BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

That means our first priority as faith people must be spending time in the Word. Without the Word, the principles of faith become nothing but an empty formula—a formula that doesn’t work. Ken and I learned this from Brother Kenneth E. Hagin back when Ken was a 30-year-old freshman at Oral Roberts University. We had two little children at home, no money to spare and we could hardly afford the gas to drive across town. But when Brother Hagin started holding 10-day faith seminars, we did whatever it took to be in every meeting. We drove through rain, sleet and snow because we knew we had to hear the Word! Although that was years ago, I still have the same attitude. I never let a day go by without spending time in God’s Word. If you’re going to live by faith, neither should you. Why? Because the Word is what supplies you with the faith you need to receive God’s blessings. It’s where your life is. It’s where your healing is. It’s where your prosperity is. It’s where you’ll find the solutions to the problems in your family. Amazing things happen when you keep the Word in front of your eyes and in your ears so that it gets into your heart in abundance. It starts talking to you on the inside. It gives you answers to the questions you’re facing. If your body starts feeling symptoms of sickness, the Word will speak up inside you and say, "Jesus bore your sicknesses and carried your diseases." If you get a bill in the mail you didn’t expect, it will say, "God meets your needs according to His riches in glory." Daily time in the Word helps you think like God does about any challenge that comes your way. It fuels your faith so you can get where you need to go! Faith Believes Although it might not be necessary to remind you that faith believes (since, by definition, faith is believing) we all need to be refreshed now and then on this particular point: Believing and doubting cannot coexist. Therefore, to live by faith we must keep doubt out! In Mark 11:23, Jesus put it this way: “Verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (emphasis mine) This is where many Christians get tripped up. They start out strong, believing God for something, but then they find themselves thinking, "What if my faith doesn’t work? What if I didn’t pray right? What if this doesn’t work out?" Those kinds of thoughts come to all of us. The devil is an expert at sending them into our minds. But here’s the good news: Those thoughts don’t become ours until we start entertaining them. They don’t take power until we speak them. (See Matthew 6:31.) Remember that the next time you’re believing to be healed and you have the thought, "I’m not going to get healed this time." Acknowledge where that thought came from and spit it right back in Satan’s face. Say, “Devil, you’re a liar and I rebuke you! I AM healed by the stripes of Jesus and I believe it!” Then spend some extra time meditating on scriptures that promise you what you’re believing for. Fill your heart with them until it overflows. Kick doubt out of your heart and mouth with the Word of God. Faith Speaks According to what Jesus said in Mark 11:23, another indication that we’re truly operating by faith is this: We talk to the situations in our lives and say what we’re believing. That’s what Jesus did when He encountered the fruitless fig tree in Mark 11. He spoke to it by faith and said, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever” (verse 14). ****EVENT**** Word Explosion 2013 Prepare for THE BLESSING! October 10-12 Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center 1101 Lincoln St. Columbia, SC 29201 Kenneth Copeland Chaplain A.L. Downing Bill Winston Preregister today & receive a coupon at check-in for $10 off any purchase of $20 or more at the KCM book tables. kcm.org/events 1-800-600-7395 (U.S. only) +1-817-852-6000 Admission is Always Free! Meetings are subject to change without notice. OCT '13 : BVOV : 29

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