Exodus 14:13 ‘And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.’

DAILY READING – Acts 12; Joshua 15-17; Job 28

Arthur Blessit is an evangelist who has carried a wooden cross all over the world in a mission that has taken him through 315 countries. His journey is in the Guinness Book of World Records as “The World’s Longest Walk.”
In one of his journeys he was almost stoned to death when he came to a predominantly Moslem city of Tetouan in Morocco. At a major road intersection hundreds of people who saw him with the cross, began screaming at him. Cars stopped and people began running out of shops screaming with their faces full of hatred and rage. Since Arthur had no interpreter, he couldn’t understand what they were saying.
Soon they began throwing rocks at him and many of the men with long sticks beat his arms, legs and side and then also hit the cross repeatedly.
Arthur’s Land Rover, carrying some of his team, who usually trailed him during his walks, came down the road and when they saw the dangerous situation they yelled to him “Arthur drop the cross and run, let’s get out of here.”
But he screamed back, “No, go on. If I make it, praise the Lord! If I don’t, praise him anyway!”
When the crowd realized the vehicle was with him, they began running toward it, but the driver took off out of sight. At that point Arthur believed they were really going to kill him. Deciding to die while preaching,. he then began to preach right in the faces of the people still beating him.
Just at that moment, he saw two men come from a store, who started screaming at the crowd, waving their arms and clenching their fists. As the crowd began screaming back, momentarily their attention was diverted from Arthur. Just then he felt the Holy Spirit say to him “Go, now!”
And so he began to push through the crowd. It was as if the people couldn’t see him as he walked right through their midst. He was a half block down the street before they realized he was gone. Though a few people threw rocks at him, yet no one followed after him.
Thus Arthur walked away safely from that place. He later located his Land Rover parked alongside the road, waiting for him and so continued his journey to other towns.

When Arthur Blessit chose to honor and praise God in the midst of a desperate situation, he experienced a miraculous deliverance.
Indeed God will always make a way of escape for those who trust in Him. For some of us this year, this has been our story. Though we had faced battles that seemed too great for us, yet God showed up in inexplicable and unfathomable ways to deliver us.
This is why today, we raise our voices to bless and thank Him for His faithfulness and wonders we have seen this year. Certainly God has been good!
Truly, we serve the God of awesome wonders! There is no mountain that He cannot level, no sea that He cannot dry up, and no Jordan that He cannot drive back for our sakes.
Indeed no battle or challenge we face is ever beyond what God can handle. As long as we give Him worthy praise, He will arise to show us His wonders.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat was surrounded by mightier armies. And it looked like there was no way of escape. In 2 Chronicles 20:12, he prayed ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you’.

God responded by telling them that they did not need to fight in the battle. What they needed to do was to set themselves and stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
And so they set themselves by organizing a praise warfare! When they prioritized praise, God turned their battlefield into the Valley of Berachah.
Berachah meaning “blessings” was the name they gave the place because it took them three days to gather all the spoils of war!

Indeed God is fearful in praises and when we engage His presence through praises, we will see the eruption of His signs and wonders.
As we prepare to cross over into the New Year, we must be deliberate in offering God worthy praise. As we do, He will arise to deal with every gathering and gang-up of the enemy against us.
As we praise God, certainly He will ensure that the Egyptians we saw in 2021 we shall see them no more forever.
Just like the red sea swallowed pharaoh, so shall every evil attempting to cross over with us, be swallowed by the red sea of the Blood of Jesus. None of the sickness, financial instability, relationship crisis and other troubles of 2021 shall cross over with us. Surely affliction shall not arise a second time.
As we keep praising God, He will certainly go before us to break the gates of brass, cut asunder the bars of iron and usher us into a New Year of unending blessings.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank You for all You have done for me this year. I thank You in advance for the ‘fearful’ and ‘tearful’ testimonies awaiting me in the New Year.
As I praise You today, I know indeed that my victory is guaranteed over every battle 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