BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The Apostle Paul wrote about the latter to the Philippians. Because they were his ministry partners who, as he put it “communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving” (Philippians 4:15), he said to them: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy...being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is [right] for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace" (Philippians 1:3-7). The phrase, partakers of my grace, hearkens back to what God said in Genesis 12 about Abraham’s BLESSING partners: They partook of his BLESSING. According to Paul, the same principle was working for his ministry partners. That’s why he could pray for them with such confidence. He knew that the same anointing that was on him was also on them, and he wanted them to know it. For the Philippians this was thrilling news! They had firsthand experience with the power of Paul’s anointing. Years earlier, when he and Silas had been arrested and thrown in jail in their city for preaching the gospel, the Philippians’ pastor had been the prison warden. He’d seen what happened that night. At midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing and praising God, an earthquake hit the place. It shook the whole prison, opened every door, and caused all the prisoners’ chains to fall off. The quake didn’t come from heaven, either. It came from inside Paul and Silas. Now Paul was telling them they had that same anointing—not only to defend the gospel but to confirm it. How is the gospel confirmed? With signs and wonders. As Jesus said in Mark 16: “In my name shall [believers] cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (verses 17-18). The Apostle Paul had experience with such supernatural signs. They marked his ministry, so he told his partners they should be expecting them too. “You’re partakers of my grace!” he said. “The same miracle-working power that’s working in me also belongs to you!” The Best Deal Ever This is the revelation that exploded in me years ago when I was working for Brother Oral Roberts. As his co-pilot and driver of his car, I was with him in his meetings and heard him preach about the power of partnership in the gospel. I saw great miracles take place as he laid hands on people to be healed, and then I watched him lay his hands on a microfiche list of his partners and pray for them while that healing anointing was still on him. Talk about powerful! I wanted in on that. So, the first time I attended one of his partner meetings, I became a partner with his ministry. When I got home, I was so thrilled I could hardly wait to tell Gloria. “Gloria,” I said, “we’re partners with Oral Roberts for $10 a month!” She looked at me, crestfallen. We just barely had enough money back then to keep from starving. “Where will we ever get $10 a month?” she said. 8 : BVOV

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