Ezekiel 34:15, “I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. “

God is the true Shepherd of his flock. As we parent in His likeness, He shows us how to shepherd the little flock that He has graciously given to us. When Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to restore and build the gates of Jerusalem he started with the Shepherds’ Gate and ended with the Shepherds’ Gate. There are many things we do as a shepherdess in watching over our flock, but there are two main things. The Knox translation of Ezekiel 34:15 says, “Food and rest, says the Lord God, both these will I give to my flock.” Above everything else, the true shepherd provides food and rest for his flock. They are the most important.

FOOD

To feed our families is a very important part of motherhood. Many mothers despise the hours spent preparing and cooking meals. It seems endless. You can never get away from it. It is day after day. Can I remind you that this task is not unimportant, even though it may seem thankless at times. It is the chief role of the shepherd. We read the testimony of a shepherdess/mother in 1 Timothy  5:10. The first attribute it mentions is that she “brought up children.” The Greek word for “brought up” is teknotropheo which means “to nurture, to feed, to nourish, to pamper with food.” Providing food is a very big part of bringing up children.

The true shepherdess/mother will not give any kind of food to her family. She provides them with good food, “rich feed for them to graze.” (v.14) She leads her children to eat wholesome foods to nourish their bodies. She turns them away from all junk food—the devitalized and refined food that lack nutrients. She throws out all white bread, white flour, white rice, white sugar and so on. She would not dream of leading her children to pastures of sugary cereals, soda and pop. The true shepherdess leads her family into wholesome pastures. God says in Psalm 81:16 NLT, “I will feed you with the best of foods.”

Good food is enjoyable and should also be eaten with joy. In the Scriptures we see how God links eating with joy and gladness.

Esther 9:19 “A day of gladness and feasting …”

Psalm 103:1-5, “Bless the Lord, O my soul… who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Ecclesiastes 9:7, “Eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart.”

Acts 2:46-47, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their food with gladness…”

Acts 14:17, “He gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

But there is more to feeding our family than food for their bodies. The responsible shepherdess/mother also provides wholesome food for her children’s souls and spirits. She provides rich food in conversation and teaching, excellent books and music. She does not lead them to the destroying diet of TV, but provides them with wholesome DVDs that will nourish their souls. She does not keep any junk food among their books, music or DVDs.  Everything in her home is for the purpose of inspiring, enriching and nourishing.

When raising our children I continually prayed Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23) It is not enough to care for your children’s physical needs. We must enrich their souls and spirits too. Psalm 107:9 tells us that God “fills the hungry with good things.” Good food for the body and good food for the soul and spirit.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, please help me to be an enricher of my children’s souls and spirits as well as their physical bodies. Show me how to fill my home with good food. Amen.”

Junk food out; good food in!


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Proverbs 13:20, “He that walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

Isn’t amazing how our children grow up so quickly? It seems like one blink of my eye that our eldest son (who is nearing 44 years old) was born. I don’t know where the years have flown.

I remember when my children were babies, and as I experienced beautiful moments with them, I thought I would remember the moments forever. But now they are fading from my memory. My little babies grew up to be teenagers. Then they married, and now they are raising their own children. My oldest grand-daughter will soon be 21 years so maybe it won’t be too many years before she is married and starts raising her children.

When my children were teens, I raised them on the above Scripture. I like the Knox translation which says, “Wise company brings wisdom; fool he ends that fool befriends.” How true this is. Peer pressure is a big pull upon children in their teen years. You can be the godliest parents in the world, but if your children get into the wrong company, your influence as a parent is weakened.

The thing we have to guard more than anything else in the teen years is the company our children keep. We must encourage godly Christian friends for our children. We must watch that they do not become involved in situations where there is bad company. Homeschooling is a great blessing in this regard. And of course, if your teens are part of a big family, they have friends right in their own home. Teens love company and love socializing and what a great blessing it is when they have their best friends continually on tap!

It is also important to try and find suitable friends for your children before they reach their teenage years so these friendships are already established. A good way to do this is to be involved in a good church or prospering home fellowship that has other families the ages of your children.

Our sons, who are in the forties, are still best friends with the boys they were friends with in their teens. They went to church together, played together, went camping together, made go-karts together and later did moto-cross together. And now, after all these years, they are still serving the Lord together and accomplishing mighty things for God.

How true are the words of Proverbs 27:17,”Iron whets iron, friend shapes friend.”  Our children will become like their friends. This of course applies to us too. We will become like the people we associate with. What a blessing to rub shoulders with and discuss the things of God with the wise and godly.

I remember when one of my children had his first opportunity to prepare a message for a youth group. The Scripture he chose was the above Scripture, Proverbs 13:20! He knew it by heart as it had been drummed into him.

Use the above Scriptures to encourage your children and here are a few more for your children and teens to learn:

Proverbs 12:11, “He that follows vain persons is void of understanding.”

Proverbs 14:7, “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.”

1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company ruins good morals.”

 
May God pour out His wisdom upon you as you raise godly children for His kingdom.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh God, I ask that you please help me find godly friends for my children and help my children to be a positive influence on their friends.”

AFFIRMATION:

I will seek to lead my children by green fields and pure rivers.

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Leviticus 19:3, “Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father… I am the Lord your God.”

God has given honor to the status of parenthood. God is a Father and He wants His children fathered in the anointing of His fatherhood. God also has a maternal heart and He has ordained that mothers should mother with the anointing of His mother heart.

God gives many Scriptures to remind us of the honor He has placed upon parents.

Exodus 20:12, “Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land…”

Deuteronomy 5:16, “Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee…”

So that we do not forget, this command is repeated in the New Testament in Matthew 15:4; 19:19; Mark 7:10; 10:19; Luke 18:20 and Ephesians 6:2-3.

I am always astounded by the Scripture mentioned at the beginning. Not only are children commanded to honor their parents, but to fear them. The word ‘fear’ that is used here is the same word that is used to ‘fear’ God. Do you also notice that the mother is mentioned first? Children often have a healthy respect for their father’s authority but fail to honor their mother’s authority. This is not God’s intention. He wants children to have an awe and reverence for their mother too.

How can we experience this? I believe that we must be reminded of the truth that God has given honor to parents (including mothers) and because He has given us this honor, we must walk in the anointing of it. Perhaps you feel as though you have no honor. You feel a total failure. You feel overwhelmed. You feel you can’t make it. You feel hopeless as a mother. It’s certainly easy to feel like this, isn’t it?

However, God doesn’t see you like this. He has put honor upon you as a mother. The role of mother is a high status in God’s eyes. In Ezekiel 19:10-11 it states that it is an exalted career.  It is to be honored and revered. When you understand the honor that God has put upon you, you can begin to walk in it. 

The other day I read a Scripture in Jeremiah 22:5 (Knox) that talked about God bringing judgment upon Israel because of their sin. “Disobey, the Lord says, and my own honor is engaged to make, of this place, a ruin.” God was bound by His own honor to bring judgment because of their sin. Because God is holy, He had to judge them, or He would no longer be a God of honor. He has to honor who He is, a God of righteousness and holiness who cannot tolerate sin. Of course, He is also a merciful God who forgives and forgets the moment we repent.

We too, who parent in the likeness of God, must not give into disobedience and rebellion in our children. We must discipline, because of the honor we have as parents. We cannot fail the honor that has been given to us. It is our right for our children to obey us. Of course, as with God, forgiveness and mercy are coupled with judgment.

Each morning you wake, acknowledge the honor God has given to you as mother. See yourself with God’s honor upon you and mother your children accordingly.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, thank you for reminding me that you have given honor to me as a mother. Help me to walk in the anointing of this honor as I mother my children.  Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

 I will uphold the honor God has given to me.

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Exodus 28:29, “And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.”

 I am always amazed at the incredible specifications God gave for the High Priest’s clothing. They were to be holy garments, made for “glory and for beauty.” A whole chapter of the Bible, Exodus chapter 28, is given to these instructions. One of the instructions was to take two onyx stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, six names on one stone and six on the other. They were then to be set in gold and placed in the shoulder-pieces of the ephod so that Aaron could carry these names before the Lord as a constant reminder.

God knew the names of the tribes of Israel which represented every adult and child in each tribe, but He wanted the names before Him continually. In the Word of God the shoulders speak of responsibility and government. It was the High Priest’s responsibility to do this. I believe that it is also the responsibility of parents to bring their children’s names into the presence of the Lord. We are to carry them before the Lord continually. We often feel the weight and burden of raising children. It can bear down upon us. But the greatest way to bear the weight is to bear it upon our shoulders in prayer and to bring our children’s names constantly before the Lord.

But that wasn’t all. God commanded them to make a breastplate for Aaron. The breastplate was to have twelve beautiful gem stones, four rows of three stones. Each gem stone represented a tribe of Israel with the name of the tribe engraved on it as though it were a seal. In this way Aaron carried the names of the tribes of Israel over his heart when he went into the presence of the Lord.

Each jewel was different showing the difference between each of the tribe families of Israel, just as each of our children is unique. We can’t parent each one the same way. This is why we constantly need to come before the Lord. We desperately need His wisdom and anointing.  Exodus 28:29 MLB says, “Aaron shall wear the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastplate of judgment as he enters the holy place, for a perpetual memorial in the presence of the Lord.”

What a beautiful picture for us parents. Not only should we carry the names of our children and grandchildren on our shoulders (embracing this responsibility) but on our hearts (with our affection and love). The greatest way we reveal they are on our hearts is to bring them into the Lord’s presence. He loves them. He wants their names continually before Him. In our immediate family, with children, spouses and grandchildren, Colin and I now bring 51 names before the Lord each day. This has been our life-line as we raised our children and continues to be so. We could never have done it without prayer. It is the most powerful weapon of parenthood

As you pray audibly for your children, the Lord may also lay on your heart a way to write your children’s names on something significant that you could bring into His presence as you pray for them each day. This could be something tangible that reminds you to bring them before the Lord. Ask Him to show you.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

 PRAYER:

Thank you for the privilege of bringing my children daily into your presence. Help me to be faithful to this responsibility. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

My soul is burdened, and my heart cries,

For my children I have many sighs,

But into His presence I bring each name,

His power and anointing for them I claim.

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.