BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 2 1 see the promises in Psalm 91 coming to pass for you. That's not God's fault. He always wants to deliver you, and be merciful and kind to you. He is willing. And He has the wonderful capacity to keep up with and to bless all of us. We don't have to look Him up when we need Him, because He's always with us. But He's not like the devil, who comes in and forces things on you. God won't take over and make you do things His way. He won't force His blessings on you. He'll do everything He can to get you to turn toward Him, but He won't dominate you. He will reach out to you and wait for you to open the door of faith for Him. How do you keep that door open? By giving God fi rst place in your life. And you can't do that and be a lazy Christian. Over and over again, the Bible tells us we must seek God fi rst and foremost if we want His blessing in our lives. Seek is a scriptural word that means "to go after with intense e ort." If you want to experience the fullness of this great salvation Jesus purchased for you, you have to exert consistent e ort—not just when it's convenient. You can't live a life of sin, neglecting the things you know to do, and then expect to turn to God when you need help. Some people do that. They think, God took care of me last time when I wasn't living right. So next time, He'll do the same thing. That's a dangerous attitude. If you keep going in rebellion and stubbornness, you'll get a hard heart. One of these days, you may fi nd yourself unable to turn to God when you need help. Even if you can turn to Him, you may fi nd you're under so much condemnation in your own mind and heart that your faith won't work. "But I'm not rebelling," you might say. "I've just been too busy lately to spend time in the Word or in prayer." Then you'd better simplify your life. You can't spend your time on other things, fi lling your heart and your life with natural concerns, and expect to be strong in faith when trouble comes. "Oh, but things are going fi ne right now." That may be true, but, as Jesus said, trouble is coming. When it does, it had better fi nd you doing what Psalm 91:1 says—abiding "under the shadow of the Almighty." The word abide means "to dwell, remain fi xed in a certain place." If you abide somewhere, that's where you live. I might stay at a hotel while I'm preaching a meeting, but I don't abide there. I'm just there for a few days. In John 15:7, Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." I've found that if I'll spend time every day in the Word of God, that Word will begin to abide in me. It will come alive in me and begin to speak to my heart continually. I'm telling you, that's a good thing. When you run into trouble and that abiding Word of God rises up to tell you what to do, you'll be glad you weren't a lazy Christian. You'll be glad you made the Word your dwelling place. Open Your Mouth and Shut the Devil Out Look back at Psalm 91:2 and you'll see the second way to keep yourself in condition to experience the fullness of your salvation. glad When you run into trouble and that abiding Word of God rises up to tell you what to do, you'll be you weren't a lazy Christian." "

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