So where are you in your walk of obedience? Are there adjustments you need to make? Are you ready to go on with God? Are you ready to be that glorious Church? I am.

Paul said in Romans 12:1-2:

I therefore beg of you, please, brethren, through the instrumentality of the aforementioned mercies of God, by a once-for-all presentation to place your bodies at the disposal of God, a sacrifice, a living one, a holy one, well-pleasing, your rational, sacred service….And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of God, the good and well-pleasing and complete will, and having found that it meets specifications, place your approval upon it (Wuest).

Paul said to put your bodies at the disposal of God and stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within us. In other words, we’ve got to stop being hypocritical. We usually consider a hypocrite to be someone who is wrong on the inside and tries to look right on the outside. He talks a certain way but is not really that way. This scripture is speaking of a believer who is right on the inside, but acts wrong on the outside.

It is a lie for us to live like the world when we are born again. We are not like the world when we are born again. We are like God, and we are to live like Him. God says to us, “I’m holy—you be holy. Separate yourself from the world.”

We should look like God. We must change our outward expression by allowing that which is within us to come out. We have to allow the glory in us to be revealed. This happens by having our minds agree with God and allowing Him to express on the outside of us what He has already done on the inside of us.

Ephesians 4:17-23 in Wuest says:

This, therefore, I am saying and solemnly declaring in the Lord, that no longer are you to be ordering your behavior as the Gentiles order their behavior in the futility of their mind, being those who have their understanding darkened, who have been alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them, through the hardening of their hearts, who, being of such a nature as to have become callous, abandoned themselves to wantonness, resulting in a performing of every uncleanness in the sphere of greediness. But as for you, not in this manner did you learn the Christ, since, indeed, as is the case, you heard and in Him were taught just as truth is in Jesus, that you have put off once for all with reference to your former manner of life the old self who is being corrupted according to the passionate desires of deceit; moreover, that you are being constantly renewed with reference to the spirit of your mind.

We are not walking in the futility of our souls, but in the newness of spirit. We are no longer alienated from the life of God. It is within us so we can walk after that newness of life instead of the darkness of the world.

Gloria Copeland

I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit I can burn just two words into your consciousness: Be ready.

Be ready for the return of the Lord. Be ready for the catching away of the Church. Be ready for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, because its appointed time is very near.

Some time back, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to Ken and said, I am coming sooner than you think.

“But, Lord,” Ken exclaimed, “I think You are coming soon!”

Well, I am coming sooner than you think! He answered.

There are many people on the earth today who don’t believe that. Just as the scripture prophesies, they scoff:
“…walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

But those people are mistaken. Jesus is coming back. There’s a day and an hour appointed for His return. We know that’s true because Jesus spoke of it saying, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). At that appointed time, He will catch away those of us who are prepared for His coming and take us to heaven with Him to celebrate for seven years. Then He’ll bring us back with Him when He comes to reign over the earth.

My, what a day that will be!

It’s coming. There’s no doubt about that. The only question is, Will you be ready?

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

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for
the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Who can know what is on the inside of
man except the man’s own spirit, and who can
know what is on the inside of God except the
Spirit of God (verse 11)? The Spirit of God
living within your spirit can reveal to you the
inside of God—the heart of the Father. It is
difficult to grasp that the Holy Spirit, who
knows all the deep things of God, desires to
come and live in you in order to teach you the
profound and unsearchable wisdom of God.
Yet, it is true.

No man knows the things of God because
they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians
2:14). “But God hath revealed them unto us
by His Spirit” (verse 10). These deep things of
God can enter into the heart of man only by
the Spirit of God.

God’s Word must be revealed to you by
His Spirit before you can walk in it. Your
spirit alone cannot comprehend or see into
these deep things, but Jesus said that the
Holy Spirit would teach you all things
( John 14:26). He told the disciples, “I have
yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he,
the Spirit of truth, is come, he 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 16:12-13).

Do you remember that Jesus told the
disciples the Holy Spirit was with them, but
would soon be in them? He told them He
had many things to say to them that they
could not bear or grasp at that time, but when
the Spirit of truth came, He would open all
things to their understanding. Without the
Holy Spirit living in their spirits to reveal the
truth to them, even Jesus could not teach the
disciples anything more. They were limited in
their ability to understand spiritual things.

Jesus was telling them that there would
be no limit to spiritual knowledge when the
Holy Spirit came. He said the Holy Spirit
would show them all things that the Father
has—even things to come.

Now can you see the limitless knowledge
and understanding available to Spirit-filled
believers? The Holy Spirit has been given to
teach you how to be a success in this life. In
the light of these truths from the Word of
God, it is unthinkable for anyone to refuse
God’s offer of His Spirit.

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

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14).

We have studied about suffering. The same
suffering Jesus endured when He was crucified,
we are to bear in our own bodies. We are to crucify
our flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body,
to be in command of our flesh as we follow after the Lord.
We have the power to overcome sin in the flesh
because of what Jesus did on the cross.

For God has done what the Law could not do,
[its power] being weakened by the flesh [the
entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit].
Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful
flesh and as an offering for sin, [God]
condemned sin in the flesh [subdued,
overcame, deprived it of its power over all who
accept that sacrifice] (Romans 8:3, amp).

Verse 18 says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This
suffering—crucifying of the flesh and mortifying its
deeds—is connected in the Scriptures with the glory
of God. Why? Because God cannot manifest Himself
in His people if they follow after the flesh instead of
after the Spirit of God.

God works in the spirit realm. As we follow after
the Spirit, He works in us. We must lay aside natural
things in the natural life, and take up the things of the
spiritual life. As we walk in the spirit, the glory of God
that’s in the face of Jesus Christ will begin to be
reflected in us. Crucifying the flesh and the glory of
God being revealed in us are connected, scripture
after scripture!

God wants us to come to a place where we walk
and live in this earth in the glorious liberty that has
been prepared for us from the foundation of the
world. Romans 8:21 says, “Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” God
made man to live in His glory. He crowned Adam
with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5). Adam had the
glory of God on him. He looked just like God. He
wore a garment of light and had the same power,
authority and appearance as God Himself. He was in
God’s image—His exact likeness.

That’s why he had no realization of being naked
until after he sinned. When he sinned against God,
spiritual life departed and spiritual death came. The
glory that was his covering disappeared. Notice, that
all God’s creatures, except man, have their own
covering. Birds are covered with feathers that are
produced from within. Animals are covered with fur,
produced from within.

Adam and Eve’s bodies were covered with an
enswathement of glory which was produced from
within their beings (Word Studies in the Greek New
Testament, Volume III). The life of God in Adam
radiated the glory of God through Adam’s flesh.

Sin brings man short of the glory of God. When
Adam disobeyed God, he lost the power from within
to produce and bring forth this glory. He had no life
within him to manifest this covering. Spiritual death
entered into him and only darkness could emanate.
There was no longer any glory in Adam to be revealed.

What a devastating blow to God’s man whom God
created in His own image. God told Moses, “As truly
as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). That is still God’s plan
today—for His glory to fill the earth. And His glory is
revealed in us, the Church of Jesus Christ.

God has glorious liberty for us. This liberty is in
walking after the spirit and not after the flesh. It’s in
the spirit realm. You and I are spirit beings, though we
live in flesh bodies. We are strange and peculiar
creatures—spirits in natural bodies. God is calling us
to be dominated by His Spirit and to bring our bodies
of flesh under His control.

The Church will come to a place where we’ll walk
with God. We’ll be like Enoch. The Bible says, “Enoch
walked with God and he was not….” And Hebrews
says Enoch was translated by faith because he had the
testimony that he pleased God. One day Enoch just
went so far in the spirit, he didn’t come back. The
Bible says he didn’t see death.

Isn’t that what is going to happen with the Church
that is looking for His appearance? We’re going to be
caught up with Him in the air. We’re not going to see
death. Paul said, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”
(1 Corinthians 15:51).

I believe the day of His appearing is at hand. We
read in Ephesians what the Church will look like
when Jesus comes to receive us: “That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

A glorious Church! A Church full of the glory of
God! A Church with no spots or wrinkles, but a holy
Church without blemish. God wants us to learn how
to listen to His Spirit so He can lead us into all truth
and teach us how to remove the spots and wrinkles.
He wants to be able to reveal His glory in us.

The Russian believers (prior to more recent
changes in Eastern Europe) had to rely on the Spirit
more than we do now, because of adverse circumstances.
The underground church met in secret.

Church members met out in the woods and in
different places. (It had to be a secret or they would
be raided.) Someone who had been ministering in
the underground church told me about one instance
when it was realized that there was a spy in the camp
because everywhere they went the KGB (secret police)
would show up.

They decided, “Well, all right, if you’re going to
come to the meeting, you’ll have to get the information
from the Spirit of God.” They would have to pray and
listen to God to know where to meet. At the next
meeting, every person in that group showed up except
one. They knew who the guilty party was.

Walking in the spirit is real. Listening to the Holy
Spirit is a way of life we must develop in order to
fulfill what we are called to do in these last days.

We have the same ability to listen to our spirits,
but instead we rely on a newsletter we receive every
month that tells us where to meet. We have not had
to depend on the Holy Spirit’s direction the way our
Russian brothers and sisters had to. Nevertheless, it’s
just as available to us! Many of them didn’t have
Bibles. They had to be led by their spirits.

The people in the New Testament didn’t have
Bibles to read, either. They also had to be led by their
spirits. Paul told them to pray in the spirit so they
would get the mind of the Spirit. Those people in
Russia had to have the mind of the Spirit or they
couldn’t go to church!

Thank God, we live in a free land. But we must
learn to walk in obedience to the Spirit while we live
in liberty, not being forced into it, but rather, choosing
the things of the spirit over the things of the world.

God is raising up a people called the “Glorious
Church,” who can hear the voice of His Spirit and
obey Him in whatever we are told to do. How can you
know what the mind of the Spirit is? By renewing
your mind with the Word of God, praying in the
spirit, being sensitive to Him and by yielding your
life, thoughts and direction to Him.

If you don’t pull aside and take time to listen to
God, you’ll not know the direction of the Holy Spirit.
You’ll miss the great things God has for your life. The
time for being cold is over. The time for being
lukewarm is over. It’s time to rise up and become on
fire and stay that way!

Purpose in your heart that you will not be
lazy, that you will not draw back, hold back
or sit down. But purpose in your heart that
you will rise up and march forward and
become on fire.

Gloria Copeland