When a bank hires a new teller, they train them through handling real money. Why don’t they give them counterfeit money? They want them to gain discernment through constant use. Let’s take that into the spiritual. 

Our praise is always to the Lord. He is the only One worthy of praise. In Revelation 4 John recorded the scene in heaven. In verse 10, the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lord saying, “…You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Many of David’s psalms are words bursting with praise. Psalm 146-150 all end with, “…Praise the Lord!” The more we praise the Lord for Who He is at all times, the more our heart’s walls reverberate with truth that will keep us free. 

He is our All in All that the enemy seeks to distract us from. Praise will sharpen our faith, so that we will discern when a fiery dart whizzes into our thoughts. Continual praise will not allow it to penetrate. It is when we are filled with doubt, fear, and unbelief that the darts sneak past and plant themselves.

I encourage you, as you daily read your Bible, to remain alert. When you come to a verse that declares Who the Lord is, stop and praise Him with the verse. Last night I was reading Job 34. I felt the Holy Spirit stop me at verse 24. I read it again and then turned it first into praise, and then later used it as I prayed for our nation. It says, “He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, and sets others in their place.”

The enemy of our soul battles to control our minds through his lies. John 8:44 says that there, “…is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

He shoots fiery darts to undermine our faith. The very thing that he seeks to destroy is our trusted and proven weapon. Ephesians 6:16 says that our door shield of faith quenches his fiery darts. 

What is a stronghold? 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that it is, “…arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” All lies are against God’s ways and His purpose for our life.

The foundation for a stronghold is set when a fiery dart lie penetrates our thoughts. They usually come in the first person, They are stealthily designed so that we think it is our thought. I learned in 1993 that not all my thoughts are of my  own origin. That set me on a new path of victorious praise.

Here is a verse that we can praise the Lord with through faith declarations. Isaiah 54:17. It would sound something like this: Lord, I praise You because no weapon formed against me will prosper! Then add Isaiah 55:11 to it. I praise You Lord that Your word will never return to You void, because You will cause it to accomplish and prosper.

Inner strongholds are built with lies. High praise is a weapon that tears them down. Psalm 149:6 says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.” I encourage you to read verses 7-9 also.

Here is a new song called, I Will Praise You

I praise You for Your mighty love. I praise You for Your grace. Without You I am nothing. With You I am emboldened in Your power

I face each foe with Your sword in my hand. I whack the lies to pieces. In faith I confidently stand. Having done all to stand I remain standing

My strength is found in You. You are the Rock in which I hide. You fight my battles as Your peace within abides. My joy is Your sustaining gift that will not be taken away

It remains so I can rejoice in You no matter what may come to be. In You I am secure. You are the anchor of my soul. I rest in You steadfast and immovable

The tempestuous waves may crash against me. In You I am safe from harm. In You I live and move and have my being. Dwelling in You I am sealed for eternity

A good massage is designed to break up tight muscles, restore circulation, and release toxins. Let’s take this into the spiritual. Worry, fear, anger, anxiety, and indecision all cause toxic stress that tightens our muscles. Our heart constricts, and we jam up the way our body is designed to function.

Praise takes our focus off our circumstances onto the Lord. As we lift up our voice in praise, our heart is massaged. Tensions melt as we praise the One Who is worthy. The moment we praise Him, like the singers in 2 Chronicles 20:22, our taunting enemy’s attempts are defeated.

A trusting heart remains steadfast, even when we are surrounded by impossibilities. I love 2 Chronicles 20. What an example for us. We go out to battle with praise as our forerunner. King Jehoshaphat had received news that a great multitude was coming.

Verse 3 says that he feared, and set himself to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed the truth based on God’s attributes. Verse 11 says, “Here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.”

Verse 12 highlights his trust. It says, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

God’s ways are far higher than our ways. In verse 17 He told them to position themselves, and to stand still because He was with them. In verse 21 the singers went out before the army, saying, “…Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.”

Verse 22 recorded the power of their praise. It says, “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes…and they were defeated.” God crushed their enemy through praise.

Praise is the fruit of trust. Psalm 68:1 says, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered…” Verse 4 says, “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him.” 

I have never done this before. I’m giving you some notes I took while listening to a message by John Van Gelderen

The Real You

The real you is God’s nature. If we don’t put the lies of the enemy to death, we will view ourselves as failures, losers, and duds. We then have to pretend to be righteous when around other believers.

Thinking down deep that we aren’t righteous, but God says that down deep we really are righteous. We act out what we really believe. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to convince us of the truth.

Romans 6:10 says, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” He died unto sin once.

At salvation we are placed into Christ. Romans 6:7 says, “For he who has died has been freed from sin.” In the core of our being we are new creations. It is a creative act of God ~ miraculous.

Ephesians 4:24 says, “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” This is the real you – His seed was implanted into us ~ inserted and has been there ever since ~ even on our worst days.

We are radically righteous in Christ ~ even when we buy into satan’s lies when tempted to sin and sin. We are still IN Christ. At our core we are righteous. Satan’s lie is that we are fundamentally flawed. God’s truth is that we are fundamentally fixed.

Lies need to be put to death because they become our excuses. We are defined by who we are IN Christ ~ His righteousness is IN us. We need to focus on the Person. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesu…” He is our Power Source.

I typed this out so I could share it with a new mentee, but you might like it to share with someone ~ or grab hold of these truths for yourself

I love this verse in Nahum 2:1. To me it is very militant. and charges me with power to remain alert and on guard. The enemy of our soul uses our mind as his battlefield. It says, “He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen  your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.” Note the exclamation points!

This is not a casual verse. It calls us to arms because our adversary continually sets traps. In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul wrote about putting on God’s special provision of armor. Verse 13 requires fortitude. 

It says, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” David had some mighty men that are great examples of fortitude. 

You can read about them in 2 Samuel 23:8-39. Eleazar is the one I want to focus on. Verse 10 says, “He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day…”

When we are weary in the battle, God’s hidden word ~ our inner sword will fortify our heart, and will carry us through to the victory. 1 John 5:4 says, “…And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing God’s word. We build forts of truth around our mind, and proclaim it in the face of enemy placed obstacles.

The writer to the Hebrews reminded the folks that they needed endurance. I want to start off this new year with an endurance reminder. The Strong’s defines the Greek word hupomone as, constancy, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, and holding out. It combines two words, “under” and “to remain.”

I love this note in my Bible. Endurance is described as the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

Hebrew 10:35-36 says, “…do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

One of the keys to perseverance is maintaining a grateful heart. By the way, that is the will of God according to 1 Thessalonians 5:16. Hebrews 13:15 described it as a sacrifice. When we want to grumble and complain, we lay that fleshly desire on the altar of praise!

Thanksgiving is a pleasing heart aroma to the Lord. In 2004 the Holy Spirit taught me to combat negativity with gratitude, and He placed a little running melody in my heart. It became my default. I barely heard it and didn’t think others could. 

However, when I was taking care of my elderly hard of hearing friend she did. I had folks turn and thank me for my happy song while standing in lines. Colossians 3:16 recorded it as, “…singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” It lifts our spirit and glorifies the Lord.

Perplexed means to not have understanding. Think of Job. What was God’s commendation? Job 1:8 says, “…Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

There was no one like Job ~ a man of heart integrity. Like a domino effect, one chaotic event followed another. Job’s response was to fall to the ground and worship. Job 1:22 says, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

What a portrait. In Job 19:23 he said, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!” We read them as spectators, he lived them moment by moment. Job had no clue ~ it was a perplexing trial. All through his account we catch glimpses of how the Lord revealed Himself to Job in ways he never knew Him before.

So it is with our lives. We have all of God’s words at our fingertips. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Today is the beginning of a new year. Yesterday, and all the days and years behind that have passed. We cannot change them or alter what happened. We are given the present only. Galatians 5:16 says “…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Our flesh does cartwheels and flips trying to figure perplexing things out. Our spirit man trusts in the One Who knows all things.

To

Rest

Under

Sore

Trials

Words from Jeremiah 31:14, became part of a new song that bubbled up as I fixed breakfast. It says, “I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Satiate means to fill to the full. Are you consciously grateful for the fullness of His goodness? Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

Taste is an interesting word. I’ve been experimenting with a breakfast dish. I’ve made it three times now, and each time I consider the taste. How can I make it more satisfying? Tasting of the Lord’s goodness requires a heart that embraces all the trials and hardships that He has allowed to take place.

Psalm 145:9 says, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” I savor David’s words of tender mercies. We could stroll down the hallway of the lives of countless folks who turned to the Lord through blessings disguised as tragedies. 

I know that I was never the same after I fell into the ravine. The Lord used that event to woo me into intimate communion with Him. I’m sure you have your own stories ~ how He turned something catastrophic into an enriching blessing.

We are at the end of another year. Only the Lord knows what lies ahead. Let us savor His goodness as we face the unknown. Let us drink deep of His river of pleasures, delight in Him as our Source of Strength, and sing praises that glorify Him throughout our day.

God had an assignment for Moses. He was about to use something totally natural to Moses in a supernatural way. He asked him, ‘What is in your hand?’ Just a typical shepherd’s rod until he threw it down.

Pharaoh opposed God’s ways and His will. After the children of Israel had left Egypt, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart again. Exodus 14:4 says, “Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army…”

Pharaoh was fashioned to bring God glory. Think of Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen. At the end of his humiliation, he gave God glory. Daniel 4:34 says, “…I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.”

God is not a cookie cutter. Each one of us is uniquely fashioned according to His purpose. He uses our specifically designed trials, divine orchestrations. and encounters, to fulfill what He has begun. Nothing is in vain. 

Even though Job was in a severe trial, his focus was on the Lord. Job 5:9 recorded his words. It says, “Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.” Job 11:7 says, “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?” 

Psalm 145:3 says that His greatness is unsearchable.” Verse 5 says, “I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works.” Verse 20 says, “The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” All are fashioned by God for His glory.