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.

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  Malachi 3:17, “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.”

Every saint is a jewel of God. I am convicted by God to look at people (and also my children) in this light. Often we cannot see the jewel as it hides behind the rough exterior. All we see is unsightly hard rock, but God wants us to look beyond what we see on the surface. 

We sometimes hear the phrase, “He’s a rough diamond.” This means that the person is pretty rough on the outside but inside they have a heart of gold. We need to be reminded that there is a diamond, or perhaps a sapphire, an emerald, an opal, a ruby or an amethyst in each person.

The jewel in every person is different. Each jewel will reveal different colors and lights of God’s character. But we cannot see the beauty shining from the jewel until it has been cut and polished. And what a painful process this is. Much cutting has to be done o reveal the many-faceted hues and beauty of the gem. The cutting goes on and on. And when it is finished, the polishing starts. It hurts.

I know God has to do so much more cutting and polishing with me. May we let Him do His work and cut away all the roughness and hardness. May we also have patience with all God’s saints, even those who are still rough and uncut.

May God give us patience with our children. God has given us the task of being a lapidary (a cutter and polisher of gems). It is the lapidary’s art to reveal the gem. Sometimes we may feel it is a hopeless job. But we must never give up hope.

There is a jewel in every child of God. There is a precious jewel in every one of our children that waits to be revealed. We must see it by faith. We must pray it into being. May God give us vision, patience and understanding as we fulfill this great task. It does not happen over night. It is painstaking and time-consuming.

There will come a day when God will make all His jewels into a crown. I am thinking of the hymn we used to sing as children…

When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,
His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.

God promises that there will be a day when Israel will sparkle like the jewels of a crown in their land. Although this literally talks about Israel, I believe that God wants His redeemed people to also shine in this world like glittering jewels in a crown. It’s time for all the roughness, hardness, mediocrity, worldliness, selfishness and indifference to be cut away and for God’s glory to be revealed in the land. 

Isaiah 62:3, “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.”

Zechariah 9:16, “They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.” The New Living Translation says, “They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How wonderful and beautiful they will be!”

Philippians 2:15, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please cut away all the rough exterior that clouds your beauty from being revealed in me. I want to shine like a precious gem in this world for you. Help me to also see each one of my children as a precious jewel in your kingdom, waiting to shine with your glory. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

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.

Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” 

I receive responses from each email devotion I send out, but this time I received more than most. I thought I would share with you a few of the responses so you can be blessed further about this subject.

One mother shared that she was glad I mentioned that I found it hard to have special times with the Lord when my children were little and how I had to learn to do it in the midst of mothering. I answered, “I could not leave my children to go off to have a Quiet Time. I had to do it in the midst of noise and everything happening around me.

But it’s amazing what we can do with little ones all around us, isn’t it? It also trains us to be able to cope. I started Above Rubies with children all around me. I now do it with everyone coming in and out and talking at once, grandchildren coming in and out, my new adopted teenagers needing me every minute and the phone going non-stop.

Most people wouldn’t even be able to concentrate on one line but this is how I edit Above Rubies. If I didn’t do it this way, you’d never get it. If I waited to find one quiet moment, you’d never see a magazine!”

“I had been having a very rough week and had actually found my self in tears for two or three days, each of my six children asking mommy, “What is wrong?” The only explanation I had was nothing and yet everything! I am expecting my seventh little blessing and am a little over half way through my pregnancy. I am definitely adrenal fatigued, exhausted and find myself actually needing to sit down during the day. I know this is normal for many women but very unusual for me. I was on the road to a pity party.  

I felt I needed to share with my husband what was happening  As I broke down and the tears started flowing he held me in his arms and quoted, "Great peace have they that love thy law and NOTHING shall offend them.” Nothing shall offend them!" He asked me to say it every time I felt upset with the children, at wit’s end exhausted, hurt by a friend or starting a pity party. He said it may not seem soothing the first or second time but the Word of Yahweh is powerful and will bring the peace. Every time (many times this week) that I have recognized my flesh taking over I have quoted it and then found time to be with Him. It has definitely made all the difference in me and my attitude. I even woke my older girls up early one morning just to have tea time and bible study with me alone...What a difference.

When I finally got a chance to open your e-mail today I was so blessed. It was such a confirmation and testimony to me when I saw the verse from Psalm 119:165, "Great peace have they who love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." I knew it was just for me and am planning on using many of your suggestions.”

 “This was just what I needed. I’ll start my Meditation Basket tomorrow. January has been the most trying month of our lives—our house flooded, we’ve had terrible weather and some shocking news that has changed our lives… I was having a hard time finding the time to read the Word like I should, thinking I had to set down at intervals. I’ll continue that, but now I will put Scriptures over my sink at my window, on my fridge, in my bathroom and wherever I can. And I will stop grumbling over what I can’t do!”

“Your devotion reminded me of what I read this morning in Matthew 14:13-14. Just as you had little time to spend in quiet alone when your children were small, so did the Lord Jesus. After He heard the news of John the Baptist's death, he wanted to go to a place alone but then the needy crowd came. So He put aside His own desires and attended to their needs. This happens to us at all stages of our lives, doesn't it?”

“Thank you for this word today. So much of what you shared in is what the Lord has been speaking to me in the last year. My children are five, three and 18 months and my husband and I are on staff with Youth With A Mission. We lead busy lives and I miss the time alone with the Lord that I experienced before I became a mother. The Lord has been showing me exactly what you wrote--that I don't have to be condemned but to take my "quiet time" throughout the day.”

“One way I found to get our children to eat spiritual food for themselves is to have them copy entire books from the Bible (a little bit every day) in their best handwriting, for their handwriting practice. The amount depends on their maturity. It may take all school year to finish a book but they are proud to show off an entire handwritten copy of a certain book! And it is a precious keepsake! And, hopefully, they think about what they are writing. 
 
It is our goal for Japheth, our last one who is 15, to read through the whole Bible together before he graduates from high school. I want to do it chronologically so he gets the BIG PICTURE. For Christmas I got us copies of The Daily Bible: 365 readings in chronological order. A HUGE blessing! I was having a hard time figuring out which books to read when. Now it's easy as pie and we have great discussions as we do it together first thing every morning. If he's in the chair by 8.00 am ready to read, he gets a dollar. It works!”

Hope you were blessed by these writings from other readers.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to be creative in finding ways to spend time with you and in your precious Word. I thank you that I can make a sanctuary even in the midst of noise and happenings.  Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?

To do the will of Jesus—this is rest!

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.

Psalm 119:165, “Great peace have they who love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

The other week I talked about how important it is to teach our children to feed from the Word of God for themselves, rather than spoon-feed them. “How can I do this?” you respond. “I have all these little children to care for. It’s hard enough for me to find time for my own Quiet Time without having to teach my children to do it.”

As a young mother I also faced this dilemma. Before children came along I would rise at 5.00 am and spend three hours reading the Word and praying before I started each day. I would write pages of revelation as God showed me wondrous things in His precious word. I still have these hard-covered notebooks. But when I entered the new adventure of motherhood, I could no longer find that time. What could I do now?

Grabbing

At first I lamented that I couldn’t spend hours alone with God, but grumbling over what I couldn’t do didn’t help. I came to realize that God was not limited to my quiet hours with Him, but He wanted to be very much part of my life as a mother.

He wanted me to abide in Him and live in His presence as I cooked meals, changed diapers and cleaned toilets etc. I found that I could still get desperately needed nourishment from God’s living Word by grabbing little bits here and there throughout the day. I could read when I nursed the baby (if I wasn’t reading stories to the other children). I could snatch a verse from Psalms when visiting the bathroom.

I remember one time feeling such a need to grab some nourishment for my soul. I took a few toys and the little ones with me into my bedroom and knelt by my bed with the Bible. I was hardly aware of the children climbing all over me when I got a loud knock on my bedroom door with the words, “Can you keep those children quiet?”

Our boarder was home from work as he was sick. He couldn’t sleep because of the noise of the children in the bedroom and yet I wasn’t even aware of it! Your “Quiet Time” may not always be quiet, but we, as mothers, can learn to hear from God even in the midst of children and noise all around us.

Looking Up

I used to put one of my Bibles on the windowsill above my kitchen sink, where I spent many hours preparing meals and doing dishes. I would turn the Bible to the Psalms or the Proverbs. From time to time I could look up for a moment, read a verse and meditate upon it.

I remember one moment in my mothering days in New Zealand. As I washed the dishes at the kitchen sink, I sunk into a self-pity trip. The tears rolled down my cheeks! Suddenly, I looked up. My Bible was open to Psalm 103 and I read, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercies…”

I was convicted and immediately confessed my sin. “I’m sorry, Lord. I repent of these deceptive self-pitying thoughts. I resist them in the name of Jesus. I thank you for all my blessings. Thank you for my salvation. Thank you for my home. Thank you for my husband. Thank you for these wonderful children you have given me. I am a blessed woman.”

As I praised and thanked the Lord my negativity disappeared. It wasn’t my circumstances after all! It was my deceptive thoughts! What delivered me? The powerful Word of God!

Writing

As I mentioned, I no longer had time to write pages of revelation--but I could find time to write one verse! This became a life-saver for me and I still continue the practice today. Each new year I purchase a diary that has one page for every day (or two days for a page). You need enough space to write at least one Scripture.

I do not use this diary to write my schedules, but to write one Scripture from the Word of God. When I was in my busiest mothering years, I only got time to write the verse. Now, I am back to writing what it says to me and a prayer of response to the Lord.

At the end of the year I have a full year of Scriptures that God has given to me personally! I love to go back and re-read these Scriptures from previous years. This personal nourishment is more life-giving than listening to sermons.

Dear busy mother, you can find time to write ONE VERSE! It will help you to remember what you read. If you were to ask me at the end of the day what God told me in the morning, I may have forgotten, but I can always check my journal.

I purchased hard-covered journals with a page for each day of the year for our four adopted teenagers for Christmas this year. Every morning we open the wondrous Word together, read, listen to the Lord, write the Scripture God gives to us personally and write what it means to us.

Meditation Basket

Here’s another great idea. Place in a suitable basket all the things that will inspire you when you have a quiet moment (or not so quiet if the children are around you).

Put in one of your Bibles, a Daily Devotional of your choice, an old hymn book and, of course, your hard-covered diary in which you will write the Scripture God gives you for the day. Don’t forget to put in two or three pens so there is always one when you are ready to write.

Keep your Meditation Basket in the place where you most love to sit with the Lord, or nurse the baby. Pick it up and take it with you anywhere in the house, or outside under a tree while you are watching the children play, or wherever you want to go. It’s all in the basket. You don’t have to run around finding everything when you find another cozy nook somewhere.

May you be sustained by the Lord each new day. 

NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Father, I thank you for your Word which is life-sustaining. You know I don’t have hours of time to read, but I ask that you will speak to me in the moments I grab to read your Word. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I will make time to write down what God says to me each day.

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.

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