We have been studying how to live the Victorious Life the last few weeks. Our focus has been on gaining victory over the strategies of the enemy in the areas of strongholds, especially around forgiving others and ourselves and taking back territory that the enemy has stolen from us by identifying the lies and replacing them with the truth of God’s word…

This week the Lord urged me to lighten up our hearts and faces by concentrating on coming into His presence after the battle has been fought and won.

Lets take a look at a number of scriptures where we see the same progression from battle to victory and praise.

Isaiah 61
The Year of the LORD’s Favor
 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
   he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
This is where we teach others to identify the lies of the enemy, ask the Lord to reveal his strategies and head him off with the offensive weapon of our warfare, the word of God, the sword of the Spirit. But pay close attention to what comes next:
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn;
3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

A reminder of who how we are now dressed!
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
   my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
   he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
   to sprout up before all the nations.

Psalm 144: 7-9
7Stretch forth Your hand from above; rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, from the hands of hostile aliens (tribes around us)
    8Whose mouths speak deceit and whose right hands are right hands [raised in taking] fraudulent oaths. Doesn’t this sound like the enemy, the father of lies, the deceiver?
    9I will sing a new song to You, O God; upon a harp, an instrument of ten strings, will I offer praises to You.
Psalm 34
1I WILL bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
    2My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.
    3O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
    4I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  
  5They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused.
    6This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
    7The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.
   😯 taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.
Acts 3:19
19So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord;
Peter shares in Acts 2 how David responds by being in the presence of the Lord:
25For David says in regard to Him, I saw the Lord constantly before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken or overthrown or cast down [from my secure and happy state].
    26Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted exceedingly; moreover, my flesh also will dwell in hope [will encamp, pitch its tent, and dwell in hope in anticipation of the resurrection].
    28You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence.
Ladies, let us continually ask the Lord where we are believing a lie and do battle where need be but then run into the presence of the Lord to be refreshed. A soldier can not live on the battlefield. He must come in and eat and be refreshed. Come into His presence and rest in that secure and happy state. Be enraptured in His joy. Praise Him for the Victory.