BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

3 0 : B V O V our fl esh. We bring our natural, physical body into subjection and develop new habits that refl ect the righteousness that's in our reborn spirit. This is the way we, as believers, are designed to operate! It's the reason God gave us the New Covenant. As Romans 8:4-5 says: So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the fl esh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the fl esh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]. For those who are according to the fl esh…set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the fl esh, but those who are according to the Spirit...set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit (Amplifi ed Bible, Classic Edition). To be clear, those verses don't say we'll get to the point where we've spiritually arrived and we don't have to deal with the fl esh anymore. No, as long as we live on the earth we have to keep practicing putting spiritual things fi rst. Otherwise, we'll get our attention back on natural things and fl eshly desires, and we'll lose some of our hunger for God. I'll never forget the moment back in 1977 when I realized that very thing had happened to me. At the time, I was listening to a prophecy given by Kenneth E. Hagin. He was prophesying about believers in the last days who will march out into the world like a great spiritual army, doing the works of Jesus. "You can be part of that army if you desire," he said. "So purpose in your heart that you'll not be lazy, that you'll not draw back. Purpose in your heart that you will rise up and march forward and become on fi re." When I heard those words, I realized something about myself I hadn't previously noticed. After 10 years in ministry, I wasn't as on fi re for the Lord as I had once been! In 1967, when Ken and I had fi rst started learning about faith and the integrity of God's Word, I'd been so spiritually hungry that the things of God had absolutely consumed my thinking and my life. I didn't give my attention to anything else. Partly because we were in such a desperate situation back then—broke and saddled with a mountain of debt—I saw God as my only hope. So other than taking care of my children and doing my duties at home, I spent my time with Him in the Word. By 1977, however, we had grown some in the Lord and our situation had changed. We were blessed, debt free and prospering. Busy with ministry matters and life in general, natural things had increasingly begun to absorb my attention. As a result, my passion for the things of the Lord had cooled o . Although I was still putting the Word in my heart every day, I was doing it out of discipline instead of desire. That day, as I was listening to Brother Hagin, I decided to make a change. I purposed in my heart to do what he said and become spiritually on fi re again. I made a commitment to give less of my time to all the other things I'd been doing—things that, although they weren't wrong, had begun to occupy too important a place in my life—and give more of my attention to prayer and God's Word. Sure enough, before long the hunger in my heart for things of God began to return! My desire for Him increased. My passion for the move of His Spirit heated back up again. Why? Because it's a principle: Our desire follows our attention. The more we attend to the things of the fl esh, the more we desire and follow after the fl esh. The more we attend to the things of God, the more we wholeheartedly desire and follow Him. Colossians 3:1-2 says: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your a ection on things above, not on things on the earth." Those are God's marching orders to us as believers—and they are especially vital for those of us who are living in the last of the last days. We don't have time anymore to straddle the fence between the fl esh and the spirit. The biggest spiritual outpouring this earth has ever seen has already begun. God wants to reveal His glory through the Church as never before. So, let's invite Him into our midst and let Him do it. Let's give Him fi rst place in our lives and our church services. Let's reverence Him above all, bring our fl esh into submission, and throw the door wide open for the Holy Spirit to do everything He wants to do! "You should esteem Him so highly that you always put Him fi rst place and yield to Him in all things."

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