LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 306: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 8

Today we finish the last “P” of training our daughters to be royalty. And also, the last three of the 20 different words that God calls our children! God has so much to tell us about our children in His Word. Don’t miss it.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re together again, and we’re still talking about our daughters as the PILLARS OF A PALAC E wall. We’re still talking about our daughters as pillars. We talked about how it is important for them to be strong physically and also strong spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

We want them to be strong in the Word of God, strong in their convictions, and strong in purity and holiness. That’s so important to encourage our daughters to walk in holiness and in purity of life. Of course, they will want to do that more as they are in the Word of God themselves.

But we must constantly, in this sexual world in which we are living, encourage them to live a pure and holy life. What does it say in Hebrews 12:14? “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” That’s rather a strong word, isn’t it?

In 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, it says these words: “Flee fornication.” That means run from it! We must encourage our daughters not to ever put themselves in any place where they could even be tempted. We must protect them from that too.

In fact, even sending our daughters off to college, goodness me!  We’re sending them off to brothels, just about. It is so sad to think of so many beautiful, pure girls coming from even homeschool families, and going to college, and coming home tainted, because they have got involved sexually. It just what’s happening there in those colleges, apart from all the brainwashing in socialism that’s going on.

I’m not sure how any caring parent could send their daughter to college today. There may have been a time when you could do that, but today, that is not the case. In fact, we need to be praying, I believe, for such a mighty revival to come to the colleges of our nation that God will raise up men and women who will be able to speak truth to these young people who are so brainwashed and living such very sexual and evil lives.

We’ve also got to be watchful over where we allow our daughters to go. To protect them is our responsibility. To protect them. They’re under our protection until we give them to the man whom God has chosen for them. Then they become under his protection. God has planned that a woman will always be under protection.

But continuing this verse: “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” We are encouraging them to walk in holiness.

We want them to be strong in commitment, understanding that when they get married, that it’s a commitment to marriage. It’s a covenant. Therefore, they have to marry the right person, don’t they? I have an article on the character of a young man that beautiful godly young ladies can look for. You can email me for that if you’d like to receive that. I’d be happy to send it to you.

But I think even before they get to marriage, we should encourage our young people to learn what commitment is, even in little things, because it’s always those little things that help us to become a committed kind of person. When we say something, we mean it. We will keep to it.

Maybe, if we say we’re asked to come to a certain function and we tell the host and hostess, “Yes, I’ll be coming!” Then something pops up, and you can’t go, and you don’t turn up. Is that commitment? No. Of course, it may be very dire circumstances, and you can’t turn up. Therefore, you would call and say, “Oh, I said I was coming, and I’m so sorry, but this is happening. I can’t get there. I just want you to know I won’t be able to come.” So, if you can’t be at a function, you let people know. You don’t just not turn up! That’s not commitment.

Even in the home, we’re committed to our family. While we’re living in a home, we’re committed to the home. We’re committed to the family. We tell our parents where we’re going. Young people, even as they get older, if they’re still living in the home, should never leave without saying where they are going. We are always committed to one another and communicating with one another. These are important things even as we prepare for the future.

Pillars have to be strong. They have got to hold up another story. They’ve got to be very strong. We’re training our daughters to be strong. But ALSO BEAUTIFUL, because pillars of a palace are beautiful.

The Living Bible says: “Daughters of graceful beauty, like the pillars of a palace wall.”

The New American Bible, “Our daughters, like carved columns, shapely as those of the temple.” Very interesting that the Word of God should use the word “shapely.” But yes, I think we should also be encouraging our daughters to keep themselves physically well and physically in shape. And to keep themselves beautiful.

This goes on to our last point, which is . . .

               6)  Another “P,” PRINCESSES

Of course, our daughters are princesses because this is in the context of royalty. It’s in the context of a palace. They are to be carved according to the pattern of a palace. It’s all in the context of royalty. Therefore, we are going to encourage our lovely daughters to live like royalty, to speak like royalty, to dress like royalty.

Don’t you think that is the right thing to do? Or do we have a different understanding of the kingdom of God? Do we think it’s some ordinary old thing? No, it’s the kingdom of God, a royal kingdom. We have been called into royalty. We have been made into a royal priest unto God.

It talks about that in 1 Peter 2:5: “You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

Verse 9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” That means a set-apart, a very special people unto God. “That ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Do you notice there that there’s another adjective? We’re always noticing the adjectives. God doesn’t only call us into His light but His marvelous light! Oh, yes! Let’s get with it! Knowing what the kingdom of God is like!

And so, precious ladies, we ourselves, and our daughters, let’s begin to act a little more royally. In our homes, we are establishing a royal home, because we belong to the kingdom of God. Even as we encourage our daughters in the way they dress, how do we allow them to dress?

The sad thing is that I see that most, even Christian, lovely, lovely homeschooling mothers are dressing all their little ones in jeans and tops. That’s what everybody wears. But when you think about it, ladies, what are we doing? We’re training them from a young age, from a little age, “This is the clothing that women wear.”

But it’s not the clothing that God intends for women to wear, because God wants His female creation to be feminine, to be uniquely female, to dress differently from men. He wants the man to dress differently, and the woman to dress differently. Neither are to wear each other’s clothing. That’s what the Bible says, in Deuteronomy 22:5.  

And yet, we are so, so affected by our society. We just go along with the world system. Dear precious mothers, tell me, are we meant to be living according to this world system? No! We are not! Yet, we think it’s normal. And it’s not. Let’s read again the Scripture that you all know, Romans 12. Let’s go to it, because we all know it, but I think we need to read it again. Maybe you should make this a memory verse in your home, for everyone in the home.

OK, here it goes: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world.” Did you hear that? What did it say? “And be not conformed to this world.”

It seems to me that Christians today want to be look as much like the world as they can! But the Scripture says, don’t be conformed to this world, “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Let me read it to you from the Passion Translation: “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred.” (did you hear that word?) “Sacred living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.”

And so, lovely ladies, why do we conform? I’m just thinking now. One of the most common things that young people turn up in these days, and can you believe that they even wear them to church? I cannot even believe it. But they’ll wear their holey jeans! Holey jeans with rips everywhere. Many times the whole knee is cut out so you see all the knobbly knees.

No wonder the Bible says we’re meant to have a sound mind. Even common sense would tell you, why pay money for clothes that are ripped or have great big holes in them? That’s clothes that are worn out! And why would beautiful princesses want to wear such ugly clothes? Because, dear ladies, I have to say, they are ugly. There is not one thing beautiful about them. But why do young people wear them, and even some mothers wear them? Because they’re the fashion. Because it’s what everybody’s wearing! It’s the fashion. They want to be cool and want to be like everybody else!

But is that the reason we wear our clothes, to be like the spirit of this world?? That fashion didn’t come from the Word of God. It came from the spirit of this world! And it’s ugly. Satan wants God’s beautiful princesses to look ugly. God wants them to look beautiful, like princesses in a palace. This is the picture that He gives.

I know I’m stepping on toes. But really, let’s face a few facts here. They’re nothing to do with royalty, nothing to do with beauty. It’s time we encouraged our daughters to dress beautifully, femininely, and like women. When they go out into this world, they should look like a woman, not like a man.

All we are doing is pandering to this transgender lifestyle. How did we get to where we are today? Because many years ago, it first started with one woman, who was rebellious, a feminist who decided she didn’t want to be at home. She wanted to be out in her career, and she didn’t want to be like a woman. She wanted to be in a man’s world. Therefore, she started dressing like a man, and began to wear pantsuits.

It was rejected. It was thought disgusting. But they continued, and now, even Christian women dress like that. We have followed the world! Not the Bible. Now, when it’s normal for just about every woman to dress like a man, well, you might as well just go the next step. You might as well become like men (or women). You see, we’re pandering to that transgender lifestyle.

We wouldn’t think about it like that, but it’s true. We are so fickle about truth. We’re so shallow about truth. It’s time we had truth in the very core of our beings, and know what it is! And know that we are meant to be women. We’re meant to be feminine. We’re meant to look like women. We’re meant to dress like women.

Forgive me, ladies, but I’m on God’s side. I’m on the side of the Word of God. So, let’s encourage our precious daughters to dress like princesses. OK, they can wear their old jeans when they’re out in the garden, riding horses, doing things like that, of course. But not when they go out. Not when they come to church. Oh, goodness me!

So, there it is, lovely ladies, our six points about our daughters, all starting with “P,” all relating to royalty and a palace.

OK, so now we’re got to go to our next point. Here we go, because that was point number 17. Do you remember? We’ve got 20 points about the different words God calls our children in His Word.

No. 18. REWARDS

We’re doing them in alphabetical order. That comes from Psalm 127:3, which says: “Children are the heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His reward.” Oh, aren’t we blessed, to have all these precious rewards that God has given us! Our children are the most glorious rewards we could ever receive from the Lord. You can remind your children that that’s what they are. “You are my reward from the Lord!” You can call your children these words from time to time.

No. 19. SIGNS AND WONDERS

This is found in Isaiah 8:18: “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” What a wonderful Scripture, mothers! Isn’t this incredible? Everyone of your precious children are a sign, and they are a wonder from the Lord of hosts.

Did you get that? From the Lord of hosts. They’re given to you by God. They’re given to you as a reward. They’re given to you as a blessing. But they’re also given to you to be a blessing to the world, to be a sign and a wonder to the world.

The Hebrew word for “sign” means “a beacon, a flag, a monument, a miracle.” Yes, many of your children are miracles. They’re all miracles. Some are more miracles than others, because of things that have happened to bring them into the world. But they are a sign from the Lord.

And “wonder.” The word “wonder” in the Hebrew means “conspicuous, a miracle.” God wants us to show forth the children that He has given us, to be so blessed that He has given these children to us. Never to think, “Oh, goodness me! I’ve got so many children!” No, hallelujah! The more you have, the more you are blessed by the Lord! Amen.

And the last one, ladies . . .

No. 20. THE WORK OF GOD’S HANDS

Isaiah 29:23: “When he sees his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My Name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.” In this Scripture, God is telling us that every one of our children are the work of His hands.

We see that also, don’t we, in Psalm 139, that beautiful Psalm where it talks about how He creates the baby in the womb. I did a whole series on this passage a way back. You can go back and listen to it.

Psalm 139:13: “For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 

God is speaking here of the glorious, wonderful creation of the baby in the womb, and how He creates the baby in secret. Oh, I love that Scripture. You know, don’t you, that I’m such a stickler to the Word of God, and that’s why I’m one of those who believes in waiting until the baby arrives to know what the baby will be, because God said He’s creating the baby in SECRET!

He wants to give us a surprise. God is like a parent who loves to give His children surprises. Oh, I used to love to give my children surprises. I know you do too. I think God loves to give us surprises, especially when it’s a baby. There’s something so exciting in not knowing whether it’s going to be a boy or a girl. But today, everybody knows. They can’t wait. They can’t even wait for a secret! Oh, goodness me. Well, I’m just one of those who sticks to the Word of God.

Every one of our children are the work of God’s hands. How amazing! Remind your precious children. “Oh, little Isabelle, how I love you! We are so blessed that God has given you to us. You are the work of His hands. He created you marvelously in my womb, and here you are, as a beautiful creation given to us by God!” They need to know they come from God.

That word “marvelous,” oh, it’s a glorious Hebrew word. It’s the word pala, and it means “wonderful, miraculous, extraordinary, beyond the bounds of human understanding.” It’s such an amazing word.

There we are, precious ladies. Those 20 different words that God calls our children in His Word. However, there are actually more words, because when you go into the Hebrew, and then when you go into the Greek, you find even more words.

In my study of the Word of God on the word “children,” I found, can you believe it? I found 50 different Hebrew words that God uses for “children.” Isn’t that amazing? God loves children so much that He has so many different words to describe them. From just a baby in the womb, a baby being born, a baby that is growing. One that is a little toddler. Yes, did you know there’s even a word for the toddlers? That’s the word taph.

I love that word, because God often uses that word when He’s asking His people to come and assemble before Him, when He’s wanting everyone to come. The whole assembly, the mothers, the fathers, the children, the nursing babes, and He says, “And the little ones.” When we go to the Hebrew, we find it’s the word taph.

What does it mean here? I’ll give you the meaning. I’m not going to give you the meaning of the 50 different words. We’d be here all day, wouldn’t we? But this one, I thought you’d be interested. It means, “to trip, with a short step.” The term comes from the tripping gait and short steps of little children. The children are running around and playing although still clinging to the mother.

This word is used 42 times in the Bible, and often it’s used when God is calling all His people together. He mentions the little ones. Many times, we think, “Oh, if we’re coming to hear from God and hear the Word of God, well, we don’t want the children to be making a sound. We’d better have a nursery for the children,” so they’re away off there in the nursery. They’re not going to interrupt what God is saying in the church.

But no, God never ever said that. When God brought His people together, He brought the whole family, and He specifically said fathers, mothers, children, little ones, babies at the breast. He wanted them all there.

God’s ultimate plan, even when we come together at church, is that the whole family gathers together as a family. There are lots of family-integrated churches. But there are others that, no, they must have the babies out in the nursery, and the little taphs out in the nursery, so they don’t interrupt.

That’s true. We don’t want interrupting children, do we? Of course, sometimes we have to take them out if they’re interrupting. Then when they’re quiet, we bring them in again. Of course, it takes parents who are diligent about training their children and disciplining their children, so they learn to be able to sit in church. But it is possible. We have the families . . . we have in our fellowship, we have parents with nine children, ten children, eleven children, fourteen children, and they’re all there, right down to the little babies. And it’s glorious!

Then we go over to the New Testament, and I found in the New Testament 26 different Greek words for “ children.” What does that say to you, mothers? Doesn’t it show how much God cares about our children?

In fact, I did this little study one time, and this is pretty amazing, because we think of some of the great themes of the Word of God. Take, for instance, “faith.” Do you know that “faith” is only mentioned two times in the Old Testament? Can you believe that?

“Grace” is only used 39 times, although 170, including the New and Old.

The beautiful word of “love” is only used 131 times in the Old, 310 altogether in New and Old.

What about “prayer”? My, I’m a great believer in prayer, but in the whole of the Word of God, it’s only used 245 times.

Whereas, whereas, the word “ben,” that’s one of the most common Hebrew words for children. It means “the builder of the family name.” That’s a very common word in Hebrew. Many, many sons are called Ben Yochanan, Ben Yehuda, Ben this, Ben that. As I said, it means “the builder of the family name.” That word “ben” is used over 4000 times in the Bible, apart from all the other words!

Compare that to the amount of times these great, important themes of the Bible are used. The word “ children” is used more, far more than any of them. I think perhaps we need to be getting a little bit more in balance, don’t you think? Even in pastors giving messages to their congregations. If that word is used more than any other, surely our pastors should be giving more messages about children. What do you think?

Well, another incredible word about this Hebrew word for children is the word zera. This is an amazing word, because it’s a word that is used for the sperm. It’s right from the very, very, very beginning! It’s the word “sperm,” and yet, amazingly, God uses that same word, zera, for not only the sperm, but for children, and for older people, and even older people. He uses that word right through.

In fact, let me give you an example. Let me see if I can find an example here. Yes, this is Genesis 46:6, 7. This is talking about when Jacob came down to Egypt to be with Joseph, after Joseph had been reconciled with his brothers. It says: “And all his seed,” and the Hebrew word is zera. It means “sperm.”

In the King James, it’s the “sperm of copulation,” but it also talks about every stage of life. Listen to this: “And all his seed with him. His sons and his sons’ sons with him; his daughters, and his son’s daughters, and all his seed (zera) brought he with him into Egypt.” The Bible tells us that 70 souls came down from Egypt and they weren’t all little sperms floating down in clouds. No, they were people! They were little children, and mothers and fathers, and grandfathers, and grandmothers. They were all the word zera.

Ladies, ladies, do you see something there? The word “sperm,” zera, God uses that word for people. That word, that every sperm has the possibility of a human being that God wants brought into the world. And that’s how we must guard the seed.

That’s why God was so angry with Onan, because he spilled the seed on the ground instead of entering into his wife. What does the Bible say? God killed him (Genesis 38:7-10). In other translations it says that every time he went into her, he spilled the seed, so it wasn’t a one-time act. It was a thing that he continued to do.

The word “spilled” is not, well, just “spilled.” No, it is a very, very strong word which means “destroyed,” because when he spilled it, he destroyed it. That possibility of life being conceived, because God sees life before it is even conceived. You see, ladies, we’ve got to see where God sees life. We’ve got to get to see how precious God sees the sperm. Can I quickly, just at the end of this podcast, give you one or two examples?

What about when God was talking about Abraham and Levi? Yes, after he had gone and rescued his nephew Lot, he came back with all the spoil. He met Melchizedek, the king of Salem. The Bible says: “And he paid tithes to Melchizedek.” We read that in the Old Testament. Then we go over to the New Testament, and it talks about it again. It says: “And as I may say so, Levi paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

A modern translation makes it clearer. “Levi, the ancestor of every Jewish priest, who received tithes, actually paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham. For although Levi was yet unborn, the seed from which Levi came was present in Abraham.” Although Levi was not a twinkle in Abraham’s eye . . . he was Abraham’s great-grandson. Yet God said he was already in the loins of Abraham and God knew him before he was even ever conceived!

What about Solomon? There are a number of Scriptures where God spoke, and said how Solomon would come forth. Let’s read this one: 2 Samuel 7:12: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.”

There’s another Scripture where God even names Solomon before he was born. God named him. 1 Chronicles 22:9: “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon.” And he wasn’t even yet born, or conceived.

What about Josiah? Josiah was one of the great kings of Judah. In 1 Kings 13:2, the prophet Judah prophesied against the altar when they were sacrificing to false gods. He said: “Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.”

Now get this, ladies. Fourteen generations later after that prophecy . . . did you get it? Fourteen generations later, Josiah was born. God had spoken his name, fourteen generations before. His name! His name! Before he was even thought of! Except by God. Josiah was born. He became King of Judah. During his reign, he did exactly what that prophecy said, and cleansed all the evil from the land, from the altars where they sacrificed to the false gods. It was fulfilled exactly fourteen generations later after Josiah was named. Oh, it’s amazing.

One more. I know we’re late. Cyrus. Oh, Cyrus. Cyrus wasn’t even an Israelite. He wasn’t even a Jew. He was a heathen king. One of the greatest kings in history. He was called “The King of the Four Corners of the Earth.” And yet, he’s spoken about in the Bible. And God chose him, chose him for a purpose, that he would release His people back from Babylon to the land. And God actually named his name 150 years before he was even born! You can read about that in Isaiah 44:28, and Isaiah 45.

Oh, I could tell you so much more, but isn’t that amazing, ladies? Can we begin to think like God thinks? We think so humanly. Let’s begin to think like God thinks, like He thinks about children, like He thinks about the sperm, like he thinks about children who are in the loins of men. Children who He wants to come forth, children for whom He has destiny. And yet, there are many today who never come forth because men and women are stopping them. They’re stopping life that God intends to come into the world.

“Dear Father, we just thank You so much that You have brought us into Your kingdom. You have given us such a great salvation. And Lord, we thank You that we belong to Your kingdom. Help us, Lord, not to be ignorant subjects of Your kingdom, but to be those who know the ways of Your kingdom, know the truths of Your kingdom, and who know Your heart.

“Help us to understand Your heart about children, and about life, and about the sperm, and how You see things. Help us, Lord God, to see things as You see them, and not as the world sees them. We pray that You’ll put Your fear in our hearts, and in our minds, that we will come to Your Word with trembling, Lord, because we dare not take shallowly and lightly the things that You tell us. Help us to be true women of Your Word and true women of truth. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THIS PODCAST,

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

IT IS ENCOURAGING FOR ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS.

Genesis 38:9: The word “spilled” is “sahat” and means “ to destroy corrupt, to decay, utterly waste.”

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 305: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 7

I continue sharing what it means to raise princesses. God gives us six words beginning with “P” from Psalm 144:12. What else does He say about them, apart from being princesses?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Here we are, up to Part 7 of our series, “Is There a Better Word Than “Kids”?” Well, when I start a series, I never can believe how many we do in the series! Here we are, still going.

Last week, we were talking about how God wants our daughters to be like PILLARS in a palace. In fact, I have six points about this. To catch you up from last week, they all start with “P.” The first one is that our daughters are to be the very PIVOT of our home. It doesn’t say the word “pivot,” but I used it because I wanted to keep all P’s. The actual word in the Bible is “cornerstones.”

Then they are to be a PATTERN, the pattern like the pattern of a palace. They are also to be fashioned for a PALACE. No. 4, they are to be POLISHED. Now we’re up to number five, that they are to be like . . .

               5) PILLARS in a palace

I did read the Scriptures last time, but we’ll read them again.

The Living Bible says: “They are to be like daughters of graceful beauty, like the pillars of a palace wall.”

The New American Bible: “Our daughters, like carved columns, shapely as those of the temple.”

Fines Translation: “Our daughters like upright pillars, fine wrought for a palace.”

The Good News Bible: “May our daughters be like stately pillars, which adorn the corners of a palace.”

You would think, wouldn’t you, dear ladies, that when it talks about our sons and our daughters, that it would call our sons “pillars.” Because when you think of pillars in a building, you really only need pillars for a very big building, and of course, especially for a palace. A palace is usually a huge building, and of course, a glorious building. Therefore, they need really strong pillars for a palace. But God didn’t do that. He calls our sons “plants growing up to be strong,” wonderful trees and oaks. But he calls our daughters “pillars.”

There are two things that we notice about pillars. That is that they are both strong and beautiful, because in a palace, the pillars are usually made to look absolutely beautiful. Maybe sometimes they’re made of marble. The marble is shined and shined and shined until it gleams. Maybe they’re decorated. They are also weight bearing and decorative.

How does this apply to our daughters? Well, first of all, let’s talk about the pillars.

They have to be strong. I believe that we need to prepare our daughters to be strong. Yes, we want our sons to be strong physically. But then again, we also want our daughters to be strong physically.

The Bible says that we, as women, are the weaker vessel, and that is true (1 Peter 3:7). Men have much more brute strength than women. That’s how God created them. We are the weaker vessel, but we also need to be as strong as we possibly can as women because we are preparing our daughters to one day begin a family. They’re going to take on the weight of raising a family, bearing children, and they do need to be strong physically. It is a great blessing to be strong physically as you are bearing and raising children.

If you go into a marriage weakly and sickly, well, that’s not going to be so easy for a young mother. It starts, of course, dear mothers, with us. How are you preparing your daughters? Are you preparing them now to be strong physically?

How do you teach them how to eat? I find that most young people today, even young daughters, live mostly on the standard American diet. They eat white bread, and they eat white rice, and white pasta. They eat foods full of sugar. They think that’s normal. That isn’t really preparing them for one day childbearing.

I believe we have a responsibility as mothers to feed our children on good, wholesome food, not devitalized food, not polished food, not packaged food. No, food that’s the real thing! It starts from scratch. We eliminate sugar from our diet which is one of the curses of ill health. It destroys the B vitamins in your body. We don’t have to be crazy. We just have to be normal and eat the foods that God provided for us in their natural state. Let’s away with all these “whites” and devitalized stuff. That is a very important thing.

It’s hard to start if they’re already used to all that junk. In fact, it’s amazing. I can’t believe how much junk mothers bring into their homes. Junk! You go to the supermarket, and really, most of it is junk. Really, apart from a few things, you only need to go down the vegetable and fruit aisle.

Most of your other things, like your grains and things like that, can be ordered from companies where you can get them in bulk. Much cheaper to do it that way. That way, you can get them organic, and you get them in their whole state, instead of stupid packaged things.

It is just about the normal in most American homes that they use packaged cereals for breakfast. I beg your pardon. That is not preparing your sons to be strong, nor your beautiful daughters for one day when they will be childbearing. You might as well eat the package, because when you look at what’s in them, it’s nothing like the original state! Come on!

I believe we have a responsibility as mothers, as women, to feed our children healthily, and to learn as much as we can about it. I’m sure most of you are doing that too. That’s important. We are going to prepare them to be strong physically.

Although it is true that even childbearing can be a wonderful blessing. I know a young mother, a beautiful young mother. She’s now expecting her sixth baby. I remember going to her wedding. At that time, she was very, very sickly. I think she had Lyme Disease at the time. She was always very ill, very sick, very weak. I wondered, “How will she get on?”

And yet they went into marriage trusting God for the children that He would give them. Even in her sickness, she did not hold back. The amazing thing is that with every baby, she has got healthier. Now she’s expecting her sixth baby, and she is so healthy! It’s amazing, you know, when we yield ourselves to the Lord and our bodies for His purposes.

God created the female body to bring forth children. Therefore, it’s not a negative, but a positive for our body. Pregnancy can often bring healing to so many areas of our body. That’s a wonderful testimony. I just saw her again the other day and it was so beautiful to see her glowing with pregnancy and looking so well.

But we also want to train our daughters to be strong mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—in all these areas. Sometimes daughters, as they’re growing, can be emotional. That’s understandable as they’re going through their teen years. But we do need to teach our children how to be stable and strong, mentally and emotionally.

That is one of things that the older women are to teach the younger women. We see that in Titus, that famous Scripture of where the older women are to teach the younger women. Titus 2:4-5: “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet.”

Actually, both those words in the Greek are very similar. That word “sober” is sophron. It comes from two Greek words, “the mind,” and “to have self-control.” It’s having self-control of the mind. It says that we’re to teach this. I know even some mothers, and of course even daughters growing up, get very emotional, even weak emotionally. and in their minds.

But we are to teach them how to overcome their emotions, and how to be strong in their minds, emotionally and mentally. This is an important thing that we are to train our young daughters, and this is speaking to the young women too, to be sober. It’s not talking about not being drunk. It’s talking about having a sound mind.

It’s easy for young daughters to get caught up with all kinds of imaginations and things that are not real, and feelings. This is where the devil comes to tempt us more than any other place, in our minds. In our minds. He brings all these crazy thought to our minds. You know you face that yourself, don’t you? Our precious daughters are going to face that.

We need to teach them how to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Well, I think that would be a good memory verse for your daughters, wouldn’t it? It’s something we learn. That’s why the Bible says we have to teach it because it doesn’t just suddenly happen. We have to learn how to bring our thoughts into captivity, not letting them run away with us, and to cast down all these crazy imaginations and fears and feelings, because we can live our lives by our feelings.

Our daughters will most probably, in the natural, they will live their lives by their feelings if we don’t teach them that that’s not the way we live! Feelings come, feelings go. Feelings are not reality. They’re just feelings. We have got to learn to live our lives on facts. What are the facts? The truth of the Word of God.

Matthew 4:4: Jesus said when the devil came to tempt Him, bringing all these different thoughts into His mind, He said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” God’s Word is true! So, we stand on God’s Word, and we cast down imaginations, and we push back all these feelings, and we don’t listen to our feelings. We learn to live that by the Spirit, and we teach our daughters also.

Then, of course, we want them to be strong in the Word of God. Oh my, that is so important. Strong in the Word. Are your daughters, your young teens, your mid-teens, your older teens, are they really strong in the Word? Does the Word of God dwell in them richly? Because I think one of the greatest blessings of going into marriage, and then beginning to raise a family, is to have the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly, knowing the truth (Colossians 3:16).

I look back on my own life and I’m so glad that I responded to the pull of the Lord to seek after Him. At 18 years of age, I experienced God in a very amazing way, and began then to seek Him with all my heart. At that time, I used to get up very early. It took some doing, but I would get up very early every morning, and seek God in His Word and in prayer for about three hours before I began the day.

I had to begin the day early, because I was going out to work. But I actually esthetically and diligently committed myself to that. I know that I’m reaping of the benefits, still today, at this time of my life.

Now, lovely ladies, I wonder? Are there young daughters listening today? I hope so. I want to share something with you. Maybe, if your daughters are not listening, you can share this with them, because it’s a little pattern of how I began to read the Word. Many times you may encourage your daughters, and your sons, of course, but we’re particularly talking about daughters in this podcast, you encourage them to read the Word. But often they don’t know where to read or what to read. They need some pattern to do it.

I found these are things, I have eight points here of things that really revolutionized the reading of God’s Word and which I still do today. It’s a good idea. Well, I remember when I first started reading the Word. I thought, “OK, read through the Bible!” So, I’d read through, from beginning to end, and then start again. But then, some may not like to do that. They may like to choose a chapter in a book in the New Testament, and then go to a book in the Old.

But the main thing is, what do you do when you’re reading the Word of God? I’m a great believer, as you know, that we have family devotions morning and evening. That is so important. But then, we must encourage each of our children to have their own personal quiet time. I was raised with that phrase, “having your quiet time.” I don’t know why they called it the “quiet time.” It doesn’t have to be called that. It can be called “your time with God.” I think that would be even better.

But do encourage your children to have this time, to have this time before they come out for breakfast. I’m always challenged by that dear old Chinese saint who used to say, “No Bible, no breakfast!” He would never, ever put food into his body until he had put food into his spirit and soul first.

No. 1. ASK GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU

Do you know, I think that’s the most important thing when we come to the Word? Because it’s easy. “Oh well, that is in my reading,” and you just read. Maybe you don’t get anything.

But we must come, realizing that we’re coming into the Presence of God to read His LIVING Word, a Word that He has given to us. And that EVERY WORD IS LIFE! Yes, every word in this Book is life to me. “Oh, Father, as I read this morning, please speak to me. Show me more of who You are. Show me more of the way You want me to live. Reveal more and more of Your truth to me.” We ask God to speak to us.

No. 2. ASK IN FAITH

Then, secondly, we don’t ask unbelievingly. We ask in faith. We believe that God will speak to us. We go into the Word believing that God is going to speak! Wow! Because of that, I always have my notebook and my journal ready to write down what God is going to speak to me. Because of that, I’m on the lookout.

Now I don’t actually read the Bible through from cover to cover and then start again, because goodness me! I begin my reading, and I often only get through a couple of Scriptures, and I’m saying “Wow! This is amazing! I want to know more about that.” So, I’ll begin to study, and I’ll get out my concordance and find every other Scripture on that subject. Then I’ll make a note of all of them in my notebook, and then I go through them again and put them into their subheadings and so on. Because under a subject heading, there will be many subheadings.

Then I’ll begin to write down those Scriptures and write down what God is saying to me through them. And as I write, more revelations come. It is so exciting! You believe God is going to speak to you. It talks in Hebrews about those who the Word did not profit them because it was not received in faith. We have to receive it in faith.

No. 3. BE ON THE LOOKOUT

As you’re reading, you don’t just read. You look up for every word that God is saying. Oh, it’s like panning for gold! You’re not going to find it on the surface. You’ve got to dig. You’re on the lookout, and when a word, even one word pops out at you, you’ll be wanting to dig and find more and more about that word.

No. 4. STOP AND MEDITATE

You don’t have to keep on reading and think, “Oh, well, I’ve got to get so many chapters in today.” No, stop and meditate on what God is saying to you. Yes. As one writer says, “The person who meditates, thinks about, ponders over, and lets the Word of God sink into his heart will have fresh visions, fresh ideals, and fresh blessings every day.”

I love that Scripture in Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” You don’t have to rush through your reading. Meditate on what you’re reading. Chew it over and over.

No. 5. LOOK OUT FOR ADJECTIVES

That’s one of the most exciting things I love to do, because the Word of God is not normal. It’s not status quo. It’s above the normal. It’s beyond the normal because it’s all about God. It’s all about Christ. He is not just an average person. He is God! He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and everything to do with Him is exceptional. Everything.

OK, when the Word of God is talking about the promises of God in 2 Peter 1, it says about His promises, what does He call them? Just promises? No! “exceeding, great, and precious promises.” Three adjectives to describe them. We’re just getting a little taste.

Then, if you want to go further and dig deeper, and look into the Greek or the Hebrew if it’s in the Old Testament, and find out what those words mean, you’ll get about three, four, five, six, seven more adjectives to even describe them! It is so amazing!

When it’s talking about the peace of God, it doesn’t just say “peace.” It talks about “peace that passes understanding.”

When it’s taking about joy, it talks about “exceeding joy.” “joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” Start looking for them. Don’t forget to write them down.

No. 6. WRITE IT DOWN

That’s my next point. Write it down. That has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. As a young person, when I began to seek God and to really seek His Word (that’s why I ended up usually having three hours each morning in the presence of the Lord, in His Word), because oh, wow, when you begin to write things down, you get more understanding and revelation.

I usually have two books. One a notebook that I’ll write down thoughts. As I’m reading, I don’t have time to study them all in one day. Yes, I want to study that when I can. I’ll write down the Scriptures and thoughts about that. Or if I’m doing a study, I’m writing down all the Scriptures, because when I go to write them in my journal, I’m then going to take more time to write each Scripture out fully.

Then when I write a Scripture, I will then begin to write what God is saying to me personally about this, what He’s saying to me in my life, what He’s saying to me about this truth that He is revealing to me. I may not understand it too well, but as I begin to write, more understanding comes.

That’s the secret! Oh, if I could only inspire you all to begin to do this! You will find you will get more and more revelation. There’s a little statement that says, “Thoughts tend to disentangle themselves when they flow through lips or cross pencil tips,” (although we use pens today, don’t we?) It is so true. When you’re writing, you’ll get so much more and more. You won’t be able to believe it.

No. 7. PRACTICE WHAT YOU READ

Don’t just think, “Oh, that’s wonderful!” No! Seek to put it into practice in your life.

James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”

And the last one . . .

No. 8. SHARE IT ITH OTHERS

It’s so good to share what you got from the Word with someone else. What you write down, and what you share, you will keep. In fact, the more you share it, the more it will get right deep down into you.

That’s why the Scriptures say in Romans 10:9, 10: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”

This is the pattern of how we come to Christ but it’s the pattern of how we live our Christian life. From then on, everything we do, every new revelation of truth, we don’t only believe it, but we confess it. It’s only when you confess it that it really becomes part of you.

I shared those eight little points with you, but I do have a little leaflet. It’s on my computer. I can send it to you if you want to email in. I have more in it than I have shared today. It could be a great blessing for your young sons and daughters in teaching them how to get into the Word so that it becomes a habit of their lives and so that they become strong in the Word. Amen!

Oh, I’m so sad, because there are so many young people today in the church, who are so shallow, so shallow in God’s Word! They don’t know it. It doesn’t come out of their mouths. It’s not in them! The Bible says in Colossians 3:16:“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Dear darling mothers, we’re not just training our children to raise up to be beautiful daughters and great sons. We’ve got to get the Word into them. It’s part of our responsibility, because if that Word is in them they will be strong. They’ll be strong spiritually.

We want them to be strong in their convictions too. That is so important. I’m sure, and I know you are strong in your convictions of the truth, the truths of the Word of God, the truths about the lies about womanhood, about abortion, about the things that are happening in our nation now that are so evil. We must speak to our children about them and let them know how evil they are.

We are living in an hour now where we cannot be half-hearted. We cannot be lukewarm. The Bible says that we are to love righteousness and hate evil.

Romans 12:9: “Abhor that which is evil.” That’s even more than hate. “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” The word “abhor” literally means “to shudder with shame.” Oh, are we shuddering with shame about evil? Is that how our children see how we hate it?

How did you feel on Easter Sunday, when Biden made it “Transgender Visibility Day”? How horrendously evil! How we must abhor and shudder at such things! Our children will gain their convictions as they see our convictions, our hate towards evil, our absolute uncompromising hate toward evil. We cannot compromise in any way. And our love for righteousness “that we cleave to that which is good.”

We want them to be strong in their convictions because they’re living in such a deceived, deceived world, aren’t they? Even about womanhood. Our lovely daughters must know who they are. Who are they? We have to know who we are as women, as female, as feminine.

God has not left us without knowing. The Bible says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, truth, or something, can be established. God has given three witnesses to us as women.

Firstly, biblically. We read the Word, beginning right there in Genesis chapter 1, right in the beginning, where God says He created “male and female.”

Right in the beginning, we have the Word which continues throughout the Word. We continue receiving more and more information of who God wants us to be as women.

But He also gave us the witness in how He created us! Isn’t it crazy, this crazy world we’re living in, that young women today don’t even know who they are. They are so brainwashed, so deceived, that they don’t even know who they are! Who are we? Just look at ourselves! God created us with a womb. A womb. This is our most distinguishing characteristic as a woman. We are “womb-men.”

There are only two people in the world, a male without a womb, a man without a womb, a male. And a man with a womb, the “womb-man,” the woman. We are the “womb-men.” A womb. A womb that can conceive a child and grow a child in the womb and bring forth an eternal living soul. Oh, it is so powerful! We are so blessed. We have the most powerful privilege in the world to join with God and open our lives to Him, to bring forth His children into this world, and prepare them for eternity, for the glory of His eternal realm.

And so, we have this womb. Today, of course, we have transgenderism. They’re trying to take away their wombs and use these blockers and these hormones to wipe out who they are. This is the “shuddering” evil. We must constantly remind our daughters who they are and the glorious privilege of how God created us.

Then we have breasts, nurturing breasts, to nurture a babe at our breast. Such a powerful, beautiful thing, so glorious.

But not only do we have this physically, we have it innately. God didn’t only put it there physically.

The womb, the womb in the Word of God does not only speak of the same thing. There are four different Hebrew words for a “womb.” Sometimes they speak of the literal womb, and then the same word is used to speak of God’s compassion and His mercy. The womb is the revealer and the very seat of our emotions and our compassion.

The breast, oh, the breast speaks of nurturing. The word “breast” is the word that means “to give nurture.” God Himself is El Shaddai, “The Breasted One.” From our very physical being, we physically, but not only physically, we show forth the image of God. Through our womb we show forth His compassion and His mercies. From our breasts we show forth His nurturing heart. We have this privilege and our daughters must know who they are.

OK, time has gone. We’ll have to finish, and that means we’ve got another session yet on this series. So, we’ll do that next week.

“Dear Father, we come to You again at the end of this podcast, thanking You always for Who You are, for who You created us to be. Thank You for the great privilege of being women. Thank You, Lord, that by Your design You created us to be women. It is as women we will fulfill the destiny that You have for us. No other way of destiny will be fulfilled as a woman, because that’s who You created us to be.

“I pray for these lovely mothers listening here, Father, that You will encourage them again, and help them to embrace again their glorious role of mothering. For all the precious daughters listening, Lord, I pray for them, oh God, that they will also understand the glory that You created them to be, and their highest purpose that You have given them.

And that they will also be those who will not be the normal person, not be the one who just shallowly reads God’s Word from time to time, but that they will be seekers after You. Oh God, who will be seekers after Your truth, who will prepare themselves to have the Word so diligently filling their hearts and their lives, so that they will be prepared for all You have for them in the future. I ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell”

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 304: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 6

In this session we talk about raising daughters—daughters who are trained and fit for a palace! 

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We are back to our series, “Is There a Better Word Than “Kids”?” And we’re up to Part 6. When I start a series, it seems to linger on, doesn’t it? We actually interposed this with a couple of sessions when I interviewed Rebecca Lavrenz.

I would like to update you today about what happened with Rebecca. She has been up in Washington DC with her trial. Today was the ninth day of her trial. Imagine, nine whole days, for just a little great-grandmother. All she did was walk into the Capitol on January 6, 2021, following others, because the doors were open. She walked around. She prayed, and then felt she had accomplished her purpose after praying and walked out. She was there about ten minutes.

Now she has been accused of quite a number of charges, which are quite erroneous. They have deliberated for all these days. Now, on the ninth day, she says here, just got her email now.

“I am in utter disbelief by today’s verdict. Never in my life did I imagine that my own government would charge me as a criminal for exercising my religious liberties and rights to free speech, which are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“They are trying to stop our voices, put fear in our hearts, and take away the inalienable rights given to us by God. But I will not let this happen to this praying great-grandmother as long as I have breath. I have never considered myself a victim, and I’m not about to start now. I’m taking a deep breath, finding a place to rest for the night as we head back to Colorado. Then we will spend extra time with God to find out His plan for what’s next. They will be having the sentencing on August 12.”

We must still keep praying for Rebecca. This is just so amazing what is happening in our country. Dear ladies, those of you who are here in America (many of you are listening from around the world of course). But please pray. I don’t think many people realize just where we are at in this country and how it is going down this communistic tube of destruction.

We have a dear friend who is part of our fellowship here, who is from Venezuela. He fled Venezuela before it became communist. He was seeing then in Venezuela the things that we are seeing happening here now. Even fleeing Venezuela was not enough. He has still been harassed by them, even here in the States.

Keep praying. I trust that you are praying daily, morning and evening, with your families, crying out to God for this nation. Oh, that God will turn us back to our country’s origin, its foundation, and how our forefathers established this nation.

At the moment, I’m reading the book “THE AMERICAN COVENANT” (The Untold Story) by Marshall Foster. by Oh, to read about our Founding Fathers and how godly they were and how they established this nation. We have come so far away. But we can always return. It happens by prayer, and seeking God, and turning from our wicked ways. Amen?

Well, ladies, I’ve got 20 words that God uses in His Word about our children. Today is . . .

No. 17. PRINCESSES

When I was talking to you last on this subject, we talked about our sons being princes, “princes in all the earth.” Today we’re talking about our daughters being princesses.

1. 1)    THE PIVOT

This is the Scripture. Psalm 144:12: “That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” I have six points here that we will find in that one little sentence. They’re all starting with “P.” Actually, this first one really doesn’t start with “P,” but I found a “P” to make sure I would have six “P’s,” because I didn’t want to have one that was different!

The real word I am going to talk about here is “CORNERSTONES.” The cornerstone is the first stone that is laid in a building. Every other stone, or whatever materials are used, are placed from the very setting of that cornerstone. That is why Jesus is called “the chief Cornerstone,” because He is the cornerstone of the building of the church.

Let’s read that. Ephesians 2:19-22: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

It all hinges, and is founded on Jesus Christ and His Word, His sayings, Who He is. It’s built upon Him. He’s the chief cornerstone. But isn’t it amazing, ladies, that here the Bible calls our daughters “cornerstones”? I used the word “pivot” because the word “pivot” also means that on which something hinges. The pivot is at the very heart, and the head, and the foundation of something.

But the word here, of course, is “cornerstones.” The cornerstone is such a powerful thing. It speaks of many things. It speaks of stability and strength. The cornerstone represents the stability and strength of a building. I remember when Serene’s husband, Sam first started building. He found the remains of a little house. He picked them all up and came out here to the land where we all are. He decided to put it together, to build their first little house.

Well, he had never built in his life! But he went ahead and did it. Today he is a great builder. Everywhere you go, there’s something Sam is building, or directing the building of. But back then, it was all trial and error. He started off with the cornerstone, the first corner. Well, it wasn’t quite in alignment, so it was the funniest house! It was always out of alignment. We would just look at that cornerstone where he started. It would go up one side. It just wasn’t in alignment. It showed how important it is to have the cornerstone perfect.

The cornerstone also speaks of alignment and orientation. Builders carefully position the cornerstone, to align it with the cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. Symbolically, it signifies alignment with purpose and value and principle. Yes, this is what raising our daughters is all about, mothers.

A cornerstone symbolizes a historical marker. They often put inscriptions on cornerstones that include dates, names, and events relating to the building’s beginning. These historical markers are preserving memories, and commemorating important moments. It symbolically means the continuity and the legacy of a family.

It also speaks of unity and connection. At the point where intersecting walls meet, the cornerstone unites different elements of the building. It symbolizes unity and the coming together of all the different parts to create a harmonious whole.

Let’s think of who our children are. When God calls them “cornerstones,” He is not just saying something flippantly. No, they are cornerstones, ladies. We, as a mother, are a cornerstone in the home. We are the very foundation of our home as we build it and grow it a building unto God. Therefore, the foundation must be right.

We must be founding our home and establishing our home on a right foundation, the foundation of truth, the foundation of what God says. That is the cornerstone, the foundation of what God says. We’re training our children in these truths. It’s not something we can flippantly pass by ladies. We’ve got to be a cornerstone and train our children, specifically our daughters, God is saying here, to be the cornerstones. They’re the cornerstones of the home.

This is interesting. You’ll remember when I was talking about how our sons are like plants, growing up in their youth, growing up into mighty oaks. What are they represented by? They’re represented by plants, growing up into a tree. Where do you find a tree? You will find it outside. The tree grows outside.

Even there, we have the picture of the male being the one who goes forth to provide for the family. He goes outside the home. He’s the one who brings that back to the home which is needed. He’s the provider, and the protector, and the priest of the home. But the cornerstones are inside the home. We’ll see that more as we go on.

               2) And we have a “P.” Our daughters are a PATTERN

Where do I get the word “pattern”? From this same Scripture, “that our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude.” That’s the King James language. “After the similitude of a palace.” But the word means “pattern.”

It is the Hebrew word tabniyth, meaning “a model for a building, a structure, a pattern, a plan, an example.” We see the same Hebrew word used in other Scriptures. In Exodus 25:9, it’s speaking to Moses, how he had to build everything after the pattern of the tabernacle.

2 Kings 16:10: “King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion,” (that’s the tabniyth, the pattern) “of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.”

1 Chronicles 28:11: “Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof,” and many other things. “And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit.”

Here we see, ladies, that we, as the example, are a pattern for our daughters. God wants our daughters to grow up knowing the pattern for the home. Today, so many young girls are pushed into college, and pushed into careers, great ideas of careers that the parents have for their daughters, but we don’t see that in the Word of God.

The pattern is for the woman to be in the home. That doesn’t mean she’s in the home every second of her life. No, she will go out, of course, and often do wondrous things. But her foundation, the base of where she is, is the home. As she marries, her home is her palace; her home is her kingdom. The home is her vision. Her home is her heart, where she lives and raises her children, and begins to build a godly home that impacts the nation.

God has given the pattern. He’s given that pattern in Titus 2:3-5, where it talks about the woman being the “keeper of the home.”

We see that also in Psalm 128:3: “Your wife is like a fruitful vine within the heart of your home. Look at all those children, sitting around the table.” Another beautiful picture of the mother being in the heart of the home.

Another interesting thing about this Hebrew word tabniyth is that it comes from the root word “to build,” That word is banah, “to build.” The first time that word banah is ever mentioned, ladies, is in Genesis, when God formed the woman. It’s very interesting.

Actually, I was wrong, because God didn’t form the woman. God formed the man. Let’s see it here. Genesis 2:7: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

But when it comes to the creation of the woman, it doesn’t say that He formed her. He uses a completely different word. We go to Genesis 2:22: “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman” the word is banah, “builded he a woman.”

The first time the word “build” is used is in relation to women. You’d think that would be to men, wouldn’t you? They’re the ones who build houses and build cities. Oh, no. It’s to women. We, as women, are builders.

What does Proverbs 14:1 say? “Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

This word here, about our daughters, is also from the root word “build.” Isn’t that interesting? Yes. God wants our daughters to have the pattern of the building because they are going to be building a home. This is the biggest thing, that we prepare and train our daughters for, dear ladies, for the building of their home. We are preparing our daughters, but not for a career.

Oh yes, they may go on mission trips. They may get into some kind of thing before they are married because you don’t know when you are going to be married, but they’re ultimately preparing for their ultimate career which is to build a home. That is the greatest thing in God’s eyes. Here He brings this word into this Scripture to our daughters, that they will have the pattern for the building. Amen? Are you getting it, ladies? Oh, isn’t there so much in the Word? We can just read it, and gloss over it, and don’t realize.

Now we get on to . . .

1. 3)    Our daughters are to be fashioned for a PALACE

Another “P.” We don’t actually see the word “palace,” or do we? Psalm 144. Yes! Here it is! We’ve got “palace” right here in the King James! Yes, “that our daughters may be as cornerstones polished after the similitude” (that’s the pattern. We’ve got “polished,” and “pattern.” We haven’t talked about “polished” yet.) “Pattern of a palace.” Yes, a PALACE!

He’s not even talking about a house! He’s talking about a palace. He wants to raise our sights, dear precious ladies! Dear mothers, we have to raise our sights, even for ourselves. We’re doing more than building a home.

We are building a palace for God’s kingdom!

You see, we belong to a royal kingdom. God’s kingdom is a kingdom. Therefore, we belong to this royal kingdom. We’ve been brought into this kingdom. It’s a royal kingdom.

Some other translations say:

The Berean Study Bible: “Our daughters, like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace.”

The Passion Translation: “Our daughters, with graceful beauty, royally fashioned as for a palace.”

The New English Translation: “Carved in the pattern of a palace.”

You see, ladies, our daughters are designed for royalty. What does it mean to live like royalty? Well, we’re going to live in the palaces of God’s kingdom. We’re going to make our homes like palaces. That doesn’t mean you have to have this, although in the natural, a palace is usually a glorious building, but when we take it to the reality here in our lives, our palace may not necessarily be this great building or flashy building.

It may be just the most little humble home, but a little humble home can be a palace if it’s filled with the Presence of God and it’s being built on the pattern of God’s truth. That’s what makes it a palace, dear mothers. So, don’t be downcast if you don’t live in a great palace. It doesn’t matter where you live. You can make it like a palace.

Now my husband has always loved palaces. He loves big houses and big palaces. When we went to Scotland last year, he just loved going to all the Campbell palaces. We had been to Castle Campbell, just north of Edinburgh. We had been there a few times.

The first time we went there, my husband came to the gatekeeper and said, “I’m home!” The guy looked at him a little aghast. He said, “Well, my name is Colin Campbell,” who was the originator of the Campbells. The guy looked at him a little strangely, and said, “Oh well, I’ll let you in for half price.”

This time we went to Scotland, we went to the main castle, which is still being lived in by the current Campbell, who had originated from right down the line. It was so amazing, just an amazing building. Then we went to a couple of other places. They weren’t actually known as castles, but they were like palaces. We found out that they were also owned by Campbells.

OK, so much for great ornate buildings and palaces. The main thing is that we are building our homes on the pattern of God’s truths, and filling them with the presence of God, and training our daughters to be like royalty, as we are training our sons “to be princes in all the earth.” What does this look like, ladies? How do we train them to be like royalty?

Do we train them to speak like royalty? I think how we speak is very, very important. It actually opens up doors for our children, as they grow into adults, if they know how to speak. If they don’t know how to speak properly, they can be very brilliant, very intelligent, but really, how can they get anything across?

Do encourage your children to speak clearly. If they’re speaking fast and rapidly, and nobody can understand what they’re saying (Oh yes, you will. Mothers always understand what their children are saying). But think of other people who are listening. Are they understanding?

I don’t understand a lot of what young people are saying today. Well, I am getting deaf. I have to admit that. Forgive me. But I can understand those who stand in front of me with an open face and speak clearly. I can understand them perfectly well.

But those who mumble and talk so fast, oh, and then sometimes, oh, forgive me ladies, but I hate to see it. You’ll ask them a question, and they’ll just say, “Yeah.” And then as they open their mouth, they don’t even know how to say, “Yes, thank you,” properly. They’ll just say, “Yeah,” and then you see the green chewing gum bopping all around their mouth. Often, I just want to vomit! Ooh! It’s so revolting.

How are we training our children? Are we training them for royalty? And what it means to go out in society and act with dignity? And like royalty? We just can’t let them get away with some common kind of speech, or common kind of way. No, let’s teach them to act like royalty.

Do we teach them to dress like royalty? Not so today. It’s amazing, isn’t it, ladies, how we fall into the groove? Oh, it’s so easy to fall into the groove. That’s why we started off this series about how we’ve all fallen into the groove, calling our children “kids.” And why do we do that? Because that’s what society does. It’s not what the Bible calls them.

Now we’re up to this point. And we fall into the groove of dressing our children. Most little ones, even from little toddlers, how are their mothers dressing them? They’re dressing them in jeans and tops. Do they realize what they’re doing? That they’re starting their children off on a pattern. You see, we have got to be training our daughters according to the pattern that is the Word in Psalm 144:12. Are you getting it?

According to the pattern. What kind of a pattern? The pattern of a palace. Dear ladies, often we forget this. We’re establishing our darling little ones on a pattern, a pattern, that oh! You just wear pants. That’s how girls dress. No, God wants there to be a difference between male and female. We are living in a transgender society because there has been no distinction for so many years of the dress of male and female. Little by little, the standard gets lower and lower and lower.

But God’s standard is for there to be a marked difference between the male and the female. The Bible talks about that, that the man should not dress like the woman, or the woman like the man. It is an “abomination” the Bible says in Deuteronomy 22:5. If we are preparing them for royalty, we’re training them, preparing them after the pattern, we will be showing them that they’re to dress like little girls.

Yes, not at times, of course, when you’re doing certain things. You will need to wear pants. OK, when you’re taking them horse riding or something like that. But when they’re going out, you’re going to teach them that they’re female. God created them female. Teach them how to dress as a female. Of course, I hope that you are showing an example yourself. You can’t teach what you are not doing yourself.

I find too, in this dressing business, the dressing affects even the way we sit. We do have to teach our daughters how to sit correctly. I see so many girls, and no, not even girls! Sadly, I see women sitting with their legs apart! Sitting like a man! Help! Help!

Women are meant to sit with their legs together. They can cross their ankles. They can do that. They’re not meant to cross their legs like a man does where he puts one leg over his thigh. That’s the way a man sits. And yet today, I see girls and mothers sitting like that! That is man-like. Manly. We are not males. We are females. Dear ladies, we must show our daughters how to be females. How to speak, how to act, how to dress, how to sit.

I think the reason is that so many do sit with their legs in these ways, they sit with their legs apart, is that you can’t do that when you’ve got a dress on! Woo! It doesn’t work. But when you’ve got jeans on, pants on, you can sit like that and get away with it, although it looks ugly and man-like. You can’t cross your legs like a man with a dress. They do with jeans. That’s what they’re wearing, so that’s why they begin to act like a man because they’ve starting dressing like a man.

It is time that we reversed and turned back to God’s ways, to His Word, to His Truth! Dear ladies, I’m not even being legal. I’m trying to teach you God’s heart, and His Word, and how God holds us, the mothers, responsible as to how we train our sons, and as to how we train our daughters. It will be different for each one. We must train our daughters after the pattern of a palace. We lift them up to royalty, dear precious mothers.

What about etiquette? Are you training your daughters in etiquette? Do they know the true etiquette of how to sit at a table, how to set a table, what do to do when they go to a function? Etiquette goes into all aspects of life. There is an etiquette that so many young people don’t even have a clue about today because even their mothers don’t have a clue about it!

I did do some podcasts on this subject, if you didn’t hear them. When I was doing the series, “Mothers are Transmitters of God’s Truths to the Next Generation.” Podcasts 253 up to 257 were all about etiquette. You can relisten to those if you would like to be encouraged in that way.

So, lovely, precious moms, let’s remind our daughters that they’re royalty. They belong to a royal kingdom, the greatest kingdom of all kingdoms. They belong to the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. They do not act like the ordinary young person of today. They are set apart as royalty.

1. 4)    Our daughters are to be POLISHED

What does it say? “Polished after the pattern of a palace.” In the palace, they have pillars. These pillars were always made from highly polished marble. They didn’t just put any kind of pillar in a palace. Oh no! They didn’t just get some old bit of wood and stick it up to hold up the building.

No, it was often made from marble, and they would polish them, and polish them until they were polished to a degree of brilliance. This is also our task, as we are polishing our beautiful daughters, and polishing them in godly character, in the graces of the Lord. Amen ?

1. 5)    Our daughters are to be like PILLARS in a palace

Here we get the word “pillars.” I am getting to the end of our time. I can’t believe this! Wow, let me just give you the Scriptures. Maybe I’ll have to talk on it next time. It doesn’t say “pillars” in our King James version. It talks about cornerstones. But in many other translations, it calls them “pillars.” I’ll give you a few.

The Living Bible: “Daughters of graceful beauty, like the pillars of a palace wall.”

New American Bible: “Our daughters like carved columns, shapely as those of the temple.”

Vine’s Translation: “Our daughters like upright pillars, fine wrought for a palace.”

The Good News Bible: “May our daughters be like stately pillars, which adorn the corners of a palace.”

Well, I can’t believe it, ladies. Our time has gone. We’ll talk, because there’s quite a bit about pillars that we need to think about as we are training our daughters. We’ll talk about that next time.

Love you all, wherever you are, whatever country you are in. Hope I’ll get to your country someday, to meet you and speak with you there. We’re hoping, toward the end of this year, to get to continental Europe. I think we’re planning on Hungary and other countries, as the Lord directs, if it is the Lord’s will.

For those here in the USA, keep praying for dear Rebecca, won’t you? Be blessed today, dear mothers. You are in the most amazing career of the whole, oh, the whole land. There’s no greater career than motherhood. When you think of how you’re raising princes in all the earth, and you’re raising your daughters, oh, after the pattern of a palace, it’s just too amazing. Raise them to be royalty.

“Lord, I pray for these precious mothers today. I pray that You will give them such wisdom. Help them to seek after Your truths, that, Lord, they won’t just train their children according to the pattern of this world. Oh God, it’s so easy to get hooked up on the pattern of this world! That everything we do is according to the pattern of Your Word! I pray that You’ll help them to be seekers after Your Word, Lord God, to know the truth with all their hearts, and to train their beautiful daughters in it, Lord God.

“And for all the daughters listening today, and in the families, I pray for them. I pray that You’ll give them hearts to be the daughters that You want them to be, these beautiful daughters who are polished, and who are like the pattern of a palace, who are fit for a palace. Oh, Lord, I pray that their whole vision will be lifted up to know who they are. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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EPISODE 303: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 5

Do you have sons? Today we talk about raising princes for God. We also look into God’s word to see some of the great things that were accomplished by young men in their teens.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Good to be with you again. We are still on our series, “Is There a Better Word Than Kids?” And now, we are up to Part 5. I can’t believe that we’re doing so many on this series. I wonder if you have already kicked the habit. I hope you’re still not using the word “kids” after all this time.

Well, I got some news last night. We had another great-grandbaby born into the family. Always so exciting! Cherish and Ben gave birth to another little baby boy. They have Legacy, and now they have Jace. She had a beautiful birth. This little baby is 6 lbs. 13 oz. It was just a lovely little baby.

Who is Cherish? To remind you, Cherish is one of Serene’s daughters. She is married to Ben. They are such a precious couple.

So, we are going to continue talking about all the words that God calls our children. We’re up to number 16! Remember? I’ve got 20 different words that God calls our children. It’s good for us to know these words.

Of course, you will use your own lovely words, and endearing words that you have for your children, but eliminating the word “kids.” We found that that’s really a very humanistic word. The goat company are not really God’s company. It’s the sheep company that belongs to God. So, if you didn’t hear the first session on this one, go back and listen to that.

We are currently on . . .

No. 16. GOD’S CALLS OUR SONS PRINCES

God calls our children, well, specifically our sons, He calls them “princes.” I love that word. If you have sons, dear mother, you are raising princes, young men who belong to the kingdom of God, who belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They belong to royalty.

Psalm 45:16: “Instead of thy fathers, shall be thy children, whom thy mayest make princes in all the earth.” Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that a wonderful vision? To be making princes for God?

As we look into this word “princes” in the Hebrew, it’s the Hebrew word sar. It has a number of meanings. We found out that it means “to be the head. It means to be the ruler.” Now we’re carrying on again.

Thirdly, sar mean TO BE A MASTER

It also means to be a master. God wants our children to be those who can master their lives, who can master their feelings. Yes, our children have feelings, and we need to, as parents, discern when they need ministering. [Talking to children who are whispering among themselves.]

As we are raising princes, God wants us to teach them to be masters of their emotions. Of course, we know that children have all their little emotions. As parents, we have to discern when we need to minister to their emotions. But also, when we see that they’re being led away by their feelings, because as they’re growing, they can very easily get into habits, habits of whining, and grumbling, and always being unhappy about something.

Those are negative feelings. Many times they’re not something that really needs to be ministered to. They need to be dealt with. We need to teach our children that they have to be masters of their feelings. They don’t have to give into whining and pouting and grumbling and feeling sorry for themselves all the time. No! We’ve got to teach them how to put a smile on their face, because as they grow, and as they get older, life will never be perfect. It’s not even perfect as a child. It’s not going to be perfect when we’re an adult.

We have to learn to be master over our feelings, unless it is something, of course, that we understand, and know that we need to minister to them, and love them, and pray with them. But many things are just bad habits. We don’t want them to get into these bad habits that they keep carrying with them into life, because remember, mothers, we are raising, yes, we’re raising our sons to be princes. Then we’re going to talk about raising our daughters to be princesses. But we are also raising our children for marriage.

Dear ladies, remember you are preparing your children for their marriage one day. They’re either going to either have a successful marriage or they will have an unsuccessful one if they go into marriage with all these habits of moodiness, and whining, and self-pity. We don’t want them to do that. We want them to be young children, even growing up in their youth.

Remember, I think we’ve talked about this. In Psalm 144, it talks about our sons being as “plants grown up in their youth.” That even in their youth, they’re learning to master their emotions, growing into young men. We teach them to put a smile on their face, instead of having a grumpy face. We don’t want children to go round with a grumpy face! That’s not the prince!

No, so we teach them to put a smile on their face instead, and to be master of all their fickle feelings. Even in our own lives, we know, don’t we, that feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are not the reality. They’re not the truth. They’re just how we feel. We have to learn to live by the truth. Amen?

Fourthly, sar means TO BE A LEADER

This word sar also means to be a leader. That is a person of princely character. It’s not one who’s easily led to follow others, especially in devious and evil ways. No, they are a leader who is one who knows how to, as we’ve been talking, to be master of their own life, and who can also lead others.

That’s why we have to continually impart God’s truth into our children, into our sons, so that they’re strong in truth. When someone is strong in truth, the truth is really there in them, not just on the outside. They may read the Bible, but that’s not enough. It’s got to get into them. Then they’re not going to be led away and led astray. But they will be those who lead others. That is a princely characteristic.

Fifthly, sar means TO BE A NOBLEMAN

That also means a prince. We are training our children and our sons to realize that they belong to royalty. I wonder if we realize ourselves that we belong to royalty. I think we often forget that don’t we?

It talks about this in 1 Peter 2 that we are a royal priesthood. We’ve been brought into a royal kingdom. God’s kingdom is the highest kingdom in heaven and in earth! Any person who is part of a royal kingdom learns how to live as royalty. But we have been brought into the greatest and highest of all kingdoms.

Therefore, we need to have that sense and that awe about us that we belong to royalty. We’re going to train our sons to act like princes and to act like royalty. They need to be true representatives of the King of Kings, and have about them a heavenly aristocracy, because they belong to God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Amen?

And lastly, this word sar, which has so many meanings, also means TO BE A PRIEST

We also know that back in the tabernacle days, and the temple days, God had priests to attend to the sacrifices, and to the altars. But now, He has made us all kings and priests unto God. You are a priest. I am a priest. We’re training our children to be priests unto God, because that’s what He said. “You are now kings and priests unto God.”

That is so amazing. There are so many Scriptures that we read that I think we don’t really take them in. We don’t really embrace the truth of them. I know I don’t! And yet I long to come into the truth of all that God has said. Even to take this phrase, “You are now kings,” kings, that means we’re royalty, “and priests unto God.”

Back in the Old Testament, the priests actually served on the behalf of God. They interceded for the people, and they prayed for them. They also ministered to the people. They attended the sacrifices at the altars. When we are teaching our sons to be priests of the home. One day when they have established their own home, they will be a priest of their home. They will be leading their family in the ways of God. We are preparing them now to do that.

I think a lovely thing we can do as our sons are getting a little older, and they’re now learning to read the Word of God on their own. They’re coming to a good age of understanding so that at the family meal table we can sometimes give them an opportunity. You can say, “Bobby, I want you, when you come to the table tonight, to bring a Scripture that God has been speaking to you about. You can read it to us and tell us why it means so much to you, or what God is saying to you about this Scripture.” That’s wonderful training for your sons.

I wonder how many sons you have. You can give them all their turn at doing this. This is important. You are training them to one day be a priest of their home. Then perhaps if you have older sons who are in their late teens, but they’re still at home, maybe there are times when your husband is not home to take the family devotions and read the Word of God to the family. Well, then, you can give that opportunity to your oldest sons, older son or sons, plural, who can have turns.

I think it’s important for them to have this opportunity, to learn how to lead their family, how to read the Word of God to their family, how to conduct a family altar. Because the sad thing is, that today, many, many families don’t have family altars. The reason is because most times the father of the home doesn’t really know how to go about it.

And why? Because it never happened in his home. He’s not used to it. He doesn’t really understand what to do. How do you do something that you’ve never seen done? So, it’s very important that we’re raising a generation who will, when they establish their homes, will establish the family altar, the bringing together of the family to read the Word and pray. That they’ll establish it in their home.

Of course, if they’ve had the example in their home, they should be ready. But it would be good even for them to have the opportunity. That can happen when the husband is away or cannot be there. If you don’t have sons, of course, you can then do it yourself on your husband’s behalf. But that’s a wonderful thing that you can do.

Of course, at our family devotions, we’re teaching our sons to be priests, and our daughters, because we’re all priests, actually. God is talking about all the saints when He says you are all kings and priests unto God. One of the main things of the priests was interceding on behalf of the people. That is prayer. We’re teaching our sons how to pray, so that prayer is part of their lives. It’s so familiar. It’s just like breathing. They grow up praying, so they grow up into their own marriage, bringing this into their own marriage, and being true priests unto the Lord.

We are doing this as we’re preparing our princes. Oh, I hope you’re getting a revelation of this, precious mothers, to raise princes. It says, “princes in all the earth.” We go back to 1 Chronicles 12. We read here about the young men of Israel. They weren’t only raising ones and twos. They were raising thousands of young men who were princes in all of Israel, and princes in all of the earth.

Let’s read about some of them, shall we? You can go back to 1 Chronicles 12 and read more. But it says here:

“The children of Judah ready armed to the war.” How many of them? One or two? No! 6,800!

Isn’t that amazing? These were young men who were ready. They were ready. Did you get that, dear mothers? They were ready, and they were armed to war. They had been trained, and they were prepared for war.

We are all in a war. We’re fighting against the kingdom of darkness. There is such a fight between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. We’re facing it in our nation at this moment. We will face it in our own lives. Every one of the children will. We need to teach them how to fight against the enemy, and the weapons that we have against the enemy. The weapon of prayer, the weapon of the Word of God.

That’s how Jesus came against the devil. Each time the devil came to Him, He said: “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4.) The Word of God is a weapon against the enemy. When we confess out loud the Word of God, the devil runs! When we begin to pray against the enemy, he flees. And so, we have these weapons of war that we are teaching our children.

Here were young men who were ready. They were ready. It is so sad that there are many young people today who are not ready to face the war. They’re not even ready or prepared for marriage.

“The children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the war, 7,100.

The children of Zebulun. Such as went forth to battle, expert in war, which could keep rank. They were not of a double heart, 50,000 of them.

The children of Dan, expert in war, 28,000.

The children of Asher, expert in war, 40,000.”

And so it goes on. Thousands of them. They were raised to be mighty young men who were ready.

This is talking about young men. Young men. The ages of 13 to 18 are usually considered the time of adolescence. In our society today, that age, 13 to 18, is often a time of what we all call teenagers. Just on social media, on their video games, hanging out. They’re just being teenagers.

Did you know that the word “teenagers” is not in the Bible? It’s not even in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary. They didn’t even have it back then. It has been added in later times to accommodate a time frame when many young people waste their time.

We know that in Israel, they have their bar mitzvah. When a young boy turns 12 years, actually 13 years of age for a young man, they have their bar mitzvah. It’s coming from childhood into adulthood. They become more under the tutelage of their father who is training them for maturity, and for adulthood. Then the daughters of the age of 12 have their bat mitzvah, where they are coming from childhood to be a beautiful young woman.

Let me give you some examples in the Bible, shall I, of some of these young men.

What about JOSEPH? Most Bible commentators say that he was only about 17 years of age when he was torn from his family and sold as a slave in Egypt. Imagine, just a young man, torn from his family, whom he loved—his father, whom he loved.

But he was a young man who was ready because he stood strong in faith. He stood strong in truth. He was strong in his character. Even though continually even worse things happened to him, he never caved in. He stood strong. Remember, he was brought into Potiphar’s house to work for Potiphar. Because of the character of this young man, everything he did was blessed. The whole of Potiphar’s house was blessed because of Joseph.

But then we know how Potiphar’s wife thought this young man was really cool. She tried to intimidate him sexually. But of course, he ran from her. His clothes tore, and she had some of his clothing. She turned it on him and blamed him, that he was after her. Of course, then he was thrown into prison.

Well, help! He’s taken away from his family. Now he’s thrown in prison. Did he just curl up in a ball, feeling sorry for himself, and that’s the end of his life? No. No. Then he began to become the one who was looking after everything in the prison! Wherever he was, he prospered, because of who he was, even as a young man. We know the story of how eventually, because of the dreams of the butler and baker, he came out of the prison and became next to Pharoah in the land. But he started just as a young man.

What about DAVID? Most commentators say he was only about 17 years of age when he took on that giant. There were all the others in the army scared stiff, but he was a young man, a young man, a prince in Israel. He was “but a youth” the Bible says, but a youth. The word is naar, meaning “the age of infancy to adolescence.” It’s usually those ages of about 13 to 18. Adolescence, the state of juvenility. So, he was but a youth.

And yet, we see him taking on a giant! I love these words that this young man said. Just think of it! OK, you may have young sons, maybe 15, 16, 17, 18. Can you imagine them taking on a giant, and speaking out these words?

“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. This day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air, and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

Wow! That’s a young man who knows God. He knows His God. He knows he can trust God. He’s not even afraid of the enemy because he knows His God is bigger. This young man was trained and ready to face the battles of life.

What about SOLOMON? David’s son, who was chosen to be king. Once again, most commentators say that he was about 20 years of age when he began to reign over all of Israel. Josephus, who was the great Jewish historian, puts his age at only 14 years of age. His father David called him “young and tender.” So, we know that he was young.

Yet isn’t it amazing? I have to confess that I often just thought in my brain of wise old Solomon. Oh, goodness me, and how God came to him and said, “What do you want?” Solomon said, “All I want is that I can have wisdom to lead these people.” Because he didn’t ask for riches, God gave him riches.

But when God came to him, do you know that was right at the very beginning of his reign, when he was a young man? It was as a young man that he answered the Lord, “I don’t want riches, oh God. I just want to have a hearing heart, to hear Your voice, and to have wisdom to rule Your people.” He began to reign over the biggest kingdom in the earth at that time, just this young man.

OK, what about JOSIAH? Josiah became king at only eight years of age. But then, he had one of the priests who was looking after him and guiding him. Then the Bible tells us, at 16 years of age, still a young man, just a youth, he began to seek God with all his heart. Then, at 20 years of age, still a young man, you want to know what happened?

It tells us in 2 Chronicles 34:3: “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,” (that’s when he was 16 years of age) “he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year,” (when he was only 20 years of age)“he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.” And so it goes on.

If you want to read chapter 34, you’ve never read anything like it. It was the biggest revival in the whole history of Israel and Judah when he got rid of every evil thing and totally cleansed and purged the land! It was unbelievable! He was only 20 years of age.

I think in our society today, we have put such a low estimation on our young sons. We’re thinking, “Well, one day they’ll grow up, but they’re just in their teenage years. Let them get on their social media and waste their lives.” No! These are the years that they are meant to be growing up into maturity! And they can do great feats. All these ones that I’ve been sharing with you, they did great feats for God in their teens!

JEROBOAM, 1 Kings 11:28 tell us about him. “And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man,” (he was but a youth) “that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.” And yet he was a young man.

What about ZADOK? 1 Chronicles 12:28. You all know we have a grandson called Zadok. The word zadok means “turning many to righteousness.” Zadok, from a little boy, has always known the meaning of his name. It’s been so implanted into him that that has been his life, from a little child, even to this day. At over 30 years of age, he’s always leading many to righteousness. But this young man in the Bible was called “a young man, mighty of valor.”

What about DANIEL AND HIS THREE FRIENDS? I’m always amazed when Bible commentators say that Daniel and his friends would only have been between 11 and 15 years of age! Wow! We think of Daniel as an old man, too, don’t we? Well, he did become an old man as he lived in Babylon. Some of the stories about him are when he became older.

But at the very beginning, when they first went to Babylon, Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, had to come before the Babylonian king. They were meant to be trained in all the ways of Babylon and brainwashed with their deceptions and their false gods. And yet, somehow, in the midst of all that, Daniel stood true. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood true. They never, ever bowed. They never bowed.

In fact, here we are today. We’re talking about them. We read about them in God’s Word, and yet, all the other young men that came to Babylon with them, we don’t ever read about them again. We never hear another name, but we hear the names of those young men, because even at a young age, they stood strong for God.

Oh, wow! I can’t believe this session is going so quickly! Just one or two things.

What about the DISCIPLES? We think of them as old men too, don’t we? We see pictures of them with their long beards and so on. But no. No, they were actually young teens as well. Maybe from even 13 to 20 years of age.

We know that Peter was at least 20 because back in Israel, every male over 20 had to pay the tax. It was half a shekel. Remember when Jesus said to Peter, “Go down to the fish, and you’ll find a shekel there to pay the taxes for you and Me.” It was only for Jesus, only for Peter, because all the others were under 20 year of age.

Back then, they matured very early. They were trained for maturity and adulthood. They were well educated at a young age. Often by 13 or 15, they could recite the whole of the Torah, which is the first five books of the Old Testament. At about that age, they would either then apprentice with their father in the family business, or they would go and be with a rabbi, and have further learning as the disciples did. Jesus called them.

A rabbi couldn’t be a rabbi until he was 30 years of age and then he would gather young disciples around him. This was what Jesus did. He gathered these young disciples. And yet these young disciples went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere. They were young men! Isn’t that amazing?

Just one little thing as we close this session. Wow! Still got so much more to share with you on this subject. But I just wanted to share this as we’re talking about young people. We need to get with Bible language, because we read in Malachi 2:15 about “the wife of your youth.” It talks about getting married at a young age.

That word “youth” in the Hebrew is the word that means “a state of juvenility.” It was most probably late teens. We know that Peter was married. Then, it talks about the daughter having the “husband of her youth.” Once again, it’s youth (Proverbs 2:17 and Joel 1:8).

Then we read Psalm 127:4, where it talks about the “children of the youth.” It’s talking about the husband and “the wife of your youth,” and then “children of your youth.” Having children in your youth. This is Bible language. I know it’s different to our society today, but which are you going to go along with? Do we go along with the Bible, or with our humanistic society? I think I’ll stick with the Bible! Amen?

Well, we’ve got to close this session. I pray, dear lovely mothers, that you have got a vision today, to make your sons princes in all the earth, princes who belong to royalty. Get a vision of training your children and your sons for royalty. Let’s get with the truth! Let’s get with who God want us to be, and what He wants our children to be. Amen?

Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much again for your precious Word, that shows us the way. Lord God, I pray that You will give all these dear mothers listening today who have little sons, and middling sons, and big sons, that You’ll give them a vision, Lord, of making them princes in all the earth. Because this is Your Word, this is the vision You give to us.

“And Lord, this is what You are looking for, when You’re talking about marriage in Malachi 2. You’re saying, “What do I want from your marriage? I want a godly offspring.” You are looking for godly offspring, princes in all the earth, who will reveal Your glory and Your character, and Your royalty.

“So, we ask for this, Lord God, especially in this society and this hour of such deception. We pray for a new caliber of young men to rise up in our nation, young men who will rise up to maturity, even in their youth, like we’ve been reading about these young men of the Bible. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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