I Will Praise the Lord

Revelation 1 : 18, I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. -NKJV

Psalm 34 : 1, I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. -NKJV

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus foretold of the very days that we are living. So many people are being hit with heavy trials. It seems that we are faced with something new that challenges our faith almost daily. If you have been going through spiritual fires and feel as though you have little strength to stand, I have great news for you.

Peter tells us in his letter to the church that Satan walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Peter goes on to instruct us to resist him by remaining steadfast in our faith walk with Christ. As humans, we don’t always “feel like” rejoicing in our situations, especially when they seem to drain the life from us.

Today, I want you to see Satan as the thief that he is. Jesus said in John 10 : 10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” We know that Satan is able to rob things from us that we dearly love, but he cannot rob us of our praise for God unless we allow him to. Sometimes, you may find it out-of-the-question to praise the Lord when loss has touched your family. Nevertheless, we are told to give thanks to the Lord in all things- especially when we don’t feel like we can.

Recently, the Lord revealed a new insight to me about praise that I wanted to share with you today. Whenever we’ve incurred a tough season of hardship, that is the time to praise God. Why is that the time to praise? Praise is a way to repay Satan for the evil that he has inflicted on your life. Let me explain!

As we praise the Lord Jesus for all that He has done and is doing for us, even in the trials of life, it reminds Satan that he lost his fight against Jesus on the cross. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2 : 7 – 8, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. -NKJV

Satan believed that he would defeat Jesus when he drove men through anger to crucify Jesus. Like the men who crucified our Lord, Satan didn’t really know that Jesus was the Son of God. Satan and everyone in Israel had a startling awakening three days later when Jesus appeared in Israel alive. For forty days after His resurrection, Jesus remained in Israel and performed many infallible proofs of His resurrection.

As we choose to praise the Lord in the trials of life Satan is reminded that Jesus is indeed Lord. Satan is also reminded that he was and is still defeated every time we praise our risen Savior and Lord for His love and mercy. If Satan is going to inflict pain in your life, you might as well inflict some pain in his head by praising Jesus in your storm. We serve the Risen Savior!

Pastor Asa Dockery

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