Psalm 18:2, “Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my HIGH TOWER.”

As a nation, we grieve for the unnecessary deaths of over 3,000 lives which were taken from us on 9/11/01  - not just numbers, but dear mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who are sorrowfully missed. We lament that we no longer have the twin towers of the World Trade Center gracing the skyline of New York. These high towers were magnificent, but they could not withstand the attack of the enemy.

We also read about other towers in the Bible. We immediately think of the tower of Babel where God intervened in the project before it was finished. Historians say that it was about seven stories and 300’ high when God scattered the people and confounded the language. (Genesis 11-9)

We read in Judges 9:46-47 about the tower of Shechem (which was meant to be a stronghold) that was also burned to the ground – and about a thousand men and women were burned to death.

In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus talks about the tower of Siloam that fell and toppled to the ground and 18 people were killed.

Man-made towers cannot survive enemy strikes. They cannot give everlasting protection. But oh how wonderful that we have a High Tower that can withstand all enemy attacks.

God is our High Tower. We can run into Him and find our refuge in Him. Dear mother, I want to remind you today that you have a High Tower. He is waiting to be your refuge. But He can only be your High Tower when you come into Him, when you totally put your trust in Him.

Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a STRONG TOWER: the righteous runs into it, and is safe.”

Will you run into your Strong Tower today?

There is so much going on in the world right now and of course it affects your thought life. If you allow it, it can bring you into a state of fear and depression. Or perhaps you have things going on in your home and in your marriage that are weighing you down. You can hardly think straight. Dear one, run into the High Tower.

God is your High Tower. He will lift up your head. Oh yes, your situation may not change, but as you abide in the High Tower, He will lift you up above your problems. Instead of groveling in the pit, you can live your life from the heavenlies, looking down upon your troubles.

The Shinarites tried to build a tower that would reach to the heavens. They never made it! But you can live in a tower that reaches to the heavens. In fact, it’s a tower that lives in the heavenlies!

In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ

What are the “high” things that we have to bring down? Every thought that takes higher place than the knowledge of God. Do your thoughts loom bigger in your mind than God Himself? Are you plagued with thoughts of fear, dread, anger, worry, despair, self-pity, bitterness and so on? What is higher in your mind - your thoughts that hold you captive, or the peace of God? If negative thoughts consume your mind, cast them down. Plead the blood of Jesus and tear them down in the name of Jesus. Let your burdens go and trust in your High Tower.

Here are some other wonderful promises for you.

Psalm 61:2-3, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a STRONG TOWER from the enemy.”

Psalm 114:2, “My goodness, and my fortress, my HIGH TOWER, and my deliverer; my shield, and He in whom I trust…”

As you resist your “high” thoughts and instead trust in the Lord, you will find that He will become your strong and high tower.

Love from, NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, I thank you that you are my Strong Tower. You are my High Tower. I can run into you and be safe. I want you to be the highest place in my mind. In the name of Jesus, I cast down all negative and fearful thoughts and I ask that you will captivate my thoughts. I put my trust in you. I lean on you. I thank you that as I hide in you, I can resist all enemy attacks. You are my safeguard and the safeguard of my mind. Thank you, Lord.”

QUOTE:

Exodus 28:35 TLB, "Aaron shall wear the ephod whenever he goes in to minister to the Lord: the bells will tinkle as he goes in and out of the presence of the Lord..."

We read in Exodus 28 about the garments that God ordained the High Priest to wear. They were to be garments for "glory and beauty" v.2. One of the garments was the ephod. On the hem of this garment God instructed them to make blue, purple and scarlet pomegranates with golden bells in between them, "a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about." v.34. One Bible commentator says there may have been 72 bells and pomegranates around the hem of the garment.

Every part of the High Priest's garments had spiritual significance. And now that God has made us "kings and priests" unto Him, they have spiritual significance in our lives too. Read 1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; and 20:6. 

Because pomegranates are filled with seeds, they speak of fruitfulness. Wherever we walk – in our home or out in the supermarket, we should continually drop seeds of God's truth, His love and His peace.

What comes to your mind when you think of little bells tinkling? Yes, a smile comes to your face. You think of joy and gladness. God wanted to be refreshed by sounds of joy as Aaron walked around and fulfilled his priestly duties in the holy place. I am sure that God also wants to hear the tinkling of joy as we go about our motherly duties in our homes. 

God’s picture of a mother in the home is one who is filled with joy. Psalm 113:9 says, “He makes the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children.”P As a child I remember my mother always singing in the home. What happiness it brought to my childhood heart. These were the days when mothers sang in their homes and men whistled as they walked or cycled to work.  Women enjoyed being in their homes. They didn’t hanker to be out in the workforce. And they sang. I know we live a much faster pace of life today, but as we make our life more and more in the heart of the home, the song will return.

Did you notice that the tinkling bells were on the hem of the garment? They are part of the daily grind. This joy is not in the heavenlies but touches the realities of our daily life. It is easily accessible to our little ones toddling around the home. 

As you wake each morning, put on your priestly garments of holiness and joy. Make sure the bells are tinkling on your hem as you go out to your kitchen to prepare breakfast for your children. Start the breakfast with praise. Instead of the usual grace, hold hands together and sing a song of thanks before you start to eat. Tell your children that you love being their mother. Tell them that you are glad God has given you another day to enjoy together.

Keep the bells tinkling all day.  Turn every sigh into a Hallelujah! When things go wrong, praise the Lord instead of whining. Practice this until it becomes the habit of your life. 

Here are some more word pictures about tinkling in your home…

Exodus 15:2, “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation…and I will prepare Him a habitation.” How do we make our home a habitation for God? By filling our home with songs of salvation. By humming a tune as we wash the dishes or prepare the meals. By praising instead of sighing when we have to clean up another mess. 

Psalm 118:15, “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles (homes) of the righteous.” What is the voice in your home? Is it one of sour silence? Groanings and complainings? Or the tinkling of joy?

Psalm 119:54, “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.”

Isaiah 32:13, “The houses of joy…” In this Scripture, God is actually pronouncing a judgment on all the homes of Israel because of their sin. But do you notice how God describes homes? He calls them “houses of joy.” 

Keep the bells tinkling.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Father God, I pray that you will give me contentment in my home, knowing that this is where you have planted me. Help me to delight in my home and mothering my children. I pray that the joy that you have put in me by the Holy Spirit will bubble up in me so that I will overflow with joy. May my children see me tinkling with joy as I walk in my home, even when doing the most mundane household chores. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit which is working this out in me. Amen.”

QUOTE:

Isaiah 61:3, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

I look up from reading the Word of God in my morning Quiet Time. Oh what a glorious sight meets my eyes. A beautiful sunrise of brilliant salmon pink glows through the bare leafless branches of the winter trees. It is glorious. I am awe-inspired. Why haven’t I seen these beautiful skies before? I realize that I hadn’t noticed them before because they were hidden from my view by the thick foliage of the tall trees that surround us here in the Tennessee woods.

Wintertime is stark and barren, but it is in these bare times that we see beauty that we don’t normally see. As I drive the country roads in the winter, I will often exclaim, “Oh, I haven’t noticed that home before.” Or, “I’ve never seen that barn.” The lovely leafy laden trees had blocked them from view.

Perhaps you are going through a winter season in your life. Your heart is cold. The outlook seems ugly. You feel stripped of all that you hold dear. Can I remind you to lift up your head? Look up. As you do, you will see things in a new light. You will see God in a new way. You will see different facets of His beauty that you hadn’t noticed before. You will see things that God has been waiting to show you that He couldn’t reveal to you with all the foliage around your life.

Often God has to strip us of all our trappings and the things we daily rely upon, so He can reveal Himself to us. We don’t need Him when we have everything else around us to rely on. We don’t see Him clearly when our sights and senses are filled with other things.

I used to think the bare trees of winter were rather ugly, but I have now come to appreciate their own special beauty. I love their intriguing beauty as they silhouette against the differing moods of the sky. I love seeing the tiny thin branches of the trees which show up like lace in the sun-setting sky.There is nothing more striking than the moon shining down through the bare trees. What could bring more pleasure to the eyes than seeing the hoar frost or a fresh snowfall balancing on their bare outstretched limbs? And of course I now see the sunrises that I don’t see in the other seasons.

There was also a time in my life when I didn’t like going through hard times. I’d rather not have to face them at all. But I have learned to find beauty in these times too. This is when God does His deepest work in our hearts. This is when we really grow. This is when God is able to conform us to the image of His Son.

Don’t despise these winter seasons, dear mother. Don’t let your heart get bitter. Fling off that self-pity. Don’t cower in the dungeon of despair. Open your spiritual eyes. Look up. Unless I had looked up from my reading to see the sunrise, I would have missed it. You won’t see unless you look up. There are beautiful things to behold that you haven’t seen before, which you cannot see in any other season. God will reveal Himself to you in a deeper way. And you will see a new sunrise in your life.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Father, I have been shivering in this winter experience. I feel bare and stripped of everything. Lord, I am sorry, that I have been looking at the ugliness of it all. I have been consumed with self-pity. I confess this to you. Lord, I look up to you. I want to behold your beauty. I look to see your goodness in the land of the living. Show me glimpses of the precious work you are doing in me in this winter season. I thank you for the good work you are doing in me.”

QUOTE:

 ‘Tis better far to let Him choose the way that we should take;

If only we leave our life with Him, He will guide without mistake;

We, in our blindness, would never choose a pathway dark or rough,

And so we should never find in Him the GOD WHO IS ENOUGH!

In disappointment, trouble, or pain, we turn to the Changeless One,

And prove how faithful, loving and true is God’s beloved Son.

1 Peter 1:17, “Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.”

Today is our last devotion on the subject of what it means to be an alien in this world. 

13. Aliens boldly confess that they are strangers and pilgrims.

Hebrews 11:13-14, “They…confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.” 

Aliens are not ashamed that they do not belong to this world. They confess it openly. They make it clear. They make sure everyone around them understands. Aliens do not sit on the fence. They know what they believe, where they come from, and where they are going.

David confessed it before God in 1 Chronicles 29:15, “For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding.” He confesses it again in Psalm 39:12. 

14. Aliens do not entertain the thought of going back to the world.

Hebrews 11:15 TLB, “If they had wanted to, they could have gone back to the good things of this world. But they didn’t want to. They were living for heaven.”

Hebrews 11:27, “By faith he forsook Egypt…” 

When God brought the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, He purposed that they would never go back there again! In Deuteronomy 17:16 TLB it says…

“For the Lord has told you, ‘Never return to Egypt again.” 

Read also Isaiah 30:1-2; 31:1; 36:6.

Egypt speaks of the spirit of the world. Jesus died to set us free from our sins and to “deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” (Galatians 1:4) Are you totally free from the spirit of this world? Or do you allow Egypt to come into your heart and into your home? Watch out for signs of Egypt. Stamp on them and oust them from your home. You have been delivered from Egypt, so why go back to bondage?

15. Aliens would rather bear the reproach of Christ than enjoy the short-lived pleasures of this world.

Hebrews 11:24-26, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter: choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season: esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” 

The things of this world do not lure aliens. They would rather do the will of God. They know the truth of 1 John 12:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world: And the world passeth away and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

James 4:4, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 

16. Aliens have grace to endure.

Hebrews 11:27, “He endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”

Hebrews 11:26 MLB, “For he fixed his eye on the final recompense.”

Aliens can endure tribulations because they see beyond the trial. They see what God is doing in them as they bear up under the trial. They know that God is refining them. They know that God is working something beautiful in them that will last for eternity. They are able to endure because their eyes are upon Christ, rather than their circumstances.

Dear one, are you finding it hard to endure your present circumstances? It is too hard to endure when you look at the problem. The only way you can endure is by looking at Him who is invisible, by keeping your eyes on Christ.

Take your eyes off the visible and turn them to the invisible Christ. This is how you will endure.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to keep my eyes on You. Teach me to take my eyes off the visible and turn them to the invisible. Help me to realize that the eternal realm is far more real and lasting than this world. Amen.”

QUOTE: