BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Victorious Living ------------------------------------------ by Gloria Copeland Change What You’re Hearing “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth.” Joshua 1:8 ------------------------------------------ Have you ever been frustrated with yourself...because of what you hear coming out of your mouth? Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). If you’re focusing most of your attention on natural things—watching secular television, going to the movies, thinking about worldly matters, worrying about your job and family—then that’s what you’re going to talk about. What you need to do is refocus your attention. Turn your attention toward God’s Word and keep it there. In everyday terms, Joshua 1:8 says, “Talk the Word.” When I say talk the Word, I don’t mean just every now and then when you’re feeling spiritual. I mean continually. In Deuteronomy 6:7 ("New International Version"), God said you should talk His Word, “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” That’s pretty much all the time, isn’t it? At home, at work, in the grocery store—wherever you are, keep the Word of God in your mouth. Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So when you’re continually talking about what God says, what He’ll do, and what His promises are, you’re going to be growing in faith because you’re hearing the Word from yourself all the time. Isn’t that exciting? You can change what you’re hearing. So start today to fill your heart with an abundance of the Word. Then listen as your mouth gets in line with what God says about you and your circumstances. V ****************************************** * * * * article from p. 27 continues * * * * That’s why the New Testament refers to us time and again as saints. Translated from the Greek word hagios, the word saint means “one who is sanctified or set apart for deity.” It quite literally means a holy one. Saint isn’t a religious title that gets bestowed on a person after he or she dies, because a group of people decides the person is worthy and votes to give it to him. Saints are just people who have put their faith in Jesus and received Him as their Lord and Savior. They are simply people who have been separated unto God through the new birth. Everyone of us, as believers, are saints! We just need to live like it. We need to let who we are on the inside show on the outside, by doing what God says and obeying the instructions He gave us in the Bible—instructions like what’s written in 1 Peter 1:13-15: “Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” ("New King James Version"). Be His Special Treasure God has always wanted to have a people who would live that way. He’s always dreamed of having sons and daughters who would come out from among the people of the world and be His holy treasure; who would obey His voice and let Him be God in their lives. He spoke to the Israelites about it back in the Old Testament. After He delivered them from Pharaoh’s army, God said: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6). Notice, God said He freed the Israelites from Egyptian bondage so He could bring them to Himself. He didn’t just bring them out to get them to the Promised Land. He wanted them to be able to worship Him freely, to walk and talk with Him and experience His manifested presence. That’s always been God’s heart. As Andrew Murray wrote, “The Father longs to have back again the man He lost in Paradise.” He longs to enjoy once again the closeness of relationship He had with His family in the Garden of Eden. Restoring that relationship is what the whole Bible is about! It’s about God getting His family back. It’s about Him redeeming His people so that He can fellowship with them in all His holy glory without that glory coming into contact with their fallen nature and killing them. To the degree it was possible under the Old Covenant, that’s what God had planned all those thousands of years ago for the Israelites. He planned to come visit them in person! As He said to Moses: “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee…. Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai” (verses 9-11). 28 : BVOV

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