BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

I love the book of Jeremiah because all through it God talks about the good He wants to do for His people. He promised them that even though they kept rebelling against Him and would go into captivity, after 70 years He'd gather them up and bring them back home. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11, New International Version). God is still saying that to us today! He still has good plans for us. He's still merciful and loving and desires for us to be blessed in every area of our lives. But to fulfi ll His desires, He needs us to position ourselves to receive from Him. How do we do that? By doing what He wanted the Israelites to do: by hearing, believing and doing what He says in His Word. "But Gloria," you might say, "the Israelites were under the Law. As New Covenant believers we don't live by the law, we live by faith." You're right! And what is faith? It's simply believing God's Word and acting like it's true. That's what you did when you got born again. You heard God's Word about the salvation that's been provided through Jesus, and you acted on it by faith. You believed it in your heart and confessed it with your mouth. When you did, you received the blessing of the new birth. Faith is what brings all God's blessings into manifestation. It's what transfers them from the spirit realm into the natural realm. As Hebrews 11:1 says, faith is "the assurance (the confi rmation, the title deed)" or "the substance" of the things we hope for, "the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality" (Amplifi ed Bible, Classic Edition). Putting faith in God's Word causes things to happen in our lives. It brings to pass all the promises God made to us in the Bible. When we mix His promises with faith, they take on substance or natural materiality. They become healing, fi nances or whatever we need. Promises Made and Fulfi lled God has always worked with His people by promise. Long before God gave the Israelites the Law, He established His covenant with Abraham by making him a promise. He said, "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3). How did Abraham respond to that promise? He believed it! He began to talk and act like it was true, and sure enough, what God said came to pass. That's the way God's Word works for everyone! It's why He tells us all through the Bible to attend to His Word; because, as Jesus said, we don't live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The more of God's Word you know and act on, the better your life is going to be in every area—the more joy, freedom and abundance you're going to have. If you just halfway listen to Him, though, and halfway do what He says, you're going to come up short. If you just 2 8 : B V O V POINTS TO GET YOU THERE: 1 God has good plans for your life. (Jer. 29:11) 2 His plans for you come to pass when you walk in His ways. (Isa. 55:8–9) 3 God's Word reveals His ways and contains His power. (Isa. 55:11) 4 Putting faith in God's Word gives substance to the promises in the Bible and causes them to become a material reality. (Heb. 11:1) 5 Continue to believe, speak and act on the Word. In time you will see God's promises fulfi lled in your life. (Heb. 6:11–12) To release their creative power, God's words must be in your heart, in your mouth and be acted upon.

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