Battle for the High Places of Praise 6-27-07

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I honor You, Lord. Let me honor You with my heart and not just my lips, with my actions and not just my intentions, with the journey of my life and not just a moment of decision. ... "Once again the Philistines made a raid in the valley. When David again inquired of God, God said to him, 'You shall not go up after them; go around and come on them opposite the balsam trees, then go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.' David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer" (1 Chronicles 14:13-16). The physical battles and enemies of the Old Covenant speak to us of the spiritual battles and enemies of the New Covenant. "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction" (Romans 15:4). "These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). As someone wise has said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." So we are to learn from the history of Israel's physical battles -- both defeats and victories -- how to fight our spiritual battles. "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Every enemy is different and every battle is different. So, like David, we must always look to You and inquire of God for the divine strategy to win the battle of the moment and enforce the victory of the cross in the war already won for eternity (Colossians 2:15; Revelation 12:11). A common strategy from the lessons of the Old Covenant is to reclaim the spiritual ground of "the high places" in a territory or region (For example 2 Kings 18:4; 23:19; 2 Chronicles 33:17; Micah 1:3; Psalm 78:58). The physical high place of a region speaks of the spiritual seat of authority (1 Chronicles 16:39; 1 Kings 3:2). Where the One, True God is worshipped and honored, holy authority and blessing is released over the people of a region; but where the false gods are worshipped and honored, unholy authority and curses are released instead. So the battle for the high places of praise is a persistent and powerfully significant strategy of spiritual warfare. This is one of "the weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). This past Sunday after church, my five year old son Elijah and I made our first journey together up the mountain in the center of Ruidoso, New Mexico, where my mother and brother now live. I've climbed that mountain with all of my older kids through the years of our summer trips out here to see our family. It's become a tradition for us to take a moment to pray and praise at the peak of this high place in the center of the community. We've often built a cross of branches and twigs to mark and seal our prayers and proclamations of Your Word and Spirit over this region. This year, as Elijah and I made it to the top, we saw that someone else had already planted a cross at the peak. As in the days of David, it was like God had gone out before us to reclaim the ground and strike down the army of the enemy (1 Chronicles 14:15). So we added our voices of prayer to the song of Your Spirit like "the sound of marching in the tops of the [pine] trees" (v. 14:15). Lord, let Your holy authority and divine blessings be released in the high places of our hearts and homes. "Let God rise up, let His enemies be scattered; let those who hate Him flee before Him.... Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides upon the clouds -- His name is the Lord -- be exultant before Him" (Psalm 68:1-4). Pull down the false altars to every false idol lifted up in the place of authority in our souls, as we lift high the cross and exalt Your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, we will be heading back to Kentucky in the morning. I will be teaching and preaching on spiritual warfare in a number of settings during the remainder of this summer and would really appreciate your prayers: Aldersgate Renewal Ministries' National Conference of the Holy Spirit in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in July; Southeast Jurisdictional Ministers' Conference of the United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina in July; and the National Ministers' Conference for the Methodist Church of Estonia (next to Russia) in August. And I'll be joining others to pray a father's blessing over the young people gathering at The Call in Nashville, Tennessee on 7-7-07. Thank you for joining me in the battle and declaring the victory of the cross at home and around the world. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries -- MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Ministering the Healing Love of God ... Preparing the Way of the Lord." 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 http://www.messiah-ministries.org/ Daily Archives: http://www.morningbymorning.injesus.com/