May 23, 2007  

Good morning, I have been stirred up lately regarding our “stand in the Lord”, there has been a stirring in me for this, for the body of Christ, many and I say many, are not walking in the “overcoming power” of their God!! The majority do not realize that Christ is our Defender, that the battle is His not ours!! The condition is that we stand and see the salvation of our God!! All we are called to do is what Jesus requires us to do and that is STAND, PRAISE, and WORSHIP. When WE DO OUR PART He will do His part, we can not sit back in our time of  warfare and DO NOTHING!!!! The very thing the enemy wants you to do is sulk in your pain and circumstances, and the best tactic of the enemy is to have you LOOK AT YOUR FUTURE!!!!! He will whisper in your ear “Look what lies ahead” you are not going to go anywhere, it is impossible for your circumstances to change”. Well let me tell you church IT IS POSSIBLE, IF you STAND, PRAISE, WORSHIP our mouth is a weapon, our words are a weapon, Life and death are in the power of our tongue. Pro 18:21  Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

 We can go around the mountain again and again until we get what His Word says or we can start right now and appropriate it TODAY!! Will it be easy? I doubt it!! But what is in Christianity? Somebody tell me what is easy in serving God? The bible I read says to lay down your life , the bible I read says take up your cross, the bible I read says in this life you will have tribulation , But be of good cheer I have overcome the world, yes that is what Jesus said, Glory to God!!! RISE UP! RISE UP! YOU WHO ARE WEARY YOU WHO ARE LAYING IN YOUR DEFEAT AND KNOW THAT THE GOD OUR ALL THE WORLD WANTS TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMY AS YOUR LIFT UP YOUR WEAPON, YOUR VOICE. I want to go to a story in the bible in 2 Chronicles 20 (please read it) Looking in verse 1 we see that the children of Moab and Ammon came against Jehoshaphat to battle.(what is coming against you today?) In verse 2 we see that some came to Jehosphat and SAID “there cometh a great multitude against thee” (what is whispering in your ear and saying the battle is great the multitude of your problems are far too big) what did Jehosphate do? He feared .but he did not stay in that fear, he decided to seek the Lord and fast, He put into action what he knew would work.

In verses 5-9  2Ch 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,

2Ch 20:6 and said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are not you the God in Heaven? Yea, you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations and in your hand is power and might; and there is none able to withstand you.

2Ch 20:7  Are You not our God? You have driven out the inhabitants of this land from before Your people Israel, and have given it to the seed of Abraham, Your friend, forever;

2Ch 20:8  and they have lived in it, and have built in it a sanctuary to You for Your name, saying,

2Ch 20:9  If evil shall come upon us, whether sword, judgment, or pestilence and famine, we shall stand before this house and before You, for Your name is in this house, and shall cry to You out of our distress, and You shall hear and save.

In these verses we see that Jehoshaphat is reminding God of who he is and what he will do, in verse 12 Jehoshaphat admits to God that he has no ability to fight these enemies but he he declares his eyes are on Jesus!!! It is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

. . This church is what we should do we should always come before him in the midst of the battle and say God YOU SAID…. His Word is powerful, his word is our weapon, Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 and the Lord does not lie!!! Glory to His Holy Name!! In verse 9 it says if when evil cometh upon us, as a 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. This is a promise church for you!! IF you are facing any trial right now, and the Name of the Lord God is in you you have the the promise that YOUR GOD is there to help!!! But I will say there are conditions to seeing him move on your behalf, this is where the church is lying asleep  ,and why so many seem defeated, we have to put into action what the Lord has told us to do, I don’t care if you think you will look stupid or you say it is not a part of my personality ,well let me tell you your personality should be the character of God, for our old man was crucified with Christ it is no longer YOU who lives!! 2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Amen!! So do you want the victory? Do you want to see the salvation of your God in your life and circumstances? Then do what He tells you to do in the battle. Lets look at what that is; Well first of all the there was a prophet who rose up with the word of the Lord , verse14. Jahaziel, let me tell you a bit about this man of God, his name means “God sees” he was one of a band of ambidextrous(able to use both hands with equal ease) warrior, he aided David at Ziglag(1chron.12:1-4) a priest who sounded the trumpet before the ark (1chron16:6) This man was led by the Holy Spirit in a time of great peril, he announced victory when defeat seemed certain.

Wow!! Isn’t that just like our God, to send a man after his own heart to declare his heart!! So in verse 14 it says... came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation; He said …verse 15 2Ch 20:15 and He said, Listen, all Judah, and you living in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat; so says Jehovah to you, You shall not fear nor be terrified of the face of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

2Ch 20:16 Tomorrow, go down against them; behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you shall find them in the end of the valley, at the front of the wilderness of Jeruel.

2Ch 20:17  You shall not fight in this: station yourselves; stand and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; do not be terrified nor fear; tomorrow go out before them, and Jehovah shall be with you.

Church the battle is not yours but Gods!!! Do not be afraid of what you’re facing, be not dismayed, but only do what the prophet tells you to do. This is a lot of the problem in the church, NO ONE TAKES TO HEART THE WORD FROM THE PROPHETS!!! We need to start listening to the heart of God through the prophets, there is a new and fresh anointing coming on the prophets in our time God will not tolerate false prophets and false teachers any longer!! So look at the command of God… verse 16, GO, verse 17, SET YOURSELVES, STAND STILL, and SEE.

To set yourselves means to place, to station, continue, to stand means to abide, remain be firm, tarry. This is all we are called to do in the midst of the battle, remain in the attitude of praise and worship and declaring who your God is, and what he has done for you, remind the enemy of this, and as you set yourselve and stand, you will see. and when you have done ALL, stand. Nothing more nothing less!! The battle belongs to God. Now when they heard the word what did they do? Verse 18 says they fell before the Lord in WORSHIP, then PRAISE broke out with the tribe of Levite, not in a quiet voice, but with a loud voice they began to praise and worship the God of Israel. They prepared themselves for the morning of the battle. Send Judah first and the battle will be won!! Jdg 20:18  And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.

 Verse 20, they went forth…. Yes church go forth in the power of the Lord your God KNOWING that as you praise Him and worship Him that the battle is WON!!!

Here we see in verse 20 that Jehoshaphat encourages them one more time to BELIEVE the word from the prophet, and as you BELIEVE you will prosper and BELIEVE IN the Lord your God and you shall be established. After he encouraged them, he did what he knew to do…. Verse 21-22 2Ch 20:21  And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those giving praise to the glory of holiness, when going out before those armed, and said, Give thanks to Jehovah, for His mercy endures forever.

2Ch 20:22  And at the time they began with rejoicing and praise, Jehovah set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, that had come against Judah; and they were stricken. 

Look at verse 22. AT THAT TIME, WHAT TIME? WHEN THEY BEGAN PRAISING AND WORSHIPPING, IT WAS THEN THAT THE Lord set an ambush against the enemy, and they were stricken!! Oh my goodness!! Did you hear that church!!! As you do that in the midst of the battle God will move on your behalf, I pray this word gets into your spirit today so that you can walk in the victory!! Rise up!! Rise up!!!  It does not matter how old you are how big the battle is or how small it is, God is NOT a respecter of persons he will perform his word on the enemies that rise up against you this day!! We are with out excuse, it has all been done for us, who do we think we are grumbling and complaining against God because of what we are going through when all he has done is right before us, he is just waiting for us to appropriate what he says. It takes little effort to open our mouths and start praising Him, as we do that we will get stronger and the weight will lift, and as you enter in God will start to move, oh we do not have to see with our natural eye ,but only believe in what he says, he will do it. So after the battle they still were praising God verse27-28 now they knew that God was for them and not against them. As you put into action the word of God and praise and worship Him you will see the power of God on your behalf, but do not get discouraged , do not put a time limit on it but STAND, AND WHEN YOU HAVE DONE ALL ,STAND.

Father I thank you for my friends who are reading this and I pray that this word would cause their eyes to see the power of Praise and worship, that if they are facing a hard time right now no matter what it is sickness defeat worry ,hoplessness,Let them know God that the power of their mouth as a weapon will cause YOU to ARISE in their midst  Psa 68:1  <To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David.> Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

Psa 68:2  As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Father right now let your word be established in the hearts of your people , let your word be like a sword in their hearts this day and for those who are not in this place , Father stir them up to know their place in you,I ask this in Jesus Name,Amen.

Be blessed my friends, In His service Michele Wilcocks