LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 431: GUARDING THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE, PART 2

God gives 20 different principles about guarding and keeping His Word. We keep them diligently, never turning aside to the right or left, never adding or diminishing from them, meditating on them continually, and being strong and very courageous to keep God's way in the midst of a crooked generation. And we are just getting started!

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, lovely ladies. Well, good evening! I am doing this podcast this evening. Usually, I’m doing it in the morning. Usually, I have it out for you by 6 AM on Tuesday morning. But we’re a little bit late this week. I’m recording it this evening, and hoping it will be out to you tomorrow, Wednesday you’ll be listening to it.

Before I continue today, I wonder if I could humbly ask you for your prayers. I have actually three prayers that I would love you to pray about if you would feel it in your heart to pray. I haven’t shared this with you on the podcast before, but four months ago, my beautiful husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which had metastasized into the bones in his back.

I think he had actually been having it for many years, but this is when it really showed up. It has been very aggressive. He has been in and out of hospital, and he is very weak at the moment. I value your prayers.

In the morning, early, we’ll be back at the hospital, where he will be receiving two blood transfusions because his hemoglobin is right down to 6.6. If you know anything about hemoglobin, you know that 6.5 is life-threatening. And so, I value your prayers. We are so believing God for a mighty miracle. I’d be so grateful if you would pray with me and believe with me for a miraculous healing for him. Thank you so, so much.

The other prayers I have are for Above Rubies. My poor, beautiful Above Rubies has been a little neglected in these last four months. I have been often at the hospital 12 hours a day with my husband. I’m also without help for the first time I can’t remember, about 20 years, 26 years, I think.

I’ve been having helpers, beautiful, gorgeous, lovely helpers who come into my home. My last girls left. It was their time. They usually come for about two months. I’ve hardly had time to even solicit getting any more but it’s getting to be such a need now. So, if you have daughters, or know of any lovely daughters . . . I usually like the girls to be about 17 years and up. I usually have two at a time so they can be friends with one another.

It’s a mission trip. They come to Tennessee instead of going to India, or Africa, or South America, they come to Tennessee. And they come to help in the office in Above Rubies. It’s such a beautiful ministry. They’re part of helping to bless families all over this nation and all over the world as they send out magazines and orders and just keep up the database, and so on.

If they love missions, as everything in Above Rubies is just a love offering, really. I have been doing Above Rubies now for 49 years. It’s been a love ministry. I’ve never taken finance for doing Above Rubies. Every single donation that comes into Above Rubies goes to printing the magazines. It’s my joy and my delight to give my life to encourage, and teach, and bless the wives and mothers of the world. But I do need help. So, if you know of anyone, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Or call me on 615-924-4455. That would be amazing.

I was thinking though, at this time, with everything we are going through here, that it could even be nice to have an older single lady, someone who wouldn’t mind being here on her own, and who is mature. That would be a wonderful thing, too, so there may be someone in that category. If that doesn’t work out, well, then I would be looking for two lovely younger girls who could help. So, thank you for your prayers with that for anyone you know who may be in that position.

The other prayer we need for Above Rubies is for the finance to get out a new magazine. I’m desperate to get a new magazine out into the nation, out into the world. I have $30,000 in the bank, waiting. But, did you know, ladies, it actually takes $100,000 to print and send out each magazine? So, I’ve got to get more finance in yet before I can go to print. But that’s a big matter for prayer too, because we really need to keep getting this message out into the nation. So, thank you with all my heart for those prayers. That is so wonderful of you.

Now we’re back to our new series about the things that God wants to guard in our lives. We’re up to the one where God wants us to KEEP AND GUARD HIS COMMANDMENTS. As I was going through the Scriptures, I found, guess what? I found 20 different principles about keeping God’s commandments. Oh, there is always so much in the Word of God, isn’t there? It’s so amazing.

We started that last week, and now we’re up to No. 5, the fifth principle. And it is . . .

Number five. We must keep God’s word DILGENTLY!

God likes that word “diligently.” He uses it often in the Bible because in everything we do, He doesn’t want us to be lax about it. He wants us to be diligent.

Deuteronomy 6:17: “Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes, which He hath commanded thee.”

Deuteronomy 11:22: “Diligently keep these commandments.”

Deuteronomy 11:13: “Hearken diligently unto my commandments.”

Deuteronomy 28:1: “Hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe” (that’s shamar, meaning “to guard”) “to do all His commandments.”

Psalm 119:4: “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.”

Yes, now that word “diligently” in the Hebrew, is the Hebrew word m’od. It has a very powerful meaning. It means “exceedingly, abundantly, greatly, mightily, vehemently, speedily.” That certainly doesn’t give a picture of us pathetically keeping His commandments, does it? Or perhaps, just doing them as we feel like.

No, He wants us to do them diligently with all those adjectives. READ THEM AGAIN! It’s amazing, you know. When you go to the Greek or the Hebrew, you find that there are all these extra words to describe that one Hebrew word. We can’t really get away with anything there, can we, with all those adjectives?

Number six. We MUST NOT TURN ASIDE TO THE RIGHT OR THE LEFT in keeping God’s commandments!

Deuteronomy 5:32: “You shall observe” (that’s shamar) “to do, therefore, as the Lord your God hath commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand, or to the left.”

Deuteronomy 28:14: “And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day; to the right hand, or to the left.”

We notice that it’s pretty strong. It says: “Thou shalt not go aside.” “Thou shalt not turn aside, to the right hand, or to the left.”

Joshua 1:7: “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou might observe to do according to all the law. Turn not from it to the right hand, or to the left.”

There are many other Scriptures as well.

Proverbs 4:25,27: “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee . . . Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

And so, we see all those Scriptures, plus others that remind us about keeping a straight course. God has given His course. He’s given His way in His Word and He doesn’t want us to turn aside. It’s very easy, isn’t it, to turn aside to our own ways, what we think is best.

But that’s why we have to continually be in the Word of God, to know what God is saying, so we can keep on His straight course. As it says in Proverbs 4, that we will keep our eyes . . .  “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” We’re not going to be deviating. No, we have a straight course. Amen?

All right. Now, don’t forget, lovely mothers, that you've got to pass on these principles to your children. As I share them with you, you could keep a note of them. Then you may be able to, in your devotions, your family Bible reading, or in your homeschooling, you can share all these amazing principles with your children, so they understand what God says, and how He wants us to keep His commandments.

Number seven. DO NOT ADD OR DIMINISH from God’s commandments!

Deuteronomy 4:2: “You shall not add unto the Word which I command you. Neither shall you diminish ought from it.”

Deuteronomy 12:32: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it. Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”

Remember, we know another Scripture about that. Right over in the back of the Bible, in the last chapter, Revelation 22:18. You remember this Scripture: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this Book; if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this Book.” So, we are receiving many admonitions from the Lord, aren’t we? Yes.

Well, what’s the next one?

Number eight. We must be STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS in keeping God’s words!

That’s quite an amazing principle, because it is true. Many times we find that God’s word is the opposite to society. It’s opposite to the way of the world. And so, when we are going God’s ways, we are going to be walking a different step from the world.

Maybe we’re going to look a bit different, and often, we don’t want to look a bit different. It’s amazing how we want to fit in. But, lovely ladies, we’ve got to learn not to fit in with the world’s system but to fit in with what God says. We need to keep reminding ourselves about this.

And our precious children, because they’re going to face this as they grow up. They’re going to face that what God says in His Word is going to look different from what the world is doing and saying. And so, they’re going to have to be brave and strong and courageous to stand for God and not give in and choose what everybody else is doing.

So, let’s look at some Scriptures here, shall we? We go to Joshua 1:7: God is giving this wonderful admonition to Joshua: “Only be thou strong, and very courageous, that thou mayest do according to all the laws.”

Then we go over to Joshua 23:6: “Be ye therefore very courageous, to keep and do all that is written in this book.”

Now it doesn’t just say, “Be strong and courageous.” It says: “Be strong and VERY courageous.” That word “very” is also m’od which means, as we were sharing before, “exceedingly, abundantly, greatly, mightily, vehemently.” The word “strong” is chazak. That’s a great word too. It means “strong, resolute, to hold fast.”

What it’s saying here is that we’ve got to hold fast exceedingly, muchly, forcefully, abundantly, greatly, mightily, diligently. Now the lexicon of the Hebrew uses all those adjectives. Can I encourage you, lovely ladies, because often you face it, even as a mother, even as you come to that place in your life where you are trusting God for the children He wants to give to you.

And then we start to get flak, flak from maybe even your own mother. Flak from your mother-in-law. Flak from relatives. Flak from people around you because that’s not the way of the world. The way of the world today is to limit families. The average number of children per family in the States today is only 1.6. In many European countries today, it’s down to 1.2.

But that’s not what God reveals in His Word. He reveals the blessing of children, and how He looks for the godly seed. It’s His delight to give children, because these children are coming forth to bring His image into the world, and also, of course, for eternity. So, there we are. We’re just going opposite ways to the world. You have to be strong, and you have to be very courageous.

I remember some dear friends of ours. This testimony is from years ago, because their children are grown up now. But when we first met this lovely couple, they only had two children. Then God began to speak to them. It wasn’t through me. I don’t know. The Holy Spirit was speaking to this couple and giving them the revelation that, why did they stop at two children?

They had a boy and a girl, and, of course, they were going along with the way of the world. “We’ve got what we want, and we’ll be able to do whatever we like.” But the wife began to get this longing in her womb and in her heart for another baby, which so often happens, because it tells us about that in Proverbs, where it says there are four things that never say: “It is enough.” They are never satisfied. One is the barren womb.

The womb is always crying out for life. And often, when a mother has her first two or three children, she can feel overwhelmed, and think, “Oh, this is all I can cope with.” And they put a stop to having babies. But that doesn’t stop the cry of the womb. That longing that comes back, and oh, it becomes such a yearning and such a longing.

This was in the heart of this mother. First of all, her husband wasn’t very interested at all. He’d had a vasectomy. But anyway, God eventually worked on his heart and he had a reversal. So now, they were trusting God. Hallelujah!

Well, she conceived but had a miscarriage. Then they conceived again, had another miscarriage. They conceived again, and this precious baby grew in the womb, but this baby died at birth. And here they were, now they had become obedient to God, trusting God, walking in His will, and here all this was happening.

I remember the husband coming to my husband and saying, “I can’t do this any longer. I can’t put my wife though this heartache and this sorrow that she’s going through. I can’t do it.” My husband, in such love and grace, continued to encourage this dear man to continue trusting God. They came to the place where they did.

God gave them grace to trust Him and in God’s wonderful goodness, they then were blessed with five reversal babies. Those five children have now grown up and they are married themselves, most of them. So, God’s blessing came, but it was a trial at the beginning. Sometimes we have to go through those trials, those trials of faith. We have to be strong, chazak! Strong and very m’od, VERY courageous.

So, be encouraged. I know that not just in this area, but there can be many areas where you are facing a little bit of persecution. You have to be strong to stand with God. You know, I sometimes think, “Here we are. We get persecuted for our beliefs here. Just a little bit. People saying a few nasty things, a few sarcastic things.”

But literally, wow! We’re not really being persecuted. We’re not being tortured. We’re not imprisoned. We’re not being thrown out of our home. We’re not cold, and destitute, and suffering like so many are in this world. Did you know that the latest statistics are that there are 388 million believers being persecuted in the world at this time? Here we are, in the States. We may just get sarcastic remarks given to us.

But we don’t go through persecution like millions, millions of Christians are, and yet they are standing for God, standing in the face of torture, prison, and persecution that is real to their bodies. Oh, how we need to pray for them too! Do you pray for the persecuted church?

But we must remember that even in the little things that we face, when people speak against us, talk against us, or say nasty things, wow! That’s nothing to what so many are going through in the world today. So, be encouraged, lovely ladies, to stand strong.

I always think of that Scripture in Romans 3:4 where it says: “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” I’m always encouraged, well actually, I’m challenged. Am I prepared to stand for God’s way, even when everybody else is doing something different? “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” May God help us to be those who are strong and very courageous.

I love this passage in 1 Kings 2:2, 3. This is where David is charging his son Solomon. He’s going to be taking the throne, and David is charging him to build this house for God. He says to Solomon: “Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments.” And he continues on: “To do these things, and keep God’s commandments. Show thyself to be a man.”

It’s interesting. In the Knox Translation of the Bible, everywhere it talks about being strong and courageous, it’s translated: “Play the man.” Because that is a picture of being strong and courageous when it talks about “Show thyself a man . . .  Play the man.” A man is meant to be strong and brave and courageous. When it says that, it’s talking about the strength of manhood. But, of course, we all need that strength in standing for God’s truth, don’t we?

Number nine. We are to MEDITATE on God’s commandments day and night!

Joshua 1:8 is a Scripture that I memorized when I was a teenager. It’s been with me all my life. I was just talking to two of my grandchildren the other night. I was telling them about this Scripture, and I said, “This is a great Scripture for you to memorize.” I must check up on them to see if they’ve memorized it yet.

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 all that is in there.” So, it talks about meditating.

Psalm 1:2: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law does he meditate day and night.”

The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:97: “Oh, how I love Thy law. It is my meditation all the day.”

The word “meditate,” we often think of it as, “Oh, yes, we read the Scriptures and we think about it,” and that is very true. But the word “meditate” in the Hebrew, which is the word hagah, actually has three meanings.

Number one. It means “to meditate, to muse upon, to imagine, to think on.” So, yes, that’s the first meaning that we think of first of all. We see that in Proverbs 15:28: “The heart of the righteous studieth to answer.” There it uses the word “study” but it’s really the same as “meditate.” So “meditate” is not some little pathetic thing. It’s studying and really taking time to think through.

It also means “to mutter,” or “to murmur,” or “to speak to yourself.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? People say if you speak to yourself, you must be mad. But I quite like speaking to myself. Do you do that? I often speak to myself.

But here it says that we’re allowed to speak to ourselves the Word. When we’re reading it, we can be sort of muttering it, and speaking to ourselves, and thinking, “Yes, that’s right, Lord. Just help me to put this into my life.” Or “Oh, Lord, thank You for this revelation. Help me to understand it more.” We’re just talking away quietly to the Lord and murmuring and muttering away. That’s part of meditating!

And then, the third point. We don’t think about this, but this is another point of meditation. It also means “to speak out loud and to speak to others of God’s commandments.”

We see this in Psalm 35:28: “My tongue shall speak (hagah, the same word that’s translated meditate) My tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the day long.”

Psalm 37:30: “The mouth of the righteous speaketh (hagah) speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of justice.” So, if we are meditating and studying and thinking and muttering away to ourselves as we talk to the Lord about His Word, as we’re doing that, well, then our mouth will speak out wisdom. Amen.

Psalm 71:24: “My tongue shall talk” (that’s also hagah) off Thy righteousness all the day long.”

Proverbs 8:7: “For my mouth shall speak (hagah) truth. And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.” I like that Scripture: “For my mouth shall speak truth.”

Now that’s a good affirmation, isn’t it? “My mouth shall speak truth.” Proverbs 8:7, now that’s a good Scripture for even your little children to memorize. You know, when you first start your children memorizing the Word of God, you start them on just little Scriptures. Yes, just little ones. Well, here’s a little one they can all remember: “My mouth shall speak truth.”

Of course, it’s good for all the older ones too. That’s a good Scripture to say in the morning, when you come together and you’re having Bible reading and prayer. Now here’s a good affirmation. It’s good to have affirmations. It’s good for all of you, the whole family, mom, dad, all the children, even to the little ones, to speak it out loud. So, here’s a good one to take: “For my mouth shall speak truth.”

Maybe you’ll have to bring that up throughout the day. Perhaps when, maybe they’re even telling a little lie. You’ll have to say, “Now, what does God’s Word say? ‘My mouth shall speak truth.’” That goes deep into their hearts, and they will know that anything that comes out of their lips must be truth. They dare not speak a lie. No, only truth.

And too, even for us, the more we meditate in the Word, the more we will be speaking truth, because we’re meditating in God’s Word, which is the truth.

“Thy Word is true from the beginning,” the Word of God says in Psalm 119:160. As we are filling our hearts with truth, well then, surely, it’s got to start coming out of our mouths, so we’ll be speaking truth. Truth will be coming out of our mouths, through our children, and to people around us, when we’re talking and when we’re fellowshipping.

 Oh, when we’re having maybe supper and inviting people over, I love to ask this question: “What has God been saying to you? What revelations are you receiving from the Word?” It’s so sad when some people have nothing to say. Obviously, they haven’t been in the Word because if we are in the Word, and meditating on the Word, well, it will be in us. It will be wanting to come out of us, and we’ll be wanting to speak truth.

There is one couple that we often have over to enjoy Shabbat with us. Oh, how we enjoy fellowship with this couple. Why? Because, I only have to say that question, “What’s God been saying?” And then they have so much they want to share, and I have so much I want to share and Colin has so much he wants to share. We all have so much we want to share. It is so stimulating, so encouraging, so wonderful when we’re all speaking truth, the truth that God has been giving us.

Isn’t that how it should be in our fellowship amongst the body of Christ? That’s why God speaks about fellowship. And fellowship and food go together. When we’re at the table, we’re eating, and enjoying our food, but we’re fellowshipping, and the greatest fellowship is talking about the things of God, and His truth, and His understanding of His Word. There is nothing that enriches your soul more. It is just so delightful.

That’s all part of meditation. Speaking out what God has given you in the Word. That’s why I believe it also says in Hebrew 10:25: “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but so much the more, as you see the day approaching.” It’s not only just meeting at church, but also the continuing fellowship. That’s why we love to have fellowship meal after church. Some churches are too big to do that.

But we can continue that by inviting a family home for a meal. In fact, all our lives, we have either had a fellowship meal in our church, or if the church that we’ve been pastoring has not done that, we would invite a family or families home after church to fellowship with. Oh, what blessed times they were! Just talking about the things of God, the things we’ve been meditating on during the week. And now we’re speaking them out because that is part of meditation. If we’re meditating, we will begin to speak it out.

Well, time has come again, precious, lovely ladies. May the Lord bless you. I am excited to continue telling you about all these wonderful principles of what God wants to do about His precious Word which are so important to pass on to our children.

“Dear Father, I thank You for all these precious wives, mothers, and children listening today, or this evening. I pray that You will bless them. I pray that You will, Lord, just give them such a delight, a delight in Your Word, and a delight to pray, and a delight to be in Your Presence.

“Lord, I pray that Your Word will become so precious to them, Lord God. Lord, that You will help them to live by Your Word, not by the ways of society, but by Your Word.

“Pour out Your blessing all over them. Over their home, and over their business, and over their children. I ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THESE PODCASTS AND TRANSCRIPTS.

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell, Above Rubies”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

P.S. The psalmist speaks about meditating on God’s Word six times in Psalm 119. Verses 15, 23, 48, 78, 97, and 148.

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 430: GUARDING THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE

Today we begin a new series discovering the Hebrew word shamar, which means "to guard, preserve, watch over." What is the first thing God wants us to guard? Check it out. 

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hi, ladies! Well, last week we finished our series, “The Flourishing Mother.” I hope you were able to listen to all those podcasts. I trust that they have helped you to become a flourishing mother.

Now I’m going to start a new series today. But first, I thought I would talk to you about all the amazing words that God uses to call our children. Beautiful words like “arrows, blessings, princes, rewards.” Even “gold” and over 20 different amazing words.

But then I realized I had already completed this series with you, and I’d forgotten. Well, if I’d forgotten, you maybe have forgotten too. So, if you never got to listen to that series, you can go back. It’s podcasts 297 - 306. And then I noticed that I’d also talked about it way back in podcasts 63 and 64, so you can go back and listen to those. They’re worth listening to.

But there is one word that the Bible doesn’t use that we use very frequently today. And that’s the word “kids.” That’s the most common word for children today. Most mothers call their children “kids” when they’re talking about them or if they’re talking to them. And I have to admit that way back in the early days, I used to do the same. It shows us how we are so easily influenced by society around us.

But it’s not actually a Bible word for “children.” I first was awakened to this years ago, when we were living in Australia. I was reading an article about a New Zealand farmer. We actually originally come from New Zealand. This farmer had diversified from sheep farming to goat farming.

He said in this article that he noticed a big difference in the way the mother goats mothered their little ones compared to sheep, and how the goat mothers would often leave their little kids on the knoll of the hill. Off they’d go to forage, just leaving them there. And then, eventually they would come back to them. But they never stayed with them all the time.

When I read that, my ears pricked up! I began to think that before I got carried too far away, I thought I’d better talk to my father. My father was not a goat farmer, but my father was a sheep shearer, and he knew sheep. He sheared over a million sheep in his lifetime. He was the champion shearer of the world in his day.

I said to him, “Is it true?” And he said, “Oh, yes.” And he said, “What’s more, Nancy, an ewe (a mother sheep) will never go any further than earshot from her little lambs.” As I understood this, I thought, “Oh! Is this why, in our society today, that mothers called their children ‘kids’?” We’ve become goat mothers, because so many mothers today will leave their little ones, even their babies! They take them to daycare, or leave with someone else, or even with grandma for the day while they go and do their thing or do their career.

Now that is goat mothering. It’s not sheep mothering. And do you remember, of all the animals in the whole wide world, God chose to call us His sheep. He doesn’t call us by the name of any other animal, but He calls us His sheep. “My sheep . . .  the sheep of My pasture . . .  My sheep hear My voice.” We are His sheep and His lambs.

I can remember back in New Zealand, I remember one time, I thought, “I want to get a lovely picture of a little lamb nursing from the mother and take it back to the USA where we live now because a lot of people here don’t know a lot about sheep. So, I was getting up close to take this picture, and this sheep began to run away because she didn’t want to be around a human. But I noticed that she stopped and came straight back, because even though she was afraid of me, she would not leave her little lamb. She stayed by her.

But anyway, go back and listen to those podcasts. Can I give you a little challenge? If you're not aware of the challenge, do you think it would be a good idea to stop calling your children “kids”? Because it’s not a biblical word. It’s actually a very humanistic word because the character of the goat is opposite to the character of the sheep.

The goat is very independent and very proud. If you've ever had anything to do with goats, you’ll know they always want to be standing on the topmost thing because they’ve got to be ruling the place.

It’s interesting too. Let me take you, I won’t get too long on this, but just a little reminder about it in Matthew 25:31 at the end of time: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

“And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

But then, we go over to verses 45 and 46, talking about the goats. It says: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” And so, we see here how God separates His sheep from the goats.

Dear ladies, when I realized, wow! Why are we calling our children “kids” when that’s goat mothering? I decided I was going to kick that habit, and I did it cold turkey. I actually stopped immediately because I realized I did not want to be part of goat mothering. And so, you can kick it cold turkey. Some people, it takes a little bit longer. But I challenge you to stop calling your children “kids” because whatever words we use, they have impact upon our children’s character.

Now, the most common word for “children” in the Bible is “children.” That’s the Hebrew word ben. It literally means (you can go to the Strong’s Concordance, and you will read) “the builder of the family name.” Isn’t that a wonderful meaning? Because that’s what our children are. They’re helping to build the family and build the family name.

Tell your children what it means, and start calling them “children.” Start calling them your “rewards” and your “blessings” and, of course, you can use your own endearing names, like “my darlings,” and “my precious ones,” and “my little lambkins,” and whatever lovely names you want to call them. Anything is better than “kids.” OK?

So, the new series that I’m going to start sharing with you is something I’m studying in the Word myself at the moment. And, of course, I love to share it with you. It all began with my reading again Genesis 2:15, where God put the man in the garden. It says here: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

Last session, I was sharing with you how I looked up the Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible and found out that it says therein the Hebrew, because I checked the Hebrew as well, that God put the man in the garden for rest. Another version says: “And God rested the man in the garden.” That was a beautiful thought.

But then, He also gave him the mandate “to dress it” which means “to work, to till” and “to keep it.” That is the word shamar. Shamar is a wonderful Hebrew word. The word shamar means “to guard, to observe, to give heed to, to keep watch over, to protect, to watch, to hedge about.” The main theme of that word is to guard over something, to hedge about it, to keep it from being destroyed or lost, and to preserve it. What a beautiful word!

And why do we guard things? Well, we guard the things that are precious to us, don’t we? The things that are special, the things that are precious, the things that we do not want to lose. People guard their money. They put it in the bank for safekeeping. Some people put their jewels in the bank for safekeeping. But if we have something very precious and valuable, we’ll want to guard it. We’ll put it in a safe. We’ll make sure that it’s protected and it won’t be lost. It won’t be tarnished. It won’t be destroyed.

So, I thought, “Wow! I want to find out all the things that God wants us to guard in His Word.” I went to the Hebrew, and I looked up every single Scripture with the word shamar. Well, it’s been such an amazing, wonderful study.

I’m going to share some of it with you. I began to write down what specifically are the things God wants us to guard? I got all the Scriptures written so I could then go through them and see particularly which things He specifies that He wants us to guard.

No. 1. GUARD AND KEEP THE HOME

The first one, number one, is the one I’ve just shared with you from Genesis 2:15. This is the very first time the word shamar is written in the Bible. In studying the Bible, there is something very important to know. And that is, the law of the first mention. Did you get that? The law of the first mention. When something is mentioned the first time, it is very important. God will never deviate from that statement. He will add to it throughout the Word, but it is a foundation of a truth. When it’s written the first time, we must take notice.

Isn’t it amazing, ladies, that the first time that this is used is regarding the home? God put the man in the garden to guard, and protect, and preserve the home. That is the first thing we have to guard because it’s precious. God is the one Who created marriage, family, and the home. God created the home.

In fact, He created the home before He even created the mother. Man was created before the home but not the woman. God created the home, the Garden of Eden, the place of delight before He created the woman because He created the home for her. It was where He wanted her to be, and to find her place, and her enjoyment, and her fulfillment, and her purpose in that home. So, when she woke up to life, there she was, in the home, that place of delight.

And it was a very precious place because God created it. It was His plan and it was beautiful. It was called “delight.” This is the first prototype of all homes. He wants us to make our homes a delight. And He wants us to watch over them, and to guard them, because God Himself is a Guarder. He is a Keeper.

Oh, yes. I think that’s the most common word that is used for the word shamar, is “to keep.” We even read in Psalm 121, that beautiful psalm, how God says that He is the “Keeper of Israel.”

Verse 3: “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy Keeper.” This is all the word shamar.

Every time we read this word “keeper” it’s shamar. The Lord is thy Shamar, thy keeper, thy guarder, thy protector, thy preserver.

“The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand . . . The LORD shall preserve thee (that’s shamar) from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

Those words were literally spoken about Israel because Israel is precious to God. God says: “I will keep Israel.,” Of course, we know how that even though they were scattered to the four corners of the earth, God keeps His promises. He is bringing them back to the land.

One day He is going to reveal Himself to them again. God is keeping Israel. They will never be lost. They will be forever because God is their Keeper. But they are also His promises to us too. He is our Keeper, our Preserver. Oh, how wonderful! The Preserver of our soul. And He’s a great Keeper.

You know the best place to keep your treasures, ladies? You know, don’t you? It’s in the eternal realm. Look, we see here in Matthew 6, when Jesus was speaking on the Sermon on the Mount.

He says here in Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

So, remember, the best Keeper of our special and most valuable things, our treasures, is God’s keeping power in the eternal realm. We need to be laying up treasures in Heaven.

It makes me think of 1 Peter 1, where it says that we have been “begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God.” Oh, yes, God is our Keeper, and our Guarder, our Preserver, and He also gives this mandate to us too.

As I am sharing with you now, the No. 1 point, I guess you won’t be taking notes because you could be doing something else as you are listening. Or, if you are just sitting down, you can take notes. This is NO. 1 if you are taking notes, GUARD YOUR HOME.

And, of course, we go over to the New Testament, and we see the same thought there coming in Titus 2:3-5 where it says the older women are to teach the younger women to be “keepers at home.” There’s that word “keeper” again. We read about it so much in the Old Testament and I’ll be telling you many, many things that God wants us to guard and keep, but here, we see it right over in the New Testament regarding the home again. Yes! The very first thing we must guard.

The Greek word is oikourgos, and it means “caring for the home, a stayer at home, a worker and guardian of the household.” The Geneva Bible brings out that “there shall be no gadding about.” That’s an old-fashioned word. “Gadding about” means going here and going there. But instead, we are to be content in the home. This word is a picture of a mother with children. That’s really God’s picture.

In Psalm 128:3, we see the picture of the wife in the heart of the home, in the innermost part of the home with all her children around her and her children sitting at her table which is the opposite today of the woman with her business briefcase. Today we see that a lot, but it’s not God’s picture. Feminism blasphemes God’s Word. Femininity brings glory to God. That’s the word at the end of that passage.

When we refuse to embrace that beautiful phrase of being “keepers at home,” keepers, yes, working in the home, but guarding it, and preserving it, because it’s precious, it’s valuable in God’s eyes. And so, dear mothers, that’s a mandate you have from God, to watch over your household, and your children, and your marriage, and your home.

Oh, it’s a great big task because it’s so vast. It’s in your marriage which you are guarding. Oh yes, you've got to guard your marriage. My, Satan is out to get marriages. He can come in so subtly. We’ve got to constantly guard our marriage, guard over the lives of our children with our beady, watchdog eyes. Oh yes, this is such an important thing, because Satan is always trying to get in and we’ve got to be watching and guarding.

And then, we’re watching over the ways of our household, which it talks about in Proverbs 31, watching over our home as we manage and run the home. So, it’s a beautiful mandate that God has given to women. It’s the No.1. Amen?

So, whatever else you think is precious, and you're trying to guard in your life, well, it’s down the list. Your home, your marriage, your family, your children, are No.1. Amen?

No. 2. GUARD AND KEEP ONE ANOTHER

Isn’t that interesting? Genesis 4:9: “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?” He was answering that in the negative, but God expected him to be his brother’s keeper. Yes, his literal brother.

This is something that we must teach our children, all of our children. They have siblings and each one of them is to keep one another. We’re to be the keeper of our brothers and our sisters. And then, of course, it goes into the more extended church family where we are to also keep and guard one another, look out for one another, protect one another, preserve one another, guard one another, bless one another, pray for one another, and encourage one another, and so on. There are so many “one another’s” in the Bible, but this one here is that we’ve got to keep one another. That’s the second one.

No. 3. KEEP AND GUARD GOD’S COMMANDMENTS

It’s the word shamar, and yet it’s most translated: “Keep God’s commandments.” This particular one, No. 3, wow! God speaks about this so much in His Word. I found over 120 Scriptures saying that we must keep God’s commandments and statutes and so on.

And I noticed that it says the Scripture “Keep God’s commandment,” 40 times just in the book of Deuteronomy. And then it’s 18 times just in Psalm 119. So, I won’t be reading 120 Scriptures, but I’ll give you a few.

The first one, it’s the first time we read it, Genesis 26:5: “Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” then it goes on to say how God blessed him because he did that. But I noticed something there. Did you notice, as I was reading that God calls His commandments “My commandments, My statutes, My laws”?

They’re not just any old laws. They’re not just any old commandments. They’re not man’s commandments. They are God’s commandments, and over and over again, we read where God says “My commandments.” He always calls them “Mine.” That’s why we have to guard them, and watch over them, and make sure we keep them, because they are important. They’re valuable. They’re precious because they’re God’s commandments.

God does not just give anything for the sake of it. Every word He gives is for a reason. It’s not in vain. It’s not just, “OK, here’s something I want to say.” No, it’s for a purpose. It’s for a reason. And so, we must guard them.

As I was writing all these Scriptures where it says “Keep My commandments” I begin to see a lot of different principles about keeping God’s commandments. And I began to see a lot of promises if we do keep them. And so, I have got all the principles on a big list and then I’ve got all the promises.

So, can I start telling you some of the principles? OK, we’ll start with them, the principles about keeping God’s commandments.

Number one. We must keep them from the HEART!

Oh, that is a beautiful thing. Deuteronomy 5:29: “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would . . . keep all My commandments.”

You see, God doesn’t want us to keep His commandments because of, “Oh well, we just have to. It’s the law. I’ve got to do it.” We do it with resignation. Oh, no. In fact, many times the Israelites did that and God said, “No, I don’t want that. I want your heart. I want it from your heart.”

I think that is an important thing too, my lovely mothers. As we are teaching our children God’s ways, and God’s Word, I know you're wanting to faithfully teach them His commandments because it’s such an important thing for them to know, the commandments of the Lord. We’re going to look into more and more of them as we get time. But teach them to do them from the heart. Teach them how God wants their hearts first, before anything else. Unless we’re doing it from the heart, well, it doesn’t really please God.

Let me read a few Scriptures about this. Proverbs 4:20-23: “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart . . . Keep thy heart with all diligence.” This is where God wants us to have them, in our hearts.

The New Living Translation says, “Let them penetrate deep in your heart.”

Deuteronomy 20:16: “Do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”

Deuteronomy 32:46: “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day.” Set your hearts. Yes, not, “Thou must do this, and look out if you don’t!” No, God says, “I’m giving you these for your blessing.” We’re going to look into the blessings later. I want you to do them from your heart. Amen?

Number two: We must keep them ALWAYS!

 In that same Scripture, Deuteronomy 5:29: “Keep all My commandments always.” Not just sometimes, but always.

In Deuteronomy 11:1: “Keep His commandments always.”

2 Kings 17:37 talks about keeping them forevermore.

In Psalm 119:44: “So shall I keep Thy law continually forever and ever.”

Number three: We must keep them ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES!

In Deuteronomy 12:8, it says: “These are the statutes and judgements which you shall observe all the days that you live upon the earth.”

Deuteronomy 4:9-10: “That they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth.”

Aren’t these beautiful principles, dear mothers, to teach our children? When we’re teaching them God’s Word, and all the things God wants to say to us, remind your children that God wants us to receive them and do them from the heart. And He wants us to do them always, not just sometimes, when we feel like it, and when it suits us. No, but always and to keep them all the days of our lives.

Number four: We must keep ALL God’s commandments!

We don’t get to pick and choose. It’s easy isn’t it to obey the ones that are easy for us to obey. “Oh, yes, that’s lovely, fits in with our lifestyle.” Oh, boy. But then, many times, we’re challenged. I’m always challenged. I keep getting challenged by the Word of God. “Oh, here’s another thing God wants me to do, but, ooh, that’s not easy to do. It’s opposite of the world. Oh goodness me, I’m going to look a freak doing this!”

But no. Are we prepared to obey and keep all God’s commandments? All? And we go back to that beautiful Scripture we started with. Maybe this would be a good memory verse for your children.

Deuteronomy 5:29: “Oh, that there were such a heart in them that they would keep all My commandments.” Yes, not just some of them. All of them.

What about the very first commandment God ever gave? The first words that came out of His mouth to man when He created man were: “Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth.” Yes, “take dominion.” Isn’t that amazing that so many believers don’t even take one tiny bit of notice of that command, and yet, it was the very first one that God gave, the first one that God gave to man. Wow! Help! God says: “Keep all My commandments.” I think it’s very important to keep the first. Don’t you?

Deuteronomy 8:1: “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do.” That word “observe” is shamar.

Deuteronomy 13:18: “When thou shalt harken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments.”

Deuteronomy 32:46: “Set your heart unto all the words that I give you this day.” And many other Scriptures as well.

OK, I think I have come to the end, so we’ll continue with more next time, dear ladies. I do pray that this will be a very precious study that I will share with you over the coming weeks. We’ll see how long it takes. But this is something for us personally, and for our children. Oh, lovely mothers, these are most important and precious principles for you to share with your children. And so, we’re going to keep on discovering what they are. Amen?

“Dear Father, we do thank You so much for Your wonderful Word. We thank You, Lord God, that You make so clear Your ways to us. You show us what You want us to guard. You’ve shown us, Lord, that the first things that we are to guard are our marriage and family and the home.

“Lord, You want us to also keep and guard Your commandments. Lord, teach us, Lord, and help us to be those who don’t just take them lightly, but, Lord, who embrace them with all our hearts. We will have in our hearts to follow them always, and to follow all of them, all the days of our lives.

“And, Lord, we pray that these beautiful principles will get into the hearts and lives and minds of our children, and that they will become lovers of Your Word. And that they will love the joy of keeping Your commandments. We ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Tell other wives and mothers about these podcasts and transcripts!

FURTHER SCRIPTURES ABOUT KEEPING ALL GOD’S COMMANDENTS:

Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 10:12; 17:19; 11:8, 22; 31:12: and Joshua 1:7, 8. And I am sure there are more!

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 429: THE FLOURISHING MOTHER, PT 11

Today we conclude this wonderful series with THE FLOURISHING MOTHER HAS HER EYES ON THE ETERNAL GOAL. Motherhood is an eternal career, above every other career, as we train and prepare eternal souls for the eternal kingdom.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Today we’re getting to our last point on this wonderful series, “How to be a Flourishing Mother.” But before I get onto this last point, which is number 13, I have a few thoughts to share with you.

Last week we were speaking on the subject of THE FLORUISHING MOTHER HAS A SERVANT’S HEART. I spent most of that podcast sharing Scriptures with you. Of course, the Scriptures are the most powerful thing that I can share with you, but I didn’t get time to share anything practical. So, I want to share just a little bit today about that, because all right, we spoke about having a servant’s attitude in our homes.

I believe that servant attitude starts with our husbands, of course, and then our children. We serve our husband, we serve our children, we serve our homes. But it starts with our husbands. I want to encourage you, lovely ladies, to delight in serving your husband. I think we talked about these Scriptures in the last podcast.

Matthew 20:28, which says: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” That just means “to serve.” For “the son of man came not to be served, but to serve.” That’s what Jesus came to do. When I looked up that word “serve” in my Greek lexicon, it says it means, “a domestic servant; to offer food and drink.”

It even says these words: “a woman preparing food; to supply food and the necessities of life; to serve another’s interests; to wait upon someone.” Well, that sounds like serving food in our homes, doesn’t it? That’s a description.

And so, my lovely darling ladies, please don’t look down upon serving your husband his food. Even serving him breakfast, maybe before he gets out to work to make sure you give him a wholesome breakfast before he leaves. That is part of our serving ministry. It’s part of who we are as a wife, to be his helper, to help him be prepared to go out and face that day as he provides for our home.

I remember when I got to podcast 400, today it’s 429. I said to all of the ladies, “If you have listened to 400 podcasts, let me know, and tell me how you have been blessed.” I was surprised at how many shared with me that they had actually listened to 400 podcasts. Now I think that is pretty amazing.

Anyway, one lovely lady emailed back and said that she had, and also that she had been challenged through my podcasts to start serving her husband, and to delight in preparing meals for the family. She shared with her friends how she had started getting up and getting breakfast for her husband before he left for work. She was telling her friends how that had become such a blessing in their relationship.

And you know what? She said her friends said to her, “Oh, you're crazy!” They thought she was crazy because she was reaching out and taking time to serve her husband breakfast. Can you believe it? No wonder we have such a breakdown of marriage in our society today when wives don’t even think that they should serve their husband breakfast! They think a wife is crazy to do that? Goodness, where are we at? You can’t believe it, can you?

I think back to after Jesus had risen from the dead, and I love this story. Jesus wanted to find His disciples because He had a specific word He wanted to give to Peter. We read about this in John 21, the last chapter of John. We find that when Jesus went down to the Galilee, He saw His disciples. They were out on Lake Galilee fishing.

As they came to shore, the Bible says that they saw a fire glowing there. There was seen on that fire; there was fish, and there was bread. And Jesus was cooking breakfast. Now, just get this, ladies. This is Jesus, the Creator of the world, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, just risen from the dead. And what is He doing? He’s cooking! He’s cooking for His disciples.

Sometimes there are many mothers who think, “Oh! Cooking’s too lowly for me! I just have to do it, but it’s not my thing.” No, lovely ladies, this was something Jesus wanted to do for His disciples, even after He had risen from the dead. And we read here, in verse 12: “And Jesus said to His disciples, come and dine!”

And then in verse 13, it says: “Then Jesus comes and takes bread, and gives them the fish and the bread.” He gives it to them. He serves them. He doesn’t even say, “Come and get it, guys!” No, He takes it and He gives it to them. He takes the role of a servant and serves them. He’s showing us the example, not only of laying down His life to take upon Himself our sins and the sins of the world, but even after rising from the dead, He’s still walking in this servant attitude. He’s cooking. He’s serving His disciples.

And so, lovely ladies, don’t despise cooking meals for your family. Oh, that’s just a very practical way of serving. But it’s one of the most basic ways that we do in our family. So, delight in it. Amen? I just want to remind you about that.

This last week, I came across a very interesting revelation that I had never seen before. It kind of ties in here with what we are talking about at the moment. But it’s in a Scripture, a Scripture I know so well. I quote it so many times. I’ve preached on it. But I’ve never seen this understanding before.

Genesis 2:15: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

I think you know what the word “Eden” is, don’t you? The word “Eden” in the Hebrew means “delight, pleasure, enjoyment.” In fact, one translation calls it the “paradise of enjoyment.” And the Garden of Eden was the prototype of the very first home. This is what God wants all our homes to be. He wants us to make them a delight, a place of pleasure, a place of enjoyment.

But then it goes on to say that He put the man in the garden “to dress it and to keep it.” Well, the word “dress” in the Hebrew is abad. It means “to work, to till the land.” And “to keep it” is the Hebrew word shamar, and it means “to guard, to watch over.” So, God put the man in the garden to work at it, and to guard and watch over it.

I was reading that Scripture again and looking up a few different translations on it. I’m a great King James Bible reader but I love to also look at other translations. I thought, “I’ll look up the Young’s Literal Translation.” That’s by Robert Young who also compiled the Young’s Concordance which was published in 1879.  It’s a very literal translation and this is what it says: “And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.”

Wow! I’d never seen those words “causeth him to rest” before! Because I’d never read this translation. Wow! I thought, “Why, I’d better check some more translations!” I did find it in two other translations too. I found it in the Literal Standard Version. It seems to be in the literal translations and also in the Berean Literal Bible.

Once again, it says the same thing: “And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.” Exactly the same as the Young’s Literal Translation. I thought, “Well, wow! Where did they get that?” So, I’ve got to go back to the Hebrew, back to the original.” So, I go back to there and I look it up, and I find, “Yes, it is there!

It’s the Hebrew word yanah and it means “to rest, to settle down, to repose.” It also means “to lay down, or to set down.” And, of course, I guess if you lay something to rest, if you lay it down on a table, well, it’s going to rest there, isn’t it? But in the Hebrew Lexicon, the first meaning is “to rest.” So, those translations were absolutely correct. God put the man . . .  in fact, one translation says: “The Lord God resteth Adam in the Garden of Eden.”

Now that is the prototype for all homes. So, when God puts us in our home, he puts us there, He rests us in our home. The Bible calls a home “a resting place.” But then I had to think, “Well, how does this work? Because God puts us in the home to rest.” There it is. It’s in the Hebrew, dear ladies.

And there’s another Scripture which says: “In your own home, the Lord says, I will give you rest.” And so, God’s heart is for us to live in a home of rest. But how on earth do we do that, when we’ve got to work! Wow! And then it also says that “God put the man.” He rested the man in the home to work, to till the ground, and to watch over it. Of course, this was before the fall.

It was after the fall that all the thistles and everything came and it all became more difficult to work at. But it was still work. God gave work before the fall, and He gave work to Adam, to keep that land, to till it But He wanted him to do it in an attitude of rest, with enjoyment. Yes, he had to work hard. I think this is something we have to learn.

This was a whole new revelation to me, and I hope it is for you, lovely ladies. But yes, we’ve got to work in our homes. And we have to work hard to keep our homes in good order, and manage them, and care for our children. Many times, at the end of the day, you are, ooh, you are so ready to just put your head on the pillow and get that restful sleep for the night.

But God wants us to work. But He wants us to do it in an attitude of rest. I do believe we come to that when we embrace it with joy, and we’re not doing it with resignation. “Oh, I’ve just got to do this. Poor me!” Or with a whole lot of complaints and groaning.

But no, we’re doing it for delight. We’re doing it as worship unto the Lord. Yes, because we’re serving our home. That literal translation, remember it says: “to serve it, and to keep it.” To serve it, and to keep it. And so, we’re serving in our home, but we’re doing it with delight. So, even when it’s hard work, even hard physical work. Hard physical work can be enjoyable! It all depends on our attitude.

I always remember reading, years and years ago about this man of God. He had a full ministry, but he always signed his letters “restfully busy.” I’ve never forgotten that. I think that’s a beautiful thing too, if we can get into taking this attitude into serving in our home, to be restfully busy.

Do you think you can have a restfully busy day today? Oh, I know you've got lots to do. And if it’s getting too much, sometimes you're taking on too much. Maybe taking on too much outside the home because God will give you grace for what you have to do in the home. That is the task He’s given you, to be this manager of the home.

But to do it in an attitude of rest, knowing that God, who is rest, dwells in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. He lives in rest. Nothing gets Him uptight; nothing gets Him in a state of confusion or all that uptightness. No, He lives in rest and He lives in you. Amen? Well, may you be blessed with that little revelation that I got from the Word this last week.

Now, we’re onto the last point.

No. 13. THE FLOURISHING MOTHERT HAS HER EYES ON THE ETERNAL GOAL

This is the last point, dear ladies. This is such a powerful point, perhaps the greatest of all, that we mother with our eyes on the eternal goal. If we’re just mothering from day to day, just getting through each day, we’re most probably just surviving.

But if we can get an understanding that we are mothering for eternity, that what we are doing, even the most mundane jobs, God sees them. He sees you in your home, and this is where He has placed you. You are in His perfect will. Everything you are doing is for eternity because you are serving and keeping your home to make it a home where God dwells, and your children are raised in a home in the presence of the Lord, preparing them for eternity. You have your eyes on the eternal goal.

You know that your children are eternal souls, so you're not mothering just for this life. You’re not mothering just, oh, so they will get a good career. Well, yes, you want them to have a good career, and especially that your sons will have a good career that can provide for their families. You will be preparing them to be good providers and so on.

But ultimately, you are preparing them for eternity. Can you get this in your heart, lovely ladies? Oh, I know, I even would forget. It’s so easy in the midst of the whole grind of everyday life, and everything we have to do, to forget the eternal goal. But if we can seek to keep that before us, that would be so wonderful.

Let’s go to 1 Thessalonians 2:19. I love this Scripture here. This is Paul, speaking about the young Thessalonian Christians. They were like his babes in Christ, his children he was growing in the Lord. What does he say about them? “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.”

If Paul could say that about those young believers, what about our very own children? Because this is what God has given us to do, to disciple them, and prepare them for eternity. So, when we stand before the Lord, we bring them before the Lord, and they are our hope and our joy and our crown of rejoicing as we present them before the Lord in the eternal realm. They are all there. Not one is lost, and they are our glory and our joy!

And so, we are seeking to lead them to Jesus, even at an early age, I do believe, mothers, that children living in a godly home where the Word of God is read every day, hopefully every morning and every evening, and that Word is going into their hearts, even as a little babe is at the breast, nursing from the mother, or on the mother’s knee and the father is reading the Word . . . .

As they’re growing, and becoming little toddlers, and they’re getting to three or four years of age, that Word is in their hearts. They may not understand it fully, but that Word is there, and that Word is powerful. Even as the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:15, a most powerful Scripture. Here Paul is talking to Timothy, and he says: “And that from a child thou hast known” (thou hast known) “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Now the word “child” there is the Greek word brephos. That word was used of Jesus when He was in the womb! It was used of Jesus when He was a babe lying in the manger and the angels said to the shepherds: “You will find a babe lying in a manger” and the word “babe” is brephos. It’s the same word as “child” here. So, the word brephos means “a babe in the womb, a newborn babe, a little child.”

And it’s speaking of a child, not an adult. A child. “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.” And children, young children who have the Scriptures getting into them, the Scriptures prepare them for salvation. And they can be prepared to receive Christ into their hearts. Many of our children came to know Jesus when they were about four years of age. Is that too young? No. That moment is still real in their lives even in their sixties today. It’s something that is real.

Watch out for your children. Be watching to see when their hearts are tender, and when they may be ready to receive Jesus. You can ask them, “Would you like Jesus to come into your heart to be your Savior?” And many times, they are ready, and they’ll say yes.

It can become a very real thing in their lives as they invite Christ in, because I want to tell you, the devil is after your children. He wants to get into their minds, and into their souls, even from an early age. But we want Jesus to get into their lives, into their hearts, into their minds, into their souls from a very early age, so they belong to Him. Because they are eternal souls, and we want them to be ready for the everlasting kingdom. Hallelujah! Oh, how glorious.

Just the other day, I was thinking of John 3:16. Every single one of us knows that Scripture by heart. All your children know it. Children listening, I’m sure you all know John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is the greatest hope, the greatest promise, the greatest Scripture in the Word of God; that when we believe on Him, we receive everlasting life.

We are preparing for everlasting life that will be forever and ever. Our minds cannot take it in, but we need to dwell on this. We need to have it before us. And we need to be constantly reminding our children of it, so that as they grow up, they are growing up with eternity before them, knowing that their lives are preparing for eternity. And only what comes from eternity will last.

It’s like that quote:

“Only one life ‘twill soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Do you know that quote? I was brought up on that quote, and I taught my children that quote. They all know it. It was quoted by a man named Charles Studd. He was known as CT Studd. He was a famous cricketeer in England. He became very famous. He came from a very wealthy family.

But he came to know Jesus, and when he came to know Jesus, he gave up his fame as a cricketeer. He gave up all his wealth. He was left an inheritance which he could have lived on for the rest of his life. He just gave it all away, and he went out to the mission field. He went out to China first. He was there for ten years in China, then seven years in India. Then in Africa for 20 years.

He just poured out his life for God. He was the one who wrote that saying. He also quoted this one:

“If Jesus Christ be God, and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for Him.”

Isn’t that powerful? That’s another quote that I grew up on. Here’s another quote from CT Studd:

“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell.

I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

That was the kind of guy he was.

Then I also love that quote by, well, we think it’s by Jim Elliott. He’s the one who’s known to have said it because he quoted it and he wrote it. But I’ve actually checked it out, and it was first written by Phillip Henry. Phillip Henry was the father of the famous Matthew Henry who wrote the whole commentary of the Bible.

This is a quote from Jim Elliott:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”

The original quote from Phillip Henry is, “He is no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed for that which he cannot lose.”

By the way, did you see the recent movie that came out called The Great Awakening? Such a wonderful movie that speaks about and shows about George Whitfield and also Benjamin Franklin. It’s how George Whitfield prepared the way for the Great Awakening in America.

I also read that George Whitfield was born the year that Matthew Henry died. When he was converted, he got hold of Matthew Henry’s commentary. It says in his biography that he read through Matthew Henry’s commentary four times, twice while on his knees in prayer. He took it everywhere with him.

OK, so, lovely ladies, teach that quote to your children.

“Only one life ‘twill soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Amen? Teach them to live for eternity. Give them a heart to serve the Lord, to give their whole lives to the Lord. Not partially, not compromisingly, not to be taken up completely with the things of this life, but to put Jesus first, knowing that this life is just such a vapor. It’s here today, and it’s gone tomorrow, just like a little vapor that we see and then it’s gone. The real world is the eternal world. Amen?

Let me take you to a few other Scriptures. 2 Peter. This is a little passage that I have been memorizing recently. Words that are so powerful for us to remember. They’re from 2 Peter 3:10-14: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

“Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

Did you know, ladies, that this earth is going to be burned up? Then we “melt with fervent heat,” and God is going to create new heavens and a new earth (the heavens being the heavenly bodies—the stars, the planets, and so on. It’s all going to be new. New heavens, new earth. This time “wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

The Bible is encouraging us. What does it say? Two times it says here: “Looking for the coming of the Day of God . . . looking for these new heavens.” This is what we are encouraged to do and what we should be doing. We should put this into our children, that they also have a heart that they’re looking, not just for the things of this world, but looking for this day. . . but our hearts are always looking and because we know that He’s coming, we will want to live lives of holiness, without spot, without blame. Amen?

I remember how one Scripture says that He is coming for those who are looking for Him. Are we looking for Him each day? Let’s go over to 1 Corinthians 3. This is another passage that I have been memorizing because they’re such powerful, powerful Scriptures. From verse 11: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” He is the foundation of our lives. If our lives are built on any other foundation, they’re going to fail. Again, to be just like the house that was built on the sand, and it just falls to nothing.

Verse 12: “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

And so, how do we want to get into this eternal kingdom? There are two ways. This passage tells us about getting in “so as by fire.” Wow! It’s a picture of a building that’s burning and everything is just getting burned up. Maybe the family is inside and we get out! Everyone’s saved! You are saved. Maybe the family is saved. But you lose absolutely everything. Some people are going to get into eternity that way. Because they have believed in Jesus they will receive everlasting life.

But they’ve built nothing for eternity. And dear ladies, we are building for eternity here. Yes, we are preparing now for eternity. And so, not only are we doing this, but we must also encourage and put this goal within our children’s hearts too.

But then, of course, there is another way we can get in. 2 Peter tells us how we can get in with an abundant entrance. Isn’t that wonderful? So, let’s plan for that, shall we? An abundant entrance which you can rad about in 2 Peter 1:11.

All right. Oh, goodness me! There are just so many wonderful Scriptures. I won’t have time to give them all to you. Maybe I have time for just one more.

Let’s go over, shall we, to Titus 2. Here’s another one. We’ll read from verse 11: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

Why? Verse 13: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar” (that means “a special”) “people, zealous of good works.”

And so, because we are looking for His coming, we will be encouraged to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. As we give our precious children a vision, and an understanding of the eternal world, we encourage them to live for eternity. That will encourage them to live holy lives, to live before God without spot, and without turning to the right or the left to evil but to run a straight course, keeping their eyes on the eternal world. Amen?

So, lovely ladies, this too, if you have this in your heart, and you know that, oh my, everything that you're doing as a mother will not be wasted. All that time you spend in prayer for your children, and putting the Word into them, and nurturing them, and loving them, and training them, and preparing them for this life, but ultimately the everlasting life.

Wow! You can live as a flourishing mother because you're doing the greatest thing you could ever do in the world! Because it’s something that will last for eternity. Hallelujah!

“Only one life ‘twill soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Amen?

“Oh, dear Father, I pray that You will encourage every mother listening today to realize that she is doing an eternal work, that she will have a new understanding, Lord, of the eternal world. And that her children are eternal souls, created for this eternal world.

“Help us all, Lord, all of us, oh God, to keep our eyes upon You, and what You have for us, and what is ahead. That this life is just such a vapor, and the real world is the eternal world. Help us to live in the light of this. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 428: THE FLOURISHING MOTHER, PT 10

The flourishing mother has a servant heart. When you embrace a servant heart in your home, it will free you to flourish instead of living in self-pity and depression.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. We are continuing our series “The Flourishing Mother.” I do trust that these things that we are talking about are helping you to flourish in your home. Remember God doesn’t want you to only survive and just barely get through each day. He wants you to flourish.

So, what is our point for today?

No. 12. THE FLOURISHING MOTHER HAS A SERVANT HEART

This is another secret, because until we learn that we are servants, and to embrace servanthood, until we realize this and embrace it, we won’t really flourish as a mother. Because when we think that we have to look after “Number One,” and we should be served rather than serving our husband, and our children, and our home, serving those around us. Until we get this, we’re going to be frustrated and thinking, “Poor me!” But when we realize that servanthood is actually part of the godhead, and that servanthood is part of who Jesus is, when we get this, it’s going to help us to flourish as a mother. It’s something we really need to get straight.

I think of that Scripture in Mark 8:35: “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 find it.” This Scripture was a challenge to me as a young mother, because I thought that in mothering I was just losing my life, and everything that I wanted to do. Here I was, stuck in this home with all these children.

But when I realized the Scripture, and that it is an eternal principle, it’s a Kingdom principle, it’s a god principle. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, the same shall find it.” Did you know, precious ladies, that we don’t find our life in trying to look after Number One? No, it doesn’t work that way. It’s an amazing principle of God that when we lose our life in the lives of others, that this is when we find our life.

And so, as I embraced this Scripture and embraced this principle, I was set free from my “poor me” attitude, and “Why can’t people look after me instead of me doing everything?” Well, of course, we’ve got that so much in our society today, haven’t we, with this whole “me” attitude. But no, that only causes frustration, self-pity, and depression. When we live for others, it releases us into blessing. Can you say “amen” to that? Because this is when you will flourish as a mother.

I love that Scripture also, talking about Jesus, in Matthew 20:28, where Jesus said: “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Isn’t that amazing, that Jesus, the One who created us, the Ruler of the Universe, our Creator, our Redeemer, He came, not to be served. He came to serve. So, when we come into our whole role of wifehood and motherhood, we do not come to be served, but we come to serve.

Then we read this Scripture, which is in one of Jesus’ parables in Luke 17:10: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” In fact, I have this Scripture here, but do you know what? I think we should actually look at the whole parable. It’s in Luke 17, so I’m just going to it. I should read the whole thing. Would you like me to read that?

“And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup.” The word “sup” there means “to eat.” In fact, that word is really the main meal of the day, the evening meal.

“And gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” 

Well, that’s quite a challenging parable, isn’t it? I think also of the testimony, not only of Jesus, but of Paul. In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul says: “I have made myself servant unto all.” Wow! That was his testimony.

Over in 1 Corinthians 15:10, he says: “I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Paul wasn’t afraid of hard work. He poured out his soul and body for the gospel, for these young converts that he was bringing into the faith.

Over in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul testifies more. He says in verse 23: “Are they ministers (servants) of Christ? I am more; in labors more abundant.” He did even more than anyone else because he had a servant heart. He had the heart of Jesus.

In fact, we go back to the Old Testament, and we see the messianic prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament. OK, let’s go to Isaiah 42:1-4. There we see that Jesus is spoken of as the “chosen servant.” God called even His own Son a servant.

We go to Isaiah 49. This is quite an amazing, prophetic, messianic chapter, and prophetic chapter. Let’s read from verse 1: “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name. And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel.”

GOD IS GLORIFIED IN SERVING

Now here he is speaking to the nation of Israel and calling Israel a servant. “And said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” You notice two things there that are coupled together, servanthood and being glorified. Listen to it again: “Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” God is glorified in our serving.

So, lovely ladies, when you feel as though you're just a servant, and I have to confess, I can remember back in the early days of my motherhood (until I began to understand the blessing and the glory of serving) I can remember, as I was having to do everything. I didn’t have older children at that time but all little ones, all needing to be cared for. Husband needing to be cared for. The house needing to be cared for.

And I can remember saying, “Oh! I’m just a jolly servant around this place!” Oh goodness me! What a terrible statement! I remember saying that. And then I heard the voice of Jesus in my heart saying, “Nancy, isn’t that what I came to do?” And I had to be rebuked by the Lord Himself. Yes, because even Jesus came to serve.

But here we see, in the Scripture, that God is glorified in serving. So, when you get tempted to feel like you're a servant, remember, in serving, dear mothers, God is glorified in you! And you are showing forth the attitude of Jesus. Amen? So, rejoice in your serving.

Let’s move on to verse five: “Now, saith the LORD that formed Me from the womb to be His servant.” Now it’s talking about Christ. It’s a messianic Scripture, because although God saved Israel to be His servant, they did fail. They failed so many times, didn’t they? Although we know God is going to finally redeem them. But they failed so many times.

And so, He now sends His own beloved Son. “And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength. And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.”

This was God’s plan for Israel. It is still His final plan, because God says that He will. We’re meant to pray night and day and not get off the wall until God makes Israel a light to the world, a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 62:6, 7). But here we see that Christ Himself is going to do this. He will bring Jacob (that’s another word for Israel), He will bring Jacob again to Him.

And what does it say? “Raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel” which is happening now. They are coming back to the land. God is bringing them back more and more and more and more to the land, until they are all there and where He will reveal Himself to them.

So, we see that Israel was a servant, but Christ Himself is a servant. Here in this chapter, we saw Him, Isaiah 42, now Isaiah 49 and over in Isaiah 50, we see Him as the suffering Servant and again in Isaiah 52.

Let’s look at that one. Isaiah 52:13: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.”

It’s amazing that this is the result of servanthood. Here it says, it’s speaking of Christ, it’s a messianic Scripture. It goes on to say: “As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men,” speaking of His crucifixion. And yet it says that there will come the time when he will be “exalted and extolled, and be very high.”

He is that already, but He will one day be that in the eyes of the whole of the world when He comes His second time, not to die for our sins, but to gather His saints, and to bring judgement to the world, and to bring judgement to sin. Yes, I think of that wonderful Scripture in Philippians 2. This is always such an incredible challenge to me also. It always was in my mothering.

TO BE A SERVANT IS TO BE LIKE CHRIST

Philippians 2:5: “Let this mind (or this attitude) “be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Yes, we are to be like Christ! “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant.”

Yes, Jesus came to take on servanthood. Isn’t that amazing? He didn’t come, although He was King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He didn’t come as a king. He came as a servant. Dear precious mothers, be encouraged by that. Realize that to be a servant is to be like Christ.

“And was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” But then, we read on, and we see that, once again, God is glorified in servanthood.

Here he glorifies Christ and says: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” And so, we always see that servanthood is coupled with glorifying, God being glorified. We see it in Christ in the Old Testament, and, of course, in the New Testament. We see it there.

Another Scripture that really speaks to me is 2 Corinthians 5:15. Let me take you to that Scripture, another Scripture that has always been such a challenge to me. I think maybe these Scriptures will be a challenge to you today, dear mothers, but embrace them, because they are eternal principles, and they bring you into freedom, and joy, and glory.

OK, 2 Corinthians 5:15: “And that He” (Jesus) “died for all.” Why? “That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves.” Did you get that?  “That they should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them, and rose again.”

So, we see here the revelation of the gospel. Jesus died, yes, He died for our sins, but He also died to set us free from our self-life, and from our flesh. Yes, He died to set us free from serving ourselves to serve Him. Yes, and how do we serve Him? Jesus is in heaven. How do we serve Him?

By serving His people here on earth, starting first with those who are right close to home. Our husband first, serving him. Yes, marriage is serving him and then serving our children. Of course, we’re going to be teaching them to be servants too. We’re going to teach them how they’re a part of the family, and we all work together. As the children grow, you won’t be just a slave doing everything. You’re teaching them also how to be servants, so you’re all working together. But we have this attitude. Yes, we no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him.

I’d like to give you a few thoughts about this “unto Him.” Have you ever noticed these “unto Him” Scriptures? Oh, wow! There are a lot of “unto Him” Scriptures. This one’s in the New Testament. But I want to take you back to the Old, because everything in the New has its origin in the Old.

Some people don’t read the Old Testament very much. They just think, “Oh, we’re in the New Covenant! We’re in the New now. We don’t need to read the Old.” But guess what? Did you know where the New Covenant started? It started in the Old Testament. We read it in both Jeremiah and in Ezekiel. I’ll put the Scriptures in the transcript (Jeremiah 24:7; 32:39, 40; Ezekiel 11:19, 20; and 36:26, 27).

We read there that this is where God establishes the New Covenant. “I will make a new covenant with you.” And who does He make it with? First, He makes it with Israel. The New Covenant was in the Old and was first made with Israel. We are blessed to come into this glorious New Covenant. So even the “unto Him,” we should no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him, it also has its origin in the Old Testament.

So, let’s have a look at some Scriptures. Exodus 19:4-6: “I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself.” He is talking to Israel here. “You shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all peoples of the earth.” We get it two times in that Scripture. “Unto Me.” “Unto Me.” Two times.

You see, God chose Israel to be a nation unto Him. Sadly, they didn’t always fulfill that but that was His plan. The word “peculiar” in the Hebrew is segullah, and it means “possession, valued property, private property, a special jewel.” And Israel was God’s private possession, His private property. In fact, God chose to be intimate with Israel over every other nation in the world. There’s no other nation to whom God made covenants with. God made four different covenants with Israel. We won’t talk about them all today.

But let’s go to Amos 3:2. He’s speaking again to Israel. “You only,” Only! Did you get that word? “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” That word “known” is the Hebrew word yada, and it means, “intimate knowledge.” It’s also used for sexual intimacy. You’re most probably aware of that. When you see that word in the Old Testament in the Hebrew, yada, it’s used of sexual intimacy.

Here God is using it to speak of His very intimate relationship with Israel. “You only have I known (in a very intimate way) of all the families of the earth;” God created all the families, and all the tribes, and all the nations of the earth, but it’s only with Israel that He made this intimate relationship and intimate covenant. The Bible tells us that God was a husband to Israel and He was married to Israel. God and Israel were meant to be a marriage of “only unto Him.”

This is what marriage is all about. I want to relate these “unto Him” Scriptures to marriage, because I believe this is where we get our original marriage vows, where it says, “To honor, and cherish, and forsaking all others; keep myself only unto you as long as we both shall live.” That is in the marriage vows if you use the original marriage vows.

I think it’s so great for couples today to say the original marriage vows. Some couples love to make their own vows, and that’s beautiful too. But I think they should also say the original marriage vows. I’ve been at a marriage recently where they made their own vows, and they were so beautiful, but they also said the original marriage vows as well.

What does it mean, “forsaking all others?” It’s a very important thing to realize. I believe that when we get married, we forsake all other relationships that are . . . (now, I don’t mean forsaking all other relationships. No. You’re forsaking the fact that you will never ever again go out with another guy on your own).

OK, maybe some guy you knew in college turns up and you’d love to catch up. You think, “Oh, we’ll go out for a cup of coffee together.” No, you won’t. No, because when you're married, you're forsaking all others, and keeping yourself only unto him, your husband.

Now, of course, you can go out together with your husband. As a married couple, you will enjoy such amazing relationships, and fun, and fellowship with other married couples, and even with other singles, and as you have children, with other families. You’ll have all those beautiful, glorious relationships. But you have them with your husband. You no longer will ever forsake that relationship to go out on your own. I don’t believe that that is right.

In fact, we read in Proverbs 5:15-19, and I’ll just pick out the parts of this passage. “Drink waters” (it’s speaking about marriage here) “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well . . . Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.”

Yes, if you look up Deuteronomy 26:16-19, that’s where we see that Israel and God were in a marriage covenant. “You have declared today that He is your God, and you have promised to obey Him.” Wow, this just sounds like a marriage covenant, doesn’t it? Let me start again. “You have declared today that He is your God, and you have promised to obey Him, and keep His law and ordinances, and to heed all He tells you to do. And the Lord has declared today that you are his very own people, just as He promised, and that you must obey all of His laws.”

Deuteronomy 29:12-15: “That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into His oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day . . . for a people unto Himself, and that He may be unto thee a God, as He hath said unto thee, and as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

2 Samuel 7:24: “For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people Israel to be a people unto Thee forever: and Thou, LORD, art become their God.” Isn’t this such a beautiful picture of marriage? That was God’s plan for Israel, that they were to be married only unto Him. Sadly, they forsook Him over and over and over again, and they became like adulterers. He called them “an adulterous nation.”

But God is not giving up. He will never give up on Israel, because do you notice here in the Scripture I just quoted, they’re going “to be a people unto Him forever.” And so, He’s coming again, coming again, when they will understand that He is their Messiah. They will own Him. The New Living Translation says: “You made Israel Your very own people forever, and You, oh Lord, became their God.”

All right. Ezekiel 16:8: “I exchanged marriage vows with you. You became mine, declares the Almighty God.”

The New English Translation says: “I swore a solemn oath to you, and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declared the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.”

So, we see all these beautiful Scriptures of how God made this covenant marriage with Israel. This was the basis for our covenant marriage today with the Lord, of course, but with one another as husband and wife. We are to forsake all others and to be committed only unto him, our husband. Amen.

Well, just one or two more Scriptures so you really get this beautiful revelation for your relationship with the Lord, and with you and your husband.

Leviticus 20:24-25: “I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people . . . And ye shall be holy unto Me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.”

This is the same for marriage. I am separated from all others unto my husband, because I am his. I’m his special, private possession. You know, that’s why it grieves me when I see many young brides coming to the wedding altar. Many times, they’re showing cleavage and so much of their flesh, when, really, what are they doing at the altar?

They’re entering into a covenant of private possession with their husband, where they become his private possession, where their body becomes totally his. They belong to him. And yet, there are some who are showing off themselves to the whole jolly congregation when they’re meant to be making a very beautiful, private covenant with their husband.

OK, Deuteronomy 4:20: “The LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance.”

Deuteronomy 7:6: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

Psalm 135:4: “For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for his treasured possession.” Isn’t that beautiful? I just love how that correlates with us in our own marriage. Did you know that God called Israel “My people” over 170 times? And apart from calling them “My people,” He also calls them “My chosen.”

We who have now become His people and His very own, these are the words He says to us too. “My dearly beloved of My soul; My dear people; My dear children; My sons and daughters; My beloved; My flock; the flock of My pasture; My sheep; My sheep of my pasture; the object of My delight; My elect; My firstborn; My heritage, My inheritance; My glory; My planting; the work of My hands; My nation; My vineyard; My portion; My servant; My witnesses; My redeemed; My assembly.” Everything is “My, My, My,” and I can give you all the Scriptures for them. Such a beautiful revelation (Scriptures below).

But now, as we end this session, lovely ladies, remember that God, the Lord Jesus, and God was in Christ as the Lord Jesus died for us, not only to save us from our sins, but that no longer we would live unto ourselves, but unto Him which died for us. And so, dear lovely ladies, embrace your servanthood. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. We come into our marriage, and into the raising of our families, to serve, not to be served.

But in life, you will find great joy, great blessings. It becomes the delight of your life to serve because you are doing what Christ wants to do. And He dwells in you. He lives in you, and He is a servant in you. He loves to serve. Embrace servanthood, lovely ladies, and it will release you into flourishing in your motherhood.

“Dear Father, I pray that You will bless all these precious mothers listening today, and all the young people and children. Lord, help us all to have this servant attitude, Lord, that You have. You did not come to be served, but to serve.

“Lord, we pray that this will become also our attitude, that we will delight to serve. To serve our husbands, and to serve our family; to serve our home, and then to serve others all around us. Help us to live a life of serving. We ask it in the lovely Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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HOW GOD LOOKS UPON HIS PEOPLE!

The dearly beloved of My soul (Jeremiah 12:7).

My dear people (Jeremiah 14:17).

My dear children (Isaiah 43:6 and Jeremiah 31:20).

My sons and daughters (Isaiah 43:6).

My beloved (Isaiah 62:4).

My sheep (Ezekiel 34:6, 11, 12; John 10:14, 15, 27; and 21:16, 17).

The sheep of My pasture (Jeremiah 23:1).

The object of Muy delight (Isaiah 5:7 and Jeremiah 31:20).

My elect (Isaiah 45:4; 65:9, 22).

My firstborn (Exodus 4:22).

My heritage (Jeremiah 2:7; 12:7, 8, 9; 50:11; and Joel 3:2).

My inheritance (Exodus 15:7; Numbers 34:2; 2 Kings 21:14; Psalm 78:712; Isaiah 19:25; 60:2; 63:17; Jeremiah 16:18; and 47:6).

My glory (Isaiah 43:7 and Micah 2:9).

My called (Isaiah 43:1, 7; 48:12; and 63:19).

My planting (Psalm 80:8-15; Isaiah 5:2, 7; and 60:21).

The work of My hands (Isaiah 60:21)

My flock (Jeremiah 13:7; 23:2, 3; and Ezekiel 34:6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 31).

The flock of My pasture (Ezekiel 34:31).

My nation (Isaiah 51:4).

My vineyard (Psalm 80:8-15; Song of Songs 8:12; Isaiah 5:1-7; and Jeremiah 12:10).

My portion (Deuteronomy 32:9).

My servant (Isaiah 41:9; 43:10; 48:20; and Jeremiah 46:27).

My witnesses (Isaiah 43:10, 12; and 44:8).

My redeemed (Isaiah 63:4).

My assemblies (Ezekiel 44:4).