TWENTY UPs!

Part 1

Jude 1:20-21, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

Unless we build up ourselves up in our faith, we will stay stagnant. Unless we build up our children in the faith, they will stay little babies and will not grow in the Lord. How do we build up ourselves and our families? It's the Word of God that has the power to do it. I have found 20 ways the Word of God brings us up to a higher level in our walk with God. Let's look at them.

1.    Nourish Up

1 Timothy 4:6 says we are to be "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine..." We love to nourish and nurture our children with love, but we also need to nourish them with God's precious Word. Be a Word Nourishing mother. Of course, you'll need to be nourished yourself. Place a Bible on your window-sill to be nourished by a verse from the Psalms or Proverbs as you prepare your meals. Put a Bible in your bathroom where you can grab another little morsel when you are there for a few minutes. Keep a Bible where you sit to nurse your baby and be nourished in your soul as you nourish your little one.

2.    Build Up

In Acts 20:32 Paul commends us to the "Word of his grace which is able to build you up..." Why do we neglect God's Word when it has the power to build us up? You need building up each day. Your children need building up each day. Be a Word Building mother, into your own life and also your children. Don't forget to read a little portion of the Word of God to them every morning and every evening.*

3.    Grow Up

1 Peter 2:2 says, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." It's the way to grow in your Christian walk. If a child does not grow physically it is because they have something medically wrong with them. A person who doesn't grow in the Lord also has a problem--usually because they  lack the nutrition that comes from the Word.*

As we grow, we'll wean from  milk to devouring strong meat. Hebrews 5:13-14 says, "For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age." Don't limit your children to Bible stories only. Raise them on the richness of the Word so they can learn to chew the meat as well. (Read Colossians 3:16)

4.    Clean Up

John 15:3 says, "Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." (Ephesians 5:26) We make sure that we wash every day and we certainly try to make sure that our children wash every day. However, it is just as important to keep clean on the inside as it is on the outside. Daily cleansing happens through the daily reading of the Word.

5.    Liven Up

Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63) God's Word has the power to make you alive, to revive and refresh you.

The psalmist confessed,"This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." (Psalm 119:50) The word quickened is the Hebrew word chayah and means 'to put life into, to live anew, to recover, to make alive, to refresh, animate.' When you are feeling low, drained of all emotional energy and wiped out, how do you feel alive again? You read and claim God's promises. They are your life. The Moffat translation says, "Thy promise puts life into me." The NLT says, "Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles." And again the psalmist confesses in verse 93, "Never shall I forget thy laws for they put new life into me." (1 Peter 1:23)

We gain our very life from the Word of God. Jesus emphatically stated in Matthew 4:4 that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Deuteronomy 8:3) We do not deprive ourselves or our children of bread for the sustenance of their body; and yet how flippantly we can deprive them of the living bread that feeds their spirit. Don't look to other sources to be renewed. Find your life in God's Word. It is God-breathed. It is alive and active. As you read it in faith, you will be revived.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

Above Rubies, www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

""Oh Lord, please help me to be a Word Nourisher and a Word Builder to my family. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I'm building up my family, not pulling them down.

* To read more about the Morning and Evening Principle and also how your children can learn to grow in the Lord, go to www.aboverubies.org  Click on ARTICLES >> ENGLISH LANGUAGE and then BIBLE IN THE HOME.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.