The devil wants to keep everything about God in a little box. He does not want us to spread the truth and light of the gospel. He does not want us to have more children because each new babe is a fresh revelation of the image of God.
Do you remember when Peter and John prayed for the man who was lame from his mother’s womb and he was immediately healed? He began walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw it and began to praise God. In fact, about 5,000 people believed on Jesus. This was too much for the devil.
The priests and Sadducees put Peter and John in custody until the next day when they met together to make their decision. Their verdict? “That it SPREAD NO FURTHER among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:17, 18).
Did Peter and John become victims to their verdict? No. They answered: “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19, 20).
We see how the enemy became very agitated when the children of Israel multiplied in Egypt. The new Pharaoh was shaking in his boots. He said to his people: “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; LEST THEY MULTIPLY.” The devil is scared of God’s people multiplying. He does everything in his power to “rob, kill, and destroy” to stop children coming into the world.
Praise God, we will not give into the deception of the devil to hide God’s light and truth and the revelation of His image on the earth. We will spread His truth wherever we go. We will not hold back the children God wants to bring into this world.
I am so glad you are a testimony to God’s truth and that you are shining the light in the midst of the darkness. Keep spreading the Word. Never be silent. Keep spreading Above Rubies wherever you go. And don’t discriminate who you give them to. Give them to everyone you meet. You will be surprised who God will speak to through the magazine--sometimes the most hardened feminist!
Love and blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
P.S. If you would like to read more ideas about sharing Above Rubies, go to: http://tinyurl.com/DistributingIdeas
Deception is such a subtle thing, isn’t it? It is so subtle that we usually don’t know we are deceived. We can not only be deceived by the encroachment of out humanistic society, but we can be self-deceived. William Barclay’s translation of James 1:22 says: “You must not only listen to the word, you must act on it. Otherwise, you indulge in self-deception.” This is very challenging to me. To daily read God’s Word and yet not put it into action is self-deception
And though this world, with devils filled,
Home based upon Christian marriage is so evidently an institution of God, that a man must become profane before he can deny it . . . Of this realm woman is queen. It takes its cue and its hue from her. If she is in the best sense womanly--if she is true and tender, loving and heroic, patient and self-devoted--she consciously or unconsciously organizes and puts in operation a set of influences that do more to mould the destiny of the nation than any man, uncrowned by power or eloquence, can possibly effect.
Mothers, you determine the destiny of the nation and future generations! Don't leg anyone rob you of the enormity of your God-given career of motherhood.
How can I do it? I have too much to do,
A young man recently shared this testimony with us. He was driving to our home, came to the lights which were red, and obediently followed the car in front of him. All of a sudden he realized he was going through a red light! Why? Instead of looking up at the lights, he followed the person in front of him. This could have got him into a lot of trouble.
Have you read the words to the Newsboys song, “Guilty.” They wrote this song for the new movie, GOD’S NOT DEAD 2. However, they have received flack for the words of this song. There are some Christian radio stations who will not play it because they don’t want to offend! I beg your pardon! If we cannot stand up for Christ and for the truth, we should not use the name “Christian.”
Do you remember when Jesus walked with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? The two disciples were totally dejected and disheartened because the One who they thought would save them from the Romans was dead! But Jesus came along and began to speak to them from the Scriptures “the things concerning himself.” Oh how their hearts rejoiced and “burned within them” as He spoke to them.
A cheerful heart will make such a different to your home today. But you don’t FEEL cheerful? That’s not the point. I hope you don’t live by your feelings. That’s a miserable way to live. In fact, it is a false way to live. Feelings are deceiving. They come and go. But truth is real. And the truth is that if you have received Jesus Christ into your life, you have living joy bubbling up within you. Jesus, who lives in you, is JOY. Hebrews 1:9 tells us that Jesu
May you have a blessed Sunday as you fellowship as a family with the people of God today. We all need to be encouraged and we all need to encourage one another, don't we?
Are you speaking encouraging words to your husband and children today? Proverbs 12:25 (TLB) says: "Anxious hearts are very heavy, but a word of encouragement does wonders!"
When we stood at the altar and confessed our marriage vows, we were not only doing it in the presence of family and friends, but GOD. The Bible tells us in Malachi 2:14: “The LORD WAS WITNESS between you and the wife of your youth.” Our covenant-keeping God silently witnessed the covenant we made before Him. Our marriage vows are scared; we cannot take them lightly.
Don’t deprive your family of this daily blessing. Be blessed by this encouragement from James Russell. Miller (1840 –1912), Christian author and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois:
Jesus Christ was our supreme sacrifice. He became the sacrificial Lamb, slain upon the altar for our sins. His ultimate sacrifice gives us forgiveness of sins, victory over sin in our daily life, sweet fellowship with Him, and eternal life. Romans 12:1 beseeches us that our logical and reasonable response should be to yield our lives to Him as a living sacrifice. What does this mean?
We know how important it is to hide God’s Word in our heart, don’t we? We understand how imperative it is to make sure our children hide God’s Word in their hearts. I’m sure you have taught your children Psalm 119:11: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I night not sin against thee.” I agree with the old saying: “Sin will keep you from God’s Word, or God’s Word will keep you from sin.”
“I beg your pardon. Are you talking to me?” I hear you say. “That’s not me. I’m for ever failing and getting angry with the children.” Yes, I understand. The Bible says: “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3 and Romans 3:10). True!
The original wedding vows state: "I take you . . . TO HAVE AND TO HOLD from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." The words “to hold” are strong and powerful. What do they mean? What do they mean to you? I’ll share a few thoughts, but I’d love to hear from you too.
How do we stay strong in faith? How do we stand fast against the ungodly influence of others around us? God has the answer for us of course. The way to do it is to continually confess your faith. We are born again into the family of God by believing and CONFESSING that Jesus is our Lord (Romans 10:9,10). But we don’t stop there. We keep on believing and CONFESSING every day of our lives (Colossians 2:7).
Do you really believe what God says? Do I? God’s words are eternal. He doesn’t give us a different set of plans for each generation, but His plans work for all generations. Yes, even in 2016! In fact, no generation is exempt from God’s plans and purposes. Every generation is without excuse.