‘Thanksgiving Day’ in America is Thursday, but we would do well to set aside this whole week as a thanksgiving week…
Jehoshaphat and Judah were being invaded by three armies and faced imminent death in the natural. Circumstantially, they had very little to be thankful about – are you being invaded by armies that seek to destroy you? – Armies of debt, sickness, lack, depression, anxiety, heaviness or armies that seek to destroy your business, your ministry or your destiny? Those armies of darkness are every bit as real as the armies that Jehoshaphat and Judah faced!
Everything coming against you today is very real, but our God, His angel armies, His power, His supernatural ability and His favor and His New Covenant promises are very real as well! Like Jehoshaphat and Judah, we do not give thanks for any of the armies that seek to destroy us, we give thanks to Him for His holy splendor… His holy splendor is His glory, or His manifest presence. - In other words we are giving thanks to God for ‘showing up’ in the midst of the attack against us.
The Lord had given Jehoshaphat and Judah His Word, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, Who is with you, O Judah”… The Lord promised that He would show up and that He would defeat the enemy and that Judah would not have to fight. Based upon that word, the singers went out in front of the army proclaiming a song of thanksgiving about God showing up in His splendor and glory in the midst of their battle! Their thanksgiving was a thanksgiving of faith and trust in the Word of God!
What has the Word promised you?
The Lord has given you His Word that He has defeated the enemy and that you are more than a conqueror – that He always causes you to triumph – that you were healed by His stripes – that He has given you everything pertaining to life and godliness - that He has made you a king and a priest and has given you abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness to reign in life – that nothing shall ever harm you… on and on and on… sufficing to say that our Lord has given us much more than He gave Jehoshaphat and Judah!
Take the Word of the Lord literally this week and march into your enemy’s camp – begin to give thanks to the Lord for showing up, as Jehoshaphat and Judah did – Give Him thanks by faith for giving you His Word that He has already taken care of everything that you are facing – as you do, the armies of sickness, the armies of lack, the armies of fear, and the armies of destruction that are seeking to kill, steal and destroy will turn on each other and will destroy one another in that midst of your ‘faith thanksgiving’. Sing a song unto the Lord, “Thank you Lord for Your Word that You will show up and take care of whatever I am facing… thank you Lord of Hosts for fighting this battle for me… I give thanks to you, for Your grace and mercy endure forever!”
