(Jeremiah 33:11; Psalm 98)

Happy new year folks. Congratulations, you made it! I give glory to God, our Help in ages past, and the hope of the years ahead of us - Amen. God has spoken concerning the year 2023 that He will do great and mighty things for us and there shall be rejoicing throughout the year. Thus, our theme for the year is ‘Voices of Jubilations’. 

What is jubilation? It is an expression of great joy, an act of rejoicing, and a celebration of triumph. Have you ever been in a crowd of people where the cheers, the noises, the celebrations have been overwhelming? Just imagine the joy and celebration when your favourite football club wins a major championship. Or imagine a large crowd worshipping God together, with thousands of voices lifted in high praises to our God. This is your experience in 2023. 

Jeremiah 33:11 (LEB) says, The voice of jubilation, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who say, "Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His loyal love is forever," the voices of those who bring thanksgiving offerings to the house of the Lord, for I will restore the fortunes of the land as in the beginning,' says the Lord. Also, Psalm 98: 1-3 declares thus: O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done and will do marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory. He is to be praised for all He has done in the past, and for all He is yet to do in the future. ‘The Lord has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness to the nations’.

Therefore, be expectant! Look forward to God’s visitation and miracles. There shall be abundance like never before. There shall be answers to prayers and requests. There shall be new opportunities for expansion and enlargement. There shall be unprecedented growth and spiritual insights. There shall be new zeal for the things of God. And there is safety! Child of God, you have every reason to be joyful. For one, the gift of life, and eternal life, the gift of salvation, the gift of a new year, the gift of hope to look forward to a great and better tomorrow. And this hope is not baseless, it is founded on the more sure Word and Promises of God.

Until recently, I had always thought that God was the One who instructed the children of Israel to march out in praise in the story of 2 Chro. 20:1-30. You see, God only told them that they would not need to fight in that battle, that they should “…set themselves; stand…still and see the salvation of the Lord…” This was enough to get the children of Israel in high spirits so much so that they decided not to show up quietly to the battlefield. They knew that the battle was as good as won. The Bible records that they “appointed singers unto the Lord,…to praise the beauty of His Holiness,…and for His mercies that endures forever.” We know how the story ended; they enjoyed sweet and complete victory.

I shared the above story to let you know that praise facilitates the fulfilment of prophecy. In the year 2023, you will decide how you want to go about what God has promised to do. You can pray about it and work towards it. Or like David, you can celebrate the promises and work towards them (Psalm 56:3-4, 10, 11 & 13); knowing fully well that God is capable of doing what He says to do. Friends, it takes faith to jubilate over God’s promises, believing that the One who promised will surely make it good. In this year, believe in God and walk in faith. And show that you do so by praising Him for what He has promised to do, because He is set to do wondrous things. Besides, we owe God our thanks; we can never thank Him enough, but we can always thank Him some more. 

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord! Lift up your voice in jubilation!! And watch God come through in unusual ways for you. In the series, we shall examine preparations for jubilations, setting your year for jubilation, rejoicing in hope, and minefields of jubilations.  Peace!