Kenneth Copeland is one of the biggest thinkers I've ever met in my life. He always pulls you up to the next level. If I say, "Brother Copeland, I'm thinking about doing this."
He'll say, "Well, just do it. If you can think it, then do it!"
I believe God's looking for people who think like this. I believe there's never been a generation like us. We're the biggest thinkers God's ever had on this planet. I like to refer to us as the "Think Big Generation." We are a generation that's thoroughly convinced that "all things are possible to him that believeth."
Isaiah 54:2-3 says, Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
God is saying: I want you to think big. God is challenging us in this verse to begin to expect Him to do things in our lives in the days to come like we've never seen before. In other words, don't limit God by thinking small.
The word enlarge here in the literal Hebrew means to broaden or to get a broader view. In other words, God's saying, "Broaden your horizons. Dream bigger dreams."
Do you remember when you couldn't believe God to meet all of your needs? You couldn't believe that God could cause you to go debt-free or that you could pay cash for your next automobile or pay your house off early. That was unthinkable. But what happened? You got into the Word of God, you got around big thinkers and you got your mind renewed. Now, you expect it. Now it doesn't look impossible anymore.
The word stretch means to go beyond. In other words, don't stay where you are. Don't ever get spiritually satisfied. There's always another plateau.
Stretching is not always comfortable. But it's the way we grow. It's God's way of keeping our faith active. It's God's way of taking us from faith to faith and glory to glory. In other words, start believing God for something bigger than you've ever believed Him for before.
Believe God this year that you're going to be able to give more than you've ever given before. Set a new goal. Put a greater demand on your faith. I discovered a long time ago, that God honors what a man will purpose in his heart.
I learned that if I will purpose in my heart to stretch my faith, then God will honor it and enable me to accomplish it.
Spare not means don't give up the use of. In other words don't go without what God says is yours.
Do you truly believe God wants you to prosper? Just think of all you could do for God if you were extremely prosperous. You might be saying, "But I'm still believing God for rent money." Yes, but that's a starting point. But you know what? The more you fellowship with God, and the more you get around big thinkers, and the more you get around people who make you stretch, then you will get to the point to where you can believe God for anything.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God wants us to come up to His way of thinking. But, you have to spend time in the Word, and go through the process of the renewing of the mind. Renewing of the mind causes you to begin to think like God. The Apostle Paul tells us in his writings to the Corinthian church that we have the mind of Christ. If this is true, and it is, then we have the potential to think like God.
Stretching is not always comfortable. But it's the way we grow. It's God's way of keeping our faith active. It's God's way of taking us from faith to faith and glory to glory. In other words, start believing God for something bigger than you've ever believed him for before.
Our success in the days ahead will be determined by how big we can think. Small thinking limits God, and small thinking limits us. Ephesians 3:20 says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
The Amplified says, "Now to Him Who...is able to do...superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]."
The word that stands out in that verse to me is the word dare. Do you know what the word dare implies? How bold can you be? How courageous can you be? As big as you and I can think, God is saying, "I'm bigger than that." God is saying, "I dare you to ask big. I dare you to dream big. I dare you to hope big." And as big as you can hope, think, dream, or ask, God is saying, "I'm bigger than that."
Can you dare believe that you can live debt-free? That's a big dream. That is probably the number one dream of most people in the world today. Can you dare think that you're not going to have to spend the next 30 years paying on the mortgage on your house? Can you dare think that God could pay it off in a year? Can you think that big? Well, if you can think it, God's bigger than that.
You're not going to "break" God by dreaming big dreams. I've never heard God say, "Listen, Jerry, We've got needs up here! I mean, things are tight! We've got depression going on up here. I had to lay Jesus off just this morning! The angels are on strike. I had to sell the Pearly Gate to pay the note on the Throne Room. The value of gold is down. My streets are worthless! And you're talking to Me about a need? Go somewhere else, please!"
You'll never hear God say that. So, dare to think BIG!
In Ephesians 2:7 the Apostle Paul said, That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The Amplified version says, He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in his kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
What does that mean? There has never been a generation that's experienced what our generation is going to experience. God says it surpasses what they saw. It's limitless. It's immeasurable. And God's saying we are that generation! When Paul said, "In the ages to come," he wasn't talking about heaven; he was talking about the Last Days Church, the people that would be on this planet at the appearing of Jesus. Well, folks, we're it. We are that generation.
Isaiah 61:9 (the Amplified) says, And their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge that they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.
In the Last Days, one of the greatest tools for evangelism will be the prosperity of God's people. God is saying, "I'm going to cause you to prosper to such a level, that it will become an attraction." We'll be able to say, "It is God Who hath given me the power to get wealth."
Let me challenge you today. Don't allow yourself to get in a comfort zone. No matter how well you may be doing or how many victories you've experienced, there's still much more. Faith is designed to be at work all the time. It's not designed to lie dormant. God wants you to put a greater demand on your faith than you've ever done before.
If your needs are met and you don't have to use your faith on your needs, then put a demand on your faith to believe to meet the needs of others. Begin to see yourself doing everything God says you can do. Begin seeing yourself having everything God says you can have. God's ready to do some big things.
It's up to you. How big can you think?
Dr. Jerry Savelle was an average, blue-collar man who was struggling and needed God's help. While he considered himself a "nobody," when he became a believer God told him not to worry about it because He was a master at making champions out of nobodies. God has since taken Dr. Savelle from being a constant quitter to a man who knows how to stand on the Word of God until victory is experienced. Because of the life-changing combination of God's faithfulness and Dr. Savelle's "no quit" attitude, his life is totally different than it was thirty-eight years ago.
