BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

1 2 : B V O V The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, says, "Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith…" (Romans 4:16). As you release your faith, it allows grace—God's unmerited favor— to flow to you. But if you don't put the Word first, if you instead hold on to traditions of men, you won't be in a position to receive from God. The Bible says traditions make the Word of God of no effect (Matthew 15:6). They shut off the grace of God because there's no faith in them. One tradition that has robbed the Body of Christ for years is praying, "If it be Thy will." That may sound humble, but it's simply unbelief. It means you don't know God's will in that situation. It ties God's hands in your life because there is no faith. Faith begins where the will of God is known. The Word of God is the will of God. Faith comes by hearing God's Word. You can have faith for whatever the Bible says is God's will. God's Will Is Good You can see God's will in the Garden of Eden, in heaven and in Jesus' ministry. The Garden was a little copy of heaven. It was a beautiful place where all of Adam and Eve's needs were met and everything was good (Genesis 2). There was no sickness, disease or lack until man sinned. There is none in heaven either because God's will is done there. From the very beginning, God's will has been to bless man with good. That has never changed. In Malachi 3:6, He says, "For I am the LORD, I change not." To see the perfect will of God in manifestation on the earth, look at Jesus' ministry. He said, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38). His prayer was, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Jesus proclaimed, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). And according to 1 John 3:8, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." Jesus came proclaiming God's Word to the people. Those who received that Word, and who received Him as sent of God, also received what God had for them—salvation, healing, deliverance, whatever they needed. God hasn't changed His method. Jesus operated in the earth by the Word. He defeated the works of the devil with "It is written." We are to do the same. Base Your Faith on the Word If you try to receive from God without planting the seed of the Word (Luke 8:11), it's Whether you need healing, protection, prosperity or any other blessing God has promised, it takes faith to receive it. It takes making God's Word final authority in your life. the Promises Believing "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed." (Romans 4:16)

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