LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 243: Mothers Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation, Part 1

Are we drifting with our current liberal society or are we holding fast to God's truth? Are we effectively getting it to the next generation? Have all our children come to know Jesus personally, even our little ones?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Today we are starting a new series. We, as mothers, are the transmitters of God’s truths, His ways, and godly traditions to the next generation. I believe this is something we really have to wake up about, precious ladies, because I am noticing that there is such a big drifting away from God’s truths and even from godly traditions.

We live in such a liberal and deceived society. It’s so easy to drift into what everyone else is doing all around us. We are truly, like God says we are, we are sheep. Sheep are beautiful creatures, and God loves to call us His sheep because sheep need a shepherd. That’s why we are His sheep. We need a Shepherd.

Nearly every other animal in the whole of the world can fend for themselves. But a sheep can’t fend for itself. It needs a shepherd. My father was a great sheep man. Of course, we came originally from New Zealand which is a sheep country. My father was a sheep shearer. He was the world champion sheep shearer. He was, in his day, the fastest shearer in the world.

Many times, I have walked over the fields with my father. I remember one time we were walking, and there was a sheep . . . it had got caught in a thicket.

My father said to me, “Come on, Nance! We’ve got to get this sheep out of here. If we don’t, it will die.” If any other animal gets caught in some briars or something, it can get itself out. But not a sheep. This sheep was totally stuck! It was upside down! We had to pull it out. We got it out, and then, it just went away. It was happy to go along with the other sheep. But if the shepherd had not come around to care for his sheep, that sheep would have died in that thicket.

My husband also grew up on a sheep farm. They had many, many sheep. He often tells of how he noticed a whole flock of sheep can be out on the hillside. If you have ever driven through New Zealand, you’ll drive through these beautiful green fields, covered with these little white sheep. They’re all there, munching away on the grass.

Sheep love to stay together. That’s another thing about sheep. They are a flock. Yes, and God calls us His flock, too. “You are My flock, and the sheep of My pasture.” Sheep are not individualistic. They love to be a flock. That’s how God wants us to be as His people, too. Because they’re a flock, they follow one another.

It can happen how one sheep can see a little hole in a hedge, and it wriggles through, and goes through into the next field. And, of course, there are other sheep nearby. So, they begin to follow. They go through into the next field. Now the sheep are way, way out on the hillside, because in New Zealand we don’t have little flocks of sheep like they do in the Middle East. A Bedouin shepherd will have his little flock of maybe 15 or 20 sheep, sometimes smaller even.

But in New Zealand, we have thousands of sheep in our flocks. There are these sheep away over there on the hillside. They have no idea what these sheep are doing . . . just little by little, going through the hole in the fence. It may take a few days, or more, but eventually that whole flock of sheep are in the next paddock. Well, that’s actually what we call our fields down in New Zealand, a paddock. And there they are. They don’t know they are in a new paddock. They have no idea! But there they are! Because they followed that one sheep.

That’s like us. Many times, we follow what is happening around us and what everybody else is doing. Even what everybody else is doing in the church. We don’t even know that we have come into a new field! We have no clue! We’re just there! And we’ve just drifted there. That’s what happens to sheep. We do have to watch carefully.

I’m thinking of Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore, we ought to give more earnest heed.” Do you notice some adjectives there again? I’m always reminding you of adjectives, aren’t I? The Word of God is filled with adjectives. Here it doesn’t say we ought to give more heed. No, it says, “we ought to give more earnest heed.” Two adjectives! “We've got to give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time,” at any time, “we should let them slip.”

The Amplified Translation says: “We do not, in any way, drift away from the truth.” Most other translations use the word “drift.” It’s a good word. It’s a picture of, maybe we’re out, perhaps just floating, swimming, or even boating on a river. If we just let ourselves go, or let the boat go, it will drift according to the currents. It will always drift wherever the current is going.

Now, lovely ladies, we have got to guard that we don’t drift with the current, the current tide of our culture. We’ve got to make sure we stay in biblical culture, and that we don’t begin to drift out there in our liberal culture of our society today. It’s so easy to drift.

The Amplified Classic Version says: “Lest any way we drift past them.” That means past the things we’ve been taught, past the truth, and we slip away from it. Oh, my.

I think of how when we go to the beach. I love to go to the beach in New Zealand because it’s a, well, three islands. North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island. We are really just islands. We’re always near the coast, surrounded by the pounding Pacific Ocean. How I love to go to the ocean and swim in the pounding waves. It’s my favorite thing.

Of course, when, after being in New Zealand, we moved to Australia, we were there for ten years. In Australia we lived on the Gold Coast, right in Surfer’s Paradise. Of course, we were right on the beautiful Pacific Ocean. But when we came to America, well, now, we are in Tennessee, miles and miles away from the sea. First time in my life I never lived by the sea.

Now, we love to go down to the Gulf because we have a yearly Above Rubies Family Retreat there. We go down for that. If we do manage to have a family holiday together, we’ll go down to the Gulf again. It’s not the pounding breakers of the ocean, but it is wonderful water. We do love it.

If I’m out there swimming with the children, I will notice that we will always drift. Sometimes it’s just a very soft current. Sometimes it’s a stronger current. But we will always be drifting, either up or either down, whichever way the current is going. I will have to say to the children, “Come on, come on! Let’s get back! See our marker back there? We’ve drifted all the way down here! Come on, let’s all walk back, or swim back!” We’ve got to keep coming back to our marker where we went into the water. If we don’t keep coming back, we’re just going to drift further and further and further away.

It’s the same in our lives. I remember one day I was swimming with a friend. We were there together, and that day, we were at Laguna Beach in Panama City, Florida. There was a strong, strong riptide. My, I think it’s the strongest one that I’ve ever felt down there. Because I’m not challenged with the pounding waves like I’m used to, back in New Zealand and Australia, and it’s more quiet here. “So, I’ll just float on the gentle waves.”

But this time, when I began to float, wow! I was being carried away! It was unbelievable! I said to my friend Katie, “Hey! Why don’t we just go for a ride?” We lay out and floated and let this riptide take us! It took us right down, down, down, down, down. It was so glorious! We’re taken down like a sailing boat although we were only floating with this incredible, strong riptide.

Eventually, we thought, “Help! How far are we getting away? We’d better get out!” We got out, and it took us about half an hour to walk back to where we got in the water. It certainly didn’t take us that long to get down! We just ripped down there on this riptide. It was so fantastic, but we had to have a big walk back.

The further we let the tide take us, the harder, and often the more difficult it is to get back. The best idea is to not let ourselves drift! But that we keep coming back, keep watching to see where we are, that we are not just floating further and further away.

Well, there’s always that tide taking us away. But at this time, at this time in our society, I think we are facing a really strong riptide. It’s taking people down the current of destruction, and down the current of deception very, very quickly. Things are happening quickly. They are even changing our language quickly. It is amazing.

Most of you are aware, I am sure, that they have now changed already the dictionary meaning of the word “woman.” Most dictionaries all had a similar meaning for the word “woman.” The Johnson’s Dictionary said, “the female of the human race.”

The Cambridge Dictionary, a very popular dictionary, called, past tense, a woman “an adult female human being.” But last year, on the 27^th of October, 2022, they have now added a new meaning of the word “woman”: “An adult who lives and identifies as female, though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”

BUY UP OLD DICTIONARIES

Now they are including a transgender meaning of the word “woman.” This is now printed in the dictionary. I would encourage you, dear ladies, to make sure you buy up a few old dictionaries. When you’re homeschooling your children, it’s good for them all to have their own dictionaries. Dictionaries are wonderful things. We constantly need to be looking up and learning new words. Each child needs their own dictionary.

But I would caution you now about buying any updated dictionary. I haven’t checked them all, but we know especially, the Cambridge has already changed, and others will be following suit, we know for sure. I think it would be a good idea, when you’re looking in a Goodwill store, second-hand store, a place where they have second-hand books, just look for some older dictionaries. Buy them up for your children so that you make sure you’re not going to have these deceptive dictionaries in your home. Amen?

They’re changing so many words. You’ve heard, of course, that they now want to call “mothers” “birthing people.”

What do they call the mutilating of our precious young people and children, who only have to mention that they don’t know whether they’re a boy or a girl, and they’re confused? Immediately they’re taken into counseling, and then appointments with doctors to change them physically into the opposite sex. And what do they call that? “Gender affirming care.”

Such a beautiful euphemism. Such a lovely phrase. Sounds so beautiful, to describe something so horrific, of the mutilating of these young people and children’s bodies.

Now, what do they call “abortion”? “Reproductive health care.” They are changing the language to make it sound so nice, so lovely, when it is actually horrific. The word for “abortion” is “murder.” It is the outright killing of a precious child being formed in the image of God. An eternal soul that is growing in the womb, for this life, and for eternity.

So, dear ladies, we have got to watch, even in our language, that we don’t drift to this language they are bringing in. We must not give in! In fact, recently, my husband and I were listening to a preacher, Pastor Ray McCullum, speaking into what is happening in our nation today. It was so powerful.

THE SAME LANGUAGE

He was speaking about the building of the Tower of Babel, and how we all know that, at that time, they all spake the same language. You see, language has such power. For anything to happen, to change a nation, to change culture, they’ve got to get everybody speaking the same. So, they’re bringing all these new words, these deceiving phrases, into our vocabulary. They’re becoming more and more part of the vocab of this current culture. They want people speaking the same language.

Of course, we know what God did. He came in, and He confused the languages, and sent them all out into the world. That is not God’s plan. In fact, how did they build the Tower of Babel? They built it with bricks. Yes, did you get that? Bricks. Bricks have to be all made the same. They have to be uniform. They have to fit together.

That was the first incidence we read of a new world order of bringing in total tyranny. They had to make it with bricks. That’s what they are trying to do today, they want to make bricks. They want to make us all think the same, speak the same language, conform us to their way of thinking.

I REFUSE TO BE A BRICK

But listen, ladies. The only way that they can actually influence you is if you become a brick! You don’t have to become a brick, you know. I refuse to become a brick! Because God builds with living stones. That’s what He tells us in 1 Peter 2:5, “As living stones,” and that’s what God builds with.

Even back in Exodus 20:25, God is talking to His people there about building altars. He said, “You can build Me an altar of earth, where you could worship Me and listen to what I have to say to you, but if you want to build an altar of stones, you must never get these stones and cut them into uniform things. No. You’ve got to take them as they are.”

“If you use stones to build My altar, use only natural uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.”

As God build us as living stones, He is the One Who shapes us into His image. But He does not start with something that’s already been cut and made uniform. He starts with the original, with the uniqueness, and that’s the wonderful thing about the Body of Christ. Every member is unique and different and special. Yet we’re all fitted into this beautiful building. But we’re not bricks! We are living stones.

HOLD ON FAST TO TRUTH

So, ladies, we have got to hold on, hold on to the truth.

I love Revelation 3:11: “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Hold it fast.

Job 27:6: “My righteousness I hold fast, and I will not let it go.” Don’t you love that?

We’ve got to get our convictions strong, get our affirmations strong. I love affirmations, don’t you? Get some good affirmations and speak them out and hold onto them. Hold onto God’s Word. Memorize His Word so you can speak that out.

God’s testimony of Job, what did God say about Job? “Job holdeth fast his integrity.” He was speaking to Satan at the time. “Although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without cause.” And yet God said to Satan: “He holds fast his integrity” (Job 2:3).

Proverbs 4:13: “Take fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her for she is thy life.”

So, ladies, I want to talk to you about this. About holding on, holding fast, not letting the truth go, not letting it slip away, not allowing ourselves to drift with the current of this society! Oh, no, let’s be those who hold fast.

Well, there are going to be many things that we will talk about as we hold fast and transmit them to the next generation, because if we don’t hold them fast, how will we pass them on to the next generation? They’ve got to be, not just something, “Oh, well, yeah, I believe that.” No, we’ve got to strongly believe it. It has to be a strong conviction, so much so that we are so desperate to get it into the HEARTS and MINDS and LIVES and MOUTHS  of our children and the generations to come.

Yes, and this is what God wants us to do. I often quote this Scripture to you and I want to give it to you again, because it is so powerful. It’s God’s mandate to parents.

And He says, in Isaiah 59:21: “As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy MOUTH, shall not depart out of thy MOUTH, nor out of the MOUTH of thy children, nor out of the MOUTH of thy children’s children, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever.”

Do you get it? We’re not mothering just for today. We’re mothering for tomorrow. We’re mothering for, not only our children, but our children’s children, and their children, “Henceforth and forever, says the Lord.” And it’s more than getting it into their hearts, which we must do. We have to get it into their mouths so they are speaking it out. Amen?

LEAD YOUR CHILDREN TO JESUS WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG

We’d better start, of course, at the beginning. We always start with first things first. I do believe that the first thing that we should be concerned about as we’re passing on God’s truths to the next generation is to lead each of our children to Jesus at a young age. Yes, I said “a young age.”

I find that it is amazing, even in Christian homes, that many children are not born again until maybe later in their age group. But I believe that God wants our children to come to know Him at an early age. Now, this can happen in a Christian home.

It won’t happen in a non-Christian home. I believe that every child is born with something of the light of God in them (John 1:9). In a Christian home, that light is going to be fueled and fed. It’s going to grow more and more. In a non-Christian home, that light can be stamped out. It will always be there, but it can be stamped out so that, oh, goodness me, nobody would know it was there.

But in a Christian home, a godly home, where the Word of God is being read daily in the home, and dear ladies, dear precious mothers, the Word of God shall be read daily in our homes. Well, I know you know that and I’m sure that that’s what is happening in your home.

But let’s look again at 2 Timothy 3:14, 15: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Now, we know that Timothy learned from his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice, as they taught him the ways of God. We read that in 1 Timothy 1:5: “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Do you notice what it says there? “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.” When did he begin to learn the Scriptures? When he was getting at an age of learning? Oh, no. Even before that. From a little babe. Now, that word “child” there in that Scripture is the Greek word brephos. That word can mean a baby in the womb.

Actually, that’s a word that was used when Jesus was in the womb. That is the same word that was used.

It’s used of a little baby. That word was actually used again, of Jesus, when he was a little babe, and they found him as a babe in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. “The babe,” it was brephos. It can mean a baby in the womb, a baby that is just born, or a little toddler, or a child.

I believe that Timothy was hearing the Word of God, maybe even while he was in the womb of his mother Eunice. Right from the womb! Dear lovely ladies, we can begin to put the Word into our children right from the womb! The last three months of pregnancy, the baby can hear, even in the womb. As you are sitting close to your husband and he’s reading the Word to you, and to the family, your little babe in the womb can hear this Word.

When the little baby is born, and you’re nursing your baby, you’re having your family devotions, and your husband is reading the Word, and you’re sitting there by him, you’re nursing your baby. Your baby is hearing. Now, your baby doesn’t understand, but it’s hearing the Word. The Word of God is not a normal book. It is alive. It is powerful. It is active. And that Word is going into the very being of your little babe. Even as your little one gets a little older, that Word, that Word is going in. Understanding can come at a very early age, yes, quite an early age.

I have a little book here. It’s called How to Have a Family Altar by Norman Williams. It’s out of print but it’s an amazing little book. You can actually find it on the internet and download it for free. Look out for it.

But he says in this book, “A child of three months is too young to understand Galatians 5:22-23, but he’s not too young to enjoy it. The greatest secret of shaping the life of the child from day one to six years of age is to make Galatians 5:23-23,” (that’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit), “the very spirit and life of your home. Then your child will literally feed on the love of God, both emotionally and spiritually. He will absorb that out of his environment, which will make him emotionally and spiritually healthy and strong.”

He goes on to say, “Our aim is to lead our children to Christ as soon as possible. Many parents object that a four-month-old baby is too young to understand the Word of God. Therefore, they reason he should not hear it. But God’s Word says: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Your duty, dear parent, is to let your baby hear the Word of God. Somehow, by the action of the Holy Spirit through the Word, that child will receive faith. Babies have ears to hear with. They have hearts to believe with.”

Again, in another part, he says, “The parent’s great privilege during the first six years is to make his child acquainted with Christ as his Maker, and his loving Friend. Before the child is three-and-a-half, he should be saved, and know that Christ made him and loves him. The child should learn to lovingly speak the Name of Jesus right along with the name of Daddy and Mommy.”

That’s pretty interesting. Do you mean to say that at three-and-a-half, a child could be born again? And come to know Jesus? Well, not every child is going to do that at that age, but there are some who will. And I believe the more that little babe, that little toddler, that little child hears the Word of God, the more they become ready to receive, because faith is built up in their heart as they hear.

What does it say in our Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:15? That the Holy Scriptures are able to make them “wise unto salvation.” I remember when my beautiful granddaughter Breezy, yes, Breezy is 13 now. You would think that she was maybe 18 or 25. She’s grown so tall. She looks so much older. She is so mature for such a beautiful young lady.

But I remember when she was three, and I remember, we were having family devotions. She was staying with us at the time. It was just amazing; the anointing and the presence of God came. My husband could see it all over Breezy. The presence of God was all over her.

He said to her, “Breezy, would you like to ask Jesus to come into your life?” And she said, “Yes!” She prayed this prayer after my husband. It was amazing. She went around singing. Oh, the next few days, she’d be making up songs and singing about Jesus in her life. It was so real and amazing! And she is still walking with Jesus today. Oh, I just love it when Breezy’s in the prayer meeting! Because in our prayer meetings, we don’t just have adults. We have the children. She’s only 13, but my, prays a long, powerful prayer just like any adult.

Just as I close, and at this point maybe I should share about some of our own children, just some of their testimonies. Let me see. Because I have these written down. The reason I have them written down is because when I was writing, it was quite a number of years ago, the book Gatekeepers of the Home, How to Guard Your Home, which you can get off the Above Rubies store. Go to aboverubies.org, and you can pick it up there.

This is a wonderful manual on how to guard your home. I take it from Nehemiah 3, where Nehemiah was building up the 12 gates of Jerusalem. Each one has a name. Every one has a powerful meaning. I relate them to the gates of our homes. But nothing in the Word of God is haphazard. Everything is perfect. Everything has meaning.

Nehemiah started at the Sheep Gate. That’s powerful. He started there. God orchestrated that he would start there, because what does the Sheep Gate speak of? The Sheep Gate is where they brought the sheep in through that gate, ready to be sacrificed. Every day there was the morning sacrifice, and the evening sacrifice of the lamb, all pointing to the Lamb of Calvary, who would one day die for our sins. The Sheep Gate speaks of the beautiful picture of salvation, and Christ, Who became the Lamb of God.

This is where we start in our homes, dear lovely ladies. We start at the Sheep Gate. We start bringing our children to Jesus, to the Lamb of God, who is able to save them.

When I was talking and writing about the Sheep Gate, I thought, “Wow! I’d better check out on my own children!”

So, I called each one of them and said, “Tell me, can you remember when you actually came to know Jesus?” It was so great to hear from them.

Pearl was five years old.

Let’s see, Evangeline was four years old. Evangeline is 57 years of age today. I’m going to read you her testimony that she shared with me. This was at four years of age. She’s 57 today, and still walking closely with the Lord from that moment of this happening at four years of age. So, I’ll share her little testimony. Maybe a couple of the others in our next session next week.

She said, “God saved me at four years of age. Even today, it is still the most vivid and powerful experience of my life. I was lying in bed. I still remember the orange bedspread cover. My mother came into my room and said, “Stephen has just asked Jesus to come into his life! Would you like to, also?”

At that moment, the world stopped, and the fight between the powers of darkness and heaven began. My whole body was shaking. With all my heart, I wanted to ask Jesus into my life. But the pull from Satan was so strong! “No, no, no!” The voice of Satan pulled at my heart. The struggle was powerful! Eventually I said, “Yes. Yes!” With all my heart!

I followed my mother in prayer, asking Jesus to come into my life. At that moment I knew God. I experienced the reality of God. He came into my life and filled me. He opened my mind to Him. I was saved for life. No turning back. I have known His powerful presence in my life ever since. Instantly I felt peace. Instantly I was not afraid of the big owl outside my room, or of anything. I’ve never been afraid of anything from that day.”

And so, there it was, four years of age! But now today, she is still walking with the Lord as closely as ever. Oh, I believe God wants to get the hearts of our children at a young age. Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You with all our hearts for the way You teach us, the way You show us the way. Lord God, we pray that You will save us from drifting, drifting, Lord God, into the ways of this current culture. Oh, God, help us to be those who stand strong and hold fast that which we have, that no man takes our crown. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 242: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 14B

Our last session in this series, and we continue last week’s subject. What are your plans for Saturday or Sunday? How much time do you give to God on your set-apart day? One hour? Two hours? Or the whole day?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We are continuing our discussion of last podcast, about what do we do on the day we set apart for God? Some lovely ladies listening are those who keep the Sabbath and then there are others who keep Sunday. We’re not talking about which day, but what do we do on the day that we set apart for the Lord?

I had just a few more thoughts that I thought I would share with you. Last week we talked about it being a day of rest, and refreshing, and reviving of our spirits. Also, that it was not only a day of rest, but a day of rest. It’s not an hour when we go to church for an hour, or couple of hours, but a day. I think that we have gotten away from that concept of this day being a day set apart for God.

I’m thinking back to that famous old movie. I wonder if you saw it? It came out in 1981, so that’s about 42 years ago, Chariots of Fire. Did any of you see it? It’s a marvelous movie showing this guy, Eric Liddell, who went to the Olympic Games. He was a believer and did not believe in doing sports on Sunday.

But his final race was going to be on Sunday. He refused to run it, and although he was set to be the winner of, I think it was 100 yards, he did not go ahead. He stood his ground because he was committed to keep this as a day unto the Lord. Instead, he had to run in another race; I think it was the 400, which he won, although it wasn’t even his race. God honored him. But it’s an amazing movie and worth watching. Something to show your children.

We were mentioning about how some people are not actually committed to a church fellowship. I do believe that is so important, whether we are keeping the Sabbath, or keeping Sunday. We should be committed to the people of God.

Did you know that in the New Testament, the word “church” is mentioned 118 times? The word “synagogue,” where the Jewish people worshipped, is mentioned 57 times. We see how they were committed to a church. The word “church” is ekklesia. It means, “a Christian community of members on earth; an assembly; a congregation.”

We know that church is not a building. The church is the people. Yes, it’s an assembly of people. But the only way it can be an assembly of people is if we assemble! Yes, we have to assemble. Of course, that takes an effort.

That comes back to us as mothers, doesn’t it? We are the ones who really make it happen. We’ve got to even start thinking about it the night before. Preparing clothes to get everyone ready for going to meet with the people of God. Especially with children, we need to make sure that we’ve got all their special clothes ready for Sunday.

I think we should wear special clothes for Sunday, don’t you? That was always traditional. If we go back to the Word of God we read of how the priests had to change their clothes when they went into the Holy Place and before they came out. They didn’t wear the clothes they wore around in the Holy Place. They had to change into their priestly clothes.

I think when we’re coming to meet with God, we show respect. We show reverence when we dress nicely. Back in my day, we used to have what was called “our Sunday best.” Have you ever heard that little phrase, “Sunday best”? We didn’t have so many clothes in those days, so you had one set of clothes that was for Sunday. That was special for Sunday.

Today, we have so many clothes. I just went up to Goodwill the other day, and I couldn’t believe it. Everything was so cheap and then you could have half-price day. You can buy clothes for a couple of dollars, three dollars, maybe four at the most. Lovely clothes. You could actually have quite a big wardrobe these days and you’re not really spending much at all. It is different.

But I don’t, oh, please, lovely mothers, we have to watch our girls as they’re growing up. We live in this world where the fashion is not founded on godly principles. It’s founded on the spirit of the world. I don’t believe that it’s right for our daughters to wear jeans to church.

Jeans aren’t church clothes. They don’t belong to church, nor do any kind of pants belong to church. And yet there are some who will even wear, I don’t know what you call them, these totally knit skin-tight pants, which are so revealing. You might as well be naked. Clothed but naked, because you can still see every little nook and cranny and line. These are not church clothes.

Then we come to summertime. You want to go to church to worship God, and you’d think you were going to the beach! And here’s not only girls, but even older women, with shoulders bare. No, we don’t wear bare shoulders to church. We don’t wear clothes that show cleavage to church. We don’t wear short dresses to church. I believe they should be at least, minimum, to the knee when going to church.

You see, we are a holy people. God says: “I am holy; be ye therefore holy.” Well, it’s bad enough wearing those kinds of clothes around, let alone to church! It’s time we lifted the standard for church. Mothers, it starts with us. What are we wearing to church? Do we have a lovely dress for church? That is modest, feminine, lovely? We’re going to the house of God. We’re going amongst His holy people. We should be making it a holy place.

That’s another thing that it is called in Leviticus 23:2. God says: “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath rest, a holy convocation.” The word “convocation” in the Old Testament (I was talking to you about the New Testament. The word ekklesia is used 118 times, and that is “an assembly, a gathering together of God’s people.”

We go back to the Old Testament, and guess what, ladies? Sometime back I was doing a study on the word “assembly.” I found 12 different Hebrew words that mean “the assembling of God’s people.” Here’s one of them: “convocation.” It’s the word miqra. It means “a public meeting, something which has been called out, an assembly.” It’s a holy convocation, a holy assembly.

On the day that we set apart for God, we are to meet in a holy assembly. Therefore, we’d better be wearing clothes that are holy. Yes, they don’t have to be drab and boring, because as God told them when He was talking about the priests’ clothing, He said they were to be holy clothes, but also for glory and for beauty (Exodus 28:2).. We wear holy clothes, but beautiful clothes.

Talking about these different words for “assembly,” I’m not going to give you all the words, but we just looked at one there in the context of the Sabbath day, the holy “convocation.” That word is used, let me see how many times? Yes, 23 times that particular word is used for the assembling of God’s people in the Old Testament.

AN APPOINTED TIME

Here’s another one: Exodus 30:36. God is talking about how “in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee.” The word “congregation” is moed. It also means, “an assembly, a place of meeting, a congregation,” and it also means, ladies, actually this is the first meaning, “an appointment, a fixed time.” This word for “assembly” is used 223 times in the Old Testament.

If you go to the Strong’s Concordance, the first part of the meaning is “an appointed time.” Isn’t that interesting? Yes. I believe that we have an appointed time to meet with the saints. They had appointed times when God wanted them to meet back in the Old Testament. But now, we’re living in our day, and we also have appointed times. Different churches start at different times. Some start at ten in the morning, some at eleven. Some have it in the afternoon; some at different times.

So, whatever your church has, that’s the “appointed time.” And once again, I do believe we should try to get there by the appointed time, because this is biblical. This is biblical, precious ladies. These are little practical things we’re talking about on this day that we set aside for God.

We, as mothers, we were talking about the clothing. We have to get the clothing ready for our little ones. Yes, because, “OK, go and get ready, Johnny.” And poor little Johnny can’t find his socks and he can’t find his shirt. Then “Susie, are you getting ready?” But she can’t find whatever she has to wear. Then maybe they all come out in the wrong clothes. You have to organize the clothes.

Of course, even from your little ones, dear ladies. I was noticing, just been noticing lately, how most children today, most children are clothed in pants and jeans and so on. That’s the clothing of today. Somewhere along the way, mothers have just fitted into the clothing of our worldly society. Now they come to church, yes, even our fellowship. Children! They’re in pants, they’re in jeans, coming to church.

But that’s not their fault. It’s mothers. The mothers are dressing little ones. The mothers are dressing them in these clothes. They are dressing them like this, even to come to church. We’ve lost this along the way, ladies. It’s time we brought a greater reverence and respect into the house of God, which is the assembling of His people. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a house church, or a great big church, or a cathedral. Whatever it is, it’s not the building, it is the assembling. But in the assembling, we come dressed appropriately.

So, the night before, we are checking out for our little ones, their clothes. We have them ready for them to get up and get dressed into so that we’re not screaming around, trying to find things. We are preparing to be ready for the appointed time.

I know some mothers who have found that on Saturday night, they will put their clock, their watch, their whatever, they will put it an hour ahead, or a half an hour ahead, so that when they’re looking at the time, they think, “Oh, wow, OK.” And then, “Wow,” they can get to church early, or on time, because usually it’s so easy to be late. But they can eventually, actually, get there on time if they set their watch ahead, although a lot don’t even wear watches today. But whatever you use for your timing.

It is an appointed time. In that same Scripture, it says: “In the tabernacle of the congregation.” That’s the word for the “appointed time,” the assembling of His people. “Where I will meet with thee.” There is another word. “Meet” is another Hebrew word for “assembly.” It means, once again, “an appointed time, to meet at a stated time, to summon an assembly together.” It has both meanings, once again, of assembling together, but at an appointed time, at a stated time. Wow!

Now, I’m not making all this up, ladies. It’s just the Word. I think we have to be reminded of the Word, don’t we? We have to come back to His Word. We get away from it. I can see how much I have got away from things; how we lived in the early days.

Even in my lifetime, which is like a blink of my eye, as I said before, was it last session? I lived in the days when not only every Christian family set aside their day unto the Lord, but even the secular. They may not have been doing it unto the Lord, but they had to have that day, because no shops were open. They couldn’t do much on that day. No sports, no shops, no nothing. Well, now, of course, there’s everything. Just a reminder about it’s not just a day of rest, it’s a day of rest.

OK. We’re not only getting ready to go and meet with the people of God. We’re getting the clothes ready. We’re encouraging our teen daughters, that they will wear something lovely and beautiful to church. We’re showing them that church is a special thing, and such a wonderful privilege, and the greatest day of the week, where we say, “Oh, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!” (Psalm 122:1). That should be our attitude.

A DAY FOR GOD AND A DAY FOR HIS PEOPLE

Then what are we going to do? Come home, and “OK, we’re home! Throw off all our church clothes and let’s get out! We’ll go to this sport, or we’ll do this, or go to this entertainment! Or we’ll just turn on the TV and watch sports!” That’s what happens in many homes. Dear ladies, it’s not just church. It’s a day. A day. A day. A day for God, and a day for His people.

A WONDERFUL DAY FOR HOSPITALITY

I think it’s the most wonderful day for hospitality. All throughout our lives, we have done one thing or the other. If the church that we have been involved in does not have a fellowship meal after the service, well, we will come home and bring guests with us. For many years, pastoring in New Zealand, and then Australia, this was actually what we did. We showed hospitality.

We would invite families, and young people, and whoever, home to have a meal with us. Oh, it is such a beautiful thing, ladies. It’s sort of a let-down to come home from being in the presence of God and with the people of God, and just come home, and you’re on your own. It’s boring!

Oh, I can remember one time. Oh, we had families every Sunday. Some Sundays we’d end up with about 30 people around. They couldn’t fit around our table, so we’d have people around our big table. Then our children would have friends sitting around somewhere else, and so on. I can remember one time thinking, “Oh, goodness me! I just think I need a rest!” So, I said to my husband, “Darling, let’s just not ask anybody next Sunday. Let’s just have the day to ourselves.”

So, we did. We didn’t ask anybody. We came home to, you know what? It was the most boring Sunday of our lives. We came home. We looked at each other. There’s no one else to talk to. The children were bored out of their brains, so we never did it again! Ever. We’ve always invited people.

Well, the logistics of this have been different also in different countries. Back in New Zealand, where it’s a sheep country, a typical New Zealand meal is roast lamb. Well, it’s not really roast lamb. It’s roast hogget or roast mutton, because we export our lamb. We would eat either the hogget, which is a year-old lamb, or we’d eat one that is older and bigger, which can feed more people.

So, I would put on a big roast of mutton, that’s an older sheep, in the oven, and put potatoes, pumpkin, kumara (that’s our New Zealand sweet potato) around the meat. It would be slowly cooking while we were at church. Yes, I did have the element on, but it was on pretty low. We’d cook it low and slow, long and slow. It would be cooking, and I would have frozen peas ready. I would have a salad made, and maybe something else. That was all prepared the day before.

Then, when we came home, we would often get hot bread from the shop on the way home, because that’s what you could do. I’ve always made our homemade bread, but we allowed our children to have hot white bread on Sundays. Oh, they thought it was amazing! Of course, now, we’ve got shops open on Sundays. So, we would buy hot bread and bring it home.

Some people would come and not bring anything. Others would also bring something. And somehow, we would feed everybody. Then we moved to Australia. Well, now I just couldn’t get my big legs or shoulders of roast lamb, or hogget, over there. It was too expensive.

I would, usually the night before, or early that morning, I would cook up a great big pot of chili, or something like that, that would feed a multitude. And once again, have a salad ready. Once again, we’re bringing loaves of hot bread home from the shop, loads of it. Everybody loved hot bread. So, we would do that and feed all the people that came. Oh, it was so glorious and wonderful! Fellowship with God’s people is so amazing!

I remember in our church in New Zealand, we encouraged everyone to show hospitality, because the Bible says, “Show hospitality to one another” (1 Peter 4:9). It’s biblical. It’s part of the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. It was the lifestyle of the early church. They not only did it once a week, they did it daily. They met daily in their homes the Bible tells us in Acts 2. We would encourage everyone to show hospitality. They learned as they came into our homes, and “Wow! This is so great!”

So, they began asking people into their homes. And then, it became a problem, because unless you called somebody during the week, if you were just asking someone there on Sunday, you wouldn’t be able to find anybody to ask home, because everybody had already been asked home! Oh, what a glorious church where everybody was showing hospitality to one another!

Well, now, we are doing it differently. And here, currently, we have church in our home out here on the Hilltop. It’s called The House of Prayer. But it’s not really a little lounge church, because we have our big Above Rubies packaging room. We can fit up to 100 people in this room, which such a glorious blessing.

CHURCH IS TOGETHERING

After our service here on the Hilltop, we have fellowship meal. And this is also such a blessing! Oh, it’s such a blessing because we can fellowship with one another. Church is not just coming to sit and listen to a message and go home. No, it is one-anothering! It’s togethering with God’s people.

So much of the blessings of being together is when we’re sitting talking over the meal. You begin to find out, oh, where the people really are. What are their needs? And what are their visions? What are their passions? What is happening in their lives? What are things we can do together? Oh, goodness me, every Sunday is so amazing! Even in just doing that, I still don’t get time to talk to everyone! But at least everyone can be talking with different people.

And the children can go out to play. They have fellowship. The young people have fellowship, and then they can play volleyball together and hang out. Play soccer together. Many families hang out right until the late afternoon. So, it is a togethering, an assembling with the people of God. That is just how He intends it to be. I think we’ve got to get into our heart that it’s not just going to church. It is a day unto the Lord. Also, a day for His people.

And then when you’re not with His people, you will find the things that you want to do as unto the Lord and to delight yourself in Him. For we are to delight in that Sabbath Day, or the day that we keep unto the Lord.

And another thing about it, it is a holy day. Yes, I did mention that when we were talking about, what are we wearing to church? What are our children wearing to church? Make sure the clothes are appropriate for a holy day.

Isaiah 58:13-14: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,” like, “Oh, OK, let’s go to the zoo today!” Or “Such a beautiful day!  Why don’t we have a picnic?” No. “Nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” 

Do you notice there, God calls it “My holy day”? Yes. Then, He also calls it “the holy of the Lord.”

The Knox translation says, “Walk warily. Keep My Sabbath unprofaned. It is a day I have sanctified, not for thy self-pleasing. A precious thing the Lord has made, holy and honorable.”

Now the word “holy day” is the word kadash. That’s the Hebrew word for “holy” in the Old Testament. It means “apartness, holiness, sacredness, uncommonness, withheld from ordinary use.” We see that it is a day that’s set apart, a day that is unto the Lord, because the word “holy,” kadash, actually means “set apart.” It’s not the sort of thing, “Oh, yes, that’s a holy person.”

No, “holiness” means a set-apart person, so a “holy day” is a set-apart day. It’s a day when we don’t do things we do on other days. And then we will do things that we don’t do on those other days, like meeting with the people of God, and assembling for our church service. Also, fellowshipping and showing hospitality to the people of God. Also, maybe having more time to spend in His Word, or read and meditate on wonderful, wholesome books and commentaries, and learning more of His Word.

Actually, there are two words for “holy” in that Scripture. The “holy day” is kadash, and then, the “holy of the Lord” is kadosh, just slightly similar, meaning “sacred, ceremonially and morally selected, pure, holy, consecrated, separated to God’s service.” It’s a separation.

Exodus 19:6: “And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” That’s who we are. We are a holy nation, set apart unto God, and we keep a holy day, whether we keep it Saturday or Sunday. And we keep it holy unto the Lord, a day that we keep holy unto the Lord. Amen?

Oh, wow! I just hope you’ve got that. Actually, I’ve got another couple of verses here that really speak to me. Oh, goodness me, I can’t believe where we’ve come to! I notice here in Exodus 16:29. Here it’s talking about the seventh day. On the sixth day, they had to go out, and they had to pick up the double portion. But on the seventh day they were not allowed to.

“Abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29). In other words, don’t go out to find the food because there won’t be any there! Wow! I have to, oooh, repent, because I have got, wow, I have gone out and purchased on Sunday, because now all the shops are open!

And then I read in Nehemiah 10:31: “And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath day.” My, I should have read that verse before, because when was it? Sunday night! We went out to get some groceries. Wow! But then, of course, the Sabbath is actually from sundown to sundown. So, we did go out in the evening. But I could have gone in the afternoon, not even thinking! Wow!

Really, I’m not keeping up with really what God’s heart is for the day that we set apart unto Him. Because it’s just so easy to fall into the secular world, isn’t it? But we don’t belong to the secular world. We’re set apart unto God. My! Am I really going to do this? I am challenged. Yes.

No. 15. YOU MUST PASS THIS GOOD LAND ON TO YOUR CHILDREN

Oh, I might get a little bit late, but I just want to finish up, because if I tell you number 15, we have finished this series! Can you believe it? Number 15, of WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO IN THE LAND. You must pass this good land to your children.

Deuteronomy 1:8: “Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed [children] after them.”

This land of motherhood that we are embracing, that we are living in, is not just for us and our children now. It’s for our children’s children, and our children’s children’s children, and the generations to follow. We have got to pass on this truth, and His ways, to the next generation.

Deuteronomy 12:28: “Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.”

We read in 1 Chronicles 28:8: “Seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.”

Jeremiah 7:6-7: “If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.”

Dear precious ladies, we have already lost so much that God wants us, as mothers, to pass on to our children and the next generation. We are responsible to pass it on to our children so they will pass it on to their children. Can we do that? Oh, may God save us from dropping the baton to the next generation.

I’m now going to start a new series next week, calling it “We Are the Transmitters of God’s Truth to the Next Generation.” We’re going to talk about some of the things we need to be passing on—God’s truth, many practical ways, even things in regards to etiquette and protocol which are being lost to this generation. So many things we’ve got to keep passing on. We’re going to talk about some of them.

So, let’s pray.

“Lord God, dear Father, help us to be lovers of Your precious Word, always seeking Your truths, seeking Your ways, that we will walk in Your ways, not to walk in the ways of the world, but, Lord God, You have chosen us to be a set-apart people unto You.

“You have even chosen us to have a day that’s set apart unto You, a day, Lord God. Oh, help us, Lord, to not just give an hour or two, but to give this whole day to You, a day that we choose to set apart unto You. And that You will be first in our lives, and in the lives of our children, and in the lives of our succeeding generations. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 241: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 14A

What are your plans for Saturday or Sunday? Do you set one of those days aside for God and for His people—and what do you do?

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. This morning, before I came to sit down here and do this podcast with you, I received last year’s stats from our podcast that we do with Buzzsprout.

I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that LIFE TO FULL is actually in the top five of all Buzzsprout podcasts. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? And I found out that it’s actually going to 98 different countries. That’s wonderful too! So, whatever country you are in today, wow! It is so great to have you listening and to know that we can all be connected together as we do these podcasts together.

And what else did I find out? The most popular podcast of last year was the series, “WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS, Parts 1-3.” I wonder if any of you listened to them. Well, lots of you must have been because that was the most popular one, especially number three. That was a very special one. I did those podcasts with Erin Harrison. If you never got to listen to them, you can go down the list and pull them up. “WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS.” The other two were from “THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD” series.

And then, I found out that most of our listeners are in the USA, which, of course, that would be right. Then comes Canada. Then Australia, then UK, then New Zealand (down at the bottom of the world, where I originally came from). Then, of course, there will be lovely mothers of 93 other countries. How wonderful! May the Lord pour out His blessings upon you all! Upon your husbands and upon your precious children that God has given to you.

May you be blessed as you listen to these podcasts this year of 2023. Do encourage other moms to listen because they are especially for wives and mothers. There are thousands of podcasts going on in the world, but there are really not so many that are specifically geared to the mother in the home, and encouraging her to be in the home, because this is where God has placed her. So, do encourage your friends and your enemies, and everyone you know to listen. Send it out on your social media or whatever. Let’s encourage many more mothers to listen to these podcasts.

COMING FAMILY RETREAT FLORIDA - APRIL

I was also talking to Allison Hartman yesterday. Allison and her husband Daniel are the ones who organize the Above Rubies family retreats down at Laguna Beach in Florida. She was telling me that Laguna Beach Christian Retreat Center have now just finished renewing 22 more apartments. That means that we can fill up 22 more apartments!

It’s already just about filled up for what we usually have. Now we have just got a few more available, so if you want to be part of this wonderful, glorious retreat on the beach in April, April 19^th to the 26^th, go to my webpage, AboveRubies.org. You can look up “Retreats and Camps” and look up the information there to contact them. If you can come, well, be in quick, because they are filling up fast too.

COMING LADIES RETREAT IN WASHINGTON STATE – OLYMPIA

There will most probably be at least a thousand who will be coming to this April retreat, but before then, we have a ladies’ retreat in Olympia, Washington state. Oh, we’ve had so many wonderful ladies’ retreats up there in Washington, year after year after year!

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to have them the last couple of years because they closed down. But they’re open again and we’re all getting together again! If you live anywhere in Washington or Oregon, or around that area, do come. It will be a wonderful time together. Go to the webpage and look up the information for that too.

All right. Now, we are plodding along in our series, “What Do We Have to Do in the Land of Our Motherhood?” I think we’re just climbing down. We’re getting it down, and I think we will finish either this podcast or the next one.

We’re up to point number 12.

No. l2. WE ARE TO WALK RIGHTEOUSLY AND UPRIGHTLY IN THE LAND

Deuteronomy 16:20: “That which is altogether just shall thou follow” (that means that which is righteous, and upright, and godly) “that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

Psalm 37:29: “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever.”

Proverbs 2:21: “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.”

 So, we see how God’s plan, His vision for us in the land, is for us to walk righteously, that we would be righteous families.

No. 13: HE WANTS US TO C HOOSE LIFE IN THE LAND

Let me take you to Deuteronomy 30. As you know, this book of Deuteronomy was God’s Word through Moses, God’s Word to His people through Moses, and it was a great big, long word! Deuteronomy 1 right up to chapter 34. The whole thing was a word to the people, God’s vision for them, His plan for them, His heart for them, and His commandments for them in the land that He was taking them to.

And, of course, we are looking at this land as our land, the land of motherhood. This is the land that God has given us. In Deuteronomy, over and over again, it says, “This is the land I have given to you. It is yours. I have chosen it for you.” God has chosen this land of motherhood for us.

This whole book of Deuteronomy is telling us how to live in the land, and what He wants us to do in the land.

In Deuteronomy 30:15, it says: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. And that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgements, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

Verses 19, 20: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

In this land that the Lord has given to us, He wants us to choose life. Always choosing life. Amen? From birth, well, before birth, while a little baby is in the womb, right up until the Lord takes that one home, we choose life. From birth to the grave. Yes, we’re even choosing life at the grave. We choose life to that very moment.

We’re not helping people to die and helping people to commit suicide, even medical suicide. No, we’re choosing life to the very end, because God is the author of life. He will take that person, and He will take that breath when He chooses. God is in control, and we trust Him for life, because He is the God of life, and He is the author of life.

In this hour, we’ve got to keep standing for life, keep fighting for life, keep speaking out for life. We were all rejoicing when Roe v Wade was brought back to the states and reversed. That was a wonderful, blessed thing. And yet, we have to keep watching.

Even here in Tennessee, some of our Republican senators (these aren’t the Democrats) but the Republicans are now trying to weaken the law in our state. They want to weaken it so that abortion is allowed for either rape or incest or the health of the mother. Now, of course, that sounds good, doesn’t it? The ways of the world always sound wise. They sound good, just like the devil tempted Eve in the very, very beginning. He made the tree look wise and look good (Genesis 3:6).

But it’s not the truth, because a little baby that is conceived and growing in the womb is a separate life than the mother. Even though something as tragic as rape or incest, even in such tragic circumstances, we cannot murder life. There is never an excuse for murder—and taking a life in the womb is murder. These people are speaking out of ignorance. They don’t understand truth. You cannot counteract one sin with another sin.

I have to tell you, and I’m sure you also know people. I personally know people who have been born from their mother being a victim of rape. And yet, they are living beautiful lives today. Mothers who are married and have children! Their testimony is, “Thank God for my life! I am blessed! I have a husband. I have children. I am blessed to be alive!” In the eyes of these people who think that they’re doing something good, they would be dead. Murdered!

I personally know people who were born from incest. And these people are living happy, beautiful lives today. We do not have any excuse for the taking of life. Let’s be those who stand for life. We choose life. We stand for life. We fight for life. We will not be silenced as people would come to try and take life.

I was thinking of my little eight-year-old granddaughter. She is staying with me at the moment. Oh, every time we have prayer time, at the prayer meeting last night, this morning at family devotions, she’s praying this same prayer. “Lord, please, help us NOT TO BE SILENT, but to be a voice!” I love it! She’s got the message. We dare not be silent in the face of this evil because we are a people who chose life, and we choose life in the land of motherhood! Amen? And amen!

Number 14: WE KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN THE LAND

It’s interesting. God gave the Ten Commandments back in Exodus, chapter 20, when He brought them out of Egypt. They were there in the wilderness at that time, at Mount Sinai, and He gave them the Ten Commandments.

But here we come to Deuteronomy. It’s now at the end of Moses’ life, and he reminds them again. In Deuteronomy chapter five, he once again brings back to remembrance to the people all the Ten Commandments. He says, “I want you to make sure that you do them in the land which I have given you.”

These commandments are not just something we turn aside, or maybe we say, “Oh, that’s just Old Testament, or legality.” No, they came from the very heart of God. We won’t go through them all, of course, because you all know them, don’t you?

But I do notice, in Deuteronomy 5 here, I notice when it speaks of the commandment to honor thy father and mother, verse 16: “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” So, once again, it’s reminding them, when you get to the land, make sure you keep doing these things.

What about verses 12-15? “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” And so, it goes on.

I do want to share a few little thoughts about this, but, oh, goodness me, ladies. Ladies, I do want to tell you I am not going to be speaking about or giving a discussion about which day people should keep. Now, the Bible says that we are to keep the Sabbath Day. There are so many commandments throughout the Word of God about this.

WHO DO YOU DO ON THE ‘LORD’S DAY’?

Many who are listening to my podcast, you are beautiful, faithful Sabbath keepers. And there are so many who are listening to my podcast who are also faithful Sunday worshippers. I’m not going into a discourse of which day we should keep.

But I want to go into, whichever day we keep, whether it is the Sabbath Saturday, or some believe the Sunday because that was the day of resurrection, the day Jesus rose from the dead—but whatever day we choose to keep, what do we do on that day? That’s what I want to talk about. What do we do on that day?

Before I do, I will read these Scriptures.

Romans 14:5: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

Colossians 2:16-17: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come.”

Other Scriptures speak of how all these things in the Word that we read about are shadows of the heavenly things. The Shabbat Day, the Sabbath Day is a reality, but it’s also a shadow of things to come. It’s a shadow of our rest in Christ. It’s a shadow of the seventh millennial day. It’s a shadow of the eternal realm of rest.

But it is a reality also. In fact, some people could say, “Well, I’m walking in the revelation of Shabbat. I walk in the rest of Christ,” and yes, that’s what we all need to learn to do, whether we’re Sabbath-keeper or Sunday-keeper. We all need to learn what it means to live in His rest, because that’s what Sabbath is.

But it doesn’t negate the day. The day is a day, a day that God has given, a day to rest. It has to be a day, because if we rested every day, we would be lazy! Because we wouldn’t be working. “Six days shalt thou work.” It is a rest in Christ but it is also a day.  

I know that there are all you beloved, precious ladies. Some are Sabbath-keeping, some are Sunday-keeping. Oh, how I love you all! And I have so many friends who are Sabbath-keeping, who are beautiful, godly women. And I have so many Sunday-keepers who are also my friends, and who are also wonderful, godly women. So, what we’re going to do is just forget about which day we are keeping and talk about what we do on that day.

I think this is important, as families, to talk about, because it’s a family thing. What do we do on Saturday or Sunday as a family? Of course, we, as mothers, are the HEART of the family. So, really, it gets down to us. What are our convictions for this day? Because that will really determine what we do on that day.

I will concede that our beautiful Sabbath-keeping mothers keep the Sabbath more diligently, more seriously, more holily, and more unto the Lord, than often Sunday-keepers. Somehow, Sunday-keepers, and although I love the Sabbath (we have Shabbat in our home, my husband spends the day in the Word on the Sabbath, we don’t do our Above Rubies on the Sabbath, but we have our worship day on Sunday).

SET APART UNTO THE LORD

But I find that so many Sunday-keepers don’t keep their day so seriously. Oh, they used to. I was brought up in a family of Sunday-keepers, but we kept that Sunday just like Sabbath-keepers keep the Sabbath, according to the Word. We kept it as a day of rest. We kept it as a day set apart unto the Lord. It was a different day than all the rest of the week. It was totally unto the Lord! I believe that’s how we must keep our day, whichever day we keep.

I just wanted to talk about a few little things. In fact, I was looking up the other day and found a study that I had done years and years ago about all the different things God talks about for His day of rest. I found 35 different things that God speaks about for this day of rest that He has given. I’m not going to give all of those to you. I just want to talk about a few little things, but firstly, as I mentioned, it is a day of REST.

Exodus 35:2: “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of rest” and many other Scriptures of how it is a day of rest.

I love this Scripture in Exodus 23:12. Let me take you to it. As we read this, I want us to read any of these Scriptures, taking them to us personally, whether we worship on the Saturday, or the Sunday, because we do need to have a day. God want us to have a day that is set apart unto Him.

THE REFRESHING

Exodus 23:12: “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.” Isn’t that beautiful? God didn’t give us a day, “OK, there’s a day you’ve got to give to Me.” No, it wasn’t given like that. He gave us a day to rest and to be refreshed.

Say that word: “refreshed.” Oh, don’t we all need refreshing? God is so good, isn’t He? He gives us day and night. He gives us the night to go to sleep and be refreshed. So many of you lovely mothers, especially with little ones all around you, you come to the end of the day, and you’re so tired! Oh, sometimes you feel totally worn out. You can hardly keep your eyes open. And you just go to bed—and you wake up refreshed.

Oh, maybe the baby woke in the night. Well, if you’re nursing your baby and bring him or her to bed, you’ll find that will be much easier. You’ll go back to sleep and you’ll both sleep. You will still wake up refreshed.

Then He gives us a day to be refreshed. Oh, I think that’s so wonderful.

I love the Knox Translation, an old, old translation. He says: “Six days shalt do thy tasks thou hast to do. On the seventh day, leave off working. So shall ox and ass have rest, and home-born slave and alien that works for thee, revive their spirits.” There’s another translation. To have our spirits revived.

That’s why, before the Shabbat Day, the Sabbath Day, God instituted another day. Did you know what it was? Yes, there’s another day mentioned in the Bible. It starts with “P.” Can you think of it? Yes, it’s called “The Preparation Day.” In some versions of the Bible, it actually gives it a capital “P,” “Preparation Day.”

That was the day before the Sabbath where they had to get everything ready. Clean the house, cook the food for the next day, and do everything to get ready for it, so that on the rest day, they could rest. It is impossible to rest, have a day of rest, unless you have a preparation day.

In our home, usually, we have Friday. I seek to try and do the Preparation Day so that we clean the house, and we get things ready for the next day so we can rest. If you’ve done it all, then you don’t have to do it, and have another day of work. That’s what God wants you to do.

I believe, ladies, I am such a believer in meeting with the people of God. Oh, that is part of our day of rest, of course, whether you keep the Sabbath (of course, you’ll be meeting together with the saints). If you keep the Sunday, you’ll be meeting together with the saints. I do believe we should make this a commitment.

Another thing we do find about the Sabbath Day is that it’s not only a day of rest, but it is a DAY of rest. Did you get that? It’s not only a day of rest, to be refreshed, but it is a day of rest. God didn’t say, “I give you an hour of rest on the Sabbath.” Or if you’re choosing to have the Sunday. No, He didn’t say, “I’ll give you an hour,” or “I want you to take two hours of rest and refreshing.” No, He said, “It’s a day. A DAY!” Did you get that, ladies? A day. A day.

Most Sabbath-keepers keep the day.

Sunday-keepers, are you keeping the day? Am I keeping a day? Well, that’s a challenge to me, because I remember, growing up, where it was easy to keep a day.

Do you notice, ladies, for those of you who are younger, you won’t be able to believe this, but I grew up, and not only did we, as God-fearing people, keep the day, but do you know what? Even the secular people kept the day, because no shops were open on Sunday. The whole place shut down just like in Israel. The whole place shuts down on Saturday, on Sabbath. You won’t be able to buy one thing on Sabbath.

Well, there was a time when, in our country of New Zealand, it was the same in our western countries, and here in USA, where you could not buy anything on Sunday. You could not do anything. There were no sports. There was no entertainment. It was a day set apart unto God.

We grew up like that. We would go to church in the morning. We would come home and have our Sunday dinner together. Then we would, us children, we would walk back to our church and have Sunday school for the children. Oh, we didn’t have it in the main service. We didn’t have all the families separated, and children going to this class and that class. No, we worshipped together as families. That was the norm back then.

But we would have our special children’s Sunday school class in the afternoon. Then we would walk home. We would just hang around home. We could read and play, but we didn’t go out. Then Sunday night we would come back for service again. It was a day set apart for the Lord.

But things have changed. Wow, how they have changed! Now we live in a nation, every country in the world, every shop is open on Sunday, although I think it’s still, what is that fast food that doesn’t open on Sunday? Chik-Fil-A! Hallelujah! Goodness, there’s one company that’s still sticking to God’s one day! And they’re not even going for an hour. “Ooh, we could go for an hour and just get people all coming home from church.” No, they stick to their day.

Now, ladies, not only should we stick to a day, but do we stick to meeting with the people of God? I cannot believe how many people I know who are really not fellowshipping with other saints. They think they can live unto themselves. No, we can’t. No. God wants us to meet together.

NEVER FORSAKE ASSEMBLLING YOURSELVES WITH OTHER SAINTS

What does He say in Hebrews 10:25? “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” The assembling of yourselves. That doesn’t say, “Oh, you could stay at home and worship, or you could just listen to the preacher on TV or on Zoom.” Oh yes, now, you might just get blessed by the message. But that is not the assembling of yourselves! And that’s what God told us not to forsake, “the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Look at Romans 1:12. Paul is writing to the new Roman Christians, and he says to them in verse 11, “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

Do you get the picture there? He’s explaining, describing our faith. It is not a singular faith. It is a plural faith, a mutual faith. Look at these words. “Together.” “Together.” It’s not isolation. It is together. And then he says: “our mutual faith.” The word in the Greek there is translated everywhere else in the New Testament “one another.” It’s a one-another faith.

I wonder if you’ve purchased yet my 100 Days of Blessing, No. 4. In this particular volume, I talk about our one-anothering faith for our families and even in our church lifestyle. I found 41 different one-anothers that God wants us to do to one another. They’re all listed in that book, The 100 Days of Blessing, Volume 4 It’s a one-anothering faith.

And then he says “both of you and me.” My faith is not just me. It’s you and me. You and me. We can’t do without one another. Now, I’m talking to you over a podcast, and I trust you are being blessed. But you need more than this. You need the assembling together of the saints, because this is where we one-another each other. We pray for one another, and love one another, and show hospitality to one another, and be kind to one another, and minister to one another, and bless one another. We’ve got to see one another to do these things.

I do believe, lovely ladies, that we must be committed to the gathering of the saints, and not just when we feel like it. There are too many people who do it when they feel like it. No, we are committed, because we are training our children in this most powerful, God-given, biblical habit. Even as Jesus Himself. It tells us, let me see. I’ll give you the reference. In Luke 4:16, it says: “And as His custom was, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” It was His custom, His habit.

Then we read about Paul in Acts 17:2, as he went to this particular place, “as was his custom.” He went into the synagogue, and he preached in the synagogue for three Saturdays (Sabbaths) in a row while he was there, because it was his custom to do it. It should be our custom, our habit.

We don’t, when there’s something, “Oh, wow! I heard about that festival down in the city. My, it would be so good to go to that! But it’s on Sunday. Oh well, we can miss church for the day. We’ll go to that.” I beg your pardon? I beg your pardon? Do you mean to say some bit of a festival is more important than your commitment to God? Your commitment to His people?

Oh, I’ve heard of people who say, “It’s a beautiful sunny day. Oh, let’s go to the zoo today!” And they go to the zoo! And they forget about church! Truly, where is our commitment? Where is God in our lives? I don’t believe there is anything, any entertainment, or any. . . “

Oh, visitors arrived! Oh, help! Oh well, we’ll stay home and entertain.” No! If the visitors arrive when you’re going to church, take them along with you! We don’t have any excuse ever! Because we’re a committed people.

And what are we teaching our children? Oh, any little excuse comes up. “Lovely day. Some entertainment. Just people, whatever. Or just can’t be bothered.” And we don’t go. And our children learn, what do they learn? “Oh, well, God is secondary in our lives. If it fits in, my parents can take us to church, but whatever works out.” No, we are training them in habit, in commitment, just as Jesus did, as it was His custom.

Oh, precious ladies, let’s get back to God’s heart. Let’s be those who are people who are truly committed to Him and His people, to understand that our faith is going to grow stronger when we meet with others, because it’s a mutual faith, a together faith, a one-anothering faith.

Well, maybe we’ll talk some more next podcast. Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much again. How we love Your Word! It always keeps us on our toes. Lord, we pray that You will save us from being lukewarm. Oh, God, Lord, You said You’ll spew us out of Your mouth if we are lukewarm. Oh, God, help us to be those who are totally committed to You, committed to Your people, Lord God. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

100 DAYS OF BLESING, Volumes 3 and 4

These books will bless you and give you meat for your mothering soul. You have the most powerful career in the nation as you teach and train the new generation. You determine the destiny of this nation. But it is not an easy task. I know you often feel overwhelmed and worn out. That’s why I make these devotions available to you—

So you can get fuel for your soul.

So you can be strengthened each new day.

So you can receive fresh vision and inspiration.

You will be blessed as each devotion brings Word revelation to you each day.  There is a prayer and affirmation (which relates to the devotion) at the end of each devotion. 

You can purchase these books separately, or DISCOUNT PRICE FOR BUYING

THE TWO TOGETHER! ONLY $25.00!

These books are a beautiful gift to yourself and for others.

Go to: https://tinyurl.com/100DaysBlessingV4

MARCH 10 – 12, WASHINGTON

LADIES RETREAT at Black Lake Bible Camp, Olympia

Contact Heather Bryant

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April 19 – 26 THE POPULAR ANNUAL RETREAT

Above Rubies Gulf Coast Spring Family Retreat 2023

Registration fee: $200 (non-refundable)

Meals $60/person ages 3+

Housing is assigned through Gulf Coast Above Rubies Organizers, but payment for your housing will go directly to Laguna. 

This is our biggest retreat serving over 100 families during our week of fellowship, sessions with Nancy and Colin Campbell, breakout sessions with gifted speakers and teachers, family activities, and incredible worship! Come as a friend but leave as family! If you aren’t already registered, sign up now! We still have room!

If you have any questions about this family retreat, please email us at .">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Registration link:

https://forms.gle/iERkREjdmgkA6D1V7

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 240: The Shabbat Meal

I have received a number of requests recently asking how we do the Shabbat meal. This podcast tells you what we do in our home. Be blessed and inspired.

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

Nancy Campbell: Well, my husband and I have just come back from Florida, from the Above Rubies Family Retreat, the first winter family retreat that we have had. We have an April retreat every year in Florida, but it has got so big that we wondered what to do! We can’t fit any more people in. So, Allison and Daniel, who organize these retreats, decided to have a winter one in January so that they could give some of the families an option of coming to this one.

Well, it wasn’t as big. It was a smaller retreat, but it was so wonderful. It was so great that I think it will now become a tradition every year. It was so great for people. Some came from Canada, some from way up north of USA. They could get away from the cold and the snow and get down to Florida where it was kind of warm. The water’s still very cold, although I did brave myself and went in with some of the young people one day. It was pretty cold, but once you got in, you could survive. I then went back a couple more times and was very invigorated by that.

We had a meeting every morning with the folks, and in the evening. In the afternoon, they had lots of wonderful things for the people to do. Of course, the favorite is going to the beach, but they had a volleyball competition, which was very, very competitive. They have such good players. Games on the beach, tugs of war and everything. It was so great!

On the Friday night, we had a Shabbat meal for all the campers. In fact, there were so many children and young people. They outdid the numbers of all the adults there, because the parents brought many big families. It was so wonderful.

On the last night, there were two single moms there. They so graciously volunteered to put on a beautiful meal for all the couples, which they did. It was so delightful. Such a beautiful meal! Such a wonderful evening. Then my husband spoke about marriage. Oh, it was such a great retreat!

But at that retreat, as I said, we did a Shabbat meal. I’ve begun to get people emailing in, and messaging in, saying, “Look, couldn’t you share more about the Shabbat meal?” Then, we came home Wednesday. Friday night was Shabbat. Friday night we sat around our table with nine beautiful girls gracing our table. Six of our granddaughters and three lovely Above Rubies helpers, two who are here, and one was visiting. What a beautiful thing, to have all these glorious girls around our table!

I posted a picture on my Instagram and had more people saying, “Would you mind talking about it on your podcast?” I thought, “Well, I may as well.” So here I am doing it. Now, I hope those who have asked me are actually listening! But we have been celebrating the Shabbat meal for over thirty years, because we started it when we were in Australia. We’ve been in the States for 33 years, so it’s been a long time.

What is the Shabbat meal? Shabbat is just the Hebrew word for “Sabbath.” It’s a Sabbath meal, and it’s a Jewish meal. We do not do it because we are Jewish, because we are not Jewish. We do it because it is a very family-oriented meal.

I first heard about it when we were living in Australia. A wonderful man of God had been ministering in Israel and living there for some time. He came back, and at this meeting, he said, “There’s something very special I would love to bring back to you all, the most beautiful thing that I experienced in Israel.” And he said, “It is the Shabbat meal. It’s a Jewish meal, but I want to bless you Christian families with doing this meal.” He shared about it and how to go about it.

Of course, being one who wants to hang on to anything that will strengthen families, I caught ahold of it. I thought, “Wow, if this is going to bless our family,” and at that time, our children were still around us, “I’m going to do it!” So, I began to do it, and I’ll tell you what we do. We take the basic foundation of a Jewish Shabbat meal, but we adapt it to how it fits in with our family. We make it very personal.

Another reason we do it is that it is a meal that has blessed Jewish families over centuries. We are so blessed by the Jewish people. The Bible says that “In Abraham all the families of the world would be blessed.” It's from the Jews that we have our Savior. Jesus Himself was a Jew. He was born into Jewry. He was a Jew. It’s the people of God, the Israeli people of God, who brought forth our Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing!

It is through the Jewish people that we have the Bible. What would we do without this precious living Word, this Word which is alive and active, and speaks to our souls and our spirits every day? Every word was divinely inspired but each book was written by a Jew. There are some people who would say, “Oh, but there was Luke. He was a gentile.”

But if you do a little bit of study, you will find that that is actually tradition. You will find that, really, they don’t have any Scriptural reference for that. Although there’s no Scripture saying that Luke was a Jew, we get to realize he obviously was. In fact, one time, when Paul came to Jerusalem and there was a riot because they said he brought Trophimus into the temple, because he was a gentile; he was from Ephesus, an Ephesian. There was a big riot about that, but Luke was traveling with Paul all the time. There was never mention of a riot with Luke. It is obvious he was a Jew also.

The whole Bible was brought to us by the Jewish people. What blessings they have brought to the world!

They’ve also brought the blessing of this meal, which although it was originally a Jewish meal, you can take it into your family, and do it as you would love. Make it part of your family life. It has so blessed us. We would never miss doing it unless we are away. We always do it.

How do we go about it? Well, when I have our Shabbat meal, I want to make it different from every other night of the week. Every night of the week, I love to make the table special. I don’t want to make any meal just some boring thing; just throw some food on the table. No, I want every meal to be special.

In fact, I may have shared this with you before, but years ago, when I was watching that movie, “Babette’s Feast,” there was a line that I picked up from that movie. This man was speaking. He was speaking about a woman who was a famous chef in Paris. He had been to her restaurant. But now he was away from Paris, away, way out in some sort of land, way up in the snow. Here he was, amongst this little wee group of people. But the food he was eating reminded him of this amazing restaurant. Actually, it was the same woman, and she was behind the scenes, cooking it, but nobody knew who she was. It’s a movie worth watching.

But he got up, and he was giving a speech. He said, “There was a woman who knew how to make every meal into a love affair.” Wow! I heard those lines. I have never forgotten them to this day. They are part of me. It’s what I want to do. I want to make every meal into a love affair.

You can take up that phrase too. It will change your whole life.

Every meal, don’t think, “Goodness, got to cook another meal!” No, never think like that, ever! Think, “How exciting! I have the opportunity to make another love affair for my family!” You’re thinking of how you can make it special and even how you can make the table inviting.

I always love to use a tablecloth. I think you know that about me by now. Sometimes I have folks who will be here, and they say, “Oh, can I set the table for you?” I say, “Yes.” Then they’ll go get the knives and forks and begin to put them down on my table. I’ll say, “Oops! Just a minute! We don’t eat on a naked table. We like to use a tablecloth.”

So many people today just use a naked table! Well, my table is naked during the day, except I do have a runner and a vase of flowers upon it. But in the evening, I don’t want to put down food on a naked table. I want to put a tablecloth. I love tablecloths. I love all different colors and designs, so I can change them.

Some of you are in the throes of little ones all around you, and you can’t bear the thought of a tablecloth! “Oh, goodness me, with children dropping stuff on it, and you’ve got to wash it every day!” You just couldn’t even imagine it. But you can still do it, because you can buy a beautiful tablecloth. You can put clear plastic over it which just has to be wiped down. You’ve got to wipe your table, whatever. Even if you have a naked table, you’ve got to wipe it down.

Or you can got to Joann’s or somewhere like that. These days you can go look for all these rolls of plastic of the most beautiful designs, even lace. Oh! They’re all so glorious you don’t know which one to choose. You just cut it off the length for your table. There, you’ve got a beautiful tablecloth. You don’t have to wash it. You just wipe it down after the meal. You do that every night.

So, what am I going to do on Shabbat? Well, I always keep Shabbat, mostly . . .  Sometimes I have a change, but mostly I will use a white tablecloth, and white dishes, and everything white, because the Jewish people think of the Shabbat meal as the bride, just entering into the Sabbath day. So, I love to use white.

If you have best china, you can get out your best china. I don’t really have best china, so I get out some nice china. Or I will use white plates to match my white tablecloth. I set it nicely.

THE MOTHER LIGHTS THE CANDLES

Then we begin the meal with my lighting the candles. They usually have two candles which I will light. That is traditional for Shabbat. There are some people who say, “One candle means “observe,” and the others say, “remember” because the Scripture does use both those words. It says we are to “observe” the Sabbath day and we are to “remember” the Sabbath day. Some say the two candles represent “creation” and “redemption.” I love that.

In fact, this is what I usually do when I light the candles. I will start off with the normal Jewish prayer, “Blessed art Thou, Oh Lord God, King of the universe, who hath given us the privilege to light the Shabbat candles.”  

Then I will pray my own prayer: “And, Lord, we thank You so much, that You are the Creator of light. You brought light into the world. Oh, we thank You for Jesus, who is the Light of the world, and we thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have brought light into our hearts.

“Oh, Lord, we ask that You will fill each one of us around this table with Your Light. We don’t want to be little lights. We want to be big lights, shining in this world, shining in the darkness, pushing back the darkness and deception of this world. And we ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

You can pray whatever you like. Just something like that. I usually pray something about the Light of God filling in our hearts and that we will be filled more and more with His Light to shine in this world. And also, the light of the revelation of His truth. We do that. And it is the privilege of the mother of the home to light the candles, because she has the responsibility to keep the Light of God burning in her home.

Sometimes I will also give everyone a little votive candle around the table, so everyone has a little light at their table place which they can all light after I have lit the candles. Children love that. They just love to have their own lights. If I have a little candle in glass, they can then hold it. We will hold our candles up, and we’ll all sing together, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” We are really getting them all to realize that we are lights in this world, shining for the Lord Jesus. You can also do that, and the children will love that.

FATHER READS PROVERBS 31:10-31

The next thing that happens is that the father of the home reads Proverbs 31 because Proverbs 31 is a blessing to the wife. The ultimate goal of this meal is to bless the wife and mother in the home. Isn’t that a good idea to have in your home? Wouldn’t you love to be blessed every week by your husband and your family? Well, that’s worth having.

That’s one of the biggest goals of this meal. Of course, that is something that does keep families together. When the children can see their father honor and bless their mother, that is something that is so wonderful for the children. He reads Proverbs 31, all about the virtuous woman. My husband reads from King James Version, but he actually has his own translation with all his little comments that he brings in.

THE CHILDREN STAND UP AND BLESS THEIR MOTHER

Then we get to Proverbs 31:28, where it says” “And her children arise up and call her blessed.” At that moment in the meal, he stops reading. He says, “OK, children, all the children stand up!”

Now, because all our children are grown, we often don’t have our children around our table. Every Shabbat, Colin and I never have it on our own. We have never had it on our own in our whole lives! We will always ask people. Sometimes we will ask some of our grandchildren. Usually, I’ll ask the granddaughters. And then another night I might have the grandsons. Or I might have some of the couples, or some of our immediate couples—our children and their spouses. Or then some of the grandchildren couples. I don’t have the whole family because our family is now so big, I would have to have this huge sit-down meal for over 100 people! That would just be too big every Friday night.

So, I just choose to ask different ones, or we’ll have visitors. We love having visitors! Friends, and even people we’ve just met, and people that we would love to introduce the Shabbat meal to them.

Now, if we have a family around the table, or if we have granddaughters, Colin will usually say, “OK, all the children stand up! Now, I want you to look at your mother in the eye, and say one little thing to her, like “I love you, Mom.” Or ‘Thank you for caring for me.” “Thank you for all you do for me.” So, each child will say just a little thing to their mother. Then they sit down. Oh, what a beautiful thing it is as Mother feels the appreciation of her children around her. It’s such a beautiful thing.

THE HUSBAND PRAISES AND BLESSES HIS WIFE

 Then it goes on, at the end of the chapter, to talk about how the husband praises her too! That’s what it’s all about. He’s been praising her the whole chapter. In verse 28 the “children arise up and call her blessed.” Then her husband also. And he praises her. What does he say? “Many daughters have done excellently, but thou EXCELLEST them all.” When he finishes the next two verses, he’ll stop. The husband will then begin to honor his wife, and say all the good things he can think of about her, to her. Of course, we, as wives, get so blessed.

This last Friday night, Colin decided to read another translation, just for a little change. I got the Knox Translation which is an old translation. It says here, in this translation, “Her husband is loud in her praise.” Then what does he say? “Unrivaled art thou among all the women that have ENRICHE DTHEIR HOMES.”

I love that, because that was praising all the women who love to enrich their homes. I thought, “What a lovely phrase. ‘Enriching their homes.’” Dear wives, dear mothers, this is a wonderful vision that we can have in our home. This is what we’re to do, TO ENRICH OUR HOMES.

Every day is a new day to enrich—to enrich our husband by what we do for him, what we say to him. To enrich our children, encourage them, to enrich them by encouraging them and affirming them, and building them up, and of course, training them. And disciplining them, and preparing them for life.

Your home, everything you do, you really haven’t got time to have another career. A mother in the home does not have time for another career if she really, truly has the vision to enrich her home. Now, this Scripture was talking about all the women who love to enrich their homes. But then he says, “You, oh, you have, you’ve just outdone them all. You are unrivaled.” That was another beautiful thought.

Then my husband will begin to speak to me, and say all the things that he loves about me. Remember, ladies, we have been doing Shabbat for, I can’t remember (33 years we’ve been in the States, and we started in Australia, so it’s many, many years). I keep saying to my husband, “Darling, you can’t say the same things every Friday night. That is just too boring.” So, he has to try to think of something new every week! Wow, that’s a challenge for him, isn’t it?

Now, traditionally, the Jewish people will often just give the blessing. It’s a traditional blessing. “May you be like Leah and like Rachel,” and some of the beautiful women in the Bible. They bless their wives that way. But we do it very personally in our home. Colin speaks personally into my life. That is such a blessing.

When we have other couples or families around our table, Colin will say to the husband, “Now it’s your turn.” Wow! Sometimes the man is, wow! He’s never done this before! He’s never done this in front of his family. He’s never done this to his wife before! Maybe personally, on their own, but never in this setting. It’s quite amazing.

You see the wife. Wow. She’s looking up at her husband with BATED breath. What will he say? Her eyes are big. She’s just waiting for this encouragement, these words that she wants him to say. Oh, it is so amazing, how many times we see . . .  the husband will begin to speak and maybe say things he’s never said before and the wife will begin to cry. Tears are just rolling down her face. It is the most incredible thing.

THE SHABBAT MEAL IS A MARRIAGE AND FAMILY STRENGTHENER

You know, the Shabbat meal is such a marriage strengthener, such a family strengthener. You can't have a marriage that is falling apart when every week your husband is speaking beautiful words into your life. It is so powerful. What are you going to do? You’ve had a quarrel during the week. Well, today you’d better get it right before Shabbat! Because you’ve got to speak into one another’s lives.

THE WIFE BLESSES HER HUSBAND

Then I will usually reply. I’ll read Psalm 112, which is about how the Lord blesses the man who fears the Lord, and so on. Then I speak into Colin’s life. Then, if there are other wives around the table, they will do the same thing. It is so wonderfully powerful. And not only for the husband and wife, but also for the children who are listening. They are hearing their father honor his wife. That is a powerful thing for children. It is very powerful.

Also, they know their turn is coming. Usually, OK, when you have little children, or even getting bigger children and they come to the table, if the food’s not there, they can’t start eating at once, they’re going to be groaning and grizzly, “Where’s the food? I’m hungry!”

But something happens on Shabbat. Somehow, this peace comes over them and they’re not screaming and yelling and grumbling and crying. There’s something about listening to what their dad is saying. Then they know their turn is coming. “What is Daddy going to say to me tonight?” Then, of course, he begins to bless the children.

FATHER BLESSES AND ENCOURAGES HIS CHILDREN

It can be done two ways. Usually, traditionally, in the Jewish family, the father will go and put his hand on each child and bless them, and give them a blessing. Or they will come to him, and he will bless them. That is beautiful and powerful.

Once again, we do it more personally in our home. Colin will speak into each individual life. He will speak into them, affirming the good things that he sees in their lives, what he sees about them, or what he’s been noticing. It’s very personal. I think that this is so wonderful for the children. They’re ready to wait for that. They love it. It is life-changing for them.

This is such a beautiful time. Although we still haven’t eaten yet, everybody is always so happy because it’s such a wonderful thing. Then there is another thing. We don’t always do this. We only do it every now and then. You don’t have to do it, but it is traditional to have the hand washing, where the mother has a bowl of water and a towel. She can go round each person, or just pass it around. Each one will dip their hands in the water and then wipe them.

It’s symbolic of our purifying ourselves, and having clean hands, and a pure heart. If anyone has anything or any quarrel or anything against one another, it is a beautiful time for them to say “Sorry.” This is a very special part of Shabbat that many families do make a priority because that way everyone in the family can be in the right spirit with one another. If they’re not, well, it’s time to say “Sorry.” If we’re doing that, we will usually sing that song, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God.”

THE BLESSING OF THE BREAD AND WINE

Then the next thing that happens is the blessing of the wine and the bread. We have the wine first. We usually have grape juice because we usually have lots of children around our table. In Israel they have wine, even for the children. But here we do grape juice. You can do whichever you prefer.

We pass around the wine, the grape juice. Then, in our home, Colin gets everybody to hold it up. We hold up our glass, and we all say together, “Blessed art Thou, oh Lord God, King of the universe, Who bringeth forth the fruit of the vine.” Then he will pray and thank the Lord for shedding His precious blood and so on. It becomes a time of communion in our home, another time to remember how Jesus gave His life, how He poured out His blood for us.

We do that, and then we have the bread. The bread on Shabbat is called the challah. It is a bread that is braided. Actually, I have to confess that often, sometimes, I just don’t get time to make my bread on that day. I make all our bread, and I make sourdough bread. It is, perhaps, a little denser than the normal bread. I make it with spelt and rye. It’s a very, very healthy bread, which I love.

But sometimes on Shabbat, I will forget to make challah. Challah is usually a bread that you use eggs, and it’s sweeter, and you braid it. It’s traditionally braided in three, or you can braid it in four. You can braid it in six, as long as it comes from a little lump of dough that makes into 12, to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. But you don’t have to worry about all that.

If you don’t have time to make challah, or even braid it, well, this is what I do. I always have in my freezer already, some raised round loaves, or sometimes oval loaves, that I have there, ready for Shabbat. So, if I have not had time, I get them out. They are ready.

You don’t have to think, “Oh, we can’t have Shabbat tonight, because I haven’t made the challah when I haven’t had time!” No, we can still do it. I will still use those loaves, but I will always heat them up. We always love to have hot bread. It’s beautiful.

When I set the table, of course we’re putting the grape juice on the table and the butter. And, of course, we always use butter knives. Well, I know, a lot of American families don’t even know what they are! But we grew up with butter knives.

You were never, ever, ever allowed to take butter off the butter plate with your own knife! That would be disgusting because who wants to have somebody who’s licked their knife? I hope nobody ever licks their knife, but sometimes I’ve seen people doing it! And then they put it in the butter! Then who want to touch the butter? So, we have butter knives. They’re just little wee knives, especially for that. That’s all ready to have it with our bread, our lovely hot bread. Hopefully challah, but if I haven’t had time to make it, well, it’s just bread I have in the freezer.

TWO CHALLAH LOAVES

But something special about it is that we always have two loaves. Two loaves remind us of the sixth day, because now we’re going into the seventh day, which is the day of rest, Sabbath, or Shabbat. But on the sixth day, you’ll remember that in the wilderness God sent a double portion of manna. The Lord sent to them in the wilderness, He sent manna every day. It was miraculous food! It was called “angel’s food.” It was miraculous! It just arrived there every day for them!

And they could cook it, and bake it, and do all kinds of things with it. They could make up loads of recipes. I’m sure if Serene had lived back then in the time of manna, she would have made a recipe book for recipes of manna, because she always does that. When she went on her extreme thing of seven years when she went raw, some of you may remember when she made this incredible recipe book of raw recipes, although eventually she realized that it was something that you shouldn’t do for a lifetime.

Raw is for times when people are maybe, in some way, very, very ill, with cancer or something. Going on juicing and raw food can really help them. But it’s not a lifestyle. She had to come to realize that, of course. But while she was doing that, oh did she ever imagine and dream up the most glorious recipes that you could ever think about! They were so amazing. In fact, one time, while she was on that roll, she put on this great evening. It was a feast, and it was for over 100 people, and every recipe was raw. Every recipe was so delectable!

But anyway, I’m getting off my subject! Yes, we have the two loaves because it’s a double portion. Because on the seventh day they went out to get their food for the seventh day, and there wasn’t any. They would starve. So, they had to have the double portion.

It is traditional for people to make enough, not only enough bread, but enough food for the next day so they don’t have to work and cook and do everything on the Sabbath day. It’s the day of rest.

We have the two loaves. I cover them with a little cloth, because that represents to the dew, the way manna came.

Then my husband will hold up the two loaves, and we’ll say the blessing together with him, “Blessed art Thou, oh Lord God, King of the universe, Who bringeth forth bread from the earth.” Then he will pray and thank the Lord for His body which was broken for us all. Then we will take the bread.

We don’t take it like a little, in communion, a little wee piece. We will say to everybody, “OK, just break off a hunk! Take as much as you want!” They will have it with butter and be enjoying this, because yes, it is communion, but it is more than that. Today we have communion in our churches which has become just a little token. But back there in early church, they were love feasts where they had the bread and the wine. They feasted, but it was all part of the meal.

NOW WE CAN EAT!

This now becomes part of the meal. They’re eating their bread and waiting for me to go and get all the food and bring it to the table. Now, at last, we’re ready to eat! But it is amazing. It took me a while to tell you all that, but it doesn’t have to take too long. Then we enjoy the meal together.

So, lovely ladies, that’s just a little bit about the Shabbat meal. You can also go to my webpage and look up “Shabbat meal” if you want to read up about it again. Another thing about it is that, and it’s so amazing, the Bible is so incredible. The day before Shabbat, I wonder if anybody knows what that is called? It has a name, too. Yes, and it has a capital.

In the King James Bible, it calls it the “preparation day” and in some translations it has a capital “P.” You actually can’t have a rest day without a preparation day, because if you don’t, you’ll be still working the next day. So, usually in my home, Friday is Preparation Day. We clean house from top to bottom. We prepare the meal, and we get everything beautiful, so the next day we can relax. We don’t have to do all the things that we do every other day of the week. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?

So, ladies, I’m sure you will love it. You may like to start bringing it into your family. You’ll be blessed. Your children will be blessed. As you get to enjoy it, you can ask others in to sit at your table to be blessed, too. OK?

“Dear Father, we thank You so much for all these beautiful ways that we can strengthen and build our families. Thank You for this beautiful meal which has come down the generations of Jewish people that we can also take hold of it, just as we have taken hold of salvation, just as we take hold every day of the Word, which has all come down through the Jewish people. We thank You for them, Father. We thank You for Your blessings.

“I pray for every mother and wife and family listening today that You will bless them, that You will inspire them, that, Lord, this goal of enriching their home will be upon them. And that they won’t be hankering after all the other things around, Lord, that are really so vain and shallow that are not building for eternity. But, Lord, everything we do to enrich our home, that is building for eternity. I pray that You will bless them with this vision. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

REJUVENATE YOUR LIFE – RECIPES FOR ENERGY

By Serene Allison

Serene no longer eats totally raw, but TRIM HEALTHY MAMA. However, her recipes in this book are so delectable that I know you’d love to try them.

15 CHAPTERS OF RECIPES as well as other chapters. It’s worth it for the DREAMY DESSERTS and LITTLE TREATS and so many other interesting, easy, and mouthwatering recipes.

If you’d like to check them out, go to:

Rejuvenate Your Life Recipes for Energy by Serene Allison (mybigcommerce.com)