PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 362: THE UNBELIEVABLE REVELATION OF GOD'S HEART FOR YOUR HOME, PART 3
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 362: THE UNBELIEVABLE REVELATION OF GOD'S HEART FOR YOUR HOME, PART 3
You may feel hidden in your home, but it is the most sacred and glorious places that are hidden. Find out more about our hidden God.
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We are now up to our third session on “The Unbelievable Revelation of God’s Heart for Your Home.” Last week, we were talking about the hiddenness of your home. But even though you may feel hidden, you are doing a very powerful work that will possibly touch the world.
I forgot to tell you; I mentioned last week about a message that we went to listen to. We go every Saturday evening, and I’d like to tell you about these messages. They are with Brother Ray McCollum. You can go to his website, www.RayMcCollum.com. Then if you scroll down, you will find a tab with the word “Sermons.” If you click on that, you can then hear his sermons that he gives every Saturday night which are marvelous teaching messages. The particular one I was talking about is called “Jesus Incognito.”
Now, we are still talking about the hiddenness of our homes, because I do want to remind you, dear ladies, that in your home, the inner rooms . . . What are the inner rooms of your home? Well, usually the center of your home is your kitchen. In your kitchen or your dining room, you have your table. These are usually the part of the home that is the heart of the home.
That is also what God is saying in Psalm 128:3: after he has said: “Your wife is a fruitful vine in the inner rooms of your home,” it goes on to say: “Your children will be like olive branches as they sit all around your table.” What a beautiful picture! We notice that it’s not just one or two sitting at the table, but the children are sitting all around the table.
There are many children. God loves to see that. Oh my! He loves to see families growing with more and more children sitting around the table. It may not be modern Christianity, but, ladies, it is Bible Christianity. God loves it. So, it shows the children sitting around the table.
This is where you’re gathering to eat. I want to remind you again. I talk so much about the table, and how important it is. But there’s nothing like another reminder, dear ladies. It’s so easy for life to just take you out of the home. So many of the activities that draw you out of the home, through sports and different lessons your children are learning, musical, whatever. It seems that most of them are around that evening mealtime.
This is what you've got to watch, because it’s a ploy of the enemy. If you need to do some of these things, you're going to have to ask the Lord to find a way where you can do them and they’re not at that time, because this is a powerful time of the day.
In fact, we go back to Genesis. Everything is written in the beginning for our learning. It is a prototype. We read of how Jesus came to spend time with Adam and Eve every day. When did He come? Did He come in the middle of the day, or throughout the day, when Adam was busy working in the garden? Because that’s what He gave him to do. It says: “He put the man in the garden to till it and watch over it.”
But no, God didn’t come then. The Bible says that “He came in the cool of the day.” The end of the day. Now, there’s a little breeze blowing. It’s cool, and it’s time to eat. It’s time to relax, and it’s time to fellowship. This is a very special time of the day. God established it in the beginning. After they sinned, when God came at the usual time to find them, the Bible says they were hiding! They were hiding from the presence of the Lord.
Now, I know that no family would ever mean to hide from the presence of the Lord. But that is actually what happened! Because God comes in the cool of the day. He wants to sit at the evening meal with us. He wants to manifest His presence with us. He wants to be with us, and He comes, and there’s no family there! There’s no mother in the home preparing the meal. There’s no beautiful aroma wafting up. There’s nobody there! They’re all out.
And yet, that’s the time of the day when God especially loves to come. So, be reminded, dear ladies. Yes, the table may be in your kitchen or in your dining room. It’s in the hidden part of your home, but, oh, it’s a powerful place.
In fact, I think if I look back, the table was the greatest place for us to influence, and nurture, and train our children, because it’s the place where we have them all together. We can dialog. We can talk. We can talk about things. We learn together. We discuss together. Then, of course, at the end of the meal, we never leave the table without feeding the soul and the spirit, because we’ve fed the body.
We can’t just eat and feed the body and leave the table. Goodness me, the most important parts are our soul and our spirit, and we must feed them. So, it’s such a powerful place. I encourage you today to just watch out for all those things that come upon us and begin to take over our lives and take over that time of the day.
Another thing that happens in many homes is that many mothers think, “Oh, wow! Well, I’ll just have to go out and help get in some money for the family.” But actually, it’s not your responsibility. It’s your husband’s responsibility to provide. It’s your responsibility to be there in the home with the family.
But some mothers I have had share with me, “Well, I’ve been able to get this job. My husband is home now. He’s home from work, so I can leave and go out and do this evening job.” I beg your pardon. Dearest lovely ladies, actually I don’t think I’m talking to anybody who’s doing that. But you may have friends who are doing it.
You’re walking out, or they are walking out, on the most important time of the day. When you're preparing a meal, when you're going to sit down with your family. The most important time is sitting down with them and sharing. And then, of course, having devotions together. To miss out on that time is huge.
So, lovely ladies, we’re talking about getting back to God’s way. OK, I’ll say it again.
It may not be the modern Christianity way. But it’s the biblical way! We cannot say we are a Bible-believing Christian if we can read the Word and do the opposite! We can’t. We’ve got to read the Word, and obey it, even if it turns our whole world upside down. That’s what the Bible does. It turns your whole world upside down. It doesn’t work out with the spirit of the world. You’ve got to determine to live your life according to what the Word says and what God says.
I’m just encouraging you today. Yes, and of course, I guess I should mention this again. What is one of the biggest things that happens in the heart of your home? Well, of course, it’s that stove. That stove in your kitchen is right in the heart of your home. That’s where you're going to spend a lot of time, because cooking is part of the heart of the home. It will take up a good lot of your time.
I want to encourage you, lovely ladies, to not despise these times. I think so many mothers think that cooking for your family, “Well, really, it’s a bit mundane, and it’s not the most important thing that I have to do in my home.” But no, that is not true. It is one of the most powerful things that you will do in your home. I really want to encourage you in that.
We go to 1 Timothy 5:10. This is in the context of Paul writing to Timothy about widows in the church. Timothy said, “What do we do with all these widows?” There must have been a lot of them, sadly.
Paul says, “OK, those who have children, or even grandchildren, must care for them and provide for them. That is the biblical word. But if they don’t have any family to care for them, this is what you do. If they are 60 years of age and older, a widow who is 60 years of age, and she has lived this lifestyle,” and here we read it in verse 10. If she has lived this lifestyle, you are to provide for her from the church. What Paul is saying is, “This woman has lived the way God intends for her as a woman. Now I want you to bless her, protect her, and provide for her.”
All right. What is the first thing she does? “She is well-reported of for good works.” That word in the Greek is kalos, and it means “beautiful, lovely, valuable.” So, what we’re going to read here are beautiful words. It’s the same word that’s used in Titus 2 where the older women are to teach the younger women. They’re to be teachers of good things.
The word that’s used there is kalodidaskalos, meaning didaskalos, “teacher,” and kalos, once again, “beautiful.” She is to be a teacher of beautiful, valuable, lovely things. Well, we know these things in Titus 2. Teaching the young women to love their husbands, love their children. And once again, to be keepers at home.
Now we’re here in 1 Timothy 5:10:
Number one: “If she has brought up children.”
First things first. Did she embrace children? And what is the word for “brought up”? It is a word that means, “to feed, to pamper, to nurture with food, to nourish with food.” And that’s the word that God uses to describe raising children. Yes, it talks about nurturing and nourishing, but with food!
Dear ladies, feeding our children is one of the biggest things we will do as mothers. And, of course, it begins in the heart of the home. This is where it happens, unless you are taking them out to fast foods or restaurants all the time. I remember having dear friends who, oh, they only had two children. Well, it wasn’t because they only wanted two children. They weren’t able to have children. And then God so wonderfully blessed them with twins. They were able to adopt these twins.
But as they grew up, I noticed that they were going out to restaurants, or eating out, rather than eating at home. I remember saying to my friend, “If you take your children to eat out all the time, how are they learning how to eat meals at home? What will they do when they’re married? You’re not even passing on this, not concept, it’s more than that, this mandate, this lifestyle that God ordains.”
But this woman, she brought up children. She fed them. Of course, feeding starts as we nurture a baby at the breast. Then we continue to feed them wholesome foods, because there are two words for food in the New Testament. Both of them mean, “to nourish with food.” Food that is not nourishing is not food. Therefore, we, as mothers have to be very careful.
When we go to the supermarket, when we purchase food, we must look at every single thing we buy, and ask, “Is this nourishing? Will it nourish the bodies of my children? Or is it filled with all this other junk?” We have to learn to read the ingredients. My, so many times, when I pick up something and read the ingredients, I put it back again because it’s filled with junk, actually! Our food must nourish our children.
All right. So, that’s number one.
Number two: “If she had lodged strangers.”
That means she’s showing hospitality. Once again, dear mothers, you can’t show hospitality without feeding, without cooking. There it is again, this cooking. Oh, don’t despise it. This is in the Bible. This is something God loves! This is your lifestyle. You open your home to people, to lonely ones, to other families. You bring them into your home, and you're cooking for them.
Number three: “If she has washed the saints’ feet.”
Well, back in Bible times, it was normal to wash the people’s feet as they came in the door, because they’d been out, just with sandals on, on the dusty road. Very dusty over there in Israel. Usually, the lowly servant would wash the feet of those coming in, although here it says that this woman washed their feet.
Once again, though, if people are coming into your home, why are they coming in? Because you're going to feed them. If people come into your home, you don’t just let them starve. No, it’s normal to provide food for them. Once again, you're cooking!
Then, what’s the last one?
Number four: “If she has relieved the afflicted.”
Well, when people are in need, you're usually going to be cooking something for them, aren’t you? Someone is sick, a young mother is sick. Maybe you’ll bake some bread for her. You’ll make a pot of soup, or you will make them cookies. But you’ll take something to her, to nourish her, and to help her feed her family.
Even if you're going to be going out to minister to someone in need, invariably you’ll want to take food. Food is so powerful. Food ministers to people, not only physically, but it ministers to them spiritually, and their insides as well. It says in the Word that God feeds us with food and gladness. They go together.
Just recently, I did some podcasts with you. I think it was 25 food twins, all the different things that God puts with food. So, there we are, ladies. Just reminding you again that cooking is so much a part of our role in the heart of the home.
I love this story from John 21. I wonder if I’ve told it to you before, of when Jesus wanted to meet with His disciples. It was after He had risen from the dead. He went down to the Galilee, knowing that’s where they’d be. He looked out, and there were the disciples. They’d been all night fishing and caught nothing.
He yelled out to them, “Have you caught any fish?” “No,” came the answer. Jesus called out, “Put down your nets on the right-hand side!” And so, they did, and what happened? They brought in a multitude of fish. They could hardly contain them. Then then realized it must have been the Lord. They actually caught 153 fish, the Bible says. But then, it was nearing morning, and they came onshore.
And Jesus was waiting for them. But He wasn’t just standing, waiting. The Bible tells us that Jesus was cooking. He made a little fire of coals on the shore. And then He began to cook bread and fish. Just a moment. Ladies, who was cooking?
This is Jesus, the One Who had just risen from the dead. He was the Lord of Glory, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and what was He doing? He was cooking. Yes, Jesus knew the power of cooking.
He called to His disciples, “Come! Come and dine!” And the Bible then says, “And Jesus served them.” He waited on them. He gave the food to each one of them. Can you imagine the beautiful fellowship and dialog they had together because it’s over food that you dialog and talk together.
But Jesus had something else in mind too. He wanted to get a special word to Peter who had denied Him three times. He took Peter aside, and He said to Him: “Peter, lovest thou Me?” Three times He asked that question, and three times Jesus answers: “Peter, feed My sheep. Feed My lambs.”
This was a special personal message that Jesus wanted to give to Peter. But do you notice how He did it, ladies? He didn’t go down to Galilee and call out, “Pete! Got a word for you, mate!” No. First of all, He cooked him a meal. He satisfied his hunger. When his hunger was satisfied, and he felt good, because when your tummy’s full, you feel good. And you even have oxytocin flowing, which is a calming hormone. So, Peter was relaxed. And then Jesus spoke that word into his heart.
That’s why we love to have our family devotions at mealtime, because the table is where we feed the body, soul, and spirit. After we’ve fed our children their dinner, and their tummies are full, and they’re no longer grizzling and crying but everybody’s happy. That’s when we read the Word of God, because they’re ready for it. Their physical appetite is filled, and now they’re ready to receive spiritual food. So, lovely ladies, be encouraged, won’t you?
No. 3. GLORY
Now, let’s go on to our third point. The third similarity that God equates with heaven, with the Holy of Holies, and with the home, is glory. Yes, of course, heaven is filled with the glory of God. Not only is it filled with the glory of what it will be like physically, but it is the glory of God that will make heaven. And that was also the defining thing of the Holy of Holies. It was filled with the shekinah glory of God.
Now our homes, these three “Hs,” Heaven, the Holy of Holies, and the Home, the three things that God uses the same phrase. He wants our homes also to be filled with His glory. Now, of course, we’re not going to have the glory of heaven, because that’s God’s glory.
HOME IS GLORY
We don’t live in God’s ultimate glory, but He has given to us something of His glory. He wants us to live in glory, even if it’s just something of His great glory. It’s amazing. We read Scriptures of how God equates glory with the home. I’m going to show them to you. It is so amazing. Once again, even though sometimes you can feel hidden away in the home, the home can be a place of glory.
All right. Let’s go, shall we, first of all to Micah 2:9. It’s amazing how we find Scriptures about the home, about motherhood, even in obscure places. Here this Scripture says: “And women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses.” Other translations say: “From the homes they love, from their children, you have taken away My glory forever.”
That is amazing. This was a pretty terrible thing. Whoever these people were, they were casting out women and children from their homes, the homes they loved. That is the worst thing anyone can do. And then it says: “And from their children have been taken away My glory forever.” What is that talking about?
That is talking about how God intends children to be raised in the home. And it is the glory of children to be raised in the home. When children are taken out of the home, God says, “You are taking away My glory.” Wow!
Let’s have a look at some other translations, shall we?
The Complete Jewish Bible: “You are depriving the children of their glory forever.”
The New Living Translation: “And you are forever stripping their children of all that God would give them.”
The New English Translation: “You defraud their children of their pride in heritage.” Think about that. When we take children out of the home, or people pull them out of the home, the children are being defrauded of their pride and heritage which is to be raised in the home.
The Amplified Classic Translation: “You take away my splendor and blessing forever by putting your children among pagans, away from Me.” Help! We could equate that today with what is happening, with the majority of children, even Christian children, who are taken out of the home every day, and sent to school, public school, where they are taught by pagans! I beg your pardon. There it is, written in the Word.
You want to hear it again? In the Amplified Classic Translation: “You take away my splendor and blessing,” or in other words, “My glory forever by putting them among pagans, away from Me.” God says: “Mothers, I want to come into your home with My presence. I want My children I have given you to grow up in My presence, hearing My words, growing up in My ways. I don’t intend you to ever put them among pagans.”
The time will come when our children will be out among the pagans. We will not have them forever. We have them for such a short time. Let me tell you, dear mothers, it is such a short time. It’s like a blink of your eye. I can remember as my children were beginning to leave the nest. I would feel, “Wow! I haven’t had enough time!” I still wanted more time to input into their lives. It goes so quickly.
Oh, dear mothers, I know none of you have your children among pagans, but oh, do not ever be intimidated when you are homeschooling. You are doing what God wants you to do. When you think of friends and other family members and people who are putting their children among pagans to be taught, to be inculcated by their pagan ideology which is becoming more and more pagan and evil, it is unbelievable! We cannot do that.
But did you see there, how God sees the home as the glory of the children? That’s where He wants them to be raised. Home is the glory of the nation.
MOTHERHOOD IS GLORY
Well, I believe that motherhood is the glory of the nation. We read this in another one of these minor prophets, Hosea 9:11: “As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.”
This Scripture is in the context of judgement. God is bringing judgment upon Ephraim, another name for Israel, because of their sin in turning away from Him. He says: “My judgement upon you will be to take away your glory, that which you love most.” And what does it say is their glory? It is very specific.
Conception, the womb, from birth. It starts off with conception, and the growing of the baby in the womb, and the bringing forth of the baby. The raising of children. Motherhood. This is what motherhood is all about. Bringing forth children from the womb, and then raising these children. God says that this is the glory of the nation. Isn’t that amazing? Wow. This is glory. When you conceive, it’s glory. The baby growing in your womb is glory. Bringing forth the baby into this world is glory.
BREASTFEEDING IS GLORY
OK, the Bible even says that breastfeeding is glory. In Isaiah 66:11, that’s the last chapter of Isaiah. Here God is giving an allegory about Jerusalem, actually, but He’s likening Jerusalem to a mother. As we read this, we see how God sees motherhood: “That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
That is talking about the breasts: “That ye may suck, and be delighted with the glory of the breasts.”
Another translation, the Holman: “Drink deeply, and delight yourselves from her glorious breasts.”
The Jerusalem Bible also calls them “Her glorious breasts.”
Another one says: “Delighted with the full measure of her glory.”
Even breastfeeding is called glory. It’s amazing how God talks about these mothering things as glory. Oh, I know. Especially some of you young mothers with lots of little darlings all around you, and you're overwhelmed. You think, “Help! This is anything but glory!” But dear mother, I want you to see what God says, because as you begin to see how He sees it, you will begin to see it yourself differently. And you will begin to live in the glory.
Many times, mothers never live in the glory of motherhood, because they have never embraced it. It’s only when you embrace your motherhood that you begin to live in the glory of it. You see, it’s more than loving your children. Every mother loves her children, but not every mother loves motherhood. It’s when you embrace and love the career of motherhood, that is when you begin to walk in the glory of motherhood, because you know you're in the perfect will of God, and you're walking in this glory that God intends you for, and what He created you for. He created you for this very purpose.
We see here, even when you're breastfeeding, oh, it’s such a beautiful Scripture here. It doesn’t even talk about food. It talks about all these beautiful things of satisfying, consoling, delighting, comforting. That’s what the breast does. It’s glory, and it’s a picture of God Himself, who is the Breasted One, and who loves to come and meet our needs. That’s what the breast does.
God is El Shaddai, the God Who Is Enough. It literally means, “The God Who is more than enough.” And then, we are not El Shaddai. We are little shads. The breast is shad. God is El Shaddai. We are little shads. We are little breasted ones.
The breast also means, “that which is enough.” A breastfeeding mother does not have to add bottles of water, or bottles of anything else, or this, or that. All she needs to do is put her baby to the breast. Not just for food, but when the baby needs comforting, when the baby needs delighting, when the baby just needs to suck. The mother is there to satisfy and delight.
But once again, our time has gone by, ladies. We will still be continuing this in another session.
“Dear Father, we thank You again that You are God, and yet You relate to us as mothers. In all our mothering, nursing our babies, nurturing our children, in making our home, Lord God, this is Your plan. You love it, and You want to be part of it with us. You want to be with us. We thank You.
“I pray for every precious, lovely wife and mother listening, that You will bless her today, and pour out Your Holy Spirit all over her. Just let her know that she’s living in the glory that You intended for her. I pray that You’ll fill every home, Lord, that I’m speaking into. Fill it with Your glory. Oh Lord God, in the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris
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