Remember when you went to school and learned your ABCs? You learned them by using your five senses and your logical abilities to gather information and sort it out. That kind of knowledge is called natural knowledge and it's the only kind most people know anything about.

But in the kingdom of God, there's another kind of knowing. One that works its way from the inside out instead of from the outside in. It's called revelation knowledge.

Jesus spoke about this kind of knowledge in Matthew 16. He'd just asked the disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter had answered Him by declaring, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

"Blessed are you, Simon," Jesus responded, "because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father which is in heaven."

In other words, Jesus was saying, "Peter, you didn't learn this information through your physical senses. You received it another way. You received it directly from God."

If you've ever had a revelation like that, you know that when it comes, it changes things. It makes you see old things in an entirely new light. It gives you such unshakable confidence that, as Jesus said to Peter, "The gates of hell can't prevail against you."

But revelations like that don't come easily. You have to meditate the Word and search the Spirit of God for them because they are "hidden" in Him. The Bible says God has hidden His wisdom for the saints (1 Cor. 2:7-9). Notice, He's hidden it for you, not from you. He wants you to have it.

Don't think, however, that God is just going to drop great revelations into your lap while you're watching television. You have to seek Him.

If you're hungry for revelation knowledge, get yourself in a position to receive it by meditating the Word, praying and fellowshiping with the Lord. Begin to receive those revelations from Him. It's the most exciting kind of learning there is.

Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 2

The man who makes a habit of delighting in God's Word will have a heart that's fixed! He can make it through disastrous situations without losing his balance. His mind's made up before he ever gets to the disaster. He's victorious before he ever gets there. A person like that is hard to whip!

The sad thing is that most believers wait until the disaster hits before they start trying to establish themselves on the Word. They wait until their back is against the wall. Then, suddenly, they get real spiritual and start fasting and praying...and all too often they find they've started too late.

That's like a guy who finds out a burglar is in his house and then starts looking for the barbells, so he can build up enough muscle to throw the burglar out. He's not going to make it! If he'd been working out instead of watching television every night, he'd have been ready. But as it is, he's headed for a painful defeat.

Be ready before the devil breaks into your house. Get your heart fixed. Turn off the television. Turn off the distractions of the world and turn on the Word. The time to start establishing yourself on it is right now!

Scripture Reading:
Job 22:21-30

Do you know why so many believers are losing the battles in their lives?

They're fighting the wrong enemy!

They've been deceived into believing that just because a person said or did something to hurt them, that person is the one they need to fight. But they're wrong.

You see, the Bible says we don't wrestle with flesh and blood. And since people are definitely flesh and blood, they're never the source of our problem.

"But, Brother Copeland, you just don't know what So-and-so did to me!"

It doesn't matter. If you waste your time fighting So-and-so, your real enemy will get away scot-free.

Who is that real enemy? Look at Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Satan and his demons. They are your lifelong enemies! They are behind every personal affront you encounter.

The people who hurt you and persecute you are only Satan's tools. When he wants to strike out at you, he uses them to get the job done.

Remember this: Persecution is not the manifestation of another person's hate for you. It's a manifestation of Satan's fear of you. When you get into the Word and start swinging it around—using it like the sword of the Spirit it is—he gets scared. So he looks for some person he can send in there to stop you.

Next time someone hurts you, don't let yourself get sidetracked into fighting them. Bind the spirit behind them. Put flesh-and-blood battles behind and war with the weapons of the Spirit. Zero in on Satan with authority and the Word of God and bring your real enemy down!

Scripture Reading:
Ephesians 6:10-18