I’ll never forget when that transformation began in me. I had just begun to learn what the Word of God and faith can do. I was so hungry for it and so desperate to change my life that I completely immersed myself in it.

I kept teaching and preaching tapes going all the time. I’d get up in the morning and put in a tape while I was shaving. I’d carry the recorder to the table and listen while I ate breakfast. Then I’d haul it out to the car (that was back in the days of the big reel-to-reel recorders, so “haul” is a fairly accurate term) and listen to it while I drove to school. When I got back home at night, I listened to the Word again until I fell asleep.

I was 30 years old at that time and I’d pretty much thought the same way all my life—a way that had maneuvered me into more messes than I could find any natural way out of.

But after just a few days of constantly feeding on the Word, I began to notice a change.

My mind started working differently. I found myself comparing everything I heard, whether it came out of my mouth or someone else’s, with the Word of God.

When I’d hear something that was out of line with the Word, it would be glaringly apparent to me. Somebody would ask me how I was feeling. Instead of saying those old things I used to say—“Well, you know this old football injury has really been acting up lately. It’s giving me this shooting pain right up my leg”—I would just explode with the Word of God.

I’d say, “What difference does it make how I feel? I am not moved by what I feel. I am not moved by what I see. I am moved by what I believe and I believe the Word of God!” I just jumped on people like a chicken on a bug. (I didn’t know any better back then. Thank God, He’s mellowed me some over the years.)

What was happening? The anointing, the influence of God and His Word, was on my mind. It was teaching me things.

The Bible says if you’ll meditate on the Word day and night, it will talk to you when you wake up in the morning and visit with you all day long. That’s exactly what it began to do with me all those years ago.

I’d make choices with ease that other people struggled over. The Word made it clear for me which route I should take. I didn’t have to agonize or debate over what I should do; the Word working in me caused me to make the right choice.

Kenneth Copeland

That’s why Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” The word wicked there actually means “twisted.”

Satan takes God’s thoughts and twists them. He takes the truth and turns it into a lie. Thus, people who don’t have the Anointing of God on their minds have twisted thinking. They are thinking Satan’s thoughts.

They don’t realize that, of course. They think they’re thinking their own thoughts. But in reality, they don’t have that option.

You see, as members of the race of man, you and I are not independent entities. We are spirit and we are created in God’s class, or image, but we are not sovereign. We are not God.

Each one of us has a spiritual Lord. If we choose Jesus, He is our Lord. Those who don’t choose Jesus have the devil as their lord by default, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Since we are not independent entities, we cannot have independent thoughts. We will either be thinking Satan’s thoughts or God’s thoughts. The straight thoughts of God are truth and the twisted thoughts of the devil are lies, and there is nothing in between.

But, let me warn you. Just because you’ve made Jesus your Lord doesn’t mean you’ll automatically think God’s thoughts. You only begin thinking God’s thoughts when you begin to fill your mind and heart with the Word of God and make yourself subject to His Anointing.

Romans 12:2 calls that process “the renewing of your mind.” It also says that process will transform you. Why does it have such a dramatic effect? Because when you change your mind, you change your choices—and that changes everything!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Actually, it never occurred to the disciples to take the supernatural way out of that situation. It never entered their minds to stand up and speak to that storm. The reason is simple. They didn’t think as Jesus thought.

He thought like Someone Who had access at all times to the power of God Himself, which is superior to all the forces of the natural world. (That’s why it’s called supernatural.) The disciples thought like people who were subject to those natural forces.

That’s why they “feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Instead of jumping up and saying, “Hey, that’s the way I want to be!” they just thought Jesus was strange. People still think that about God. They say things like, “You never know what God will do. He moves in mysterious ways.”

That was true until the Holy Spirit came to teach us all things. (See John 16:13.) We’re not meant to look at God as some strange, mysterious being anymore. We’re to know Him and imitate Him as dearly beloved children (Ephesians 5:1).

The truth is, He isn’t strange at all. He has just seemed strange to us because instead of living on His level as we were created to do, mankind has slipped down into the natural realm in his thinking. When you’re living at that low level, everything about God baffles you.

Some folks say, “Yes, amen, but you know that’s the way the Bible says it will be. After all, God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.”

Yes, it does, and if that’s all it said, we could never hope to be anything except stupid. But, praise God, the Bible doesn’t stop there. If you’ll go ahead and read the rest of Isaiah 55, you’ll find God also said:

As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and return-eth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (verses 10-11).

In other words, you don’t have to stay below God’s thoughts. Your thoughts can come up to His level. How? Through His Word. God’s thoughts are in His Word, so if you think His Word, you’ll think His thoughts.

But wait a minute. To think God’s supernatural thoughts, you’d have to have a “supernatural mind” wouldn’t you?

Yes—and if you’re a believer, you already have one. First Corinthians 2:16 says it this way: “We have the mind of Christ.” I read that for years, but I didn’t really understand it until I translated the word Christ. It means “the Anointed One.”

So, to have the mind of Christ is to have a mind that is under the influence of the Anointing of God.

A mind that’s not under the influence of God is in opposition to Him. It always goes contrary to His ways. And since God’s ways are right, then a mind without the anointing will think wrong.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

God wants to bless you so you can be a blessing.
He’ll do that by causing you to grow spiritually in
your knowledge of Him and to grow strong in character
and full of wisdom by acting on that knowledge.
In other words, the more we begin to imitate
God’s ways in our own actions, the more we put
ourselves in position for Him to bless us greatly.

Joseph is a perfect example of that truth (see
Genesis 37, 39-45).

Right in the middle of slavery, God gave Joseph
such wisdom, ability and favor that he made his
slave master rich. As a result, the man put Joseph
in charge of all his possessions. Joseph’s circumstances
looked bad for a while. But the wisdom
and favor of God continually brought him success.
Finally, Joseph ended up in charge of the entire
country. During the time of famine when
Joseph was second in command, other nations
came to Egypt for food.

Over and over, in the midst of adversity,
Joseph’s soul prospered. And his prosperity
greatly affected other people—within and
far beyond the borders of Egypt. Just one
person walking in wisdom, favor and success
from God can bless nations. Much like
Joseph, that one person can be you!

Wisdom

Our ability to prosper is based on more
than just believing God. There is a part for
us to play in our own prosperity, and the
Word of God outlines what we must do in
order to prosper. We know that we must
be givers, but our responsibility doesn’t
stop there. The Bible shows us that God
wants His people to grow up and act as
wise adults, making wise choices. According
to the Bible, wisdom is the principal or
supreme thing (Proverbs 4:7). If wisdom is the
number one thing we should be seeking,
then let’s study it more closely and see
what God says about it.

In Proverbs 3, we are told that wisdom is
more precious than rubies, silver or other
riches. In fact, verse 14 even says it is better
to get wisdom than gold because it “yields
better returns than gold” (New International
Version). For when a person has wisdom and
understanding, they can know how to receive
the other things they need—benefits
such as promotion, honor, length of days
and riches, just to name a few.

Having the wisdom to make the right decision
every time, based on the understanding
you have received from God’s Word and the
leading of the Holy Spirit, helps you become
prosperous in every area of life. No wonder
Proverbs 3:13 says, “Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Think about that. You are one with Almighty
God. Is He a loser? Of course not! He’s the greatest
winner of all time. And that makes you a winner.
Take His innermost feelings into your heart, and
conform your own will and attitudes to His.

How do you do that? By listening to and
acting on His Word. This is a much higher calling
and a greater form of life than just submitting
yourself to God.

Is that possible? Yes! The Word says we are
predestined to be conformed to His very image—
to be one spirit with Him. It says we have the
mind of Christ and are bone of His bone. Thank
God, we’re connected to Jesus—spirit, soul and
body—through the Holy Spirit and by His Word.
We are completely and totally ONE with Him, so
let’s put ourselves in His position for a moment.

Is there any part of your life God can’t handle?
Certainly not!

Have you ever caught God asleep? No, the
Bible says He never slumbers.

Have you ever gone to Jesus with a problem
He didn’t know how to solve? No.

Have you ever heard Jesus say, “Well, I thought
I had overcome the world, but evidently I
haven’t”? No!

Well, we’re one with Him. If that’s His attitude,
then praise God, it should be our attitude. We are
overcomers with Him!

If I said, “All things are possible with God,”
everyone would smile and quickly agree. But the
same Bible, the same Jesus, the same Word of
God says, “All things are possible to him who
believes” (Mark 9:23, New King James Version). If
you believe the first statement, then you have to
believe the second.

You and I need to change our perspective in
all this. We are one with Him, so we need to set
our attitudes to match His. If we are one with
Him in spirit, soul and body, then we ought to be
one with Him in attitude as well!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries