PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 371: LIVING THE BLISSFUL LIFE, No. 5 - LIVING IN A FAMILY
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 371: LIVING THE BLISSFUL LIFE, No. 5 - LIVING IN A FAMILY
Living in a family paves the way for the "feel good" hormones. Children's memories of the home should be of the family table with the aroma of good food and stimulating conversation, dialogue, and fellowship.
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Today we are finishing off our points about the things God wants us to do CONTINUALLY. I started off saying I had 15 points, but I ended up with 17. So, here is number 17 today, the last one.
No. 17. CONTINUAL HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD
We find this particular one in the same chapter we talked about last week, Exodus 28:36-38. This is actually talking about the very last thing that God wanted for the high priest. It was the last piece of clothing that he had to wear. It was the final triumphant piece of clothing.
It says: “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.”
This beautiful crown that he wore was pure gold. It had engraved on it: “Holiness to the Lord.” It was to be on his head always. There we have that same Hebrew word again, tamiyd, always on his forehead.
Of course, we know that God want us to walk in holiness in every part of our lives. I think everything starts in the mind and in our thinking. This is where God has these words engraved, right across our foreheads, right across our minds. This was the final crescendo of the glorious clothing of the high priest.
Just as in creation, God began with His natural creation of the beauty of the hills, and the mountains, and the trees. Then the birds and the animals, and then He created man. His final and triumphant creation was the woman, the woman. How blessed we are to be a woman! It was through the woman that He chose to bring forth His own Beloved Son. What a privilege!
Do not ever despise being a woman. Young people, young girls, if you are listening, God chose to create you female. Never despise it. Embrace it with all your heart, because you are a very special creation.
This thing upon the head, this crown, this miter, whatever you would like to call it, was just the final crescendo. I think it even outdid the 12 sparkling gems. When you looked at the high priest, you would see this pure gold across his forehead: “Holiness to the Lord.” And he was also to have that on always when he was in the Presence of the Lord.
So, God also wants our minds to be kept pure. Yes. Now, all kinds of things can come into our minds, but we don’t have to keep them there. There are many things that we can spit out. There’s a Scripture in Proverbs where it talks about, “As your mouth tastes food, so the ear also tastes what it hears” (Job 34:3). We have to taste what we hear.
Many times, there are things that are not good to hear, and we have to spit them out. It’s like when we’re eating. If something is bitter or has a nasty taste, we don’t like it. We spit it out. That’s what we do if things come into our mind, or we hear things, and they seek to get a little footing in our minds. We must spit them out! Have nothing to do with them.
Here comes the Word of God, because it is powerful. That’s what Jesus used when the enemy came to Him. He said: “It is written.” He spoke forth the Word, and the devil had to run. Yes, “The Word of God is powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4:12). Get to know the Word and use the Word to push back these thoughts that do not belong in your mind so that you can wear your daily crown: “Holiness unto the Lord.” It’s something we have to wear continually.
We have that wonderful promise in 2 Corinthians 10:4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” This is what we do so we can keep that crown of purity and “holiness unto the Lord” upon our foreheads. Amen.
So, there are the 17 things I found that God wants us to do continually. Then I found three things God wants to continually do to us, well, things that He did for His people when they were still going through the wilderness. Yet He’s still the same God today and He still wants to do these things to us, His people, today.
Number one: There was the CONTINUAL covering of the cloud, day by day. It was their fire by night. Yes, that was such a wonderful, wonderful thing that God did. We see three things He did through the cloud in the day and the fire by night.
- God guided His people on their journeys day and night, through the cloud. They followed the cloud in the day and then it would become a fire by night. Many times, they traveled at night. It wasn’t so hot, and God would lead them to travel by night. They would follow that pillar of fire.
- God protected them in the cloud. Numbers 14:14: “Thy cloud standeth over them.”
Nehemiah 9:19: “The pillar of cloud departed not from them.”
Psalm 105:39: “He spread a cloud for a covering, and the fire to give light in the night.” So, the cloud was also a covering and a protection over them.
- God spoke to Moses and to the people in the cloud. Whenever God wanted to speak something very important to the people, the cloud would come right down to the door of the tabernacle. God would speak from that cloud. It was very powerful. I will give you the Scriptures that you can look up when I do the transcript, so you can have them because they’re all so wonderful. I won’t give them to you all here.
Number two: Secondly, God’s continual watchful eye was upon them, even when they got to the Promised Land. I was talking about the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. But then, when they went to the Promised Land we don’t read about the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night.
But then we read something else. Deuteronomy 11:8-32: I’ll just read a little: “A land which the Lord thy God careth for. The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it.” There it is, “always.” “From the beginning of the year, even to the end of the year.” What a beautiful promise!
Back in Egypt, when they lived back there, they had to irrigate their fields by hand. They had to make these special things they used with their feet to get the water going to irrigate their fields. But they didn’t have to do that in the Promised Land. They just had to rely upon the Lord.
But God said that when they walked in His ways that He cared for them. And His eyes were always (tamiyd) always upon them, from the beginning of the year even unto the end. What a wonderful promise, ladies! It’s a beautiful Scripture you can take with your husband, to pray that over your home.
As you see, God promises things to us as we walk in obedience to His commandments. You can take this promise and say, “Lord, please watch over our home. Let Your eyes be upon it, night and day, from the beginning of the year, right up until the end of the year. Amen.” Yes.
I love this Scripture too. Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
Another wonderful promise, dear mother. Your walls, the walls of your home. There, in your home, you've got all these little children. Some are fighting and squabbling. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed. You’ve got all these challenges, but I want you to know that you are not on your own. God sees, and He sees everything that’s going on in the walls of your home. Yes, your walls are continually before His eyes. Remember that. He is there. He is with you in your home. You are not forgotten. Amen?
Number three. The last one about God: Isaiah 58:11: “And God will guide you continually.” Another wonderful promise. “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones. Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
That’s the passage where God is talking about the fast that He wants. He says, “Oh, you're fasting and you're doing all this. But really, you're still not walking in My ways. That’s not what I want. Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to feed your bread to the hungry, and those who are in need. Do not hide yourself from your own flesh. If anyone in your own family is in need, it’s your responsibility to look after them and provide for them.” God sees that very, very powerfully. He says, “When you walk in this way, I will guide you continually.” Amen!
All right, ladies! We have, for the last two sessions, been on point No. 1. LIVING A LIFE OF THANKFULNESS. Then we included all these CONTINUAL points (17 of them). So, let’s get to number two, shall we? And what is point number two in “Living the Blissful Life”? Let’s see here. Number two is amazingly simple! You wouldn’t believe it!
No. 2. LIVE IN A FAMILY
Yes, did you know that God (of course you know but sometimes we need to be reminded) this is God’s plan, that He wants us to live in a family with father and mother and the children. This is God’s plan. Yes. Oh, how sad it is to see so many marriages breaking up and fragmenting. How sad! God wants husbands and wives to be together. Fathers and mothers together.
Oh, God’s plan is for the father and the mother to be in the home with the children. This is His highest plan, and in this environment, when we are all walking in His way, this is a wonderful way to live. God says that He sets the solitary in families (Psalm 68:6). He doesn’t want anyone to live on their own. You’re not meant to live on your own. It’s not even healthy to live on your own. God created us to be part of a family. He created us to need one another.
I also would love to talk a little bit about these beautiful hormones of oxytocin, and dopamine, and serotonin, and endorphins. These are the beautiful blissful, happy hormones. God want us to live in the enjoyment of them.
These points that I’m going to give you, every one of them, they release these hormones. Even point No. 1. LIVINGF A THANKFUL LIFE. Oh, that releases oxytocin. Now oxytocin is a wonderful, wonderful hormone. I love all these very beautiful blissful hormones. Oh, I think we should always try to get as much as we can of them.
I talked in a few podcasts back about having a DOSE. You know how we have to have a dose of medicine sometime when something’s wrong with us? We need good doses of this DOSE every day, really.
This is the DOSE:
D for Dopamine, O for Oxytocin, S for Serotonin, and E for Endorphins.
So, even living in a family can help you to enjoy these hormones.
Now, oxytocin it’s one of my favorites. This hormone is made in the hypothalamus and is released into the blood by the pituitary gland, and also, other parts of the brain and spinal cord. This most “incredible molecule on the planet” is called “the stress-relieving” or “calming hormone.” It reduces blood pressure, cortisol levels, fear, anxiety, and staves off psychological, as well as physiological problems.
And that’s not all. Another name it’s called “this molecule of motherly love” has other names. It’s called the “life hormone,” the “love hormone,” the “cuddle hormone,” the “bonding hormone,” the “empathy hormone,” the “trust hormone,” and yes, that “bliss hormone.” That’s why I have named this series “LIVING THE BLISSFUL LIFE” because when we take up these points that I’m sharing with you, some that I’m going to share today, you will find that they’re all so basic. They are really all part of being in a family. Yes! There’s nothing like being in a family.
No. 3. EAT TOGETHER AS A FAMILY
Eating, even sitting around a table with others, with the family, releases oxytocin. Now, you don’t get that when you're just grabbing a bit of food and walking around eating. That is what happens so much in our modern lifestyle today.
There are some people who just get into the habit of eating on the run, even mothers. Oh, darling mothers, oh, I know, we can so easily get into the habit of eating while walking around or standing up ourselves because we’re so busy feeding our families, feeding our little ones, just making sure everything’s right. Sometimes we don’t sit down ourselves.
PLEASE SIT DOWN WHEN YOU EAT
I want you to realize how important it is to sit down when you eat. Make it a habit that when you eat, you sit down. Mother, try to organize things so that when you sit at the table with the family, you are seated also. It is important for you to sit, because when you sit, you’ll get a lot more nutrition from your food. When you sit, and you don’t just sit staring into space, but when you sit, and you fellowship, and you dialog with your family, you will release oxytocin.
I know it can be different when you've got a little new baby or some little wee toddlers. Oh goodness me! Often even teaching them to sit at the table is hair raising! They’re not often very beautiful oxytocin meals, because, oh, the children are crying, and you're trying to train them how to sit at the table and nothing’s going right. It’s rather hair raising. I can remember those days.
But dear mothers, don’t give up. Keep at it, and keep training your little ones, because they will grow up and it will become a habit. Then you will come into the joys and the rewards of a family sitting around the table together. Not only eating together but fellowshipping together. Oh, fellowshipping together. Fellowshipping releases oxytocin. It releases serotonin. It is so important, this fellowshipping together.
That’s why even hospitality is such a wonderful thing. Asking other people to come to your table. We have been a hospitable family. It’s a wonderful lifestyle. Hospitality brings such joy and happiness and blessing to your home. There’s nothing like fellowshipping at the table. Of course, you start it with your family. Then you can add others to your table.
But start when they are little so that you get into this habit. Oh, it’s so sad. There are some families that don’t even sit together at the table. Oh my! Even if it’s difficult in the early days, keep at it. Keep at it, because you will eventually enjoy the rewards. It becomes the most wonderful time of the day. Oh, to just sit, and to share, communicate, dialogue.
I wrote these words, and I do believe them.
“A child’s memories of the home should be of the family table with the aroma of good food, stimulating conversation, dialogue, and fellowship.”
I think those can be some of the greatest memories for your children. So, make them happen. Eat together as a family for your meals. Make that a habit, and make sure you're doing it as a family. Then, of course, invite others to do that too. Have hospitality.
No. 4. EAT HEALTHILY
It’s not enough to just eat together as a family. Eat healthy foods. Well, we often talk about this, don’t we? But let me remind you again. In the New Testament, there are two main words for food. One is trophe, and it’s used 16 times in the New Testament. It means, “nourishment, both literally and figuratively.”
IF FOOD DOES NOT NOURISH, IT IS NOT FOOD
Therefore, if the food that we give our families and our children is not nourishing, and it’s not nourishing up their bodies, it’s not food! If food doesn’t nourish, it’s not food. So, give vitalized food, not food that has had everything manufactured out of it like white flour, and white pasta, and white rice, and white this and white that. It’s all devitalized food. All the packaged food, wow! It’s nothing like the original food from which it came. It’s often very devitalized, so seek to give your family nourishing food. That will also help not only nourish their bodies but also release hormones as well.
The other word is trepho. It’s used eight times. It means, “to fatten, to cherish with food, to pamper, to bring up.” We read this in Luke 4:16: “And Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.” In other words, in the family where he was not only trained, but nourished with food, and not only nourished with physical food, but mental and spiritual food (and the Word of God which is our food). Our homes are meant to be nourishing places where we feed them good physical food. We also feed them good spiritual food so that they are getting strong, not only physically, but also spiritually.
So, be careful, Moms, when you go to the supermarket. Don’t buy too much of all that packaged junk. It’s all very devitalized. Always check the ingredients, because often, oh, there’s so much junk in them. When you start reading the ingredients, you’ll just put it back on the shelf!
Seek to have as much fresh food as you can. I’m enjoying now the beautiful harvest of our garden. I think one of the greatest blessings of life is to be able to go out to your garden and pick the fresh, beautiful vegetables, which haven’t been sitting in a supermarket for the last week or so and traveling how many weeks to even get them there. Goodness me, even organic food, which has the label, can still look very shriveled. And how long has it been sitting there? Oh my.
And so, I will just go out to the garden this evening and I’ll pick everything fresh. We will have it at the table. Now our tomatoes are all ripening. You say to-MAY-toes, don’t you? But from Down Under, we call them to-MAH-toes. Oh, they are so beautiful now, so we are enjoying them.
We’ve been enjoying the beautiful beets. I love beets! Ooh, they’re so beautiful! I love them as I pickle them with cider vinegar. Oh, they are just so wonderful! Now we’re getting so many cucumbers. At first, we wondered what to do with them! Help! Then we suddenly remembered. Of course, we should be juicing them!
So, we started juicing our cucumbers, and now, we can’t get enough of them! We’ll juice cucumber, and we’ll put in apples and celery. Oh, I’ve got celery growing in the garden. Oh, it’s so wonderful! You know, I have a special celery juicer because a few years ago we got into this fad of juicing celery. You can’t put celery in a normal juicer. It just won’t go through. So, we had this special juicer and I’d forgotten all about it because we forgot about that fad.
I got it out again, and we’re using the celery juicer as well as our other juicer. Also, loads of raw ginger. Oh my, it’s just the most amazing drink you could ever drink. So, we either have cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, and ginger, or we’ll have cucumber-celery, pineapple (we’ll buy a pineapple) and also the ginger. Beautiful, straight from the garden! Can you believe it?
Oh, and I can see all our melons growing. We have one row of a vine of melons. We counted the other day over 60 in this row, so we’re going to have a lot of melons. Wow! Well, we’ll be thinking about what to do with them, won’t we?
But anyway, I’m sure you've got a garden as well. If you don’t have a garden, think about having one. Even it’s a little one, because gardens are meant to be part of a home. Yes, home and garden are synonymous. When God created the first home, He created a garden home. Remember, it was the Garden of Eden.
FOOD AND MOOD
It’s good to get back to the way God really intends, because it’s all part of living the blissful life. Yes, and, dear ladies, it is true. There is a relationship between food and mood. When you have good, nourishing food, straight from the garden, wow! It just releases such good things in your body.
When you're on a devitalized diet and you're eating junk food and devitalized food, you're not going to feel so good at all. Oh no. When you are deprived of your B vitamins, wow, you can often feel depressed and down in the dumps. They do affect your mood. We, as mothers, have a great responsibility in providing that nourishing food for our families.
All right. Now, what are we up to? Number five. I wonder if we’ve got time to start this. What’s our time? Oh dear, I think I’d better leave that to start number five next time, because if I get onto it, we’ll go overtime.
All right, ladies, we’re going to be continuing all these things. How many points have I got here to tell you about living a blissful life? Let me get to the end. Number 13! Do you mind my leaving on No. 13? But that’s how many I found. So, we’ll be talking all about them in the coming sessions.
Let’s pray, shall we?
“Dear Father, we thank You again so much for all Your goodness, Your faithfulness, Your wonderful redemption that You gave. You poured out Your life’s blood for us, so we can be saved, so we can have an eternal destiny in the glorious eternity. We thank You. Thank You for Your Word, which shows us the way.
“Thank You, Lord, that You have designed family, and Lord, that You designed all the different ways that You want us to live this blissful life that You want us to have. Lord, we’re not meant to live this life with having to be on all these drugs and antidepressants. Lord, this doesn’t belong to You. You’ve shown us a better way.
“So, Father, I pray that You will help us as we seek to talk about them in these coming sessions, and Lord, that You will bless every family listening today. Pour out Your glorious blessings upon them. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris
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