091004
KENNETH COPELAND* on GRIEF
*BASED ON QUOTES, INFERENCES, AND "IF" HE'D BEEN EXPOSED TO THE "OBSERVATION EXERCISE"
Big deal. Everyone's going to do it one of these days. The only thing that is a factor is whether or not you're saved.
I've had to wrestle with those feelings when a family member went home to be with the Lord. Whenever I'd drive past their resurrection spot, that grief devil tried to tempt me. And grief is orgasmic if you give in to it. The world thinks it's healthy, but I'm telling you it is as demonic as sexual lust or any other kind of destructive flesh pleasure.
The only time a person can feel loss concerning death is if he sees his body as a higher reality than his spirit, particularly if he is born again. If you feel these feelings, it's a warning, brother. You better get busy right now and keep in the Word, keep your mind on the Kingdom of God, meditate on what God has said to you personally and also in His word.
Every day when we start out on our daily routines, our body slowly reawakens its old animal lusts and habits that it's been programmed to perform from before we were born again. Each time one of those feelings comes up, we have to ACTIVELY turn against it: SPEAK to the fleshly impulse, command it to submit to your born again spirit in the name of Jesus and leave. You cannot just lie around and hope that the feeling will go away. Lust never goes away until it faces resistance.
The body nor the mind can deal much with grief because of the limits of the flesh. That's why it's necessary to dwell in your spirit ABOVE ALL ELSE. You'll be unpopular with the world, but who cares... the world doesn't have eternal life - and it doesn't have any eternal answers. The man of God is given "Grace sufficient unto you", power and insight from God that overwhelms the physical limitations. But I'm telling you, it is INCUMBENT upon you to FORCIBLY FOCUS your attention away from your flesh's impulses and beliefs and redirect it onto God's revelations to you. There is deliverance, but always remember THIS IS A WAR! It's not going to happen automatically.
"WELL, HOW DO I DO THAT?" A lot of folks say to me, "Sure, that sounds good, but how do you actually get to the point where you can ignore your fleshly feelings and fears?" If you're a Born Again Believer, the first thing you do is Pray in the Spirit: SPEAK IN TONGUES. This gift is God's supernatural connection given to us to lift us out of our intellect and our flesh. Then our spirit joins up with the Holy Spirit and we then LIVE IN THE ETERNAL WORLD for that period of time. This process regenerates our spirit and it EMPHASIZES THE REALITY OF OUR SPIRIT to our intellect, which then must surrender its dominance in favor of our spirit's rightful position of mastery.
Another Little Thing...
There's another little thing God's given us. This is my opinion, and I don't usually give opinions since I get enough flack from saying certified Bible truths. But if you want to get into a right state of mind (I should say "state of being") there's a technique I know of and tried. If you were to "observe" your physical body ONLY from the perspective of your spirit, you would then be wholly IN your spirit and your body would be separated from you (in terms of its influence on you). You want to be "objective" toward your body and intellect - not letting your feelings lead you every which way. Here's a technique that helps you achieve that.
Sit still. Don't read anything, watch TV or any other distractions. For the purposes of this exercise, don't have any conversation either audibly or inner chatter, including words of prayer. (This state IS a form of prayer). Close your eyes. Now, just to still your mind, reduce its overreaction to things by OBSERVING your thoughts WITHOUT EMOTIONALLY REACTING TO THEM. Alright: now just notice the body's warmth at your forehead. The purpose of this is to separate your body from the position of dominance over your spirit - and place your spirit as the head of your being. Now, simultaneously, observe the bodily warmth in your right hand. There's something holy about the forehead and right hand, as these are the targets of the enemy in the book of Revelation in describing the Mark of the Beast: the enemy wants to "own" these areas of man's being. This is a clue about God's precious view of these parts, as they signify our "mark of ownership", parts we need to keep pure.
Now, while observing the warmth of these areas, allow the stream of thoughts to pass by your mind's eye. If a thought comes up that gets you upset, just NOTICE that it gets you upset and then let it flow by, as though your thoughts are a river streaming across your consciousness. After a time, you will be able to keep a distance from your emotions and more easily stay in your spirit.
One thing this does, it teaches you how to avoid resentment over past abuses. When you're secure in your spirit, the attacks against your flesh don't shake you up, so you can remain confident without feeling the need to "get back" at some knothead who did something to you in the past.
Do this for 10 or 15 minutes once or twice a day and you will slowly get to that state of constancy of living in your spirit.
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