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.
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Strengthening Families Across the World through the encouragement of women in their high calling from God as wives, mothers and homemakers.

Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

COOKING...A SACRED TASK

SacredTaskDear lovely mothers, don’t despise all the meals you must cook for your family. Every meal is another glorious opportunity to gather your family together, to fellowship together, to bond together, to laugh and enjoy one another, and expect beautiful things to happen. Cooking the meal paves the way for all these lovely things to happen.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

GOT PROBLEMS?

IveGotGod is bigger than any problem you face. You can trust Him completely.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

SHOULD MARRIAGE BE EXCLUSIVE?

ExclusiveMarriageA Facebook question popped up on my Facebook awhile back: “What do you think about having a male friend apart from your husband? Vice versa too? Can it be a purely platonic relationship?”
 
I was grieved in my spirit by the answers to this question. Most answered saying they thought it was healthy and beneficial to have friends of the opposite sex who were not their husband.
 
I beg your pardon! What has happened to God’s ideal of marriage? What has happened to the sacredness of marriage? What has happened to keeping true to our solemn marriage vows?
 
The minister asks the couple to repeat: I, ________, take thee ________, to be my wedded husband/wife, to have an to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, and FORSAKING ALL OTHERS, BE FAITHFUL ONLY UNTO HER/HIM ’til death do us part, according to God’s ordinance; and thereto I PLEDGE THEE MY TROTH.”
 
I guess that many have never heard the last phrase, “pledge thee my troth.” but I love these words. They were always part of the original marriage vows. The word “troth” means to pledge lifelong faithfulness, truthfulness, loyalty, and fidelity.” Troth not only rhymes with oath but is a synonym of oath.
 
We know that “forsaking all others,” means to keep sexually pure in marriage. But I believe it means more than that. It means forsaking PERSONAL friendships with the opposite sex. I don’t care what all these other folk say, it is not God’s plan for marriage. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t have friendship with men. My husband and I have many friendships with couples and families together. We have given ourselves to hospitality through the years and we enjoy the rich blessing of many couples at our table as we enjoy friendship together.
 
But I wouldn’t dream of going out to eat or going somewhere on my own with the husband of one of those couples. Why do I need to do that? Why do I need another guy apart from my husband? I have vowed to forsake all others and be faithful only unto him—sexually, emotionally, mentally, and because of my scared marriage vows. Marriage is exclusive, not only physically, but also emotionally.
 
And how does this affect our children and the next generation? I recently asked some young people: “How would you feel if your father or mother went out on their own with someone of the opposite sex?” They were aghast. They said it would make them feel very insecure. One girl mentioned that one time she was coming home from work and saw her mother with another man in the car. Her heart fell. She arrived home to find that her mother was taking the builder home who was working on the house! But just seeing another man in the car devastated her.
 
Blessings to you today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

GOD NEVER CHANGES

GodNeverChangesGOD NEVER CHANGES
From Patricia Holmes, missionary in Panama.
 
I have been thinking the most wonderful thoughts today. Care to join me?
Everything changes, but God does not.
We grow old, but God is timeless.
We have questions, but God has answers!
We have problems, but God has solutions.
Even good things “come and go,” but God remains stable.
We make mistakes, but God is forgiving.
The night is dark, but God brings light (and joy in the morning).
Our thoughts are meager, but God’s are bountiFULL.
Our sight is limited, but God created a Heaven of color.
Our hearing is limited, but God hears the slightest whisper.
The wind blows and we cannot see it, but God directs its path.
The oceans may billow and boil, but God can walk on the waves.
Our (aging) memories may fail, but God never forgets (a single thing).
We grow tired, but God is ever watchful.
We may feel alone, but God never leaves us.
 
ISN'T GOD GOOD?
 
~ Patricia Homes
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

ARE YOU A GRUMBLER?

grumblingWhy do we like to grumble and complain? It never accomplishes one thing! Only negativity and destruction. Change your attitude today and look up. When you praise the Lord good things start happening. Have a great day. As my husband says to us every morning: “May this be the best day of your life so far!”

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

WHO SHOULD SHOW HONOR?

WhoShowHonorPraise God, we don’t have to live in the dark. God shows us clearly in His Word how he wants us to live as a married couple. The Bible tells us that we the husband and wife are both to show honor to one another. Let’s check this out, shall we?
 
Ephesians 5:33: “The wife see that she reverence her husband.” The word reverence means “to be in awe, to revere.” We get the full meaning as we read the Amplified Classic version of the Bible: “However, let each man of you (without exception) love his wife as (being in a sense) his very own self and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband (that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.” Wow!
 
Well, what about the man? Yes, He is commanded to show honor also. He does not get off the hook, but it’s a different kind of honor. 1 Peter 3:7 directs the husband: “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
 
The word “honor” in this passage means “to buy with a price, the highest degree, valuable, esteem, dignity, preciousness.” It is the same word used of the “preciousness” of Christ (1 Peter 2:7). The husband must see his wife as his most precious and valuable possession and honor her in the highest degree. Many men are ignorant of this because of the brainwashing of feminism. Feminism takes away the beauty of femininity. They pressure women to be like men. Therefore, when men no longer see women as a prized possession to be protected and cared for, they do not know how to function correctly.
 
Husbands must esteem their wife as the weaker vessel. Now I know some women don’t like to be put in that category. But this is the truth. I think I am a strong woman physically. I’ve carried heavy boxes of Above Rubies for years. I carry 50 lb. bags of grains easily. But I am not as strong as men and I’m grateful for my husband being able to carry really heavy loads. Men mostly have 50 percent more brute strength than women. They are built with more muscle, broader shoulders, and stronger physique to lift heavy weights, do hard work, provide, and protect.
 
I like Fenton’s translation which says: “assigning honour to their FEMININE NATURE, as to a weaker vessel.” It works both ways. We as wives show awe and honor to our husbands. Conversely, our husbands are to treat us with dignity and as they would their most precious possession.
The more we embrace and walk in our femininity, the easier it is for our husbands to treat us this way.
 
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

YOU HAVE A BIG CAREER

BigCareerIn what capacity do you like to introduce yourself? Some folks may introduce themselves as a teacher, singer, nurse, lawyer, or even a mother. Many pastors like to introduce themselves as Pastor So and So. They make sure they precede their name with the word, Pastor!
 
How did Paul introduce himself? When writing to the Romans Paul begins: “Paul, a SERVANT of Jesus Christ,“ and then he adds “called to be an apostle” (Romans 1:1).
 
What about Peter? Simon Peter also introduces himself as “a SERVANT” and then he adds secondly “and an apostle of Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:1). Both these mighty men of God considered themselves to firstly be servants.
 
The word servant is “doulos” and literally means “a bondslave, one who is in permanent relation of servitude to another.”
 
Jesus himself confessed that He did not come “to be served but to SERVE, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 ESV).
How do you look upon yourself? In this day of feminism and liberal theology a “servant” would be unthinkable. Isn’t it amazing that many Christians think they are better than the early apostles and even Jesus Himself? Ae we too proud to be servants?
 
Dearest mother, when you feel overburdened and overworked and you have no time to do anything you want to do because all you do is serve others all day long, don’t despair! You are following the footsteps of Jesus. You are like the early apostles. You are in the perfect will of God.
 
Oh, I know you don’t like being a servant. None of us do. We are so fleshly and selfish. But do we really want to be increasingly more like Jesus? There’s no greater way than to serve. How blessed we are as wives and mothers. We are right in the very place where we can fulfil our serving ministry. We can joyfully serve in our homes all day long. We are in the very sphere where we can become like Jesus.
 
What way do you like to serve? We can serve grudgingly—sighing and complaining. Or we can serve joyfully. That takes the sting out of serving and relegates it to a high place. We can serve faithfully. This is the serving that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:21 where He says: “Well done, thou good and faithful SERVANT: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
 
You may have dreams of big things you want to do in your life. There’s no way you can fulfil them with all your little children hanging around you every minute of the day. Dear mother, be faithful to your menial, daily tasks. God sees them. As He sees you faithful in the little things, He will bless you in His time with bigger things.
 
Although I must interrupt my writing here. I don’t believe exactly what I have just written. Because I believe that no matter what “bigger things” you may one day accomplish in your life, nothing is as big as what you are doing now. Nothing is as big a bringing into this world an eternal soul that will live forever. Nothing is as big as pouring out your nurturing heart to your children. Nothing is as big as preparing and training them for God’s destiny here on earth. Your God-given mothering career influences nations, governments, generations, and eternity!
 
I hope you have the most wonderful day SERVING your husband and family.
 
Love from Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

FOR YOU RIGHT NOW!

ForRightNowAll the good things that are in Jesus Christ are available to you right now. Not some day in the future, but RIGHT NOW! I know that life is not always perfect when you are mothering your children. You don’t have enough fingers to count how many things go wrong throughout the day. But don’t despair. Jesus Christ is with you. He lives in you. You don’t have to react to these things in your flesh. Instead, allow Jesus to live His life through you.
 
Let’s look at some Scriptures that remind us that God is working in you RIGHT NOW.
 
1 Timothy 4:8: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the LIFE THAT NOW IS, and of that which is to come.” Most modern versions say: “this present life.” Godliness is not just for eternity, but for right NOW! Yes, right now—in your kitchen and with your children all needing you at once.
 
Are you feeling upset and you really want to let everyone know? Instead of giving into the flesh and hurting everyone around you, allow the life of Jesus to work through you. He is filled with patience and longsuffering and He lives in you! That means you are patient and longsuffering too! God puts His strength into you to give you “all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11).
 
Romans 5:17: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall REIGN IN LIFE by one Christ Jesus.” We will not only reign in eternity. This Scripture tells us that we can REIGN IN LIFE RIGHT NOW. We can reign over the power of the flesh through the life of Christ who dwells in us. We can reign over our self-life.
 
Are you down in the dumps and depressed? You don’t have to stay there. You can reign over your depression in the power of the name of Jesus. He lives within you and He is Joy. This joy that is not dependent upon circumstances, but on who He is! Appropriate now, by faith, the loving, joyful, longsuffering, victorious, and overcoming life of Jesus Christ, who lives in you.
 
I love 2 Peter 1:3: “According as his divine power hath given unto us ALL THINGS that pertain unto LIFE and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”
 
Dear precious mother, you have EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN CHRIST RIGHT NOW to live a reigning and godly life in your home. No matter what the chaos. No matter the disappointment. No matter the challenge. Christ, the hope of glory, lives in you (Colossian 1:27). And He is with you RIGHT NOW.
 
2 Corinthians 6:2: “Behold, NOW is the accepted time, behold NOW is the day of salvation.” The Greek word for salvation is “soteria” and means “safety, deliverance, health, salvation.” Jesus Christ is health and salvation for you NOW!
 
Be blessed today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

IS IT POSSIBLE?

IsItPossibleI have a question for you. Do you think it is possible to “glorify God in your body” if we tamper with the way God created us?
 
We know that all God’s ways are perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30; and Revelation 15:3). Therefore, the way He created our bodies is perfect. He created the female body for childbearing. He designed her body that during “the time of life,” which is the time of ovulation each month, that she has the opportunity to conceive a baby.
 
However, we live in a society where many women don’t want to have babies. They don’t want to live the way God designed their bodies so they use contraception, or even sterilization, to make sure God cannot bless them with life.
 
Sterilization tampers with the Creator’s design for our bodies. It changes the function. More accurately, it stops the function! It stops the ultimate plan of our Creator. Therefore, in doing this, is it possible to glorify God in our body? According to God’s Word, what is your honest answer?
 
We need to read the Scriptures again: 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 (ESV): “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN, for you were bought with a price. So GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY.”
 
And the Scripture we all know, but need reminded of daily: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2).
 
We notice that this Scripture exhorts us to present our BODIES to the Lord, not just our spirits. How are we to offer them? The answer is “acceptable” to God. This word means “what is agreeable and well pleasing to God.” And its repeated in verse 2. The perfect will of God is that which is agreeable and well pleasing to Him. It’s not what is agreeable to us and fits in with our lifestyle, but what is in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose.
 
How do we live our lives? According to the humanistic plan of our modern society or according to God’s eternal plan that has never changed and never will change from the beginning of time?
 
Have a beautiful day,
 
Nancy Campbell
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

A FAIR SELECTION?

FairSelection“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will spend the rest of its life thinking it’s an idiot.” Albert Einstein.

God has given each one of your children unique and special gifts. Each one of them are different. Don’t expect each one to learn the same way or be interested in the same things. Each one has a unique destiny.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

ROLE REVERSALS

RoleReversalWriting about parenthood, the great preacher and writer, J. R. Miller says: “Duties cannot be transferred.” I happen to agree with him, although many modern Christians would not.
 
Why do we think we know better than God? Why do we think that we have a better plan for our lives that the one who intricately, wonderfully, and marvelously created us?
 
God, in His perfect design, for “all His ways are perfect,” created a father and a mother to bring children into the world and to care for them in this world. He gave each one distinct roles to fulfil. Each brings their own strengths to the parenting career. Many want to change the roles because of convenience. The wife wants to take on the role of provider which means she must give her children to someone else to watch. And yet no guardian, no matter how loving, can ever be in tune to the innermost needs of her child like the mother.
 
Sometimes a mother can earn more money than her husband, so she goes to work while her husband stays home with the children. This is a role reversal and not planned by the God who created us.
 
But you say, “I know fathers who are great stay-at-home-fathers to their children.” That may be so, but they cannot be a mother no matter how they try. God has put within women a maternal anointing that men don’t have. Yes, men love their children. They have a strong instinct to protect their children. They want to provide for their children, but they cannot “mother” their children; they were created to “father” children. There is a difference.
 
Babies and toddlers need the comfort of their mother’s breasts. Breastfeeding is tied up with motherhood. Scientific studies reveal that the more frequently a mother breastfeeds her baby the more motherly and nurturing she becomes. These hormones release mothering hormones and a man simply does not have the abundance of these hormones that God gives to a mother to nurture.
 
God has also put within women a love for home, unless of course it is brainwashed out of her by our education system, the media, and the deception of our progressive society. A man is not cut out for the finer touches of making a home feel like a home. He was created to go out and to provide. To work hard for his family.
 
To get back to our original statement, I do concede that men and women can transfer their roles to a certain extent, but only at the expense of God’s ultimate blessing for the family. God intends fathers and mothers to fully embrace the way He created them and to reveal these strengths to their children which are to pass on from one generation to the next. Children who grow up in a family where the mother works and the husband stays home with the children will have a distorted understanding of God’s definitive plan. They will be confused and deceived. And what happens in the next generation? Will they think it normal to carry on this pattern until we have a society of men at home and women in the work force? God forbid.
 
Be blessed today in your God-given role of mothering,
 
Nancy Campbell
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GOLD FEVER

GoldFeverDo any of you read THE DAILY LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH for your Family Devotions? We read it each morning and evening around our table. Although, for a change, we are currently reading a chapter of the book of Revelation each evening.
 
If you read THE DAILY LIGHT this morning, you will have noticed that this morning’s theme was about the treasures of God’s word. We read Psalm 19:10 which says: “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
 
We read about the gold fever of the gold-digging days. These men gave up everything to get a bit of gold. And yet we have pure gold right at our fingertips. And yet, many times, we don’t even care about it.
 
Are God’s words like gold to you? Do you pass on this fever to our children? Do they know you LOVE God’s words? That’s why we gather our children around each day to read His precious life-giving words to them.
 
We are gold dispensers! Isn’t that amazing? We may not own very much materially and yet we can pass out gold to our children every day! It will do far more for them than any “gold” of this world.
 
The psalmist confesses in Psalm 119:72: “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.”
 
Psalm 119:127: says: “Therefore I LOVE thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.”
 
Pass on your love for God’s words to your children. They will love it according to how much you love it. If you’ve got gold fever for His Word, they’ll catch it too.
 
Be blessed today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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DID YOU KNOW?

DidYouKnowDid you know that God has appointed you to be a watchwoman over your home? Proverbs 321:27 says: “She looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness.”
 
The Hebrew word for “looks well” is “tsaphah.” It means “1) to observe and keep watch, 2) to lean forward, to peer into the distance, and 3) to be a watchman.”
 
This woman constantly observes what needs to be done in her home. She does not let things go unnoticed. She also prepares for the future. She has enough food and other necessities stored up against a day of hard times, shortages of food, or calamity. She does not live only for today but is well prepared for any emergency.
 
But primarily, she is a watchwoman. The Hebrew word used here for the woman is the same word that is used for the watchmen of the city in the Bible. I’ll give you the references at the end of this post.
 
A watchman cannot be a watchman unless he is at his post. We cannot effectively watch over our home and our children if we are not in our home. The enemy of our children has power to get at them when we are not watching over them or when we put them in daycares and public schools. Therefore, we watch with our beady eyes, and we watch in prayer.
 
We not only watch over out little ones but our big ones too. When raising our children, I found I had to be a keen-eyed watchwoman when they were teens more than at any other time! I had to be on the job. I couldn’t leave my post. Isaiah 56:10, 11 gives a scary picture of watchmen who are not doing their job. “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark: sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber . . . they all look to their own way, every one for his gain.”
 
If you have a watch dog, you’ll want it to be a barking watch dog. You want a dog that lets you know a stranger is around. We must also learn to be barking watch dogs. No, I don’t mean a screaming mother who is always yelling at her children. As my husband would say, “No, a thousand times No!” We bark at the devil, not at our children.
 
There are two aspects to motherhood. Firstly, the gentle, nurturing anointing that God has put within us. Secondly, the powerful, protective anointing that revolts against evil and all subtle works of the enemy that seek to pull our children away from God. We will not stay silent. We will not sit around while the enemy lurks. We will go after the enemy. We will do everything in our power to save our children from the claws of the enemy, just like young David put his hand in the mouth of the lion and pulled out the little lamb to save it (1 Samuel 17:34, 35 and Jude 23).
 
Read prayerfully the following passages which speak to watchmen. They also speak to us as mother watchwomen (Ezekiel 3:7-9; 17-21; and 33:1-9). God holds us responsible to warn our children. If we don’t, their blood is on our hands.
 
Blessings and love from Nancy Campbell
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WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND?

BestFreindWhen you have an opportunity to go out to enjoy yourself, who do you want to go with? Do you want to go with girlfriends? Or your husband? We always want to go with our best friend, don't we?
 
In Titus 2:4 the older women are exhorted to teach the young women to "love their husbands." The Greek word used here is not agape (God's divine love which goes beyond the love of man). It is not "eros" which is sexual love. We need to experience both of these in our marriage, but the one God uses in this passage is "philandros." This is a friendly, affectionate love.
 
We are not only to love our husbands, but to be friendly and affectionate to them. Throughout the day we should take every opportunity to cuddle, kiss, hug, and touch. The more we do this, the more we release love to each other. We must work at being friendly. It’s easy forget about it in the challenges of the day and the tiredness of the evening, isn’t it?
 
We should speak to our husbands as though we were speaking to our best friend. Do we yell at our best friend? Do we give the silent treatment to our best friend? Exodus 33:11 tells us that God spoke to Moses "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." He told things to Moses that He didn't tell anyone else. There is a special way we speak to friends. We are usually polite, sweet, kind, and respectful. This is the same way we should speak to our husband. And remember, "A friend loveth AT ALL TIMES" (Proverbs 17:17).
 
Another wonderful thing about friendship is learning from one another, encouraging one another, and sometimes debating with one another to greater intellectual and spiritual heights. My husband and I love to discuss subjects together—and we don't always agree! How boring that would be. My husband always says, "We don't have to agree with one another, but we do have to love one another."
 
Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
 
I know loads of wives like to go on a “Girls' Night Out”! But I have to tell you the truth, I’d rather go out with my husband (or stay home with him) than anyone else in the world. And that's after 58 years of marriage!
 
Blessings to you today,
 
Nancy Campbell
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I LOVE WHERE YOUR GLORY DWELLS

TheHabitationAre you looking forward to meeting with God’s people this weekend? The assembling of ourselves TOGETHER is a priority for believers.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

ADDING ANOTHER DIMENSION

SetTableIt adds another dimension to the meal when we sit at an attractively set table.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

GOD LOVES AN ORDERED TABLE

AnOrderedTableSometimes we don’t make our meal table very orderly, do we?
 
A mother prepares some food, yells to everyone to come and get it. The family scoff it down the food and leave the table! That’s all there is to it. Nothing much happened. All the work of preparing the food for nothing.
 
I believe we can change this scenario. I believe that the importance we put upon our table will be the attitude our children have toward it. It first begins with changing our attitude. We as mothers must see the importance of the table It’s very important in God’s eyes. When God described a blessed family, he pictured them all around the table (Psalm 128:3).
 
We must understand that the table is not only a place to feed our children physically but to bring the family together to interact and to also feed their souls and spirits. Therefore, we prepare a nutritious meal for their physical bodies, but we also take time to think about what we will talk about to feed their souls.
 
And of course, we will never let them leave the table before we have ministered to the most important part of their beings, their inner souls—and we read God’s Word to them. If we allow them to leave the table before we feed their inner man, they leave half fed.
 
But it is not enough to prepare the meal. We must also prepare the table. The more orderly, attractive, and inviting we make the table, the more it draws our family to gather around.
 
Let’s see what the Bible says about setting a table.
 
The first mention of the table in the Bible is the Table of Shewbread. We read in Exodus 40:2-4, 23: “Thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it. . . . And he set the bread in order before the LORD.”
 
God’s Word translation says: “He arranged the bread on the table in the LORD’S presence, following the LORD’S instructions.”
 
Do you notice those beautiful words, “in the LORD’S presence”? Dear precious mothers, we are not only preparing a table for our family, but for God. We do it in His presence. God is with you in your home as you prepare your meal and come to your table. He loves to come to your table and manifest His presence in Your midst. Acknowledge His presence as you prepare your meals and prepare your table. It will make all the difference to the way you do it.
 
Do you notice that Moses set everything in order according to God’s plan? The Hebrew word is “arak” and means “to set in a row, put in order, to set in array.”
 
It is the same word that is used in these Scriptures:
 
Psalm 23:5: “Thou preparest (arak) a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
 
Psalm 78:19: “Can God furnish (arak) a table in the wilderness?”
 
Proverbs 9:2: “Wisdom hath builded her house . . . she hath also furnished (arak) her table.” If we have wisdom, we will prepare and order our table knowing that it will bring many blessings to our home.
 
Elevate your table to a new level. I don’t mean to make it higher physically but make it higher in priority and importance in your home. You will be amazed at how attitudes change in the hearts of your children.
 
Be blessed,
 
Nancy Campbell
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GOD HOVERS OVER YOU, MOTHER

GodHoversGod hovers over mother. He is with you from the beginning to the end. Are you waiting to give birth to a baby soon? God will be with you in your birth. David confesses in Psalm 22:9: “Thou art He that took me out of the womb.” Many translations say, “You brought me safely from my mother’s womb.” Whether you are having your baby at home or in a hospital, put your trust in God. He is the one who brings the baby safely from the womb. He is hovering over you for the life of your baby. Trust Him.
 
When your baby is born you become aware of a special atmosphere--it's the presence of God in your home. It always comes with a new baby who is sent fresh from heaven. I reveled in this beautiful atmosphere when my babies came.
 
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, the baby learns that he can totally trust God. As the breast is always accessible, so he learns that God, Jehovah Shammah, 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). Put your trust in God who is watching over every aspect of your motherhood.
 
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
 
Picture of Stephanie Johnson, waiting for the birth of her second baby. She is now blessed with Hosanna and Licia.
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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

HONOR & DIGNITY

HonorDignity“Strength and dignity are her clothing” (Proverbs 31:25). Inwardly and outwardly. Dignity is being lost today. Let’s hold it fast.

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Nancy Campbell
Women's Daily Encouragement Blog

REJOICING HOMES

RejoicingHomesIn my Bible reading the other morning I read the blessing God gave through Moses to the tribe Issachar. He told them they were to rejoice in their homes (Deuteronomy 33:18). The word for homes is “ohel” and it means “a covering, a dwelling place.” It can be used of a hut or a palace! It speaks of a home for animals or for a king (namely, David’s palace)!
 
Maybe you are living in cramped quarters. It feels like a hut! You long for more room. Can I encourage you to keep rejoicing? When Moses spoke those words to Issachar, they were living in temporary tents! They had no mod cons. No store down the road to run to if they ran out of something. And God wanted them to rejoice.
 
Rejoicing is a powerful attribute. It allows God to work in our lives and in our circumstances. When we complain and whine, we keep ourselves in our self-pity dungeon! And we stay miserable!
 
When we rejoice, our circumstances may not change, but our heart changes and we can face insurmountable odds with the joy of the Lord.
 
Do you remember the time when David came back from battle to his home city of Ziklag? They found it burned to the ground with fire. That would be enough to make you depressed. But the Amalekites had also taken all their wives, sons, and daughters captive! They were left with nothing. They all lifted up their voices and wept until they could weep no more! The men were so upset they wanted to stone David!
 
David was so distraught! But then the Bible tells us that “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).
 
It was then God showed him what to do. He gave him the strategy and David and his men were able to recover all their wives and children. Verse 19 says “David recovered all.”
 
David had no answer to their terrible catastrophe while he was in a state of despair. We can’t hear from God when we are filled with bitterness, unforgiveness, and moaning. But when by faith we look to the Lord and rejoice in Him, things begin to change. It’s a biblical principle (Job 13;15 and Habakkuk 3:17, 18).
 
Be a rejoicing mother and fill your home with rejoicing. God loves rejoicing homes.
 
Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
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