“It is a good thing to give THANKS unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: ” (Ps. 92:1).
The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. Many will be travelling to be with family. Many will be making preparations for having family with them. With that in mind, we want to give OTC a week of rest after a very active season. We will therefore be cancelling our usual Wednesday night service.
I am very grateful for how we have seen the Spirit of the Lord move in our midst this past year. We are so grateful for all of the new families who have joined us, as well as for job promotions, supernatural provision, healing, restoration, breakthroughs, inheritances gained, deliverances, and babies born. This list of our blessings is endless.
No matter what we may may be seeing or hearing on the news, remember, we live in another Kingdom with a different set of principles. Since the Lord never changes, He is still saying “be grateful and serve Him with joy.” Deut. 28:47 and 48 tells us that if we don’t serve the Lord our God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things; we will end up serving our enemies.
JEHOSHAPHAT AND PRAISE
When Jehoshaphat was surrounded on all sides by the enemy (2 Chrn. 20:1), he called for a fast and appealed for help. The Spirit of the Lord then came upon a man named Jahaziel, a Levite. Jahaziel is a very powerful name in the Hebraic understanding. The root word of his name is chazah. Chazah means that you are spiritually able to perceive, and have a vision of what is not physically manifest in the present. He was a man who had perception beyond normal human experiences. Because of the prophetic gifting, he could boldly declare and admonish the people to not be afraid or dismayed at the size of the battle ahead. He further encouraged them that they would not even need to fight, but should only stand still.
After the prophetic decree, the Levites stood up to praise the LORD with a loud voice. Jehoshaphat, confident of the prophetic gifting in Jahaziel, appointed singers unto the LORD, and decreed that they should praise the beauty of Holiness. The singers sang joyfully, “Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures forever” (2 Chrn. 20:21). When the singers began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushments against the enemies and the enemies were smitten. (2 Chrn. 20:22). I state this today to all of you who have not been able to focus on the LORD because you have been surrounded by the enemy known as prognostication (an inaccurate prediction of the future.) It is time to begin praising.
PRAISE IS A WEAPON
One of the most powerful praise warriors who ever lived was King David. David declared, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be SAVED from mine ENEMIES” (Ps. 18:3). The One who is worthy to be praised and who could save David from his enemies, is the One he was going to call upon. What enemies are you facing right now? Which words are you magnifying in speech. Are you speaking of your lack, poverty, poor health, fear, doubt, unbelief, uncertainly, or what you’re hearing on the news? Change your words today and say, “O MAGNIFY the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3). When we magnify something, we cause it to grow. Start to praise and see what good things begin to grow.
I want to call to our attention the words of Moses. In Deut. 28 we learn about the blessings and the curses. In Deut. 28:47 -48, Moses warned the people with these words, “Because you served not the Lord your God with JOYFULNESS and with GLADNESS of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shall you serve your enemies, which the LORD shall send against you.” In other words, you activate a curse upon yourself if you stop thanking the Lord. Ungrateful people do not prosper in the LORD, nor do they have the ability to stand during a crisis.
One last thought on praise being a weapon. The prophet says in the Psalms, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord” (Ps.149:6-9). Praise and weapons of righteous war go hand in hand. Through high praise we can change the course of the nation. This is honorable in the eyes of the LORD.
May you have a blessed Thanksgiving because you are praisingthe LORD.
