Days of Praise ~ Yahweh Tsuri ~ The LORD Our Rock

Jesus Christ is our Rock from the beginning.

This ‘name’ is first mentioned in Genesis 49:24. “But his (Joseph) bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock (SC#68 eben=stone) of Israel.”

Jesus Christ was the Rock that Moses struck!
"For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)

Jesus is the Rock of Offense, Precious Cornerstone, Capstone, Foundation  and Living Stone. 
Jesus was the stone the builders rejected, and has become the cornerstone of God’s church.

• “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to fear, dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both the houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.” (Isaiah 8:13-14) 

• Peter quotes Psalm 118:22-23 in Acts 4:11 when he addresses the Sanhedrin. “He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.”

• Ephesians 2:20 “the Rock upon which the church is built… on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”

• 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

• “As you come to him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For scripture says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message, which is what they were destined for.” (1 Peter 2:4-8)

• This stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes men fall is also found in Daniel. Daniel 2:34-5  “While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

• Acts 4:8-12 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Sprit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

This scripture is loaded with the attributes of the LORD Our Rock! There are many more in the study of this name, which will resume after the 21 Days of Praise.

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” 2 Samuel 22:2-4 (also Psalm 18:2-3)

• You are the rock of our salvation!
• You are mighty in strength and power!
• You are a valiant warrior, a roaring champion. 
• You are perfect, just and faithful.
• You are a fortress, strong tower and shelter against the foe! 
• You are the refuge that the righteous run to.  
• You train our hands for war, our fingers for battle!
• You give us your shield of protection. 
• You are our defender and deliverer. 
• You will rescue and deliver us from the traps set before us
• You will give the command to save us.
• You are strong, powerful, yet also kind-hearted to the needy. 
• You are our Rock who fathers us.
• You are with us wherever we go. 
• You bring the victory!

We will honor you, trust you, call to you and inquire of you, hear you, obey you and rest in you!

• We will honor you as holy in the sight of others. 
• We will not put you to the test. 
• We will ask and not complain!
• We will inquire and not presume!
• We must obey or reap the consequences.
• We will not forget the wonders you have done. 
• We will not limit you or ourselves in our thoughts or actions.
• We trust you now and forever in any and all circumstances.
• We will never be shaken or put to shame.
• When we focus on you, you faithfully give us perfect peace. 
• We call to you from the ends of the earth and we are saved.  
• We trust you to help us hear that still small voice more often!!
• When we hear, we will obey, and then we are made wise.
• You answer us when we call. 
• We will patiently rest in you.  
• We have a place of complete security in you. 
• You are the living water.
• We drink daily of our spiritual Rock, Jesus Christ, who accompanies us. 

You are building us into a holy priesthood!

• Unless you build the house, we will labor in vain. 
• You are our foundation. 
• We are building on you and you are building us in you. 
• You are making us into a precious stone, designed by you. 
• We are being carefully crafted and faceted to fit into your body exactly where you want us. 
• We need to get a revelation that we are a treasure to you. 
• We need to get a revelation that everyone is a treasure to you. 
• You are the living stone and cornerstone and we are living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood!
• Make us an effective and supportive part of the body of Christ to the fullest extent possible, according to your plans and purposes.

We praise the LORD Our Rock!

• You expect us to depend on you and be like you.
• We commemorate who you are and what you have done!
• You have made provision for our eternal salvation. 
• We praise and exalt you, our Rock and Living Stone.
• Truly, there is no one holy like you LORD!
• There is no rock like our God!

Days of Praise ~ Yahweh Shalom ~ The LORD Our Peace

 “And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it “Jehovah shalom” “The LORD is Peace:” Unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” (Judges 6:23-24)

When Gideon realized that he had seen the Angel of the LORD face to face, he was afraid he was going to die. God told Gideon to have peace and not be afraid, and that he would not die! Gideon built an altar to the LORD and called it “The LORD Is Peace.” 'Shalom' means to take authority over chaos and destroy it.  Through a series of events, God empowered Gideon, the least in his clan, to have victory over the Midianites.

God has called us to peace and made provision for it.

• Peace is a gift he has given to us. 
• He has made a covenant of peace with his people. 
• The God of peace sanctifies us and keeps us blameless. 
• Grace and peace are ours. 
• It is our heritage to have peace. 
• It is God’s desire for us to walk in peace with God and man.
• Only Jesus and his word can bring true peace.

These things will bring peace in our lives:

Obedience, trust, righteousness, holiness, faith, the gospel, prayer, the fruit of the Spirit, discipline, forgiveness, mercy, repentance, wisdom, understanding, a sound mind, guidance, hearing God, imitating God, learning from God, God’s presence, his word and his love.



Many things in life will try to steal our peace:

Sin, strife, offenses, disobedience, listening to the accusations of the enemy, false assumptions, guilt, fear, rejection, disappointment in self, others and life, sickness, the death of loved ones, not trusting God, and conflicts of all kinds!

Jesus Christ wants us to seek his peace and be peacemakers. 

• God wants us to do all that we can, if possible, to live in peace with everyone.
• As we purpose to walk in peace, we'll become more peaceful. 
• God’s peace will rule and reign in our hearts. 
• Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called Sons of God. 
• Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. 

Through Christ, we are capable of maintaining peace in uncomfortable situations.

If it is a familiar situation, we can anticipate how we will respond. If it is a new experience, we need to purpose not to let it get the best of us! If we do let it get the best of us, we repent and move on! Letting it get the best of us happens to the best of us! A good goal to set is to be "unoffendable." 

We tend to have our own perspectives in our conflicts with others. Sometimes, we can only hear the truth about ourselves from the Holy Spirit. We should ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to learn from our mistakes and experiences, and to reveal truth to us.

When trouble comes, we focus our minds on Christ. 

• We know that he is near and lives within us. 
• We will set the LORD before us always..he is at our right hand. We shall not be moved. 
• We choose to focus on him immediately. 
• We will be quick to inquire of him and quick to obey. 
• God will move on our behalf when we obey him.  
• We will listen for his instructions. 
• We will not be tempted to respond in our flesh. 
• A soft answer turns away wrath. 
• It is a split-second decision! 
• We will not allow the enemy to try to make us anxious about anything, no matter how small or how big it is. 
• It is not worth it!
• The next time there is an attempt to steal our peace, we will pray, petition God, and give thanks.

Worry is pointless, destructive, doesn’t change anything and won't help us!

Jesus asked this question…Can any of you add an hour to the length of your life by worrying? He gives us his peace so we do not have to allow our hearts to be troubled!

What we choose to think about is very important, and has an impact on our lives.

• We will meditate on thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise. 
• Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 
• God will keep us in perfect peace if we focus our thoughts on him. 
• Our actions and attitudes make enemies at peace with us. 
• The world falsely claims to give peace.
• God’s peace is the only peace that passes all understanding. 

• We will present our requests to him, and his peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. 

God’s thoughts of us are peaceable and good.

• His eyes are on us right now! 
• His face is turned toward us and he is giving us peace.
• We will see and know his peace.
• He did not give us a spirit of fear, but power, love, sound mind. 
• God wants to encourage us and show us how to have confidence in him and what he has called us to do. 
• We'll trust him to meet us where we are and take us where we need to be. 
• He will do what he needs to do to help us fully trust him in any situation. 
• He will give us his strength where we need it. 
• We will go in the strength he has given us.
• We will have confidence in him no matter what.

Peace cannot be based on circumstances.

• Circumstances are subject to change, but God does not change. 
• If we take your eyes off of Jesus and look at the circumstances, we will lose our valuable gift of peace. 
• Receive his gift of peace and always trust him in everything.
• The God of peace equips us for everything good for doing his will, working in us what is pleasing to him. 
• Everything we have accomplished he has done for us and he establishes peace for us.

Get into God’s presence through his word, prayer and worship. 

• He is the living word of God. Read his word!
• He inhabits the praises of his people. 
• When we worship him, he envelops us in his love and peace. 
• We are set apart and made holy to have fellowship with him. 
• The enemy will use strife and sin to keep us from fellowship. 
• We cannot have a spirit of strife and be in God’s presence. Worship him and declare victory before the battle – as demonstrated by God and his warriors, David, Joshua and Gideon. Remember the wonders and victories God has accomplished. Praying in faith will keep us from worry. 
• We are either walking in fear or faith. 
• This is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his word, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us, then we know that we have the petitions we have desired of him!
• The more time we spend with Him, the more peace we'll have.
• In these secret places he will reveal himself, his love, his plans, etc.
• We can have as much peace as we want! 
• Be filled with all joy and peace from the God of hope so that we are overflowing in it through the Holy Spirit's power. 
• This will cause us to rejoice and others will see our gentleness.

Jesus told his disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Since he has overcome the world, and you are in him, you are an overcomer and you have peace!

AND KNOW THIS!!!!!!! Your LORD of Peace will give you peace at all times and in every way!!!!!!! The LORD is with you!

SO NOW! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Days of Praise ~ Yahweh Nissi, The LORD Our Banner

How the Story Begins….

As the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, the Amalekites attacked the weak, sick and elderly from behind. The first nation to war against Israel, they raised a hand against the throne of God, choosing to become an enemy of Israel and God. The Amalekites must have heard about the victory God had given Israel over Egypt, yet they had no fear of God. Israel did not seek vengeance on their own, but God declared war against the Amalekites for generations, and would see to it that they were wiped off of the face of earth, erasing their memory from heaven.

We Praise You for the Victory You Gave the Israelites Against the Amalekites!

Banners were used as a rallying point and also used as an announcement of a victory already won. God instructed Moses to fight the Amalekites. Moses obediently lifted up the rod of God. (This is the same rod that miraculously parted the Red Sea and brought water forth from the rock, leading the children of Israel out of 400 years of Egyptian slavery.) He raised his hands against the Amalekites and defeated them. Moses built an altar and named it Yahweh Nissi, The LORD Our Banner.

We Praise You that You are our Banner,  You are the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!

The tribe of Judah led the Israelites in war. On their banner was a Lion. The Lion is symbolic of a King. Jesus Christ, Our King, is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Your banner represents your presence, your deliverance and your mighty salvation! You make us victorious in all things, and as we look to the victory Jesus Christ achieved on the cross, not only are we MORE than conquerors through Christ Jesus, you ALWAYS  cause us to triumph in Christ. Not only do you enable and equip us through the power of your Spirit to defeat our enemies, but you also use us to fight on behalf of others.

We Praise You for You Instruction to us Through Your Word

Both Israel and King Saul demonstrated that serious problems will occur when we disobey you and do what we think is best. They acted according to their perspective, regardless of the specific instructions you had given them. Israel’s sin of not believing and trusting you wound up keeping them in the wilderness and out of the promised land for a long time.  Later, when Israel was near the land of Canaan, they directly disobeyed God by attacking the Amalekites when God specifically told them not to. Israel lost terribly to the Amalakites. King Saul, through his disobedience in taking on the priestly duty of offering a sacrifice, instead of waiting for Samuel to come fulfill that priestly duty, flagrantly disobeyed God. The Philistines won and this marked the eventual end of Saul’s reign as Israel’s King. In a battle against the Amalekites, Saul spared King Agag, and kept the spoils of war to sacrifice to God. He chose to disobey God because he was afraid of the people. Samuel killed King Agag with the sword. These examples teach us that obedience is better than sacrifice. All of these situations in your word are there for our instruction and benefit, because we are subject to the same mistakes in our own lives. It is vital that we understand your nature toward us. We must destroy the evil in our lives or it will come back to bite us.

In 1 Samuel 30, the Amalekites burned Ziklag. David asked for the ephod, was strengthened in the LORD, inquired of the LORD and was told to pursue, and that he would gain the victory. Later, the Simeonites warred against the Amalekites, fulfilling the words God spoke about destroying the nation of Amalek.

Finally, we see Haman, a descendant of an Amalekite King, rise up in Persia. His goal was to exterminate the Jews. God used Queen Ester and Mordecai through prayer and fasting, and wisdom from heaven, to save the Jewish nation. Haman wound up being executed by hanging in the gallows that he had built for Mordecai.

We Praise You that You Go Before Us and Equip Us!

You go before us to bring the victory.  You are our banner of victory and deliverance. You were victorious on the cross. You are interceding for us right now. Part of warfare is prayer, worship and intercession. We trust fully in the power and effectiveness of your prayers for us. The battle is, and always has been for our hearts.

Our struggle is not against people, but against dark forces in heavenly realms. With that in mind, we put on your full armor, so that when the evil day comes, we can stand firm with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, our feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, which extinguishes all the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying in the spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. We will be alert and pray for the saints, and for the gospel to be revealed. Our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds against the knowledge of God and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

We defeat the enemy by walking in obedience to you and trusting your words of instruction and the outcome you say they will have. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When we are in you will, you will deal with our enemies, because we belong to you. We will hear, obey, and join you in your plans and calling.  We go into strict training, compete according to the rules and receive the eternal crown. We are fighting the good fight, no matter what it looks like. Sometimes you will fight, and sometimes you will command us to fight, yet the battle is always yours. We will finish the race and keep the faith. You train our hands for battle. We will overcome the world by our faith.

Because we fear you, you raise a banner of love and victory over us. You are our banner. "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the people…the nations will rally to him and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel. (Isaiah 11:10-12)

We Remember What You have Done and Rejoice!

You contend with those who contend with us. We rejoice with great joy in your strength and in the victories you bring. We will remember all of the victories you have given us and rehearse them, just like you instructed Joshua to do. Rehearse means to appoint people to positions, establish a new relationship, to assign someone something, to bring about a change, to set aside something for special purposes.

You want to give us the desires of our heart and make all our plans succeed. (Psalm 21)

Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God, we rise up and stand firm. We rejoice and shout for joy when you are victorious, boasting all day long in God as we lift up our banners in the name of our God. We raise your banner against all our enemies!

We Praise You for Overcoming the World, and We Will Take Heart!

From the very beginning, Satan has made many attempts to defeat Israel and the coming Messiah, but you saved Israel. Nothing can stop your plans. If you are for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through him who loves us!