BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Praying for the sick and seeing them recover is major fruit. Stopping a deadly disease in its tracks with our God-given authority is the kind of fruit we are called to bear and the kind of fruit that glorifies God. But expecting to bear these kinds of fruit without maintaining a living communion with Jesus will serve only to frustrate our faith. To abide in Jesus is to stay in His Word and let His Word stay in you. The first thing we did after we turned off the television was turn on the preaching. I am of the opinion that every believer should be listening to at least one faith-filled, Jesus-magnifying, anointed sermon every single day. Making this adjustment is easier than you may think. You could easily listen to at least one whole message just in the time you spend getting ready for school or work, driving to and from the house, or getting ready for bed. At the beginning of this year, Sarah and I committed to giving a tithe of our time back to God. He so graciously gives us 24 hours every day, so we are giving 10 percent of that to prayer, reading our Bibles, and listening to men and women of God preach the Word with passion, boldness and sincerity. Making this simple change has not only increased our faith, it has also introduced a whole new level of peace and calm in our home. With a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old in our house, we welcome all the peace and calm we can get. In these verses, Jesus not only instructs us to abide in His Word but to also abide in His love. This, of course, is accomplished in part by reading and meditating on scriptures that reveal the unsearchable depths of the love that God has for us. But according to Jesus, we maintain a living communion with His love by loving others. Here it is important to note that everything Jesus said in John 15 led into one very powerful statement in John 16:1: “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” One of the meanings of the word offended is “to be separated.” Is that not a picture of what happens to people who were once close to each other but have allowed something to come between them? If their differences are magnified and allowed to grow, the space created by offense will sever their living communion and the relationship will be fruitless. It is especially sad to see a husband and wife, who were made one in the sight of God, allow offense between them that gives way to separation and divorce. It is literally a tearing apart, and the fruit they were called to bear together will never be born. With the fruit that we know we are called to bear, Sarah and I have resolved together to give no place to strife in our marriage. There will always be opportunity for it but, for the sake of our children, our ministry and our calling to each other, we refuse to allow anything to create space between us. I have found that since I started giving more of my day to God’s Word, my love for my wife is fueled by a deepening revelation of God’s love for me. Jesus said in John 8:31 that a disciple is simply someone who will abide or continue in His Word. After preaching what many of Jesus’ disciples considered to be a hard word, John 6:66 ("NKJV") says, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” When I read this, I have to ask, what did they go back to? And what would I be going back to that would be worth severing my connection with Him? More mindless TV watching? When Jesus turned to His disciples and asked if they were planning on bailing out, too, Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68, "NKJV"). After you’ve had a taste of the fruit that comes from abiding in Jesus, you’ll say the same thing Peter said: “There is no place I’d rather be, Lord, than right here with You. And I am determined that by Your grace and with the help of Your Holy Spirit, I am never again going to allow anything to create space between You and me. I have entered into the abiding life, and I am not coming out.” V Jeremy Pearsons and his wife, Sarah, are founders of Pearsons Ministries International. They travel to preach Jesus to congregations across the U.S. and around the world. For more information, visit them online at pearsonsministries.com. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Watch Jeremy & Sarah on bvovn. See info on back cover. *************************************** BVOV : 25

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