BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

I didn’t know much about God before that time. I knew there was a God, but had no real knowledge about Him. Yet He still knew how to get my attention. He called and here I am today preaching His Word! He’ll do the same thing for your child. It doesn’t matter what kind of wickedness that child has fallen into, God can still reach him. I know a man who pastors a great church in Sacramento, Calif. His name is Phil Goudeaux. He used to be part of the militant black power movement. In fact, he was in charge of security for the Black Panthers. He didn’t know God and he didn’t want to know God. But one day when he was in college, a young white fellow came over to his lunch table and started telling him about Jesus. This Black Panther leader couldn’t believe it. The nerve of this guy! He tried to get rid of him. He threatened him and even tried to hit him...but he couldn’t. For weeks this little white fellow followed this big “bad” black guy around talking to him about Jesus. Finally, the Black Panther prayed with the fellow just to get him off his back. After that he tried to forget about it...but he couldn’t. Two weeks later, all by himself, he made Jesus Christ the Lord of his life. God knows how to get someone’s attention! He’ll knock them over and speak to them right out loud if He needs to. He proved that in the life of a man named Saul. Years after that man was saved, he wrote, “I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12). God apprehended Paul one day on the road to Damascus. According to the dictionary, to apprehend means to “capture or arrest.” God captured Paul’s attention. The last thing he wanted to be was a follower of Jesus. He was a declared enemy of Jesus. But God was able to apprehend him anyway. Don’t you worry. God knows exactly how to apprehend your children. And when the time comes, He’ll do it. After all, you weren’t in your prayer closet when He found you! But until then, you must stand fast in faith for them. No matter what they get into, no matter how far off the track they seem to be, just keep saying what the Bible says about them. Keep your eyes focused on the covenant mercy of God and not on the symptoms of ungodliness that you see in their lives. Don’t ever give up on your child. If you’ve grown weak and discouraged lately, it’s time for you to get that fire back in your bones. Dig into the Word of God and dig out the promises He’s given you for your children. Lay hold of those promises and don’t let go. Learn to call things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). When you hear bad news about your children or you see them do something that hurts your heart, just say: “God, I thank You that Your tender mercy hovers over my child. I thank You, Lord, that he is born again, filled with the Holy Ghost and obedient to You. I thank You that Your Word is in his mouth (Isaiah 59:21), that he is taught by Your Spirit and great is his peace (Isaiah 54:13). I am not moved by what I feel or what I see. I am moved by Your Word and I call it done in Jesus’ Name!” I’m going to say it one more time: You have a covenant with God that covers your children. So rejoice! God will be faithful to you. One day your boy or your girl will be going about their business doing their own thing when suddenly—"Pssst!"—they’ll hear the voice of God. When that happens, they’ll come running. You can count on it. V ************************************* A Word About Your Children The world has much to say about your children these days—and most of it is bad. We’re being told their economic futures are bleak, their ethics are waning and, for the most part, they’re on a downward slide. But if you’ve made Jesus Lord of your life, God has something very different to say about your children. He says they’re headed for heaven, not hell. For a blessing, not a curse. So ignore the world and trust the Word. It has the power to turn your children’s lives around! Here are some scriptures that will help you stay focused on God’s promises regarding your children. • “Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they [your children] shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border” (Jeremiah 31:16-17). • “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13). • “...The seed of the righteous shall be delivered” (Proverbs 11:21). • “...Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed” (Psalm 112:1-2). • “...I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children” (Isaiah 49:25). • “The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:9). • “...I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” (Isaiah 44:3). • “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever” (Isaiah 59:21). V MAY '14 : BVOV : 21

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