Psalm 50:23 ‘Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.’

DAILY READING – • Ephesians 4:17-32; Ezekiel 12-13; Isaiah 43

Ginette Sainfort is simply known in Haiti as the “Singing Survivor”. She has become an iconic image of the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.
In the disaster that claimed 316,000 lives, Ginette survived through the miracle of praise.

Though the earthquake had buried her underneath a mountain of concrete for almost a week, she had such great faith that God would deliver her that she spent the time of her entrapment focusing on the song she would sing when eventually rescued.
After an almost hopeless search, likened to looking for a pin in a haystack, rescuers were eventually able to locate Ginette. Though she was weak, and dehydrated, as they began to pull her out, an amazing thing happened, – she started to sing.
Sainfort began to sing her planned song which was a powerful French hymn, part of which said;
“If the sea is unleashed/ If the wind blows hard/ If the boat leads you/ Do not be afraid of death. He did not say you will sink/ He said ‘Let’s go on the other side.’ ”
It was a most moving moment for the rescuers to watch this weakened woman who had not eaten or drunken water for many days use her remaining breath to bless God.

Even after her ordeal, years later she continues to praise God for His faithfulness. Recently, when being interviewed in the News Media, she said that she hasn’t had a single day of depression. “I’m alive,” she said. “I have no time for sadness.”
Every year, on 12th January, at the anniversary of the earthquake, she goes to Church to thank God and bless Him for His mercies that had delivered her from death.

When Jonah was buried in the belly of the whale, for the first eight verses of Jonah 2, all he focused on what his negative situation.
But from verse 9, when he stopped complaining and chose to offer a sacrifice of praise, there was a sudden change in his situation.
Jonah 9 says ‘But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.’
Then the next verse, 10, then says ‘And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.’
As long as Jonah complained he remained buried in the belly of the fish, but when he switched to praise, he experienced deliverance.

Sometimes, we want to wait and only give God praise when we have gotten delivered. But that’s not how faith works. You’ve have to learn to give God praise, even before you see the manifestation of victory.

Oftentimes, in life’s journey you have to pass through some valleys before you can get to your mountaintop.
But even in the valley, you have to continue to give God praise because praise is what causes you to be raised.
Though you may sometimes walk through the valley of the shadow of death, through praise you will fear no evil, because God will be with you.

Praise brings God’s Presence which guarantees deliverance out of every pit of life.
Indeed you can praise your way to victory. When you praise, God causes every situation that has tried to swallow you up to spit you out. Chains are broken and bondages are destroyed.
Praise activates God’s power because it is an expression of our confidence in His ability.

God is pleased, when you may have reasons to be discouraged, but rather you choose to encourage yourself in the Lord and raise a song of praise.

Hebrews 13:15 says we are to offer God praise, “continually.”
This means we don’t just praise God only when things look good, rather in everything we keep blessing the Lord.

Therefore today, fix your eyes on Jesus and not on the negativity. Choose to live each day in God’s Presence, by spending time in His Word until joy is imparted into your heart. Then maintain an atmosphere of joy around you and in all things keep giving God thanks. As you do so, you will see a sudden positive turnaround and abundance of miracles, signs and wonders.

PRAYER: Lord, Please help me to always maintain a praise-full lifestyle. I know that You are too faithful to fail and even right now You are at work to turn every mourning into dancing for me in Jesus Name.

QUOTE
Praise always guarantees you power for a raise, learning to praise God in season and out of season is key to fulfilling destiny. – WORDBITE 222.