BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Personally, when it comes to standing in faith on God’s WORD, I could care less what my feelings say. I’ve learned from experience that my feelings will lie to me. God’s WORD, however, will not. I don’t mean to imply that feelings are always a spiritual hindrance. Sometimes they can be a real BLESSING. Particularly in times of praise and worship, our feelings can be so touched by God’s manifest presence that we don’t know whether to laugh or cry. As wonderful as such feelings may be, though, they won’t get our prayers answered. What gets our prayers answered is faith. “But doesn’t Galatians 5:6 say that faith works by love?” you might ask. “Doesn’t 1 Corinthians 13:2 say that without love even mountain-moving faith amounts to nothing?” Yes, but the word translated love in those verses is the Greek word agape, and it doesn’t refer to the kind of love that’s based on feelings. Agape is unconditional love. It’s loving on purpose, not because you feel certain emotions, but as an act of your will. Just Do It It’s the agape kind of love Jesus had in mind in Mark 11:25 when He told us that as we’re praying if we “have ought against any” we’re to forgive them. He didn’t tell us we had to feel good about it. He just said to do it. What’s more, He left no room for debate. He made forgiving a command, not because He doesn’t care about the hurts people have inflicted on us, and not because He’s insensitive to our wounded emotions. But because, as Psalm 23:1 says, He’s our Good Shepherd and He’s committed to seeing to it that we do not want. He knows your soul can get beat-up and bruised by this world, and He has some green pastures for you, my friend! He has some still waters that will refresh you. He has restoration for your bruised and beat-up soul. That’s why He commands you to forgive. If you don’t, your faith won’t work, and you won’t be able to receive from Him what you ask. You’ll put yourself in a position where He can’t BLESS you, and BLESSING you is what He’s all about. But if you’ll get in your prayer closet, ask Him for what you need and want, believe you receive, and forgive everyone you’ve been holding aught against, you can partake of His abundant supply. By the way, the “everyone” Jesus expects you to forgive includes all the politicians you’ve been mad at lately. You don’t have to agree with them. You don’t have to like what they’re saying and doing. For your prayers to be effective, however, you do have to forgive them. You also have to pray for them because God said in 1 Timothy 2: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (verses 1-4). That means you pray for the president and the vice president. You pray for everyone in Congress, for judges and governors. And you pray the most for the ones you don’t like. “But I don’t want to!” you might say. It doesn’t matter whether you want to or not. God said do it “first of all.” So, make it a priority. Do it in faith and do it every day. I remember some years ago I heard someone say grudgingly, “Well, I’ll pray for the office of the president, but I can’t pray for the man.” Hogwash! If you can’t pray for the man, you can’t pray for the office either. You can’t pray effectively for anything because you’re in unforgiveness, and faith doesn’t work in an unforgiving heart. You might think everything the president is doing is wrong, but go ahead and pray for him anyway—and do it with a smile on your face. Don’t let his politics get you all riled up and give you stomach ulcers. Forgive him, ask God to open the eyes of his understanding and send anointed laborers across his path to share the gospel with him. Then let it go and rejoice in Jesus. While we’re on the subject, don’t argue and get offended at anyone else over politics either. If someone says something you don’t like, just give them a soft answer. (“A soft answer turneth away wrath,” Proverbs 15:1 says.) Then walk away. Get out of there and stay happy. Stay on the God side of everything. Always see the best and believe the best of everyone. “But Brother Copeland, I’m passionate about this country. It hurts me when I see the harm some of these politicians have done to it.” I know. I’m passionate about this country, too, and I am totally opposed to some of the things I see happening to it. But I also know this: As believers, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), and we can love and forgive no matter what. 6 : BVOV

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