Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Issachar, the sixth son of Jacob, was prophesied over by his father, Jacob at the time of Jacob’s death: “Issachar is a strong ass crouching down between the burdens: And he saw the rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute” (Genesis 49:14, 15).

Prophetically, Issachar was to be a bearer of burdens. He could see that the land was pleasant. Possibly the only way to make the land profitable would be to bend both his shoulders down and get stuck in and do what had to be done.

All of this would result in well-earned rest. The Bible describes the rest as “good rest.” After working so hard to clear the land of rocks etc., and then to plant the garden and crops his rest would be good and well-deserved.

Whatever we face in life, whatever challenges and burdens, God has provided us with his great agape love to be able to bear it.

Jesus Christ, at the cross, bowed down and carried on His shoulders the burdens of all the sins of mankind, from the beginning of creation until the end. He knew that this was the only way He could enter into His final, “good rest,” along with all the redeemed of the earth.

Isaiah 53:11: “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

Galatians 6:2 exhorts us to: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

If Jesus Christ, our great King of kings and Lord of lords, should become the greatest burden bearer that ever lived or ever will live, why would we not bow down both of our shoulders like Issachar, who in this prophecy was a type of Christ? We should also whole-heartedly bear one another another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ.

In a very true sense, the law of Christ was not fulfilled completely at the cross of Calvary. I realize that this sounds radical. On our behalf all the law of Moses was fulfilled and yet the law of Christ is still being fulfilled as we lay down our lives for one another and shoulder one another’s burdens.

If we do not bear one another’s burdens the law of Christ is not being fulfilled. How tragic is that?

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

We say we believe in the truth, but do we rejoice in the truth enough to make it known? Much of the church is far too passive about the truth. When we rejoice in the truth, we will surely sing to God about it. The greater we rejoice in the truth the higher our praises will be ( Psalm 149:6).

When we rejoice in the truth, we will not be ashamed to declare it. In fact, rejoicing in the truth will motivate us to talk to everyone we can about it. However, as I stated at the beginning of this post, how can we rejoice in the truth if we do not know the truth?

I think it would be fair to say that most Christians do not know their Bibles very well. If fathers and mothers do not take up their priestly duties and read the Scriptures to their families around their morning and evening mealtimes, how will they ever be able to rejoice in the truth they know nothing about?

The truth should be familiar to us; not a strange thing. Hosea 8:12 states: “I have written to him the GREAT things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.”

Daily family devotions will promote the knowledge of the truth. In turn, this causes us to rejoice in the truth.

John 8:32: ”And ye shall KNOW the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You don’t get the blessing unless you KNOW it. Your children won’t receiving the blessing of the truth unless they KNOW it.

Far too many Christian fathers are passive concerning family devotions which results in a serious failure to rejoice in the truth. We may see ourselves as good average Christian families but if we are not rejoicing in the truth, we won’t make a difference in the world.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

We must remember, at all times, and never forget that our God is a God of truth land He rejoices in the truth.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God declares in in John 14:6: “ I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.” We who are true followers of should also rejoice in the truth. We never rejoice that we escaped conviction by telling a lie.

We who are old enough will remember the O. J. Simpson trial with the famous line: “If the glove doesn’t fit, you have to acquit.” O. J. Simpson was indeed guilty, and they did not rejoice in the truth.

Exodus 30:16: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

Exodus 23:1: “Thou shalt not raise a false report.”

Deuteronomy 19:16-21: “If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
And the judges shall make DILIGENT INQUISITION and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother; so shall thou put the evil away from among you.
And those which remain shall hear, and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Wow! If we did to false witnesses what God says in this Scripture, it would result in the fear of God coming upon the people and this sin would be put down.

We remember the false witness that spoke against Brett Kavanagh at the time of his appointment to the Supreme Court. I remember correctly the false witness made a lot of money from a Go Fund Me program. How crazy.

When people raise their hands these days and swear to “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God,” it doesn’t mean a whole lot anymore.

It is a sad day when more people rejoice in a lie rather than rejoicing in the truth.

We must become a nation who will speak the truth, at all times, even if it hurts us.

To be continued.

Be encouraged. Colin Campbell

Is not God enough for thy need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants?

Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing?

Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true,

and all-wise, why gladdest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why doest thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build theron?”

~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

When we walk in agape love, we will not rejoice in any form of iniquity that happens amongst our brothers and sisters in the church we belong to. Nor will we pass on negative information relating to members of our own family and close friends.

The only righteous reason for passing on negative concerns is to encourage prayer and desire that the matter will be dealt with in a God-fearing and God-loving way. Therefore, we must be careful about who we talk to. We should not pass information on to people who do not pray.

If we fear God, we will not pass on anything with a motive to gossip or slander.

If we are tempted to pass on to others anything that is based on hearsay and cannot be collaborated or verified, we should check out the facts before we say anything. Otherwise, we are no better than the fake media!

Leviticus 19:16b: “Neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the LORD.” We stand against the blood of our neighbor when we find some juicy titbit of gossip to say against them. It is a serious thing in the sight of God when we feel glad or even want to share negatives to others. Sometimes we can’t wait to gossip and slander others to spread a negative and evil report.

Some might say that to stand against the blood of your neighbor means to want your neighbor dead! Or you will not defend your neighbor’s blood if he should die or be killed. However, 1 John 3:15 says: “Whosoever hateth his brother (neighbor) is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Tale bearing, gossiping, and slandering goes against the love of the brethren as well as the love of one’s neighbors.

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell