...to be BELOVED.
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Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
The question all truth believing Christians must ask themselves is: how can love rejoice in the truth if the truth is not made known?
If Jesus had not come into this sinful world and taken our place in judgment at the cross, how could we possibly rejoice in the truth that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”? God’s love is not passive. On the contrary, God’s love is incredibly active. Therefore, we can greatly rejoice in the truth concerning His love.
We say we believe in the truth, but do we rejoice in the truth enough to make it known? Much of the church is far too passive about the truth. When we rejoice in the truth, we will surely sing to God about it. The greater we rejoice in the truth the higher our praises will be ( Psalm 149:6).
When we rejoice in the truth, we will not be ashamed to declare it. In fact, rejoicing in the truth will motivate us to talk to everyone we can about it. However, as I stated at the beginning of this post, how can we rejoice in the truth if we do not know the truth?
I think it would be fair to say that most Christians do not know their Bibles very well. If fathers and mothers do not take up their priestly duties and read the Scriptures to their families around their morning and evening mealtimes, how will they ever be able to rejoice in the truth they know nothing about?
The truth should be familiar to us; not a strange thing. Hosea 8:12 states: “I have written to him the GREAT things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.”
Daily family devotions will promote the knowledge of the truth. In turn, this causes us to rejoice in the truth.
John 8:32: ”And ye shall KNOW the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You don’t get the blessing unless you KNOW it. Your children won’t receiving the blessing of the truth unless they KNOW it.
Far too many Christian fathers are passive concerning family devotions which results in a serious failure to rejoice in the truth. We may see ourselves as good average Christian families but if we are not rejoicing in the truth, we won’t make a difference in the world.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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It's time for God's men to rise up and speak up.
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We should not live by convenience to our ways, but by OBEDIENCE to God's Ways!
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God's Word is the antidote to deception.
We may compromise on the price of a car or a house, but NEVER on the price of morals and biblical values.
~ Colin Campbell
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Always stand for what is right.
Rejoicing in the truth is a direct contrast to rejoicing in a lie, e.g., Fake News, twisting or distorting the truth until there is no truth left. We live in a world that educates lawyers on how to get their client from being convicted when all the while the client, as well as his attorney, knows that he is guilty of the crime. We call this justice whereas it is anything but justice.
We must remember, at all times, and never forget that our God is a God of truth land He rejoices in the truth.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God declares in in John 14:6: “ I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.” We who are true followers of should also rejoice in the truth. We never rejoice that we escaped conviction by telling a lie.
We who are old enough will remember the O. J. Simpson trial with the famous line: “If the glove doesn’t fit, you have to acquit.” O. J. Simpson was indeed guilty, and they did not rejoice in the truth.
Exodus 30:16: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Exodus 23:1: “Thou shalt not raise a false report.”
Deuteronomy 19:16-21: “If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
And the judges shall make DILIGENT INQUISITION and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother; so shall thou put the evil away from among you.
And those which remain shall hear, and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Wow! If we did to false witnesses what God says in this Scripture, it would result in the fear of God coming upon the people and this sin would be put down.
We remember the false witness that spoke against Brett Kavanagh at the time of his appointment to the Supreme Court. I remember correctly the false witness made a lot of money from a Go Fund Me program. How crazy.
When people raise their hands these days and swear to “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God,” it doesn’t mean a whole lot anymore.
It is a sad day when more people rejoice in a lie rather than rejoicing in the truth.
We must become a nation who will speak the truth, at all times, even if it hurts us.
To be continued.
Be encouraged. Colin Campbell
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“If the incense of prayer is to glow all day, it has to be renewed and kindled daily. The modern talk about being independent of times and seasons, so not needing definite periods of worship, is worse than rubbish. No man will have reverence diffused through his life, unless he has a consecrated reservoir of worship in the background of his life.”
~ Alexander MacLaren
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“If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust him for spirituals?
Can you trust him for your soul’s redemption, and not rely upon him for a few lesser mercies?
Is not God enough for thy need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants?
Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing?
Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true,
and all-wise, why gladdest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why doest thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build theron?”
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the momeory banks of our children."
~ Charles R Swindoll
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...spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.
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Leviticus 19:16 says: “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.”
When we walk in agape love, we will not rejoice in any form of iniquity that happens amongst our brothers and sisters in the church we belong to. Nor will we pass on negative information relating to members of our own family and close friends.
The only righteous reason for passing on negative concerns is to encourage prayer and desire that the matter will be dealt with in a God-fearing and God-loving way. Therefore, we must be careful about who we talk to. We should not pass information on to people who do not pray.
If we fear God, we will not pass on anything with a motive to gossip or slander.
If we are tempted to pass on to others anything that is based on hearsay and cannot be collaborated or verified, we should check out the facts before we say anything. Otherwise, we are no better than the fake media!
Leviticus 19:16b: “Neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the LORD.” We stand against the blood of our neighbor when we find some juicy titbit of gossip to say against them. It is a serious thing in the sight of God when we feel glad or even want to share negatives to others. Sometimes we can’t wait to gossip and slander others to spread a negative and evil report.
Some might say that to stand against the blood of your neighbor means to want your neighbor dead! Or you will not defend your neighbor’s blood if he should die or be killed. However, 1 John 3:15 says: “Whosoever hateth his brother (neighbor) is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”
Tale bearing, gossiping, and slandering goes against the love of the brethren as well as the love of one’s neighbors.
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell
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There is something wrong when we rejoice when others fail. Of course, we do not want to fail ourselves and we would be most offended if we knew others rejoiced when we fail.
Why is it that we love to hear news of how some Christian celebrity has failed in some form of iniquity? Is it because we believe ourselves to be better than them? Is it because their failure gives us a reason to gossip?
Why do we love to gossip about other people’s failures even if they are not celebrities? We love to say that we would never do anything like that.
Why is it that after we have gossiped about those who have failed that we seek to cover ourselves by offering up a word of prayer for them? We should have been praying for them at the beginning and then we may have delivered ourselves from a gossiping, slanderous spirit.
We set ourselves up for failure when we gossip about other people’s failures.
To be continued.
Be encouraged. Colin Campbell
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How far the holy fragrance of
The family altar goes;
When childhood days are far behind
The beauty of it glows.
Though some things, to my memory,
Are indistinct and blurred,
I still can hear my father's voice
Expound the Holy Word.
I did not heed its counsel then
Or realize it's worth;
But now I know that shrine to be
The sweetest place on earth.
It's proved a shield to keep my faith
Undimmed through joy and care;
The mem'ry of that hallowed place--
My father's voice in prayer.
~ Unknown.
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Father, today I bring to Thee
This boy of mine whom Thou hast made.
In everything he looks to me;
In turn, I look to Thee for aid.
He knows not all that is before;
He little dreams of hidden snares.
He holds my hand, and o'er and o'er
I find myself beset with fears.
Father, as this boy looks to me
For guidance, and my help implores,
I bring him now in prayer to Thee;
He trusts my strength, and I trust Yours.
Hold Thou my hand as I hold his,
And so guide me that I may guide.
Teach me, Lord, that I may teach,
And keep me free from foolish pride.
Help me to help this boy of mine,
To be to him a father true.
Hold me, Lord, for everything
As fast as I hold my boy for You."
~ N. W. Brapham
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