BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

************************************* Receive His Mercy by Gloria Copeland “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Psalm 136:1 God’s mercy endures forever! His willingness to act on man’s behalf is still operating in the earth. His mercy never runs out. Neither has it abated or weakened. “Praise the Lord! His mercy endureth forever!” Mighty and powerful things happened when Israel said these words. They are words of praise and adoration to God. When Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, the trumpeters and singers lifted their voices as one, and with trumpets, cymbals and instruments of music, they praised the Lord saying, “For he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Jehoshaphat appointed singers unto the Lord to go before the army and say, “Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.” It has been thousands of years since the Lord said His mercy extended to a thousand generations, and His mercy continues to reach you day after day. He is still plenteous in mercy unto them that call upon Him. With your spirit, dare to stretch your faith to take in the boundless mercy of God. And say with your mouth, “The Lord, He is good and His mercy endureth forever. His mercy surrounds me even today!” Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 ***************************** ***article from page 13 continues***** Seed to Sow In March 2008, Bryan and Cindy received a tax return in the amount of $8,397. Although it would have helped stave off their creditors, Bryan knew it was just a drop in the bucket compared to what they needed. They didn’t need a finger in the dike; they needed a financial miracle. So they planted the entire amount as seed into KCM. Cindy sat in Starbucks sipping a cup of steaming coffee, wondering how in the world they could climb out of a mountain of debt. She didn’t even know where to start. Overwhelmed, she whispered, “Lord, what do You want us to do?” 'See a realtor on Monday and put your house on the market.' Had that been the voice of the Lord? If so, hadn’t He noticed that the house next door to them had been on the market for five years? And others nearby had been on the market for at least two? “What do You want us to do?” 'Go home.' As soon as she got home the person renting one of their houses called. “I’m breaking my lease and moving out. I can’t continue to make the payments.” Cindy blinked back tears as she hung up the phone. Could things get any worse? “The Lord insisted that we meet with a realtor on Monday,” Cindy recalls. “Not Tuesday. Not Wednesday. It had to be Monday. We obeyed, and eight days later our house sold for our full asking price!” Defeating Debt “The very next day another house in our subdivision went on the market. The house was almost identical to ours, but better and with more amenities. If we’d waited one extra day the buyers would have chosen that house instead of ours. In addition, soon afterward the bottom dropped out of our real estate market. Had we not listed the house when we did, we would have missed that window of opportunity. “When our house sold, we had no place to go. I asked the Lord what to do and He said, 'Go home.' That’s when I realized what He meant. He wanted us to move back to our original home—the one the renter had just vacated!” With cash in hand from the sale of their house, Bryan started paying off bills and working with creditors to negotiate their debt down. One credit card company they owed $25,000 to didn’t want to negotiate, so Bryan and Cindy committed to paying it off a little at a time. Other companies, however, were happy to work with them. Six weeks after planting $8,397 as seed into the fertile ground of KCM, Bryan and Cindy paid off $839,700 of debt. Twelve of their 16 creditors were paid off. Bryan sold his landscaping company and went back to his original business—mowing lawns. In 30 days he had 50 lawns. In 2013, after making payments for five years, the $25,000 credit card debt was down to $8,000. When the Lees mailed in a payment on the outstanding balance, the company not only returned their check, they canceled the remaining $8,000 balance! 14 : BVOV

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