BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Now look at these verses from the "New Living Translation": “In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.” Vessels of gold or silver are excellent vessels. They’re the expensive ones you polish and use for special occasions. They’re also a picture of what every born-again, Spirit-filled child of God is created to be. We weren’t meant to limp through life as lowly mud pots. God will still love us if we do. But it’s not His plan, and He doesn’t want it to be ours either. He wants us to live as golden vessels of honor in the hands of the Master. To cleanse ourselves of dishonor so that His excellent Spirit can shine through us. How do you do that? You simply make a quality decision. (That’s a decision about which there is no more argument and from which there is no retreat.) You decide: I am a golden vessel, a person with an excellent spirit, and that’s what I will continue to be. Then, once you’ve made that decision, you act on it. You believe God and do what He tells you to do. You take seriously and obey His every command. Such obedience is vital because there’s no such thing as a lightweight command from God. When He tells you to do something, even if it doesn’t look all that important to you, He has a reason for it. So, ignoring it will cost you. Take, for example, what He told me to do many years ago about exercising. When I first got started in ministry, He commanded me to “start walking and don’t quit.” I understood Him perfectly. I even knew why He had said it. I was significantly overweight back then, and there was no way I could do everything God had called me to do if I kept carrying around 30 or 40 extra pounds. But I didn’t want to exercise. I’d hated it ever since high school. So, I didn’t make a quality decision to obey The LORD in that area. I’d walk for a few days, then slough it off and forget about it. I managed to get my weight under control with dieting programs and such. But even so, for years the fat percentage on my body stayed at about 35 percent. I eventually got it down to about 20 percent and dreamed of getting it down to the ideal, which is 15 percent. I even claimed it. But when it came to exercise, after being in the ministry for decades, I still wasn’t doing what God had said. Getting With the Program Then a couple of years ago The LORD dealt with me very strongly. He drew my attention to some areas in my life and ministry where I’d gotten sloppy and spoke to me about them. 'You’d better get your house in order,' He said. One by one, I addressed those areas until eventually we got down to the exercise issue. 'What are you going to do about this?' He asked. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything about it,” I replied. 'Well, you’re going to have to,' He said. He’d already sent me one of the finest trainers in the country. But up to that point, instead of approaching my training with excellence, I’d just griped about it and done as little as I could get away with. So, I made a change. I repented right there and made a quality decision to get with the program. The next day, I went into the exercise room with a whole different attitude. I was glad to be there and ready to give this thing my all. As I reached up to grab the bar to work my triceps, however, these words came out of my mouth before I could even think to stop them: "God, I hate this!” Why did I say it? Because I’d been saying that about exercise for years. I’d said it until it had gotten in me. When you say something long enough, it will get into your heart and control your life. Realizing that’s what had happened to me, I immediately slapped my hand over my mouth. “God, forgive me!” I said. “In the Name of The LORD Jesus Christ, I repent with all my heart. LORD, I love this because I love You. I dedicate myself to this because I’ve dedicated my life to You.” As soon as I got those words out of my mouth, I physically felt that hatred for exercise leave me. From then on, I fell in love with the weight room. I began to enjoy working out. Less than three months later I was at 15 percent body fat! I’d struggled and failed for 20 years to reach that goal because I’d counted God’s commandment as a lightweight thing. It hadn’t looked like much to me, so I hadn’t realized that it was from His excellent glory. Now, though, I’ve made the adjustment. At 82 years old with 15 percent body fat, I have a brand-new mandate from God and I’m excited about it. What made the difference? I released the excellence of God in that area of my life. You can do the same thing! You can release the excellence of God in any area and see His glory go to work for you. All it takes is a quality decision to do these five things: 1. Decide to live always and only by God’s WORD. Make it your absolute final authority. Determine that you’ll have no other source in your life—if The WORD won’t get it, you won’t have it. 2. Decide to live the life of love. To believe the love God has for you, and to love others the way He loves you. * * * * * * continues on p. 8 * * * * * * BVOV : 7

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