Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you" (2 Corinthians 12:15). The adding of "and be spent" adds the meaning of "vehemently, heartily, and exceedingly" to the phrase. This was Paul's attitude to the new believers in Christ.

What about us mothers? We have precious lives in our care that God has given us to disciple. What is our attitude towards them? Are we willing to "spend and be spent," or do we resent the fact that motherhood takes every bit of our energy and time? Read 1 Thessalonians 2:8, 9 for a little more understanding.

Paul's attitude was not just because it was his duty, but "VERY GLADLY." I often see mothers with the attitude of "very complaining," "very resentful," or "very unhappy."

Come on now, dear mothers. You are in full time ministry for the Lord. You are discipling precious souls.

What's your attitude today?

Love from Nancy Campbell

Dear mother, can I ask you what voices you are listening to? There are so many voices in this world, all vying for preeminence in your mind. Humanistic voices lure you away from the heart of the home, the place God has divinely provided for you to raise your children. Voices tempt you to get involved in more and more things that take your time away from your home and family.

God has innately put in you what He wants you to do. Listen to your heart, dear mother. Listen to God's voice. You are needed for your children. No one else will ever love and care for your children like you do. No one else will ever be sensitive to their physical needs, and especially their innermost needs as you will.

Someone else can always replace you in your career, or your organization, or even extra church activities, but no one can adequately replace you as the mother of the children God has given you. You were born for this mission. It is your destiny.

Love from Nancy Campbell

In the midst of your daily routine and challenges of mothering you can often forget the awesomeness of what you are doing. Did you realize that your children are not only a gift from God to you, but a gift from God to the world? Motherhood is so far-reaching. It's not confined to your little home. Each one of your children have been destined by God and have been in His heart from the foundation of the world. God has a special purpose for each one of them to fulfill. What a privilege to raise a child who is "a gift to the world"!

God said to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5 WEB). The word "appointed" in the Hebrew means "a gift" and in other Scriptures is mostly translated "give."

Rejoice in the greatness of your calling today. You are nurturing and preparing children who have been appointed as a "gift to the world." As you nurture them, teach them, pray over them, and prepare them you will get to see the exploits God will do in their lives to bless many people. This is the power of motherhood. It is not something you are doing for yourself. You are blessing the world!

Love from Nancy Campbell

We are so good at complaining, aren't we? We not only complain about things that are going wrong, but we even complain about the weather. "Oh it's so hot! I can't stand this heat." "Oh this weather's too cold!" Why can't we receive everything from the hand of God? After Job lost everything, he confessed, "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"

Psalm 74:17 says, "Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter." Because God is the Creator of the summer heat and the winter cold, shouldn't we learn to embrace them and the special blessings that go with each season?

Our big extended family all leave on the weekend for our annual holiday in Florida, drinking up the sun and surf (sadly Colin and I miss this year as I have four Above Rubies retreats in a row). Fall, then winter will be coming soon. Yes, it will be cold, but we look forward to snow falls, wood fires burning to keep us snug, candles burning, and hearty meals to keep us warm. There is such joy in all God's seasons, isn't there? So let's change our vocabulary to thanking and praising God instead of the habit of complaining. What do you think?

Love from Nancy Campbell

The world was shocked back in April 2009 when Obama bowed from the knee to the Muslim Saudi King, Abdullah. When we bow to someone we show submission to them. Now we don't go around bowing to people, but we constantly bow in our hearts. Who and what are we bowing to in our daily life? Do we bow to God's ways, or our own self will?

Judges 2:17, 19 tells us how the children of Israel went after other gods "and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in . . . they corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way." How easy it is to bow to our own stubborn way.

Dear mothers, can each one of us today seek to bow to the Lord in every circumstance and challenge we face?

What worldview do we bow to? Is it a truly biblical worldview or the popular humanistic one that is prevalent in our society today and even in the church?

The way we live will reveal to whom we are bowing. Let's make God, the Potentate of the universe, the preeminent One in our lives and our homes.

Love from Nancy Campbell

The state of a city will be according to the state of the homes within the city. In Psalm 46:4 (JUB) it gives a description of the homes of Jerusalem: "There is a river, the streams of which make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most high." The city is filled with gladness because streams are flowing into and from the homes of the city.

What are these streams? They flow from the river of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39 and Romans 5:5). As mothers, we have a responsibility to "make glad" our home. The words in the Hebrew mean "to brighten up, to cheer up, to rejoice, to make merry and very glad." The only way we can do this is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and allow the streams that flow from Him into our lives to flow out from us to our husband and children.

What are these streams? They are streams of love, forgiveness, sweetness, healing of the soul and body, holiness, encouragement and building up, compassion and kindness, tenderheartedness, humility and meekness, longsuffering and patience, and streams of forbearance and peacemaking. These streams can only come from the river of the Holy Spirit.

Are you making your motherhood glad? Are you making your home glad? Are these streams flowing from your life or are they stagnant? Don't allow the logs of self-pity, discouragement, despondency, unforgiveness, and discontentment to block up the river. Let the steams flow to fill your home with gladness.

Love from Nancy

"Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

We can only have a righteous nation as we have righteous homes. We can only have righteous homes as we have righteous mothers and fathers in living in those homes and who are raising righteous children.

Love from Nancy

I have in my library the wonderful classic, "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene Stratton Porter. One of my Above Rubies girls began to read it this week and read us a quote at breakfast time. I'll share it with you, too.

"He had not the smallest obligation to the woman before him, other than the obligation that any man owes all women to love them honestly, to care for them gently, to respect their bodies as the vessels through which the world must be populated. That was a thing that had been hammered into him from the hour that he was old enough even remotely to understand its meaning. He must always take care of the women. He must always be polite to the women. He must always be kind to them. They must be taken care of because they were to make homes; they were to mother little children. They must be respected. They were the vessels that contained the seeds of life. From their loins must come the presidents and the senators, the governors and the business men, the captains and the sailors and the soldiers and the tillers of the soil and the ministers who filled the pulpits and the teachers who moulded the minds of youth in our schools."

Did you love this? Nancy

No wonder we need to fill our hearts with God's Word. It's filled with principles for our success (Joshua 1:8). Here's one secret for you and your children today. "Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men" (Proverbs 22:29 HCSB). The word "skilful" in the Hebrew also means "quickly, ready." It comes from "mahar" meaning, "to be hasty, hurry, speedily, swiftly."

Whatever gift God has given to us, or to our children, we must not only learn to be diligent and skilful in that gift, but to be eager and ready to use it whenever the opportunity arises. It is easy to dream about doing something, but that doesn't get it done. We have to hasten to do it. I am sad when people hold back in sharing the gift God has given them. I love it when people respond immediately.

We must train our children from the beginning to be "ready" to share their gifts and abilities. They should not only do it when they are in the mood to do it, but as the Bible says to "be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). We must train our children to obey us immediately, not lazily and in their own time.

Tell your children you are watching out for those who will obey the most speedily or who will respond immediately to help you or someone else. Reward those children.

A child who gets into the habit of running to obey or help someone is preparing for success. They are training for a future life of standing in the presence of "kings." God's Word does not come back to Him void. I am now in my seventies and yet am amazed when many times a young person will quite happily sit in their chair and watch me go downstairs to retrieve something. (Of course I don't mind because it's another opportunity for me for exercise while they stagnate!) Now and then one will say, "I'll get it for you" and go immediately. That's the attitude that will make way for great things for that person.

Success doesn't suddenly happen. We train our children for success with training their attitudes NOW--a most important habit is teaching them to RUN SWIFTLY to obey, to accomplish a task, to help someone, or to bless someone with their gift.

Love from Nancy Campbell

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:).

Dear sweet mother, why do you cry?
Don’t you know that your God is nigh?
He is closer to you than your very breath,
He will never forsake you, not even in death.

He created you for His joy and pleasure
And has chosen you as a special treasure.
He has graven your name on His very own palm,
He’ll come to your aid with His mighty right arm.

He is your Source, He will fill your cup,
When you are down, He will lift you up.
You don’t have to stay sad, for He is your Joy,
He’ll help you conquer those things that annoy.

God has given you children, which are your glory
To enrich your life and help write your story.
You’re in God’s perfect will, this is your calling,
He’ll help you each day and keep you from falling.

You can’t do it alone, your strength is weak,
Trust in the Lord and things won’t seem so bleak.
Look to the Lord, not the problems you face,
You’ll be amazed the way He gives you His grace.

A joyful mother is what He wants you to be,
Filling your home with gladness and glee,
Counting your blessings and praising the Lord
For His daily mercies and love out-poured.

~ Nancy Campbell

Dear Ladies, You may have missed some of the testimonies on the thread of the post, DARE WE ARGUE WITH GOD. Therefore, I will post some of them here for you to encourage you. You will love Donna's testimony of conceiving AFTER WAITING FOR 18 YEARS! Nancy

Donna Marsingale: I got pregnant shortly after I got married. Listened to everyone around me and went on the pill shortly after he was born. A couple of years later, God convicted us to leave it in His hands. I came off the pill and expected to get pregnant right away. A year went by, two, five, ten, fifteen. Every month, the heartache of watching others get pregnant so easily and then listen to them complain about their one or two children. I wanted a houseful! I took test after test, crying out to God. I spoke to family and friends that stopped having children after 1 or 2 because they were a burden, trying to get them to seek God in this matter. After trying almost 18 years, I finally just told God that I was giving it to Him. If He wanted me to only have one, then I would accept His decision. I am due any day now with my second child. God is so good. My family thinks I'm crazy, having a child at 40. But, I've told them that we will still let God decide. If He wants to send more, my heart will rejoice and gladly welcome them. If this is it, then I thank Him for allowing me this honor.

Melissa Horton: I stand in a position of having had the tubal, and living in regret ever since. If only we had the funds to reverse it, we would! I'd rather have had FOUR more babies in the past four years than to deal with the complications in my body from the procedure taking away the opportunity for blessings from the Lord. I have prayed MANY times for the Lord to work a miracle and "undo" the tubal. If the Lord had said, "One thousand dollar bills are a blessing from the Lord", would we so easily say, "nah, I'll pass on another." or "I have one already, and that is ENOUGH." Or would we cry over being blessed with our 7th one-thousand dollar bill? No. But children have been turned into a burden by society, and even obstetricians who make a living from us having reproductive health and more babies encourage cesareans, which, in the long-run, mean fewer children due to complications (such as scar tissue build up) that arise from having them. Oh, how I wish I could reverse my tubal while I'm still young.

Rachel Kate Parish: We had a vasectomy after 2 babies & thought it was 100% the right choice! I'm now looking at our little miracle vasectomy reversal baby sleeping next to me. Hard to explain, but a few years after the vasectomy I became somewhat depressed & didn't really know what my purpose was anymore. Long story short I feel like this baby has healed me in a way! I try to tell people out story but they don't really get it. I didn't either at one time. Not until I realized what a terrible mistake we made (my husband too!) We were just lucky enough that the reversal worked... life without this new little guy seems unimaginable!

Tania Marie: I've had a tubal reversal this summer. I regretted my ligation within 1 year. The guilt I felt taking something into my own hands was unbearable. This helped me realize all forms of birth control is not God's will. I realized that I have no right taking control of something that is not mine. My body is not my own. I was bought at a price and I needed to ask God's permission prior to altering my body, which is really His body. This is something I thought I had God's ok on, but how could He ever be ok with something that limits His power? Birth control should be leaving it up to God's control. When I came to Jesus, I surrendered to Him* (the * is there because I surrendered every part of my life except one--my womb). True obedience requires no asterisks. Now I surrender all to Him. Please keep us in prayer that we would be able to conceive a healthy baby.

Chris Beth Biggerstaff: I am the oldest child of 11. I love having my wonderful siblings and I can't hardly remember life without any one of them. A couple of years ago my mom had a miscarriage around 12 weeks. When the placenta didn't detach she almost bled out. After rushing to the ER, an emergency DNC was done. She came home the next day! But it really scared my parents. They began to re-evaluate where they stood and through it all we have all come away more convinced that preventing life is wrong! God is trustworthy in all areas of life! Even though it was a hard time in our lives I'm thankful for the deep conviction it brought to my life. I said that's what I believed but now I know it is. I look forward to seeing what God does in my life and the lives of my family!

Dear mother, you are in the most power-packed and influential career in the nation.

When you get up each morning, get dressed accordingly. Don't wander out in your bathrobe--you can't work in your bathrobe. Get dressed and ready for your great job for the day.

Not only put on your clothes, but put on the right attitude. Start the day confessing, "I love being a mother. I am in the greatest career in the nation. The children and I are going to have a great day today."

Now you are dressed and have the right attitude and confession, you're ready to go!

Love from Nancy Campbell

Does God's Word challenge you as it does me? Romans 9:20 (NLT) says, "Who are you, a mere human being to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, 'Why have you made me like this?'"

God's creation of our bodies is perfect, yet it seems that man often thinks he knows better than God. Our great Creator blessed us with a womb to conceive and bring forth children. And yet many women hardly want to acknowledge they have a womb. If they do, they take action to make sure that it cannot function as God intended. Men also stop the function of their fertility to their own detriment.

Many think that by having a tubal ligation or vasectomy they are saving their lives. The opposite is the case. When we try to save our lives we lose them. When we lose our lives for Christ's sake, we find them (Mark 8:35). Our own way leads to destruction; God's way always leads to life and blessing. When will we learn that God's way is perfect and for our blessing and good?

Read these Scriptures that also address this subject: Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6; and Acts 5:39.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

One step thou seest--then go forward boldly,
One step is far enough for faith to see;
Take that, and thy next duty shall be told thee,
For step by step thy Lord is leading thee."

~ F. J. Exley

Proverbs 18:21 (NLT) says, "Those who love to talk will experience the consequences, for the tongue can kill or nourish life." I am always challenged by Proverbs 10:19: "In the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Or as the New Living Translation says, "Don't talk too much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow!"

May God temper our lips by the power of His Holy Spirit. When we open our mouth, may we only speak words of life.

Love from NANCY

"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:8, 9).

Recently I asked my 14 year old granddaughter what she would do if she unexpectedly saw anything sinister on her iPad. She immediately responded, "Nana, I would VOMIT!" This should be the attitude of our children toward evil.

Mothers are born to teach. We inherently begin teaching our children from the moment they are born. We the best teachers for our children. We teach them everything about life. We teach them God's words and His ways.

Parents are the primary teachers of their children before anyone else, even pastors and Sunday School teachers (Deuteronomy 4:9; 11:18-21: 6:6-8; and Proverbs 6:20-24). However, in the Old Testament the priests were also commanded to teach the people and there was one thing that God specifically wanted them to teach. I believe God wants us to be very concerned about this truth also. Ezekiel 44:23 says, "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." Read also Ezekiel 22:26 and Jeremiah 15:19.

On the whole, we as the people of God have become impotent and anemic. Instead of invading the nation with God's righteousness and truth, we are being overpowered with humanism, feminism, the gay agenda, and more and more evil. One of the reasons for this is that the buzz word in the world, and now in the church, is tolerance.

We cannot influence the world for righteousness while we have a tolerant attitude. We are commanded to expose and reprove all evil. We are to hate evil and love righteousness. This must be our attitude which we pass on to our children. We must TEACH them the DIFFERENCE between evil and righteousness. Between the holy and the profane. There's no middle of the road. No tolerating of what God says is evil and an abomination. We either stand with God or we stand with the devil.

Let's raise God-loving, evil-hating children who love people, but who will not tolerate for a moment what God hates.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Proverbs 19:8 says, "He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul." I love my soul when I nourish it with wisdom from God's Word. I love the souls of my children when I nourish them with God's Word.

Let's pray, "Oh Father, I don't want my soul to be shallow. I want it to be satiated and filled with wisdom from your Word and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. I want to be a filler of my children's souls, too. Please save me from neglecting my own soul and the souls of my children. I can love their personalities and their chubby little bodies and yet abandon their souls and their spirits. Please prick me in my heart when I am prone to do this. I don't want them to only have healthy bodies, and yet starved spirits. I want them to grow strong and mighty in the Lord. Amen."

Luke 1:80 and 2:40 speaks about the childhood of Jesus: "And the child grew, and WAXED STRONG IN SPIRIT, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." May this be the testimony of our children, too.

Blessings from Nancy

Family (marriage between one man and one woman and the blessing of children) is God's divine plan for mankind. And God does not have an alternative! Any other alternative only ends in destruction. Family is the first institution God established--before church and before government.

Let's do everything in our power to strengthen our families. Eradicate everything in your schedule that weakens and fragments your family life. Build upon everything that strengthens your family. Don't give up the authority and power God has given to you as parents. This is what Satan, the destroyer of families, wants you to do. Don't give him an inch. If you give him one tiny inch, he'll take a mile. Close up all the holes and breeches in the wall as you hedge your family about with prayer. Stand guard against every inroad of the enemy to destroy your marriage and family life.

As we strengthen our families, we strengthen the nation, and we fulfill God's perfect plan for our lives and for the blessing of the nation.

Do something powerful and positive to strengthen your marriage and family today. (Please lovely ladies, don't only read this, but take time to think of something you can do--and do some purposeful thing each new day to build up your family life)!

Love from Nancy Campbell