BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The simple truth is, if you’re born of God you’ve got what it takes to live in victory. Don’t let the devil talk you into anything less! You may say, “That sounds good, Gloria, but we’ve got to be realistic. We live in a world that’s full of problems. And as long as we live in this world, it seems to me we’re going to have our share of them.” Yes, that’s true. Even Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration.” But notice, He didn’t stop there! He went on to say, “but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you]” (John 16:33, "AMPC"). Most believers don’t have any trouble believing the first part of that verse. They know all too well how many tribulations, trials, distresses and frustrations surround them. But they’re less certain about the last part. They haven’t yet experienced for themselves exactly what Jesus meant when He said He had deprived those things of the power to harm them. And the reason they haven’t had that experience is because they’re still living as though they’re part of the world. Let me show you what I mean. In John 17, as He was praying for all of us who would become His disciples, Jesus said: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (verses 15-17). In other words, although you as a believer must live in the world, Jesus never intended you to live as though you were part of the world. He didn’t intend for you to share in its sins or its sicknesses, its poverty or its perversions. You see, there are two kingdoms in operation on this earth. There’s the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. As children of God, you and I are citizens of the kingdom of light—even though we’re surrounded by darkness. Some people make the mistake of thinking they won’t be able to live in the kingdom of light until they die and go to heaven. But that’s not the case. Colossians 1:12-13 makes that clear. It says: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Notice that the verbs in those verses are past tense. That’s because your transference into the kingdom of light isn’t something that’s going to happen to you some day in the future. It’s something that happened to you the day you made Jesus the Lord of your life. You’ve already been brought out of the darkness into the light. Yes, even though your feet are firmly planted on the earth, as a born-again child of God you are already a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And that citizenship gives you certain rights—including the right to experience victory over all the evils of this world. You are however, as Jesus said, to be “sanctified” or separated from them. Just exactly how are you to separate yourself from the world when you are surrounded by it on every side? Look again at that last verse we read in John: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” It’s the Word of God that separates you from the world. It’s His Word and His Word alone that will set your victory in motion. If you’ll receive it, believe it, speak it and act on it, that Word will set you apart from those around you. It will take you from trouble to triumph again and again. We already found in 1 John 5:4 that “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Well, since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, we could also say that scripture this way: “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our believing God’s Word.” Faith is believing God’s Word under any circumstances (and usually in spite of the circumstances). It’s believing God’s promises of prosperity in spite of the negative balance in your bank account. It’s believing God’s promise of healing in spite of the pain. I know that sounds tough, and it is at first. But anyone who’s lived by faith for very long will tell you that if you’ll just keep on feeding your mind and your heart with the Word of God, one day that Word will start to take hold inside you. You may be facing some obstacle that you haven’t quite been able to conquer. You may have prayed about it and read the Word and yet still struggled with doubts. But if you will just keep at it, then one day the reality of God’s Word concerning that obstacle will start to dawn on you. And suddenly that impossibility you’ve been dealing with will become a possibility. Victory will start to well up within you from the inside out. You’ll begin using the Word to draw boundaries around your life, to paint spiritual warning signs for the devil, that say: • Off-Limits! • According to God’s Word. • I don’t belong to you anymore. • My family doesn’t belong to you. • My health doesn’t belong to you. • My future doesn’t belong to you. • My money doesn’t belong to you. • My ministry doesn’t belong to you. • I belong to a different Kingdom. • Now, back off in Jesus’ Name. If you’ll put the Word to work in your life, you can stake out your territory! You can live a life of peace and victory right here in the middle of the anxiety and defeat of the world. God gave us a physical illustration of that principle during the time the nation of Israel was held captive in Egypt. Pharaoh had refused to set the Israelites free, so God had allowed a thick darkness to cover the whole land. The darkness was so dreadful throughout Egypt that no one moved for three days. 10 : BVOV

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