Keeping Your Edge.

Keeping Your Edge
by Gloria Copeland



I'm going to do what I always do and wreak havoc around here, Samson thought.

But that’s not what happened.

Instead, when Samson was unexpectedly confronted with trouble, he discovered he lacked the ability to whip his enemies. This man who had always walked in tremendous supernatural strength was shocked when the Philistines were able to grab him, gouge out his eyes, shackle him in irons, and haul him to prison (Judges 16:21).

How was it this great, dynamic man suddenly found himself weak and helpless against the Philistines? How was it this judge and defender of Israel (Judges 15:20, The Amplified Bible), who had always had the capacity to take vigorous action against the enemies of Israel, fell so long and hard?

Quite simply, Samson had grown so spiritually dull “the Lord had departed from him” and he didn’t even know it (Judges 16:20, The Amplified Bible)! When he chose to go out in the darkness and live in disobedience to God, Samson became an easy target for his enemies.

Believe it or not, that same thing could happen to you or me should we become spiritually lazy.

But keep in mind, God has given us the spiritual ability to defeat the enemy. So, it certainly doesn’t have to be that way, and clearly that would never be God’s will! He desires for every believer to be blessed and effective for Him. Christians are supposed to make a difference in this world. But we have to do it God’s way, and we have to watch out for Satan’s traps.


Don’t Take the Fall


I’m reminded of something the Lord told Ken years and years ago. When you think you’ve made it to the top, He said, be aware that it’s a long fall to the bottom. So, stay in the Word more, not less.

I want you to know, we work to keep our edge! We always have.

Whether you’ve been in the Word a few months or a lot of years, you have to do what it takes to keep your faith strong. And, when God blesses you and your life begins going well, it isn’t smart to prop your feet up on the coffee table, lean back and take it easy.

No. Don’t slack up on the Word and prayer time at this point!

There’s only one way to keep your edge and stay spiritually strong, and that’s to abide—stay in union with God. That’s the God-appointed method of living the Christian life. Abiding in the Lord means spending time in the Word, time in prayer, listening to and obeying Him, and walking in love…every day.

Ken and I learned this truth years ago.


A Seven-Day-a-Week Thing


We also discovered the Christian life isn’t trouble free. I believe it could be if we were 100 percent accurate at walking in the power of God and obeying His Word. The more accurate we are and the more we continue to grow in the Word of God, the freer we become and the fewer problems we have.

There’s a devil out there, however, and we’re not all that smart, except in God.

So the more we know about the Word, the safer we are. When we began to see that, Ken and I went all out for the Word. We realized that going after the Word isn’t just a Sunday morning thing—it’s a seven day a week thing. This walking by faith, walking in obedience, walking in the light, and giving no foothold for the devil takes time and attention.

In this day and age, it’s easy to stay really busy, but you can’t afford to be sidetracked in this area. Talk to the Lord, read His Word and put it in your heart. Spend time with Him every day before you go out into the world. That's how you abide in Him.

Here’s why that is so important…


You Don’t Want to Be a Do-Nothing


Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).

We’re either going to abide in the Lord, or we’re not going to bear any fruit. And, not only that, in the very next verse Jesus goes on to say, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (verse 5).

We can either abide in Him or we can be a do-nothing!

By staying close to God and His Word, we can do something worthwhile in this world. Among other things, we can walk on the path He has chosen for us. Proverbs 4:18-22 says:

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.


Here we see that you and I have a choice. Either we attend to His Word and get on the path of the righteous that is shining with love, good, blessing, favor and health, or we go the way of the wicked and walk in darkness. Remember, Samson chose a dark path, and he took a very long fall!

The wise thing to do, of course, is to go God’s way.

Attending to His Word has many benefits. For one thing, Jesus said when we abide in Him and His Word abides in us, we can ask what we will and it shall be done (John 15:7). In other words, our prayers are answered.

And, His words “are spirit, and they are life” unto those who find them (John 6:63).

What about those who don’t find them? They’re still wandering around out there in the dark without the blessing of God making life good!

Putting the Word in our eyes and ears until it gets down in our hearts, causes the forces of life to flow out of us and the fruit of the spirit to become evident in our lives. It enables us to walk in “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25).

When we maintain our union with God—abide in Him and His Word—we stay on the path of His goodness, and bear fruit.


Don’t Give Up—Double Up!


Now, what if we aren’t abiding in the Lord? What happens then?

Jesus tells us plainly. He says, “If a man abide not in me”—he’s not vitally united to Me, he’s not spending time in the Word, he’s not talking to Me, he’s not doing what it takes to stay in living contact—“he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” ( John 15:6).

If we’re not vitally united to the Lord, we become vulnerable to outside forces—to Satan and the circumstances he brings. We wither, which means we “shrivel, lose energy, force or freshness.” We lose our strength. We dry up spiritually. Our faith begins to recede—that energetic force that receives the blessing begins to weaken.

The word energy means “capacity for vigorous action, capacity for doing work.” If we don’t remain vitally united to Jesus through His Word, prayer and time with Him, we’ll lose the capacity for vigorous action. Like Samson, in an unexpected crisis we’ll find ourselves spiritually dull. Our faith won’t be strong enough to stand against trouble.

The flesh begins to take over and the spirit man is pushed back when we become spiritually lazy. And, the flesh has a loud voice that will dominate us if we don’t dominate it with the Word of God.

If you’re in that position and you know you’re missing it, double up on the Word. If you aren’t walking in faith, the way you once did, make a change. Become more diligent about the things of God.

You know, a sinner—a proficient sinner—doesn’t get that way overnight. He gets that way by practicing—by sinning over, and over, and over again.

At a meeting several years ago, Ken and Creflo Dollar talked about a person having the habit of chewing tobacco. What would a man have to do to get good at that habit? He’d have to be diligent and practice. His first chew is terrible. That stuff will make you sick, but if you stay with it you can chew and spit with the best of ‘em, or should I say the worst of ‘em.

Now let me make it perfectly clear, that’s the “don’t do it” side—the bad side!

But, you can become proficient on the good side the same way. You can become skilled in the things of God by being diligent in the things of God.

For instance, if you desire to become an abider and a lover of God, you spend time with Him and spend time meditating on His Word. If you want to successfully walk in faith and live by faith, you will be diligent to read the Word and exercise your faith. If you’d like to walk in love consistently, you will meditate on the scriptures about love and you practice walking in love.

Hang in there. Do it over, and over, and over again until it becomes second nature to you.

Every accomplished person—a pianist, singer, athlete, etc.—would say it takes continual practice to stay sharp. To become successful at anything, a person must be diligent.

To live a long, good life, we must abide in the Lord. Continually spend time with Him. Continually keep His Word going into our spirit. We must be diligent about the things of God, otherwise we wither and shrivel and lose our force, our capacity for vigorous action. Samson found that out the hard way.

I’ve been in the things of God a long time, but I cannot do without my everyday time in the Word. I have to have an ongoing injection of the Word to keep my faith strong and keep my spiritual edge. And so do you.

If you haven’t been feeding your spirit like you feed your body—every day—it may take time to regain strength. So get started. Draw close to God. Think about ways you can get more of the Word in your mind and in your heart.

Could you make plans to get in meetings where the Word is being preached? Listen to Word CDs while you’re getting dressed in the morning or while you’re in the car? Read your Bible during your lunch break? Watch the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast while you’re folding laundry? Or better yet, take the time to sit down with your Bible and give your full attention to teaching and encouragement every day.

Whatever it takes to get built up and keep your edge—do it! You never know when a situation is coming your way that will require you to take spiritual action.

So, double up on your Word intake.

Remember faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word (Romans 10:17). And then faith goes out of your mouth in words and pushes away bad circumstances. It rebukes the devil and his works in your life. What you say makes a difference!


Shaping Your Future


The fact is you can’t say one thing and get another. You have to have your heart and your mouth working for God. Your words have to be in agreement with the Word of God to change things in your life. And, whatever is in our hearts will come out of our mouths and shape our future.

When people live in darkness, they tend to speak foul language, and they reap the consequences. One scripture says that those who love cursing will wear it as a garment (Psalm 109:17-19). A person can’t speak or confess perverse things and expect to stay well, blessed and whole. So, it’s just not smart to have a disobedient mouth. Proverbs 4:24 says, “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

I understand it may seem a bit fanatical to watch your words. Perhaps you’ve tried and failed at doing that. The fact is, you can’t just decide to make right confessions. You must have enough Word in your heart to back up what you’re saying. If unbelief is in your heart, unbelief will come out of your mouth. If the Word is in your heart in abundance, faith is going to come out of your mouth.

Luke 6:45 makes it plain when it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

By putting the Word in your heart in abundance, the Word is sure to come out of your mouth and affect your life.

If you’ll abide in the Lord, and stay full of His Word, you can walk and live in the spirit. You can have the joy of the Lord overflowing in your life (John 15:10-11). It’s so worth any time or effort it takes.

I know that from experience.

The other day, I was walking along and I thought, Lord, my joy is full! You have been so good to me! It’s a beautiful thing to be filled with joy. This realization of the goodness of God continually comes into my thinking as I experience His blessing taking place.

God desires for you to experience that. Why? Because…

[you] are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that [you] may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for [you] [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that [you] should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for [you] to live] (Ephesians 2:10, The Amplified Bible).

The truth is God is altogether good. He wants to do good. He loves to do good. It gives Him great pleasure to do you good! He desires for you to walk in all the good things He has planned for you!

And you can, if you’ll abide in Him and keep your edge!