Putting the Word first is something you’ll have to do continually. When you get bogged down in the details of living, when you find yourself frustrated by failures big and small, check the amount of time you’re spending in the Word. You’ll find that you’ve let the Word slip into second place and spent your Word time on other things.

That’s what happened to Martha. Jesus Himself was in her living room teaching the Word. But she didn’t think she had time to listen. She was too busy cooking dinner for Him. I’m sure it seemed like the only proper thing for her to do. After all, Jesus and His ministry team were staying in her home. Let’s read that passage.

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:38-42).

I can just see Martha stewing around the kitchen, banging pots and pans feeling sorry for herself. She wanted Jesus to rebuke Mary, but instead the Master was pleased that Mary had put His Word first.

Martha could have been at the Master’s feet too, if she’d made up her mind to be. Jesus had fed thousands with a few loaves and fish. He could have just as easily prepared a banquet for all those present that day!

You may think, What an opportunity Martha wasted! I would never do that. But every time you allow things to swallow up your time in the Word, you’re passing up the opportunity to sit at the Master’s feet, just as she did.

In addition to building your schedule around the Word of God, there’s a second way to give the Word priority in your life: by acting on it!

Simply acquiring knowledge of the Word isn’t enough. You’re going to have to put that knowledge to work in your life before it’s going to bring results. I can sit around knowing how to turn on a light all night long, but until I apply that knowledge by getting up and flipping the switch, I’ll be in the dark.

The Word of God works the same way. So as soon as you learn something from it, take action. Do it!

Then, as you see the wisdom of the Word produce results in your life, you’ll begin to esteem and prize wisdom above all that you may desire in life (Proverbs 3:15). And as you put the Word first and exalt it in your life, the Word will exalt and promote you.

Start today. Spend some quality time in God’s Word. Make that the first and most important item on your agenda. Your daily activities will go more smoothly. And as you continually apply the wisdom you glean from God’s Word, you’ll find yourself moving ahead daily in every area of life. “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success” (Joshua 1:8, amp). Good success belongs to you.

Gloria Copeland

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.” — Proverbs 4:7-8

From this moment on, I want you to stop thinking of the Bible as a storybook. I want you to stop thinking of it as a religious textbook. I want you to stop thinking of it as a history book. I want you to start thinking of it as a handbook for living.

That’s what it is, you know. It’s the wisdom of Almighty God written down for you so you can apply it to your life and circumstances.

Consistently read and applied, the Bible will turn you into a winner. Not just now and then. Not just here and there. But every day in every single area of your life!

Does that sound too good to be true?

Then don’t take my word for it. Let the Lord speak for Himself. In Proverbs 4:7-8, He says, “For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing…Prize Wisdom highly and exalt her, and she will exalt and promote you; she will bring you to honor when you embrace her” (AMP).

Be advised, though, this promise isn’t meant for those who want to dab a little of the Word on their lives now and then when they get in a scrape. It’s talking about those who are willing to put the Word of God first place in their lives day after day after day!

Look again at the first part of that scripture. “Skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.” Principal means “first in importance.” According to that verse, you’re going to have to make God’s Word the most important thing in your life. Instead of being content with an occasional scanning of the Bible, you’re going to have to develop a passion for it. You’ll have to prize the Word highly, putting it before all your other activities.

When you do that, God promises that the Word will exalt and promote you and bring you to honor. Who could ask for anything more?

Gloria Copeland

Having the Spirit of God move and lead you by compassion
from deep within your innermost being is not mental at
all. It is beyond feeling and even beyond saying “I feel
led.” It is where we yearn and experience the heart’s
desire of God.

From that area, rivers of living water begin to flow.
In comparison to a spring of everlasting life which
touches only you, a river reaches out to everyone.
It flows out of your innermost being for others.
Most people have only experienced the spring because they
spend the majority of their time praying for themselves and
their own needs.

Jesus had a river of life flowing out of Him. He was
sensitive to the needs of the people through the Holy Spirit
working in Him. The Spirit of God guided Him in the perfect
will of the Father. Jesus operated in the gifts of the Spirit
to set people free.

From deep within His Spirit, Jesus perceived what
the Father would have Him do. He was led by the inward
moving and yearning of the Spirit of God: “For what things
soever he (God) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise”
(John 5:19).

There were times when Jesus had visions and saw
things in His Spirit. On other occasions, the Holy Spirit
moved deeply on the inside of Him in the area of knowing,
which is the word of knowledge. He perceived what people
were thinking or what they had in their hearts. This also
happened at the tomb of Lazarus. He groaned from deep
within His Spirit, then said to the Father, “I know You have
already heard Me.”

In a similar manner, we have the capacity to respond
to the compassion of God by expressing ourselves through
groanings and utterances in the spirit. Sometimes when I
pray, it comes out in groanings. I find at times the more I
pray the deeper down in my spirit it goes. Sometimes it gets
down into an area where it is hard to express in words.

Gloria Copeland

Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter
(John 14:16). The word used for Comforter
means counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate,
strengthener, standby. Learn to rely on the
Holy Spirit in all these areas of His ministry.
He is the great enabler!

Jesus said the Holy Spirit is given to teach
you, not just some things, but all the truth.

“Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them: because greater is he that is
in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John
4:4). Meditate on this verse and confess it
with your lips until your spirit sings with the
reality that “greater is He that is in me than
he that is in the world.”

There is One on the inside to guide you
who knows everything from the beginning to
the end. Rely on His guidance and direction
in every decision. Expect His power to aid
you in every crisis as well as in everyday life.
He is more powerful than the enemy. Satan is
no match for Him.

This Great One has been instructed to
lead you into all the truth. He will lead, so
be quick to follow. He will not only tell you
what to do, but will also help you do it. He
will empower you.

The Spirit who created the universe now
dwells in you. Allow your mind to grasp what
your spirit is telling you. This Great One lives
in you!

“But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me…” (Acts 1:8).
Something wonderful has happened to you
today. Power! Power! Power! You have been
endued with God’s power and God’s ability!

Dare to believe for this truth and power to be
displayed in your life and you will be a witness
to men that Jesus is alive!

Gloria Copeland

Jesus taught the disciples about these works
in John 14, talking to them about the Holy Spirit:
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and
the Father in me? the words that I speak unto
you I speak not of myself: but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works…. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me,
the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto
my Father” (John 14:10, 12).

They were to continue to do the same
works that Jesus Himself had been doing and
it would take the same power and anointing
of the Holy Spirit He had. (See Acts 10:38;
Matthew 3:16-17; John 14:10; Luke 4:18-21;
Acts 5:12-16.)

That power came on the Church on the
Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is still
assigned to the Church today to help us fulfill
our commission. Didn’t Jesus say He would
abide with us forever?

Jesus stated that it was not Him but the
Father in Him who did these works. When
He said, “But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts
1:8), they knew what He meant!

The Greek word dunamis, translated power,
means “ability and might.” When you receive
the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, you receive the
ability of God to do His work in the earth. The
Spirit within is for fruit bearing—for your own
personal life (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus talked
about this in John 4:14. He called it: “…a well
of water springing up into everlasting life.” But
the Spirit upon is for service. Jesus talked about
this in John 7:38-39. He described it as “rivers
of living water.” The well is for your own life
and the rivers flowing out of you are for others.

The dictionary says a witness is “evidence
or confirmation.” This power of the Holy Spirit
living in you can transform your life into
evidence to the world that Jesus has been
raised from the dead and is alive today. Jesus
said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me…” (Acts 1:8).

The traditions and doctrines of men have
robbed many believers of this power to be a
witness. The world is not only supposed to
hear words but see proof that Jesus is alive
today. As new converts, we should be taught
to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit—
the enduement of this power to reveal Jesus
to lost humanity.

Many believe that He is automatically
received at the time of salvation, and that’s all
there is. It is certainly true that if you are born
again, the Holy Spirit has come to live in you
and endeavors to work in your life. I had been
born again and the Holy Spirit was living inside
me, but the power Jesus spoke of was not evident
in my life until after I received the Baptism in
the Holy Spirit. I wanted to do right, to follow
God and be a strong Christian, but outwardly
I didn’t change much until after I received the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues. The combination of the power
of God upon me and the Word of God in my
heart began to change weakness to victory. As
I learned truth from God’s Word and acted on
it, the Spirit of God upon me enabled me to
overcome in my own life and to help others
overcome.

Gloria Copeland

The Holy Spirit’s ministry is not only
to impart the nature of God to the spirit of
man, but also to live in the new creature and
to reveal to him the exact knowledge of God.
The Spirit within enables the new creature to
walk in newness of life. One writer has said
that the Spirit that gives us life must also
sustain that life.

Ezekiel says, “A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and
I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my
judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

After you make Jesus Lord, the Holy Spirit
comes to live in you. Jesus told the disciples:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you”
(John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit had been
working with the disciples. They had been
preaching, healing the sick and casting out
devils. He had been with them and working
with them, but Jesus said when the Holy
Spirit came to abide forever, He would live
on the inside of them: “Then said Jesus to
them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father
hath sent me, even so send I you. And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and
saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost”
(John 20:21-22).

After Jesus had been raised from the
dead, He appeared to them and they were
born again as He breathed the life of God
into them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
(Compare with Genesis 2:7.) Eternal life
came into them. They could not have been
born again until after Jesus paid the price for
sin. As they received the life of God, the Spirit
who gave that life began to dwell in them.

Gloria Copeland

Holding fast to your profession of faith—
Hebrews 10:23—means to hold fast to your confession.
The Greek word for profession is also
used for confession. The words of your mouth
are more powerful than you probably have ever
realized. Confess your healing…and your health.

Proverbs 18:21
KJV—Death and life are in the power of the
tongue: and they that love it shall eat the
fruit thereof.

Amp—Death and life are in the power of
the tongue, and they who indulge it shall
eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Moffatt—Death and life are determined
by the tongue: the talkative must take
the consequences.

NE B—The tongue has power of life and
death; make friends with it and enjoy
its fruits.

Proverbs 10:11
KJV—The mouth of a righteous man is a
well of life: but violence covereth the mouth
of the wicked.

Amp—The mouth of an [uncompromisingly]
righteous man is a well of life, but the mouth
of the wicked conceals violence.

Moffatt—The talk of good men is a lifegiving
fountain: the talk of bad men overflows
with harm.

NEB—The words of good men are a fountain
of life; the wicked are choked by their
own violence.

Proverbs 13:3
KJV—He that keepeth his mouth keepeth
his life: but he that openeth wide his lips
shall have destruction.

Amp—He who guards his mouth keeps
his life, but he who opens wide his lips will
come to ruin.

Moffatt—He guards his life who guards his
lips: he who talks freely—it is ruin to him!

NEB—He who minds his words preserves his
life; he who talks too much comes to grief.

Proverbs 15:4
KJV—A wholesome tongue is a tree of
life: but perverseness therein is a breach in
the spirit.

Amp—A gentle tongue [with its healing
power] is a tree of life, but willful contrariness
in it breaks down the spirit.

Moffatt—A soothing tongue means life and
peace, but wild words wound.

NEB—A soothing word is a staff of life, but
a mischievous tongue breaks the spirit.

Gloria Copeland