Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

One body, one flesh—
Indescribable!
One purpose, one vision—
Unconquerable!
One soul, one spirit—
Invincible!

What is the foundation?
Praying together—
Highest priority!
Reading God’s Word together—
Paramount for success.

What does it take?
Sacrificial love.
Yielding and submission.
No longer “me” but “you.”
Laying down my life.
Delighting to serve.

What is the fruit?
A union that cannot be broken.
A union that survives the storms of life.
A union that forges a path for God in this world.
A union that builds a godly generation
for now and generations to come.

What is the power?
A God-fearing family that is
formidable to the adversary!

~ Nancy Campbell

We must do this individually, but we must also do it corporately as a family. We must lead our children to the Sanctuary. We must lead our children to the family altar each morning and evening. This is where they also find God's strength to fight the battles in this life.

Sometimes you feel confused and even in despair at what is happening in your life. You can't understand why you have financial problems and difficulties and yet everything is dinky dory for those who don't walk with the Lord. The psalmist wondered about this too until he went into the SANCTUARY. It's in the sanctuary that we see the eternal picture.

Psalm 73:16, 17 says: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the SANCTUARY OF GOD; then understood I their end."

When you go into the Sanctuary you will find your answers for God's way is in the SANCTUARY (Psalm 77:13).

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Make today a blessing day. And every day a blessing day in your home. Look for blessing moments.

Be a blesser.

Blessings to you from Nancy Campbell

This is the attitude God has to you. Psalm 37:23, 24 says: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand."

When you fall, He says to you: "Come on, get up again. I am with you. I am helping you. You are not doing this on your own." He waits with open arms for you to walk into His arms, into His strength and His enabling. He woos you to little by little change into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).

Proverbs 14: 16 says: "The just man falls seven times, and rises up again."

Blessings to you in your home today, Nancy Campbell

We are to be truth-spreading families. This is what we are training our children for. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians : "For from you SOUNDED OUT the word of the Lord . . . in every place" (1 Thessalonians 1:8). The NLT says, "The word of the Lord is RINGING OUT from you to people everywhere."

What do you talk about most in your family? Do God's words fill every mouth? Just imagine what could happen in the nation if Bible-believing families became living and speaking truth-spreading families?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

The early years he spent with his mother (three to five years), as she nursed him from her breast and daily instilled him with the knowledge of the God of Israel influenced his future life. Such is the power of a mother.

I think of Joseph who became next to the Pharaoh of Egypt in power. He married the daughter of the priest of On (one of the most influential and noble families in Egypt) who led the people in worshipping pagan gods. And yet, in the midst of idol worship, wealth, fame, and prosperity, he never forgot his family and his God--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His final destiny was not in Egypt, but with the people of God. When dying, Joseph took an oath saying, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence" (Genesis 50:24, 25). He did not want to be left in Egypt but wanted his bones to be buried in the Promised Land with his people.

I think of Noah who in the midst of corruption and violence raised children who refused to succumb to the temptations of evil around them (Genesis 6:9-13 and Hebrews 11:7).

We are raising our precious children and grandchildren in the midst of widespread deception, evil, and corruption where abortion is considered normal and homosexuality is being promoted as a "normal" lifestyle. Judgment is turned backward and justice stands afar off (Isaiah 59:13-15). But as you seek God for the anointing of His Holy Spirit to mother and train your children, to daily fill them with God's Word, and to pray fervently for them, you can also raise righteous young men and women who will not be lured by the deceptions of the father of lies. You can train godly children who will not be tempted by the gods of this world, but will stand true to the God of the Bible.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

God challenges us in Psalm 50;21 "You thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you."

People today seem to think that God is like our societal thinking that limits children because they interfere with our plans. But this is not the God of the Bible. He loves children. He loves life. He created us and plans for us to have children. We see the heart of God in Deuteronomy 7:12-14: "The Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land . . . Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle."

Don't you think it's time we began to think like God thinks instead of bringing Him down to our level? Colin and I had to change our thinking. Can you believe that in the beginning of our marriage my husband only wanted one child? After our first child, God gave us twins, so he gave up after that! But why did he think like that? He didn't dislike children. He came from a wonderful family of nine children and wasn't put off by a big family. He was conditioned by society and the thinking around him and was therefore deceived. God had to change his thinking and his heart (and mine).

And how does He change our thinking? By His Word of truth. Make sure your God is the God of the Bible, not your own imagination.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

What DID I do this whole day through?
Not much that shows, I guess it's true
Unless you think that what I've done
Might be important to someone
With bright blue eyes and soft blond hair.
If that is true, I've done by share.

~ Unknown

Our Nana always said, “The sleep hours before midnight are the best.” We heard it all our lives but now science proves this true. If you wait too many hours after the sun goes down to go to bed, you interrupt the natural wake-sleep pattern God designed for our bodies.

Adrenal fatigue is a modern epidemic and the biggest blame can be placed on too many late nights. In a state of adrenal fatigue, your body cannot make sufficient amounts of the hormone cortisol, because your adrenal glands have been overworked. In healthful amounts it helps energy levels, improves digestion, eases joint movement, eases inflammation, stimulates the brain and heart, and even fights certain cancers like lymphomas. But its main function is to enable us to respond to stress and then bounce back to a calm state again once the stressful situation is resolved.

Cortisol responds to light. Levels of this hormone naturally lower at night as the sun goes down and we settle in for rest. If you stay up past midnight too often using artificial light, your cortisol hormone will not turn down. Instead it cranks up and turns from a healing hormone into a catabolic hormone that breaks down the body. It ages the body more quickly and has a track record of redistributing weight to a person’s middle.

Adrenal supplements and herbs may be of some benefit but they can’t hold a candle to the best remedy for this condition. Go to bed!

~ Serene and Pearl (Trim Healthy Mama)

Now please don't think I'm preaching at you. I have most probably been the most guilty of all. I am a workaholic and for years, after the evening meal and devotions, I would work on Above Rubies until I could not keep my eyes open. I thought I had to drain every bit of life out of me before I hit the sack. But I have had to repent of this lifestyle. It's not conducive to the ultimate blessing of a marriage relationship.

We've always had a great marriage, but it's amazing how incredibly better it can be when you make time for your husband instead of yourself.

I know it's hard not to give into this media trend temptation, but building your marriage will bring far greater blessings to you and your husband, your family, and even to future generations.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

We are not only to love our husbands, but to be friendly and affectionate to them. Throughout the day we should take every opportunity to cuddle, kiss, hug, and touch. The more we do this, the more we release love to each other. We have to work at being friendly. We can so easily forget about it in the challenges of the day and the tiredness of the evening.

We should speak to them as though we were speaking to our best friend. Do we yell at our best friend? Do we give the silent treatment to our best friend? Exodus 33:11 tells us that God spoke to Moses "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." He told things to Moses that He didn't tell anyone else. There is a special way we speak to friends. We are usually polite, sweet, kind, and with respect. This is the same way we should speak to our husband.

If our husband is our best friend, we'll love him even when he's not so nice; even when he's being difficult. Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loveth AT ALL TIMES."

Another wonderful thing about friendship is learning from one another, encouraging one another, and sometimes debating with one another to greater intellectual and spiritual heights. My husband and I love to discuss subjects together (especially from God's Word), and we don't always agree. How boring that would be. My husband says, "We don't have to agree with one another, but we do have to love one another." Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

Forget Girls' Night Out! I'd rather go out with my husband (or stay home with him) than anyone else in the world. And that's after 52 years of marriage (in a few days)!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

You've got to clean a certain room. Enjoy doing it. Praise the Lord for the joy of accomplishing another task. This is the joy of work. God gives work to us as a gift. When we work hard physically, we enjoy a good night's rest. As we work, we get creative ideas on how to do things better or create something new altogether. New inventions and creations always come out of work. We revel in the joy of completing a task.

Your mothering is your greatest work. What a blessed work. It is a good work. It is the work the Lord has given you. Rejoice and take pleasure in it today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Be encouraged. Your rod of motherhood may seem insignificant to you, but it produces great miracles. The career of motherhood is full of miracles. Every child God gives to you is a divine miracle. There never has been another child like your child in the history of the world, and there will never be another one like him or her again. Your child is a unique miracle, divinely created by the hand of God for specific purpose that none other will ever do.

Every day God gives you miracles of His wisdom, guidance, and protection as you mother your children. You may not even be aware of all the times God compassionately sends His ministering angels to save your children from disaster. I acknowledge that my children and grandchildren are only alive by the miraculous protection of God.

You have not yet seen all the great things God is going to do through your children to bring salvation to people and to reveal God's image in the earth. Often we have to take our head out of the sand to see the miracles. Don't miss them. Thank God for them.

Take hold of your rod of motherhood--your humble but miraculous rod! Don't run from it. Embrace it. Wield it for the glory of God as you impact this earth and the eternal world. Amen!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

It's not enough to diligently teach and train our children. We live our God-fearing, God-loving, daily God-experiencing lives before them. More than anything else, they will emulate our lifestyle.

Why did God choose Timothy to be a vessel to impact many lives? Of course, we know that Paul chose him, but God was behind that choice. We find the reason in 2 Timothy 1:5, 6 (ESV) when Paul writes to Timothy: "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."

Timothy grew up seeing faith first hand. Yes, his mother and grandmother taught him the holy Scriptures from the time he was a babe (2 Timothy 3:14, 15), but he also saw it revealed in their lives. It wasn't a faith that was only in their head. It DWELT in them and therefore affected every word and deed of their lives.

The New Living Translation says, "the faith that first FILLED your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice." He couldn't help but notice it as it filled their lives. Do your children see your faith FILLING you and overflowing into everything you say and do? This is what will impact their lives more than anything else. And think of how many lives they reached for Christ through Timothy.

Are you raising children ready for God to use? God cannot use everyone. Only those who are trained and ready! What a God-anointed task we have as mothers.

Blessings to you today, Nancy Campbell

It's not enough to have a casual understanding of the Bible and what God says to us. We must dig in. We must study. We must learn to rightly divide the Word. This takes being a Berean. The Bereans didn't gullibly receive everything they heard. They "searched the Scriptures daily" to check out if the things Paul was saying to them were true (Acts 17:11).

You may have other degrees, or you may not have any--it doesn't really matter. What matters is that mothers have a degree in correctly teaching God's truth to their children. We can't give a cloudy message. We can't be duped by a humanistic worldview. We can't tell them what we think God says. We must know what God says so that we pass onto our children a biblical worldview. We must give a "certain sound" (1 Corinthians 14:8).

The word "searched" is "anakrino" and means "to scrutinize, investigate, interrogate, question, discern, examine, and judge." That's more than a casual knowledge, isn't it?

This degree is worth working on.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

And my favorite Scripture, which I think I must quote nearly every day, is Zechariah 4:6: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts." I am very aware that it is not my power or my working. I am totally dependent on God's Spirit to move in their lives and am therefore constantly crying out for His intervention.

Love from NANCY