BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

I’ll always remember the first time I saw this. It was many years ago, before Gloria and I went into ministry. One day, I came down with all the symptoms of the flu and I was hurting all over. I’d driven Gloria to the shopping center, and as I sat in the car waiting for her, I felt so sick that I didn’t think I’d be able to drive home. My Bible was on the passenger’s seat next to me. I’d opened it to 1 Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” I hadn’t been born again very long at that time and I didn’t know anything about living by faith. But I was praying that God would help me. As I prayed, I sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit. I picked up my Bible, put my finger on that verse, lifted my eyes toward heaven and said, “LORD, I choose to believe this. I choose to believe that by Jesus’ stripes I was healed.” Immediately, I could sense something tangible had happened on the inside of me when I said those words. I still had the symptoms of the flu, but I knew I was on the winning side. Something had taken hold in my spirit, and within minutes I started feeling a little better. By the time Gloria finished shopping, I felt well enough to drive the car home, and when we got there I was feeling pretty good. That night I had a good night’s sleep, and by the next morning I was just fine. Although it was a relatively simple healing, the impact of it has lasted for years because it showed me just how powerful my choices are. It helped me realize I can choose to believe God’s WORD. I can choose life. I can choose to believe in the power of His Anointing, and that power will manifest. If you want to see a more dramatic example of what can happen as a result of such a choice, read in Matthew 14 about what happened to Peter one stormy night on the Sea of Galilee. You remember the story. He was with the other disciples in a ship and Jesus came walking toward them on the water. Initially, the disciples were frightened and thought they were seeing a ghost. “But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (verses 27-29). Notice Jesus didn’t initiate Peter’s miracle there. Peter did. He set it in motion by saying, “Bid me come.” Jesus said, “Come,” and the power to walk on water was in that word. Peter chose to connect with that power by faith and got out of the ship. As you probably know, however, that wasn’t the end of the story. Peter’s water-walk didn’t end quite as gloriously as it started. While he was out there on the sea, doing what no man except Jesus had ever done before, he ran into a problem. “When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (verses 30-31). Let me ask you something. What did the boisterous wind have to do with anything? Apart from the Anointing of God, Peter couldn’t have walked on the water if it had been smooth as glass. So why was he worried about the weather conditions all of a sudden? Because he got his eyes off Jesus and started focusing on natural impossibilities. Don’t let that happen to you. Make the choice to believe The WORD of God. Connect by faith with the power of His Anointing. Then refuse to back off. No matter how hard the devil tries to distract you, keep your eyes on Jesus, keep believing, and keep walking, because God wants to work a miracle for you. V Enjoyed this article? For more insightful teachings, go to kcm.org. 8 : BVOV

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