THE “GOODIES” AND THE “BADIES”

Matthew 22:8-10, “The wedding is ready… go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” Read the whole story of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22:1-14.

The heavenly kingdom is going to be filled with not only good people, but millions of bad people. Yes, that’s right. God invites all the bad people, as many as will come. What do you think of that? There’s only one condition. They have to wear the wedding garment. This speaks of the robe of righteousness which we receive when our sins are cleansed and forgiven through the precious out-poured blood of Jesus.

The guests were all seated at the banquet. The king arrived. He noticed one guest who did not have on a wedding garment. The Bible does not tell us whether this guest was one of the “goodies” or one of the “badies” but I have a feeling it was one of the “goodies”. I think that any of the badies would have felt so guilty and so conspicuous without a wedding garment that they would have made sure they had one. The king also referred to this man as his “friend.” Maybe he knew him. But perhaps this good guy thought he didn’t need one. He was a good person. He lived a good life and helped people whenever he saw a need. What did he need to be covered for?

But his good works were not enough. No matter who we are, good or bad, we have to have a wedding garment. We have to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We have to have a robe of righteousness which only Christ can give us. We can’t make this robe ourselves. It is a gift from God.

Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” The psalmist David says in Psalm 14:3, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Even our piousness and all our “righteousnesses” are filthy. Actually, the word literally means “stinking”!

What happened to this “good” person? When the king asked how he was there without a wedding garment, he was speechless! There’ll be no excuse good enough if we don’t have a garment. The king then told his servant to “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

At our Above Rubies retreats we like to take time on the last day for Testimony time. This is always a very precious time and we have to make sure we have the tissue box handy! I am amazed as I hear the testimonies of some of the mothers. They look as though they are one of the “goodies”—happy, home-making, child-loving  mothers. But when they open their mouth and share the degradation from where God has delivered them, I stand in awe at the power of God. There is no sin that is too hard for God to forgive. There is no pit into which we fall that God cannot deliver us. He delights in redeeming the badies and making them into new creations. He delights to wash them with His blood and cover them with His robe of righteousness.

Maybe you have never been a baddie. You are one of the goodies. You need the robe just as much. You’ll never get into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb without your wedding garment, without repenting of all your “fleshly good works” and being covered with the blood of Jesus.

We must also lead our children to salvation. They can be brought up in a Christian home. They can grow up to be good people. But if they do not acknowledge their sinfulness and receive Christ as their Savior, they will not  receive a wedding garment. To have Christian parents is not enough. To go to church is not enough. To be homeschooled is not enough. They must receive Christ’s offer of salvation, when he died on the cross to pay the penalty for their sins.

May we and each one of our children receive the wedding garment.

1 John 1:7-9, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

PRAYER:

“Oh God, I confess my sin before you. I confess that I have tried to run my own life. I’ve thought I could do it better than you. Lord, I confess my rebellion and disobedience. I turn to you and ask you to cleanse me with your precious blood. Make me your child and one of your family. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

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MY MISSION FIELD

Matthew 9:37-38, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”

Do you sometimes hanker to be doing some great work for God? You feel as though you are wasting your life in your home. You would love to serve the Lord in some harvest field. Yes, it is true, the harvest is great and the laborers are few. But why are they few? Because mothers have not understood God’s purpose.

Are you looking for an easy path in life in life or do you have a heart to serve God as a missionary? Dear mother, you are already a missionary. God has chosen your specific mission field for you. It is your home and family. You are employed by God to train laborers for His harvest field. You don’t raise children and then send them to Bible College to prepare for service. You train them for God’s service from the time they are little. They should be ready to labor in the harvest field when they come forth from your home.

Is a missionary’s work easy? No, it takes sacrifice. Is motherhood easy? No, but it will be worthwhile. It takes everything you’ve got—all your resources of time, energy and strength—but you will influence nations. It takes sacrifice--many mothering days are exhausting and overwhelming--but you will receive the fruit of your labors and an eternal reward. It will take committed prayer and intercession, but your prayers will be answered. Remember, you are not on vacation; you are on the mission field!

Maybe God has only given you one laborer to prepare for Him—that His is plan for you. Maybe he has given you six, or even twelve! Wow, would twelve be too many? Jesus trained twelve disciples who impacted the world. How would you like to train laborers who “turn the world upside down”? (Acts 17:6)

What kind of laborers does God want us to faithfully prepare for His service? The following is my vision for our children, grandchildren and future generations. I believe He wants us to prepare children who are…

Baby lovers

Blessing imparters

Bible believers

Bible obeyers

Committed laborers in God’s harvest

Courageous overcomers

Demon destroyers

Diligent workers

Evil haters

Faithful servers

Fearless soldiers

Freedom fighters

Fruit bearers

God fearers

God lovers

God pleasers

God worshippers

Gospel preachers

Holy Spirit empowered witnesses

Home lovers

Israel supporters

Jesus fanatics

Justice keepers

Life choosers

Light shiners

Liberal threateners

Obedient listeners

Parent honorers

Responsible citizens

Sharp arrows

Tomorrow’s leaders

Truth bearers

Truth keepers

Truth lovers

Truth preservers

Truth seekers

Truth speakers

Persecution endurers

Prayer warriors

Righteousness lovers

Uncompromising disciples

Valiant conquerors

Wisdom getters and

Zealous servants of the Living God!

Wow! Can you imagine anything more exciting and fulfilling that raising laborers such as these? You couldn’t have a greater mission field or a greater vision.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Lord, for showing me my mission field. Help me to serve you faithfully and to raise prepared laborers for your great harvest field. Lord, I am open for you to give me all the laborers you have planned for me to train. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

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

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SMELLING GOOD OR BAD?

Ephesians 5:26, “Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Back many years ago when folks did not have the plumbing in their homes that we enjoy today, most families took a bath once a week. Even when I was a child we bathed once a week, usually Saturday evening, to prepare for Sunday. But, we were challenged to have a Quiet Time every day where we read the Word of God to cleanse our inward lives.

Today, times have changed. Now that we have showers, everyone enjoys a shower every day to cleanse their bodies, but many only have a spiritual shower once a week, often a little face wash which they let the pastor give them as they listen to his sermon! They don’t even wash themselves!

We could not imagine going around dirty without washing our bodies, and yet we have no compunction about leaving our souls dirty. Just as we like to have a daily shower, it is even more important to daily wash the inward man. Often the inward man gets dirtier than the outward man. Each one of us faces daily challenges in life where we are tempted to be angry, bitter, hurt, upset, cantankerous, grouchy, complaining, proud and rebellious—and so the list goes on. Oh what a filthy inside! We really cannot survive without a daily bath of the inward man, can we? Otherwise our sins and the contaminations build up and we become a “bad smell” in our own home!

Do you remember the words that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees? “Cleanse FIRST that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew 23:26) Read also Hebrews 10:22.

The Word of God is the water that washes us. The word ‘washing’ in this Scripture is the Greek word, loutron (the verb is louo) and it means, “to take a bath, to wash the whole body and not just a part of it.” It speaks metaphorically of washing every part of the inward man—our heart, soul, spirit, mind and emotions. It’s a whole bath, not just a face wash.

I find that if I do not personally read God’s Word each day that sin can build up in my life and I am not even aware of it. But when I read the Word, the Holy Spirit reveals the things that grieve Him and which pollute my soul. I am convicted to repent and cast them from my life so I can keep my inward man clean. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

I love the adage, “Sin will keep you from the Word of God, or the Word of God will keep you from sin.” This is a good one to teach our children, isn’t it? I grew up on this. As soon as your children can read well, encourage them to have a daily Quiet Time. Show them where to read and teach them how to hear the Holy Spirit speak to them as they read. Teach them that it is as important to wash their inward man each day as it is to wash their body. I remember reading about a dear Chinese Christian who confessed, “No Bible; no breakfast.” He would never nourish his physical body until he had nourished his soul.

Perhaps you are young mom with lots of little children around you. How do you get time to read the Word? I know it is not easy. I remember when I had three children under 17 months, and then four children under four! Help! How could I find time to read the Word? I did it by putting my Bible on my windowsill, usually open to Psalms or Proverbs. I could look up from doing dishes and preparing vegetables to read a Scripture. You may like to have a Bible in the toilet or bathroom. Keep a Bible in the spot where you like to nurse your baby. Read a few Scriptures to your children at breakfast time and then again at your evening meal. Keep their souls as well as their bodies clean, too.

Which do you wash the most? Your physical body or your inward man?

Jesus said, “Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:3)

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

PRAYER:

Wash me and take this mess

As far as the east is from the west,

Wash me and take this sin,

Only You can make me pure again,

I’m inviting you to come on in and

Wash me!

AFFIRMATION:

I’m smelling good, inside and out!

MORE INFORMATON:

PEACE ALL OVER ME

The prayer for this devotion comes from Serene and Pearl’s song, Wash Me. It is on their album, Peace all Over Me. If you don’t have this album yet, you are missing a treat. This CD is such a blessing to many mothers that they wear it out! You can go to the web page, www.aboverubies.org and click on Music Store and you will find it, or you can call 1 877 729 9861 to order by credit card.

HOW CAN YOU HEAR GOD SPEAK AS YOU READ THE WORD?

If you have a problem with hearing the Holy Spirit speak to you as you read the Word, you can email for this little pamphlet, HOW TO READ THE WORD OF GOD IN YOUR QUIET TIME. Type HOW TO READ in the Subject Heading.

And if you want more ideas, you could email for IDEAS FOR READING AND STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD. Put IDEAS FOR STUDYING in the Subject Heading.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I AM DANGEROUS!

Exodus 1:12, “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.”

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. And the Egyptians were grieved. 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 have to answer no. For the last seven or eight 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 1.6 average. 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 amazing is happening. The liberalists are starting to get scared! They are so horrified, they want to vomit!

Very recently 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 fruitfulmotherhood. 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, she writes, “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 stillbelieve 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. And those who walk in deception and follow the devil’s ways are scared of you too!

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, ABOVE RUBIES

PRAYER:

“Oh God, please help me to see clearly. Help me to realize the power of motherhood and the power of every child you give me to fulfill your plans in this world. Save me from holding back children whom you have destined to accomplish your mighty works. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a dangerous woman!

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.