PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 387: FOLLOWING JESUS, Part 1
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 387: FOLLOWING JESUS, Part 1
We begin a new series, FOLLOWING JESUS. Paul beseeched the new believers: “Be ye followers of me.” Can we say to our children, “Look at me, children. Watch my lifestyle and you'll know how to walk with Jesus”?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, wonderful wives and mothers! I am speaking to the most amazing and important people in the whole of the world. For, dear mothers, I hope you realize you are the ones who keep this world going!
The only reason we have all these things happening in the world is because we bring children into the world. It’s only because we bring forth children that we have to build more homes, and build more buildings, and cities, and more inventions. Everything to keep the world going.
Now, if mothers disappear, there will be no more children. Then, gradually, there will be no more need for anything in the world. So, you are the most important people. You have the power to determine the destiny of your nation. It is the mothers who determine the destiny of the nation. Because what is a nation? It is the families of the nation.
The continuation of the nation is the children we bring into the world to grow up to be the next generation. How we train this next generation is what will impact the nation. As we have more godly marriages and godly families and raise godly sons and daughters, that will make a godly nation.
That’s why the enemy comes to attack marriage, and attack the family, because he is trying to destroy, ultimately, the nation. He wants to destroy everything that God has planned. But if we have Christ living within us, what does the Bible say in 1 John 3:8 that Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. So, if Christ is living within us, we also should rise up to destroy the works of the devil.
One of the most amazing ways we do this is bringing forth children into the world. We are life-givers. Oh, the devil hates life-givers. He hates life. He tries to stop life. But we are bringing life into the world. We are raising these children to be godly children for our nation. So, be encouraged today, dear wonderful mothers. I bless you and encourage you.
This coming week, Thursday, is Thanksgiving. I pray you’ll have a wonderful Thanksgiving with all your family.
And also, have you received your new magazine? Above Rubies #103. I’m sure, if you’ve received it, you will be loving it. It’s such a beautiful issue of Above Rubies. I know you’ll want to share it with so many. If you need more copies, don’t hesitate to call in or email, and we can send you more.
Sadly, if you get 20 or more copies (because we have a lot of people who get bulk orders because they have a vision to take the message out and share it with everyone they meet, and put it in waiting rooms, and get this message out into the nation), well, sorry, lovely ladies, we haven’t sent out those packages yet, but we’re praying that we’ll be able to do it this next week.
The reason is that this time, the shipping and the postage went up so high. I couldn’t believe it. I forked out already $61,000 just to send out what we have already sent out! Now we’re praying for the money to come in for the bigger orders to send out. And also, now, to pay for the magazine. I spent all the money on shipping!
So, if the Lord touches your heart, and you want to be part of this great vision of encouraging the families of this nation and the world, do send in a donation. We’ve got to keep getting this message out. Amen?
Oh, another question I have for you. A few podcasts ago, I told you how we had started praying the Lord’s Prayer every day. Did you know that the early church prayed the Lord’s Prayer three times a day? Well, we actually now pray it two times a day, because we pray the Lord’s Prayer at the end of our morning devotions and at the end of our evening devotions. Of course, when we have prayer meetings, we always end it with the Lord’s Prayer too.
This has been a new thing for us in the last few months. But I want to tell you what a blessing it has been and is. When we pray this prayer passionately, meaning every word, crying out to God for every word, it is so powerful in our own lives, and I know in what will happen because there is no greater prayer that we can pray. Jesus gave us these words to pray, and they are so powerful.
I would encourage you as a family to begin to do this too. As you gather your family today, to read the Word and pray together, end with saying it or singing it. We love to sing it best but either is fine. Sing out or speak out these words. I believe if God’s people were doing this all over the nation, and every day, wow! What amazing answers to prayer we will see!
So, would you like to do that? I just wanted to remind you about it again today, because we are feeling the power of it in our own lives knowing that every time we pray this prayer, God is hearing. He will work, and He will bring heaven to earth, because that’s what this prayer is about! That what is in heaven will come to earth. It is so powerful.
All right, ladies. What have I got for you today? When I’m reading the Word, I’m constantly arrested by things that the Word is saying to me, or what Jesus is saying. Recently, I was reading about being followers of the Lord. I felt I needed to study it a little more as I always like to do. Anything I’m reading, I say, “Oh, I’ve got to know more about that!” I’ve got to read and find every Scripture about that. So, I’m going to share what I’ve been learning about following Jesus.
First of all, I’m always challenged by the words of Paul when he said in 1 Corinthians 4:15-16: “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” That’s pretty powerful. He didn’t say, “Be followers of Jesus.” He said, “Be followers of me” because he was writing to new believers.
Often, new believers need to see the life of Jesus. They can read the Bible, but they’re still learning to hear from the Lord. They need to see the light of Jesus exemplified in someone. The life of Jesus was exemplified in Paul, and he could say, “Dear ones, just look at my lifestyle and follow me.”
Again, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, he says it again: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” The word there, to be a follower of Paul, who is a follower of Christ, of course, is a word that means, “to be an imitator.” “Just look at me and imitate what I do.”
Then we go to Philippians 3:17 where Paul was writing to the new believers: “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example.”
There’s a wonderful Scripture in Romans 1:12. Paul is writing again and he says: “That I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”
We see a lot of togethering in that one Scripture. He says: “together with you, by the mutual faith, both of you and me.” That “mutual faith,” that word in the Greek is allelon. It’s the same word that is translated when it talks about doing things for one another, like “pray for one another,” “bless one another,” “do good to one another,” and so on.
I found well over 30 “one another’s” when I was discovering them in the New Testament. So, it’s one anothering, our mutual faith. As we do life together, and encourage one another (that’s another one, “encourage one another,”) all these things we can’t do on our own. You see, our Christian life is not meant to be lived as an isolated life. It is meant to be lived as a togethering life.
Well, first of all, we are togethering in a family, aren’t we? That’s the first togethering. Then, togethering in the body of believers where we fellowship. That’s why it’s so important that, as a family, you belong to a fellowship of believers, whether it’s a great big church, or a little, small home church. But you must be part of a gathering.
That’s God’s heart, as He says in Hebrews 10:25: “Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but . . . so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Remember what it says? “Neglect not the assembling of yourselves.” That’s getting together with others. You can’t do that, just staying home isolated on your own.
So, he’s saying: “Be ye followers together of me.” I do believe that this is very pertinent to us as parents, because God gives children to parents so that we, as parents, can lead our children. First of all, we lead them to Jesus. We lead them to a saving faith in Jesus. And that is so important.
I think we should always be on the lookout, being aware, dear mothers, of when our children are ready to come to know Jesus personally. I do believe that, in a godly home, where the Word of God is being read every day, that little children can come to know Jesus at a very early age.
All of our children came to know Jesus at the age of four, except our oldest son. He was a little older. But the others were only four years of age. And yet, today, although some of them are in their 60’s, that moment when they received Christ is still real to them today. They have continued to walk this way all their lives.
Why can a little one be ready? Children are born with . . . God has put within them a spirit to know Him, to want to know Him. Little children want to know about Jesus. The Word also makes the way for them because we are born again through the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23).
What did Paul know? Paul was writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15: “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation.” That word “child” . . . do you know what that word is, mothers? It’s the Greek word, brephos. B-R-E-P-H-O-S. It literally means “a little babe.” In fact, it’s used when the angel spoke to Mary and said she would have a babe in her womb. That’s brephos.
Then, when Jesus was born and the angel came to the shepherds, he said to them: “You will find the babe lying in a manger.” The word is brephos. It’s the same for a newborn babe. Of course, it can mean a little toddler too, and a young child.
So, from a very early age, in fact, in the womb, because when you are having devotions every day and your husband is reading the Word, and you're sitting beside him . . . you’re pregnant, and in those latter months of pregnancy, your little baby can hear. Your baby can hear your husband’s voice.
When your little baby is born, and you're nursing your baby as your husband is reading the Word, the little baby is hearing the Word.
That Word is supernatural. It’s powerful. It’s eternal. It’s going into them. And it’s, little by little, making the way ready for them for salvation. Even at the age of three or four, they can come to know Jesus. That’s the first thing. We lead them to Jesus through a saving knowledge of knowing that they have Jesus in their lives, because the devil is after our children, even from a little age. We want to get them having Christ in them and knowing Jesus.
I’m thinking of another Scripture right now. I’m going to turn to it. I hope I can find it. It talks about how our little ones have known the Father. They know the Father. 1 John 2:13, 14 it talks about how the young men know the Father, and also the older men, the fathers. But there is a Scripture here. I’m not finding it, but it’s here. I’ll put it in the transcript, the actual reference about how our little ones, our children, will know the Father (YES, IT’S 1 JOHN 2:13. See below). He wants them to know Him at a young age.
Then, of course, OK, here comes this challenge of what Paul could say: “Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.” I believe that we, as parents, should be able to say this to our children. “Children, just look at me. Just watch my lifestyle. See what I’m doing. If you follow me, you will learn to follow the Lord.” Because we should be a picture of one who is “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
So, our children are watching us. They’re learning also how to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. As they get older, they’ll learn to find it in the Word themselves, but when they’re younger, they’re going to watch our lifestyle. They’re going to imitate us. It is very powerful, isn’t it?
Do you think you can say that to your children, dear mother? “Children, just watch me, and you’ll know how to walk with Jesus. You’ll know how to follow Him. You’ll know what to do.” We need to all pray that we’ll be able to do that. That means that we have got to follow Jesus closely. We’ve got to follow His Word.
There’s another Scripture, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10. This is reading from the New King James version. I usually read the King James Version. Sometimes I’ll use another translation if it’s a little clearer. Now Paul wanted these young believers to follow the doctrine he was teaching. That was part of “Be ye followers of me.” “OK, listen to the doctrine I’m teaching you,” because doctrine is not just something we have in our heads.
In the Word of God, we read that we’re to live the doctrine. We are to adorn the doctrine. Doctrine is something that we not only learn, but we live. We live it out. A lot of the doctrine of the New Testament is not just something for your mind to think about. It’s what we are to do. It’s the practical things of life.
Here Paul says: “For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us.” He was writing to them, but he had Sylvanus and Timothy with him. So, he used “us” there, rather than “me,” because they were walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
“For we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked, with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this.”
He didn’t just say, “Well, this is a good idea.” He commanded this word. “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” So here, Paul is saying, “Yes, I want you to follow the doctrine I’m teaching you, but I want you to also follow my lifestyle.”
Now, OK, he’s writing to the Thessalonian believers here. He says: “Did you notice our lifestyle? What were we doing? We were working our soul cases out! We were working night and day, and we labored, and we toiled,” so that they could pay for everything that they were doing. They didn’t want to be a burden on the people.
Paul was an example of this. He said, “This is an example of what you're meant to be. You don’t loaf around. No, you work hard. And, by the way, if anyone doesn’t work, well, he shouldn’t even eat.” Of course, that’s a biblical premise. That’s one we do teach our children too.
Even in the practical things of life, when we’re showing our children, and telling them to imitate us in our walk with the Lord, yes, of course, they’ll be watching. Well, they’ll just see. Our lives are lived before them. They’re going to see, they’ll see! Is Jesus pre-eminent in our lives? Do we really love the Word of God? They see us loving it, living our lives by it. They see us gathering all of them together to have Bible reading and prayer because we believe it’s so important They get to see, wow, this is important.
I trust that, as we do here in our home, that you do also, that you put this first. This is No. 1 in your home. It’s so easy, isn’t it, to just let things take over, because, oh, we all have so much going on in our lives. We are all busy with all these things happening. Things can always be happening, so “Oh, well, we haven’t got time this morning to have our devotions. Oh, we’ve got to get on with this!” And then evening comes. “Oh, wow! We’ve got to go out.”
And, of course, maybe we’re out there on the sports field. Isn’t it amazing, ladies? Have you noticed that somehow, I don’t know, I think it’s a little trick of the devil. But all the sports things that we take our children to are usually always, you're out there, away from the home when it’s actually the time for the mother to be in the home preparing the evening meal, getting it ready, to gather the family around, so that at the end of the meal, we’re there. We’re together. We can have Bible reading together. We can pray together, and worship together.
Oh, but we don’t have time, because we’re out doing this. We’re out doing that. We’re not even home at all! We have to watch that we don’t let all these other things take over, because our children are imbibing. They’re imbibing our lifestyle. They see what is most important.
OK! Getting out to these sports is more important than spending time as a family with God? They get to see, by our lifestyle, what is the most important in our lives? Do we spend more time doing this, watching shows on TV, or social media, than we do spending time with the Lord, together with the Lord? What do they see? That’s what they’re going to follow.
In fact, today, so many families are not even eating together every mealtime, especially the evening meal which is a gathering time. What is the next generation going to do? They don’t see that’s important in your life. It’s not important. Well, OK, next generation. Wow, they’ll most probably hardly ever eat together like in so many homes today, they don’t even have stoves or anything. A lot of those young couples who are getting married today just eat out.
We’ve got to decide what is important in our lives, and what is biblical. What is biblical? And to know what’s biblical, we have got to know the doctrine of the Word. We’ve got to know what it says. Not just for the mental understanding, but for the practical working out, because the Bible is so practical.
You go to Psalm 128:3, and God is speaking about the family, and what picture does He give of the family? “Thy wife is like a fruitful vine in the heart of your home. And your children, look at all those children, sitting around the table like young olive shoots.” That’s the picture God reveals. The family sitting around the table! Yes, so practical! It’s in the Bible!
We haven’t even got time to do it. We think we know more than God. What we’re doing is more important than the Bible! So, let’s evaluate our lifestyle, the lifestyle we’re living before our family. They’ll imbibe it. Our children will imbibe those lifestyles. And I find that every generation somehow seems to degenerate. Oh goodness me! I think it’s time we started the regeneration of the generations.
I think of a funny story. When my husband was growing up, he was part of a family of nine children. They were a wonderful family. All his siblings walked with the Lord. Many of them are full-time in the work of God.
But as they were growing up, their father wouldn’t say to them, “Now, children” (if they were going out somewhere) “don’t you do anything I wouldn’t do!” Instead, he would say, “Now, don’t do anything I would do!” Of course, it was a joke, but they knew he was joking, and they knew what he really meant. But that’s what he used to say for fun. But, anyway, ladies, OK! We’re going to evaluate our lifestyle, because that’s the lifestyle our children will follow.
What happens next here? Oh yes, I wanted to show you this in Philippians. I just want to read this because Paul is saying, “Be imitators of me. Just watch what I’m doing.” And here we get a glimpse, I mean, we need to read through all of Paul’s epistles to really see what he’s saying, both mentally, for the mind to understand, but also the practical.
Here’s this passage. It’s such a beautiful understanding of Paul’s life. Philippians 3:7: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung” (that means cow poop)!
“That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead . . . Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after.”
I love that. “I follow after.” As Paul was following after Christ, he was able to say to the new believers, “You just follow me, because I’m following after Christ. As you see me following after Him, you will know how to follow Him too.”
“I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before me, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” That gives us a little, little glimpse of Paul’s lifestyle.
So, lovely ladies, we have come to the end of this session, but we’re only just starting. I’ve got more to share with you, and I’m going to share with you an acrostic. So, as I began to study this, I thought, “OK, I will do an acrostic.” So, we start off with “F”, and then we will go to “O-L-L-O-W.” We will learn from each one of those letters, OK? So, tune in next week, and be blessed.
“Dear Father, we thank You, Lord, that You want us to follow after You with all our hearts. And, Lord, the greatest desire of our hearts is that our children will follow after You with all their hearts. Lord God, help them to see You in us. Help us, Lord God, to live our lifestyle according to Your Word, that we can truly say, “Children, just look at me. Look at Daddy. And you’ll know the way to go.” We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris
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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THESE PODCASTS AND TRANSCRIPTS.
“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell, Above Rubies”
DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.
IT IS ENCOURAGING FOR ALL WIVES AND MOTHERS.
MY HEART IS FULL
I am sure you love the song introducing this podcast. Well, it’s not a new song. Serene and Pearl wrote it and recorded it many years ago, but the words are still so anointed for every mother in her home.
You can download the full song from www.aboverbies.org from the Book and music store. Go to: Above Rubies Bookstore
The following is the link for the single:
MY HEART IS FULL - Music Single from Peace All Over Me - Downloadable MP3 Format Album
Here are all the words for you:
MY HEART IS FULL
Little arms reaching for me,
Grubby fingers touch my face
And love is what I feel.
Little eyes looking at me,
Chubby cheeks burst with smiles
And joy is what I know,
Peeking in while they sleep at night,
I thank God for the gift of life,
I thank God for more that I deserve.
CHORUS.
My heart is full, my heart is full,
Why would I want for more?
When my cup overflows?
My heart is full, my heart is full,
This much I know.
Strong arms reaching for me
Circle my waist for the millionth time
And love is what I feel
Sometimes I watch him sleep at night,
I thank God that I am his wife,
And joy is what I know.
CHORUS.
Sometimes when discontent creeps into my soul
A still small voice reminds me of the ones my arms can hold.
DO YOUR LILTTLE CHILDREN KNOW THEIR HEAVENLY FATHER?
The apostle John loved to call his readers his “little children.” The Greek word is teknion which means “a little child.” It is also used as a tender term for a teacher towards his disciples.” He calls them “little children” seven times in 1 John.
However, in 1 John 2:13, John changes the word. He wrote to the fathers because they knew God, the One who was from the beginning. He wrote to the young men because they had overcome the wicked one. But then I noticed with new alertness these words: “I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.”
This time he uses a different word, paideion which means “a little boy or little girl, infant, a young child.” I was arrested by these words. God wants our little children to know Him. Sometimes we don’t expect our children to know the Father until they are older, but this Scripture shows that God wants our children to know Him when they are young.
He wants them to experience the Father’s love and protection from their earthly fathers so they will understand His love. He also wants them to come to know Him through the hearing of the Scriptures.
We see this in 2 Timothy 3:15: “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Here another different Greek word is used for child. This time it is brephos which speaks of “a babe in the womb, a babe that is newly born, a little child.” Check out Luke 1:4, 44 and 2:16. Once again, God is not limiting the understanding of knowing Him to older people. He wants little ones to know His Word.
How can this happen? It happens at our Family Bible times where father reads the Scriptures to the family morning and evening. Little by little the word goes into the hearts of these little ones (even when they are in the womb). In a godly home, even young children can be ready for salvation, because they are daily filled with God’s word. They can receive Christ Jesus into their lives at the ages of three and four because it is the Scriptures that prepare them for salvation. We are saved through the Word of Truth. Most of our children had a definite encounter with the Lord at the age of four years and it is as real to them today although some are now in their sixties!
Dear mothers, please be aware that your little ones can begin to KNOW God at an early age. Did you notice that word KNOW? Paul said to Timothy that he had KNOWN the Holy Scriptures since a little child. John wrote to the little children because they KNEW the Father.
Be faithful to read the Scriptures daily to your children. Watch over their souls. Speak to them much of the Father and of His character and of His great salvation. Little children want to know God. Fill them up with the knowledge of God.
I am amazed and so utterly blessed as I watch little ones in our prayer meetings with their hands raised to God and looking up in adoring worship to God. Sometimes these little ones are more into worship than the older ones. They already KNOW something of the awe of their Father God.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 (NLT): “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them. For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”