BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Choose to Walk in Wisdom Notice that according to those verses, unbelievers have to go after their own provisions. They have to seek to add things to themselves because they don’t have a heavenly Father to take care of them. But as believers you and I are in a totally different position. We don’t have to live according to the dog-eat-dog system of this world. We don’t have to fend for ourselves. We have a Father who can and will provide everything we could ever need or desire. He’ll add more to us than we could ever get on our own. We just have to keep the door open for Him to do it by seeking Him first and putting His Word first place in our lives. Why is His Word so vital? Because His Word is His wisdom, and His wisdom teaches us His way of doing and being right. It teaches us how to live in the place of BLESSING—the wealthy place He has provided for us. The degree of God’s wisdom you and I walk in determines how much of His goodness we have the capacity to receive—and we’re the ones who decide how much of that wisdom we’re going to receive. God has made it readily available to us through His Word and His Holy Spirit, but He won’t force it on us. He’s not a dictator who compels people to do things His way. He simply offers Himself and His wisdom to us and then lets us choose what we’re going to do. If we’ll choose to seek Him with all our heart and do what He teaches us in His Word, we’ll see His promises fulfilled in our lives. We’ll be the head and not the tail, BLESSED coming in and going out, BLESSED in the city and in the field. We’ll walk in honor, riches, glory, healing and prosperity. I’m not saying all those things will manifest in our lives overnight. But if we get on God’s plan and stay there we’ll always be increasing. That’s what happened to Joshua in the Old Testament. Have you ever read about him? He’s the leader who took the Israelites into the Promised Land. God told him at the beginning of the journey that if he would keep God’s Word in his heart and in his mouth, and obey it, he’d be able to “deal wisely and have good success” and “little by little” he and the Israelites would take possession of the whole land (Joshua 1:8; Deuteronomy 7:22, "AMP"). ****article concludes on page 31**** ******************************************* Victorious Christian Living Speak God’s Language of Love by Gloria Copeland “Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.” Hebrews 13:15, "The Amplified Bible" To God, praise is the language of love. So, if you really want to let God know you love Him, do what this verse says and praise Him constantly…at all times. Don’t be grateful one day and griping the next. Continually rejoice and thank the Lord for what He’s done for you. According to Ephesians 5:18-20 that’s not just a nice idea, it’s God’s will for us. He tells us to be continually filled with the Spirit, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (New American Standard). We should be expressing our love to God by singing and speaking His praises—in the shower, in our cars, and even as we go about our work. Whether we’re doing it aloud or quietly in our hearts, we should be praising Him all the time. That’s the way God wants us to be. He wants us so full of victory that we overflow with gratitude to Him. He wants us to be so full of His praises that no one has to lead or urge us, we just praise Him because we can’t help ourselves. “I don’t see how I can do that,” you might say. “I have so many problems, I don’t feel like praising the Lord. I’m just not very happy right now.” Then you might have to begin by simply choosing to do it. You might have to say, “I’m going to praise the Lord whether I feel like it or not.” But if you’ll do it wholeheartedly, before long you will feel like it. You’ll start remembering how bad things were when God found you. You’ll start thinking about what He’s done for you since then. You’ll get excited about what He’s going to do for you in the days ahead…and you’ll want to sing and shout! The more you keep on praising the Lord and walking with Him, the more reasons you’ll have to praise Him. And, one of these days, you’ll look around yourself and see the love of God poured out in every area of your life. You’ll see His goodness everywhere you turn. You’ll be living out His plan, enjoying His provision and dwelling in the place He prepared especially for you. You’ll be living proof that “happy is that people, whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144:15). You’ll be glad when times were rough you chose to offer up the sacrifice of praise. V BVOV : 29

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