BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The next thing Dad told us was so simple yet absolutely liberating. He explained that we are not required to know God’s will way into the future. We only need to walk in His will for us today—just one day at a time. He went on to remind us that we first find the will of God revealed in His Word. To whatever His Word says, we respond, “Thy will be done!” And then we do it! It’s amazing how obedience to the obvious commands of the Lord—such as study, prayer, tithing, giving—can open the specific will of God to us. The greatest command is to love God and love others the same way He loves us. Living by love releases a free flow of His will in our lives: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19). “Then,” he said, “just do what is right in front of you to do.” Of course, keeping our lives free from ungodliness is essential. Sin cuts us off from the goodness God has planned for us. Just ask Adam. If we own a Bible, we have no excuse for not knowing what He has made obvious. “So,” he continued, “every day look for His will in His WORD and set your heart to do it. Then, as you pray in the spirit and fellowship with your loving heavenly Father, watch within for His leading. After all, Jesus said in John 16:13-14 that it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s earthly ministry to lead, guide and show us God’s will. If you continue to listen within and act on His leading (Romans 8:14), you will end your day—and eventually your life—fulfilling His will for you.” Believe it! Say it! Act on it! “Thy will be done!” V Terri Copeland Pearsons, the eldest daughter of Kenneth Copeland, is chief operating officer of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and president of Kenneth Copeland Bible College®. Along with her husband, George Pearsons, she is also senior pastor of Eagle Mountain Inter-national Church at KCM in Fort Worth. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watch EMIC services with Pastors George & Terri on VICTORY Channel® Live services: Sun. 11 a.m. | Wed. 8 p.m. Replays: Sun. 10:30 p.m. & Sat. 2 a.m. | Wed. midnight. ET ********************************* ********************************* ********************************* WATCH AND PRAY by Gloria Copeland “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 Have you ever been frustrated with the weaknesses of your flesh? Have you ever resolved never more to yield to a particular sin, yet when the temptation came, you fell right back into it? It’s happened to all of us—even the disciple Peter. He swore he would never deny Jesus...but he did it anyway, time and time and time again. There is, however, something we can do to keep from falling prey to temptations like that. We can “watch and pray.” That’s what Jesus told Peter and the other disciples to do in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew they were about to be tempted, and He knew that the weakness of their flesh would overcome them if they didn’t strengthen their spirits through prayer. That’s true for you and me too. That’s why in Jude 20-21, God tells us much the same thing that Jesus told the disciples that night. He says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith...praying in the Holy Spirit; guard and keep yourselves in the love of God…” ("Amplified Bible, Classic Edition"). God knows even better than we do that our flesh has been trained to flow with the world’s stream. He knows that even though our born-again spirits are reaching for God, our untrained flesh will always have a tendency to fall into sin. So, He’s given us the ability to pray in other tongues, to strengthen our spirits and build ourselves up until our spirits take ascendancy over our flesh. As we pray in the spirit, Romans 8:26 tells us, “the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf…” ("AMPC"). Is it any wonder the Apostle Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18)! It is one of the most powerful tools God has given us. So don’t neglect to use it. Follow the instruction in Ephesians 6:18 and pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.” Don’t make the mistake that Peter made. When temptation comes to your door, don’t let it catch you sleeping. Be prepared. Make sure your spirit is strong enough to rise above it. V BVOV : 23

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