BEGIN TO SHOUT!

2 Chronicles 13:15 (NLT) and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah.

Have you ever felt surrounded? Everything, all around you seems to be conspiring against you, or going wrong? You’re not alone! Abijah was the King of Judah with 400,00 men going out to stop Jeroboam the King of Israel who had 800,000 men! He was outnumbered and surrounded. In the natural things were not looking good and they could have backed off but they didn’t!

We can learn a lot from Abijah as he faces his enemy head on, because we have the right to do the same thing. Instead of cowering away in defeat, it says ‘they cried out to the Lord for help. Then the priests blew the trumpets and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam…’

They had a faith shout in them, it was a battle shout, a victory shout, a ‘we’re going to win’ shout! God heard their cry of faith! We too can be an overcoming  people who have a cry of faith on our lips. Let’s blow the trumpet of the finished work of Jesus, our Conquering Hero. Let’s have a shout of victory on our lips because we have the blood of Jesus and the Name of Jesus, the name that every knee has to bow to, on our lips.

We are on the victory side because we have God on our side and legions of angels to call on. The enemy may think he has us surrounded and outnumbered but with God fighting our battles then it’s the other way round, it’s the enemy who is totally outnumbered by the hosts of heaven, and he has to flee just like King Jeroboam, when we resist him!

Let’s stand our ground, use our faith and put a shout of victory in our mouths and thank Jesus for it, even before we see it, knowing He goes before us and His goodness and mercy are following behind us. Thank You Lord. Amen.😊

Photo: Mick Hauptmann on Unsplash

A CITIZEN BY BIRTH

Acts 22:27-28 (NLT) So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied. “I am too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!” Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

Can you see this scene in your mind’s eye? Paul has been accused by his enemies and dragged off into the Roman encampment. He’s been roughly treated and tied to a whipping post about to be whipped. Paul looks at the officer and asks him if it’s legal to beat a Roman citizen without a trial, knowing full well it wasn’t! Paul knew his rights as a Roman citizen and he used them to challenge what his captors were about to do!

Philippians 3:20 But we are citizens of  heaven, where the Lord Jesus lives. God wants us to see something today, to remember we are citizens of the Kingdom of His Son and that as citizens He has given us certain rights. We have the right to stand up to our enemy the devil and tell him he cannot hold us bound because we know who we are. 

In the courts of Heaven, God has declared us not guilty, declared us righteous in His sight. We are children of God Most High, bought and paid for at enormous cost by His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and the devil has no legal right anymore to hold us bound or to beat us up or to put sickness of any kind on us!

If someone was to ask you if you are a citizen of God’s kingdom, what would you say? Would you say like Paul, “I certainly am”. If you do, then you must know you have the authority to tell the enemy to loose his hold on you and let you go. He has no right to put sickness, disease, lack, fear, oppression or depression on you because you are a citizen of Heaven, chosen and called by God, and you have been born into God’s kingdom.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT) For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Like Paul, we are citizens by the new birth, by being born again! We are authorised to resist the devil and command him to flee, but we have to use our authority!😊

Lord we praise and thank You for Jesus our Saviour, our Conquering Hero! He has set us free forevermore. Amen.

Photo by Jamie Hagan on Unsplash

THE GOOD LIFE

Ephesians 2:10 (AMPC) For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

You may remember the TV programme ‘The Good Life’ which we probably enjoyed back in the day, even if our idea of a good life wasn’t digging up our front garden!😊 Inside all of us is a dream to live ‘The Good Life’ and now we know where that desire came from - it came from God Himself, because this verse reminds us He prearranged it for us before we even arrived.😊

If you’ve ever thought you’d never have a good life because you don’t deserve it, or you were born to the wrong family, or you’ve made some wrong choices, or you don’t have enough of something, then it was a lie of the enemy because God’s Word says otherwise. God planned for you to be born again and He worked out before hand the good life He had planned for you. He still has those plans and paths for all of us to follow and they were plans to bless us and give us a future and a hope.(Jeremiah 29:11)

We saw yesterday that His plan is to load us daily with benefits and our part is to seek Him, give Him the time to find out what His plans are for our lives and walk in them because He’s gone ahead of us and got the blue prints of a good life all laid out on His desk. Isn’t that amazing!

Maybe life hasn’t gone the way we thought it would or we realise there’s something missing. If so, take heart, God says it’s never too late for any of us and if we’ll come into agreement with Him He can still give us the good life He wants us to have and do the good things He wants us to do.

Thank You Lord, help us to discover and walk in all that You have preplanned for us. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

DAILY BENEFITS

Psalm 68:19 (NKJV) Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah.

God wants to cheer us up today because He wants us to get a hold of a truth in His word that will lift our spirits and give us a sense of great expectancy as we go about our week.

He’s reminding us He is doing something wonderful for us everyday. Not just on some days when He feels like it. No, this is a daily promise and all the promises are Yes and amen in Jesus, because Jesus has made it all possible through His shed blood.

So what is God going to do for you and me every day? He’s loading us with benefits! Remember Psalm 103 Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits. Notice ALL His benefits and He goes on to list them - forgiveness, healing, filling our lives with good things, long life, renewed youth - read them all.😊

God says His blessing is on the head of the righteous (Proverbs 10:6) - that’s you and me if we’re born again. He says we’re blessed going out and coming in, and that whatever we put our hand to do, it will be blessed.(Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

ALL of those things are true and for ALL of us, but our part is to believe what God says, to receive it by faith, and say ‘Thank You Lord, I may not see it all yet but I receive it all and expect it from here on in.’

Selah means think on these things. Let them minister to your spirit, ask the Holy Spirit to open them up to you. 

Aren’t you glad God is your Father and that every single day He’s loading you up with His benefits? Other translations also say He carries our loads - another benefit. Let’s thank Him for them as we go into another week and the more we acknowledge them the more they will pour in because they are for all of us.😊 Amen.

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash