Even after God gave you what you prayed for.
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Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
The vision for Meat for Men — UNCOMPROMISING MANHOOD blog is to encourage husbands, fathers and single men in Biblical manhood.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
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“God has delivered our children's bodies, souls, thoughts, lives and futures into our hands. No persons can influence another's destiny more than parents can their children's. They can almost direct their children to heaven or to hell.”
~ Watchman Nee
Picture: On Dad's Shoulders by Mark Lague Oil ~ 12 x 6
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“So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.”~ John Quincy Adams
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"The people who know their God will be strong and take action"
Daniel 11:32 (HCSB).
Fathers and mothers . . .
We are raising families of strong, moral character.
We are raising families who are well-taught on all godly, moral values.
We are raising children and young people who know their Bibles and know how to pray.
We are raising children who know how to hold their heads up and their shoulders square in the face of all opposition to righteous standards.
We are training children who know how to resist temptations to be liars, cheats, compromisers, and lazy "good for nothings."
We are training children to be movers and shakers of all that is wholesome and righteous.
We are raising young people who are not afraid of devils and demonic forces of darkness who dare to roar against us.
We are raising families who know their God and who will be strong and do exploits.
We are raising families who have stickability, persistence, and pluck.
We are raising families who are learning how to fight in the battles of life, who will never quit, or throw in the towel.
The whole world needs fathers and mothers who will be prepared to sacrifice everything to make this happen.
COLIN CAMPBELL
Painting: Carlo Bertocci (1946, Italian).
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“I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet, But they said, We will not hearken” (Jeremiah 6:17).
Ezekiel 2:10 tells us how, despite all God’s goodness, Israel had become a very rebellious nation. Ezekiel was called of God to go to them and warn them of approaching judgment.
God called them . . .
1. “”A rebellious nation”
2. “Impudent children”
3. “Stiffhearted”
“And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them” (Ezekiel 2:5).
In Matthew 13:9-43 Jesus says the words over again: “Who that ears to hear, let him hear.”
Revelation 1:3: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
Revelation 2:7: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches . . .”
This church of Ephesus had left their first love and were in danger of having their candlestick removed. Jesus reminded them in 2:4, 5: “Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
We must all take heed to these words to the church at Ephesus: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Those who do hear will get to eat of the tree of life.
Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
Those who hear Jesus’ knocking voice and open the door to Him will be rewarded with the joy of daily fellowshipping and supping with him.
We must learn to hear with our outer ears as well as with our inner ears.
Revelation 13 is highly prophetically possible for us today. The name of the beast and the number of his name could be forced upon us through block chain technology, coupled with the vaccination program.
I am not into conspiracy theories. However, I do want my ears to be opened to the sound of God’s trumpets. I say trumpets (plural) because God is speaking through more than one trumpet today.
We must sharpen up our senses at this time so that we will be able to discern what the trumpets are saying.
Are the trumpets speaking the truth for this hour? We cannot allow our hearing senses to be dulled. This can easily happen through lack of use (Hebrews 5:13, 14).
Daily meditating on the truths of God’s word will greatly assist our ability to discern what the trumpets are saying in this hour.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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It’s time I got back to the series we are doing on WEAPONS OF WAR. In His Word, God calls His people by the names of different weapons of war and other things that are used in war.God calls you His BATTLE AXE (Jeremiah 51:20) which we have already discussed together. We will continue discussing more weapons of war in future posts.
Today we discuss the purpose of the TRUMPET in spiritual warfare.
Jeremiah 5:17: “I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.”
In Numbers 10:1-10 God speaks about the purposes for the trumpets.
1. CALLING OF THE ASSEMBLY
2. JOURNEYING OF THE CAMPS
3. AN ALARM FOR WAR
Numbers 10:1, 2: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.”
Verse 4 tells us that if the priests blow both trumpets, everyone in the whole camp of Israel had to gather at the entrance of the Tabernacle to hear what God had to say. It is very important for people to gather together in one place. God’s trumpet has been sounding (Hebrews 10:28) all through the lockdown of our nation to gather God’s people together. It has never stopped sounding.
If only one trumpet was blown, then only the leaders (the heads of the thousands of Israel) were to gather. It is important for leaders to gather together too, especially leaders over thousands in order to impart what God is saying to the nation.
One blow on the trumpet released the tribes on the east side to move forward. The second blow on the trumpet gave the signal for the south tribes to march forward.
All God’s people must be listening for the trumpet alarm to go forward. Going forward to unknown territory was often dangerous and they had to be ready to fight any sudden enemy attack.
The enemy has tried to stop the assembling of God’s people. Sadly, a lot of pastors quickly gave in. But the Lord’s trumpet never sounds retreat. It is always a “go forward” blast.
God uses His trumpeters to gather His people for the sake of the nation. The trumpets of God are sounding. We have seen many large gatherings in recent years calling God’s people to prayer and to take a strong stand against the evils of extreme anti-Christ socialism and the New World Order that would destroy our constitution with all its benefits, freedoms, and liberties. We are discovering that the swamp is far more evil than we ever imagined.
The sound to go to war was a long blast on the trumpet. The trumpet is sounding now to take us forward into battle against all the brazen wickedness in our land.
• Large scale destruction in our streets
• Large scale lying and fearmongering
• Large scale voter fraud
• Large scale demising of our police force
• Large scale fake media
• Large scale abortion
• Large scale halting of the freedom of speech (which is against our Constitution)
• Large scale transgenderism
• Large scale immorality and homosexual acceptance in our nation and even churches
• Large scale child trafficking (the most wicked of all wickedness which is happening in the high places and leadership of our nation)
• Large scale drug use
• Larges scale atheism and agnosticism in our schools of learning
• Large scale vaccination for which the underlying motive is depopulation, planned and plainly stated by Bill Gates
• Large scale corruption at our borders
• Large scale bribery of our politicians and courts to interfere with justice and judgment
However, God is sounding His trumpet.
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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Proverbs 28:1: "The righteous are as bold as a lion."God Himself is bold. He despises fear and cowardice. The nation desperately needs bold men and women who will raise bold children for our present and future battles against all that is godless and unrighteous. We must be bold enough to defy all our enemies right to their proud haughty faces.
1 Chronicles 12:8 tells us about some of David’s mighty men: "And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains."
These Gadites, whose faces had a lion-like look about them must have indeed been bold men. These mighty men came to help King David, but King Jesus, who is the heavenly David, is also looking for warriors to fight against evil.
Acts 4:13 tells us about the boldness of the disciples: "Now when they saw the BOLDNESS of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
In the face of persecution, Peter and John did not act like timid lambs or nervous mice. Their boldness caused their persecutors to marvel. They realized that the source of this boldness did not come from education, for they were "unlearned" men. They also understood that this boldness did not come from knowledge, for they were "ignorant" men. But they "took knowledge of them that they had BEEN WITH JESUS." This was the source of their boldness.
The more time we spend with Jesus, the bolder we will be. Their persecutors did not know that Jesus had just baptized His disciples with power from on high which turned the denying Peter into the bold confessor.
Great boldness to testify for Jesus in the face of hot persecution is the greatest evidence of our claim to be filled with the Spirit of God. Those who spend time with Jesus are the most likely to experience great boldness.
God is calling for bold men! Will you be one?
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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“From our homes will come the leaders of our country and of the world. A sound economic and social life and enduring world peace will be built from the materials our families supply. You must make every effort to develop the quality of your home life. If you cherish spiritual values, you will bind together domestic ties, for, as a parent, you play a leading part in rebuilding the ideals of a nation through its home and civic life. To a large degree, you form human character.”– Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik
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It takes men of backbone to speak the truth. Men who are wishbones wish that things were better. They wish they had the prosperity of past years. They wish God would answer their feeble prayers. They wish that someone else would speak up for them. But they themselves will not lift a finger or a toe to make a solid stand for truth.IT'S HIGH TIME FOR MEN WITH REAL BACKBONE TO SPEAK UP FOR TRUTH.
~ Colin Campbell
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"Giving up freedom lightly leads to the most heavy tyranny."
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The easy roads are crowded
And the level roads are jammed;
The pleasant little rivers
With the drifting folks are crammed.
But off yonder where it's rocky,
Where you get a better view,
You will find the ranks are thinning
And the travelers are few.
Where the going's smooth and pleasant
You will always find the throng,
For the many, more's the pity,
Seem to like to drift along.
But the steeps that call for courage,
And the task that's hard to do
In the end result in glory
For the never-wavering few.
~ Edgar Guest
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Men who do not have "spark" are bland and boring. Their eyes are dull and lifeless. They have no oomph in their personality or spring in their step.We know how bad it is when we keep pulling the rope to start the engine of the lawnmower but there is no spark. You feel like throwing the wrench at it! No woman should marry a man like this and no one should ever hire such a man.
Spark denotes life. As men get older, they tend to lose their spark and zest for life but I do not believe that it should be this way. Men should take all the corrective measures possible to stop themselves from oxidizing and getting rusty. We know that drugs, alcohol, and pornography can ruin a man's personality. Sitting around and living a sedentary lifestyle, coupled with laziness, and not showing initiative also take the spark out of a man.
Mountain climbers would never dream of taking a man without any spark on such a dangerous expedition. God wants men like Abraham and Caleb with lots of spark to climb His mountains.
Let’s be reminded again of Caleb’s confession: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come. Now therefore GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN” (Joshua 14:12, 12). This mountain was inhabited by giants, but he was ready to take them on at 85 years of age!
Remember, it only takes a few sparks to get a fire going. The best sparks come from Christians filled with the Holy Spirit. Reading God's Word and praying daily are an excellent cominbation to create sparks.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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Men, if we have no zeal, we are like gasoline without octane. What man wants to drive a car that has no "get up and go"? Come on! Sluggishness is something we men cannot stand when it comes to driving cars or working any kind of machinery, including computers.Some may think that zeal sounds a little fanatical, but the truth is that most of us could do with a bit more of it! Some, a lot more of it!
True zeal spurns compromise, especially when it comes to principles. Jesus acted with zealous fanaticism to cleanse the house of God. John 2:17 tells us that it was zeal that motivated his actions.
If it's okay for communists, socialists, progressives, and Islamics to be zealots, what about God’s people?
The Greek word for "zeal" is “zecos” meaning "heat, ardor, fervent mind." It's most important for us men to be zealous for our families, our homes, our principles, our work or career, and most important of all, our service to God. A man without zeal will tend to be overly casual. He will be a "moocher" Have you heard this word before? We use “mooching”in New Zealand and Australia for loitering about aimlessly.
A man lacking zeal is like trying to drag around a heavy weight. He has no spring in his step, no oomph in his personality, no twinkle in his eye, and no passion for anything. He is like a dead man walking. He is a bore to be around, a fire without heat, a drag on society. This is not the man being created into the image and likeness of God (Romans 8:29).
Let’s be men who are zealous for God and His kingdom.
Be encouraged,
Colin Campbell
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Who can tolerate a spineless man?
The nation needs men with backbone--
Men with backbone in their commitment to Christ and His course!
Men who have stickability in the battle of life!
Men who will not bend and bow in the face of opposition!
Men who will not give up on their marriage and fatherhood!
Men who will not give in to the tyranny they are trying to force on this nation!
Men who will be bold like lions instead of acting like lambs.
Men who, no matter what the enemy hurls at them, will not quit.
~ Colin Campbell
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Are you praying?
Continuing the 12 aspects of God’s “weapons of war.”
4. With thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.”
When we are moving in the direction God wants to take us and the enemy attacks with overwhelming forces, all we have to do is “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever” (Exodus 14:13). What amazing words of faith!
And then we read in verse 15: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”
In this Scripture, God admonishes Moses for crying out to Him instead of continuing to speak words of faith that are coupled with actions. There are times when we need to rethink about waiting for God to act before we ourselves take action.
We notice something similar to this in Mark 4:38-40: “And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow, and they awake him, and say unto him Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”
I think Jesus was saying, “Why didn’t you do what I have just done?
As a result of Moses speaking the words in faith to “go forward” we read in verse 25 that God “troubled the host of the Egyptians. And took off their chariot wheels, that they dove them heavily.” Spiritual Warfare removes chariot wheels!
Verse 26-28 “And the LORD said uno Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea . . . And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them: there remained not so much as one of them.”
The horses and chariots of Pharoah are just as real today as they were during the exodus, putting fear and panic into the hearts of God’s people. However, we must go forward and stretch out our hands with the rod of God’s word and see again what will happen to the horses, chariots, and riders.
Many people believe that we are at a red sea situation right now in our nation as we wait for God divide the waters and give us deliverance from our illegitimate election and the evils that are being proclaimed daily.
We must continue with faith in our hearts, and our mouths, and the rod in our hands, stretched out over the sea. Only then will we see the victory.
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
P.S. Don’t forget to call your senators and please with them vote NO against the EQUALITY ACT which literally relegates Christians to second class citizens. We will not longer by able to stand freely for our biblical convictions. IT IS URGENT WE DO IT RIGHT NOW.
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If the church of today does not see its role in spiritual warfare and take a strong stand against all evil, it will suffer defeat.
Jeremiah 51: 20-24 lists twelve ways God used His people in warfare against the nation of Babylon. God said to the Israelites: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war.”
Many might say this is Old Testament doctrine and does not apply to the New Testament. However, spiritual warfare is a very strong doctrine in the New Testament. We must give serious attention to this declaration of God’s people being His battle axe and weapons of war, otherwise we ill not only suffer great loss in the day of battle but we will never wear the crown of victory.
TWELVE WAYS GOD USES HIS PEOPLE TO DESTROY THE ENEMY
1. “With thee will I break in pieces the nations.”
God wants to use His people to break in pieces the nations.
2. “With thee will I destroy kingdoms.”
There are still many kingdoms of darkness that God wants His church to destroy, e.g., North Korea, the so-called hermit kingdom that is the No. 1 persecuting country of Christians in the world. Terrible atrocities are taking place on Christians in that nation. Many Islamic kingdoms. China and The New World Order with its multiple heads.
Through the prayers and intercessions of His people Gid will raise up other nations to accomplish his physical warfare on the wickedness of the nations. However, the spiritual aspects of warfare can only be accomplished through God’s spiritual armies. This is where God calls the church to be involved.
3. “With thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider.”
This is how God dealt with Pharoah and all the Egyptians at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:23-25).
After the triumphant victory at the Red Sea, Miriam began her song with the words: ”Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:21).
Psalm 20:7: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
It is more important to remember the Lord in the time of battle than to trust in the physical forces of man.
We will continue with the 12-point list next post.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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God is calling His people to . . .
Wake up!
Stand up for truth!
Stop compromising!
Sharpen up!
Totally surrender of every aspect and area of our lives to Him.
Without this full surrender we will not have the power to destroy the mountains of evil that loom in front of us.
1. WE MUST WAKE UP TO SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Isaiah 41:14-16: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the holy One of Israel.”
Ecclesiastes 10:10: “If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.”
TLB: “A dull ax requires great strength, be wise and sharpen the blade.” Unless we keep spiritually sharp, we cannot effectively combat evil.
2. WE MUST HAVE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION
Nearly two million people went to Washington DC to the SAVE AMERICA MARCH on January 6 to express righteous indignation regarding the fraudulent election. My wife and I were privileged to attend. It was an amazing day. We spent about two hours at the Capitol and never saw anything happen. We began to receive phone calls from family and friends asking if we were okay and we didn’t know what they were talking about. They heard on TV what we didn’t see in person.
The Democrats were scared of such a huge turnout and had to do something. It was obviously a staged affair and the people who were righteously indignant over a stolen election were blamed.
Did you know that God is indignant and angry about evil? Shouldn’t we have the same attitude that God has? We are overwhelmed by God’s love and compassion, but He would not be God if He didn’t abhor evil. There are so many Scriptures about God’s indignation. Here are just a few:
Isaiah 30:27: “Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire.”
Isaiah 30:30: “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire . . . “’
In Nahum 1:6, this one verse uses five different Hebrews words to describe God’s incense against evil: “Who can stand before his indignation (za’am)? And who can abide in the fierceness (choron) of his anger (aph)? His fury (chemah) is poured out like fire (esh), and the rocks are thrown down by him.”
Zephaniah 3:8: “For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.”
3. WE MUST HAVE RIGHTEOUS VIOLENCE AGAINST EVIL
Matthew 11;12: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
God wants us to be His weapons of war. Jeremiah 51:20 says: “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms . . . “
Next post we will discuss what it means to be God’s battle axe.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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