BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

*********ADVERTISEMENT******* KCM & United Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry Degree ************ FULLY ACCREDITED Strengthen and refine your prophetic and pastoral skills—no matter where you live. Kenneth Copeland Scholars Program Kenneth Copeland & Dr. Stephen L. Swisher ******** With hands-on training by Dr. Stephen L. and Kellie Swisher, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Dr. Harold Hudson and others, you’ll discover how to engage our culture with the principles of faith through: • Learning to preach faith with power to impact your community for Jesus • Impacting the world with international TV broadcasts • Creating subscription-based ministry magazines from start to finish • Harnessing the power of social media • Using every available voice—from motion pictures to podcasts—to spread the gospel And much more. Apply now! Fall Semester starts in AUGUST. kcm.org/uts or call 1-817-252-2792. ******Building a Wall cont.****** A Wall of Righteousness Like Mr. Wigglesworth, as you and I continue to walk out our salvation on this earth, there are times when we mess up and sin. Even as mature believers we step outside of God’s will for our lives. When we do, our natural tendency is to run from God in shame. We have a tendency to hide from Him like Adam and Eve did when they first sinned. Instead of hiding, though, I would like to encourage you to run as fast as you can into the arms of God. We can do that because we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). We have “One Who will intercede for us,” The Amplified Bible says. That advocate is Jesus. But simply knowing that Jesus is our personal advocate is one thing. Tapping into His ministry as advocate is another. That’s why I would like to show you a practical way we can bring Jesus—our heavenly lawyer—into our conscious, everyday-life situations where, even if we’ve sinned and repented by faith, we can use some help in standing our ground where the devil’s attacks of guilt and condemnation against us are concerned. Or maybe we haven’t sinned, but we just need help in standing our ground where the temptation to sin is concerned. In either case, each and every day you and I can build a wall that will help keep us from being overcome by the world’s darkness. It’s a wall that will turn away sin, guilt and condemnation. It’s a wall of righteousness that will reinforce our confidence and boldness in God. How do we build this wall? By faith, and by The WORD of God. What do we build it with? The bread and the cup. A Wall of Remembrance In early 1998, the Spirit of God convicted me about not taking Communion as often as I should. Certainly, I knew the benefits of taking Communion on a regular basis, and for specific situations I faced from time to time, but The LORD was telling me I needed to do it more often. At about that time, The LORD also used a friend of mine to stir inside me this principle of building a mighty wall between sin and believers who have been made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). It was a principle I had practiced over the years, but I needed fresh revelation. The Apostle Paul, who had received great revelation concerning The LORD’s Supper, wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: "The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come." As you and I come to the Communion table and take the bread and the cup, we are representing, signifying and proclaiming the fact of Jesus’ death (verse 26, AMP). Why is that so important? Well, Jesus said Himself, in verse 25, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood” (AMP). Jesus’ blood—His death—ratified our covenant with God. God honors that blood. In fact, when you and I sin, that blood is in the way. The blood of His Son is between Him and our sins. 14 : BVOV : JAN '14

• Cover