BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Of course, the Holy Spirit’s objective is holiness. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we can sit back and welcome sin and act like fools. The objective of the Holy Spirit is to do what rule-keeping couldn’t, to produce right living and morality. Where Is Your Faith? So God’s promise to give the whole world to Abraham and his descendants was not based on his obedience to God’s law. Verses 13-14 say, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless” ("NLT"). Many believers have thought, Well, we haven’t been doing enough good. Or, We’re not giving enough. That’s why we’re not walking in the blessing. They put it on what they did or didn’t do. Under the covenant of grace, though, we must have faith in what Jesus has already done—not in what we’re trying to do. Your promise of the blessing isn’t based on your ability to keep something that Jesus died to free you from. Instead, it’s based on whether you believe that when you received Jesus into your life, He made you the righteousness of God. You are made righteous because of Jesus alone. Nothing else. God is not good to you because you’re good. God is good to you because He is good. The blessing of Abraham for the new covenant believer is made void and of no effect when you try to earn and deserve it through your efforts (Romans 4:16). The secret to walking in the blessing of Abraham is to stop trying to deserve it. Instead, exercise your faith to believe you are righteous through Jesus’ finished works. The Abrahamic blessing of being an heir of the world comes by trusting God’s unmerited favor in your life. Success Is Yours Grace-based success comes from accepting what Jesus has done and practicing His presence. Through Him, you have access to the blessing and all the benefits that come as a result of it. Acts of obedience, like taking Communion, giving and praying, are good; but they don’t cause you to earn God’s blessing. That has been given because of who He is, not what you’ve done. Simply receive it. Begin by giving thanks to Him for the complete victory—the grace-based success—He has provided. It was total and complete, and—glory to God—it’s YOURS! V Creflo Dollar is the founder and senior pastor of World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga. He is a renowned Bible teacher, author and conference speaker. For more information, visit creflodollarministries.org. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watch Creflo Dollar on VICTORY Channel Mon.-Fri: 7:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET *************************************** *************************************** Fact vs. Truth by Kenneth Copeland Jesus commanded us to operate in the same God kind of faith He has. He also told us that anyone who did it would have the same results. After all, it’s His faith that’s in us. He put it there. That being the case, how do we deal with the fact that so many Christians are being defeated by sickness, poverty and every other kind of problem? By understanding that those defeats are “fact,” but they are not “truth.” You see, facts can be changed. Truth can’t. Truth supersedes fact. Spiritual law supersedes natural, physical law. The law of gravity, for example, is a fact. But there is a higher law than the law of gravity. Those in the aeronautical industry know it as the law of lift. If you do certain things—make an airplane, build the wing right and engine powerful enough and so on—you’ll be able to put the law of lift into motion and make an airplane fly. How does that happen? Does gravity cease to be a fact? No. The law of lift simply supersedes it. In the same way, sickness and disease are facts. But those facts can be superseded by the truth in Isaiah 53:5, “With [Jesus’] stripes we are healed.” It’s a truth that can never be changed. What’s more, if you’ll apply that truth, it will overcome sickness every time! Truth applied changes facts. Applying it. That’s the key. You can put on your finest traveling clothes, pack your luggage and go sit down in a perfectly good airplane...but you won’t get 6 inches off the ground unless somebody turns on the engines and begins to put the law of lift into motion. What we need to do is apply our faith just like Jesus did. We need to learn to supersede our natural circumstances by activating the supernatural law of faith. So apply the truth to your facts today. Speak Isaiah 53:5 to your body. Speak Philippians 4:19 to your needs. Speak Isaiah 54:13 over your children. And watch the truth change the facts! V BVOV : 15

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