BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

It’s when you stop hearing and obeying God that you get into trouble. That’s why I recommend that you regularly check up on yourself. In fact, take a moment right now and examine your heart to see if maybe you’ve been holding back on something He’s told you to do. Maybe He’s spoken to you, either through the written Word or by His Spirit, about giving more, or ministering more to people. Maybe He’s talked to you about spending more time in prayer and the Word, or moving to another city, and you’ve procrastinated. Maybe you’ve thought, I couldn’t do that! I’m not able. It would be too hard. If so, wipe those thoughts out of your mind. God will never tell you to do something without giving you the ability to do it. Even if it’s beyond your natural capabilities. The Bible says in Matthew 19:26, New King James Version, that “with God all things are possible.” Mark 9:23 tells us, “All things are possible to him who believes." Remember in the Bible when God told Moses to go speak to Pharaoh? Moses initially said he couldn’t do it because he didn’t have the ability. “I am not eloquent,” he argued. “I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). His argument didn’t sway God, however. God simply replied, “Go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (verse 12). When God is with you, it doesn’t matter who you are! If you’ll obey Him, He can take you anywhere He wants you to go and enable you to do anything He wants you to do. Oral Roberts was one of the greatest orators the world has ever known, yet when God called him to preach when he was a dying young man, he couldn’t even talk. He stuttered miserably. Like Moses, he could have argued that he was slow of speech and refused to go into the ministry. But he didn’t. He hearkened to God’s voice and obeyed, and millions of people were blessed as a result. If we will say yes to God and do what we can do, God will do what we can’t do. If we’ll do our part and obey Him, He will most certainly do His part. But He will not make us obey. He won’t make you tithe, for instance. He’ll tell you that tithing opens the windows of heaven so He can “pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). But you get to decide: Do I want to act on what God said and be financially blessed…or not? The answer to that question is not up to God. He doesn’t decide whether the windows of heaven are going to be open over you. You do. Financially, as in every other area of life, that’s just how God’s system works: He gives you His Word, and if you choose to listen to and obey Him, you are blessed. Put Down the Remote and Pick Up Your Bible To be clear, when I say God gives you His Word, I don’t mean He will come in while you’re watching TV, slap the remote out of your hand and start quoting the Scriptures to you. No, you must take the initiative. You must hearken to Him by seeking Him in the Word and in prayer. BVOV : 29

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