LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 237: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 12

Today I tell you three secrets about myself. Please don’t tell anyone else!!! We also ask ourselves some questions today. Do I know the ways of God for motherhood? Do I have a willing heart? Do I know how to wait for God’s promises? Am I walking in the fear of God? All part of living in the LAND OF MOTHERHOOD.

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

Nancy Campbell: Ladies! Can you believe it? That this is the last week of 2022? I really can’t believe it. Every year goes by so much more quickly, doesn’t it? Well, I do hope that you had a very beautiful Christmas time with your families. Or maybe you were celebrating Hanukkah. Those lovely celebrations.

We like to celebrate both actually. Of course, when we celebrate Christmas, we’re not doing it in all the tinsel, materialistic way. But we love to get together as families. We love to sing the carols and remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, we are still on the series, “What God Wants Us to Do in the Land?” We’re up to . . .

No. 7. YOU MUST KNOW THE GOD OF THE LAND

I have an interesting story to read to you. I will read it from The Living Bible because it’s easier to understand if we read it as a story.

2 Kings 17. This is when the children of Israel, the children of Judah, actually, had been taken to Babylon. Then the king of Babylon decided that he would bring some of his people from Babylon and places around there down to Israel to take up the places of all the Israelites, all the Judeans that he had taken away captive.

It says here: “So the Assyrians,” this is verse 24 if you want to check it in your Bible. “So the Assyrians took over Samaria and the other cities of Israel. But since these Assyrian colonists did not worship the Lord when they first arrived, the Lord sent lions among them to kill some of them. Then they sent a message to the king of Assyria: ‘We colonists here in Israel don’t know the laws of the god of the land, and he has sent lions among us to destroy us because we have not worshiped him.’

“The king of Assyria then decreed that one of the exiled priests from Samaria should return to Israel and teach the new residents the laws of the god of the land. So, one of them returned to Bethel and taught the colonists from Babylon how to worship the Lord.”

Because God was not pleased with them following their own ways of worshipping their gods in His land. This land belonged to Him. Therefore, God should be worshiped in the way He intended in His land.

And it is the same today and the same for our land of motherhood. We have to live in the land of motherhood the way God intends for us, the way He has planned for us. We must do it according to the way of the God of the land, the God of our kingdom, the God of the land of motherhood, because He is the One Who designed motherhood, who planned it. So, we must do it His way.

Sadly, so many young mothers today don’t know His way. Out there in the world, and many times, even in the church, they don’t know the way. And why? Because the older women have not been teaching them.

In this new addition of Above Rubies #100 that has just gone out in the land, in my editorial, I talk to the older women and remind them of the mandate that God has given them. Because God has given a mandate to every older woman to teach the younger women His ways. He tells us specifically what to teach them.

Actually, just before, I was looking up in the Young’s Literal Translation. This is a translation by the Young who wrote the Young’s Concordance. It’s a very literal translation, according to the Hebrew and the Greek. I was most interested to see what it says here.

In most translations, it says that the older women are “to teach,” or they are “to train” the younger women. But in the Young’s Literal Translation, it says that the older women may “make” the young women. That’s interesting, isn’t it? Not just to teach them, not only to train them, but to “make the young women sober-minded, to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children, sober, pure, keepers of their own houses, good, subject to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be evil spoken of.” (Titus 2:5 YLT98)

I had never noticed that before, that they were to even “make” the young women. Well, today there are rarely older women teaching the young women. Sometimes, when they do want to teach them, the young women don’t want to listen. Recently I had an older woman sharing with me how she was wanting to share with some of the young women ways that could help them in the disciplining of their children and in their homemaking tasks. This woman is an amazing homemaker.

But she said they weren’t really interested at all. So, I think it does work both ways, doesn’t it? There should be a willingness of the young women to learn from the older women. And then, of course, the older women taking up their mandate.

But they have to know what they’re going to be talking about! Sadly, many of the older women are no longer in the home. They’re out doing their own thing. They really haven’t a clue of what God says about motherhood.

So, dear mothers, I know some of you are young mothers who are listening. Some are middling. And some of you are older mothers as I am an older mother now. What I find very sad is that many older mothers think, “Oh, well, I’m finished with motherhood. I’ve raised my children. That’s it. I can get on with something else.”

No, darling mothers! We are mothers until we meet Jesus. This is who God created us to be. Yes, we’ll do many, many things. We all have different gifts. We all do different projects. We all have different interests.

But who we are is mothers. That is who God created us to be. He created us physically for this task of mothering. We are created with a womb. We are created with breasts. We are created innately with this nurturing anointing, not only physically, but innately within us. Our little daughters want to mother right from the time they are little. They’re mothering their teddies, and their babies, and their dollies. It’s just in us. It doesn’t suddenly stop being in us when our children are raised.

We’re pretty young, even when our children become adults. We’ve got many years ahead. Many, many years. And those years are to be years of being examples to the young mothers and teaching them. What a difference it would make if the whole of this nation of older, godly mothers would rise up and teach and encourage the young moms instead of just poor young moms not knowing what they’re doing, or even leaving their children and going out of the home.

Today, who teaches the young moms? Our public education system! Our humanist people all around. They teach them. They show them. They tell them, “Hey, you can’t stay at home! Goodness me! You’ll be wasting your life! Get out in your career.” They are taught daily, through the media, and through our public education to completely vacate motherhood.

Oh, yes, they may suddenly become mothers by having some children, but they’re not giving themselves to motherhood. They don’t know God’s ways. Dear ladies, there is so much. God has provided everything we need to know and yet we don’t know it all yet.

Every day I am still seeking God for His ways and His truth. I’m still learning. I’m still learning. We’ll always be learning. There’s always more. We’re always finding new things in His Word and new understanding. We can’t say we’ve made it. No, but we should always be seeking and always learning. As older moms, always passing it on to the young moms, so that we will know the ways of God for motherhood.

We can’t do it our way. We can’t do it a humanistic way. We can’t do it a worldly way. No, we’ve got to do it God’s way. That’s the only way that works. Because if we do it our way, we will find that the lions will come amongst us, the lions that the enemy sends in. Lions of deception, and all these things that roar about us in our homes because we’re not doing it the right way. That is so important in our land of motherhood.

No. 8. WE MUST HAVE A WILLING HEART

 Isaiah 1:19-20: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” 

It’s so important to have a willing heart. Everything starts with the heart, doesn’t it? A willing heart. A willingness to be open to God’s ways. A willingness to hear instructions.

That’s not an easy thing to do, to hear instructions. Sometimes people will speak to us and point out something we’re doing wrong. Maybe even our husbands will seek to show us something we’re doing wrong and we kind of get our hackles up. We just don’t like to be told. But there are so many Scriptures in the Word of God of how to receive instruction belongs to the wise. It’s the foolish who do not receive instruction. We learn so much as we receive instruction. We must have a willing heart.

Let’s look at a few other Scriptures about that in Exodus 35. This is where Moses asked for all the different materials to come from the people so they could build the tabernacle. In verse 21, it says: “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing.” It starts in the heart. It starts in the spirit. That’s where our willingness begins.

It’s such a big thing, ladies, to cultivate that willingness in your heart. Yes, cultivate a willing heart. “Everyone whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle. . . both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold.”

Yes, go down to verse 25: “And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.”

Verse 29: “The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing.”

I love that. “Whose heart made them willing.” Now we read “willing” more than once in that passage. One of the Hebrew words for “willing” there means “to volunteer, to present spontaneously, offer freely.” That’s verse 21.

In verse 22, “willing hearted” is a different Hebrew word. It means “to be generous, to be magnanimous, liberal.” It’s a really big-hearted willingness it’s talking about there where they brought all their jewels, their earrings.

Just reading “earrings” there, yes, that’s interesting. They had to bring earrings, and rings, and jewels of gold, and so on. It made me think of how there was a time when I didn’t even wear earrings. I was brought up in a denomination that was pretty conservative. I think everybody in that denomination would wear earrings today but back all those years ago, it was frowned upon. So, I didn’t wear earrings.

Then, as I got older, I noticed Scriptures in the Word of God that talked about earrings. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that often we do things, or we don’t do things, just because of tradition. We really have to find out what the Bible says, don’t we?

I have to tell you a little secret, ladies. Don’t tell anybody else, will you? But I actually didn’t start wearing earrings until I was 70 years of age! Wow! But then, I had come to realize as I was reading the Word of God, “Wow, they actually did wear earrings! Well, I am a biblical woman, so I’d better start!”

I thought, “OK, well, I’ll go and get my ears pierced.” So, I thought, “If I’m going to do it, I'll really do it!” So, I got two piercings in each ear. I thought, “Right. Might as well do it properly!” But then I didn’t keep wearing the second. I just wore one pair of earrings, so they gradually closed up. That’s when I started. Isn’t that amazing?

Let’s see some Scriptures here, because every single thing I do in life, I like to have Scriptures for it. In Ezekiel 16:10, it’s an allegory, a beautiful allegory. You can read the whole chapter later, but it’s how God chose Israel and what He did.

He said: “I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked” (real King James language there) “Thus, wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work.” This is God speaking. And He uses all these beautiful descriptions of a woman clothed with beauty and jewels and even earrings in her ears. Wow, I read that and think, “Yes, I’d better get on the job!”

What else do we read? We go right back to Genesis, and we read how when Abraham’s servant came to find a bride for Isaac, and he found Rebecca, that he gave her jewels of silver and jewels of gold. Genesis 24:53.

And then we go to Exodus 3:21. When they were leaving Egypt, God told the Israelites, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters.”

And then Isaiah 61:10 talks about how God covers us, like a bride adorns herself with jewels. So, we read lots of other Scriptures. Actually, ladies, oh, I’d better tell you the rest of my secrets. Can you believe it? OK, I was 70 when I first started wearing earrings. And guess what? I was 70 years of age when I started drinking coffee! Can you believe that? What a crazy lady.

But, you see, once again, I grew up with a mother (shows you how powerful your mother is!) and she did not believe in coffee. She thought it was bad for you. She didn’t drink it and we never drank it in our house. I grew up not drinking it and thinking it was bad for you. If anything is bad for you, well, I don’t eat it or drink it. Until, of course, later on down the years, and getting near 70, I actually began to realize that coffee is an antioxidant, and it’s actually good for you! Wow! I had been deceived all those years! So, at 70 years of age, I started drinking coffee! Wow!

Can you guess what else I did at 70 years of age? Now, this is really crazy, so don’t tell anyone else, will you? Oh, it was that year that I became very nauseous. I felt so sick. It was just like morning sickness. Oh, I felt like I was pregnant, and I couldn’t eat that. It put me off. But then I had to eat other things. It was just as though I was pregnant!

I thought, “Goodness, what on earth is happening to me?” Guess what? I took a pregnancy test. At 70 years of age! Of course, it was negative. But my husband and I were so sad because we were hoping it would be positive. Now, how crazy can you get? [laughter] Those are my little crazy secrets. Will you still keep listening to me, I wonder?

Let’s get back to being willing. It’s a beautiful thing to have a willing heart—

willing to hear God’s voice,

willing to hear instruction,

willing to submit to my husband.

Oh, that’s not very popular in our humanistic age in which we live. But it is Bible. And it is beautiful. And it will bring such blessing in your marriage.

Willing to embrace God’s plan for you, as a female. Yes, in this age in which we are living, we must be willing to be female. There is such blurring of the sexes, more and more in this day, in every way; in our roles, in the way we even live, the way we dress, and every way. There is such blurring of the sexes. Are we willing to be female?

If God has created us female, I believe we should embrace our femaleness, our femininity, our womanliness, and be that in everything. Amen? Let us be willing in the day of His power. That’s a beautiful Scripture.

Psalm 110:3: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.” Yes, are we a willing woman?

No. 9. WE MUST WAIT UPON THE LORD

Psalm 37:34: “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.”

That word means “to look to the Lord, to look expectantly, to look patiently.” Many times we have to wait, don’t we? Things don’t just happen when we want them to. I read something the other day, that “When God gives us a promise, He does not give us a calendar.” I thought that was very, very good.

Yes, God’s promises do not fail. Maybe they’re not fulfilled right away. God doesn’t give us a calendar when He gives the promise. But you can hang onto that promise and if it’s in God’s Word, in His infallible Word, you can stake your life on it. But sometimes you’ve got to wait patiently but wait expectantly. No, we don’t just wait with, what is the word? With no expectation. No, we’re to wait expectantly even as we wait patiently. Amen?

No. 10. WE MUST FEAR THE LORD

Let me take you to Deuteronomy again.

Deuteronomy 31:12-13: “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land.”

Now, God is bringing all the people together. In fact, whenever God wanted to say something specific and important to His people, He gathered them together. When God gathered His people together, He gathered everyone, the fathers, the mothers, the children, the little ones, the babies. They all came.

It’s interesting here where it says: “Gather the people together, men and women, and children.” That word “children” there is the Hebrew word taph, T-A-P-H. That word is a word that means “the little children, the little toddlers. It’s the tripping gait, or short steps of the little toddlers.” That is so interesting.

Actually, in my study manual, The Power of Motherhood, I have a chapter where I give all the Hebrew words that God has in the Bible for “children.” There are 50 Hebrew words, all different stages of the child’s life, from birth, right up to older. Of course, taph is one of them, the toddler. I think that’s so amazing.

I think of church life. Many churches today refuse to have the children in their services, especially the toddlers, because it’s that toddler stage that is the most difficult in a service. They’re just learning how to sit. In fact, they hardly know how to sit still. They’re learning how to stay quiet, and they don’t always know how to stay quiet. So, we’re little by little training them and teaching them.

But God wanted them with the whole family when He was bringing His Word forth. He wanted everyone in the family. I believe that is His plan. When we meet together at church, it is to have the whole family. God does not want us to be separated. He doesn’t want us to come to church and drop our children off at the nursery, then the next class, then the next class, and then the next class. We drop them all off and then we walk in, just Mom and Dad. All the children are separated.

No, God wants us to be families with everyone present. Of course, that takes training of the children. But yes, that’s what we’re meant to do as parents. We’re meant to be training them, aren’t we? I wonder what kind of church you go to. Do they have all the family sitting together? That’s how it’s meant to be.

Deuteronomy 6:13: “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve Him.”

Deuteronomy 10:12: “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee? But to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul.” And so many other Scriptures.

I do believe that the fear of the Lord is . . . and the Word of God says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” There is so little of the fear of the Lord today. In our homes, and in our churches, I really believe there needs to be such a revival of the fear of the Lord. What does God say? He says: “In the land.”

In the land of our motherhood too, He wants us to fear Him. That means we’re not scared of Him, but we are in awe of Him. We do not want to do anything that would displease Him. We’re putting Him first in every aspect of our lives, even of our family life. Our children know that He is paramount.

Yes, He is the One that we listen to. He is the One that we obey. He comes first in every situation. Our lives are not ruled by our circumstances but by walking in the fear of the Lord. Oh, precious moms, just pray about how we can bring the fear of the Lord more and more into our homes.

Not only we ourselves, but that our children will walk in the fear of the Lord, that they will have soft hearts toward God, that they would fear to displease Him in any way, that we may hear the Word of God. They hear it with awe. They don’t just take it for granted. I think this is also very important. How we listen to the Word of God, how we read it. We can just take it for granted.

But do we come with a heart of awe to His Word? When we read something, we don’t just gloss over it. We take it to heart. We tremble at it. The Word of God talks about those who tremble at His Word. Those are the ones that He looks to (Isaiah 66:2).

May God help us to walk in the fear of the Lord, to teach our children the fear of the Lord. As we walk in the fear of the Lord in our homes, well, then, there will be more of the fear of the Lord in our churches. It won’t be all this worldliness that we see today in Christendom. I think the fear of the Lord should affect every aspect of our lives. Not only the way we live, but the way we speak, the way we treat our husbands, the way we dress.

WOMEN CAN BE CLOTHED AND YET NAKED!

It is so sad that so much of the church of God today does not dress according to the fear of God. They dress according to the fashion of this world that exposes so much of the flesh. I can’t believe it! People come to church exposing the flesh! I can’t believe it. People come to church, actually clothed and yet naked!

Did you know that, well, most people, I don’t think they know. But when they wear the tight pants that many females are wearing today (not only the young people, but even some older ones) you can see everything! When they walk, they don’t see their behinds. But people walking behind them see every single nook and cranny and curve and wrinkle. They’re clothed but they’re naked. Help!

What does it do to the men walking behind them? Wow! I think it’s time for the fear of God to come back to us as families and to the church. Because how is it that we, as mothers, allow our children to go out of our homes dressed in these ways? And looking like this? I’m not quite sure. It doesn’t equate with the Word of God. It doesn’t equate with holy living. I think we are in need of a great revival, don’t you?

Anyway, time is gone. Love you all so much! May you have a glorious and wonderful and amazing new year, as we go into the New Year this weekend.

“Lord God, we thank You again for all Your goodness over this past year. For Your faithfulness, for Your provision, for answering our prayers. Lord, You are so good. We give You thanks.

“We thank You we can go into this New Year, trusting You, knowing that You are our God, and You are faithful. We pray, Father, that we will go into this New Year, walking in the fear of the Lord, that there will come such a greater fear of the Lord into all our hearts, and into the church of God. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 236: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, part 11

How big is your trust in God? How do we trust God for pregnancy, for birth, and for the provision of our needs? Is God big enough?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello to you today! We’re continuing our series, “What Does God Want us to so in our Land of Motherhood?” No. 6 today: WE MUST TRUST THE LORD IN TH IS LAND.

Before I get on to speaking about that, I’m wondering, have you received your Above Rubies in the mail yet? I hope so. It should be there. If not, give it another week, and if it doesn’t arrive, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We’ll check it out.

Of course, that’s just for those in the USA. Above Rubies is on its way to other countries, but you do have to wait a bit longer for it to get there. I’m sorry about that. Those of you who live in the USA, if you don’t get Above Rubies, also write in, and we can make sure you don’t miss out on this issue.

For those who do receive it, if you’re thinking of people you need to give it to, you can email me, and send their names and addresses to me. I’ll be happy to send it to them. Or you can ask for more magazines to give personally. Whichever way you want to do it.

Whatever way, we want to get this message out into the nations. This is God’s message. This is the message of truth. We want to get truth out, to overcome the lies and deception that are all around. In fact, in this hour of living in a world of lies, I believe the greatest thing that we can do is to live by the truth, to be those who are not deceived by the lies, even though they are so prevalent all around us, but to continually be in the Word, to search God’s truth, and to live by the truth, which means to live a radical life. Because the truth is radical.

What is “radical?” Well, “radical” means “to get to the root.” That’s the real meaning of “radical.” We have to get to the root, to the truth of what God says. What God says is usually pretty opposite to what the world is saying. We are living a life that is counterculture. But that is the greatest antidote to lies, to live a life of truth.

TRUTH LIVING FAMILIES

Oh, precious ladies, let’s be truth-living mothers! Let’s be truth-speaking mothers! Truth-heralding mothers, truth-imparting mothers! Let’s get the truth into our children, that they will grow up, being truthful, understanding children, knowing the truth, not being deceived by the lies.

We need to be truth-living families! That means we’ll be living differently to the rest of the world, maybe the rest of the church. But no, we’re going to live by the truth! Amen? I hope you’ll say “amen” out loud as you are listening.

All right. God wants us to trust Him in the land.

Psalm 37:3: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”

Isaiah 57:13: “He that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land.” We see a foundation of living in the blessing of the land is to trust God. It just seems such a cliché to say, “Trust God,” doesn’t it?

I love those beautiful lines that say,

Trust Him when dark days assail thee,

Trust Him when thy faith is small,

Trust him when to simply trust Him

Is the hardest thing of all.

Yes, it’s easy to trust God when everything’s going great, when we’ve got everything we need, when we’re surviving OK. Oh, but it’s a different thing to trust the Lord when we don’t know where the next meal is coming from, when we don’t know how we’re going to pay this bill, when we don’t know how we’re going to pay our house payment.

Oh goodness me, there are so many areas of “where, what, with, if, wherefore.” But that’s when we really have to trust God, isn’t it? We trust Him when we don’t know where else to look. We trust Him when the hardest thing to do is to trust Him. In this land of motherhood, it is a land of trusting God and trusting Him for His provision.

In this land of motherhood, as we were talking about last week, and coming back to our homes, being married to the home, living a Beulah life, which is to be married to our home and the land of motherhood, to be delighting in it. When we do that, well, help! Here we are! We’re in the home! We’re relying on our husband’s income!

Well, we’re relying on more than that. We’re trusting God. Oh, dear lovely ladies, if I just had to trust on my husband’s income all throughout our lives, I don’t know how we would have survived. But you see, there’s another level, when we trust God even beyond our provision. We have proved that over the years.

Of course, we’re beyond raising our children now. We are now to the stage of having great-grandchildren. But all through the years of raising our children we were living from hand to mouth. We went through tough times, hard times. But even in those times, I couldn’t even think of leaving my home and children to go out and earn some money. I used to say, “I’d rather live in a tent than to leave my children!” I couldn’t do it!

And yet, God was faithful. We didn’t always have everything we wanted, but my, we had everything we needed. God is so faithful. I want to encourage you, dear lovely ladies, to lift your trust above what you can see, even above your husband’s income. God is able to provide in other ways, in miraculous ways. Somehow, you survive even when you don’t even know how you’re surviving, but you are! Because God does it! It’s amazing.

I love hearing the testimonies of many women who write to me and share with me. They say, “Oh, we had this next baby. It was number five, or number six. We didn’t know how we were going to do it, but my husband got a raise! In fact, every time we have another baby, my husband gets a raise!” I often hear that testimony.

They will say, “And God provided us with this bigger van! Wow! We couldn’t even fit all our children in the vehicle we had, but God did it, miraculously!” And God does these miraculous things. He provides food beyond what you can even buy. He can land a box of groceries on your doorstep. He can provide in amazing ways as you trust Him, trust Him.

We have to learn to trust Him. It’s not an easy thing, because we haven’t got our faith in what we can see. It’s beyond what we can see. But the more we trust Him, the more we find He is faithful, and therefore, we can trust Him more.

Actually, there’s a lovely old hymn about that. My husband is here again today. He’s in the kitchen preparing one of his messages, so I’m going to get him, and tell him to come and sing it, because, as I told you last week, you wouldn’t want to listen to me singing! Goodness me!

I remember when my husband and I were courting, one day he said, “Sing to me.” So, I sang to him, and he actually just laughed! He couldn’t believe how terrible it sounded! [laughter] And he couldn’t believe that I wasn’t even singing in tune!

Oh, goodness me. Anyway, hey darling! Woohoo! Come, can you come? I need you. Come, I want you to sing for me. Actually, I love him singing to me. He loves to sing. Often, when he’s preaching, he will come out with a song, an old hymn, or a worship song, or something. He’s always singing.

“You remember that lovely old hymn, ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus’”?

Colin: Oh, yes. Sure do.

Nancy: OK, sing it to us!

Colin:

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

 

I’m so glad I learned to trust Him,

Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend,

And I know that Thou art with me,

Will be with me ‘til the end.

 

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

Nancy: Amen! That’s one of my favorite hymns. Isn’t it true? I love to sing it. “O for grace to trust Him more!” Do you love to sing the hymns? Well, here on the Hilltop and at our church, we sing the current worship songs. Our young people love to sing the worship songs. Many of them are so anointed, and so wonderful. The music is so glorious. It takes you into heights of worship. We love to do that.

But at our family devotions in the morning and in the evening, then we will sing the hymns, because I think it’s so great to have both. I do believe that we have seasons of different kinds of music. As there is a new season of music coming, we need to embrace it, especially that which is truly anointed of the Lord. We always seek that which is anointed of the Lord. But in embracing the new, we do not discard the old.

I feel sad to know that so many young people today don’t even know one hymn! They’re missing out on so much, because the hymns may not have the same glorious music, but my, they have doctrine. They have truth. And it’s so wonderful to get that into our children.

I love that Scripture in Matthew 13:52. I quote it often. Jesus is speaking. He's giving a parable here. He says: “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things NEW AND OLD.”

I love that, because I believe that in God’s treasure house, there are things both new and old. There is so much of the old that is so important, so foundational, so good, that we must not discard. We must keep it and hold onto it. Then there is the new. God is always bringing forth that which is new and fresh because our God is never stale. He is always bringing that which is new. We embrace the new also. We delight in the treasures of both new and old.

Now, there are some who only know the current worship songs. There are some who still only know the hymns. I have friends who actually still only sing the Psalms. In fact, I remember once, we were speaking over in Ireland, in the UK.

We went to this meeting and there was a certain group of people who came who were so back in the dim, dark ages that they did not even believe in hymns! The hymns were far too modern for them. They came into this meeting, and we were singing hymns, actually, at this meeting. But they would not even open their mouths and sing one of the hymns! Isn’t that amazing? But\ I think we should be open to the new and the old.

Let’s get back to talking about trusting the Lord. One of the things, of course, that we do have to trust the Lord for in our land of motherhood is for the provision of food, the provision of our needs. Let me give you a few Scriptures. The Word of God is filled with His word and His promises to watch over us and to provide for us. But let me give you just a few to encourage you again today.

I do believe that the more we are in the Word, ladies, the more the Word of God fills us up, the more we trust God. Because when you read His Word, you take hold of it, you believe it, you stand on it. Well, then, that’s trusting Him. “I’m going to trust His Word! I’ll stand on His Word, no matter what!” That’s where we learn to trust Him.

Let’s look at a few. I won’t give you them all. We’d be here all day, wouldn’t we? Let’s go to Deuteronomy 7:12-15. God is speaking here to the people. The whole of Deuteronomy is Moses speaking to the children of Israel as they’re preparing to go in and take the land.

It’s a wonderful book to read. I love to read it over and over again. I’ll come back to it and read it through again. Although I basically read the King James version, I love to pick up another translation, so sometimes I'll read it in a different translation. It’s so great, because every word here is preparation for possessing the land. That’s what we’re doing in the land of motherhood. We’re possessing the land.

Here he says: “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He sware unto thy fathers: And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee.” Isn’t that interesting? Do you notice those words, dear ladies? “He will love thee and bless thee.” Oh, we so long for those words. We want to feel God’s love. We want to live in His blessings.

So, how does He show us His love? How does He bless us? Well, the next phrase is, “and multiply thee.” That’s how God loves us. That’s how He blesses us. You see, ladies, this is Bible language. Many, even Christians, don’t understand this. They think, “Oh, if God was to give me another baby, how would I survive? How would we provide? Oh, help!”

But this is God’s plan. This is how He blesses us. Of course, He will provide. He goes on to say, “He will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.”

What is it saying here? He says, “I will bless the fruit of your womb.” But God does not stop there. He says, “When I bless the fruit of your womb, I will then bless your cattle, and I will bless your land, and your corn, and your wine, and everything that you’re doing to provide for the fruit of your womb.”

You see, those things come after the blessing of the fruit of the womb. There’s no need for them if you don’t have the fruit of the womb. What are you providing for? We provide for the children God gives us. When He gives us a blessing from the womb, then He multiplies the blessings so that we can provide for the blessings of the womb.

Let’s go over to Deuteronomy 28. That’s the blessing chapter. You need to read the whole chapter. Well, actually, verses 1-14 are the blessings and then verses 15-68 are the cursings. Oh, wow! Sadly, there are more cursings than blessings. I have to confess I usually like to read the blessings. The blessings come, as verse one says, if we “hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments.”

Then He says in verses 3-5: “Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body,” or thy womb. And then, after that, “and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.”

Once again, we see that when God blesses the fruit of the womb, He has then promised to bless the fruit of the ground, and the fruit of our store, and everything that we do to provide for the fruit of the womb.

Go over here, in verse 11: “And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.” When God blesses the fruit of the womb, He then gives the blessings of provision to provide. Amen?

Let’s look at Nehemiah 9:21: “Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” I’m always amazed at that Scripture. He said that “In the wilderness, they lacked nothing.”

Well, it’s true. God always provided their food. They never lacked. Every single day, except the seventh day of the week, God sent them manna, the provision of food. He provided miraculously all their needs, even in the wilderness.

Well, they didn’t have everything they wanted. They didn’t have a corner store where they could pop down, get a carton of milk if they ran out, buy a loaf of bread, get what they wanted. They didn’t have any modern conveniences like we have today. They didn’t have washing machines and dryers and dishwashers and all the things that we have.

But God said, “They lacked nothing.” If we have food, and clothing, and a roof over our heads, we lack nothing. Maybe we wish our home was bigger or better. Maybe we wish we had a better this and a better that, and I do have to confess that sometimes I complain about my fridge. Oh, goodness me! The fridges in my house are always failing, and the things are breaking, and I can hardly fit anything in them. Oh, but you know what? At least I have a fridge. We must be careful about all our complaining, mustn’t we? Because God miraculously provides.

Oh, my. I think back when Colin and I (coming this March we’ll have been married 60 years) how God has provided. All the way along. We just had to trust Him. And He has been faithful. We have lacked nothing. Well, we may have perhaps wanted things, but we didn’t need them. No! In fact, our things we have we don’t even need. It’s amazing how little you can live with, isn’t it? Oh, goodness me!

Let’s go to Psalm 37:25. Here David is speaking. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread.” God has promised to bless the righteous.

What does it say in Psalm 112? I love these Scriptures. I think one of the greatest blessings of life is to have a godly and righteous husband. God has promised to bless the man that fears the Lord.

Psalm 112:1-3: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His children shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth forever.” When our husband fears the Lord, God has promised that He will provide, and He will be faithful.

Psalm 78:18-20, talking about the children of Israel: “And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can He give bread also? Can He provide flesh for His people?”

Oh, they were filled with doubt and unbelief. They didn’t trust Him. They said, “Can God?” Oh, we’re so prone to doing that ourselves, aren’t we? “Can God?” Oh, can God provide for another baby?

Oh. I remember talking to someone, and they were telling me, “We stopped at three children because that was all that we could provide for. We knew we couldn’t provide for any more than that.” I said to them, “So, is the God in whom you believe a God Who is only capable of providing for three children?”

And, literally, that is what we are saying when we say, “Can God? Can God provide for another baby?” We are not believing in the God of the Bible. We are believing in a God of our own imagination! Some god that we have made up in our own brain. Because our God is bigger. Our God will provide for every baby that He sends because He is the One Who sends it. He is able. He is bigger. He is the God of the Bible! Amen!

And when God heard them say these things: “Therefore the Lord heard this, and was angry: so, a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel: Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation.”

Oh, lovely ladies, let’s be those who trust Him! Amen?

Let’s go to the New Testament. Philippians 4:11-13: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Paul was confessing there that he’d known times of abundance, but also times of want and hunger. We do go through different seasons in our lives. Sometimes the seasons of difficulty and we barely get through, but we get through. Even in the difficult times, God gets us through. He will never ever, ever, ever, ever fail us. Keep in His Word. Keep in His promises, dear lovely ladies, because the more you stand on His Word, the more you will be able to trust Him, because you will know that He is faithful.

SAVED, PRESERVED, PROTECTED, HEALED, AND MADE WHOLE

 I love the words in 1 Timothy 2:15. This is talking about motherhood here, how that mothers will be saved in childbearing. The King James says: “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

I like the New American Standard Bible: “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity, with self-restraint.”

The passage in Timothy is in the context of deception, and how Eve was first deceived but she will be saved, or preserved, in childbearing. Now, this is not just the act of childbirth. Some people preach that, but that is not true. The meaning is the whole understanding of motherhood, of childbearing, of the bearing and raising and nurturing of children, embracing motherhood.

As she embraces motherhood, she will be saved from the deception that so many women are getting into today, because when we move out of the home, when we move away from our land of motherhood, when we separate motherhood from the home, we then become very vulnerable to the deception of the enemy. Many women are so deceived that they don’t even know they are deceived.

But God has promised that we will be preserved. We’ll be preserved, not only from deception, but we will be preserved in our bodies, and in our souls, and in our spirits, as we embrace motherhood. It is an amazing Scripture.

That word “saved” is the word sozo. That word sozo literally means “saved, protected, healed, preserved, and made whole.” That’s the full meaning of the word. That word is used about motherhood. Isn’t that wonderful, ladies? When you embrace motherhood, embrace the children God wants for you and your family, embrace the raising and nurturing of your children in the home, you will be PRESERVED, SAVED, PROTECTED, HEALED, AND MADE WHOLE!

That word is used often when Jesus was healing someone. It says: “And at that moment, they were made whole.” It’s the same word, sozo. That same word is used of mothers. Childbearing has the power to make your whole, to heal you. In fact, many women, even with problems that they have physically, often when they are pregnant, they go into remission. Many women are healed of many ailments through pregnancy because it has the power to heal.

The whole embracing of the lifestyle of motherhood is healing. It makes us whole—body, soul, and spirit. Yes, your body, too. Many women are afraid to trust God for another pregnancy, to have another baby. But the Word of God comes that we are preserved in childbearing and child rearing.

In this land of motherhood, yes, we do have to learn to trust God.

I know that there are many of you who faced some pretty challenging situations, even physically, emotionally, mentally. We don’t live in a perfect world. Today our bodies are not always perfect or functioning as they should. Some women do have many challenges in pregnancy, in childbirth. But you can trust God. Dear ladies, God is able to bring you through. He is with you. He is an amazing God.

Even if you had a difficult pregnancy, or even if you had quite a traumatic birth, it doesn’t mean that you will have traumatic birth the next time. Even if you had a c-section. Some people, many doctors will say, “Oh, you can’t have another c-section!” Well, yes, you can. I know women who have had 10, 12, and even up to 15 c-sections.

When we maybe have a cut or something happens to our body, outwardly, our body heals. God has created the body to heal but the body also heals on the inside. You’ve had something happen to you inwardly. You are going to heal. Give your body time to heal. God heals. He is a healer. He will heal you. Trust Him. You can trust God.

Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we pray that You will help us to trust You more. Oh, Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust You more. We thank You, Lord, that as we do trust you, we find You to be so faithful. The more we trust You, the more we learn of Your faithfulness. Please teach us how to trust You more. We ask in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

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

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOUR FAMILY!

A WINTER RETREAT IN THE SUN IN FLORIDA!

COMING VERY SOON! January 4 -11.

THERE’S STILL TIME FOR YOU TO BOOK!

Join us for our first ever WINTER family retreat. Register ASAP!

The great news is that we get the winter rates for campus housing and the prices are incredibly affordable!

Gather your friends, old and new, and join us for this exciting week of fellowship together! We can’t wait to be with you! We will offer small groups, family activities, volleyball and basketball, fun on the beach, prayer, worship, teaching, and wonderful fellowship with kindreds spirits. 

Organized by Daniel and Allison Hartman and team.

Speakers: Colin and Nancy Campbell

Go to:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZvDgzVsyd46VfBtSDBH3hd-m3LYjuLCjGtk9m72m4ERFHiA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3DYwjwO4B0eoh8YlGwcN-AAkvGM-D9a71jAVR0ZC_FjtEEzaYpwvDeN4I&mibextid=S66gvF 

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 235: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land, Part 10

Have you ever heard of Beulah Land? Join in to find out what it is all about it. It really affects you as a mother. And it concerns the nation!

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Always wonderful to be with you! We are continuing our series, “What We Must Do in the Land of Motherhood.” Today we’re up to point No. 5. It is, “YOU MUST BE MARRIED TO THE LAND.” Wow! Where did I get that idea?

Well, of course, it’s in the Word of God. We are going to go to Isaiah 62:3-5. Now, of course, it’s speaking about Israel. We’re taking our whole series of what God said to His people about the land that He was taking them to. We are relating it to our land of motherhood.

 “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” Remember, ladies, God has brought us into a royal kingdom. He looks upon us as royalty. We are kings and priests unto God. We are part of a royal kingdom. We must constantly keep this in our hearts because it changes the whole way that we live.

Let’s continue: “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.”

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL ARE SYNONYMOUS

In this passage, we see that God looks upon the land as something He delights in. He wants us to delight in it. He calls the land “Beulah.” B-E-U-L-A-H. That means, “to be married.” God wanted His people to be married to the land. Actually, that is very true if you think about the people of Israel. The people of Israel are called “Israel,” and the land is called “Israel.” The people of Israel and the land of Israel are synonymous. They are part of one another. It’s how God intended it should be. It’s always been like that.

I remember way back, when we were living in Australia. Colin and I were out for a walk one day in the Australian bush. We met this couple. Actually, they’d got lost, and they were going completely the wrong way! We had to get them back on the right way.

But from this meeting, we made friends with this couple. We got to love them so much. They were a Jewish couple having come from Israel. They were living in Australia for a while because he was a scientist. He was doing scientific work in Australia. Their names were Avigdor and Ruthie. He was a Russian Jew. She was a Persian Jew.

But I remember him telling us. He said, “When I was growing up in Russia as a young Jewish boy, I had never ever heard of the land of Israel. And yet, something within me knew that I belonged to a land. It wasn’t Russia. I knew I belonged to a land somewhere. I’d never heard of it. I didn’t know it existed, but I knew. It was in me.”

Then, as he grew up and became an adult, he then heard about Israel! The people of Israel were coming back to the land. He knew that was what had been in his heart all his life. He made aliyah back to Israel. After their being in Australia for a few years, they returned to Israel. Colin and I actually visited them in their home in Israel in a suburb just out of Jerusalem. Sadly, we’ve lost contact with them now which I’m very sad about.

But it shows you how connected God’s people are to the land. Whenever God’s people have been out of the land, the land has languished. Here in this passage in Isaiah 62, it’s pointing to what happened when the Jews were taken to Babylon. They were taken there for 70 years, but God promised He would bring them back after the 70 years. During that time, the land was forsaken and desolate.

That happened also in AD 70. Do you remember the history of when Titus came to Israel? He razed Jerusalem to the ground after a big long fight. But they wiped out Jerusalem and most of the Jewish people fled from Israel. Some of them escaped to Masada. Some of you will know the amazing story of Masada, and what happened there. Some of you may have visited Masada. I’ve been there many times. Wonderful place to go.

But for those nearly 2000 years, right up to 1948 when Israel became a nation again, which was a miracle of God Himself, fulfilling the prophetic promises that God had given to Israel, that although He dispersed them to the four corners of the earth, He would never forsake them. He would bring them back to the land.

Well, in all those years, while most Israelis were out of the land, the land once again languished, became forsaken, and was desolate. It became desert and malarial swamps. Even when the Jews began coming back to the land, making aliyah, coming back as they have done for all these years since 1948, and even a little before, and are still continuing to come back. Especially back in those early years, oh my. It was tough, tough work to bring the land back.

But they have done that. Now, the land is once again blossoming like the rose. It is unbelievable what is happening because God’s people are back in the land. They are meant to be in the land. God blesses the land when His people are in the land.

I’m thinking of Ezekiel 36, a most wonderful prophetic chapter. I’d encourage you, sometime when you’ve got a moment after this podcast, to read the whole chapter. It is amazing. This chapter is being fulfilled in our eyes today, right now.

It starts off in Ezekiel 36:1, where it says: “Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.” The whole chapter is the word of the Lord about the land. Did you notice, God was not saying that He was to prophesy to people? We always think that prophecy is a word to people! But here God is saying, “No, you prophesy to the land.”

We read in verse four: “Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains.” God is speaking. He’s not speaking to people. He’s speaking to the land! “To the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey.”

We read down . . . I won’t read the whole chapter. Verse eight: “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.”

Verse 11: “And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

God is here prophesying to the land, and saying, “Land, when My people come back to the land, shoot forth your branches, bring forth fruit for My people.” That is what has happened. When God’s people came back, and as they worked on the land (of course, they had to work hard) but as they have worked the land, the land is bringing forth fruit again! It’s blossoming like the rose. There are now streams in the desert. It is so glorious to see.

I have only visited Israel four times, but I remember way back when I first went, I remember coming from Egypt, and coming through. Then we got to the border of Israel, and you couldn’t even believe the difference! You’re coming through the desert, and suddenly, you’re at the border of Israel. There were all these orange groves, and fruitfulness. But that was many years ago. As I have visited in latter times, and especially the last visit that I went to Israel, I couldn’t believe how every time it is blossoming more.

The last visit I was so privileged to go out to HaYovel with the Waller family and be part of what they are doing out there on the West Bank, pruning and harvesting the grapes on all the vineyards on the hills of Samaria out there. Oh goodness me! It was, I think, one of the greatest miracles that I have seen in my lifetime, to go out to the West Bank, to go out there and see that there were still all these barren hills, just stones and dirt . . .

But then, you would see a vineyard that they had planted! Growing out of these stones and a bit of dead dirt that just looked so dry and barren, were growing these prolific vineyards! The grapes, the bunches of grapes, were just glorious! I remember going out there early in the morning and having the privilege of harvesting some of these grapes with the team that were doing it. And here I was, I was standing on stones! And yet, I was picking these glorious, luscious grapes that were growing out of them!

It’s miraculous, because God had prophesied the word that "Out of this earth, and out of these mountains, would come forth fruit for My people!” It’s totally miraculous because it was for His people. The land and the people of Israel are synonymous together. They are married to the land. God said, “Your land is Beulah,” which means “married.”

Now, precious ladies, we are talking about our land of motherhood. God also wants us to be married to the land of motherhood. Yes, married to the land. What does it mean, to be married? Well, when you’re married, you are committed to your marriage. You are one with your husband. You love your husband. You serve your husband. This is marriage.

HOME AND MOTHERHOOD ARE SYNONYMOUS TERMS

This is the attitude He wants us to have to our land of motherhood. Home and motherhood are synonymous terms. A mother without being in the home is not the true reality. A home without a mother in the home is not how it’s meant to be. Motherhood and home are synonymous terms, just as Israel and the land are synonymous terms. God planned for the mother to be in the home.

We see this right back in the very beginning. This is where we find truth, ladies, right at the very beginning. The very beginning. In fact, I was just thinking the other day, we’re living in such a deceived hour. I read this little statement just the other week. It says, “The last fight between God and satan would be about marriage and family.”

I believe that is so true. We are in this fight right now, dear ladies, because the very first thing that God did at the very beginning of the Word of God was He started with marriage and family. That’s where the Bible starts, dear ladies. It starts with marriage and family. Tell me, where does it end? It ends in Revelation, that last book of the Bible, once again, with marriage. When we come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is united with His Bride, whom He died and bled for.

The whole of the Word of God is about marriage. Marriage is only the type of this whole glorious story of God’s Word where God sent His Son, to die, to redeem a bride. This is what it’s all about. Satan knows. He tries to distort God’s plan, what God planned to reveal, to reveal His plan of the ages to redeem a Bride and to show it in an earthly sense through marriage.

Then the fruitfulness of marriage, of children coming. Yes, this is God’s plan. But satan hates it. He’s out to distort it and deceive it. In this end-time hour, he is fighting more than ever. We see how he is trying, has been always, but even now it seems that it’s even more, trying to eliminate children. Oh, we see what is even happened through this plandemic which was part of one of the plans of the New World Order and the World Economic Forum.

The other night, we watched with some friends this DVD called “Died Suddenly.” I wonder if you have watched it. If you haven’t, check it out. Look up “Died Suddenly,” and I’m sure some link will come up that you can download and watch. It is the most devastating thing you can ever watch, to see. Oh, it shows you how so many people, everywhere, are dying suddenly through this vaccine. Of course, you don’t see that on the media.

But to see how the birth rates have gone down since the beginning of this plandemic. Wow, we saw one chart of these birth rates. Wow, one country especially, Australia, a country where we lived for ten years, it shows you the birthrate going down. It was unbelievable. More than any other country – 70 percent. It revealed the statistics of the miscarriages and even deformed babies. All these things are not being shown on the media, but they are happening. They are all to eliminate the godly seed.

Now we are facing this terrible evil, more horrific than anything we’ve ever faced. It's horrific enough to have in our nation same-sex marriage, which is now law. That is an abomination to God. How can we, in this nation that was founded on godly principles be facing this? It’s unbelievable. But now we have transgenderism. They’re even trying to get young people to change to the opposite sex, to even choose to be a eunuch! This is all diabolical. But you see the fight against God’s plan.

At the very beginning, we go to Genesis 2:7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” What happened next? Verse eight: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

The next thing God did, after He created man, was to create the garden home. Ladies, do you get it? We don’t even read anything about the woman being created until away down in verse 18. God hasn’t created the woman yet. No! He had to create the home first. He created the man before the home, but not the woman. No, He had the home ready for her, before He brought her into the world.

Then we go over, down the chapter. We read in verse 21 down to verse 25 about how the woman was created. When she woke up to life, where was she?  She was in her home. Her home! Yes, God made the woman for the home, the mother for the home. Mother and home are synonymous.

Dear ladies, for many decades now, maybe the last six decades or so, we have seen such an abdication of women from the home. The enemy has been wooing women, mothers, mothers, out of the home. The home and motherhood have been separated. That is not God’s plan. The home has become like the land of Israel became when His people were not in it. It’s become forsaken, desolate.

Now, I know that’s not what’s happening your home as you’re listening. But across the nations, even in the church, you go to the homes of the people, and they’re empty during the day. The mother is out at work. The children are in daycare or in our public school system where they’re being programmed in progressivism and all the things that are against God and against family. That’s not God’s plan. It’s not His plan for them to be separated.

WHEN MOTHERS COME BACK TO THE HOME, HOMES WILL FLOURISH AGAIN

Dear ladies, I believe it’s time for there to come a revival of mothers coming back to the home. Just as God has been bringing His people back to the land, and once again the land is blossoming like a rose, this is what will happen when God’s people, God’s mothers, come back to the home. I believe the home will blossom again. The marriages will blossom again. Family life will blossom again. They will become fruitful again.

Instead of empty homes, homes will be filled with children. Older ones, middling ones, little ones running around. A new baby coming along. A mother out in the workforce, out in the career world, she doesn’t have time to be fruitful. But when the mother comes back to the home, the home can flourish again. What happens when homes are flourishing? Then the nation begins to flourish again.

So, precious ladies, God wants your home to be Beulah. Yes, you may not have heard that word before, but it’s a biblical word. It belongs to the land. It belongs to the land of Israel. It belongs to your land of motherhood. He wants you to be married to your land.

Did you know that you can even be home, you can be a stay-at-home mother and still not be married to your land? Oh yes, it’s like in a marriage. You can be married and not truly be one with your husband. Not truly be in love with your husband. Oh yes, you’re just getting on.

“INLOVENESS”

But God wants more than that. He has something for you that is so beyond just the average and the normal. He wants you to be in love with your husband. I remember reading that word in a book I was reading. I just can’t remember the name of it now. Some of you will pick it up, but the story of this couple, they had such a glorious marriage relationship. They called it “inloveness.” I loved that word, “inloveness.” It means the state of being in love.

Do you know there are varying stages of love? You can love your husband, but you can also be in that state of “inloveness.” I think God has that for us. It’s like a marriage. It can be just, OK, you’re married, but it’s not something so beautiful. You’re married, but you’re not really married to one another. It’s being so one with one another.

It’s like being in the home. You can be there, but you’re there grudgingly in the home. “Oh, I’m home with these children. Oh goodness me, I can’t wait until they grow up and I can get out and do something else!” No, that’s not the attitude. God wants us to be in love with being in our homes and with embracing our children. In love. Yes, married to this land of motherhood. That’s how it’s meant to be. Out of that comes blossoming, fruitfulness, flourishing. It’s just how God intends it to be. Amen!

Are you getting these words? “Hephzibah.” It means, “my delight is in her.” You’re not grudgingly in the home, but you are delightfully being in the home.

“Beulah.” You are married to your land of motherhood. Oh, dear precious ladies, that doesn’t mean that you are confined and you’re in some boring role, and there’s something better for you out there. No, no, no! That’s brainwashing from the enemy! Absolute brainwashing, because the home is the most powerful place on earth. Oh goodness me, if only you can get ahold of it.

There’s nothing greater that you can be doing than training, and nurturing, and preparing the children God gives you to be mighty men and women for God. Signs and wonders in the land, who will go forth when they are ready, to go forth and reveal the Image of God in the earth. That is the most powerful thing you can do, the most nation-impacting thing you can do, the most generational thing you can do, because it will affect generations to come!

And that takes being married to the land, because when you are not married to the land, and you are out of the home, satan has a chance to get ahold of your children, which he is doing this day. He’s getting ahold of the minds of our children, even the minds of children of Christian families. Yes, and sometimes, sadly, even in the minds of homeschooling families.

Oh goodness me, we have to understand, dear mothers, that satan is out to get and deceive the minds of our children. He is doing this. It takes us being there, married to the land, to make sure that this does not happen.

By the way, yes, right at this moment, as I am sharing this podcast with you, the new Above Rubies #100 is now being posted and going out across the land. You may have received your copy. If you haven’t, you’ll receive it very, very soon. Every magazine has been packaged now. I pray it will so bless you.

This issue is going out as a weapon against satan, a weapon to counteract the deception of this hour which is against marriage and against family and against children coming into the world. They want to eliminate babies. But we are sending out the message to embrace babies, and to embrace the godly seed, and to raise godly children.

Dear ladies, when you get your magazine, oh, if you only get one magazine, I’m sorry, I don’t know what you should do because really you need more than one. You need magazines to share with others. We’ve got to get this message of truth out! This brainwashing that’s going on in this nation, it’s happening by a minority of people, and yet they are ruling the nation with all their ideologies and lies.

We’ve got to get out the truth. You are welcome to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Ask for more magazines so that you can give them to friends. You can put them in waiting rooms. You can take them out, wherever you go. I never leave my home without some Above Rubies in my bag so I can give them to people I meet. Every supermarket, or anywhere I go, there’s always a restroom. I go into those restrooms, and I put an Above Rubies in the baby-changing table, waiting for the next mother to come, so we can get the message out.

Some of you wonderful ladies, you get bulk orders of Above Rubies. Some of you get eight, some of you get 20, some of you get 50, some of you get 100! Oh, thank you for having a vision! Oh, don’t let one go to waste, but ask the Lord how you can get them out, and get this message out into the land so we can get back, so we can turn back to God’s ways.

Dear precious ladies, oh, I’m just thinking of Malachi 4, the last verses, the very last words we read in the Old Testament. You know them, of course, but it’s good to read them again: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers,” I believe that includes the mothers, “to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Dear ladies, the spirit of Elijah did come when John the Baptist came. Luke chapter one says that he came in the spirit and anointing of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, to prepare the way for Jesus coming the first time (Luke 1:16, 17). But Jesus is coming a second time and the dreadful day of the Lord has not yet happened.

Once again, there has to be that return of the hearts of the fathers and the mothers back to their children, back to the home, lest He smite the earth with a curse. We need to pray for this revival, that the forsaken and desolate homes will once again be filled with mothers and with children, and that homes will blossom and flourish again in the land.

We are getting to the end of this podcast, and I want to say also, of course, that this Beulah Land, it was first speaking about the children of Israel and the land. Then it speaks to us, of course, of us mothers in our land. But, of course, it also speaks to us of our walk with the Lord, our being married to the Lord. It’s so wonderful how the Word of God speaks on every front, doesn’t it?

You may not have heard the word “Beulah” before, but there are lots of hymns that were written about Beulah Land. One of my favorites is “Dwelling in Beulah Land.” Oh, it’s a wonderful hymn. Actually, I’d love to sing it to you, but I can’t sing! Did you know that I sing out of tune? I don’t even know how my daughters, Pearl and Serene, were signed by a record company. They sing in perfect pitch and harmonies. I can’t even sing in tune and yet I sang lullabies to them! How did they survive? I don’t know.

I think I should get my husband to come and sing it to you, because, oh, you would love it! Do you know the hymns? The hymns are so wonderful. I love them. Let me find my husband.

“Oh, Darling, please come, come, come, come, come! Come and sing this song. Would you mind doing that? Come and sit beside me. OK, You’ve got to sit right here, close, close. You can sit on that . . . “

Colin: I think most people know this song. [singing]

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling.
Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand.
Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling.
None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

I’m living on the mountain,
underneath a cloudless sky. Praise God!
I’m drinking at the fountain
that never shall run dry.
O yes! I’m feasting on the manna
from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation.
Hearing now His blessèd voice, I see the way He planned.
Dwelling in the Spirit here I learn of full salvation.
Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.

I’m living on the mountain,
underneath a cloudless sky. Praise God!
I’m drinking at the fountain
that never shall run dry.
O yes! I’m feasting on the manna
from a bountiful supply,
For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

Nancy: Amen! Thank you! Yes, ladies, Beulah Land is where we are feasting. And it’s a bountiful supply. It's not dry and forsaken and desolate. No. It’s where we’re living the abundant life. Amen!

Actually, that hymn was written by Charles Miles, way back in 1911. He wrote lots of hymns. He wrote “I Come to the Garden Alone.” You know that one, don’t you? Did you know that he also wrote “Wide, Wide As the Ocean,” that children’s song. Do you know that children’s song?

Wow, I grew up singing it all my life as a little child, and a bigger child. Then we taught it to our children. In fact, as our children were growing up, it was normal. Everywhere children sang, “Wide, Wide As the Ocean.” And now, I find, wow, I don’t find any children knowing it!

“Why don’t you sing that one too, Darling?”

Colin: All right.

Nancy: They will do actions, as the children do the actions. They love it! Oh, and maybe you could teach it to your children.

Colin: [singing]

Wide, wide as the ocean,
High as the heavens above;
Deep, deep as the deepest sea
Is my Savior's love;
I, though so unworthy,
Still I’m a child of His care;
For His Word teaches me
That His love reaches me ev'rywhere.

Nancy: Yes, I think we need to get that lovely children’s song being sung again! Our time has gone, dear ladies. So, let’s pray.

“Father, we thank You for all Your goodness to us. Lord, thank You for showing us that You want us to live in Beulah Land. That’s where You want us to live. Lord, help us to see Your truth. We’re so bombarded with deceit and lies that we often no longer see truth. But, Lord, You want us to be married to our land. Help us to truly experience this, and to live how You mean us to live, in Beulah Land. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen”.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

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

P.S. Have you received the new Above Rubies, #100? If not, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name and address.

Actions for WIDE, WIDE AS THE OCEAN which the children love to do.

Wide, wide as the ocean, (Hands stretched out wide)
High as the heavens above; (Hands lifted up high)
Deep, deep as the deepest sea (Hands stretched down)
Is my Savior's love;(Arms together like rocking a baby)
I, though so unworthy,
Still I’m a child of His care;
For His Word teaches me (Hands stretched out in front as though holding a Bible)
That His love reaches me ev'rywhere. (Hands stretched out wide again).

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 234: Our God is a Miracle-Working God

Imagine being diagnosed with cancer when you are dreaming of marriage? Neely Stewart shares God's wonderful working in her life. While in college she was diagnosed with cancer and informed she would never be able to have children. Today, she is surrounded with nine amazing children. Together with her husband, Ben, they own a campsite and use it to strengthen families, and also teach young people how to live purely and how to prepare for marriage. You can also find out more at www.brockmountainministries.org.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Great to be with you again! This is the night before Thanksgiving that we are recording this session. I have with me another wonderful visitor. For Thanksgiving week, we have the Hartman family staying with us. You heard from Allison last week.

We also have the wonderful Stewart family and their nine children. They are with us for Thanksgiving. They’re also here, helping us put down a new floor in the Above Rubies office, which is so wonderful. Oh my, I’m actually so glad you haven’t come to visit me in my office, although I know some of you already have, of course, because it’s like a cow shed!

We did have vinyl on the floor, but after all these years, it’s worn through. We’ve had many floods, and it’s actually got down to the concrete. They are so gloriously putting in a new floor which will be wonderful! I will feel as though as I am a normal person in my office which is just part of our home downstairs. We live upstairs, and Above Rubies is downstairs.

I have with me right here, Neely Stewart. She has a wonderful story to tell that I don’t even know about yet. Allison told me. She said, “Oh, you’ve got to get Neely to tell her story!” We’re all going to hear about it together. I know it’s going to be wonderful. So, thank you for being with us, Neely.

Neely: Oh, absolutely. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Nancy: Now, Allison told me that you found out before you were married that you would never be able to have children. Is that true? Tell us all about that.

Neely: Well, it’s definitely part of the miracle that God’s done in my life, for sure. When I was 19 years old, I was in college. I know you all just did the college podcast, but when I was growing up, you went to college. That’s how you had success. There are obviously many ways to success, but that was the route that I was on.

When I was in my sophomore year, I just wasn’t feeling good. It kept lingering, so I went to the college infirmary there. I thank God for that doctor, because he saw past my symptoms. He looked deeper than what I’d told him, and he ordered a blood test, which normally they’d give you antibiotics and send you on your way.

But he, and I believe God led him, he ordered a blood test. He found abnormal white blood cells. That is an indication of either leukemia, bone cancer, or lymphoma, I believe. After the first of about eight bone marrow aspirations, I was diagnosed with leukemia.

Nancy: Wow, that wasn’t very good news.

Neely: Not in my plans, for sure! At that point, it was within probably a week, I was in the hospital. They were beginning treatment and it was kind of a whirlwind. There were so many miracles throughout. Just the miracle of God’s presence. If God’s presence is there, that’s where you want to be. So, whether you’re going through a fight with cancer, or you’re on the mountaintop at the time, wherever God is, that’s where you want to be. His presence was so evidently there with me.

My mom had come up when she heard. When we got the test results, she’d come up. I wasn’t in my hometown. She was with me through this journey and because of my treatment, we went to the hospital in New Orleans.

It was a small miracle that God did in the very beginning. I had an extreme fear of pain. It was kind of a fear of needles but that was a very small miracle.  I was really afraid of the pain that I might go through. He brought me through that. Maybe that wouldn’t be something for someone else, but that was the beginning of so many miracles, like I was saying.

Honestly, prior to even my diagnosis, God had been leading me on a journey of His faithfulness. Although you’re never prepared for a cancer diagnosis, His faithfulness, I knew that He was with me. He was faithful and true. I knew He was with us. It was an ordeal, and I didn’t know all the details of what the doctors were telling my then-fiancé, now husband, and my mom.

Nancy: So, you were courting Ben at this stage?

Neely: Yes, we’d been dating for about two years at that time.

Nancy: Oh, you started quite young, then.

Neely: Yes, well, I was 17, and he was 19, I guess.

Nancy: Wonderful.

Neely: But the prognosis was, the night before the chemo, they said that I had about a four percent chance of living. If I lived through the night of that first round of chemotherapy, then it was up to about 25%. It was a crucial moment, that first night. Yes, ma’am.

Nancy: Goodness me! Oh, wow! So, what happened?

Neely: I survived. [laughter] It was arduous. But again, His presence was there. Honestly, the biggest support for us was God’s Word. We sought God’s Word, obviously what He would speak to our hearts at that time.

Isaiah 41:10, that has been a Scripture that has been a life verse for me. “Fear not; for I am with thee: be not afraid; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with My righteous right hand.”

The first was “fear not.” Of course, our human response, when we hear a diagnosis of cancer, is to fear. But God has repeatedly told us in His Word to “fear not.”

Actually, my youth group back home, when they heard about it, they created this huge banner, like, gosh, 10 feet by 12 feet probably. Every time my mom would hang it on the wall in my hospital room, it was in huge letters, and that was what I would feel when I’d wake up, or all day long. “FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH THEE.”

Nancy: That’s so wonderful. I’ve often liked to speak this Scripture out as a promise for every day of the week. You know there are seven promises in this one Scripture? It’s amazing. You can actually say it like this, you had it for every day as you were going through that. We can say it:

 “Fear thou not,” on Sunday.

“For I am with thee,” on Monday.

“Be not dismayed,” on Tuesday.

“For I am thy God,” on Wednesday.

“I will strengthen thee” on Thursday.

“Yes, I will help thee” on Friday.

“Yes, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness” on Saturday. Although it’s for every day of the week. That’s rather lovely, isn’t it?

Neely: I like that!

Nancy: Seven promises.

Neely: Yes, ma’am! So, that was a Scripture. Also, Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.” Sometimes we can feel like God is up there. We know He’s watching over us, but it says He’s “a very present help.” He’s right there in the midst, and He sees everything that we’re going through. He knows that He is that very precious help in time of trouble.

Nancy: Yes. Tell me, what happened with your courtship? There you are, you are faced with cancer, and you’re supposed to be getting married. Wow! What happened then?

Neely: Well, Ben is faithful and true, as he always has been to me. Not like God, but he is faithful and true to me. We actually were going to two different colleges. He was back in my hometown, and I’d gone to LSU. Honestly, I think that was the semester that he pretty much flunked out because he spent most of his time driving to visit me in the hospital.

But one thing that was amazing. Through it all, I lost my hair twice. At one point I got down below 90 pounds. Ben always made me feel beautiful. Through it all, he was my rock. Speaking of losing my hair twice, there were so many things. I ended up spiking a fever of over 106. They rushed in with ice packs. I had them all over my body. They were trying anything to get the fever down. It was an intense moment.

They had to place a port to get chemotherapy into my spinal column, to get chemotherapy into where the chemo doesn’t cross the blood/brain barrier. When they placed it, they cut a big horseshoe-shaped flap from out of my scalp. Then they drill a hole into my skull. Well, as my mom says, you never want to hear a brain surgeon say that they’re off by even a half an inch. So, they had to go back and do that again.

Even when you get those reports that aren’t what you want to hear, when God is walking with you, you can turn to Him. You know that nothing takes Him by surprise.

Nancy: You still haven’t got to . . . how did you get healed? When did you get married? And what’s happened?

Neely: After the treatment, it was over 100 days in the hospital, but I believe God led the doctors. I completed the treatment that they had prescribed. I never relapsed. When they said I’m done, I was done! I flew the coop. I had checkups for the first five years, and everything was all clear.

We ended up getting married, let’s see, that was in ’96, so we got married in 2000. It’s been glorious since then. Following treatment, actually Ben and I were talking about this. He remembers going up to the doctor’s appointment with me when the doctor said, “Usually with this treatment, it prevents you from having children.”

Of course, that was the desire of my heart. That was what I wanted to be, was a wife and mother. I heard what he said but I knew that God had called me to be a joyful mother of children. I didn’t let it bother me and we started having children. We didn’t have a certain amount that we wanted to have, but a friend, a fellow mom, handed me an Above Rubies magazine, and that’s when we said, “Well, you know what? We want to trust God with our family size.” So, we’re at nine right now. [laughter]

Nancy: Did you have to wait long? Did the Lord bless you very soon after your marriage?

Neely: Yes, ma’am. We didn’t have to wait. We were blessed. I know He’s the miracle-working God.

Nancy: That is amazing! Here. because many, after intense chemotherapy, you don’t conceive. But praise the Lord! Here you are, with nine amazing children! God is amazing! And you’ve never had any trace of this ever again?

Neely: No, ma’am.

Nancy: So incredible. Oh, that is so wonderful! Well, you’ve got to tell us about your children. Tell us their names and their ages.

Neely: Eliana is our oldest. She’s 21. Then we have Talia, and she’s 18. They’re both into mustang horses. They were participating in Extreme Mustang Makeover and enjoyed that. Zion is 15. He’s our first son. Then we have twin girls, Hosanna and Grace. They’re 13. Then Asher. He is 10. Then Bethania. She’s eight. And Moriah is five, and Gilead is two.

Nancy: How wonderful! Oh, the Lord has just blessed you! Of course, ladies, they are here with us, staying. We’re just so blessed to see such a beautiful family of children. They’re such a blessing. So beautiful, and such hard workers!

I remember Allison telling me that Ellie went to stay with them for three weeks to help them, because their business keeps them very busy. The Hartmans, wow, there’s another family like them that know how to work. But she said, “Wow, Ellie just runs rings around us! She is such a great worker!”

Tell us your secrets of how you’ve trained your children to work, and also to put in them the godly qualities that you long for them to have.

Neely: I will say, my husband being willing to let them work alongside of him, when he could get it done much faster without having children around. I wouldn’t say in the beginning that was what came natural to him, but he had to make a choice.

He tells the story of one time when he was trying to work on our car. We lived in Chicago at the time, and it was middle of winter, and it was freezing. Our son Zion came up to him and wanted something.

Ben said, “Zion, what am I doing?” Zion’s like, “Working on the car.”

He’s like, “Do I like to be interrupted when I’m working on something?”

He’s like, “No.”

Ben thought, “But then, what’s more important?” Ben was like, “Of course, our children are what’s important.” Taking time.

I think incorporating them into everything. We love to do projects around our house. As long as they can hold a hammer or do whatever, we’re going to assign them to do something, whether it’s just sweep with the broom. Of course, we have children who are more eager to help than others. You have to encourage the ones who would rather be off playing, and say, “Will you participate? We’re Stewarts, we work hard.” Also, we have fun. We know how to have fun when it’s done. That’s what we try to . . .

Nancy: That’s what I say around here. We work hard, and we play hard. Whatever you do, you do with all your heart. There’s a time for work, and then there’s a time to enjoy one another and fellowship. But I noticed the other night, one of your daughters, I noticed her pick up the broom and sweep the floor. Nobody asked her to do that. You can see it’s just part of her life, part of her habit

And yet, it’s amazing, there are many young people who will come into our home, and goodness! They hardly know what a broom was! I think that often happens too with children going to school these days, going to public school. Sometimes they leave so early on the bus. I see children out where we live, and the bus goes by, and it’s still dark! I think, “Oh, those poor children!”

They’re leaving the sanctity of their home, and the coziness of the home, and going out in the dark, and waiting for a bus. You never know what’s going on on that bus. Then they’re away all day. Then they come home, and they’ve got to do homework. They don’t even get a chance to be part of the whole life of the home. OK, you’re meant to be working and helping. They don’t even really know how to do that.

I had some children just a week or so ago around our table. I said to them, “Now children, I just want you all to come and be here and help. We’re all going to do something.” Well, a couple of them actually went and hid! They just didn’t even want to do anything! They weren’t even used to it! I couldn’t believe it. How have you trained your children to get into those habits?

Neely: We have, three times a day, after every meal, they each have their own assigned chore. It’s not a question of whether or not you want to do it. It’s just everybody, after the meal, we all break and do our responsibilities. It takes some training. You have to have oversight, make sure pretty much every time I’m reminding someone, “Hey, you forgot to do this.”

But everyone knows they have a responsibility, to feel that you’re a contributing member of the household. Especially, as you said, when we’re home all day, we all make the mess. It all accumulates. It’s a good reset, three times a day, to get things back in order. To feel like your brain can function without clutter everywhere.

Nancy: So, you began homeschooling from the very beginning, did you?

Neely: Yes, ma’am. I had been exposed to Montessori concepts of training, or not training, but teaching children early. Yes, I always had a heart to homeschool. I think I went; I went gung-ho with our first. She was reading by three. That first child, you just do everything. You’re not really focused on anything else, so they get it all poured on them. That’s where you make your first mistakes.

Since then, I’ve backed off significantly. I let them have more fun in those early years. We have loved homeschooling. Now that my older girls have graduated, they help me with doing some of the readings with the younger ones. I just think it’s a great way to enjoy family life, that we all contribute, we’re all a part. You belong, and we want you here. We need you here, and we all want that, I think.

Nancy: Yes. So, your life is really living as a family. You’re not all doing your separate things. How do you make that happen?

Neely: Like I said, our older girls do horse training during the day and things like that. But we do put mealtimes, they’re really important to us. Then we’ll usually lead a morning devotion, and in the evenings, we all gather after our meal for worship. Then we’ll do some form of Bible reading, devotions. I feel like that’s really crucial, for if we say that God is important, that it’s witnessed.

Nancy: Exactly. I do believe that. Parents can say, “Oh, we love God, and He’s first in our lives.” Yet, they don’t even make time to bring the family together to hear His Word and worship him. I think that shows our children how much we really love the Lord, how much we really love the Word, is if we’re going to bring them together to teach it to them.

I noticed when we were having family devotions all together here, that Colin would ask, can they finish the Scripture? And they all began reciting it off. Obviously, they’ve done some good memory work! How have you done that with your children, and got them to memorize the Word?

Neely: Well, we have Scripture memory as part of our homeschooling. Actually, we have a Scripture box. We memorize them and they go back in the file. Also, at our church, every Sunday morning, each family group gets up, and the children recite Scripture. It’s a big portion of the service. I feel like the children are learning the Word of God for themselves, and memorizing it, and hiding it in their hearts. It says that we might not sin against God. There is nothing more powerful than His Word, for them to know it.

Nancy: I love that. Each family is encouraged to teach their children the Word. How many families would get up each Sunday and share?

Neely: Oh, goodness. How many families get up on Sundays? I’m sorry, I’ve been helping. There are probably 20-30 families. There are families, so it’s all of the children in each family will get up and say their Scripture that they memorized for that week.

Nancy: Wow, that’s amazing! Do they all say it together?

Neely: Correct.

Nancy: That’s so great! And then they’re also feeling very much part of church life, too, because they’re on the stage.

Neely: Yeah, they get up on the stage to do it.

Nancy: Yes, that is so wonderful! I love that! That’s so great. What would you say now that your oldest is 21? They grow too quickly, don’t they? What do you think has been one of the greatest things in your family life? In training your children?

Neely: That’s a great question.

Nancy: There’s lots of things, of course. Maybe just tell the ladies one of them.

Neely: I would say, we want our children to know that we love them. I would say, early in our parenting we were very strict on discipline and obedience which are important things. But I think we have to make sure that it’s balanced with love. I think different personalities can lean one way or the other. I tend to be harsher than I would ever want to be, and that is something God is continually working out in me.

But I feel like, taking the time to connect in a way that means something to that child. I know, I’m a quality time person, and we have children. . . You know, the five love languages. I have a child, well our oldest in particular, that quality time, and we have a large family. It takes intentionality to make that happen.

But as far as the greatest thing, I would say loving God. Pursuing God for yourself. One thing I wish I would have done is to really pursue God before I ever had children, to have Him work out in me the things that were glaring flaws that I now see in my children as they have lived under my example for so long. The things that I would have, if I could have not passed that down to them, that would have been wonderful.

But if I could have allowed God to work out, and He can, of course, His grace is always there, and He knows all those things. But, really, pursuing God. I think that’s what the children want to see, that it’s real.

Growing up with my husband being a pastor, I never wanted my children to feel that pressure to perform in front of, or to be something that the congregation may expect. Because it’s about them having their own relationship with God, as I’m having my own.

Making time for me to spend time with God every day, to have that secret quiet time, where He can speak to me with encouragement for that day. Mothering, whether you have nine or one, it takes everything you have. But it’s only through Him that we can do it. He does gently lead those with young, so I don’t think He’s cracking the whip on us. But when we make that time to be with Him, that’s when we find the strength and the time to do what all we need to do in a day.

Nancy: I think that starts when before we get married. So, young people listening today, your preparation for marriage starts well before you’re married. In fact, I look back, and I am so grateful that the Lord wooed me into His presence and into His Word before I was ever married. I spent many hours every day in the Word. Right now, all these years later, it’s still the foundation of my life. I went into my marriage and into motherhood, knowing the Word.

The Bible says that we, as parents, that we are to pass on His Word to our children, not only getting it into their hearts, but into their mouths. How do we do that if we don’t know it? I think it’s an incredible, it’s really the time for preparing for marriage is before you’re married. In fact, really, as parents, we’re preparing our children for marriage all through their training. We are preparing them to be the husbands or the wives, so that they will have wonderful successful marriages.

We’re preparing them for that, because they’re going to go into their marriages with the character and the habits that they have formed all through their childhood. That’s why we have to get rid of their negative habits in their childhood.

That was one thing that we were always very, very, it was a big thing in our lives, that we didn’t allow our children to get into moods. So many children get into moods. I don’t believe a child should be allowed to get into a mood! It’s so absolutely selfish, and you’re allowing them to go into that selfishness and “me”-thing. We would never allow it. Colin would not allow it for one minute!

Our children grew up and they didn’t have moods. They still, to this day, they don’t have moods. That’s one thing that do not have. I think that is a big thing. So many children, they pout, they get in moods, they get into a state because they don’t get their own way. If they’re allowed to continue in that behavior, they’re going to take that into their marriage. That’s the foundation of the end of a marriage, before your hardly start! What do you think?

Neely: Oh, I agree. In the Bible, it tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. It’s hard to be in a bad mood and rejoice at the same time. I think it’s just basic self-control. I will confess, I can get in a mood myself, and I have to discipline myself in my own heart and call it out of myself and recognize what God has called me to. I believe the instructions in His Word are not given if we couldn’t achieve them. If He says to rejoice, then I can rejoice.

Nancy: We learn to do it, and then we teach our children to do it. By the way, Allison, can you check that element? Make sure it’s not burning? Thank you. [laughter]

Neely: It’s Thanksgiving.

Nancy: You wouldn’t believe what we’ve been doing today. Well, here this wonderful Stewart family, Neely and her husband, they have been putting down this floor in my office and putting in a new counter in the downstairs kitchen. And we’ve all been cooking for Thanksgiving and decorating the wedding barn for Thanksgiving. Here we are, we’re in the middle of preparing for a meal, but we decided to do this podcast! It’s all just part of home life.

Another thing, you guys have got this wonderful vision at the moment, of training other young people. Can you tell us more about that?

Neely: We own a retreat center in Arkansas, in the mountain up there. We actually do family camps.

Nancy: Sorry, but how long have you been doing these?

Neely: We moved to Arkansas right before covid, so that delayed things a little bit. We were renovating the camp and everything. We completed our second year of doing camps this past fall.

We invite usually three families at a time, and we walk them through a process. It’s not like a big retreat. This is more intensive, where you’re learning how to work together as a family, how to create a vision, how to create a shared goal, so that everyone in that family knows what their family is doing, and how they contribute to the family. What they bring, so that you can accomplish what God has planned.

Why did God put these people in your family? There’s a purpose. We help people to find that purpose. Obviously, it’s what God reveals. It’s not, but we provide the opportunity for that. What you’re speaking of

Nancy: First of all, I must say that is wonderful! If there are families who would feel they need that help, how can they contact you?

Neely: We have a website, BrockMountainMinistries.org. The information is on there. We actually haven’t put out our 2023 dates yet. But the camps are free of charge, so you just have to get there. We have sponsors who provide for the weekend. It’s a weekend—Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It’s a great experience. We’ve had many families who really feel that it helped change the trajectory of their families.

Nancy: I think that sounds wonderful! It’s BrockMountainMinistries.org. What does the “Brock” mean?

Neely: That’s the name of the mountain.

Nancy: The name of the mountain! BrockMountainMinistries.org. OK, we’ll take a note of that. It sounds like a wonderful thing to do for a family. Wonderful! Now, what’s the next vision?

Neely: God had laid on Ben’s heart, well, our heart, about hosting a purity weekend for young adults. Just to kind of give them some teaching on how to go about the new phase in their life of finding a spouse, in a way that honors God. It’s a great time of fellowship and fun where they can get to know each other. We just had our first one this past November. It was great. They got to have fellowship together. We had people from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas, and Florida.

Nancy: And Tennessee, because some of our young people came.

Neely: They had a great time. We go on a great hike up in the mountains. It’s beautiful. It’s fun, but it’s also an opportunity for them to learn and get God’s perspective on things. Of course, we encourage them to take it home, talk to your parents, talk to whoever is your godly authority.  Submit it, so that you have a plan, not just going into it, “Well, whatever happens, happens.” But knowing that you have a plan and purpose for this next stage in your life of finding a mate. For Ben and myself, marriage is the greatest blessing in our lives. It’s from God.

Nancy: I always feel sorry for everybody in the world who’s not married.

Neely: I believe He brought us together for His purposes. Our children, and what’s the mission that He has for us. We want to set them up for success in that area.

Nancy: Do you hope that maybe some of these young people will make a connection and the Lord would bring them together?

Neely: Absolutely, because like-minded young adults who are pursuing God, it’s hard in these days to meet the right one, especially when everything seems to be social media based. We encourage them not to be on their phones so they can interact.

Nancy: It’s known. I think that’s so wonderful, because we do need to get our young people into situations where they’re meeting other young people of the same mindset. That’s one of my dreams too, for our Above Rubies Family Camps, that young people will meet one another. Colin and I met at a Christian family camp, so we think they’re pretty good places to find one another.

Even in the Christian church at large, there are so many, either young ladies or young men who really, although they are born-again, they do not have a vision for family, or even embracing children. They have never really been taught God’s plans for them in this realm. They’re doing it in a normal way.

In fact, there are so many of them who are getting into their mid-20’s, and late 20’s, some of these young men are still not ready to take the responsibility of marriage. But I think it’s great when you can get young people who have this heart, and a longing for someone, and that God can bring them together.

Well, our time is gone, but it’s been so wonderful to have you with us, Neely. Please, families, any family who needs encouragement, or any young person who would love to get with other godly young people, well, you know what you’ve got to do! Just contact BrockMountainMinistries.org, OK? Look them up and look out for what they’re going to be doing in 2023. Amen.

“Lord, we thank You for this time together with Neely and to hear what You have done in their lives. Lord God, You are so bigger than every circumstance. We thank You, Lord, that you gave them nine amazing children. Maybe you’ll give them more yet, Lord. Even when it was impossible in the natural, You are so great. We thank You, Lord God. We thank You for every opportunity to talk about family life. We pray Your blessing on every family listening right now. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”