Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Zerubbabel (along with others), came back from Babylon, their land of captivity, to rebuild the temple of God. They faced difficulties, challenges and persecution on every hand as they attempted this great building project. You, too, are involved in a great building program. Maybe, like Zerubbabel and his team, you find you cannot do it in your own strength.

The prophet came with a word from God to encourage him, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6). I cry out these words nearly every day of my life. I cannot face all my challenges in my own wisdom. I cannot make my family members walk in God’s ways. I cannot accomplish the task with my limited capacity. It is only by the moving and working of the Holy Spirit in my life, and in their lives. I am totally reliant upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

Praise God for His power which works in us mightily (Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:29) and Hebrews 13:21). The prophet continued, “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” (Zechariah 4:7). Do you have mountains in the way of your building a strong marriage and family? Through the power of the Holy Spirit the mountains will become a plain! Claim this promise and the Word of the Lord to you.

Love from Nancy

What does it mean to be faithful? The Hebrew word is aman which means “to stand firm, to endure, long continuance, reliable, trusty.” I like the word, “trusty” don’t you? Faithfulness is not a flashy thing. It is not always an exciting thing. It can often be part of the drudgery of life. We do the same thing day after day as we mother in our homes. Life may seem monotonous. It may seem boring compared to the exciting life that others are leading outside the home. But, dear mother, be encouraged. You are fulfilling the most far-reaching and influential career in the nation!

Catherine Booth said, “I seek to make myself fit to be a mother, and being that in every sense, I shall be ready for any destiny God has for me.” Be faithful in your home--your marriage, mothering, and all the little things you do in the “daily grind.” This is your greatest training for life and eternity.

All your daily moments of faithfulness add up. They add up to a life of faithfulness. They add up to the reward of those wonderful words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21).

Love from Nancy

God cannot do anything but good, because He is inherently good. This is His nature. We look out upon the world and see so much evil and suffering, but in it all, God is still good. Because we have evil in the world does not change God’s goodness. Because we go through difficult and traumatic times does not change God’s goodness. God is Sovereign and working all things out for good.

I think of Joseph who was torn away from his family as a young teen and taken to a foreign country. He was put in prison and faced disappointment after disappointment. But God was working it out for good. When the time came to be reconciled to his brothers, he confessed, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 45:7-8 and 50:20).

God is working everything in your life for good, too. Trust Him and acknowledge His goodness.

Love from Nancy

Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” What an amazing difference it makes to the home when the mother has a cheerful countenance!

How can you do it when you feel grumpy, tired and irritable? Dear mother, did you know that you can change your countenance by the attitude of your heart? It’s your attitude, not your feelings. What a sad household when you live by your feelings. You are miserable. Your children are miserable. And your husband doesn’t want to be around!

Come on now, lift up your head. God is on the throne. He is your strength and your joy. Against everything you feel, acknowledge His joy that dwells in you because He lives in you. Praise the Lord. Count your blessings. And your countenance will change.

Love from Nancy

How often does the name of Jesus fall from your lips during the day? How often do your children utter the name of Jesus? His name brings salvation. His names brings healing. His name brings delieverence. Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other:  for there is none other name under heaven given among men, where by we must be saved.” I love the words of the old hymn by John Newton,

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary, rest.

Speak His name often today.

Love from Nancy

God says, “I will come!”

Do you want God to come to you? He comes into your life when you invite Him (Revelation 3:20). He comes to deliver you when you cry out to Him (Romans 10:13). He is coming again to take us to His eternal home (John 14:1-3).

But there is another way He comes. Romans 9:9 says, “For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have son.” Sarah did not have a son of her own accord. God had to come first! We cannot have conception without God coming! God comes to you when you conceive a baby!

How amazing, awesome and incredible to think back on the times when God visited you and you conceived a baby by His will and power. And He may come to you again!

Love from Nancy

“His name shall be called… Wonderful” (Isaiah 9:6). God cannot be fathomed. He is mysterious (Job 11:7-10). Judges 13:18 says His name is “secret.” We should always be in awe of God and teach our children to have this awe and wonder of Him. May God save us from ever putting Him in a box or allowing our children to put Him in a box.

“Wonder” is an emotion that God has given to us. Firstly in relation to Him, and then regarding creation and life. Even daily life. Sadly, many have lost the emotion of “wonder” today. Their brains have been so stimulated with the media and iphones, ipads, and ipods that they have no room left in their brains for “wonder” and expectation in life. Little children are born with this wonder. Encourage it in your children, and give daily opportunities for it. I love the lines of Sara Teasdale, “Children’s faces looking up, Holding wonder like a cup.”

Live in the expectation of wonder today.

Love from Nancy

John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” What an amazing fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God became flesh and lived in this world. Even more amazing is that Jesus Christ still wants to become flesh and dwell in this world. He now dwells in His redeemed saints.

How did He reveal His glory? Jesus came “full of grace and truth.” He wants to manifest His grace and truth through me. And through you--in your home, as you daily interact with your children. He wants us to be messengers of His truth, never compromising. But He also wants us to walk in grace, showing compassion and undeserving love even when people do not accept the truth.

Dear Mother, ask God to show you how to walk in “grace and truth” as you train your children. Truth on its own can become legalistic; grace on its own becomes sloppy and does more harm to our children. Ask God to give you the balance and to work these

Love from Nancy

Although Ruth the Moabitess was a foreigner to Israel, she earned the testimony of being known as a “virtuous woman”—a woman of valor, strength and courage. Boaz confessed, “All the city knows thee for a bride worth the winning” (Ruth 3:11 Knox).

Mother, we have the privilege of training daughters to be a “bride worth the winning.” What a wonderful vision. Many young women today are not ready for marriage. They have been educated for the market place instead of the high calling of motherhood and managing a home. But we can prepare daughters who understand their destiny and know that embracing children and establishing a godly family is the highest privilege upon which a woman can embark.

We are not only preparing a “bride worth the winning”, but a “nation strengthener.”

Love from Nancy

Would you like to know my favorite Scripture? It is Isaiah 26:3-4, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” Because it is a favorite, I have memorized it, so it is always with me.

What is perfect peace? The true Hebrew rendering is “peace, peace,” meaning a double portion of peace. It is God’s peace which is undisturbable. Don’t you love that? Nothing, no matter how traumatic, disturbs God! And because He is your God, and dwells in you, you can also live in this kind of peace.

But there are two things you have to do:

1) Focus your thoughts upon the Lord. If all your thoughts are upon your problem and the trauma you are facing, you will not experience peace.

2) Trust totally in the Lord. If your trust is in man or trying to solve your problem with your own limited capacity, you will continue to live in stress. Try God’s way.

Love from Nancy

Proverbs 10:21 says, “The lips of the righteous feed many.” I long for this to be my testimony, but in order to have feeding lips, I must first feed my soul. I want God’s Word to not only be in my heart but in my mouth, ready to feed whoever is around me. All mothers need feeding lips. Not only do we have hungry bodies to feed, but hungry souls and spirits too.

What a tragic thing to be faithful to feed our children’s bodies so they are robust and strong and yet they grow up with tiny starved souls and spirits. Our children’s “inner man” needs feeding as much or more than their “outer man.” I like to tell my children the statement I read of a great Chinese Christian who confessed, “No Bible; no breakfast!” He would never feed his physical body until he first fed his spirit.

Be a “lip feeder” today. Richly feed your children and those around you with wisdom and truth.

Love from Nancy

How much laughter fills your home? I’m sure the children are always laughing, but what about you and your husband? Statistics say that children laugh up to 300– 400 times a day whereas most adults only laugh about 15 times a day. I wonder if some adults laugh that much!

I know that the stress of each day limits laughter, but is it because we are taking the stress on ourselves instead of walking in the strength and rest of the Lord?

The Bible is correct when it says in Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” I am sure that the more we laugh, the healthier we’ll be.

Laughter reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, boosts the immune system and releases endorphins. Laugh at your children. Laugh at the little things that happen. Laugh at yourself. Enjoy the life God has given you in your home.

Love from Nancy

Did you know that God wants each new generation to learn how to fight? He left enemies in the land of Israel so that each new generation of Israelites could be taught the art of war (Judges 3:1-3).

While we are on this earth, we will always be in a battle. We are in a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, truth and deception and light and darkness. We must know how to fight these daily battles, but we must also teach our children how to fight the enemy. If we do not teach the strategies of warfare against the enemy, they will fall prey to his attacks.

We want to raise children who can fight the enemy and will still be standing after the fight! Read 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; Ephesians 6: 10-18 and 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

Love from Nancy

“Ye are the children of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1). What does that mean? I am a redeemed, blood bought child of the King of the universe. Not any king, but the King of kings. I am royalty. You are royalty. Therefore we should live like royalty. The Knox translation says, “Learn to carry yourselves as the children of the Lord your God.”

Do you speak like royalty--like a daughter of the King of kings? Do you walk like a daughter of royalty? Do you dress like a daughter of the King of kings? That means modestly, but also beautifully. You won’t see a princess in drab, dreary clothes. Do you live in every way like a daughter of the King?

Are you teaching your daughters to carry themselves as daughters of the King? Acknowledge who you are and live accordingly.

Love from Nancy

I am sure I don’t have to remind you that mothering is hard work! It’s how it’s meant to be.

When God put Adam and even in the garden home, he gave them work to do—and that was before the fall of man. Don’t despise that your career takes work!

Work is a blessing. Work is therapeutic. Work releases creativity.

God told the first couple to “dress” the garden. The word in the Hebrew is avad and means to “work until weary, to be fatigued.”

God reiterates the same theme in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 5:10 where He tells us that feeding and raising children is a “good work.” The Greek word is ergon and means, “work that is not accomplished by a single act but by accumulated labor and continued work.” That sounds like daily mothering, doesn’t it?

Rejoice as you work. Sing while you work. You are in the perfect will of God.

Love from Nancy

I was amazed to read about some of the sons of Israel. 1 Chronicles 12:14-15 NASB says, “The sons of Gad were captains of the army; he who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand. These are the ones, who crossed the Jordan… when it was overflowing all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.”

What a vision! To raise a son who is equal to a hundred men! Or even a son who is equal to a thousand other men! In 1 Chronicles 26:29-31 we read about “capable men” and also “men of outstanding capability.”

Don’t aim for raising sons and daughters that are status quo and like everyone else around. Aim your vision higher. Educate children who will think like God thinks instead of the “dumbing down” spirit of this world. Raise sons who will “know their God” and who will be “strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32).

Love from Nancy

How blessed we are to have the gift of life. How blessed we are as mothers to have the privilege of bringing life into the world, not only life for this earth, but for the eternal realm. We were created to be life-givers. To cooperate with God to bring into this life an eternal soul who will live forever is a privilege beyond any other.

Life-giving is our glory. We teach our children the wonder of life. We teach them the preciousness and value of life, from conception to the grave. We teach them how to enjoy life. We speak life-giving words to our husband and children and everyone we meet. We prepare our family life-giving foods.

We delight in life because “Christ who is our life” dwells in us (Colossians 3:4).

Love from Nancy

Nehemiah faced persecution on every hand. His adversaries tried every way to stop him build up the gates and wall of Jerusalem that were broken down.

You are also in a building program and the adversary, the devil does not want you to succeed in building either. He wants your marriage and family weakened.

But what did Nehemiah do? In Nehemiah 6:9 he says, “They all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.” Instead of caving in to their plots against him, he cried out to God for strength to continue.

The Knox translation says, “I pressed on the harder.” The more his enemies came against him, the more he determined to finish the task. The Moffat’s translation says, “I applied myself with greater energy.”

When everything is coming against you, don’t give in. Press on harder in God’s strength.

Love from Nancy

Psalm 53:5 says, “There they were in great fear, where no fear was.” The margin of my Bible says, “They feared a fear.”

One of Satan’s greatest tactics is to bind us up with fear even when there is no valid reason for the fear. These deceptive fears immobilize you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. They debilitate you.

Society fills women with deceptive fears. “It would be dangerous to have a baby in my forties!” I beg your pardon. You are in your child-bearing years until you reach menopause.

“I may have a Down syndrome baby.” And you may not, so what are you fearing? And if you did (which can happen to a mother of any age), this child would be your greatest blessing.

“I’ve had two c-sections and my doctor says I can’t have any more.” There are many mothers who have seven and eight c-sections and their womb is still as great as ever.

The “fears of a fear” keep coming. Will you give into them or trust in God?

Nancy

Michelle, thank you for your great post.

I have just read William Barclay's translation of Romans 8:5-6, "Those who have allowed their lower nature to become the rule of their lives have an attitude to life which is dominated by their lower nature; those who have taken the Spirit as the rule of their lives have an attitude to life which is dominated by the Spirit."

Oh to let the Holy Spirit dominate our lives. When the Holy Spirit dominates our lives, our marriage will be dominated by the Holy Spirit and our home will be dominated by the Holy Spirit. How wonderful.

Nancy