Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Let’s check all the blessings God says He will pour out upon you when you “obey his voice.” He will “have compassion on you . . . prosper you . . . multiply you . . . abundantly prosper the work of your hand . . . and the fruit of your womb . . . and the increase your livestock . . . and the fruit of your ground . . . you will live and multiply . . . and God will bless you (Deuteronomy 30:2-20).

Do you notice how God shows His love to us by blessing us with the fruit of the womb? We see this again in Deuteronomy 28, the blessing chapter. I am not sure why I call it the blessing chapter as there are 53 verses of cursings and only 14 verses of blessing. I don’t like reading the cursings as much as the blessings.

Two times in the few blessing verses, God says He will bless the fruit of our womb and then continues with all the blessings of provision to provide for the fruit of the womb. Check them out.

I know there are many who don’t want to be blessed with the fruit of the womb. We are so far removed from the truth of God’s Word and the reality of His heart for us, aren’t we? And yet this is how God wants to pour out His love upon us.

It is only the deception of Satan in our hearts that makes us think that children are not a blessing. And yet what material blessings can even compare with one life created in the image of God, let along many? I felt so blessed at our table the other night. Ten of our lovely grandchildren sat around our table and at the end of our family devotions we got out our hymn sheets to sing a hymn. But they wouldn’t stop at one. They wanted to keep singing. And oh, what a beautiful choir as they sang with all their hearts. What joy.

May you be blessed with all the blessings of God,

Nancy Campbell

Painting by Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen (1813 – 1886).

All the good things that are in Jesus Christ are available to you right now. Not some day in the future, but for whatever is happening in your life now. I know that life is not always perfect when you are mothering your children. You don’t have enough fingers to count how many things go wrong throughout the day. But don’t despair. Jesus Christ is with you. He lives in you. You don’t have to react to these things in your flesh. Instead, allow Jesus to live His life through you.

Let’s look at some Scriptures that remind us that God is working in your right now.

1 Timothy 4:8: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the LIFE THAT NOW IS, and of that which is to come.” Most modern versions say: “For this present life.” Godliness does not only work in us for eternity, but for right NOW! Yes, right now.

Are you feeling upset and you really want to let everyone know? Instead of giving into the flesh and hurting everyone around you, allow the life of Jesus to work through you. He is filled with patience and longsuffering and HE LIVES IN YOU! That means you are patient and longsuffering too!

Romans 5:17: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall REIGN IN LIFE by one Christ Jesus.” We will not only reign in eternity. This Scripture tells us that we can REIGN IN LIFE RIGHT NOW. We can reign over the power of the flesh through the life of Christ who dwells in us.

Are you down in the dumps and depressed? You don’t have to stay there. You can reign over your depression in the power of the name of Jesus. He lives within you and He is Joy. Joy that is not dependent upon circumstances, but on who He is!

We need to learn each moment to appropriate by faith the loving, joyful, longsuffering, victorious, and overcoming life of Jesus Christ, who lives within us.

I love 2 Peter 1:3: “According as his divine power hath given unto us ALL THINGS that pertain unto LIFE and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” Dear precious mother, you have EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN CHRIST to live a reigning and godly life in your home. No matter what the chaos. No matter the disappointment. No matter the challenge. Christ, the hope of glory, lives in you (Colossians 1:27). And He is with you right now.

2 Corinthians 6:2: “Behold, NOW is the accepted time, behold NOW is the day of salvation.” The Greek word for salvation is “soteria” and means “safety, deliverance, health, salvation.” Jesus Christ is health and salvation for us right now.

On Friday, I fell and broke three ribs. It’s painful. I can’t get out of bed without my husband helping me, although once I am up I can walk. This morning my grandson, Zadok, came over to pray with me. He loves to pray for people to be healed and literally saw six or seven miraculous healings over the weekend. And these were not people at church meetings, but at restaurants and on the streets! As he prayed, we believed for my healing NOW. I know I am still healing, but in faith I got down on my knees and we weeded the garden together! That’s miraculous!

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

When Jesus answered, Paul “trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:1-8).

I think it would be good to tell people that this is what it means to be converted, don’t you? When we turn to Jesus we say, “Lord Jesus, I now believe in You. I thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and taking my punishment. I turn from my old ways and want to live Your way. Lord Jesus, what do You want me to do now? Amen.”

This should be how we start our walk with God and this is how we continue it every day. “Dear Lord Jesus, what do You want me to do today?” This question means total abandonment to the sovereign will of God. This means yielding to Christ instead of the flesh. This means yielding my body to Him as a living sacrifice. This is normal Christianity.

It’s the same attitude Mary had when she said: “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

And above all, it’s the same attitude Jesus had as He faced the cross: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

Love from Nancy Campbell

This is the challenge to us all. Do we look for His coming to speak to us each day as a family? Is it our delight to meet with Him morning and evening? Do we plan our day around making this happen? Or are we too busy doing what we want to do?

I know myself that unless I make it happen, it doesn’t happen. Instead of hoping it will fit in, I plan each day around our morning and evening meeting with God. Everything else fits in with these appointments. And can I ask? What else could be more important?

If we don’t look for His coming to speak to us each day, are we really interested in His second coming? If He is coming for those who look for Him as the Bible states in Hebrews 9:28, surely, we will look for Him every day. Most translations of Hebrews 9:28 say “those who EAGERLY AWAIT for Him.”

How eager are we for Him?

God bless you today,

Nancy Campbell

I am always challenged by Hebrews 13:3 (NCV): “Remember those who are in prison as if you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering as if you were suffering with them.”

The other week my daughter, Serene, was climbing down a tall ladder. Her long skirt caught the top of the ladder which caused it to fall. Bother the ladder and Serene fell to the ground with a thump. She could have broken her back and was in tremendous pain.

However, instead of suffering for herself I was really convicted when she said she was so glad to feel the pain. She said, “I know I am meant to pray for my persecuted brothers and sisters as though I feel their pain along with them, but because I feel great, I find it hard to really feel their pain. So, this time, as I suffered in great pain, I interceded for those being persecuted as never before!”

May God help us to remember them without having to go through so much pain!

Love from Nancy

There may be many things we don’t like doing, but we don’t have to live by our feelings. We live by what’s right. Therefore, whether we like it or not, we decide to do it with pleasure and delight! The amazing thing is that when you tackle something with joy and delight, you soon feel happy doing it! Feelings catch up with action!

And when we do everything in our home with joy and delight, we teach this attitude to our children.

Challenge: whatever you face today, do it with an eager, willing, and delightful attitude.

Love from Nancy Campbell

In my post below, A FEW GUIDELINES, I said I would tell you my thoughts of what rules we should expect for people who come into our home. Here we go:

When people come into your home to stay, how should they fit in? Should you allow them to make their own rules and do what they usually do? Or should you expect them to fit into your lifestyle and the way you run your home? What about when children come into your home and are disrespectful to your home?

No matter what the subject, my philosophy is to find out what God says in His Word. I find the answer to all my questions in God’s Word.

The children of Israel had many strangers living amongst them. Egyptians came with them out of Egypt. So how did they work things out? Did the strangers live according to their own laws or did they fit in with the laws God gave to the children of Israel? God makes it very clear in His Word that the strangers were to have the same laws as the "homeborn.” Let’s look at some of the Scriptures:

Exodus 12:49, 50: "One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they."

Numbers 9:14: "Ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land."

Numbers 15:14-16: "AS YE DO, SO HE SHALL DO. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance forever in your generations: AS YE ARE, SO SHALL THE STRANGER BE before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you."

Numbers 15:29: "Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them."

Therefore I use this biblical principle in my home. Of course, I have grace and mercy, but there are times when I need to lovingly, but firmly, state the rules of our home. If parents do not have the decency to stop their children jumping on my sofas, I will tell the children to stop. I have often seen them jumping on beds and had to curtail them.

We like to sit up at the table when we eat. I don’t allow eating throughout the house, except in the kitchen and dining room. It’s not easy to keep a home clean when crumbs are dropped throughout the house and drinks are spilt on carpets.

We expect people who stay or live with us (and because we open our home continually in hospitality, we have many people coming and going) to join with us for Family Devotions morning and evening. This is part of the lifestyle of our homeborn family, and therefore we expect “strangers,” although usually friends, to partake with us. Now if we have non-Christians sitting at our table, we won’t expect them to pray personally around the table as we usually do. However, we don’t forgo reading the Word, but my husband will pray instead.

I think this God-give law should apply in our nation too, don’t you? Strangers who come into our nation should learn our language and keep to the same laws of our country. They should not expect to make up their own rules. This is a God-givem principle.

In His love,

Nancy Campbell

Sadly, women have listened to a lie. A lie that tells them that motherhood and homemaking is insignificant and that going to work outside the home or establishing a career is more important. And so, women have left the home. They have left their most important career for lesser careers. They have left that which lasts for eternity for that which passes away.

Revelation 3:11 (ESV) says: “I am coming soon. HOLD FAST what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Motherhood is the crown of womanhood. It is God-mandated. Because it is God’s plan, the devil wants to steal it from women. In fact, he wants to seize it from them, but we must HOLD IT FAST and not let it go! When we let it go, we do so to the detriment of the family and society.

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

Painting by Leon Emile Caille (1836-1907).

God is interested in every detail of your home. Everything that is involved in the running of your home. Even the pots and the pans and how you should order your kitchen (1 Chronicles 9:32). God will show you how to set everything in order and how to order your days.

Ask God to show you and He will give you the plan by His Spirit. Wait for His plan. When He gives it to you, it will work. Sometimes you try to follow the ideas of others. It may work for them, but it doesn’t work for you. The way God shows you will work for you.

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

After posting HOUSE RULES yesterday some ladies asked if I would share with them the rules for our house. I should never have used such a title, because I don’t have rules. What could I call them? They are more a basic, fundamental order for the home. And these fundamental guidelines change with times and seasons. I had different “rules” when the children were little than when they grew older.

Let me give you an overall picture of how I liked to run my home from when the children were little until now. My children are now all out of the home, married with their own children. But we still have young people living in our home (Above Rubies helpers and other staying at differing times). We often have up to four young people staying and visitors coming and going.

Do I have the same values for visitors? I’ll share that with you in another post.

I believe in getting up at a decent hour, not sleeping in! You can’t manage a home effectively if you sleep in. The best part of the day is gone before you even start. Wake up time will be a different time in every home and at the different seasons and ages of your children.

Currently I like to get into the kitchen about 7.30 am. I read and pray before this of course. I expect everyone living in the home to have breakfast before 8.00 am when we commence Family Devotions together. I revolve my day around PRIORITIES. Family Devotions, both morning and evening, are the highest priority in my day. Therefore, I plan the order of my day around them. That’s why everyone must be up in time. No sleeping in. I hate sleeping in myself but allow our young people to sleep in on the weekends.

After Family Devotions, we begin the day. Mothers with children will make sure basic chores are completed such as cleaning the kitchen and getting laundry going and then begin homeschooling. I’m not homeschooling now, but school grandchildren at different seasons.

Lunch time comes and we allow an hour for lunch and clean up. Larger families will most probably need longer to prepare, eat, and clean up. Some families like to read the Word at lunchtime too.

For me, after lunch, it’s back to the office to keep writing and keep Above Rubies going. Mothers may continue homeschooling, although usually they can all be finished by lunchtime. The afternoon is a wonderful time for projects, gardening, research, creative ideas, errands, visiting someone in need and so on. And rest time for littles ones.

I like to be in the kitchen again no later than 5.00 to prepare for the evening meal. This is a huge priority for me. I know that Family Devotions won’t work unless I prepare for it. It is such a blessing to have the evening meal ready for when your husband comes home so you can all eat together and at the end of the meal, enjoy time reading God’s Word and praying together. These things don’t happen unless you make them happen.

Here are a few other guidelines I find helpful in my home:

1. I don’t allow children to jump on the furniture and on their beds. This does not teach our children how to care for things or how to act in someone else’s home.

2. I don’t allow chewing gum in my home. Please understand that this is not a “thus saith the Lord.” It is my preference. I simply cannot stand finding chewing gum stuck to the floor or under chairs etc. Therefore, I don’t allow it in the home. Period. Personally, I don’t like to see people chewing gum anyway. I don’t think it equates with royalty, and aren’t we training our children to be princes and princesses in God’s royal kingdom?

3. I don’t allow children to eat food in their bedrooms or anywhere in the house except at the dining room table or in the kitchen. This only makes so much more work for you in cleaning house—crumbs around the house and marks on the carpet etc.

4. I expect ALL children and EVERYONE living in our home to join us for Family Devotions. One time, a young man was staying with us for a week or so. The night before he left he said he wouldn’t have time to come for Family Devotions as he wanted to pack his bag. It was only an excuse as he had done nothing all day! I certainly didn’t let him off the hook!

5. I expect everyone to be at the dinner table on time! No coming when they feel like it. They must be there the moment I call, although usually by this time the children are in the kitchen with you helping you with the meal and putting it on the table.

6. I allowed my children to be “children” and didn’t get at them for many of the stupid and childish things they did. However, I disciplined for disobedience, willfulness, rebellion, lying, and things that God detests in His Word.

7. I trained the children to do their chores with a smile and a good attitude. They would be given another task until they showed the right attitude. Of course, they learn this mostly from YOUR OWN ATTITUDE TOWARD WORK. You show by your actions and attitude that you LOVE WORK and it is a God-given blessing.

8. When the children grew older and were still living at home, I expected them to be home for the evening meal and Family Devotions, unless they let me know in time and it was a valid excuse. I expected them (and still expect anyone living in our home) to tell me where they are going and what time they will be home. And I have certain time guidelines for them to be in at night.

There are loads of other things I could mention, but I think I have gone on long enough.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

Painting: Tasha Tudor

Let’s look at an example in the Bible. Ezekiel 43:12 says: “This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be MOST HOLY. Behold, this is the law of the house.” This is talking about the temple, the place of God’s dwelling.

God had laws for His house. He established many ordinances to make it run smoothly. In Ezekiel 44:5 it says: “Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning ALL THE ORDINANCES OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, and ALL THE LAWS thereof: and mark well the entering in of the house with every going forth of the sanctuary.”

Because I am also building a house to the Lord, a sanctuary for the living God and for my husband and family, I believe I can’t do better than God’s plan. If it was important for God to have ordinances to run His house smoothly, I think I also need laws and ordinances to make my home function effectively.

God’s house had order and established daily times for certain functions. I need to make this happen in my home too. I believe in flexibility because every day of every year is different and we never know what is going to happen. However, we need to institute a basic plan to keep order.

And do you notice the ultimate vision? That God’s house will be MOST HOLY. Not only the house, but all around the house. This should be our ultimate passion and vision, to build a holy home for God’s glory. We seek God’s holiness on and in our home, but also on our land--the backyard, front yard, and all around our house. It is all to be holy to the Lord. We should pray this every day upon our home and allotment or acreage, whether it be large or small. We must guard what goes on in our home AND around our home!

“Holiness adorns your house, O LORD, forever” (Psalm 93:5). Does holiness adorn our homes?

Blessings to you today,

Nancy Campbell

Picture: The Charm of Home: Tasha Tudor

How can God teach them? He uses His servants on earth. The best teacher a child can have is a godly mother who teaches them God’s words and ways--a mother whose highest aim is to richly fill her children with the knowledge and wisdom of God.

God shows us in His Word the way He wants us to do this (Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and Isaiah 28:10).

The word “taught” in Isaiah 54:1`3 is “limmud” and means “learned, trained, skilled, and accustomed. It also means to be a disciple.” Are your children “accustomed” to God’s Word? I find so many children and teens from Christian homes are not familiar with God’s Word. They know more about the spirit of the world than the Spirit of God. Theyre more familiar with the worldly media than God’s Word.

A wonderful blessing is to teach your children how to hear the voice of God speak to them personally. When you read God’s Word to your children (or when they read it themselves) encourage them to not only read the words, but to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to their hearts. When you read together, ask the children: “As we read, I want you to listen to what God is saying to your heart. When we have finished, I want you to tell us all what God said to you.”

You will be amazed at how God speaks to your children. And we need to get them into the habit of listening to the Holy Spirit. The greatest thing you can do is teach them to hear God speak to them personally from His precious Word. This way they will get to LOVE GOD’S WORD. It will become increasingly personal to them. It will become LIFE to them.

Be encouraged today,

Nancy Campbell

A pilot study of 666 homeschooled six to 12-year-olds from four American states published on April 27th in the Journal of Translational Sciences, compared 261 unvaccinated children with 405 partially or fully vaccinated children, and assessed their overall health based on their mothers’ reports of vaccinations and physician-diagnosed illnesses. What it found about increases in immune-mediated diseases like allergies and neurodevelopmental diseases including autism, should make all parents think twice before they ever vaccinate again:

*Vaccinated children were more than three times as likely to be diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum (OR 4.3)
*Vaccinated children were 30-fold more likely to be diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (hay fever) than non-vaccinated children
* Vaccinated children were 22-fold more likely to require an allergy medication than unvaccinated children
*Vaccinated children had more than quadruple the risk of being diagnosed with a learning disability than unvaccinated children (OR 5.2)
*Vaccinated children were 300 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder than unvaccinated children (OR 4.3)
* Vaccinated children were 340 percent (OR 4.4) more likely to have been diagnosed with pneumonia than unvaccinated children
*Vaccinated children were 300 percent more likely to be diagnosed with an ear infection than unvaccinated children (OR 4.0)
*Vaccinated children were 700 percent more likely to have surgery to insert ear drainage tubes than unvaccinated children (OR 8.01)
* Vaccinated children were 2.5-fold more likely to be diagnosed with any chronic illness than unvaccinated children.

Worth thinking about.

~ Nancy

ANOTHER INTERESTING READ

The following is another article regarding vaccinations:
http://yournewswire.com/harvard-unvaccinated-children-risk/

Many mothers today are fearful of their children getting measles, mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough and so on. It was so different in my day. All children got these sicknesses at some stage in their childhood and we all survived! I got them all and my children got them. When an epidemic was going around, many mothers exposed their children to others with the sickness so they could catch the “wild disease.” The wild disease is much safer than a vaccine.

And so, we continually make negative statements. I was very challenged as I read Hebrews 3:12 the other morning: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, in departing from the living God.” The JBP version says: “You should therefore be most careful, my brothers, that there should not be in any of you that WICKEDNESS OF HEART which refuses to trust.”

We tend to think it is a light thing not to trust God, don’t we? We are all guilty of not trusting. Well, I admit, I am. We worry, fret, and try to work out our problems with our own understanding. But God calls it wicked! Ouch!

Why is it so wicked? Because it belittles God. We make him into a little god of our own imagination, a god that can fit in with our finite thinking. But God is so much bigger. His ways are so much higher. His thoughts are beyond finding out.

In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus told us to pray “Deliver us from evil.” This is the exact same word (poneros) as the “evil” heart of unbelief. We must ask God to deliver us from this lack of trust.

Ephesians 6:16 encourages us to take up the shield of faith so we will be “able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” It’s the same Greek word again. With the shield of faith and the power of the name of Jesus we must quench these evil thoughts of unbelief. Evil? Yes, God calls them evil!

Let’s get to the nitty gritty in order understand the seriousness of our lack of trust in our God. Satan is called “the wicked one.” It’s the same word again. When we embrace belief, and make it part of our life instead of trusting God, we give access to the devil, who is the wicked one, and wants to keep us in unbelief.

Romans 12:9 tells us that attitude we must have to this evil: “Abhor that which is evil.” Same word again!

We sang at Family Devotions the other morning:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er,
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more.

Oh, how I long to be like the holy women of old who “trusted in God” even in the most difficult circumstances (1 Peter 3:5).

Love from Nancy Campbell

Like Thy springs of running water
Make me crystal pure.
Like Thy rocks of towering grandeur
Make me strong and sure.

Like Thy dancing waves in sunlight
Make me glad and free.
Like the straightness of the pine-tree
Help me upright be.

Like the arching of Thy heavens,
Raise my thoughts above.
Turn my dreams to noble actions,
Ministries of love.

God, who touches earth with beauty,
Make me lovely too.
Keep me ever, by Thy Spirit,
Pure and strong and true.

By Mary S. Adgar

’Tis not the fluttering eyelashes
That turn my heart your way,
But the depths of passion in those eyes
And love that they convey—

A dainty queen is not the fullness
Of femininity,
But she who loves her womanhood
And all that she can be!

~ Benjamin Graber

But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome, to your heav’nly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard?
And wish you hadn’t uttered that last loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymnbooks out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder – if the Savior spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books
you read,
And let Him know the things on which our mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go?
Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?
Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person to spend some time with you.

~ Unknown.

However, when Jesus died and shed His own spotless blood, the thick curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place tore from top to bottom. It is now open. Now in the New Covenant God wants to dwell in our heats. Our lives are now the Holy of Holies for Him to dwell.

Is this true? Unbelievable, but yes. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and You are not your own?” The word “temple” is “naos” which is the word for the “Holy of Holies.” The word “hieron” is the word for the temple, but “naos” refers to the Holy of Holies.

Can you get this? God has chosen you to be His residence, a Holy of Holies where He can dwell.

Because God is a holy God, He looks for holy people in which to dwell in this world. We as the people of God are to be a holy people. A set apart people. A sanctified people. A suitable vessel for God’s holiness. We cannot afford to be friends with the world. James 4:4: says “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

God is a holy God. The Bible states “holy” three times because once is not enough to describe His holiness (Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8). Therefore, God wants holy people. Holy parents. Holy children—yes, God wants us to raise “godly” children (Malachi 2:15). The word is “elohim,” one of God’s names. He wants children in His likeness filling this world. He wants holy families.

Let’s answer honestly: Are we a worldly family? Or are we a holy family?

Be encouraged today,

Nancy Campbell