BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Something astounding is about to happen to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. She’s about to grow up into what God ordained for her to be from the very beginning. She’s about to come into “the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). That’s what the Word of God says, and you can count on it. It’s coming to pass—soon! We’re in the last of the last days. The signs are all around us. Jesus is coming! He’s about to catch away the Church, and when He does we’re going to be unified, glorified and ready to go. Now, you might wonder, How are we going to get that way? With so many different denominations disagreeing and arguing with one another, how is the Church ever going to come together? By the Spirit of God. He’s the One who’s been sent to unite us, and even if it looks impossible from a natural perspective, He is up to the job. The Holy Spirit has the ability to reveal to believers all over this planet the truth of God’s Word and bring us all into agreement with it. He can cause every one of us to see the same thing in the Scriptures. He lives on the inside of us as our own private tutor, and He can make the Word of God so plain to us that, as we give our attention to it, we think more and more like God thinks! That’s really the bottom line, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter what we think. It doesn’t matter what our denomination thinks. It matters what God thinks. He’s not going to change His thoughts to accommodate us and our denomination. He’s going to change our thoughts to align with His so that when Jesus comes He can present us to Himself the way Ephesians 5:27 describes us—as “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing”! A glorious church isn’t just a wonderful church. It’s a church where the glory of God is manifested. It’s a church where God’s power flows so freely that lives are transformed, crippled legs are made strong, cancer disappears, and demonic spirits leave people’s minds and bodies. A glorious church is a church where God’s presence is revealed in signs and wonders and visible demonstrations of miracle-working power that people can see! What We Believe Determines What Happens Truth be told, that’s the kind of church God has always wanted. He started the Church on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and signs, wonders and miracles; and He made every provision for those things to continue in full force. They would have, too, if it had all been up to God. But it’s not just up to Him. It’s also up to us. What happens in the Church is what the Church believes for! When we believe for healing to manifest in our midst, healing manifests. When we believe for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, people are filled. When we believe we can do the works of Jesus, we do them. The Church is heading toward the finish line and we need to believe God for everything He’s promised! We don’t have time anymore to sit around just remembering the great miracles and outpourings of the Spirit that happened in the past. We can’t be content to wait passively for the Church to be filled with God’s glory some day in the distant future. The hour is late. We need to rise up in boldness right now and declare, as Jesus did in Luke 4:18-21: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord…. This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” ***article continues on the next page*** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is about to come into “the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13). God is bringing it to pass; and He’s called you to be part of it. Here are some points to get you there: 1) As you read the Word, let the Holy Spirit reveal its meaning to you so you can think more like God thinks. John 14:26 2) Stir up your faith to believe for God’s power and glory to manifest in your life. 2 Corinthians 3:18 3) Believe and declare that today is the day of God’s miracle-working power. Luke 4:21 4) Expect to do the works of Jesus just as He said you would. John 14:12 5) Make it your purpose every day to destroy the devil’s works and minister life to people everywhere you go. 1 John 3:8 BVOV : 29

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