BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

You’ll Be the One Left Standing Then Paul wrote, “and having done all, to stand” (verse 13). Some people think he meant, “If nothing else works, then just hold on to the end.” But if the Word, the blood, the armor and the power of God don’t work…standing is not going to help. (And by the way, all those things work!) What did Paul mean? The Greek tense here is significant. It means, “And having brought your battle to an ultimate conclusion.” In this verse, Paul prophesied about the ultimate conclusion: “You will be the one left standing.” This is God’s snapshot of your future. You may see yourself as a struggler, but when God pulls a photo of you out of His wallet, He doesn’t see you as a struggler. He calls the end from the beginning. When He looks at His future snapshot of you, He says, “When this battle is wrapped up, you’re going to be standing.” That is your eternal perspective. That’s why Paul began his next statement with: “Stand therefore” (verse 14). You’re going to be standing at the end anyhow, so you might as well stand up now. Hold your head high. Throw your shoulders back. Put your faith to work and grab everything God has for you! This is who we are. We are not victims. We are victors. In order for us to stand the way God prophesies, we have to obey verse 10. We must “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” When His power flows in us, it transforms us from weaklings into superheroes of faith. And when His power fills us, it puts His divine weaponry on us so that we can “stand against the wiles of the devil” (verse 11). Yes, there is a real enemy who is coming against us (verse 12). And if you’ve dropped your weaponry, it’s not too late. Like Paul encouraged the Ephesians, you can pick it up again. This weaponry will enable you to get all the way to the end (verse 13). When it’s all said and done, you’ll still be standing! V Rick Renner and his wife, Denise, moved to Latvia in 1992, and have since pioneered three churches, a Bible school, and a ministerial association in the former USSR. For more information or ministry materials visit renner.org. Watch Rick Renner on VICTORY Channel™ Mon.-Fri. 1:30 p.m. | 7 p.m. ET ******************************** ******************************** ******************************** STRIFE WILL KEEP YOU CARNAL by Gloria Copeland “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 1 CORINTHIANS 3:3 It’s bad enough that strife opens the door of our lives to confusion and every evil work (James 3:14-16). That alone should make us resist it with all our might. But that’s not all the Bible has to say about it. In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul gave us even more information about the damaging effects of strife. He wrote: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Carnal Christians are miserable people. They’re born again and they know enough about God not to enjoy sin, but they aren’t committed enough to stay out of sin. If you don’t want to find yourself trapped in that condition (and I know you don’t) then stay out of strife, because strife will keep you carnal! It will inhibit your ability to digest the meat of the Word, and without that meat you won’t be able to grow into a strong, victorious Christian. If you fuss and bicker with others, your spiritual growth will be stunted. You’ll remain in a perpetual state of spiritual infancy and the devil will run over you regularly! So grow up. Don’t stay a baby. Get out of strife and into the Word. Soon you’ll be the overcomer the Word says you are! V BVOV : 21

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