LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 196: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, Part 7

We continue discovering the DELIGHTFUL land of motherhood. Today we begin the list of specific things God wants us to delight in. We close with how God wants us to work willingly and DELIGHTFULLY in your homes.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Well, here we are again, talking about the delightful land of motherhood. Today I’m asking you to come with me and do some more exploring. We’re going to explore the Word of God and see all the things that He wants us to delight in, in our personal lives, and also in the land of motherhood.

No. 1: DELIGHT IN THE LORD

You all know this Scripture, Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Now if I was to ask you, “Can you give me a Scripture with the word ‘delight,’” I’m sure you would have given me that one. You all know that one.

Of course, it’s the best one to know, because it’s where we start. The first thing that we delight in is to delight in the Lord! Delight in the Lord. Are we really doing that? Oh, there’s so much that pulls us in our lives to get involved in this, and delight in this, and put our attention to that.

But even in the midst of motherhood, we need to seek to delight in the Lord, always looking up to the Lord. Because every day, I know, as mothers with little ones, and even mothers with big ones, we face different challenges when our children are little, and different challenges when our children are older. Sometimes they’re even more heart-breaking. When they’re little, our biggest challenges are often sometimes physical challenges of just being able to cope with everything we have to do.

Then as they get older, there often are heart-rendering challenges. But in every challenge, we’ve got to look up to the Lord, look to Him. Look to Him, dear mothers. Delight in Him. Don’t just put all your mind and thoughts and worrying on the problem that you face. It doesn’t help. “Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 73:25: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”

Song of Solomon 5:16. Once again the Bridegroom Who is Christ, and the Bride of Christ. Here the Bride is speaking to her Beloved, her Bridegroom, Christ. She says: “Yea, he is altogether lovely.” The word means “delightful.”

Malachi 3:1: “The Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” So, this is where we begin, delighting in the Lord.

No. 2: DELIGHT IN THE LAND

Just as God delights in the land, we delight in the land. Malachi 3:12: “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Psalm 102:14: “For thy servants take pleasure” (ratsah, remember, this word occurs 57 times in the Bible) “take pleasure, [take delight] in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.” That’s talking about Israel. They so delighted in the Land that they even delighted in the dust!

I’m sure you’ve read, and even seen pictures, when Jewish people have come back to the land. They’ve arrived, and they just get down, and they kiss the dust! Because they’ve arrived in their Land, in that Land that God gave them.

I remember years and years ago, Colin and I were out in the bush, walking. We love to go out walking. We were walking this trail, and we met this couple. They were actually going the wrong way, and we had to show them the right way to go.

They were a Jewish couple. We ended up becoming great friends with this lovely, lovely couple. We got to love them. But they told us one time, the guy, he told us. . . Where had he come from? I know she had come from, oh, I’ve even forgotten what country (it was Iran, she was a Persian Jew). But they’d come back to the Land.

Yes, he’d come from Russia, that’s right! And he said he didn’t, growing up, he didn’t know anything about the land of Israel. But he knew he was in the wrong land. He knew there was somewhere he had to go. As he got older, he heard of, yes, there was the land of Israel. There was something within him that he had to get to this land! He came, he came to the Land, because he was drawn to it, even when he didn’t know it existed! Because it was in him.

I believe that’s what it’s like for us, as mothers. We have the land of motherhood. God has put it in us. It’s there in us. Of course, in society today, it’s brainwashed out of us. But if we take away the brainwashing of our media and our deceived education system, we will find and discover that this land is in us. This is what we long for. We long for the home and motherhood. God has put it within us. So, we delight in this land.

No. 3: WE DELIGHT IN GOD’S WORD

We delight in His precious Word, because this is where we find out His plans for our lives. Psalm 1:1-2: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

This is a good Scripture, ladies, for our children, too. We don’t want to send our children into an education system that is not the counsel of the godly. There may have been a time when children could have got some godly counsel in the public education, but rarely today. It is the counsel of the ungodly.

It has become the counsel of the humanists and the feminists. It’s even become the counsel of the transgenderists, who are now seeking to bring their whole agenda of transgenderism into the education system, right from the earliest classes. It is there in our system now.

It has become the counsel of the Islamics. They are bringing in their whole agenda of Islam. Yet, we cannot even speak about Christianity. This is in our public system today.

“Nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Yes, there are still some godly teachers in our public system. I know men who are in the system. That’s their job. They are teaching, but they would never send their own children there. Their own children are homeschooled.

But the majority have been trained in this godless education system. Therefore, they are a people who are scornful of God, and family, and His ways. Why would we send our children into this ungodly system? It is time to take them out, so that they can learn God’s ways, His ways.”

Psalm 19:10: “More to be desired” (they’re more delightful) “than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” The psalmist, in Psalm 119, ten times in that one chapter he says: “Thy law is my delight.” He confesses it, over and over again. Ten times in one chapter!

The Hebrew word there is sha-shua. I like that. It’s just a nice word to say, sha-shua, meaning “my delight, my pleasure, my enjoyment.” Well, is it really true, lovely ladies? Is God’s Word truly your delight? Oh, yes, I know you believe the Word of God. Yes, I know you go to church to hear the Word of God.

But how much is it in your day-to-day life? In your home? Do you gather your children, your little ones, your middling ones, your big ones? Do you gather them every morning and every evening to hear the Word of God? Just two times a day? Is that too much? Oh, my. I think that must be the least we can do, to bring our children to hear God’s precious Word. If it’s truly our delight. Do we even show to our children that it’s our delight? Do our children see our delight in His Word?

We're always talking about it. We love to bring them to this beautiful meeting together, morning and evening, as I’ve often shared with you. And shared with you the principle from where we learn it, from the Tabernacle, where God gives us the morning and the evening principle.

Because God showed us there, if we want to keep the fire of God burning in our hearts, it’s not enough to light the fire once week. Goodness, it’s well gone out. It’s not enough to even light the fire once a day. Because you light the fire in the morning, it’s going to go out pretty soon. You’ve got to keep putting on the wood, and that’s what God said. He said, “The fire on My altar must never go out” (Leviticus 6:12, 13).

So, I want you to come every morning and every night, and take out the ashes, take out the things that are displeasing to the Lord, and put on the fuel. Put on some more wood. Stoke up the fire! And so, we read the Word, God’s delightful Words. Oh, they just keep the fire burning.

But that wasn’t enough. He said they were to light the menorah. Once a day? No, morning and evening, because the light was never to go out. Once a day was not enough to keep the light burning. Every morning they had to come and take out all the burnt junk, and clean the wicks, and pour in the oil, to keep it burning, keep it lighting (Exodus 27:20, 21.

And then they had to light the altar of incense. How often? Once a day? Once a week? No, to keep that beautiful incense burning, they had to light it every morning and every evening. It’s the principle (Exodus 30, 8). It’s the secret of keeping the light of God, the fire of God, and the presence of God in our lives.

If we really delight in it, that’s what we’ll do! We won’t be putting other things in its place. That shows we delight in them more than we do in His Word. Our lives really show whether we delight in it or not. So, we sha-shua God’s Word. They are our counselors.

Psalm 119:24: “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” Who are your counselors? Who do you listen to? Are you listening to the world, the media? It’s unbelievable how many of God’s people listen to the media! They get their advice; they get their way of life from the media! I can’t believe it!

They get it from the humanistic education system. They often get it just talking to other women. But are those other women entrenched in the Word of God? If they’re not, well, maybe you’re getting wrong advice, because our only true, godly counsel comes from the Word of God! Yes. It’s our counselor. Therefore, it’s our delight. So, lovely ladies, make sure you’re getting your counsel from the right source.

I am surprised that there are people who have listened, they have listened to the media. They have listened to ungodly counsel. They’ve listened to that knowledge of the one-world order, of the World Economic Forum. These people, who are trying to bring in the new world reset (The Great Reset) a world takeover. They’ve been using vaccinations. They’ve been using these mandates. They’ve been using all these things—masking, social distancing, vaccination, everything, to bring tyranny, to bring us under.

But we don’t have to listen to that! We don’t listen to the wrong voices. We must listen to the Word of God. We’ve got to get into His Word because His Word is our delight. When we’re in His Word, there will come that discernment that says, “No, that is wrong, that is from the enemy!” So, let’s be delighted in His Word, dear lovely mothers! And even in the land of motherhood, we’re going to know what God says to us as mothers. Yes!

No. 4: WE DELIGHT IN GOD’S PEOPLE

Psalm 16:2-3, David is speaking: “O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to Thee; But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.”

Remember last week, we were sharing some verses of how God delights in His people? Well, now, we’re reading how David also delighted in God’s people, because God delights in His people. David says, “Lord God, I love You! I delight in You! But how can I show it to You? Well, Lord, the tangible way I can show it is showing it to Your people, because they are Your body on the earth!”

So, this is how we truly show our delight in the Lord. We show it to His people, “the excellent, in whom is all my delight.” We’ll love His people. We’ll want to be with His people.  We’ll want to show hospitality to His people. We’ll want to be with His people as we gather at the house of God, because this is Who God is, and this is who we are.

No. 5: WE EELIGHT IN GOD’S HOUSE

Psalm 27:4: “One thing have I desired” (or, “I delight in” is the Hebrew word) “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” 

David said of the house of the Lord, 1 Chronicles 29:3: “I have set my affection . . .” There’s that Hebrew word ratsah again, used over and over. It means “delight, pleasure.” “I have set my delight to the house of my God.”

Ezekiel 24:21, 25, talking about God’s temple: “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary,” (that was bringing judgment. This is the description He used of His power) “the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and your heart’s desire; your stronghold, your joy and glory, the delight of your eyes, and your heart’s affection.” This is how the people of God looked upon the temple, God’s house.

He also wants us to have this same desire for His house. Now, of course, we know we’re not talking about the building today. But we do gather in a building, usually, together with God’s people, which becomes His house. We, His people, are His dwelling place.

It’s really His people, but, of course, we gather sometimes in a home, sometimes in a building. Well, sometimes many of our precious, beloved, persecuted saints are gathering out in the forest. They’re gathering in places where they have to hide. But, ladies, they are still gathering.

Do you notice that the people of God, in these persecuted countries, do not forsake the gathering together of God’s people? They will not forsake it, even though they have to do it in hiding! Even though they have to do it in different places where they have secret ways of telling one another where they will be. But they will gather, because they love the dwelling of God’s house, the dwelling of God in His people.

We’re to delight in this, too. Let’s delight in it. Let’s give our children the delight of coming together and meeting with God’s people. Don’t allow your children excuses. As they get older, and they may not want to go to church, to the gathering of the people of God, you don’t allow them to stay home. No, in fact, even older children, while they are living under your roof, they do what you tell them.

Now, when they are under their own roof, then that’s a different story, but while they’re under your roof, under your covering, under your protection, under your provision, and while you are providing for them, they should come under what you want to do in your home, and as a family. You delight in the Lord. You delight in His people. You delight in His house and the gathering of His people. You take your family. You go as a family.

But, of course, you’re going to raise them in the delight of this. From the time they’re little, so they never see it as something they don’t want to be part of. It’s the delight of your life. It’s the delightful day of the week. It’s the delightful thing you love to do. Your children grow up with this delight in their hearts too.

No. 6: WE DELIGHT IN GOD’S WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

Proverbs 3:13-17: “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. . . Her ways are ways of pleasantness” (ways of delight) “and all her paths are peace.”

Proverbs 8:11: “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired” (or delightful) “are not even to be compared to it.”

Proverbs 24:3-4: “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (or “delightful”. The word is naiym there, meaning “delightful, pleasant, sweet, pleasurable.”)

And so, as we build our homes, precious mothers, in this glorious, delightful land of motherhood, we need God’s wisdom. We delight in His wisdom, His understanding, and His knowledge, because it’s by these things that we will fill our homes with these delightful riches. Every room of our house, even the bedrooms. The “chambers” speak of the inner rooms, even the inner rooms. The outer rooms and the inner rooms, we’ll fill them all with delight.

No. 7: DELIGHT IN GOD’S KNOWLEDGE

proverbs 2:10-12: “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant” (that means “sweet and delightful.”) “unto thy soul discretion shall preserve thee.”

Proverbs 22:17-18: “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto My knowledge. For it is a pleasant” (the same word again, “sweet and delightful.”) “For it is a pleasant, sweet, and delightful thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.” 

Did you notice, ladies, it says: “Bow down thine ear”? Bow down thine ear. I believe we have to bow down to God’s knowledge, because it goes on to say: “Bow down thine ear and apply thine heart unto My knowledge.” It doesn’t just say “knowledge.” There’s so much knowledge in the world. There’s worldly knowledge. There’s foolish knowledge. There are all kinds of knowledge out there.

But it’s “My knowledge,” God’s knowledge. This is what we have to bow to. Whose knowledge are you bowing to, dear mother? Oh, let’s be careful. I must be careful. We all must be careful we’re not bowing to the knowledge of this age, to the knowledge of humanism, feminism, the knowledge that’s on the lips of everyone around us, because it’s so easy to imbibe the thinking and the knowledge in our society.

You go to most churches today. These are churches, and you look around. You begin to talk to the people, the mothers, and you find that the majority of the mothers in the churches are not in the home. They’re out in their careers. They’re not at home with their children.

Now, what knowledge is this? This is not the knowledge of the Bible. It’s not the knowledge that comes from God’s heart. It is the knowledge of this age. It is the knowledge of our humanistic society. And somehow, we’ve become so used to hearing it that even God’s people are bowing down to it. In fact, it’s their lifestyle. In fact, if you are to challenge it, they will get pretty upset.

Now, why is that? Why is there a reaction to that which belongs to this age, and is opposite to what the Bible says? Because the Bible picture is of a mother being a keeper of the home, being in the home, mothering her children.

“Thy wife is a fruitful vine within the heart of thy home. Look at all her children sitting around her table.” (Psalm 128:3).

You see, God’s knowledge is often opposite to the world’s knowledge. Which knowledge are we bowing to? Dear lovely ladies, in the land of motherhood, we need to bow to God’s knowledge. It’s when we bow to His knowledge that we will find it delightful. Yes, that’s what it says. It will be pleasant, and sweet, and delightful! Yes! So many lovely precious mothers are not seeking to be rebellious to God, but because that’s all they hear around them, they think they’re walking in the right way.

But their lives are fretful, and busy, and overwhelming, and frustrating because no mother can walk into the world. We cannot obey two masters. We can only do one properly. We can’t just be out there, bowing to another world system when God has His way for us in the home. We can’t do both. It’s just too overwhelming, and too fretful. It’s too much, actually. So, let’s come back to the way that is filled with delight, and sweetness, and pleasure.

No. 8: DELIGHT IN YOUR HOME

Yes, in your home. Here in Micah 2:9, it’s talking about something that’s very bad, how the women have been taken out of their homes. But the Bible calls them “their delightful homes.” “From the women of My people have ye cast out from their pleasant” (or their “delightful”) “houses; from their children have ye taken away My glory forever.”

This word is saying, when the mothers come out of the homes, of course the children come out of the homes. It is the glory of children to be raised in the home. God says: “You take away their glory.”

The Amplified Version says: “The women of my people you cast out from their pleasant houses” (Or delightful houses). “From their young children you take away My glory forever.” It goes on to say, “By putting them among the pagans, away from Me.”

Wow! That’s a picture of what is happening today. Many precious children in godly homes are taken out of the home, and they’re put in the godless education system. They’re being taught by pagans and are being taught paganism! That which is against God! That which is totally foreign to the ways of God. The glory of God is for children to be raised in the home, and to be able to hear and learn the ways of God.

Delight in your home. Dear precious mothers, your home can become such a delight as you understand that it’s meant to be your delight! Yes, the first home was called Eden! Eden. The Garden of Eden, which means “delightful.” That is the name of the first home. It’s the prototype of all homes to come.

God wants us to give our whole purpose to making our homes a delight! Making everything about our home a delight! Making it a delight for our husbands. Our marriage is the most beautiful delight. We make it a delight for our children. We make it a delight to live in.

That’s all-consuming. I never have enough time to do all the things I want to do to make my home a delight. I have a thousand dreams and things I want to do. And I don’t ever get time enough for them. Oh, it’s our full-time career to make our homes a delight.

Proverbs 24:3-4: yes, we read this. Can I read it again? “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be FILLED with all precious and pleasant [delightful] riches.” We have to build these into our homes, and establish them, and fill our homes with them. They don’t just happen.

Maybe one more as we go.

No. 9: DELIGHT IN YOUR HOMEMAKING TASKS

Proverbs 31:13, the virtuous woman: “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly. . .” That word in the Hebrew is chephets. C-H-E-P-H-E-T-S. That word, actually that word, ladies, guess what? That word is used 75 times in the Bible. It means “to be pleased with, to desire, to delight, to have pleasure in.”

Although it’s translated “willingly” in the King James Version, it actually means to work delightfully, purposefully, knowing that our work is valuable. “She worketh willingly, delightfully, purposefully, pleasurably, with her hands.”

So, lovely ladies, as we close this session, can I leave you with this challenge? To begin to do everything in your home with a willing attitude and a delightful attitude. All the work of your hands. Yes, all those things you have to do. These physical things, these tangible things, these years you’ve got to get stuck in and do the dishes! “Oh, no, I have to do the dishes again, and they’re all piling up!”

Well, of course as your children are growing, you’ll get them to do the dishes! You’ll be training them to do them. Of course, as you grow in motherhood, that’s the amazing thing about motherhood. In fact, the first few years of motherhood, your first one, two, or maybe three darling little ones, they are the time when you’re having to do everything yourself.

But these little ones grow! Motherhood becomes easier as you hand on tasks to your children. But of course, you start doing them yourself, even in those times when you’re the one, the only one there to do them. You do them with a willing attitude, a delightful attitude. “Oh, I’m delighting in doing this!” You can do it with delight!

Do you know that even doing the dishes can be fun? I love doing dishes! Yes, because anything you do can be a delight if you have an attitude of delight about it. Whatever other tasks you have to do, you’re cleaning the floors, and you’re scrubbing toilets, or whatever you’re doing, you do it with delight!

“She worketh willingly with her hands. She worketh delightfully with her hands.”

Well, you’re in this delightful land of motherhood, so you might as well do everything with delight! OK?

You choose!

Do it with groaning and grumbling and complaining

and you’ll have a miserable life!

Do it willingly and delightfully

and you’re going to have a delightful life!

It all comes back to your attitude. It all comes back to understanding where you are. You’re in the land of motherhood. You’re in the land of delight. God says it is a delightful land so live the delightful life. Amen?

“Oh, dear Lord Jesus, we thank You so much that You’re showing us the way to live. Thank You that Your land is a delightful land. Lord God, help us to live the delightful way, not the grumbling way, not the complaining way, but the delightful way. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

If you have a moment, it would be lovely if you could email a little thank you letter to Darlene. She sacrifices much of her time to transcribe these podcasts for you and I know it would encourage her to know that you are blessed by her hard work. Thanks so much.

To read more about the Morning and Evening Principle, go to:

http://aboverubies.org/morning-evening-principle

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 195: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, Part 6

We continue the adventure of exploring the land of motherhood today, finding out all the things that God delights in. If God delights in them, we'll want to delight in them also.

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

Nancy Campbell: Good morning, ladies, on this rainy day here in Tennessee. I don’t really mind whatever the weather. Life is still great!

Some little updates. I know you will have been enjoying the new magazine. Perhaps you’re running out of copies. There are people you’d love to give it to. Well, don’t hesitate to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Don’t forget it’s “O-R-G.” I’m always happy to send you extra copies that you can share with friends.

You can take them out to places wherever you are going. I love to put Above Rubies in the little baby changing tables that are in most restaurants, and most supermarkets, because it’s so wonderful if we can get out this message of encouragement to mothers and wives and families. There’s a whole generation of mothers who don’t even know about Above Rubies.

I started it with the mothers of my generation, and then the mothers of my children’s generation. But there’s the next generation now. They need it, I think more than ever. So, please, I trust you’ll get a vision for getting these magazines out, especially to the new generation of young mothers.

Another thing to remind you about, and that is our first Above Rubies Family Retreat for the year, which will be our one in April, down in Panama City, Laguna Beach, Florida. This is a wonderful retreat. It’s just booking up so fast. If you want to come, please contact them immediately.

You can go to the webpage, aboverubies.org, and you’ll be able to look up all the camps and retreats and get the info. Or you can call Allison Hartman at 850-221-1222. Be in. You won’t want to miss out.

This is such a glorious gathering of families and young people. Come with your whole family, from oldest to youngest. I think we often have more young people at this retreat than anyone else. The young people have such a wonderful time together. They come back year after year as they make wonderful friendships.

In fact, families are making such wonderful friendships together. Families come from all over the States. We’ve had them come from everywhere, just all over. Be in.

When you get this podcast, it will be March 8^th, which means this last week, we will have celebrated our 59^th wedding anniversary on March 2nd. It’s hard to believe that this coming year, this coming anniversary, we will have been married 60 years. And yet, it still seems like one blink of my eye. How is it that we still feel so young? I can’t believe it!

We are continuing, dear ladies, our wonderful series of THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD. Wow! We’ve got so much to talk about. We are still on the subject of IT IS A DELIGHTFUL LAND.

We read in the Word of God that this is how God described the land of Israel. We are, of course, taking all the descriptions about the land of Israel into our land of motherhood.

The land of Israel was a delightful land back in Bible times. For thousands of years, it lay waste, nearly two thousand years. But God is blessing it again. Its people are coming back to the land. The Word of God promises that it will blossom again, and it is doing that. It’s becoming that beautiful, delightful land again.

It's just a type of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is a delightful land, and there is so much to discover in this land. In His Word, the Word of God is a delightful land to discover His truths, His promises, His ways, and all of how He wants us to live. It goes into the land of motherhood, because this is the land that God has chosen for us as mothers to live.

I was talking to you about this last time. I shared with you six different Hebrew words that mean “delightful.” But, ladies, I continued studying, and guess what? I ended up finding 20 different Hebrew words, which all have the meaning of “delightful” and “pleasurable.” It’s just amazing!

I only got up to six last time. I don’t think I can keep up with giving you all of the 20 words, because I guess, maybe you’re perhaps doing the dishes, going for a walk, doing laundry as you’re listening. How can you write down Hebrew words and even know how to spell them?

In fact, I’m thinking of Darlene. Darlene, you’ll be listening as you are transcribing. Darlene Norris is our wonderful transcriber. Did you know that everyone one of the podcasts are transcribed? And Darlene does this ministry as a ministry of love to all those who want to read the transcripts.

Thank you, Darlene. Oh, I’m just so grateful to you. You just do the most amazing job. But I think I’ll spare giving you all these Hebrew words. But what I’ll do, ladies, is when Darlene sends me the transcript, I’ll add the Hebrew words for you there. You can get them on the transcript (listed below).

So, I thought, “What will I do?” Instead of giving you all these Hebrew words (I discovered them all and looked them all up) and from them I have found 16 different things that God delights in. Then I found 22 different things that God wants us to delight in. Every one of these comes from one of these 20 Hebrew words which have the meaning of “delightful.”

We’re going to look into them, and I don’t think we’ll get through them all today. But I want you to come on this journey with me because it’s so exciting!

First of all, let me take you to Joshua 18. The children of Israel were all there at Shiloh, and Shiloh was where they came into the land. This is where they settled. The Tabernacle was there for hundreds of years. But this is where they were. They were in Shiloh. They had been taking the land and possessing the land. But there was still land that was not yet possessed.

Joshua 18:3: “And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, how long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?” He told them to get on the job. So, we go down to Joshua 18:8-9: “And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe (to write about it) “to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh. And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.”

They went out to discover the land, the good land. God’s Word Translation says: “Go, survey the land. Write a description of it, and return to me. So, the men surveyed the land. They described it in a book.”

The New Living Translation says, Joshua speaking: “Go and explore the land, and write a description of it. The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. They made a written record, and then they returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.”

EXPLORE THE LAND

“Go and explore the land.” Dear ladies, have you done some exploring? So often we come into the kingdom of God. We’re born again. We embrace the glorious salvation that God has provided for us. And there we stay. Wow! We’re in the land! The land of God’s wonderful redemption and salvation. Here we are!

But do we move on? Do we go and explore and see what else God has for us? Do we explore His wonderful Book that He has written for us? What about the land of motherhood? Dear ladies, I don’t think any of us have ever really explored the fullness of all that God has for us as mothers.

Oh, it is a wonderful land! We’re currently talking about how it is a delightful land. This is only one of the descriptions. But lovely ladies, will you come with me now? Will you come with me and let us explore the delightful things that are in this land? I want to take you with me. It’s going to be exciting!

I also love that Scripture in Psalm 48:12, 13: “Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.” Ladies, we’ve got to know what is in the land! So, let’s begin our exploring, shall we? 

First of all, we’ll look at all the things that God delights in. Now, all these things relate to us in our land, too. I won’t give you all the Scriptures. I’ll mention some here and there, because it would be just too many to give you!  

No. 1: GOD DELIGHTS IN HIS BELOVED SON

Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth.” God delights in His only beloved Son which He gave for the whole world. And so, we want to delight in Him too. Everything that God delights in, we will delight in.  

No. 2: GOD DELIGHTS IN THIS LAND HE GAVE TO HIS PEOPLE

We talked about that in the last session. It’s called “a beautiful land.”  It’s called “a delightful land.” 

Malachi 3:12: “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.” Our land of motherhood is a delightful land.  

Now, I know, many young moms in the throes of motherhood, and feeling overwhelmed, and so tired you can hardly bear it, you think, “Wow, how can this be a delightful land?” Dear mothers, can I give you a little secret? Everything comes back to our attitude. And our attitude is founded upon knowledge and truth. If we don’t know what the land of motherhood is all about, well, we’re not going to be able to enjoy it to the full.  

The land of motherhood is a delightful land. So, we’ve just got to get it into our spirit, and into our mind, and into our knowledge, this is what it is! God planned it to be delightful to us. God does not give us something that is not delightful, because He delights in us. He delights in His people. He delights in motherhood! It’s His plan, His design! It’s delightful! 

And we’ve got to get this word into our beings! Do you use that word very much? Get it into your vocab. Get it into your motherhood vocab. Begin to speak it. Wake up in the morning, confessing: “Thank You Lord, that I’m going to live in my delightful land of motherhood today! Thank You that You’ve brought me into this delightful land! Thank You for these children You have given me that delight our hearts!”  

Well, sometimes they drive you crazy, but really, they are the delight of your heart! You would die for them. You would never give them away. Everything in your house could be taken but you would hang onto your children. They are your delight. So, we delight in the land of motherhood, as God delights in His land. 

No. 3: GOD DELIGHTS IN HIS HOUSE

That’s talking about the Temple which was the house of God. “My house,” God called it. “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” He called it “My house.”

Haggai 1:8: “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure (I will take delight) in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”

In Isaiah 44:28, it’s a prophetic word about Cyrus. Now, I’m sure you know who Cyrus was. Cyrus was one of the greatest generals and kings in the earth. He was known as the “king of the four corners of the earth.” This is the prophetic word about this king. He was a secular king. He wasn’t an Israelite king.

Yet, God names him, yes, literally speaks his name in the Bible 100 years before he was even born! Listen to it (this is God speaking): “That saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure (all My delight) even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid.”

Isn’t that amazing, ladies? That’s a prophetic promise given 100 years before it happened, before Cyrus ever came into the world. But God raised up Cyrus, this wonderful king. He was a wonderful king. He was such a generous man. I loved reading the story of Cyrus. You can read it in the book called Cyropaedia by Xenophon.

It’s an amazing story of how this man had this incredible, generous spirit, even from a child. He just loved to give and to bless people. As he grew up to be a great general, and then later king of the four corners of the earth, he was so generous to his soldiers. As he gathered them together, if anyone had done anything that was good, he would tell it to everybody. He would encourage them, and he would give gifts to them. As he took over nations, the nations wanted him to take them over because he was so good to them.

But God raised him up for a specific purpose. He took over Babylon. He conquered Babylon, became king of Babylon. When he became king, what did he do with the people of Judah who were captives in Babylon? Did he put down more captivity upon them?

No! No, he was such an incredible king that he said, “Oh, my, you’ve got a Temple back there in your land. It’s in ruins! I’m going to give you money to go back and rebuild your Temple. Here are all the things that King Nebuchadnezzar took from your Temple. Look, take them back with you, and I release you to go.”

That was miraculous! But it was fulfilling the prophecy that God said His people would be in Babylon for 70 years. Then they would return. And they would rebuild the Temple. What does God say here? Cyrus would perform His delight, and His pleasure to rebuild the Temple again.

Because it was delightful to God, because it was where He came and presenced Himself in the midst of His people. Even today, God delights in His house. He delights in the gathering of His people together. So, that’s something we should delight in too, the gathering of God’s people, coming together to pray, and to worship, and to sit in His presence. God delights in that.

That’s something we delight in. Even in the land of motherhood it becomes part of our mothering, that we, as mothers, make this a very important thing in our families, that we are committed to the gathering of God’s people. We take our children. We take our family to the regular gathering of God’s people.

We are not those who, any excuse, we stay at home. We are not those, who even when persecution comes, we give up. No, we’re not like those who, when all these mandates came, and masks came, and social distancing . . . Many churches didn’t even meet! I beg your pardon? Help! No. We don’t gather just when everything’s great. We gather because this is what God loves!

No. 4: GOD DELIGHTS IN HIS PEOPLE

Yes, and so we should delight in God’s people too.  Here’s a few Scriptures of many.

Numbers 14:7, 8: “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.” God brings us into the land because He delights in us.

Deuteronomy 10:15: “The LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.”

David said in Psalm 18:19: “He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.” 

Psalm 149:4: “For the LORD taketh pleasure [delight] in his people.” That’s one of the Hebrew words, ratsah. Actually, that word ratsah in the Hebrew is used 57 times in the Bible. It’s only one of the 20 words.

Yes, specifically of David, 1 Chronicles 28:4 says: “Among the sons of my father, God liked me.” That means “delighted.” It’s the word ratsah again, meaning “delighted in me.” “To make me king over all Israel.”

Then talking about Solomon in 2 Chronicles 9:8: “Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on His throne, to be king for the LORD thy God.”

Let’s go to Song of Songs 7:6: “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!” There are two different words for “delightful” there. “How fair and how pleasant (na-em). art thou, O love, for delights.”

Here are some other translations of that word. This is from the Song of Solomon. We can read the Song of Solomon in different ways. It’s a picture of Christ and His Bride. Christ is looking at His Bride, delighting in her: “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights.” God delights in His people. Yes.

Let’s see some other translations. “How beautiful you are, my love. How charming, how delightful.”

And, of course, we can also read the Song of Solomon as a description of the relationship of a husband and his wife. I wonder if our husbands can say these words to us?

Here’s another translation: “How delicious is your fair beauty. It cannot be described as I count the delights you bring to me.” Wow! Can your husband say that about you? Do you bring him delights? Are you delightful to him? Do you make yourself delightful to him?

The New Living Translation says: “Oh, how beautiful you are! How pleasing, my love! How full of delights!” What a beautiful description of a wife! To be full of delights! Oh, wow, that’s all part of your land of motherhood, dear one.

No. .5: GOD DELIGHTS IN THE UPRIGHT

1 Chronicles 29:17: “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.” 

Proverbs 11:20: “Such as are upright in their way are his delight.”

No. 6: GOD DELIGHTS IN TRUTH

Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord, but they that deal truly are His delight.”

No. 7: GOD DELIGHTS IN PRAYER

Proverbs 15:8: “The prayer of the upright is His delight.” And, of course, dear ladies, all these things that God delights in, we also will want to delight in. If He dwells in us, we’ll delight in the things that He delights in.

No. 8: GOD DELIGHTS IN MARRIAGE

Proverbs 18:22: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor [or obtaineth the delight] of the Lord.” God delights in marriage because He designed it! And He designed it to be delightful. Yes.

No. 9: GOD DELIGHTS IN THOSE WHO FEAR HIM

Psalm 147:11: “The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”

No. 10: GOD DELIGHTS IN MERCY

Hosea 6:6: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice.”

Micah 7:18: “He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”

No. 11: GOD DELGHTS IN OUR KNOWING HIM

Hosea 6: 6: “For I desired . . . the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

Proverbs 22:17, 18: “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant (sweet and delightful) thig if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.”

No. 12: GOD DELIGHTS IN LOVINGKINDNESS, JUSTICE, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

“For in these things do I delight, saith the Lord” in Jeremiah 9:24.

No. 13: GOD DELIGHTS IN CORRECTION

Proverbs 3:12: “For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”

Well, sometimes we don’t like that Scripture, do we? We don’t want to be corrected. We don’t want the correction of the Lord. We don’t even like correction from anybody else.

But correction is something of love. And the Scripture here says that a father who delights in his children, corrects them. It’s the same with us as mothers. Why do we correct our children? Because we delight in them, and we want the best for them. So, we have to correct them.

Of course, this is how correction should be operated. We don’t correct our children out of frustration because they’re getting on our nerves, because we’re not training them properly. They ask us for something, and we say, “No, no.” But they keep asking, and they just keep asking, and they just keep asking, so we just give in.

Or we tell them to do something, and they don’t do it. We just keep telling them, and we keep telling them, and when we’ve told them for the 17^th time, we’re screaming at them. That’s not training children. No! That’s not correction. Correction is where we deal with them when we face the situation. Immediately. And we deal with them.

Maybe we have to sit down and talk with them. Maybe sometimes we have to use the rod of correction. But we do it according to the situation, according to the child, and it’s because we delight in them. But when we delight in our children, we have a standard for them. Oh, it’s just not the normal standard of the world. No!

Our longing is the same longing that Christ has, that God has for us. That Christ may be made known in us. He wants to see Christ formed in us (Romans 8:29. And we long for that too. We long for Christ to be formed in our children’s lives. We want them to come into the character of Christ. We are not happy when they are not living that way. And so, we will bring correction because we delight in them. That’s what God does.

He doesn’t leave us where we are, thank goodness! And He’s still working on us, no matter what our age. God is still working on me. Wow, I’ve nowhere near arrived! Oh, there’s still so much to do in me! Goodness me! Therefore, I must love correction. I must be open to it. I must have that attitude. “Yes, God, deal with me. Oh, God, yes, I receive that. I want to change.” So, we will grow more into the likeness of Christ.

No. 14: GOD DELIGHTS IN OBEDIENCE

We love that in our children, too, don’t we? In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel said to Saul (because Saul had just defeated the Amalekites). God had told him to destroy everything, not only the people, but all the animals, everything. But Saul did not listen. Saul saved a lot of the best of the animals.

And God came to Saul through the prophet Samuel and said: “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? (Because Saul used the excuse that he was going to use them for sacrifice. But . . .) “in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

God is saying here, what he delights in most of all is obedience to what He says. Sometimes we think what God says is, “Well, hmm, I don’t really think that’s the best thing. I think I’ve got a better idea. I know better than God.” Isn’t it amazing how often we think we know better than God? Sometimes what God says seems, wow, it just seems so far out! But God’s way is always best. And He delights in our obedience.

NO. 15: GOD DELIGHTS IN A BROKEN AND CONTRITE SPIRIT

Psalm 51:17.

No. 16: GOD DELIGHTS IN ACCURATE WEIGHTS

HE HATES CHEATING!

Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”

Well, ladies, that’s just 16 things that God delights in. Of course, we will also delight in them, too. But now, we are going on to the things that God specifically tells us that He wants us to delight in. These things relate to us in our Christian walk, in this kingdom walk in which we are living, and also in our land of motherhood.

Well, let’s see, I think I’ll have to stop, actually, because here we are, we’ve been going for 35 minutes, and I’d better not start this now or I'll be going for another 35 minutes! So, ladies, we’ll begin this next week.

Next week, I want you to come with me again and we’re going to explore the land again. We’re going to explore God’s Word. We’re going to go through it. We’re going to walk through the land. We’re going to walk through the Scriptures. We’re going to find out all that God has for us and the things He wants us to delight in.

Now, ladies, mothers, wives, are you getting the picture? Are you seeing “delight” is a word that comes over and over again in God’s precious Word? I’m just looking at the Old Testament at the moment and we found 20 different Hebrew words, remember.

We’ve looked at 16 different things God delights in. Next week, we’re going to start 22 different things God want us to delight in. Each one has many, many Scriptures with this wonderful word, “delight,” or “delightful,” or “pleasure.” I want you to get it, ladies. I want you to start using this word in your vocab. Even use it toward your children.

Tell them . . . “Children, you are the delight of my heart!”

“Oh, what a delightful boy you are! Thank you so much for obeying Mommy straight away!”

“Oh, I’m so delighted in you!”

Use the word “delight.”

Thank the Lord that He has brought you into this delightful career of motherhood. It’s His plan, it’s His design, and He’s designed it to be delightful. OK? Are you getting the picture? Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, Lord, we are so sorry that we don’t really speak the language of Your Word. Help us to speak Bible language.

“Lord God, we are seeing that the word “delightful” is so much part of Your Word, and Your vocabulary, and Your heart. Help us, Lord, to make it part of our vocabulary, and to come more

“Lord God, to see each new day as a delight, even when things go wrong, even when things are tough. Lord, help us to see our delight in You, and all the things You want us to delight in. Not looking at the difficulties, but looking at You, looking at the good things. We ask that You will help us. In the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

If you have a moment, it would be lovely if you could email a little thank you letter to Darlene. She sacrifices much of her time to transcribe these podcasts for you and I know it would encourage her to know that you are blessed by her hard work. Thanks so much.

TWENTY HEBREW WORDS MEANING DELIGHTFUL!

I will not give all the Scriptures for each Hebrew word, but just a few to give you an understanding. This gives you a glimpse of how often the word “DELIGHTFUL” is used in God’s Word. It is part of His vocabulary. God loves to delight us and wants us to be filled with delight.

1.     Chemdah (used 25 times in the Bible)

Strong’s Concordance 2532, (kem-dah) – delightful, BELOVED, precious, pleasant, beautiful, DESIRABLE.

Psalm 106:24-25 tells us that even though God gave this delightful land to His people, they didn’t believe in its goodness. In fact, “they despised the pleasant land, they believed not His word. But murmured in their tents, and harkened not unto the voice of the Lord.”

There are many women who despise motherhood, often because they have been indoctrinated by society to despise it. They are told that it is demeaning, and they can do a lot better with their lives. They despise God’s way for marriage. They are taught they must keep their independence and live their own life. They groan and complain about motherhood in their home. They criticize and whine about their husbands. Consequently, they don’t enjoy their marriage, or motherhood. It’s not a good land to them! All because of their attitude. All because they have been indoctrinated with deceitful lies from the enemy. If only they would open their eyes to behold God’s plan they would see all the good things. Motherhood would become pleasant to them. Their marriage relationship would become delightful.

Jeremiah 12:10: “They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness . . . no man layeth it to heart.”

Jeremiah 12:10 (NET): “Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people. They will trample all over my chosen land. They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wasteland. They will lay it waste. It will lie parched and empty before me. The whole land will be laid waste. But no one living in it will pay any heed.”

Jeremiah 3:19 (NLT): “I WANTED NOTHING MORE THAN TO GIVE YOU THIS BEAUTIFUL LAND—THE FINEST POSSESSION IN THE WORLD.”

This is what happened to Israel. It has also happened to motherhood.

Malachi 3:12: “All the nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

 2.     Chemed

Strong’s Concordance 2531- delight, desirable, pleasant.

Isaiah 32:12, 13 (AMP): “They shall beat upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine . . . for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.”

 3.     Chamad

Strong’s Concordance 2530 - to desire, to long for, to feel delight, desirable,

costly, precious. This word describes the pleasant trees in Eden (Genesis 2:9).

Psalm 19:10: “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

Proverbs 21:20: “There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise.”

Song of Songs 2:32: “I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit 3was sweet to my taste.”

 4.     Machmad

Strong’s Concordance 4261 - from chamad - delightful, a delight, object of affection or desire, beloved, desire, lovely, pleasant.

Hosea 9:16: “The beloved fruit of their womb.”

 5.     Chephets

Strong’s Concordance 2656 (key-fets) - pleasure or delight. It occurs 37 times in the Old Testament.

God gave marriage and motherhood for our pleasure. Of course we all experience many challenges and heartaches along the way, but as we embrace them as our Promised Land, our attitude changes and we begin to experience pleasures and delights galore.

Specific places were chephets is used:

1. Delight in the land
2. Delight in God’s Word

Psalm 1:2: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, not sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Bu his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Delight in God’s people

Psalm 16:3: “My goodness extendeth not to thee; But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.”

 Delight in wisdom

Proverbs 8:11: “Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”

1. Delight in the works of the Lord (Psalm 111:2).
2. Delight in homemaking tasks

Proverbs 31:13: “She worketh willingly (the Hebrew word is delightfully) with her hands.”

 6.     Chaphets

Strong’s Concordance 2654 (khaw-fates) – to be pleased with, desire, delight, desire, have pleasure.

Numbers 14:8: “If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD.”

2 Samuel 22:20: “He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.”

Psalm 22:8: “He trusted on the lord that he would delver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.”

Psalm 40:8: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

7.     Chashaq

Strong’s Concordance 2836 – (khaw-shak) - to join, to love, to delight in, desire, set in love.

GOD DESIRES AND LOVES HIS PEOPLE

Deuteronomy 10:15: “Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people as it is this day.”

Isaiah 38:17: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

 8.     Eden

Strong’s Concordance, 5731, (ay-den), the Garden of Eden, pleasure, delight

Genesis 2:8: “And the LORD god planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

 9.     And Eden

Strong’s Concordance 5730 - delicate, pleasure, delight, to live voluptuously (only one reference)

Genesis 18:12: “After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old

also.”

10.  Adan

Strong’s Concordance 5727 - to be soft, pleasant, delight.

Nehemiah 9:25: “And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.”

11.  Anag

Strong’s Concordance 6026 – to be soft and pliable, delicate, delight. Deuteronomy 28:56 speaks of the tender and delicate woman.

Psalm 37:11: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

Isaiah 55:2: “Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

Isaiah 58:14: “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord . . .” 

 12.   Oneg

Strong’s Concordance 6027 - from anag, delight in, pleasant.

Isaiah 58:13: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight (oneg), the holy of the LORD, honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight (anag) thyself in the LORD . . .”

 13.  Ta-anuwg

Strong’s Concordance 8588 - from anag, (tah-an-oog) - delight, pleasant.

Song of Solomon 7:6: “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!”

Micah 2:9: “The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses (delightful homes); and from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.” God wants us to make delightful homes.

 14.   Ratsah (used 57 times in the Bible).

Strong’s Concordance 7521 - To be pleased with, accept, affection, delight, take pleasure.

1 Chronicles 29:3: DAVID confesses: “Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house . . . “

Proverbs 16:7: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Psalm 102:13, 14: “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and the favor the dust thereof.”

Proverbs 3:12: “For whom the lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”

Messianic prophecy of Christ in Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth . . .”

Psalm 149:4: “For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people.”

Haggai 1:8: “Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.”

 15.  Sha’a

Strong’s Concordance 8173 (shaw-ah) – to fondle, please, delight in.

Psalm 119:16: “I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget thy word.”

Psalm 119:47: “I will delight myself in thy commandants, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statues.” Verse 70.

 16.  Sha-shua

Strong’s Concordance 8191 (shah-shoo’ah) – enjoyment, delight, pleasure.

Psalm 119:24: “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.” Are they your enjoyment?

Psalm 119:77, 92, 143, 174 “Thy law is my delight.” God’s word is my sha-shua.

Who are your counsellors? Are they the world, the media, the humanists, and the feminists? Even other women? If they are not grounded in the truth, you will be getting wrong counsel.

Proverbs 8:31: “My delights were with the sons of men.”

 17.   Ratsown (Used 56 times in the Bible)

Strong’s Concordance (RA-TSONE) delight, acceptable, pleasure, desire.

Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance is abomination to the LORD:  but a just weight is his delight.”

Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable (delightful, pleasing) in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.”

In this land of marriage and motherhood, God wants our words to be delightful and pleasing to one another.

Proverbs 10:32: “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable.”

Proverbs 11:20: “They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD:  but such as are upright in their way are his delight.”

Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly (those who practice truth, deal faithfully), are his delight.”

Proverbs 15:8: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”

Proverbs 18:22: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor (delight) of the LORD.”

Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.”

 18.  No’ am

Strong’s Concordance 5278 - delight, suitableness, agreeableness, splendor or grace, pleasantness, beauty.

Proverbs 3:17: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”

19.  Na’iym

Strong’s Concordance 5273 - (na-eem) - delightful, pleasant, sweet, pleasure.

Psalm 135:3: “Sing praises unto His name for it is pleasant.”

Proverbs 24:3, 4: “Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious sand pleasant riches.”

Psalm 133:1: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

20.   Na-em

Strong’s Concordance 5276 - to be agreeable, delight, pleasant, sweet.

Genesis 49:15: “And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant . . .”

Proverbs 2:10: “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul.”

Proverbs 24: 24, 25 NRSV: “Whoever says to the wicked, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations; but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.”

Song of Solomon 7:6: “How fair and how pleasant (ne-em) art thou, O love, for delights!”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 194: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, Part 5

We discover two more points about the land today. It is a CHOSEN land, and it is a DELIGHTFUL land. Do we embrace our land or despise it?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Here we are, together again. We’re continuing to talk about the land of motherhood, this good land. I hope that in the last few weeks that you have been enjoying this good land, because that’s what the Bible calls it.

Today we are up to number two.

No. 2. IT IS A CHOSEN LAND

We began our series telling you how we are taking all these points from what God calls the Land of Israel, what was the Promised Land for His people. It was God Who chose this land. It wasn’t something the children of Israel found themselves or discovered for themselves. God went ahead and He chose this land. This portion of land in the middle of the world was what God chose for His people.

We read in Ezekiel 20:6: “In that day that I lifted up My hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them.” Now, I wonder if you’ve ever heard that word “espied” before. E-S-P-I-E-D. It’s an old-fashioned word in that King James language. But it’s amazing.

I was just thinking about this Scripture the other day. Then I went for a little walk down to our spring. Our water comes to our home from about a mile away from a beautiful spring. Unfortunately, that day our water pipes had all frozen and we had no water. This often happens with us here out in the country.

So, Colin was out in the cold, trying to cut the pipes and get all the ice out and then put them back together again. In fact, when I got down there, it was quite amazing to see all these pieces of ice just shooting out of these pipes.

But anyway, on the way down, I met some guys. I thought, “Who are these guys?” I found out later they were surveyors. They said to me, “Oh, so, you are going down to espy Mr. Campbell, are you?” I couldn’t believe my ears! That I had just been reading this word in the Bible and here was this guy saying this word! Who in the world today says the word “espy”? But he did! So it’s a real word, ladies!

But it means “to choose, or to pick out.” I’ll read you some other translations, so you get the real meaning.

In the God’s Word translation it says: “A land I have chosen for them.”

The New English Translation says: “On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I have picked out for them.”

Other translations say: “Which I searched out for them.”

The New Living Translation says: “I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them. A good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands everywhere.”

So, God went ahead. He had that land chosen out for them, ready years before they went in to possess the land. And dear ladies, this is true with the land of motherhood. We didn’t choose it. We didn’t plan it. We didn’t even think it out.

God chose this land for us. It was in His mind. It was in His heart before He even created the first woman. He planned the destiny for the women that He would create. And He espied, He discovered, He chose the land for them, our land of motherhood. A land where God has chosen, that we, as His female creation, will come into the home and embrace children, and bring forth the godly seed.

It’s a place, a sanctuary, a secure and safe place to raise a family, and where we build a strong, godly home. We build a beautiful marriage. It’s in this home, it’s in this land of motherhood and homemaking. In the world today, it is despised. But it is what God chose for us. So, if we love God, if we want to walk in His ways, we will love what He chose for us, won’t we?

Psalm 44:3: “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.”

In Psalm 12:6, it says these words: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” I love that Scripture because it tells us there that every plan of God, every word has been tried. Not tried only once, but tried seven times, gone through the purification of trying seven times before we ever got His Word here on earth.

It is a pure word. It’s a tried word. It’s a word that works for all generations. It’s this plan, this chosen land, that He chose for us, He planned before the foundation of the world, and it’s been tried and purified, and it’s the best. No matter what the world says, IT IS THE BEST.

All right . . .

No. 3. IT IS A DELIGHTFUL LAND

Now there’s a number of Scriptures about it being a delightful land. Also, I found that there’s a number of different Hebrew words. God doesn’t only use one Hebrew word to describe the word “delightful” and to describe the land that He chose. So, we’ll look into them, shall we?

The first Hebrew word is chemdar. If you are writing it down, which I don’t think you will be, because you may be out walking, or you’re maybe doing the dishes, or you’re maybe holding your baby, or nursing your baby. But it is spelled C-H-E-M-D-A-R. This word means “delightful, beloved, precious, pleasant, beautiful, desirable.”

In Psalm 106:24 it says: “Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his Word.” This Scripture is talking about how they’ve come to the Land, but they didn’t believe that God could look after them. They despised it. And yet it was this beloved, delightful, beautiful land.

This is very much the testimony we see of motherhood today. God has given us a delightful land but so many despise it. They really don’t put much value on it at all, I think mainly because they’ve been brainwashed. Inside of us, if we don’t have all the brainwashing of our education system, and of our media, and of our society around us, in us, just innately, we love being a woman. We love to be a mother. We love home. That is innately within every woman.

However, the female creation today has been very, very brainwashed, especially by our education system to think that motherhood is insignificant. They do not know the truth. See, what we are doing in these podcasts, dear ladies, is reminding one another of the truth. We are constantly bombarded with deception and lies. We think they’re true. That’s how we live.

But they are lies. They are deception. We have got to come to believe and live the truth. And the truth is that the land of motherhood is a delightful land. So, you’ve either got to believe it or disbelieve it. You’ve either got to embrace it or despise it. We have to choose what we’re doing to do.

Jeremiah 12:10 (NET) says: “Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people. They will trample all over my chosen land. They will turn my beautiful land (that chemdar) into a desolate wasteland. They will lay it waste. It will lie parched and empty before me. The whole land will be laid waste. But no one living in it will pay any heed.”

Now, this is a picture of what happened to Israel. God’s people went in eventually, after 40 years in the wilderness, to possess this good land, this chosen land, this delightful land. They conquered their enemies and they lived in wonderful joy and goodness for many years. But as the years went by, they began to take on evil ways. They became even more evil than the people whom they cast out of the land.

So, God cast them out of the land, because He could not stand that they, His own people, were living in such sin. But He never gave up on His people. He promised that He would bring them back. But the interesting thing is, that in all those years, when Israel was out of the Land, except maybe just a few living there, it was left to go to waste. The Land of Israel became a waste.

It was once a fertile, glorious, beautiful land. But when His people left, it went to waste and became barren. When the children of Israel began to come back to the Land, even before Israel became a nation, but especially after 1948, they began to come back. They came back to just barrenness and malarial swamps. It was an incredible challenge to work that land again.

But the amazing thing is that, as they have come back, the land is coming back to its glory again, it’s delightsomeness. It’s becoming fruitful and glorious and beautiful. It’s amazing. Every time you go to Israel, you see more delight, and more fruitfulness, and more blossoming which God said would happen. In fact, we see that in Ezekiel 36. Let me go to it now.

Ezekiel 36 is a wonderful chapter to read sometime when you’ve got your Bible with you. Just look up Ezekiel 36. It’s a prophetic word given to the people of Israel, who are coming back to the land, and what will happen when they come back to the land.

It starts off: “Also, thou son of man, prophesy . . .” Now when it says the word “prophesy,” we usually think, “Wow! There’s going to be a prophecy from a great prophet and he’s going to prophesy to some person.” But no, here he’s prophesying to the land! It says: “Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.”

It’s speaking to the very land. “Therefore, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen,” and so on. 

“Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God 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 and a derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about.” It goes on to say all the good things that God will do to the land.

Somewhere down in this chapter, it talks about how the land will begin to bring forth fruit for “My people.” That’s an amazing thing, because when you go to Israel, and especially you go out to the West Bank, to the hills of Samaria, you see these barren hills. All it is, is just barren stones. You think, “How can this land become fruitful and blossom again?”

Then you look, and there are these glorious, beautiful, fruitful vineyards. The fruit that is on them is luscious, and huge, and beautiful. Then you look a little closer, and you see that these vineyards are growing out of the barren stones! You cannot even believe it! It was one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen in my life!

And how are they doing it? Because it’s the prophetic word of the Lord. He said, “When My people come back, they will sow the land. They will plant vineyards, and the land will bring forth fruit for My people.” It comes forth through the Word of the Lord! It is absolutely amazing. But that is what is happening. It’s coming again to be this beautiful, delightsome land.

Jeremiah 3:19, New Living Translation: “I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land (chemdar/delightful), the finest possession in the world.”

Then Malachi 3:12: “All the nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.” This is God’s intention for His land of Israel. It was, and it will be, a delightsome land.

It is His plan and intention for the land of motherhood. Dear ladies, He wants your land of motherhood in your home, and in the land around your home, even if it’s only a little plot, or maybe a lot of acres, He wants it to be delightsome.

Of course, you’ve got to help Him make it delightsome. That’s another thing God wants us to do. Nothing just happens. We are to make this land a delightsome land. You can make motherhood what you want it to be. It all comes back to our attitude.

If our attitude is one of, “Oh, I could be doing something else! Help! What am I doing here in this home? I’ve got talents and gifts and degrees to do something far greater than being in this home, imprisoned in these four walls!” If that’s your mindset, well, you’re going to be miserable.

But if you understand the truth that this is the land God has given to you. It’s a delightsome land. And you embrace it, and you pour your heart into it, it will become more and more delightful.

There’s another Hebrew word. The second one: chaphets. This one means “pleasure or delight.” They all have just about the same meaning. But it’s amazing how God uses these different words.

God has given this whole land, the land of marriage, yes. Marriage is very much part of this land. In fact, it’s the very foundation of this land. If we’re not making our marriage delightsome, how can the rest of the land be delightsome? It starts with our marriages.

So, lovely ladies, every day, you’ve got to put some delight into your marriage. You have to do something. You have to say something. Things don’t just happen! If you want to have a delightful marriage, you can have it! You can have it by your attitude, and by your actions, and by the words that you say. But you’ve got to get that right because that is the foundation of this delightsome land.

I noticed six things here where this word, chaphets, is used. Six things that we’re to delight in. Number one. We delight in the land, of course. We delight in our marriage. We delight in our motherhood and mothering our children. We delight in making our home the greatest place that it can be.

Number two. We delight in God’s Word. The same word is used in Psalm 1:2: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, not sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” As we delight in His Word, that will bring us into the truth of delighting in our land of motherhood.

Thirdly, we’re to delight in God’s people (Psalm 16:3). David is speaking here, and he says to the Lord: “My goodness extendeth not to Thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.” God wants us to delight in His people.

All right, if we’re delighting in God’s people, we’ll want to be getting together with God’s people. We’ll love to show hospitality to God’s people. We’ll delight to get together each week to meet with God’s people, whether we meet on a Saturday, or whether we meet on a Sunday. But we will delight to be at the gathering of the saints, the gathering of God’s people.

When we stay away from the gathering of God’s people, when we think, “Oh, well, I’ve got something else to do today,” or we don’t put so much value on it, we’re not really delighting in the people of the Lord. And what is David saying here? He said, “My goodness extendeth not to Thee, O Lord, but to Your people.”

What he’s saying is that “This is how I’m going to show my delight in You, Lord.” Because Christ is the Head, we are His Body on the earth. The attitude of how we relate to God’s people is how we’re relating to God. It’s how we extend our love and our goodness to the Lord, by extending it to His people.

The fourth one. We delight in wisdom (Proverbs 8:11).

The next one. We delight in the works of the Lord (Psalm 111:2). We love to enjoy creation. We delight in our children who are His works. My, what a glorious world God has created! But the most amazing of all his creations are the children that He gives to us. Oh my! Every child is so special, so unique!

And even every child God gives to you, not one is the same. They’re not all cookie cutters. Every single one is different. There’s never been anyone like this little child in the whole of the world and there will never be anyone like him in the whole of the world again! It’s one, special, unique, amazing creation! The works of the Lord and we delight in them.

The last one. We delight in our homemaking tasks. Proverbs 31:13: “And she (the virtuous woman) works willingly with her hands.” The interesting thing, ladies, is that the word “willingly” is the same word, chaphets, meaning “delight, pleasure.” So, although they have translated this “willingly” in the King James Version, it really means to take delight in everything you’re doing in your home.

Take delight in the works of your hands and all the mundane tasks. Washing the dishes again because you’re going to do them at least three times a day. You’re going to be doing all the tasks that have to be done to keep a home clean and orderly. And the works of your hands that we take delight in them. As we take delight in them, we’re making our land a delightsome land.

Are getting the message, lovely ladies?

A third Hebrew word, so similar to the last one. This one is chephets. The only difference is that there is an “a” instead of an “e” in the Hebrew word. It also means “to be pleased with, to desire, to delight, to have pleasure.”

So, let’s read some Scriptures here. Numbers 14:8: “If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord.” So, we see God brought His people into this delightsome land because He delighted in them.

And dear, precious ladies, He brings you into the land of motherhood and the land of homemaking, your realm, where you are queen of your domain. Looking after our home is not some insignificant little task. It’s huge! It’s unbelievable! It’s as big and as amazing, and as delightful as you can make it, because God gives you a domain! You’re the boss! You can do what you like!

You can get visions to do wonderful projects. You can get understanding and visions on how to ultimately, and the best way, to train and teach your children. You’re queen of your domain. He delights in you, to bring you into this wonderful, wonderful domain, this realm, where you are queen.

2 Samuel 22:20: “He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” And he’s speaking there of the land. One of our 20 points down the road will be “It’s a large land,” so we’ll talk on that later.

Psalm 22:8: “He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him: let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him.” It’s all about delight. God delighting in us, and then we delight in Him, and in the land that He gives us.

The fourth Hebrew word: chashaq. It means, again “to delight in.” Deuteronomy 10:15: “Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.” Well, that’s a similar Scripture to the ones we’ve just read, even though it’s a different Hebrew word. God brings us in because He delights in us.

Adan, this is number five. It means “to be pleasant, to delight.” Nehemiah 9:25: “And they took strong cities, and a fat land.” That’s going to be another point down the road, “It’s a fat land.” “And possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.”

God has so many good things and good pleasures to give you in this land of motherhood so you can delight in them. Dear ladies, do you think you can change your thinking? Do you think you can begin to change your speaking? Instead of complaining and groaning, can you begin to speak the words that God says about the land He’s given you? That it’s a good land, and it’s a chosen land, and it’s a delightful land.

Oh, I do want to challenge you to begin to speak Bible language. So often, we speak the language of the kingdom of darkness, which is full of unbelief, and deception, and destruction, and everything the enemy is, for he comes to kill, rob, and destroy.

But God’s kingdom is a kingdom of life! And it’s a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). And it’s a good kingdom and it’s a delightful kingdom! Yes! So, let’s change our attitudes. Let’s change our thinking. Let’s change our vocab. Amen?

Here’s one more: eden. It’s actually in the Hebrew pronounced “a-den,” but we all call it eden because it is talking about the Garden of Eden. That Hebrew word eden also means “pleasure and delight.” Did you know that? Did you know that’s what eden means?

The very first home that God created was a home of pleasure, a home of delight. And, ladies, it was the prototype of all homes to come. Everything that was written in the Old Testament, whether it was written about a person, about a thing, or about a land, it’s a type. And then, when we go to the New Testament and we see it fulfilled there, it becomes the prototype.

And it is fulfilled there. This is a type and a prototype. The type was the land, the Garden of Eden, which was to be a home of great delight and pleasure. God wants this for all future homes. That can be our whole vision of our life, making our home a delight, a Garden of Eden.

Here it’s talking, not only about a home, but also a garden part of the home. In the Bible, home is not just a home. It’s a home and a garden. They are together. They are actually one, just like husband and wife are one. A garden and a home are one.

Well, it’s not always like that today, is it? Because many people don’t have gardens today. Many people live in the city, and they don’t even have room. But it was always God’s intention for a garden to be part of the home. Not only were beautiful flowers and trees to beautify our homes, but to provide for the home, to grow food for the home.

Maybe you’re saying, “Well, goodness, that’s beyond me. I don’t even have any space to do a garden at all.” Well, dear lovely mother, dear lovely wife, you can always do something. If you don’t even have one tiny little bit of earth, you can grow some herbs in some pots in your home. You can grow something, so you’ve got a little bit of a garden. Isn’t that good?

Oh, this is interesting. This same word is used in Genesis 18:12. It’s where God came to Abraham, Abram at that time, and Sarah. He told them that Sarah would have a son. But she couldn’t believe it, and she laughed. She said, “After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?”

The word is eden! That same word for the Garden of Eden. In that context, it is talking about not only the pleasure and delight of having a baby and mothering, but also the delight of sexual intimacy. That’s all contained in the meaning there in Genesis 18:12.

It’s all about delight, ladies. And time is up again. So, next week, we’ll look into some more points about this wonderful land.

“Dear Father, we thank You for Your Word. We’re always thanking You for Your Word. I thank You for Your Word every day because it shows me the way. It shows every one of us the way You want us to live.

“And, Lord, we find out that we’re often so far away from Your Word! We’re so far away from Your truth! Oh, God, we ask that You will bring us into Your truth! You’ll bring us into the language of the Bible. You’ll help us to see, Lord, God, and Lord, here today, we’ve only learned of two more descriptions that You chose this land for us. And it is a delightful land.

“Lord, even this is so amazing! Although we’ve got many more to learn. I pray that You will help us all to delight in our marriages, and delight in our homes, and delight in our powerful career of motherhood. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.aboverubies.org

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

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 193: THE LAND OF MOTHERHOOD, Part 4

Christy Ireland joins me again today. We are still discussing the GOOD land of motherhood and the good things God wants us to do in our land. Can you believe that cooking and preparing meals is a good thing? Yes, God says it is GOOD! Even submission is a GOOD thing. Help, is this really true? Listen to Christy's testimony on this subject.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. We are still on point number one: MOTHERHOOD IS A GOOD LAND. And at the end of last session, we were talking on 1 Timothy 5:10 and all the wonderful, good works of a woman in the home.

The first one the Bible talks about is that she brought up children. Do you remember how I told you that word means “to nurture and to feed”? So, feeding and cooking is so much part of motherhood. Now, ladies, I know cooking meals can often be like an interruption in your day. But I don’t want you to look upon it as an interruption. I want you to look upon it as such a blessing! This is part of your anointing of motherhood.

I have always found, raising our children, and even still today, I keep to the same format; that I stop whatever I am doing at a certain time, usually no later than 5 o’clock. I will go to the kitchen to start preparing. And if I’m having company, people over for a meal, and perhaps needing to do more preparation, I will start at 4 o’clock.

WHY NOT MAKE IT LOVELY?

We often don’t eat until 6:30. It takes me a good, at least, hour and a half to prepare a meal, longer if I’m having a lot of people. Because I do love to cook lovely meals. Not just for visitors but for my family. I love to cook lovely meals. Don’t you think, ladies, that everything we do should be lovely? Why just throw some stuff on the table? Why not make it lovely?

I think you may have heard me say this before, but it changed my life, after years and years ago, I was watching that movie called “Babette’s Feast.” In that movie, there is a line of this woman who was a great chef. What was happening in the movie, she wasn’t in her restaurant, she’s a great chef but she was away from her country, and she was working for these people. But she put on this amazing meal.

There was this guy who’d been in the army. He was high up in the army and he’d been to her restaurant in France. This amazing meal reminded him of this restaurant. And he got up, and he was giving a speech, and he said, “There was a woman who knew how to make every meal into a love affair.” Wow!

I heard those words. I’ve never forgotten them. And I thought, “That is my aim. I WANT TO MAKE EVERY MEAL A LOVE AFFAIR.” So, I want to make every meal lovely. Not just the food. I want to make the table lovely. I want to make the atmosphere lovely, so everybody who comes wants to come, and is going to feel the atmosphere of the table and of everyone sitting around together.

It doesn’t just happen, ladies. You have to make it happen. And you’ll have to stop what you are doing. You have to do that. We can get onto projects, and oh, this is what I want to do. Forget the meal!

But there’s going to be a hungry husband and hungry children. If the meal’s not ready, you’re going to not have a very happy husband, and you’re not going to have very happy children!  What do you think, Christy?

Christy Ireland: Yes, it can get a little chaotic if you don’t . . .

Nancy: Oh, by the way, Christy is with me again! [laughter]

Christy: Hello again! Yes, a household can get a bit chaotic if the meal isn’t ready when the hunger hits. That is a lesson that I have had to learn. My amazing husband has been so patient with me, as I love to sew, and I can be up in my sewing room all day, every day, if I wanted to be in. I do have my children up there with me, but sometimes I forget to stop. I myself, might even forget to eat.

AN IMPORTANT PRIORITY

But he has had to show me, yes, you are so good at sewing, at what you do. But you should probably learn how come down and make us some meals every once in a while. He just showed me that there needed to be order in our home and that there were priorities. Cooking meals was a much greater priority than sewing. He taught me how to make priorities in the home.

I do have to stop what I’m doing. I do have purposely . . . I like what you said though, about having a specific time. I probably should do that when I get home. Set an alarm, 4 o’clock. It’s time to go down and start the meal.

But we do have pretty specific eating times in our home, because like I said, we do like order. We like things to run smoothly so we do our breakfast at a certain time. And we’ll have a snack before lunch usually, just to get them over. But they all sit at the table when they eat. That makes things easier. Everybody has the same snack, everybody’s done. Nobody will be ready for food until lunch. I won’t have some children fed and some not fed, and who ate what? That makes things a little hard in our house. Then we have lunch. It’s the dinnertime that sometimes slips my mind but I’m learning.

It’s been pretty cool, living in our camper, because we’re in such a tight space. It’s been really fun, just getting to cook in this teeny, tiny, little kitchen with all my children around, and my girls help. Things are still going very smoothly. So, yes, we do love to give them good food and make sure everybody’s fed, because when everybody’s fed, they’re happy.

Nancy: That’s definitely a way to keep everybody happy, isn’t it? It’s amazing how food keeps everybody happy.

We continue looking at this description of this woman in the home, and the good works that she did. So, “If she has brought up children.”

The next thing: “If she has lodged strangers.” If she has shown hospitality. This was another criterion of a woman that they were going to support. Now Paul said, if this woman has lived this lifestyle, I want you to look after her in the church and provide for her. But she has had to have lived this lifestyle, which reveals that this is the lifestyle that God has for His women.

So, it starts off in the home. Then it’s reaching out in hospitality. Do you notice that it also involves cooking and food? So much a part of our lives. You can’t show hospitality without preparing a meal! I think that’s why some people, maybe, don’t show as much hospitality as they could. But this is what God says here. He’s showing that this is the lifestyle that we’re meant to live.

Hospitality is not something that, “You know, well, maybe I might do it someday.” Or “Yeah, I know those people. They’re so good at hospitality. That’s their gift, but it’s not my gift.” No, the Bible talks about it in His Word. It says that we are all to be “given to hospitality.” We are to love hospitality. The early church met together daily in each other’s homes. I think we need to come back, little by little, to that lifestyle. It’s a beautiful lifestyle. It makes life so exciting. You can never be bored if you have hospitality.

Then it goes on: “If she has washed the saints’ feet.” What they’re talking about, back in Bible days, when people came to your home, they’d been walking the dusty roads. Usually, it was the task of the servants to wash their feet before they came into the rest of the house. But here it says that she washed their feet.

Once again, it’s talking about people coming into your home. If people are coming into your home, you’re not going to sit them down in a chair to look at the walls. You’re going to get them something to drink. You’re going to feed them. So, once again, we’re talking about food and cooking!

God says, “It’s a good work.” Then it goes on, and it says: “And if she has relieved the afflicted.” She’s reached out to the poor, and the needy, either bringing them into her home, or going out to take provision to them, which will usually be food. So, once again, it’s food! Yes! Preparing food!

Not just for your family but those who are in need. There are families, the mother is sick, or maybe the child is sick. So, you’re going to make a meal for them and take it over to them. You’re relieving, and nurturing, and helping the afflicted. You can’t do that without making food! So, there it is again! Just food, food, food! So, you might as well get with it, ladies, OK?

Then it says: “If she has diligently followed every GOOD work.” All these things are called “good works.” Amen!

Christy, we were talking in our last session about that word “submission,” because that’s another one of the good things that the young women are to do, to be submissive to their husbands. You said, “Oh, I’ve got something to share about that, so you must tell us in this session.

Christy: Yes, I had to learn some hard lessons in submission. I did learn in the end that it is amazing and freeing. But to get there was a very, very, very rough road. I was not being submissive to my husband as he wanted to move away from our hometown, our home state, to a totally different state. This was after we had five children at the time.

I basically was just saying, “No, I’m not going to go there.” He wanted to move, and I was not going to go there. So, our family fell into some pretty bad hardships at that time, He ended up having to go through some surgeries. Afterwards he was placed on pain medication.

He became addicted. I don’t know what other word to use. I mean, he became dependent and addicted to these pain medications to where he was getting them illegally, and all this without me knowing. So, when it came to light, our family was being torn apart, completely torn apart.

That’s the enemy. I wasn’t living a life sold out for the Lord. He wasn’t living a life sold out for the Lord. We weren’t recognizing the things that were going on, even in our own household.

This all, the Lord has showed me, came from my insubmission, even to the point where I would be laying in bed with him next to me. He’d be asleep, and I knew he needed prayer and healing from this addiction that he had. I did not want to pray. The Lord wanted me to pray over him, put my hands on him, pray out loud for his healing.

The Lord’s voice was so loud in my head, and I so did not want to pray out loud over my husband, that I would go out to my balcony so that I would plug my ears. I didn’t want to hear the Lord telling me to do this anymore, because I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t. But now I’m not even submitting to the Lord. He’s telling me to pray for my husband and I’m running outside to plug my ears.

It ended up with my husband being gone from our family. He was away. I ended up having to move out of our big, lovely house into a camper with four of our children. We had had five, but our little Andrew was in heaven already. We lived in our camper. My husband lived three-and-a-half hours away from us.

Praise the Lord for this ministry. It's called U-TURN FOR CHRIST. It’s in California. He was able to go to this ministry where they cold-turkey you. They don’t try to get you off of medication by using medication. They get you off of your addiction by sharing the Word of God with you, and praying over you, and making you work very hard.

In all of that, the Lord healed my husband. During that time of not having my husband at my side with me, all I could do was to lean on the Lord and His Word. Now I have this new, new hunger and thirst for the Lord and His Word and prayer. I was a new woman because I wasn’t anywhere without my Bible and my journal. I prayed out loud on every drive I went on. This is how I would pray like I’m speaking to you now. I would just pray, pray, pray.

I saw the Lord heal my husband. Praise the Lord, because like we talked about before, there are a lot of people who go into that and don’t come out of it. It is a miracle that the Lord healed him from that, and that the Lord has continued to bless our family. We’ve been able to go on in our marriage, and be able to go on, continuing to have children. The rest has been such a blessing.

From that, after he finished with his rehabilitation, the Lord just threw blessings in our path. I mean, “Here you go! You’re going to work at the conference center and be the groundskeeper at this amazing Christian retreat!"

From there, the Lord moved us to Montana in a very miraculous way. This time, I went, very willingly. Wherever the Lord directed my husband. I was right behind him. I knew that that consequence came from insubmission, and my insubmission to the Lord, to pray for him. So, yes, I realized, thankfully, that submission was a good thing.

Nancy: That’s beautiful. Thank you, Christy. Now you and Chad are the parents of 12 amazing children. You could never have dreamed that at the beginning, could you?

Christy: Oh, no! No, no. I would have never ever imagined just seeing my life. I’m glad that it is this way, because what I might not have planned for myself.

Another submission is the Lord opened our eyes after we were already pregnant with baby number four. The womb was to be submitted to the Lord. Just as our lives we submit to the Lord, we can’t hold this back. This is to be submitted to the Lord.  He showed us that through His Word.

And, oh my, are we thankful, because that is one of the things, when I’m sitting in our tiny, little camper right now, we’re all around their table. I see all of their faces, so close together. I see their faces, and it just melts my heart. These are my children! I am so blessed!

Nancy: So wonderful! You are so rich. All these beautiful children, there are no greater riches, are there? Last night, we had a wedding rehearsal for Ben and Cherish who are getting married on Saturday. She’s marrying Ben, who is one of, not 12 children, but 12 sons!

I did a podcast a few months back with Cassie. It was “The Mom of 11 Sons.” But now she is “The Mom of 12 Sons”! Isn’t that amazing? Twelve sons. It’s so great, and they’re all such beautiful young men, too, right down to the little ones.

The land of motherhood, it is such a good thing. God wants us to be doing good things in our home. Acts 10:38: “Jesus went about, doing good, and healing all those that were sick.” Well, many of us, we just go about doing. But He wants us to go about doing good!

Even when we’re in the kitchen and preparing meals and doing the mundane things around the home, they’re such good things because they’re establishing a strong family life. You’re building into making your family strong and great.

Let’s just finish with a few Scriptures about good works again. And then I must finish this point! I don’t think I’ll take so many sessions on all the next points. So, don’t worry, ladies!

Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.” The previous verses tell us that we’re not saved by good works, but when we’re saved and born again, we are then saved “unto good works, which God has before ordained, that we should walk in them.”

God knows your story. He knows everything that’s happening. He’s brought you to your husband. I love that. You know, I love going back to the beginning, because it’s in the beginning where we see the principles.

I love it when God created Eve. Then the next thing it says: “And God brought the woman to the man.” Such a beautiful thing! God brings the woman to the man. I look back, and I think, “I never thought of this at the time, when Colin and I came together. I thought I saw this guy and fell in love.”

But I look back and see, wow! It was God! How did I work it out? Colin lived a long, long way from where I lived and yet we miraculously met. God brought us together. You don’t feel like that about every Tom, Dick, and Harry. He makes it special for two people who come together.

He knows their destiny and what’s going to happen. He knows the destiny of how He brought you and your husband together, and the children He’s given you. He’s ordained this before the foundation of the world. He knew everything. He knew the names of your children, children that you’re yet to have! He knows their names and you haven’t even decided them yet.

But He knows! He knows, because He is omniscient. He has planned everything from before the foundation of the world. He says, “I’ve planned this for you to walk in it.” So, embrace it, lovely ladies! Walk in it.

Philippians 2:13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

Colossians 3:17: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

So, everything you do, you get up in the morning, you make your bed. Do you do that? Even a busy mother? Yes, it’s an important thing to do the little things, ladies. The little things. Even making your bed.

You know, when you make your bed when you get up, it’s a wonderful start to the day. You have already accomplished something. If you leave your bed open, and a mess, it’s left unfinished. So, the first thing in the day you’ve left unfinished. You’re making a habit for the rest of the day.

Now, you make your bed and you’ve finished the job. You’re making a habit for the rest of the day which you are teaching your children. You’re teaching them to make their beds before they even come out of their rooms. Such little things, but they help to keep a home managed and in working order.

And you’re training your children from very tiny. As soon as they’re able to do it, how to finish a job. First job they start in the morning, they finish it! Otherwise, they learn to leave unfinished tasks.

We do it, every little thing, in the Name of the Lord Jesus. And giving thanks! “Oh, just some boring thing I have to do!” No! We give thanks! Yes! We’ve got to get living by the Word, don’t we? Because we usually live by our feelings and how we feel, instead of living by how the Word wants us to live.

James 2:26: “Faith without works is dead.”

James 4:17: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” My, that’s been a challenge to me so many times. When the Lord has put on my heart something I should do, or something I should do for someone, or maybe even to go and talk to someone about something, and you don’t. Ooh. You don’t really want to, or you’re a little scared they may be offended, or whatever. But when we don’t do those things, it’s actually sin, which is a challenge to me.

Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Be encouraged, lovely, weary mother. I know you do get weary at times. But keep on, be encouraged, be faithful, and be glad that the end of the day will come, and you’ll have a good sleep.

Isn’t it wonderful? God gives us sleep! It is so wonderful. There are times at the end of the day that I can hardly keep my eyes open. But it’s amazing. You have a good sleep, and you wake up in the morning, and you’re ready to go again! It’s just so amazing, isn’t it? So, even if we get weary, we have renewing of sleep during the night to prepare us for another day.

LOVE IS WORK AND WORK IS LOVE

1 John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Not just loving in words, but in deeds. Do you know that often we show our love by our work? And in working, we show our love, because love is not just a feeling. It’s actually work.

And even in the home, to love our husbands, to love our children, it takes work. Work to keep the home in order. Work to keep the meals going. Work to keep on top of everything. Work to just serve our husband and care for all our children. It’s work!

But love is work. If we love them, we are not complaining, “I’ve got all this do, and help me, and poor me.” No! We’re loving it! The more work we have, the more we’re going to be showing our love! Yes!

EVERY GOOD WORK

2 Thessalonians 2:17 says we are to be “established in EVERY good word and work.” I won’t give you all the references to these. I’ll put them in the transcription. We do transcribe every podcast.

But the Word of God says that we are to be “prepared unto EVERY good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).

We’re to be “equipped for EVERY good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).

 We’re to show ourselves a “pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7).  

We are to be “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).  That’s a good one, isn’t it? “Zealous.” Yes. We are to be excited about it.

We are to be “ready to every good work” (Titus 3:1).

We’re to “provoke one another to good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

We must “not neglect doing good” (Hebrews 13:16).

 We must be “careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8). 

Wow! Did you know there was so much about that in the Word? We’re just continually exhorted and encouraged about doing good works. It’s really quite amazing! 

Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” 

1 Peter 2:12 says that they may see your “good works, which they shall behold, and glorify God in the day of visitation.” 

Matthew 5:44: “Do good to them that hate you.” 

Matthew 12:35-37 talks about speaking good words out of your heart.

Luke 6:35: “Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.”  

Romans 12:21: “Overcome evil with good.” 

Romans 15:2 encourages us to do good to build up others.

Ephesians 4:28: “Work with your hands” to specifically, I think to the fathers of the home, that they’re to work with their hands to do good things, to have enough to eat, and give to others.  

God is really into work, isn’t He? He’s got some good words to the husbands, too, which we didn’t talk about today. “If a man does not work or provide for his family, neither should he even eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 1 Timothy 5:8). God is very specific about working.  

So, lovely mother, don’t despair when you feel that all you’re doing is working around the home. You know, you will love it when you change your attitude. If we look upon it negatively, oh, goodness me! Life’s terrible.  

But when we look upon it as, “I am doing this because I love my husband and I love my children. I love the Lord, and I just want to serve Him. I’m going to do it with joy and thanksgiving!” Wow! Well, your whole attitude has changed, and every moment is exciting and wonderful! What do you say, Christy? 

Christy: Yes, I agree.

Nancy: And you found that worked out in your home?

Christy: Yes, the attitude was a huge factor. If I have a stinky attitude, it’s going to follow, and my children are all going to be that way to each other. If I wake up, I like to wake my children up by saying, “Rise and shine, and give God the glory! Open up the windows! Let the sun shine in!” I’m really like that. It helps to help my children to have a good, fun attitude.

Nancy: Amen! That is a great way to start the day! I love that!

OK, ladies, I think we’ll finish now on this point number one, that the land of motherhood is a good land! Not only good. Remember, I told you the Word of God says it is “an exceeding good land.” Aren’t you blessed to be part of the good land? Do you love it? Oh, yes, begin to confess:

“I belong to the good land of motherhood!”

Next week, we will start on another description of the land. You’re going to be so excited to find out all these wonderful descriptions. So, let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You that You have given us a good land, an exceeding good land. Lord, You’ve told us specifically the good things you want us to do in our land. We pray that You will help us to be faithful, and Lord, to do them with joy, to do them with thanksgiving, because we are doing everything unto You. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

P.S. Forgot to add these Scriptures:

2 Corinthians 9:8: We are to “abound to EVERY good work.”

1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, ALWAYS abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Colossians 1:10: We are to be “fruitful in EVERY good work.”

SCRIPTURES WHERE GOD SAYS HIS LAND IS GOOD

Exodus 3:8; Numbers 14:7; Deuteronomy 1:25, 35; 3:25; 4:21-22; 6:18; 8:7, 10; 9:6; 11:17; 30:5; Joshua 23:13-16; Judges 18:9 (very good); 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Chronicles 4:40; 28:8; Ezra 9:12; Psalm 85:12; Isaiah 1:19; Jeremiah 2:7 and Ezekiel 34:14.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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

If you didn’t get to hear the podcast with Cassie Fox who is now THE MOM OF 12 SONS, you can go to this link:

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