Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

I was reading the psalm we all know so well this morning, Psalm 23:2: “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” We know that a shepherd always leads his sheep to peaceful and tranquil waters. They will not drink from turbulent waters.

 

The Hebrew word for still means “a resting place, an abode, figuratively consolation (specifically matrimony).” When God was looking for the best place for His people to dwell Numbers 10:33 tells us that “the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them . . . to search out a RESTING PLACE for them.” It is the same Hebrew word.

 

When Naomi was saying goodbye to her daughters-in-law and encouraging them to stay in their land and find a husband she said: “The LORD grant that you may find REST, each of you in the house of her husband.” The Berean Study Bible says: “May the LORD enable each of you to find rest in the home of your new husband.”

 

God, who is the giver of all good things, intends marriage to be a place of rest. Sadly, many marriages are places of turbulence and upheaval. That’s the devil’s plan. But God’s plan is peace and rest. We must stay on God's side to help bring peace and rest to our marriages and homes.

 

This may not be easy. But God, who lives within you by the power of His Holy Spirit and who sheds abroad His love in your heart, is able to give you the power to do this. Instead of reacting when your husband says something nasty or derogatory, answer him with sweetness and softness (Proverbs 15:1). You can’t do it in your own strength but only by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you can’t trust yourself to say the right thing, well, don’t open your mouth at all. Keep your mouth shut!

 

Marriages are ruined and destroyed by words! Our words have power to build up or pull down (Proverbs 14:1). To bring life and refreshing or destruction. Even when Jesus was accused at the time of His crucifixion, “He answered never a word.” When He was reviled, he did not revile back. When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered under their hands, He made no threats (1 Peter 2:23).

 

Do everything you can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to make your marriage a place of rest. That is God’s beautiful plan for you. I love Isaiah 28:12 which says: “His rest shall be glorious.” When you have rest and security in your marriage, it is such a glorious way to live. God wants you to live a glorious life.

 

Be blessed today, Nancy Campbell

Today is the 18th November and so I began to read Proverbs 18 (31 chapters for 31 days in the month). As usual, I didn’t get very far. I didn’t get past verse 1! This is usually what happens wen I read God’s word each morning. I rarely get through a chapter. As I begin to read, I find something so wonderful and revelatory that I stop to study and meditate upon it more! God’s word is new and refreshing each day.

 

What was it that arrested my attention? Proverbs 18:1 BSB says: “He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.” The Good News Translation says: “People who do not get along with others are interested only in themselves.”

 

This truth lines up with God’s word and His plan for the people He created. God did not create us for isolation. He created us for familyness, togetherness, and fellowship. He sets the solitary in families. Yes, He wants us to experience our family fellowship, but to also reach out beyond our families.

 

There are some folks who do not go to church. They can’t find one where they fit in and therefore fellowship on their own. That is isolation. God loves togetherness. Recently I did a study on the assembling of God’s people. Can you believe it? I found 17 different Hebrew words that God uses to describe His people assembling and coming together and each one is used in many different Scriptures! It is God’s heartbeat and it His plan.

 

God continues this doctrine in the New Testament. We all know Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembly of ourselves TOGETHER, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the ore as ye see the day approaching.” And we read in Acts 4:42 that this was the lifestyle of the early church.

 

It is true that we can miss “sound judgment” when we are isolated. We need one another to sharpen one another, to encourage and exhort one another, and to keep one another in line. It’s not even enough to go to church. We must fellowship. We just show hospitality to one another.

 

God’s plan is togetherness, not isolation.

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Val Stares, the director of Above Rubies in Australia, sent this link to me this morning. It is called THE AUSTRALIAN CREED FOR SEXUAL INTEGRITY.

 

This creed was drafted by some of Australia’s most prominent Christian leaders. In just over 200 words, it lays out the Bible’s clear teachings on sexuality in truth and grace. They want millions all over the world to sign this creed. It can be used as:

 

a doctrinal affirmation in worship services,

an educational tool for Christians,

a theological defence against compromise,

a way for churches and schools to affirm their orthodoxy,

a legal defence for Christians facing job loss.

 

Go to this link to sign:

https://blog.us20.list-manage.com/track/click...

 

I have already signed it. Sign and share it with others. Further information from: www.australiancreed.com

 

Blessings from Nancy

Your home is a haven providing protection,

Filled with joy and peace and lots of affection,

It’s God’s chosen place for your husband and you,

To raise godly children, righteous and true.

 

You’re making it a sanctuary from the evil around,

So you can train children to be whole and sound,

The right time is coming when you’ll send them out,

Empowered with God’s Spirit—world, look out!

 

~ Nancy Campbell

By Judy Folsom

 

Psalm 127:3 says: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”

 

A reward you say? Yes, a reward! We were always asked the same questions as we filled up a couple of tables at a restaurant or when I shopped for groceries with two carts and several children in, around, and clinging to the sides of the cart. “Are all these yours?” and “Did you plan to have so many?” and my very favorite, “Don’t you know where babies come from?” Let me start by telling you our plan and about the work God did in our lives and hearts.

 

Our plan was to have my tubes tied after our third child, Denise, our first beautiful daughter. But God said, “That is not my plan.” I did not feel any peace with this decision and so our plan was thwarted. But we did not quit trying to be in charge! We decided that there were a lot of other children that could use our help. Maybe that would do. After all, being foster parents was a good thing! I also started taking a birth control pill which lead my heart to extreme turmoil. God wanted us to be a part of His plan.

 

The point was, God wanted us to trust Him with our plan. Of course, I had a lot of questions.

 

What if they come too close for me to give them personal attention? God said, “Their brothers and sister will take up the slack. My grace is sufficient.”

 

How will we feed and clothe them? God said, “I will take care of your needs.”

 

When I asked Him about their college, as the world always does, He literally said, “Give Me credit for something!” So when people would ask me those questions I would say, “Not my problem, God’s problem, I am just obeying.”

 

While God was working with me, answering all my many questions, He was working with Mike through the Word. Mike is a wonderful Bible teacher, so as is his custom, when he is not sure what to do, he goes to the Word. The Lord led him to Psalms 128. He read: “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them” (Psalm 128:3-5a).

 

He definitely wanted to be a blessed man, and though he was not quite sure what a quiver was, he knew that he wanted to be happy. We have since discovered that everyone’s quiver (the container for holding your arrows), is different. Do not stop having children until your quiver is full. There is nothing sadder than a less than full quiver, because you will always be desirous of another. So, I became his fruitful vine, and our children were olive plants all around our table.

 

When I was expecting our seventh child, Mike and I both felt like God was calling us to a deeper walk of faith in Him. We had some friends that assisted with home births. We approached them about helping us with our own homebirth. Our friends advised us to pray and make sure God was telling us to do this. We prayed until we knew that we knew that this was what we were supposed to do. While our children waited and slept on the floor by my bed and a good friend walked the large hallway praying, Mike delivered our burly little ball player, Caleb.

 

When I found out I was expecting again, I did not have the same feelings about a home birth. My experience had been wonderful, but something did not feel right about it for this baby. As it turned out, our Abigail, whose name means a father’s joy, and I both needed medical help at the time of the birth. His plan was to have us at the hospital, with doctors and nurses who could care for us. God is so good.

 

Now fast-forward 23 years. My sweet baby girl is all grown up, and we just celebrated her marriage. The week before the wedding, we were blessed to have 22 of the 32 family members in our home at one time, twelve of which were children. Let me share with you some of the delightful scenes I had the privilege of witnessing.

 

I saw my husband working with my sons to replace the windows in our house. I watched my son-in-law playing ball with the grandchildren and riding the little ones around on his feet. My daughter–in-law and I came back from shopping for the wedding to find my ex-marine son-in-law, who now works as a bodyguard, painting the toenails of my four granddaughters.

 

My daughter was busy in the backyard, donned in her ball cap and garden gloves, directing the boys to pick up all the pinecones, branches, and burnable trash to be thrown in the burn pile for the bonfire that night. I saw my son, who has no children, swinging the grandchildren on the rope swing he had made by throwing a rope over a branch, putting a hole in a board, and tying it down to a wheelbarrow full of cement blocks.

 

Another daughter set up a chair for anyone interested in a haircut, while my daughter-in-law made sandwiches for all the children. I witnessed a daddy changing diapers for any babies nearby that appeared in need of a change. We finished off the night with a huge bonfire and smores for the children, made by my daughter and her husband-to-be.

 

After it had quieted down and the adults were all enjoying coffee and cobbler, I peeked in to the children’s room to see four children across the bottom bunk and the floor covered with little sleeping bags because they all wanted to be together. And knowing first thing in the morning, they would all be in our bed to say good morning! What pure joy!

 

And now you know. Yes, they are all mine! And yes, God had a plan. As for where babies come from, yes, I know that too. They are blessings from a good God and, indeed, our heritage and reward.

 

JUDY FOLSOM

 

Update: Mike and Judy have eight grown children and now 20 grandchildren.

Oh, don’t you love this picture of these most adorable twins? I received this picture the other day from my dear friend, Sarah, and I just loved it so much I asked if I could share it with you all. Sarah and Daniel Bausum are now the parents of 12 amazing children.

 

I used to say when I had my twins (nearly 60 years ago) that “There’s nothing better than having a baby, except having two babies!” The amazing thing is that I didn’t know I was having twins until I was in labor on my due date! No ultrasounds back in those days!

 

Sarah writes: “Ida Poppy was only 4 lbs. when she was born, and she is now 12 lbs. Caleb was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and is now 15 lbs. They are growing just fine on breast milk alone. They started out too weak to nurse and I pumped my milk into bottles for three months until they gained strength to nurse. I introduced nursing a little each day. Now at four months old they despise the bottle and are exclusively breastfeeding! It was worth all the work.

 

The house has never been messier since I had the twins. (Sarah likes to keep her home ship-shape!). Your letter was a great reminder to focus on what matters and stop worrying about “how tired I am” or how “clean the house is” or “the projects” I’m not getting done.

 

Last night I sat in my boys’ room and chatted for hours. It is an absolute disaster since three boys share a tiny room. I sat on the edge of the bed, tried not to cringe at the dirty sheets, and had a heartfelt chat. I didn’t clean up a thing! That was very challenging for me since I prefer a tidy home. My son looked VERY encouraged this morning and left the house with a smile. It was the right choice to just connect in that moment instead of giving an oration on housekeeping.

 

Thanks for all you do in reminding us to keep focusing on the souls of our children. It’s very easy to get distracted in the busy coming and going, the dishes mounting up, the healthy meals to prepare, and mountain of clean laundry to put away from all the potty training accidents . It’s refreshing to be reminded to stop, look past all that mess, and see the people we call our children.

 

“The joy of the Lord is my strength,” NOT how many hours I got to sleep in a row. God always provides the energy I need for each day. He is faithful, but your messages help me get my thinking back on track and out of the pity-party trenches.”

 

SARAH BAUSUM

It's over to you, Mom. You can make your home a dreary, boring place, or you can make it the most exciting and productive place in your whole city. God has given you your home, whether small and humble or big and spacious, to raise your children for God and to use for His glory and blessing to many.

~ Nancy Campbell

Are you a PLANTED mother or a PLUCKED UP mother?

How we praise God for this wonderful victory of Trump winning the election. It was God’s wondrous mercy. Because of the evil going on in this country we deserve His judgment, but He was so good to give us His mercy in answer to the fervent prayers and intercessions of thousands of God’s people all over this country and overseas.

 

This morning I heard Biden’s former Press Secretary, Jen Psaki say that she could not understand how Trump had won and they will be digging deep to look into it. Sadly, she doesn’t know our God. This was God’s doing, and we rejoice. Hopefully she’ll dig deep enough to find God.

 

This morning we sang the hymn, “To God be the glory, great things He has done.” And this evening at one of our weekly prayer meetings we will all praise and worship God for His intervention.

 

But now that Trump has won against all odds (with constant persecution for the last eight years from the left, which no other human being could have survived, from trying to impeach him when he was president to during this last term seeking to imprison him for life and assassinate him) we must not rest on our laurels. The liberal left still have the same agenda toward him and therefore we must pray more fervently than ever.

 

Because we will now have freedom of Christianity (which we would not have had if Harris had been chosen) we must make the most of every moment of this glorious window. We must pray for a great revival of repentance and turning back to God. This nation needs to turn back to God, back to His ways, back to family and the home. Let’s keep praying.

 

I am challenged by the words in Psalm 85:8: “I will hear what God the LORD will speak; for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: BUT LET THEM NOT TURN AGAIN TO FOLLY.”

 

Instead of being taken up with the spirit of this world, we must seek God more earnestly and realize that “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

 

Keep praying.

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

There’s a natural resistance to this statement, isn’t there? But it’s straight from the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 6:19 (CJB) states: “You don’t belong to yourselves.” Or if you want it from the King James Version: “Ye are not your own.”

 

This Scripture tells us we don’t belong to ourselves because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. We are just the house. He is the One who wants to direct and rule our lives. This is expressed again in Romans 14:7, 8.

 

But God not only owns us when we invite Him to be Lord of our lives. He owned us since conception. The first statement in the beautiful description of God creating the baby in the womb in Psalm 139:13 states: “Thou hast possessed my reins.” The word “possessed” is the Hebrew word “qanah” and means “to create, to procure by purchase, to own, to possess.”

 

Psalm 100:3: “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” God begins with ownership. He is our Creator and therefore the Owner of our lives.

 

Why do we want to take control of our own lives? Do we really think we can do a better job than the One who designed and created us? And the One who not only created us, but because we were lost in our sin, purchased us back again with the price of the precious of blood of Christ.

 

We are twice owned!

 

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small,

Love so amazing, so divine,

Shall have my life, my soul, my all.

 

Many blessings to you today,

 

Nancy Campbell

I was talking to a mother expecting her 10th baby. She shared with me that on a recent Sunday morning at church some of the young mothers asked her how she survived with so many children.

 

“Oh, more is easier,” she replied.

 

“Truly?” they gasped in surprise.

 

She then shared with them her testimony of that very morning: “I hadn’t slept well last night and because I’m pregnant, I slept in a little later. When I got up, I noticed my 13-year-old daughter preparing breakfast and getting all the clothes ready for the other children to wear to church. Another daughter was looking after the baby. All was well. So I leisurely took a shower and then spent some time reading the Word. When I came out to the kitchen the breakfast was all waiting on the table and we sat down together.”

 

It is true that when you have many children, they are not all little toddlers! Each child grows every year. And each child you train to take a little more responsibility and do their specific tasks.

 

Each time a new baby comes along there are more and more arms wanting to hold the baby and play with him. There are more helpers to help with meals and keep the home running smoothly.

 

I think the most overwhelming time of motherhood is when you have your first two or three children. You have no helpers. But as more children come along, you have more and more helpers. And yes, it’s true, more noise! But also more love, more cuddles, more joy and laughter, more entertainment, more playmates for your children, more excitement, and more blessings.

 

Who wouldn’t want more children?

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Do you sometimes wish you could forget about looking after littles ones, doing dishes and laundry, and cooking meals day after day? You wish you could be out serving the Lord and really doing something great for God.

 

Dear mother, I want to remind you that you ARE serving the Lord. God gave you your precious children and He didn’t give them to you to give to someone else to care for. He gave them to YOU. This is your service to Him. You are nurturing and training these children for Him. It is more important than any service you could ever do.

 

I think back of how I dreamed of being a single missionary and changing the world for God. Instead I got married and had children! And I have impacted the world in a far greater way than if I had served the Lord on my own. My service to the world is multiplied through our children.

 

“For what is service but the life of Jesus,

Lived through a vessel of earth’s fragile clay,

Loving and giving and poured forth for others,

A living sacrifice from day to day.”

~ Freda Hanbury Allen

 

This is a picture of motherhood. Pouring out your life for your husband and children. Living a life of sacrifice each day. It is not only a picture of motherhood, it is the revelation of Jesus. Jesus came to serve and give His life (Matthew 20:8). And the greatest service you can do each day is to allow the life of Jesus to live through you which is loving, serving, and pouring out your life for others.

How blessed you are.

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

How easy it is to speak off the top of our mouths too quickly. We speak before we think. We speak before we give God time to show us the whole picture.

 

David was guilty of this too. In Psalm 31:22 he says: “I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes.” He was facing persecution and threats to his life. But he talked too quickly. He soon realized that God had not given up on him and had not left him, and he then acknowledges: “Nevertheless thou hearest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.”

 

Read through the whole of Psalm 31. David continually states the dangers that are happening in his life but immediately following confesses that his trust is in the Lord. For example, verses 13, 14: “For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I TRUSTED IN THEE, O Lord; I said, Thou art my God.”

 

When difficult things are happening your life, don’t spout off blame toward God. Keep your mouth shut. God is always in control of every situation. Lift your heart up to Him and trust Him. He will show you His ways and what He wants you to do.

 

When your husband or others say things to you that stir up your anger and negative reaction, close your mouth. Don’t speak in haste. You’ll regret everything you said.

 

Instead of opening your mouth, smile sweetly and say nothing. Or if possible, say something sweet and loving. That has more power to ward off anger and gives God opportunity to deal with your husband or whoever. If you have the right reaction, God will deal with him. It works every time.

 

Remember the words of Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turneth turns away anger.”

James 1:19: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear SLOW TO SPEAK, slow to wrath.”

 

And I am always challenged by this Scripture in Proverbs 10:19 (NLT): “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

 

P. S. Here are some more Scriptures to encourage us about our tongues that get us into so much trouble!

 

Psalm 19:14; 39:1; 141:3, 4; 34:13; Proverbs 12:16-18; 13:2, 3; 15:4; 17:27; 18: 21; 21:23; 26:4; 29:11, 20; Ecclesiastes 5:2, 6; Matthew 5:37; 12:36, 37; 2 Timothy 2:16; Ephesians 4:29, 32; James 1:26; and 3:1-12.