BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

us through His life, death and resurrection, and said, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" (verse 5, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition). People often quote that verse at funerals. They assume David was referring to the feast we'll enjoy someday after we leave this earth and go to heaven. But if you stop to think about it, you'll realize that doesn't make sense. When we get to heaven, our enemies— the devil and his followers—won't be there. Where we have to deal with them is here on earth. So obviously, David wasn't talking about the feast we'll eat together in glory in the sweet by-and-by. No, the feast on the table in Psalm 23 is for us to enjoy in the rugged here and now. God has that feast all laid out and ready for us. It's greater and more powerful than any of our enemies can stand, and it includes everything we need to put them under our feet. Where exactly do we find this feast? Jesus answered that question in John 17:17. When praying for us He said to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." The feast referred to in Psalm 23 is found in God's WORD! The truth in His WORD is what enables us to live a life that's out of this world. When we feast on what He has said in the Scriptures, get it down into our hearts and act on it, His WORD separates us from the evil in this world and makes us victorious! Set Free From Satan's Shackles "Brother Copeland, I just can't see how a book could make that much difference in my life." God's WORD isn't just a book. It's not just printed words on a page or on a Bible app on your phone. Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…" (NKJV). God's WORD is alive! It contains the sanctifying, separating power of God Himself. His WORD is His will and His bond. Miraculous B V O V : 7 in nature, it is filled with God's own faith and ability, and is backed by His own integrity. God's WORD is so alive that when its power is released by faith, anything that has to do with death must get out of the way. That's the reason you could get born again. God put out His WORD about it. He said: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9). So the moment you believed on Jesus and confessed Him as your LORD, spiritual death had to get out of the way. Your once-sin-deadened spirit came alive and you were "born again…by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23). The power of that WORD separated you from the kingdom of darkness and instantly translated you into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13). What's more, the devil himself could not stop it from happening. Because he has no defense against the power of God's WORD, all he could do was stand by and watch you get saved. That's not just true where the new birth is concerned. When you act in faith on God's WORD, the devil can't stop you from being saved in any area of life. To be saved means to be made in a sound condition, to be made whole in every way. It means to be separated or The feast on the table in Psalm 23 is for us to enjoy in the rugged here and now.

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