BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Thank God, faith isn't designed to work that way. You can't accidentally use it to harm someone. If you ignore its safety precautions, however, you will wind up getting in trouble yourself. Why? Because there are only two spiritual kingdoms operating in the earth: God's and satan's, and if you're not operating in one, you're operating in the other. The only way to walk in victory is by operating in the kingdom of God, and His is a kingdom of faith and Love. Satan's is a kingdom of fear, sel shness and strife, and when you step over into his territory, you step over into defeat. Unforgiveness puts you into satan's territory. It opens the door for him to treat you like his subject. A form of strife, it will always mess up your life because as James 3:16 says, "where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." When I rst began learning to live by faith, I didn't fully understand this. So, I was confused when I saw satan getting in and tearing up things in my life even after I had prayed and released my faith over them. I knew the problem wasn't with God. He is always right, and He is far bigger than the devil. Therefore, the problem had to be on my end. Realizing I must be missing it some way or another, I began seeking The LORD to nd out how. As I prayed about it, I remembered that Acts 1:8 says when we're baptized in the Holy Spirit, we receive power—the dunamis, energizing, enabling, supernatural, explosive power of God. "LORD," I said, "that power is not functioning in my life as it should. When I run into certain problems, it seems like I get up over them by faith and then they push me right back down." I told Him I'd seen the same thing happen to other believers. I'd seen them pray and go into business, for instance, believing to prosper. But then the devil would get involved somehow and destroy them nancially. "LORD, I want to know what the problem is here," I said. I was familiar with the statement Jesus made in Mark 11 about forgiving. Back then though, I hadn't yet fully grasped the importance of it. So, The LORD directed me to Matthew 18 where Jesus taught about the prayer of agreement and dealing with discord in the Church. He especially drew my attention to the last part of the chapter. In verses 21-22, Ampli ed Bible, Classic Edition, Peter asked Jesus, "LORD, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times?" Jesus replied, "I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!" As I read verses 23–35, Ampli ed Bible, Classic Edition, that day, I was reminded of how freely God has forgiven us. He forgave us of a sin debt that we had no way to pay. He supernaturally eradicated it from His own consciousness and treated us as if we never owed it. He threw the memory of our sin as far from Him as the east is from the west. As I read about the servant who had been forgiven by his master refusing to do the same for his fellow servant, I was also reminded that God commands us, as believers, to behave di erently. He commands us to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as He forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). I assumed I had done that. As far as I knew, I wasn't carrying around any major grudges or harboring unforgiveness against anyone B V O V : 7 TO YOU hristmas Gift OUR Christmas in Our Home Deluxe Edition music CD #BG251130 This exclusive Deluxe Edition CD includes two brand-new bonus songs—original music featuring Christen McCarley along with Brother Copeland. Reserve your FREE copy today. kcm.org/ourhome 1-800-600-7395 B V O V : 7 Christmas in Our Home music CD This exclusive Deluxe Edition CD includes two brand-new bonus songs—original music featuring Christen McCarley along with Brother Copeland. Reserve your FREE copy today. kcm.org/ourhome 1-800-600-7395 Offer Expires Nov. 10, 2025, no exceptions. U.S. Only. One per person. CD will not be available for purchase after the offer expires.

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