BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Be Ready When the Crisis Hits I remember a letter we received from one of our Partners several years ago about an abiding word that came up in her when she was facing a very dangerous situation. A wildfire was about to burn down her house. The blaze had already consumed the woods that bordered her yard, and realizing she needed to get out, she grabbed her prayer journal and her Bible. (That tells you right there what her priorities were.) Then she suddenly had a thought. I need to take authority over this fire! She remembered that the Word says no evil shall befall you, nor any calamity come near your dwelling (Psalm 91:10, "AMPC"), so she commanded that fire to move out. Immediately the wind changed, and the fire went in a different direction. It turned away from her property and left her home untouched. That’s a good illustration of what it looks like to live as a citizen of heaven! It’s also a reminder of how important it can be to continually feed on the Word and maintain a spirit of faith. When a wildfire is bearing down on you, you don’t have time to go listen to a CD on God’s promises of protection. In times of emergency, you don’t have time to get your concordance and start hunting for verses in the Bible that will tell you what to do. No, at those moments, what will come out of you is what you already have in your heart: “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). Your life depends on what you have in your heart! So, keep it filled to overflowing all the time with God’s Word. Then, when trouble hits, you’ll be ready. You’ll be in the habit of talking like God does and you won’t be easy prey for the devil. An outlaw who comes to steal, kill and destroy, the devil knows all about the power of words. He knows, even if a lot of Christians don’t, that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). So, he’s always trying to get us, as believers, to speak words that, instead of working for us, will work against us. He’s always endeavoring to get hold of our tongues, so we’ll make the mistake the Israelites made the first time they started to go into the Promised Land. You remember that story. Ten of the spies Moses had sent into the land returned and reported that the giants there were too big to conquer. Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, believed God’s Word and said the giants were no problem. “Let’s go up at once! We can conquer them!” they said. * * * * article continues on p. 30 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * LIVING FREE As believers, we have all been delivered out from under the oppressive regime of the devil and translated into the freedom of the kingdom of God. But to fully enjoy our new freedom we must discover the process by which His kingdom operates. We must learn how to live free. Here are a few points to help you: Every time you read the Bible, expect to learn more about God’s methods of operation. Luke 8:10 Familiarize yourself with God’s voice by putting His written WORD first place in your life. Hebrews 4:12 Trust God to protect you by alerting you if you misunderstand something He said. John 10:5 If you are not sure you’ve heard the Spirit correctly, ask God to confirm it with His written WORD. 1 John 5:7 PRAY EVERY DAY AND PRACTICE LISTENING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT’S VOICE IN YOUR SPIRIT. John 14:17 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BVOV : 29

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