1 Samuel 12:11, “The Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.”

OUT OF BONDAGE INTO FREEDOM 

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)

Now that you have experienced the cleansing of the blood of Jesus making you clean and now that you have Christ’s life living in you, Satan has no more power over you. He can no longer keep you in chains and bondage - unless you allow him. You no longer belong to him. You belong to God. You are His child. You are a free woman. You are not a child of the slave woman, but of the free woman. You are Sarah’s daughter and she was the free woman. (Galatians 4:30-31)

Just as the Jews recline in a manner of free people at Passover to remember their great deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, so we too should live like free people. Jesus died to set us free and deliver us from the power of the enemy. When we stay in bondage to fears, habits and sin, we spurn the power of the blood of Jesus Christ that has power to free us from the tyranny of the enemy.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should no more be slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect as free men.” (Leviticus 26:13 AMP)

Your chains are broken. You are free. Embrace this truth. Confess this truth. Live in your freedom that has been won for you. Walk in your freedom.

“Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit… Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?” (Galatians 5:16-18 The Message)

“Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus I come, Jesus, I come;

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

Jesus I come to Thee.”

OUT OF DECEPTION INTO THE TRUTH

The Bible tells us that the whole world is under the power and control of the evil one. The NKJV says that it “lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) We cannot believe what the world says. It is based on deception and wickedness, master-minded by Satan, the father of lies.

We need to be reminded that we have been delivered from the power of this present evil age. Yes we have. This is truth! Truth that is greater than your feelings and greater than your enemies! Galatians1:4 tells us that “Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world…” We have been delivered out of deception and wickedness and we have been positioned in Christ who is the Truth. We must walk in the promised land that God has brought us into -- the land of truth and the authority of God’s Word.

Don’t let the world suck you back into its deceitful mold. Because we live in this world, it is very easy to absorb its values and think they are normal. No. They are foreign to our new life in Christ. What man thinks is wisdom is foolishness to God. We must constantly align our thinking with God’s Word and His truth. Read John 8:32; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and1 John 2:15-17.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh God, I thank you that you have delivered me from the clutches of this present evil world through the power of your death upon the cross. I claim the victory you have won for me. Help me to live daily in this victory. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Deuteronomy 6:23, “He brought us out… that he might bring us in…”

God brought the children of Israel out of bondage, out of slavery, out of affliction, out of servitude and out of the iron furnace to bring them into a land that He had chosen for them. It was a good land, a land overflowing with milk and honey.

God also brings us out to bring us in! He doesn’t deliver us out of the kingdom of darkness and leave us hanging. He brings us into good things. He brings us…

OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT

“Proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

He has brought us out of darkness into light. Marvelous light. Amazing light. Wonderful light. Pure light. Penetrating light.

Come out from the shadows. Come out from hiding. Come out from the darkness. God is waiting for you to live in His light. His life is light and His light is life. They are inseparable. Light is one of God’s garments and He wants to clothe you with it too.

This light exposes all sin and everything that grieves the Holy Spirit.  This light shines upon our way and guides our path. This light saves us from stumbling. This light brings revelation to our soul. This light is our life.

Don’t hide from it. Live in it. It is yours.

As you live in the light, your light will expose the darkness around you.

OUT OF DEATH INTO LIFE

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

God has brought us out of a death life into an abundant life. (John 10:10b, Galatians 2:20) It is an overflowing life. Life to the full. Life with hope. Life with purpose. Christ’s life living in us. This is the life we were born to live.

“Everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 The Message)

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, I thank you that you are my light and my salvation. Thank you for bringing me into your world of life and light. Help me to live in it and shine for your glory in this dark world. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

“Out of my shameful failure and loss,

   Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!

Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,

   Jesus, I come to Thee!”

Further study:

God brings us out to bring us in:

Deuteronomy 4:20, 34, 37-38, 45-46; 5:6, 15; 6:12, 21; 7:8, 19; 8:7, 14; 9:26, 29; 11:10-12; 13:5, 10; 16:1, 3, 6; 20:1; 26:8-9.

We have been called to live in light and show others the light:

2 Samuel 22:29; Psalm 18:28; 27:1; 34:5; 36:9; 43:3; 89:15; 90:8; 97:11; 104:2; 112:4; 118:27; Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 2:5; 60:1-2; Micah 7:8-9;  Matthew 4:16; 5:14-16; 6:22; Luke 1:79; John 1:4, 9;  3:19-21; 5:35; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9-10; 12:35-36, 46; Acts 26:18, 23; Romans 13:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6; Ephesians 1:18; 5:8-11, 14; Philippians 2:15; Colossians 1:12-13; 2 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:8-11.

As this day is put aside to honor you as a mother, I pray that you will be blessed, honored and spoiled rotten for all your toil, faithfulness and sacrificial love. I would also like to remind you again of the high status of your calling. In the midst of all your mothering, when you often feel exhausted, worried, frazzled and overwhelmed, it is easy to forget the big picture and the divine task to which God has commissioned you.

You are not involved in some insignificant task. You have the highest calling in the nation. You may have been involved in a career at some stage and of course you had to be faithful to your employer. But you now have a far more important task. You are employed by a heavenly employer, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. You are now responsible to Him.

Here are a few reminders of the greatness of your divine calling.

1. YOU ARE THE REVEALER OF GOD’S MATERNAL HEART

Dear Mother, in all the activities and work of keeping your home, never lose sight of your highest purpose – to walk in the anointing of your maternal instinct. This is who you are. You are a maternal being. You were created to ooze with nurturing. This is the greatest need of your children. This is the greatest need of this sin-sick hurting world. It does not matter if you do not finish every project and every teaching course you have planned for your children, but it does matter that your children live in an atmosphere of nurture and love. Embrace your maternalness. Pour it out upon your family and all you meet. In doing this you will walk in the anointing and glory of womanhood.

2. YOU ARE A NATION SHAPER

More than anyone else, you as a mother can determine the destiny of the nation. You may feel as though you are hidden in your home while many of your neighbors drive off to work each morning. They may think you are wasting your life, but they have no idea of what you are doing! They don’t realize that you are shaping lives. You are polishing and sharpening “arrows”. You are getting children ready to fulfill God’s divine purposes for their lives. There will come a day when they will come forth out of your home to rock this nation – and even the world!

Look out world! Get out of the way, Satan. There is a mother in this home who knows who she is and knows her calling from God. You can trifle with this woman. She is like an awesome army with banners! (Song of songs 6:4,10)

3. YOU ARE A LEGACY MAKER

You not only can you determine the destiny of this nation, but you will influence the generations to come. Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David and I am sure she had the privilege of holding him in her arms.  Did you ever read about Hudson Taylor who founded the China Inland Mission? His godly generation started with his great-grandfather who lived in the time of John Wesley. This godly line has passed on from one generation to the next and there are now nine generations of preachers in the Taylor family.

What mighty children will be born in your following generations as you strongly impress God’s ways into the hearts of your children?

4. YOU ARE AN ETERNITY FILLER

Your influence goes even beyond the many generations to follow. Motherhood is an eternal career. Every precious baby that you embrace from the hand of God is another eternal soul that will live forever. There is absolutely nothing more powerful and more eternal that you could do in this life than bring an eternal soul into this world! You will leave everything in this world behind – except your redeemed soul and the redeemed souls of your children.

5. YOU ARE A HOME NESTER

Don’t let this humanistic society deceive you to think that your home is a boring place. On the contrary, it is a place of divine appointment for you. It is a sacred place. God chose the home as the place where He wants His children nurtured and raised. Before God gives us children, he first puts us in a home. Psalm 113:9 “He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.” Our humanistic society provides daycares for children but these are poor substitutes for the home. A little boy was asked why he didn’t like daycare. “Because I didn’t have a mommy,” he replied.

Embrace your home. Thank God for it. Know that it is where God wants you to be to fulfill your great commission.

6. YOU ARE THE SENTINEL OF YOUR HOME

Husbands guard the city gates but you stand sentry at your home, guarding against all inroads of the enemy. You watch in prayer. You watch over the bodies, souls and spirits of your children. As I raised our children, I made Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in 5:23 my goal, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

7. YOU ARE A WALKING PRAYER MEETING

Prayer should be inseparable from motherhood. It is pretty difficult to adequately mother without constantly looking to the Lord. Abraham Lincoln said, “I remember my mother’s prayers, and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all of my life.”

Perhaps you have a child who has gone astray or is giving you much concern. Don’t despair. Keep praying. They cannot get away from your prayers. When the great Latin Church father and theologian, Augustine,  went away to college, he got in with the wrong crowd and became a worldly young man for many years. Monica, his mother, had one vision – that her son would know God and be a preacher. She prayed and interceded continually. Her whole life was given to prayer. When he eventually came to the Lord in answer to her prayers she said, “I have fulfilled my task. I am now ready to go to the Lord,” and she died soon after.

8. YOU ARE THE BEST TEACHER AND TRAINER OF YOUR CHILDREN

There is no one who can teach your children better than you can. Proverbs 6:20-23 says, “Do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep, they will keep you; and when you awake, they will speak with you...”

Abraham Lincoln said again, “The greatest lessons I ever learned were at my mother’s knees.

George Washington said, “All that I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.”

John Wesley said, “I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians of England.”’

Dear mother, God has chosen you to be the mother of your children. No one can do it is well as you can. And God is behind you all the way. He has commissioned you to the task and He will empower you.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Isaiah 60:18, “You shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”

I love the fact that our God is such a practical God. He is concerned about our everyday lives. He is even interested in the doors and the gates of our homes. In fact, they are very important to Him and He speaks a lot about them. Psalm 87:2 tells us that “The Lord loves the gates of Zion.” He loves your gates and doors too.

Beautiful gates and doors fascinate me. When visiting my niece in Majorca a couple of years ago, I took most of my pictures of gates and doors – amazing huge wooden doors of all beautiful designs. It was also delightful to walk through the narrow streets of old villages. Old doors, quaint doors and interesting gates led into courtyards, gardens and homes. Doors are enticing. They are entrances that lead you into new adventures, new ideas, new vision and new excitement - and of course into your home.

God wants us to call the gates and doors of our home Praise. Every time we open a door to enter it we should praise the Lord. We should take the praises of the Lord into each room we enter.

Pray a short prayer of praise each time you open a door. “Oh Lord, I thank you for this room. I enter into it with thanksgiving. I take your praises into it. Fill it with your presence and your love. Amen.” Can you imagine the change in the atmosphere of your home if you praised your way into every room you enter? Try it.

Actually, it may take time to get into the habit of doing this. I myself am trying to get into the habit of it. To help you, share the idea with your husband and children too, so you can all do it. Remind one another until it becomes the habit of your life.

God gives us another practical principle about our doors in Jeremiah 17:19-27. Take time to read the whole passage. He told Jeremiah to go to all the gates of Jerusalem and tell the people that they were to take no burden in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. They were not to carry a burden out of their houses either. Jeremiah spoke of the literal Sabbath day. However, through Jesus’ death on the cross, God has now provided a way for us to live in a continual Sabbath rest. Jesus is our rest. He wants us to live in His rest. He wants us to have rest in our homes. He does not want our homes to be filled with tension, stress, bickering and fighting.

Of course, He always gives the remedy. Every time you enter your gate, and each door of your home, make sure you leave your burdens at the door. Don’t take them through the door into your home. These burdens will spoil the atmosphere of your home. They will devour your home. Roll them over to Jesus at the door. He has promised to take your burdens and carry your sorrows. (Psalm 55:22)

This passage in Jeremiah promises that if you do not take your burdens through the doors of your home that the King will sit on the throne! Who do you want ruling your home? Your problems and your burdens? Or King Jesus, who is your Rest forever? It’s your choice.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, please remind me to praise my way through every door of my home. I thank you that you are my Burden Bearer and that I don’t have to carry my problems into my home with me. Help me to get in the habit of rolling them upon you before I enter the door of my home Amen.”’

 

AFFIRMATION: