July 10, 2009 "The Weapon of Praise"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders
Inspired by the Holy Spirit
Written by: Teresa Criswell

"I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."
~ Psalm 9:2 ~

I'm being reminded of what I need to be reminded of today.

I was truly fighting the warfare this morning as I was praising God. I was doing so because I could feel a cloud of depression and the anxiety of the things that needed to be done try to annihilate me.

I literally shook my head as though I had been hit in the head physically. I took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. As I did so, I heard like I always do when that cloud of anxiety tries to come over me; I heard the words, "Praise Me right now."

Immediately on purpose even though I didn't feel like it at all, I started to praise the Lord. Again, I was reminded of the verse of the day on KLOVE radio. The verse of the day was on yesterday's program, "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

Suddenly, I was 'reminded' of how we remind ourselves of things. Journaling has been a great tool for me to remind me of the greatness of God. I remember when I first started journaling I was truly convicted and challenged by the Holy Spirit to write down the things that were of praises to the Lord. There are so many times I wanted to journal all the difficulties throughout my day, however I knew the Lord did not want me to 'go there'.

As I was 'reminded' of this today, I asked the Lord, "Lord, why didn't You want me to write those difficulties down, wouldn't it be 'like' denying that those things ever happened?" I believe I heard Him when I received this answer back, "What you declare as you write is what you choose to glorify. When you make the choice unintentionally to 'glorify' the difficulty and pain at hand, the reminder of Me and what I can do through the difficulty and pain is cast aside. Being reminded is truly being 'mindful again' of something that is in the forefront of your mind." As I heard this it allowed me to minister to myself that when I write down and declare the greatness of God, the reminder when looking back upon my writings, it has truly caused me to marvel even moreso at the Greatness of God and His mighty provision. I know now that if I would have only written down the pain and difficulty, yes it was real; however, it would only 'drag' me back in that place where I have no business being-that is in a place of 'despair' not a place of being 'repaired' by the Lord.

As the cloud of depression of the past and anxiety of getting those pending things accomplished, let us focus and intentionally praise with our lips with the spoken word the glory of God. Even if it is saying, "God you are so good all the time" over and over again, let it be a weapon against the enemy's tactics of throwing the darts of fear and the 'what if's' in our mind. Let us be mindful again of the greatness of God today.

To be reminded is the key; will I remind myself of the pain? Or will I remind myself of my God who gets me through the pain? I pray I choose moment by moment to be mindful of the God who gets me through the pain and difficulty.

As I am reminded, I will remember that "This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it."

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