Genesis 14:14-16, “When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house… and pursued them unto Dan… and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah… And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”

Abram must have been distraught when he heard that Lot was taken captive. But he didn’t wallow in despair. Instead, he went into action.  He got his household army together and pursued the enemy. They didn’t give up until they smote them and recovered everyone and every thing.

Satan is our enemy who comes to rob, kill and destroy. He is constantly out to rob us and sometimes he is successful. When this happens, what do you do? It is easy to throw up your hands in despair. But don’t let him win the victory. Go after him. Don’t leave a stone unturned until you smite him and recover what you have lost!

Perhaps someone’s marriage is breaking up in one of your family members. You want to cry. But do more than that. Ask God what you should do. I have a friend whose brother started having an affair with another woman. My friend was mad with the enemy who was seeking to destroy another marriage. She prayed of course. She got us all to pray. But she also pursued the enemy. She took time out, and with her mother, drove many hours to his city in an old “bomb” of a car, arriving in the evening. The next day she helped him to chop and stack wood and later that night she approached him. He told her to butt out and mind her own business otherwise he would never speak to her again.

“If that’s the price I have to pay,” replied my friend, “I will pay it. You brought your wife home for us to love and we have loved her. If you choose to leave her, we will support her and continue to love her. This affair is not love, but lust!”

Her words fell on deaf ears. She kept praying. A week later, his boss also talked to him and he came back to his wife. Her trip was worth it. Another defeat for the enemy who hates marriages!

A similar situation happened to David which you can read about in 1 Samuel 30. David came back from fighting to find his city of Ziklag burned to the ground. All the women and children were taken including David’s two wives. David was greatly distressed. He and his men wept until they could weep no more. In fact, his men were so bitter they wanted to stone David.

But once again, David didn’t stay in despair! He encouraged himself in the Lord His God. When he took his eyes off the terrible situation and looked to God, God was able to show him what to do. You can’t hear from God when you are in the pit of sorrow. All you see and hear is desperation. But when you look to the Lord, He will give you strategy. He will show you a plan of attack against the enemy, just as he showed David.

Verse 9 – 17 tells us, “So David went … David pursued, he and four hundred men…And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.” It took more than one blow to defeat their enemy. They slaughtered them throughout the whole night and all the next day. They didn’t give up until they recovered what they lost.

We read the victory in verses 18-19, “And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.” Abram also recovered all in his pursuit against the enemy.

I think it is time to recover back what the enemy is stealing from God’s people today. He is robbing marriages. He is robbing families. He is robbing parents of children. He is even robbing God of the godly seed that He wants to come forth to fulfill His purposes. There are many today, who sterilize their bodies to stop having God’s children. They do it in ignorance, of course.  Isn’t that what everyone does? Sadly, they don’t realize that it is the enemy robbing them of life – a life that will live forever. They are unaware that they are being robbed of establishing godly dynasties. When we stop a life from coming into the world, it is not just one life, it is a whole dynasty!

We should not allow the enemy to steal any longer. If a couple have sterilized, don’t you think it would be a good idea to pursue a reversal? Oh yes, there will be many obstacles and financial challenges. But while we do nothing, the devil laughs and holds up the flag of victory. It’s time we pursued him until once again we hold the victory flag.

Has the enemy taken one of your children captive? Perhaps your situation is so sorrowful that you are still weeping. Of course you will weep. But don’t weep forever. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Let Him show you what to do. And go after the enemy until you recover all. Even when you feel weak and helpless, keep on. Gideon was exhausted from chasing the enemy, but he kept on “faint, yet pursuing.” (Judges 8:4)

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, please help me to be on watch against the enemy who comes to rob, kill and destroy. When he does rob me, give me strength to go on the attack and pursue the enemy. I thank you that Christ in me is greater than the devil without. Amen.”

 

AFFIRMATION:

1 Peter 5: 7, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” 

Isn’t it amazing how we confess that we are believers, and yet we do not believe! We know the above Scripture, but do we truly believe it? Do we believe that God is caring for us? Do we believe God’s Word in Psalm 139:17 that He is thinking about us all the time? In fact, His thoughts to us are more than the sands of the sea! If we did believe it, we would not fret and worry all the time, would we? And yet that is what we seem to do so much.

Many women spend most of their brain space worrying about this and that. What a waste! This space could be more profitably used to think positively. When we worry and think negatively, we do not help the situation. Worry makes the problem worse. Worry stifles creativity. You can’t even see a way out of the problem when you worry. All you see is the problem.

Worry strangles the effectiveness of God’s Word in your life and makes you unproductive. Matthew 13:22 tells us that “the worries of this life” choke the Word and we become unfruitful. In plain words, we cannot be fruitful when we worry!

The Amplified version says, “Casting the whole of your care – all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all – on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully.” God does not tell you to give some of your worries to Him. He tells you to give ALL your cares to Him. That means EVERY ONE. The big ones and the little ones. In fact, if you get into the habit of giving the little ones to Him, it will be natural to give the big ones to Him.

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us not to worry about our life, what we should eat, what we should drink, what we should wear or what will happen tomorrow! Dear mother, you don’t have to waste brain space fretting about these things. Instead, thank Him that He has promised to provide them for you.

Worry is thinking about “me”, rather than trusting God and His infallible Word. We waste a lot of valuable brain space thinking about ourselves. Many years ago, God spoke me. His voice was so strong to my heart that it was like an audible voice. “Nancy,” He said, “How can I reveal to you the needs of others if you are always thinking about yourself?” What a challenge!

If we spend all our brain space thinking about ourselves and insignificant things, we leave no room for God to bring to our mind the needs of others. Or to give us creative dreams and visions. God wants to pour out His love upon His people and those who are poor and hurting, but He has to do it through us. He looks for those whose minds have space for Him to share His secrets, His strategies and His creative answers to the problems around us. Sadly, many times our minds are so consumed with self-pity and worry that God cannot get in even a fraction of an inch to tell us about someone who needs our prayers or help.

Will you throw all your worries upon the Lord, knowing that He is caring for you? He is thinking about you and knows the answers far better than you. Trust Him to work it out. Give God room in your brain for the creative things that He wants to say to you.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, I thank you that because you are thinking about me all the time, I don’t have to waste my time thinking about myself. I trust you to care for me and for my family. I yield my mind to you for the importantthings you want to say to me. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Luke 24:47, “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

We don’t use the word ‘remission’ very much in our society today, do we? The understanding of this Greek word, aphesis, means ‘to send away, the deliverance from the power of sin, although not from the presence of sin.’

For what reason did Jesus suffer, die upon the cross, and rise again? To deliver us from the power of sin! He has not chosen to deliver us out of this sin-sick world, but through the blood of Jesus that was shed for us, He has given us the power to live sanctified lives in the presence of this sinful world.  God forbid that we should limit the power of the blood of Jesus to keep us clean and pure in the midst of this evil world. Thank God frequently that He has forgiven your sins and for the power of the blood that keeps you cleansed from sin.

We need to also teach our children that Jesus came to bring remission of sins. It is our responsibility as parents to protect our precious “olive plants” and keep them from the wiles of the enemy. We protect them from evil people, we protect them from the lustful garbage on TV and from humanistic and ungodly education.

We do not do this to hide them away forever. We do it to establish them in a strong foundation in the ways of the Lord. We do this to prepare them for their future. We train our children in the sanctuary of our home in order to one day send them out into this sinful world --  to be lights in the midst of the darkness, to wave the banner of God’s truth in the midst of deception and to bring justice in the midst of perverted judgment.

This world is desperate for truth-upholding, sin-exposing, salvation-preaching, holy and  uncompromising believers, who will not hide away, but who will come out, filled with God’s Holy Spirit, and shine His light into the midst of the darkness.

Jesus said, “The world… hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7) Jesus did not compromise with the spirit of the world but testified against its evil. You, and even your children, will never be hooked into the world when you stand against it. Instead, you will be hated by the world. Again, Jesus said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” God has chosen us out of this world system, to go back into it with His love and truth.

You don’t have to live in a house in the country, away from civilization, to raise godly children. You can do it in the midst of your city street and evil all around you. God gave you His Holy Spirit to enable you to do this. He  promises in Deuteronomy 28:3 that He will bless you in the city and in the country, and he mentions the city first!

Most of our children were in their teens when we moved from the little country of New Zealand to pioneer and pastor a church on the Gold Coast, the tourist mecca of Australia. Our church was opposite the big Jupiter’s Casino and from the windows of our home we looked out upon it. I cried out to God that He would keep our children in the midst of this materialistic and evil environment where most people walk the streets scantily clothed and the topless sunbathers line the beach.

God answered and they came out on the offensive. The older children started open-air preaching in Cavil Mall. Rocklyn was only 13 years old, but in bare feet and jeans, he preached with power and passion and gathered crowds around to listen. Even 11 year old Pearl often preached with her little squeaky voice!

After most of our children were married, I remember one time lamenting to Howard, Evangeline’s husband that I pined for the days when all the children were still home and we sat around the family meal table together. His reply came as a rebuke to me, “Mother, didn’t you train them to send them forth as arrows into the harvest field?”

I have recently returned from a mission trip to orphanages in Liberia. As we left, four of the girls were crying profusely. “Why are they crying?” a returning missionary asked Tom Zackey, the team leader. “They are concerned about leaving their brothers in this war-torn country. The boys are going out to do evangelism in the bush.” “Isn’t that what you raised them for?” replied the missionary.

I am also thinking of David’s words in Psalm 23, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” We live in the midst of enemies. But in the midst of evil enemies all around us, God prepares a table for us. It is His divine presence. As we keep daily cleansed from sin and live in the presence of the Lord, we can live purely even in the presence of sin!

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

I thank you, Lord  for shedding your pure, precious blood to cleanse me from my sin. I thank you that you died to save and deliver me from sin. I thank you for your keeping power in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation.

AFFIRMATION: 

Psalm 55:22, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

I was very surprised recently to discover that the word ‘burden’ in the above Scripture is not exactly what I had thought it was -- worries, cares and heartaches. It is the Hebrew word 'yhab' which means, ‘gift, what is given by Providence, that which has been assigned to you, your lot in life’.

Your lot in life – your circumstances, your marriage, your lot in your home, and even your hardships – may not be what you had planned! But it is the lot that has been given to you. Instead of resisting your lot in life, why not give it back to the Lord and trust Him to do His work in you? He has put you in your circumstances to refine you as gold, to change you into the image of His dear Son, to make you the beautiful person that He has planned for you to be and to prepare you for His eternal kingdom.

If you were to choose your own way, I know you would choose the easy road. We are all inclined to do this, aren’t we? But the easy road will never lead you closer to the Lord, it will never deepen your understanding of the ways of God, and it will never allow you to be changed into the image of Christ.

This Scripture does not tell you to wallow in your miserable lot. It does not tell you to spoil your days with self-pity. No. It tells you to  throw your lot upon the Lord. When you do, He will not only carry it for you, but He will carry you too. He has promised to sustain you in the lot He has given to you.

The word ‘cast’ in the Hebrew means ‘to throw away, to hurl, an adventure’. Wow! I like the sound of the ‘adventure’ bit, don’t you? The dictionary meaning of ‘adventure’ is ‘a hazardous or exciting experience, a bold and difficult undertaking, encountering risks, somewhat dangerous.’ This gets exciting, doesn’t it?

When you try to order your own life and make it work the way you want it to, you miss out on all that God has planned for you. When you cast your lot upon the Lord, it becomes an adventure! You will face challenges. You will have to overcome many obstacles. You may even face hardship and suffering. But this is the adventure of life. It prepares you for eternal life. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Many try to run from their circumstances, or even their marriage. Imagine standing at the Judgment Seat of Christ and God says to you, “Why did you divorce your husband? I gave him to you to lead you closer to me, to work my character into you and change you into my image. You have missed out on my purposes in your life.”

One writer says, “What God lays upon you, lay it upon the Lord.”

Are you ready for an adventure?

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

I thank you, Lord that you know far better than I do what is best for me. I trust my life and my circumstances to you and know that you will sustain me. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: