the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
He [Jehoshaphat] appointed those who would sing to ADONAI ...as they went out ahead of the army (2 Chronicles 20:21).
Praise is a powerful weapon in our battle against the forces of evil. The first thing the Adversary seeks to rob from us is our joy, because he knows he will always win over the Messianic Jew who does not "rejoice in union with the Lord always!" (Philippians 4:4)
When Leah named her fourth son Yehudah (Judah; literally, "praise"), she had no idea that Jacob's many descendants would one day identify themselves by a similar name—"Jew." But the name is prophetically fitting. The time will come when the ransomed among the Jewish people will return with the same praise that Jehoshaphat's front-line warriors expressed, a praise that overcomes all things through the strength of God's enduring love.
Throughout Jewish history, the Adversary has sought to destroy the praise of Israel. The Holocaust was an extreme example. Survivors recount that they were forbidden to sing in the camps while walking or performing duties. Those caught doing so could be shot on sight. During those dark days, the Adversary didn't just rob our people's joy. He sought to kill it forever, along with the word "Jew." But he failed.
When Messianic Jews praise God always and in all things, we are declaring to all that the Jewish people live! And each of us begins to truly live as well.
...place praise at the head of my life because God loves me and enables me to conquer all evil.
MW
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
