BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“All right, then. I’m going to divide the property into four equal parts. All your rent will go toward the fourth quarter. When you pay for that quarter, I’ll deed it to you, and your rent will start going toward the next quarter. I won’t charge you any interest on the rent. If God tells you to do something else, all you need to do is give me two weeks’ notice and you can walk away. Does that suit you?” Certainly, it suited me! It was a marvelous plan. On my own I would have never come up with it. But, then, I didn’t have to. The LORD was leading him to come up with it, and He was leading me to be quiet. At Mr. Pruitt’s request, my ministry board members were present at that meeting and he asked one of them to write up a contract, setting the total price of the property at several million dollars, divided into quarters. The contract was so simple it fit on a single sheet of letter-sized paper. Mr. Pruitt and I both signed it and then he handed it back to me. “Now rewrite that exactly like it is except take a million dollars off the price,” he said. “I’m going to be the first donor.” I was totally stunned. I hadn’t seen that coming! Then, he added something else. “Kenneth, there’s a lot of gravel on this property,” he said. “A major cement company has been after me to mine it, and I told them they should talk to you about it.” “Does that mean I should call them as soon as I get the first quarter paid for?” I asked. “No, son. I’ve given you all the mineral rights. Sell some gravel and pay for some land!” Notice, he didn’t tell me about the gravel upfront. He waited until I had signed the contract and committed myself to the deal. Why was he led to do it that way? Because that’s how God works. He gives us step 1, and we have to believe and act on what He says about that step before we can get to step 2. Remember how God dealt with the Israelites in the Old Testament when He gave them the Promised Land? He told them He’d defeat their enemies before them, but before they could see how it was going to happen, they had to sign the faith contract, so to speak. They had to believe what God said and go into the land. But they refused to do it! When 10 of the spies Moses sent into Canaan came back and reported that the giants there were too big to conquer, the Israelites got scared and drew back. Rather than stepping out in faith, they got into mental reasoning. They believed what the spies said instead of what God said, so they never took possession of their land. Forty years later, the next generation of Israelites found out what a tragic mistake that had been. They learned from the two spies Joshua sent into Jericho that the giants had been terrified of them from the beginning. “Where have you been?” Rahab asked them. “We heard what your God did at the Red Sea, and our hearts melted in us!” (See Joshua 2:10-11.) The giants would have surrendered 40 years earlier, when the Israelites first crossed the Jordan, if they had done what God told them. They could have marched into the Promised Land virtually unopposed if they had believed Him and taken the first step. God already had step 2 lined up for them. He was already working on the other side of that deal, preparing the way for their miracle. He’s doing the same thing for you! So, if you’re facing an impossible situation, don’t be intimidated by it. Have faith in God (Mark 11:22) and let Him show you His plan. Feed on His WORD, fellowship with Him in prayer, and whatever He says, do it. He has a promised land of miracles waiting for you! V 8 : BVOV

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