Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.

The vision for Meat for Men — UNCOMPROMISING MANHOOD blog is to encourage husbands, fathers and single men in Biblical manhood.

FIGHT AGAINST SIN

B.Sunday“Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I'll butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition.”
 
~ Billy Sunday
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REQUIREMENTS TO RULE...

HugoGrotiusquote"He knows not how to rule a kingdom, that cannot manage a province; nor can he wield a province, that cannot order a city; nor he order a city that knows not how to regulate a village. Nor he a village, that cannot guide a family; nor can that man govern well a family that knows not how to govern himself; neither can any govern himself unless reason be lord, will and appetite her vassal; nor can reason rule unless herself be ruled by God, and (wholly) obedient to him."
 
~ Hugo Grotius
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RELIGION OF TYRANNY

BFranklin“A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them CANNOT BE ENSLAVED. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins.”
 
~ Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father
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MEN MUST BE CONTROLLED...

WinthropQuote“Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.”
 
~ Robert Winthrop (18th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives ).
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NEVER GIVE UP BIBLE PRINCIPLES

D.Websterjpg"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how suddenly a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”
 
~ Daniel Webster (Served as the 14th and 19th U.S. Secretary of State).
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FREEDOM INSTEAD OF TYRANNY

J.Madison“We have staked the whole future of the American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
 
~James Madison (architect of our federal constitution and 4th president of USA).
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WHAT IS GOOD GOVERNMENT?

ThomasJefferson“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
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DON'T DESPISE GOD'S PRECEPTS

BibleReread“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
~ Noah Webster
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PATRIOTISM

B Rush“Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families. The amor patriae (love of country) is both a moral and a religious duty. It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but of millions of our fellow creatures, not only of the present but of future generations.”
 
~ Benjamin Rush
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EVERY MAN’S HOME IS HIS CASTLE

HMCastle“The great natural law of self-preservation cannot e repealed or superseded or suspended by any human institution. The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves shall not be questioned. Every man’s house is deemed by the law to be his castle; and the law invests him with the power and places on him the duty of the COMMANDING OFFICER OF HIS HOUSE.
EVERY MAN’S HOUSE IS HIS CASTLE, and if anyone be robbed on it, it shall be esteemed his own default and negligence.”
 
~ James Wilson, Founding Father and Signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the first six judges on the Supreme Court. He also wrote the Preamble for the Constitution.
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CHRISTIANS IN POLITICS?

C.Finney“The church must take right ground in regard in politics. Politics are part of a religion in a country as this, and Christians must do their duty in their country as a part of their duty to God. God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.”
 
~ Charles Finney (1792 – 1875).
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WHEN WE DARE TO SACRIFICE

AlexandrerSolzhenitsyn“The price of cowardice will only be evil. We shall reap courage and victory only when we dare to make sacrifices.”
 
—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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WHO'S RESPONSIBLE?

Garfield“Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”
~ President James Garfield, 20th President of USA
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WHY SHOULD WE ABIDE?

DanielWebster“If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how suddenly a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”
~ Daniel Webster
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IGNORANCE BREEDS TYRANNY

BFranklin“A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them CANNOT BE ENSLAVED. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”
 
~ Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father
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WHY HOMESCHOOLING IS IMPORTANT

MartinLuther“I am much afraid that the schools will prove to be the gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraining them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the word of God must be corrupt.”
~ Martin Luther
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THE GREAT NEED OF THE WORLD - THE FATHER'S HEART continued.

FathersHeartMalachi 4:6 says: "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." This Scripture speaks initially of the coming of John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Elijah. This is confirmed in Luke 1:16-17 and fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus Christ.
 
However, many believe there is a future fulfillment. Malachi 4:5 says: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the GREAT AND DREADFUL DAY OF THE LORD." We all know that when Jesus first came it was a time of great rejoicing. "Peace on earth, and good will toward men" the angels cried (Luke 2:14). The angel also said to the shepherds: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10).
 
This first coming of Christ ushered in the church age of "grace." I believe that the second coming Christ introduces "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" when all the nations of the earth will be judged by Jesus Christ, the soon coming Messiah. Never in the history of the whole world, since the great flood, has there been such a need for the turning of the hearts of fathers and mothers back to children.
 
Contraception, sterilization, and abortion are certain testimonies as to how hard our hearts have become towards children.
 
Children are no longer high priority in our world or even in the church. We have got far away from God’s heart and His Word.
 
Be encouraged.
 
Colin Campbell
 
 
 
 
Picture from Etsy.
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THE GREATEST NEED OF THE WORLD—THE FATHER HEART

greatestneedJohn, the apostle spoke of Jesus coming from "the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18) This means from the heart of the Father or the lap of the Father. Because Jesus came from the Father's intimate affections, He could speak of His Father more authoritatively and more intimately than any others who had ever spoken about God. What an advantage Jesus had above all others.
 
After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God stated: "This is my BELOVED Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus is "the beloved Son" who came from the bosom of the Father.
 
Wouldn't it be great if all our children could say the same thing about us? The father's heart is a place of intimate affections. Men, this is something we must, as fathers, seek to develop for our children. It is the greatest thing we can give to our children.
 
To be continued.
 
Be encouraged.
 
Colin Campbell
 
 
 
Painting: Atelier Cecilia Rosslee: BEACH PAINTING COMMISSION
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Fourth post on FRUITFULNESS OF FAMILY TREES

FourthFruitfulTreeWe all want our natural trees to be fruitful. Why not our family trees? In John 15:6 Jesus says that He will cut off the branches that do not bear fruit. We all agree that this passage primarily talks about spiritual fruit. However, there is a parallel here. Christ uses a natural vine to illustrate a spiritual point.
 
God is glorified by fruitfulness, and more so, by “much fruit.” It is not for us to cut off branches, hindering fruitfulness. Yet this is exactly what we do when we refuse to have children. To the natural man, it is not spiritual to have children. On the contrary, to the spiritual man, having children is not only for natural fruitfulness, but it also increases spiritual influence. Why? Because every child born and raised in God's ways has the potential to be fruitful in the things of God.
 
No one in their right mind would go around lopping off fruitful branches from trees. Why do we want to lop off fruit from our family trees?
 
Isaiah 61:1-11 foretells the anointing that will be upon Jesus Christ, the Messiah “to preach good tidings to the poor; to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning.” Why? “That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
 
With the Messiah’s anointing, let us be co-laborers with Him to raise up family trees of righteousness who will accomplish all the purposes of Isaiah 61. Verse 9 says: “Their offspring will be known among the nations and their descendants in the midst of the people. All who see them will recognize them that they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.”
 
Along with natural Israel, as the new Israel of God in Christ Jesus, we can also claim family trees of righteousness through whom the Lord will be glorified.
 
Be encouraged, father. You are ordained by God to raise trees of righteousness that will bless the nations.
 
Be encouraged.
 
Colin Campbell
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Third post on FRUITFULNESS OF FAMILY TREES DARE WE STAND IN GOD’S WAY?

DareWeStandMan was made for sacred purposes; trees were not. Of all the myriad of creatures that God created it was only man that was given the sacred and priceless privilege to bear the likeness and image of God. This should never be underestimated. After creating the vegetation and trees, God said that “it was good” but it was the family tree that God blessed and gave the divine commandment to “Be fruitful and multiply.” This commandment has never been revoked and is as important today as in the beginning. Time has not changed this generational mandate.
 
It would be understandable, if after the fall in the Garden of Eden, God had decided to give up His original mandate for mankind to “be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth with His likeness and image.” But this was not the case.
 
In Genesis 9:1-7 God repeats His first mandate, not once, but TWICE! Oh, the mercy and grace of God toward His rebellious and sinful creation. Man still remains the only privileged creation to bear His likeness and image (God’s character and His ways of justice truth, love, joy, peace, and holiness and so on). The trees of the woods reveal His creative glory, but they cannot reveal His nature and character.
 
In verse six of this same passage God says: “Whoso sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood by shed.” Why would God say such a thing? He gives the answer in the same verse. “For in the image of God made he man.”
 
It is a serious crime to tamper with man because the divine purpose of man’s creation is to show forth the image of God. And yet, today, we frivolously contracept and abort the image of God in the earth. Every child, given the right opportunity, can be born again, and filled with the Holy Spirit, and in some way reveal to the world something of the likeness and image of God.
 
Dare we stand in God’s way?
 
Be encouraged.
 
Colin Campbell
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Franklin, TN 37068-1687

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