LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 171 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 6

God also loves to fill us with good food. We talk about the table in this session. Do you know where tables originate? You'll be surprised to find out. We also talk about how God wants us to sit at our tables rather than eat food "on the run."

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, LIFE TO THE FULL, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Back together again! We’re still on the same series, “LIFE TO THE FULL, Part Six.” This is podcast #171. I finished last time saying that God wants us to be filled with His glory.  I want to give you the correct reference. It’s 1 Peter 1:8: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and FULL OF GLORY.”

A few more Scriptures for you about glory.

2 Thessalonians 2:14: “Whereunto He called you by our gospel to be OBRAINING OF THE GLORY of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Isn’t it amazing? We’re being called to obtain glory. Wow! We need to live in glory. We do live so sub-zero, don’t we, when God wants us to live in His glory.

When He comes into our lives, we invite Him to come in, He comes by His Spirit. When He comes, He comes in the fullness of His Spirit, and He is glory. He is the Lord of Glory; He dwells within us. So, not only are we to live in glory here, and of course, we’re going to live in the real glory, the glory that we cannot even fathom in the eternal world, but let’s not wait till then, dear ladies. God wants us to experience and live in His glory now. He wants us to be filled with it.

I’d love to take you to 2 Corinthians 3. This is the glory chapter of the Bible. Did you know that the word “glory” or “glorious” is used 14 times in this chapter? It’s the most times that “glory” is used in a chapter in the Bible. So, we’d better have a look at it, don’t you think?

Let me read just a few of the verses. You can take time to read them when you’re on your own, in your own personal reading of the Word.

 So, 2 Corinthians 3:7 (Passion Translation): “Even the ministry that was characterized by chiseled letters on stone tablets came with a dazzling measure of glory.” We know that, don’t we? When God gave the Ten Commandments up there on Mt. Sinai, wow, it came with great glory and great mighty thunderings. The power of God was so evident that all the children of Israel were totally in awe and fear. They were actually scared because of the glory of God upon that mount.

But it goes on to say: “Yet HOW MUCH MORE RADIANT is this new and glorious ministry of the Spirit that shines from us! For if the former ministry of condemnation was ushered in with a measure of glory, HOW MUCH MORE does the ministry that imparts righteousness FAR EXCEL IN GLORY.” This is the ministry that we now have: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

Let’s continue reading: “What once was glorious no longer holds any glory because of the INCREASINGLY GREATER GLORY that has replaced it. The fading ministry came with a portion of glory, but now we embrace the unfading ministry of a permanent impartation of glory.” Whoo! Amazing!

Verse 12: “So then, with this amazing hope living in us, we step out into freedom and boldness to speak truth.” Yes, because we are filled with glory. Every day we wake up, what do we do? We wake up with freedom, with boldness to speak and to shine. Yes, to shine forth.

And then, of course, I love verse 18: “We can all draw close to Him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who BRIGHTLY REFLECT THE GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS. We are being transfigured into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Oh, it’s so hard to take that all in, isn’t it? It’s amazing! Yes, verse 18 in the King James: “But we all,” I love the way it starts “We all.”  It’s not only me personally. Our faith is a mutual faith. We’re walking together. We’re walking this road to the eternal kingdom together. And we will be stronger as we do it together. We will shine more brightly as we do it together because we encourage one another. We spur one another on. We invigorate one another. We help one another. That's how God intends it to be.

So, He says: “We all,” all of us, “we all,” with open face, “with unveiled faces, behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into His image, FROM GLORY TO GLORY, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Yes, well, let’s have a look, shall we, at just one or two Scriptures here. I was reading to you from the Passion Translation but let me get back to my good old King James Bible here. We’re going to go to 2 Corinthians 3, the glory chapter.

2 Corinthians 3:9: “If the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness EXCEED IN GLORY.”

Now, the word “exceed” in the Greek is the word perisseuo. This word, dear ladies, if you listen to my podcasts, I’m often giving you this word. Why? Because we read it so many times in the New Testament. It’s one of the reasons why I changed the name of my podcast to LIFE TO THE FULL. Because this is a New Testament word that is part of our Christian walk. Here it’s saying that this glory that we have now, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our lives, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” it exceeds far, far beyond that glory that came with the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.

It exceeds, and this is the word, “exceed.” Let me give you a full understanding of that Greek word. It means “to super-abound, to be in excess, to excel, to abound, nothing to spare, over and above.” You see, it’s above the normal. It is not average, it’s not normal.

GOD DOES NOT INTEND US TO LIVE ORDINARY LIVES

 Dear, darling ladies, dear young people who are listening, little children who are listening, God does not intend us to live a normal life like everybody else around us. How can we live a normal life when Christ, the Lord of glory, dwells in us? It's a super-abounding life. It’s a life that exceeds the normal.

We’ve got to change our thinking, dear mothers. Our thinking is all wrong. Our thinking is sub-zero. Our thinking has been influenced by the enemy who does not know, he does not want us to know who we are in Christ! Yes, we are to live in glory.

Now, we go to verse 10: “For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that EXCELLETH.” Here’s another word. Let’s find out what this one is. The Greek word here is huperballo. And what does it mean? It means, “to throw beyond the usual mark, to surpass, exceeding.”

So, dear ladies, once again, different Greek words, but very similar meanings. It means “to go beyond the usual mark.” Once again, we can’t live ordinary lives. Are you living an ordinary life in your home? Dear mother, you don’t have to live an ordinary life. That’s sub-zero, ladies.

Jesus Christ dwells in you. When He comes into your life by His Spirit, He comes with all His fullness. He comes with His life, His joy, His peace, His patience, His longsuffering, His rest, His glory. It’s all in you! You, in your homes, changing diapers, just trying to survive all your little ones around you, trying to get through your day, cooking the meals, and managing your home, you can DO IT IN GLORY!

You can do it at sub-zero levels if you want to. Or you can do it in glory! Living the glory life. That’s what God intends you to do. You see, sometimes you’re, “Oh, goodness me, if only I could be out doing what I want to do, just fulfilling all my amazing gifts.”

Oh, it doesn’t depend on where you are, or what you’re doing. It depends on what you believe and how you are living. Because, no matter what your circumstances, you can live sub-zero. Even if your circumstances are just normal, and you’re just doing the daily grind of duty, you can still live the glory life!

Drudgery turns to delight. We can turn every mundane thing into miraculous glory when we realize what God has for us, His life, which He wants to live through us. So, dear ladies, can you come up to the glory living?

Yes, and what does it say, we were reading in the Passion Translation: “How much more radiant is this new and glorious ministry of the Spirit that shines from us?” Shines from us.

So, you wake up in the morning to shine to your husband. Yes, you’re not going to get up with your “poor me, oh, not another day,” and grouchy face. No! You’re going to shine with love to your husband.

You’re going to get up and face your children with joy. “Good morning, children! What a wonderful day we’ll have together!” Shine His glory. If you’re going out to the supermarket, going out somewhere, wherever you have to go, you’re going with a shining face, to reveal His glory.

MASKS HIDE THE GLORY OF GOD SO GOD’S PEOPLE DON’T WEAR THEM

That's why we don’t wear masks. We don’t cover the glory of God. That’s what this chapter is the “glory chapter.” At the beginning of the chapter, it says that we are His epistles, “known and read of all men.” We go out to reveal Jesus, to reveal His glory.

And how do people read us? They read us by our faces. The expression on our faces, whether we have got this sour, boring face, or whether we have a smile on our face and we’re shining with the glory of Jesus who dwells within us. So, we do not ever cover our face, because that comes from the pit of hell. Satan wants to cover faces because he wants to cover the glory of God. God created us with an open face to reveal His glory.

So, dear mothers, we want you to be filled with glory, right there, in your home. If you’re filled with glory in your home, then you’ll take that glory as you go out of your home. Amen? Can you say “Amen” with me?  Oh, I hope you will do that. Come on now, say, “Amen!” Yes.

AFFIRM TRUTH WITH YOUR MOUTH

We acknowledge it. We must always acknowledge the truth. It’s not just an affirmation in the head. We have to affirm it with our mouths.

That’s how we were saved. Romans 10:8-9: If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, “Thou shalt be saved. . . With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

That’s how we were saved which is how we continue our Christian walk. In every way, we believe, we read the Word of God, we see the truth, we affirm it. We can nod our heads, sort of nodding, “Yes, I believe that, that’s amazing.”

But we need to affirm it also verbally, “Thank You, Lord Jesus. Oh, thank You for Your truth. Thank You that You dwell within me. Thank You that You are the Lord of Glory, and You dwell in my life. Lord, I can hardly take it in, but I thank You. I thank You for this truth.

Oh, Lord God, I want to reveal Your glory to my family. I want to reveal Your glory as I go out into this world. Lord God, Oh Father, I thank You for Your truth. I thank You for Your glory that is in me. I thank You for all the glorious things that You have given to me—Your wisdom, Your righteousness, Your peace, Your holiness, Your patience, Your longsuffering.

Oh, Lord God, I thank You it is all in me, not because I have any of it in myself, but because it is Your life, and You dwell within me. So, I confess it, and I thank You. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Yes, so, you not only believe with your head, you affirm in your heart, but you affirm with your mouth. Amen?

No. 20. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH GOOD FOOD

All right. Let’s go on to the last one, number 20. This one, ladies, is a very, very practical one, because our God is a practical God. Not only does He want us to be filled with all the fruits of righteousness and all that He is, but He also. . . Do you know what? Yes, He also wants us to be filled with good food! Yes! Isn’t that amazing?

Oh, there are so many Scriptures about God wanting us to be filled with food because God is the One Who provides our food. He doesn’t want us to barely get along. He wants us to be filled with the good food that He has given to us.

Deuteronomy 11:14-15: “I will give you the rain of your land in his due season.” Talking about the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey. “That thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. . . That thou mayest EAT AND BE FULL.” Yes. God talks so much about food in His Word, and so much about eating, and so much about being filled. He wants us to be filled with spiritual blessings, and He wants us to be filled with the physical blessings of food.

Well, I have so much here. I won’t even have time to give it to you all in this podcast. But I did a study a while back, and I called it, “FOOD TWINS.” I found 24 different things that God associates with food in the Bible. The Bible gets down to the nitty-gritty of our lives. It talks about the very things that we face every day in our homes. So let me begin to give them to you. Let’s see how we go.

No. 1 FOOD AND THE TABLE

Food is associated with the table. Why? Because God wants us to eat our food at the table. Well, pretty obvious, but God talks about it in His Word, because He wants us to make sure this is where He loves us to eat. At the table.

We see a picture of this in Psalm 128:3. This whole Psalm is a family psalm. In verse three, it gives the picture of the wife in the home. “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, living in your home. Your children like olive plants, all around your table.” The picture that God paints of a family that’s blessed of the Lord is a picture of the father, and the mother, and the children, ALL AROUND THE TABLE. God loves tables! Did you know that?

Now, maybe you’ve just got an old rickety table in your home. Or maybe it’s a beautiful, amazing table. It doesn’t matter what kind of a table. God loves your table, because it’s not actually the table, it’s what happens at the table. The table is a gathering place. It’s where we gather our family together. It’s where we bring them around, so we can be together, and look at one another, face to face.

You see, the whole point of the table is to feed our family—body, soul, and spirit. We feed the whole man. It’s a place to fellowship, to eat food, yes, fill our hungry tummies. But to fellowship, and to feed the soul, then to feed the spirit. Before we leave the table, we will open the Word of God and feed from His food, His food that He gives us in His Word.

If we let our children leave the table before we give them spiritual food, they are leaving half-fed. So, we’re feeding the whole man. It’s face to face, table fellowship, looking at one another, interacting with one another, fellowshipping with one another.

I wonder if you know where tables originate. Do you know? Can I tell you?

Tables originate in Heaven!

Did you know that? God thought of tables before we ever, ever had them on earth. In fact, when Jesus was here on earth, talking with His disciples, He said to them: “I want you to come and sit with Me, and eat with Me at My table in My kingdom.” He said that to them more than once (Matthew 8:11 and Luke 22:30).

He talks about “My table in My kingdom.” You see, God had tables before we ever thought of them, because God loves the table that bring people to sit around, to sit around, and fellowship.

Now, a table can even mean a mat on the floor. In some passages of the Word of God, they met, and they sat around a mat with the food in the middle. It was the gathering around. That is the table.

Oh, I have so many Scriptures about it. In fact, dear ladies, in this little study on FOOD TWINS, I have so many Scriptures for every point. I won’t have time to give them to you all. But if you would really love them, you would love to look them up and really find out what God says about food, you can email me, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I will be so happy to send them to you.

Now, God not only wants us to draw our families to the table, but did you know that He wants us to actually SIT at the table. Of course, if you’re going to gather round, you do have to sit. But many times today we have to remind people to sit at the table.

We live in this fast-paced world, and so many people today, they eat on the run! In fact, I think the majority of people today eat on the run. They eat breakfast on the run. They eat lunch on the run. But God wants us to SIT. Yes, when you have breakfast, when you have lunch, when you have supper, He wants you to sit at the table.

There’s something about sitting. It’s a beautiful Hebrew word, yashab. It means “to sit, to remain, to enjoy, to be at home.” Even scientists have proved that you get so much more nutrients from your food when you sit, and take time to eat, and fellowship, and talk. Your food will do so much more for you than eating on the run. Sometimes you hardly know that you’ve even eaten.

Let me take you to 1 Samuel. We’ll see a few little examples. There are many examples in the Word of God about sitting at the table. Did you know about that? Yes, there are. We go to 1 Samuel 20.

This is the story of when David is now living in the palace with King Saul. The trouble is that King Saul is getting very jealous of David. Remember when the women would go out in the streets and say, “Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.” He was getting angry and jealous with David.

So, David and Jonathan, they were such best friends. One day they went out into the woods, and David said, “Look, what are we going to do about this? I mean, I can’t stay here. Any night he can just throw his javelin at me, he gets so mad and crazy.” So, they thought up a plan. And they said, “OK. I won’t go to supper tomorrow night, and we’ll see what happens.”

Jonathan said to David in 1 Samuel 20:18: “Tomorrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty.” Obviously, Saul had everyone, all his most important people, sitting at his table, and everyone had their particular seat.

So, when it came to the next night in 1 Samuel 20:24: “So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times.” That means that’s where he sat. They all sat in the same place, every time. “Even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.” Oh my. OK.

But Saul didn’t worry too much that first night, because he thought, “Oh, maybe something just happened to him.” But the next night, wow. David’s place was empty again. And then King Saul got really mad and realized that David had escaped. So, it was after that that David and Jonathan met again. David realized that “Yes, King Saul’s too angry. I’ve got to clear out of this place.”

But do you notice, just in this story, we see an example of how they sat. And they all sat at their same place every night. Actually, I think that is a very good thing too.

I had one mother who came to me once. She said, “Oh, my children, they can just sit anywhere they want at the table.” But she said, “It gets bedlam, because this one is wanting to sit in this seat, and the other one wants to sit in this seat, and they’re all arguing and fighting.”

I said to her, “Well, look, the Bible talks about having a seat for each person. Why don’t you try that? It takes away all the arguments, and people know exactly where they’re going to sit. Of course, you don’t have to keep those assigned seats the same forever. Maybe after a couple of months, you could change it around. Johnny gets to sit next to Daddy this time, and Mary gets to sit by this one, and so on. They can have a different turn. But for that amount of time, they have their assigned seats because that really helps.”

And then we go to the New Testament, shall we? We see the example of when Jesus is feeding the 5,000, and another time, the 4,000. Actually, this story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is in every gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Let’s read from Mark 6:39: “Jesus COMMANDED them to MAKE ALL SIT DOWN by companies upon the green grass.”

Isn’t that interesting? In every single gospel, it tells us that Jesus MADE THEM SIT DOWN. Interesting, because I am sure that you have to face that challenge in your home. Do you have to MAKE your children sit down? How many times during a meal do you have to make them sit down?

Actually, the table is a great training place. We are teaching your children to sit at the meal. It is a training and it’s not easy. You’ll have lots of times when bedlam . . . Goodness me, I had many bedlam times at my meal table. But you keep training. You keep on because you will reap the rewards. Therefore, try and get your children to sit, OK?

I’ve got lots of Scriptures about that, too. But once again, time is gone, and I didn’t believe I’d be doing another podcast on this subject, but we’d better finish it next session, OK? So, let’s pray.

“Lord God, we thank You so much for Your lovely Word. Lord, it’s so down to earth, it’s so real. It gets to the nitty-gritty. Thank You that You talk to us about eating, and how You want us to eat, and how You want us to sit at our tables. Lord, You have planned this. It’s all in Your Word, and this is what brings blessing and order to the home. So, help us, Lord, to do things Your way. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

I have shared a lot about GLORY in this podcast. But dear ladies, there is just so much about LIVING IN GLORY in the Bible. It is full of it.  I have previously shared two series about GLORY and I still haven’t exhausted this subject. I’d love you to catch up with the other podcasts:

THE GLORY OF WOMANHOOD, Parts 1 – 10 (Nos. 68 – 77).

LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Parts 1 – 6 (Nos. 159 – 164).

Be blessed!

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 170 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 5

More about the FILLED life. Filled with His presence, filled with His praises, filled with His goodness, and filled with His glory. God wants His Holy Spirit to shine from us. How can we do this?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, LIFE TO THE FULL, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re back together again. And I’m still continuing our series, “LIE TO THE FULL.” Also, I have renamed our podcast LIFE TO THE FULL, because that’s what it’s all about. I love to share with you from God’s Word how He wants us to live.

As we discover and read through the Word of God, we find that it is LIFE TO THE FULL. At the moment, we’re discovering all the different things which God tells us with which He wants us to be filled! He doesn’t want us to be half-filled. He wants us to be filled! And, FILLED TO OVERFLOWING.

Today, I want you to come with me to John 12:3. Here we read the beautiful story of Jesus coming to stay with Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary. Then it says: “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.”

It must have been a beautiful aroma to inhale and smell this aroma that was filling the house. It wasn’t just a little whiff. You know how you can pass someone, and you get a little whiff of their perfume? No, this wasn’t a little whiff. This was a fullness. The house was FILLED with it, the odor of this ointment that came from her worship and her love for Jesus.

This is how we fill our lives and fill our homes with a beautiful perfume and a beautiful odor. It’s with our love and worship for the Lord. This is a beautiful thing for our own personal lives and for everyone in our homes. So, let’s be encouraged, lovely ladies, to always have a heart of worship, a heart of thankfulness, a heart of prayer.

We go back to the Old Testament in Exodus, chapter 30. It tells us there about how God told them to build the altar of incense in the Holy Place. It was a place where they took fire from off the altar and then they burned the incense on it. So it filled the Holy Place with this beautiful aroma. It was a sweet incense. It was made with beautiful, sweet spices.

It tells us about that in Exodus 30:34: “And the Lord said unto Moses, take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight.” Then they were to grind it, and grind it, and temper it, to make it very, very refined. It was to be this pure and holy and sweet incense.

God told them that they were to light that incense every day. In fact, not only every day, but every morning and every evening. Because when they lit it in the morning, this beautiful, sweet aroma filled the place. God loves to smell. The Bible talks about even the sacrifices went up to Him as a “sweet-smelling savor. “

Isn’t it beautiful how the things we do in life, like even smelling, how we love to smell a beautiful fragrance! Isn’t it lovely? Or, the opposite, to smell something that is horrible, or it’s off, or putrid. Oh, goodness me, you can’t stand it!

It's so glorious to smell something beautiful. God loves it. He just wanted the sweet incense wafting and filling the Holy Place all day long. But as the day wore on, it would begin to fade. So once again, they had to come in the evening and light it again, so it was always there. In the Bible, this altar of incense always speaks of prayer and worship unto the Lord.

We go over to Revelation. We were talking about something back in Exodus, but then we go over to Revelation, at the very end of the Bible. We read about it throughout the Word, but let’s go to the very end and see that the Bible is still talking about this altar of incense.

John, on the Isle of Patmos, was banished there for his faith. But on that island, that little Greek island, God came to him and showed him so many visions, and what was going to happen in the end times. John saw a vision of Heaven, of the Holy Place in Heaven. Because back in Exodus, where it talks about the tabernacle, that was created and built and made in the same way as the heavenly. It was built according to the pattern of the heavenly (Hebrews 8:6).

And then, all those years later, John looks into the heavenly realm. He sees it! There’s the altar of incense! It’s still there! Isn’t that amazing? And you know what, ladies, it’s still there now. It’s still in the eternal realm.

Revelation 5:8: “When he had taken the book (that was the Lamb’s, slain from the foundation of the world), the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials FULL OF INCENSE (and it goes on to say) which are the PRAYERS OF SAINTS.”

You see, our incense, that beautiful perfume that goes up to God is our heart of worship, our heart of prayer that is going on continually throughout the day (but it was specific times to light that incense, the morning and the evening).

And then we go over to Revelation 8:2-3. John is looking into this heavenly realm again: “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar of incense.” Wow! We read about it in Exodus. John is still seeing it now in the heavenly realm, here in Revelation.

“And there was given unto him MUCH INCENSE, that he should offer it with the PRAYERS OF ALL SAINTS upon the golden altar which is before the throne.” You see, ladies, the altar of incense was the altar that’s right before you went into the Holy of Holies, where God dwelt in His shekinah glory. And the heavenly realm, the altar of incense is right before the throne of God.

And now, we are so blessed. We can come, not with a veil between us. But we come, with open face, with an opening, the veil torn apart, into the presence of God’s throne, the throne-room of God to bring our prayers, to bring our worship before Him.

It’s like incense! Yes! So, precious, lovely ladies, if you want your life to be filled with this beautiful odor, this sweet incense, remember worship and prayer create this incense. Dear worshiping mother, be a praying mother. Try and make these times in your home, where every morning and every evening you light the incense, where you gather your whole family together. You pray together.

Is praying part of your home? Is it just natural in your home? Natural to you, natural to your children? As you come together each day, make sure everyone prays, right down to the littlest one who’s just learning to talk. Prayer should be like breathing to us.

I was talking recently to a mother. She was in a prayer meeting. She was telling me afterwards, “You know, Nancy, I haven’t been in a prayer meeting like that since I was in college.” I was so surprised. I mean . . . a prayer meeting? We should be having prayer meetings every day in our homes with our families.

Then, I trust that your church has a prayer meeting every week. That was normal for every church life. If it doesn’t, well, have a prayer meeting in your home. Invite some other people in. The more you have prayer in your home, the more it is filled with this beautiful odor.

I love that Scripture in 2 Corinthians 2:14. In the JB Phillips translation it says: “We should have above us the unmistakable scent of Christ.” Isn’t that beautiful? Now, the way we get that is that as we pray, as we worship, make prayer such a natural part of your life, it will fill your whole being and it will fill your home. Amen?

Well, that point was number 17. I actually have 20 points of all these things with which God wants us to be filled. So, let’s go to the next one.

No. 18. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HIS GOODNESS

(Sorry ladies, I now realize I actually talked about being FILLED WITH HIS GOODNESS in No. 10. I forgot I covered his point, although what I am saying here is different than what I shared in No. 10).

Jeremiah 31:14: “And I will satiate the soul of the priest with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.” What a glorious Scripture! “And I will SATIATE.” Oh, I love that beautiful word, “satiate.” Just say it. When you say it, it fills you with the meaning of it. “Satiate.” It’s the Hebrew word ravah. It means “to slake the thirst, to make drunk, to fill abundantly, to satisfy.”

Oh, how beautiful that is. God wants to do that in our lives. He wants to come to us and satiate us. Of course, He can only do that if we come to Him. He waits for us to come to Him. As we come to Him, He will then come to us and satiate us.

Actually, it’s very, very interesting that that same word is used in a passage about married couples. In that passage in Proverbs 5:19, it’s talking about marriage. It talks about the husband and the wife. I’m thinking of it because it’s the same Hebrew word. It says here, “Let her be (that’s the wife) Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.” That’s the same Hebrew word there they used “satisfy,” that the wife is to ravish and satisfy her husband.

But here it’s talking about how God wants to satiate us. Then it goes on to this other word: “And my people shall be satisfied.” That’s the Hebrew word saba. It means “to fill to satisfaction, to satiate, to satisfy.” Wow! That’s incredible! That's not just, oh, God will comfort and console and fill us just a tiny little bit to get us through. No, He want to satiate us. He wants to satisfy us with His goodness because God is a good God. That’s Who He is, dear ladies. He is a good God. You must know Him as a good God.

If you don’t know Him as a good God, you don’t know Who your God is. For He is good. I would encourage you to do a study. Get a concordance out. Have you ever used a concordance? Look up all the Scriptures about how God is good. As you read these Scriptures, they will go into your being, and they will begin to satiate you. Just the goodness of God will fill your soul.

There’s many Scriptures that talk about God’s great goodness. He’s not just good. It talks about the great goodness of the Lord.

Psalm 107:9: “For He satisfieth the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Yes.

In Psalm 65:4, it talks about being “satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.” That’s a beautiful thing, too, to come to the house of God, to the gathering of the saints. To be satisfied with and satiated with the goodness of God’s house. That’s not just a building, but it’s a gathering of God’s people. It’s a beautiful thing.

You see, the gathering of God’s people is not just, “Oh, well, we come to church, we worship, we hear a message, and we go home.” Well, that’s good. You can get a great message and be encouraged in your soul. But that’s only just half of it. God wants the gathering of His people to be where we do gather, where we fellowship, where we interact, where we speak to one another, where we pray for one another, where we’re togethering. That’s real fellowship. That’s when we learn to understand and experience the goodness of His house.

Now, maybe at your church, well, maybe you don’t have that fellowship. Or perhaps you have home meetings where you can do that. Often, just going to church, and going home is not enough. We need that fellowship together. If you’re not getting it, well, make it happen! Invite some fellow believers into your home. Invite them for a meal. Have rich fellowship around the table. Oh, there’s nothing like it, to fellowship over the things of God!

The sad part about it is, many people today, you want to do that, you try to do it with them, but, wow, they don’t have much to say. You want to say to them, perhaps, “Now, what’s God been saying to you in the Word recently? What’s He saying?” You don’t even get an answer. It’s very sad.

It’s my favorite question to ask, and it’s so lovely. Often, we’ll have folk around our home, and some, they don’t have anything to share. Well, we’ll just bless them and share with them. But often, it’s other folks who will come, and oh, the richness! Because they’ve been in the Word! God’s been speaking to them, and they can share. We’re all blessed together. It is so wonderful!

Isaiah 66:11. Oh, yes, this Scripture is interesting. This is actually an allegory about Judah. In this allegory, God is liking Judah to a nursing mother. We see two things here. We see the relationship of Judah to God. Or it can be our own relationship with God. We also see the relationship of a baby and his/her mother. It says here: “They will suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations.”

Now, that is an allegory. It’s revealing how a mother nurses her baby. When the little baby sucks from the mother, this little baby’s not only sucking for food, but it’s also sucking to be satisfied, to be consoled, to be comforted. Nursing a baby is far more than food. Here we see this. The baby sucks and is satisfied. Not just satisfied with the milk, but satisfied with the breast of her consolations, her comfort, and her consoling that comes from within her. It is far more than just food.

But then we take it spiritually. We also need to come to Christ, in His presence, and suck from Him. What does the New Testament say? 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” So, we come to Christ. We come to suck. We come to draw from Him.

Maybe you are going through a difficult time. You’re going through a trial. Oh, goodness, you hardly know how to get through. Look, don’t languish on your own, precious one. Come to God. Just come to Him. Suck from Him. Draw from Him. As you come and pour out your heart before Him, you will find that He will console you, He will comfort you, He will satisfy you, He will satiate you.

But that comes as you come. God waits for you to come. You will be satisfied with His consolations and His great goodness.

Now, OK. Maybe you are, you’re going through this tough time. Somehow you wonder, “Goodness, how can I say God is a good God?” I want you to know, no matter what you’re going through at this time, no matter what you will face in the future, or what all of us may face in the future, God is good. We must get into the habit of acknowledging God is good. He is a good God. Oh, I will praise the great goodness of the Lord!

We go back to Genesis. We read about Joseph. Don’t you love the story of Joseph? Joseph was ripped away from his family at about 17 years of age and taken to a foreign land. He was lonely, but he pressed into God. God blessed him and he became ruler over everything in Potiphar’s home.

But then we know how Potiphar’s wife . . . He must have been a handsome young man. She was trying to get him for herself. As he ran from her because he wanted nothing to do with it, she held a piece of his cloak in her hand and used that against him. He was thrown into prison.

So now, not only is he away from his beloved family, his beloved father, but here he is. He’s in prison. He’s left. No one knows about him. He’s there in prison.

Now, if you were languishing in prison, would you be saying “God is a good God”? I’m sure that Joseph was, because he wasn’t in a state of self-pity. Instead, he showed who he was. He began to be someone who was always helping. In the end, he was put over the prison and over all the other prisoners! Because he rose to the top. You can never rise to the top when you’re in self-pity and “Poor me! Why is this happening to me?” That keeps us at the bottom.

Even in trials, you can rise to the top! That's what happened with Joseph. Now, with many, many years, it didn’t happen quickly. But eventually, we know the story, of how he was brought before Pharoah and interpreted the dream and became next to Pharoah in the whole of the land.

But God allowed Joseph to go through all this because He had a bigger plan. And, dear ladies, how can we go through these difficult times? We think, “God has forgotten me.” But God has a bigger plan. You’ve got to trust Him. He is always good. And He wants us to be continually filled with the goodness of the Lord.

I love what Joseph spoke to his brothers in Genesis 45:7-8 when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers after they had been coming back to get food because of the famine. This time, they’d gone back again, and the food had run out, and this time they came back again. This time, Joseph revealed himself to them.

And he said: “And God sent me before you to preserve your posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now, brothers, it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

But you see, Joseph was able to see God’s hand. Yes, all the suffering, loneliness, abandonment, that he went through, he saw it was all for a purpose. God allowed it. God allowed it, because God had a greater plan, to save his family alive from a famine, and to save a nation, and many other nations around.

Then we go over to the last chapter, Genesis 50:18-21. Now, his father Jacob has died, and his brothers come to him again. They’re scared. “Oh, now our father has died. He’ll really get us this time!” But, no, Joseph comes to them again: “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil against me; but GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD.”

All the tough times he went through, God was working it out for good: “But God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”

So, be encouraged! God is good, even in the tough times, even in the difficult times. God is working out everything for good. You know, we have to see life, see our difficulties. Maybe we’re going to be facing more and more persecution in times to come. Even at this time, there are many, many people who are facing the fact they have to leave their jobs or be fired from their jobs because they’re not prepared to take the vaccine.

It’s tough. But you know, they trust God. God will show His hand. Even if we have to go through difficult times, we have to keep eternity in view. This life is but a vapor. And the real world is the eternal world.

As we read through Revelation, we see so many of the saints. John looked as he got the vision, and he looked into the eternal realm. There were the saints who were beheaded for sake of the gospel. They were there waiting for more of their fellow brethren to also be beheaded and to join them (Revelation 20: (Revelation 20:4).

Well, maybe in the future, we will face that. But even in that, God is good! Because look, all we’re doing here on this earth is to learn how to conquer evil, walk with God, that we will be ready for the eternal realm, which is the real world, the world forever and ever!

Oh, we can never even dream of what it’s going to be like. God is getting us ready for that. Oh, He is a good God!

I was thinking the other day about Hebrews and the cloud of witnesses that are watching us. Hebrews 12:1: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.”

That cloud of witnesses, I’m sure many of them, those who got there by being beheaded, or tortured for their faith, but they are now there, just waiting, urging us on.  So, the goodness of the Lord. All right. Now that was number 18.

No. 19: GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HIS GLORY

(I can’t believe it. I actually talked about this point also in No. 1. I began with it and forgot about it. But there’s still more to share).

Oh, isn’t that amazing? Glory. I’ve been speaking so much about glory. I did a series on the glory of womanhood. Recently, I did another series about glory and moved on to how God even wants us to dress with glory.

Everything about God is glory. He is the God of glory. Jesus is the Lord of glory. The Holy Spirit is the God of glory. God, who is all glory, He longs to come and fill us with His glory.

1 Peter 5:8. Actually, that's not the right Scripture. I must have put down the wrong reference there. But it’s talking about we are to be filled with “joy unspeakable, and FULL OF GLORY” (1 Peter 1:8). Wow!

I will just tell it to you. “Rejoice with joy unspeakable, and FULL OF GLORY.” Amen?

Well, I want to talk a little bit more about glory, but our time is going, so I think we’ll close off this session. Next week I will talk a little more about it, because there’s still more about glory. I want to give you a few more Scriptures about it.

So, let’s pray.

“Oh Father, we thank You so much that You want us to be a filled people—filled with wisdom, filled with Your goodness, filled with righteousness, filled with love, filled with peace, filled with joy, filled with Your glory. Oh, God, help us and save us from going around half-filled. Help us to be those who are filled to the top and overflowing, so we can bless those around us—our husbands, our children, people that we meet. We ask this in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Before I close, I’d love to read you the words of a lovely hymn. We were talking about having our lives filled with the odor of the ointment, the sweet incense, which speaks of His presence, and, of course, our prayer and our worship unto the Lord. But do you know this lovely hymn which says: “Fill Thou my life?”

Let me read. I love the words:

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,

In every part with praise.

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy being, and Thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor e’en for the praising heart,

I ask, but for a life made up

Of praise in every part.

Praise in the common things of life,

It’s going out and in;

Praise in each duty and each deed.

However small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise;

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be and weak.

So shall no part of day or night

From sacredness be free,

But all my life, in every step

Be fellowship with Thee.

 

“The Lord pour His blessing upon you, upon your husbands, upon your children, upon your homes, and may your homes be filled with the beautiful, sweet incense of His ointment, His aroma of prayer and worship unto Him. Amen!”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

I have shared two other podcast series on the Glory of God, if you would like to check them out:

THE GLORY OF WOMANHOOD, Parts 1 – 10 (Nos. 68 – 77).

LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Parts 1 – 6 (Nos. 159 – 164).

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 169 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 4

How can you change your face from a sour, dreary face to a smiling, bright face? Learn the secret. And we talk about more FILLING Scriptures again today – even FILLED with laughter!

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, LIFE TO THE FULL, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hi there, ladies! We are continuing our series, LIFE TO THE FULL. Last session, we were talking about being filled with joy, filled with peace, filled with hope, and talking about how you can do these things when life is not really very joyful or hopeful. We do it by looking to Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him.

I have a poem that I’d love to read to you today. Just a poem I wrote a few years ago about looking up.

LOOK UP

How can I do it? I have too much to do,

I’m overwhelmed and feeling real blue,

I’m stuck in this house like super glue.

Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

The dishes and laundry are piled up high,

When I look ‘round the house I simply sigh,

And for supper my husband’s expecting a pie!

Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

We can’t pay the mortgage; bills are overdue,

I’m tired and have headaches, not a few,

These children are driving me crazy too!

Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

My husband comes home late; he doesn’t care,

He doesn’t help with the children; it’s not fair!

I don’t want to smile; I just want to glare!

Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

Take your eyes off your problems, look up to Him,

God’s presence is with you, even in the din!

Confess your bad mood and He’ll cleanse your sin.

He is your God – LOOK UP!

He will show you how to order your place,

He will give you direction as you seek His face,

He wants to pour upon you His anointing of grace.

He is your God – LOOK UP!

Keep your eyes fixed on Him; He is your Stay,

He is your Wisdom for problems each day,

He’ll bring His presence right into your fray.

He is your God – LOOK UP!

Each morning He comes as the refreshing Dew

To revive your body, and your spirit too,

He is your Deliverer and He’ll make you new,

He is your God – LOOK UP!

Keep your eyes looking up, dear lovely mother.

CHANGE YOUR FACE

I want to share another Scripture with you too before we go on to more points about being filled. I found this Scripture a while back and it really challenged me. It’s found in Job 9:27. Job says: “I will leave off heaviness.” Now, what’s it really saying? The word “leave off” means “to relinquish, to forsake, to refuse.”

The commentary on the New English Translation of this Scripture says it means, “I will abandon my face.” Or, another commentary says, “I will rearrange my face.” Wow! What’s that talking about? Well, dear lovely ladies, many times we have to rearrange our faces. Sometimes we’ve got to abandon, and relinquish, and write off the face that we have at this moment because our face is not showing a very nice face!

Many times, we can feel heavy, down in the dumps, full of self-pity. We’re feeling gloomy and depressed. It shows on our face. As the Bible says: “The show of thy countenance doth witness against thee” (Isaiah 3:9). We reveal on our faces how we are feeling.

But there is a secret, ladies. I have proved this secret. It's a scriptural secret. I want you to get a hold of it. We can rearrange our faces. If you have a downcast, grumbling, gloomy, sour face, you know what you must do? You’ve got to change it! And you don’t wait for your feelings before you change it. You change it by faith. You just get a hold of yourself, and you put a smile on that horrible, grumbly, gloomy face.

“I beg your pardon?” you say. “How can I smile when I’m feeling so down and everything’s going wrong around me?” Dear ladies, this works. How you arrange your face will be how you end up feeling. And it will change your whole attitude!

You see, when you take action to rearrange your face, and put a happy face on, and put a smile on your face, it begins to change the way you feel. And then, that will change the atmosphere all around you. That will change the atmosphere of the whole home and change the attitudes of your children! It is so powerful!

But you have got to do it. You’ve got to take a step of faith. You’ve got to do things, not according to your feelings, but by faith. This is how I have learned to walk over the years. I didn’t start off like this. But I had to learn that my life does not consist of my feelings.

But I live, as the Word of God says, in Matthew 4:4: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” So, I take hold of God’s truth, and I will live by that rather than live by my feelings. Because feelings come, and feelings go, and feeling are deceiving. Yes.

So, do you think you could try a bit of this face rearranging? It really does work. Let me give you a few other translations, shall I?

The Amplified says: “I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer and brighten up.” How about that? Yes, so, you have to put off, you’ve got to abandon your sad face, and put on a good, happy face, and brighten up.

The Common English Bible says: “Put on a different face, so I can smile.” Yes.

The Holman says: “I will change my expression and smile.”

The ESV says: “I will put off my sad face and be of good cheer.”

The Darby Translation says: “I will leave off my sad countenance, and brighten up.”

The NCV says: “I will change the look on my face.”

And so, dear precious mothers, have you ever tried it? Even when you feel lousy, you put a smile on your face. Oh, you don’t feel like smiling, but you smile anyway! You put a smile on your face! Try it. It will change how you feel. It will change your attitude. It will change the atmosphere.

And so, get that smile going all the time. When you look at your children, smile at them. You see, lovely ladies, your children are going to be like what they see on your face. Just as it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with open face” (unveiled face) “behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

As we behold the Lord in worship, as we behold Him in His Word, we become more like Him. It’s the same. Our children, they look at us all day. They’re going to be like what they see on our face. If you’re frowning all day, and you’ve got a sour look on your face, and it is so sad, (because as I go around, I see many mothers with very, very, ooooh, frowning, stern faces. Oh, I’m wondering, “Where are their smiles? Help!” . . .  If that’s what their children see all day, what are their children going to be like? Are they also going to be sour, boring, and frowning?

But if you smile at your children and brighten up, they’re going to smile. They’re going to have bright, happy faces, too! OK? Do you think you can take hold of that word?

I hope you don’t only listen to my podcasts. I hope that you also seek to put them into practice. Amen? Because I’m not giving you all these ideas. This is the Word. I’m giving you the Word.

Well, let’s carry on with LILFE TO THE FULL.

No. 8. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH MERCY AND GOOD FRUITS

We are up to number eight. Better check. . . Yes, number eight: God wants you to be filled with mercy and good fruits. We read about this in James. That's where it’s talking about wisdom, the wisdom from above. James 3:17: “But the wisdom is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

There’re seven pillars of wisdom listed there. We go back to Proverbs 9:1. It says: “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.” Well, different commentators of the Bible have different ideas about what those seven pillars are.

I like to think of, perhaps, in being these seven pillars of wisdom that we build into our homes. One of them is being filled with mercy and good fruits. Yes, good fruits. So, let’s be filled with that.

No. 9. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH ASSURANCE OF FAITH

God wants you to be filled with assurance of faith. Hebrews 10:22: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Maybe, in your past, you have done things that you’re ashamed of, things you wish you had never partaken of. Maybe you still feel under condemnation of those things. But dear precious ladies, I want to remind you today that the blood of Jesus has power to wash you clean. When we come to Jesus, we repent of our sins, and we receive His forgiveness and the washing of His precious blood, He forgives us. He completely washes us clean. I mean, the blood is powerful, to completely wash you clean.

1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all unrighteousness.” ALL unrighteousness, totally clean. Amen?

Let’s see, go to Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost (Some people like to say, ‘even the guttermost’) that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Not only does He completely cleanse us and wash us our sins away, but He also remembers them never again. Once Jesus forgives us of our sins, He forgets. He never remembers our sin again. We can read about that in Hebrews 8:12. Never ever remembers it again.

Psalm 103 tells us that He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west! Whoo! You can’t get any further than that! It’s just gone! And then, do you remember how that on the Day of Atonement, the high priest had to have two goats? They would bring two goats to him. One was the sin offering, and one was the scapegoat.

One goat was slaughtered, and the blood was shed. That blood, the high priest would take into the Holy of Holies for his own sins, and the sins of his family. And then he would take more blood in for the sins of the whole nation.

And then he would come out and he would put his hand on the other goat’s head. This goat was alive, and he put his hand on the goat’s head and confessed over it all the sins and rebellion of the Israelites. Then they would choose a man. He had to be a very fit man and he would have to take this goat, run this goat way out into the wilderness, far, far away so that no one would ever see it again.

This goat, it was just a picture. This goat took the sins of the nation of Israel and took them away so they would never be remembered again. They were completely lost. That goat was never ever to be seen again. So the Bible gives us this amazing picture of how they will never be remembered again.

And then, in Isaiah, it talks about how our sins are blotted out, like a thick cloud (Isaiah 44:22). And so, you can have full assurance of faith that your sins are forgiven. They’re washed, they are forgotten, and they are never to be remembered again. That is full salvation. Amen? Isn’t that good?

No. 10. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH GOODNESS

So now we’re up to number ten. I’ve got to keep up with myself here. All right, number ten is to be filled with goodness. Romans 15:14, let’s have a look at that. Can you believe, ladies, as we’re going through this, how many things God wants us to be filled with? Whoo! Wow! Can you imagine?

I mean, if only we could live according to the truth of God’s Word, not just having a little bit, but filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with joy, with peace, with hope, with goodness, with righteousness, and with grace, and with truth! And we’ve still got more to go! It’s amazing, isn’t it?

OK, Romans 15:14: “And I myself also are persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness.” Isn’t that beautiful? “FULL of goodness.” Just as God is a good God, so He wants us to be filled with goodness. Everything that God is, He wants us to have, too. What is in Jesus? In Jesus is all goodness. Well, we will have it, because he dwells in us. What He is, we have, because of His dwelling in us.

I may have shared this with you before. Philemon 1:6. It’s always been such a great blessing to me, where it says: “That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus.”

This Scripture is reminding us that every good thing that is in Jesus—all His goodness, all His joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, all these beautiful, good things, they’re all in me, because He is in me. That’s the revelation of truth we must get. So, we learn to live by the fullness of all these good things in us.

1 Peter 5:10 gives a description of the way God wants us to live as women. It talks about the woman who is filled with good works. These good works are embracing motherhood, and reaching out to the needy, and opening our homes in hospitality, and relieving the hurting and the afflicted. God calls them “good works.”

And then, in Titus 2:3-5, where it tells the older women to teach the younger women, it tells them they are to be teachers of something. Do you know what it is? Oh, yes, it enumerates the different things, but it calls all these different things something. Have you ever noticed?

It calls them “good things.” They are to be teachers of good things. What are these good things? How to love our husbands, how to love our children, how to be submissive to our husbands, how to be keepers at home, and so on. All these are good things. In fact, they are even more than that. The Greek words is kalos, and it literally means they are “beautiful things, lovely things, beautiful to behold.”

So, older ladies, if you are listening, God wants you to be a teacher of good, beautiful, lovely things, all the things to do with being married, being a mother, being in the home. And they are all good. We’re to be filled with these good things.

No. 11. GOD WANTS US TO E FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL

God wants us to be filled with the knowledge of His will. Colossians 1:9: “That ye might be filled” (not just have a little bit), FILLED with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Romans 15:14 again says: “That ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish and encourage one another.” Filled with the knowledge of His will. We’re only going to know that as we are in His Word. What is His will? His truth! What He says in His Word. So, let’s be women, let’s be wives, mothers, who know His Word, so we can be filled with all the knowledge of His will.

And not only for ourselves, but for our children, so we can teach them His ways. We need to know what is His will in this current time in which we are living. I pray that prayer constantly, of that testimony of the children of Issachar, one of the tribes of Israel, who “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

In this hour of deception, of tyranny, of lockdowns, of masking, of vaccinations, all these things that are being brought upon us, not for our health, but for tyranny. we must know what is going on and we must know God’s mind.

What does God want us to do? How is He wanting us to live in this hour? We’ve got to seek Him. We’ve got to seek His Word. We’ve got to be in prayer so we can be filled with the knowledge of His will.

No. 12. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH THE BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL

Romans 15:29: “I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” Are we always ready to share the gospel? Or maybe we’re not ready.

That's challenging, isn’t it? I find it very challenging, because the Bible talks about being ready in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). Sometimes we can be all geared up when we’re in season, but oh, if it’s out of season, it’s not, oh, wow, we just don’t say anything, or we don’t do anything.

But we’re meant to be always ready, wherever we go, to be filled with the fullness of the blessing of the gospel, to share it, and to be ready to give an answer to those who ask us (1 Peter 3:15).

No. 13. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD

Ephesians 3:19, where Paul is praying this prayer, that they, the Ephesian believers: “Will know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.” Well, I find that so hard to comprehend and take in. But this is the will of God. This is knowing what His will is for us that we will be filled with the fullness of God.

Now, that can only be the life of Jesus Christ dwelling in us and allowing His life to live through us. Oooh, that’s amazing, isn’t it?

Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the FULLNESS OF CHRIST.” I don’t think we can really come to the fullness of Christ on our own. I believe it’s something that we come to in a togethering, and as a body, because as a body, we’re all fitly joined together to make this one whole to be filled with the fullness of Christ.

That's why it is important to not hide away. It’s important to gather together with the saints. It’s important to have fellowship with one another. It's important to show hospitality to one another. It's important to pray for one another. It’s important to encourage one another. It’s important to help one another with our gifts and with our abilities, and so on. There are so many “one anothers” in the Bible which will all help us to come into the fullness of Christ.

No. 14. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH PRAISE

Psalm 78:8: “Let my mouth be filled with praise, and with Thy honor all the day.” Wow! Once again, what a challenge! We praise the Lord sometimes. We praise the Lord when something good happens. But are we FILLED with His praise? That's a challenge, isn’t it? May the Lord help us to be filled with His praise.

I love that beautiful old hymn; I wonder who wrote this hymn now. I think it was Horatius Bonar. But it says:

Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,

In every part with praise.

That my whole being may proclaim

Thy being, and Thy ways.

 

Not for the lip of praise alone,

Nor e’en for the praising heart,

I ask, but for a life made up

Of praise in every part.

 

Praise in the common things of life,

It’s going out and in;

Praise in each duty and each deed.

However small and mean.

 

Fill every part of me with praise;

Let all my being speak

Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,

Poor though I be and weak.

 

So shall no part of day or night

From sacredness be free,

But all my life, in every step

Be fellowship with Thee.

So, that’s a little encouragement, and what would I say? Challenge for us, isn’t it? To be constantly filled with His praise.

I was reading a book about missionary a while back, a missionary in Belize. She has this little story in her book. Someone who was very mad about her came and destroyed all her beautiful flower beds. They ripped out all the plants. They broke the rose bushes, and they threw them on the path.

And when this dear lady came home, she saw all this mess. Instead of getting mad, what did she do? She just said, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

“What are you doing?” another person asked her. She said that she had read about saying “Praise the Lord” ten times before you say anything else when something traumatic happens, or something bad happens to you. So, you just say, “Praise the Lord” ten times.

Her friend asked her, “Does it help?” “Well,” she said. “At least it gives me time to reflect that for some reason God allowed this to happen to me.” So maybe that’s a little trick for you to try.

All right. We’ve only got time for one more, I think, in this session.

No. 15: GOD WANTS UT TO BE FILLED WITH LAUGHTER. Isn’t that a good one? Job 8:20-21: “Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers: till He fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with rejoicing.”

Ecclesiastes 10:19: “A feast is made for laughter.” Well, we’ve all heard the phrase, haven’t we? “Laughter is the best medicine.” Well, actually, it’s not an old wives’ tale. It has been proved medically. Laughing protects the heart. It relaxes the body, relieves stress, releases endorphins, and boosts the immune system, which of course, improves our resistance to disease.

So, it’s very good to laugh. I actually wish, myself, that I laughed more. I can remember as a young person, always laughing. Oh, goodness me, I was so bad at laughing that it would be terrible. In church sometimes, something funny would amuse me, and I’d get giggling, and I’d have to hold it in. Then the church seat, because we didn’t have chairs in those days, we had pews, would begin to rock, and then someone next to me would begin to laugh, and we’d all be rocking with laughter. Oh, that is so disgusting and terrible.

But anyway, it’s so good to laugh! I think, as we get older, somehow the responsibilities of life get upon us, and we don’t laugh and giggle, especially laughter that really gets your heart pumping and makes your whole insides jump up and down. I think that’s when laughing is so good for you.

Anyway, I love to laugh, but I’d love to laugh even more, because it is so healthy. So, seek to laugh. I mean, laugh when you’re watching your children. It’s wonderful to have children around you, isn’t it? Because they do make you laugh. They do the craziest things.

Because they’re your children, you think they’re amazing. So, you laugh at them. But it’s good to laugh at your children. Laugh at things that happen. Laugh when things go wrong. Laugh at yourself. Laughing is contagious, too. When you laugh, other people will laugh.

I remember traveling back from New Zealand on one of my trips. I was reading a book. It was called “The Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson is a writer who writes many books about travel and about different countries. This book was about Australia. A really good book. If you want to really find out about Australia, read that book.

Well, there were some funny things in there. I was on the plane, and I began to laugh. It was so funny! I couldn’t even keep it into myself. I was laughing out loud! Just because I was laughing out loud, other people around me started to laugh! Because it was contagious! It was amazing.

Now, we also know the old adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But they also say, “A laugh a day keeps a heart attack away.” So, start laughing, ladies. And smiling, of course. If you’re not laughing, at least smile! Smile! Oh, it will change your whole attitude. It will change your children. It will change the atmosphere of your home. Make your home a place of smiling and laughter. OK?

Time to stop again.

“Dear Father, I thank You for all the precious mothers, and wives, and older mothers, and little children, young children, young people, everyone who is listening today. I pray Your blessing upon them. I pray Your blessing of joy and smiling, and laughter.

I pray, Lord, that You will give them the revelation that, because You dwell in their hearts by faith, that You dwell in them in all Your fullness, and You want all the beautiful fruits of Your Spirit to fill them, Lord, and overflow them.

Bless their homes and bless their children. Bless their husbands. Oh, God, I pray for the blessing of the Lord to be upon every home and everyone that is listening in a very special way. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 168 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 3

How can you be FILLED with joy, peace, hope, and all the fruits of the Spirit? Find out how we can make this work in the nitty gritty of everyday life.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, LIFE TO THE FULL, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. We are currently on our third session of this series, which is called, “LIFE TO THE FULL.”

I’m also changing the name of this podcast, which was From Our Home to Yours. But I feel to change it, because I think I don’t really speak about everything I’m doing in the home all the time. I’m speaking more about the life that God wants us to live in our homes, and it is LIFE TO THE FULL. We’re going to be learning more about it today. So, everything’s the same, only just the name change, LIFE TO THE FULL with Nancy Campbell.

So glad you are here and listening. We do need the encouragement of one another, don’t we? It’s so important. I remember when I was raising our children. I think one of the greatest blessings was the fact of having fellowship with other mothers.

I always had a Bible study in my home and would invite other mothers in with all their little children and babies. We always had more children than mothers. Often the children would wreck my house, but it was still worth it, because we could have fellowship together.

I think, mothers, one of the biggest things, the hardest thing, I think, for mothers, is being in your home and not having fellowship with anyone else. But when you can get with other mothers, it’s so great.

So, we would go through a mother’s Bible study together and we would encourage one another. We’d laugh with one another. We’d cry with one another. We’d pray for one another. And then we’d always eat together and have fellowship lunch together.

We did the togethering, just like God wants us to do togethering. That’s the whole lifestyle of the early church. It’s God’s plan for His people, to be a togethering people. That’s why He says, “Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together.” It’s a togethering lifestyle. We will grow so much more in our faith as we come together.

So, if you’re feeling rather lonely, and you know, you don’t seem to have anyone to fellowship with, look out for another young mother. Look out for one at church, or maybe someone. Invite them to your home. Invite them to lunch. Enjoy this time together, and then, you may even decide you’d love to do a Bible study together.

A lot of people love to use my manual, The Power of Motherhood. It’s a great Bible study for mothers. It takes you into the Word of God to see what God says about being a mother. Not what the world says, but what God says. And He has so much to say.

This manual has questions at the end of each chapter, which you can do personally. Or you can get some other mothers do it with you, and you can chat about it, and do it together. In fact, it can take quite a long time to get through this book, because there’s so much there, and so many Scriptures. You may even like to choose the chapters that you want to do. But anyway, that’s something you may love to do.

Now, we are currently on our third session of “LIFE TO THE FULL.” We began, starting with Genesis, about how God wants us to be fruitful, multiply, and fill—fill our homes and fill the earth. But now we’re moving on to see also, how God wants us to be filled with so much! Oh, we talked about how He wants to fill our homes with His presence and His glory, how He wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit.

And then we talked about being filled with joy. We didn’t quite finish that, and I’d like to give you a few more Scriptures about being filled with joy. Because when we read about joy in the Bible, there are so many Scriptures that don’t only talk about joy, they talk about being FILLED with joy.

Let’s go to John 15:11. Jesus is speaking, and He says: “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” There it is ladies. Not a little bit of joy but FILLED with joy.

Now, the only way we can truly be filled with joy is, we have the joy of Jesus in us. Because what did He say? “My joy. That My joy may abide in you. When My joy is in you, your joy will be full!” Isn’t that good? Yes.

When we only have our joy, we are dependent on our circumstances. If they’re not going too well, we’re not going to be very joyful, are we? And that can happen so many times in life, because life isn’t perfect. Life doesn’t always go just the way we want. Therefore, we’ve got to get Jesus' joy, His joy in us.

And, if we’re born again by His Spirit, we have His joy. Because when He comes into our lives, He doesn’t leave His joy out, or any of His other beautiful attributes out. He comes as who He is. And so, we can be filled with His joy.

Let’s go to Acts 2:28. This is when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, and he says, in verse 28: “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance.”

Once again, how do we get full of joy? As we’re looking at the face of Jesus. Look to Him. If we look to our circumstances, look to what’s happening, look to what’s happening around this world at the moment, and in our nation, and how they’re trying to lock us down again, all these negative things happening, well, it doesn’t give us a lot of sources for joy.

But you see, our joy comes, not from looking at our circumstances, it comes from looking at the face of Jesus, at His countenance, His presence. This is when we’ll be filled with joy. Are you getting the picture?

Let’s go to 1 Peter 1:8. Peter is writing here to the saints, actually to the strangers scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, way out, to all these places. Do you know where they were? They were way out in Turkey. In fact, Cappadocia is a way out in the middle of Turkey. I have been blessed to visit Cappadocia.

Colin and I used to take tours to Israel. And then we would also take our people to another country as well. So, one year, we did Israel, and then we went to Turkey. We visited the sites of where the seven churches of Revelation were located. That was just the most wonderful experience.

And then we went right out into the middle of Turkey, to Cappadocia. Oh, it was like visiting the moon! It was like visiting a whole other world because this whole place was filled with these cone-like structures. They were just so amazing. You cannot even think them up in your brain! Maybe if you went to the internet and put in Cappadocia, they would most probably show you some of these most amazing shapes.

People lived in these places, and they also had underground cities where they lived. This was a place where many of the Christians fled to in the times of persecution. They were living underground. So, it’s an amazing place, out there in Cappadocia. It was such a privilege to go out and see it.

So, Peter is writing to these people in these different places. He says, talking about Jesus: “Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Wow! Isn’t this amazing?

The Bible doesn’t just talk about, “Oh, well, you’d better have joy.” And it’s just a bit of joy. You’re half-filled with joy. Or maybe, you may be, perhaps, two-thirds filled with joy. No! It talks about being filled with joy! FILED WITH JOY. “Joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”

Sometimes, when we read these words, we realize that we’re really not living the true Bible lifestyle. We’ve got to come up, come up from all our doldrums and self-pity, and our grumblings and groanings, and let’s get with it! Let’s get into the real lifestyle that God talks about in His Word!

My, no wonder we don’t draw people into the Kingdom of God! We’re not living the Kingdom of God lifestyle which is a lifestyle that is filled with joy.

All right, let’s go to 1 John 1:4: “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” There it is again!

Let me take you to one more. Luke 6:22-23. Jesus is speaking again here. He said: “Blessed, (happy) are you, when men shall hate you.” Wow! You wouldn’t expect us to be happy when people hate us, would we? But this is what Jesus said: “And when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”

So, here it talks about leaping with joy. It’s not leaping with joy when everything is going great, when you’re having a great time! Wow, everything’s fantastic! So, you can leap for joy!

No, this is leaping for joy when people hate you, when they separate you from their company. They don’t even want you. They think you’re crazy. They think you’re stupid. They don’t even like you! And they want to separate from you.

And when they reproach you, and when they call you evil, Jesus says: “Leap for joy!” Wow, have you ever tried that? That’s something different, isn’t it? Do you get it, ladies? The lifestyle that Jesus talks about in His Word is so foreign to the way we live. It’s the opposite to the way we live.

So, maybe, next time you’re having a little bit of persecution, or even family members are not very happy with you, you’re getting spoken about, or spoken to because you’re homeschooling, or maybe you’re having another baby . . .  Well, what are you going to do? Get all upset? No! Try leaping for joy.

I have tried it. When you leap for joy, when you do an action, it has power over your whole body. It's amazing. It can change the way you feel, just through doing an action. And leaping is something that you do with excitement because it’s fun, it’s great, it’s wonderful! So, you can change your whole attitude by trying it out. Try it out. Leaping for joy. Amen?

No. 4. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH PEACE

God want us to not only be filled with the Holy Spirit, not only be filled with joy, but He wants you and me to be filled with peace.

Let’s read Romans 15:13: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

What an amazing Scripture! I love this Scripture. I have it memorized. I’d encourage you to memorize this Scripture. Here it says that we are to be filled with joy. We’ve talked about that. But also, to be filled with peace. So, God wants us not only to have peace, but to be FILLED with peace.

Yes, this is the lifestyle of the Kingdom of God. It’s not just scraping the barrel. It’s being filled, filled to overflowing! As it says in Philippians 4:7 that we will have “peace that passes all understanding.”

I love Isaiah 24:3, 4. This is also one of my favorite Scriptures, which I have memorized, and which I love to constantly say. It tells us here that, goodness me, I said I’ve got it memorized, and now I just go to say it to you and I’m forgetting how it starts. Isn’t that amazing?

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Don’t you love that? Oh, I have to go to that Scripture constantly.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.” That’s a double word there. It means “peace, peace, perfect peace.” It’s a plural word. We will have perfect peace, peace that passes understanding, as we keep our minds fixed upon the Lord, looking to the Lord.

So, we forget looking at our circumstances and we put our eyes upon the Lord. Amen? That's how we are filled with peace. We will not be dependent on what’s happening around us because our eyes are upon Him. Amen?

No. 5.  GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HOPE

But this Scripture, Romans 15:13, speaks about another wonderful attribute, hope: “That ye may abound in hope.” Now it doesn’t say “filled with hope,” but it means the same. “May abound in hope.”

So, this is number five. The word “abound” is perissueo. This word, you often hear me talking about this word. It comes up so often. It’s one of the reasons I changed the name of my podcast to LIFE TO THE FULL because I’m often talking about this Greek word, which is often translated “abounding, exceeding, abundant.” This is what it means.

If you go to a lexicon or a concordance, you will see all these different English meanings for this one Greek word: “to superabound, in excess, abundance, enough and to spare, over and above, filled to overflowing.” So, God wants us to be filled to overflowing and abounding in hope.

Hope. What is hope? Hope is believing that God is going to do good things because He is a good God. Yes, there are so many Scriptures that we could read about God being a good God. But let me just go to 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.” Well, that’s King James language. Most translations say: “to a living hope.” It’s alive! It’s active! “A living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

This hope means that we can trust God, that He is going to do good things. He is working everything out for good even if it doesn’t look good. Oh, it may look bleak! Terrible! No light, even at the end of the tunnel!

But we can put our trust in God because He has it all in control. He is always working everything out for good. I’m just thinking now, as I talk about this, of Joseph, one of my favorite stories in the Bible. We know of all that Joseph went through: how the young teen, of about 17, he was taken away, ripped away from his family and everything that he knew, taken to a strange country. But everywhere he went, God blessed him.

It was in Potiphar’s house. Even then, someone betrayed him, and he was thrown into prison. Then he was just left there. You know, goodness. I mean, most of us would have thought, “God’s finished with me. He has forgotten me. I mean, God doesn’t even know what’s happening to me! Here I am, languishing in prison, forgotten by my family, forgotten by everyone!”

But God was in control! And God was working everything out for good! Oh, I love that Scripture! Let’s see if I can find it. Oh yes, Genesis 50. This is the most incredible moment when Joseph is revealing himself to his brothers. Actually, this is after that. He’s already revealed himself to his brothers. His father has died now.

So, his brothers are scared. “Oh, goodness, our father has died. Now Joseph will really get back on us for all that we did to him in selling him down to Egypt.” But Joseph says to them, in Genesis 50:19: “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

God had allowed Joseph to suffer and go through this because there was a greater plan. He was going to be used to save his own family from famine. And the whole nation of Egypt, and many, many other nations around. It was a huge thing.

And also, God raised him up and promoted him. He became next to the Pharoah of Egypt. God was working it out for good. He always is because He is a good God. Amen! So, we’ve got to be filled with hope.

No. 6. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

 God wants us to be filled with righteousness. Philippians 1:11 tells us that we are to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus.” Well, we don’t have any of our own, do we?

I mean, all our good works, the Bible says, are as filthy rags. None of our good works will ever get us into heaven or ever get us salvation. It’s only through Jesus’ death upon the cross and through His precious blood that He shed for us.

You all know Ephesians, don’t you? Ephesians 2:8-9. Once again, a Scripture that every one of us should know and have memorized. If you don’t know it, learn it. This is one of those wonderful Scriptures. Get your children to memorize them so they know them. Many of these Scriptures I learned as a child, so, being with me for life.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” But then verse ten goes on to say: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

So, we have no righteousness of our own, no good works of our own, but we can only come to salvation through the precious blood of Jesus. But when we do come to salvation, then God has some good works planned for us from the foundation of the world that He wants us to walk in. And He gives us His righteousness. We’ve none of our own. But our righteousness comes by Jesus Christ and that’s what we can be filled with, righteousness. Isn’t that great?

If we were relying on our own, we might be able to muster up a tiny little bit of righteousness and think we’re so great. That would be nothing. We’re only filled with righteousness because it’s the righteousness of Jesus in us.

And, when He comes into our lives, He comes into us with all His righteousness. He is the One who hates evil and loves righteousness. Hebrews chapter one tells us that, oh, let me take you to that Scripture. Here it’s talking about Jesus. Hebrews 1:8: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Isn’t that amazing?

It’s here sharing a picture of Christ, who was filled with righteousness. He loves righteousness and He hates iniquity. Because of that, He has more joy that all His contemporaries. You see, joy is a twin with righteousness. Righteousness is not a killjoy. No. When we have righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, not some righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, but the righteousness of Jesus, it will also fill us with joy. Jesus was filled with joy above His fellows because He loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

1 Corinthians 1:30: “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” It’s all through Jesus Christ. It's all through His life in us. You see, the gospel, ladies, is so huge. It’s not only that Jesus came to die for us, and take our place, and suffer for our sins. He did that so we could go free, so we could inherit eternal life.

But He also died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God, and He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell us, fill us with His Spirit and all these beautiful fruits of the Spirit of joy, and peace, and hope, and now it’s righteousness. And it’s all His life in us.

Dear ladies, are you getting this? Are you getting that Christ is in you, the hope of glory? Dwells in you, not in a little way, but He wants to dwell in you in fullness. He wants to fill you with all these beautiful fruits. We are to be filled, not a little bit, but filled. That’s the word.

I like Isaiah 33:5 too, where it says: “The Lord is exalted; for He dwelleth on high: He hath filled . . .” There’s this word again. It comes so much in the Bible. “He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.” God was talking about Israel there, but Zion also represents the people of God.

The church of God, the church of God’s redeemed saints, is meant to be filled with judgment. The word is actually “justice,” and righteousness. The church of God is to be filled with righteousness because it’s filled with people who are filled with righteousness.

It is sad that as we look out across the body of Christ today, there's so much worldliness. There is sin in the church. There is often adultery. There’s backsliding. There’s so much sin, but God wants a testimony that we are filled with righteousness. When we begin to experience this, we’ll be filled with joy. Also, we will begin to have an impact on the people who live around us.

No. 7. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH GRACE AND TRUTH

 Jesus wants us to be filled with grace and truth. Here are some more twins. Grace and truth go together. Yes. John 1:14-16: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

This was a picture of Jesus. Jesus came with grace, and He also came with truth. They are twins that are mixed together. This is something that we really need in our lives too. Sometimes we can have truth. Truth on its own can sometimes get hard and legal. Or we may be someone who’s full of grace. But grace on its own can be very wishy-washy and compromising. So, we need them both. We need grace and truth just as Jesus had. He was full of grace and full of truth.

Sometimes it’s more difficult for us to know how to be filled with both at the same time. We may be hammering truth, or we may be showing such grace that we’re actually compromising. But no, somehow, we’ve got to get it together. I think that we can get it together as we allow Jesus to have His way in our lives

As we also search His Word of truth, we have to know the truth, to be filled with truth. You can only be filled with truth as you know the truth, and you cannot know the truth unless you are filling yourself with God’s Word, and that you’re daily in His Word. You say, “Oh, help! How do you expect me to be reading the Bible for hours every day? I’ve got all these little children, and a new baby, and I’ve got so much to do. How do you expect me to do this?”

Well, I understand, ladies. Before I was married, as a teen, well, I was about 18 years of age. I had come to the Lord as a little child, but I was 18 when God got a hold of my life. I began to seek God with all my heart and began to spend at least three hours a day in the Word and waiting upon God.

But then I got married! Wow! And that was fine. But then, in one year, it was just about the time of our anniversary, we had our first baby. And then, seventeen months later, I had another two babies! By surprise! Didn’t even know I was having them until I was giving birth.

Suddenly, I didn’t have any time! How could I sit around reading the Bible? I could hardly get through the day as I looked after these three little babies. I had no help. We’d just come back from the Philippine Islands where we’d been doing missionary work. So, I had to learn to get little snippets of the Word wherever I could. I’d put a Bible in the toilet, a Bible on my windowsill above where I was preparing meals, a Bible where I would be nursing the baby so I could just get something, even at Proverbs or Psalms where I could pick up a little Scripture and get it, to feed me.

Of course, too, another wonderful thing is that when you make your plan of your day to have your devotions as a family morning and evening, you’re getting the Word there. And so, you have seasons in your life, seasons when you have more time, and then seasons when you’ll be with little children, and God understands.

But even in those times, you can get your little bits to feed you. Because we want to be filled with truth and filled with grace. So, when we’re speaking to people, we’re not going to compromise on the truth. Never, never, never, never! But we’re going to do it with grace, and with love, and with compassion. So, we’re filled with both.

But where did time go? We’re at the end of another session. Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much again. We’re always thanking You, Lord. I can’t stop thanking You for Your Word, which is so filled with life and truth, and showing us the way to live.

Lord, we do confess before You that we live so substandard to the way that You’ve planned for us. You’ve given us everything we need. You’ve come to dwell in us by Your Spirit and fill us with all Your beautiful fruits. Lord, we invite You to fill our lives. We will be filled with them. Lord, not just in a tiny bit, but filled to overflowing. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org

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

Would you like to email Darlene and thank her so much for faithfully and freely transcribing these podcasts every week for your benefit?

THE POWER OF MOTHERHOOD

What the Bible Says About You as a Mother

Every mother needs this book. At her side and beside her bed.

Young mothers desperately need the encouragement! Middling mothers need it! And even older mothers need it. Older mothers need a refresher course in God’s plan for mothering, so they can take their place as the older mothers who teach the next generation.

You will be amazed at what God has to say to you as a mother! You will receive wonderful understanding through the 245 pages of this manual. 

Mothers can use it as a study guide for their older daughters. Many women use this manual as a guide for their Motherhood Bible Study groups.

Go to: POWER OF MOTHERHOOD - New Updated Edition - Study Manual by Nancy Campbell (mybigcommerce.com)

 

 

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