by Kenneth Copeland | Apr 18, 2026 | Pursuit of His Presence
The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways (Deut. 28:7).
Do you know what the Ten Commandments mean? To the Western mind, they mean “Don’t you dare steal, or kill, or covet.” But to a covenant-minded person who understands God’s hesed, they mean something entirely different.
Hesed is a covenant word. It means “God’s mercy, kindness, tender mercies, His loving kindness, and fidelity.” It’s His unconditional love for you.
To the covenant man, God is saying in the Ten Commandments, “Listen, son, there isn’t any need for you to covet that fellow’s wife. I have one prepared just for you. There’s no need for you to murder anyone. Bring the problem to Me. I’ll repay. You have a covenant with Me.
“There’s no need for you to become a thief. I’ll meet your needs according to My riches in Glory. All you need to do is live in love and faith. I’ll take care of the rest.”
If you’ll develop the kind of heart and mind that thinks and acts like this, it will make you fearless. Love…mercy…hesed casts out fear (See 1 John 4:18).
I can just hear your mind working. “Oh, Brother Copeland, that sounds great. But I’ve done some rotten things since I’ve been a Christian. I’ve messed up my part of the covenant pretty bad.”
No, you haven’t. You can’t mess up this covenant because it’s not between you and God. It’s between God and Jesus.
You can’t break it. You can get out of fellowship with it, turn your back on it and refuse to receive its benefits. It will always still be there when you repent.
“Yeah, but I just don’t understand how God could still love me after all I’ve done.”
He Loves You Because He Wants To
Listen, the agape-hesed of God isn’t affected by what you do or don’t do. It is an unconditional act of His will. God loves you because He wants to love you. He loves you because you and He are connected by the pure covenant blood of Jesus – and there’s nothing you can do to change that. That’s what agape-hesed is!
So don’t let the devil deceive you one more moment. You are worthy to receive God’s unconditional love. The blood of Jesus has provided you this love. Receive it. It’s yours. Remember: He loves you because He wants to!
Speak the Word: The blood of Jesus makes me worthy to receive God’s unconditional love. I will receive and walk in that love today. (1 John 4:16-21)
For Further Study: 1 John 4:16-21
Daily Scripture Reading: Judges 12-13; Romans 7
Source: Pursuit of His Presence Devotional by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland
Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
by Tim Davidson | Apr 18, 2026 | A Verse A Day
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
(Heb. 1:3 NASB)
Jesus has all the brilliance and intensity of God’s glory and is like Him in every way. God always uses His spoken word to accomplish His will and establish His purposes in our lives. Jesus holds the universe together with His powerful word.
The Message Bible says: This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words! After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God.
Carefully consider the results you want in your life before speaking. Then speak the desired result and Jesus will hold your life together by the power of His Word. The power of life and death are in the tongue. Choose wisely. Thank you Jesus.
Today’s Thought to Take With You:
My world is upheld by my words. Today I speak words that will construct my world positively.
- Reading Plan A: Luke 10:25-42
- Reading Plan B: Mark 16
- Reading Plan C: 1 Sam. 25,26; Luke 16:19-31
Source: A Verse A Day
by Tim Davidson
Excerpt permission granted by
Word of Faith Church & Outreach
Center
by Kenneth E. Hagin | Apr 18, 2026 | Health Food
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
(Mark 9:24)
The next morning, while I was getting ready for the morning service, I heard running footsteps. I heard the pastor’s voice calling me.
He came into the house and said, “Brother Hagin, that woman who was at last night’s meeting with her little girl is at the church now, and her little girl is perfectly healed. The girl doesn’t have any braces, and her left leg has grown out as long as the other one.”
The mother shared, “By the time we got home, it was late and the child was asleep. I put her to bed. When I got up this morning and got my husband off to work, she was still asleep.
“As my custom is, I woke her up at eight o’clock to give her a bath, because she’s helpless. I picked her up in her braces and carried her into the bathroom. I pulled off her braces. She wasn’t any better.
“I put her in the bathtub and got down on my knees to bathe her. I said, ‘Oh, Lord, why didn’t You heal my baby?’ Something on the inside of me said, ‘Do you believe that Brother Hagin stood right there on the platform and lied? Do you believe he lied when he said that he felt that power go into this child and into that leg?'”
You see, she wasn’t keeping the switch of faith turned on. But she changed. She said, “Lord, forgive me for my unbelief. I believe that Brother Hagin is a man of God. I believe that he told the truth when he said that Jesus appeared to him and placed the finger of His right hand upon each one of his hands and told him to tell people that the healing power is in his hands.
“I believe he told the truth when he said he felt that power go into my child’s body. I believe that power is working in my child now to heal her.”
When she said that, she heard something popping, like dry sticks breaking. She looked down in the bathtub, and that left leg straightened out right in front of her eyes! It grew to the same size as the other leg.
She brought her daughter before the whole church and they saw that it was true. The girl was up and walking, and both legs were normal!
Confession:
I thank You, Father God, that Your healing power is working in my body right now. I thank You that I am well and healthy and whole.
Source: Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
by Mark Brazee | Apr 18, 2026 | 365 Days of Healing, Devotions
“For only we who believe God can enter into his place of rest” (Heb. 4:3 TLB).
When you’re in a difficult situation and you need a miracle, locate what you believe. Do you believe what God’s Word says? Or do you believe what people or circumstances say?
Hebrews 4:3 says, “We which have believed do enter into rest.” Belief produces rest, and what you hear determines what you believe.
So if you see you haven’t entered into the rest of faith, don’t waste your time feeling condemned, discouraged or upset about it. Just realize your belief isn’t yet strong enough to produce rest.
What do you do? Find out what the Word of God says about your situation. Search for Scriptures that cover your case. Feed on the Word at every opportunity because hearing produces belief.
Some people say, “Well, when I have time, I’ll do that.” But if you maintain that attitude, you’ll never have time.
If you need healing, listen to good healing tapes again and again. Read good books on healing, such as “Christ the Healer” by F. F. Bosworth. Don’t just read the books once and set them down; read them from cover to cover several times until you are full of the Word on healing. Then out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak (Matt. 12:34). You’ll find yourself saying, “It’s so good to be healed!”
And when someone asks, “Do you feel better? Are the symptoms gone?” you’ll say “I haven’t checked yet, but I know I’m healed because the Bible said it. I don’t care what anybody says. Because God says healing is mine, and I have whatever God says!”
Remember, hearing produces belief, belief produces rest and the rest of faith produces results!
Confession:
The Word of God is firmly lodged down in my heart,
and I enter into rest. God’s Word is greater inside me than
what I see with my natural eye. It’s so good to be healed!
Source: 365 Days of Healing by Mark Brazee
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
by Dick Mills | Apr 18, 2026 | The Spirit Filled Believer
“Healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38 NKJ).
You have wanted more power in your life. You have desired to see more miracles in your ministry. You have fasted and prayed for a revival of signs, wonders, and miracles. One thing that will help speed the answer to those prayers is a clear understanding and appreciation of Satan’s tyranny over the human race.
Jesus contested the malignancy of Satan and, by the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit, healed the oppressed ones. The key word in this great description of Jesus’ healing ministry is this reference to the oppression of the devil.
The word oppression is defined as “domination, total control, tyranny, lordship; the exercise of authority over another person or persons as a potentate or dictator.”
By their sin in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve abdicated their position as reigning over the earth. By default, they surrendered their dominion and authority to the usurper, the prince of darkness, who now holds the unbelieving world in a cruel vise-like grip (1 John 5:19 NKJ).
Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan (1 John 3:8). According to this verse in Acts, He went about doing good and breaking the stranglehold of Satan upon people.
In Psalm 97:10, David challenges us to love the Lord and hate the Evil One. You and I must look upon Satan’s victims with great compassion, and at the same time hate the enemy for what he is doing to them. This will qualify us for miracles quicker than anything else we could ever do.
Source: The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Daily Devotional by Dick Mills
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
