Living a Life Worth Something

It’s been a while since I have written a blog due to the lack of time. However, as I was asking God what he was trying to say he brought me to a special place. I believe that this will hit home with people in some way, some sort, or some fashion. More than anything,  I pray that it will call for action in your life. That we may not just be hearers of the God’s word, but DOERS of God’s word.

 It doesn’t take true commitment to hear something, but it does take a true commitment to carry out with something.

The text that I was brought to was Acts 20:16-27

It starts off where Paul is trying to make it back to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. On the way, he meets with the elders of the Church of Ephesus and what he tells them is the very thing that I believe God is wanting out of his people.

In verse 18 and 19 it says:

 ¹⁸ When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now ¹⁹ I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.

I see here that Paul has learned that the Lord’s work calls us to be humble. He mentions that he worked with many tears. This tells us that it won’t always be easy. So many people come into Christianity with the mindset of “I’ll serve Jesus, he makes life good.” Yes, he promises us that everything will turn out for our good, but you have to remember that you can only have one master and serving Jesus means not serving yourself. Killing yourself and your flesh isn’t easy, my friends, but just because it gets hard doesn’t mean that it’s not God’s will for your life. The only reason we struggle and have hardships in our life is because our flesh doesn’t line up with the will of God. The Lord has really been dealing with me about being refined. Being refined requires going through the fire.
 Fire is hot, it burns you, it hurts, it’s hard, and it’s not fun. However, it brings out the dross and transforms you into who he has called you to be. I am willing to go through the fire. The hottest, most painful, fire to be who he wants me to be and I hope that’s a place where you are at, as well. If you’re not, I urge you to seek your intentions and press into a deeper humility.

Continuing, Paul says that he has endured many trials that came. I see a lack of endurance in people’s faith today. I see that the Lord is calling us to have unshakable faith. When trials come and people come against us, we must realize this isn’t a war against flesh and blood, but of the spirit. I believe that many people, including myself, give up right before the breakthrough because they haven’t learned and disciplined themselves to endure and persevere. Every time a trial comes up, they run. How will that ever strengthen you? It won’t. We are called to be a light in the darkness. How can we be a light in the darkness, if every time darkness is in our midst, we run and hide because of our lack of trust in God and our lack of endurance?

 ²⁰ I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. ²¹ I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

In verse 20. I see the Lord telling us to be Bold. This world lacks discipline, and honestly it longs for it. In the bible it says that discipline is love. When someone cares enough to tell you the hard things, they love you the most. One of my favorite quotes is “anybody that wants to get the best out of somebody is willing to take them through hurt to get them there”  by Damon Thompson. I believe that this is exactly what the Lord is saying. Paul NEVER shrank back. I think that we need this exact mentality. If it means you have no friends, then you have no friends. If it means people think you are too radical, then you are too radical. If it means that they get mad at you forever, then they get mad at you forever. Whatever your excuse is, it’s not good enough. His word is his word. Period. He always kept his same message. This is so important to me. ALWAYS KEEP THE SAME MESSAGE. So many times you see people just straight up on fire for God, the next thing you know it’s a little compromise in one area, a little more, and then a little more until they are just off the map. I think that when someone professes that they are a Christian, we are required to love them enough to hold them accountable to their word,

IN LOVE.

So many times we let people off the hook to easily by not sharing the truth with them.

The truth is WHAT WILL SET THEM FREE,

 so why do we hold back from it? His word says that people perish because of their lack of knowledge. Knowledge is truth. Truth is freedom. Sometimes the truth  hurts and may fluster your flesh, but GOOD! It needs to die anyways. That’s the goal in laying down your life. Is actually laying it down and not only laying it down- but never picking it back up again. Be set free from lies and deception.

 ²² “And now I am bound by the Spirit^[b] to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. ²⁴ But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

 I also see that Paul was bound by the Spirit. My gosh, my gosh, my gosh. What would it look like if we could all get to a point in our life that we were BOUND by the Spirit? Think of when something or someone is bound to something. I picture two people in handcuffs with a chain connecting them. If we could just get our pride, our fear of rejection, our fear of man, our insecurities, and our flesh out of the way and actually be BOUND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.
I can’t imagine what things would look like. We can all say, yeah that’s for someone else...

But what I want everyone to realize is that “It starts with me.”

 We have got to learn to be obedient to whatever he tells us to do. How many times do you follow your own will and own voice when you know God has spoken to you to do something? I think we’re all guilty of it. We have got to get to a place where our "Yes God, I will follow you no MATTER WHAT" is bigger than our "no." Just think, your obedience could be one more person in the kingdom of God and that one more person is more important that one selfish decision of our own.

I also see that Paul was okay with not knowing. The things that he did know weren’t comforting to him at all. I’ve discovered that God will always take you out of your comfort zone because he is more aware of the potential that you possess than you are yourself. Paul is aware that suffering is ahead, but what does it say at the beginning of the story? That he was hurrying to this place. He wasn’t afraid. You know why? Because
He knew who he was in Christ.
 He knew that HIS LIFE WAS WORTH NOTHING unless he finished the work assigned to him by God. I find that many people get saved, love Jesus, but forget that with salvation comes a plan and an assignment from Christ. I see that without completing the assignment...

YOUR LIFE IS WORTH NOTHING.

I encourage you to evaluate your life and see if you are fulfilling God's plan for you and spreading the News of God’s grace and love and mercy. It’s not about what’s easy for you. It’s not about what’s comfortable. It’s about you laying your life down for the sake of others, like Jesus did for you. That’s what it’s about. I think it’s high time we get over ourselves and our agenda and serve, whether its suffering or whether it’s not. What is the price that you are willing to pay to live a life worth something?

 ²⁵ “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,^{[c] 27} for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

I see that Paul wasn’t concerned with who knew his name. He wasn’t concerned about getting the Glory. He wasn’t concerned about seeing people again. All he was concerned about is that he was obedient. That he was faithful and their blood would no longer be on his hands for his disobedience. Instead, he had peace with himself knowing that if anyone suffered eternal death – THERE WAS NO WAY that he was responsible for it because he did what God told him to do and declared everything he wanted them to know.

I sit and wonder to myself how many people do I see a day? How many people do I talk to about the wonderful Grace of God? If they died today, could I be responsible? People don’t just happen to be in your midst for a reason. You come across every person you see for a REASON. Make a difference. Make a difference. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I don’t ever want to be responsible for being disobedient. Instead, I want to be bound by Spritit. I want to be humble. I want to be obedient. I want to have a new boldness. I want to persevere. I want to love others enough to suffer for them.

But most importantly,

I want to live a life worth something.

-Natalie



Pursuing a Possible Purity.

I’m urged to write this note regarding the war that’s fighting in the inside of me. It’s a war not of flesh and blood, but a war of the spirit. I see a generation of young people struggling to live the “Christian life.” I see a desire to want to, but the things of the world are so tempting, and even seem more attractive than the things of God. Partially, because they haven’t experienced God to the fullest capacity. I find that many younger kids are in a place where they feel like trying is just setting themselves up for failure. They believe that there isn’t a way to live this holy life people talk about. There isn’t a way to fully sell out to Jesus Christ. There isn’t a way to just say no to sin that’s violently raging against them. There isn’t a way. There isn’t a way. THERE ISN’T A WAY. So why even try. I can tell you one thing, that

success doesn’t come without first having an attempt

that’s a given. And without God, you’re nothing. I want to make that clear.

WITHOUT GOD, YOU ARE NOTHING.

Therefore, you are settling for failure when you could obtain success with an attempt through the power and blood of Jesus Christ. I feel as though the Lord has directed me to the answer. If you ask the majority of believers on how their personal life and devotion time with God is, they would say something similar to “I just can’t find time” or “I just don’t like to read” or “It’s not as good as I know it should be.” And this here would explain why people can’t live holy, different, devoted, and pure lives.

In Psalm 119:9 it says, “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.”

One of the definitions for pure in the dictionary is: being that and nothing else. I find these words to be very strong. I find these words referring to being hot, cold, or luke warm. The bible says be either hot or cold. If you are luke warm he will VOMIT you out of his mouth. I honestly get sick of seeing people having bible scriptures all over their facebook, along with statuses that cuss someone black and blue. It doesn't end there either. What about your favorite books or movies? What about what you are wearing in your pictures? Or what your doing in your pictures? These things may seem little, but it's actually vitally important.  I don’t understand how that is any way, shape, or form edifying to God. In fact, it's a ruining of your witness. You are called to be a holy example. And this my friend, is a terrible way to express Jesus in this world. Christianity is about you showing people who Jesus is and being Jesus to others. Who are you telling people Jesus is? You're example is how they portray Christians.  This to me is called being luke warm. If you’re going to be a Christian, meaning a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teaching of Jesus Christ, then

BE THAT AND NOTHING ELSE.  

I have a real problem believing that this generation of young people are obeying God’s word when they can’t find time to read it. You will never be able to obey what you don’t know. And how will you know, if you don’t read. That’s why you see such an impure generation, even the majority of the ones proclaiming Jesus as their Savior. You see Jesus can be your Savior, without you ever letting him become your Lord. He wants to be both.

 I think that it is time that our bibles and not our cell phones or computers become our best friends. You wonder why you feel like it’s a constant battle to say no to the things of the world and yes to God, when your bible isn’t a priority or something apart of your lifestyle. This verse isn’t something that you have to read between the lines to understand. It’s very simple and it’s very plain. If you really want to stay pure then you need to obey God’s word. PERIOD. This I see is the biggest trap the enemy has taken away from us, including time. He has crept in and given us an attention span of nothing and a want to be constantly doing something.

When God tells us to just

BE STILL and KNOW HE IS GOD.

I pray that God would teach us all to be still, as we have forgotten what that means, or even how to accomplish this. I pray that in the midst of life, we value what he did for us on the cross more than we do our facebook that by the way has no eternal value. That we would put him first. That we would get rid of all the idols that we put before him.

THAT HE WOULD BECOME OUR NUMBER ONE.

That we would be so focused on the goodness of God that anything of the world would instantly repel us away from it. We wouldn’t have to say no to ungodly things because it wouldn’t even be an option. I encourage each of you to read your bible everyday! Not out of works righteousness, not out of I have to do this, but out of a deep hunger to stay pure. I also believe that many of us have substituted our personal devotion and our personal bible reading with other things, even good things, like other Christian people or even church. Don’t get me wrong, we all need to be a part of those things, but I want you to realize that even good things in your life like church and other Christians can become idols if you’re focus isn’t totally on Jesus. The bible states that God is jealous of us. He wants all of us. All meaning All. Our attention, our troubles, our devotion, our love, our time, our relationships, our money, our bodies, our friends, our

EVERYTHING.

It’s time that we seek our answers from the only true answer, God Almighty, and seek him for who he is instead of seeking others for who he is. How will you ever know his voice if you always get your answers from other people. Yes, that seems easier, but really it’s cheating yourself of a closer relationship with him.

God, in a world where time is missing and our lives our booked, help us to put you first.

Teach us what it is to be still. Destruct ourselves and our agendas. Lord, even if it hurts, take anything away from us that is not of you. God give us a heart after your own. Lord convict our hearts of things that we need to lay down in our lives. Give us a longing for more of your word. Lord, discipline us to not go a day without reading your word out of a desired craving for more of you. Lord, help us stay pure. Help us be holy as you are holy. Create in us a new, clean heart. Renew our minds and give us the power to change our ways. Jesus we know it’s possible to be sold out, and we declare that

WE AREN’T QUITTERS, but WE ARE WARRIORS

 for your kingdom that aren’t willing to settle for what the world offers but only for a

POSSIBLE PURITY

 that comes from you and you alone.

-Natalie Hallford



Hunger and Love.

As I prayed about what to write this blog about. The Lord instantly gave me Hebrews 6. I had no idea why, but as I turned there in my bible- it instantly confirmed everything that  I have been feeling in my spirit. It’s a feeling, a hunger for so much more, something deeper. It’s an unexplainable desire to just be with Jesus Christ. It’s a feeling of dissatisfaction. It’s a drive to not settle for complacency. It’s a willingness and readiness to dive into the intoxicating living waters that are available right before our eyes.

A fire has been stirring up within me to take things to a deeper, more intimate level. I feel the word “intimacy” blaring in my spirit. I believe that the Lord is pouring out something so intimate and so deep among his people.

 In the sixth chapter of Hebrews, it starts off –

“ ¹ So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. ² You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”

This totally blows be back. It makes me question my hunger.

You see, your hunger dictates your intimacy with God. And your intimacy with God dictates your maturity. And your maturity dictates your understanding. And your understanding dictates your belief. And your belief dictates your foundation.

How will we ever have a FIRM AND SOLID FOUNDATION in God without first having hunger? The bottom line is- you won’t. As I read, this here is saying that repenting from evil deeds, placing our faith in God, baptism, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment are all BASIC TEACHINGS! I find that many of us today haven’t even reach this place.. and this is BASIC. As I read this, and hopefully as you do too, it brings me to a place of humility. It engulfs me into a place where I can do nothing but want more of him. It allows me to be stirred up and crave for a deeper walk with him. It persuades me to beg for opportunities to be used by him. It leads me to a point where I can’t be satisfied, and I won’t be satisfied. Not beat myself up, but move forward in my future. I can see people today in two different places. You’re either one who hasn’t reached the basic things, or one who has reached these basic things but is content in believing that that’s enough. Either is fine, but staying there isn’t an option.

 LORD, I DON’T WANT TO BE SATISFIED WITH THE BASICS.

As I continue reading it says-

“ ⁹ Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers,^[a] as you still do. ¹¹ Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. ¹² Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”

I believe that the only reason that these things might be considered basic, is not to beat ourselves up over it, but to realize the better things that God really has for us. He has so much more than we can ever imagine. He wants to use us so much more than we can ever comprehend. I feel as though, the time IS NOW, that people begin to set their standard of holiness higher, to embrace a father more aggressively than ever before, to not be conformed to this world, to not feel the need to fit in or be popular, to recognize that Jesus is enough, to see the beauty in being saved, to find a purpose that’s been stolen for so long, to seek out the place where they belong, to not be able to obtain satisfaction anywhere else other than his presence. These things are no different than salvation. It’s not a special gift, it’s not some people have it, and some don’t. Do not allow the enemy to steal from you something that God has freely given to you. You are fully equipped and fully worthy of anything and everything. The word says in James, “You have not because you ask not.” I pray that you would develop a holy greediness out of a pure hunger for more of who he is. I see that this verse declares that it ALL comes with salvation. Therefore, this leaves no excuses for people who are saved to not operate in the fullness of God.

YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.

 I believe that for so many people excuses are their best friends. But it’s time that you take responsibility for what you do or don’t do.

 Verse 11-12, it hits me hard. This is my prayer and my desire - - for everyone to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, and LOVE. God is love. And anything without Love, can’t be God. Love is the key to not becoming spiritually burned out and unmoved. But how do you know love, if you don’t spend intimate time with Love, or God himself? But how can you want to spend time with Love, if you’re not hungry for it? Again, your hunger is what launches you into intimacy, which eventually leads to your foundation, which is everything. Love allows you to obtain faith and endurance of those who enter into God’s kingdom. This is good news, friends. Oh, God, teach us the power of love. I encourage you today and challenge you everyday, to love when you feel hated. To love, when you feel sad. To love, when you feel guilty. To love, when you feel ashamed. To love, when life is hard. To love, when stress is strong. To love, when the waves are crashing. To love, when the world is falling. Just to love. Simply love.

To wrap all of this up, it comes down to two things.

Hunger and Love.

Lord, I pray that you would birth in us a supernatural hunger for you and a supernatural love that would not only overwhelm us, but everyone around us. I pray that we wouldn’t be satisfied with the basics, God but we would continue to dig to the very depths of your heart. God teach us how, because

without you- Nothing is possible.

-Natalie Hallford

He SHINES in your struggle.

You often question, “WHY GOD..WHY?! I don’t understand. How can I be following you or how can you love me and my life look as though I’m alone?”

I often used to see myself asking the same question. Then I came face to face with a real love, a real Jesus and my confusion turned into, “God what is the reasoning behind the valley that I’m having to truck through and what’s the purpose of the mountain that I’m facing? I trust that you love me, but what’s the reason? Why do I hurt, why do people talk bad about me, why do I think that I am ugly, why do people tell me that I am not good enough, why is it that I can’t seem to get over this addiction, why is it that I know what’s right and I still choose the wrong, why is it that I can never measure up to what people want me to be, why is it that I always feel like I can’t do anything right –WHY?!?!?!”

I want you to know that the first thing the enemy would tell you is that you’re alone in these thoughts, in these feelings, and this place of being. That is a lie and nothing but a lie. In fact, you’re never alone because God is always there. Always. He’s there when you don’t feel him, he’s there when you need him most, and he’s there when you don’t want him there. HE’S ALWAYS THERE.

I want to expose something that the enemy has caused many of us to believe. I want to expose the thought that you go through hard times because God is punishing you. I want you to see what the bible tells us about trials and tribulations. In James 1:2 – Consider it pure JOY, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

If trials bring me to a place of maturity and completeness, then I say BRING IT ON! Why let the enemy bring you down in the hard times when all you’re gaining is wholeness- a wholeness that LACKS NOTHING. What an awesome thing. God always turns everything into the good. I pray and long that everyone will begin to see with the eyes of Jesus and not our own fleshly eyes. Let’s begin to thank God for hardships and times of fighting the fight of faith. I read this morning in John 9:1-7 and it happened to just bring more revelation over this subject. It states:

“As he- talking about Jesus- went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam-which means Sent-. So the man WENT and washed, and come home seeing.”

This is a perfect example. You see, it wasn’t that this guy was being punished because of someone’s lifestyle of sin as most people would have thought. Instead Jesus shook their brains and said the exact opposite. It was because he wanted to use that guys weakness to shine. If you are always strong and always having everything together how in the world is Jesus able to show himself strong. I know people don’t like to admit they are weak, but the time that you can’t admit your weak is the time that you are telling Jesus you don’t need him. I believe that it’s time that we come boldly before the throne of God admitting were are NOTHING BUT WEAK.

Lord please use us. Lord give me weaknesses if it is an opportunity for you to reveal the beauty and power of who you are. Use my struggles and shine right through them. I believe that God LOVES you so much that he uses your weakness to show off his glory in. Why your life? Because he trusts that you are willing to sacrifice and surrender to him, for the sake of others. I hope and pray that all of you would get to the point where valleys turn into the peaks and struggles turn into his glory.

Lord I give you permission, TO SHINE, JESUS, SHINE – EVEN if it requires me to struggle. Your will is more important than anything I have to endure to ensure that it happens. Humble us oh Jesus.

I want you to remember when you let God shine through your weakness you are being what he has called you to be, “the LIGHT OF THE WORLD.”

- Natalie Hallford

Vision of The Extraordinary

I am so excited that the Lord has given me this wonderful opportunity to join with another sister in the faith, to bring words of life to this generation.  As you probably have seen, the name of this blog is called "The Extraordinary". Natalie and I are firm believers that when your life is surrendered to God, he will take an ordinary person and use them to do extraordinary things for the Kingdom. When we read the Word of God we can find many examples of what God can do with just an ordinary heart surrendered to him. Right now I am reminded of a young man named David. David was a little shepard boy who spent his time in the fields, tending to the sheep. While he was in the fields he began learn about and know God, the creator of all things. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that his faithfulness to God in his personal life, would open the door of opportunity to be used by God to be the king of Israel. God didn't look at how handsome David was (even though the bible says that he was dark, handsome, with beautiful eyes - 1 Samuel 16:12 :) ), God looked at his devotion to him. Once he saw that David was a young man who was willing to give up everything for his sake, he knew that he could be used to do great things for the kingdom of God. God sent the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 16 to anoint David to be the next king, while he was a teenager ( so that just blow's that I can't be used by God because i'm too young thing out of the water). While Samuel was look for David, he said a statement that can and will change your perspective on how God chooses those he uses. "People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7  Many times we think that we have to  look a certain way, or be a certain way for God to use us. What we fail to realize is that the Lord is not looking at what you look like, he wants to see where your heart is at. All it takes for God to take your life from the ordinary to the extraordinary, is a hungry and pure heart. When you just want Jesus to be glorified through your life, and you are not looking to be America's Next Top Preacher, God sees that and he can use you to do great things, because he knows you are not about you, but you are all about him! All it takes is to change your perspective about who God is in your life. Want to know how you do that? Read the Word of God. Reading the Word will allow you to see just how great of a God we serve. Once you know how great he is, then your perspective on who he is will change. After you perspective changes, you heart will change. Be a young woman/man that is after his heart, and he will use you to do THE EXTRAORDINARY!


Natalie and I have started this blog to be a voice in this generation. We want to see the people of God begin to walk into the purpose and plan that God has for their life. We want to see this generation rise up and declare the words of the Lord in this wicked land. We want lives to be changed from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We know he can do it for you, because he did it for us :) We will both be blogging on certain issues and that this generation, and also words that God has given us to give to you guys. We are excited about the lives that will be touched through this blog. Please feel free to leave comments, ask questions, etc.
We love yall!!!


Jasmine 

Reminding A Thief of his Sentence.

The past week the Lord has really laid this subject on my heart. You might ask, what exactly does this mean? Let me explain. It has been revealed to me in such a dramatic way. I see everything that Satan has stolen from me throughout my life. He stole my father for many years, he stole my joy, my identity, my time, my purity, and my innocence. In place of all those wonderful things, instead he gave me fear, a broken spirit, a corrupted heart, a wound that seemed impossible to heal, a life with no purpose, a emotional wreck, a person of no worth or value, and believe me it doesn’t stop there. I begin to look at all these things. This was a lifestyle that I had thought was normal. This was all life was to me. How dare Satan think that he can get away with this. I think that now is the time that a generation should look at everything that the enemy has tried to steal in your life. If we can take our eyes off of man and replace our anger on the real source, we can get somewhere with this. Satan has already been defeated. Karen Wheaton said it best when she stated that our anger is misplaced. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  The Lord has really been putting it on my heart to take back everything that he has kept from me. I want to make Satan regret ever doing what he did to me, just by bringing people to God. You go through things for a reason. Not for yourself, but for the sake of others. It’s time that you stop giving the enemy ground in your life and you fight against that dark power, that really HAS NO POWER OVER YOU, IN CHRIST. Are you willing to just let the enemy cause you tremendous amounts of hurt, pain, rejection, fear, insecurity, and get nothing in return? I feel that it’s time that we fight back. That we resist the enemy. This is not okay, and we don’t settle for defeat. I want you all to read I Samuel 30:3-10 - -

1 Samuel 30:3-15 (New Living Translation)

  When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families,  they wept until they could weep no more.  David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured.  David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

 Then he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the ephod!” So Abiathar brought it.  Then David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?”

   And the Lord told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”

  So David and his 600 men set out, and they came to the brook Besor.  But 200 of the men were too exhausted to cross the brook, so David continued the pursuit with 400 men.

First, David and his men SAW. They recognized the spring of the problem and they weren’t willing to let it get away with the ruins it had done. He knew his authority and he knew who he was and was willing to engage in that as  much as possible. People, we need to walk in our power.

The Second thing they did was WEEP. I believe that it’s time to cry out to God. You know that Jesus always went to pray in the wilderness. This is very interesting to me. One day I asked God, “Why the wilderness? Why not some other place? What’s so special about the wilderness?” and he told me because the wilderness is when we need to seek God the most because it’s the roughest, most dry places of our lives. It’s the time we feel distant from God. It’s the time when we feel alone and no one else is around us. It’s the time of desperation and all we can do is cry out to him. I believe that the Lord is calling us to be desperate for him. To call out for him before we go into this battle for restoration as a sign of surrender to him. Lord we can’t do it without you, and we know that.

The next thing I notice is that many became BITTER. This I believe is just another thing the enemy would like for you to do, yet so many people fall into this trap. They get mad and they let it rage inside their heart, when it could have just stopped at a thought. The word says to take every thought captive. This is very important when you’re dealing with the heart and something that you have to consider. Don’t let the enemy take anymore ground in your life. Wouldn’t you agree that he has already taken enough, so why give him your heart as well?

Then I see that the only thing that kept David stable was the Lord’s STRENGTH. I find that many people go back to the same trap that the enemy has placed them in before. They run back into the bondage and chains because they haven’t found and rooted their strength in the Lord. A good friend of mine once said, “God made Satan too. And if everything that God makes is good then he is going to be good at what he does as well.” He may be good at what he does, however he is already defeated so let’s not give him any more reign in our lives. You can’t do it on your own. God’s ever unshakable strength is the only thing that will get you by.

Next I see the Lord DEMANDING, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!” As Christians, I believe that this is our job. To quit allowing the enemy to take from us and not chase him down and remind him of the death sentence the Lord of all creation has granted him. I believe it’s the time we utilize the supremacy that the Lord has given us. He calls us to PURSUE THE ENEMY because he knows the authority that we have. It’s time we recognize this authority, believe it, and act upon it. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DEFEATED CHRISTIAN. And if there is, who would ever want to be apart? Let us be the ones to walk this out and prove this to be true. He’s taken so much, but it’s time to make him regret ever putting God’s children through the things that he did. It’s time to out and praise God for the damage that has been done because the glory of the Lord will shine so much brighter.

And the last thing that really stand out to me is that only 400 of the 600 preceded to go after the destructive force. I find that some people get too tired. The word of God says in Isaiah 40:29-31

“ ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

 ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

 ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.”

I believe that many of us might admit to being one of the 200. I would promise you that God wants to give you the strength to run the race with endurance and to fight the good fight of faith. How about we replace our anger on our real enemy. Let’s all take a stand and be the 400 that aren’t afraid of a giant that has been rendered powerless. I believe that it’s time to refuse to live in chains and to embrace the freedom that comes with the POWER OF THE CROSS and share that with others to remind the thief of his sentence, DEATH.

-       Natalie Hallford