BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

be like Naaman. Have you ever read about him? Second Kings 5 says when he went to the prophet Elisha to receive healing, he didn't want to have to believe and act on the Word of the Lord that was delivered to him through Elisha. He thought Elisha should just wave his hand over him and work an instant miracle. But things don't normally work that way. They didn't work that way in Naaman's situation, and they don't usually work that way for us as believers. Generally, when you need to receive something from God—whether it's healing, deliverance from trouble, a new home or a better job—it's not going to come just by your pastor laying hands on you. Even if your pastor is anointed, healed and prosperous, more often than not for you to receive those things yourself, you must do the same thing your pastor did to get them—believe and act on the Word of God! I'm not saying you'll never get an instant miracle. But if you're a believer, miracles are supposed to be the norm in your life. As a citizen of the kingdom of God, you're to believe for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. There aren't any miracles in heaven! Why? Because there's no need for them there. God intends for the same to be true in your life. God doesn't want you to have to live on miracles. He wants you to get full of His Word so He can sustain you in divine health and prosperity. He wants the kingdom of heaven to be continually manifested in your life. That's not something somebody else can make happen for you. It's not something you can do just riding on the pastor's coattails. For you to live on earth as a citizen of heaven, you must continually put the law of receiving to work in your life. You must find out what God said about whatever it is you need, put it in your heart and in your mouth, and speak out your own deliverance and victory by faith! Not Just on Sunday Morning Sadly, a lot of Christians are doing just the opposite. Rather than speaking the Word of God, they're talking about the trouble they're facing. They're getting themselves deeper into di'culty by speaking words of worry and doubt. Jesus told us not to do that! He said in Matthew 6:31-33, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition: Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. How do you seek first God's ways of doing and being right? You live day by day according to His Word. God's Word reveals His ways and contains His wisdom; and to seek, in Hebrew, means "to tread frequently, to pursue, to follow after, to be diligent about." So, to seek first God's kingdom and His ways, you put His Word first place in your schedule. You not only spend time in the Word but you make it your top priority and final authority, and depend on it for your direction in life. Every morning when you get up, you talk to the Lord first and tell Him, "I'm dependent on You today. You're my Source, You're my Help, my Wisdom, my Health, my Everything." You don't think about Him only on Sunday morning. You live with Him every day! You worship and honor Him daily. You say, "Lord, whatever I see in Your Word, whatever I hear in my heart from You, I will do it." I've found in my own life that part of seeking the Lord is being pliable. It's listening to Him and being quick to respond to His Word and His voice. I endeavor to be sensitive to the Lord all the time. If I'm driving somewhere and I sense Him prompting me to take a diŸerent route than I planned, for instance, I don't argue with Him. I don't try to figure out why He wants me to go that way. I just obey Him. His direction may not hit me like a big flash of light. It might be very subtle, but if I 2 8 : B V O V For you to live on earth as a citizen of heaven, you must continually put the law of receiving to work in your life.

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