WE DETERMINE OUR LIFESTYLE

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds: Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ”
(2 Corinthians 10:4, 5).

I believe we determine our lifestyle. It always comes back to the way we think. I remember one time during the days of raising our children feeling very overwhelmed. I felt I had too much to do. I didn’t know how I could keep going. Poor me. I was in a real state of self-pity.

I woke up in the morning and began my daily Bible reading. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8: “We would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia that we were pressed out of measure, above strength . . .” Wow, that was just how I felt. It was more than my strength could cope with. And Paul felt like this too? He went on to say: “insomuch that we despaired even of life.” Well, I certainly hadn’t got to that point.

But Paul continued writing: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us . . . And doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver.”

I was immediately convicted. Paul was facing death and yet trusted in God’s deliverance. I was only facing my self-pity thoughts and yet was in a state of despair. Immediately, I realized that I was relying on my own resources, on my own strength, and had forgotten about trusting God.

I turned my face up to the Lord, and prayed, “I am so sorry, Lord. I confess I have been trusting in my own strength. I give my problems to You. I trust You. You are my Strength. You are my Rock. You are my Savior and Deliverer. I thank You for the victory in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

Immediately my load was lightened. In fact I’ll never forget thinking later that afternoon, “What was I in such a stew about?” And I truly couldn’t even remember what my problems were and why I had been in such a state! It was all in my mind. Not even reality!

Ladies, we are our own worst enemy. Sadly, as women we have a tendency to fall into self-pity. And that is such a horrible way to live. It takes you down the road of  discouragement and despondency. It makes life miserable for everyone around you—your husband and your children.

I soon learned to get out of that habit. I will not tolerate it for a minute. I now live my life, not by my feelings but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). I live by the truths of God’s word. I don’t listen to my feelings. They are deceiving. They come and go, and they are not the true reality. The true reality of life is what God says.

When something is devastating or challenging, instead of dwelling upon it, I look to the Lord: “Dear Father, I give this problem to You. I thank You that You are bigger than this problem. I trust You to work it out in Your wonderful way. I thank You that You are my joy, my Strength, and my Rest even in this trial. Amen.”

No wonder the older women are mandated to teach the young women to be sober. Yes, that is the first thing they are to teach, to “teach the young women to be sober . . .” (Titus 2:4). The Greek word is sophronizo and means “to restore to one’s senses, a settled state of mind, to be in control of your thoughts.” It comes from the root word sophron meaning “a sound mind, self-controlled” which is translated “discreet” in verse 5. The Bible uses this word twice in this passage because He knows we as women need it!

We must not allow our minds to get out on a tangent. Eve Paul confesses that he had to fight the enemy’s lies in his mind. He says in Romans 7:22, 23: “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

We must do warfare against all deceptions of the mind and bring every thought into captivity to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5). I know this is not always easy to do but the more you take hold of your wayward and deceiving thoughts and squash them in the name of Jesus, the more it becomes the habit of your life. It will become your lifestyle. And you will live in joy and victory.

And guess what, you will be happy. Your husband will be happy and everyone around you will be happier.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“I thank You, dear Father, that You dwell in me, and You give me all power against the enemy to resist all his lies of deception and gloom and self-pity. I thank You that through Your life dwelling in my that I can walk in victory. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Stayed upon Jehovah

Hearts are fully blessed

Finding as He promised

Perfect peace and rest.

~ Frances R. Havergal

FOR GLORY AND BEAUTY

“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”
(1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Modesty and beauty should go together. Both enhance one another. Modesty does not have to be old-fashioned and drab. There are some Christian women who feel they must wear plain and drab clothes to be modest. But we don’t find this anywhere in the Bible. Far from the truth.

The Proverbs 31 woman was dressed beautifully in “fine linen and purple.” When Sarah went down to Egypt, the Pharaoh of Egypt noticed her and brought her to his harem (she would have been clothed in garments suited to royalty). When God designed the clothes for the high priest, He said “Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2).

God wants us to dress for GLORY and for BEAUTY. God delights in beauty. God created us for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11) and I am sure He loves us to look glorious and beautiful. He clothes His animal creation with beauty and color. He creates trees and flowers with glory and color. How much more His highest creation of male and female?

However, did you notice the other word God used about clothing? He said: “You are to make HOLY garments.” In other words, we must make sure we are covered. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they became aware they were naked and sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. But they weren’t fully covered. So God came, shed the blood of an animal, and made them “coats of skins, and CLOTHED them” (Genesis 3:21). God was the first clothes designer.

The word “coats” is the Hebrew word kethoneth and means “a robe, to cover (generally with sleeves and coming down to the knees).” It comes from the root word katheph which means “from the shoulder, the upper end of the arm from where the garment hangs.” In other words, the garment is from the shoulders down. No bare shoulders! This is the first time God speaks about clothing and “the law of the first mention” is considered very important in Bible study.

In Mark 5:1-15 we read the story of how Jesus delivered the man who was possessed with a legion of devils. After Jesus delivered him, the Bible says the people found him “sitting, and CLOTHED, and in his right mind.”

I am troubled by the immodesty among God’s women today. It’s nearly impossible to go into the doors of a church without confronting cleavage! I beg your pardon? Are we going to a secular function or the house of God? Didn’t Jesus die, shed His blood, and give His life for the church to SANCTIFY and CLEANSE her (Ephesians 5:25-27)? The word “sanctify” means “to make holy, to set apart from the world.”

I know that many dress ignorantly because they follow what everyone else is doing and because no one says anything about it!

Sometimes the cleavage is bold; in others it is borderline. Not too much, but just a little showing. God’s people should never be borderline! Never compromise! Never sit on the fence! We are either one thing or the other. James 4:4 clearly states that if we are friends with the world, we are an enemy of God. We should always lift the standard high.

I am also saddened by many Christian women who publish pictures of themselves on social media showing cleavage and dressed immodestly. And worse still. So many other Christian women LIKE it! Help! Do they love to see fellow believers showing themselves off? Or do they have no godly standard at all? Or are they so conditioned to immodesty that they don’t even notice it? When we LIKE something on Facebook, we affirm we agree with it. And everybody sees we like it!

I am also saddened by many Christian movies that bring a wonderful message of truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet some of the actors are often dressed immodestly. It makes a double standard.

Forgive me for my little rave, but we each have a responsibility to keep each other in line, don’t we? We are our “brother’s keeper.”

Can I end on a positive note? Let’s dress for GLORY and BEAUTY. I often fall down on this one, especially around home! This doesn’t mean we have to have expensive clothes. You can make anything beautiful. And you make something beautiful even from a second-hand shop.

Each year, our family and friends celebrate BREEZY’S BALL. Breezy is our granddaughter, Serene’s daughter. We began this when Breeze was only four years old. She always loved to dress like a princess and so Serene decided to have a Ball for her party where all the children and ladies could dress up like princesses and the men like princes or warriors! It was such an amazing event that we have made it an annual tradition. She is now 14 years old and we are still continuing the tradition!

All the family arrive in their beautiful dresses, but no one spends much money. They beg, borrow, or transform something from Goodwill into something lovely and everyone looks amazing!

Make modesty beautiful! Drab and boring is not biblical.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, please help me to live by Your standards rather than the standards of this world system. Guide me as I choose clothes that will glorify Your holy name and holy character. I want to be Your true representative on this earth. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

SHALLOW PUDDLES OR DEEP WELLS

“Therefore with joy shall we draw water
out of the wells of salvation”
(Isaiah 12:3).

Are you a well-digger? The early patriarchs dug wells to get their water. They couldn’t survive without a well. We must also be well-diggers in our spiritual life. Isaiah 12:3 inspires us to draw water out of the wells of salvation. Not just one well. Do you notice the word is “wells”? Plural! There are wells for every need we have in Christ.

God’s wells are deep. Deeper than you’ll ever need. But many times we dig shallow wells. We dig a little bit into God but we are too busy pursuing the things of this life to dig too deep. We look to other sources for our help and sustenance rather than pressing into God Himself.

Even when you dig wells, the devil prowls around trying to fill them up and stop you receiving the water of life. Reading the story of Isaac in Genesis 26:15 it says: “For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.”

Sometimes you’ve got to dig out your wells. Get rid of all the mirky, dirty scum that’s settled on the top because the water is so shallow. Cast it out. Dig deeper. Then keep them clean. Don’t let them fill up with the things of this life—earthly things, shallow things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Too many Christians live shallow lives. Let’s go beyond the shallowness and dig deep. Deep into Christ. Deep into His Word.

The land God brings us into is a land of deep springs. Deuteronomy 8:7 says: “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.” You’ll be blessed by reading the rest of the chapter too.

God does not intend us to step around in shallow puddles but to draw from His living fountains and deep springs. The deeper we go into the pure water of the wells of God, the more we have to give to our family and to others. We have nothing to give from shallow puddles.

What about your family life? Do you seem to be always driving your children from this thing to that, rushing from one shallow puddle to the next? Let’s take our children deeper. Are you satisfied for your children to live shallow lives, getting a little of the Bible here and there? They have a little bit of Christianity, but more influence from their video games and electronics. Or do you want them to go deeper in God.

Take time to lead your family to the deep wells. Reorganize your life to make time to gather the family for prayer and reading God’s Word each morning and evening. Take time during the day to drop seeds of divine truth.

Jesus said: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and DRINK (not sip). and he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly show flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-39).

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboerubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear loving Father, please forgive me for staying in the shallow puddles when You have deep wells for me. You have a well for every need in my life. Thank You for showing me that these wells don’t suddenly appear. I must dig for them. Give me a heart and a passion and strength to dig these wells. I know that as I dig them, You will fill them to overflowing with your life and salvation and deliverance in my daily life. I thank You in Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am going to become a well-digger! Amen!

SATAN DOES NOT WANT FAMILY TOGETHERNESS!

“Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the inner rooms of your house; your children will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table”
(Psalm 128:3 NET).

What’s the atmosphere like in your home? What’s it like at mealtimes? Do you gather together around your table? Talk and fellowship together? Open God’s Word and pray together? Do you do dishes and clean up the kitchen together? Or is Mom left with the mess and everyone goes on their merry way?

I am aware that in many homes that family mealtimes don’t happen together. Even if they do, mother is left doing dishes while children run off to do their own thing. You can’t run your home this way. Family life is togetherness. Family life means that everyone pulls their weight.

Dear mother, you are the one to make this happen. Don’t allow everyone to do their own thing. Gather the family together. Be a gatherer. Make the table and your meal so attractive and inviting that the family will want to come to the table.

Think of subjects to discuss with your children at the table rather than sitting there with small talk that doesn’t interest anyone. And of course, you’ll never allow iPhones at the table! Have a basket where they drop them in as they come to the table. The table is the place to communicate together as a family. To look at one another and communicate face to face.

The table is a gathering place for the family. The Bible picture of a family that lives in God’s blessing is a family with the children all sitting around the table. Psalm 128:3 in The Living Bible says: “Your wife shall be contented in your home. And look at all those children! There they sit around the dinner table as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees.” God delights in this picture of the family. God loves the table because it is a place of communication. He wants to join you at your table. He wants to speak to you all as you open His Word at the end of the meal. He wants you to communicate with Him as you each pray together.

Dear mother, can I encourage you to make family times happen in your home? Don’t let your family dissipate into their own world and the world of social media while your family fragments away. When you plan and make things happen, it brings order. It establishes peace and harmony and drives out chaos.

Satan does not want family togetherness. God wants families communicating together but Satan wants to fragment families. He is intent on scattering the family in every direction. Be aware of his subtle plans and fight against them. Push through every obstacle and make it happen. Oh, what blessings will come when you do.

When have order and peace in our homes, we will begin to get order and peace in the nation.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father in Heaven, I thank You that You want the atmosphere of Heaven to be the atmosphere of my home. You tell us to pray: ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ Help me to fulfill the picture You have for my home of all our children sitting together around the table. This is what brings delight to Your heart. Help me to make it happen in my home. Amen,”

AFFIRMATION:

I am seeking to bring the atmosphere of Heaven to our home.

Photo 134200579 © Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com