BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

WORDS ON FAITH When you think like God, you get His victorious results. So get smart! Renew your mind with the Word and learn to think like God. ● The more we walk in the ways of the Spirit the freer we will be. Romans 8:1-2 ● God’s ways are higher than man’s. Isaiah 55:8-9 ● There’s no agreement between what God thinks and the way natural man thinks. Romans 8:5-6 ● We learn God’s ways by renewing our mind with His Word. Romans 12:2 ● Neglecting to learn God’s ways can be very costly. Hosea 4:6: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * article from p. 21 continues * * * * Let me warn you though: You won’t get that kind of training just casually reading the Bible now and then. You won’t get it by knowing generally what it says, or by mixing what it says with your own opinions. If you desire to truly learn to hear the voice of God in The WORD, you’ll have to do with it what God told Ahaz to do. You’ll have to take heed to it. You’ll have to pay attention! Take Aim, Zero In Paying attention is more than just mentally assenting to a scripture and saying, “Oh yes, hallelujah. Amen.” To pay attention means to lock in on what’s being said and make a firm decision that from now on, you will see this matter the way God sees it instead of the way you’ve always looked at it. To do that, you’ll have to do the second thing God told Ahaz to do. You’ll have to be quiet. You’ll have to shut up all the mental jabbering you’ve been doing, stop thinking about your own opinions and listen—really listen—to what The WORD says. Do you realize it’s possible to read great quantities of Scripture and never really hear what God is saying in it? It’s not only possible, people do it all the time. Here’s how it happens: We’ll read a verse or two and something in them will trigger another train of thought. We may start thinking about what Aunt Sally said about that scripture. Or what Grandma used to say. Or we may even let our mind wander off on something else altogether—all while we’re still reading our Bible! We end up with only a vague idea of what we read because we weren’t really paying attention to The WORD, we were paying attention to our own thoughts. Reading The WORD of God that way is like shooting scattershot at a flock of birds—you don’t ever hit anything. To hear the voice of God through His WORD, you have to take aim and zero in on every word as you read it. Instead of just breezing through the Bible reading it like you’d read a novel or a history book, read it deliberately. Meditate on it by asking yourself, What does that mean to me? How does it change my life? Ask The LORD to reveal specifically what He is saying to you through that WORD. Read every verse with the attitude that: This is God speaking to me and I am going to do what He tells me to do. Make a quality decision you’re going to act on that WORD as quickly as you would the word of your doctor, lawyer or a very close, trusted friend. Determine in advance that you’re not going to bend The WORD to fit your lifestyle. On the contrary, you’re going to bend your lifestyle to fit The WORD. With that attitude, your spiritual ears will be open to hear whatever God has to say. Fear Not! “But, Brother Copeland, I’m afraid I’ll do those things and I still won’t be able to hear the voice of God.” 22 : BVOV

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