FOLLOW THE LEADER!

John 10:3-4, “The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out … he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”

Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep. He is the One who shows us how to be shepherdesses of our little flocks.

I was born and bred in the land of New Zealand, down the bottom of the world. New Zealand is a sheep country and my father was a world champion sheep shearer. In New Zealand, the sheep farmers do not have a little flock of sheep like the eastern shepherd. They have thousands of sheep. When bringing the sheep in from the paddocks for drenching, crutching or shearing, the shepherds drive the sheep. They do this, riding on their horses and with the help of trained barking dogs called Hunterways. My father was an expert trainer of these dogs.

However, the Eastern shepherd to whom Jesus is likened does not drive his sheep. He walks in front of them and leads the way. He watches out for the pitfalls. He faces the danger first and protects them. When visiting Israel, I loved to watch the Bedouin shepherd leading his little flock of sheep and goats across the desert.

This is what we have to do, dear mother. We must not drive our children. It only leads to rebellion and defiance. We walk in front of them and lead the way. Jesus beckoned each of his disciples to “Come, follow me.” In the same way, we tell our children, “Come, children, follow me. I’ll show you the way to go. I’ll lead you on the right path. You won’t stumble if you follow me.”  (Jeremiah 31:9) We give them vision. Inspire them to greatness. Motivate them to godliness. Encourage them to dream great dreams. Stir them to fulfill their destiny which has been marked out for them before the foundation of the world.

I am always challenged by the Scripture in Ezekiel 16:44, “As is the mother, so is her daughter.” As we walk out in front of our children, what kind of an example are we giving them? Are we happy for them to follow in our footsteps?

The good shepherdess also leads her flock to still waters. She makes her home a place of peace. I know this is not an easy task, especially if you are raising a large family. Children are not perfect (nor are we) and there are often storms to quiet. The good shepherdess not only protects her children from the storms outside but seeks God’s wisdom to quell the storms inside the home. (Psalm 23:3 and Isaiah 49:10)

We are to also lead our flock in the paths of righteousness. Did you notice that it says to lead them? Our children will watch what we do and follow in our paths. They notice whether our walk with the Lord is genuine or hypocritical. They notice if we take them to church on Sundays but do not live like a believer throughout the week. They notice whether we love to pray. They notice whether we love the Word of God and it is a living book to us. They notice if we watch movies that we wouldn’t want them to see. Do we have one standard for our children and another for ourselves?

Remember, we are out in front showing them the way. May we be like the great Shepherd “Who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17)

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to shepherd my little flock like you shepherd me. Help me to be a good example for them to follow. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am walking out in front of my children, inspiring them to godly living.

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WEAR THE RIGHT CLOTHES!

Ephesians 2:22-24, “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which was corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.”

When you were born again by the Spirit of God, you received a new wardrobe. It is a very expensive wardrobe, paid for by the precious blood of Christ. You have so many beautiful garments hanging in this wardrobe. You have lovely dresses of love, joy, peace, longsuffering gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23). You have delightful garments of tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance and forgiveness. (Colossians 3:12-17).

The strange thing is that although we have this expensive wardrobe, we don’t always bother to wear the clothes. We are so used to our old shabby clothes of the flesh. We feel more comfortable in them. They feel familiar, so we stick with them instead of trying out our new wardrobe. To put on a beautiful dress of gentleness or patience can seem foreign because we are not used to wearing them. 

But they belong to you! They are yours! Imagine if your husband purchased a very special and pricey dress for you. You couldn’t believe how posh it was. But you never wore it. You thought it was too good for you. How would your husband feel when he paid so much for it and wanted to be proud of you wearing it?

I wonder how God feels when He gives us this glorious wardrobe, purchased at an enormous price, and we never wear the garments? He gives them to us but He doesn’t put them on us. He tells us to PUT THEM ON. “Put on the new man …” I love the J. B. Phillip’s translation which says, “Fling off the dirty clothes of the old way of living … And put on the clean fresh clothes of the new life …”

Make sure you put on a new garment each morning. Have you had a lousy night with the baby waking all night? Are you going through a fiery ordeal? Put on the garment of praise. (Isaiah 61:1-3). Let me tell you a secret. You won’t feel like putting it on. You’d much rather put on your dirty old dress of grumbling and complaining. But do it by faith. Don’t worry about your feelings. Put on your praise garment. Start praising and thanking the Lord. As you do it by faith, you will actually wear it.

You can change garments as you need them throughout the day. Are the children getting on your nerves? You feel your anger rising. Quick! Change into your garment of long-suffering or patience. Put it on by faith. Thank the Lord for His patience which is in you because He lives in you.

Are you starting to shout and yell because everything is getting on top of you? Put on the garment of gentleness. Thank the Lord for His gentle spirit which lives in you. This is the new man. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He lives in you now.

All these beautiful garments belong to you. They are yours. All you have to do is put them on by faith!

Strip of your old shabby garments. Wear your new ones each day. Live in them. Let Christ live His beautiful life through you.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Thank, you Lord, for all the beautiful garments that you have given to me. I am sick of my old rags. They look so ugly to everyone. Help me to put on your beautiful new garments which reveal your beautiful life in me.  Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I may have little in my literal wardrobe, but I have access to the most glorious garments in my spiritual wardrobe. Praise God.

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.

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 John 18:4, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?”

Jesus knew what He had to face. He had just come from the Garden of Gethsemane where he sweat drops of blood in agony of facing the cruel cross and taking upon himself the sins of the world. He prayed that his Father would take “this cup” away from him. But knowing all he would face, he went forth. He went forth to face the agony. He didn’t hold back.

This is a challenge to me. We will never have to face what Jesus faced. But what do we do about the problems we have to face each day? Do we cringe from them? Do we turn a blind eye so we don’t even have to face them? Or do we go into depression and self-pity?

Perhaps you find it hard to get up out of bed and even face going out to the kitchen each morning. Do you have a hard time facing dishes, the big pile of laundry, or that room that is in such a mess? Can I encourage you to get up and “go forth”, even as Jesus did.

Tackle your task little by little. Don’t think you have to do the whole overwhelming task all at once. Make a start, and keep going until you finish

Perhaps you are facing a huge challenge in your life—a mountain that looks impossible in front of you. Mountains look impossible to us, but they are nothing to God. Go forth in His name and His power. I think of a chorus that we used to sing as young people.

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible;
And He can do what no other can do.

It wasn’t until recently that I found out that the source of this chorus came from the Panama Canal builders who faced a nearly impossible task and where well over 25,000 people died in the building of it.

You may be facing a raging battle in your life. It seems too much for you. It is bigger than what you can handle. Don’t look at the bigness. God is with you. He will handle it for you.

Read the instructions God give to the Israelites when they faced battles and armies who were far bigger than them. In Deuteronomy 20:1-9 He tells them not to be afraid because He will be with them. “There must be no faint hearts among you, no flinching, no yielding, no trembling …”

Of course you can’t win this battle on your own, but God will fight for you. Trust Him. Go into the battle, not in your own strength, but trusting totally in God.

The name of God is a noun, but God is also a verb. Jesus said in John 5:17, “My Father worketh, and I work.” God, who lives in you by His Holy Spirit, wants to work in you to do His will. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Will you allow Him to work in you? Will you allow Him to “go forth” in you? He will face your problems with you. He will go with you. He will help you.

Perhaps you are facing a cross. Can I encourage you to embrace your cross and go forth! Go forth by faith! Go forth, knowing that Jesus lives in you. He has faced more than you will ever face and He lives in you. He wants to live His in life in you. He is in you to help you. You can go forth in His name.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Father, I thank you that you are with me. I pray that you will work in me and help me to go forth to do the tasks that you have given me to do. Help me to trust in you as I face my problems. Amen.

AFFIRMATION: 

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

P.S. The above words are an excerpt from the hymn which the five mis­sion­ar­ies sang be­fore en­ter­ing the Ecua­dor­i­an jun­gle to bring the Gos­pel to the Au­ca In­di­ans over 50 years ago. Their names were Nate Saint, Ed Mc­Cul­ly, Jim El­li­ott, Ro­ger Yo­der­i­an, and Pe­ter Flem­ing. Af­ter reaching the Au­cas, the In­di­ans mur­dered them on the Cur­a­ray Riv­er. (January 1956) The hymn comes from the Scripture in 2 Chronicles 14:11 where Asa faced an Ethiopian army of one miillion men. He cried out to God, “Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power; help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.”

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.

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Isaiah 40:3-5, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed …”

We read in Luke 3:3-6 that John the Baptist came as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” to prepare the way of the Lord. Each one of the Gospel writers confirms this—Matthew 3:1-4; Mark 1:1-2 and John 1:23. The last verses of the Old Testament also prophesy it and  Luke 1:16-17 and 76 fulfill the prophecy.

These Scriptures explain in more detail exactly what it means to prepare the way for the Lord—“And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

To prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, John had to make the way straight. He was anointed to “turn the hearts of the fathers (which includes the mothers too) to the children …” But the prophetic word of Malachi 4:5-6 says that it must happen again “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” We are getting close to this time. It is time to prepare. It is time to straighten the paths.

When the hearts of fathers and mothers are not turned to their children, they are on a crooked path. There are many deviant paths in this humanistic world. There are luring detours off the straight road. They may look enticing. They may even seem the right way, but they are often subtle “windings” to steer us away from God’s perfect plan. Yes, this is what the Knox version calls them, “the windings are to be cut straight.”

Are you on a winding path? Sometimes you don’t even realize it until you get lost; until you wake up to find that the devil’s tempting ways are not what they seem; until your family life is out of order and you wonder why. Perhaps, without realizing it, you have landed up on a winding path of independence from your husband. You are too busy to serve him and your family.

Perhaps you have got on a crooked path of busyness—running here and there, attending this meeting and that, getting involved with this organization and that. You are in a whirlwind of activity. It seems great, but where is this winding path taking you? What will be the end result?

It’s a long way off the path God planned for you as a mother—to be nestled in the heart of your home. And what are your children learning? That life consists in going to this and that, being involved in this sport and that organization and not having time to sit around the dinner table together? Will they ever learn the power of the home?

That in the home great things can happen. It is here they learn the pattern to pass on to the next generation. They have time to create, think great thoughts and bask in the joy of home and family life.

Our children will follow the path we take. We dare not take them down winding paths of deception. The decisions we make and the paths we choose will determine the course of not only our children, but generations to come.

Keep alert for these crooked roads and remember that we only prove the salvation and deliverance of the Lord on the straight path. It is only on the straight path that His glory is revealed.

He wants to show His power in your life—to bridge the lonely valleys with His love and compassion; to level every mountain that looks impossible in the natural but can melt in the power and presence of His Spirit and to cut a straight path of truth through all the windings that criss-cross over and back through God’s straight road. Will you let Him lead you?

I love the Way’s translation of 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be earnest … a labourer who needs not to blush for his work, but who drives the ploughshare of truth in a straight furrow.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Father, I ask that you will help me to keep on your straight path, never turning to the right or the left. Please expose every winding path the beckons me away from your truth.” Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I will plough a straight furrow in my life and the life of my family.

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 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.

To unsubscribe from the Above Rubies Devotional, send a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.