“Christian parents who don’t have daily family devotions and don’t make time to build a solid Christian foundation to their children’s impressionable years should not be mystified when the children, in their teenage years, turn from the things of God.”
~ The Evidence Bible, Compiled by Ray Comfort
Children love to have friends. As they get older they love to have more friends. They love to get in the groove with their friends. In fact, many times peer pressure from friends becomes a greater influence than parent pressure! That’s why it is imperative to guard your children’s friends. Pray and look for godly friends for your children. Refrain from putting them into environments where they can be influenced by worldly and unbiblical influences.
Proverbs 13:7 was one of my favorite Scriptures in raising our children: “He that walks with wise men will be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Many wonderful parents cannot understand how their teenagers go astray. Most times it is because they have got in with the wrong crowd.
Guard your children’s souls and minds. Guard their friends. That’s why so many concerned parents homeschool their children today. They do not want to put their children into an environment where they can be led astray by ungodly children.
Of course many will immediately respond with the comment that they send their children to school to be a witness. Dear young parents, our young children are not ready to be sent among the wolves. They are only lambs. Many teenagers are still not strong enough.
I certainly don’t believe in keeping our children at home forever. We train them to send out into this sinful and dark world to bring God’s light and truth. But we don’t send them out . . .
Until they are ready.
Until they are strong.
Until they are ready to face the wolves.
Until they can “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” against the foe that comes against them (Ephesians 6:13).
Until they come to that place in their hearts where they love righteousness and hate evil and therefore will say No to all temptation.
Until they are established in the truth of God’s Word and can therefore discern all the deceptive garbage that fills our society.
Until then we have a big job getting them ready. This is our responsibility as parents which we cannot take lightly.
Blessings to you and your children,
Nancy Campbell
When raising our children, I tried to do something different at the meal table one night a week. One of the things the children loved was COLOR NIGHTS. For example, I would choose a color and put up a notice:
“Tonight is RED Night
No admittance unless wearing something Red.
Supper at 6.00 p.m. Please knock before entering.”
While they rummaged through drawers to find red clothes, I set the table with a red tablecloth, adding red candles, napkins, and centerpiece (red flowers if I could find them). I prepared red foods. There are plenty of foods from which to choose, e.g. beets, radishes, red beans, red hot dogs with tomato sauce, tomato soup, potatoes or rice colored with red food coloring, etc.
For dessert you can choose red fruits such as pomegranates (when in season), blood oranges, cherries, strawberries, watermelon, or red grapes, etc.
You can also purchase red paper plates and knives and forks, etc. I would often wrap a little gift (something inexpensive) in red paper and put it beside their plate. The children loved these nights and over the years we tried every color of the rainbow!
Have fun with your family,
Nancy Campbell
She . . .
adds to his happiness,
subtracts from his cares,
multiplies his joys,
divides his sorrows, and
practices reduction in the
expenditure of his household.
~ Unknown
Painting: William Kay Blacklock (1872-1922) British Painter
Nowhere is Christianity more beautifully displayed, than in the home. It changes the home of wickedness, strife, and contention into a peaceful and delightful Eden. It converts the home of the wicked into a palace. It drives away discontentment, uneasiness, fear, and darkness and showers contentment, peace, and sunlight into every heart.
Christianity in home life makes all love and kindness between brothers and sisters; love and dutifulness between parents and children; love, peace, harmony, honesty, and faithfulness between husband and wife.
Christianity makes a home a Heaven! A Christian home where all is love and tenderness and devotion is the sweetest and most sacred spot on earth! A home where Christianity is crowned a queen in every heart is an Eden. The heart of God is filled with delight as He looks down upon such a home! His presence dwells there, and causes this home to be a beautiful oasis in this wilderness world of sin.
Alas, that such homes are so few! Sin destroys the happiness of man, and makes many a home a hotbed of contention, strife, and confusion!
When the husband and wife are kind, loving, and gentle toward each other; when she in her weakness feels her dependence upon him, and lovingly, trustingly looks unto him as her defense; and he in his strength and delight enfolds her in his strong arms of protection with a feeling of responsibility to nourish and cherish her then they can testify that they have a Heaven in their home!
Unless we have attained unto such a life we have not attained to Bible Christianity, nor to domestic joy and happiness.
~ Charles Orr from "Christianity in Home Life."
Home is the true wife's kingdom. Very largely does the wife hold in her hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there. In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife.
Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere.
Her hands fashion its beauty.
Her heart makes its love.
And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to be the light, the joy, the blessing, the inspiration of a home.
The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies.
A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of home happiness. God sends many beautiful things to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is richer than that which He bestows in a mother who has learned love's lessons well, and has realized something of the meaning of her sacred calling.
~ James Russell Miller (1840 - 1912)
...to each one of you today. May you and your husband and families be blessed as you enjoy one another and give praise to God for the coming of our Savior to this world.
We look forward to a wonderful family gathering, about 75 for a sit-down meal (although not as meany as Thanksgiving). The aroma in the home is delightful. I have lamb cooking in the upstairs oven and a turkey in the downstairs oven. Wherever you walk the smell is delightful and the carols are playing. More of the family will arrive tonight for dessert.
I must now get upstairs and start peeling the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Blessings and love from Nancy Campbell
I just had to share this picture with you. Isn't it wonderful? May we all have the same AWE AND WONDER of God's incomprehensible plan of salvation to send our Savior, Deliverer, and King into the world as a little baby.
Here's the story of Simeon:
Luke 2:25-35
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Blessings from Nancy
There’s a story in the Bible that uses over and over again the words . . . baby, birth, with child, bring forth, conceive, and womb. These are not popular words amongst many women today, and yet they tell the greatest story in the history of the world when Jesus Christ, who was God, came to this earth.
The king of kings and Lord of lords could have sent His royal and beloved Son to the world on a chariot of fire! He could have sent a legion of angels to escort Him from the glories of heaven. But no! He planned for His Son to be conceived and nurtured in a womb, to be born of a woman, and to be suckled and nourished by a mother.
How can we ever comprehend such a plan? God’s ways are certainly far above our ways. And yet it also reveals how God thinks about the womb and birth. Do we see them the way God does?
Imagine if Mary was not willing to embrace Jesus in her womb? She knew she would face persecution and ridicule. She could not even image what lay ahead for her. And yet she responded with total submission: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
As we think about the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus, let’s ask God to give us soft and tender hearts like Mary. Let’s be willing to say, no matter what the cost: “Be it unto me according to thy word.”
May you have a blessed Christmas.
Nancy Campbell
We are now in the season of remembering the most wonderful celebration in the history of the world--when Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth as a little baby. We know that this was not the actual time of his birth, but it is the time we remember His miraculous incarnation.
Just as we celebrated that Christ is the Light of the world during Hanukkah, so we continue to celebrate that He is the Light. God spoke through the prophecy of Zacharias that He was sending His beloved Son into the world "TO GIVE LIGHT TO THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:79).
They had no room for the Light of the World in Bethlehem. Do we make room for Him in our lives? Do we allow Him to expose the darkness and flood our lives with His light? Every time we respond to the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives and say Yes to God we open up to His light. When we are stubborn, want our own way, and say No to the convicting of the Holy Spirit, we choose darkness.
Dear mother, we must teach our children this powerful principle, too. Every time they say Yes to you and Yes to the Holy Spirit they receive more and more light into their lives. When they are disobedient and say No to you, and No to the voice of their conscience they allow darkness into their lives.
May we open up MORE AND MORE to the Light and less and less to the darkness. Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth MORE AND MORE unto the perfect day." Each new day, individually and as a family, ask God to FLOOD YOU WITH HIS LIGHT.
Love from Nancy
I love the last stanza from Christina G. Rossetti's beautiful song, "In the Bleak Midwinter" which she wrote in 1872. My children learned this poem when they were young. You may like to encourage your children to learn it, too.
“What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him—
Give my heart."
Maybe one of my grandchildren will recite this poem on Christmas night. After our big Christmas Dinner at midday and speeches and toasts, we will wait until the later in the day to have dessert. After this we’ll have a family concert where adults and children will sing or recite poems. Then we’ll have Quizz time--children against the adults! The competition will be fierce!
Love from Nancy Campbell
Are you going through a stressful time? Are you in distress? Please don’t despair. God wants to tell you something. He has promised that you will come into a large place through your distress. Your anguish can overwhelm you or lead you closer to God. Look to God; He is bigger than this problem you face.
Your difficulty may not disappear, but as you put your trust in God, He gives you His wisdom and strength. And He will eventually bring you into a large place. You will come forth stronger in your faith. You will come forth knowing God is faithful. You will be farther along the path than ever before.
So keep trusting, dear one.
Psalm 4:1: “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast ENLARGED ME when I was in distress; have mercy upon me , and hear my prayer.”
Blessings from Nancy
What we want to do with our children, is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for battle of life.
They are to be trained rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavioris the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws; and the parents' lives are of more significance than their teachings. Whatever may be done in the way of governing, teaching or training, theories are not half as important as the parents' lives. They may teach the most beautiful things, but if the child does not SEE these things modeled in the life of the parent he will not consider them important enough to be adopted in his own life.
Parents! You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls!
~ James Russell Miller 1882
I’m sure you love God’s promise: ”As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” But have you read it in context? It’s in the passage of the prophetic blessing upon the tribe of Asher which says: “Let Asher be blessed with children” and then it concludes with “As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:24, 25). Isn’t that amazing?
God doesn’t bless us with children without giving us the strength to nurture and train the children He gives us. This promise is tailor made for parenting.
You may think, “How on earth could I ever cope with another child? My hands are full already.” Dear mother, God is your Strength. He promises to give you strength for each new day. He doesn’t give you strength for tomorrow, but for TODAY. And He doesn’t give you strength and energy for a baby that has not arrived yet. But if God sends you another blessing from Heaven, He will give you the strength when that baby comes. What a wonderful God we have.
Look to Him for His strength for today.
Love from Nancy Campbell
"We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions abroad, when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies at home. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, GOD SENDS A BABY INTO THE WORLD TO DO IT. That is why long, long ago, a Babe was born in Bethlehem."
~ Frank Boreham
Satan loves to blind our eyes to God’s wondrous plans and truths. Because he is at war against women (Genesis 3:16), he loves to blind them about the power of their womb.
I think of the words Mary sang as she praised the Lord, “For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49). It is true that Mary was blessed beyond any other women in the history of the world as she nourished Jesus in her womb and gave birth to the Son of the Highest, the Savior of the world. God certainly chose her for GREAT THINGS.
In a lesser and yet still powerful way, God does GREAT THINGS through every baby that is conceived in a mother’s womb. Every new baby is born in the image of God. Each one is a fresh revelation of God to the world. Each one has the possibility of accomplishing marvelous things.
Let’s think for a moment of all the amazing things that have happened, are happening, and will happen in this world--the remarkable inventions, the amazing feats both intellectually and physically, the astounding advancements, and the brilliant discoveries. None of this happens on its own. Every single thing happens through a person. And that person comes through the womb. Without the womb NOTHING happens in this world. It all comes to a halt.
All the GREAT THINGS that take place in the world happen because of a mother’s womb. The womb is a place of destiny.
Can we grasp the fullness of this truth? God privileges women with the gift of a womb, a sanctuary from where God brings forth GREAT THINGS to fulfill His purposes and glorify His name. And not only for this world, but for eternity, for every child who is conceived is an eternal soul that lives forever.
Dear precious mother, don’t hold back your womb from God. Your finite mind cannot even fathom what great things God has ordained to happen in this world through creating a God-destined life in your womb (1 Corinthians 2:9). We are privileged and blessed beyond measure.
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
AN IMPORTANT POST FOR ALL PARENTS TO READ!
Apart from the official Hanukkah which finish celebrating today, we read about a number of dedication celebrations in God's Word.
1) Dedicating the tabernacle for 12 days. Each prince of Israel dedicated the altar for a day each (Number 7:10-11, 84, 88). This was the first dedication we read about.
2) Dedicating a new house (Deuteronomy 20:5). It is biblical to dedicate a new house.
3) Dedicating Solomon's temple which he built for the Lord (1 Kings 8:62 and 2 Chronicles 7:5, 9).
4) Dedicating the rebuilt temple when they came back from Babylon--Zerubbabel's temple (Ezra 6:16).
5) Dedicating the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem(Nehemiah 12:27).
And there is one more! You'll never guess!
It is found in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The word "train" is "hanuk," the verb of hanukkah, meaning "to initiate, dedicate, consecrate." It is not enough to celebrate Hanukkah for eight days. As parents, we are FULL TIME HANUKKAH CELEBRATORS!
When we realize that training our children means to dedicate them to the Lord, it gives us a much larger and loftier vision. Everything we do and plan for our children is now in the light of dedicating our them to the Lord and setting them apart for His service. It's not a one-time dedication. It is a verb which requires daily action.
When our children are disobedient or don't complete what we have asked them to, we can sometimes be lazy and let it go. But not if we understand we are daily dedicating them to the Lord. How can we let things go when we consecrating them to God's holy service. We have the responsibility to train them to obedient so they will be obedient to the Lord!
As children get older, they can become more worldly and want to do what other more worldly teens are doing. We could think, "Oh that's the stage they are going through." But not if we understand that we are daily consecrating them to the Lord. We will pray up a storm. We will fight the devil. We will work with our children to keep them on the narrow road that leads to life. We will do everything to save them from the broad road that leads to destruction. WE ARE PROVERBS 22:6 HANUKKAH PARENTS!
When we "hanuk" our children, it determines how we educate our children. It would be ludicrous to send our children into a an ungodly education system each day if we are daily consecrating them for God's purposes.
As we consecrate our children to the Lord, we recognize that they totally belong to the Lord for whatever time God has for them on this earth. Above everything else, we know that we are ultimately preparing them for eternity.
Blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL
Without God we live in darkness. He is the one who said, "Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Jesus is the Light of the world. He is "THE TRUE LIGHT,WHICH LIGHTS EVERY MAN THAT COMES INTO THE WORLD" (John 1:9). Every person who is born into this world is without excuse regarding their relationship with God. Every new baby is born with a God consciousness, a light from God our Maker. We have a conscience that knows what is good and evil. This only comes from God.
Proverbs 20:27 says "The spirit of man is the candle (light) of the Lord." Have you noticed that when a new baby is born into a family that a heavenly atmosphere fills the home? There is an "awe" that we only experience with a new babe. I believe we are experiencing a new light from heaven. I think this is why little children are so open to God. Recently I watched my little three-year old grand-daughter sing all day about how Jesus is in her heart and how she loves God.
Why then do many walk in darkness? The answer is in John 3:19-21. We are all born with a light from God, but we can either push back the light or open up more and more to the light. It is a privilege for children to be born into a home where parents love God. These children have an opportunity to open up more and more to the light. In an ungodly home, the light with which they are born can be gradually extinguished or often smothered completely.
I believe that every time we say Yes to God and obey the prompting of His Holy Spirit within our hearts, we experience more light in our lives. Every time we say No to God and are disobedient to the Word, we accept darkness. Teach your children this principle, dear mother. Teach them that saying Yes to you and Yes to God will bring them to more and more light (Proverbs 4:18). Teach them that when they say No to you and No to God's ways, their minds and hearts will cloud with darkness.
Job 18:5-56 says, "Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him." I don't want it to be dark in my home, naturally and spiritually. I hate to have curtains and blinds pulled over and everything looking dark. My curtains are always open (just as well I live in the country!). I love the light and the more the better. And it’s the same spiritually. I want more and more spiritual light in my home and less and less of darkness. I'm sure you don't want it to be dark in your home either.
Let's open our hearts and minds MORE AND MORE to the light of God. Begin each day by praying, "Oh Lord God, please flood my mind, my heart, and my home with your light, today. Amen."
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Judas Maccabee and his brothers were continually fighting battles to save Israel and every time they faced armies far larger and stronger than themselves, but their trust was in God.
Listen to Judas' confession on one occasion: "When all his followers saw the host coming against them, they said to Judas, 'How can so few of us fight against so many? Besides, we have had nothing to eat all day, and we are exhausted.' Judas replied: 'Many can easily be overpowered by a few; it makes no difference to Heaven to save by many or by few. Victory does not depend on numbers; strength comes from Heaven alone . . . Heaven will crush them before our eyes. You need not be afraid of them'" (1 Maccabees 3:17-21).
The Israelites also had to face enemies far bigger than them. Deuteronomy 9:1-3 says: “Hear O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations GREATER AND MIGHTIER than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims (giants), whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak! Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.”
I know that you, too, often face dilemmas that loom much bigger than you can handle. Don't focus on your difficulty. Look to God. He is your Strength. He is your Source. He is your Sufficiency. He will always do what you cannot do. When we try to handle our problems we usually make a mess of the job. Put them in God's hands for He knows what is best to do.
Victory does not come by intelligence or fleshly strength. It only comes from God. Just as God delivered the Maccabees over and over again as they faced insurmountable armies, so God will deliver you as you trust in Him. Make sure you have the right confession. Don't confess your problems; confess your trust in God. It's the way to victory.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Hanukkah is also called the "Festival of Lights" because of the relighting of the Menorah. This was a huge thing that happened that day, because the Jews knew that God had commanded the lights in the Holy Place to BURN CONTINUALLY. They were to never to go out--and they had been out for a long time! God said it was a statute that must continue for all generations (Exodus 27:20-21 and Leviticus 24:1-4).
How did they keep the lamps burning day after day, year after year? God said they had to attend to the lamps every morning and every evening. They had to trim the wicks and pour more oil into the lamps, the oil speaking of the Holy Spirit. Once a day was not sufficient. It required attention two times a day to keep the light burning
This is a type for our lives today. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He fills us with His light, but it is very easy for the light to dim or even go out. There are many temptations, deceptions, and evils around that diminish our light. To keep the light burning, we must tend to it every morning and evening. We need to do this individually and as a family.
A powerful way to keep God's light burning in every member of our family is to have Family Devotions (or whatever you call it in your home) every morning and evening. Each time we come together as a family, read the Word, and spend time in prayer, we relight our lamps. If we fail to do this, our light will go out very quickly.
How big is the flame in your family? We are not meant to be a flickering light, but a great light. If your flame is only smoldering, get back to God's "morning and evening" principle. It's the only way that works. Let the light in "the holy place" of your temple and your home shine for all to see God's light.
Love from Nancy Campbell
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