Proverbs 12:3, “The root of the righteous cannot be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)

Last week we read five affirmations to be resolute. Here are the other five for this week.

I WILL NOT SELL MY BIRTHRIGHT!

Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.”

Hebrews 12:16-17, “Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” (Mark 8:36-37)

Revelation 3:11, “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” (2:25)

I WILL NOT LOOK UPON EVIL!

Job 27:6, “My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go.”

Psalm 101:3, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” This is a good Scripture to write above your TV.

Psalm 97:10, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 45:7)

Amos 5:15, “Hate evil, love good.”

Ephesians 5:3-4,, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.”

How true are the words that one generation is a generation away from degeneration. I think back to my childhood when it was unheard of for a Christian to enter a movie theater. Now, we live in a day where many “Christians” go to most movies that come to the theaters. Even worse, they watch these movies, condoning adultery and evil, in their own homes! How can we expect the blessing of God upon our homes and upon our nation while we love evil instead of hating it?

I WILL NOT FEAR!

What do we fear most? Is it the opinions of our family, friends and church members? Or is it God Himself? Many times we fear to walk in the truth that God has revealed to us because it is different to what the majority is doing. Forget worrying about what people think. It’s what God thinks that matters! Lift your head high and walk in God’s truth.

Do people ridicule you because you are having another baby? Do not be intimidated by your adversaries. Do not be governed by the deception of those around you. You are on God’s side. You are on the side of life. You are in the perfect will of God.

Psalm 3:6, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” (Psalm 112:7)

Psalm 11:1, “In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain?’”

Psalm 56:4,11, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Acts 4:19, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.”

Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

I WILL NOT CONFESS NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS!

Proverbs 13:3, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.”

Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

Proverbs 21:23, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

When negative thoughts come to your mind, as they invariably will, resist them in the name of Jesus. Never confess them. When you speak them out, they will take root in your life. Instead of confessing your negative thoughts, confess who you are in Christ. If you have received Christ Jesus into your life, He lives in you. All that He is is in you! What wonderful blessings to confess. 

I WILL NOT TEMPT THE LORD WITH UNBELIEF!

The children of Israel tempted God in the wilderness by complaining about their difficult circumstances and not believing that God could provide for them. We are no better today. How often do we complain? Every day? How often do we fail to trust God? There are many who cannot even trust God to provide for another baby in their home. Do we tempt God with our unbelief?

Exodus 17:1-7, “There was not water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?” …So he called the name of the place Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” Read also Numbers 14:22-24, Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7 and 1 Corinthians 10:8-10.

May God help us to be unyielding in our stand for righteousness and truth.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, help to stand strong against all evil and deception. Help me to be unmoved by the opinions and dictates of this society. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: 

I will stand—and keep standing! Ephesians 6:13

P.S. We have affirmed I WILL NOT regarding being resolute for God.  In the next two weeks I will send you 10 affirmations of I WILL!

Nehemiah 7:5 Knox, “God putting such a resolve into my heart…”

I recently sent out two devotions about being Resolute for God. I listed 10 affirmations of “I will not!” In the next two devotions we will look at 10 affirmations of “I will!” There are many “I wills” in the Word of God. David the Psalmist constantly affirmed his commitment to the Lord. It is a good thing to do. It is important to affirm what we believe. It is even more important to confess it out loud! I love the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “I believe, therefore have I spoken.”

I think it could be good to recite the Apostles’ Creed as they do in traditional churches. We miss this in our modern churches today. Here is this wonderful affirmation of your faith in case you don’t have a copy. You may like to learn it and teach it to your children.

“I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

Now for our affirmations about being resolute for God.

I WILL OVERCOME IN JESUS’ NAME!

Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

Revelation 2:7, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.”

Revelation 2:17, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saying he that receiveth it.”

Revelation 23:17, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

Are you going through obstacles and difficulties? Don’t despair! You are given these to overcome in the name of Jesus Christ. God’s rewards are to the overcomers. If you have nothing to overcome, how can you receive a reward?

I WILL RESIST THE DEVIL!

James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith.”

Instead of giving in to the temptations of the enemy, be on the offensive. Resist him.

I WILL TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Psalm 55:23, “I will trust in you.” (Psalm 9:10; 18:2; 143:8)

David was going through many troubles—enemies coming against him, violence and strife all around him and even his closest friends maligning him. His heart was “severely pained within him”, but what was his response. “I will trust in the Lord.” It is very easy to let pressures and difficulties of life overwhelm you. But you do not have to be swamped by them. Put your trust in the Lord. Confess your trust in the Lord. Take the example of David and confess out loud, “I will trust the Lord!”

Psalm 56:3, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you.”

Do you have concerns and fears? Fear will debilitate you. It will strangle you. But you do not have to fear. Put your trust in the Lord. Instead of dwelling on your concerns and fears, say, “I will trust you, Lord.”

Psalm 61:4, “I will trust in the shelter of your wings.”

Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times.”

Psalm 125:1, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.”

Isaiah 50:10, “Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God.”

Are you walking through a dark time in your life? You can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel? You know what to do, don’t you? Trust in the Lord. He is faithful. He will never forsake you. The blind person implicitly trusts his dog to lead him. You have the Almighty God leading you. The God who is light! He sees the way clearly even when you can’t. Trust him to lead you.

“Trust Him when dark days assail thee,

Trust Him when thy faith is small,

Trust Him when to simply trust Him

Is the hardest thing of all.”

I WILL PRAY AND SEEK THE LORD!

Psalm 27:8, “When you said, ‘Seek my face’, my heart said to you, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’” (Psalm 5:2-3; 18:3; 28:1; 61:2, 86:3; 141:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:8)

Psalm 5: 2-3, “Give heed to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I will pray. My voice you shall  hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to you, and I will look up.”

Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice.”

Psalm 57:2, “I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me.”

This is an affirmation that we must become resolute about. God’s people should be known as the people who cry unto the Lord. Our children should know us as people of prayer. Our homes should be known in our neighborhoods as homes of prayer. Do the people in your street know you as people of prayer? Do they ask you to pray for them because they see the power of prayer in your lives? Let’s be resolute for prayer. Let’s be resolute for praying for our nation, for our coming elections and for those in authority. Without earnest prayer, our nation is on a downward slide. And it is a command. Read 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

I WILL GLORY IN TRIBULATION!

Oh no! It’s pretty had to accept this one, isn’t it? We would rather run from tribulation. I know I would. But the apostle Paul constantly affirmed the blessing and joy of tribulations. May the Lord help us to experience this truth in our lives.

Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

1 Peter 4:12-14, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL 

PRAYER:

“Lord, please put resolve in my heart that nothing will move me from my commitment to your truth. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: 

I am resolved to follow God’s ways.

1 Chronicles 28:10, 20, “Solomon my son… Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it... Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work…”

It was not enough for David to encourage Solomon to build a house for the Lord, but he also inspired him to do it! We can get great ideas and dreams of what we want to do, but it is another thing to do them. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but doers!

There is more yet. David exhorted Solomon, not only to do it, but to finish it! Not only do we have to get stuck in and do what we have to do, but also finish the task. But there is even more yet! David said, “I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God…”  It is not enough to do the job. It is not enough to finish it. We have to do it with all our might! Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with thy might.” And Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily.”

These are three important principles that we need to implement into our daily lives in the home. There are many tasks that need attending to—laundry, dishes, cleaning up the kitchen and other tasks on our “to do” list. You want to do them, you plan to do them, but you just have to do them. That’s all there is to it. You have to get up off your seat and start tackling the job. I have made this a habit in my life—not to look at something and think about doing it, but to get up and do it! It’s the only way things get done! Many times I don’t feel like doing it, but I make myself get up and do it.

We need to teach these principles to our children too. They are God-like principles. God lives by this principle. He states, “I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:11)

Even Jesus Himself put this principle into action. He exclaims in Psalm 40:7-8, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” Jesus didn’t come to study God’s will or to meditate upon it, but to do it! None of us will ever understand how hard it must have been for Him to fulfill the plan of the ages to come and suffer and die for our sin. He asked God to take the cup from him, but He faced it and did it.

During the time of Ezra’s ministry, he discovered that the Israelites had not separated themselves from the people round about and were doing according to their abominations. He repented before God on the behalf of the people. But that was not enough. He needed to exhort the people to repent and separate from the evil. In Ezra 10:4 Shechaniah encouraged Ezra, “Be of good courage, and do it.” They did.

Exodus 19:8 says, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Is this our response? (Exodus 24:3)

Genesis 31:16, “Whatsoever God has said unto thee, do.”

Proverbs 3:27, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.”

James 4:17, “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Are there necessary things waiting to do in your home? Is there some task that you have been putting off? Don’t think about it any longer. Just do it!

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to do what I need to do. Please give me your strength. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am not just a hearer, but a doer!

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 32:18, “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”

A quiet resting place! Doesn’t that sound idyllic? It sounds like a wonderful vacation, to me. But let’s get back to the real life. It’s not always quiet when you have lots of children around you. There is often so much to do that life doesn’t seem like a rest! I know that I would have to go away for a vacation to have a rest from my busy life around here.

And yet this is what God calls our homes—resting places. I don’t think it is necessarily a rest from noise and activity (although we need these respites from time to time). I believe it is a rest from fear. A rest from tension and strife. A rest from anger, bickering and fighting. A rest from complaining and grouching. These are the things that put strain upon your home. It’s not the noise of children; it’s not the hard work—it is the wrong attitudes! They cause frustration and vexation of soul more than outward circumstances.

Jesus gave us a wonderful invitation to rest, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Do you notice there are two rests He calls us into? Firstly, the rest of sins forgiven when the burden of the guilt of sin is rolled away. Secondly, you can experience a deeper rest in your soul as you take His yoke upon you and learn of Him. As the ocean is calm underneath even though the violent storm tosses the waves above, so you can experience a deep rest in your soul even when the waves of turmoil billow over you. You can have a rest of spirit in your home, even in the midst of noise and the bustle of activity.

Of course God also wants us to have times of literal rest, too. The evenings should be quieter times of family togetherness. My daughter Evangeline’s home is not always quiet with her eight children (and she is the rowdiest of them all!) but when they come in for supper time, she expects them to change from being cowboys, Indians, pirates, or army guys etc. and welcomes them into twilight zone. She dims the lights and lights the candles in the winter time to promote the quieter atmosphere.

God also gives us one day a week to rest from our work and the busyness of the week. This also helps to make your home a resting place.

Another Scripture where God calls our home a resting place is Proverbs 24:15, "Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting place.” God does not want anyone or anything to spoil your home. Deal severely with anything that spoils the rest in your home. Are you harboring a bad attitude to someone? Forgive and put it right. Are you mad with your husband? Forgive and take a humble attitude. Are you complaining about anything and everything? Get your attitude right. It’s not worth spoiling the rest in your home. 2 Chronicles 23:21 tells us how the land if Israel was quiet when they got rid of evil.

Don’t be like the Israelites. God called them to rest but they would not receive it. “In returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” (Isaiah 30:15) Perhaps you are too busy doing things out of the home that you have no time to create peace in your home. When you return home you will find rest. Zechariah 10:6 Knox says, “In their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Dear Lord, please show me the attitudes in my heart and in the things in my home that spoil the rest. Give me strength to get rid of them for I want my home to be a resting place for everyone in my home and all who come to visit .Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

In the midst of lots of noise

I will never lose my poise,

Although my work may never cease

I will never lose my peace!