Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God rests in His love toward us. The Hebrew word for rest in this Scripture means "to be silent, to hold your tongue." The same word is translated "hold your peace" or "hold your tongue" 30 times in the Bible. When God forgives us from our sin and cleanses us with His precious blood, He remembers our sin no more. He doesn't keep accusing us or bring it back to remind us.

God wants us to enjoy this kind of love in our marriage relationship, too. It's so easy to accuse. It's too easy to retort back. It's so easy to bring up past experiences. But, does this bring rest in your relationship? No. It only brings more nervous tension. It raises the blood pressure.

Instead, God wants you to enjoy His RESTING love. He wants you to rest in each another's love instead of answering back and having to have the last say.

Other translations say, "quieting love" (ESV), "calming love" (CEB, NLT, WEB), and "renewing love" (NET, GWT, RSV).

Will you ask God to help you be silent and "hold your tongue" today? No more retorts! Let me give you a secret. It will bring rest instead of stress!

Love from Nancy Campbell

Choose one of these positive statements to confess out loud today. Write or type it up in bold letters to pin up in your kitchen to remind you.

I am liberated and anointed to be the person God created me to be. I am deaf to accusations and dumb to my accusers.
I am helping to prepare an army of invaders who will fill this land with God's glory.
I am reporting for duty each morning to the King of kings.
I am making my home richer each day, not with material goods, but with lasting treasures.
I am no longer floundering for I have a purpose.
As a mother, I determine the destiny of the nation.

Be encouraged, dear mother. There is no career that has the backing of God more than motherhood.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Keep confessing the truth, dear mother. You are doing a great job as you nurture and train your children. You are determining the destiny of the nation.

I am proud to be called a mother.
I am shining God's light into the dark places of my home and society.
I am a peacemaker, speaking peace in the midst of chaos and trauma.
I am raising children to be Truth Lovers and Truth Speakers.
I am a society changer.
I am filling my home with everything that pleases the Lord and throwing out everything that displeases Him.

What one are you going to confess today?

Love from Nancy Campbell

Continually confess your trust in God. It is not enough to believe; you must also confess!

The Bible says, "I believe, and therefore have I spoken" (2 Corinthians 4:13). If you don't confess, your belief is not worth anything.

Here are some more affirmations for you today.

I am walking in the power of the cross of Jesus which is greater than my feelings, greater than my circumstances, and greater than the temptations of this world.
I am drawing from God's inexhaustible well that never runs day.
I am praising God in the good times and the bad.
I am learning to trust God more and more.
I am investing in that which will last forever.
one more.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Are you confessing these positive affirmations each day? It's a good idea to take the one that speak to you the most, print it out in BIG AND BOLD letters, and pin it up in your kitchen, or your bathroom, or wherever you can constantly see it.

I am employed in the most important career in the nation.
I am a faith-defender and I am training my children to be the same.
I am training valiant warriors, not wimps!
I am raising God-fearing children.
I am doing a great work as I sharpen and polish my arrows. I don't have time to come down to my adversaries.
I am walking in front of my children, inspiring them to all that God has for them.

Love from Nancy Campbell

A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother, who was in the front row to prompt him, formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. His memory was blank.

Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the words to him, "I am the Light of the world."

The little boy beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world."

What about confessing some affirmations about your marriage today? It's amazing how they will change your attitude, and consequently your relationship with your husband, and the atmosphere of your home.

I am a covenant-keeper.
I am my husband's happy helper.
I am respecting and honoring my husband today.
I am a smiling wife and mother.
I am going to be more delightful to my husband than when he first met me!
I am guarding my marriage and home on all fronts!

Love from Nancy Campbell

I was walking with Serene to her home this afternoon. Some of the children had gone to karate with the other cousins, and I said to her, "You'll have a quiet supper tonight."

"Oh no," she replied. "It will be much more hectic. I won't have so much help and therefore the children will be more boisterous and roudy. I won't have Engedi to hold baby Haven while I cook the meal or Cherish to help with the other little ones."

It's so true! More children don't make life more burdensome for a mother. The opposite is true. The more children, the more help. The more older children, the more there are to play and entertain the little ones. Everyone works together and the home runs smoothly.

The most challenging time of motherhood is when you have two or three little children, and no older ones. Please don't despair in this time, young mothers. More children, not stopping children, will fill your home with joy. And it doesn't become more overwhelming. It will become easier.

Love from Nancy Campbell

WHAT IS MARRIAGE?

One man and one woman,

   Fused into one.

God’s plan! Is there a better?

   There is none.

One body, one flesh—

   Indescribable!

One purpose, one vision—

   Unconquerable!

One soul and spirit—

   Invincible!

What is the foundation?

Praying together—

   Highest priority!

Reading God’s Word together—

   Paramount for success.

What does it take?

   Sacrificial love.

   Yielding and submission.

   No longer “me” but “you.”

   Laying down my life.

   Delighting to serve.

What is the fruit?

   A union that cannot be broken.

   A union that survives the storms of life.

   A union that forges a path for God in this world.

   A union that builds a godly generation for now and generations to come.

What is the power?

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

~ Nancy Campbell

Keep confessing the truth! Choose one, or all of them, to confess out loud. You will become what you speak.

I am no longer a half-hearted, but a whole-hearted wife and mother.

I am walking before the Lord and my family with a transparent heart.

I am walking in the joy of a free spirit.

I am raising children who are richly filled with God's Word.

I am in full-time ministry for God as I nurture and train my children.

I am training my children how to listen to the One who speaks from heaven!

Love from Nancy Campbell

It is important to constantly affirm who God created you to be and who you are in your high and noble calling of motherhood. Here are a few affirmations for you today. Write them out, bold and big, and pin them up where you can be reminded. And don't forget to SPEAK THEM OUT LOUD!

And remember, you don't speak these affirmations because you feel like it. You may feel exactly the opposite! But, forget your feelings. They come and go. They are temporary. Truth is the real issue, and when you speak truth, you will be amazed how your whole being--emotionally, physically, and spiritually, will catch up with your confession.

I am a fulfilled and liberated homemaker.

I am created to be a nurturer.

I am a dangerous woman to the enemy as I raise arrows for God's army.

I am a full-time missionary, training laborers for God's harvest field.

I am involved in the greatest building program in the nation--building a godly dynasty!

I am a family strengthener.

Love from Nancy Campbell

"To be a mother is a woman's greatest vocation in life. She is a partner with God. No being has a position of such power and influence. She holds in her hands the destiny of nations, for to her comes the responsibility and opportunity of molding the nation's citizens."

~ Spencer W. Kimball

Once, Eisenhower's mother was waiting in a certain place to meet her son, the President of the USA, when reporters spotted her, came up to her and said,

"Don't you feel great about your illustrious son?"

"Which one?" she replied.

A mother's charge--an immortal creature.

A mother's duty--to train him/her up for God, heaven, and eternity.

A mother's dignity--to educate the family of the Almighty Creator of the universe.

A mother's difficulty--to raise a fallen sinful creature to holiness and virtue.

A mother's encouragement--the promise of Divine grace to assist her in her momentous duties.

A mother's relief--to bear the burden of her cares to God in prayer.

A mother's hope--to meet her child in glory everlasting and spend eternal ages of delight with him before the throne of God and the Lamb.

~Angell James

"Blessed is the woman who has a smile in her voice, a sparkle in her eyes, a song on her lips, a spring in her step, a warmth in her touch, a depth to her beauty, a purpose for her life, a joy in her faith, a hope in her breast, and a love in her heart."

William Arthur Ward

An editor of a London newspaper submitted to Winston Churchill, for his approval, a list of all those who had been his teachers.

Looking at the list Winston remarked, "You have omitted the great of all my teachers--my mother."

"There is more in a mother's hand than in a king's scepter."
~ Billy Sunday

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

~ Annie J. Flint

I'd like to end this little study today with Ephesians 3:17 TLB,

"And I pray that Christ will be MORE AND MORE at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust him. May your roots go down deep into the well of God's marvelous love."

Love from Nancy Campbell

We are still finding more things that God wants us to have MORE of and to do MORE of. We need to remind ourselves each new day that this is MORE AND MORE life. Anything less is not the normal Christian life.

MORE reigning in life (Romans 5:17).

Through the power of Christ indwelling us, we can reign over all situations we face. We don't have to go under. God wants us to REIGN IN LIFE. We cannot do it in our own strength, but because Christ dwells in us.

MORE rejoicing (Luke 15:7; 2 Corinthians 7:13 and Philippians 1:26).

Not less rejoicing, but MORE rejoicing. Rejoice in all the little things that happen in your life each day. Rejoice with your husband. Rejoice with your children and teach them how to rejoice. Don't let anything go without rejoicing about it.

MORE searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:11; 18:26 and Hebrews 2:1).

The Bible tells us that the Bereans were MORE noble than the Thessalonicans because they "searched the Scriptures daily." They didn't do it out of sufferance, but with "great eagerness." We can't do too much searching of the Scriptures. The Scriptures are not just for Sunday but for every day of the week in our home.

MORE serving (1 Corinthians 15:10; 9:19; 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 and Revelation 2:19).

We get plenty of opportunity to serve in our exalted role of wife and mother. don't we? Let's not serve with boredom or resignation, but with joy and a MORE AND MORE attitude.

MORE value (Matthew 10:31; Luke 12:6-7).

Even though God is so high, He cares for the little sparrows. However, He reminds us that we are of MORE value than them. Dear mother, God is watching over every little incident that happens in your home. Cast all your cares upon Him, the big and the little. He is caring for you MORE than you realize.

Love from Nancy Campbell

What MORE can we come into today?

MORE multiplying (Exodus 1:12; Deuteronomy 1:11 and Isaiah 54:1). 

The children of Israel, living in bondage to Egypt and suffering bitter and hard labor, are an example to the Christian church today. Even in their suffering they kept on having God's children. Exodus 1:12 says that "The more they (the Egyptians) afflicted them, the MORE THEY MULTIPLIED AND GREW." What's our excuse today?

MORE patience (Revelation 2:19).

The testimony of the church at Thyatira was that they had MORE patience at the end than the beginning. Are we growing MORE AND MORE patient? Colossians 1:11 tells us that God strengthens us with His might in our inner man in order for us to experience patience and longsuffering.

MORE prayer (Luke 22:44).

How can we have MORE prayer? One of the ways is to make sure we establish Family Bible/Prayer Time every evening and morning with our family.

MORE praises (Psalm 71:14).

Let's get into the habit of praising God for every little joy we experience, and even in the difficult things we experience. For a practical idea to become a praising family go to the Above Rubies webpage, click on Articles and Stores, then Change the Mood in Your Home.

MORE provision (Matthew 4:24; 6:25-30; 7:11; 13:12 and Luke 12:24-28).

God is a dwelling God. He dwelt amongst His people in the wilderness in the Holy of holies. Today, God wants to not only dwell in your heart, but to dwell in your home. And He promises to abundantly provide for you. Psalm 132:15 says, "I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread." Go to the Above Rubies webpage, click on Articles and Stores, and then Can God Provide?

Love from Nancy Campbell