BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Why did He say that? Because the fig tree was out of line with the will of God. Its job was to be a blessing to Jesus and provide Him with food when He was hungry. But instead it became a hindrance. In essence that tree said to Jesus, “I don’t care if You are the Son of God, You’re not getting any figs off me!” So He answered it with words that went right to the root of the problem. By the next day the tree had withered up and died! Wouldn’t you like to be able to do that with the hindrances in your life? According to Jesus, you can! He said, “Whosoever...shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass...shall have whatsoever he saith.” That means you can command problems to be gone; you can command resources to come; you can tell your body it is healed; and if you believe what you say comes to pass, it will happen. To do this, however, you must develop confidence in your words. You must practice speaking in line with the Bible and believing all the time that you will have what you say. As Ken and I found out early on, that’s not easy. When we first started trying to talk by faith, we messed up all the time and said things we didn’t want to come to pass. When we did, we’d repent and say, “I cancel that out in the Name of Jesus.” Then we’d re-establish our declaration of faith. Because we’d spent years speaking unbelief, it took a while to turn our mouths around. Now, after years of speaking faith, we’re more adept at it. We don’t wait until we have symptoms of sickness to speak healing anymore. We confess that we’re healed all the time. It’s working, too! I celebrated my 71st birthday this year and I’m still full of energy and going strong. I’m not on any prescription drugs, either. Neither is Ken. We don’t need them because our faith speaks. We faithfully feed on God’s Word—daily. We have what we say, and we say we’re well! Faith Takes and Faith Possesses In Mark 11:24, Jesus identified two more characteristics of faith we must have if we’re going to operate in it successfully. He said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” The word translated "receive" in that verse can also be translated "take." It’s a more aggressive word than most people think. It means “to lay hold of; to take in order to carry away; to claim or procure for one’s self and not let go; to seize or apprehend.” Receiving isn’t just praying for something and hoping it happens. Receiving is reaching out with the hand of faith and taking what you pray for. Say, for example, you’re asking God for a car. If you’re operating in faith, instead of just saying, “Lord, I’d like to have a car,” you say something like this: “Heavenly Father, You promised to supply all my needs and I believe it. So I’m asking You for a car and I take it by faith right now.” Once you’ve said that, you act on Jesus’ promise. He said if you “believe that ye receive...ye shall have.” To have means “to possess,” so you take possession of that car by faith. You say, “Thank You, Lord, that I have it!” From that point on, you think and talk like the car is already yours. Most of the time things don’t happen instantly, so days, weeks or months might pass before your new car actually shows up. So what do you do? You keep saying, “I have” and you keep thanking God for it. You maintain possession of it by faith until it manifests. Ken and I have seen this work again and again in every area of our lives. We’ve not only laid hold of healing and finances this way, we’ve gotten answers to our prayers for our children. Our son, John, for example, was a bit on the wild side when he was young. But we prayed that he would walk with the Lord and turn out right. We believed and wouldn’t let go. Today, all that wild stuff he did when he was a kid is done and gone. He’s a very good man. He loves the Lord, he’s a great father and he’s the executive director of this ministry. ***Victorious Christian Living*** Courage Comes From Faith by Gloria Copeland “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) Courage comes from trusting God. It can’t be mentally drummed up. It comes from believing what God says, regardless of what the circumstances look like. Courage comes from faith! Where does discouragement come from? From fear and unbelief. It comes when you listen to the devil’s lies about what God is NOT going to do for you. As the people of God, you and I must shake off discouragement and rise up with courage! We must quit looking at our own abilities, failures and limitations and start looking to God. We must rise up in the Name of Jesus and the power of His Spirit and establish the kingdom of heaven upon earth. If you’ve been discouraged lately, stop listening to Satan’s lies. Stop receiving evil reports. Whenever someone tells you God is not going to deliver you, you tell them, “He’s already delivered me, in the Name of Jesus.” Once you begin to realize who you are and what you’ve been given by the power of God, you’ll quit letting the devil run all over you. God didn’t suggest that you be strong and courageous. That is His command! V OCT ’13 : BVOV : 30

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