LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 308: Altar Building, Part 1

Maybe this is something you have not yet integrated into your family life. Maybe you have been doing it for years. Whoever you are, you are going to love this series as we look at 25 powerful points about “the family altar” that God reveals in His Word. Even if you have been doing it for years, you will learn new things!

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies, always great to be with you again. Today I am starting a new series called “Altar Building.” I know that many times I’ve spoken about our gathering together as families to read the Word and pray together. But today, I want to begin giving you the whole counsel on this subject. Recently, I went into the Word of God, and I found 25 different points about altar building.

We have been doing this in our family for years, gathering together as a family, reading the Word, and praying together. People have lots of different names for it. Some people call it “family devotions,” which we do. We usually say, “Come on, we’re having family devotions now.” Some people call it “Bible time,” “worship time,” “getting together with God time.”

In fact, one time I was ministering with my husband over in Belgium. We were speaking at an Above Rubies family camp there. While I was speaking, I happened to bring up the word “family devotions.” I was speaking through an interpreter because there were loads of people, not only from Belgium, but Holland, there. They all spoke Dutch, so it was being interpreted into the Dutch language.

When I said the word “family devotions,” the interpreter hesitated, and wasn’t quite sure what I was saying, so I had to explain it a little more clearly. Later on, I talked to the lady who had convened this retreat and I said to her, “Wow, why didn’t she know what I was talking about? Because I know that you do family devotions in your home. Many of the families here do.”

She said, “Oh, no, we don’t use that word.” I said, “Well, what word do you use?” She said, “We call it ‘Finishing up the Meal.’” Well, I had never heard that before. But I thought, that is a very wonderful name, because they wouldn’t leave the table after feeding their physical bodies until they had fed their spiritual man and fed the inner man. So, they called it, “Finishing up the Meal.” We don’t leave this table until we have filled the whole man, body, soul, and spirit. I do love that name.

But back years and years ago, the name that was most familiar was the “family altar.” Some of you will be familiar with that term, the “family altar.” Others of you may not have even heard of that term because it’s quite forgotten now in these days.

By the way, ladies, can I ask you, please stay with me, will you? Even if you are one who faithfully does family devotions in your home each day, or even if you don’t, please stay with me, because even though we have been doing this for years and years and years, I guess so many more years that you’ve ever been doing it, I am still blown away, as I have just recently gone into the Word of God again to see how much God says about it. I think we need to know what God says, don’t you?

We can hear somebody say, “Well, you should be having this Bible time with your family every day.” You know in your heart that’s a good idea. But unless you have the Word, unless you have in your heart and your mind what God says, you can easily let it go. I was amazed. I learned new things. I know that you will learn new things as we go through these 25 points. So, stay with me. Keep with me.

In fact, remind others to listen in, because this is something that is very powerful. It is meant to be part of every Christian’s home. And yet, it is so lost today. It reminds me of that Scripture in 2 Peter 1:12, when Peter was writing to the Christians. He said to them, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them.”

Now, you may say, “Oh, I know everything about this!” Well, if you do, you know more than what I did before I discovered what we’re going to share with you from the Word of God. But even when we know things, dear ladies, we need to be reminded. Yes, it’s so easy to let things slip. We need to remind one another.

It goes on to say: “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” That’s an interesting phrase as well. “The present truth.” Every single truth in the Word of God is an eternal truth, from the very beginning to the very end.

Psalm 33:11: “The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.”

God’s truth is for every generation, but there are some truths that need to be brought out again, like “the present truth.” And why does that need to happen? Because it’s not happening! If there is a truth which is a truth which is in the Word of God from the very beginning, and it’s not being fulfilled in this time, it becomes a truth which is “a present truth” which must be spoken about.

I do believe that this is “a present truth,” a truth which we need to encourage one another in, because there was a time when it was normal, I guess, beginning really in the time of the Reformation, which began in 1517, way back then. But back then, in the time of the Reformation, it became the absolute norm, it became the habit, it became the requirement even, of every Christian family to  have their family devotions, both morning and evening.

That carried on for centuries, but it is lost in our century today. We do need to remind one another. I haven’t finished this Scripture yet. “And be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle,” that means “in this body,” “to stir you up by putting you in remembrance . . .  Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.”

Then over in 2 Peter 3:1, he says: “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” So, lovely ladies, do you mind if I remind you about this wonderful subject? And also, at the same time, not only remind you, but give you new inspiration, new revelation and understanding, which I have been discovering myself. Isn’t it wonderful when we discover new revelation in old truths?

I was thinking about this the other day. In 1 Peter 1:23, and I was reading this in my daily reading the other morning, it says here: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

The Word of God is a seed. It’s a seed which goes into our hearts, but we can’t leave it as just seed. That seed has got to grow. All seeds have to grow to come into their fullness. Every truth in God’s Word is a seed. It’s a seed which we take into our minds and our hearts but we’ve got to water it, and we’ve got to meditate on it. We’ve got to obey it, and we’ve got to apply it. It’s got to become part of our lives. The more and more that it does, the more it grows! We get more understanding, and more revelation. This truth grows into a glorious tree.

It’s always more and more as that wonderful Scripture I love to quote, Proverbs 4:18 says: “But the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth MORE AND MORE unto the perfect day.” It’s always more and more, isn’t it, ladies?

A few years back, Colin and I were speaking at a family retreat. We flew by plane to this retreat. When we arrived, we were a little bit late for our first meeting. As we came in the door, everyone was singing hymns. Then they began to sing this hymn called “God, Give Us Christian Homes.” I hadn’t heard it before. The words are so wonderful. But let me read to you the last stanza:

God, give us Christian homes,

Homes where the children are let to know,

Christ in His beauty,

Who loves them so.

Homes where the altar fires burn and glow.

God, give us Christian homes.

 

As we were all singing those words, I was arrested by the words “homes where the altar fires burn and glow.” I knew what the hymn was talking about. I thought to myself, “I wonder if everyone else knows what this hymn is talking about? It’s an old, old hymn, and maybe they don’t even know what it’s talking about.”

So, when I got up to say hi, I said to them, “We’ve just been singing this hymn, “Homes where the altar fires burn and glow.” Who can tell me what it’s talking about?” Well, there was no answer. Nobody put their hand up. Nobody knew what they were singing about! I had to tell them.

It was speaking about the family altar because that was the norm back in those days, where every Christian family had their family altar, not only once a day, but every morning and every evening where they gathered around the Word of God and prayed together.

The actual phrase, “the family altar,” comes from a Scripture in Leviticus 6, where God is speaking to Moses about the brass altar, and how it was to be made, and what they were to do.

Leviticus 6:8: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command,” do you notice, “command”? It’s amazing when you read the Word of God how many times you read the word “command.” It doesn’t ever say, “I suggest to you,” or “It might be a good idea.” No, command. “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.”

It goes on to talk more about how they were to attend to that altar every morning and every evening. Every morning and every evening they were to take out the ashes, speaking of all the junk, and all the stuff in our lives that is grieving to the Holy Spirit. They had to take that out.

Then they had to renew the fire, and build it up, and put on the wood. That speaks, of course, of the Word of God, which renews us, and sustains us, and builds us up.

In verse 12, it says: “And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it,” and so on.

 And then verse 13: “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” This was God’s plan for the altar, that the fire was never, ever, to go out. They had to keep it burning.

Now, the interesting thing is, He was telling them in this Scripture what to do. Of course, Moses obeyed, and they made the brazen altar, and everything else for the tabernacle. Then, when it came to bring everything into the tabernacle, and to have the consecration of it, that God, when they put the sacrifice upon the altar, God lit the fire. It was supernatural. Fire came out of the altar.

But then God gave the responsibility to the priests to then keep that fire going. We all know that was Old Testament. In the New Testament, we are now priests and kings unto God. We have now our priestly duties. We are now to keep our altar burning so that it never goes out. That was where the family altar saying actually came from. It was very, very biblical.

All right. Now we’re going to start looking at these 25 points. You know, I think by now, if you’ve been listening to my podcasts, that I can never, ever seem to be a point one, two, three preacher. Well, not that I’m a preacher anyway, ha-ha! That’s a job for the men. I am just an older woman, sharing with you younger women, and encouraging you in the ways of God, and in the ways of motherhood, and in the ways of the home, and in the ways of marriage, according to God’s Word.

Before I even get to point one, altar building is very, very much part of the Bible, from Genesis right throughout the whole Bible. The very first altar that’s mentioned in the Bible was the altar that was built by Noah. Genesis 4:4. No, it wasn’t Noah, of course, it was Abel, wasn’t it? Actually, yes, it was Noah, that the first altar that was mentioned, but obviously Abel did build an altar, although it’s not mentioned.

Genesis 4:4: “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” They only did offerings at altars, so obviously both Cain and Abel built an altar. Of course, at Abel’s altar, there was obviously the shedding of blood, because he brought the first fruits of his flock, of his lambs, or his goats, whereas Cain just brought what came out of the ground. There was no blood shed.

We know how God had respect. He looked upon Abel’s offering, and He had favor upon it. We don’t know what happened, but God did something to show that He received Abel’s offering. So, that was obviously the first altar, but the first time we read the word “altar” was when Noah built an altar unto the Lord. But then, that was only the beginning. As I read through the Scriptures, I found 17 other men of God who built altars in the Old Testament.

Not only do we find so much teaching from all those men who built altars, but also from the altars in the tabernacle, and later the temple. The altar, that’s the outer court of the tabernacle, the brazen altar which we’ve been talking about, and the altar of incense. From these, we find all these amazing truths that we can learn so we know how to do it in our own homes. Amen? Are you with me?

Okay.

No. 1. WE MUST FIRST TAKE ACTRION TO BUILD AN ALTAR

Altars don’t just happen; you have to make them happen. The early patriarchs built altars of earth or of stone. I’m sure it was hard work. They weren’t just little altars. They built big altars. It took effort. It took hard work.

Now, today, lovely ladies, we’re not building altars of earth or of stone. No, no. We are building an altar. What are we doing? We are finding and making a time and a place where we meet with God because that was what the altar was all about. To meet with God.

So, we read Genesis 8:20: “And Noah builded an altar.”

And then we read, “And Isaac builded an altar.”

Then we read, well before Isaac, of course, we read of Abraham: “And Abraham builded an altar.” Well, Abraham built many altars.

“And Jacob builded an altar.”  

You notice that word “build.” The word “build” is banah, which means “to build.” The word banah actually has three meanings. First of all, it means “to build.”

 It also means “to repair,” because we know every building always needs repair. It doesn’t just last forever. Things break. They fall down. They begin to corrupt. So, we have to keep repairing even our own homes. You know, we’ve got to repair the roof, we have to repair a door, we have to repair something that’s breaking down.

I’m so glad that my husband is able to fix things. I call him “Mr. Fix-it”! I’m so glad to have a Mr. Fix-it around who can fix things that break down because I’m hopeless at doing that myself. If anything breaks down, well, I really don’t know how to fix it. But we have to keep our homes repaired.

We also have to keep our altar repaired. Yes, we can sometimes let that go, and let that fall, and forget about it. We have to repair it again.

There is a third meaning of the word banah, but I’m not going to talk on it today. In this meaning of banah, it also means “to bring forth children,” because one of the biggest things of the word banah is to build a home and a family. It means “the bringing forth of children.”

But at the moment, we are talking about building altars. Let’s go to where Jacob builded an altar, shall we? I could give you all the references of the others, but maybe I’ll put them in the transcript for you.

Now, when Jacob builded an altar, it was in Genesis 35. Let’s read from verse 1: “And God said unto Jacob,” notice “God said.” It wasn’t Jacob’s idea. It was God’s idea. “Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God.” So, Jacob then went to all his family, and he said, “And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress . . . So Jacob came to Luz . . . that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.”

Now, we notice three things, well actually there are lots of things. And we will be coming back to this passage to see many more things about the altar in this passage. But the three basic things are here.

Number one, God told him to do it. Building altars is God’s idea, not our idea. It’s God’s idea.

Number two, he confirmed that he would do it. Did you notice that? God said, “Arise, and make an altar.” Then Jacob went to his family, and he said, “God has told me, so let us arise and go up, and we’ll make an altar unto God.”

Thirdly, he didn’t just say it. He didn’t only confirm it. He actually did it! Because we read, “And he built there an altar.” I love that. So, ladies, we get those three things there that speak to us personally. I hope that when you read the Word of God, you take it personally to you. It is a love letter to you, a personal letter to you. Yes, many times God is speaking about a person, or many times He’s speaking about promises to Israel.

But every word of God is alive and active. Every word has power to speak to us. Every word, every story, every Scripture . . . There is what God says on the surface, but there is what He is also saying to us personally. There are also deeper truths and more layers underneath, as we search, in every Scripture.

Here we get what God, He was saying it to Jacob, but He says it to us. “I want you to build me an altar.” If we are truly hearing God speak to us, we’ll say, “Yes, Lord,” and we’ll confirm it, and we’ll talk to our children about it. “We’ve got to make an altar to meet with God!”

You’ll talk with your husband about it. Well, you won’t tell him what to do. Oh, never do that! Because, have you noticed? If you tell your husband what to do, do you know what he’ll do? He usually does the opposite. Or, if he doesn’t do the opposite, he’ll just do nothing. No, somehow husbands don’t like to do things when they’re ordered by their wives. But we can talk to our husbands about it. We can ask our husbands.

After you’ve listened to this podcast today, if you haven’t got an altar in your home, you can say, “Well, I was listening today about building an altar in our home. Here’s some of the things that God says. What do you think about that? Do you think it’s something we could do in our home?” You have to approach your husband the right way.

And then thirdly, of course, he did it. We want to always be able to fulfill what God says to us. Everything God says to us in His Word is not only for us. It is for our children too.

Genesis 17:9: “As for you, you shall keep my covenant. You and your descendants after you, throughout their generations.” God’s Word is not only to us, but to our children, and our children’s children, and their children, and continuing generations. We must establish in our homes what God wants us to do so it will become part of their homes, and each following generation. Can you say amen with me?

No. 2. WE BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD WHEN WE ESTABLISH A HOME

Yes, at the very beginning. If you’re a young married couple listening today, that’s one of the first things you do after you are married, to begin a family altar. You begin it before you ever have children. You start it as a married couple together. It will be something that establishes your children to come into this habit.

Let’s see some Scriptures here. Genesis 13:3-4, and this is talking about Abraham: “And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first.” That was the first place he had stopped, and therefore the first place he made an altar.

We go down to verses 17, 18: “Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.” You notice, when he moved, and he came to a new place, he established the altar again. When we move, we’re often moving. I notice that with Above Rubies. Every day, we get changes of addresses. People seem to be moving from one state to the other. All over the nation, it’s just a moving nation. We are always changing thousands of addresses. 

But every home we move to, we establish the altar. Isaac, Genesis 26:25. Isaac built an altar, even before he pitched his tent. Listen to this: “And he builded an altar there, and called upon the Name of the Lord, and pitched his tent.” Do you notice what he did first? He actually built his altar first. Then he pitched his tent. That’s the priority Isaac put on the altar.

What about Jacob? Genesis 33:18-20. This is before the passage I was telling about, of how he went up to Bethel. “And he (Jacob) bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent . . . and he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.”

Do you see the pattern, lovely ladies? Everywhere they went, they built an altar.

Samuel. 1 Samuel 7:16-17: “And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there . . . he built an altar unto the LORD.” So, at his home, he established his altar.

Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator, wrote, “Wherever man has a tent, God should have an altar.”

Now I am ready for point number three, but I think our time is running out. I think we will have to finish now, because when I start on point number three, I’ll be talking to you for a while. So, let’s get onto that point next week, OK? Please come back, because there is more, and there is more, and there is more to tell you about the family altar. Amen? Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, I want to thank You so much, that You show us Your heart in Your Word. Lord, already we’ve seen that to build an altar is not our idea. It’s Your idea. You’re the One who established the pattern of altars.

“I pray, Father, that You will help all of us to be faithful in our homes, as we gather with our families to meet with You. I pray, Lord, for those who may not have even started, that You will give them this vision, and You will help them. And especially as we continue to talk more about how to go about it.

“I pray Your blessing again on all the precious families listening. Lord, just bless them, provide for them, encourage them. Lord, just give them new vision, and a whole new stirring in their spirit to strengthen their families, Lord God, especially in this hour of the fragmenting of families. We ask this in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THESE PODCASTS AND TRANSCRIPTS.

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

IT IS ENCOURAGING FOR ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS.

 

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 307: A Project for Your Family

Sonia Ramsey joins me today, and we talk about an exciting project you can do in your home that can affect the destiny of a certain nation! Oh, I do hope your family will get involved. What amazing miracles we could see if we all got involved.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Today I have with me Sonia Ramsey. Sonia actually did a podcast with us quite some time ago. Today this is podcast 307, but when we did it together, Sonia, it was 150. That’s quite a while ago. In fact, back then, Sonia was still living in Oregon, but happened to be visiting here so I grabbed her to do a podcast with her.

But since then, they have come to live down here in Tennessee, and living not too far away from us, they’ve become very much part of our lives. We are so blessed. They are such a wonderful family. If you didn’t hear it, you would love to go back and hear Sonia’s testimony. She shares how she went into motherhood longing for children, but it didn’t always happen so easily. She had infertility, miscarriages, then a difficult adoption.

And then, well, they ended their family with a little Down’s Syndrome baby, little Noah. Well, little Noah has become just the delight of everybody who even sees him. He’s the most amazing person, as young as he is, isn’t he? You don’t need TV when you’ve got Noah!

Sonia: Oh, no! Oh, no, he entertains us a lot.

Nancy: Oh goodness me! And yet, there was a time when you first found out, you wondered, “How will I cope with a Down’s Syndrome child?” What would you say now?

Sonia: Oh, if I had known that he was coming, oh, I’d be so excited! I’ve enjoyed every minute of having him in our family.

Nancy: Actually, the word “exciting,” really, that’s how you describe Noah!

Sonia: Oh, yes, oh yes.

Nancy: Exciting!

Sonia: Never a dull moment for that guy!

Nancy: He’s exciting! Life is just so exciting to him. I could spend all my day just looking at the excitement on his face. Then his actions! It’s so amazing!

Sonia: He loves everyone. He loves to be with everyone.

Nancy: And all the children are so great with him.

Sonia: They are.

Nancy: And it’s amazing. How long have you been now in Tennessee?

Sonia: Two years in December.

Nancy: In that time, I’ve watched the children grow. I can’t believe Asher. Is he 15 now?

Sonia: He’s 16.

Nancy: 16! But I’ve watched him. It’s like I used to watch our grandsons. You’d see them, and then one day you’d say, “Help! You grew two inches last night!” And then by the next night, they’d grown another two! In fact, he has joined all the tall boys.

Sonia: Yes, he has! He shot up this year.

Nancy: Yes, all the tall young men around here. It’s so amazing, isn’t it?

Sonia: It is.

Nancy: Today Sonia and I are going to share another project with you. This is an exciting thing, because they came to live in Tennessee, the Ramsey’s do a special thing every year. Colin and I were so blessed that they invited us to join them. Actually, you’ve only been here two years, but we’ve been to three of your special meals. How come that worked out?

Sonia: When we moved, it happened very soon after we got here.

Nancy: Well, we’ve been to three, and they have been so amazing. You tell us, Sonia, what it’s all about.

Sonia: OK. When my children were younger, about nine years ago, we would always wonder what to do for Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t very excited about just getting them a bunch of candy and stuffed animals. I thought, “There’s got to be something else.”

Then I heard about Saint Valentine, that he was a martyr, and that the day was named after him. I thought, “Oh, that’s interesting.” I had heard somebody say, “You can use the day as a day to remember the persecuted church.” I thought, “Oh, now that’s something I would love to do.” I started thinking about what that could look like. Our first year . . .

Nancy: You’ve been doing it for how many years?

Sonia: Nine years now.

Nancy: Nine years. That’s amazing.

Sonia: We chose India. We decided to have them dress up as Indian as we could get. We had saris on, homemade ones anyway. We took the legs off of our table and set it on the floor in the living room. We set it up, and I found some Indian recipes. We made some food from India and had a really good time.

A couple weeks leading up to that, we studied the country and studied what it was like to be a Christian there. I found videos online, so we watched those. Leading up to it, we had India on our minds. Then we spent that evening eating the food and having a good time. But then after the meal, we would spend time praying for them and the church that’s there, and the difficulties that they have, and encouraging for them.

I wanted to instill in our children a love for the church everywhere, not just what we have where we can just go to church. It’s no big deal. Nobody’s going to fire us, or murder us, or do any of those things for our faith. But that’s not the case for Christians around the world. I wanted them to be able to love the other Christians around the world.

Nancy: Now, tell us which countries you have done so far.

Sonia: I’m not sure they’re entirely in order. We started with India. We did Viet Nam, North Korea.

Nancy: Now Viet Nam would have been interesting because you have an adopted daughter from Viet Nam.

Sonia: Yes. We did it pretty early on. Actually, that’s one that I don’t remember as much. She remembers the recipes that we did, but I don’t remember focusing as much on that one, so it might have been the second year. I do remember the North Korea one very well. That one we had by candlelight since the country is dark at night. We actually found some interesting videos online of people interviewing those living there. It was interesting. It was an unusual one to do.

Nancy: North Korea is the number one persecuting country of Christians.

Sonia: Right. We did that one. We did China. That one was funny, because that year . . .

Nancy: You had an adopted baby son from China!

Sonia: We do! I think we may have done this when he was either really little, or before he came, because I know I couldn’t cook that year. My husband went and got Chinese teriyaki bowls from a restaurant and brought them home.

We did Turkey which was wonderful. We did Egypt, which I think is our favorite, our favorite food especially. That was wonderful. Afghanistan was the first one that you came to. Last year was Nigeria, and this year we did Eritrea.

Nancy: Eritrea. You know, I love doing this with the Ramseys. It was so inspiring. Of course, we had such a great night. I love trying different foods. In fact, I think this year the food was so delectable.

Sonia: It was good.

Nancy: It made you want to go to Eritrea to eat it! It was so wonderful. You really associate with the country when you eat the food, and you dress up as much as you can like they would be dressing up. Fortunately, I have quite a lot of African clothes in my wardrobe that have been sent from Liberia from relatives of my adopted Liberian children. We were able to spread those around.

But this Eritrea really got to me this year as we began to find out more about this country, and what it’s really like. Here, lovely ladies, here in the United States, we don’t know we’re alive. We live so blessedly and although we face problems, and even financial things, in everything we think we’re hard done by. Really, we’re not compared to the rest of the world!

Even those of you living in other countries, Eritrea is an absolute totalitarian dictatorship. Of course, there is no freedom in this country at all. Imagine living in a country with no freedom at all. This president of Eritrea is named Isaias Afwerki.

Sonia: Do you remember that Eritrea was one of the “hermit nations”? It’s a nickname, similar to North Korea, where they’re very closed off from the rest of the world.

Nancy: That’s absolutely true.

Sonia: That was fascinating to me. I had no idea.

Nancy: They call Eritrea “The North Korea of Africa,” because it is such a totalitarian state, ruled by this president. Actually, they got their independence from Ethiopia. What year was that? That was 1993.

Since then, there have been no elections at all. No elections, no cause for any freedom of speech, or any other political party, or anything. Imagine, ladies, living in a country where you’re in servitude. That’s the last 23 years. Imagine that! It’s been bad enough living under Biden’s regime!

Sonia: That was 30-some, right? 1993. Is that 31?

Nancy: [laughter] 31, or something like that. You’re right! 31 years!

Sonia: That’s a long time!

Nancy: 31 years! It’s been bad enough living under Biden’s regime for three years. Goodness me! Help! We hope we can change that! But they have no recourse to change! There they are. They have to, as soon as they have finished high school, all males and females have to be enlisted into the military. Not for so many years. It could be indefinite. They give no time when it’s over. Their lives are completely ruled.

There is no legislature, no media outlets, no independence. In fact, the government shut down all independent media in 2001. That’s 23 years ago. Yes, that’s what I was getting mixed up with. Twenty-three years without any other social media except what the government tells you. Freedom of assembly is not recognized either. A public gathering of more than seven requires a permit. If people protest, they will be faced with deadly force. Food insecurity and malnutrition are common. About 66% of Eritreans live below the poverty line.

So, ladies, it would be difficult to live in such a country. And yet, isn’t it sad? It’s such a beautiful country. If you don’t know where it is, you’ll want to go to your map of Africa and have a look. Go over to the eastern side, and you’ll see the Horn of Africa, as it is called. It’s right on the Horn of Africa. It is bordered in the east by the Red Sea, the beautiful Red Sea. They have such a beautiful long coastline of the Red Sea. Of course, opposite that is Saudi Arabia and Yemen. On the west is Sudan, and on the south is Ethiopia. On the southeast is Djibouti. That’s where it is.

Have a look at where this country is. Its’s a beautiful country, and yet people are living in poverty and servitude.

Then we get to the Christians. Actually, it was a Christian country. By the numbers, half the people are Christian, although it’s just by name. The other half are Islam. But if one wants to change from Islam to Christianity, they will be persecuted. Or even from their government Christianity, and they turn to really truly being born again, they’re going to be persecuted. The persecution is pretty horrific there.

Sonia: It was pretty intense, what we were learning about.

Nancy: You were sharing some about that, that night. Do you remember some of it?

Sonia: Well, yeah. We were talking about, and I can’t actually remember why this came about, but we were discussing holding containers. There were some holding containers for metal, like shipping boxes that were out in the jungle. It’s a very hot area. The Christians were left out there, locked in there to bake. Some of them survived. Some didn’t.

I can’t remember what the reasons for that were. This is the kind of situation where people might just disappear without having any word of where they’ve gone. Going against the government in their Christian faith is not tolerated.

Nancy: You have to toe the absolute line of the government. So, dear ladies, this is really the vision that the beautiful Ramsey family had, is to take a country, and then begin to pray for that country for the whole year. As we were there that night, I thought, “Wow, we’ve got to do a podcast about this. Imagine, if we could not only be praying but we could get all of you praying. We’re all praying for Eritrea, this country that is so desperate. Imagine what could happen!

We’ve been meaning to do this podcast for so long, but not getting on to it. But here we are.  I really want to give you a vision here, ladies. I want to give you, oh, such a vision, that you could take up as a family, a country. I’d love you to join with us for Eritrea this year. Then next year, you could choose your own country.

But I think the more that can be praying for this one country, I believe we could see God do something amazing, because you just think, since they got independence, 31 years of dictatorship. No freedom at all and persecution for Christians. It is on the top ten list of the persecuting countries of Christians. We do need to pray, don’t we?

What does the Scripture say? Hebrew 13:3: “Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.”

Let me read it from the New Living Translation. It makes it even clearer to us. “Remember those in prison as if you were there yourselves. Remember also those being mistreated as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” Wow, that’s something, isn’t it?

Well, the sad part is, I think that many Christians don’t even get to pray for the persecuted church. That is the very least we can do, to pray for them. I believe we have a responsibility, even as the Bible says, and to pray for them in such an intercessory way that we are feeling their pain, the pain of their torture, and the pain of their hunger, and the pain of the evil things they’re doing to their minds and their bodies!

Oh goodness me. I remember once, maybe I’ve told you this story before. It was a couple of years ago, and Serene was coming down from their third story, I think, on a ladder. She had a long skirt on, and somehow it got caught, and she fell to the ground, on her back! She was in such agony. It could have been so serious, but God delivered her and healed her.

But while she was there on her back, in absolute pain, what did she do? I was amazed when she shared it with me. She said, “Oh, Mom, I was in such pain that I cried out and cried out for the persecuted church!” She said, “Usually I feel so good that I don’t know how to feel their pain in my body.”

Sonia: Wow!

Nancy: “At last I was feeling such pain in my body, so I was really interceding for them.” I was really challenged by that. In fact, it was only a few weeks later that I fell and broke my ribs! Of course, ribs heal, but they are painful when you break your ribs. I was in such pain. I thought, “Well, what am I meant to do? Oh, pray for the persecuted church!”

But don’t let’s wait until we’re in absolute agony and pain, lovely ladies. Let’s make it a part of our lives. You know so well how I encourage you, as families, to come together in the morning and evening, to read the Word and pray together as a family. I think this is such a great time to pray for the persecuted church. How have you guys been getting on with praying?

Sonia: Well, we’re working on it. [laughter]

Nancy: I’ve got a confession too. Because I came home from that lovely evening with you, and thought, “Right! Every single day we’re going to pray for the Eritreans!” I told everybody in the household, and we started off with a bang. But I have to confess, we haven’t done it every day.

And yet, I do have some help. This is what I find, ladies. I do believe that we need help in reminding ourselves to pray. I may have shared with you before, but we have prayer boxes here in our home, right by our table where we have our devotions. We have our hymnbooks that we sing from, and we have our prayer boxes that we pray from. I have about nine different prayer boxes.

Of course, one of them is our “Praying for the Persecuted Church.” In that box, I have all the different needs of the persecuted church, and what is happening to them, and the different countries that are being persecuted. I also have another prayer box called “Countries and Capitals.” I have in that box all the neediest capitals and countries of the world. Of course, that includes the persecuted countries too. So, I actually have two boxes with “Eritrea” in them.

We don’t use nine boxes every day. We will just usually pick up one box. Then we’ll often get Eritrea and we’re praying for it. But I’m now thinking I’ll have to think of another idea, to remind us to pray every day.

My dear sister, Kate, is living with us at the moment. She and her husband are building a house out here on the Hilltop. While it’s being built, they’re living with us. I have to confess, she is faithful. Since that night, she has prayed in own prayer time, before she gets up every day, for Eritrea. Somehow, she remembers. It’s really on her heart.

So, I pray that you can think about it. I hope you’ll make some prayer boxes too. It’s great to have them on all the different subjects we need to be praying for—the nation, Israel, the persecuted church, and all these different needs in the world. But think of some idea of how you can remember, because I just feel lovely ladies, and young people listening, and children listening! If we could all begin to pray every day this year, from now on, this year, for Eritrea, well, what could happen?

Sonia: That would be so amazing! You’re making me think of Pam Fields and her bracelets. I think she’s written that in the magazine before where she writes the bracelets with her children’s names on them to remember to pray for them.

Nancy: That’s a great idea. Pam Fields has done podcasts with me. She has made bracelets where she has the names of all her children, which she puts on one wrist every morning. Then, as she has prayed for each child, she puts it on the other wrist. By the end of the day, wow! It shows whether she’s got through them all.

Sonia: She knows who to pray for at the end of the day!

Nancy: Yes! Yes! We so need reminders, don’t we? We really do. It’s amazing. And I find even our prayer boxes are things that we pray for, we would never pray for them if we didn’t take that little card out of our prayer boxes. We just forget. We’re so prone to forgetting, aren’t we?

I was looking up again this morning in Open Doors, because they’re such a wonderful organization for reaching out to the persecuted church. I thought I’d share with you a little bit of what they say about Eritrea. They also call it the “North Korea of Africa.” Actually, Eritrea does recognize Islam and Christianity, but anything outside of government Christianity is open to their persecution.

I’ll read this to you: “Raids to round up unsanctioned believers are common with church leaders, especially with church leaders. Those seized in raids are often sent into Eritrea's notorious prison network, where they can be detained indefinitely.”

They believe there are at least 1,000 Christians in prison currently—and they haven't been charged with any crime. They’re just there and forgotten. They just forget about them. Nobody knows if they’ll ever come out.

“Members of some house churches have been in prison for more than 10 years, enduring shocking conditions, including solitary confinement in tiny cells. Women face rape and sexual violence. The government watches every citizen of Eritrea, promoting a stigma against Christians. Anyone who converts from Islam, or joins a non-approved Christian denomination is likely to come under intense pressure from their family and community, along with the government. Women are particularly vulnerable. They risk abduction, house arrest, forced marriage to a Muslim.” (that’s what happens in these countries) “Or removal of their children.”

Can I tell you about the testimony of one, Abdullah? They share his testimony.

“Becoming a Christian in Eritrea cost Abdullah everything. It cost him his job, his freedom, and eventually his life. This persecution could have ended if he had renounced Jesus, but that was something he refused to do. He knew Jesus was worth the cost.

“Like most Eritreans, Abdullah grew up in a Muslim home. When he decided to follow Jesus, he could have been a secret believer, but he was so passionate about his new faith that he couldn’t keep it quiet. He told everyone about Jesus. He wanted them to know the Good New too. But, of course, through that, he was arrested and imprisoned.

“In prison, he was only given food three times a week. His wife wasn’t allowed to bring him any extra food or clothes, or even see him. She did receive letters in which she learned that he was getting increasingly sick in prison. Tragically, he died. Those close to the family say that Abdullah was imprisoned to discourage his faith. Ultimately, they wanted him to deny Christ and convert back to Islam. He was told that, were he to do this, they would drop the charges. But no imprisonment, hunger, torture, or sickness could separate Abdullah from the love of God.”

I think of these Christians in these countries who know they’ll face torture, they’ll face death, they’ll face being thrown of out their families. They face prison, they face forgottenness for the rest of their lives, but yet, they won’t give up their testimonies for Jesus.

Wow! They put us to shame, don’t they? But our responsibility is to pray. Yes. To pray for them. I’m wondering, are you getting the vision? Will you join with us in praying for Eritrea? Oh, I think it would be so wonderful if every family would do this. Ask the Lord what you can do to help you remember to do it, because we do need that help. Maybe you could tell other families about it too. And then maybe you’ll want to do what the Ramseys did. Every year, you’ll choose another country.

Sonia: Even now, they could choose Eritrea, and have their friends over, and have dinner.

Nancy: Yes! Great! They do it on Valentine’s Day. You could do it on New Year’s Day. You could do it this week. It doesn’t matter when. As Sonia was saying, what a great idea! Just look up the foods and get dressed up. Invite some other families over. Have a wonderful night together, and pray together that night, and then commit to praying together. Yes! That would be so great.

Sonia: And then preparing for those things, it’s really fun for the children to be able to go to the stores where they sell those seasonings that we’re not used to cooking with. We had to go into Nashville to find a store that had all of the things that we needed. That was part of the adventure. That was really fun for all of us.

Nancy: Oh yes! And you’re discovering about the world, with your children. And how blessed they are here in America. But we want our children, don’t we, to have a heart for the persecuted church, and a heart for others, and to learn to pray for others. And also, your girls, now that they’re getting older, they are doing a lot of the cooking. They’re learning how to cook in all these other wonderful ways. They’re such good cooks.

Oh, by the way, if you ever come to the THM, Trim Healthy Mama Café here in Tennessee, you will be served by Sonia’s beautiful daughters, Ellie, and Shailee. They work there and it’s always such a joy to go there, just to be served by them! They’re so beautiful, and so amazing! Maybe you’ve met them if you’ve been to the THM Café.

Is there anything else you wanted to say about this vision, Sonia?

Sonia: I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Just the daily reminder. I would say that’s one thing to ponder on. I think it’s good for all of us to have a reminder.

Nancy: Your vision gave me a vision. I can’t wait for next year, when we come to your next one. I think it’s such a marvelous idea. And to pray for this country. I trust you’ve got the vision. I trust you’ll join us. Let’s pray, and see changes come to this nation that is in such servitude to dictatorship. Oh, I would find it so hard to live under dictatorship! How do you live when you don’t have freedom? I don’t know! Although this is one of the worst countries. There are many that are like that.

In fact, let me just, as we close, give you the top ten persecuting countries.

North Korea, of course, number one.

Somalia,

Libya,

Eritrea,

Yemen,

Nigeria,

Pakistan,

Sudan,

Iran, and

Afghanistan.

There are about 50 persecuting countries of the world. Those are the top ten. We certainly need to pray for them. And how do we pray for them? Remember? As though we were feeling their pain in our own bodies. In fact, the Aramaic version of that Scripture says: “As if you were people who wear their bodies.” Isn’t that amazing?

Sonia: Wow!

Nancy: Let’s pray.

“Father, I thank You for this opportunity that Sonia and I could share this wonderful vision that You have given to them as a family. Lord, I’d love to see it multiply across the world, to take up a country that is in such servitude and suffering such persecution. Lord God, I pray that You will motivate these precious families listening, and they will begin to pray for this country.

“We pray for Eritrea today, Lord. We pray for this dictator, Lord God, Isaias Afwerki, that You will, oh God, bring him down from his high throne. We pray, I don’t know how it can happen, Lord God, but somehow that there can be freedom, Lord, for there to be elections somehow. Lord, it’s only You who can do this, Lord God! We pray for a miracle.

“We pray for the precious believers who are suffering there. We pray that You will encourage their hearts, that, Lord, You will surround them with Your love. And Lord God, those whose tummies are tortured with hunger, come to them. Lord, give them that feeling of a full stomach, Lord God.

“We pray for those who are being tortured and left abandoned, Lord. We pray that they will know that You haven’t forgotten them. We pray that You’ll put Your loving arms around them and bring Your presence to them so mightily. And Lord, we pray that in some miraculous way, deliverance will come to this country. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THIS PODCAST,

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

IT IS ENCOURAGING FOR ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS.

 

Podcast 30:

Pam Fields shares her wonderful idea of PRAYER BRACELETS and how they help her to pray for each of her children each day.

To listen to this podcast, go to:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/183665/905644-episode-30-should-we-make-new-year-resolutions

 

To find out how to make the bracelets go to this link: https://tinyurl.com/PrayerBracelets

 

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 306: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 8

Today we finish the last “P” of training our daughters to be royalty. And also, the last three of the 20 different words that God calls our children! God has so much to tell us about our children in His Word. Don’t miss it.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re together again, and we’re still talking about our daughters as the PILLARS OF A PALAC E wall. We’re still talking about our daughters as pillars. We talked about how it is important for them to be strong physically and also strong spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

We want them to be strong in the Word of God, strong in their convictions, and strong in purity and holiness. That’s so important to encourage our daughters to walk in holiness and in purity of life. Of course, they will want to do that more as they are in the Word of God themselves.

But we must constantly, in this sexual world in which we are living, encourage them to live a pure and holy life. What does it say in Hebrews 12:14? “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” That’s rather a strong word, isn’t it?

In 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, it says these words: “Flee fornication.” That means run from it! We must encourage our daughters not to ever put themselves in any place where they could even be tempted. We must protect them from that too.

In fact, even sending our daughters off to college, goodness me!  We’re sending them off to brothels, just about. It is so sad to think of so many beautiful, pure girls coming from even homeschool families, and going to college, and coming home tainted, because they have got involved sexually. It just what’s happening there in those colleges, apart from all the brainwashing in socialism that’s going on.

I’m not sure how any caring parent could send their daughter to college today. There may have been a time when you could do that, but today, that is not the case. In fact, we need to be praying, I believe, for such a mighty revival to come to the colleges of our nation that God will raise up men and women who will be able to speak truth to these young people who are so brainwashed and living such very sexual and evil lives.

We’ve also got to be watchful over where we allow our daughters to go. To protect them is our responsibility. To protect them. They’re under our protection until we give them to the man whom God has chosen for them. Then they become under his protection. God has planned that a woman will always be under protection.

But continuing this verse: “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” We are encouraging them to walk in holiness.

We want them to be strong in commitment, understanding that when they get married, that it’s a commitment to marriage. It’s a covenant. Therefore, they have to marry the right person, don’t they? I have an article on the character of a young man that beautiful godly young ladies can look for. You can email me for that if you’d like to receive that. I’d be happy to send it to you.

But I think even before they get to marriage, we should encourage our young people to learn what commitment is, even in little things, because it’s always those little things that help us to become a committed kind of person. When we say something, we mean it. We will keep to it.

Maybe, if we say we’re asked to come to a certain function and we tell the host and hostess, “Yes, I’ll be coming!” Then something pops up, and you can’t go, and you don’t turn up. Is that commitment? No. Of course, it may be very dire circumstances, and you can’t turn up. Therefore, you would call and say, “Oh, I said I was coming, and I’m so sorry, but this is happening. I can’t get there. I just want you to know I won’t be able to come.” So, if you can’t be at a function, you let people know. You don’t just not turn up! That’s not commitment.

Even in the home, we’re committed to our family. While we’re living in a home, we’re committed to the home. We’re committed to the family. We tell our parents where we’re going. Young people, even as they get older, if they’re still living in the home, should never leave without saying where they are going. We are always committed to one another and communicating with one another. These are important things even as we prepare for the future.

Pillars have to be strong. They have got to hold up another story. They’ve got to be very strong. We’re training our daughters to be strong. But ALSO BEAUTIFUL, because pillars of a palace are beautiful.

The Living Bible says: “Daughters of graceful beauty, like the pillars of a palace wall.”

The New American Bible, “Our daughters, like carved columns, shapely as those of the temple.” Very interesting that the Word of God should use the word “shapely.” But yes, I think we should also be encouraging our daughters to keep themselves physically well and physically in shape. And to keep themselves beautiful.

This goes on to our last point, which is . . .

               6)  Another “P,” PRINCESSES

Of course, our daughters are princesses because this is in the context of royalty. It’s in the context of a palace. They are to be carved according to the pattern of a palace. It’s all in the context of royalty. Therefore, we are going to encourage our lovely daughters to live like royalty, to speak like royalty, to dress like royalty.

Don’t you think that is the right thing to do? Or do we have a different understanding of the kingdom of God? Do we think it’s some ordinary old thing? No, it’s the kingdom of God, a royal kingdom. We have been called into royalty. We have been made into a royal priest unto God.

It talks about that in 1 Peter 2:5: “You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

Verse 9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” That means a set-apart, a very special people unto God. “That ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Do you notice there that there’s another adjective? We’re always noticing the adjectives. God doesn’t only call us into His light but His marvelous light! Oh, yes! Let’s get with it! Knowing what the kingdom of God is like!

And so, precious ladies, we ourselves, and our daughters, let’s begin to act a little more royally. In our homes, we are establishing a royal home, because we belong to the kingdom of God. Even as we encourage our daughters in the way they dress, how do we allow them to dress?

The sad thing is that I see that most, even Christian, lovely, lovely homeschooling mothers are dressing all their little ones in jeans and tops. That’s what everybody wears. But when you think about it, ladies, what are we doing? We’re training them from a young age, from a little age, “This is the clothing that women wear.”

But it’s not the clothing that God intends for women to wear, because God wants His female creation to be feminine, to be uniquely female, to dress differently from men. He wants the man to dress differently, and the woman to dress differently. Neither are to wear each other’s clothing. That’s what the Bible says, in Deuteronomy 22:5.  

And yet, we are so, so affected by our society. We just go along with the world system. Dear precious mothers, tell me, are we meant to be living according to this world system? No! We are not! Yet, we think it’s normal. And it’s not. Let’s read again the Scripture that you all know, Romans 12. Let’s go to it, because we all know it, but I think we need to read it again. Maybe you should make this a memory verse in your home, for everyone in the home.

OK, here it goes: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world.” Did you hear that? What did it say? “And be not conformed to this world.”

It seems to me that Christians today want to be look as much like the world as they can! But the Scripture says, don’t be conformed to this world, “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Let me read it to you from the Passion Translation: “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred.” (did you hear that word?) “Sacred living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.”

And so, lovely ladies, why do we conform? I’m just thinking now. One of the most common things that young people turn up in these days, and can you believe that they even wear them to church? I cannot even believe it. But they’ll wear their holey jeans! Holey jeans with rips everywhere. Many times the whole knee is cut out so you see all the knobbly knees.

No wonder the Bible says we’re meant to have a sound mind. Even common sense would tell you, why pay money for clothes that are ripped or have great big holes in them? That’s clothes that are worn out! And why would beautiful princesses want to wear such ugly clothes? Because, dear ladies, I have to say, they are ugly. There is not one thing beautiful about them. But why do young people wear them, and even some mothers wear them? Because they’re the fashion. Because it’s what everybody’s wearing! It’s the fashion. They want to be cool and want to be like everybody else!

But is that the reason we wear our clothes, to be like the spirit of this world?? That fashion didn’t come from the Word of God. It came from the spirit of this world! And it’s ugly. Satan wants God’s beautiful princesses to look ugly. God wants them to look beautiful, like princesses in a palace. This is the picture that He gives.

I know I’m stepping on toes. But really, let’s face a few facts here. They’re nothing to do with royalty, nothing to do with beauty. It’s time we encouraged our daughters to dress beautifully, femininely, and like women. When they go out into this world, they should look like a woman, not like a man.

All we are doing is pandering to this transgender lifestyle. How did we get to where we are today? Because many years ago, it first started with one woman, who was rebellious, a feminist who decided she didn’t want to be at home. She wanted to be out in her career, and she didn’t want to be like a woman. She wanted to be in a man’s world. Therefore, she started dressing like a man, and began to wear pantsuits.

It was rejected. It was thought disgusting. But they continued, and now, even Christian women dress like that. We have followed the world! Not the Bible. Now, when it’s normal for just about every woman to dress like a man, well, you might as well just go the next step. You might as well become like men (or women). You see, we’re pandering to that transgender lifestyle.

We wouldn’t think about it like that, but it’s true. We are so fickle about truth. We’re so shallow about truth. It’s time we had truth in the very core of our beings, and know what it is! And know that we are meant to be women. We’re meant to be feminine. We’re meant to look like women. We’re meant to dress like women.

Forgive me, ladies, but I’m on God’s side. I’m on the side of the Word of God. So, let’s encourage our precious daughters to dress like princesses. OK, they can wear their old jeans when they’re out in the garden, riding horses, doing things like that, of course. But not when they go out. Not when they come to church. Oh, goodness me!

So, there it is, lovely ladies, our six points about our daughters, all starting with “P,” all relating to royalty and a palace.

OK, so now we’re got to go to our next point. Here we go, because that was point number 17. Do you remember? We’ve got 20 points about the different words God calls our children in His Word.

No. 18. REWARDS

We’re doing them in alphabetical order. That comes from Psalm 127:3, which says: “Children are the heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His reward.” Oh, aren’t we blessed, to have all these precious rewards that God has given us! Our children are the most glorious rewards we could ever receive from the Lord. You can remind your children that that’s what they are. “You are my reward from the Lord!” You can call your children these words from time to time.

No. 19. SIGNS AND WONDERS

This is found in Isaiah 8:18: “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” What a wonderful Scripture, mothers! Isn’t this incredible? Everyone of your precious children are a sign, and they are a wonder from the Lord of hosts.

Did you get that? From the Lord of hosts. They’re given to you by God. They’re given to you as a reward. They’re given to you as a blessing. But they’re also given to you to be a blessing to the world, to be a sign and a wonder to the world.

The Hebrew word for “sign” means “a beacon, a flag, a monument, a miracle.” Yes, many of your children are miracles. They’re all miracles. Some are more miracles than others, because of things that have happened to bring them into the world. But they are a sign from the Lord.

And “wonder.” The word “wonder” in the Hebrew means “conspicuous, a miracle.” God wants us to show forth the children that He has given us, to be so blessed that He has given these children to us. Never to think, “Oh, goodness me! I’ve got so many children!” No, hallelujah! The more you have, the more you are blessed by the Lord! Amen.

And the last one, ladies . . .

No. 20. THE WORK OF GOD’S HANDS

Isaiah 29:23: “When he sees his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My Name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.” In this Scripture, God is telling us that every one of our children are the work of His hands.

We see that also, don’t we, in Psalm 139, that beautiful Psalm where it talks about how He creates the baby in the womb. I did a whole series on this passage a way back. You can go back and listen to it.

Psalm 139:13: “For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 

God is speaking here of the glorious, wonderful creation of the baby in the womb, and how He creates the baby in secret. Oh, I love that Scripture. You know, don’t you, that I’m such a stickler to the Word of God, and that’s why I’m one of those who believes in waiting until the baby arrives to know what the baby will be, because God said He’s creating the baby in SECRET!

He wants to give us a surprise. God is like a parent who loves to give His children surprises. Oh, I used to love to give my children surprises. I know you do too. I think God loves to give us surprises, especially when it’s a baby. There’s something so exciting in not knowing whether it’s going to be a boy or a girl. But today, everybody knows. They can’t wait. They can’t even wait for a secret! Oh, goodness me. Well, I’m just one of those who sticks to the Word of God.

Every one of our children are the work of God’s hands. How amazing! Remind your precious children. “Oh, little Isabelle, how I love you! We are so blessed that God has given you to us. You are the work of His hands. He created you marvelously in my womb, and here you are, as a beautiful creation given to us by God!” They need to know they come from God.

That word “marvelous,” oh, it’s a glorious Hebrew word. It’s the word pala, and it means “wonderful, miraculous, extraordinary, beyond the bounds of human understanding.” It’s such an amazing word.

There we are, precious ladies. Those 20 different words that God calls our children in His Word. However, there are actually more words, because when you go into the Hebrew, and then when you go into the Greek, you find even more words.

In my study of the Word of God on the word “children,” I found, can you believe it? I found 50 different Hebrew words that God uses for “children.” Isn’t that amazing? God loves children so much that He has so many different words to describe them. From just a baby in the womb, a baby being born, a baby that is growing. One that is a little toddler. Yes, did you know there’s even a word for the toddlers? That’s the word taph.

I love that word, because God often uses that word when He’s asking His people to come and assemble before Him, when He’s wanting everyone to come. The whole assembly, the mothers, the fathers, the children, the nursing babes, and He says, “And the little ones.” When we go to the Hebrew, we find it’s the word taph.

What does it mean here? I’ll give you the meaning. I’m not going to give you the meaning of the 50 different words. We’d be here all day, wouldn’t we? But this one, I thought you’d be interested. It means, “to trip, with a short step.” The term comes from the tripping gait and short steps of little children. The children are running around and playing although still clinging to the mother.

This word is used 42 times in the Bible, and often it’s used when God is calling all His people together. He mentions the little ones. Many times, we think, “Oh, if we’re coming to hear from God and hear the Word of God, well, we don’t want the children to be making a sound. We’d better have a nursery for the children,” so they’re away off there in the nursery. They’re not going to interrupt what God is saying in the church.

But no, God never ever said that. When God brought His people together, He brought the whole family, and He specifically said fathers, mothers, children, little ones, babies at the breast. He wanted them all there.

God’s ultimate plan, even when we come together at church, is that the whole family gathers together as a family. There are lots of family-integrated churches. But there are others that, no, they must have the babies out in the nursery, and the little taphs out in the nursery, so they don’t interrupt.

That’s true. We don’t want interrupting children, do we? Of course, sometimes we have to take them out if they’re interrupting. Then when they’re quiet, we bring them in again. Of course, it takes parents who are diligent about training their children and disciplining their children, so they learn to be able to sit in church. But it is possible. We have the families . . . we have in our fellowship, we have parents with nine children, ten children, eleven children, fourteen children, and they’re all there, right down to the little babies. And it’s glorious!

Then we go over to the New Testament, and I found in the New Testament 26 different Greek words for “ children.” What does that say to you, mothers? Doesn’t it show how much God cares about our children?

In fact, I did this little study one time, and this is pretty amazing, because we think of some of the great themes of the Word of God. Take, for instance, “faith.” Do you know that “faith” is only mentioned two times in the Old Testament? Can you believe that?

“Grace” is only used 39 times, although 170, including the New and Old.

The beautiful word of “love” is only used 131 times in the Old, 310 altogether in New and Old.

What about “prayer”? My, I’m a great believer in prayer, but in the whole of the Word of God, it’s only used 245 times.

Whereas, whereas, the word “ben,” that’s one of the most common Hebrew words for children. It means “the builder of the family name.” That’s a very common word in Hebrew. Many, many sons are called Ben Yochanan, Ben Yehuda, Ben this, Ben that. As I said, it means “the builder of the family name.” That word “ben” is used over 4000 times in the Bible, apart from all the other words!

Compare that to the amount of times these great, important themes of the Bible are used. The word “ children” is used more, far more than any of them. I think perhaps we need to be getting a little bit more in balance, don’t you think? Even in pastors giving messages to their congregations. If that word is used more than any other, surely our pastors should be giving more messages about children. What do you think?

Well, another incredible word about this Hebrew word for children is the word zera. This is an amazing word, because it’s a word that is used for the sperm. It’s right from the very, very, very beginning! It’s the word “sperm,” and yet, amazingly, God uses that same word, zera, for not only the sperm, but for children, and for older people, and even older people. He uses that word right through.

In fact, let me give you an example. Let me see if I can find an example here. Yes, this is Genesis 46:6, 7. This is talking about when Jacob came down to Egypt to be with Joseph, after Joseph had been reconciled with his brothers. It says: “And all his seed,” and the Hebrew word is zera. It means “sperm.”

In the King James, it’s the “sperm of copulation,” but it also talks about every stage of life. Listen to this: “And all his seed with him. His sons and his sons’ sons with him; his daughters, and his son’s daughters, and all his seed (zera) brought he with him into Egypt.” The Bible tells us that 70 souls came down from Egypt and they weren’t all little sperms floating down in clouds. No, they were people! They were little children, and mothers and fathers, and grandfathers, and grandmothers. They were all the word zera.

Ladies, ladies, do you see something there? The word “sperm,” zera, God uses that word for people. That word, that every sperm has the possibility of a human being that God wants brought into the world. And that’s how we must guard the seed.

That’s why God was so angry with Onan, because he spilled the seed on the ground instead of entering into his wife. What does the Bible say? God killed him (Genesis 38:7-10). In other translations it says that every time he went into her, he spilled the seed, so it wasn’t a one-time act. It was a thing that he continued to do.

The word “spilled” is not, well, just “spilled.” No, it is a very, very strong word which means “destroyed,” because when he spilled it, he destroyed it. That possibility of life being conceived, because God sees life before it is even conceived. You see, ladies, we’ve got to see where God sees life. We’ve got to get to see how precious God sees the sperm. Can I quickly, just at the end of this podcast, give you one or two examples?

What about when God was talking about Abraham and Levi? Yes, after he had gone and rescued his nephew Lot, he came back with all the spoil. He met Melchizedek, the king of Salem. The Bible says: “And he paid tithes to Melchizedek.” We read that in the Old Testament. Then we go over to the New Testament, and it talks about it again. It says: “And as I may say so, Levi paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

A modern translation makes it clearer. “Levi, the ancestor of every Jewish priest, who received tithes, actually paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham. For although Levi was yet unborn, the seed from which Levi came was present in Abraham.” Although Levi was not a twinkle in Abraham’s eye . . . he was Abraham’s great-grandson. Yet God said he was already in the loins of Abraham and God knew him before he was even ever conceived!

What about Solomon? There are a number of Scriptures where God spoke, and said how Solomon would come forth. Let’s read this one: 2 Samuel 7:12: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.”

There’s another Scripture where God even names Solomon before he was born. God named him. 1 Chronicles 22:9: “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon.” And he wasn’t even yet born, or conceived.

What about Josiah? Josiah was one of the great kings of Judah. In 1 Kings 13:2, the prophet Judah prophesied against the altar when they were sacrificing to false gods. He said: “Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.”

Now get this, ladies. Fourteen generations later after that prophecy . . . did you get it? Fourteen generations later, Josiah was born. God had spoken his name, fourteen generations before. His name! His name! Before he was even thought of! Except by God. Josiah was born. He became King of Judah. During his reign, he did exactly what that prophecy said, and cleansed all the evil from the land, from the altars where they sacrificed to the false gods. It was fulfilled exactly fourteen generations later after Josiah was named. Oh, it’s amazing.

One more. I know we’re late. Cyrus. Oh, Cyrus. Cyrus wasn’t even an Israelite. He wasn’t even a Jew. He was a heathen king. One of the greatest kings in history. He was called “The King of the Four Corners of the Earth.” And yet, he’s spoken about in the Bible. And God chose him, chose him for a purpose, that he would release His people back from Babylon to the land. And God actually named his name 150 years before he was even born! You can read about that in Isaiah 44:28, and Isaiah 45.

Oh, I could tell you so much more, but isn’t that amazing, ladies? Can we begin to think like God thinks? We think so humanly. Let’s begin to think like God thinks, like He thinks about children, like He thinks about the sperm, like he thinks about children who are in the loins of men. Children who He wants to come forth, children for whom He has destiny. And yet, there are many today who never come forth because men and women are stopping them. They’re stopping life that God intends to come into the world.

“Dear Father, we just thank You so much that You have brought us into Your kingdom. You have given us such a great salvation. And Lord, we thank You that we belong to Your kingdom. Help us, Lord, not to be ignorant subjects of Your kingdom, but to be those who know the ways of Your kingdom, know the truths of Your kingdom, and who know Your heart.

“Help us to understand Your heart about children, and about life, and about the sperm, and how You see things. Help us, Lord God, to see things as You see them, and not as the world sees them. We pray that You’ll put Your fear in our hearts, and in our minds, that we will come to Your Word with trembling, Lord, because we dare not take shallowly and lightly the things that You tell us. Help us to be true women of Your Word and true women of truth. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THIS PODCAST,

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

IT IS ENCOURAGING FOR ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS.

Genesis 38:9: The word “spilled” is “sahat” and means “ to destroy corrupt, to decay, utterly waste.”

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 305: Is There A Better Word Than "Kids", Part 7

I continue sharing what it means to raise princesses. God gives us six words beginning with “P” from Psalm 144:12. What else does He say about them, apart from being princesses?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Here we are, up to Part 7 of our series, “Is There a Better Word Than “Kids”?” Well, when I start a series, I never can believe how many we do in the series! Here we are, still going.

Last week, we were talking about how God wants our daughters to be like PILLARS in a palace. In fact, I have six points about this. To catch you up from last week, they all start with “P.” The first one is that our daughters are to be the very PIVOT of our home. It doesn’t say the word “pivot,” but I used it because I wanted to keep all P’s. The actual word in the Bible is “cornerstones.”

Then they are to be a PATTERN, the pattern like the pattern of a palace. They are also to be fashioned for a PALACE. No. 4, they are to be POLISHED. Now we’re up to number five, that they are to be like . . .

               5) PILLARS in a palace

I did read the Scriptures last time, but we’ll read them again.

The Living Bible says: “They are to be like daughters of graceful beauty, like the pillars of a palace wall.”

The New American Bible: “Our daughters, like carved columns, shapely as those of the temple.”

Fines Translation: “Our daughters like upright pillars, fine wrought for a palace.”

The Good News Bible: “May our daughters be like stately pillars, which adorn the corners of a palace.”

You would think, wouldn’t you, dear ladies, that when it talks about our sons and our daughters, that it would call our sons “pillars.” Because when you think of pillars in a building, you really only need pillars for a very big building, and of course, especially for a palace. A palace is usually a huge building, and of course, a glorious building. Therefore, they need really strong pillars for a palace. But God didn’t do that. He calls our sons “plants growing up to be strong,” wonderful trees and oaks. But he calls our daughters “pillars.”

There are two things that we notice about pillars. That is that they are both strong and beautiful, because in a palace, the pillars are usually made to look absolutely beautiful. Maybe sometimes they’re made of marble. The marble is shined and shined and shined until it gleams. Maybe they’re decorated. They are also weight bearing and decorative.

How does this apply to our daughters? Well, first of all, let’s talk about the pillars.

They have to be strong. I believe that we need to prepare our daughters to be strong. Yes, we want our sons to be strong physically. But then again, we also want our daughters to be strong physically.

The Bible says that we, as women, are the weaker vessel, and that is true (1 Peter 3:7). Men have much more brute strength than women. That’s how God created them. We are the weaker vessel, but we also need to be as strong as we possibly can as women because we are preparing our daughters to one day begin a family. They’re going to take on the weight of raising a family, bearing children, and they do need to be strong physically. It is a great blessing to be strong physically as you are bearing and raising children.

If you go into a marriage weakly and sickly, well, that’s not going to be so easy for a young mother. It starts, of course, dear mothers, with us. How are you preparing your daughters? Are you preparing them now to be strong physically?

How do you teach them how to eat? I find that most young people today, even young daughters, live mostly on the standard American diet. They eat white bread, and they eat white rice, and white pasta. They eat foods full of sugar. They think that’s normal. That isn’t really preparing them for one day childbearing.

I believe we have a responsibility as mothers to feed our children on good, wholesome food, not devitalized food, not polished food, not packaged food. No, food that’s the real thing! It starts from scratch. We eliminate sugar from our diet which is one of the curses of ill health. It destroys the B vitamins in your body. We don’t have to be crazy. We just have to be normal and eat the foods that God provided for us in their natural state. Let’s away with all these “whites” and devitalized stuff. That is a very important thing.

It’s hard to start if they’re already used to all that junk. In fact, it’s amazing. I can’t believe how much junk mothers bring into their homes. Junk! You go to the supermarket, and really, most of it is junk. Really, apart from a few things, you only need to go down the vegetable and fruit aisle.

Most of your other things, like your grains and things like that, can be ordered from companies where you can get them in bulk. Much cheaper to do it that way. That way, you can get them organic, and you get them in their whole state, instead of stupid packaged things.

It is just about the normal in most American homes that they use packaged cereals for breakfast. I beg your pardon. That is not preparing your sons to be strong, nor your beautiful daughters for one day when they will be childbearing. You might as well eat the package, because when you look at what’s in them, it’s nothing like the original state! Come on!

I believe we have a responsibility as mothers, as women, to feed our children healthily, and to learn as much as we can about it. I’m sure most of you are doing that too. That’s important. We are going to prepare them to be strong physically.

Although it is true that even childbearing can be a wonderful blessing. I know a young mother, a beautiful young mother. She’s now expecting her sixth baby. I remember going to her wedding. At that time, she was very, very sickly. I think she had Lyme Disease at the time. She was always very ill, very sick, very weak. I wondered, “How will she get on?”

And yet they went into marriage trusting God for the children that He would give them. Even in her sickness, she did not hold back. The amazing thing is that with every baby, she has got healthier. Now she’s expecting her sixth baby, and she is so healthy! It’s amazing, you know, when we yield ourselves to the Lord and our bodies for His purposes.

God created the female body to bring forth children. Therefore, it’s not a negative, but a positive for our body. Pregnancy can often bring healing to so many areas of our body. That’s a wonderful testimony. I just saw her again the other day and it was so beautiful to see her glowing with pregnancy and looking so well.

But we also want to train our daughters to be strong mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—in all these areas. Sometimes daughters, as they’re growing, can be emotional. That’s understandable as they’re going through their teen years. But we do need to teach our children how to be stable and strong, mentally and emotionally.

That is one of things that the older women are to teach the younger women. We see that in Titus, that famous Scripture of where the older women are to teach the younger women. Titus 2:4-5: “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet.”

Actually, both those words in the Greek are very similar. That word “sober” is sophron. It comes from two Greek words, “the mind,” and “to have self-control.” It’s having self-control of the mind. It says that we’re to teach this. I know even some mothers, and of course even daughters growing up, get very emotional, even weak emotionally. and in their minds.

But we are to teach them how to overcome their emotions, and how to be strong in their minds, emotionally and mentally. This is an important thing that we are to train our young daughters, and this is speaking to the young women too, to be sober. It’s not talking about not being drunk. It’s talking about having a sound mind.

It’s easy for young daughters to get caught up with all kinds of imaginations and things that are not real, and feelings. This is where the devil comes to tempt us more than any other place, in our minds. In our minds. He brings all these crazy thought to our minds. You know you face that yourself, don’t you? Our precious daughters are going to face that.

We need to teach them how to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Well, I think that would be a good memory verse for your daughters, wouldn’t it? It’s something we learn. That’s why the Bible says we have to teach it because it doesn’t just suddenly happen. We have to learn how to bring our thoughts into captivity, not letting them run away with us, and to cast down all these crazy imaginations and fears and feelings, because we can live our lives by our feelings.

Our daughters will most probably, in the natural, they will live their lives by their feelings if we don’t teach them that that’s not the way we live! Feelings come, feelings go. Feelings are not reality. They’re just feelings. We have got to learn to live our lives on facts. What are the facts? The truth of the Word of God.

Matthew 4:4: Jesus said when the devil came to tempt Him, bringing all these different thoughts into His mind, He said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” God’s Word is true! So, we stand on God’s Word, and we cast down imaginations, and we push back all these feelings, and we don’t listen to our feelings. We learn to live that by the Spirit, and we teach our daughters also.

Then, of course, we want them to be strong in the Word of God. Oh my, that is so important. Strong in the Word. Are your daughters, your young teens, your mid-teens, your older teens, are they really strong in the Word? Does the Word of God dwell in them richly? Because I think one of the greatest blessings of going into marriage, and then beginning to raise a family, is to have the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly, knowing the truth (Colossians 3:16).

I look back on my own life and I’m so glad that I responded to the pull of the Lord to seek after Him. At 18 years of age, I experienced God in a very amazing way, and began then to seek Him with all my heart. At that time, I used to get up very early. It took some doing, but I would get up very early every morning, and seek God in His Word and in prayer for about three hours before I began the day.

I had to begin the day early, because I was going out to work. But I actually esthetically and diligently committed myself to that. I know that I’m reaping of the benefits, still today, at this time of my life.

Now, lovely ladies, I wonder? Are there young daughters listening today? I hope so. I want to share something with you. Maybe, if your daughters are not listening, you can share this with them, because it’s a little pattern of how I began to read the Word. Many times you may encourage your daughters, and your sons, of course, but we’re particularly talking about daughters in this podcast, you encourage them to read the Word. But often they don’t know where to read or what to read. They need some pattern to do it.

I found these are things, I have eight points here of things that really revolutionized the reading of God’s Word and which I still do today. It’s a good idea. Well, I remember when I first started reading the Word. I thought, “OK, read through the Bible!” So, I’d read through, from beginning to end, and then start again. But then, some may not like to do that. They may like to choose a chapter in a book in the New Testament, and then go to a book in the Old.

But the main thing is, what do you do when you’re reading the Word of God? I’m a great believer, as you know, that we have family devotions morning and evening. That is so important. But then, we must encourage each of our children to have their own personal quiet time. I was raised with that phrase, “having your quiet time.” I don’t know why they called it the “quiet time.” It doesn’t have to be called that. It can be called “your time with God.” I think that would be even better.

But do encourage your children to have this time, to have this time before they come out for breakfast. I’m always challenged by that dear old Chinese saint who used to say, “No Bible, no breakfast!” He would never, ever put food into his body until he had put food into his spirit and soul first.

No. 1. ASK GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU

Do you know, I think that’s the most important thing when we come to the Word? Because it’s easy. “Oh well, that is in my reading,” and you just read. Maybe you don’t get anything.

But we must come, realizing that we’re coming into the Presence of God to read His LIVING Word, a Word that He has given to us. And that EVERY WORD IS LIFE! Yes, every word in this Book is life to me. “Oh, Father, as I read this morning, please speak to me. Show me more of who You are. Show me more of the way You want me to live. Reveal more and more of Your truth to me.” We ask God to speak to us.

No. 2. ASK IN FAITH

Then, secondly, we don’t ask unbelievingly. We ask in faith. We believe that God will speak to us. We go into the Word believing that God is going to speak! Wow! Because of that, I always have my notebook and my journal ready to write down what God is going to speak to me. Because of that, I’m on the lookout.

Now I don’t actually read the Bible through from cover to cover and then start again, because goodness me! I begin my reading, and I often only get through a couple of Scriptures, and I’m saying “Wow! This is amazing! I want to know more about that.” So, I’ll begin to study, and I’ll get out my concordance and find every other Scripture on that subject. Then I’ll make a note of all of them in my notebook, and then I go through them again and put them into their subheadings and so on. Because under a subject heading, there will be many subheadings.

Then I’ll begin to write down those Scriptures and write down what God is saying to me through them. And as I write, more revelations come. It is so exciting! You believe God is going to speak to you. It talks in Hebrews about those who the Word did not profit them because it was not received in faith. We have to receive it in faith.

No. 3. BE ON THE LOOKOUT

As you’re reading, you don’t just read. You look up for every word that God is saying. Oh, it’s like panning for gold! You’re not going to find it on the surface. You’ve got to dig. You’re on the lookout, and when a word, even one word pops out at you, you’ll be wanting to dig and find more and more about that word.

No. 4. STOP AND MEDITATE

You don’t have to keep on reading and think, “Oh, well, I’ve got to get so many chapters in today.” No, stop and meditate on what God is saying to you. Yes. As one writer says, “The person who meditates, thinks about, ponders over, and lets the Word of God sink into his heart will have fresh visions, fresh ideals, and fresh blessings every day.”

I love that Scripture in Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” You don’t have to rush through your reading. Meditate on what you’re reading. Chew it over and over.

No. 5. LOOK OUT FOR ADJECTIVES

That’s one of the most exciting things I love to do, because the Word of God is not normal. It’s not status quo. It’s above the normal. It’s beyond the normal because it’s all about God. It’s all about Christ. He is not just an average person. He is God! He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and everything to do with Him is exceptional. Everything.

OK, when the Word of God is talking about the promises of God in 2 Peter 1, it says about His promises, what does He call them? Just promises? No! “exceeding, great, and precious promises.” Three adjectives to describe them. We’re just getting a little taste.

Then, if you want to go further and dig deeper, and look into the Greek or the Hebrew if it’s in the Old Testament, and find out what those words mean, you’ll get about three, four, five, six, seven more adjectives to even describe them! It is so amazing!

When it’s talking about the peace of God, it doesn’t just say “peace.” It talks about “peace that passes understanding.”

When it’s taking about joy, it talks about “exceeding joy.” “joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” Start looking for them. Don’t forget to write them down.

No. 6. WRITE IT DOWN

That’s my next point. Write it down. That has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. As a young person, when I began to seek God and to really seek His Word (that’s why I ended up usually having three hours each morning in the presence of the Lord, in His Word), because oh, wow, when you begin to write things down, you get more understanding and revelation.

I usually have two books. One a notebook that I’ll write down thoughts. As I’m reading, I don’t have time to study them all in one day. Yes, I want to study that when I can. I’ll write down the Scriptures and thoughts about that. Or if I’m doing a study, I’m writing down all the Scriptures, because when I go to write them in my journal, I’m then going to take more time to write each Scripture out fully.

Then when I write a Scripture, I will then begin to write what God is saying to me personally about this, what He’s saying to me in my life, what He’s saying to me about this truth that He is revealing to me. I may not understand it too well, but as I begin to write, more understanding comes.

That’s the secret! Oh, if I could only inspire you all to begin to do this! You will find you will get more and more revelation. There’s a little statement that says, “Thoughts tend to disentangle themselves when they flow through lips or cross pencil tips,” (although we use pens today, don’t we?) It is so true. When you’re writing, you’ll get so much more and more. You won’t be able to believe it.

No. 7. PRACTICE WHAT YOU READ

Don’t just think, “Oh, that’s wonderful!” No! Seek to put it into practice in your life.

James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”

And the last one . . .

No. 8. SHARE IT ITH OTHERS

It’s so good to share what you got from the Word with someone else. What you write down, and what you share, you will keep. In fact, the more you share it, the more it will get right deep down into you.

That’s why the Scriptures say in Romans 10:9, 10: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”

This is the pattern of how we come to Christ but it’s the pattern of how we live our Christian life. From then on, everything we do, every new revelation of truth, we don’t only believe it, but we confess it. It’s only when you confess it that it really becomes part of you.

I shared those eight little points with you, but I do have a little leaflet. It’s on my computer. I can send it to you if you want to email in. I have more in it than I have shared today. It could be a great blessing for your young sons and daughters in teaching them how to get into the Word so that it becomes a habit of their lives and so that they become strong in the Word. Amen!

Oh, I’m so sad, because there are so many young people today in the church, who are so shallow, so shallow in God’s Word! They don’t know it. It doesn’t come out of their mouths. It’s not in them! The Bible says in Colossians 3:16:“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Dear darling mothers, we’re not just training our children to raise up to be beautiful daughters and great sons. We’ve got to get the Word into them. It’s part of our responsibility, because if that Word is in them they will be strong. They’ll be strong spiritually.

We want them to be strong in their convictions too. That is so important. I’m sure, and I know you are strong in your convictions of the truth, the truths of the Word of God, the truths about the lies about womanhood, about abortion, about the things that are happening in our nation now that are so evil. We must speak to our children about them and let them know how evil they are.

We are living in an hour now where we cannot be half-hearted. We cannot be lukewarm. The Bible says that we are to love righteousness and hate evil.

Romans 12:9: “Abhor that which is evil.” That’s even more than hate. “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” The word “abhor” literally means “to shudder with shame.” Oh, are we shuddering with shame about evil? Is that how our children see how we hate it?

How did you feel on Easter Sunday, when Biden made it “Transgender Visibility Day”? How horrendously evil! How we must abhor and shudder at such things! Our children will gain their convictions as they see our convictions, our hate towards evil, our absolute uncompromising hate toward evil. We cannot compromise in any way. And our love for righteousness “that we cleave to that which is good.”

We want them to be strong in their convictions because they’re living in such a deceived, deceived world, aren’t they? Even about womanhood. Our lovely daughters must know who they are. Who are they? We have to know who we are as women, as female, as feminine.

God has not left us without knowing. The Bible says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, truth, or something, can be established. God has given three witnesses to us as women.

Firstly, biblically. We read the Word, beginning right there in Genesis chapter 1, right in the beginning, where God says He created “male and female.”

Right in the beginning, we have the Word which continues throughout the Word. We continue receiving more and more information of who God wants us to be as women.

But He also gave us the witness in how He created us! Isn’t it crazy, this crazy world we’re living in, that young women today don’t even know who they are. They are so brainwashed, so deceived, that they don’t even know who they are! Who are we? Just look at ourselves! God created us with a womb. A womb. This is our most distinguishing characteristic as a woman. We are “womb-men.”

There are only two people in the world, a male without a womb, a man without a womb, a male. And a man with a womb, the “womb-man,” the woman. We are the “womb-men.” A womb. A womb that can conceive a child and grow a child in the womb and bring forth an eternal living soul. Oh, it is so powerful! We are so blessed. We have the most powerful privilege in the world to join with God and open our lives to Him, to bring forth His children into this world, and prepare them for eternity, for the glory of His eternal realm.

And so, we have this womb. Today, of course, we have transgenderism. They’re trying to take away their wombs and use these blockers and these hormones to wipe out who they are. This is the “shuddering” evil. We must constantly remind our daughters who they are and the glorious privilege of how God created us.

Then we have breasts, nurturing breasts, to nurture a babe at our breast. Such a powerful, beautiful thing, so glorious.

But not only do we have this physically, we have it innately. God didn’t only put it there physically.

The womb, the womb in the Word of God does not only speak of the same thing. There are four different Hebrew words for a “womb.” Sometimes they speak of the literal womb, and then the same word is used to speak of God’s compassion and His mercy. The womb is the revealer and the very seat of our emotions and our compassion.

The breast, oh, the breast speaks of nurturing. The word “breast” is the word that means “to give nurture.” God Himself is El Shaddai, “The Breasted One.” From our very physical being, we physically, but not only physically, we show forth the image of God. Through our womb we show forth His compassion and His mercies. From our breasts we show forth His nurturing heart. We have this privilege and our daughters must know who they are.

OK, time has gone. We’ll have to finish, and that means we’ve got another session yet on this series. So, we’ll do that next week.

“Dear Father, we come to You again at the end of this podcast, thanking You always for Who You are, for who You created us to be. Thank You for the great privilege of being women. Thank You, Lord, that by Your design You created us to be women. It is as women we will fulfill the destiny that You have for us. No other way of destiny will be fulfilled as a woman, because that’s who You created us to be.

“I pray for these lovely mothers listening here, Father, that You will encourage them again, and help them to embrace again their glorious role of mothering. For all the precious daughters listening, Lord, I pray for them, oh God, that they will also understand the glory that You created them to be, and their highest purpose that You have given them.

And that they will also be those who will not be the normal person, not be the one who just shallowly reads God’s Word from time to time, but that they will be seekers after You. Oh God, who will be seekers after Your truth, who will prepare themselves to have the Word so diligently filling their hearts and their lives, so that they will be prepared for all You have for them in the future. I ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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