Most people don’t know, for example, where their life force resides. They don’t know their spirits are the generators that provide energy for everything they do. So they fail to take care of those generators. They overload them and neglect them until they “burn out.”

Let me illustrate. Say you have a 100-watt generator and you start plugging 10-watt bulbs into the circuit that generator supplies. You can put in 10 bulbs and they’ll all burn brightly.Your generator will be running at full capacity, pulling all the load it’s made to pull.

When you put bulb number 11 on line, the whole string will dim a little. If you put in a 12th bulb, they’ll dim a little more. Put in 13, and you’ll see smoke coming out of that generator. It will burn out because it’s not equipped to produce 130 watts.

What happens then? All the lights go out. Not just the three extras you put in—all of them go out. The overload knocks out the whole string.

That’s what is happening to many dedicated believers today. They’re so busy ministering, so busy working for God instead of with God, they’re overloading their spiritual generators. They’re putting out more than they’re putting in.

Proverbs 4:23 warns us against such careless treatment of our spirits. It says, “Keep thy heart [or spirit] with all diligence; for out of it are the issues [or forces] of life.” Most people don’t understand the importance of obeying that verse. They think if they eat right and rest and exercise, they’ll have all the strength they need. But they’re wrong. The real strength for living, the force that literally keeps the body alive, comes from the spirit man.

Your body has to have strength and life from your spirit being or it can’t function. When your spirit is strong, you can sleep a few hours, eat a good healthy meal, work out a little and you’re ready to go again. But when your spirit is weak, it doesn’t matter how many hours you sleep or how many vegetables you eat, you just can’t seem to get on top of things.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” — Proverbs 4:23

The pressure is on. There’s no question about it. We have more to do these days, and less time to do it in, than ever before.

Things, both in the natural world and in the world of the spirit, are moving at a rapid-fire pace. It’s exhilarating—and it can also be draining. In fact, if you don’t learn how to handle the pressure, it can drain you completely dry.

I know, because at one time in my life I let it happen to me. I felt like I was the most tired man in the world back then. I was so tired that no amount of rest would help. I went to bed tired and I woke up tired. Every bone in my body ached. At times, Gloria had to physically help me out of bed.

I felt much like the Apostle Paul must have felt when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8: “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble…that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.”

At that time in his ministry, Paul was under so much pressure he despaired of life. That’s what I did too. I got to the point where I wasn’t even fighting to live anymore. I went to God and said, “I’ve had all this I can stand. I just want to come on home now.”

What causes that kind of devastating fatigue? It took me a long time to find out, but when I did, I realized it was really very simple. My life force was being drained out. I was giving out more spiritual strength than I was putting back into myself. As a result, I developed a spiritual deficit that very nearly killed me.

Let me give you a word of warning. Don’t believe the old adage that says what you don’t know won’t hurt you. God’s Word says just the opposite. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). In the spirit realm, what you don’t know can kill you.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

In the old covenant, we can see
that the power of sin was very much
in force. Satan took the authority that
Adam had given him and perverted
it, using fear and death against men
instead of the life and faith they had
in God. The power of sin was operating
throughout the Old Testament.
A man could make the decision to
live in line with God’s Word, but sin
would still plague him night and day.
For instance, Noah performed the
greatest act of faith known to man
and then got roaring drunk! This is
why the decisions of the Old Testament
saints spoken of in Hebrews 11
were such outstanding feats of faith.
The power of sin was still inside them
and spiritual death was lodged in their
hearts. Then Jesus came to earth. He
bore the penalty of spiritual death,
broke its power, and was raised from
the dead, triumphant over Satan and
his kingdom. When you made Jesus
your Lord, the power of eternal life
enveloped your spirit and a new man
was born inside you: “Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. And all things
are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
This is the new covenant!

Wherefore then serveth the law? It
was added because of transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom
the promise was made; and it was
ordained by angels in the hand of
a mediator. Now a mediator is not
a mediator of one, but God is one.
Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid: for if there
had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But
the scripture hath concluded all
under sin, that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. But before faith
came, we were kept under the law,
shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed. Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. But after that
faith is come, we are no longer
under a schoolmaster. For ye are
all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male nor
female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according
to the promise (Galatians 3:19-29).

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

After the Fall of Adam, God was
in a peculiar position. He had given
Adam unquestionable authority over
the earth. But when Adam committed
high treason against God and bowed
his knee to Satan, spiritual death—the
nature of Satan—was lodged in his
heart. Actually, Adam was the first
person ever to be born again. He was
born from spiritual life to spiritual
death. God had said, “But of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die” (Genesis 2:17).

God said that Adam would die the
very day he ate the forbidden fruit, yet
he lived several hundred years longer.
God was not referring to physical
death. He meant that Adam would die
spiritually—that he would take on the
nature of Satan, which is spiritual death.

This process is reversed when you
make Jesus the Lord of your life. You
are born from death into life. The law
of spiritual lordship is our way back
into the hands of God. You take on
a new Lord and receive the nature of
your new Lord which is eternal life
(John 3:16). This is why Jesus went to
the cross. First John 3:8 says, “For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works
of the devil.” Jesus turned to the most
religious men of His day and said,
“Ye are of your father the devil” (John
8:44). By going to the cross as the sinless
Son of God, Jesus took away the
dominion Satan had over mankind.
First Corinthians 2:8 states that had
the princes of this world known, they
would never have crucified the Lord of
glory. This was a trap that the Father
and Jesus had set for Satan. He walked
into it, and it cost him his lordship
over the earth.

After Adam’s Fall in the Garden,
God needed an avenue back into the
earth. He needed some way to break
the union between Satan and mankind.
Since man was the key figure in
the Fall, man had to be the key figure
in the redemption, so God approached
a man named Abram. He re-enacted
with Abram what Satan had done
with Adam, except that God did not
sneak in and use deception, as Satan
had. God offered Abram a proposition
and Abram bought it.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Psalm 36:7-10
KJV—How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O
God! therefore the children of men put their
trust under the shadow of thy wings. They
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness
of thy house; and thou shalt make them
drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with
thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we
see light. O continue thy lovingkindness unto
them that know thee; and thy righteousness
to the upright in heart.

Amp—How precious is Your steadfast love,
O God! The children of men take refuge
and put their trust under the shadow of
Your wings. They relish and feast on the
abundance of Your house, and You cause
them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life; in
Your light do we see light. O continue Your
loving-kindness to those who know You,
Your righteousness [salvation] to the upright
in heart.

Moffatt—How precious is thy love, O God!
To thee men come for shelter in the
shadow of thy wings; they have their fill of
choice food in thy house, the stream of thy
delights to drink; for life’s own fountain is
within thy presence, and in thy smile we
have the light of life. Continue thy love to
those who care for thee, thy justice to
right-minded men.

NIV—How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men find refuge
in the shadow of your wings. They feast on
the abundance of your house; you give
them drink from your river of delights. For
with you is the fountain of life; in your light
we see light. Continue your love to those
who know you, your righteousness to the
upright in heart.

Psalm 68:19-20
KJV—Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of
our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is
the God of salvation; and unto God the
Lord belong the issues from death.

Amp—Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our
burdens and carries us day by day, even the
God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and
calmly think of that]! God is to us a God of deliverances
and salvation, and to God, the Lord,
belongs escape from death [setting us free].

Moffatt—Blessed be the Lord, our saving
God, who daily bears the burden of our life;
God is for us a God of victories, thanks to
the Eternal we escape from death.

NIV—Praise be to the Lord, to God our
Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah.
Our God is a God who saves; from the
Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries