BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

According to Jesus, it is! He said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34) and we shall have whatever we say (Mark 11:23). So, obviously our words are vital. They determine what happens in our lives. Proverbs puts it this way: • “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21) • “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” (Proverbs 6:2) • “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.” (Proverbs 21:23) The bottom line is, if you don’t want it, don’t say it. If you do want it, take it, talk it and don’t deviate. If you happen to get discouraged and mess up, then repent right away and get back on track. Keep believing and declaring God’s Word. This is how you receive everything—healing, financial provision, divine protection and the rest of God’s BLESSINGS! It’s even how you receive your children coming into the kingdom of God. You claim their salvation according to the promises in the Word (Isaiah 54:13, 59:21), then you thank the Lord for bringing them to Himself. You say, “Satan, you’re not getting my children. I break your power over them in Jesus’ Name.” Although for a while you might not see any change in them, you just keep on saying, “I believe I receive. My children are coming into God’s kingdom. I have it and I’m not going to be moved by what they say or do to the contrary.” You continue to believe God and don’t waiver. If your children are grown and off somewhere acting crazy, when you hear about it you just hold your ground. You say, “Satan, I bind you off my children. They’re not yours. They’re mine. I’ve committed them to God and His will shall be done in their lives.” Then you keep right on standing in faith until it comes to pass. The Power Twins Always Win “But what if that takes a long time? What should I do while I wait?” Obey James 1:4 and Hebrews 6:12. “Let patience have her perfect work…. [And] be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Patience is a powerful force. It holds you up when you’re under pressure. It undergirds you so you don’t let go of your faith in times of trial. Even when you’re faced with contrary circumstances, patience doesn’t quit. It keeps you believing God’s Word and saying the right things. Faith and patience working together are the power twins! So when you’re doing your faith checkup, it’s important to examine your patience, too. To be frank about it, I wish that wasn’t necessary. I wish everything we prayed for and took by faith would happen instantly. That would be great. But it’s not generally what happens. Although some things we believe for might come quickly, other things will come more slowly. This was even true in Jesus’ life. Read in Mark 11 about His encounter with the fig tree and you’ll see what I mean. When He cursed that tree by saying, “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever” (verse 14), there was no immediate visible change in it. The tree looked just the same right after He spoke to it as it did before. But Jesus didn’t let that bother Him. Instead, He exercised patience and kept believing what He said would come to pass. Sure enough, the next day when He and His disciples walked by the tree again, they saw that it had “dried up from the roots” (verse 20). What if Jesus hadn’t exercised patience that day? What if He’d gotten discouraged because the fig tree didn’t keel over the moment He spoke to it? What if He’d said, “Well, I guess My words didn’t make any difference”? What would have happened? Nothing! If Jesus had pulled back on His faith, that fig tree would have just gone right on living. The same principle holds true in our lives. If we don’t let patience have her perfect work; if we pull back on our faith and give up when we don’t see instant results, we’ll cut off our supernatural receiving. We’ll miss out on what we’ve been believing for. If we’ll put God’s Word first place in our lives, however, and give ourselves regular faith checkups, just the opposite will happen. We’ll fight the good fight of faith by taking what God has promised us and hold onto it until it manifests in our lives. Faith with patience always wins the fight. So stay on the winning side! No matter how long it takes, keep believing until the fig tree withers…or the symptoms leave your body…or money comes…or the situation changes. Keep saying with confidence, “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even my faith!” V BVOV : 31

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