Tag Archives: Disasters

The Weapon of Praise

20 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by in Christianity, Disasters, Emotions, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Blood of Jesus, New Covenant, redemption, soul, Transformational Leadership, Worship

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

FBsizePraise
Driving home after a long day, my radio tuned to a worship music station, praise music saturated every inch of my vehicle’s interior. Despite the frustrations and strife of the day – the negative emotions clinging to my soul fell away, as a welcoming spirit of peace wafted through my mind, lifting up and away all the tensions of the day.  This effortless transference of peace was sent special delivery from the courts of heaven. Peace is a gift bequeathed to us from Jesus, by Jesus Himself, as reward when we focus on Him.

II Chronicles 20:21-25 AMP “When he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and praise Him in their holy (priestly) garments as they went out before the army, saying’Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever’!

And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against  Judah, and they were (self) slaughtered; For (suspecting betrayal) the men of Ammon and Moab rose against those of Mount Seir utterly destroying them. And when they had made an end of the men of Seir,  they all helped to destroy one another. And when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked at the multitude, and behold they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped!

When Jehosophat and his people came to take the spoil, they found among them much cattle, goods, garments, and precious things which they look for themselves, much more than they could carry away, so much they were three days in gathering the spoil.

On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah. There they blessed the Lord. So the name of the place is still called the Valley of Beracah (blessing).

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, Jehosophat leading them, to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of the Lord.

And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

I believe the Lord has provided a spiritual tactic designed to strategically dismantle dangerous mayhem.  This is an interior piece of the puzzle given just to believers who are forced to confront a unified tsunami of opposing forces that incite strife, division and evil across the globe.  The piece? The Weapon of Praise. A powerful tool that can be enacted outside of the four walls of the church, strategically positioned in external outposts at the forefront of the lines of battle.

In today’s society, the media is weaponized, some departments of our national intelligence community appear to be weaponized, and even certain members of the conservative movement are weaponized – but these are not spiritual weapons of warfare from heavenly places.

In II Chronicles, The Lord provides for us an example of ‘battle’ in spiritual places, instructing us to ‘battle’ with praise to Him then promising to deliver us from our enemies. Seems simple. So why aren’t we using it?

With the clashing of swords in this Hebrew year 5782 , we are witnessing unprecedented levels of lawlessness and civil unrest, and not witnessed since the 1960’s. During the latter part of the Obama administration, the cities of Ferguson, Baltimore and Miami – were hosts to incendiary levels of rage and violence incapacitating city governments, in some instances, destroying the livelihoods of people that they purported to defend. The American people have been clashing over its very history and heritage and we watch helpless as a tyrant of one nation seeks to overcome Ukraine in a scenario not witnessed since 1938.

But are believers in Christ truly helpless? But what about praise? Jehosphat sent his worshippers praising God while walking ahead of these armies, each wearing priestly garments saying ‘Give thanks to the Lord for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!’  I have a theory – and as yet untested on a modern-day battlefield;  to release praise music in advance of or during demonstrations to disengage these spirits of violence. Like opening a fireman’s hose on a raging fire, the aggressive flames of emotional spirits of anger, hatred, aggression, murder and rage, could go silent. and fall to the earth.

 I ponder why the impact of praise music would be any different within the atmosphere of my own vehicle than on any modern-day battlefield. Imagine the impact of Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, Christy Nockels songs released prior to a demonstration or during the fray in the heat of the battle – singing the name of Jesus over and over and over again – above these protests. It is Jesus Christ Himself that has bequeathed us Peace.  Would He not send us His Peace if we proactively sought it? Peace is a spirit.  [ July 2017  The Spirit of Peace:  http://wp.me/p1zoxs-24p ]

ll Timothy 1:7 AMP
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. “

To effectively confront the societal enemies of our time we must come from a secret place of  ‘power, and of love, and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control’. The songs of praise set us into another dimension – apart from fear, self-righteousness, and our human tendency to dissect the what’s and how’s of every situation. Praising God is a declaration that He is trusted as our defender (Jehovah Nissi). Praise positions our minds for right instruction and divine strategy from Him in how to move ahead in these troubling and even dangerous environments.

Could Jehosophat have understood that the instruction from God to send the ‘Praise Team’ ahead of the armies would result in a strong confusion and in-fighting among the enemy camp? Could Jehosophat foresee that a win of his armies positioned his people for a significant wealth transfer? I doubt it. He simply followed God’s orders and won….. BIG.

We must engage in praise to God while listening for the the Holy Spirit’s direction for ourselves and our nation amidst the clamor and chaos of today.  He is surely speaking.


Tracy L. Gatewood
The Weapon of Praise Sharing Link: http://wp.me/p1zoxs-2iC
All Rights Reserved  2022

Twitter @TracyLGatewood
Facebook:  Tracy Gatewood Writer Teacher
Author: Doorways of Grace

The Wisdom of God

18 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in #HolySpirit, Disasters, Emotions, Fear, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Tornado, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa Tornado

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

“Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision. All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done, a better way to do them could not be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.Oh Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them all. The earth is full of thy riches!”
A.W. Tozer  Knowledge of the Holy

Job 38: 1-15
“Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said, “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who shut up the sea behind the doors when it burst forth  from the womb when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its door and bars in place, when I said, “This far you may come and no farther, here is where your proud waves halt.’
Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light and their upraised arm is broken.”

As the waves of life have struck then rolled over, I have found that life first happens in the natural then secondly in the spiritual. With each wave of “natural” has come a tsunami of revelation. I believe that we could have the same experience in store for #Tuscaloosa.  A.W. Tozer states, “Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means“.  Might God have allowed this storm in Tuscaloosa as the perfect means to devise a better, more perfect end?   Life is becoming more challenging across the globe – the Japan earthquake even shifted the earth’s axis. Could it be that we are appointed to mentor, assist and counsel and bring to salvation many others and become a beacon of hope and light across the world after we have walked through “perfect means”? Tuscaloosa has the spiritual, city and state government leadership in place to successfully position itself as a city on a hill for this time in our history.

After returning to Tuscaloosa in the spring of 2010, leaving it at the ripe old age of 17, I have spent the last year observing people in spiritual leadership and have witnessed an undeniably rich, bold spiritual fabric woven across this city – this fabric is mature, it is humble, it is confident in what it knows and most importantly, it has developed from a foundation of decades of committed prayer – pastoral prayer threads now woven into a beautiful and strong mosaic. These threads act as a protective network of unity that will sustain it in the days ahead. There is extraordinary power in unity. I can see why Tuscaloosa, Alabama could be the recipient of one of the most destructive storms in the history of our country. Few cities of this size could withstand this level of trauma and tragedy but Tuscaloosa’s citizens are securely braced within fabric covered walls.

It is difficult,  if not appropriately impossible,  to look past the urgency of the needs of people living in the Tuscaloosa communities of Holt, Rosedale, Alberta City and Wood Manor. This recovery will be a long process of restoration requiring dedication, determination and a decision to stay the course toward achieving a perfect end. I am convinced that God would not have allowed this storm to occur without a greater purpose in mind, after all, He is infinitely wise. A God that can see the beginning to the end working with predestined goals makes Him very strategic and the Chief Strategist – there are no accidents in His economy. Although God did not cause this storm, He also makes no mistakes.

Now is the time for The Body to move in its true identity and in the authority they have through the Finished Work of Jesus also recognizing the Holy Spirit as their new best friend (John 14:15). After all it was the Holy Spirit that conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb (Matthew 1:20). It will be through His power that He raises up Tuscaloosa,  enabling men and women of this city with His spirit of wisdom and might. Pray for this city, its pastors, city and state leadership. Prayer is the single most powerful action available to each of us because by doing so, we access God.

Tracy Gatewood
0001

Sharing shortlink:  http://wp.me/p1zoxs-6    Wisdom of God