COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!    DFO1259
--The Power of Positive Praise!          26/7/82

         1. LIKE IN THE AFTER-DEATH EXPERIENCES, I JUST SAW MY LIFE WITHOUT HAVING TO DIE OR DO IT! The Lord made me review my whole life this morning to see how He'd blessed me & taken care of me & how much good He'd had me do & all we've accomplished. It's just like He made me review my whole life just to count my blessings, & boy oh boy, how could I help but be thankful & thank Him & praise the Lord! I really realised that things weren't as bad as they seem.
         2. THE DEVIL DOESN'T ATTACK ME OR ACCUSE ME FOR WHAT I'VE ACCOMPLISHED, THAT'S TOO OBVIOUS. He accuses me for what I haven't done, for what I might've done or what He tries to tell me I could've done & I didn't do & all that I should do. He sure is the Accuser of the Saints, he just picks & picks! The Devil just picks at all the little things & little flaws & shortcomings & he apparently can't really attack me on any big fears or any big issues or big goings astray or big misgivings or even huge fears of any kind.
         3. HE JUST NAGS & NAGS & PICKS & PICKS & JUST WORRIES ME ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS: "What about this, what about that? Why don't you do this, why don't you do that? Why didn't you do that?" & "Why did you do this?" And "Why don't you get up & get to work?--Look at all the things you could be doing when you're lying here in bed doin' nothing!" Well, actually I'm lying here in bed praying & talking to the Lord, but he literally tries to butt in & interfere & interrupt my prayer time & communing with the Lord.
         4. EVERYTHING THE DEVIL WAS ACCUSING ME OF WERE LITTLE THINGS, indefinite things, obscure things & things that weren't too clear, & some little doubt perhaps, where I wasn't too sure, you know, & just any little place he could find a chink in the armour, some little hole, some little Achilles' heel or weak spot.--Little tiny things, just pick, pick, pick, pick, pick! (Maria: Like a lot of people do with their mates!)
         5. IT JUST SHOWS YOU HOW THE DEVIL IS IN THAT BUSINESS, THE WAY MATES PICK ON EACH OTHER ON THESE LITTLE THINGS.--Little tiny faults & little tiny fears & little tiny idiosyncrasies & bad habits & little tiny things. The Devil just exaggerates them & blows them up out of all proportion & keeps magnifying them in your eyes. Even with children, you know, some people get annoyed by little things they do--& I presume probably the Devil even magnifies the parents' faults in the eyes of their children.
         6. WELL, THANK THE LORD, HE'S THE ANTIDOTE! He always rebukes the Devil & resists him & points out the good things. (Maria: It would be good if there was a rule that you had to say a nice thing for every time you nagged or you even thought of some bad thing about your mate!) Well, that's the secret, is to let the Light in! Rebuke the Devil & think about their good qualities & their good points & their good habits & their good deeds & think positively, the power of positive thinking, & remind yourself constantly of the good.
         7. IT'S JUST LIKE SOME OF THAT EVIL MUSIC OF THE WORLD THAT USED TO PLAGUE ME WHEN I WAS YOUNG--some of those very evil songs that used to attack me because I heard it on the radio, & the Devil used to try to flood my mind with it & make it run through my head. And of course the only cure would be for me to do what?--I'd start singing!--I'd either listen to some good music or I'd usually just come right out loud & sing if I was where I could.
         8. JUST FIGHT THE DEVIL POSITIVELY, ATTACK, ATTACK! I'd start singing a good song, a good hymn, a song to Jesus, a prayer, & there's no room for both! You let the light in & the darkness flees! You just have to be positive, you have to make a conscious effort to rebuke the Devil & think positive good thoughts instead. Try to think good about your mate or child or whoever it is, your parent or friend or co-worker. Resist those bad thoughts & either quote Scriptures or sing hymns or good Gospel songs. Pray!
         9. DON'T JUST SIT THERE, DO SOMETHING! You have to take positive action! I mean literally, if not actual physical action, & quote out loud or sing out loud & do some act physically, or you have to do it in your mind. In this case, the Lord just literally made me count my blessings by taking me through a pictorial review of my whole life, showing me all the things I should be thankful for instead of letting the Devil nag me with these little doubts & fears & complaints & murmurs!
         10. THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING MAYBE YOU COULD'VE DONE OR SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU HAD DONE OR HADN'T DONE. There's plenty for the Devil to pick on & he really tries. But you just have to overcome them with positive actions! Quote Scriptures that deny the lie! Start praising the Lord & thanking Him for all your blessings. Or you can get busy, you can go about your work that you have to do. The first & best thing to do is quote Scriptures. One of the best things is to praise the Lord & thank Him for all His goodness. Sing songs, that's praise too!
         11. THE POWER OF POSITIVE PRAISE IS TERRIFIC! COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! Thank God for all He has done & just chase the Devil away, all his shades of night, by letting the light in, God's positive Light of Scripture, the Word, prayer, praise, songs! Get busy at work or get busy with somebody else & talk to them about their problems or something. It's just really counting your blessings & filling your mind & your heart & even your voice audibly, the sound around you, with positive sound--prayer, praise, quoting Scripture, songs--because you can't think about two things at once. That's why it says, "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee"! (Isa.26:3)
         12. MANY IS THE TIME I HAVE VISUALISED JESUS, raised up or called into my mind a mental picture of Christ & looked at Him & thought about Him in my mind's eye & talked to Him in the Spirit. That's why speaking in tongues is such a wonderful experience! Speak in tongues & you know the Lord has control! He just takes over & speaks through you & uses your tongue & your mouth & your mind! Your mouth can't be filled with evil when it's filled with good.
         13. IDLENESS IS THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP! But the power of positive prayer & praise & quoting & singing & action just really puts the Devil on the run! He sure doesn't like the Scripture & he hates praise & he hates thanksgiving & he hates songs of prayer & praise, & he especially hates our positive active work for the Lord.
         14. THE BEST THING TO DO IS GET UP & GET BUSY, GO TO WORK! Why lie here worrying about all the work I've got to do & worry about it for hours & stay awake & can't sleep because I'm thinking about things I need to do? The best thing to do is just get up & do them! Amen?--COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!