WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE RICH?
Part 1

“So is he that layeth up treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God”
(Luke 2:21).

It could be quite nice to be able to purchase whatever you want. It could be fun to purchase whatever groceries you desired instead of counting out your pennies, wouldn’t it?

However, there are only two kinds of riches, those we heap up for ourselves or those we heap up toward God (Luke 12:21). Our true riches are in the eternal realm, but did you know that there are godly riches we can have in this life too?

Let’s discover the riches we can enjoy on this earth.

A HAPPY MARRIAGE

Proverbs 12:4: “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.” 

A couple can live in the richest home and have money to burn, but if they don’t live in harmony and happiness together, they are poor. I think that one of the greatest riches of this life is to enjoy the bliss of marriage which is God’s beautiful plan and intention for us on this earth.

A happy and blissful marriage doesn’t just happen. You have to make it happen. Think of something each new day to make life special for your husband. Think of something loving and encouraging to say to him each day. Be generous in pouring out your words of love.

A GOOD NAME

Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Also read Ecclesiastes 7:1.

CHILDREN

Deuteronomy 7:13 and Psalm 127:3-5. Our children are truly our greatest riches in this life (and praise God, we can take them into eternity with us too)! If a fire came through your home, what would you try to save? You'd forget about all your material possessions. You’d only want to save your children. And yet, isn't it amazing how many people would rather have fleeting possessions than children?

The Day is coming when we will leave every material thing behind on this earth. The only thing we’ll take with us is our eternal soul and our redeemed children. Let’s pour our lives into what is eternal.

CONTENTMENT

1Timothy 6:6: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” The NLT says: “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” Also read Psalm 37:16. If you are content and happy with what you have, even if it is only a little, you’ll live a rich life.

FAITH

James 2:5: “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

Faith is so rich because it trusts God rather than what we can see. We don't hold back having children because of unbelief. We know that God is able to provide. We know we can trust Him in whatever situation we face. What richness! We may not have much materially but we have all we need.

FEAR OF THE LORD

Proverbs 22:4: ¨By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor, and life.” Read Psalm 112:1-3 where God promises that “wealth and riches” shall be in the house of the man who fears the Lord.  How rich we are if we have a God-fearing husband.

GOOD WORKS

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (BSB): “Instruct those who are rich in the present age . . . to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

If we do everything to serve ourselves and to please ourselves we are very poor. When we forget about our own life and serve others, always thinking of how we can bless those around us, we live a rich life.

Mark 8:35 is an eternal principle that never fails: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

GOD'S WORD

Psalm 19:9-11: “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keep of them there is great reward.”

Psalm 119:14: “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.”

Psalm 119:72: “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.”

Psalm 119:127: “I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.”

Can we truthfully confess the above affirmations? Do we really love God’s word more than gold and all the things we could buy with it? If so, are we demonstrating it in our lives? The moment we wake, do we run to the Word? We can’t wait to dig for more gold. We can’t wait to hear what God will speak to us today through His living Word.

Do our children see our love for God’s Word? Or do they see that we are so busy with everything else in life that we rarely get to read it? Are we gathering our children morning and evening to hear His Word? Are we giving gold, the true riches, to our children each day as we gather them to hear His Word? Of course, we are not doing this as a ritual. Yes, it is a daily habit, but we do it with excitement. We can’t wait to hear what gold God has for us today.

Colossians 3:16 reminds us that God wants His Word to dwell in us RICHLY. If God's word dwells in us RICHLY, our spirit will be strong and steadfast. If God's Word is shallow in our hearts, our spirit will starve, and we will be weak and impotent to live this life.

I have found 15 ways to be rich in this life, so we’ll discover more next week.

Blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, thank you for showing me what are the true riches. I want to seek after them rather than the vain riches of this world. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I’m seeking after the true riches of this life. I am building for eternity. I can’t be bothered with the fleeting pleasures and riches of this life.

Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

https://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com

DOES YOUR MINDSET LINE UP WITH GOD’S?

Part 2

“And he brought him (Abram) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them:
and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be”
(Psalm 105:24).

In our last devotion I shared with you seven adverbs of how God wants us to fill the earth. But there’s more yet! Not only does God give us these adverbs but He also paints pictures for us on this subject. He wants us to feel His heart about this subject. God promised the patriarchs of old that their descendants would be like . . .

THE STARS OF THE HEAVENS

Genesis 22:17: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the STARS OF THE HEAVEN.”

As we look up to the heavens and see the multitude of stars God wants us to know that this is how He wants to multiply His people. God did not give this promise only once but many times. Read Genesis 15:5; 26:4; Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22; 28:62; 1 Chronicles 27:23; Nehemiah 9:23; and Jeremiah 33:22.

The New Testament also writes about it in Hebrews 11:11, 12 (NLT): “It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people, that LIKE THE STARS IN THE SKY . . . there is no way to count them.”

THE DUST OF THE EARTH

God promised Abraham in Genesis 13: 16: “And I will make thy seed as the DUST OF THE EARTH: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Read also Genesis 28:14; Numbers 23;10; and 2 Chronicles 1:9.

THE SAND UPON THE SEASHORE

Genesis 32:12: “I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the SAND OF THE SEA, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” Read also Genesis 22:17; Isaiah 48:18, 19; Jeremiah 32;22; Hosea 1:10; and Hebrews 11:12.

THE GRASS OF THE EARTH

Job 5:25 (NLT): “You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!” Read also Ezekiel 16:7.

THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS

Genesis 24:60: “And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her . . . be thou the mother of THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.”

The phrase “thousands of millions” speaks of that which cannot be numbered.

Numbers 10:35, 36 (NASB): “Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, ‘Rise up, O LORD! And let your enemies be scattered’ . . . When it came to rest, he said, ‘Return, O LORD, to the MYRIAD THOUSANDS of Israel.’”

Deuteronomy 33:17: “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the TEN THOUSANDS of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Hosea 1:10: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which CANNOT BE MEASURED NOR NUMBERRED.”

Deuteronomy 1:11: “The LORD your God make you A THOUSAND TIMES SO MANY MORE as he hath promised you.”

LIKE A FLOCK

Psalm 107:41: “Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him FAMILIES LIKE A FLOCK.”

God loves to make our families like a flock. One or two children don not make a flock. Whether you are blessed with a small flock or a large flock, a flock is more than the 1.9 average of children per family in America today.

Ezekiel 36:37, 38: “I will multiply their people like sheep. Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be FILLED WITH FLOCKS OF PEOPLE. Then they will now that I am the LORD.”

Dear ladies, as we read the above Scriptures, we read more than words. We get a glimpse of God’s big heart, His love for children, and His purpose for multiplying His people. He not only wants to fill the earth with His glory (revealed through His people) but to fill eternity.

Let’s look AT A COUPLE OF Scriptures that take us into the eternal realm as we close this post.

We read in Daniel 7:9, 10: “I beheld . . . the Ancient of days . . . whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery steam issued and came forth from before him: THOUSAND THOUSANDS ministered unto him, and TEN THOUSAND TIMES TEN THOUSAND stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”

Revelation 5:9-12: “. . . And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders and the number of them was TEN THOUSAND TIMES TEN THOUSAND, AND THOUSANDS OF THOUSANDS . . .”

Can we enlarge our hearts to think like God’s heart?

Nancy Campbell

www.aboverbies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, please enlarge my vision to see Your great plan and to understand that it goes far beyond this life into eternity. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

https://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com

DOES YOUR MINDSET LINE UP WITH GOD’S?

Part 1

“He increased his people GREATLY;
and made them stronger than their enemies.”
(Psalm 105:24).

As I read the Scriptures, I invariably find my thinking is opposite to God’s thinking. What should I do? I’ve got to change my opinion to God’s way of thinking. I think that many who call themselves Christians don’t really believe the God of the Bible after all. It’s so easy to believe in a God of our own imagination. Unless we constantly fill our minds with God’s Word, we can be deceived.

The other day I was checking out God’s attitude toward fruitfulness and realized the Bible is far removed from how the majority of Christians think today. The average number of children per family in America is only 1.9 children per family but God’s vision is much bigger.

If you listen to my podcast. LIFE TO THE FULL, each week you will know that I am continually discovering adjectives in the Bible. God’s Word is filled with adjectives. God uses adjectives because nothing about God is normal, ordinary, or status quo. He is beyond the normal. He is MORE THAN! So let me introduce you to a few more adjectives today.

The very first words that God spoke into the ears of man were “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:27). But then God continues to tell us HOW He wants us to be fruitful. The Scriptures tell us that God wants us to multiply . . .

1. ABUNDANTLY

Genesis 9:7: “Be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth ABUNDANTLY in the earth, and multiply therein.” The Hebrew word for abundantly is sharats and means “to swarm or abound.”

The MLB translation renders it correctly when it says: “Swarm over the earth and multiply it . . .” The TS2009 says: “Bring forth teemingly in the earth . . .”

The Knox translation of Exodus 1:7: says: “The race of Israel grew into a teeming multitude.”

1. EXCEEDINGLY

Genesis 16:10: “I will multiply thy seed EXCEEDINGLY, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.” The Hebrew word rabah means “to increase exceedingly, to be many, to be abundant.” We read this word over 30 times in the Old Testament.

1. MIGHTILY

Deuteronomy 6:3: “That ye may increase MIGHTILY as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.” The Hebrew word is m’od meaning “vehemently, wholeheartedly, speedily, diligently.” We are not to fulfil this command reluctantly but with passion. The same Hebrew word is used in Psalm 105:24: “He increased his people GREATLY; and made them stronger than their enemies.”

There are two more Hebrew words for mightily. Exodus 1:7 tell us that “the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly and multiplied, and waxed exceeding MIGHTY, and the land was filled with them.” This word is atsam meaning “mightier and stronger.”

And in verse 9, Pharoah said: “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and MIGHTIER than we.” This time it is the word atsuwm meaning, “numerous, powerful, strong.”

1. GREATLY

Deuteronomy 26:5 tells us how the children of Israel in Egypt “became there a nation, GREAT, mighty, and populous.” The Hebrew word here is gadol meaning “great, exceeding, mighty, more.”

1. PLENTEOUSLY

Deuteronomy 30:9: “The LORD thy God will make thee PLENTEOUS . . . in the fruit of thy body . . .” The Hebrew word is yathar and means “to jut over or exceed, cause to abound.”

1. MULTITUDINOUSLY

Genesis 32:12: “I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” The Hebrew word for “multitude” is rob meaning “abundance, huge, more in number, multitude.” There are many more Scriptures where this word is used again.

1. POPULOUSLY

Deuteronomy 26:5 tells us how Israel became a POPULOUS nation. The word is rab which means “powerful, great, mighty.”

Wow, that’s seven adjectives God uses to remind us how He wants us His people to increase in the land. Do you think God’s people are in line with His plan? Do you use any of these words in your daily vocabulary? Say each one aloud. They are Bible words and therefore should be part of our thinking and vocab. Do we use the language of our humanistic society or the language of the Bible?

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, please forgive me for thinking like the world rather than thinking like You. As I fill my mind with Your Word, please help me to change my thinking. Please help me to change my vocabulary to Your vocabulary. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am daily renewing my mind to think like God thinks. I am learning to speak the language of the kingdom of God rather than the language of the world.

Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

https://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com

ONE FLESH MARRIAGE
Part 2

“Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder”
(Matthew 19:6)

Today we continue the points about the “one flesh” marriage.

9. SPIRITUALLY

Our bodies are only the house of the real person, the spirit--the part of us which was made for fellowship with God. God’s highest purpose for us in marriage is to become one together in spirit--connected to one another by our spirits and God’s Holy Spirit. We are to be glued together as one. That’s why prayer in marriage is such a powerful thing. We are together to agree and can therefore see mighty answers to prayer. Jesus said: “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be cone for them of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19).

10. PURPOSEFULLY

God brings the male and female together to accomplish His purposes. God’s primary purpose for male and female is to have children. As husband and wife, and together with their children, they are to be fruitful, fill the earth, and “subdue it: and have dominion” (Genesis 1:28). Purposefully together they advance God’s kingdom in the earth, reveal His image and likeness, and bring more of His love, truth, justice, and peace to the earth.

11. UNDEFILEDLY

Marriage is called “holy matrimony” and the marriage bed is holy and sacred. At the beginning of the wedding vows, the minister says: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God to join this man, and this woman in holy matrimony . . .  Into this ‘holy estate’ these two persons come now to be joined. Therefore, it is not to be entered unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly.”

Marriage is God-mandated and to be enjoyed according to God’s pattern, but it is designed only for one male and one female. Hebrews 13:4 (ESV) states: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

God created the sexual act to be totally fulfilling without the use of “toys,” alternative ways that are not according to God’s Word, or anything that violates the conscience. God’s plan is already glorious beyond words and does not need “extras.”

12. UNENDINGLY

The traditional wedding vows state: "I take thee . . . to love and to cherish, till death do us part (or, as long as we both shall live), according to God's holy ordinance.”

Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are times when it is no longer safe to live in a marriage where one of the two continues in a despicable, ungodly, and unrepentant lifestyle. Jesus admitted when talking to the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce because “of the hardness of your hearts,” but He continued, “From the beginning it was not so.” It was never God’s plan.

Jesus also forcefully stated: “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (or separate).” Or, let no man or woman, no organization, no church, no Facebook, or anything at all separate a man and wife from each other. They are to be fused as one.

13. EXCLUSIVIELY

I totally believe in the exclusivity of marriage. A young wife should understand that when she gets married, she will no longer have personal friends with the opposite sex apart from with her husband. And the same goes for the husband. She would not think of going out for a coffee with a guy on her own, unless her husband is with her. Of course, married couples can enjoy friendships with the opposite sex as a couple or as families, but never on their own.

Proverbs 5:15-20 speaks of the marriage relationship. We notice how exclusive it is in the phrases used: “from your own cistern . . . from your own well . . . let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers . . .”

14. REVEALINGLY

The great mystery of marriage is that it reveals the picture of Christ and His bride, the church. How amazing that God chose marriage to reveal this glorious relationship. We read about this in Ephesians 5:22-33. I know you know this passage, but we should read it frequently. Here are a few highlights but please read the whole passage again in your Bible:

“For as the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church . . . So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies . . . This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

We all need to be reminded that this is the highest vision of marriage. As John Piper says: “There never has been a generation whose view of marriage is high enough.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Holy Father, for your perfect design for marriage. Please help my husband and I to be a living picture of the relationship between You and Your bride, the church. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I embrace God’s highest design of a one flesh marriage.

FURTHER SCRIPTURES TO READ:

Matthew 5:27, 28; Mark 10:2-9; 1 Corinthians 6:16,17; 7:1-5; 11:8, 9; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:18, 19; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:1-6; and Hebrews 13:4.

Don’t miss the podcast for wives and mothers each week:

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

https://ARPoddy.buzzsprout.com