Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

Children must be taught the clear difference between right and wrong, the clean and the unclean. * Jesus said in Luke 16:11, “He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” If our children do not learn justice in the little things of life while they are young, how will they know how to execute justice in bigger things as they grow older? Sadly, many young people, even from “Christian” homes, do not have clear insight of God’s word about conception, the sacredness of life in the womb, morality, purity and honesty. They are not able to discern clearly what is right in certain situations. Because they do not understand justice, they tolerate what God hates.

Our children must understand that justice will be executed for wrong-doing. If not, their judgment will be blurred all through their life. If we do not understand justice, we do not understand the necessity for Christ, the beloved Son of God, to die on the cross, in our place, for our sins. On the cross God’s mercy and justice came together, as they always do. Justice must be fulfilled, but God’s mercy is always available to forgive and embrace when there is repentance.

We see more examples of parental justice in the Scriptures. When the angel came to Manoah and his wife to tell them that she would conceive Samson, Manoah asked the Lord, “How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?” (Judges 13:12) The word ‘order’ is mishpat, the Hebrew word for justice. Manoah knew that he needed God’s wisdom to raise him with justice. Unfortunately, their parenting didn’t work too well. Even though they prayed for justice, they did not execute it. When Samson wanted a wife from the Philistines, instead of one of their own Israelites, they gave into his whim. Samson’s end may have been different if they had exercised justice. (Judges 14:1-3)

What kind of an earthly father did God look for when it was time to send His Son to this earth? We would think that he would choose a wealthy man who owned a big home and could provide well for the Son of God who left behind the glory of the heavenly world. Surely He would choose a man of prominence and influence in the community. Perhaps a man of great intellect. No. He looked for a very special quality—a quality that describes who God is. When Matthew 1:19 introduces Joseph, the only quality mentioned is that he is a “just” man. It is obviously the No. 1 requirement for parenting.

We notice that God looked for the same characteristic in everyone who was part of the birth of Jesus. John the Baptist’s parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth were “both righteous (just) before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6). John the Baptist himself grew up to be a “just man” like his parents. (Mark 6:20) Simeon was also “just and devout”. The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not die until He had seen the Messiah. (Luke 2:25-35)
And Jesus Himself was called “the Just One.” (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14)

One of the greatest needs of this hour is for a generation of children to rise up who know justice. We need leaders who understand justice. We need men like King David who “reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people.” (2 Samuel 8:15) We need leaders like Solomon, who rather than ask God for riches for himself, asked for “discernment to understand justice.” (1 Kings 3:11; 2 Chronicles 9:8)

We need young men like Phinehas who was not afraid to take action against evil. (Numbers 25:6-15; Psalm 106:30) We need prophets, young and old, who are not afraid to speak the word of the Lord—“Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate!” (Amos 5:15) We need judges in the land who will “justify the righteous and condemn the wicked”, not the other way around as so often happens today.

May God anoint us to raise children like these men.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Father, please give me wisdom to teach justice to my children. May they walk in integrity, loving righteousness and hating evil. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am walking in the ways of justice.

* Leviticus 10:10-11; Psalm 34:14; 97:10; Jeremiah 15:19; Ezekiel 22:26; 44:23; Romans 12:9; Ephesians 5:11-13; 1 John 2:15-17

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WHERE IS JUSTICE?

Part 3

Proverbs 14:19, "The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous."

I have shared with you previously that God wants us to raise our children to be able to speak in the gates of the city. The "gates" are the legislative capitals where laws and decisions are made for communities, states and the nation. This is where we need justice to be set up again. God wants His name glorified in the gates of our cities and our land. He wants righteousness, integrity and justice to be preeminent in the gates.

The Word of God tells us that we are to...

POSSESS THE GATES.

I love the blessing Rebekah's family gave when they sent her forth to be Isaac's bride, "Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them." (Genesis 24:60) Read also Genesis 22:17. The word "possess" in the Hebrew means 'to seize, take possession of, to occupy, to become heir.' Don't you think it is time the righteous occupied the gates of our cities and nation? We can't have righteous laws without righteous men in government. We can't have peace in the land unless the godly rule. (Proverbs 11:10-11; 14:34; 29:2)

SPEAK IN THE GATES.

Psalm 127:4-5 tells us that God wants us to train a "quiver full" of children who will rise up to "speak with the enemies in the gates." Do you notice that it says they will speak? We must train our children to contend and stand up for truth.*

PROCLAIM WISDOM IN THE GATES.

We are not to hide wisdom behind closed doors. We must raise children who will one day be able to proclaim wisdom in the chief places of the city. Proverbs 1:20-21 says that "Wisdom cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words." (Proverbs 8:1-7)

ESTABLISH JUSTICE IN THE GATES

The prophet cried out in Amos 5:15, "Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." We will receive the favor and blessing of the Lord when we have justice in the gates of the city and the nation.

DEFEND JUSTICE IN THE GATES

Isaiah 29:21 MLB talks about "the defender of justice" in the gates. How we need men today who will defend justice in the gates. This Scripture says there is a day coming when "the tyrant shall have vanished; the scoffer shall have ceased; and all those intent on doing evil shall be cut off, who for a word declare a person guilty, and entrap the defender of justice in the gate, and with empty arguments turn aside the person who is in the right."

We see this happening around us and even in our courts. Judges uphold evil. The media and the humanist love to trap and ridicule the righteous. But there will come a day when all this will change. God has also promised that He will give a "spirit of justice" to those who execute justice in the gates and will strengthen and give courage to those who battle to protect the gates of the city. (Isaiah 28:6)

ESTABLISH TRUTH AND PEACE IN THE GATES

Zechariah 8:16 says, "Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the justice of truth and peace in your gates..." Justice demands truth. When truth is upheld there will be peace. This is the foundation for ordering the home which continues throughout society, right up to the gates of the city and the nation. It is difficult to find men to execute justice and truth in the gates if it has not become ingrained in their lives from early childhood. This is the great task God has given to us as parents.

GUARD THE GATES

Nehemiah 11:19 talks about 172 men who guarded the gates of the city of Jerusalem.

Our cities and nation will be blessed when godly men rule in the gates. (Proverbs 31:23) I look toward the day when, "The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous." (Proverbs 14:19) And don't you think it would be wonderful for mothers and homemakers to be praised in the gates, rather than the feminists? This happened in Bible times. It can happen again. (Proverbs 31: 31)

Before these blessings come to the gates of our cities, it must come to our homes. It starts with parents who command their household in the ways of justice, who do not allow disobedience, rebellion, lies and deceit to go undisciplined. It will take parents who abhor evil and love righteousness and who teach their children to do the same.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Oh God please strengthen me to raise children who will be able to inhabit the gates of the city and bring justice, integrity and truth to our land again. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

God befriend us, as our cause is just!
~ William Shakespeare

* To read more about how to train our children to speak in the gates, go to the webpage, www.aboverubies.org and go to ARCHIVED DEVOTIONS. Click on TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN TO SPEAK, Parts 1, 2 and 3.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WHERE IS JUSTICE?

Part 1

Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

One of the primary attributes of God is that He is a God of Justice. Oh yes, He is a God of mercy and compassion too. But, if He were not just, He would not be God. The Bible says that…

He is called the God of justice. (Isaiah 30:18)

He is known by His justice. (Psalm 9:16; Exodus 7:5; Ezekiel 5:8)

All His ways are justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Proverbs 8:20)

He loves justice. (Psalm 33:5; 37:28)

His throne is established on justice and judgment. (Psalm 89:14; 97:2;

He guards the paths of justice. (Proverbs 2:8)

He is exalted in justice. (Isaiah 5:16)

He lives in justice. (Jeremiah 4:2)

He exercises justice in the earth. (Jeremiah 9:24; Ezekiel 5:8, 15)

He is filled with justice. (Micah 3:8)

He delights in justice. (Jeremiah 9:24)

Because we are created in His likeness, He wants us to be just people too. Micah 6:8 says, “What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” If justice is to be part of our lives, where should it start? God wants it to start in the home.

In the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God said that he would not hide from Abraham what He was going to do. Why? Because of the way he parented his children. Genesis 18:17-19 says, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment…” Abraham ordered his household and trained his family in the ways of justice. Justice is close to God’s heart. It is the foundation of family life. It is the primary principle of parenting.

Justice is the use of authority to uphold what is right and fair. It is acting as a judge and rendering the proper verdict—God’s verdict. Because justice is missing from many homes today, it is missing in the nation. Often people do not understand justice because they have not experienced it. They have not experienced godly discipline in the home that teaches them right from wrong. They may have been spanked, but out of frustration and anger, and therefore have not understood righteous judgment.

Children need to know true justice growing up or they will never understand who God is. Many people have a god of their own imagination. He is whoever they want Him to be. He is tolerant of whatever they want to do. He has to fit into their ideas. We can all be guilty of falling into this trap. But God is God. He is who He is. We must understand this and give this understanding to our children. We do this by teaching them to have a clear demarcation of what is right and wrong in the sight of God.

In the book, Surveying the Evidence, the authors state, “If atheism is not normal, why do certain people become unbelievers? First of all, it is well known that the seeds of atheism can be planted early in life. One of the most dangerous contributions a parent can make toward the spiritual delinquency of his child is a failure to instill within him a wholesome respect for authority. If the parent neglects to set the proper example as an authority figure, or refuses to exercise discipline with love, he might well be rejected as an authority-figure by his child, and thus, by transference, the child ultimately may come to disdain all authority, including the Supreme Authority, God.” *

The Bible tells us that if we do not discipline our children, we honor them above God. Read 1 Samuel 2:29 and 3:13.

More next week.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, Above Rubies

PRAYER:

“Oh God, please teach me to know who you are. I want to know you and to be like you. Teach me the balance of justice and mercy. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

“The place of justice is a hallowed place.”
~ Francis Bacon, Sr.

* Surveying the Evidence by Wayne Jackson, Eric Lyons and Kyle Butt (Apologetics Press, Inc.)

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

IT’S FUTILE

1 Samuel 12:20-21 NASB, “Do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver, because they are futile.”

How true it is that when we turn away from the Lord, we tend to follow after futile things. When we keep close to the Lord, through prayer and guidance of His Word, He keeps our hearts in the right place and leads us into His truth. When we turn aside to our own ways, we have nothing to deter us from walking after vain things and running into deception.

Romans 1:18-28 tells us that when people turn aside from God and focus all their attention on themselves, worshipping “the creature more than the Creator”, they become “futile in their speculations” and God gives them over to a “reprobate mind” which is a mind that is void of all judgment and understanding.

We gain more understanding of the word “futile” (tohu in the Hebrew) by looking at other passages where it is used. We find that it also means…

Wasteful. (Deuteronomy 32:10) To go a different way than God has planned for us is to waste our lives. I have always thought that the saddest thing anyone can do is to go through life doing their own thing and going their own way. They miss out on the destiny that God has planned for them before the foundation of the world. That’s a wasted life.

Nothingness. Job 6:18 says, “The paths of their way are turned aside: they go to nothing and perish.” There is only nothingness at the end of a life that is spent on itself. Luke 12:8-21 reveals the nothingness at the end for the one “who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.”

A Wilderness experience. (Deuteronomy 32:10 and Job 12:24) To turn aside from God’s ways is always a wilderness experience.

Confusion. (Isaiah 41:29) We live in a society that is deceived and deluded. Because we are engulfed by humanist thinking—in the media, the education system and the mindset of the majority around is, it can seem normal to us. Unless we keep close to the Lord and live in His word, we can also be deceived and confused without knowing it.

Vanity. (Isaiah 40:17; 23; 44:9; 59:4) It is a vain thing to pursue our own way. It has no eternal reward.

Empty. The Jerusalem and CJB translate tohu as empty. Many people try to fill their lives with pleasure, satisfaction and material possessions. They fill their homes with stuff—TVs, beautiful décor and every new thing that is advertised. And yet their homes are empty of people--empty of babies and children, the true riches that we can take into eternity with us.

I think of God’s words about Israel when they walked in their own ways, “Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit unto himself.” (Hosea 10:1) When we focus on ourselves and our own aspirations, we are empty. We have nothing to give to anyone else. We have nothing to take into eternity.

The word empty in this Scripture is baqaq and means “to empty, to depopulate.” Isn’t that interesting? This is what has been happening in the church over the last few decades. As people have turned away from God’s truths to fill their lives with the pleasures of this world, they have depopulated the church. Thousands and thousands of godly children who God intended to come forth to bring God’s light and salvation into the world are not here. Not only have we depopulated the church, but we have depopulated the land. In turning from God’s ways, we have become empty.

Other translations use the words useless (MLB), worthless (NLT) and false (Knox).

May God help us from wasting our lives on our own pursuits.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, ABOVE RUBIES

PRAYER:

“Oh God, please keep me on your narrow way. I don’t want to waste my life. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Not my way, but God’s way.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.