BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

If you’re having financial trouble, the only way to enjoy the blessing of prosperity is to experience God and His love in the area of finances. Spending time with Him is spending time with the real Provider. Wealth is not a blessing unless you know God. It will destroy your life if you don’t know Him—it will amplify your sin. God wants us to know Him. Experiencing God’s love and Anointing is how I got delivered from overeating. When I was at the lowest point in my struggle, after having spent most of my life defeated—doing diet after diet, failing, gaining weight, losing it and then gaining it back—I realized I was in bondage. Food had become an idol. I thought about it all the time. My self-esteem was based on how I looked and how much I weighed, and I judged my righteousness on whether or not I ate the right foods and exercised. On the inside I said, God, if You will deliver me from this, I’ll tell people how You did it. I made a decision. I knew God was good and that my freedom was in His Word, even though it didn’t specifically talk about losing weight. A Revelation of His Love By spending time with Him and in His Word, I found out that we are re-created in Him and predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus the moment we are born again. I realized self-control was put into me by the Holy Spirit. It’s who He is. God is self-control. If you can’t control your eating, you haven’t experienced His love and Anointing in the area of self-control. If you can’t exercise regularly, you don’t know God well enough in the area of faithfulness and endurance. Second Corinthians 5:14 says, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” Allowing His love and purpose—knowing who we are and who we’re called to be—to rise up in us brings victory. Who are we called to be? We are called to be like Jesus—to sit with Him and to rule with Him in heavenly places. We have been crowned with His glory and honor. I was with a wonderful Christian woman one time who was talking to me about a challenge she was having. Because of an injury in her life and some things that had happened years ago, her self-esteem was so low she felt powerless to change what she knew needed to be changed in her life. A year or two before, we had had a similar conversation. Nothing had changed. She was continuing to face the same challenges, and her insisting, “I can’t because…,” was still holding her back. The more you understand God’s love and why you’re here on this earth, the more you understand His power to change you—not what you can or can’t do. Faith to change works by revelation of His love. We live in a world of stress and pressure—all brought on by the cares of this world. Whether it’s family matters, problems on the job, health issues or finances, they can all distract us and cause us to take our eyes off the true power source. There is also good pressure. Good pressure is when you have to use your faith to believe for your victory. Do you ever feel stressed out about finances or health issues? Not enough time? Too much to do? Life too fast? There are all kinds of pressures in parenting, for example. It’s not easy to be a good parent. There’s football practice, basketball practice, piano practice, cheerleading, grocery shopping, meal planning, dirty dishes, laundry. Need to clean the car, need to clean the house, need to lose 20 pounds, need to eat better, need to exercise more—pressure, pressure, pressure! But Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). To overcome stress and pressure, and to make our lives as easy and light as possible, we have to stay in constant communication with Him. If we trust Him and don’t quit, not only will we change, but things around us will change, too. To truly change means we must first want to change. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what changes are needed in your life. Then, release your faith and allow His power to change you. V Marty Copeland: Certified by the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, Texas, Marty is a personal trainer, nutritional counselor, author and minister of the gospel. ********** ADVERTISEMENT ********** 2017 UGANDA Reaction Tour “It is an honor to return to Uganda for our fifth camp. When we return to a location, we get to actually see the harvest of seeds that were planted the year before—and water them! Five hundred youths will be with us this year to worship, learn, compete and most importantly, to hear from the Father. Be praying for us as we prepare to depart on December 31!” —Courtney Copeland Reaction Tour exists to empower kids around the world, through the display of God’s love, using the avenues of sports, discipleship, dance and music. See how you can sponsor a child to go to camp. Visit reactiontour.com. *************************************** BVOV : 15

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