— Now, that part takes some time.
— Takes some time.
— Be willing to give it the time.
— When we were in Australia, and the Lord spoke to Gloria and me, and said, "When you get home, I want you to start a daily broadcast. I had it strong in me. All the way back across the ocean in that 747, I tried to talk him out of it. Well, the first thing I did, I called Oral Roberts. And I told him. And he said, "Kenneth, the thing about a daily, it is so daily". But there wasn't any way out of that. But I abused it. I was tired. I was worn out. And I didn't smile until they turned on the camera. Then, the time came when we were up against it with some financial difficulties. I'm talking about the ministry. And problems, and so forth. I went right first to the first chapter of Isaiah. "If you're willing and obedient, you eat the good of the land. Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be white wool". So, I brought that up. He said, "You don't qualify". Well, I'd heard Brother Hagin say the same thing, but I didn't think about it at that time. And the Word of the Lord came to me on the inside, just super strong. He said, "You have been obedient, but you were not willing to do it. And you haven't said anything good about it since you've had it. And you check out Isaiah 28:47". "All of these curses have come on you because you served not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things". I thought, "Boy, that's the truth". So, I just adjusted. Right then, I said, "I love daily TV. I love daily TV. Chu chu chu. I love it". Couldn't wait until the next time. This was back in the day that I didn't have sense enough to have an audience in here. No, up to that time, I'd never had the leading or the idea to do it. It wasn't time to do it. The little round table out in the middle, by myself. And I had a smile on my face before they turned the camera on. And when they turned it on, I said, "Hi, everybody, I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. And I want to tell you something. I love doing daily television". And the power and the anointing of God hit me so hard. I got up and danced around the table. And the anointing hit this room. And since then, there have been times when the anointing was so strong, like it is in here right now, you don't want to leave. Hallelujah.
— Thank You, Lord.
— Because I love it so.
— I am so thankful for this example. I'm so grateful to have grown up in this house. The things we're talking about, right now, about finding the will of God and fulfilling the will of God, and simplifying it. We talked about, just do what's right in front of you to do. I don't know about you. Does that just take the pressure off? And what I saw from that was that, if you will take the step that's right in front of you, that will lay foundation for the next step, which will lay foundation for the next step. Back to what Brother Roberts was saying, "Find the will of God," what he's talking about, right now, making these little adjustments. I'm so grateful for the examples that we've had. And talking about the wisdom of God and moving down this road, and when wisdom's crying out, "Turn," you don't want to miss that turn. I don't want to miss that turn. Because he might be saying, "Turn right. This is prosperity road. You want to be on this road. This is healing road". And I want to touch on this before we have to move into the last broadcast of this week. But one of the big reasons, Pawpaw, I believe people miss their turn, is bad directions, bad directions.
— Well, to tell you what you do there, son.
— Exactly.
— You go right down there at that red light. Sometimes it's green. And you going to turn to the right there about two and a half mile, I think, maybe three, and then turn to the left about four. Go on down there another 14 miles. You can't miss it.
— You're going to see a big rock.
— But you know what? If somebody gives you a bunch of directions like that, all they have to do is leave out one...
— That's right.
— ...and you will end up somewhere else. Now look at this. We've read this verse, right here, Proverbs Chapter 4, verse 20. How many times have we heard this verse? I can tell you, in my household I heard it a bunch. Listen to it. You know these words. "My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Don't let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in them in the midst of your heart. They're life for those who find them.
— Now listen to it. Let me read it to you again, but I'm going to put an emphasis on a particular word in this verse. And I want you to see if it means something new to you. Remember, wisdom's crying out, the Amplified Bible said, not just in the intersection, in the noisy intersection. So, listen to this. Let me read it to you like this. "My son, give attention to my words".
— Yes.
— "Incline your ear to my sayings. Don't let them, or my words, my sayings, depart from your eyes. Keep them, mine, in the midst of your heart. For they, my words, are life". What that says to me when I read it like that is, there's a lot of other words I could be listening to, a lot of other sayings I could be hearing. Noisy intersection? There's some country roads out here, man, you pull up to an intersection, it's nothing but a stop sign and tumbleweed. And it's easy to know which way to go. There's other places you can pull up, Dallas Fort Worth, where it's high real estate prices, property, things built up around it, lot of activity, lot of noise. And this is the kind of thing that you have to be watchful over in life. You come up to these intersections, and wisdom is not the only voice talking. There's a lot of other things you could be inclining your ear to. And what's the Word saying? Mine.
— And what's your wife saying, get the map out. I know where I'm going. It's all right. I can do it. No. Get the map out.
— Yeah. Now, you got into something else, right there. That's a big reason people miss the turn. Pride.
— I've always been a map reader, even before I learned how to fly. And then, you'd better have your charts. But I like to read maps, and get that map out, and figure that deal out, and then fold it, and sit there and follow it. Oh, the time that it saves, the fuel that it saves. And everybody's happy in the car. "Daddy, are we there, yet"? We will be there in 4 1/10 miles.
— It's the truth, though. You get bad directions...
— Yes, you do.
— ...when you incline your ear to the wrong sayings.
— But if you got the book...
— That's right. That's right.
— Oh, man.
— Now, what he said here, back to the first chapter, that Wisdom's crying out in the... what kind of intersection, again, is it? It's a noisy one.
— Yes, it's a noisy one.
— This is why we have to tune our ear and incline our ear to this saying. When you know the source, you can trust the directions. Now, one of the things Wisdom said, when she said, "Turn," she said, "Simple ones, how long will you love simplicity"? That means more than, "Hey, stupid". That's included in it. But, study the Word, simple. You know what it actually means? Tell me if this book is not relevant to this day. It means, "Open to evil". It means, "Wide open to the wrong thing".
— Yeah.
— Are we not being preached to all the time from the pulpits of news desks? "You need to be open". And different groups...
— And tolerant.
— ..".You just need to be open. You need to be open. You're not open enough". Folks, I am wide open. If you can find it from here to here, I'm wide open to it. But I am not wide open to just any voice and every voice and every influence. Why? That's bad directions.
— Yes, it is.
— I'm not trusting the course that my life is on to some other direction then the one I've been told, the one that's been demonstrated in front of me my entire life. "This is how you do it. This is how you find the will of God, follow the will of God". But it starts with this right here. "Incline your ear to my...
— Yes, it does.
— ...sayings.
— That is so good.
— Yeah.
— Yes.
— Amen.
— How much time we got? This feels like we got all day. Five minutes.
— What'd you say? Five minutes? All right. I'll tell you this in five minutes or less. "For my words are life. Choose life". Deuteronomy 30:19. Here's a crossroads. Let's turn over there and look at it. 30:19. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, you choose life. You choose life, that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the Lord, your God, that you may obey his voice, that you may cleave unto him. For he is your life and the length of your days. And that you may dwell in the land, which the Lord swore unto your father's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you".
— That is the intersection. That is the intersection of life.
— Words.
— Life and death. Blessing. That is the intersection.
— Words are the most powerful things on the face of the earth. They were not originally used in communication. They release power. They release fear. They release faith. They release doubt, unbelief. But, go over to John Chapter 6:62. "What? And if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before, it is the Spirit that makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life". This book is spirit and it is life. Glory to God. Thank You. Jesus. Praise You, Lord. Oh, dear Lord. Thank You, Jesus. This book is truth. It isn't a truth. It's not the truth. It is truth. It is wisdom. It is knowledge. Amen. This book is three people. This book is the Father. This book is his Son, Jesus. And this book is his Spirit. Amen. That is this book. Through two main covenants, two main agreements that God has made with human beings. Amen. The first one, beginning with the blood of animals, then the blood of a man through circumcision. The second one, and the sweet, precious blood of God. Now, I don't know how to make that any more clear. These are covenant words spoken many centuries ago by the Spirit of God. In the beginning, God, by his Spirit was moving on the face of the deep. And God said, through his son, Jesus, light be. Light was. It doesn't get any better than that. But the reality of that has to come. This is the wisdom of the ages because God said it innumerable, innumerable years ago. The fossil record doesn't lie. There's an enormous amount of time between Genesis one and Genesis two. Enormous. He didn't create this world in six days. He recreated it. He replenished it in six days, with words. And these are the blessed words of God. And we are out of time. But this wisdom that has come from him...
— Thank you, Lord.
— ...is so precious. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Jeremy and I will be back in just moment.