BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

God Never Stops As believers, we need to have the same attitude toward God. If we want to experience the blessed and prosperous future He’s planned for us, we need to seek Him diligently and fervently. We need to put Him first place in our lives. How? By making His Word our No. 1 priority. That’s what Ken and I started doing back in 1967. We began to go after God’s Word with great intensity and diligence. We searched our Bibles day and night, not just as a religious exercise but because we wanted to grow in faith. We wanted results! We’d discovered that when it comes to moving forward in the plan of God, faith is like spiritual car keys, you can’t go anywhere without them. So, since faith comes by hearing the Word of God, we spent nearly every spare moment attending to the Word, because for years we’d been going nowhere. Even though we were born again, we’d been living a very low existence. Financially, we were in pitiful shape. We didn’t have enough money. We didn’t have a decent car, a nice home or good clothes. Physically, we weren’t doing much better. We routinely came down with whatever sickness happened to be going around. We didn’t know God had provided healing for us so whenever symptoms hit us, we just put on our pajamas and went to bed with the “Oh dear, I’m sick again!” attitude. None of this was God’s fault. He was working in our lives, trying to help us. We just didn’t know how to cooperate with Him. So we ended up taking whatever the devil handed us. When we began to learn what the Word of God says, however, things started to change. We began to increase. We were able to pay off the mountain of debt we’d been dragging around and we started to prosper. We learned how to stand against the devil, receive our healing and enjoy divine health. In other words, we started going up in every way and we’ve never stopped—because God never stops. He always has more, not only for Ken and me but for all His children. It’s just how He is. He loves to keep blessing His people. He takes pleasure in continually increasing us, and He always will. Give the Seed Time to Grow To receive the increase God wants to give us, though, we have to keep seeking Him. We have to keep going after His Word because what we do with God’s Word determines how much of His plan and future we get to experience. The Bible leaves no doubt about this. It says again and again: • “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11) • “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 health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22) • “The sower soweth the word. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” (Mark 4:14, 20) This is the way God’s kingdom works. It operates by the laws of seedtime and harvest. When we plant the Word in our hearts, receive it by faith and act in accordance with it, it brings forth a harvest of blessing. ************************************************************************* Take Correction by Gloria Copeland There is one thing you can do that will accelerate your spiritual growth more than almost any other thing: Learn to take correction—from the Spirit of God and from His people. So few believers seem to be able to do that. When their preacher gets in the pulpit and preaches about something they already know, about some aspect of life they’ve already submitted to the Lord, they think he’s great. They like him because he makes them feel good. But the moment he stands up and begins to preach about something they’re doing wrong, they take offense. God says that’s foolish. He says in Proverbs 1:7, only fools strike out at, or despise, correction. So don’t be like that. When your pastor or anyone else in the Body of Christ has a word of correction for you, receive it gratefully. Appreciate those who share the wisdom of God with you. When someone points out somewhere that you’ve missed it, instead of reacting against them, examine yourself and say, “Is that right? Does that agree with the Word? Do I need to make a change there?” If the answer to those questions is yes, then make the changes you need to make to get your life in line. I know that’s not easy. None of us likes to be corrected. But if you’ll make up your mind you’re going to receive that correction anyway, that you’re going to remain teachable, you’ll be able to go on and grow in spiritual things much more quickly. One man said, “If you think you’ve already arrived, you aren’t going anywhere.” Remember that next time someone corrects you. Love that person and thank him for speeding along your spiritual progress. If you’ll do that, you’ll come out ahead every time. V SCRIPTURE REFERENCE Proverbs 9:8-9, The Amplified Bible BVOV : 29

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