FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 139: COURTSHIP AND WEDDINGS, Part 2

Allison Hartman joins me again for this session as we talk more about courtship and weddings. When God's blessing is upon the land, there will be many weddings with joy and celebration. When God's curse is upon the land, there will be few weddings!

We talk about how a wedding is the theme of the Bible. Jesus came to this earth to die, and shed His precious blood to redeem us, and make us His bride. It all culminates in a great wedding, the “marriage supper of the Lamb.” Have we truly entered into the glory, and the fullness, and the truth of what marriage is all about?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Well, I still have Allison Hartman with me, and we thought we'd like to talk a little bit more about courting and weddings. But before we get on to that, I just want to give you a Scripture. This Scripture came out in our service yesterday.

We had a beautiful service, and of course, there were so many wonderful words that came forth. But someone got up and read this Scripture, and it really arrested me. Actually it was your husband, Daniel. It's Isaiah 1:27. It says, “Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness... and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”

I felt that relates so much to what we are facing in our nation, because we are still facing, at this moment, ladies, we are facing an illegitimate, fake, illegal election. We have a president who has usurped the presidency because he did not win. Oh yes, if you listen to fake news, you will think that he did. But the truth, honest reporting, of course, is that President Trump overwhelmingly won this election.

We, as the people of God, cannot side with lies. We cannot side with that which is injustice, and that which is abominable, because anything that is not justice is abominable to God. But here it says, that “Zion will be redeemed with justice.” And the only way, really, our nation can be redeemed from this situation is with justice.

Now how can that happen? I don't know, dear ladies. But I do know that God hears our prayers. He hears the cries of our heart. I would like to think that every God-fearing person is crying out to God for justice, true justice. Because that's the only way we can be redeemed and restored to that which is right.

So keep praying. Can I just encourage you to keep praying? We are keeping on praying, and we will not give up until we see justice in our nation. Because this is the only way we can have the blessing of God. We can't have the blessing of God on injustice and that which is completely false. So don't give up praying, will you?

Well, we just wanted to talk a little bit more about weddings and courting because this is part of life. Maybe you could talk a little bit more, perhaps, about Josiah and McKenna's courtship, Allison.

Allison: Sure, sure. So like we said in the last session, we just had our first daughter get married. Out of 11 children, this is our first go at it. We actually haven't had any, she has not had any relationships. So this was her first ever young man to even come asking permission to get to know her.

Nancy: Don't you love that? That has been the same with all our grandchildren who have gotten married. None of them have had girlfriends or boyfriends. It's not even in their psyche. They just can't even think like that.

Each time they have seen the girl, and God just sort of quickened that person to them, and to know, “That's my wife for life!” And they just pursued and stuck with it. Never ever thought of another girl. I just love that.

I believe that's how it was meant to be, because I believe, I strongly believe, that God brings us together. When you go back to the beginning, what does it say? The very beginning? Everything that's written is for our future.

What was written in Genesis was God's perfect plan for the way he wanted the rest of mankind to live. And it says, “and God brought the woman to the man.” God did this. God did it. You saw how God did it for McKenna. I watched how God did it for our children and our grandchildren. We just want to do it biblically, don't we? Carry on.

Allison: And I think, as far as what we're seeing, culture versus what we got to experience with our daughter, it's the way, I guess, maybe in contrast to the way I was raised, and the way we did it growing up. The phrases, “You date around, you play the field, you see what's out there.” So that's all I really had known.

But deep in me, I realized that that really isn't the best. The best would be to only date your husband, to only date your wife. So when we met, McKenna met her husband now, we were pretty strong on wanting to encourage them to be very, very careful with anything physical. Our reasoning was, until they said I do, they belong, she belongs to her father.

I read a book recently, a man in our church is almost 90, and the title of the book was, To Whom Does She Belong? It was so neat. In there it said, a young lady belongs to her father until the day she says, “I do.”

So anything she's doing physically, spiritually, or emotionally with another man, if she's not going to marry him, then she has to say to her husband, “Wow, I actually have been holding hands with another man. I actually have been kissing on another man. I actually got emotionally . . . ” So then people will say, “What do you do?”

Well, Josiah was 23, McKenna was 21 when they met. So yes, they were adults. However, I think when you're in your parents' home, your parents are still calling the shots. But in saying that, we wanted it to be their idea. So, thankfully, McKenna had decided that she wanted to save her first kiss for her wedding day, which they did.

Josiah didn't have that same conviction. But because it was our daughter, she let him know that that's what they were going to do. We were so grateful that they did do that, because yes, they did end up getting married. But up until the time they said, “I do,” he could have become anyone's husband, hopefully not once they got engaged!

But you've heard of couples calling it off, or they decided it wasn't working out. So for our family, later on, I asked them, “Was it worth it to wait for that first kiss?” And they both said, “Absolutely!”

It was hard. They went a year, almost a year and a half, dating, courting, whatever you want to call it, getting to know each other. But they did save that first kiss. They really didn't even hold hands much, a little bit. We weren't strict on that particular thing, but we were very careful.

He lived at our place for a year. That, I also think, is very important. Couples get to know each other on the phone, or Facetime, or just randomly, here and there. It's kind of hard to get to know someone. We enjoyed the fact that they really got to know each other. We got to see his work ethic. We got to see his moods.

Of course, we were happy with what we saw. But it could have been the other way. So I think they really, like Trae and Chalice, they entered marriage very innocent and pure. I just think it's so neat.

Your friends, the Wallers, did the betrothal. When we went to Israel, we stayed with them. We learned how they do their courting and their betrothal. Not everyone's going do it that way, but I think that concept of fathers and mothers keeping their daughters and their sons as pure as possible before that wedding day is so important.

When you have dating couples, and they're sitting on each other’s laps, and they're loving on each other, and they're looking like an old married couple, I don't think that's very healthy. I don't think it's very wise. Unfortunately, I'm seeing it a lot, even in Christian circles.

It's a very. . . I don't even see married couples doing that in front of people! You don't have . . . So if you're a mother or a father and you don't know really how to handle it, I think you should handle it. I think it is the parents' role, if their daughters and sons are not making good choices, and they're being way too physical, it is the father's responsibility to say, “No. That's not something I'm OK with.”

But it's even better to start it from the beginning instead of backing up and saying, “OK, I know you have been kissing for six months now, but I'd rather you just not.” That's almost impossible.

But I think if you're a mom or a dad, and you're just now starting to have children come of the age of relationships, I think it's so important to make a decision now. What do you want it to look like on their wedding day? I can tell you from personal experience, it was a wonderful pleasure to see them kiss for the first time on their wedding day. There was that total innocence that we all got to witness.

Just the other day, I asked McKenna, “So how's marriage?” They've only been married two months. She said, “Better than I expected.” Unfortunately, if you've already experienced marriage while you're dating, because you're so physically involved, you really are stealing yourself. I can't . . .

Nancy: You've been robbed.

Allison: You've been robbed. I just really want to encourage you mothers and fathers out there to think about that. And not think, “Well, it's really not my responsibility. It's theirs. They're going to have to make up their own minds.” Who are they going to hear that from? You've got to train them, even when they're in their twenties, I think.

Nancy: Amen! But I think it's so wonderful, having weddings, not only for the couple getting married, but for everyone who comes. I believe we need to be reminded that every wedding is a reminder of God's ultimate love. Because the whole of the Bible is a wedding story. It's there from Genesis to Revelation!

In fact, Jesus, He left the glory of heaven, and He came to this earth to die and shed His blood and take upon Him our sins and our sicknesses. We'll never understand that depth and the enormity of what He did for us! I mean, I love to every single day of my life, I make it a commitment to thank the Lord for His great salvation, and taking my place upon the cross, and enabling me to have a down payment for eternity.

But it was all, it was all to get a bride! To get a bride! He sacrificed, He shed His blood, to get a bride. We just come to the end of Revelation and it culminates in Him getting a bride.

We go over to Revelation 19, right at the end of the Bible. It says, in verses 7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He said unto me, Write, 'Blessed are those which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'”

And that's the culmination of the whole Bible! The marriage supper of the Lamb! What a feast that will be! What a celebration that will be!

As we know, yet we don't know, don't you feel like that? We know the truth, but yes, marriage is the picture of Christ and the Bride. We read the truth. We know the truth. But do we really know it? I don't think we do.

I don't think I know it. I mean, I think I know it a little more, the more that we are married. I think little by little, my husband and I have come into more and more of the glory of marriage. But even then, I'm still so shallow in the absolute fullness, and the glory, of what God wants us to experience. Because it is meant to be this picture, this experience of the Christ, Who is our Bridegroom, and we, who are His Bride.

As we want to, as we want to love God passionately with all our hearts, well, we show it by loving our husband passionately with all our heart. If we really know, OK, we show to our children, and to the world, how much we really love God by how much we love our husband. Wow! Wooo. And how we honor him and how we relate to him. Boy, that's a challenge, isn't it?

Oh, I love that quote by John Piper. It's one of my favorite quotes about marriage:

“There has never been a generation

whose view of marriage is high enough.”

I pray that God will help me, help us all, to come into more understanding, beyond our finite understanding, of the glory of marriage, and what we can experience that we haven't yet even experienced, and what we are to show to our children and to show to the world.

In fact, our experience as a married couple should be so glorious that our children look forward to also experiencing that! There are many people, young people, growing up today that don't even want to get married, because, help, their parents are divorced, their marriages have just been, oh goodness me, it's been nothing, opposite to glory. And they don't even want to get married.

But our marriage relationship should cause our children to look forward to it, and say, “Oh, I can't wait for the day when I can enter into the glory!” Because that is what it's meant to be, the glory!

It's good to have weddings! Because weddings remind us of the ultimate wedding, the ultimate plan, the ultimate plan of the ages, which is the marriage supper of the Lamb, when we will truly, truly, be united as His Bride. Oh, my, how incredible!

Lord God, please help us, help us to understand. Oh, Lord God, I ask that You will take me from my not understanding into your glorious truth about marriage!

So it's sad when we, there are many couples today who don't even bother about a wedding. They just go and start living together. They don't have a marriage celebration! They don't even have their vows! I mean, it's totally antipathy to what God wants! So it is important to have, I believe, a glorious marriage celebration, because it's a type of the ultimate marriage feast that there will be.

There are some couples who think, “Oh well, let's just get it over quick. Let's just . . . ” In fact, Colin marries many young couples. One of the saddest things he finds is when a couple will say, “Well, we just want a quick service. We just want to get it over quick, so we can get away.”

I beg your pardon? The wedding celebration is to celebrate! It's not to get it over quick. Back in biblical days, they often would have a week's celebration! I believe that when we come to a wedding, that we should come for the whole wedding. We're going to stay to the end!

When we first came to America, oh, goodness me! We could not believe it! Because back Down Under in New Zealand where we lived, weddings were a celebration. When people came to weddings, they came to the service. They stayed for the reception.

At our receptions, they weren't just a quick, “OK, have a bite to eat and run.” No! We had a celebration! We would have speeches, and we would have beautiful items of people singing, and maybe sharing. It was a . . .

I remember our wedding. It was a full day conference! It was just unbelievable! It was like going to a conference! But that's how they're meant to be, not this, “Quick! Get it over with!” No! What do you think about that?

Allison: Yeah, definitely. It shows us where we're at with our times. You're doing a quick this, a quick that. What priority are you putting on that? I loved how Chalice, she had so many different speakers come up, and do some toasts and speakers. They will remember that forever.

With our wedding, we did the same. We had several real special people to us share and be a part of both the ceremony and the reception. It needs to be just an amazing day that you'll never forget. But it'll start the beginning of a lifetime together.

Nancy: Yes, yes. Now, so many people don't understand today, but back in New Zealand, and this was typical of an English wedding, there was a protocol. There are very few who understand the protocol today. But there are specific speeches that are meant to be given.

Now you're meant to have the speech from the best man. It should be obligatory for him to give a speech. That's a wonderful thing. Because he's so close to the bridegroom, he can tell great stories about the bridegroom.

And then there is the speech from the father of the bride, and the speech from the father of the bridegroom. The mothers also can speak too. Then there is the protocol of, this is a beautiful thing I rarely see today. That is, that there will be someone who is asked to give a speech on the behalf of the bride's family.

Because there are two families coming together. So there's someone who's appointed, someone who knows them so well, who will give a speech about the bride's family, and talk about them, about who they are, their good points, and some funny stories about them. So all the people who don't know that side of the family, they get to hear about them.

And then there is appointed someone who gives a speech about the bridegroom's family and talks about this family. And they get to know this family. They hear some funny stories about them. They hear about who they really are, and their good points. So the two families are being brought together in those speeches.

Allison: That's neat.

Nancy: So these are obligatory speeches. Then of course, they open it up to others who would like to speak. And then the culminating speech of the day is the bridegroom's speech. There are today people who don't even get the bridegroom speech! The bridegroom doesn't speak. That's that culminating speech of the day!

So if you are thinking about a wedding that's coming up soon in your family, just keep these things in mind. There are certain things that are so good. Keep that tradition.

Then of course, we love to add, if other people want to speak. Often members of the bridal party love to speak because they know the bridal party so well. So those are good things to do at a reception. People should not leave until the speeches and until the end, and until you say goodbye to the bridal couple.

Now what happened when we came from New Zealand and we went to a wedding? We could not even believe it! Because people came to the reception, and they just had their little cake and a few things to eat, and suddenly, they were all disappearing! “OK, we're done now! Let's go!”

In fact, at Evangeline's and Howard's wedding, because when we came to the States, we came and the first thing we had to do was put on a wedding for them. So we came to a country we did not know. We drove to Minneapolis, where they were living, into a city where we'd never been. We find an apartment, and we put on a wedding in a city we didn't even know. So we put on this great wedding.

And then we had all the plans that we had for the reception like we were used to doing. Oh, we could not believe it! Before we could even get started on the speeches, half the people had gone! We couldn't believe it! There were just a few faithful left!

Allison: Wow!

Nancy: We could not believe it! And so when Serene and Sam were getting married, I thought, “I'm not having this!” So I put on the wedding invitation, “We invite you to the ceremony of Serene and Sam, but we will also be having a reception. We would love you to stay to the end.” And we will be locking the doors... (laughing) No, we didn't!

Allison: (laughing)

Nancy: I felt like saying that, but we didn't say that. I would have liked to have said it! But we also talked to the people who were coming. We said, “Look, this is how we have a wedding. We don't just, OK, have a bit of cake and run. No, we celebrate!”

So it was great. In fact, it was a cold, gray day, and we were inside. We had this big fire in this place where we had it, and it was cozy and lovely, and people didn't want to go out in the rain anyway. So we had a glorious, glorious, glorious reception, which was wonderful! But we think to do that. So these things are important.

In fact, after Serene and Sam's wedding, they went off on their honeymoon, but we had people who had come in from all over this state, even overseas. We just celebrated for the next three days. We had leftover food, and we just celebrated and had a wonderful time!

So weddings are important, and they are meant to be times of rejoicing! What does it say? The marriage supper of the Lamb? Let us be glad and rejoice! One of the things, how we rejoice, is sing. Sing! There are some people who don't even sing at weddings! How can you have a wedding service and not sing? Oh, goodness me! No, I believe we have to sing, don't you? I do! Sing! Worship! Celebrate! Rejoice! Oh, goodness me! Yes, yes, yes!

Let's go over to Jeremiah 33. Here it's talking about how that God is going to bring back the captivity of Judah. Verse 7, “And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me. And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.”

How is this going to happen? The very first thing He does is, talk about weddings! Here it says, “And thus saith the Lord again; Again there shall be heard in the place...the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, praise the Lord of Hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever!”

Allison: Wow!

Nancy: The first thing God says about bringing back the prosperity and the blessing to His people who had been taken from their land, “I'm bringing them back now.” And the first thing He talks about, there's going to be weddings! There's going to be weddings again! Yes! And there's going to be the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride! Hallelujah!

You see, that's God. That's God's heart. That's what God wants. The more weddings there are in the land, the more the blessing of God in the land. People seem to have forgotten that. But then, conversely, we see the opposite, because we go over to some other Scriptures.

Let's see, I think I wrote them down somewhere so I could give them to you, for this is when the people turn away from the Lord. And we go to Jeremiah 7:34. This is when they have sinned and turned away from the Lord: “Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.”

That is God's curse. When we don't have weddings, we're not rejoicing with the married couples coming on, that's God's curse. And He doesn't just say it once. We go over to chapter 16, verse 9, and He says it again. Wow, This is strong on God's heart, yes: “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts . . . I will cause to cease out of this place . . .  the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.”

Let's go to 25:10. And here it is, again. OK, 25:10. Because they have turned away from the Lord, He says: “Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.”

Allison: Wow!

Nancy: Isn't that powerful? God's blessing is the celebration of marriage. His curse is when there are no more weddings. Weddings are not taking place. Isn't that powerful?

Allison: Wow. Wow!

Nancy: You see, this is God. This is the Word of God. We need to start living this lifestyle! Amen?

Allison: Right.

Nancy: Oh, I love it, don't you?

Allison: Yes, and it's so concerning and scary that where we're at in our country, with this whole gender confusion!

Nancy: Oh, please!

Allison: And this garbage about . . .  Can you imagine? That's exactly what's going to happen, is the family will cease to happen.

Nancy:  And we, can you believe it? Well, you know too, and we all know that Joe Biden has already appointed a transgender person to his staff. I mean, and you look at the picture. Oh please, Lord, you cannot . . . It's so terrible! And this is right in the highest places of our land.

Allison: Right. So they're elevating it to make it look so glorious. But if you really get down to it, someone living in a homosexual or transgender lifestyle, they will completely . . . All humanity will end in one generation. They won't . . .

Nancy: I know. Because God just loves weddings. He loves us to rejoice. They're not meant to be morbid, boring things, where people are sort of mumbling along some song, if they do have a hymn at a wedding. No, we're meant to sing with all our hearts! Wasn't it great at Chally and Trae's wedding, singing that blessing?

Allison: Oh, I loved that! The last song of the ceremony. What was that called? I'm trying to remember.

Nancy: “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” Yes, “and to a thousand generations, your children and your children's children.” And we were all just reaching out our hands, and just singing this blessing!

Allison: In fact, I caught it on video. I videotaped it. It was so neat, because I got a vision of . . . In my video camera, I got you reaching out your hands to them, Granddad reaching out his hands, and then I could see Sam and Serene, and then Trae's hands. It was so neat!

It almost gave me chills to see the bride and groom, and then the grandparents, and the parents, all reaching their hands out. And that visual, and then the song, “We bless you to your generations, and your children's generations.” It was such a neat little moment!

Nancy: And you see, that's the thing, it's not just the wedding. It's to your children and your children's children. That's why God loves weddings! Because out of weddings there's going to come babies and children who are going to bring the Image of God into the earth! It's all God's plan! So glorious!

Anyway, at the end of the wedding, I said a poem, not a poem, it's just a prose. I wrote it a while back for one of my other granddaughters, when she was getting married. I'll read it to you. It's called:

What is Marriage?

~ A formidable force!

One man, one woman,

Fused into one.

God's plan! Is there a better?

There is none.

One body, one flesh—

Indescribable!

One purpose, one vision—

Unconquerable!

One soul, one spirit—

Invincible!

What is the foundation?

Praying together daily—

High priority.

Reading God's Word together daily—

Paramount for success.

What does it take?

Sacrificial love.

Yielding and submissiveness.

No longer “me,” but “you.”

Laying down my life.

Delighting to serve.

Sticking together through thick and thin.

What is the fruit?

A union that cannot be broken.

A union that survives the storms of life.

A union that forges a path for God in this world.

A union that builds a godly generation

   for now and for generations to come.

What is the power?

A God-fearing family that is formidable to the enemy.

Such is the power of marriage!

May God lift us up to a new understanding of the power of marriage. The Word of God says in Ecclesiastes 4:9: “Two are better than one.” That's God's Word, His truth. It's better to be married. “Two are better than one,” God says. So when we get married, we're in the better company. We are in a better place, because we have two who are made one, and we have power as two made one.

We have power in prayer, because Jesus said: “If two of you are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst. And if two of you shall agree on anything, it shall be done for them of My Father, which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19, 20).

I believe this is one of the greatest deceptions in marriage today that most married couples don't even pray together. And they're missing out on this power! “If two of you shall agree!” Wow! What power we have in marriage!

So hallelujah, ladies! OK, let's pray, shall we?

“Lord, we thank You for showing us more of the joy You have over marriages. Help us to understand it. Help us to make, Lord, our marriages, and our wedding days for our children, glorious occasions, feast days, celebration days, rejoicing days. Because, Lord, that's Your plan, and You want to come into the midst, Lord, and pour out Your blessing, because this is Your plan. And we praise You and thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris.

COMING IN APRIL:

ANNUAL ABOVE RUBIES RETREAT IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA

For more information and to sign up go to:

https://aboverubiesretreat.com/

 

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 138: COURTSHIP AND WEDDINGS, Part 1

Check out the information about the big Above Rubies Family Retreat coming up soon in Florida. Allison Hartman joins me today. The Hartman family are staying with us for the wedding of Trae and Chalice Ruppel. Chalice is Serene's daughter. Join with us as we talk about the joy and glory of courtship and weddings.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. Always great to be with you. Today I have sitting next to me Allison Hartman. Allison has been with us in quite a number of podcasts. In fact, every time they come to stay with us, we do a podcast together. So, great to have you, Allison!

Allison: So good to be here! So great to be here. We've had such a fun, full weekend.

Nancy: Oh absolutely! And we'll tell you about that in a moment. But before we do, why don't we tell the ladies about the coming retreat?

Allison: Yes, OK, great. So this will be our, goodness, maybe eighth family camp that we've put on. Then of course, we  did several ladies' ones before that. But once we started doing family, we haven't gone back.

So the location is Panama City Beach, Florida, which is right on the Gulf. We stay at a retreat center called Laguna Beach Christian Retreat Center. They are an amazing facility. They are very accommodating to any size family, which is really nice, because a lot of times, hotels limit how many people. But they have been great about letting us kinda pack them in. We're getting very full.

So the dates of the retreat are April 21st through the 28th. That's week-long. Most of the families come for a week-long. However, the conference that we'll be speaking at will only be that Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

But the week-long starts on a Wednesday, ends on a Wednesday. It's just great, because like I said, probably three-fourths of the families stay for the week. They make it their vacation. It's going to be so much fun. We enjoy everyone's company. Everyone enjoys getting to know new families, especially like-minded families that you'll be friends with forever.

Nancy: Oh yes. I think you're expecting about 500 this year, aren't you?

Allison: Yes, yes.

Nancy: Can you accommodate that many?

Allison: We can. We can. We actually grew. The campus has given us one more section, so we can definitely accommodate probably 500 to 700. Last year, in August, we had close to 500.

It seems like, every year we grow, because all these families go back home, and they tell their friends. I was just talking to somebody here, saying they want to invite their friends and rent a bigger place together. So yes, there's plenty of room.

A lot of the bigger cottages are taken, so if there are  people who want to register, you've got to do it quickly, because so many of the larger houses are being taken up.

We will start on the Thursday night as the group. We'll get together, do a lot of fun getting-to-know-you games. Then the conference stuff will start that evening. We've got so much fun stuff planned.

Of course, you and Colin will be the main speakers. You'll be speaking with the ladies, individually and separately. Colin will be speaking with the men and sons. Then we'll have lots of group sessions where we join together with our families. Mr. Colin will speak to us.

In the past several years we've had a guest speaker join us. But what we've decided is, a lot of families really want to get to know the other families, so we're going to use some of that extra time for fellowship and then doing some break-out sessions.

The feedback I've gotten is that families want to dig deeper. They want more hands-on stuff that they can take home and put to use. So we're looking into some . . . it was fun last night at dinner.

Nancy: Yes, we talked about different break-out sessions that we're planning to have. They're all going to be so wonderful and so practical. Oh, we'd just love you to come. Because it's down on the beach, it's such a beautiful drawing thing.

People come from all over the USA. We've even had people come from New Zealand, and from Hawaii, from all over! So it doesn't matter where you live, make plans to come! But you'll have to make them right away to get in.

Allison: Let me just say, this is my heart, as far as my vision for this camp... When we started it was more for me. What can we learn for our family?

But I think we're all, it's very apparent in our country right now, that we are . . . like we were talking at dinner last night with you guys . . . we’re either going to hang together, or we're going to hang separately.

How much more helpful is it for us to hang together? Well, if you're like a lot of people listening right now, you might not have families in your town that are like-minded, that you can sit down and say, “Goodness, I'm having an issue. I don't know what to do with my . . . “ Like we were talking today, your teenager is rebelling, and what should I do? Well, you look around, and there's really not any good, solid people that you can talk with.

This camp has really been a perfect spot for us, for me and my husband, to meet friends that we will have for a lifetime. And then our children, we don't do youth groups at church. We don't do, they don't go to public school, so they don't have that interaction with other youths.

But this camp has turned into be a reunion for these young people. They're great about not leaving out new young people. They're great about joining them in. But they do have, I will warn you, they have a lot of fun. These young people have so much fun, between volleyball, and dance parties, and games.

But then, my heart is for them not to just have fun, but to come together in prayer and worship. We want God to rock their world. It's such a wonderful environment seeing other large families.

I love hanging out with Sam and Serene (Allison) because we parent very similarly. It's so encouraging to my older children that they're seeing Cherish, and Chalice, and Cedar, and Vision. When Mr. Sam says, “Get to work! I need your help!” Well, mine are saying, “Wow, that's what my mom and dad say!” So they feel like, “We're right here! There's other people like us!”

So not only are you going to meet one or two of those type families, but you’re also going to meet a lot. I would say we had 50 to 60 families at the last retreat. So many of them are in a really neat . . . In fact, I was talking to somebody, and they said, “Yeah, we went and visited this family that we met. We stayed with them for a week. They lived near the Ark.”

I was like, “Wow, what a neat connection!” We just came from a wedding, and I looked around the room, and I could think of several weddings, marriages, that have come straight from our retreat.

Nancy: Oh, yes, I love that! That's always been one of my dreams about our Above Rubies Family Camps. We do have ladies' retreats, and we have the family retreats. But I think, what a blessing to come as a family, not with your little ones, and your middling ones, but all your children, your older children.

Bring them all, because what more beautiful place for young people to find a husband or a wife with kindred spirits, and in a family setting. It's so healthy, so wholesome, so wonderful. Colin and I, all those years ago, we met at a family retreat. So I think they're great places to meet your spouse.

Allison: Can I talk really quick about men? So if you're a lady, and you're sitting there and you're saying, “Ooh, this sounds so good! I would love to come. My children would love to come. Oh, but my husband would never ever agree to come to a family camp, to a retreat, to a conference. No way, Jose!”

Our first family camp, I was invited to by my sister-in-law, Daniel, my husband's sister, and his mom. I was so excited about it. I said to my husband who is self-employed, “Let's go to this family retreat.” “There's no way!” he said. “I'm not going! I could be making money. I have stuff to do. No way! We're not doing it!”

I'm a little bit of a strong personality and I basically coaxed him into coming. He went, kicking and screaming the whole way there. It was in Louisiana, and the whole drive, he kept complaining, “This is going to be a waste of time! Why am I going? I could be working!”

So he finally got there. When we got there, the people that were putting it on asked him to take pictures at the retreat. Well, he's a photographer, so that was great because it gave him a job.

Nancy: He always has to have a job!

Allison: He always has to have a job! If he comes to the Campbells', he's refinishing or redoing some room. So he felt needed, and he was needed. Anyways, long story short, we were the last family to leave the retreat. He loved it! And he said to me, “If we're going to do another one, it has to be a family retreat, because I want to put it on with you. We're going to do this together!” 

He wouldn't miss a family camp for any amount of money. He's turned down weddings that he's photographed, he's turned down big jobs. He says, “Put it on our schedule.” It is our yearly family vacation.

I've told you this before, Colin has become such a spiritual father to him because he didn't have a dad at all. And Colin can be that spiritual father to many of your husbands. If you're listening to me right now, I can definitely relate. If you're a mom out there, saying “My husband would never . . . ”

You have to kinda sell them on it. Once they get there . . . In fact, don't you agree, at the testimony time at the end of the retreat, there is father after father, after husband after husband, getting up and saying, “I did NOT think I wanted to come. I did not see a purpose for it, but I'm so glad I did. My world has been rocked. I am a changed man forever.”

You're going to find that he will grow as a husband, as a father. Men typically don't need friends, but I would say Daniel, my husband's closest friends now are ones that he met from the retreat. They're ones that he'll pick up and actually make a call to them. We'll vacation with them. Several of their daughters have been in our daughter’s wedding. I mean, it's just neat. So it's not just a ladies' retreat. It's not just a youth retreat. These men, you've got to get them there.

Nancy: Amen! I think of a family who came two years ago, in just the same way, the wife dragging her husband. There's so many wives drag their husbands there. And I remember this guy, he didn't even come to some of the meetings at the beginning. But eventually he did come, praise the Lord!

He was revolutionized! Revolutionized! When he got back from the retreat (they live in the next state to us), he said, “I've got to share what I have been hearing with everybody!” He brought in his whole community to hear the message. He got us to come down.

Allison: They're coming back this year.

Nancy: They came back last year. They're coming back this year.

Allison: He's part of the basketball tournament. They've already signed up.

Nancy: And now one of their daughters is marrying one of our grandchildren!

Allison: It is amazing! It is amazing. You're right, he was very vocally not wanting to be there. He didn't even, yeah, you're right, he didn't even come to the first meeting!

There was another dad a couple of years ago, and  he stayed in his room most of the time. But there towards the end, I don't think he was a Christian, but he came because his children wanted him to come. You remember, Mr. Colin ended up, him and Zadok baptized a couple of his children. And it really . . . In fact, the next year, he said, “Oh, I definitely want to come back!” It's just amazing how you just never know what will happen.

So yes, we will have a lot of fun, but it will be a life-changing experience. It will be some serious meat that you can take home. That's what we want. We want to give everyone, not just some fun time, and some relaxing time, but some good stuff to take home.

As a mother, if you're feeling depleted right now, and you're feeling like, “Oh, I cannot homeschool anymore! I cannot mother anymore. I cannot think anymore. I'm just exhausted.” Wow, what a perfect opportunity to fill you up!

And not just you, Miss Nancy. Of course, Nancy's going to be pouring herself into all of us. But it's amazing what nuggets of truth you're going to learn from maybe another mother who's going through the same thing. Or they've already come out of it, and they can give you a word that could really change your life.

Nancy: I think that's one of the greatest things of the retreat is the fellowship, the sharing with one another. And it's true, even according to Hebrews 10:25. We think of that in the context of church, how that we are NOT to neglect our meeting together. “And so much the more, as you see the day approaching.”

And we are living in these “so much the more” days of needing one another. In this hour, we need one another so much. Many of you, sadly, you may not even be getting that in your church, because there are some churches who are still doing this crazy social distancing, and all that kind of stuff. We're so opposite to what God's plan is.

But we won't be social distancing at this retreat! We will be togethering! And it's so glorious, the togethering. We need it, and “so much the more”!

Allison: “So much the more” now than ever!

Nancy: It's just such a blessing! Oh yes. So anyway tell them what they have to do. How to . . . “

Allison: Yes, to get to register, you can, a couple of ways. There's a Facebook page called Gulf Coast Above Rubies Family Camp. It's a private page, so you'll have to ask to join.

You could email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. That's my personal email, and I'm Allison Hartman. And then you could just ask me the details, that you're wanting information for the Above Rubies Family Camp in April, in Panama City, Florida, and I'll send you the link so you can go ahead and register. It's $100 to register, and then the balance will be due by April 1^st.

Quickly about meals, we're going to do some together meals. They'll be very inexpensive, they'll be very hearty, and they'll be very healthy. So that's our goal, is to have a very inexpensive, but we are going to be making those meals as families. So we're going to ask every family that comes to help out with something.

We have so much planned! Oh my goodness! We'll have a quiz night. We'll have, hopefully, a movie night. We'll do lots of sports tournaments. We're going to have lots of praise and worship, prayer time. We have an amazing worship leader that comes. It's going to be so much fun.

Nancy: We always have a very fierce volleyball competition!

Allison: It's pretty serious. I didn't want to go on and on about the sports, because, obviously, that's not why we're there. But there is some serious competition. Over the years, certain people have won. I won't say who, maybe me, on the winning team last year.

Nancy: Here was Allison! Ooooh, wow, she just played her heart out!

Allison: That was so much fun. All these young teenage boys invited me to be on their team, and we won first place! That was awesome. I used to play in college. But there's the Hilltop guys. They're getting really good at volleyball. Then the Florida gang, my family, they play volleyball for teams.

But there's a new family coming, and that's all they do, is play volleyball tournaments. They are probably the most amazing volleyball players I've ever seen. The father has offered, he's going to put together the tournament.

So we'll have some tournaments for some who don't know how to play very well. But then we'll have some serious competitive ones. So that will be so much fun.

Again, that's team building. That's building relationships with people that you've never met before, that you think, they could literally be the people that you have in your daughter's wedding. Or they could be the people you visit and stay with on vacation. And I think that's what we're all craving right now, are like-minded friends and families that you can call up and say, “Hey, pray for us, we need you,” or whatever. “Rejoice with us,” about something.

So yes, I highly recommend registering very soon. Like I said, there are several other campuses they're letting us use. However, the main meeting, and the meals, will all be on the main campus. Once those fill up, we can't let anyone else on the main campus. You'll have to go down the street to a different campus.

You can still be part of the conference, but I definitely suggest, don't procrastinate. Don't think about it too long, because you'll miss out on being on that main campus. We would love for you to come.

If you have any questions, my cell phone number is 850-221-1222. I will make time for you. If you want to just give me a call, I'd be glad to share with you what it's going to look like.

But I really encourage you to come. It's very inexpensive. The price includes your lodging and the conference. We don't charge much for the conference. The lodging is very inexpensive. You will never be able to stay on the Gulf of Mexico for this inexpensive.

But you'll never be able to go to a conference this rich, something that's so good for mothers, so good for children, so good for dads. It's the best thing in the world. It really is.

Nancy: Amen! So we'll see you there, hopefully. Now, why are Allison and Daniel and the family staying with us this weekend? Because we have just had a family wedding. They have been part of it.

Of course, it's really true, due to the retreat, you have become so close to Sam and Serene and the family. And all their children are so close to your children. It just makes you become part of one another's lives, doesn't it? It's so incredible.

Well, this has been a time of weddings for both of us, for we have many weddings in our family. Because now so many grandchildren have been married or are getting married. But you had your first wedding just a few months ago. You might like to quickly tell the ladies about that!

Allison: I think of our last podcast. I believe it was maybe in July, right before we . . .

Nancy: July? It was July 4^th. Or was it Thanksgiving?

Allison: I don't think we did one at Thanksgiving.

Nancy: It must have been July 4^th.

Allison: So we had a wedding in October, of our oldest. We have 11 children. Our oldest is 22. She got married in October at our property. We have 100 acres. Sadly, Colin was supposed to marry them, but he was sick, and could not travel.

But other than that, it was the perfect day. It was wonderful. In fact, the Allison’s came down. Many of the Hilltop families came. It was almost like a little mini-retreat. So many of the families. In fact, I would say the majority of the families that came to our wedding, and we had almost 400 people, are people that we have met through the Above Rubies Family Camp. They've either come, or we met them there. It's actually amazing.

But yeah, it was a wonderful, wonderful wedding. It was very special. They met right after we left here. We'd met them in Tennessee, and they were dating, or getting to know each other, for about a year. And then they ended up getting married. It's been great.

I was a little nervous about this transition of now being . . . she’s now married, not in our home. But it's amazing. I was talking to Serene about this. It's amazing how the other children underneath them will literally take that child's place, in a way, as far as responsibilities. I think somebody was saying how Serene has started to try to do without Chalice as much.

Nancy: Which is pretty difficult, because Chalice has been like her right-hand lady!

Allison:  McKenna's the same with me. McKenna is my, we joke, I can't even clean my house without McKenna, who is my oldest. But we've done several vacations without her now, we've done several big events without her. My other girls just completely rise to the occasion, and step right in.

But of course, there's a little bit of, “Oh, I miss . . . “ But we love her new husband. He's just . . . we kinda  joke that we like him more. He is just amazing. My children love him.

Nancy: It is amazing, really, to just see, like, when McKenna and Josiah arrived here for this weekend. Actually, Serene and Sam, although we've known the wedding is coming, and they had to be new, and they had the dress . . . The actual putting together of the wedding was in one week, because Serene and Sam had had to go away unexpectedly. He's had eye problems, and there was only one place in the whole of the nation where he could get this operation. They had waited a year to get in, and they called, and he was able to get in. So whoo, they just had to fly for a whole week! And it was right before the wedding.

So they come home, this one week to get the wedding ready. But somehow, we got it done. But it was amazing to see McKenna, that's Allison's eldest daughter, and her husband Josiah. I mean, this is who McKenna is. Well, she's another Allison, of course! She's just an organizer. But she came in and they seemed to float around, just serving and making things happening, getting things done. They are the most amazing couple. They are both so capable, but they both just serve.

Allison: Well, I think that . . .

Nancy: They're just amazing. And I mean, goodness me, the bouquets weren't even done on Saturday morning, and I don't think they would have been done if McKenna wasn't there! She just moved in, “OK, we'll just . . . ” And she just made all the bouquets! And then Josiah made all the corsages for the men. Instead of doing nothing, they had it all done.

Allison: They had nothing, none of the bouquets or corsages or boutonnieres were done an hour before the wedding! McKenna and Josiah showed up and said, “What can we do to help?” “Well, we didn't have time to do the boutonnieres, or the corsages . . . for the bridesmaids, their bouquets.”

So they said, “OK, well, give me all the stuff you have.” And so they started putting it together. Josiah had to run to the store to get pins to make the boutonnieres. He said, “We made 14 bouquets.” They made Chalice's bouquet, all within an hour, before the wedding!

Nancy: Unbelievable! And they all looked glorious! It was amazing!

Allison: My husband was doing the photography, so they were setting up lighting and helping with that because it was raining and cold. So instead of getting great outdoor pictures, we ended up having to do them in the church.

But I think their motivation, where they were at, they had so many people. We had so many friends that offered their time and talents to make our wedding happen. If you're listening, and you've put on a wedding, you know that whatever help you think you need, go ahead and triple it, because that's the help you really need.

A friend of mine had just put on a wedding and had just said that. Oh, it was so true! So I think Sam and Serene, they didn't quite realize how much help they really needed until the last minute. So we were so happy to be able to help them.

Nancy: Oh yes, but you know, we've had so many weddings, that we sort of think, “Oh well, we know what to do.” In fact, you know, so many people hire a wedding coordinator. Well, we really didn't need to do that. We've just done it so many times. And it really all just flowed.

Although the night before, at the rehearsal,  I looked at the church, a beautiful church, and said, “Oh, Serene, where are the flowers? Did you not order any flowers?” “Oh, goodness, I didn't have time to think about that!” She said, “We can't worry about flowers!”

So I thought, “Oh, that's a bit sad, but we won't most probably notice it.” But then the next morning, when I went in, there were these glorious, absolutely glorious flowers! And I said to Serene, “Where did you get them?” She said, “I don't know! I don't know where they came from.”

Well, I found out from Ellie (my Above Rubies helper) that apparently someone had planned to have a funeral there, but they hadn't double-checked, and it hadn't been confirmed. It was at the same time as the wedding, but they'd sent the flowers!

Allison: Wow!

Nancy: So there they were! All at the front of the church, these beautiful flowers. Red and white, and they were the same color as the bridesmaids!

Allison: Wow!

Nancy: It was as though we'd planned it! God provided the flowers.

Allison: Sam had all of his boys and my boys go out in the woods and cut greenery. I thought, “Is that going to look OK? “And it was beautiful for the reception. They used all the greenery they had gotten from the woods.

Nancy: Yes. So everything was great. But it was a beautiful wedding. My husband was so blessed to marry them, as he's married our children, and our grandchildren who are getting married.

Oh, wasn't it amazing? Did you know that Sam was going to bring her down the aisle in a kilt?

Allison: That was so neat!

Nancy: Wasn't that beautiful? Saturday was the 30^th of January. And just on 24 years ago, on the 30^th of March, Serene was married. And she came down the aisle to the bagpipes. So Chalice also chose to come down the aisle to the bagpipes, which is so . . . there’s something about the bagpipes.

Allison: It was gorgeous.

Nancy: Of course, Sam has a Scottish heritage, and so he also wore a kilt. He was bringing Chalice down the aisle and he just looked so amazing in this kilt, didn't he? And then the bagpiper was following, playing “Amazing Grace.” It was just so amazing, wasn't it?

Allison: A little funny story last night. They told us that Serene had given him a deadline, and said, “You have to order this kilt in a certain amount of time to get it by the wedding.” Well, he didn't do it. He forgot, and kept putting it off, and putting it off. I'm not sure if maybe he was thinking, “If I wait long enough, I won't have to wear a kilt for my daughter's wedding!”

So last night they were telling us that at three days before the wedding, she realized he had not ordered it. You rent it from a place. So he said, “OK, this is my fleece. If they can get it to me in three days, then I'll wear it. I knew there was no way they could get it to me in three days!”

So they called the lady, and she was a Trim Healthy Mama . . .

Nancy: Really?

Allison: So she recognized Serene's voice, the lady who owned the rental company. She said, “I'm going to make it happen, and I'm going to have it to you within three days!”  He said it's about a $2100 outfit. So you rent it and return it. It's kinda funny that he was putting it off, and then finally . . . But he looked great in it!

Nancy: I think he stole the show actually.

Allison: It was amazing.

Nancy: It was just so great! Oh, yes. Of course, we had the beautiful wedding service. It was just so beautiful. Then a wonderful reception, and they asked, Serene and Sam asked Allison to emcee the reception.

Allison: That was fun.

Nancy:  Of course, there's no one like Allison to keep everything rolling and keep things going. It was just a marvelous time, wasn't it? Yes, I think it was Trae's idea about the auction, wasn't it?

Allison: Oh yes, it was.

Nancy: I never heard of that before. They asked Allison if she would do an auction on, OK, you tell them about it.

Allison: His parents had done it for their wedding. So they had said, “Hey, could you be a great auctioneer?” He said, “I just need you to be funny and make us lots of money!” You've got to be kidding!

So what we did is, we auctioned off a dance with the bride. So we started the bids off at $50, and then went to $100, and then $150, and then we added and added and added. They said, “You know, if you could get us to $400 - $500, that would be wonderful.”

Well, we ended up getting . . . $1200 was the winning bid! Actually Sam, her father, won the bid. Then her uncle Charlie matched the bid! So they actually got $2400 off this auctioned dance! So that's pretty neat. If you're doing a wedding any time soon, that's an idea. It was a lot of fun.

Nancy: I think that was lovely for them to go off on their honeymoon, wasn't it? So, tell me, what was something you especially loved about the wedding?

Allison: You know, it's so neat. I joke about the fact that we can take a little bit of credit for matching those two up because they met at a family camp. They really did!

Nancy: Exactly! At the family camp.

Allison: And his dad, one that we had to drag! I mean, you're talking about stubborn!

Nancy: Oh, really? I didn't know that!

Allison: Oh, Will Ruppel is one of the most stubborn men ever! To say, “I'm not going to a family camp!” So we did. We finally got him there. That's how he ended up meeting you guys. He really became . . . his wife really. They ended up with a reversal after meeting you all and learning all about the ministry.

But then that camp, that they met the Allison’s at, was the one year that they were, “Yeah, I just don't think we can make it.” Well, they ended up coming. The first night they ended up bumping into Sam and Serene. They went to their room, to their house, and they sat and talked. They had a lot in common. They both had had adopted children. They had a lot they could talk about.

So at that moment, Sam ended up offering Will a job with Trim Healthy Mama. He ended up moving from Florida to Tennessee. Of course, Trae and Chalice saw each other at that retreat and decided they liked each other. Then a year later, Trae proposed to Chalice at the next retreat. It's pretty neat that they just got engaged, and now they're going to be coming to the next family camp together.

I think just seeing how neither one of them had ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend. That's so rare today. It's just so neat hearing about Chalice, and how absolutely clueless and innocent she was about boys.

Nancy: Yes, she was. She never thought about them. In fact, Chalice was never one, she was not outgoing. Cherish, her sister, Cherish is adopted, but they are so close. They have slept in the same bed their whole lives. They're so different in personality. Cherish is our outgoing one.

Allison: She could have been my child! (laughing)

Nancy: She's just so outgoing! But anyway, Chalice, she didn't really, she wasn't the social one who went and hung out with all the young people. Her best friends, who were they?

Allison: Her mom and dad.

Nancy: Her mum and dad. She's always said, “My best friends are my mum and dad.” Chalice loved nothing better than just to be with her mum and dad.

Allison: It's so true. Every family . . .

Nancy: She just loved to be with her mum and dad. She loved it. And when they, Trae and her, started courting here, it was the most beautiful thing to watch. I've never seen anything so beautiful. And Trae would come over with his two little siblings. Cade and Hadley, and see Serene.  Chalice would be watching her two little siblings, Remmy and Solly. Together they watched their little toddlers.

Allison: They watched four toddlers.

Nancy: And that's how they courted. I remember one day, watching them walking around the front lawn, giving their little siblings rides in the wheelbarrow, and just walking together. That was so beautiful! I mean, just so beautiful! Oh, it's just wonderful. You think of all the ways so many young people romance today and it's not good. You know, they were so pure, and beautiful, and lovely. It was just so gorgeous.

I think we've got to end this session. But I think we need to do another one and talk more about weddings. There's so much to talk about. We really do. Let's close now. Can you do another one?

Allison: Sure.

Nancy: OK! Let's do it while you're here. They're leaving in a moment. The children are packing and taking their things out the door while we're sitting here podcasting!

Allison: Yeah, much better than packing!

Nancy: Yes!

“Oh Father, we thank You that we can talk about the things of life that relate to life, that relate to family, and then weddings, and then babies. This is what life's all about. This is what delights Your heart. This is what You created us for. And so we thank You, Father. We just give You all the honor, and all the glory for the way You have planned for us to live. We pray that You will help us to live more and more in the realm of all that You have planned for us. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris.

P.S. Serene wrote a song for Chalice which she sang at the wedding reception.

It’s a tear-jerker for mothers who know what it’s like for a daughter to leave home to be married. Serene also sang this song on their Trim Healthy Mama Poddy, #211 if you would like to hear it.

It feels like you’ve always been here,

From the beautiful thought of you growing inside of me

To the jubilee of holding you as a baby,

‘Cause you were finally here,

            But haven’t you always been here?

Running through the house and skipping through my heart,

Making paper flowers, tossing petals all about  . . . HERE.

Talking princesses and pirates and faraway lands,

Authors and books you loved but never boys or bands,

            You’ve always been here, ALWAYS.

CHORUS

Then you packed your bags the other day,

Swept your room, I heard you say,

Just one more week and I’m gonna be

Just down the road, I’ll still pop by,

But I knew then my soul would cry,

            ‘Cause you won’t be here,

             But I’ll catch the tear,’

‘Cause the best reason for leaving is a good man!

Couldn’t imagine the day you wouldn’t be here,

Tousled blonde bedhead good mornings,

Humming whimsical tunes that float on wings,

            You’d always be here,

            ‘Cause you’ve always been here,

Quirky quick quips and eyes that flash bold,

Through a sun danced smile that never grows old . . . HERE.

Steady and calm like a summer stream

And when the wind blows wild it never rustles your leaves,

            You’d be here, ALWAYS.

CHORUS AGAIN

Then you packed your bags the other day . . .

‘Cause the best . . . reason for leaving . . . IS A GOOD MAN!

 

COMING ABOVE RUBIES RETREAT IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA

For more information and to sign up for the retreat go to:

https://aboverubiesretreat.com/

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 137: The Power of Truth

Where does God want you to have truth? Should it be belted around your waist or girded around your loins? Check it out.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. It's always great to be with you. So last week we were wondering what would happen about our election but now we know the news that Biden got in. So, now we have in our country an illegitimate president. Isn't that amazing? We could never imagine that. 

I don't know how you felt. I was feeling so sad about it. But as I have continued to be in prayer, I am more encouraged, not that he is in, but believing that he won't be in for too long. I don't believe that we can continue to have an illegitimate president in the United States of America. It is unheard of.

So I do believe, ladies, that we must keep praying, keep believing, and keep trusting God that justice will come forth, because we cannot side with evil. Now, if it was legitimate, and even if we didn't like it, we must submit to that.

But this is not legitimate. He is illegal, illegitimate, fraudulent, and unconstitutional. Not only all these things, but this was also a foreign paid-for, and is a stolen, controlled administration. Biden is bought out and controlled by China which means they are trying to bring communism into this country.

Already we are seeing all the things he is trying to do to kill jobs, to stop the Keystone pipeline. He’s already stopped the construction of the Mexico border barrier. That's already stopped thousands and thousands of jobs that will be lost. Of course, that is their whole plan, to bring down people to poverty. So then that's how communism comes in.

Could you believe it? How he has already assigned a transgender person to a health post in his administration? I mean, that is such an abomination, that we now have a person who is transgender in our federal government. I mean, it is just unbelievable.

But as I was saying, it is also, it was foreign intervention, with the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, but also Cuba, the Vatican, Italy, UK, Venezuela, Iran, and Germany. They were all involved in different ways. For an election to take place with foreign intervention is treason.

So, dear precious ladies, I have been amazed to notice and see how many Christians are just acquiescing and thinking, “Oh well, this has happened, so now we have to get with it.” No, we don't! We cannot ever bow to evil! This is evil. It is treachery. It is treason. It is totally unconstitutional for this nation.

So don't give in to it. Don't give in! I keep believing for justice to happen. Pray. Stand up for truth. If everyone in this nation who is God-fearing and Bible-believing will not go with this, but will stand for truth, and will keep praying and keep in faith, I believe that we will see victory.

In fact, it's very interesting. You may have heard yourself, and I have only just heard about this, although this was about a prophecy that came forth from Kim Clement, who passed away just after Trump became president in 2016.

But back in 2007, he  prophesied that Trump would become president, and he would have two terms. That was away back in 2007. Goodness, so long ago, and yet it came to pass. You can still look up and listen to it. It's pretty amazing.

And then there was another prophetic word that he gave in 2008. That there would be for a while, two presidents. Now isn't that unbelievable, that that's something that we are facing right now? Because we have, we have a legitimate president, President Trump, who won overwhelmingly. The evidence is more than overwhelming, that he won by so much.

And then we have an illegitimate president. Isn't that amazing? You can look that up, too. Just look up Kim Clement, 2008 prophetic word, and it will come up. And he says way back then, all those years ago:

“And they shall say, 'But now there is a second president. How can we have two presidents? An unusual thing, isn't it?' says the Spirit of the Lord. Why would it be that one with a double mind would stand up and face the people?

“No, they shall say, 'We have two presidents. What do we do now?' Fear not, for God said, 'As I have promised before, this is My nation, and I will change things according to the time and season. I told you now, in spring I will expose and reveal things that have been hidden, so that My nation can move into this next election, and to the phase with victory and honor and glory,' says the Lord of Hosts.”

Just before those words, he says, “I feel the Spirit of the Lord telling me to tell you there is a reason to have joy at this time. For many say this is the worst time ever in America. But the Spirit of God says, 'Who would declare a recession, and who would declare where I am going,' God says. 'This is the best time, because joy is coming to you in the spring,' says the Lord. 'Joy is coming to you in the spring. Therefore, I want you to prophesy,” and so on.

Well, OK, we'll see what happens. But that is interesting. I would like to think that we could hang onto that prophetic word, because it says that joy is coming in the spring. Maybe we've got to go through some times of praying, and intercession, and believing, and hanging on in faith, and trusting God for righteousness and justice. But let's do that. Let's pray and believe for joy to come in the spring. Amen?

Yes, we will not bow down. I think of that prophetic word that Balaam gave over the children of Israel. Do you remember the story when King Balak came to Balaam, and he said, “Come on, I want you to prophesy over these people. I want you to curse them!”

Actually he didn't really want him to prophesy. He wanted him to curse them, because King Balak could see all these people camped below his nation, and he was scared of them, and he wanted to eradicate them. So he got Balaam to come along, and you remember how even the donkey talked to him along the way. It's quite an amazing supernatural story, isn't it? Who could imagine a donkey talking?

But every single time Balaam went to curse the children of Israel, God spoke through him. And God spoke prophetic words, amazing prophetic words. You can read it through in those few chapters in Numbers 22 – 24.

But one of the prophecies God was speaking about the children of Israel, He says in Numbers 23:21-24: “The Lord His God is with him, and the shout of the king is among them; God brought them out of Egypt; He has as it were the strength of a unicorn. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”

Speaking about a time when Israel will rise up as a lion. We don't see that happening at the moment, but there is going to come that time, because every word of prophecy in the Word of God will be fulfilled.

God is already fulfilling so much prophetic word in Israel, as He has, for many years now, been bringing back His people from the four corners of the earth. They are causing the land of Israel to blossom like the rose, even the barren mountains of Samaria, which is really Judea, and the heartland of Israel, where the people of Israel first went into the land.

For many years it lay dormant and desolate, just rocks and stones. But now they're planting those mountains with vineyards and olive orchards, and it's just blossoming, and fulfilling the prophetic word of the Lord.

He said that aliens and strangers, would come and be “your vinedressers” on the hills of Samaria. Today, even now, dear friends of ours, the Waller family, take hundreds and thousands of workers out there to the West Bank to help harvest, and prune, and plant the vineyards over there, and possess that land again. All prophecy, all being fulfilled in our day.

This also will be fulfilled, but every word of the Lord, even when it's speaking absolutely, specifically, to Israel, is also . . . we can take that Word to us, God's people, to us, His redeemed grafted-in people. I believe that this is an hour when God wants us to rise up with a shout, to rise up with that lion-like spirit.

I remember reading something recently where someone quoted that last year was the year of the sheeple, where everybody was cowardly submitting to everything that was happening. But this year, 2021, is to be the year of the lion and God's people rising up for truth, and for righteousness, and for justice, and for everything that is the kingdom of God.

What did they say? What does it say here? “They will not lie down.” We cannot lie down and accept a fraudulent, illegitimate presidency. No!

Do you remember, just recently, that I did three sessions on hating evil? In fact, I found 20 different attitudes God wants us to have about evil, and how we are to abhor it, and cast it off, and not participate in it, and flee from it, and so on. Twenty different things. Go back and listen to them again. This should be our attitude about what is happening now in our nation.

Oh yes, I'm talking too, of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Remember when they were thrown into the fiery furnace because they would not bow? What did they say? Daniel 3:17-18: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” They refused to bow. That's the spirit we must have. We refuse to bow. WE WILL NOT LIE DOWN.

All right. I'm getting back to talking to you about truth. Who are we listening to? Lies or truth? Well, first of all, I want to still read you a few more Scriptures. I want to go to John chapter 10. John 10, and this is Jesus speaking. It's the chapter of the good shepherd and of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who is speaking.

In verse three, it says: “To him, the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and  leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”

Now these are wonderful words of Jesus. They are a challenge to us. Dear precious mothers, and young people who are listening, whose voice are you most familiar with? Are you most familiar with hearing the Voice of the Lord?  The Voice of Jesus? His Voice in your spirit?

Or is your mind cluttered and bombarded with the voice of strangers? That's the voice of the world, the  voice of this world system, the voice of humanism, and feminism, and socialism, which fills our airways, and is all around us in society and in our education system.

It's all around us, and it's so easy for us to let it become part of us. But we have to be those who learn to listen to His Voice and to run from the voice of the stranger! So we don't listen to the fake media.

If you have CNN on, and all those fake media stations, you are listening to the voice of the stranger. And you will hear a foreign voice, a foreign voice. I am amazed at how so many people speak the language of the fake media. I mean, that's what comes out of their mouth. Obviously, that's what they listen to.

We're either listening to that junk or we're listening to our Savior, our Lord, through His Word. We've got to, we've just got to become filled with the Word if we want to be people of truth. And we're either going to be walking in truth, or walking in deception, according to what we hear or what we listen to.

So we've got to decide, lovely ladies, what we are going to listen to. And our precious children, oh my! They are susceptible to all these voices all around us. We've got to teach them how to listen to the Voice of the Lord and how to run from the voice of the stranger!

It's so important in our daily lives, to make sure we have our morning and our evening times when we gather as a family to listen to God's Word, to drink it in, to let His Word speak to us, to become filled with it. Because the more we're filled with it, the more we'll understand truth.

And then, when we hear deception, “Wow, oh goodness me, that doesn't sound right.” And why do we feel like that? Because the Word, the true eternal living Word is in us, and it blocks, it resists the deception. If we don't have the Word in us, well, we don't even know it's deception, and we just embrace it.

That is so important. Yes! Make sure your children are filled with the Word of God. So many homeschooled children, they come out of homes, beautiful, lovely, Christian homes, and have gone to church every Sunday, and they've been Christian homeschooled, and yet they still don't really truly know the Word. They know more about a load of other stuff than they know God's Word. For not only should it be in them, but it's got to be coming out of them. That's when we know we've got it in us, don't we?

OK, what is John 17:3 saying when Jesus is speaking again? And He says: “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” This really should be our whole aim in life, to know Him and to make Him known. But we've got to know Him, don't we?

Let's go to Ephesians, chapter six. You're familiar with Ephesians 6:10: “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

And now it talks about putting on the armor. What is the first piece of armor God wants us to put on? The very first one? Let's look at it. “Wherefore take unto thee whole armor of God.”

Verse 14: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.” Truth! Truth is the first piece of armor we have to put on. We've got to have that tight and secure before we can put on any of the rest of the armor. If we haven't got truth, well, we haven't got the foundation for everything else.

Isn't it amazing? I just love the Word of God. With God, nothing is airy fairy. Everything is just right. God always starts with first things first. And the very first thing is truth. Ladies, we've got to be women of truth. We have to be mothers of truth. For if we are not mothers of truth, how can we pass that truth on to our children? Don't we want our children to be children of truth?

What does it say in 3 John? Let's go over to it. 3 John, verse 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Is that your vision, dear mother? Your longing? “I have no greater joy (nothing more that I want) than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

To see that happen, we have got to be mothers of truth, who know the truth, who live in the truth, who are filled with the truth, who love the truth, and we impart this truth to our children. This is what makes a nation of truth because EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO THE MOTHERS!

Dear mothers, we are the ones who are determining the course of the nation. The next generation comes out of our homes. Will they be children of deception who will be taken in with all the deception around them? Or will they be children of truth who will bring truth back into the nation?

Sadly, the youth of our nation are mostly deceived today. They're going to our public schools and then our colleges, which are places of deception, where our young people are being totally brainwashed by the deceptions of humanism, feminism, socialism, communism! Yes, they are being taught communism. Our young people want communism. They are so brainwashed they have no idea what communism is all about. They don't understand it.

It's time I think we played them a few movies like maybe Schindler's List. I mean, have your children seen Schindler's List? I certainly wouldn't show it to young children. But if you have young people, they need to see it. They need to see some of these movies of really what happened through communism, and through all this kind of thing, and how it devastated nations, and brought them to poverty. More people have been killed through this than anything else. I mean, let's be mothers who fill our children with truth.

GOD STARTS AT THE CENTER

Now, OK, where do we have truth? This is amazing, too. I mean, God thinks so differently to us. We would think, “OK, truth! Now, we'd better put on the helmet of truth!” Nooo. It's the helmet of salvation. God talks about having truth in our loins. Wow! It's right in the very center of our being. God starts in the center!

Truth, He wants us to have truth, not just in our mind, because we can have truth in our mind but somehow, it can come in and go out. Like the Word says, that we're not to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). If it's just in your mind, you know, someone tells you one thing, and you get that in your mind. But, oh, someone else comes and tells you another one. It's a wind of doctrine, and oh, it just blows you that way. And someone else has another wind, and oooh, it blows you that way! No, we've got to get it down into our gut!

Yes, whatever winds that come, the winds of deception, and the winds of this and that, and they blow all about us, but they can't get to us, because it's in our gut. It's got so down deep into the depths of our being that we know truth. We know Him! We know Who He is. And we know Whom we have believed. And we are persuaded that He is able to keep that which He has committed unto us against that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

Yes, we're the people who know, the people who are persuaded, the people who have truth right in our gut, and in the depths of our being. It doesn't matter what anybody says, we will not be swayed! And we will not lie down. And we will stand because what does it say here? “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.” It's only when it's right down in the very gut of your being that you will be able to stand.

Now ladies, there's something else here. It's very interesting. I noticed this a number of years ago. I really had to think about it, because sadly, I read in different translations . . . I'm reading from the King James. I read other translations saying: “Put on the . . . (what does it say?) “Put the belt of truth around your waist.” Yes, “Put the belt of truth around your waist.”

I beg your pardon? Where do they get that? Because I checked it. I thought, “Goodness, I'd better check this!” So I went back to the Greek. “Then therefore, having your loins girt about . . . ” The word is “loins” in the Greek. It wasn't “waist,” and it wasn't “belt.” It was “loins.”

Now, what are the loins? Our loins are the area between our hips and thighs, including our reproductive organs. Yes, the loins speak of the reproductive organs. Now, when a soldier goes out to war, every soldier, he wants to protect his loins. Goodness me! Any soldier back then, he's going to protect that part of his body!

And that's back in Bible days. They wore long flowing robes and when they wanted to exercise or work, they would pull up their robes and tuck them in their belt or tie a knot up there round their belt. So I can see where they do get the belt part from, yes. This girdle that they would have around their loins would, well, it usually attached to a belt, so it will hold it up,

But your belt around your waist doesn't protect your loins. Imagine if they went out to war with just a belt! Help! I mean, can you imagine it? They've got to have something, to have something to cover their nakedness, and also to protect that most vulnerable area of their body, their loins. Now when people were day-to-day, they'd pull up their long flowing robes, tuck them in their belt, and they could continue working.

But when they went out to war, they didn't wear long flowing robes. They would wear a girdle that was specifically for war. As you've seen Roman soldiers, you will see how that they had even metal girdles to protect their loins.

Dear ladies, isn't it interesting? We get back to this, the loins, in the man and in the woman. We see here, that right there, the very seat of where God wants us to have truth, has become one of the greatest deceptions in the world, maybe especially in the church! Where even God's people have been deceived about their loins, and about women, about their reproductive area which is in this part of their body.

God wants us to understand truth. God created this very beautiful part of our body for women, and for men, and God wants us to protect our reproductive area. He wants us to protect it so it is not put out of use. He created it to be used. He created us with a womb, where we can conceive and grow an eternal soul in our wombs. Bring forth a child into this world. To bring the Image of God into the world. And to bring forth a life for eternity!

It is such a powerful, glorious, amazing thing! And it's very precious to God. He wants us to protect our loins, our female reproductive area. For men, male's reproductive area.

Let's look at some other Scriptures which use that same word. The word is osphus and it actually is “loins.” OK now, let's see just a few other places where it's used. It's used in many places. It talks about John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 and he had “a leathern girdle about his loins.” So it was all around his loins, protecting that part of his body and also covering his nakedness.

In Acts 2:29, 30, it's talking about David. And it says: “Therefore being a prophet” (Did you know David was not only a king? He was also a prophet. He was also the beautiful Psalmist of Israel. He was also a great warrior. He was many things. But this Scripture tells us that he was a prophet). “And knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on His throne.” And what is this saying? It was from the line of David that Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world. And so through David, through the fruit of his loins. It didn't say the fruit of his waist, no.

How can a baby come forth from your waist? No, that word is “loins.” I'm sorry. Even if many modern translations say it's your “waist,” it is “loins” in the Greek. And “loins” means your reproductive area. Here is the same word, osphus, and from “the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ.“ How amazing!

Then over in Hebrews 7:9, 10, talking about Abraham it says: “Levi also, who receiveith tithes” (because Levi, it was the Levitical priesthood the writer of Hebrews is talking about, the Levitical priesthood, and they received tithes from the rest of the tribes of Israel) “Levi also who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him.”

Do you remember the story when Abraham was coming back from conquering the enemies and rescuing his nephew Lot, and he met Melchisedec? Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec. But do you get it? This Scripture is saying that not only Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, but Levi did! But Levi wasn't born! Levi didn't come for four generations later. Levi was his great-grandson!

But the Bible says, God says that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when he was not even yet born. You see, God sees far beyond what we see. He sees that Levi was already there, in his loins. Not his waist, in his loins, in his reproductive area.

I wonder what would happen today if God had intended someone like Levi to come forth how many generations later? Isaac, then Jacob, and then Levi, from Abraham. We're speaking of four generations here.

But he doesn't come, because someone has stopped him coming. They haven't understood the truth. They have been deceived about embracing children. They have been deceived about the power of the godly seed that God wants brought forth into this world and to fulfill His purposes. But see, we have to yield our lives to God, Who is sovereign. Because He sees children in our wombs, and in the loins of our husbands who are yet to come! Isn't it powerful?

Now, OK, the Word “girded” because we have to have our loins girded, that is the word perizonnumi. peri, “about,” and zonnumi, “gird about.”

Sometimes that's used metaphorically, like in 1 Peter 1:13: “Gird up the loins of your mind.” In other words, get rid of all the hindrances, so you can really go for God!

Luke 12:35: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning.”

I can't believe it ladies, the time's gone again, already. Oh well, let's pray, shall we?

“Oh Father, we just thank You for Your Word. There is just so much in Your Word. Lord, we pray that we will be mothers, we will be daughters, we will be grandmothers, we will be great-grandmothers, Lord, who have the Word, not just in our minds, not just in our hearts, but right down in the center of our beings, in our very gut, in our loins, that we will be girded about with truth.

We will not be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, that we will know the truth, and we will walk in the truth. Help us to be truth-bearers, truth-imparters, passing on God's Truth to our children, that we will raise children of truth. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

P.S. Have you listened to this YouTube?

ABSOLUTE PROOF

https://michaeljlindell.com/

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 136: The Unmistakable Scent of Christ

How can we reveal the sweet perfume of Christ in our homes? How can we triumph in our challenging situations? How can we possess all that God has given to us?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. Good to be with you. I am sharing this podcast on a Monday afternoon, so you will get it on Tuesday morning when it comes out each week. Although you may not listen to it when it comes out immediately, I know you listen to it at all different times.

Anyway, here we are together. Before I get onto the series that I want to talk about, I'd like to share with you a little revelation that I got as I was reading the Word the other morning. It's so good to share something that's fresh from the Word of God.

Well, actually, I find every single morning, when I come to the Word, when I get up, and get into the Word each morning, it's just so wonderful. Every morning I see something new, even though I've read the Word over and over again. There's always something new and fresh. That's the wonderful thing about God's Word, isn't it?

GOD HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO COPE WITH LIFE

I was reading in 2 Peter, chapter one, and noticing what God has given to us. Dear precious ladies, He has given us everything we need. We are so blessed. In 2 Peter 1:3, it says: “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things (not some things, but all things) that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

Isn't that wonderful? I've always loved this Scripture of how God has given us, not only everything we need for godliness, but for LIFE! To live life everyday life. Life in your kitchen, cooking your meals with little toddlers hanging around you. A baby needing you. The meals needing to be done. Everything sometimes all happening at once!

God has given us everything we need to cope with life. And not only just to cope with life, but to live a godly life. Isn't that amazing? Of course, we find it all in Christ. Because He has everything that we need, and He dwells in us.

So not only does it say He's given us everything, all things that pertain unto life and godliness, but the next Scripture, verse 4, says: “Whereby are given . . . “ (More giving from God! Because God is a giver! He just loves to give! “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.” God doesn't only say, “Look, I'm going to give you some promises.” No! They are “EXCEEDING GREAT and PRECIOUS promises!”

And as I've often mentioned to you, the Word of God is filled with adjectives. God is always “more than.” More than the average, more than the normal, more than the status quo. He uses adjectives to describe what He gives to us.

So we're given these “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” And so God has given us everything we need to overcome the spirit of the world, to overcome lust, to overcome the temptations of worldly things, to live a godly and overcoming, abounding, abundant life, because that's what Jesus came to give us.

“I came to give you life, and to give it to you more ABUNDANTLY,” Jesus said in John 10:10. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, I love the Word of God.

But I noticed the other day, as I was reading, that after God says He's given us everything, you would think, “OK, praise the Lord, I can just sit back and relax! God has given it all to me. I don't have to do a thing!”

Well, of course, we don't have to do a thing for our salvation. I mean, we cannot do one thing to receive salvation, because Jesus did it by giving up His life, by shedding His blood, by dying upon the cross and taking our punishment for our sins. Jesus did it all, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8-9 says.

WE MUST POSSESS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN

But it goes on to say here, in 2 Peter 1:5: “And beside this, giving all diligence . . . ” OK. So although God has given us everything, we have to exert diligence to confess what He has given to us.

When God gave this land of Israel, the land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey, “A land flowing with milk and honey,” He promised them. And He said, “This land that I am giving to you, it's yours.” God gave it to them by a divine decree. And He said, “I'm giving it to you for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). And even today, the land of Israel belongs to His people. He gave it to them. He has never taken it from them. And look out anybody who does take it from them!

We read in Joel 3:2 how that there will be those who have divided up the land of Israel, how they will receive great judgment from God, because it's ultimately God's land, but He has given it to the people of Israel. So it's an everlasting possession.

But even when they went into the land, they had to possess it. They had to fight the giants. They had to overcome their enemies. They had to wipe them out. They had to fight. So even though it belonged to them, they had to fight to possess it. We also, we have everything we need, but God wants us to have diligence, to pursue, to possess all that He has given to us.

We read how He wants us “to add to our faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity,” and so on.

And then, we go down to verse ten, and He says again, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” So we have to have diligence.

Now that word “diligence,” in the Greek, it's spoudazo. Well, actually there's two different words. In verse five, the word is spoude, and it means “speed, to urge on, eagerness, earnestness.” So it's something we have to be urgent about, dear ladies. We don't just, “Oh, well, you know, someday, I'll just get really hot for God.” No! We've got to be urgent. We've got to use speed. We've got to urge one another on.

In verse ten, the word is a similar word, but it's spoudazo. And it also means, “to use speed, to make an effort, to be prompt, earnest, endeavor, labor, study.” It's the same word that's used in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”

I memorized that Scripture when I was a young person. Out of that Scripture, I took the goal that I had for my life. And it was the degree that I wanted to get. I never actually got a B.A. or an M.A,, but I wanted to get this one. And it's the A.U.G.

Have you ever heard of the A.U.G. before? Here it is in this Scripture. “Study to show thyself approved unto God.” A - approved, unto - U, G - God. There it is! I want to have those letters after my name: Approved Unto God. I think that's the best degree that we can encourage our children to have too. To pursue, to study, to be eager and earnest, and to have speed about getting that degree, Approved Unto God.

It's the same word (it’s amazing how these Greek words, when they're translated in the Bible, they're translated with different English words. So here it is, the same word in Hebrews 4:9-11; “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” God has given us rest. Then it goes on to say, “Let us labor” (there's the word, spoudazo) “let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. “

So it's all given to us, but I'm reminded you today, as I was reminded as I read this, we've got to do our part. We've got to be diligent in possessing all that God has for us. As mothers at home, we have to do that because we are learning how to live in victory.

We're learning how to live an overcoming life, not just when we go out to church on Sunday, or when we go out visiting. No, we're learning how live it in our homes where it's all happening, where we face the trials, and the difficulties, and the challenges, and the frustrations, yes, that are there every day. But we're learning, as we have diligence, how to live this overcoming life that God has given to us.

THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Another thing I noticed in these few Scriptures in this chapter, three times in this chapter it talks about the knowledge of God. In 2 Peter 1:2, it says: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” Dear mothers, if you want to live in grace in your circumstances, in your home, if you want to live in peace, knowing His peace all over you, even in dark times, even in difficult times, it's “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus.”

Dear friends, we've got to pursue the knowledge of God. The more we know of Him, the more we know of Christ, the more we will live in this overcoming life that He has given to us. It comes through the knowledge of Him and the knowledge of His Word. If we don't have that, we don't really, we often don't know how to live in all that He has given to us.

I think of a true story. A dear friend of mine in England, she used to be the director of Above Rubies for a number of years. She originally came from New Zealand as I have. She told me about her brother. He had bought some land in New Zealand and he hoped that it would be land he could earn a living from. But sadly, he found that the land was really not up to scratch. It wasn't fruitful enough. It wasn't fertile enough to earn a living and provide for his family. So he just used it as a hobby farm and owned it for many years.

Well, the time came, and he thought, “Well, I don't know, I think I'll sell this land. It's just been a hobby farm.” So when he went to sell it, he found out that he had another ten acres that he didn't even know he had! And it was the most fertile land of all the land he owned. And all these years, he didn't even know he had it!

His neighbor, he was using the land and profiting from the land. He went to him, and he said, “How dare you use my land! This is my land!” The guy said, “Well, you never came and asked me or told me,” so he just kept on using it. That land would have enabled him to provide for his family, and he didn't know he had it.

But that's like us, ladies. Because we haven't got the knowledge of all the land that God has given to us. We don't live in it! We fall short. We never live in the fullness of all that God has for us. It comes through the knowledge of God.

Then we go down to verse three. Yes, we read this one before, how that He has given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. How? “Through the knowledge,” once again. We have to have the knowledge of God and His Word. “Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.” He's called us to glory! But half the time we never live in glory. We're meant to.

Now the next one, verse eight. Yes, and it tells us that if we pursue these things, that we will not be “barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.“ And so if we want to be fruitful (we don't want to be barren). I don't want to live a barren life, do you?  I don't want to live a shallow life. Oh my, how easy it is to not come into all that God has, into the sea of His blessing and fullness.

And we put our little toes in the water, or we maybe get to our ankles, and we just sort of splash around. But we never ever get out into the depths. It's like that chapter in Ezekiel 47  where it talks about the waters, and when it comes to the ankles and then to the knees, and then to the thighs. Then there are waters to swim in. That's what I long for, don't you? To get out there in the waters where you have to swim and to get into the depths.

So it all comes through the knowledge of God. There's many other Scriptures about pursuing the knowledge of God. I'll just take you to one more.

 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.”

Really, ladies, there's so much in that Scripture. Later on, you need to go to the Word. Read it. Meditate on it and embrace every little part of it. Because here, it's telling us that God wants us to reveal, to show, that's the word “manifest” that we read, “to manifest.” That means “to reveal, to show,” “the savor of His knowledge.”

What we have learned of Him, how we've learned to experience Him in our lives, and to possess our possessions. To possess all that He has given us, and how to walk in victory, and in peace, and in longsuffering, and in patience, and in all the virtues that are in Christ, because He is in us. And we have to learn how to yield to His life and to Him rather than to this flesh. Then we learn how to live in the savor of His life.

IT BEGINS IN YOUR HOME

But this Scripture tells us that this is God's plan for us—that you are to be revealing the savor, the aroma of the knowledge of God. Where? In EVERY place. Say those words with me again. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, walking with your earphones, doing the dishes, or sitting quietly nursing your baby. Let's say those words: “in EVERY place, in EVERY place.”

Now, that means where you are now. That means in your home. That means proving this in your home. We cannot reveal the savor and the aroma of God when we go out amongst people if we can't do it in our homes. If we can't do it and show that to our husbands,  If we can't show that to our children, forget trying to do it anywhere else.

It begins in the home. And it starts right here, in every place. And ALWAYS, notice those words, always, every place. No, we've got no way out, because it's always and in every place. Yes, and how are we meant to do it in every place?

TRIUMPHING

Triumphing! Did you get that word? Triumphing in Christ! Triumphing in Christ. Not down in the dumps. Not filled with self-pity. Not morbidly filled with depression. Oh, dear mums, I know. I've been there until I learned how to walk in victory.

But it's so easy to get into a state of self-pity. Did you know? Well, you do know, don't you? You don't even have to try. It's so easy. You don't have to try and make yourself get into self-pity. Wow! It can just happen. You have to have diligence to keep yourself out of it! Have you found that? Yes, you have to have diligence. You've got to take it by the scruff of the neck and throw it out! Is that what you do with it?

Yes, I remember as a young mum, starting off with, you know, I have times of feeling filled with self-pity, and sorry for myself. Poor me! But I had to learn that that was utter junk, and that was just totally opposite to the life Jesus wants to live in me. So I had to be diligent, you see. We've got to use diligence. And we get that thing by the scruff of the neck and we throw it out! We will not have it in our lives!

Instead, we are going to triumph in Christ. Triumph in Christ. Oh, don't you love this Word? I mean, this is just one Scripture! And it's just filled and packed with power of how He wants us to live! Oh, I love it.

Let me read it to you in another translation. I love the King James, but I love to look at other translations too. The Holman's translation says: “But thanks be to God, Who always puts us on display in Christ, and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Amen?

The New Living Translation says: “Now wherever we go, He uses us . . . ” He uses us, He wants to reveal Himself in the earth. Jesus wants you to reveal Him to your husband, to your children, to those nearest and dearest to you, even before you start doing it when you go out of the home. And so He uses you to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, “like a sweet perfume.”

WE SHOULD HAVE THE UNMISTAKABLE SCENT OF CHRIST

Are you a sweet perfume in your home?

And then there's the J. B. Phillips translation. I read this translation of this Scripture years and years ago, and I've always loved it. It says: “We should have about us the unmistakable scent of Christ.” Isn't that wonderful? So ladies, this Scripture is talking about manifesting, showing the beautiful savor, aroma, the perfume of Christ.

Now, I'll give you a little secret here. You can't do it with a mask on! No. Doesn't work. God created our faces to be where we mostly reveal His glory, His sweet perfume, and savor. Yes, we do it with our actions, but even when we're using our actions, our feet, our hands, we still need our face.

Imagine a faceless person trying to minister to someone. It does not work. We minister through our faces. And so, it doesn't really work with a mask on, of course. You know, the devil loves masks. He loves to cover us up. God wants us to reveal His image.

All right. Those were the little thoughts I had the other morning and I wanted to share them with you. So today, Monday, tomorrow Tuesday. This podcast will go out Wednesday, help! Wednesday will be Inauguration Day.

WE MUST ALWAYS SIDE WITH TRUTH

I don't know what is going to happen. But, dear ladies, this is one thing I have to say to you, because I've got to say this because we're facing this in our nation right now. We are in one of the most critical, in fact, terrible times in our nation. Maybe you're not aware of it. Maybe you are, but we are facing a stolen, fraudulent election, which is actually treason. Treason has been committed in this nation.

If you only listen to fake news, of course, you won't be understanding this, because you will have been brainwashed that this is not true. But I'm sorry, the fake news is fake news. It is lies, propaganda. It is the spirit of the false prophet. It is absolutely untrue.

In fact, the information is so overwhelming that it keeps coming out more and more. They have now got down to the bottom of these Dominion voting machines and found out what really happened.

There were millions, yes, not a few hundred, not a few thousand, but millions of votes that were taken from President Trump. They have proved now, through these voting machines, that he won in 49 states. The only state he didn't win was New York. Even California was red  according to those voting machines.

But this election was not only fraudulent here in this nation, but there was international interference, from Italy, from China. China mostly paid for that. Most of the parts of the machines, of course, were from China. Other countries were involved, Germany, others.

In fact, this is another devastating thing, that the Italian government wrote an affidavit confessing their part in this election. It was brought to the House just before they made their final decision to go ahead and put Biden in. We know that Ted Cruz and some others were objecting, but our vice-president did not accept them, sadly.

Anyway, it's amazing that actually, our whole, our whole, everything that this country is founded upon, really, committed treason. Treason, because we have three branches of government, as you know, the legislative, executive, and judicial.

Now the legislative branch of government, they committed treason. The democrats, they know they stole it, of course. They know that. And of course, many republicans have stood with them.

Sadly, in fact, Joe Biden said, well, I think a couple of years ago he actually said this, and you could find it on YouTube. It's in writing. He said these words, “We have put together, I think, the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.” He spoke those words a couple of years ago. It was all planned.

And so, not only through the most, according to even Joe Biden, “the most inclusive voter fraud in the history of American politics.” So not only the democrats, but even many, as I said, republicans, stood with them. So many in the legislative branch have committed treason.

Even in the judicial, the Supreme Court would not accept the cases. Not because they were not valid, but they did not want to get involved. They were so wimpy. Chief Justice Roberts himself belongs to the swamp.

Even the executive! Can you believe it? Which is, of course, the president, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of state. But the vice-president, and the cabinet, the State Department, the Defense Department, and other executive departments, they are all under the executive branch. Many of them, and of course, our vice-president, also sided with this stolen election. Treason.

So I don't know what's going to happen, dear ladies, but we cannot side with it. We cannot, because it's not truth. And we must always side with truth. God is truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” When it's not truth, it's lies. The Bible says that the devil is the liar from the beginning. He is the father of lies.

It is sad. I hear many, even Christian people, saying, “Well, this happened. We've just got to get with it. You know, you can't do . . . you've just got to accept.” No! No, you cannot accept treason. You cannot accept a totally stolen election.

I mean, let's get with what God says. I am, look, I keep saying I'm starting this series off, and I want to do a few different subjects on, OK, who are we listening to? Who do we really listen to? Do we listen to what everyone is saying in society? Or do we listen to the Word of God? I mean, listen to what God says about fraud.

FRAUD IS AN ABOMINATION TO GOD

2 Chronicles 19:7, New Living Translation: “The Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice.”

Proverbs 11:1: “A false balance . . . (that’s fraud, stealing, lies, just what has been happening here) is abomination to the Lord.” Abomination. That's what God uses.

Proverbs 20:10: “Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 25:15, 16: “But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously are (guess what, here's the word again) an abomination unto the Lord thy God.”

So, do we side with an abomination? No. We do not.

Micah 6:11 says: “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances (Dominion voting machines?) and with a bag of deceitful weights?” That word “deceitful” there means “fraudulent, false, treachery.” There it is. This is an abomination. It is treason. It is treachery.

So, dear lovely ladies, I didn't even start my new series. Well, I did in a way, because this is one of the things where, who are we listening to? Are you listening to society, or are you listening to the fake news? Or are you listening to God? We've got to learn to be on God's side. God's side.

I always think of that Scripture in Romans, Romans, let me go to it here. Romans, I think I actually mentioned it the other day, but I've got to come back to it. Romans 3:4: “God forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” Am I prepared to listen to what God says? His truth?  Even though everyone else is saying something different.

So I don't know what's going to happen. Here we are, so close. I don't know. I am holding onto this promise. I'll close now, because as I mentioned, our time is gone. I'll just close. This is the promise I'm hanging onto. This is the promise that can only happen through a miracle of God.

But I believe we are at the Red Sea. It's like a Red Sea situation. We have nowhere to go. What do we do? Without God, without God, what is going to happen to this nation? Because not only are we accepting something that only happens in the third world, a treasonous election, but if it continues, it will take us down a communist route. This is their plan. Joe Biden is totally, absolutely, sold out to China. He is a puppet of China. They will take control in every area of our nation if we continue.

But this is what I'm hanging onto. You can join with me. It has to be a miracle. And when they were at the Red Sea, they had nowhere to go. The sea was in front of them, the Egyptians were coming behind them. And Moses said unto the people because he had a word from God: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians, whom you have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace”(Exodus 14:13, 14).

PRAYER

“Oh, Father, we come to You in the Name of Jesus. We cannot believe what we are facing in our nation. But dear Father, oh God, we know, Lord, that You have plans for this nation. Lord, we acknowledge we're at the Red Sea. Lord. What can we do, except You come?

But You are the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies of heaven. We ask that You will send Your warring angels, oh God, to war against these wicked spirits, Lord, these demonic spirits that are seeking to control DC and all that is happening there.

We pray that You will come, that You will show forth Your mighty right arm, that You will do a miracle, Lord, that no man could do. We ask, because we cry out for this precious nation, Lord God. Oh, Father, we cry out to You that all wickedness will be overthrown, because we know it's not just the treasonous election, Lord. There is so much wickedness in the swamp, going on behind the scenes. The wickedness, the wickedness, that's going on in these high places. The wickedness of many of these people involved in child trafficking and child sacrifice. Lord God, it is just so grieving to our hearts, and we pray that You will expose it all, Lord God.

And that You will come with Your power, and your mighty right arm, and that you will show us victory. We look to You, Lord God, that You will move by Your Spirit, Lord, and we trust You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.”         

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

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