BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Then one day, right in the midst of that impossible mess, the prophet Elisha declared a word from the Lord. He said to the Israelite king, “By this time tomorrow, in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of fine flour will cost only half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only half an ounce of silver” (7:1, "NLT"-96). An officer of the king heard the prophecy and scoffed: “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it," Elisha answered (verse 2, "NKJV"). Sure enough, overnight the Lord caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and horses, and “they panicked and fled into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, and they fled for their lives” (verse 7, "NLT"-96). Shortly thereafter, four Israelite lepers ventured into the camp to beg for something to eat and realized the Syrian army was gone. The lepers helped themselves to some of the Syrian’s abandoned food, supplies, silver and gold. Then, realizing they should share the good news, they went back and told the people of Samaria what had happened, and they all rushed out and plundered the Syrian’s camp. “So, it was true that five quarts of fine flour were sold that day for half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain were sold for half an ounce of silver, just as the Lord had promised. The king appointed his officer to control the traffic at the gate, but he was knocked down and trampled to death as the people rushed out. So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted” (verses 16-17, "NLT"-96). I love that story! It always reminds me that God is able to provide miraculously for His people in any situation. Let’s believe Him to do it! Instead of being like the king’s officer who doubted what God said, just because it didn’t seem reasonable, let’s put our faith in God’s Word and be expectant. Let’s become miracle minded, blessing minded, and supernatural-increase minded, and dare to believe, that as Ephesians 3:20 says: “[God] is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!” V * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Don’t Leave Home Without It! by Keith Moore Many Christians see faith as a means of receiving from God and having their needs met, and that is true. But there is another dimension to faith that is often overlooked, and that is: Faith is a protective force. Ephesians 6 talks about faith as a very important part of the armor of God. "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (Ephesians 6:11, 14-16). The enemy will come against you with wiles, craftiness and deception. But God has equipped you with armor that will enable you to stand and resist his arsenal. Notice the importance given to the shield in verse 16. It says, “above all, taking the shield of faith….” In other words, above all, don’t leave home without your shield! The word shield in this verse means “very big shield.” God wouldn’t give you a shield so small that if you moved a millimeter, you would get blasted. This shield is bigger than you—it’s the size of a door! You can pull out a lawn chair, put your feet up and relax behind it. * * * * article continues on p 30 * * * * BVOV : 29

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