BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE September Old Testament / Psalms Tue 1 Eccl. 5-6 / Ps. 18 Wed 2 Eccl. 7-8 / Ps. 19 Thu 3 Eccl. 9-11 / Ps. 20-21 Fri 4 Eccl. 12; Songs 1 / Ps. 22 Sat 5 Songs 2-3 / Ps. 23 Sun 6 Songs 4-5 / Ps. 24 Mon 7 Songs 6-7 / Ps. 25 Tue 8 Songs 8; Isa. 1 / Ps. 26 Wed 9 Isa. 2-3 / Ps. 27 Thu 10 Isa. 4-6 / Ps. 28-29 Fri 11 Isa. 7-8 / Ps. 30 Sat 12 Isa. 9-10 / Ps. 31 Sun 13 Isa. 11-12 / Ps. 32 Mon 14 Isa. 13-14 / Ps. 33 Tue 15 Isa. 15-16 / Ps. 34 Wed 16 Isa. 17-18 / Ps. 35 Thu 17 Isa. 19-21 / Ps. 36-37 Fri 18 Isa. 22-23 / Ps. 38 Sat 19 Isa. 24-25 / Ps. 39 Sun 20 Isa. 26-27 / Ps. 40 Mon 21 Isa. 28-29 / Ps. 41 Tue 22 Isa. 30-31 / Ps. 42 Wed 23 Isa. 32-33 / Ps. 43 Thu 24 Isa. 34-36 / Ps. 44-45 Fri 25 Isa. 37-38 / Ps. 46 Sat 26 Isa. 39-40 / Ps. 47 Sun 27 Isa. 41-42 / Ps. 48 Mon 28 Isa. 43-44 / Ps. 49 Tue 29 Isa. 45-46 / Ps. 50 Wed 30 Isa. 47-48 / Ps. 51 “Read Through the Bible in a Year Plan” written by Marilyn Hickey, and used by permission. ********************************************************************************************* At home that evening, John discussed the situation with his wife, Judith. “There’s only one thing I know to do,” he said. “What?” “Double our percentage of giving.” God’s Economics “When you’ve lost 95 percent of your business, it’s scary to give more instead of less,” John admits. “Increasing our giving flew in the face of every wise economic strategy, except God’s. To this day I can’t explain how we survived financially, but we never missed a payment. God gave me such favor with my clients that they stayed with me, but options had been 95 percent of my business and we weren’t doing them anymore. We gave our way out of the situation because of what I’d learned from Kenneth Copeland. “I wouldn’t have had the wisdom to do it if I hadn’t spent years learning to live by faith. I don’t remember ever being as excited as I was in 1973, when Kenneth Copeland proved through Scripture that God wanted us to prosper. That revelation changed my life. The first change I made was to tithe. I was a young man in my 20s at the time, and we were struggling financially. It seemed crazy to try to live on 90 percent of our income when we weren’t making it on all of it. But we tithed and prayed as Kenneth Copeland instructed that, as Malachi 3:10 promises, God would prove Himself and pour out a blessing. The next day, a woman I’d never met called and asked me to invest $3 million for her. God had my undivided attention. “From then on, I went to hear Kenneth Copeland each time he came to town. We became Partners with his ministry, listened to his broadcasts, read his books and attended the Southwest Believers’ Convention almost every year. The same pastor who brought him to Oklahoma City also brought Kenneth Hagin, Charles Capps and Fred Price in to speak. We took every opportunity to build our faith.” Childlike Faith John and Judith weren’t the only ones growing in faith. Inspired by the testimony of Kellie and John Copeland believing God for a boat, the Benefiel children—Dana, Rhett and Troy—were having faith adventures of their own. When 9-year-old Dana realized her parents were going on vacation to Maui without them, she said, “That’s not fair! We want to go to Disney World!” “Then you’ll have to use your faith,” John and Judith explained. “The last time we went it cost $1700. We suggest that you write a letter to God and pray.” “And,” John added, “the money can’t come from my regular paycheck.” Dana wrote a letter asking God for $1700, adding that she didn’t want it to cost that much. After releasing her faith, she posted it on the refrigerator and thanked God for the answer. By faith, she called her grandmother and told her they were going to Disney World. She also told her teacher. Months passed and nothing happened. Later, John was offered a business deal outside his normal work; the commission check was $1700. Knowing that was Dana’s money, he went to Continental Airlines to buy five tickets to Orlando. The woman looked at him with a stunned expression. “This has never happened before! We were just notified of a discount. Your tickets are half price!” John mentioned the trip to a friend, who gave him vouchers for a free hotel room and a free rental car. When John read a magazine featuring the head of public relations at Walt Disney World, he sent her a copy of the magazine with a note. Although she got hundreds of pieces of mail each day, one of her employees handed her the magazine and John’s note. She called John to thank him, met them at the gate and gave them park passes for a week! 12 : BVOV

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