VICTORY POEMS
I SAY TO YOU, LOVE EACH OTHER
AS I HAVE LOVED YOU
DO FOR EACH OTHER
WHAT I WOULD DO FOR YOU
FOR THERE’S NO BETTER
LOVE TO LAST
THAN THE ONE THAT IS GIVEN
FUTURE IS FUTURE
PAST IS PAST
THE PAST IS NOW OVER
WINTER HAS GONE
SORROW HAS FLOWN AWAY
VICTORY HAS COME
LOVE EACH OTHER
AS I HAVE LOVED YOU
DO FOR EACH OTHER
WHAT I WOULD DO FOR YOU
THERE’S NO OTHER, NO
BETTER, NO GREATER
AT LAST
SING FOR THE SONG HAS COME
WINTER’S NOW OVER
LIFE HAS BEGUN
LIFE HAS BEGUN
Full copyright Ann McGee
Prophetic poetry
Free usage
Free usage
MY PROMISED BRIDE
WHAT GOD HAS PUT TOGETHER
LET NO MAN SEPARATE
HOLY SPIRIT
COME BLOW ON YOUR GARDEN
POUR OUT YOUR LOVE
FROM HEAVEN ABOVE
POUR OUT YOUR LOVE
POUR OUT YOUR SPIRIT
YOUR WORD UPON US, O LORD
INCENSE
PLEASES HIM
HOLY SPIRIT
COME BLOW ON ME
PLEASING IS THE FRAGRANCE OF YOUR PERFUMES
YOUR NAME IS LIKE PERFUME POURED OUT
ANOINTING ANOINTING
FRAGRANT INCENSE
JESUS STAND AT THE DOOR
COME INTO YOUR GARDEN
SPICES FRAGRANT OFFERINGS
INTO YOUR GARDEN
JESUS
FRAGRANT SPICES ALOES CASSIA
FRAGRANT OLIVE OILLIGHT THE FIRE INSIDE
MY HEART MY HEART
LET YOUR FRAGRANCE SPREAD FORTH
OUT OF MY GARDEN
INTO THE WORLD
LET YOUR FRAGRANCE SPREAD FORTH
ALOES CASSIA ANOINTING OIL
HOLY SPIRIT
ADORN ME
WITH PRAISES
BEAUTIFUL PRAISES
FRAGRANT SPICES
ANOINTING OIL
ALOES CASSIA
ALOES MYRRH
HONEY AND THE HONEYCOMB
WINE AND MILK
ANOINTING OIL FINEST SPICES
MAIN SONG:
ECHO MY GARDEN
ALL OVER THE WORLDFOR YOU ARE COMING
DRENCHED WITH DEW FROM HEAVEN
SACHETS OF MYRRH
SACRED SPICES
ANOINTING OIL
FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH
MY PROMISED BRIDE
UNDER YOUR TONGUE MILK AND HONEY
NO MORE RATS
SEND THEM AWAY ...FIRE OF TOPATH
BURN TO CINDERS, BURN TO ASHES
ALL THAT'S NOT OF YOU
ONLY LEAVE, SPIRIT OF FIRE
WHAT IS THE TRUTH
CLOSE THE DOOR,
WALK AWAY ...
MY PROMISED BRIDE
PLEASING TO MELIKE STREAMS FLOWING DOWN
FROM LEBANON
MILK AND HONEY
UNDER YOUR TONGUE
NO MORE RATS
SEND THEM AWAY ...
MY PROMISED BRIDE
MILK AND HONEYNOURISHED TREE
MILK AND HONEY
FLOURISHED TREE
IN YOUR GARDEN
FLOW RIVER FLOW
STREAMS FROM LEBANONCOME MY PROMISED BRIDE
COME TO YOUR KING
COME I AM WAITING
AT THE DOOR
O FLOW STREAMS FROM LEBANON
STREAMS OF OIL
FROM THE FLINTY CRAGSTREAMS, STREAMS OF OIL
COME MY PROMISED BRIDE
I STAND AT THE DOOR
DRENCHED WITH DEW FROM HEAVEN
MILK AND HONEY ARE UNDER YOUR TONGUE
NO MORE ADULTERESS
FOR DEATH IS AT HER CHAMBERSHER STEPS LEAD TO THE GRAVE
BUT YOU MY PROMISED BRIDE
ARE THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
GARDEN OF SPICES
FRAGRANT OFFERINGCOME IN GLORY OF THE KING
LET HIM IN
LOOK I AM STANDING AT THE DOOR
ANOINTING FLOWS OFF THE LOCKBLOW WIND MILK AND HONEY
STREAMS FROM LEBANON
MILK AND HONEY FLOWING DOWN
THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFETHE PROMISED LAND
MY BRIDE
MY CROWN
OH HIS LOCKS ARE AS BLACK AS A RAVEN
FLOWING DOWN
NO MORE WITCHCRAFT
ONLY ANOINTED STREAMS OF OIL
STREAMS OF OILFLOWING DOWN
FLOWING DOWN
FROM LEBANON
YOU ARE THE CHIEF AMONG
TEN THOUSAND TO MY SOUL...
AT THE CHIEF SHEPHERD'S APPEARING
WE WILL RECEIVE OUR CROWNS OF GOLD ...
Prophetic song
__________________________________________________________________
GOOD BOOKS
GOD IS A MATCHMAKER
DEREK PRINCE
DEREK PRINCE
[PDF]
FASCINATING WOMANHOOD
HELEN ANDELIN
FIREPROOF (MOVIE)
Movie
RECOMMENDED BY OTHERS
ON THE INTERNET. THEY WROTE:
Please watch the movie "fireproof" as it works on saving a
marriage and has christian actor Kirk Cameron. There is a book that goes with
the movie called "fireproof your marriage". It is worth watching and
following the steps Kirk takes in his marriage to save it. Please watch it. You
can find the whole movie on youtube if you just type in Fireproof.
The titles are MARRIAGE AS GOD INTENDED- author Selwyn
Hughes & THE ACT OF MARRIAGE,THE BEAUTY OF SEXUAL LOVE - author Tim &
Beverly La Haye. Fireproof is a brilliant movie to watch.
__________________________________________________________________
THE THREE KEY WORDS FOR HUSBAND AND
WIFE
ARE LOVE, RESPECT AND SUBMIT
THE THREE KEY POSITIONS
ARE HEAD, SHOULDERS AND BODY
BUT I WANT YOU TO REALIZE THAT
THE HEAD OF
EVERY MAN IS CHRIST
AND THE HEAD OF
THE WOMAN IS MAN
AND THE HEAD OF
CHRIST IS GOD
(1 COR 11:3).
FOR THE HUSBAND IS THE HEAD OF THE WIFE
AS CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH,
HIS BODY OF
WHICH HE IS THE SAVIOR (EPH 5:23).
HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR
WIVES,
JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE
CHURCH
AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER,
TO MAKE HER HOLY,
CLEANSING HER BY THE
WASHING WITH WATER
THROUGH THE WORD,
AND TO PRESENT HER
TO HIMSELF
AS A RADIANT CHURCH,
WITHOUT STAIN OR
WRINKLE
OR ANY OTHER
BLEMISH,
BUT HOLY AND
BLAMELESS.
IN THIS SAME
WAY,
HUSBANDS OUGHT TO LOVE THEIR WIVES
AS THEIR OWN BODIES.
HE WHO LOVES HIS WIFE LOVES HIMSELF.
AFTER ALL, NO ONE
EVER HATED THEIR OWN BODY,
BUT THEY FEED AND
CARE FOR THEIR BODY,
JUST AS CHRIST DOES
THE CHURCH -
FOR WE ARE MEMBERS
OF HIS BODY.
HOWEVER, EACH ONE OF
YOU ALSO MUST LOVE HIS WIFE AS HE LOVES HIMSELF,
AND THE WIFE MUST RESPECT HER HUSBAND
(EPH 5:25-33).
HUSBANDS BE
CONSIDERATE AS YOU LIVE WITH YOUR WIVES AND TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT AS THE WEAKER PARTNERS AND AS HEIRS
WITH YOU OF THE GRACIOUS GIFT OF LIFE, SO THAT NOTHING WILL HINDER YOUR PRAYERS.
HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES AND DO NOT BE
HARSH WITH THEM (COL 3:19).
NOW AS THE CHURCH SUBMITS TO CHRIST
SO ALSO WIVES SHOULD SUBMIT TO THEIR HUSBANDS IN EVERYTHING (EPH
5:24).
WIVES, SUBMIT
YOURSELVES TO YOUR OWN HUSBANDS
AS YOU DO TO THE LORD (EPH 5:22).
SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER
OUT OF REVERENCE FOR CHRIST (EPH 5:21).
________________________________________________
A WIFE OF NOBLE CHARACTER
IS HER HUSBAND'S CROWN
BUT A DISGRACEFUL WIFE
IS LIKE DECAY IN HIS BONES
(PROVERBS 12:4)
__________________________________________________________________
WHAT GOD HAS PUT TOGETHER
LET NO MAN SEPARATE
(MARK 10:8-10)
YOU CANNOT TAKE OATHS
UNLESS YOU DO SO BY THE GOD OF ALL TRUTH
(ISAIAH 65)
YOU CANNOT TAKE BLESSINGS
UNLESS YOU DO SO BY THE GOD OF ALL TRUTH
(ISAIAH 65)
FALSE COVENANTS ARE ANNULLED BY GOD
(ISAIAH 28)
YOU CANNOT STEAL A MAN'S RIGHTS
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
BEFORE THE MOST HIGH GOD
YOU CANNOT OPPOSE
WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DECREED
WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DECREED
(LAMENTATIONS 3)
__________________________________________________________________
Her prayer:
LORD, AS I DELIGHT MYSELF IN YOU, YOU WILL GIVE ME THE DESIRES OF MY HEART:
I DESIRE MY HUSBAND TO LOVE ME AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH (EPH 5:25)
I DESIRE MY HUSBAND TO LOVE ME AS HE LOVES HIS OWN BODY (EPH 5:28)
I DESIRE MY HUSBAND TO LOVE ME AS HE LOVES HIS OWN SELF* (EPH 5:33)
I DESIRE MY HUSBAND TO BRING UP OUR CHILDREN IN THE TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION OF THE LORD (EPH 6:4)
*HE WHO IS WISE LOVES HIS OWN SOUL
I DESIRE MY HUSBAND TO FOLLOW THE LAW OF GOD AND SUBMIT TO CHRIST AS HIS HEAD.
NOW I WANT YOU TO REALISE THAT THE HEAD OF EVERY MAN IS CHRIST, AND THE HEAD OF THE WOMAN IS MAN, AND THE HEAD OF CHRIST IS GOD. (1 COR 11:3).
I WILL TAKE MY PLACE AS THE SCRIPTURES SAY. I WILL OBEY MY HUSBAND AS HE OBEYS CHRIST. WE WILL LOVE, RESPECT AND SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER AS UNTO REVERANCE FOR CHRIST.
_____
His prayer:
LORD, I DESIRE MY WIFE TO BE THE HELPMEET MADE SUITABLE, THE FULLNESS THAT FILLS ME IN EVERY WAY. A PROVERBS 31 WOMAN. I DESIRE MY WIFE TO BE MY CROWN. I DESIRE MY WIFE TO RESPECT ME. I DESIRE MY WIFE TO SUBMIT TO ME AS UNTO THE LORD. I RESPECT HER AS THE WEAKER PARTNER. WE ARE HEIRS OF LIFE TOGETHER.
I WILL TAKE MY PLACE AS THE SCRIPTURES SAY. I WILL SUBMIT TO CHRIST AS MY HEAD. THE GOVERNMENT IS ON HIS SHOULDERS. I WILL OBEY HIS WORD. I AM THE HEAD OF MY WIFE. THE GOVERNMENT RESTS ON MY SHOULDERS. I WILL LOVE AND RESPECT MY WIFE AS THE SCRIPTURES COMMAND: AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH, AS I LOVE MY OWN BODY, AS I LOVE MY OWN SOUL, SO LET ME LOVE MY WIFE AS MYSELF. LET US SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER AS UNTO CHRIST. WE WILL BRING THE CHILDREN UP IN THE TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION OF THE LORD.
Chapter 8
8. Praise Him!
Discovering the power in praise was
one of the most exciting experiences I'd ever had; yet every time I wanted to
share it with someone, it was as if God was saying: "Hold it. This isn't
the time."
When Ron came to see me about his
problem he was the picture of misery and despair. "Chaplain, you've got to
help me. When I was drafted my wife tried to commit suicide. Now I've received
orders for Vietnam
Ron was an attorney and a member of
the bar association. But he had been drafted and preferred to join the Army as
a Private. Now he was obviously distraught and unable to handle the situation
with his wife.
"Ron, have your wife come in to
see me, and I'll see what I can do."
Sue was also a picture of misery. Her
body was frail and she sat on the edge of a chair, trembling from head to foot.
Tears flowed uncontrollably down her face.
"Chaplain." Her voice was
barely audible. "I'm scared; I can't live without Ron."
I looked at her and a wave of
compassion brought tears to my eyes. I knew Sue's story. She'd been adopted as
a baby, was estranged from her adopted family, and had no one in the world
except Ron. The two of them were very much in love and I knew that if Ron went
to Vietnam
I prayed silently for wisdom to
comfort her.
"Tell her to be thankful."
I shook my head in disbelief. I must have heard wrong.
"Her, Lord?"
"Yes, you may begin to share
with her!" I looked at Sue's tearful face and my heart sank.
"Okay, Lord, I'll trust
You."
"Sue, I'm glad you came," I
said, smiling with a confidence I didn't feel. "You don't have anything to
worry about. Everything is going to be all right."
Sue straightened herself, wiped away
her tears, and managed a trembling little smile.
I continued: "What I want you to
do is to kneel here with me and thank God that Ron is going to Vietnam
She looked at me in blank disbelief.
I nodded. "Yes, Sue, I want you to thank God."
She immediately began to weep almost
hysterically. I calmed her as best I could and began reading to her from the
Bible the verses I had learned to trust in over the past few months.
"...In everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you...All things work
together for good to them that love the Lord." Carefully I tried to show
her the wonderful truths I had found to be real.
Nothing seemed to help. Sue believed
in God and in Christ, but in her despair her belief was of no comfort. Finally
she left my office crying, with no peace of mind and certainly no joy.
"Lord, have I
completely misunderstood You? That girl wasn't helped a bit."
"Patience, son. I'm
working."
The next day Ron came to my office.
"Chaplain, what did you tell Sue? She is worse than she was before."
"I told Sue the solution to her
problem and now I'll tell you. I want you to kneel down and thank God that
you're going to Vietnam
Ron didn't see my point either. Carefully
we went over the Scriptures: "...This is the will of God concerning
you."
Ron said: "Now I understand why
Sue didn't understand. I don't understand either." And he left.
Two days later they came back.
"Sir, we are desperate. You must do something to help us."
They were both hoping that I as
chaplain would be able to put in a plea for another assignment for Ron. Again I explained to them the only solution
God was letting me hold up before them. "All things work together for good
to them that love the Lord."
"If you can only believe that
God is really working this thing out for the best for both of you, then all you
have to do is trust Him and begin to thank Him—regardless of what the situation
looks like".
Ron and Sue looked at each other.
"What do we have to lose, Honey?" Ron said. We knelt and Sue prayed:
"Lord, I thank you that Ron is
going to Vietnam
Then Ron prayed: "Lord, this is
very strange to me, too, but I trust You. Thank You that I am going to Vietnam
I had a feeling Ron and Sue were not
as convinced as I was, but I thanked the Lord that they were trying. They left my office, and later I heard what had
happened.
Ron and Sue had gone into the chapel
and knelt together at the altar. There they had turned their lives and each
other over to God in a deeper commitment than ever before and now Sue had the
strength to pray: "God, I thank You that Ron is going to Vietnam. You know
how much I will miss him. You know I don't have a father or mother or brother
or sister or family of any kind. I will trust You, Lord."
Ron prayed: "God, I do thank
You. I give Sue over to You. She is Yours and I'll trust You to take care of
her."
With that they rose from the altar.
Ron went through the chapel and headed for his unit while Sue came back to the
waiting room next to my office. She needed to sit quietly and collect her
thoughts. While she sat there a young soldier came in and asked for the
chaplain. Sue told him that I was busy. "But if you wait a little while,
I'll tell him you're here," she offered.
"I'll wait," said the young
soldier. He looked distressed and Sue asked: "What is your problem?"
"My wife wants a divorce."
Sue shook her head: "It won't do
much good to see that Chaplain," she said, but the soldier wasn't
easily discouraged, and while they were waiting he took out his billfold and
began to show Sue pictures of his wife and children. When he turned to the next
picture Sue screamed: "Who is that?"
"That's my mother".
"That is my mother",
said Sue, shaking with emotion.
"That couldn't be," the
soldier replied. "I don't have a sister."
"It is; I know it is!"
"What makes you think
that?"
"When I was a little girl I
happened to find a piece of paper in my parents' desk that showed I was
adopted. In the upper right-hand corner was a picture of my real mother. That's
her. It's the same lady." And it
was.
Further checking revealed that Sue
had been promised for adoption before she was born and her natural mother had
never seen her. She had no idea where Sue was and had never heard anything
about her since the day she was born.
Now Sue had a brother, a real
brother, and with him came a whole family.
Was it coincidence? There are more
than two hundred million people in the United States
But that wasn't all. As Ron walked
back into his unit, he ran into an old friend from law school who was now a
legal officer.
"Hi, old buddy, where are you
going?" he said as he met Ron.
"Praise God, I'm going to Vietnam
Later an Officer Candidate came to my
office. He openly wept for a long time. "Sir, you must help me. My wife
has been asking for a divorce. Her lawyer has just sent me the papers to sign.
I just can't keep on with the Officer Candidate program. I don't even want to
stay in the Army. Please help me."
"I know just how to get your
problem solved. Let's kneel down and thank God that your wife wants a
divorce."
He didn't understand any better than
Sue and Ron did. Carefully we went over the Scriptures together. At last he
decided he might as well try it. We knelt together and he prayed, turning the
whole situation over to God and thanking Him for having allowed it to happen.
When he returned to his unit he was
so shaken emotionally that they gave him the rest of the day off. He went to
his bed and lay there, repeating over and over, "Thank you, Lord, that
my wife wants a divorce. I surely don't understand it, but Your Word says I
should thank You for all things, so I'll do it." All day long he thought
the same things over and over. That night he couldn't sleep, so he went on
thanking God. The next day he went through training in a daze. "Lord, You
know I don't understand, but I thank You anyhow."
That evening he was sitting in the
mess hall having dinner. As he was eating, it suddenly hit him. "Lord, you
really must know what is better for me, much more than I do. I know all
of this must be your will. Thank You, Lord; now I understand!"
At that moment another candidate
tapped him on the shoulder and told him to come to the telephone.
In all the weeks he'd been a
candidate, no one had ever wanted him on the phone.
When he lifted the receiver there was
someone weeping on the other end. "Honey, can you ever forgive me? I don't
want a divorce!"
A lady came reluctantly to see me.
One of her friends had almost dragged her into my office. She told me that she
had seriously been considering suicide, but didn't see what good it would do to
talk about it.
Little by little she gave me the
details. Her husband had fathered an illegitimate child by another woman. The
child was being kept by her husband's parents. Every time she went to visit her
in-laws, there was the child. To make things worse, the child's mother usually
showed up at the same time. Even though they were having financial
difficulties, her husband was sending money to his parents to help take care of
his illegitimate child. She couldn't live with this constant pain inside
anymore.
"Don't worry," I said to
her. "You won't have to; there is a solution to your problem."
She looked up, rather surprised.
"What is it?"
"Let us kneel here and thank God
that your husband fathered this child." Again I went over the Scriptures
on thanking God for all things. Wiping away her tears, she finally agreed to
try it. We prayed, and she left the office determined to let God work out the
problems in her life.
The next morning I called to see how
she was doing.
"Wonderful!"
"You are?"
"Yes, Sir, I got up this morning
just filled with joy!"
"What happened?"
"When I got home yesterday I
began to think what I could do now that I am thankful for my husband's baby. I
decided that if I was really thankful, I ought to do something about it. So I
sat down and wrote a check to my in-laws and told them to use it for the baby.
This morning I feel absolutely glorious."
The next day I called her again, and
she said: "I feel even better than yesterday."
"What have you done now?"
"I started thinking of a lady
who lives near me who has a retarded child. I went to see her this morning and
asked if I could help with the child. She was so amazed she didn't know what to
say. I stayed and started to do what I could."
"Do you know what to do for a
retarded child?"
"Yes, Sir. I have a master's
degree in working with special children."
"Have you worked with children
since you graduated?"
"No, Sir. This is the first
child I've ever worked with."
"Now do you understand why God
permitted that thing to happen in your life?"
"Yes, Sir, I do, and now I
really praise Him!"
From that day on she was a changed
woman. Those who knew her before said she had always looked and acted as if she
was in great pain. Now they say she looks and acts as though she has discovered
some wonderful secret, and people are being drawn to Christ through her
radiance and joy.
Jesus didn't promise to change the
circumstances around us, but He did promise great peace and pure joy to those
who would learn to believe that God actually controls all things.
The very act of praise releases the
power of God into a set of circumstances and enables God to change them if this
is His design. Very often it is our attitudes that hinder the solution of a
problem. God is sovereign and could certainly cut across our wrong thought
patterns and attitudes. But His perfect plan is to bring each of us into
fellowship and communion with Him, and so He allows circumstances and incidents
which will bring our wrong attitudes to our attention.
I have come to believe that the
prayer of praise is the highest form of communion with God, and one that always
releases a great deal of power into our lives. Praising Him is not something we
do because we feel good; rather it is an act of obedience. Often the prayer of
praise is done in sheer teeth-gritting willpower; yet when we persist in it,
somehow the power of God is released into us and into the situation. At first
in a trickle perhaps, but later in a growing stream that finally floods us and
washes away the old hurts and scars.
One Army wife came to me, convinced
that her problem had but one solution.
Her husband had developed an
excessive drinking problem and for the past several years had been an
alcoholic. Often he would pass out drunk on the living room floor where the
wife or his teen-age children would find him, stark naked. In this condition
he'd also been found in the hallway of the apartment house where several other
families lived.
In final desperation the wife decided
to take the children and leave. Friends persuaded her to at least come talk to
me first.
"Whatever you say, Chaplain,
don't tell me to stay with him," she said. "I just can't do it."
I don't really care whether you stay
with him or not," I said. "I just want you to thank God that your
husband is like he is." Carefully I explained what the Bible had to say about
thanking God for all things and that if she tried it, God would be able to
solve her problem in the best way.
She thought it sounded ridiculous,
but finally agreed to kneel while I prayed that God would release in her enough
faith to believe that He is a God of love and power who holds the universe in
His hand.
At last she said, "I do
believe."
Two weeks later I called her.
"I feel absolutely
marvelous," she said. "My husband is a different man. He hasn't had a
drink in two weeks."
"That's wonderful," I said.
"I'd like to talk to him."
"What do you mean?" She
sounded surprised.
"I just think it would be good
if I talked to your husband about the power that is working in your
lives."
"Didn't you tell him
already?" She sounded puzzled.
"No, I haven't met him
yet."
"Chaplain, this is a
miracle," she cried out. "The day I was in your office he came home
from work and for the first time in seven years he didn't go to the
refrigerator for a beer. Instead he went into the living room and talked to the
children. I was sure you had talked to him."
Our prayer of praise had released
God's power to work in another person's life. The wife was openly crying over
the telephone.
"Praise God, Chaplain," she
sobbed, "Now I know God works out every detail of our lives."
A young soldier collapsed with a
serious heart problem and was taken to the Fort Benning Hospital
The unhappy soldier was
caught and put in the stockade to await trial. There another soldier led him to
Christ. I went to see him, and he was still feeling depressed and afraid that
he had messed up his life so thoroughly that he couldn't be of any use to
anyone.
"Your sins are forgiven and
forgotten," I said. "Don't think of your past as a chain around your
neck. Thank God for every detail of your life and believe He has permitted all
of these things in order to bring you to the place where you are now."
Together we searched the Scriptures
for God's word on all things working out for those who love Him.
"And that doesn't just mean
things that happen after you've asked God to take over your life," I said.
"God is able to use even our past mistakes and failures when we release
them to Him with thanksgiving."
He understood, and began to thank God
in earnest for everything that had happened. As his trial neared, his defense
attorney told him the best he could hope for was a five-year sentence and
dishonorable discharge. The soldier remained undaunted and insisted that
whatever happened, God had full control of his life and would work out whatever
would be for his good.
The General Court-martial had a
surprise ending. General Court-martial is never held unless the military
authorities believe that the crime warrants severe punishment. This soldier was
sentenced to six months in the local stockade and no discharge from the Army.
With Chaplain Curry Vaughan I went to
visit him in the stockade. We thought we were there to encourage him; instead
he encouraged us. He was filled with joy and it was catching. Soon the stockade
rang with our laughter. The young soldier couldn't stand still; he laughed and
ran and skipped around the visiting room.
Before we got ready to leave we asked
how he was feeling. He had been scheduled for heart surgery and medically
speaking was still in need of attention. He confessed that he felt very weak
physically, and often his heart was troubling him. But he said: "It is
wonderful. God is taking care of me."
We asked if he would like prayer for healing
and he said:
"Please do; I believe God will
heal me."
We placed our hands on him and
believed that God, through Christ, was right there healing him. The soldier
smiled radiantly and said: "I believe it is done."
A few weeks later I talked to the man's
Company Commander.
"I believe it's a waste of
government money to keep this man in the stockade."
"Why, Chaplain?" he said.
"He isn't the same man who stole
clothes and a car and wrecked it. He's completely changed."
The Commander agreed and had the man
released. A week later I asked him how he felt.
"Chaplain, I used to get tired
after walking one hundred yards. Now I can run and I never seem to get tired.
God has healed me."
Wherever I went I now
shared what I had discovered about the power of praise. I was beginning to
learn that praise was not just a form of worship or prayer, but also a way of
waging spiritual warfare. Often when someone began to praise God for the
problems that faced him, he found that Satan increased his attacks and the
situation appeared to become worse instead of better. Many who tried the way of
praise became discouraged and were unable to hold on to their belief that God
was in charge.
Others simply didn't understand and
refused to try praising God for unpleasant things. "It just doesn't make
sense," they'd say. "I'm not going to praise God for something I just
don't believe He as anything to do with. How can God have anything to do with
my broken arm or my wrecked car or my husband's horrible temper? I'd be foolish
to thank Him for something like that."
Of course it doesn't make sense. The
question is, does it work? It didn't make much sense when Jesus said,
"Leap for joy when you are hungry or poor or persecuted." Yet He very
definitely told us to do just that. In Nehemiah 8:10 I read: "The joy of the Lord
is your strength."
The enemy's arrows just can't
penetrate the joy of someone who is praising the Lord. In II Chronicles 20 we
read how a whole army was defeated when the Israelites simply praised the Lord
and believed Him when He said that the battle wasn't theirs, but His.
The message is just as clear today.
The battle isn't ours; it is God's. While we praise Him, He sends our enemies
scurrying.
It was discouraging and sad to see
those who refused to praise the Lord. My heart ached for them in their hopeless
situations of suffering and misery. I asked God to give me wisdom to understand
why they couldn't accept the way of praise, and also asked Him to teach me
better ways of leading others to praising Him.
Nearly seven months after I first had
the experience of laughing with joy in the Spirit, I went to a Camp Farthest
Out Retreat. I was looking forward to a time of resting and rejoicing in the
fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ.
While I sat in the back of the auditorium
during a healing service, I closed my eyes and on the screen of my inner vision
God painted a picture.
I saw a beautiful, bright summer day.
The air was filled with light, and I had a sense of everything being very
beautiful. Up above was a heavy, solid black cloud beyond which nothing could
be seen. A ladder extended from the ground up into the black cloud. At the base
of the ladder were hundreds of people trying to get a chance at climbing the
ladder. They had heard that above the blackness there was something more
beautiful than anything a human eye had ever seen, something that brought
unbelievable joy to those who reached it. As person after person tried to
ascend they quickly climbed to the lower edge of the clouds. The crowd watched
to see what would happen.
In a short while the person would
come wildly sliding down the ladder and fall into the crowd scattering people
in all directions. They reported that once they got into the blackness they
lost all sense of direction.
My time finally came, and as I made
my way up the ladder into the blackness it grew so intense that I could feel
its power nearly forcing me to give up and slide back. But step by step I
continued upward until suddenly my eyes beheld the most intense brightness I
had ever seen. It was a brilliant whiteness too glorious to describe in words.
As I came out above the dark cloud I realized that I could walk on top of it.
As I looked into the brightness I was able to walk without difficulty. When I
looked down to examine the nature of the cloud I immediately began to sink.
Only by looking at the brightness could I stay on top.
Then the scene changed and I was back
looking at all three levels from a distance.
"What does it all mean?" I
asked, and the answer came:
"The brightest sunshine below
the cloud is the light that many Christians live in and accept as normal. The
ladder is the ladder of praising Me. Many try to climb and learn to praise Me
in all things. At first they are very eager, but when they get into things that
they don't understand they become confused and cannot hold on. They lose faith
and go sliding back. As they fall, they injure other people who have been
hoping to find a way to live in continual joy and praise.
"Those who make it through those
difficult times reach a new world and realize that the life they once thought
of as normal cannot be compared to the life I have prepared for those who
praise Me and believe that I carefully watch over them. He who reaches the
light of the heavenly kingdom can walk on top of difficulties no matter how
dark they may seem as long as he keeps his eyes off the problem and on My
victory in Christ. No matter how difficult it may seem to trust Me to work in
every detail of your life, keep clinging to the ladder of praise and move
upwards!"
I was half-dazed by the vision and
the explanation and wondered how soon God would let me share it with someone.
At the camp I met a woman who was
faced with problems of illness and family difficulties at home. She found it
hard to believe that praising God was going to do any good.
Inwardly I asked for guidance, and
God said, "Tell her!"
So I told her. "You'll be the
first one to hear this," I said, and as she listened I could see how the
heaviness literally left and her face and eyes lit up with a look of joyous
expectancy.
In Ephesians, chapters one and two, I
found my vision described in slightly different words by Paul:
"...Blessed
(Praised!) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ...he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame...To the praise of the glory of his grace...that in...the fulness of
times he might gather together in one all things in Christ...That we should be
to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ...that you may
know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places, Far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion...And
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus."
Jesus Christ is raised above all the
powers of darkness, and according to God's word, our rightful inheritance is
right there above the darkness together in Christ. The ladder is praise!
I was becoming more aware of the
power of praise, but also aware of some of the enemy's snares.
At the time I began to search my
Bible for insight into praise I was also led to Scriptures describing the power
we have received in Christ over the forces of darkness. I had long been aware
of the passage in Mark 16 where Jesus
155 Prison
to Praise
speaks
of the signs that will follow those who believe in Him:
"In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take
up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
I had prayed asking God to show me if
this was all valid for me in the twentieth century, and if it was, when and how
to use it.
I found that I often became uneasy
when I was around certain people, and asking God, I got the strong impression
that what was wrong with them was of a demonic nature.
I prayed that if I ever came
face-to-face with someone like that during a prayer-session that God would tell
me what to do.
An Army wife was deserted by her
husband who left her with three children. In desperation she tried to kill
herself. She was rushed to the hospital and her life was saved. Friends brought
her to see me after she got home. She was the picture of despair. Her friends
had told me that for several years they had never seen her smile. I began
speaking to her about the way of praising God but soon felt compelled to stop.
I looked into her eyes and suddenly sensed that there was something very wrong
and very evil within her.
Within me was a sense of fear; I
realized that I was actually face-to-face with evil.
"Lord," I prayed within.
"I've come this far, I can't go back now, so I'll step out in faith
trusting that You'll do the work."
Looking straight into the woman's
eyes I spoke out loud commanding the vicious spirit to get out of her in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of His shed blood.
Her glassy eyes suddenly cleared, and
she could listen as I explained that God could work all things for good if she
would only trust and praise Him.
She now was free to understand, and
smiled with a beautiful radiance. Jesus Christ had broken the bondage of
darkness that had threatened her life.
Chaplain Curry Vaughan, Jr., had
begun to experience the power of praise in his own life. Soon after he had
started praising God for his difficulties, he arrived home one evening to learn
that his two-year-old daughter had swallowed a glassful of mineral spirits, a
type of high-grade turpentine. She had already been rushed to the hospital.
Curry jumped into his car and raced full speed to be with her. His mind was
swirling with thoughts of fear and worry. He suddenly realized what he was
doing, slowed the car to normal speed, and praised the Lord for what had
happened.
At the hospital they pumped out his
daughter's stomach, x-rayed her and told Curry that two things were bound to
happen. First, she would run a high fever that night; second, there was a
ninety-five percent chance that she would develop pneumonia.
Curry and his wife Nancy Virginia Virginia
A successful businessman came to see
me about his teen-age daughter. I knew the family and knew that their daughter
had received more than the average amount of love and care, yet she had
developed a violent hatred of her younger sister. She would lash out and strike
her with whatever heavy object she could find.
The distraught parents had taken her
to the psychiatrist for treatment, kept her on tranquilizers and prayed for
years that God would help them find a solution to their terrible problem.
They realized the danger as the
violent outbursts increased.
I met with both parents and
challenged them to try the one thing they had failed to do.
"What is that?" they both
asked.
"Thank the Lord that He has
given you this child to meet your need. Really praise Him for knowing exactly
what would be the greatest blessing to your family."
At first they thought this was
completely beyond what they could do. They had tried for years to solve the
problem, and knew of no way to suddenly be glad that everything was exactly the
way it was. We went through the Scriptures together and then prayed that God
would work a miracle and help them to thank Him.
A miracle did happen. They began to
feel and be thankful. They practiced this daily for two weeks. Instead of
constant worry and fear they experienced peace and joy.
One evening
they were in the living room. Their oldest daughter stood in the middle of the
floor holding a potted flower. She looked at them, and when she had their
attention she smiled and dropped the pot in the middle of the rug. Dirt, glass
and flowers went in all directions. The girl stood smiling, waiting for their
reaction. Both parents had given themselves so completely to the practice of
praising God that they automatically said, at the same time: "Thank You,
Lord."
The daughter looked at them in
amazement. Then she lifted her head and, looking toward heaven, she said:
"Thank You, Lord, for teaching me." From that very moment she began
to get well.
Her parents came to me rejoicing. The
power of praise had worked. For years Satan had held the family in bondage
through that girl. Now his spell was broken. In James we read that we are to
draw near to God and resist Satan. In Romans 12:21 Paul describes how:
"Don't allow
yourself to be overpowered by evil. Take the offensive—overpower evil with
good!"
Some have asked me if this principle
of praise isn't just another way to talk about the power of positive thinking.
Far from it. Praising God for every circumstance does not mean we close our
eyes to the difficulties. In his letter to the Philippians Paul says to worry
about nothing, but
"In everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Looking only at the good side of
every situation is often a dangerous way of trying to escape the reality of it.
When we praise God we thank Him for our situation, not in spite of it.
We are not trying to avoid our
dilemmas. Rather Jesus Christ is showing us a way to overcome them.
There is a ladder of praise and I
believe that everyone without exception can begin to praise God right now in
whatever situation he may find himself.
For our praise to reach the
perfection God wants for us, it needs to be free of any thoughts of reward.
Praise is not another way of bargaining with the Lord. We don't say, "Now
we've praised You in the middle of this mess, so get us out of it!"
Praising God with a pure heart means
we must let God cleanse our hearts from impure motives and hidden designs. We
have to experience the dying to self so that we can live again in Christ in
newness of mind and spirit.
Dying to self is a progressive
journey, and I have come to believe it is traveled only through praise.
God is calling us to praise Him, and
the highest form of praise is the one Paul exhorts us to give in Hebrews 13:15:
"By (Christ)
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."
The sacrifice of praise is offered
when all is darkness around us. It is offered of a heavy heart, unto God
because He is God and Father and Lord.
As we begin to praise Him, on whatever step of the ladder we may be, His
Holy Spirit begins to fill our beings more and more.
To continually praise Him means a
steady decreasing of self and an increase of the presence of Christ within us
until with Peter we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
