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Keep On Growing Of course, none of us automatically know how to do this. Although we have the spiritual equipment we need because we’re born again, we have to grow and develop in our ability to use that equipment. When we first start out, we’re a lot like my son, John, when he got his first shotgun. At 8 years old he was as good a shot as I was, but he still had a lot to learn. He proved this one day when he and I were out bird hunting on Gloria’s grandfather’s place. We were walking past a little shed Pop had built for his cattle and John spotted a big black tarantula clinging to the side of it. Without thinking twice about it, John lifted his 20-gauge and aimed it at the spider. “Boy, don’t do that!” I said. “Why not, Daddy?” he asked. “Because you’ll blow a hole in Pop’s shed!” I could tell by the look on his face, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He was too busy looking at the spider to notice the shed behind it. “Oh...” he said. Sometimes we, as believers, do the same kind of thing where faith is concerned. Instead of being like the spiritually mature man in Psalm 112, whose heart is fixed on God and on His WORD, we act like spiritual children and fix our attention on the spidery-looking circumstances around us. We start thinking and talking like the world does instead of by faith. How can we outgrow this immature tendency? By developing our spirits like we develop our bodies. First, we must give our spirits plenty of good food. Not beans and cornbread—that’s physical food—but The WORD of God! His WORD is spiritual food. When we feed on it, it nourishes our inner man and produces the spiritual force of faith. That’s what happened when we got saved. We heard The WORD about Jesus and faith was born inside us to receive Him as our Savior and LORD. But God didn’t intend for us to stop there. He didn’t mean for us to live on that first measure of faith for the rest of our lives. That’s not practical. Think about it in physical terms and you’ll see what I mean. Imagine you ate a good meal and then picked up a set of dumbbells and started lifting them. If you stayed with it long enough, you’d eventually expend all the strength the meal had supplied. You’d get to the point where you couldn’t lift the weights anymore, not because they were too heavy, but because your muscles needed more nourishment and your strength needed to be replenished. The same is true in the realm of the spirit. We can’t live our entire life on just one meal. We have to keep eating and replenishing our strength. That’s one reason God gave us words. Words are spiritual containers. They’re not just a natural collection of letters to be used for the purpose of communication. The primary purpose of words is the releasing of spiritual power and force. Words can be filled with fear or they can be filled with faith. They can carry love or meanness. They can be filled with THE BLESSING or full of the curse. Words are containers or carriers! Although human words can carry a mixture of these things, God’s words are always full of faith! That’s why, again and again, the Bible says things like: • “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) • “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) • “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and [medicine] to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22) ***article continues on page 8******* *********ADVERTISEMENT********* How Is Your Faith Working? God’s will is that you live by faith every day—no matter what the world may throw your way. The good news is, God has given you everything you need to succeed! In this faith-developing series, Kenneth Copeland reveals how to step into a life of faith, how to live a life of faith and how God’s Anointing will help you along the way. Enter the most rewarding kind of life imaginable. Discover How to Put Your Faith to Work today! How to Put Your Faith to Work Available on MP3 USB MP3 USB #B140904 sale $24.99* reg $30 9 CDs #B140903 sale $24.99* reg $30 Order online and save an additional 10% kcm.org/mag 1-800-600-7395 U.S. only +1-817-852-6000 *Plus shipping. Offer prices valid until Sept. 30, 2014 ********************************* BVOV : 7