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Word for Today:  April 30

Develop an Expectancy in your heart.

See it.  Imagine it.  Think it.  Keep it before your eyes.  See it with the eyes of faith.  “See the invisible and expect the impossible.”     Moses “endured” this way.  When it seemed that nothing was ever going to happen, he “endured” as “seeing the invisible.”   He developed an expectancy in his heart.  He “saw” it before he really saw it.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.  Heb 11:27

Everything and all things that have ever manifested in the natural had their birth in somebody’s heart.  Somehow and some way somebody “saw it.”  Dreams come true because dreamers see the dream.   It is in the world of Faith-Seeing that Reality is created.  What you can “see” is what you can get.

God saw before He said.  When He SAW then He SAID.  He had the image in His Heart of Faith before He spoke the Creative World into existence

See it.  Say it.  Expect it.  Receive it.

Word for Today:  April 26

God has given us WEAPONS

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;  2 Cor. 10:4

And they are mighty weapons given to every believer by God for the pulling down of strongholds… they are not carnal and they are not natural… they are Supernatural and they are efficient and they are effective and they work.  They are given to every believer in order that every believer might overcome the attacks of the enemy.  These weapons are for warfare.  They are not for peace.   They are aggressive.  They are for pulling down and destroying.  They are locked, loaded and ready to be used.

The reason we have these weapons is that we might overcome the powers of darkness…. that we might stop the devil.  If we do not used them, they will not work for us, and we will not restrain the devil.  If we do not exercise them, we will not break through and destroy the strategies and strongholds of the enemy.

God gave them.  God gave them to Believers.  God gave them to Believers in order that Believers might confirm what Jesus did to the devil.  Jesus destroyed the works of the devil.  Those works are still destroyed.  The Bible says that

 to as many as received Him to them gave He power to become…  John 1:12.

You have the power and authority to become whatever God has purposed for you to become.  This is why Paul says…

I can do all things though Christ…  Phil 4:13)

If he can, so can you

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.   Lu 18:27 

          Governments can’t.  Banks and lending institutions can’t.  Doctors, nurses and hospitals can’t.  Lawyers can’t. Kings and presidents can’t.   But God Can!

          You may have encountered impossible situations and circumstances in the past.  You may be now facing things you can’t do.  You can’t .  But God Can!  The Bible declares:

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Lu 18:27 

          There is nothing too hard for God to do and nothing too “broke” for God to fix.  “But you don’t know what great needs I have.” It doesn’t matter what you need.  God can get it to you.   “But you don’t understand how bad off I am.”  It doesn’t matter how bad or impossible your condition may be.  God can fix it.

          Years ago I received a call from a mother whose son was dying.  He had undergone several critical surgeries, was in the ICU on life-support and not expected to live.  The doctors admitted “he can’t live.” “There is no way he can survive.”  “He is living now only because he is connected to the life support system. “  The lady asked desperately for our church to pray.  The call now was from this mother and was literally shouting over the phone… “Oh, I am so happy.  I just about can’t stand it!  My son has recovered and is doing well!  They are removing him from ICU and he will be home in a few days!” Doctor’s can’t.  God can.

          I want you to see and understand the power and ability of God in impossible situations.  “Is anything too hard for God?”  (Gen 18:14) And the obvious answer is a resounding “NO!”  Listen to this:

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?  Jer 32:27 

          When others can’t, God Can.  When nations can’t, God Can.  When presidents and kings can’t, God Can.  We live in a culture that is saturated with a negative, pessimistic, fatalistic, impossibility mind set.  “It’s too hard.”  “It’s too difficult.”  “It’s too expensive.”  “It’s impossible.”  “There is no way out.”  This kind of thinking and talking is a bill of goods we have bought from the devil.   He has lied, intimidated and threatened to keep us discouraged and dismayed.  He has made us think that our problems are beyond repair.  He has attempted to keep us stressed out and running scared. 

          The negativism we live in is not only personal, it is national and international.  No jobs.  Lay offs.  Energy crisis.  Shaky stock market.  Nervous banks.  Shrinking dollar.  Failing economy.  Foreclosures.  Financial uncertainty and insecurity.  Seems that on  every hand there is pending panic and wide-spread pessimism. 

          The fact of wide spread terrorism and radical Islamic threats fills the airwaves and newspapers.  Civil war and deadly demonstrations are causing governments and kingdoms to fail and are fueling the fear and emotional distress that covers a large part of today’s world.  Our society is sinking and no man can anything about it.  Our nation is staggering in unrest and political  turmoil and nobody can fix it.  Looks like the world is a time-bomb just moments away from self-destructing.  And nobody can stop it.  At least that’s what the devil would have us think.  And he is the father of lies. 

          Satan has even had the nerve to attack me.  He’s had the audacity to attack our church.  He has threatened us and intimidated us.  He is on the move.  But God is, too!  Some have told me “Bro. Dick you are dreaming.  What you are talking about will never happen.  The things you are declaring that will come out of this little congregation is foolishness.  It is impossible.”  That’s exactly what I am aware of and that is exactly why I know God Can. 

          We as believers are facing a formidable task.  The world is desperate for a spiritual awakening.  The nations are ripe for a harvest.  There are billions of people living in darkness and ignorance who will never get to heaven unless we tell them about Jesus. 

          We are commanded to take the whole Gospel to the whole world.  The need is to see those depressed and overwhelmed and held in bondage set free.  Masses are held captive and defeated by the powers of darkness.  The job we have to do is impossible.  The job we have been assigned is  financially unreachable.  The job is too big, too hard, and too impossible.  We can’t do it physically.  We can’t do it numerically.   We can’t do it naturally.  But God Can! 

          It doesn’t matter how small we are.  It doesn’t matter how weak we are.  It doesn’t matter inadequate we are.  It doesn’t matter how limited we are.  We can’t.  But God Can.

          What are you facing in your Christian walk?  How vicious is the devil tormenting you?  What are your limitations?  How can you accomplish the impossible in your situation?  I am tired of the devil making a mess out of lives that have been redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus.  I am tired of Satan intimidating the Body of Christ; vexing and tormenting; lying and stealing; slandering and accusing… Are you tired of his demonic attacks and relentless harassment?  You may be aware of your weakness and failure to break loose…. To get free…   Do you think you can’t?   Then God Can!  And God will!  You have already been redeemed from the curse by the finished Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ.  What you cannot do and what the church cannot do…  God Can Do!

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  Ga 3:13 

God’s Word tells us He Can

          God Can because His Word says He can.    His Word is established from everlasting to everlasting.  Nothing is too hard for God.  All things are possible with God.  All through the  Bible, there are powerful testimonies that declare God Can.  

          What is your need today?  What is that crying, burning desire of your heart?  What is the deepest longing of your soul?  God’s Word says He Can.  He can meet that need.  He can satisfy that desire.  He can hear and answer your cry.  

          I was noticing some of the names of God that are used in the Old Testament.  And I discovered that the names of God declare that God Can.     Listen to what His Name declares that He can do:

• Jehovah Jireh: God is our Provider
• Jehovah Ropheka:  God is our Healer
• Jehovah Shalom:  God is our Peace
• Jehovah Rohi:  God is our Shepherd
• Jehovah Shammnah: God is ever-present with us

          If God’s Word says He Can, then He can.  He is not a man that He should lie.  God is Truth.  His Word is True.  Jesus is called the “Truth.”

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: John 14:6  

God Has Done it in the Past

          God Can because He has done it in the past.  You may think you are in a tight situation.  You may feel that your back is against the wall.  It may seem there is no way of escape.  Perhaps you even think you have it worse than anybody else.   Remember, you have been caught in bad situations in the past and yet, you are still living and breathing.  You made it.  God saw you through.  God was faithful and you did not crash and burn as you surely thought you would.  You survived and succeeded and came out the winner and not the loser.    God Can because He has done it before. 

          Cheer up.  It does not matter what you are going through or  about to go through… you have been Born into the Family of God and you are going to come out the winner and not the loser.  God is obligated to safely bring you through your trial and test. 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1Co 10:13 

          God made Abraham a daddy when he was a hundred years old and Sarah a mother when she was ninety.  He led 4 million Hebrews out of Egypt and into the promised land with Pharoah’s army in hot pursuit.  They had no way of escape.  Mountains were on one side, the desert on the other and the Red Sea in front of them.  But that was no big deal  for God.  The Word says that those four million Hebrews passed through the Red Sea in one night.  Do you know it would take a hole at least five miles wide to get all of them through in just one night?  Even then, they would have to march through five thousand abreast in order for them to get to the other side with their animals, their possessions and their families.  When God does something, He does it big.  He literally blew a hole five miles wide in the Red Sea and they all walked across on dry land.  God Can. 

          Once they got on the other side Moses was faced with the formidable job of feeding and caring for four million Hebrews and all their livestock.  So every day for nearly 40 years God opened the windows of Heaven and sent four thousand tons of manna.  That is over fifty-eight million, four hundred thousand tons of manna that fell from the sky over a forty year period.  Then, they needed water.  Lots of water.  It took twelve million gallons of water every day to quench their thirst and the thirst of all their livestock.  That means God provided sixty thousand tons of water every day in the middle of the desert where there was no river, no spring and no rain.    God Can. 

          I figured that it would have cost God over ten million dollars a day to feed four million people and the animals they owned.  The entire bill for getting the Children of Israel out of Egypt and into Canaan was an expense in excess of a hundred BILLION dollars.  God Can.

          God can because He delivered Daniel from hungry lions. God can because He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace heated seven times over.  God can because He made the sun stand still for Joshua.  God can because He made fire fall from heaven for Elijah.  God can because He saved Jonah alive in the belly of a great fish.  God can because He made a virgin have a Baby.  God Can.

God can because He has done it in my life

          I know God can because He’s done it for me.  At the age of four, while living in an upstairs apartment in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, I because seriously ill with double pneumonia.  This was before the “miracle drugs” of penicillin and other medicines had been developed and which could have been used in cases such as this.  My Mom and Dad were Christians but they did not have the full revelation of God’s healing power.  So, nothing they did for me could stop my convulsions or make my high fever go down. 

          There was an old man who every day would sit on a bench in courthouse square in the middle of our small town.  There was something unique about this stooped, white haired old man.  He always had a big black Book opened up in his lap.  My mother and daddy would take me walking down Main Street, and as we passed the courthouse square, I would see him sitting on the bench and reading that big black Book. 

          One day I said: “Mother, what’s that old man reading?”  She said, “Son, that’s the Bible.  That man is Uncle Tom Cubley.  Everybody knows Uncle Tom.  He’s one of the best Christians in Hattiesburg.”  She added: “He reads his Bible on the courthouse square every day.”

          When I was upstairs, feverish and convulsing, the only thing I could remember was Uncle Tom.  I said, “Daddy. Would you please go get Uncle Tom to come up here and pray for me?”  I didn’t know anything about healing in answer to prayer.  They were fearful for my life.   Daddy left immediately.  He went to the courthouse square and got  Uncle Tom and brought him and his big black Book back to my bedside.  I remember that day very well when Uncle Tom came up the stairs and into my bedroom.  He laid his big old callused hand on me and he prayed.  And I didn’t die.  God Can.

          I know God can, because He’s done it for me.  He called me to preach when I was just a smart-aleck young man.  He delivered me from religion and baptized me in the Holy Spirit.  Supernaturally He has led us over the years in establishing and developing a successful ministry that has reached tens of thousands over the past 50 years.  God Can.

          God can because His Word says He can.  God can because of His record in the past.  God can because He’s done it in my life. 

God can because He’s done it in our ministry. 

          I came to Mobile in 1962 as a fresh graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary… a great and blessed institution in the Southern Baptist Convention.  The church I was called to pastor was a small community church made up of sweet, friendly and spiritually hungry folks.  As a matter of fact, some of them were hungrier than me.  They began to sort of slip away to special prayer meetings in various places and while doing so, received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  They would witness to me about this experience but I really was not that interested since I knew what happened to Baptist Pastors when they got “involved” with Pentecostal practices.  But my sweet wife received the Baptism sovereignly, while she was alone in worship and prayer.   Following her encounter, God was gracious enough to lead me into that wonderful experience.

          I gave my testimony to the little Baptist church and they kindly agreed for me to stay as their pastor and teach them the Word.  And so we did.  However the time came when there was such a burning desire in my heart as well and in the hearts of many others, to be free from any sort of restriction or limitation in our quest for more of God.  We longed to be free to serve God and to follow His leadership in any direction.   So, we had to make a choice.  We were either going to be a conventional, denominational church or we were to be an independent, cross-cultural, interfaith church.

          I remember the night that the deacons, the assistant pastor and I met in the old building which then served as our auditorium.  We spent a good part of one Saturday night praying because the next morning I was going to call for a vote.  We are either going all the way or we are going to quit.  I plan on going all the way and you will have to decide what you will do. 

          So that Sunday morning, I announced to the congregation that I would stay as their pastor, but only under certain conditions.  And the conditions under which I would stay would be quite radical for a congregationally-ruled church.  One condition was that we would cease to be a denominational church and become an independent, cross-cultural, interfaith congregation.  Another condition was that our congregational form of church government would be scrapped and a new form of government established.  One that would recognize the Pastor and a select group of spiritual individuals serving as elders would comprise our decision-making board and we would no longer have congregational “business meetings.” 

          When the vote was taken, much to my surprise, the congregation chose for me to stay, and that was a miracle.  However, inside of three months, the little church split three times.  We were met with a critical financial crisis.  Many were saying; “Well, Bro. Dick, you finally did it.  You messed up royally.  You split the church and now you are at your Waterloo.  You’ve had it.  The church is finished.  It’s gone.  And they all will be laughing at you and the foolish decision the church made to have you stay.” 

          We were slandered.  We were called a “cult.”  A local television station came out and did a news story on us right after the Jim Jones fiasco in South America.  We were threatened, accused and cursed.  We were laughed at.  But we survived.  God can.

          In the middle of that crisis when we were down to fewer than a hundred faithful souls, God spoke to my heart and said, “Build a new auditorium that will seat a thousand.”  “But,” I responded, “first,we don’t have enough people.  Second, we don’t have any money and third, I just can’t do it.”  And God said, “That’s right.  You can’t, but I can.” 

          The bottom was still falling out.  Things were not getting any better, they were getting worse.  People were leaving.  Bill were piling up and I was getting more and more depressed.  I feel on my face in my study and said, “Oh, God!  Have you forgotten me?  Have you removed the anointing from my calling?  Why is all this happening? I’ll tell you what, I give up.  I give up.  I give up.  I’ve done everything I know to do.  I’ve used everything I learned in college and seminary and in my short preaching experience.  I have tried and cried and sighed.  And nothing has worked.  I give up!” 

          God answered, “Good.  I’ve been waiting a long time for you to give up.  You have tried to manipulate things and operate in your strength and ability.  Now that you have taken your hands off of MY WORK, I can turn your ‘can’t’ into my CAN!’”  When we give up God shows up.

          God can because He says He can.  His Word says He can.  God can because He has done it in the past.  God can because He has done it in my life.  God can because He has done it in our church and ministry.  And because God has done it for me, He is certainly capable and able to do it for you.

          He can save you.

          He can fix your messed-up marriage.

          He can heal your sickness and disease.

          He can deliver you from your addictions.

          He can free you from worry and fear.

          He can supply all your needs.

          He can restore everything the devil has destroyed.

          He can and He will!

Because He loves you

Word for Today:  April 25

Life at its BEST.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

“Life” in this verse is the word “Zoe,” a Greek term that describes a quality of life, not a quantity, but a quality of life.  It is the word that describes the very same kind of life that God has.  Jesus is saying here, “I have come that you might have life and that life will be the same kind of life that I have and the same kind of life that God has… ”

This is the abundant life that Jesus has given to you and to me.  It is not simply “living and breathing” or “natural, physical” life, but it is the same quality of life that God has.  The same type of Life God has.  It is the “God Kind” of life.

Can you imagine God being worried?  Can you imagine God being afraid?  Can you imagine God being sick?  Can you imagine God being in a bad mood?  Or having a “bad hair day?”  Can you imagine God being poor?   Can you see God being depressed or stressed?  Or sad, or melancholy or “blue?”

God is not saving up for a rainy day.  God is not getting ready to go to the hospital.  God is not tired out or “wore” out… God is not planning on anything bad happening to Him.  He never has and He never will.  God is just fine.

If God is OK then you are OK.

Regardless

Word for Today:  April 24

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.Matt. 21:22

IF we will apply Word Principles to the affairs of our lives, there will be increase and abundance.  Guaranteed.  Not just materially, but emotionally, physically and spiritually as well.  There are some Strong Guarantees and some incredible promises given to us (who believe) the Word.  When we exercise these promises and activate these provisions by our faith, increase comes.  Abundance comes.  Life happens.  Real Life.

We have looked at these promises, and wondered if they could really be true.  We have not seen the manifestation.  We have not experienced the answers we have believed for and discouragement has set in.  satan has seen to it that we rationalize and reason and move into the place of doubt and unbelief.  This is his strategy.  This is his plan.  his only hope is that he can weaken, limit and ultimately destroy our faith.

Now, it’s time.  It’s time for you and me to move out of our complacency and comfort and begin to invade satan’s territory.  It is time for us to be aggressive.  To be on the offense.  Not the defense, but the offense.  If we are satisfied to remain in our comfort zone…if we are satisfied in the place we now are, we are, in fact,  backslidden.  We are not keeping up with God and His divine purpose and plan for us.

Are you ready?  Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?  Are you willing to put it all on the line for God?  Are you ready to do whatever it takes?  Are you willing to take a “faith risk” today?  Are you ready to reach out and hold on to nothing until nothing becomes something?

God is looking… searching throughout the earth diligently seeking those to whom He can show Himself strong.  Will you volunteer?  Will you be one of the ones who will demonstrate the Power and the Glory of Letting God do in you whatever it takes?

I believe you are.  I know I am.

 But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus…   Phil 4:19

 Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him…  Heb 10:38

 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward..   Heb 10:35

 Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised…  Heb 10:23

 …for if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin…  Heb 10:26

 …If ye continue in my Word, then ye are my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free…   John 8:31-32

When God promises something, He performs it.  When God says something in His Word, it comes to pass.  What God declares, happens!  God is not a man that He should lie.  God never goes back on His word.  His Word is “yes” and “amen” not “perhaps” and “maybe so.”  He speaks and He speaks loudly.  What He says is not muddled, confused, mumbled or ambiguous.  His Word is like a sharp sword.  A two-edged sword!  His Word is as reliable as God is reliable.  His Word is as powerful as God is powerful.  His Word is as unchangable as God is unchangable.

If we are to see the increase God has promised, we will get it and keep it by His Word.  The increase will not come by feeling.  It will not come by wishing.  It will not come by hoping.  It will not come by religion.  It will come and it will continue only by and through His Word… the Word of God!  The Word is Fire.  The Word is Water.  The Word is Truth.  The Word is Life.  The Word is God!  Hallelujah!!

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Josh 1:8  

God told Joshua:  “this book of the law (the Word) shall not depart out of thy mouth (in other words, you will continually speak it out of your mouth…) but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success…”

Maintaining the increase God has given us requires some effort on our part.  Living a successful overcoming life does not “just happen.”   It is a demanding and disciplined life.  It is not impossible, but it is demanding. 

In order to guard our “stuff” and keep the devil from stealing it, there are some things we can do to protect it.   God was very specific in the instructions He gave to His new commander, Joshua.

“Continually speak My Word”   

Never let the Word stop coming out of your mouth.     If you never let the “Law” (Word) depart out of your mouth you obviously will be constantly speaking it. 

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10:10 

  You will never live above the level of the words you speak.  What you say is important.  When you say the Word you are speaking God’s language.  You are talking like God. That kind of talk scares the devil to death.  That kind of language drives out demons and limits the power of the devil in your life.  What you say (confess with words you speak) determines what you get. 

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall sayunto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mr 11:23 

This is why the Word warns us about “idle” (empty, useless, fruitless) words.

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Mt 12:36 

“Keep My Word in your Mind.” 

God told Joshua to “mediate therein (the Word) day and night.”  What other time is there other than “day” and “night”?   The Word should be on our mind continually.  How does what I am doing relate to the Word?  How do my actions agree with  the truth of the Word? Are the decisions I make in agreement with the Word?  Just how much of my thinking is in line with what the Word says?  Do I know and do I think about what the Word says concerning any situation similar to the one I am facing? 

We need to see every human experience in the light of the Word of God.  What we do.  Where we go.  What entertains us.  What is important to us.  What the Word says concerning my family?  My marriage?  My occupation?  My dreams and goals?  Think the Word.  Ponder the Word.  Meditate the Word.  Memorize the Word.  We can even “think” passages of scripture and verses that keep us encouraged and built-up.

When the enemy sends fiery darts (thoughts and mind images that contradict the Word) we have the power and the ability to “cast them down” and bring them (thoughts) into “captivity.”

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ2Co 10:5  

We can actually renew our mind with the Word of God. 

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:2 

The Word has the power to renew or refresh and transform our mind.  It raises our thinking level above earthy things and plants them firmly on heavenly things.  It transcends the present and forges ahead to the eternal. The Word “washes” our brain.  This kind of “brainwashing” is needed by every believer.

That he might sanctify and cleanse it  (the Church) with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:26 

The things we think define who we are.  If we are to emulate the life of Jesus, we certainly need to keep our thinking (mind) in line with the Word.  It has the ability to cleanse and consecrate our “soulish” man (our mind, our will and our emotions). 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Php 4:8 

“Know what My Word says” 

Knowing (not “surface” or “shallow” knowledge)  but deep-down-in-the-spirit knowing.  To “know”  with this kind of “knowing” we need to study the Word,  learn the Word, meditate the Word and pray for revelation of the Word.    Get a reliable study Bible with explanatory notes and dig in.  If we do not know what the Bible says, we cannot do what the Bible says do.  The reason we continue in the Word is so that we might know what it says.

Many believers who do not really know the Word spend countless hours praying for things that God has already given them.  There are priceless promises God has made to us and provisions Jesus has bought, paid for and given us that are never received because many believers simply lack knowledge of the Word. 

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Ho 4:6 

Pray for a revelation of who the Bible says you are.  Pray for a revelation of what the Bible says you can do.  Pray for a revelation of what the Bible says you have.  When you know who you are, what you have and what you can do you will be able to maintain the increase God has given you. 

“Observe to do ALL that is written therein” 

Knowing the Word is good.  Understanding the Word is better.   But doing the Word is best.  If you know it and don’t do it you will live in defeat.  If you understand it but don’t do it you will live in defeat.  Notice, God tells  Joshua to do ALL that is written therein.  Observing is seeing.  Doing is acting.  Observing is faith and doing is action.  Faith without works is dead according to James 2:20.

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Jas 2:20 

Jesus tells us to “continue” in His Word (John 8:31-32) and if we do we will “know the truth and the truth will make us free.”  To continue in the Word literally means to abide or take up residence in the Word.  When we “live” in the Word we will become disciples (learners) and what we will learn is the Truth.  When we know the truth, the Truth will make us free. 

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; John 8:31

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 

          It is no “coincidence” that Jesus describes Himself as the “Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 

Then God promises Joshua that:

(1)  If he will continually speak God’s Word,

(2)  If he will keep the Word in his mind day and night;

(3)  If he will know what the Word says and

(4)  If he will do ALL that the Word says

Then:  “Thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success…”  In other words, Joshua will live and not die. 

Some of God’s promises are conditional.  Some are unconditional.  God promised never to destroy the world again by a flood in Genesis 9:11. This is an unconditional promise.  God promised to send a Redeemer to save His people from sin.  That promise was an unconditional promise.  God promised that Jesus would come again.  That is an unconditional promise. 

However, some promises are conditional.  God says IF you will do something, THEN He will do something.   This is a conditional promise. 

God’s promise regarding increase is conditional.  The increase God has promised is based on our obedience.  This is a conditional promise.  

What will cut off the promised increase?  What will hinder the flow of God’s Power and God’s Promises?  What must we do to utilize the resources God has already provided?  What are the conditions set before us that must be met in order for God to fulfill His Word to us?

We all want results, but are we willing to pay the price?  We all want things to get better and stay better, but are we willing to make significant changes?  We all desire the blessing but are we willing to meet God’s demands?  We get excited about receiving but usually we had rather not hear about responsibility. 

If we are to receive and maintain the flow of God’s blessing, we need to consider our responsibilities.

Seek God First

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you.   Matt 6:33 

We need to focus on singleness of heart.  James reminds us that a “double-minded” person is “unstable” in all his ways (James 1:8).  This verse follows one that says an individual who is not single minded “wavers” like the waves of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).  Jesus tells us to keep our priorities right.  “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  In this case, seeking God and His Kingdom certainly needs to be at the top of our list. 

What is our purpose in life?  I can’t be sure about you, but mine is to be in the center of God’s perfect will.  He has a unique and special purpose for all of us.  Jeremiah says God has plans for every individual. And they are plans for good and not evil. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jer 29:11 

The “expected end” God has prepared and purchased for us is good and not bad.  It is success and not failure.  It is living and not dying.  There is no possible way we can comprehend the infinite good God has laid out for us in His Grand Plan.  That is reason enough to prioritize our actions and intentions to seek Him and His Kingdom first.   This will guarantee that all these “other things” will be added to us.  All our needs will be met.    

Get out of sin 

We are responsible for the way we live.  No one forces us to disobey, disrespect or turn away from what we know to be the will of God.  It is a choice we make.  And what we choose and what we refuse determines whether we win or whether we lose.  What we sow is what we grow.  And what we grow is our responsibility. 

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal 6:7 

If we are born again, we have an inner witness (The conviction of the Holy Spirit) regarding what is right and what is wrong.  If we choose what is wrong as an intentional act of our will, sin results.  And sin brings its own consequences into our life.  The pain and problems we experience result from the sin we commit.  God does not “punish” us for doing wrong, we are guilty of punishing ourselves because we have knowingly allowed sin to come in.  Sin will stop the flow of God’s blessing and steal what we have.  Sin will let the devil in.  Sin will keep our faith from working.  Sin will prevent the promises from coming in.  Sin will destroy.  Ultimately, sin brings death.

Abstain from the very appearance of evil I Thes 5:22

 If it looks bad, get away from it.  If it appears to be evil and against what you know to be the will of God get away from it.  If it carries a reputation of wrong… don’t do it!  If it offends the least and most vulnerable in the Kingdom, don’t allow it.     Do not give any place to the devil. 

Neither give place to the devil. Eph 4:27 

Walk in purity and cleanness.  Refrain from carnal talk, languange, jokes, insinuations, sarcasm… if it would offend Jesus… don’t do it.  If He would not do it… you do not do it!  Purify yourself.  “Touch not the unclean thing.”  Compromise often goes under the guise of “something better.”

Resist lukewarmness

Our being satisfied with the mediocre is not God.  As far as living for God is concerned, it is all or it is nothing.  It is all the way or it is none of the way.  If we are not all for Him we are all against Him.  As a small kid, we used to say “chicken on the fence is out!” to anybody who wavered or was not totally  committed to a cause.    To concede is to cool off.  Cooling off  is to dying in stages.  To let up is to lose.  To compromise is to cop out. 

Nobody is ever impressed with the average.  We were not saved to be average.  We were not bought and brought into the kingdom to be average.  Jesus did not shed His Blood so that we could be average.  We are not called to be “mere men;” we are birthed into the Kingdom of God to be supermen and superwomen.

Jesus said He wished all to be hot or cold but because they are lukewarm, He will spue (vomit; throw up) them out of His mouth. 

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Re 3:16 

If we are not with Him we are against Him.  The call for all believers today is for them to be fired up.  Fervent.  Radical.  Drastic. Revolutionary.  Extreme. Committed. 

Be Real 

The world can spot a phony a mile off.  There are many phonies in the church.  Jesus addressed this problem in the parable of the wheat and the tares. 

Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn…  Mat 13:24 

To be less than real is to be a hypocrite.  To look like a Christian is not enough.  To go to church is not enough.  To pay your tithe is not enough.  To do good is not enough.  Jesus spoke of those who would appear before Him in the judgment and declare:

Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name?  and in thy Name have cast out devils?  and in thy Name done many wornderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.    Mat 7:22-23

To knowingly violate the Word of God and the will of God is iniquity.  To know the Word and refuse to do it is iniquity.

He that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin… James 4:17

          Maintaining the increase is the will of God.  He takes no pleasure in His children losing their inheritance.  What God has given is up to us to keep.  We are told very explicitly that the devil (our enemy; our only enemy) is a thief.  He hangs around to steal what God has bought, paid for and freely presented to us. 

Our responsibility is to safeguard, protect and hold on to all that is ours through the Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ.

          Let’s do it. And when we do, we will live and not die.

Word for Today:  April 23

Develop an Expectancy in your heart.

See it.  Imagine it.  Think it.  Keep it before your eyes.  See it with the eyes of faith.  “See the invisible and expect the impossible.”     Moses “endured” this way.  When it seemed that nothing was ever going to happen, he “endured” as “seeing the invisible.”   He developed an expectancy in his heart.  He “saw” it before he really saw it.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.  Heb 11:27

Everything and all things that have ever manifested in the natural had their birth in somebody’s heart.  Somehow and some way somebody “saw it.”  Dreams come true because dreamers see the dream.   It is in the world of Faith-Seeing that Reality is created.  What you can “see” is what you can get.

God saw before He said.  When He SAW then He SAID.  He had the image in His Heart of Faith before He spoke CREATION  into existence

See it.  Say it.  Expect it.  Receive it.

Word for Today:  April 22

Sow the seed that matches the need.

Every need has a matching seed.  Find the seed that matches the need and sow it.  One unfailing principle of God’s Word is the principle of Sowing and Reaping.  You will never have a need if you practice sowing according to God’s Word.  You do not have a “need” problem… you have a sowing problem.  Seed does no good as long as you hold it.  It must be sown… put in circulation.

If you need joy… sow joy.  If you need healing… go pray for someone who is sick.  If you need encouragement, go to some discouraged individual and speak encouragement to them.  If you need finances… give into the Kingdom.  And be sure that the soil you choose to sow in is good ground.

Finally, prepare for the increase.  Plan Big.  Think Big.  Talk Big.  Expect Big.  Believe Big.  You are the key.  God allows you to set your own limits and fix your own boundaries.  You initiate and heaven shouts Amen!  You begin and Heaven confirms.  You loose on earth and God looses in Heaven.  You bind on earth and God binds in heaven.

You begin and God finishes

Word for Today:  April 21

Seize the opportunity you have TODAY.

Jesus was leaving Jericho headed for Jerusalem.  He was on His way to die and He would never again pass that way.  Blind Bartimaeus did not know that, but it was still the truth.  Who knows when our last opportunity will come?  Who can tell when our Day of Visitation will expire?

If all the blind and halt and lame had known that Jesus would never pass that way again, they would have lined the streets and pressed in and mobbed Jesus as they sought for their miracle.

I wonder how many have missed their miracle because they ignored a present day opportunity.  I believe that God has prepared this brief message just for you.   And He has purposed that you would read and heed it today.

Some need forgiveness.  Some need healing.  Some need deliverance from sin.  Some need the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Some need fellowship with other Believers.  Some need to get to a place where they can hear from God.  Some need a miracle to deliver them from a desperate situation.

Jesus is passing your way.   Right now. I want to believe He will pass your way again, but I have no guarantee of it.  Nor do you.  Don’t be like the hundreds that missed Jesus while He journeyed through their city.

 Seek ye the Lord while He may be found… call ye upon Him while He is near…  Isa 55:6

That is NOW

For though we walk in the  flesh,we do not warafter the flesh: 2Cor. 10:3  

For the weapons of our warfareare not carnal, but through God to the pulling downof strong holds  2Cor. 10:4   

Casting) imaginations,  and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge  of God, and bringing into captivity every to the obedience  of Christ; 2Cor. 10:5  

Proper equipment to accomplish a purpose is especially important.  Every athlete needs the proper equipment if he is going to be a champion.  Football players.  Golfers.  Baseball players.  Those who play tennis.  Runners.  Basketball players.  Those who play soccer.  Boxers and weight-lifters.  Every athlete who wins must have good, functioning, and efficient equipment to do so.   

 God has equipped every Believer with adequate and efficient resources to overcome the devil and live in absolute victory; to live and not die.   

If you are saved you have this equipment. 

If you are walking in the Spirit, you are aware of this equipment. 

If you are Baptized in the Holy Ghost, you should know how to use this equipment. 

This specialized spiritual equipment is, in fact, powerful weapons that are “mighty through God” to the “pulling down” of “strongholds.”  If you are born again, you have these weapons.   They all are adequate and they are all efficient; they are all good and they all work.   Here are some of them:

• Faith.
• The Word.
• The Gospel.
• Prayer.
• Speaking in Tongues.
• Singing in the Spirit.
• Praying in the Spirit.
• Worshipping
• Fasting.
• Love.
• Forgiveness.

          However, there is an “ultimate weapon” in the arsenal God has given us.   It is a weapon of mass destruction (as far as the devil is concerned).  It is this subject that we want to explore as we continue our study of how to live and not die. 

          This ultimate weapon is a secret weapon.  It is an advantage that every born again believer has and can use that will put the enemy to flight and cause his defeat every time.  It always works.  It never fails. 

Let’s discover what it by examining a passage of Scripture in the Old Testament and discovering the miracle victory that it wrought in the face of an impossible situation.

It came to pass after this… 

It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.  2Chr. 20:1  

Notice that this impossible came to pass “after this..”  What is the “after this”?  If you will note, Jehoshaphat, one of the few Godly kings in the history of the Kingdom of Judah, had launched a campaign to destroy the “groves” which were, altars to false gods, and had determined to seek God with all his heart. 

Every major attack begins and intensifies after some great spiritual victory.  When we win, we must not relax.  In the time of victory, we cannot afford to ease up on our faith.   The most critical time to pray and seek God and hold steady is when all is going well.

Others beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat…

It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat.    2 Chron 20: 1 ¶ 

          Who are the children of Moab, Ammon and the “others” that came with them to fight against Jehoshaphat? Jehoshaphat was king of Judah for 25 years and was one of the best, most pious, and prosperous kings.    The “others” were  enemies of God that had been spared by Judah’s disobedience and had now united in a massive effort to destroy everything and all things that represented God. 

          Every sin that is not confessed and every act of disobedience will unite one day and rise up in defiance of the God Who lives in us.  They will surround our faith and plan attacks on our Christian commitment.  These “little foxes”  (Song 2:15) that spoil the vines will grow in number until they become a life-threat to us, our seed, and our need.

When God commands us to destroy the enemy, we had best destroy the enemy.  When God says for us to do that thing that seems so “hard” He is doing it so that we will be protected in the days ahead.  The enemies that seem to surround us could very well be sins and carnal situations that we have not dealt with and forsaken.      

Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitudeagainst thee from beyond the sea…  2Chr. 20:2 

          Some came and told Jesohaphat the bad news.  They were bearers of bad news.  Seems like there are always messengers who are anxious to bring bad news.  Bad news travels faster than good news.  Unspiritual individuals had rather convey bad news than good news.  Times have not changed all that much, have they?  The ones who bring the distressing news usually do nothing to help ease the pain.  They will more than likely embellish the bad news and make it worse than it actually is.   They will make the bad worse.  They will exaggerate the negative and minimize the positive.  “Some came and told…” 

Our test is how we react to the bad news that is told us.    Our response to those “things which come against us” will reveal our level of faith and trust in God. 

 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.  2Chr. 20:3  

And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.  2Chr. 20:4

          The king did some right things and he did some wrong things.  He probably did more that was right than we would do under similar circumstances. 

          First, he feared.  If this “fear” is considered “reverence” then it’s OK.  But if it is the “afraid” and “terrified” kind of fear then it is bad.  If  “reverential” fear can make us seek the face of God, then that will cancel the devil’s intention to destroy us.  

          Second, the devil lost because the king not only set himself to seek the face of God, but he also proclaimed a fast throughout the entire nation.  He was motivated to seek God and to seek God before all else.  The whole nation of Judah came together to seek God.  Can you see just how the strategy of the devil backfired on him?  Satan came to destroy but instead, every city in the entire nation began to seek God. The devil is really a dummy.

And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,  2Chr. 20:5  

          The King was not ashamed.  He knew he needed God and he was not too timid to tell the whole world.  He swallowed his kingly pride.  He understood that if God did not intervene, then, all would be lost.  He stood in the presence of the entire nation and prayed a prayer seeking God’s help.

If only our leaders of this hour would do this!   If national leaders of today would do what Jehoshaphat did, we would see Great Awakenings all over the earth.  It may well be that some desperate catastrophic condition could develop on a global scale.  We need to pray that if that might happen, our leaders will seek God, repent, and turn again to the moral and spiritual standard of the Word of God. 

Listen to the king’s prayer:

 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and  rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?    2Chr. 20:6    

            The king acknowledges the sovereignty of God.  Jesus prayed this way and He told us to pray this way as well.  “Our Father, Who art in heaven…”   Respect for and reverence of Jehovah God is the hallmark of a righteous nation.   Ps 9:17  The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. The result of “forgetting God” on a national level is that the forgetful nation will be turned into hell (a place of exile). 

Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel,  and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? 2Chr. 20:7  

And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 2Chr. 20:8  

If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 2Chr. 20:9  

The King reminded God of His help in the past of His commitment of promised deliverance whenever the need arose.  In the presence of God, when people who are afflicted cry out, He will hear and help.

And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 2Chr. 20:10  

Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 2Chr. 20:11  

The time  has come!   It has arrived!  It is time for God to come on the scene and fulfill His Word.  The enemy comes to “reward” with death, destruction, and captivity.  This is certainly not the inheritance of the saints.  Our inheritance is life, protection, and deliverance. 

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 2Chr. 20:12  

“God will you keep Your Word?  God will you honor Your Name?  God will you defend the helpless and judge the ungodly?  We have no help but You.  You are our Defense.  You are our Salvation.  You are our Deliverer.  We do not really know what to do, but our eyes are upon You and we are seeking Your face.”  Folks, this is the kind of praying that gets results!  

In the time of seeking God, the Spirit of the Lord “Came Upon” one of the preachers and he began to prophecy.

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 2Chr. 20:13  

Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; 2Chr. 20:14  

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 2Chr. 20:15  

          The Word of the Lord which came to Jahaziel was a word of great encouragement. And this is generally what any “word” that comes from God is… it is encouraging and edifying.  The people were told:

          1.  Be not afraid.

          2.  Be not dismayed (discouraged).

          3.  Do not let this reason (great multitude) distress  you.

          4.  The Battle is not yours, but the Lord’s.

Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 2Chr. 20:16  

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. 2Chr. 20:17  

          The best defense in our spiritual warfare is a good offense.  Our aggressiveness will send shock waves through hell and startle and strike fear in the heart of our enemy.  Judah was told to “Go down against them” even though they were greatly outnumbered and out equipped.  To attack when the “odds” are stacked against us is a demonstration of Great Faith.   Such raw and radical faith will assure us that we won’t even have to fight.  God will do the fighting for us.  The battle will be His and the victory will be ours.  Hallelujah! 

 Judah was again assured: “stand still and you will see the Salvation of the Lord.”

                   1.  Do not be afraid

                   2.  Do not be dismayed (discouraged).

                   3.  The Lord will be with you.

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 2Chr. 20:18  

          True Worship is a type of warfare.  Jesus called those who worship in spirit and in truth True Worshippers.  

 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Joh 4:23   

The devil cannot stand against true worshippers and true worship.  If we really want put Satan on the run, we just need to begin worshipping God in spirit and in truth.    As we sincerely turn our attention to God in adoration and true worship, we  can’t help but focus on His ability and not ours. 

And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.2Chr. 20:19  

          Genuine Praise is a type of warfare.  Praise is the “exciting” side of true worship.  As we  “noise abroad” our exuberance and joy and thanks to God,  the depression, fear, and anxiety of the pressing situation diminishes.  When the enemy “comes in” just have a personal “praise service” with God.  Put on some lively praise music… sing some praise choruses… rehearse some praise psalms….  Praise pays by scattering our enemy and putting him to flight. 

…Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.2Chron 20:20

Believing in the Lord is faith.  It is trusting God in the face of failure and defeat.  It is standing on the Word when all else has failed.  It is the one thing we can do that is guaranteed to “please God” because the Word declares that “without faith it is impossible to please Him…”  (Heb 11:6)

          Our faith causes us to be “established.”  The word used here is associated with being “parented” much like the experience of a tiny baby being nursed by its mother.  There can be no place more confident and safe than that of an infant being held in its mother’s arms and being given nourishment and strength at her breast.  This is what faith does for us when we face impossible situations and formidable conflicts. 

          Not only does our faith establish us but when we believe the prophets God sends into our lives, we are guaranteed prosperity.  We cannot lose for winning.  Every spiritual battle is a win-win situation when we trust and rely on God.   

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD;for his mercy endureth for ever. 2Chr. 20:21  

The Believer’s Ultimate Weapon is Praise

It is a weapon of mass destruction.  It is invincible and fail-safe.  It is more powerful than armies.  Praise precedes the sword.  Praise is more powerful than the sword.  Praise goes before the army.  Praise prepares the way for victory.

And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushmentsagainst the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. 2Chr. 20:22  

For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them:and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 2Chr. 20:23  

          Praise causes the enemy to self-destruct.  In the fierceness of the fight, praise will make Satan turn on himself.  It confuses the devil.  It confounds demons.  It startles the powers of darkness.  It reveals just how dumb and stupid and weak the devil is.  

And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 2Chr. 20:24  

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee.  Psa 91:7 

 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Psa 91:8 

And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.2Chr. 20:25  

          The spoils of a successful spiritual victory are always superabundant.

  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Eph 3:20    

In Jehoshaphat’s case, they reaped riches in such abundance it took them three whole days to haul all the stuff away.  

          This account of supernatural victory is just an example of what can be accomplished when we turn in total abandonment to God and the promises of His Word.  All seemed lost in Jehoshaphat’s day.  But the darkest day of satanic threat was turned into one of the brightest days of victory for the God-fearing king of Judah. 

And the neat thing about all of this is that what God did for this helpless leader of Judah He will do for you and me.  God is no respecter of persons and what He does for one trusting individual, He will do for any trusting individual. 

           Let’s activate our Ultimate Spiritual Weapon.  Let’s go before the fighters and the warriors singing and shouting and dancing and rejoicing.  Let’s praise the Lord.  Let’s “stand still” and “see” what God will do when we Praise in times of great trial.  This Ultimate Weapon will, when used, guarantee that we will live and not die.  Hallelujah.