When something traumatic happens, Sarah’s daughters don’t fear, they look to God. They trust God. God is bigger than any situation you face. Get into the habit of lifting your heart to God and trusting Him. Confess your trust on Him.
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.
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...than to bring forth an eternal soul into the world.
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Jessica Britton shares her joy of motherhood: "I am a mother in my forties with my sweet 10th baby, Lucy Pearl, and loving every minute of it. Motherhood is such a gift. God is so gracious to me."
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When my granddaughters were young, they loved to go to the dress-up box. It was their favorite thing to do. I don’t have lots of beautiful princess dresses in my Dress Up Box (they don’t last very long here) but I have tulle and sheer white curtains and lace and such and they were very creative at making themselves look like princesses, queens, and brides.
Now they have grown and the majority of them have enjoyed the glory of being the real bride and bridesmaids many times. Cherish, who married in January has been bridesmaid 10 times so far! Lots of opportunities in a big family!
Why did they want to do this? I didn’t tell them to do it. It was instinctive. Therefore, if it is instinctive and God-given, why do little girls change as they grow up? An interesting question.
I don’t believe God intends us to change. I believe He wants females to continue to dress and act like royalty. Yes, we belong to a royal kingdom. We are daughters of the King of kings. And we are meant to look like daughters. We are meant to glory in our femininity because this is the way God made us.
Today we live in a society that blurs the sexes in the way we dress, act, and even think. We are indoctrinated. We are propagandized. We are influenced by the enemy of our souls who wants to lure us away from who God intends us to be. God created male and female. Therefore, Satan who wants to rebel against all God’s ways, seeks to destroy these roles.
I think it is time we began to think truthfully. We are like sheep and so quickly led astray to do whatever everyone else in society is doing. Look around you. How are most women dressed? In the uniform. All the same. Everyone wears jeans and top. They must be like everyone else. Where are the girls and women who dress femininely like princesses? Like they loved to do when they were little girls?
I think of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. The Bible says she was beautiful. She also dressed beautifully--not drab or boringly. She dressed like royalty. Her name means Princess. When Pharaoh sent his scouts out looking for beautiful women for his harem, they spied Sarah. They weren’t looking for a woman in jeans and top. They looked for a princess. It happened again with King Abimelech.
I am sure I am treading on people’s toes but let’s be honest. We are conditioned by society more than our God-given instincts. Are we even in touch with how God innately created us?
Love and blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
Photo: Meadow and Rashida dressing up when they were little girls. I notice Meadow has on the remains of one of my turquoise negligées. They dressed up in this for years until it wore out! Meadow is now waiting for her third baby (and still dresses like a princess) and Rashida has three darling children.
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I often hear mothers say, “I wish that this [being a stay-at-home mom] was the case for me, but we can't afford for me to stay home.” Why are these words such a common reply? I think it is because we feel we must take things into our own hands to make it work. We don’t think that God is able! That’s the bottom line.
That’s rather challenging, isn’t it? Especially when we read the words in Psalm 78:19-22: “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? . . . Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? . . . Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth… because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.”
When we don’t believe that God can provide, we are really confessing that we don’t trust Him and that He is not sufficient for our needs. And yet, isn’t He God? The God of the universe. The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The God who has promised to provide for the fruit of the womb.
I know it can be scary when you wonder where the next meal is coming from. And we all go through seasons, just as Paul did (Philippians 4:11-13). There were times when he abounded and times when he was abased. We’ve faced the same thing many times. I remember one time when we had no money coming in and I thought that I would help the situation! Help, Nancy Campbell didn’t trust God! Shame!
I could never imagine my getting a full-time job out of the home, but I thought I’d do a few cleaning jobs to bring in a little extra (my children were mostly grown by this time). I was dutifully doing this when a woman of God challenged me. She said I was blaspheming God’s Word and not being an example to the younger women. At first, I was indignant. “Who does she think she is?” I thought. “She doesn’t know our situation.”
But then the Holy Spirit used her words to speak into my heart. I realized she was right! I confessed my sin and unbelief and immediately stopped these little jobs that took me out of the home. The amazing thing is that it didn’t change a thing! I noticed no difference when I was trying to bring in extra money than when I trusted God! God could do better than what I could do!
Why is it we think we can do a better job than God? God doesn’t require sacrifice, but obedience. When we obey Him and trust Him, we experience His faithfulness. That doesn’t mean we will always be abounding, but we will never starve!
To the dear mothers who are still working and yet long to be home, I want to encourage you. Please, take a step of faith and obedience. You will wait for the rest of your life for the circumstances to be right before you can come home! Your circumstances will never be perfect. You will never think you have enough money without your wage. You need to take a step of faith. You must act in obedience. Give your notice and then you will see what God can do.
While you try to do it in your own strength, God steps back and lets you do it your way. He can only show you His faithfulness and His provision when you let Him take over! Try it and see! I would love to hear the hundreds of testimonies from those who have seen God’s provision as they have taken this step of faith.
Instead of “we can’t afford for me to stay home, “my husband always said, “I can’t afford for my wife to leave the home. Too much is at stake!”
When the mother is out of the home, the enemy and destroyer of souls has a chance to influence our children. We as mothers are watch dogs of our children and our homes. A watch dog is of no worth if he is not at home. We can’t leave our post. Our children, the nation, and future generations are dependent on us!
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
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What’s your disposition toward your husband? Way's translation of Titus 2:4 exhorts wives "to be amiable and submissive to their own husbands." To be amiable makes for a happy and loving atmosphere.
The dictionary meaning of amiable is "good-natured and friendly." This is a good translation of the Greek word that is used in this Scripture which is the word "philandros." It means "to be affectionate and friendly."
This is the attitude God wants us to have as wives. Instead, we often get prickly, irritated, and impatient with our husbands?
Ask God to take away your prickliness. Ask Him to fill you with His amiableness. Get into the habit of reacting with an amiable spirit rather than an impatient spirit.
The psalmist rejoiced in Psalm 84:1: "How amiable are thy tabernacles (dwelling places), O LORD of hosts."
Think of ways to be good-natured, friendly, and affectionate to your husband (and your children). That means taking time to stop what you are doing and look at him, smile at him, touch him, hug him, and kiss him.
Can you say Amen?
Have a wonderful day,
Nancy Campbell
P.S. I am busy preparing for Passover tonight.
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So true. There’s nothing like helping someone in their need to help you forget about your own worries. The best antidote to depression is to care for someone else and bless them.
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The Bible talks a lot about covering. Isaiah 61:10: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath CLOTHED me with the GARMENTS of salvation, he hath COVERED me with the ROBE of righteousness.” When we accept the salvation God gives to us, He washes away our sins, covers us with the precious blood of Jesus, and clothes us with a robe of righteousness. It’s not our righteousness for we have none of our own, but it’s His righteousness.
This is something that happens to us spiritually. However, everything that happens in the inward man should be revealed in the outward man. Our physical body emanates what goes on in the “hidden man of the heart.” I believe that if we are truly covered with a robe of righteousness inwardly, we will also reveal this work of righteousness within us by covering our physical body.
A robe is not a scanty dress; it covers the body. It doesn’t have to cover head to foot, but at least a robe will modestly cover the top to below the knee. I grieve when I see women who confess they are Christians and yet blatantly display cleavage, some a little, some as much as they can! To many it is normal. Sorry, I don’t believe it is normal, or godly, for a woman who is covered with a robe of righteousness. Display is for the bedroom, not for the public eye. In fact, I can’t believe how husbands. who are the covering of their wives allow them to leave their home showing so much flesh.
Revelation 1:6; 5:10; and 20:6 tells us that we have been made “kings and priests unto God.” What kind of clothing does God wants His priests to wear? Exodus 28 tells us all about it. In fact, God is the first clothes designer and He designed glorious clothes for the priests, “for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2).
The High Priest was most gloriously clothed with a breastplate, a shoulder garment, a robe, an embroidered long shirt, a turban, and a girdle all in amazing colors and precious gems! All the other priests had to wear linen trousers with a long shirt of fine linen, once again “for glory and for beauty.” The main thing we notice is that they were CLOTHED and COVERED, not with drab clothing, but beautiful clothing. This typifies a priest of the most High God.
Are you fully covered with the robe of righteousness? Psalm 132:9, 16 says: “Let the priests be clothed with righteousness.” If so, you will automatically cover your physical body.
Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
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The first chapter of Exodus tells us about the children of Israel living down in Egypt. Verse 7 says: “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was FILLED with them.” They were fulfilling the first commandment that God gave to man. Something powerful always happens when we obey God’s commandments. They are not ordinary words to be discarded; they are life-giving decrees.
What happened in Egypt? The children of Israel became “more and mightier” than the Egyptians. (v. 9). They became a threat to them. Verse 12 says: “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.” The word grieved is the Hebrew word “quts” and it means “disgusted, abhorred, horrified, afraid—actually vomiting is the primary understanding of the word.”
This same Hebrew word is used in another passage where the children of Israel became a threat. In Numbers 22:3 it tells us, “Moab was sore afraid of the people, because THEY WERE MANY and Moab was distressed (quts) because of the children of Israel.” Why was Moab so very afraid? Because the Israelites were multiplying! When a people multiply, they become scary. When they multiply, they take dominion.
Now here’s the question. Are we, the people of God, a threat to the enemy in our nation today? Sadly, we must answer no. For many decades, instead of multiplying, God’s people have been diminishing. They have turned away from the infallible, immutable Word of God and followed their own desires. They have limited their number of children to the worldly 1.9 average (1.2 in many European countries). They have sacrificed bringing God’s children into the world on the altar of careerism and modern culture-ism. And now the humanists and socialists are taking over.
There are thousands and millions of precious godly offspring who are not here! God has been deprived of His intentions. The world has been deprived of the godly offspring who fill the nation with His love, righteousness. truth, salvation, wisdom, and justice. And of course, although many do not realize it, the parents themselves have been deprived.
But all is not lost. There are a growing number of families who are listening to the heartbeat of God. They are hearing His desire for family and for children. They are turning from their deceptions and opening their hearts to the children that He has destined for them to have, whether it is one or ten! As they obey God’s first commandment, something is happening. The liberalists are starting to get scared!
A few years back, a book was published by a radical feminist and published by Beacon Press, which promotes homosexuality and anti-Christian dogma. She wrote this book to expose Biblical patriarchy and fruitful motherhood. In this book she states that the parents who embrace children are “a movement we ignore at our peril.” In a message to Barack Obama, the author wrote, “Fearless Leader—forget the fundamentalists in Iraq; these prolific Christians are the real bad guys!” In other words, fruitful mothers, embracing the children God wants them to have are dangerous! They are scaring the feminists!
The enemy, who hates life, who comes “to rob, kill and destroy” is scared of the godly seed! Mothers who are not deceived by the delusions of Satan, the robber of life, and who still believe in God’s very first mandate to mankind are dangerous people! Isn’t that exciting? You may think you are insignificant as you care for your children in your home each day, but mother, lift up your eyes! You are doing a powerful work. You are doing God’s work. You are dangerous to the enemy. He is scared of you, because he is scared of the godly seed coming into this world who will hate evil and love righteousness, who will destroy the works of the devil and lift up the name of Jesus.
Don’t you love being dangerous? Look out! Here we come--holding on to the Word of Life, walking in God’s commandments, embracing the Godly seed and training them to be mighty warriors for God who will impact this world and fill it with His glory. Never forget—the more children a godly mother brings into this world…
The more scared the liberalists will become!
The more evil will be defeated in the land!
The more the kingdom of God will be advanced!
The more the gospel will be spread across the earth!
The more the image of God will be revealed in the earth!
The more the economy will boom in the land!
The more righteousness and morality will pervade the land!
The more righteous leaders will arise in the nation!
The more justice, honesty, and truth will flood the land!
The more God will be glorified in the earth!
The more the nation will prosper and be blessed!
The more dangerous she will be!
And the more the statists will fear and tremble!
Keep being dangerous!
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
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I think the words of the prophet Jeremiah speak to the climate of God’s people today.
In Jeremiah 6:16 he says: “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, wherein is the GOOD way, and walk therein, and ye shall find REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”
Many don’t like the old paths, the paths of God’s Word which were written for all generations. They think the modern way of our humanistic society is better. They are horrified if you mention that God’s Word encourages mothers to be “keepers at home” and that their No. 1 priority is to love their husbands and children (Titus 2:3-5). That doesn’t mean leaving them for a career which they love better.
Many Christian women have flung off the godly way of dressing and dress according to the fashions of this world which often expose too much of the body. Their dressing is antipathy to godly standards and God’s Word. But look out if you dare say anything. You maybe be stoned!
Many Christians today have forgotten what it means to have a solid commitment to the church gathering. They go when it suits them but give in to any little excuse to do something more entertaining. They have forgotten there is such a phrase as rock solid commitment.
And so we could go on. Why don’t we like the old ways? It’s not that we should be old fashioned, because God’s Word is as up-to-date as tomorrow’s news media. Most of what we hear is lies, but God’s Word not only gives us principles for every generation but has written the whole future for us to read
Jeremiah 10:1-3 says: “Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel.” Did you notice those words? It is God speaking. It’s certainly not me! And just as well as I think I might get a lot of flack! Let’s continue: “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen . . . for the customs of the people are vain.” It’s so easy to learn the way of society, isn’t it? We just get into the groove of what everyone else is doing. We need to constantly check our lifestyle to see if it lines up with God’s Word.
God speaks again in Jeremiah 18:15 (NLT): “My people . . . have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.” When we get off God’s highway, it can get really muddy. We get stuck in the mud of deception and often it’s not easy to get out.
Let’s get out of the mud and into God’s glorious ways. They are so much
higher than man’s ways.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting from Etsy.
P.S. Further Scriptures to read. Share them with your children too:
Read also Leviticus 18:2-5; 20:23, 24, 26; Matthew 7:13, 14; John 15:19; 17:14; Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; James 4:4; 1 Peter 1:14-17; and 1 John 2: 15-17.
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All the creative things, the feats, the adventures, the inventions, the innovations can only happen through someone and that someone was first created by God in the womb of a mother. Without the mother’s womb all life would come to a stop.
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...can make or break your marriage. Speak loving, kind, and encouraging words.
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Last week I sent to you six posts re3garding what it means to be a woman. Some replied asking, "If motherhood is the highest calling of women, what about women who are single or married women who are barren?" This is a very valid question.
When we give birth to a baby and gradually add to our family we are propelled into the realm of motherhood. However, this is not the beginning of motherhood. Every female is ordained at birth to be a mother. Little girls love mothering from the earliest age. Did you know that a baby girl has approximately two million eggs in her ovaries when she is born?
Every woman is created to be a mother whether she has many children, is barren, or single. God put within every female an innate desire and anointing to nurture. Even those who spurn motherhood can't get away from their desire to nurture. If they don't want to nurture babies, they will nurture a pet. They must have something on which to pour out their God-given mothering instinct.
Some of the greatest mothers who have lived were not married women and never gave birth to children. Of course, we immediately think of Mother Theresa, who although a single woman, poured out her life in sacrificial love to the poor and the needy. In doing so, she was a great mother and a totally fulfilled woman. A single woman or a woman who is not able to conceive is still a mother.
There is a drought of mothering in our needy and hurting society today. Mothers are the greatest need in society, whether married or single. There are hurting children, disturbed young people, and lonely and needy elderly who are all desperate for the loving touch of an anointed and nurturing woman, whether married or single.
Single women should ask God in what direction He wants them to release the nurturing anointing He has innately put within them. God will lead them to many broken and messed up lives. Often the barren woman ends up with more children than the married. Isaiah 54:1: "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord."
The most important thing is for each one of us, married and single, to generously embrace the lifestyle of mothering God intends for us.
Mothers with children, embrace your wonderful high calling of motherhood. Don't hanker for another lifestyle; you are in the perfect will of God.
Single women or mothers who cannot conceive at this time, embrace the mothering anointing that God has given you and open your heart to mother those whom God brings into your life. There are so many waiting for you.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting by Cecile Veilhan
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Today I am posting an article from a dear friend in England. I have known her for years as she has come to Above Rubies retreats over the years of raising her family. I will see her again this year in July when Colin and I speak at a Family Retreat in England.
MOTHERS, WE ARE MISSIONARIES
My husband, Phil and I, have taken on more than we ever imagined we could. When I was younger and thought of what my life would look like, this was never the picture! Sure, I liked children and the concept of the good life was appealing, but it was never something that I could attach to my future reality.
Before I met Phil, I had thoughts of missionary life. I knew I wanted to serve God and care for children, but I didn’t consider they’d be my own, I couldn’t build myself up for that kind of disappointment. My heart would be too easily crushed if for whatever reason that had not been possible.
The call of missionary service, to share the gospel with others and to serve God wholeheartedly is something we can do as mothers, but it took me a while to understand that. We chose fairly early on in our marriage to trust God with everything—our money, home, and family size. As I once heard said, “God gives the best to those who leave the choice to him.”
For me he chose motherhood and I see it as a calling, not a distraction to any other work. Mothers often choose to leave the calling of motherhood for a vocation in Christian service, believing that to be a higher calling. Is the mission field really of greater service to God though?
Charles Spurgeon famously said: “”You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts.”
How can we serve God with the faith of a missionary and the evangelical mind of a missionary in our homes? Let me first tell you a bit about what inspires me to serve God in this way.
Before I really knew about any famous Christians, I felt the call on my heart to give my all to Christ. The hymn we sing in church goes, “I give you my life, I give you my all.” I still can’t sing it without considering if there are any other aspects of life I need to hand over to God.
It has been those Christian women who stepped out in faith and gave God their all who have inspired my journey to follow Jesus into the adventure of motherhood, to listen to His still small voice, and obey him without hesitation and without fear. I have filled my heart and mind with true stories of courage and bravery in the face of adversity and it has built up my spiritual muscles as I have read about the amazing God we serve and how He continues to help his children today.
Gladys Aylward travelled to China, against the odds, and took 100 children to safety during WW2, travelling by foot through the mountains of China. God performed many miracles to facilitate her journeys and the same God can, if we ask Him, help us today.
Looking to the Bible I have always been inspired by Moses’ mother. I can only imagine the terror she must have felt as she hid her baby for months before making his basket and letting him go into the care of God alone. What a wonderful God we serve. He gave her baby back to her and paid her to care for him! I love that story.
Helen Roseveare, Narcissa Whitman, the pilgrim mothers, Mary Slessor, Perpetua, Amy Carmichael, Katharina Luther, Corrie Ten Boom, and Susanna Wesley are just some of the other women who have laid down everything for Christ and inspired me on my journey with Christ.
What do these women have in common and what can we learn from them to help us as we try to wholeheartedly follow God? Above all, they were of women of faith. They trusted God more than they trusted the wisdom of this world, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight” (1 Corinthians 3:19). They looked to God and His Word as they considered what to do next.
How can we apply this to the arena of motherhood? Every day, we are assaulted with challenges, what to say to a discouraged teenager, how to juggle schoolwork, washing, and mealtimes. Are these areas God would help us in? Absolutely! The work of a missionary isn’t all about sharing the gospel. It is often about the nitty gritty of everyday life. God meets us there and grows it there.
Sharing the gospel is of course one of our most important tasks as missionary minded mothers. We share it with our children, other mothers, friends, people who stop by for hospitality, people in shops, postmen, absolutely anyone! I love to share the gospel first and foremost through my behaviour as love is the way to reach people’s hearts. I aim to start every conversation with an arrow prayer, “God please speak through me today and help me to love as Jesus would.”
I am always amazed at the opportunities He puts on my doorstep. One of my favourite memories was regular visits from two Jehovah’s Witnesses who would challenge us all to dig into Scripture to back up our viewpoint. The children would stand on the doorstep with Bibles in hand, ready to find the verses to prove Jesus was God made flesh. It grew their faith and sowed seeds into the minds of the ladies who spoke with us.
The children’s faith has grown as we have trusted God with our money. There have been times when, instead of buying a new pair of shoes for each child, we have prayed for God’s provision. We once prayed for a pair of size 5 trainers and 45 minutes later a friend turned up on our doorstep with 2 pairs of size 5 trainers (we hadn’t told her)! It’s that kind of answer to prayer which helps our children see that our God is alive and active, and it grows their faith. God was so kind to say yes to that prayer. He often makes us wait but we have never forgotten that moment.
As we followed God to our new home in Shropshire, we could never have imagined what He had in store, but day by day He reveals to us that our missionary journey is not over. We see more and more that we are called to share our home with others and to continue to trust in our God who has never let us down.
Love from VICKI. To read more about this lovely family, go to their blog: www.lifeinallitsfullness.blog
Family picture: Oh, don’t you love this beautiful picture? I love family pictures. And look at those redheads! Aren’t they amazing?
L to R: Katie (3), Michael (5), Stephen (7), Hannah (9), Matthew (11), Elizabeth (13), Madeleine (15), Jonathan (17), Christopher (19), Vicki and Phil and new baby due September 2022! How wonderful!
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We look at our children around us,
Each one in turn we embrace,
Each is a gift from our Maker,
God has such wonderful taste.
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In this day of delusion and deception regarding the genders, we must know who we are. That’s certainly not difficult to understand, especially as we have been discussing the Hebrew words for women during the last week.
We are only one or the other, male or female. We are either XY if male or XX if female. God makes that abundantly clearly through the three witnesses of truth—biblically, physically, and innately.
Throughout God’s Word, He makes the absolute distinction between male and female and calls anything else an abomination (Leviticus 182-25). Check the following:
Male (zakar) / female (nqebah) Notice that the two Hebrew words are totally different (Genesis 1: 27).
Man / woman (Genesis 2:23).
Father / mother (Genesis 2:24).
Husband / wife (Genesis 2:25; Proverbs 12:4; 31:11, 12, and 28).
Master / mistress (Genesis 16:4 and 24:9).
Bridegroom / bride (Psalm 19:5; Isaiah 49:18; 61:10; 62:5; and Jeremiah 33:11).
Mankind / womankind (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13).
Young men / maidens (Isaiah 62:5).
Sons / daughters (Genesis 5:4).
Boys / girls (Zechariah 8:5).
God called them Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Arthur W. Pink comments on God's creation of man: "Not both males or both females, but one male and one female; and to make the design of this unmistakably plain God says, "Be fruitful and multiply." For this reason marriage is called "matrimony," which signifies motherage because it results in virgins becoming mothers."
The Latin word for mother is “mater” from which come the words maternal, maternity, matrimony, marriage, wedlock, nuptial, connubial, and hymeneal (coming from hymen, the virginal membrane).
Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary tells us that the “Latin word for feminine comes from “femina” meaning woman. The first syllable is probably from womb, by the use of “f” for “w.” The last part of the word is probably from man, quasi, femman, meaning womb-man.”
Actually, there are only two types of people in this world—a man without a womb, the male; and a man with a womb, the woman, therefore a “womb-man.” The glory of the woman is her womb.
You may have heard that Biden and his cohorts have removed the word “mother” from their health programs for the phrase “birthing people.” The liberals keep taking out words from the Bible that have belonged to the generations since the beginning of time. They want nothing to do with God and His ultimate plan.
I intend to keep to God’s vocabulary of female, woman, and mother. God chose the word mother! And I’m not giving it up. God used the word “mother” before there was ever a mother on the earth (Genesis 2;24)! He ordained mothers before there were mothers. Mothers are His plan for the world. To reveal His maternal heart to the world. To bring softness and tenderness to the knocks and the hardships of this world. To keep this world going and to birth, nurture, and train great men and women who will bless the world.
In this world of ridiculous deception, embrace your motherhood anointing in a greater way than you ever have before. Know that you are walking in the perfect will of God. Lift your head high and be proud of the calling God has given you. You have been named “mother” by God. You have been created for this purpose. Never be intimidated by those who are deceived.
Live your God-anointed life of mothering today,
Nancy Campbell
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Are you getting your family ready for church today? Are you excited about gathering together with the people of the Lord? This is one of the ways we know that we are born again when we love to be with His people.
1 John 3:14 says: “We KNOW that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.”
Have a wonderful day as you assemble with the saints. Show hospitality too. Invite someone home for lunch.
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Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer Blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Amen.
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In the first three chapters of Genesis, we read six different names for woman—female, woman/wife (same Hebrew word), mother, Eve, and help meet (two words). Each one reveals a different aspect of who we are. Wow, we are so versatile and amazing!
The words help meet in the Hebrew are “ezer kenegdo.” And what a glorious meaning? The word “ezer” is the Hebrew word for helper. Many women think this is a subservient role. Oh no, it is powerful and amazing. Think about it. When you need help, you need someone who can do what you cannot do, someone who has more expertise than you in a certain field. In the ministry of Above Rubies we daily work on the computers and often things go wrong. I must confess I am not a computer expert and when something goes wrong, I need help. I need my computer tech. I’m helpless without him. Is his service to me demeaning? No, I am desperate for his help, and grateful.
In the same way, God created us to help our husbands in their areas of need. We desperately need one another. We are not whole without one another. My husband has strengths that I don’t have. I have strengths that he doesn’t have and so we fit together like a glove.
If I try to fulfil his role, I am wasting my time and depriving him of his anointing. He wasn’t created to fulfill my role. God has given to me as a woman the management of the home. That’s not my husband’s job. God has given him the mandate to provide for and lead the home.
“Ezer” is used 21 times in the Bible and yet 16 of those times are used to describe God as Deliverer, Protector, Rescuer, Savior, Strengthener, Protector, and Helper. And yet the amazing thing is the very first time this word is used, it is used to describe the glorious woman God created. Dear wife, and mother, as a helper, you are showing to your husband and to the world what God is like.
The word comes from two Hebrew root words:
1) To rescue, to save
2) To be strong
Today my husband is 82 years. This morning we were basking in the joy of our lives together for nearly 60 years. He was thanking me for serving him and I was thanking him for serving me. We both serve one another in our different God-given ways, and it makes life one beautiful story.
The word kenegdo means “counterpart (the part which fits another), corresponding to, part opposite.” Let’s look at some other translations to help us understand more fully:
“I will make him a helper that is PERFECT FOR HIM" (CEB).
“I will make him a helper FIT FOR HIM" (ESV and RSV).
“I will make him a SUITABLE HELPER, COMPLETING HIM” (TBV- The Berkely Version).
“I will make a helper who is JUST RIGHT FOR HIM.” (NLT, GW, and NCV). I love these words, don’t you? When God created the women, He created her “just right for the man.” She is the perfect fit.
God created man with specific strengths, but He also gave specific strengths to the woman to bring into the marriage. We don’t bring the man’s strengths, but the beautiful strengths God has given to us. Adam didn’t need another man; he needed a woman who would fit and complete him. Two pieces of a puzzle that are the same shape cannot fit together. You can only put one on top of the other which eclipses the other.
God created you to be a strong God-given helper to your husband, saving him in so many areas, but that does not make you the spiritual head of your home. It does not make you the breadwinner. That doesn’t save your husband; it destroys and pulls down your husband’s strengths.
I love this picture of God coming to the help of Israel. This is the way we can come to the help of our husbands, not like little doormats but riding in the anointing and majestic glory God has given us as we pour out our lives to build our marriages and homes.
Deuteronomy 33:26: “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.”
Be encouraged and inspired,
Nancy Campbell
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