BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

According to The Amplified Bible, having all sufficiency in all things means “possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation.” I believe that’s what the widow expected to receive from God in return for her giving, and that’s what she got. The $35,000 Rice Bowl “But the New Testament hadn’t been written when the widow gave her two pennies!” you might say. “How did she know what God would do for her?” She had plenty of Old Testament scriptures to base her faith on. Verses such as: • “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.” (Proverbs 11:24-25, New King James Version) • “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10) • “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10) Personally, I’m persuaded this widow had so much faith in those verses that she was more than just willing to give, she was determined to give. I think she marched up to the offering bucket with such an attitude of defiant confidence no one would have dared try to stop her. She was probably a lot like the poor widow Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho encountered at his church in Korea some years ago. As he tells it, she came forward during offering time carrying her rice bowl and boldly put it on the altar. Dr. Cho knew that rice bowl could mean the difference between eating and starving for someone as poor as she was, so he tried to give it back to her. “Who do you think you are to interfere with my offering?” she said. “This rice bowl is mine and I’ll do with it whatever God tells me.” As Dr. Cho stepped aside, properly chastened by her rebuke (“I needed it!” he said later), a wealthy man in the congregation jumped out of his seat and ran up to the woman. He’d been watching her, and through her giving she’d taught him something that changed his life. “The LORD just told me to pay you $35,000 for that rice bowl,” he said to her. “OK,” she replied. In an instant, that woman went from poverty to wealth. “But Brother Copeland,” you might say, “what if the rich man hadn’t obeyed? How would God have prospered such a poor woman? It’s not like He can dump resources out of heaven.” Yes, He can! Haven’t you ever heard about the manna the Israelites ate in the wilderness? God dumped enough of it out of heaven to feed 2.5 million people every day. He doesn’t have to depend on this earth for resources. He has all spiritual resources in heavenly places at His disposal—and if He needs more, He can create them. Go to God First My friend, God is rich, rich, rich...and if you are born again, as a joint heir with Christ, all His resources belong to you. This isn’t just religion, it’s New Testament reality! When Jesus went to the cross, He totally defeated poverty on your behalf once and for all. As 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” ------------------ A Champion Has Gone to Glory! I have been BLESSED and honored to call Charles Capps my close friend for more than 35 years. He BLESSED me with his teaching of The WORD of God. He BLESSED me by being such a stalwart man of faith and integrity. He BLESSED me by being so kind and ever ready to minister to my family. Charles preached in our meetings on many occasions and always took us all to higher levels of awareness of faith in The LORD Jesus and His WORD. Not only that, he’s one of the best pilots I’ve ever flown with and the best fisherman I’ve ever fished with—and all of it, by faith! On Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, heaven became even brighter when Brother Charles went home. I’m looking forward to seeing him again. Until then, I will miss him! Jesus Is Lord! Kenneth -------------- APRIL '14 : BVOV : 7

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