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Welcome to episode 27.

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Today, we're going to take on a posture of peace

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by making Thanksgiving our battle cry.

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Hi, I'm Lindsay VanZale.

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Posture is a podcast that serves as a short, audible fist bump

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to remind you that God is in everything.

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Together, we're going to be emboldened to take

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a daily posture of perfect peace.

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Our God is loving, He is kind, He is faithful,

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He is rich in mercy, full of compassion,

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and He is also a mighty, victorious warrior king.

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Our God has never lost a battle.

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It's so important, especially in times of crisis,

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to make sure that we have an accurate picture of who God is

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so that we have an accurate picture of who we are.

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You and I are warriors, too, and we share in the victory

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of our warrior king.

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As a posture community, I want to refine our focus together

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on that truth by reminiscing past breakthrough and battles

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that our God has won on behalf of His people.

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Today, we're going to be reading a story of a battle

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out of 2 Chronicles 20.

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Again, read this chapter in its entirety.

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It is so rich.

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I'm going to be pulling portions of the story

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and summarizing for us today.

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This is about King Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah.

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Three armies come up against Judah.

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Jehoshaphat gets a message that says,

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a great multitude is coming up against you.

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And in verse 3, it says, he was afraid.

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And he set his face to seek the Lord.

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As he prays for help, he says, we do not know what to do.

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But our eyes are on you, Lord.

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Just like David, who we talked about in episode 26 yesterday,

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Jehoshaphat did not know what to do.

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But he knew the Lord.

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And that was enough.

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And the Lord responds to him.

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And I would just love, as I read the Lord's response,

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for you to imagine that this is the Lord's response

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to the crisis that we're facing globally,

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or perhaps a crisis that you are facing personally right now.

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The Lord says, do not be afraid.

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And do not be dismayed.

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For this battle is not yours, but it is God's.

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The Lord says about this crisis that we're facing,

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you will not need to fight in this battle.

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Stand firm.

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Hold your position.

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And see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.

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Do not be afraid.

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Do not be dismayed.

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Tomorrow, go out against them.

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And the Lord will be with you.

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Now, Jehoshaphat was smart, so he was quick to obey.

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And he assembled his army to do what the Lord says,

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which was go out against them.

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But what he does is very interesting.

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I don't think I've ever seen this war strategy.

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At the front of his army, before there's

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any swords or shields or spears, he places people of praise.

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And their battle cry was one of thanksgiving.

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They were singing, give thanks to the Lord

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for his love endures forever.

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This battle cry, to me, sounds a lot like a song of victory.

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It sounds to me like Jehoshaphat was calling it

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based on what the Lord had told him,

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as if the battle was already won.

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So to summarize what happens in the rest of the story,

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as they began to sing in praise, the Bible

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says that the Lord sets an ambush against the three

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armies that are coming up against them.

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And those armies begin to attack one another.

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And the Bible says they all helped destroy one another.

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So by the time that Jehoshaphat and the army of Judah arrives,

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there are dead bodies.

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And the Bible says not one from those three armies escaped.

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And for the next three days, Jehoshaphat and Judah's army

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collected the spoils from the victorious battle.

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That is a lot of stuff if it takes three days to collect it.

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And on the fourth day, it says in verse 26,

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in the valley of blessing, they assembled

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and they blessed the Lord.

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And that is why the place was called a valley of blessing to this day.

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What if what the enemy has intended to be our valley of death, the Lord intends to be

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our valley of blessing?

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With so much abundance, it's going to take us days to collect on it.

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This is what our warrior king is capable of, and we as his people, warriors, are responsible

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to make sure that our battle cry aligns with his truth.

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Today, let's give thanks for the victory that is coming at the end of this crisis.

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We will not be overtaken.

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The Lord will overtake what the enemy has sent for harm, and he will turn for the good

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of his people.

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That's Romans 8, 28.

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Friend, do not be afraid.

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Do not be dismayed.

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This battle is not yours.

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It is our God's, and he never loses a battle.

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The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26, 3.

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And in Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness.

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Nothing missing, nothing broken.

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This is who you are in Jesus.

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Let's declare this together.

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Today, I am kept in perfect peace.

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With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.

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I am strong.

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I am victorious.

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I am whole.

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Remember, friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus' ultimate win.

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Not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you.

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With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus' victory on display and Satan's defeat

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on replay.