Talk
DIDOY LUBATON: STOP Complaining. Start Celebrating. Let me say that again: Stop Complaining. Start Celebrating.
We are in the series of Wilderness, we’re discussing from the book of Numbers.
And from Numbers 11, moving forward, you’ll see about their next steps back into the wilderness, going into the Promised Land (Canaan).
So, three days only after leaving Mount Sinai where God performed miracles, where God showed them again great things, three days, they got out.
The Complaining Starts
Here’s the passage from Numbers 11: 1, 4-6:
This is not the first time that they complained. Manna has been with them ever since they got out of Egypt. And you know, they’re like in a Grumblers Association. Yes, they need to be in Grumblers Anonymous.
So, it has become their national pastime. Complaining is very contagious because, to be fair, if you read it, it didn’t start with the Israelites. It started with the foreign rabble who were travelling with them. Who were they? They were Egyptians who went for the ride with them. It started with people who were not within them. An unbeliever. Different culture. What happened?
The foreign rabble started complaining. And then the Israelites were like, “Yeah, that’s true…”
Here’s the lesson, my dear friends: Be careful with the conversations you join.
Be careful with the conversations with the chat groups that you join with the Facebook, with the Viber Groups, your officemates, or people at the street corner… You be careful with the company that you choose, their values.
You know, even the Media conversations that you consume. We’re more malleable and impressionable than we think we are.
My dear friends, sometimes, really, complaining is not going to be helpful for you. Test it:
Today is 9:26 a.m. How many times did you already complain– in your mind?
Think about it…
The moment you woke up: Haaay, it’s so hot…Haaay, even I am now in Aliw Theater, it’s still hot… No parking… Actually, there is parking, but quite far from here.
You know, complaining is contagious.
I need to say a bit more about this because it’s not all complaining is bad.
No, no, no… When there is holy discontent—and it’s something wrong you need to correct, then go for it.
But I’m talking about that killer of your joy—of just complaining about everything you have.
You have to be real with God, yes?
You have to be real with God when you are complaining. Let Him be the one to hear and solve your complaints.
But don’t infect others with your complaining.
Holy Complaining
You see it actually in the Bible, in Psalms 1:42. It says:
That’s holy complaining. Let Him hear you.
What is the complaining that we see in Numbers? In Numbers, we see a chronic set of complaining and complainers fueled by a rebellious spirit and a lack of trust in God.
You were already taken out of oppression and slavery, went through the Red Sea– very miraculous—given with everything that you have, and after that pit stop, you’re going out three days after—you’re already complaining.
Were those not yet enough–what the Lord did in your life to tell you that He is in charge, and He knows what is best for you? That you will have everything that you need– not in your perfect time and in your perfect way, but His.
It’s a lack of trust.
Opposite Default Modes
Guys, the question today is: What is your default setting?
Our mind has default setting.
We have habitual ways of thinking.
Today, I want to give you two opposite default modes to choose from: Are you complaining? Or are you celebrating?
Today, I want you to switch your default setting from being complaining so much to celebrating more.
Angela Grice, speech language pathologist, specializing in neurocognition in Columbia University, says:
We switch through repetition.
Guys, I’ve been attending The Feast and Church for so long It was 2008 when we started The Feast in Makati. I have been doing this in a weekly basis. And somehow, somewhere, I switched from complaining to celebrating.
I encourage you: Spend more time with people who have better default settings than yours. And be that better person. In dark places, in dark conversations, please be the one who will talk sense to everybody.
Because I believe that we are not just surviving … I believe that God is throwing a party for us — an abundance 24 hours a day.
In this Feast of Abundance, we are satisfied. We have God’s buffet of blessings everywhere around us– in front of you, actually. It’s just that maybe you don’t like it, maybe you don’t notice which the Lord is setting up for you. He is for you, not against you.
Maybe your job is one of the best jobs that you could ever have but you still don’t see that it’s God’s provision for you.
Or your special someone you already married, but after three years, you are starting to complain about your spouse.
What is your default setting? Default complainers are blind to the abundance around them.
THREE MESSAGES
Let’s read again the key passage:
The foreigners were the ones who complained about what they craved for.
Default setting: Egyptian; Egypt food; Egypt stuff.
And then the others: “Yes, that’s true.” They began to complain too:
“Oh, for some meat… We remember the fish for free… We had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. And now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna.”
The author of Numbers is putting us back to the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden.
First, it was a food problem—again. You know, the fruit of knowledge… Second, the Hebrew word for crave is the same word used when Eve desired for the fruit—the forbidden fruit.
The Israelites were longing for their former life in Egypt, even if that life was horrible—they were slaves. And by longing for that life, they were repeating the First Fall. And like Adam and Eve, they were redefining—again– what for them is good and what is bad.
Somehow, those little pleasures—meat, onions, garlic—made them forget what they just escaped from, and made them forget the breakthroughs, the miracles that God has done in their life, and they got themselves out of dehumanizing slavery.
It’s just because of those little pleasures in life.
Guys, lesson: We do that too. We forget that God healed us, healed our relationships… We forget that we broke through difficulties—just because of a little traffic, just because your child is not following you, just because the news is telling you bad events are happening…
Guys, I want you to look at your lens again. Today, are you looking at paradise?
Or are you living in purgatory? It’s your choice. Are you going to be ending this Talk and ending this Feast still complaining? Or your default setting switching to celebrating than ever before?
Guys, we always say that, “Oh, in the good old days…”
(Psychologists call this our homing instinct. Humans will try to recreate their childhood home, no matter how painful it is, because it’s familiar.)
Well, for me, the good old days are still ongoing… It’s not what happened before, it is what will still be happening. Because my faith believes that abundance is still on the way. Healing is still on the way. Breakthroughs are still on the way. Greater things are yet on the way.
What had been in the past is already in the past. Slavery, the chains, will be broken. Because my faith believes that I will not go back to the predictability of slavery. I will keep moving forward to the unpredictable places, to the unpredictable grace where only God is certain.
We Live by God’s Word
My homing instinct is not complaining. Let’s switch that homing instinct from complaining to celebrating.
And I want you to take a pause as we end and move to the second preacher who will give Message No. 2.
I asked you earlier how many times have you complained today. How many times have you noticed bad things? How many times have you noticed the irritations in your life? But now, in this moment, I want you to recognize that we do not live by bread alone. We do not live for comfort or convenience alone. But we live by the Word of God.
I want you to thank God. Thank God for His blessings, His breakthroughs, the big and the small. For the people He sends our way. That we are still alive. That we still have The Feast…
Yes, Lord, You are working. You are not leaving us alone.
We focus on You, Lord. You are our hope. And our homing instinct is to run back to You. We are secured. We are able. Nothing is impossible with You as our home. And that is You, Lord, we celebrate today. That hope. That moving from complaining to celebrating – again, and again, and again, now until forever.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Let’s sing:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet And a Light unto my path.
Love the Lord today,
Everybody. Praise the Lord! Thank You, Lord!
Big, big hand, please, for Bro. Audee Villaraza…
AUDEE VILLARAZA: Raise your hand if you believe that this message is for you. That you need to stop complaining. And you need to start celebrating.
I want you to appreciate the story for a few moments of what we just read and where we are in the book of Numbers. Didoy just read how these foreigners started complaining. These foreign rabble– they were the ones who initiated the complaint about how they were eating just manna.
And I found that so funny, when I was reading it, because it is just like us. You know, those moments when you’re okay, there’s no problem, but because someone complained, you encouraged him, you echoed the complaint…
That was the situation with the Israelites. The situation was that everything was going well—until these foreigners, Egyptians who were in that journey with the Israelites, they were the ones who started complaining. And then the Israelites jumped on board and also started complaining.
So, this is where they are.
Reject the Poison of Entitlement by Nurturing Appreciation.
Let me explain this by walking you back to what’s happening. Because not too long ago, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt.
You know the story. We walk with them through the desert.
They were slaves in Egypt. They were in bondage. They were not free. And they were suffering. Until God made a way. Praise God. He made a way for the Israelites to be freed.
Now they’re okay as a nation.
That’s why it kind of makes you wonder: How can a nation so blessed and so loved by God still find reasons to complain?
And then I thought about it: Hey, this is actually who we are as well.
You are so loved by God. You are so blessed by God. Yet you still have reasons to complain. Yes?
It’s actually okay to complain. It’s healthy to complain—because it’s part of our human nature to complain.
The problem is this: The Israelites, they kept on crying out to Moses. Numbers 11:2 says:
So, non-stop. They would complain to Moses. Occasionally, they would complain to God.
But here’s the problem: They would complain to Moses. They would complain to God. But they wanted their solution to come from Egypt—from Pharaoh. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted to go back to Pharaoh because they said life was better in Egypt: “In Egypt we could eat meat, we could eat leeks, we could eat garlic.”
You know what this looks like? This looks like the time that you had a big problem. And then, for a solution, you went to that friend of yours, that very, very good friend of yours. But because that friend of yours, could not give you the solution right away, you went back to your ex, the person who hurt you the most– the person who abused you, the person who used you…
This is what it looks like: You run to people who actually hurt you.
Why Complain?
How many of you know that just because you’re thirsty, you’re not supposed to drink poison? Yes?
Just because you’re lonely, it doesn’t mean that you need to reconnect with toxic people.
Just because you’re in a bad spot, you’re running to the people who were very toxic to you and now you’re in that position.
You’re complaining.
It’s not wrong to complain. The problem is when you keep on complaining to people who really don’t have the solution.
Did you know that you can complain to God directly? Job in the Bible. Job was a man of God. He loved God. But when his life turned around, what did he do?
He started complaining directly to God.
The moment you start complaining to God, it opens up a dialogue. You start having conversation with the Lord and little by little, you realize that you can actually trust God.
So, that’s what happens when you complain.
But what I found so funny about this whole story is this… The Number 1 complaint of the Israelites was, get this:
–Numbers 11:6
That was their complaint.
What was manna? Manna was bread from Heaven. So, they were complaining, “All we ever see is this manna.”
Never mind the fact that manna was the one that was sustaining them in the desert. Never mind the fact that manna was something that they do not have to work for. Never mind the fact that manna was the one that was strengthening their body. And that God would send it to them.
But why were they complaining about manna?
Do you have people in your life who are like that? Who would always find something to complain about? But if you were in their position, you would probably be praising for that?
Trade Places?
I remember I had a friend in college. He was complaining about this very silly thing. He had a very rich family. So, they could afford certain things common people like us could not afford. In college, he was already driving this fancy sports car— a BMW Z3. You remember that car? It looks like it was driven by Bruce Wayne. It was so cool.
So, my friend was complaining– how he wanted a different color and if he had his way, he would buy a different model altogether. And he just kept on complaining and complaining to me.
Until finally, I got tired and I said to him, “You want to trade cars for just a week? Because our cars are more or less the same. You know, they’re similar. So, you trade your BMW Z3 for my Honda ZT?”
After that, he stopped complaining. I tell you, he stopped complaining.
It’s funny how your complaining will stop and your attitude will change the moment you realize that there are people who will be willing to trade places with you. Just like that. People who will be willing to trade places with you because what you have are better than what they have.
That’s how the Israelites were behaving. You know, they thought they didn’t have the blessing of the Lord. But in the meantime, there was manna. And they kept on complaining.
What was manna, to begin with? This is how Numbers describes manna: Can you try to imagine this?
The first time that they saw manna falling from the sky… You know Skyflakes? This is sky bread.
So, manna was food coming down from Heaven.
Imagine how amazing that was: You’re hungry. You got no food. And you pray and all of a sudden God sends sky bread unto your lap! And that happens every day– for 40 years.
So, by the second year, they started complaining, “All we ever see is this manna.”
Why? What happened? Because the blessing kept on coming, it kept on coming, and soon, that blessing became ordinary, it became common.
And here’s a word for somebody: It became automatic.
Automatic Blessings
I remember one time, my son Ethan and I, we were in a public restroom in a mall. He needed to wash his hands. So, he went to the sink– you know, those little sinks that kids may use?
So, he put his hand under the faucet, waiting for the water to come out.
And as I was observing him,
I realized that the faucet was not an automatic faucet. So, I waited for a few moments for him to realize that too.
But he did not, so out of my compassion, I told him, “Ethan, that’s not an automatic faucet. It’s a manual faucet. You have to turn up the knob for the water to come out, so that the water will flow.”
See, a lot of times, we think that just because the blessings keep on coming, and they keep on coming, that they are what we automatically enjoy.
And the moment that you start behaving like that, you start abusing those blessings. Because they keep on coming, you take them granted.
This was what was happening with the Israelites.
Because the manna kept on coming and kept on coming, they started thinking, “I’m so tired of seeing this manna again and again.”
So, what did they want? They wanted variety.
They wanted something else. They wanted meat, they wanted onions, garlic. They wanted leeks.
They were like, “Lord, this time, may we have fillings. Please, give us peanut butter or sardines for this bread…”
They started complaining for another blessing because they were receiving the same blessing every day. It became automatic.
Pattern of Human Behavior
Here is the pattern of human behavior. When you give somebody a gift, that somebody will show appreciation for that gift. Right?
But then when you give that same person another gift, that appreciation can become an expectation. That person will be expecting a gift on his birthday.
But then when you keep giving that person the same gift again and again, that expectation will turn into entitlement.
Pretty soon, that person will start giving away your gift. Why?
Because you keep giving him socks ever Christmas. You keep giving him that gift every occasion. So now, he won’t appreciate the gift anymore. He starts giving the gift out, or exchanging it for something else.
This is a sad reality.
That’s why, reject the poison of entitlement. Entitlement happens when you keep on receiving the gift but you no longer appreciate it.
Instead, what do you do? You nurture appreciation.
Appreciation is like a plant– you’ve got to water it every day. Because the moment you stop watering it, it dries up. Nurture appreciation, my friend.
I remember when my siblings and I —we were three sibs—when we were growing up, our parents were hardworking. Our parents had good jobs– our mom had a good business. And we had a good property and we had a very good house.
We had a big garden. So, when I was about 12 years old, one day, our parents sat my siblings and me down and they said we could turn the garden into something.
They asked us, “What do you want us to build? Unanimously, we all shouted, “A swimming pool!”
And you know, because we were persistent, our parents built one for us.
I remember that day when we first saw that pool. We felt like we were living in a resort. I mean, every day, we were swimming in that pool. At least 10 times a day. Our clothes were never dry. Because of that pool. But you know, as we grew up, and as life got busier, something happened. We started using the pool lesser and lesser. Months would go by that we would not use that pool. We would use that pool only whenever friends would come by, whenever we have visitors. And you know, that pool became just sort of fixture in our property.
And at one point, I remember, that I even wished that we built a basketball court instead. At that season of my life, what happened? The blessing was just right in front of me that I took it for granted.
Think about this: What are the things that are in your life right now, that you’re enjoying this moment, that were once upon a time just a prayer, just a dream?
Think about that for a moment. Is it a business? Maybe some of you here were employees and once upon a time you prayed that God would give you a business, and now, you’re an entrepreneur.
What is that thing? Maybe once upon a time you prayed to the Lord to be in a relationship, and now you’re in a great marriage.
What is that thing? Maybe once upon a time, you prayed to the Lord that you would be out of debt, and now you are financially free.
What is that thing? Maybe once upon a time, you prayed to the Lord that you would be serving in a ministry. Now, you’re a servant.
What is that thing? There are dreams in your life that you enjoy today that once upon a time, were just on your copy of Novena to God’s Love. But now they’ve become a reality.
Yes, I know that you might not be as strong. You might not be as smart.
You might not be as young. You might not even be as good looking as you were once before. But what do you have in your hands right now that God blessed you with? Praise God for that.
Sometimes, we tend to focus on things that we do not have.
Just like Adam and Eve. The one forbidden fruit. And yet they had fruit trees there.
When we focus too much on what we do not have, we start to complain. Because we think: “Hey, the grass is greener on the other side.”
Not realizing that the grass on the other side is fake. It’s just fake grass.
It’s just an illusion.
You realize that one of the best ways– and the easiest way– that you can lose a blessing is if you take it for granted.
That’s really the theology of it. If you don’t use that blessing, the Bible says that God gives, but God also takes away.
So, use that blessing. Praise God for that blessing.
Here’s Message No. 3. I love this. But I’ll read the verse first before I discuss Message No. 3:
Not every answered prayer that God gives to you is a blessing. I’ll tell you a story.
I was 21 years old when I had my very first serious relationship. I met this girl.
And you know, we hit it off right away. We were a good match. You know, we were compatible. I was a simple guy. She was a simple girl. She was a homebody. I was a homebody. We complimented each other.
And we lasted for about three years. You know how relationships are. Married people will get this. If you’ve been in a long relationship, after a while, it becomes common. It becomes ordinary. Because you know the person already. You know the person like the back of your hand.
That’s what happened. After three years, that relationship became common.
What If…
You know, our mind plays tricks on us, sometimes.
I started thinking… Because, you see, prior to that serious relationship, there was this unfinished business with another girl…
And I kept on thinking of the what ifs. What if things worked out between this other girl and me… I desired to go back to this girl … Oh, but I was in that serious relationship…
So, I did the hard thing.
The most difficult thing was to be honest with that person I was having a serious relationship with.
I talked to her and I told her about what I was going through (about my what ifs)… And we ended breaking up. And so now, I was free.
So, I went back to that other girl, talked to her about my feelings– and she felt the same way about me. Praise God. So, we got together again.
But you know something happened. Two months into that resumed relationship, I realized that it wasn’t the same as the serious relationship with the other girl that I was with. And so, this resumed relationship did not work out. It ended.
And I desired to go back to that serious relationship. But too bad, that girl had already moved on to another relationship.
And that’s when you realize that sometimes, God would answer a prayer of yours because you desire it so much…
You’re like the Israelites— “I want to go back to Egypt. I want variety.”
And God would answer your prayer—but soon, you’ll realize that it’s not really a blessing. But it’s actually a lesson.
How many of you know what I’m talking about? That not every prayer that God answers is not actually a blessing. Because the reason God would even do that – to give you what you want– is He wants you to realize that you have been foolish. So that you can repent your ways. Because if God will never allow you to experience that hardship, you would not learn the lesson.
I want to say this to every married person here. You know the one lesson that I learned is that not everything you receive is a blessing.
Sometimes, there’s a relationship staring at you in the face and you think, “This is going to be better than my relationship right now.”
But that’s really just an illusion.
Because maybe you’re fighting with your spouse right now– so, you’re thinking, “There’s somebody else in another garden who would treat me better.”
But then when you’re in that other garden, you realize it is not really the right garden for you.
So, stick with the garden that God gave you and then work on that garden. Amen.
Don’t fall for the illusion that the enemy will trap you with—what the enemy will show you as something good. Because sometimes, that’s really what it is— it’s an illusion.
And we fall for things like that. Then we start to complain about all these things. You’ll see this as I will now go forward to another story in the Bible— where two persons also complained.
The Prodigal Son
There’s a parable that Jesus presented about two brothers. The first one who complained, he was the Prodigal Son.
He complained because he wanted to have the inheritance from his father early.
He said, “Father, can you give me my inheritance, you know, so I can spend it already?”
And you know what the father did? The father listened to that son. He gave him the money. He gave the inheritance.
So, the son walked away from the father’s house. But because he was so misguided– in his mind and in his heart– he spent the money poorly. And he ended up broke. He ended up as a servant who couldn’t even have food.
And I want you to think about that for a moment… We are talking about a food problem.
Just like the Israelites were having—a food problem: “I want something else.
I want something more. This manna is not enough. All we ever see is this manna.”
Now, the son in this parable is undergoing another food problem.
He can’t eat. He doesn’t have anymore money. So, now he’s living with the pigs.
And that’s when he remembered: “Wait a minute. My Dad is rich. If I go back to my Dad, if I serve him…
Even if I am a servant, at least I get to eat in the kitchen. Even if the dishes are just the spoils of the people, even if they’re just the spoils of my family.”
Back Home
So, the younger brother made his way back to his home. And you know the rest of the story.
Once the dad saw him, the dad went running to his son.
And then what did the dad do?
Luke 15: 23-24 says:
So now, the food problem was solved. There was a feast. There was more than enough food.
But in the meantime, something was happening. While the party was going on, there was another person complaining. Who?
The older brother: “Dad, the youngest, he got all his inheritance, he stowed away, used up all the money. Now, he’s back. And we’re having a party? I’ve been living here, but you never had lechon, roast pig, for me?”
What in the world… I mean, that’s how we behave, right? We complain about people because we think that they got one over us.
But what this older brother was forgetting is this: Yes, that’s true.
The father was having party, a feast for the younger brother because what was lost has now been found. What the older brother failed to realize was that all his life, he has been living under the roof of his father’s house. Everything in the storage, everything in the refrigerator, everything in the party—he has access to.
But why was he complaining? Because the other brother was now having a party. And he thought that just because he never had a party, his father did not care for him.
Just because God never had a party for you does not mean God is not blessing you. But God has been loving you every day. You just don’t feel it.\
Brother and Sister
There were two more persons in the Bible—in the Old Testament—who also complained. They were Aaron and Miriam—they were the brother and sister of Moses. They were complaining because, see Numbers 12:1-2:
They were complaining that God was using only Moses. But what they failed to realize was, hey, Aaron was the high priest. Miriam was also the priestess.
Because sometimes, we’re so occupied with the way God is blessing other people, that we don’t actually see the blessings that God is giving to us.
God is blessing you. God has favored you. God loves you.
Who is this message for? God favors you. God is blessing you. God loves you.
From the very beginning of the Israelites’ complaining, it had always been about the food. It was a food problem.
First year, they were very hungry. So, they prayed for food. But then they complained still.
Second year, they started complaining about food because there was no variety (always just manna).
All our life, we always complain about food. Why? Because it’s about our hunger—our hunger for more.
God will bless you one way. But when God will keep blessing you that way again, and again, and again, there will come a point where you will say, “Lord, give me something else. I need another thing. I need a new thing.”
So, you start looking for other things. You’re in a garden.
But then our garden is never enough for us. We want to go to another garden because we believe that that other garden has more fruits. Or we want to take fruit from that tree in another garden, that tree with the forbidden fruit.
A Food Problem
We want what we cannot have. It’s always been a food problem. How did God solve the food problem? How did God solve the food crisis?
He sent down food. Not in the form of manna. Not in the form of sky bread or Skyflakes, whatever you call it.
God sent Living Bread. He sent down Jesus as a form of manna.
And I know that because Jesus says:
“I am the Bread of Life. Whoever come to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The food crisis in this world is not
going to be solved by just bread that you would consume, or material things. But it can be solved only by Jesus. Because He came so that we would have life and we would have life to the full.
You ever have those moments when you don’t have the best of everything but you feel like you’ve got enough– because Jesus is with you? And because Jesus is with you, you’re happy. And you’ve got joy. And you’re satisfied…
That’s what I mean. That’s what Jesus means. That you can be walking in the wilderness and you’re going hungry—but then you’ve got Jesus.
The Word made flesh. The Bread of Life.
No wonder that when Jesus came, he started dining with sinners. He started dining with outcasts. He started doing life with the rejects. Because it’s a message that tells us:
“I’m not just for the upright. I’m not just for the holy. I’m not just for those people who are doing right by me. But I’m also for people who are backsliding. I’m also for people who are having difficulty time in their life… I’m for everybody. Those among you who want a meal I am their meal. I am the greatest feast that they can ever have…”
The Temptation of Jesus
So, when you walk into the Kingdom of Jesus, you will see He is The Feast of Love. The Feast that you partake in. And He’s here.
Whatever you’re hungry for—you’re hungry for material things, you’re hungry for needs—you’ve got needs, I’ve got needs—I want you to think about this for a few moments:
When Jesus walked into the desert– He was in the wilderness for 40 days (of fasting) —what did the first thing the Devil tempted Him with (to challenge
Jesus to misuse His power). With material (or mundane) things— with bread, with glory, with victory, with power. But Jesus was able to say no.
Here’s what you’ve got to do: I want you to know that Jesus knows what you need. But so does the Devil. Yes.
… The Devil knows your needs. And he will tempt you to follow him by presenting to you your needs. Maybe some of you are hungry for affirmation.
Maybe some of you are hungry for love. Maybe some of you are hungry for material things. Maybe some of you are hungry for compliments. Maybe some of you are hungry for attention.
If you don’t present your needs to Jesus first, the Devil will be the one to present those to you– as your weakness– so you will follow him.
But Jesus doesn’t want that.
So, at this moment, I want you to present to Jesus, your King, your Savior, what you are hungry for—what you need in your belly– that only He can give.
What are you hungry for that Jesus can only be the One who can give that to you? Present to Jesus:
Jesus, here they are: Here is our desire. Here are our wants. Here are our needs. Here’s our insecurity. We present these to You so that the enemy can never use these against us. And we lay them at the foot of Your Cross– relinquish them to you. Because we know that You are the Source of all our needs. And You will be the One to bless us. You will be the One to love us. Not anybody. Only You.
And today, we declare, Jesus, that we are blessed. We don’t have a need to complain because we are blessed. We are favored.
I am blessed. I am favored. I am loved by God and I love Him back. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Declaration
How many of you know that God is good? You believe that? God is really good. You can’t change the truth that God is good. You know that. I know that. We all know that.
But so does the enemy.
And so, because he knows that he cannot stop God from being good, you know what the Devil is going to do? He’ll try to stop you from being grateful. So, when you complain, when you backstab, when you speak against God, the enemy loves that.
But when you start praising God and celebrating Him, and thanking Him, and exalting His Name up to the high heavens, you realize that hey,
God is really good!
God is really good, isn’t He? If you believe that, just lift up your hands in His Presence right now. This is our moment when we declare Jesus is our
Savior. No one else in this world, none, no dominion in this universe other than Jesus will be sovereign in our life.
Say this with me: Jesus, You alone are my King. Jesus, You alone are my Savior. And today, I declare that You came down on Earth to restore me.
And You were raised from the dead to save me. And so, today, I choose and I declare that I will have life with You. Today, I will walk with You in my garden. And I declare that I am blessed. I am favored. I am anointed.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
