God Wants You Free - Gloria Copeland

I believe every believer who loves God wants to be holy. But not every believer is actually living holy. Many times we have old habits we’ve never overcome, even though we’ve lived with them for years. If you’ve struggled like this, even for years, I know you can be free. God wants you free, and the Scripture says the truth will make you free. If you continue in the Word of God, it will make you free so you can live holy. Jesus said in His prayer to the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). I don’t care if what’s holding you back is the strongest addiction there is, God will set you free. All He needs is your choice, your quality decision that, “No matter what, this is it. I’m leaving bondage behind.”

God is faithful. He’s just waiting on the opportunity to help you. He is a merciful and loving Father. Jeremiah 15:19 says, “Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.” “If thou return….” As a believer, that’s what God’s asking you to do—to draw near to Him and He’ll draw near to you with every deliverance, every blessing, every prosperity that you need. If you’re a person who’s moved away from God, He’s asking you to return. If you’ve never been saved, He’s asking you to come to Him and make Jesus your Lord and Savior.

“The precious from the vile….” He wants us to learn, in our lives, to separate the precious things that are His from the vile things of this world. God won’t force you to do that. He doesn’t require you to live a life separated to Him because He wants to be a dictator. No, that’s not God’s way at all. God wants you to do what He says and walk in His ways because those things produce freedom. They produce the best for you. You can’t walk in the ways of the world and be free. God loves you. He wants you to be able to wake up every morning happy, full of joy, with your needs met, your family around you, and no trouble on any side. And He wants you to be free of all those things you’ve struggled with for years.

-Be a Vessel of Honor

God Wants You Free - Gloria Copeland

Devoted to God...or Destruction? - Gloria Copeland

God wants us to be holy. First Corinthians 3:16-17 says it this way, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy….” The “temple” in this scripture is your body, and according to this verse, our bodies are to be holy. To be holy means to be set apart, separated to something and separated from something else. Recently, as I was thinking about this, I was reminded of something else in the Word that God calls holy—the tithe. Suddenly, I realized that our bodies are much

like the tithe!

The Bible teaches us that the tithe is devoted (just like God wants us to be). That means it has been set aside for God. It is a holy thing, set apart for God’s use. If you’re a believer and in covenant with God, every time you increase, 10 percent of that increase is holy. If you don’t tithe, that 10 percent still belongs to God and the Bible says you are robbing God. The Hebrew word in Scripture that means devoted, charman, actually means “devoted to destruction.” So a person’s tithe can be devoted to God or to destruction. If they give it to God, it becomes devoted to Him. If they keep it, and rob Him of it, it becomes devoted to destruction.

Now, in the light of that, let’s read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 again: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy….” Just like the tithe, your body, the temple of the Holy Ghost, is holy. And in the same way, if you keep the tithe it will be devoted to destruction, if you defile your body, it will be on a course for destruction as well. If you don’t keep your body the way you should, by obeying God, it will begin to destruct. This is the law of sowing and reaping in action. The more a person uses drugs or alcohol, partakes of pornography or adultery, or any other kind of sin, the more quickly he or she will die.

Can this be true for a believer? Yes. The law of sowing and reaping works the same way as natural laws that govern this earth. Gravity works for believers and unbelievers alike. So does the law of sowing and reaping. Let’s take this a step further. Consider this in regard to your body and healing. Your body is holy, set apart, consecrated, devoted.

Therefore, no sickness or disease has the right to be in your body. No sickness or disease has the right to be in the temple of God—and that temple has no business living carnally or in an unholy way. God has called us, as His sons and daughters, to live set apart and sanctified…holy. To be holy simply means that we obey God in everything He tells us to do—that we live for Him and stop participating in the world’s ways.

-Be a Vessel of Honor

Devoted to God...or Destruction? - Gloria Copeland