In Australia, if you say “My shout”, then you’re letting everyone know that it’s your turn… If someone says “Can you shout me” they’re asking if you can cover the cost for them…. If someone says “It’s my shout” they’re saying they will pick up the cost of something….A shout-out, is to recognize someone in appreciation of them or something they did…. But in the culture of the bible, we see that SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO SHOUT IT OUT!Just saying it won’t do!
In the scripture which I open this session with, God is speaking to Joshua and giving him the battle plan for victory, even as the nation is entering the promised land….
Joshua 6:6 “Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
Anyone can shout after the walls have come down to your trial, test, or unsurmountable obstacle. But can you shout the shout of obedience and submission to God, when you see and feel nothing. But God has said to shout, and you don’t feel like it, or your flesh needs to see a reason to shout… as a matter of fact you feel more like screaming instead of shouting…..I like the words of Paul after he was converted
He said in Galatians 1:15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb, called me by his grace, and was pleased v16to reveal his Son in me, I did not confer with flesh and blood," 1 Corinthians 15:50 I tell you this, brothers,flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable.
If the Israelites had consulted the flesh, they would never have shouted, and the walls would have remained unmoved…. I mean come on…. 6 days of marching, and 7 times on the 7th day! Most of us would have been calling 911!!!
For mankind, change is inevitable, for God, change is impossible. He cannot change. For God to change He would be in violation of every covenant, and every promise, and if He changed, even the balance of the universe would be in jeopardy! He is the unchanging one, and His word, His love, His mercy, His grace, His character, His purpose, His longsuffering, His covenant, His justice, His righteousness, His Glory and splendor and majesty, endure forever!
THE UNCHANGABLENESS OF GOD IS REASON TO SHOUT!!!
If we only make it about us, about our situations, ourcircumstances, and our conditions… Our injustices, our hurts, our wounds and scars, it will muzzle and snuff out, our shout….
But listen, John 8:36 declares “He whom the Son sets free, IS FREE INDEED”! The words “IS FREE” here, are in the present perfect tense in your life, not in a historic sense, but a progressive, ongoing, “IS FREE”… NOW AND FROM THIS TIME FORTH!!!We shout the victory we already have in Christ, no matter how the circumstances appear, we shout in order to see it manifest in our lives.
Your feet shouldn’t touch the floor in the morning without your shout! You shouldn’t walk out of your house without your shout!
The shout is your battle cry. Before the first step had been taken around Jericho, God told the people to SHOUT, FOR I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN YOU THE VICTORY! In the bible, the shout, was a declaration that God was on your side and the enemy would be overwhelmed with those odds…. The shout was lifted violently, to strike fear in the enemy and cause him to lose confidence and break his power. The shout is a declaration of your unmovable faith, your unshakeable trust in the maker and creator of all things, it is about tapping into the power of agreement to see thevictory before the battle begins. It is a speaking forth that what God has done He will do again, and even greater things! IT IS THE SOUND OF EXPECTATION!
Psalms 47:1 “Clap your hands all you people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph”!
On the count of 3, I want you to shout, HALLELUJAH!
Now, I’m going to whisper it…. (Hallelujah) Is it still a shout?
When you blow out a candle, there’s no volume, but the candle still goes out. It’s not just about volume, but it’s about what’s coming out of your mouth. If I shout the promises, and I’m shouting the word of God… It doesn’t make a difference about the volume if you’re in a situation when that wouldn’t be appropriate…. You can shout at a funeral, at the library or on the job…. And effect the atmosphere…Isaiah tells us that “His word shall not return void as it is sent forth into the earth”…. The word works if we work it!
A shout is like a battering ram, to break down, break through, and push past, the barriers, the blockages and strongholds, that want to keep you from entering in… As we shout a praise to God, walls will fall… *……walls of sickness, walls of poverty, walls of oppression and bondage. When we hit a wall that is keeping us from possessing what God has promised us, it is time to shout. Bondages, strongholds, hindrances- COME DOWN! We need to shout them down in the name of Jesus.
Our shout, is a command of authority given to us by the Lord, to put to flight the powers of darkness and challenge their authority, by confronting them with a higher authority.
Let’s look at this scripture: Mark 10:46 And they came to Jericho: and as Jesus went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. v47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out, and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. v48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace:
but he cried the more a great deal, Jesus son of David, have mercy on me. v49 And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he is calling you. v50 And he, cast aside his beggar’s garment and rose and came to Jesus. v51 And Jesus said unto him, What do you need, that I should do unto you?
The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.v52 And Jesus said unto him, Go your way, your expectant faith (shout) has made you whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way”.
The shout of Blind Bartimaeus caused a powerful move of God.Amen? His shout caught the attention of Jesus, and in the end, itcaused a miraculous healing that broke through blindness and poverty, and gave Bartimaeus his sight. Oh, my, there was power in Bartimaeus’ shout. Here’s a shout that caused Jesus to stop in His tracks, and give His full and undivided attention to a blind beggar!
Our shout will stop angels in their tracks….. Psalm 103:20 “Bless the Lord, all His angels, that excel in strength, that carry out His will, harkening unto the voice of His word”!
When we shout out His word with expectant faith, we stop angels and get their undivided attention, that they may carry out God’s will in our lives and our circle of influence….
Stop worrying if God will do it, and shout what He said He would do, according to His word. My Lord, the Holy Spirit can say something to us 10 times, and we will need 5 confirmations….thedevil can say one thing into our minds and we’ll believe it and start acting it out, with fear, and doubt and worry.
There is a story of a fella from Boston who died and went to Hell. Satan says, "We're gonna make you miserable." He cranks up the thermostat to 95. "No problem. Just like Boston in June," he says. So Satan cranks it up to 105. "No problem. Just like Boston in August." Satan's getting angry. He tries a new tactic. He punches the thermostat all the way down as low as it can go. 100 below zero. The whole place is frozen. The guy from Boston starts jumping up and down, and shouting at the top of his voice, "YEAAAA! The Red Sox must have won the World Series!" (Of course we know hell is not a joking matter)…..We want to do everything we can to keep anyone from going there…
Expel your fears, and cast them out with a SHOUT that says, “God said it, that settles it, whether I can get my head around it or not!!!
I’M GOING TO SHOUT!
Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given, seek, and you shall find,knock, and it shall be opened unto you. v8 For every one that asks, shall receive and he that seeks shall find, and to him that will knock it shall be opened”.
TRUST IT, BELIEVE IT, EXPECT IT!!! Don’t give up… You may try 10 things before the one thing that was always yours, opens up, so, keep on knocking…. The same word He spoke and the heavens and the earth and everything in them were brought into existence, is the word He delivers unto us.
A few months ago, we celebrated Palm Sunday. The good citizens of Jerusalem were looking for a deliverer to fight and win their freedom for them, like the Maccabees had been so many years before. They brought out their palms just as their ancestors had done. They wanted someone to lead them in breaking the grip that the hated legions of Rome had over them. They welcomed the Lord with shouts of joy, and threw their garments in his path. But they soon realized that THIS deliverer was like none they had ever known before. The result? Disappointment. And the disappointment moved them from Palm Sunday to shouting “crucify Him” in the blink of an eye.
Let me say this here… If you are always getting revelation that exposes everyone around you, but never gives you revelation that exposes you…. something’s wrong with your source of revelation….(repeat)
We have all known disappointment… perhaps with the Lord because the answer to a heartfelt prayer did not come in the way we expected. God didn’t work on our schedule, in our way, or it didn’t look like we thought it should. Or perhaps there was disappointment with the Lord’s Church, disappointment because the church was populated with broken people, making adjustments in their lives, just like all the rest of us. And your joyous shout was shut down. Stop reacting to what didn’t happen the way you thought, and begin to shout over what the Lord has already determined will be done….
Speaking of what has already happened… A U.S. Navy destroyer stopped four Mexicans rowing towards Texas. The Captain gets on the loud speaker and shouts: “Ahoy, you 4 in the small craft. Where are you headed?" One of the Mexicans puts down his oar, stands up, and shouts, "Gringo, we are invading the United States of America to reclaim the territory taken by the USA during the 1800's." The entire crew on the destroyer double over in laughter.When the Captain finally catches his breath, he gets back on the loud speaker and asks, "So, just the four of you are doing this?"The same Mexican stands up again and shouts, "No, we’re the last 4. The other 20 million are already there.” God has been where you are going. He’s got it covered. He has already invaded the enemies territory, and defeated the strongman. That’s reason to shout…
I realized as I was preparing this message, that one of the things that steals our shout, is about where our treasure is… I am going to paraphrase a verse of scripture here, and I believe it is true… Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.. NOW, let me paraphrase that….
“Where your treasure is, there your shout will be also”
We shout about the things that are important to us…. We shout at ball games when our child or grand child scores, or does well. We shout while watching sports on TV.. We shout when we find out we are expecting a child….We shout when our children are born… When they graduate, When we get a gift we’ve always wanted… When we got our driver’s license, When we get our first car….(on I could go)…., Things that have value to us….(isn’t that right) Where is our shout when it comes to eternal, spiritual, forever things? WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE YOUR SHOUT WILL BE!!
When Habakkuk the prophet had lost everything, and was surrounded with utter desolation, he shouted forth "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and take joy in the God of my salvation!" The Lord was his treasure! Sometimes a shout is, to expel upon the breath and reject doubt and fear and heaviness from our spirits. We are bringing strength, confidence and power into us, in their place.Our shout is a way of casting it out!
So SHOUT IT OUT!
I’m reminded of the blind lady who went to a special miracle service that was advertised not to far from her. She went forward and was prayed for and received her healing. A month later she still couldn’t see, but she kept telling everyone about her healing. She would stand up in church and testify about how she was blind but now she could see. Folks would laugh and scoff. Some would tell her that she was making a fool of herself. And one night, she was standing in front of her mirror, and she was telling the Lord, “Jesus, I know you healed me, I felt your power, and I know it’s true, but Lord they don’t understand, so, show all of them what you did for me.” And as she finished her prayer, she saw her reflection in the mirror. She said “Lord, thank you, I always knew it, but now they can know it too”!
Shout it, when you don’t see it, until you do!!!
Zephaniah 3:16 “Do not fear, do not let your hands fall limp. v17The LORD your God is among you, He is mighty to save. He will shout over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
It’s an awesome thing, when we shout and the Lord shouts back to us…
He shouted into the darkness and there was light, He shouted into the storm and it was calm, He shouted over His people and they were saved and preserved against all odds. When His shout mingles with our shout, heaven and earth will move in obedience.
Psalm 149:5 “Let the saints revel in glory, let them shout for joy upon their beds. v6 May the high praises of God (praising in the Spirit) be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands”…
Let’s join our Lord and master in His shouting…. Let those of earth, join in agreement with heaven’s host in the shout of victory, the shout of the finished work, the shout of expectant faith and confidence in the promises of God! Let’s wake up shouting and lie down shouting….
There’s a shout that is coming, which will shake the heavens and the earth. It will pierce the cemeteries and every place where mankind has died. It will shake the very foundations of society and reap the precious harvest of the earth. It will signal the end of one dispensation and the beginning of another, and it will usher in the “Day of the Lord”….WHAT A SHOUT THAT WILL BE!
1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first”.
Are you ready for that shout? Have you prepared by getting your family and loved ones into the place of safety? Stop worrying about being rejected, or ridiculed. When you watch them being turned away from heaven forever, being ridiculed will be the last thing on your mind. Are you ready for the shout that will separate you and your loved ones forever!
The shout that will separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous, the rebellious from the disobedient.
It’s time to push through your fears and concerns and believe me, when you know that their soul is saved and you will see them in heaven forever… YOU WILL BE SHOUTING! OUR GOD IS ABLE.!
When God in the flesh walked the streets of Jerusalem, His presence often upset status quo and messed up the work of Satan everywhere He went! When He showed up, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, and water was turned into wine!
In the middle of a storm, He went for a stroll across the sea without a bridge! He stopped a funeral procession and touched the coffin and the boy that was dead in the coffin, got out! He stood outside of a tomb and spoke to a dead man, called him by his name and he came hopping and wiggling out of the grave! He went into a room and shut the door on a girl who was dead and while the funeral service was going on (how rude is that), He said, “Talitha Cumi,” which is to say, “Daughter, I say unto thee, Arise!” and turned the obituary into a party announcement! He wasn't too good at natural math, because he divided 5,000 men plus women and children into two fish and five loaves of bread and fed everyone with 12 baskets full left over! That’s crazy math! He wasn't too good at natural medicine either... He spat in the eyes of a blind man and the blind man opened up his eyes and said, “I don’t know anything about Him, but one thing I do know, once I was blind but now I see!” He is Lord of all, and as powerful as they may be now, every knee in heaven and earth will bow and declare His Lordship!
So, why not shout out like the blind man, and invite Him to mess up your day, turn it inside out and put it together again!!!
Give forth the shout of command, the shout of break through like a battering ram against the gates of hell, for they shall not prevail against your anointed shout. Give a shout that brings down the walls of the enemy, Give a shout that is your battle cry which strikes terror in the enemy and causes him to flee…..
