Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Some women think that cooking is a lowly job. They would rather do something far more important. However, we learn a big lesson from the life of Jesus. After He rose from the dead He wanted to spend some time with His disciples.

He knew where he’d find them. Down at the lake fishing as usual. He knew they’d be tired and hungry, so He decided to make a fire of coals on the shore and cook some fish and bread for them. He ministered to their immediate needs by cooking a meal.

But just a minute. Who was this person cooking? It was Jesus, the One who had just risen from the dead, the One who had conquered death and hell, the One who was King of kings and Lord of lords. What was he doing? Cooking! Did you get it? He was cooking! Jesus knew that real fellowship happens over a meal. No one wants to share their heart when they are hungry and desperate to eat. When we feed people, it prepares the way for deeper fellowship and ministering into their spirit.

After Jesus spent time sharing with His disciples, He also had a very special word to give to Peter. He didn’t grab Peter as he came out of the water, wet and hungry, and say, "Pete, come here, I’ve got a word for you.” No, he gave him breakfast first. They talked and fellowshipped. After he was satisfied and relaxed, Jesus spoke to him: “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” Three times he asked this question of Peter. Three times He gave him a divine mandate for his future ministry - “Feed My lambs . . . Feed My sheep . . . Feed My sheep.”

This only happened after Jesus had cooked for him and served him.

I love this account too in 1 Kings 19:4-8 where God sends an angel to minister to Elijah. The angel (which could be an appearance of Jesus Himself) makes a fire of coals and bakes a cake for him to eat. This is our God! Cooking another meal!

Whose footsteps are we following?

Love from Nancy Campbell

I love this picture of Jesus preparing the food for His disciples. i have it on my desk top in front of me.

Some people think that hospitality is for certain people who have that particular "ministry." No, hospitality is the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. It is a biblical doctrine that starts in Genesis and weaves through the pages of the Bible to Revelation. Hositality is an extension of your mothering and homemaking ministry (1 Timothy 5:10).

Your home is your greatest place to serve God, firstly to your husband and children and then to many who will be blessed by your food and love and encouragement at your table. As you open your home to the ones God lays on your heart, you will never have another boring moment.

Your home is the greatest place for people to feel the presence of God. It is the perfect place for lonely and broken-hearted people to experience God's love. It is where you encourage the saints in God and keep each other from going astray.

As Peter exhorts us how to live as we get closer to the coming of the Lord, he says, "The end of all things is at hand . . . Be hospitable to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:7-10).

If God lives in your home, it will be an hospitable home.

Be encouraged,

Nancy Campbell

We discussed this Scripture with the children this morning. When we have family devotions, we don’t only read the Word, but ask questions to see if they understand and how they can work out God’s words practically in their lives. We talked about how they could each think of someone in the family to serve today by being kind to them and helping them. To tell you the truth, these children don’t need a lot of encouragement to do this. They are all servers and all work hard to bless the family.

Because Serene is pregnant, she didn’t want to inhale the fumes and so the children went back Saturday and hauled out all clothes, dishes, and everything in the home and washed them, put them all back, and left the home spick and span and shining clean. I went over to check-- it was perfection. I couldn’t have done a better job myself. These children are well-trained in how to clean and keep the house and they never complain, but love and rejoice to serve. They are all an absolute delight.

But I thought what a lovely motto to have in a home. If everyone in the family can be encouraged to serve, which means every person serving one another (husband and wife and children), what could be more wonderful?

Would you like to encourage this godly character in your home? It’s is the example of Jesus Himself who “came not to serve, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Philippians 2:7 tell us that when He came into this world He became “a servant.” The NLT translates it: “He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave.”

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

Meekness (to be humble and lowly) is a beautiful thing. God says that "He will BEAUTIY the meek with salvation" (Psalm 149:4).

1 Peter 3:4 talks about the “ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Other translations use the word beauty:

ESV: “The imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.”
MOFFAT: “The immortal bleauty of a gentle, modest spirit.”
NET: “The lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit.”
NLT: “The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.”

Meekness brings sweetness to relationships and the atmosphere of the home. It reveals the character of Jesus who is meek and lowly (Matthew 11:29). On the other hand, the opposite of meekness, which is stubbornness and pride, is an ugly thing. It destroys marriages and wrecks the atmosphere of the home.

Does meekness make you feel miserable? No. Isaiah 29:19 tells us that the meek INCREASE their joy in the Lord, plus a load of other blessings.

Samuel Thodey writes: "Meekness is that calmness of spirit which grows not out of reliance on self, but out of reliance on God . . . Christianity is a discipline of humility. In making men Christ-like it makes them meek."

Ask the Holy Spirit to work a spirit of meekness in you. It will bring such blessing to your marriage and home.

Be encouraged today,

Nancy Campbell

Each one of us faces our different storms. We may face even bigger storms ahead. The most important thing we can do is continually strengthen our inner man, our marriage, and our home. Ask God to show you any leaks where the destroying enemy can enter.

Our physical home constantly needs repair. I am glad I married a “Mr. Fix-it” as I call my husband. However, more than physical wear and tear is spiritual wear and tear.

Constantly check what is going on in your home. What are your children watching on the electronics in your home? The enemy hates godly homes and he looks for openings in the walls where he can enter in. He looks for broken down walls.

Close all holes. Take authority over compromise, worldliness, and all evil. Plead for God’s protection. Cover your home with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Make your home strong to resist the buffeting of the storms of life. Fill your children with God’s Word so they will be strong to face the storms. Become such a diligent watchwoman that you scare the devil!

Blessings to you today,

Nancy Campbell

No other woman can compare with the highest favor that was ever given to a woman, a young teenager named Mary, who was privileged to carry the Son of God in her womb. The angel called her “highly favored” in Luke 1:28 and 30. This privilege was given to only one woman in the whole of history.

However, each time a new baby is conceived in a womb, it is also a God moment. It is God who gives the conception. It is God who creates this new, precious life in the womb—a life that has never lived before and there will never be anyone like this one again. And because God gives life and loves life, His favor is also upon every pregnant woman.

In the original Greek, the word for “highly favored” is “charitoo.” This word was never used before the New Testament! It means “to be accepted, to give grace to.” It was God’s grace to Mary to receive the privilege to carry Jesus in her womb. It is also God’s grace to us to carry a life in our womb.

Dear mother, don’t be deceived by the lies of the world and society around you. There is no higher mission you can do in your life than to carry a new human being, and more truthfully, an eternal soul in your womb.

Embrace the blessedness. Embrace the truth. Live in the joy of it. Live in the glory of it. Lift up your head for you are doing something eternal. Everything else you do in life will be left behind, but you will take this precious child into the eternal realm with you if you are faithful to lead him/her to salvation.

What an amazing assignment. You are giving a child the opportunity and privilege to experience the glory of eternity with Christ forever. It’s only in the “forever glory” that you will truly understand the enormity and power of carrying a child in your womb.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

Picture of Meadow Hall, my granddaughter, expecting her first baby in January 2018.

Be blessed, Nancy

However, although it is all around us, we must be on guard that none of the “foreign” enters our home. Our home should be a sanctuary from evil--all that is opposite to God’s standard, His Word, and His heart.

The Adversary looks for any opening he can find to intrude into your sanctuary. Guard your gates. Guard your home on all four sides. By intercession and prayer, put a hedge of protection around your home (Job 1:10).

Give no foothold for the enemy. Allow no estrangement in your marriage. Don’t allow any worldly spirit to come in through the media. Be ruthless against the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith."

Let's have the same testimony as Nehemiah when he confessed, “I purged out everything foreign” (Nehemiah 13:30 NLT).

Many blessings to you and your family today,

Nancy Campbell

P.S. Read these Scriptures also: Deuteronomy 7:25-26; Palm 144: 7-8, 11-15; Lamentations 4:12; Ephesians 5:11 and 6:10-13.

Later Jonathan said to David: “Tomorrow is the new moon and YOU WILL BE MISSED FOR YOUR SEAT WILL BE EMPTY.”

We notice from this story that it was the expected and normal thing for every member in the household to be seated at the table for the evening meal. It is a sad thing to see an empty seat. That means someone in the family or extended household is missing. And it is always disappointing when someone is missing.

When our children grew older and were out at work with their own jobs, I still expected them to be home every evening for the family meal. They had to call me in good time to let me know if something very important cropped up. Otherwise they were expected to fill their seat. This is normality, and yet it is passing away from families today. Do you make it a priority for all the seats around your table to be filled each night?

I noticed something else too. Each person sat at their assigned place. Verse 25 says: “The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him and Abner at his side. But David’s place was vacant.” This shows us that it is important to have order in our home and at the table. Each person knows the seat they are to sit at each evening, rather than everything trying to compete for their own seat.

At our table, Colin always sits at t the head of the table as he is the head of the home and I sit beside him. Each person then has their particular seat.

I also remember how that when Jesus fed the five thousand plus people and later the four thousand, that He did not distribute any food to them until they were all sitting down.

I believe God intends us to sit for our meals. We are not meant to eat standing up or walking around. We are meant to SIT and eat and fellowship together. We don’t receive the same goodness and value from our food when we walk around eating. We need to sit to receive. That means physically and spiritually. We cannot even receive from the Lord when we try to get something from Him in a rush. We must sit to receive, just as Mary “SAT AT JESUS FEET and head his word” (Luke 10:39).

Blessings to you today,

Nancy Campbell

Painting: “Sunset” by Abraham Hunter.

The vineyards that the settlers are growing on the West Bank of Israel are brining forth sweet wine and winning world competitions. They don’t grow in luscious soil, but grow on the stony mountains of Samaria, growing up out of stones. They say that the pressure to grow up through the stones causes the grapes to become sweet.

Just as God promises that "the mountains will drip sweet wine" (Amos 9:13) which is being fulfilled today on the hills of Samaria, so we wives should drip sweet wine in our homes. A sweet attitude toward our husband. Sweet words coming forth from our lips.

The husband in Song of Solomon 4:11 (NET) says to his wife, "Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue." Dripping sweetness! Can your husband say these words to you?

Are you a "sour grapes" or sweet aroma?

Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell

Even the footstool of God is glorious. And now we are His footstool here on earth. 1 John 4:17: "As He is, so are we in this world."

Dear mother, you are the footstool of God to your children as you reveal God to them through your daily attitude and actions. I love the quote by William Makepeace Thackeray which says, "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."

God wants His footstool to be glorious because He is glorious. May God save us from living sub-zero! May we understand the revelation of God's plan for us to be His glorious representation on earth, first to our husband and children, and then to everyone we meet.

As you get out of bed each morning, embrace your glorious commission. Realize that you are His footstool, revealing Christ to your children. You don't need any more motivation than that!

Be encouraged.

Nancy Campbell

Painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Is it loving to leave someone in deception? Is it loving to not seek to rescue someone who is going in the wrong direction? (Read Jude 23). How can we change society if we stay silent? God wants us to invade society with His truth. He wants His people to show the way. He wants us to shine His light into the darkness, not hide our light (Matthew 5:13-16).

This doesn't mean we become condemning. A great way to challenge people's thinking is to ask them questions. Ask them why they think the way they do. Ask them why they do this thing. Ask them about their worldview. Christian and non-Christians are constantly bombarded with a secular and humanistic worldview. We have a responsibility to redirect their thinking back to God's way.

Jude 1:3 exhorts us to “earnestly contend for the faith.” And of course, our first accountability is to our children. We must constantly seek to keep them in the truth.

Don't hide your light. And don't forget to smile at people when you confront them.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

When the baby is born the very precious awareness of the presence of God comes to your home. It always comes with a new baby who arrives fresh from heaven. I reveled in this time when my babies came. Savor every moment of it.

David continues: “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” As the little babe nurses at the continually-available breasts of the mother, he learns that he can totally trust God. As the breast is always accessible, so he learns that God, Jehovah Shamah, will always be there for him.

Another Psalmist confesses the same thing as David: “Upon Thee I have leaned from birth; it was Thou who took me from the maternal womb. My praise is continually of thee” (Psalm 71:6 MLB). Dear mother, God watches over every aspect and every season of motherhood. You are not doing it on your own. He is with you.

Trust Him hourly and daily.

Love from Nancy Campbell