Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

God, who touches earth with beauty
Make me lovely too,
With thy Spirit recreate me,
Make my life anew.

Does anyone remember singing the old chorus, “Trust in the Lord and don’t despair”! We used to sing it as children. We’d sing it everywhere we went with all our hearts and as loud as we could.

Trust in the Lord and don’t despair,
He is a friend so true!
No matter what your troubles are,
Jesus will see you through.
Sing, when the day is bright;
Sing, through the darkest night
Everyday, all the way,
Let us sing, sing, sing!

This is God’s daily admonition to us and our children. It’s not easy to take advice, but it’s a wonderful habit. Keep a soft spirit and always be open to correction and advice. As we cultivate this kind of spirit, it is easier for our children to pick it up.

By the way, have you taught your children this nursery rhyme?

This is what it is meant to be if your home is dedicated to God. How many times a day do you pray in your home? How many times a day do you pray together as a family? We can’t really confess that our home belongs to God unless we are a praying family (Jeremiah 10:25).

May each one of us be encouraged to fill our homes with prayer. Whenever your children nave a need, pray for them. If someone calls on the phone with a need, pray for them right then. When you face serious or urgent matters for payer in your family, set the timer every hour to stop and pray.

The devil wants to keep everything about God in a little box. He does not want us to spread the truth and light of the gospel. He does not want us to have more children because each new babe is a fresh revelation of the image of God.

Do you remember when Peter and John prayed for the man who was lame from his mother’s womb and he was immediately healed? He began walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw it and began to praise God. In fact, about 5,000 people believed on Jesus. This was too much for the devil.

Deception is such a subtle thing, isn’t it? It is so subtle that we usually don’t know we are deceived. We can not only be deceived by the encroachment of out humanistic society, but we can be self-deceived. William Barclay’s translation of James 1:22 says: “You must not only listen to the word, you must act on it. Otherwise, you indulge in self-deception.” This is very challenging to me. To daily read God’s Word and yet not put it into action is self-deception. The more I do this, the more I deceive myself. I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit working within me will keep me from this deception.

And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God has willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him.

Home based upon Christian marriage is so evidently an institution of God, that a man must become profane before he can deny it . . . Of this realm woman is queen. It takes its cue and its hue from her. If she is in the best sense womanly--if she is true and tender, loving and heroic, patient and self-devoted--she consciously or unconsciously organizes and puts in operation a set of influences that do more to mould the destiny of the nation than any man, uncrowned by power or eloquence, can possibly effect.

~ Dr. J. G. Holland

Mothers, you determine the destiny of the nation and future generations! Don't leg anyone rob you of the enormity of your God-given career of motherhood.
~ Nancy

How can I do it? I have too much to do,

I’m overwhelmed and feeling real blue,
I’m stuck in this house like super glue.
Don’t look around – LOOK UP!

A young man recently shared this testimony with us. He was driving to our home, came to the lights which were red, and obediently followed the car in front of him. All of a sudden he realized he was going through a red light! Why? Instead of looking up at the lights, he followed the person in front of him. This could have got him into a lot of trouble.

How easy it is to do this in life. We subconsciously follow people around us. We assimilate into the ways of our humanistic society. Unless we diligently keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Him, we follow the crowd around us without realizing it.

Have you read the words to the Newsboys song, “Guilty.” They wrote this song for the new movie, GOD’S NOT DEAD 2. However, they have received flack for the words of this song. There are some Christian radio stations who will not play it because they don’t want to offend! I beg your pardon! If we cannot stand up for Christ and for the truth, we should not use the name “Christian.”

May we never be ashamed to own Christ and to lift up His name. May we be Christ up-lifting families, never compromising with the spirit of this world.

Do you remember when Jesus walked with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? The two disciples were totally dejected and disheartened because the One who they thought would save them from the Romans was dead! But Jesus came along and began to speak to them from the Scriptures “the things concerning himself.” Oh how their hearts rejoiced and “burned within them” as He spoke to them.

But they still didn’t know it was Jesus. They came to Emmaus and although Jesus would have walked on, they begged him to come and eat with him. Then what happened? It was as they SAT AT THE TABLE and Jesus broke the bread, blessed it and gave it to them, that THEIR EYES WERE OPENED! Now, this was not communion. This was a daily Israeli meal where they broke the flat bread and dipped in their dishes to eat.

The amazing thing we see here is that it was when they were sitting together at the table that their eyes were opened. Did you know, dear ladies, that the table is a place of revelation? God loves to come and sit at our tables with us each day. He wants to be present. And He wants to bring understanding and revelation of Himself.

The table is not only a place to feed the body, but to feed the soul and the spirit. God comes to feed our spirit and open our eyes to Him and all that He wants to tell us. I believe the table is the most powerful place in our home.

But what happens instead? Do you think the devil wants us to come together as families? Do you think he wants us to strengthen our family ties as we eat and fellowship together? And do you think He wants our children to feel the presence of God at our tables as fathers read from God’s Word and we pray together? No. The devil knows the power of the table, the power of God’s Word, and the power of praying families. He will do everything in his power to keep you from these daily sacred moments.

He won’t use bad things. He knows he could never tempt you that way. He just gets you busy. He gets your children involved in all the curricular activities that take you away from the family meal table and the opportunity for God to visit with you and speak to you and your children.

Dear mother. Take a stand. Rise up against everything that would hinder this time with your family. Make it happen. Put aside anything and everything that interferes with this time.

You are the one that can make it happen in your home.

Love and blessings from Nancy Campbell

P.S. Read the story in Luke 24:1-35.

A cheerful heart will make such a different to your home today. But you don’t FEEL cheerful? That’s not the point. I hope you don’t live by your feelings. That’s a miserable way to live. In fact, it is a false way to live. Feelings are deceiving. They come and go. But truth is real. And the truth is that if you have received Jesus Christ into your life, you have living joy bubbling up within you. Jesus, who lives in you, is JOY. Hebrews 1:9 tells us that Jesus has more joy than anyone else in the world--and He lives in you!

May you have a blessed Sunday as you fellowship as a family with the people of God today. We all need to be encouraged and we all need to encourage one another, don't we?

Are you speaking encouraging words to your husband and children today? Proverbs 12:25 (TLB) says: "Anxious hearts are very heavy, but a word of encouragement does wonders!"

Your words can release miracles into your home. You can expect wonders to happen when you start speaking encouraging words.

~ Nancy Campbell

When we stood at the altar and confessed our marriage vows, we were not only doing it in the presence of family and friends, but GOD. The Bible tells us in Malachi 2:14: “The LORD WAS WITNESS between you and the wife of your youth.” Our covenant-keeping God silently witnessed the covenant we made before Him. Our marriage vows are scared; we cannot take them lightly.

~ Nancy Campbell

Picture: Arden (our grandson) and Esther who were recently married. As I looked for a picture to reveal the sacredness of making our marriage vows, I could not find one that showed the true awesomeness of this occasion. To me, this picture reveals something of this holy moment.

Don’t deprive your family of this daily blessing. Be blessed by this encouragement from James Russell. Miller (1840 –1912), Christian author and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois:

"Hearts that are drawn together at God's feet every day in family devotions cannot drift very far away from each other. The domestic frictions of the day are forgotten when all voices mingle in the same heavenly song. As the tender words of Scripture fall with their gracious counsels, all feeling of unkindness melts away. The family altar in the midst wondrously hallows and sweetens the whole home. Besides, the family altar . . .
puts new strength into every heart,
comforts all sorrows,
is a shield against temptation,
smoothes out the wrinkles of care,
inspires strength for burden-bearing,
quickens every holy sentiment, and
keeps the fires of devotion burning on every heart's altar."

Jesus Christ was our supreme sacrifice. He became the sacrificial Lamb, slain upon the altar for our sins. His ultimate sacrifice gives us forgiveness of sins, victory over sin in our daily life, sweet fellowship with Him, and eternal life. Romans 12:1 beseeches us that our logical and reasonable response should be to yield our lives to Him as a living sacrifice. What does this mean?

Jesus laid down His life to be our sacrifice. We have to lay down our lives to be a living sacrifice. We face this principle every day as wives and mothers. Constantly we choose whether we will demand our own way, decide to do that which pleases us, or lay down our life for our husband, our children, and for others. Every day we sacrifice our own selfish desires.

We know how important it is to hide God’s Word in our heart, don’t we? We understand how imperative it is to make sure our children hide God’s Word in their hearts. I’m sure you have taught your children Psalm 119:11: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I night not sin against thee.” I agree with the old saying: “Sin will keep you from God’s Word, or God’s Word will keep you from sin.”

However, IT IS NOT ENOUGH! God not only wants us and our children to hide His Word in our hearts and souls. He wants it to come out of our mouths, our hands, and our feet. It’s only when it affects every part of our body that it truly works in our lives. Let’s check it out:

Our Mouths
God gives a mandate to us and our children and children’s children in Isaiah 59:21: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy MOUTH, shall not depart out of thy MOUTH, nor out of the MOUTH of thy seed, nor out of the MOUTH of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and forever.” I don’t think we could get the vision any clearer than that, do you?

It is only what we speak that we keep. “I believed; therefore have I spoken” (Psalm 116:10 and 2 Corinthians 4:13). We are born again into God’s family, not only by believing, but by confessing that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9, 10). We have to speak God’s Word and His truths out loud with our mouths for them to become part of our lives. And how can we pass them on to the next generation and to others if they don’t not flow out of our mouths?

Our Feet
David confessed in Psalm 119:59, 60: “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.” God’s Word got into his feet. It kept his feet from evil. God wants to get His Word into our feet to work out in our lives, too. Instead of sitting on the sofa with our feet up (except when we are nursing babies, reading stories to our children, and talking to them of God’s ways which are great works) our feet walk around the house to make things happen and keep it in ship shape. They walk to people who need our help and encouragement.

Our Hands
When we read God’s Word, our hearts burn within us. But it can’t stay in our hearts. We lift up our hands with praise to God for His wonderful commandments. David said in Psalm 119:48: “My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved.” They also write and type God’s Words to bring encouragement to others.

God wants His Word to be so practical in our lives that it comes out of our hands. As mothers, we minister God’s love from our hands all day long as we caress babies, hug children, nurture children, hug our husbands, and work hard with our hands to make our home a delightful place. Cooking, baking, cleaning, shopping, and caring for our children are the practical outworking of God’s living Word (Psalm 128:3; 1 Timothy 2:15; 5;14; Titus 2:3-5 ad many others).

May we let God’s Word flow out of every part of our being today.

Be encouraged,

Nancy Campbell

FOR THE BEREANS (those who love to search the Word):
Further Scriptures for you regarding the post below, IT’S NOT ENOUGH. You may like to take a few Scriptures each day, look them up, and talk about them with your children.

Hide God’s Word in your heart and soul:
Psalm 119:11, 80, 111, 112, 129, 145, 161, 167.

P.S. Norman Rockwell picture.