Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

It’s your enemy who wants to rob you from your place of rest. Come on now, don’t let him have the victory. Confess out loud the words of the psalmist: “RETURN UNTO YOUR REST, O my soul” (Psalm 116:7). If you have left this place, RETURN! You may have to say it more than once! And as you confess it, you must let go your burden, your bitterness, or your concern--and trust God with it!

“Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the rest I have in You. You are my rest. I let all my concerns go and trust completely in You. I find my rest in no other place but You. Thank You with all my heart. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Look up these Scriptures and be encouraged: Proverbs 24:15; Isaiah 32:17, 18; Jeremiah 6:16; 50:5; Matthew 11:28-30; and Hebrews 4:9-11.

When we see the negative in everything, we live a miserable life. And what is the bottom line? We are leaving God out of the equation! For no matter what happens in our lives, in the little annoying things of our daily lives or the big situations that seem like the end of the world, God is in control. He is bigger than our problems and difficulties. We can totally trust Him, and “Whoso trusts in the Lord, HAPPY IS HE” (Proverbs 16:20). Your life can actually be a continual feast!

When we put our trust in the Lord and rejoice in the fact that He is our Strength, our Source, Our Rock, our Help, and our Deliverer, we can keep our hearts joyful in any salutation.

It’s all in how we look at things. I love Paul’s confession in 2 Corinthians 43:8-10: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed.” He goes on to say in verses 16-18: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a FAR MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Instead of looking on the dark side today, why not count some blessings?

Love from Nancy Campbell

Up at my breast you slurp and sip,
Nourishing milk is found on your lip,
I haven't always known, but now I see
Your whole entire world depends on me.

I'm a mama bear, called to stand in the fight
Against evil and lies, to pray in the night,
Our home is a place, come storm, wind, and rain
That will forever and ever exalt God's name.

Give me grace through the day to mirror Your light,
Disciplined, Bible reading, and tender goodnight,
Help me honor this man who’s at my side
With submission, appreciation, come any tide

Help me nurture wee tots crowded around,
This is Your army, hear their triumphant sound,
Giggles and yawns, pitter-patter feet,
You see the future, You don't miss a beat.

I'll train them steadily with Your law and order,
Standing firm and leaning on Your shoulder,
With prayer and petition, I'll run this race
So my family and I will one day see Your face .

With every warm meal, diaper change, and kiss,
I'm cherishing moments I would have missed
If I took a job, which sometimes sounds nice,
But I'd be ditching my calling, too heavy a price!

Instead I'll stay here in these homey four walls
With my quilts, fire place, children filling the halls,
This is my sphere, I'll take care of it well,
I'll allow The Lord's blessings, my womb will swell.

Oh mother, stand firm, you're doing holy work,
You get paid in kisses, that's a neat perk,
Your children will rise and call you blessed
And every now and then you'll find some rest.

After babes are in bed, grab your Bible and tea
Sit in bed with your man and read with glee,
These are the words that will shape your heart,
They'll keep surprising you, with every new part.

Set your priorities right, it's costly to fail,
Soon you'll be a legacy, children setting the sail,
A family that’s molded on God's unchanging Word
And went out to witness, out into the world.

Be sweet, kind, and fair, always gentle and giving,
Your children's children will always see you smiling,
And this, oh mother is very hard to do,
But do it with grace, God's covering you!

An older woman you'll be on your death bed
With many gathered around that you have led,
Your children will say (all grown up now),
"Thank you, Mama, for teaching us how.”

You'll smile up at them with a contented white glow,
Knowing they'll go beyond you and continue to grow,
You'll watch from Heaven the countless lives you began
When you chose to trust God in all of His plans.

~ Ashley Lynn O’Brien

This is my life. This is my vision. Please enable me, Oh God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

~ Nancy Campbell

And then in Genesis 19:2 we read how Lot “sat in the gate of Sodom.” He was now involved in the jurisdiction of the city. Sadly, Lot became used to the wicked lifestyle of Sodom. Well, not exactly. 2 Peter 2:6-8 tells us that these people “vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.” But even though he was tormented by their sin, he didn’t do anything about it. He “sat” down instead of rising up and being a voice. He would not have been accepted in the gate of Sodom if he was speaking against their sin.

We must also decide what we will do as we live in a nation that now accepts homosexuality as lawful. We dare not sit down and accept it. For what happened to Lot? He lost most of his children to God’s judgment. Lot only escaped with his two daughters. His other daughters and sons-in-law and grandchildren became so entrenched in the lifestyle of Sodom that even when he pleaded with them to leave the impending judgment, they took no notice of him.

What we do depends on what happens to our children? If we do not speak up and stand up for righteousness and God’s ways, our children will get used to evil. It doesn’t stop there. When people get used to living in evil, they begin to accept it as many Christians are already doing.

Please do not “sit down,” not only for God’s sake and your own sake, but for the sake of your children and grandchildren. You determine their future lives. Psalm 94:16 states: “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who still stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?”

Will you stand up and be counted?

~ Nancy Campbell

2. When you meet them, tell them your name clearly and shake their hand. When shaking the hand of an older person it is nice to place both your hands on their hand. This shows further endearment and honor because of their age. In some African countries they bow before elders. They did this in biblical times, too.

3. Address them appropriately. Do not call elders by their first name, but show respect and address them as Mr. or Mrs. unless you are told otherwise.

4. If you are sitting in a room when an elderly person walks in, immediately stand up to greet them. This is mandated in God's Word. Leviticus 19:32: "Thou shalt RISE UP before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord." The NET translation says: "You must STAND UP in the presence of the aged."

5. Speak clearly, articulately, and slowly when talking to the elderly. Do not mumble. A lot of older people are deaf and cannot understand the mumbling of many young people. They want to understand what you are saying, so make sure they can hear and understand you.

6. Look out for opportunities to assist them by opening doors, helping them to walk steadily, or carry parcels or their bag for them.

7. Listen politely to what they have to say. Look in their face when you speak to them. God wants you to learn from your elders. Stay interested even when they repeat the same story over and over again.

8. Ask questions. When you ask questions about their life and what they have done during their life, you will be surprised what you will learn. Gain all the information you can from them for the time will come when that information will go to the grave and you won't be able to retrieve it. Get all the information you can now.

9. Think of kind things you can do for them. Ask if there is anything you can get for them. Ask if you can make them a cup of tea or coffee. Ask them if they would like you to read to them. Think of special treats for them.

10. If your grandparents do not live close and you cannot visit them regularly, send letters and cards to them regularly. They long to hear from you. Don't deprive them.

~ Nancy Campbell

The painting: A Mother And Her Daughter In The Kitchen
By Viggo Pedersen

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Thank you, Lord, for all your wondrous blessings to us.

~ Nancy Campbell

Vera is the mother of the teenage son delighting in his baby brother on the front cover of Above Rubies, #89.

Blessings from Nancy

A rapture, such as mothers share with God
By sweet melodious cadences expressed:
"My child! Part of my heart in human form--
My living thought, plucked from my throbbing breast!"

How good was God to give such balm divine
To sinning Eve bereft of Paradise!
To grant her, mourning over Eden lost,
To find new Edens in her baby's eyes.

And every mother, crooning o'er her child,
Catches the same sweet rapture from the skies,
And, though shut out of earthly Edens, finds
In mother-love, a sinless Paradise.

Each height of bliss but measures depth of woe,
And mother-joy is matched by mother-pain.
Eve's gentle heart bled o'er her sinning child,
And Mary wept o'er hers who had no stain.

Mothers alone drink Sorrow's deepest dregs.
Did God need sympathy that He should deign
To grant to woman through her mother-love,
Some comprehension of His love and pain?

Mothers alone climb Joy's most rapturous heights;
Here, too, they touch the heart of love divine.
“O Father, God, how very good thou art
To grant us joys that else were only thine!”

A partnership with God is motherhood;
What strength, what purity, what self-control,
What love, what wisdom should belong to her
Who helps God fashion an immortal soul!

~ Mary Wood-Allen

But THERE IS MORE yet! After God brought the woman to the man He stated that “the man and the wife,” the two opposite sexes, were to become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This Scripture is quoted again in Ephesians 5:31, 32 and it goes on to say: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

God lifts marriage to a very high place, far higher and more sacred than we understand with our human minds. He chose marriage to portray the oneness of Christ and His bride, the church. Notice that she is called His bride (Revelation 21:2, 9). The marriage relationship is to reveal this picture to the world. There is coming a day when those who are called will sit down at “the marriage supper of the Lamb” with “the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 19:6-9 and 21:9). Christ is the fulfillment of the sacrificial lamb which had to be a male lamb (Exodus 12:5) and the church for which He sacrificed His life is His bride.

To distort this picture is sacrilege.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Romans 14:17 says: “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but RIGHTEOUSNESS, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

And we all know Matthew 6:33: “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his RIGHTEOUSNESS; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

As we build our little kingdom home, which we want to be part of God’s kingdom, we must lift up righteousness in our home. We must cast out all that is foreign to righteousness. Anything that is unrighteous or unclean allows Satan’s kingdom to get a foothold in our home.

Become a builder for God’s kingdom of righteousness. It’s worth it. It’s an everlasting kingdom that has no end.

Be encouraged.

Nancy Campbell

There are other references in the New Testament and Jesus Christ, who is God, testifies to everything written in His holy Word. Read the following Scriptures: Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3-7; and Colossians 3:5-7. Both Titus 1:16 and Revelation 21:27 mention that which is "abominable" which is what God calls homosexuality, plus all sexual sins (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; and Deuteronomy 23:17). God is a holy God and wants us to be holy in mind and body.

Let’s be honest. We all know that God doesn't change his mind from the Old Testament to the New Testament. He is the God of both testaments.

Always after truth,

Nancy Campbell