WALKING THROUGH

“Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”
(Psalm 23:4).

Isn’t it wonderful to know that when we go through a foreboding trial that God doesn’t leave us in the trial? Instead He takes us through it. It certainly may not be easy, but He will not forsake us.

This Scripture is often used to bring comfort to loved ones at a funeral. It could relate to death, but David, the psalmist, is speaking about this life. It pictures going through a very dark valley, an experience of deep darkness in our lives. Even terror and calamity. It’s a valley experience.

The Bible shepherd often led his sheep through these valleys when taking them to new pasture from one mountain to another. The only way to get to the next mountain was to go through the valley. Some of these valleys were deep gorges with high precipitous cliffs on either side. No sun shone into these valleys.

They were gloomy, eerie, with dark shadows hanging over them. Wild beasts lurked. Robbers waited to steal and even kill for food. Without their shepherd, the sheep would not know where to turn. Without their shepherd, they would freeze with fear.

But with their shepherd close by, they didn’t have to fear any evil! It didn’t matter what evils lurked around, they implicitly trusted their shepherd. What a statement of confidence!

Are you going through a dark valley experience? Dear precious one, your Shepherd does not leave you in the valley. He is with you. He is with you in the darkest of times. He is with you in the scariest of times. Open your mouth and confess this truth: “I thank you, dear Lord Jesus, that You are with me. I do not fear because I trust You.”

God gives us this same promise in Isaiah 43:2: “When thou pasest through the waters, I WILL BE WITH THEE; and through the rivers, THEY SHALL NOT OVERFLOW THEE: when thou walkest through the fire, THOU SHALT NOT BE BURNED, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” We do not talk about the deep valleys we are walking through. Instead, we confess that our Shepherd is with us. This makes all the difference.

Do you notice another powerful principle? This Scripture talks about walking through the dark valley. You don’t camp in the valley! You don’t stop in the valley. Too many believers think that when they enter a valley experience that they will be stuck in it! They’ll never get out. That is not the message of Scripture.

We WALK through our valley experiences. We don’t run with fear. We don’t stop and freeze with fear. We keep on walking, faithfully plodding on, trusting our Shepherd, and listening closely to Him to show us each step to take.

But there’s more yet. You walk THROUGH the valley. This is the message of Psalm 23:4. Say it aloud. “I’M WALKING THROUGH!” Say it again. “I’M WALKING THROUGH.” You don’t try to find another way around. God will bring you out the other side. God is leading you on in His perfect plan for you.

We also notice that God has other comforts for us during the valley experiences. Every shepherd carried a rod and a staff. The rod was the shepherd’s weapon of defense. It often had a club at the end which the shepherd used to attack wild animals and other enemies. This is most probably what David used when he slew the lion and the bear. It can also be used to firmly guide a straying sheep.

The staff was a walking stick, a symbol of authority, and used to protect the sheep or to rescue a sheep stuck in thicket. Sometimes the shepherd placed his staff on the sheep as a symbol of friendship and protection.

The rod and staff also speak of God’s Word which corrects us, guides us, and comforts us. We can’t go through the valley without His Word. And often it is in the valley times that He may have to correct us, but we also experience His comfort too.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you so much, dear Father, that You are my Shepherd. No matter what valley I go through I know You are with me and I can trust You. Thank You for Your presence in the peaceful times and in the dark times of my life. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I’m walking through life, sometimes in the lush pasture and sometimes in the valleys, but knowing my Shepherd is with me in all situations.

YOUR MOST POWERFUL TEACHING TOOL

 “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
HIS OFFSPRING WILL BE MIGHTY IN THE LAND; the generation of the upright will be blessed”
(Psalm 112:1, 2).

There are so many wonderful resources and curriculums available for homeschoolers today. However, what do you think is your most powerful teaching tool? Can I tell you what I believe it is?

It’s your lifestyle!

Your children learn more from watching you and your husband than from all the curriculums you will ever purchase. You teach them how to have a successful marriage (or an unhappy one) by the way you and your husband relate to each other. My parents gave me an amazing example of a godly marriage. I know this set my husband and me on a path of a wonderful marriage for nearly 55 years.

When we commit to establishing family worship in our family, our children become aware that we honor God's Word. It’s not enough for us to go to church on Sunday or Saturday, but our children need to know that we can’t get through one day without the sustenance of God's precious Word. When we make it a commitment to read His Word and pray together morning and evening, they know that we truly are Bible believers and praying parents.

If your children do not see you honoring the Word of God each day, will they think it is something worth studying and reading? If we do not gather with them to pray together every day, will they see the importance of prayer?

Our children see by our lifestyle what is important to us. What do they see? A materialistic attitude, trying to keep up with the Joneses, and following the crowd? Or perhaps more commitment to sports than to the teaching of God’s Word? Or do they truly see that God is the priority in our lives?

Your children gain convictions about the sanctity of life by observing your attitude about children. If your attitude is against having more children, they subconsciously imbibe that children are a commodity to have according to your plans, rather than gifts to be embraced by God.

What about eating together at the table? Even in homeschooling families, this biblical tradition is being lost today as we get caught up in all the extra-curricular activities. I know that all these activities are very good. Satan, the deceiver, never entices us with things that are evil, but with things that are “good, pleasant, and wise” (Genesis 3:6).

If we don’t sit together for meals, what are we teaching our children? What example do we give them for when they establish their family life? Will they grow up always eating out and not establishing this biblical premise?

We read a biblical picture of a blessed family in Psalm 128:3 (NLT): “Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your able.”

Your children learn the true roles of male and female by watching your lifestyle. I saw this exemplified in the lives of my parents. My mother was a beautiful homemaker and godly, submissive wife (although full of spark and forever getting the giggles)! My father was a real man (not a trace of wimpiness in him). He was known as a man’s man in a man’s world. But did he want my mother to compete with him? No. He reveled in her femaleness and the beautiful feminine clothes she sewed. She always dressed like a queen and he was so proud of femininity.

It’s amazing what theological truths we teach our children in our daily lives. When your husband sits at the head of table each evening, the children subconsciously become aware that he is the head of the home. And when he leads them in family devotions, the children understand that he is the priest and leader of the home. He is also teaching them how to conduct family life when they start a family.

You prepare your children for life by your daily attitudes and how you cope in times of stress. They observe whether your trust is in God or whether you cave in because you trust in your own resources.

Paul could confidently say to the young believers: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul didn’t say this once, but on many occasions (1 Corinthians 4:16; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; and 2 Thessalonians 2:14). Can we say these words to our children?

Deuteronomy 5:29: “O that there was such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep ALL my commandments ALWAYS that it might be WELL WITH THEM, AND WITH THEIR CHILDREN FOREVER!” Do you notice that this Scripture has an exclamation after it? It must be important in God’s eyes.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Father God for the privilege of building a dynasty for your kingdom. Help me to live according to Your ways so I can pass on your ways to our children and future generations. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I’m leading the way for my children, showing them a passionate lifestyle for God and His ways—a passion for prayer, a passion for worship, a passion for God’s Word, and a passion God’s perfect will.

ARE YOU COMING?

“O COME, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us COME before his presence with thanksgiving, and make joyful noise unto him with psalms. . . .
O COME, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”
(Psalm 95: 1, 2, 6).

Did you notice a beautiful word in the above Scripture? It’s the word come. It’s a lovely word, isn’t it? People are blessed when we ask them to come with us or invite them to our home. We feel special when people invite us to their home.

God loves to say Come. It’s one of His favorite words. God is a hospitable God and He wants all to come into His family and experience His love and eternal life forever and ever. He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

God wants us to COME into His presence, rest in His presence, and joy in His presence throughout each day. We don’t just float into his presence. We COME. We act. The Hebrew word in Psalm 95 is a verb meaning “to walk, go, follow, lead, carry (maybe babies and little ones), pursue, march, and run.”

We come into God’s presence individually and collectively. We make effort to spend time with God personally, but the context of the above Scripture is togetherness. We come collectively before the Lord, first as a family, and then as a body of believers.

Each time it says come, it says, “Let US come.” It’s not only me. It’s all of us together. We make time to come into God’s presence as a family each day. We do this morning and evening in our home. For our morning devotions, I make sure everyone in the home is up at a certain time, breakfast eaten, and we are ready to come into His presence as a family. Each member of the home comes. It’s “let US.” No one sleeps in. No one is left out.

At our evening gathering, we all gather at the table to enjoy our meal together. At the end of the meal my husband reads God’s Word and then we pray and worship. Everyone is expected to be present at the meal table. No exceptions, unless it is for something special. As the mother of the home, I organize my whole schedule to make this happen every day. I want everyone in my home to COME INTO HIS PRESENCE, don’t you? Therefore, we must work to make it happen.

It’s all about COMING, ladies.

And what about our corporate gatherings, whether in small groups or large congregations? We still need to COME! We need to get ready in time, once again organizing our schedule to make sure everyone in the family is ready. We get in our cars. We get to our gathering on time. Not late. We come with eager hearts. I know some families who put the clock forward on Saturday evening to make sure they get to their service on time.

We don’t come to sit like stuffed ducks. We come with eagerness. Psalm 92 1-6 reminds us that we:

• Come to sing unto the Lord.
• Come to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Do you notice two words? Joyful! And noise! God wants us to sing to Him with everything within us—LOUDLY and JOYFULLY.
• Come with thanksgiving.
• Come with psalms--ready to share a testimony or revelation from God’s Word (v. 2).
• Come with a worshipful heart.
• Come ready to bow down in worship.
• Come to kneel before the Lord our Maker.

This sounds like a lot of action! Teach your children to respond with eager and COMING
HEARTS.

“Children, it’s supper time,” and they come running to the table

“Children, it’s time for Family Devotions,” and they come running.

“Children, it’s time to leave for church; we want to be early,” and they come running.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Father, that You want us to come into Your presence. Help me to see how much You want us to come. Please put into my heart and the hearts of everyone in my family a greater desire to come into your presence. Give us the same desire to come that You have for us to come. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

My favorite word is COME. Come to my home. Come to my table. Come and enjoy God’s presence with me.

COME TOGETHER TO WORSHIP SCRIPTURES:
Psalm 5:7: “But as for me, I will COME into thy house . . .”
Psalm 34:7: “COME, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
Psalm 42:2: “My soul thirsted for God, for the living God: when shall I COME and appear before God?”
Psalm 66:16: “COME and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.”
Psalm 86:9: “All nations whom thou hast made shall COME and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name.”
Psalm 95:1, 2, 6: “O COME, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us COME before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. O COME, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
Psalm 96:8: “Bring an offering, and COME into his courts.”
Psalm 100:2: “Serve the Lord with gladness, COME before his presence with singing.”

MY HUSBAND’S HELPER

Part 7 (The Strengths I Bring to my Marriage and Family)

“Who can find a wife with strength of character? She is far more precious than jewels”
(Proverbs 31:10 Fenton).

Today, we look at the last two points in this series asbout the strengths we bring to our marriage.

9. STRONG TO EMBRACE MOTHERHOOD

Perhaps the most beautiful strength we bring to our marriage is motherhood. We remember that God calls us an ezer kenegdo, ezer meaning “strong helper” and kenegdo “counterpart, corresponding to him.” In other words, God made us with strengths opposite to our husbands. God ordained the husband to be the leader and provider of the home. He didn’t need two leaders or two providers. Instead He created us to be the heart of the home--to bring to birth and mother children in the home.

God created us physically for this task. He gave to the female a womb and breasts for this very purpose. He created us innately for this task. He divinely put within every female an instinctive desire to mother and nurture. This is who we are as a female.

To deny who we are as female is to deny our greatest strength. To resist motherhood for other pursuits pulls down the home instead of building it up (Proverbs 14:1). To reject motherhood denies the very purpose of marriage. God created a male and female to bring forth children in His image. Therefore, homosexuality is an abomination to God. It denies God’s plan for marriage to be fruitful and bring forth His children.

Motherhood is a mighty strength. Society doesn’t tell you this, but Satan knows it. That’s why he attacks motherhood and seeks to deceive women about this highest role God has given to them. Satan fears godly mothers—mothers who know who they are, who know the power of their calling, and who understand their eternal value of mothering. Mothers who embrace the children God has planned for them from before the foundation of the world and who stay home to mother, nurture, and train these children to be mighty men and women of God. There’s no mightier task in the whole of the nation! Satan doesn’t have a chance to get a hold of these children. He loses.

Are you bringing your greatest strength to your marriage? Embrace it with all your heart. It’s not an easy task. It’s not for the fainthearted. But remember, we are talking about the STRENGTHS we bring to our marriage, not the weaknesses!

Proverbs 31:10 (Fenton) states: “Who can find a wife with STRENGTH OF CHARACTER? She is far more precious than jewels.” This is a correct translation. The word “virtuous” in the KJV is chayil and is translated “valiant” in other Scriptures.

10. STRONG TO EMBRACE HOME-KEEPING

God does not intend the husband to keep the home—to manage the home and do the household tasks. His function is to go out and provide for the home. We lovingly tend to the home and “keep the home fires burning.”

I know you love it when your husband helps you in the home. But please don’t have an entitlement mentality and expect him to do it. Be grateful. Always remember to thank him for any help he gives you for he is helping you in your role in addition to his role!

God wants you to be queen of your home. To rule and reign. It is within every woman to want to take dominion. It is instinctive. But there is where so many women are deceived by the enemy. Instead of reigning in their home, they are brainwashed to think the home is insignificant, and instead leave them home to find another place to rule and reign. They move out of the sphere God ordained for them. Reverently and repentingly read Jude 1:6).

1 Timothy 5:14 says: “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” The phrase “guide the house” is oikodespoteo and means “to rule and manage the home.” It doesn’t say we rule our husband, but the domain God has given to us—our mothering, our household tasks, our garden, and all the amazing things we can accomplish in our home.

You must be strong to do this today You must stand against the tide. Stand against the negative remarks of family members and friends. Stand against the pressure of society that woos you out of the home. Stand against the unbelief Satan puts in your mind that you cannot survive without leaving the home to go to work.

What God do you believe in? A god who can only provide for one or two children? Or the God of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords who can quite easily provide for the children He sends to us.

You may like to go back over the previous devotions to read again the ten strengths we bring into our marriage. Let’s bring them in STRONGLY.

Be blessed, NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“I thank you, dear Father for your perfect and divine plan for my life. You created me to be a mother and a nurturer. Your ordained me to be queen of my home and make it a beautiful resting place for my husband and family. Please strengthen me in this great calling. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I do not apologize for being a mother. I am in the perfect will of God.
I do not apologize for having the children God wants me to have. I am fulfilling God’s ultimate plan for our marriage.
I do not apologize for staying home with my children. I am strengthening our marriage.