The Beauty of Surrender
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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.
I have always loved the lines from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "A Psalm of Life."
"But to act that each tomorrow
Find us further than today."
I love to learn something new every day, don't you? Recently I learned the difference between a Shepherd's Pie and a Cottage Pie. How come it has taken me so long to know the difference?
A Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb whereas a Cottage Pie is made with ground beef. I guess the reason I didn't know is that growing up in New Zealand we called it a Shepherd's Pie even though we always cooked with lamb.
I also learned recently that The American Life League estimates that "Using formulas based on the way the birth control pill works, pharmacy experts project that about 14 million chemical abortions occur in the United States each year." Wow, that bit of information is just about too much to take in.
More abortions through the Pill than Clinic abortions!
Another interesting fact I learned recently was the loudest sound that has ever been heard by human ears. It was when the volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883 at 310 decibels. People in Alice springs, Australia, 2,233 miles away heard it!
Anyway, I think it is a good thing to encourage your children to learn something new every day. I think this is more important than making sure your children get through all their lessons each day. They can do them and yet often not remember anything. But if they learn one specific new thing
every day, they will become very knowledgeable.
A good idea is to check how everyone is learning in the family at your evening family meal table. When you have sharing time around the table and talk about different questions, every now and then give them this question: "Children, what is something new you learned today?"
Start with the first child and go around each one to ask them one new thing they learned. This is a good way to check if your homeschooling is effective. And don't leave out you and your husband. Your children love to hear something new that you have learned too.
We are all learning together. This is true education. It's for life. It's learning something new every day. It's inspiring an excitement for learning. When you give your children this challenge, they'll start looking for things to really remember. And you will too.
And even more than learning something new every day is to have the vision to grow a little more in Christ every day. We should never stay the same, but each new day seek to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son. 1 Timothy 4:15 tells us that we are to immerse ourselves in the teachings of Christ and the Scriptures "so that all may see your progress." Our progress should be evident in our lives.
Our Christian walk is not a stay-at-the-same-place walk, but a MORE AND MORE walk.
Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth MORE AND MORE unto the perfect day."
Be excited to learn something new today.
Love from Nancy Campbell
P.S. More Scriptures to check out: 1 Samuel 7:26; Psalm 92:12-14; Proverbs 4:18; Romans 5:2-6; 8:29; Ephesians 4;11-16; Colossians 2:6, 7; 1 Timothy 4;11-15; Hebrews 6:1; 5:12-14; 1 Peter 2:2, 3; 2 Peter 1:5-8; and 3:18.
Are you learning something new each day
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Another post about LIVING IN THE GLORY5. DRESSING FEMININELY IS GLORY
I believe this is another area where women have lost their glory. Because God created us as his female creation, we should glory in our femininity. We live in a genderless society where the roles of male and female are not emphasized. The more we embrace our femininity in every department of our lives, the more we bring glory to God for He is the One who created us this way.
This also means to dress femininely and beautifully.
The Bible talks about how God dresses gloriously. Isaiah 63:1 talks of God being “glorious (hadar) in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength.” Can I share some other translations?
Complete Jewish Bible: “magnificently dressed.”
New English Translation: “wearing royal attire.”
If God dresses gloriously and honorably, shouldn’t we? He wants us to be the revealers of His glory on the earth. Because He is dressed in royal attire, shouldn’t we dress more regally and royally?
Psalm 104:1 (CEV) describes God: “You are glorious and majestic (hadar), dressed in royal robes and surrounded by light.” And do you remember that Proverbs 31:25 states that the virtuous woman is also clothed with glory (hadar)? Nineteen different translations of the Bible translate it with the word dignity. Do you dress with dignity or according to the fashion of this age?
God loves beautiful clothing. When he designed the clothing for the high priest, he stated that his clothing was to be “for glory and for beauty.” (Exodus 28:2). We who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus have now been made priests unto God. Shouldn’t we wear clothing according to our status?
We do not owe the spirit of the world the honor of dressing according to its fashion but surely, we owe honor to the God who created us female. When we dress or act masculinely, we detract from our God-given femininity and therefore our glory.
Live in your glory today,
NANCY CAMPBELL
Painting: Abundant Hope by Sheri Dinardi
LISTEN TO MORE!
The Bible is filled with the awesome glory of God. This article is only a little glimpse of the glory God talks about in the Bible. I have shared 17 podcasts on this subject and still have not exhausted the subject. You can check out the following podcasts if you would like to listen to more of the glory God has for you as a woman.
Go to the home page of www.aboverbies.org and click on LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
Or go to: http://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com or your favorite poddy app.
THE GLORY OF WOMANHOOD, Parts 1 – 10 (Nos. 68 – 77).
LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Parts 1 – 6 (Nos. 159 – 164).
LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 6 – GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HIS GLORY (No. 171).
Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
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More about LIVING IN THE GLORY continuing.3. NURSING YOUR BABY IS GLORY
We read the beautiful allegory in Isaiah 66:10-13 which describes Jerusalem as a nursing mother. As we read this passage, we understand how God sees the glory of a nursing mother—the breasts bringing comfort, consolation, delight, peace, and glory. Verse 11 of the Berean Study Bible says: “So that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious (kabod) abundance.”
Are you breastfeeding your baby, dear mother? You are doing a glorious work. Not only is your baby blessed but you are blessed with the wonderful anti-stress hormones of oxytocin and prolactin. God provides adequately for the nursing mother.
4. PREPARING YOUR CHILDREN FOR ETERNITY IS GLORY
Dear mother, you are not wasting your time as you nurture, teach, and train your precious children. Motherhood is not a fading career but lasts for eternity. All other careers will be left behind but pouring out your life to prepare your children for their destiny is an eternal career. You are pouring into eternal souls.
I think of the apostle Paul who poured out his soul for the new believers. When he wrote to the young Thessalonian Christians, he said: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at this coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20).
A career outside your home will not be your glory on the day you stand before the Lord. Your glory will be your children that you have faithfully raised for Him. As I raised our children, I constantly prayed the same prayer Paul prayed for these believers in 5:23: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Motherhood is not only caring for the physical bodies of our children but their souls and their spirits. That takes full-time motherhood.
What a glorious career you have,
Nancy Campbell
Painting: A Woman Nursing a Child, c.1894 | Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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More today about LIVING IN THE GLORY2. RAISING CHILDREN IN THE HOME IS GLORY
Mothers are the glory of the home. Home and motherhood are synonymous. God created Adam before He created the first home, the Garden of Eden. But before God created His female creation, He made sure the home was ready. When Eve woke up to life, she found herself in the home God created for her. She was created for the home and to make her home a delight, which is the meaning of the word Eden.
Isaiah 63:15 tells us that God’s home is a dwelling place of holiness and glory, and He wants our homes to be the same.
Sadly, the home is degraded by the liberals today. In doing so, they are cutting off their feet and chipping away at the strength of the nation. Mothers in the home are the hidden strength of the nation.
In Micah 2:9 it says: “The women of My people You cast out from their pleasant houses: from their children You have taken away My glory (hadar) forever.” God clearly states here that when children are taken out of the home that they are taken away from their glory. In other words, it is their glory to be raised in the home. It is God’s plan. He provides the home for the blessing, security, safety, teaching, and training of children.
The New English Translation says: “You defraud their children of their prized inheritance.”
The Amplified version says: “From her children you take away My splendor and blessing forever (by putting them among the pagans, away from Me).”
God wants His children to grow up in His presence in the home and to be taught His ways. He does not want them to be taught by pagans. He does not want them to be influenced by humanism, feminism, and extreme socialism. He does not want them to be taught transgenderism and all the other isms that are against God and His eternal truths. That takes away their glory.
Be blessed in your home today,
Nancy Campbell
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Why don’t women live in their glory?
Because they’ve been told a different story!
We’ve got to get the correct story.
Did you know that God wants us to live in glory? He has invited us to enjoy His eternal glory, but He wants us to live in glory here on this earth too. Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:22 (NET): “The glory you gave to me I have given to them . . . so that the world will know that you sent me . . .”
This is amazing. We know that God is filled with glory, but we forget that He wants to also fill us with His glory. One of the Hebrew words for glory is “hadar” and it means “glory, magnificence, splendor, beauty from above, beyond honor, majesty, and dignity.” We know that God is all these adjectives but Proverbs 31:25 tells us that women are to live in glory as well: “Strength and honor (hadar) are her clothing.” We are to be inwardly and outwardly clothed in glory.
Another Hebrew word for glory is “kabod” and it has a similar meaning: “to be weighty and heavy with glory, honor, esteem, and majesty.” This word is used to describe God but also the woman.
Proverbs 11:16 says: “A gracious woman retains honor (kabod).” We already have glory because we are created in the image and likeness of God. We have been blessed with a female glory. We must retain it. We must hold on to it. It’s easy to let it go in the midst of this humanistic and anti-God culture that surrounds us.
Womanhood and motherhood are belittled in our society today, but this is the opposite of God’s plan. He has a glory life waiting for us. It’s time to embrace it.
Lamentations 1:6 says: “From the daughter of Zion all her beauty (hadar) is departed.” In many cases, glory had departed from God’s female creation. The glory has departed from motherhood and the home today. From kindergarten to college, young girls are indoctrinated to believe that motherhood is inferior, and they must set their vision on a career outside of the home.
But what does the Bible have to say?
1. MOTHERHOOD IS GLORY
It is the glory of the nation. In Hosea 9:11-17 we read about Ephraim who had turned away from the Lord. God was sending judgment upon them for their sin and His judgment was to take away their glory. What was the glory that He would take away? Verse 11 says: “Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!”
God looked upon motherhood as the glory of the nation. Even Ephraim (which means double fruitfulness) considered conception, pregnancy, and birth to be their glory. The diminishing of children is a curse; the increasing of children in the land is glory.
Isaiah 26:15 (ESV) says: “You have increased the nation O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified, you have enlarged all the borders of the land.” It is God’s glory to give the blessing and increase of children. This is the opposite to liberal ideology which is man’s wisdom. But who do we listen to? Man’s wisdom or God’s infallible wisdom? Read Isaiah 55:7, 8 and 45:18.
Motherhood is the glory of womanhood. This statement is true for not only women to whom God has given children but for every woman. God has innately put within every female a nurturing anointing to nourish and cherish life. If a woman rejects children, she will purchase an animal to pet instead.
“But it doesn’t feel like glory in my home,” I hear you say. Often, we don’t live in the glory because we don’t have the right mind set. Although we love our children, we have not truly embraced motherhood. We think we should be doing something more important. That mindset keeps you confused.
To live in the glory, you must know God’s plan for you, know that you are in the perfect will of God, and know without any doubt that you are in the greatest and most influential career in the nation. Of course, you’ll have difficult and challenging days, but you face these things in every job, every career, and anything you do in life. The only difference is that motherhood is the most powerful career given to women. The devil does not want you to know this and keeps you in the dark. He wants to keep you from your glory.
More about “glory” in next post.
Blessings,
Nancy Campbell
Painting by John Elsley (1861 – 1952).
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The value you put on your meal table will determine the behavior of your children at the meal table. Make every meal a love affair. Make every meal special.
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Eleven beautiful girls graced our Shabbat table last night, granddaughters and friends in the Hilltop. It was such a precious time.
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Mother, you are the backbone of the nation! You are the greatest threat to those who want to turn this nation away from God’s ways. As you pour out your life to nurture, train, and educate your children, you determine the course of this nation and even the world.As the backbone of this nation . . .
B You are a BUILDER, building a godly marriage and family and consequently helping to build a strong nation.
A You are ANOINTED by God to mother and nurture your children. This is more powerful than any career you can have outside the home.
C You are CALLED by God to this great career. If you turn away from it, you miss your highest calling.
K You are the KEEPER of your home. You are keeping your marriage and family strong. Homekeepers are definitely the backbone of the nation. As mothers build strong homes the nation becomes stronger. When mothers vacate their homes, the nation becomes weaker.
B You are the BRIGHTNESS and glory of your home. A home is only truly a home when mother is there, making it a beautiful place with her presence.
O You are an OVERCOMER. Building a godly home, family, and heritage is no easy task. It takes strength and courage. It takes fortitude and endurance. But God is with you moment by moment, giving you the power to overcome in His name.
N You are a NATION CHANGER. When mothers get back to the home, embrace the children God wants them to have, and train them to be godly sons and daughter, they change the course of the nation.
E You are an EDUCATOR. There is no one more powerful than you, mother, to influence your children for God, to reveal to them the awesome wonder of your God and His universe. As you seek after truth, you teach your children the truth and you become an educator not only to your children but to the rest of society.
Together, mothers, we are the BACKBONE of the nation. Let’s not give up influencing this nation and generations to come.
Blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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Build into your marriage each day. Say something encouraging and positive to your husband. Respond to him lovingly. Think of something special to do for him. “Every wise woman buildeth her house” (Proverbs14:1).
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There’s no other way. Otherwise you can be deceived without realizing you are deceived. What about your children? Are you filling them daily with God’s living word? Is it in their mouths?
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When you worry about your problems and concentrate on them you will be filled with misery. When you keep your eyes upon the Lord, peace will fill your heart. “Thou wilt keep him in PERFECT PEACE whose mind is stayed in thee” (Isaiah26:3).
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Dear mothers, Today I am sending to you something very special for your young and older daughters. It is 21 points on what to look for in a husband. These points are good points for you to pray over as you pray for the future husbands of your daughters. Also, print them off and give them to your daughters. Encourage them to pray over these points and have them in their hearts as they wait for this special man God has for them. Pass this on to other friends who have daughters too. May you all be blessed, NancyWHAT QUALITIES SHOULD A GIRL LOOK FOR IN A HUSBAND?
No. 1: A MAN WHO IS A VIRGIN
Hopefully, he will be a virgin. In the Bible, it speaks of virgins getting married. Sadly, in this fornicating world, sometimes there can be a man who was in the world and has come to Christ and is now truly repentant and walking in holiness. You cannot completely wipe out the fact that unless he’s a virgin, you cannot marry him. But you had better truly know (along with your parents) that he will strongly stand against all fornication. It is imperative you begin your marriage on a holy foundation.
No. 2: A MAN WHO IS FREE FROM PORNOGRAPHY
This is very important for your parents to check out. If he is drawn to pornography, don’t count on a good marriage. He must be totally free from this abomination.
Sometimes a young man may have delved into it in the past, but you must know without a shadow of doubt that he is completely delivered from this evil thing, totally free, and walking in holiness.
Pornography is one of the biggest things that destroys marriages.
No. 3: A MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD
In Psalm 112, there’s a wonderful passage about men: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and delights greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed.” God promises that your children will be blessed if you marry a man who fears the Lord. If you want to have children who are blessed of the Lord, marry a man who fears the Lord.
No. 4: A MAN WHO LOVES GOD’S WORD
You want a man who not only believes in the Bible but LOVES the Bible—who loves to search it out and study it (Psalm 1:1-3; 112:2; Joshua 1: 8; and 2 Timothy 3:15). If he spends time each day reading God’s word, he will be strong (1 John 2:14). He will be kept from deception.
Ephesians 5:25-26: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.”
That is a very beautiful thing for a husband to do when he is married, to wash his wife with the Word. It means more than a little wash. It means to bathe her. That means he’s going to read the Word to you, or with you each day. You’ve got to find a guy who will bathe you in God’s word. If you’re looking at a guy who doesn’t even read God’s word, how is he ever going to do that? Find a man who loves God’s Word!
No. 5: A MAN WHO LOVES TO PRAY
Look for a man who will pray with you throughout your marriage. It is so sad that there are many couples who don’t even pray together! I love that Scripture in Matthew 18:19 where it says: “If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything, it shall be done by My Father which is in heaven.”
If “two of you.” That Scripture is tailor-made for marriage. It can be any two people who agree but when you have a husband and wife who agree together in prayer it is a powerful thing. Does the guy you are looking at love to go to prayer meetings or would he rather stay away? If he is not interested in going to prayer meetings now, or praying with you each time you meet, don’t expect him to be a man of prayer when you marry him.
No. 6: A MAN OF COMMITMENT
Look for a man who you know is committed to marriage and who will stay glued to the marriage through thick and thin.
No.7: A MAN WHO LOVES TO BLESS HIS FAMILY
A wonderful part of our marriage is our Shabbat meal which we enjoy every week. This is a meal where the husband blesses his wife. Then he blesses the children. That is such a beautiful thing. Of course, he doesn’t have to wait until Shabbat. He can constantly bless you. But you need to see this quality in the man you want to spend your life with.
No. 8: A MAN OF STRONG CHARACTER
A man who holds fast to his convictions. He is not swayed by any “Tom, Dick, and Harry” but seeks out what God says and sticks to it.
No. 9: A MAN WHO IS A HARD WORKER, NOT A SHIRKER
Look for a man who knows how to work hard. He doesn’t do things half-heartedly. He gets “stuck in.” He does the job properly. He finishes the job. He doesn’t leave it half done. He knows how to fix things. Look for a guy like that. Never marry a lazy man.
No. 10: A MAN WHO BELIEVES IN PROVIDING FOR HIS FAMILY
It is the responsibility of the man to provide for his wife and the home so the mother can stay in her nest to care for her children (1 Timothy 5:8). Look for a man who has that conviction. If he doesn’t, well, you won’t want to marry that man.
If a young man is not ready to take on the responsibility of embracing and providing for children, he is not ready for marriage. He does not have to have a lot of money when he first gets married, but he must have a job and understand that it is his responsibility to provide for the family.
No. 11: A MAN WHO LOVES CHILDREN
Is the man you are looking at open to embracing all the children that God has for you in your marriage? Does he have a heart for children? Do you notice him picking up babies and little children and carrying them around? It is so important to find this out before you get married.
There are so many mothers who are heartbroken because their husband does not want any more children. That is a very sad thing because God has created the womb to cry out for children. Proverbs 30:15, 16 says there are four things that never say it is enough, that are never satisfied. One is the barren womb. God has put that cry within the womb to long for children. A husband who does not understand this can be very cruel to his wife. He denies the very instinct God has put within her.
No. 12: A MAN WHO WILL NOT COMPROMISE ON ANY LEVEL OF EVIL
He will not watch movies that are slightly tainted or have immorality in them. He will have high standards. It’s not enough to marry a man who says he is a Christian. If he’ll watch anything without being troubled, finish with that guy.
No. 13: A MAN WHO IS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP OTHERS
He does not always think of himself. It’s so wonderful, isn’t it, to see a young man who doesn’t only think of himself. He sees someone who has a need and spontaneously goes to help them. That’s a good quality to look for.
No. 14: A MAN WHO IS COMMITTED TO THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS
That means he is a regular attender at church. He doesn’t go sometimes or when he feels like it. Find a young man who is committed to fellowshipping with the people of God because it is a command from God.
Hebrews 10:25: “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is. But so much the more, as you see the day approaching.”
This is a normal habit for a God-fearing person. The Bible talks about Jesus who went into the synagogue on the sabbath day “as was his habit” (Luke 4:16). The family went to the synagogue. It was their habit, so it was still His habit. It should be the habit in a young man’s life so it will continue to be a habit as children come along and you continue to attend church as a family.
No. 15: A MAN WHO BELIEVES IN HOMESCHOOLING
He is willing and has a vision to homeschool the children God gives to you. There was a time years ago when children could go to public school, but no longer. Today it is a place of brainwashing in humanism, progressivism, alternative lifestyles, homosexuality, and transgenderism. It is no place for a child of God.
No. 16: A MAN THAT IS A “ONE-WOMAN” MAN
You don’t want a womanizer. You want a man that is a ONE-WOMAN MAN. Marriage is an exclusive relationship where you “forsake all others.”
17: A MAN WHO HONORS HIS PARENTS
How a young man treats his mother will be how he treats his wife. Do you see him respecting his parents? Do you see him respecting his sisters? Is he a man who respects and protects women?
18. A MAN WHO LOVES HOSPITALITY
It would be pitiful to be married to a man who is stingy and who does not want anyone to come to your home and join your table for meals. Look for a man who loves people and is open to hospitality. Hospitality is the lifestyle of the early church. It is the heart of God.
19. A MAN WHO IS HUMBLE AND TEACHABLE
Along the road of life and during your marriage you will face many challenges and many lessons. We are all learning along the way, until the very end. A man who has a proud heart and will not listen to reproof can cause heartache in a marriage. Look for a man who is teachable, willing to learn, and who is open to receive reproof. The word reproof occurs 90 times in the Bible. Here are just a few examples: Psalm 141:5; Proverbs 9:8, 9; 10:17; 12:1; 13:1, 18; 15, 10, 31; and Revelation 3:19.
David was a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). He certainly wasn’t perfect, but God saw his heart and loved him. Look for a young man who has a heart after God.
And please, never marry a man who has a problem with anger. That is a No No! If he shows signs of anger, run from him.
No. 20: A MAN WHO IS FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Is he open to the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit? Does he long for revival?
No. 21: A MAN WITH WHOM YOU WILL “FALL IN LOVE”
Of course, above all these qualities, you will “fall in love.” Yes, I believe in falling in love. I believe that God is very interested and very involved in bringing couples together. He puts a spark in you and that other person that draws you together. A man could have all the above qualities and yet you are not attracted to him. But there will be a certain man that God ignites you to. It is one of the most exciting things in life. And God is in it.
However, if this young man does not have the above qualities, steel yourself and do not let your heart become involved. You need that spark of love, but marriage will not survive on a spark of love. It needs commitment. And to be committed you need sterling qualities to be committed to.
A godly marriage is the most beautiful thing on earth;
a miserable marriage is the worst thing to endure.
May God bring this wonderful and godly man to you. Amen and amen.
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My friend, Erin Harrison, got a great revelation. We were talking about the way to make our marriages, our homes, and our families prosper. To do this we need to get back to God’s way. It’s God’s ways that work. When we fill our lives and our children’s lives RICHLY with God’s Word, we will be filled with wisdom and knowledge of the right way to do things. Instead of following the world, we follow the Word.All of a sudden, Erin realized that there’s only one letter difference between the Word and the world. Take out the L from “world” and you’ve got Word! We are either going to live our lives according to the mindset of the world or the mindset of the Word of God. Which will it be?
We need to get the L of leftist ideologies out of our lives. We must choose whether we will have a biblical worldview or a liberal worldview.
We’ll never be old-fashioned when we choose the “old paths” because they lead us to rest and blessing. Jeremiah 6:16 says: “Thus saith the LORD (not Nancy Campbell or anyone else, but GOD), Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the GOOD way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
God’s living Word is the secret to prospering. Joshua 1:8 says: “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.”
Live by the Word, not the spirit of this world!
1 John 2:15-17 says: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
And James 4:4 is challenging too, isn’t it? “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Be a Word family, not a worldly family.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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You can change the atmosphere of your home by your smiles. Are you smiling at your husband? Are you smiling at your children? Smile even if you don’t feel like smiling because when you smile it will change your attitude, and consequently the attitude of all your family.
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Do you sometimes feel a little inferior because you don’t have time to get involved in ministry for the Lord? Dear mother, please remember who you are. You are in the perfect will of God. You are doing what God intends you to do. You are His missionary in your home, training disciples for his kingdom. That’s what Jesus did when He was here on earth. He trained twelve disciples who turned the world upside down! There is nothing more powerful than training disciples!Next time someone asks you what ministry you do for the Lord, perhaps you could answer, “I’m involved in the signs and wonders ministry!”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” they answer.
“Yes, God says that my children are for ‘signs and wonders’” (Isaiah 8:18).
Isn’t that amazing? Both words are similar. The word “signs” is “oth” and means “an appearance, a flag, a beacon, a monument, a miracle.” Each one of your children is a miracle from God. He gives them to you to train and prepare to be beacons of light in this dark and deceived world. They are to be a revelation of God to the world.
The word “wonders” is “mopheth.” It is a plural word meaning “wonderful deed, miraculous sign, miracle, prodigy.” The birth of each one of your children is a miracle of God. And their lives will continue to reveal the miraculous works of God.
Be encouraged today, dear mother. Lift up your eyes and understand the powerful ministry God has given to you.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Awhile back we enjoyed showing hospitality to some dear friends. As we talked together, the guy shared a phrase that a friend of his constantly affirms. When facing problems, difficulties, when things are not going as planned, or some project is not as successful as he thought, he always says, “It’s too soon to tell.”He doesn’t give up. He gives God time to work.
I think this is a good affirmation to add to our vocabulary, don’t you? We often give up too soon. Or despair. But God is not always in a hurry. The Scripture says: “Better is the end of a thing; than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit” (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
Zechariah 4:10 SAYS: “For who hath despised the day of small things?”
The beginning or the foundation of something is the most important of all. It often takes time. If we get it right, the rest will fall into place.
You haven’t seen the answers to your earnest prayers? Don’t give up. It’s too soon to tell. God doesn’t work according to our time factors. He knows what He is doing, and He sees everything from the beginning to the end.
Joseph must have thought that God had forgotten him. He was just a teenager, only 17 years, when his brothers sold him into slavery. He was about 30 years when he became overseer of Egypt and many of those waiting years were in prison. But God had the perfect timing. He was working out great things for Joseph as well as his whole family, and a nation!
Joseph saw the hand of God and was able to say to his brothers: “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, BUT GOD” (Genesis 45:7, 8 and 50:20, 21). God was working behind the scenes in all his suffering, in all his long imprisonment, and in all his loneliness.
Be encouraged today. Remember, it’s too soon to tell!
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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We usually think of food being only for the body, but the Bible tells us that food is also for our hearts. Acts 14:17 tells us that God loves to fill our HEARTS with food and gladness. He doesn’t even mention our bodies.I think we need to starting thinking like God thinks, don’t you?
The Passion translation says: “For he blesses us with rain from heaven and seasons of fruitful harvests, and he nourishes us with food to meet our needs. He satisfies our lives, and EUPHORIA fills our hearts.” Is this translation getting a little carried away? No. The Greek word for “gladness” in the KJV is “euphrosune.”
Euphoria is associated with the hormone oxytocin and it is well known that we release oxytocin (joy, happiness, and love) when we sit at a table to eat and fellowship with others.
Therefore, dear mother, as you think about what you will prepare for your family this evening, don’t only think about their bodies. Think about their hearts. Think about how to make your table a place that will draw your family to the table. Think about things you could talk about at the table that will release joy, laughter, and happiness. Think about how you could enjoy a little euphoria. Maybe you could ask each one to share the funniest thing that has happened to them this last week.
As people made of body, soul, and spirit we hunger for more than physical food. We hunger for nourishment for our soul. David confesses in Psalm 63:5: “My SOUL shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness.”
He’s talking about his inner man. He wants to satisfy it with marrow. Do you know what marrow is? Have you ever sucked marrow out of a bone? Most people haven’t today, but we grew up doing this. There’s nothing like marrow. We all competed to get the bone with the marrow. It is so rich and satisfying. But we need marrow for our souls as well as our bodies. Psalm 107:9 says: "He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”
And our spirits hunger too. Does your spirit cry out to be fed? Don’t let the spirits of your children starve each day. Make sure you give them a nourishing portion of God’s Word at your table this evening.
Much love,
Nancy Campbell
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The following is an essay on motherhood from my daughter, Evangeline.
WHO WILL RESPOND?The power of your mothering is not in whether we feed your children organic, subterranean extractions of pure milk, from the extinct koi koi nuts secluded in the Andes mountains, whether we read them Dr. Seuss or Bill Peet, or whether we take them on expeditions around the world but this . . .
That we feed them Jesus!
The Jesus of selfless love!
The real Jesus!
Alive!
All that He embodies!
Jesus with skin on and read more in your life than the brightly colored picture books of Bible stories!
Jesus, who is not just a cultural backsplash to our home and mothering but is the volcano who forms the land mass of our lives!
Erupting daily to a power that WE ALLOW to change our selfish lives, and family’s lives, to live like we really do know this Hero in the atmospheres of our mothering!
The true extent of our mothering is not whether we curdled our yoghurt, dressed our children perfectly, or crossed off all our boxes, but that they knew His Presence.
This joyful overwhelming love coming out of us, no matter what the circumstance!
There is nothing else!
True Mothering is the Heart of Jesus!
It’s the first glimpse of the Gospel!
The First Glimpse and The Last Farewell!
Jesus, the author of the universe, yet born of a mother, lying in her arms, a baby, about to change the universe!
Then . . . His last words. The farewell speech if you will.
He enters Jerusalem, the city of the world, to break the curse forever!
Does He take the form of a king? A soldier? A rioter? A revolutionary world changer?
Yes!
A World Changer with the anointing of a mother! “Oh that I could gather you under my wings as a mother gathers her babies.”
And again, on his last agonizing breath He suddenly defies the tormenting pain of death by cruxifixction!
What was happening? Was this the moment the disciples prayed He would be delivered?
A movement . . . and He starts to stand back up!
The universe waits with bated breath and all wonder at this last heroic act. What? He heaves through excruciating pain against the nails in his feet! The crowd press in to listen!
He looks over the crowd and finds her!
His mother!
This man . . . this King, this Savior, with one final act to heal the hum of humanity does something so beautiful, so healing, yet so simple that the world missed it!
What could be the plan of God that was so simple, yet so profound that it was the last thing He did?
He gave a mother!
“John! Look! She will be a mother to you!”
His last hope and eternal smile is giving a mother!
Then He cries . . . “It is finished!”
The women who decide to mother the spirit of Jesus in the ones around her are so rare, they are to be looked for, sought for, shared, cloned, adopted, multiplied, and revealed!
Mothering is the most powerful movie ever played!
The comeback to all creation crying out . . .
Feed me! Love me! Nurture me!
It never leaves!
It never turns off!
It never stops!
The hum of humanity never gives up crying MOTHER ME!
But culture drowns it!
Yet can you hear it still screaming?
Love me! Feed me! Nurture Me!
So culture screams even louder in the women’s ears . . .
“Me first!”
But wait! There in the darkness a woman picks up a sound . . . the sound of drums . . .
No! It’s the sound of heartbeats in her ears!
One heartbeat!
A few heartbeats!
A hundred heartbeats!
A thousand heartbeats!
A hundred thousand heartbeats!!!
She hears the cries from the belly of her womb!
The mother rises. The Spirit of God has found one!
The heavens are teetering on the edge of their seats!
‘Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!’
And then . . . Yeeeees!
She pulls her sword out and visibly slays her selfish life for the epochal cry of all time and once more the gospel is shown!
The flame of hope is released again to society!
The Deborah’s! The Mary’s! The Mother Teresa’s!
The one whose name is not known but rises to the sound!
And she fights too!
She fights against the drum of that other heartbeat!
That endlessly tiring ol’ sound, her own voice, mimicking the words “Serve me, give me!”
To try and mother oneself is to lose the image of the Gospel through self-indulgence! Therefore, you can never mother yourself! You can only mother others!
Vangibabe.
EVANGELINE JOHNSON
Photo from Etsy.
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I believe that one of the most powerful helps in raising our children, especially our teens, is to find godly peers for them. I know this is not always easy, but I would encourage you to pray earnestly about this and do all in your power to facilitate good friends for your children.When children are nearing their teens, and in their teens, they have a great need for friendships. And they are very guided and influenced by their peers. In fact, you can be the most amazing parents in the world, but if your children get into the wrong company, they can often go the wrong way.
We raised our children on Proverbs 13:20: “He that walks with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
It’s so great if you can find a good church fellowship with pro-family families. If children establish friendships with children from godly families when they are young, they will have those friends as they go into their teens.
We encouraged friendships with families with kindred spirits. We enjoyed loads of hospitality in one another’s homes. Our children stayed with them, and their children stayed with us. Of course, you can’t do this unless you know the family through and through. Hospitality is a wonderful way to cement these friendships.
One family, a fellow pastor with Colin in our church in New Zealand, had boys similar ages to ours. The boys became like family and today, even though they are in their fifties and living in different countries, they are still great friends and constantly in touch with one another.
Our grandchildren had it even better. Our daughter’s families have grown up here together on the hilltop and their children have grown up together. Each family was unique and established their own patterns, but the children saw one another every day of their lives. It was such a keeping power. They didn’t need to be lured into the spirit of the world as they enjoyed so much adventure with one another.
Most of them are married now and raising a new generation (our great-grandchildren) who will enjoy this same lifestyle.
Recently one of Pearl’s married sons came to her and said, “Mother, you were a great mother, but I have to say that it was growing up on the hilltop with all my cousins that was my greatest keeping power from the ways of the world.”
Here are some more Scripture for you to teach your children. It’s good to make these Scriptures memory verses for your children. Print them in big letters and pin them up on the wall for them to see.
Exodus 23:2: ¨Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” Do you notice that it says to “not follow.” Malachi 2:11, 12 tells us that the follower will receive the same judgment as the initiator. We must not be followers. We must teach our children not to be followers.
Another translation says that the tempted will receive the same judgment as the tempter! It’s not the temptation that is evil but yielding to the temptation.
I love the old hymn which we sang at our family devotions the other morning:
Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin,
Each victory will help you come other to win;
Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue,
Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through.
Proverbs 1:10, 15: “My son, if sinners entice thee, CONSENT THOU NOT . . . My son, WALK NOT thou in the way with them, REFRAIN THY FOOT from their path.”
Proverbs 4:14, 15: “ENTER NOT into the path of the wicked, and GO NOT in the way of evil men. AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT.”
Here are some other translations:
Berean Study Bible: “My son, if sinners entice you. DO NOT YIELD TO THEM.”
New Living Translation: “My child, if sinners entice you, TURN YOUR BACK ON THEM.”
May God bless you and help you in finding good friends for your children.
Many blessings from Nancy Campbell
P. S. One of the wonderful ways to find good friends for your teens is to come to Above Rubies Family Retreat where you can meet up with other families of like mind. We love it when families bring all their unmarried children and even their married children. By the way, Colin and I met at a Christian family camp, so we believe in this idea! Go to the website, www.aboverubies.org to check it out.
Other Scriptures to reference: Psalm 1:1; 34:14; 97:10; Proverbs 14:7; Amos 5:15; Romans 12:9; and 1 Corinthians 6:18.
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