BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you we are living in dangerous days. Televisions blare the news of wars, terrorist attacks, record-breaking disasters and drug-related crime. There is more violence now than there has ever been in my lifetime, and it continues to escalate. It’s a sobering day. But believers have nothing to fear! When we look at things in the natural realm, it may seem like a scary time to live. But in the supernatural realm, it’s the most powerful time to live. We have a place of protection in God that will keep us completely safe, regardless of what is happening in the world around us. It’s Him we must depend upon. And to have confidence—to have faith—in His ability to keep us, we must know what His Word says about our safety and protection well enough to act on it. I believe these are the last days and Jesus could come at anytime. Until then, we can abide “under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Instead of caving in to fear, we can stand confidently on the Word and walk boldly in our covenant of protection. End-Time Instructions In Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples what to expect just before the end. The signs He spoke of—wars, famine, earthquakes, unbridled sin—are echoed in today’s headlines. When the disciples asked Jesus what would signal His return and the end of the world, He said: "Don’t let anyone mislead you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will lead many astray. And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won't follow immediately. The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.… Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But those who endure to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come" (verses 4-14, "New Living Translation"-96). Don’t panic because of these things, Jesus said! And don’t join people who are flocking toward sin either. Second Timothy 3:13 says that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” That accurately describes this generation. The closer we get to the catching away of the Church, the worse it becomes in the natural realm. Thank God, He warned us about these things. And thank God He assured us, “The Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world.” That’s being done now on a scale never before seen! God desires for “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). It is never His will for anyone to be left outside His blessing and protection. That’s why He sent Jesus. Galatians 3:13-14 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us…that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” To walk in the blessing and protection of God, we first must choose Jesus as Savior. But He won’t force us to make that decision. The Lord won’t force us to get under His protective shadow either. We choose the blessing over the curse. The first step to the blessing is to receive Jesus as Lord over our lives. This decision translates you out of darkness into light—from one kingdom into another. “[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13, "Amplified Bible, Classic Edition"). Now, I want to take a moment and say this: If you haven’t yet given your heart to Jesus, you can make that decision right now. Say, “Jesus, I make You Lord of my life. Take my life and do something with it. Teach me how to live and how to be free.” BVOV : 27

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