FRUITFUL AND FLOURISHING

“He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing . . . Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples”
(John 15:5, 8).

The Bible is full of allegories and beautiful pictures of how he wants us to live. God paints one of these pictures in Psalm 128:3 (CSB) describing a blessed family life: “Your wife will be a like a fruitful vine within your house, your children, like young olive trees around your table.”

Dear mother, you are not literally a vine, but the Bible says you are LIKE a vine. Your children are not literally olive plants, but they are LIKE olive plants and so God teaches us from the way He describes us. God wants each one of us to be like a fruitful grapevine in the heart of our homes. Where does He want you to be fruitful? In the heart of your home.

But how does a vine become fruitful? It has to be pruned and watered. Sometimes we are not fruitful in our homes because we resist the pruning. And we don’t take time to be watered in His presence and in His Word.

Vinedressers who want a fruitful harvest are RUTHLESS when pruning their vines. They cut back the branches until they look as though there is nothing left on the vine. They look quite ugly. But from this cutting back comes a glorious harvest.

Vines that are left to grow without pruning may look fine but when you get close up you see very little fruit. I think of Hosea 10:1 where it says: “Israel is an empty vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” Israel looked luxuriant and lush but instead of bringing forth fruit for God, he brought forth fruit for himself!

Fruit for yourself but empty for God. That’s sad, isn’t it?

I love to grow a garden each year. At the end of my harvest one year, everything had finished growing except my pepper plants, They were still looking luxuriant and wonderful? But guess what? They had no fruit! I had never seen anything like it. Beautiful, big, healthy looking plants with no fruit. I usually have a harvest of peppers, but none that year! What a waste of garden space.

It shows that you can look good and still not be producing fruit. But it is the fruit that God wants. When talking about the Vinedresser and the vine in John 15 Jesus says that He wants more than fruit from us. He wants “MORE fruit” (John 15:2). But even that is not enough. Two times Jesus says that He wants “MUCH fruit” (John 15:5, 8).

Sometimes we have to take the “bull by the horns” and cut back branches ourselves. Stop running here, there, and everywhere. Stop getting involved in too many things outside the home. The Shulamite woman in Song of Songs 1:6 confessed: “They made me the keeper of the vineyards: but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”

“But how can I be fruitful stuck here in my home?” you cry out. Dear mother, to embrace the children God wants to give you is an eternal work. You are bringing into the world eternal souls who will live forever. You give to a child the privilege of enjoying the glory of eternity forever. How amazing.

As you pour your life into building your home, making it a holy home for God in this sinful and deceived world, you are a light shining on a hill for all to see.

As you make your marriage and family life strong, you help to make this nation strong. As you take up your charge to get God’s Word richly into the hearts and mouths of your children to prepare them for life, you will not only be salt in this world, but you will send out powerful, salty, God-fearing, truth-speaking, devil-defeating young people into this world to take dominion for God. That’s incredible fruit for God’s kingdom.

Keep your life trimmed and pruned so you can bring forth fruit for eternal life.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

Dear Father, Please show me the excess branches in my life that hinder fruitfulness. Give me strength to cut them off so that I can bring forth fruit for Your glory and Your kingdom. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am not satisfied with a little fruit; I want to bring forth much fruit for God’s kingdom.

ARE YOUR CHILDREN GROWING UP IN HIS PRESENCE?

“For what great nation is there that has GOD SO NEAR to it,
as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”
(Deuteronomy 4:7).

In Bible times God had a tabernacle and later a temple where He deigned to dwell in the midst of His people. We no longer have a temple but out God is a dwelling God and He still loves to dwell in our homes.

One of the most beautiful things we can do as a mother and homemaker is to make our homes a dwelling place for the living God. I love the Scripture in Hebrews 9:1 (JBP) where it tells us about God’s sanctuary “a holy place in this world for the eternal God.”

I also love the words in Psalm 84:1-3 (NLT): “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heavens Armies . . . Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!”

This is such a beautiful word to us mothers. How often we feel overwhelmed and wish we had more time to read God’s word and spend time in His presence. But how do we do this with little babies and toddlers and even older ones all vying for our attention. It seems impossible.

But dear mothers, we need to think of our homes as God’s sanctuary and each room as an altar of the Lord. Instead of thinking we have no time to spend with God let’s remember to live to live in in His presence. As you dedicate your home to Him to be His sanctuary, you are living in His presence. Even in the midst of bedlam and all the needs of your little children, remember that you are making a nest for your children in the presence of the Lord.

Be reminded of God’s word to you in Isaiah 49:16: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before.” The walls of your home are continually before the Lord. You are not alone. God is with you and watching over everything that is going on. He wants you to mother in His presence. I love God’s Word translation which says: “Your walls are always in my presence.”

Just as the swallow built her nest in the temple of God, make a nest where you can lay your little ones near His altar. As you nurse your baby on your rocking chair, think of it as an altar as you pray for this child and dedicate him or her to God. Nurture, teach, and guide your children in His presence.

When you sit at your table with your children realize it is an altar where you feed your children body, soul, and spirit. As your husband reads God’s word at the end of the meal you too will find sustenance as the Scriptures are read.

You can make every room in your home an altar. I remember one time when my children were little and I longed, like the psalmist, to be in the courts of the Lord. How could I get away alone? I decided to take my four under four into the bedroom and closed the door. I kneeled by my bed and began to pour out my soul to the Lord. As I entered into His courts, His presence filled the room.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door. A guy who was boarding at our place was home and began shouting, “Please calm down those children, I can’t sleep!” I was so enjoying the Lord’s presence I didn’t even notice all the noise the children were making!

This psalm continues: verses 4-6 (NLT): “What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD . . . When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.”

Make your home a dwelling place for God where your babies and children grow up near the altars of the Lord.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Father, that the walls of my home are continually in Your presence. You see everything that is going on in my home and I thank You that You are with me. I acknowledge Your presence. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am raising my children near the altars of the Lord, in His wonderful presence.

ARE WE COMING BACK?

“He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee:
he will also bless the fruit of thy womb . . .”
(Deuteronomy 7:13).

I am desperate for revival. Are you? I guess we should first ask, what is revival? It is turning back to the original, the root, the beginning! We need revival when we get away from the first things.

In Scripture the “law of the first mention” is very important. When God says something the first time in the Scriptures, we must take note. The first mention is the foundation. It must never be discounted. When we get away from the first mention, we must be revived to come back! Back to God’s plan. Back to the first commandments He gave us. Back to His heart. Back to His first words.

BACK TO OUR FIRST LOVE

We need to forever be coming back to our first love, don’t we? With all the distractions in our lives it’s so easy to get away from our first love for Jesus. There’s nothing more important than being in love with Jesus. This is the hub from which everything else in our life flows out. When we are in love with Jesus, we will love our husbands and children and everyone around us.

Jesus spoke to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4, 5: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

BACK TO GOD’S FIRST WORDS

We must also turn back to the first statutes God gave is in His Word. We must come back to the very first words God spoke to the man and woman He created. Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth.” God has never rescinded these words. They stand forever. If we discard them because we think we know better, we disobey God’s powerful and living Word.

It’s time to come back to God’s heart for children. Malachi 4:4-6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

This is one of the greatest revivals needed in the church today. Most of the church has no understanding of God’s plan for children. They limit the number of children in their family as much as the secular world. They have as little regard for the blessing of children as the world does. It is time for a revival of fathers and mothers embracing their hearts towards children, to have the same heart that God has toward children.

Are we coming back to the God of the Bible? Many believe in a false God. They believe in a god who is only able to provide for one or two children. Any more would be too much for their god. This is not the God of the Bible.

BACK TO GOD’S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

We must come back to marriage oneness. God’s eternal plan for marriage is that we are to be one. God’s first description of marriage is in Genesis 2:24: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” We are not two people living in the same house living our separate lives. We are joined in flesh, spirit, and vision to work together to build a strong marriage and family. It’s time to come back!

Marriage is the first institution God gave. We must adhere to it with all our hearts. Because it is God’s plan, the devil hates it and seeks to destroy marriages. Don’t let the devil into your marriage. He comes in with his negative and false thoughts. Don’t believe them. Build your marriage daily. Speak loving, sweet, positive, and encouraging words to your husband continually. The words you speak will determine the kind of marriage you endure or enjoy. Never deviate from God’s plan. Always be coming back.

BACK TO HUMILITY AND PRAYER

We are in a desperate place in our nation. We are on the tipping point of going down the road of communism. Is that an outlandish statement? No. It is what is happening although many people have their heads in the sand. We must humble ourselves and pray. We must cry out to God. He has promised that if we are faithful to do this that He will heal our land. I believe that every God-fearing and Bible-believing family should be praying every day for a great reviving back to godliness in this nation. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God-fearing families would have a weekly prayer meeting in their home?

2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Let’s keep coming back.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I want to come back to Your ways. I don’t want to deviate. Give me strength to live my life Your way rather than my own way. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I want to live a revival lifestyle, constantly returning to God’s original ways.

ONE FLESH MARRIAGE, Part 2

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready”
(Revelation 19:7).

Today we continue the points about the “one flesh” marriage.

9. SPIRITUALLY

Our bodies are only the house of the real person, the spirit, the part of us which was made for fellowship with God. God’s highest purpose for us in marriage is to become one together in spiri, connected to one another by our spirits and God’s Holy Spirit. We are to be glued together as one. That’s why prayer in marriage is such a powerful thing. We are together to agree and can therefore see mighty answers to prayer. Jesus said: “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be cone for them of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19). This is such a powerful and wonderful promise to married couples.

10. PURPOSEFULLY

God brings the male and female together to accomplish His purposes. God’s primary purpose for male and female is to have children. As husband and wife, and together with their children, they are to be fruitful, fill the earth, and “subdue it: and have dominion” (Genesis 1:28). Purposefully together they advance God’s kingdom in the earth, reveal His image and likeness, and bring more of His love, truth, justice, and peace to the earth.

11. UNDEFILEDLY

Marriage is called “holy matrimony” and the marriage bed is holy and sacred. At the beginning of the wedding vows, the minister says: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God to join this man, and this woman in holy matrimony . . .  Into this ‘holy estate’ these two persons come now to be joined. Therefore, it is not to be entered unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly.”

Marriage is God-mandated and to be enjoyed according to God’s pattern, but it is designed only for one male and one female. Hebrews 13:4 (ESV) states: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

God created the sexual act to be totally fulfilling without the use of “toys,” alternative ways that are not according to God’s Word, or anything that violates the conscience. God’s plan is already glorious beyond words and does not need “extras.”

12. UNENDINGLY

The traditional wedding vows state: "I take thee . . . to love and to cherish, till death do us part (or, as long as we both shall live), according to God's holy ordinance.”

Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are times when it is no longer safe to live in a marriage where one of the two continues in a despicable, ungodly, and unrepentant lifestyle. Jesus admitted when talking to the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce because “of the hardness of your hearts,” but He continued, “From the beginning it was not so.” It was never God’s plan.

Jesus also forcefully stated: “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (or separate).” Or, let no man or woman, no organization, no church, no Facebook, or anything at all separate a man and wife from each other. They are to be fused as one.

13. EXCLUSIVELY

I totally believe in the exclusivity of marriage. A young wife should understand that when she gets married, she will no longer have personal friends with the opposite sex apart from with her husband. And the same goes for the husband. She would not think of going out for a coffee with a guy on her own, unless her husband is with her. Of course, married couples can enjoy friendships with the opposite sex as a couple or as families, but never on their own.

Proverbs 5:15-20 speaks of the marriage relationship. We notice how exclusive it is in the phrases used: “from your own cistern . . . from your own well . . . let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers . . .”

14. REVEALINGLY

The great mystery of marriage is that it reveals the picture of Christ and His bride, the church. How amazing that God chose marriage to reveal this glorious relationship. We read about this in Ephesians 5:22-33. I know you know this passage, but we should read it frequently. Here are a few highlights but please read the whole passage again in your Bible:

“For as the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church . . . So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies . . . This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

We all need to be reminded that this is the highest vision of marriage. As John Piper says: “There never has been a generation whose view of marriage is high enough.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Holy Father, for your perfect design for marriage. Please help my husband and I to be a living picture of the relationship between You and Your bride, the church. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am seeking to make our marriage a picture of Christ and the church.

FURTHER SCRIPTURES TO READ:

Matthew 5:27, 28; Mark 10:2-9; 1 Corinthians 6:16,17; 7:1-5; 11:8, 9; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:18, 19; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:1-6; and Hebrews 13:4.