Ministering: Pastor Lanre Oluseye
Topic: Protect Your Praise
Text: 1 Samuel 17:1 NKJV
The Bible is explicit about the devil’s assignment (John 10:10). The singular purpose of the enemy is to kill, steal, and destroy. When the devil attacks you, it shouldn’t leave you in a state of depression. The devil attacking you simply means you are valuable, and there’s something of value in your life. If the enemy is after you, it is an indication of value.
From our text, the enemy camped in Judah. Judah means praise. In the same way, the enemy camps in the place that has the potential to deliver your highest joy. The enemy is aware that to get your praise, he has to target your joy because it is out of joy that praise emanates. The devil wants your praise because from inception he has desired to be magnified like God.
If there’s anything that is going to bring joy to your heart and praise to God, you must be ready to protect it. Guard your praise and your joy.
You need to enter into His gate with Thanksgiving (Psalms 100:4). If the way you approach God is with praise and the devil steals your praise, he blocks your approach to God. You must protect your praise.
However, there’s a part where God protects your praise and your joy. God does this in two ways:
1. God protects your joy by His divine intervention (Exodus 14:13). He does things that you cannot do for yourself. He makes a way where there’s no way; He does something that your strategy wouldn’t have been able to deliver.
What people call luck, we call God, and what they call coincidence, we call favour. Every time that God has something to say to you, you must be careful because the enemy is going to throw distractions your way.
2. God gives you divine instructions. To protect your praise, you must pursue His presence. To do this means you intentionally practice worship. Real worship is ascribing worth to God not for what He has done, but for who He is.
If you protect your joy, you must learn to handle distractions and joy killers. Joy killer can be in the form of anything and anyone, including those who are closely related to you. To handle joy killers, you must flee from them and listen to God. Just like the parents of Jesus fled from the king that wanted to kill him. They fled to Egypt — place of protection and rejuvenation.
As we cross over to the new year, you must be ready to protect your praise, and one way to protect your praise is to protect your joy.
