BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

1 4 : B V O V love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." The love of God is marvelous. It makes us a blessing to others and helps us fulfi ll our relational callings. I particularly like the way it's described in the footnotes in the Spirit-Filled Life Bible that accompany 1 Corinthians 13. It says: Love su ers long, having patience with imperfect people. Love is kind, active in doing good. Love does not envy…is not pu ed up, treating others arrogantly…but displays good manners and courtesy. Love does not seek its own, insisting on its own rights and demanding precedence….is not provoked… irritable or touchy, rough or hostile, but is graceful under pressure. Love thinks no evil; it does not keep an account of wrongs done to it; instead, it erases resentments. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, fi nding satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and spreading an evil report, rather, it rejoices in the truth, aggressively advertising the good. Love bears all things, defending and holding other people up. Love believes the best about others…hopes all things, never giving up on people…endures all things, persevering and remaining loyal to the end (verses 4-8). I learned from my friend Rick Renner, who is an accomplished Greek scholar, that love encompasses all the fruit of the spirit. According to Rick, Galatians 5:22-23, where the fruit is described, can actually be read like this: "The fruit of the spirit is love, which is joy, peace, longsu ering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." All of those are in every part of your spirit! They may still be in seed form within you. But you can water them—with the Word, with fellowship with Jesus, and by praying in the spirit. Then, when you draw on any part within you, you will also be drawing on all this blessed spiritual fruit. Righteousness and Grace Yet another divine element that permeates all the various parts of your spirit is the righteousness of God. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). Think of it: You are the righteousness of God—in Christ! What is righteousness? It's God's own right-ness. He is right. He is perfect, without fl aw or weakness. There is nothing right outside of Him and nothing in Him that is not perfectly right. God's righteousness is such a powerful force, it changes what is wrong and makes it right—or eliminates it altogether. It came into you when you were born again and made every part of your spirit perfect and without blemish. Living righteously allows that force of righteousness to fl ow freely from you. None of us, of course, could have ever been made righteous if not for the pure and holy blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:22). Oh, thank God for the blood! Every part of us was touched by sin and death. But by Jesus' sinless blood, we are thoroughly blood- washed, blood-cleansed, blood-redeemed… and saturated with God's grace. The very earmark of the gospel, the divine element of God's grace is also in every part of us. "The glory of His grace…made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us" (Ephesians 1:6-8, NKJV). What is grace? It's God's willingness to supply His power and ability to us to be what He wants us to be, do what He wants us to do, and have all that He wants us to have. His grace is running throughout every part of our being for this purpose: "That we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]" (Ephesians 2:10, AMPC). All these precious elements combine to produce in us LIFE! The eternal, abundant life of God which is His glory. Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). That's why He came—to give us LIFE! In every part! Overfl owing life! That life was within Him when He came to earth, and even while living in a very natural human body, He drew on the Divine within Him and revealed it to mankind. Now, YOU have that divine life! You have His Life, His glory. You have HIM! By faith, you too can draw on the elements of the Divine. God's DNA in You Acts 10:38 says that "God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and power…." But have you ever wondered… What is the anointing? Is power something God has or something He is? How can God be in everyone at the same time? Discover what DNA science can reveal about the power of God in us—and see how everything He is, is in you, too! Terri Copeland Pearsons, the eldest daughter of Kenneth Copeland, is Chief Visionary Of cer of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and president of Kenneth Copeland Bible College ® . Along with her husband, George Pearsons, she is also senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church at KCM in Fort Worth. i KCM.ORG/MAG 1-800-600-7395 (U.S. only) FREE standard shipping included. Offer price valid through Dec. 31, 2023 1 message on CD $ 5 #B231201

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