BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Believing the Plan Believing God is faith. And faith should not be an intellectual puzzle. You don't have to figure out how God is going to do something—all you have to do is obey. On every level of life, whether we are believing for daily provision or something long-range, we don't need to try to figure out His plan. We don't have to worry or get under pressure about the plans. at's because God has said, "I have a plan for you!" He knows what He's going to do, so don't sweat it! Believe it. Set your soul—your mind, your will and your emotions—to receive His plans. Believing is the method God uses to bless our soul and our lives. It is His method of working out His plans in our lives so we don't have to. If you try to get involved, you'll beat yourself silly trying to work out the plan, pay for it and then manage it. You'll do everything your soul can think of, trying to do what only He can! I like the hearts of children. They don't complicate faith. ey just believe what mama and daddy say. And they never have to tell daddy what they need. ey just know daddy will know, and that he will give them what they need. Believe like a child. Keep looking and listening to Father and do what He says. W hen I was a chi ld, things at my mother and father's house were wonderful as long as I obeyed. Trouble came when I tried to figure out why Daddy wanted me to do what he did, when all he wanted was for me to obey. Childlike belief is the best way to grow up and become a mature child of God. When you begin to experience God's unfolding plan for you, don't jump in and try to take over. Continue to listen to Him in the everyday details of His plan. Ask Him what your part is. Let Him show you how He is working on it. Keep your focus on Him and let Him develop the plan. You will grow in your faith and become strong in the Lord! You will encounter people who may not understand the way you live your life. They probably won't realize you live in the hearing and believing mode, allowing God to tell you what to do and depending on Him to do what only He can. And the more you believe, the more you understand what Jesus meant when He said, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Receiving the Life Continually believing God to work His plan in your life, just like He did for Jesus, will make you what I call "mentally invincible." W hen we develop the habit of believing, we forget all about our deficits and deficiencies. We get to the point where our belief is more interesting than what people think. We become fully aware of and walk daily in the truth Jesus spoke that we have not passed into 1 8 : B V O V condemnation but into life! I h a v e e x p e r i e n c e d a l o t o f "condemnation" over the years. But I refuse to be condemned because Jesus said I am not! Nothing anyone has to think or say can affect the life of believing God. And I make it my practice to go to the people I know are also faithful believers if I'm looking for agreement and insight into what I hear God saying to me. What you and I have received from Jesus is life. Eternal life! Believing has given us the life of God. I'm talking about the life that receives a roof over your head, food for your body and fuel for your car. When God was preparing me for His plan to bring a jet into our ministry, for instance, He spoke something to me that changed my life forever. In 1978, I was driving past Lafayette Airport and a Citation jet flew over my head and the Lord said to me, Look up, Jesse. I'm going to give you a jet. I thought, He's done lost His mind. I can't even fill up this Toyota. How am I ever going to fill up a jet? Now, remember: God hears you when you think. He gave me this wonderful statement: Jesse! I didn't ask you to pay for it. I asked you to believe for it. at day was one of the greatest days in my life. When He said that, it went off in me like a shotgun. All the pressure left. He opened up my whole spirit to believe everything He said. Then He began to teach me, through believing teachers, how to stay in belief and receive His plan for the airplane—and for our blessed life! A lot of people tried to talk me out of what I believed, but I had set my heart to live to please God, not people. Living to please people is exhausting, but living to please God is energizing. The more God told me about His plan, the more I believed, and the more energized I became. Living the Life W h e n w e b a s e o u r p r ior it ie s on believing the glorious life God WHEN WE BASE OUR PRIORITIES ON BELIEVING THE GLORIOUS LIFE GOD HAS PROMISED, WE WILL HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BELIEVE!

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