THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE

 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. I Peter 5:8 NLT

 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. Matthew 13:25 KJ

 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 1:

 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: Psalm 

92:1 KJV

 Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:17-18 NIV

I.  Complaining Vs Thanksgiving and Praise

Then the whole community of Israel set out from Elim and journeyed into the wilderness of Sin,a between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt.b 2There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. 3“If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” Exodus 16:1-3 NLT

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. Exodus 16:13-15 NLT

When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). 24Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you. ”Exodus 15:23-26 NLT Jehovah Rapha

Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3“Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” Numbers 14:1-4 NLT

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27“How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. Numbers 14:26-30 NLT

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power NIV

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. II Corinthians 10:4 ESV

II.  EXAMPLE OF PRAISE

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. 19When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:16-30 NIV

III.  EXAMPLE OF THANKSGIVING

 Vs 9-10  After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites ^a came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. 2Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom,  II Chronicles 20:1-2 NIV

Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. II Chronicles 20:5-6 NIV

 9‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us. ’ II Chronicles 20:9 NIV

For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” II Chronicles 20:12 NIV

He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.  Vs 15

17You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”  18Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. II Chronicles 20: 17-19

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Deuteronomy 20:1-4 NIV

21After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his ^c holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” 22As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 24When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 25So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing ^dand also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. II Chronicles 20:21-25 NIV

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. II Corinthians 10:4 ESV

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. Psalm 8:1-2 ESV

 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3 KJV

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4—

 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Ps. 100:4). 

 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, Deuteronomy 28:47-48 ESV

 I love the LORD because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 2 Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! 3 Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “Please, LORD, save me!” 5 How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! 6 The LORD protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me. 7 Let my soul be at rest again, for the LORD has been good to me. 8 He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. Psalm 116 NLT

 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. Psalm 116:17 NLT

Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15  so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16  Hold firmly to the word of life; Philippians 2:14-16 NLT

Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”  Angels listen as I sing my thanks. kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: “Thank you!” Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength. Psalm 138:1-3 MSG

 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. Jude 1:24-25 NIV