Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Are you going through a trial? Are you wondering why you have to endure this affliction? Why me? Sometimes we think that we should enjoy picture-perfect lives. But life is not perfect, is it?

As Paul was writing to the Thessalonians and encouraging them in the afflictions they were facing he says, "For you yourselves know that WE ARE DESTINED for this" (1 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV). This is most probably not the Scripture you were hoping for today, but we may as well face the facts. When Paul was encouraging the new believers in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch he exhorted them "to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). It is our appointed lot.

But, it is through our trials that our faith is refined and comes forth like gold (Job 23:10 and 1 Peter 1:7). .

It's not something strange that is happening to us, but something God is working out in our lives for His glory (Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; 1 Peter 4:12-14; and 5:10).

Although we cannot understand it as we go through it, God is working it out for our good (Genesis 45:7, 8; 50:20; and Romans 8:28).

And it's not forever. Trials are only for a season (2 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Peter 1:6; and 5:10).

Be encouraged today, dear friend. Instead of complaining about your difficulties, praise God that He is carrying you through (Isaiah 43:2). Instead of wondering why you have to go through this trial, put your trust in God. He is in control of your life and is working it out for His glory.

Love from Nancy Campbell

A reader posted a question from my post, A MOTHER'S CREED, which you can read below. She asked, "If motherhood is the highest calling of women, what about women who are single or barren?" This is a very valid question.

When we give birth to a baby and gradually add to our family we are propelled into the realm of motherhood. However, this is not the beginning of motherhood. Every female is ordained at birth to be a mother. Little girls love mothering from the earliest age. Did you know that a baby girl has two million eggs in her ovaries when she is born?

Every woman is created to be a mother, whether she has many children, is barren, or single. God put within every female an innate desire and anointing to nurture. Even those who spurn motherhood, because of the brainwashing of our humanist society, still can't get away from it. If they don't want to nurture babies, they will nurture a pet. They have to have something on which to pour out their God-given mothering instinct.

Some of the greatest mothers who have lived were not married women and never gave birth to children. Of course, we immediately think of Mother Theresa, who although a single woman, poured out her life in sacrificial love to the poor and the needy. In doing so, she was a great mother and a totally fulfilled woman. A single woman, or a woman who is not able to conceive is still a mother. There is a drought of mothering in our needy and hurting society today. Mothers are the greatest need in society, whether married or single. There are hurting children, disturbed young people, and lonely and needy elderly who are all desperate for the loving touch of an anointed and nurturing woman, whether married or single.

Single women should ask God in what direction He wants them to pour out His loving nurture He has innately put within them. God will lead them to many broken and messed up lives. Often the barren woman ends up with more children than the married. Isaiah 54:1 says, "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord."

The most important thing is for each one of us, married and single, to generously embrace the lifestyle of mothering God intends for us. Mothers with children, embrace your wonderful high calling of motherhood. Don't hanker for another lifestyle; you are in the perfect will of God. Single women also, embrace the mothering anointing that God has given you and open your heart to mother all whom God brings into your life. There are so many waiting for you.

Love from Nancy Campbell

I am not languishing. I am not deceived. I have a vision. I know who I am and who God created me to be. I know my purpose. I am walking in the perfect will of God. I know it’s not easy, but I’ve counted the cost. My goal is set. How could my career be easy when I am influencing a nation for God, generations to come--and eternity?

How can it be easy when I am destroying the plans of the devil? Such is the power of my God-mandated career, the highest calling ever given to women—motherhood. I have embraced my calling. I am not intimidated by my antagonists. I will not be moved. My heart is fixed.

I may be hidden in my home, but look out world! I am sharpening my arrows. I am getting them ready to shoot forth and destroy the adversary. In the power and anointing of God, I am advancing God’s Kingdom.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Tell me, what is half so sweet
As a baby's tiny feet,
Pink and dainty as can be,
Like a coral from the sea?
Talk of jewels strung in rows,
Gaze upon those little toes,
Fairer than a diadem,
With the mother kissing them!

It is morning and she lies
Uttering her happy cries,
While her little hands reach out
For the feet that fly about.
Then I go to her and blow
Laughter out of every toe;
Hold her high and let her place
Tiny footprints on my face.

Little feet that do not know
Where the winding roadways go,
Little feet that never tire,
Feel the stones or trudge the mire,
Still too pink and still too small
To do anything but crawl,
Thinking all their wanderings fair,
Filled with wonders everywhere.

Little feet, so rich with charm,
May you never come to harm.
As I bend and proudly blow
Laughter out of every toe,
This pray, that God above
Shall protect you with His love,
And shall guide those little feet
Safely down life's broader street.

~ By Edgar Guest

Are we teaching our children from a biblical worldview or a humanist worldview? Here are some scenarios:

1. Your car is stolen. What is your response?

a) Mother: "Isn't it terrible that our car is stolen, children? However, even though it is so inconvenient for us we must not judge the one who stole it as God doesn't want us to judge anyone."

Or b) Mother: "Children, last night our car was stolen. We must pray for the person who stole it that God will convict him and he will return it. You can see, children, how stealing is very selfish because it hurts and inconveniences the people they steal from. God's Word tells us that we must not steal (Exodus 20:15; Leviticus 19:11 and Ephesians 4:28). In fact, God says in 1 Corinthians 6:10 that no "Thieves . . . shall inherit the kingdom of God." God's puts His laws into the universe to bless us.

2. Your children lie to you. What is your response?

a) Mother at the breakfast table: "Remember yesterday I told you all that no one was to take any of the special cookies I baked for the party we are going to tonight? This morning I find that three cookies are missing. Who took them?"
Jacob: "I didn't, Mommy."
Ethan: "Neither did I!"
Olivia: "I would never do that."
Mother: "There is no one else in this house who could take them. We're not starting breakfast until you own up." After a long time and children getting rather hungry they own up!
Mother: "I'm so glad you owned up, but we shouldn't judge one another, so let's just get on with breakfast."

Or b) "Thank you for owning up children. But even worse than stealing the cookies is the fact that you lied to Mommy. Did you know that lying is very serious to God? The Bible says that "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Revelation 21:8). When we are on God's side we love truth because He is the God of truth. When we lie, we are on the devil's side because tells us that the devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8: 44). I want you to be children who are always on God's side. Therefore, Mommy is going to have to discipline you so you can learn the importance of not telling lies. We are going to cancel going to the party tonight." (Or whatever discipline is appropriate).

3. Neighbors are different. What is your response?

Emma: "Mommy, who are those people who moved in over the road from us? They have a little child, but they have two mommies instead of a mommy and a daddy."

a) Mother: "Yes, they are different from us, Emma. They are "gay" people, but we mustn't judge them. We wouldn't live that way, but today people are free to live whatever alternative lifestyle they want."

Or b) Mother: "Emma, I am so very sorry to have to tell you that these people are living the opposite way God intends us to live. God tells us in His Word that if two men or two women live together like a husband and wife that it is an abomination in God's sight. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:3 that these things shouldn't even be mentioned among God's people. We'll look up some Scriptures later so you can see what God says: Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Romans 1:26-28, 32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-12; 1 Timothy 1:10; Jude 1:7; Revelation 21:8. Of course, we will love them and pray for them because Jesus loves them, died for them, and wants to forgive them of their sin if they will repent and turn to Him. But we must always stand on God's side and stand against what God says is an abomination."

Dear mothers, of course you are seeking to lead your children in the ways of righteousness which means standing with God's Word, no matter what society says. We are either filling our children with the truth of God's Word or being sucked into the mantra of the humanists and the "religion of tolerance."

It doesn't matter whether it is disobedience, lying, abortion, euthanasia, "dying with dignity" or sexual immorality, we must always check out what God says in His Word and stick by it. And we must always remember that the truth of a subject in God's Word is not one Scripture, but what God says about that subject from Genesis to Revelation. Don't be mesmerized or propagandized along with so many in the church today who have succumbed to the "judge not that ye be not judged" chant in reply to all judgment of evil.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Don't you love the words of the great hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God" written by Martin Luther? Let remind you of the third stanza:

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath 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.

ONE LITTLE WORD has power over the enemy. What is that word? It is the name of Jesus. Are you facing temptation today. Speak the name of Jesus. Are you filled with fear because of a certain situation? Say the name of Jesus. Is the battle raging in your home and you feel all hell is against you? Speak out loud, over and over again, the name of Jesus. The devil runs at the powerful name of Jesus. Demons quake at the name of Jesus.

"Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

In reply to my post about "Sweet Wives and Mothers" some asked how we can be sweet and at the same time discipline our children and keep order in the home. Throughout Scripture, we see the tension of truth--one understanding of truth on one hand and seemingly the opposite on the other hand. This comes from God Himself. God is a God of love and yet a God of judgment and justice. God is "angry with the wicked every day" and yet He is a God of abundant mercy. Because God is perfect, He wields these divine attributes in perfect harmony. We find it harder to do.

We see a beautiful picture of Christ in Revelation 5 where it speaks of the "Lion of the tribe of Judah." However, when John looks up he doesn't see a roaring lion, but a "Lamb, as it had been slain." Jesus Christ is both the Lion and the Lamb.

We also have these innate attributes in us as mothers. We have divinely within us the sweet, nurturing anointing that God has given to women--a beautiful picture of motherhood. However, we also have within us a roaring lion-like spirit that rises up when the enemy comes to deceive our children and steal their souls. We will not stand for it. We begin to pray. We rise up in the authority God has given us to command our children in His ways. We boldly and firmly deal with sin in their lives--lying, cheating, stealing, disobedience, rebellion, and so on. We don't do it out of frustration and anger, but in righteousness because we know we cannot allow these bad habits to control our children.

And so we walk in the beautiful balance of sweet nurturing and bold authority when it is necessary. We don't learn to do this all at once. The anointings are within us, given by God, and we learn to walk in them more and more as we yield to the Holy Spirit who is conforming us into the image of Jesus.

Think of Moses. He was "Very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:23) and yet he was one of the greatest leaders in history. He constantly had to execute judgment on these people he was leading through the wilderness. You too can lead your children on to the Promised Land with a sweet spirit, but also bold authority.

Love from Nancy Campbell

The following is a very beautiful poem written back in the 19th century. My most challenging line is: "A low and gentle voice—dear woman's chiefest charm."

WOMAN'S VOICE
Not in the swaying of the summer trees,
When evening breezes sing their vesper hymn—
Not in the minstrel's mighty symphonies,
Nor ripples breaking on the river's brim,
Is earth's best music; these may leave awhile
High thoughts in happy hearts, and carking cares beguile.

But even as the swallow's silken wings,
Skimming the water of the sleeping lake,
Stir the still silver with a hundred rings—
So doth one sound the sleeping spirit wake
To brave the danger, and to bear the harm—
A low and gentle voice—dear woman's chiefest charm.

An excellent thing it is, and ever lent
To truth and love, and meekness; they who own
This gift, by the all-gracious Giver sent,
Ever by quiet step and smile are known;
By kind eyes that have wept, hearts that have sorrowed—
By patience never tired, from their own trials borrowed.

An excellent thing it is, when first in gladness
A mother looks into her infant's eyes,
Smiles to its smiles, and saddens to its sadness,
Pales at its paleness, sorrows at its cries;
Its food and sleep, and smiles and little joys—
All these come ever blent with one low gentle voice.

An excellent thing it is when life is leaving,
Leaving with gloom and gladness, joys and cares,
The strong heart failing, and the high soul grieving
With strangest thoughts, and wild unwonted fears;
Then, then a woman's low soft sympathy
Comes like an angel's voice to teach us how to die.

But a most excellent thing it is in youth,
When the fond lover hears the loved one's tone,
That fears, but longs to syllable the truth—
How their two hearts are one, and she his own;
It makes sweet human music—oh! the spells
That haunt the trembling tale a bright-eyed maiden tells!

~ Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904)

Sweetness is not something that is highlighted in women today. I wonder why, because it builds a beautiful marriage and makes a wonderful atmosphere in the home. The husband in Song of Solomon 4:11 says to his wife, "Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride. Honey and milk are under your tongue."

Most people have a sweet tooth and like sweet things and husbands like sweet wives. The testimony of this wife is that sweet words are constantly dripping from her mouth. And that shouldn't only be in the bedroom, but in every room and every situation throughout the day. Rather a challenge, isn't it?

Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary adds to the meaning, "gratefulness to the taste, or to the smell, fragrance, agreeableness to the ear, melody, sweetness of the voice, softness, mildness, sweetness of temper."

The picture of the wife in the heart of the home, revealed in Psalm 128:3, is also a picture of sweetness. She is pictured as a grapevine and of course every vinedresser does everything in his power to cultivate sweet grapes. Who wants to eat sour grapes? What husband wants a sour grapes wife? And what children want a sour grapes mother?

We see also how God loves sweetness. In his tabernacle He commanded that sweet incense to be lit every morning and every evening. This incense was made of SWEET spices (Exodus 30:34). He wanted the holy place to be filled with a sweet aroma, just as He wants our homes to also be filled with the sweet aroma of His presence.

The anointing oil that speaks of the Holy Spirit was also to be made with SWEET spices (Exodus 30:23). Some people confess that they are filled with the Holy Spirit, but if they are not revealing a sweet anointing, it is not the Holy Spirit. It must be something else. When we give into our fleshly nature we give off some pretty bad smells for our family to endure; but when we yield to the Holy Spirit we will release a sweet anointing.

May God help each one of us to fill our home with sweetness today--in our words, looks, smiles, and attitudes. This is my prayer.

Love from Nancy Campbell

You may feel you are getting nothing out of your marriage and that can tend to self-pity. But this doesn't help the situation.

Even though you don't feel like it, begin pouring into your marriage. Outdo your husband in loving, blessing, and ministering to him.

It will boomerang back.

NANCY

BLESSED is she whose daily tasks are a labor of love, for her willing hands and happy heart translate duty into privilege, and her labor becomes a service to God.

BLESSED is she who opens the door to welcome both stranger and friends, for gracious hospitality is a test of brotherly love.

BLESSED is she who mends toys and broken hearts, for her understanding is a balm to humanity.

BLESSED is she who cleans and scrubs, for well she knows that cleanliness is one expression of godliness.

BLESSED is she whom children love, for the love of a child is more to be valued than fortune or fame.

BLESSED is she who sings while she works, for music lightens the heaviest load and brightens the dullest chore.

BLESSED is she who dusts away doubt and fear and sweeps out the cobwebs of confusions, for her faith will triumph over all adversity.

BLESSED is she who serves laughter and smiles with every meal, for her buoyancy of spirit is an aid to mental and physical digestion.

BLESSED is she who preserves the sanctity of the Christian home, for hers is a sacred trust that crowns her with dignity.

(The painting is by Polina Luchanova, born in 1977--The artist having tea with her family).

Paul wrote to Timothy recalling "Your sincere faith that first LIVED in your grandmother Lois, and then in your mother Eunice" (1 Timothy 1:5 HSCB) No wonder Timothy not only believed God's Word but walked in it. The heritage was passed on. His grandmother and mother not only believed, but their faith affected every part of their lives. It LIVED in them.

We can have all the talk, but unless our children see our faith LIVING AND WORKING OUT IN THE CIRCUMSTANBCES OF EVERY DAY LIFE, it will not really affect their lives. Is your faith a living faith that affects your actions and attitudes in the home? Do your children see that your faith is real? Are you passing on the baton?

It's not just a head knowledge of truth, but the reality of Christ living in you (Colossians 1:27). Let His life LIVE in and through you today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Last night my husband and I were talking to our daughter-in-law. My husband asked her, "What is your main reason for homeschooling?

"I don't want to be robbed of the time I can spend with my children," she replied. And that's a lot of hours! During the twelve years of a child's schooling ( before they even go away to college), they will be away from home for THREE full years of their life! And that's not counting day care or traveling on the school bus. And this in the most FORMATIVE YEARS of their life!

Isn't it amazing how easily we become victims to a system? We do things just because that's what everyone does. We don't take time to evaluate whether it is the best way or not.

God doesn't give us children to give away to someone else to influence them in a humanist/liberal path. He gives them to us to fill them the Word of God and steer them into the ways of God. We have the responsibility to raise them to be young men and women of strength, dignity, purpose, integrity, justice, wisdom, and righteousness. We have the power to determine the destiny of the nation.

Don't let Satan rob you of the time, the anointing, the power, and the authority God has given to you as a mother.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Isn't it interesting that man seems to think he knows better ways of doing things than God? The teaching system of today is to segregate children into their age groups. Of course, I can understand that this makes it much easier for teachers. However, even the church has taken on the public school method and separates children from babies to teens in all their separate age levels.

But God didn't intend it to be this way. Whenever He wanted to speak to His people, He didn't ask them to put all their children into their different age groups so they could each understand the message in their own level. Instead, He commanded that they all come together--the nursing babes, the toddlers, and everyone in the family.

Here are some examples: Joshua 8:33-35 says, "Joshua read all the words of the law . . . there was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women AND THE LITTLE ONES."

2 Chronicles 20:4, 13 says, "And all Judah stood before the Lord with their LITTLE ONES, THEIR WIVES AND THEIR CHILDREN."
J

oel 2:15-17 says, "Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, GATHER THE CHILDREN, AND THOSE THAT S.UCK AT THE BREASTS." Read also Deuteronomy 31:11-13; Ezra 10:1; Matthew 21:12-16; Mark 9:33-37 and 10:13-15.

God commands us to teach our children in the context of the home--when we sit down, walk by the way, drive in the car, lie down, and rise up (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).

God wants children to be able to communicate with all ages--children who do not ignore adults, but know how to converse with them. Do you notice that many young people today ignore adults? They will come into a room without even acknowledging their presence. They only gravitate to their age group. Their conversation relates to the shallowness of their peers. Or they are consumed with texting or face-booking.

When Jesus was only twelve years old, He sat with the "doctors of the law, both hearing them and asking them questions" (Luke 2:42-47). Are your children interested in learning from adults when they are in their presence?

Let's raise children who understand the value of all ages--older people and also the little ones.

Love from Nancy Campbell

Psalm 46:4 (JB) says, "There is a river, the streams of which make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most high." The city of God consists of the homes of God's people. To have a joyful city we must have joyful homes. To have a joyful nation, we must have joyful cities, filled with joyful families. In the same way, we can never have a righteous nation if we don't have righteous homes.

How do we have joyful homes? It is only through the RIVER which speaks of the Holy Spirit who flows out in many streams. The Holy Spirit wants to flow out in streams in your home--streams of joy and gladness. Streams of love, forgiveness, sweetness, healing, encouragement, and building up. Streams of compassion, kindness, tenderheartedness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, patience, and peacemaking.

They should be flowing streams, never stagnate. They may not all flow at once, but they are ALL IN THE RIVER to pour forth in gushing streams as they are needed in the home.

As these streams flow, they gladden the home. The Hebrew word "make glad" is "samach" and means "to brighten up, cheer up, rejoice, make merry and very glad."

Dear mother, I hope you are not filling your home with complaining, negativity, sourness, and bitterness. Yield yourself to the River of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to fill you and flow forth in streams into your home to bring gladness and cheer to your husband and children (John 7:37-39).

"MAKE GLAD your motherhood today. "MAKE GLAD your home today."

Love from Nancy Campbell

"A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life. She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother. She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference. At times she got discouraged because so
much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated. “Is it worth it?” she often wondered. “Is there something better that I could be doing with my time?”

"It was during one of these moments of questioning that she heard the still small voice of her heavenly Father speak to her heart. “You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye. But I notice. Most of what you give is done without remuneration. But I am your reward. Your husband cannot be the man I have called him to be without your support. Your influence upon him is greater than you
think and more powerful than you will ever know. I bless him through your service and honor him through your love.

"Your children are precious to Me. Even more precious than they are to you. I have entrusted them to your care to raise for me. What you invest in them is an offering to me. You may never be in the public spot light. But your obedience shines as a bright light before me. Continue on. Remember you are My servant. Do all to please Me.”

~ Roy Lessin

I'm tired of the broken record. The rhetoric is the same with those who advocate abortion as those who advocate the freedom to take one's life if they feel they cannot cope. "It's her body. She can do what she likes." Unfortunately, it's not true. In the case of abortion it is not the mother's body that is at stake; it is the life of another person who is being created in the image of God in the womb. No one has the right to take the life of another living being.

The same words are spoken regarding "death with dignity." "It's her body. Stop judging what she does." Yes, in some ways it is her body. But more truthfully, her body belongs to the Creator who gave her life. Her body belongs to Him. And more so if she or he is a Christian. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 NLT says, "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? YOU DO NOT BELONG TO YOURSELF, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

We must be reminded again that there are only two kingdoms in this world--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. And they both have their own language. The language of the kingdom of God comes from the Bible and is different from the language of this world. Isaiah 55:8, 9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Whereas, the language of the kingdom of darkness is the language of humanism that always revolves around what man thinks, that honors the creature more than the Creator, that espouses selfishness, and that believes we do what we think is best rather than what God says.

If you are a truly born again Christian, make sure you speak the right language. If you belong to the kingdom of God, be careful you do not fall into the trap of speaking the language of the religion of humanism and the religion of tolerance.

Blessings, Nancy Campbell

Apart from the comment of "Don't judge" (which I will write about later), another comment that came up in my post CHOOSE LIFE is that God gave everyone a free will and therefore they can do whatever they want." True. God has given us a free will. We are not robots. But that doesn't mean that we never give advice or encourage people to do the right thing. It is over to the person what they do, but we have a responsibility to tell them the truth.

Dear mothers, do you let your children do whatever they feel they would like to do? When your little children are running near a high cliff, your automatic reaction is to urgently call them to come away from that dangerous place. You warn your little ones to not touch the hot stove or to not play with sharp knives, etc. We constantly teach and warn to protect our children and show them the right way to live. In the same way as God's children, we teach and warn to protect one another.

God's Word, from beginning to end, is filled with showing us the way we are to live and warning us against the way that brings destruction. Although He gives us a free will, He longs for us to listen and obey Him for His ways lead to blessing and life. Read Deuteronomy 28.

God sent His only son from the glory of heaven to become a man, die, and shed His precious blood to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. Although we can choose Christ or reject Him because of our free will, He pleads with us to receive His salvation.

Ezekiel 3:18, 19 says, "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him no warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." The blood of others can be on our hands. God pleaded with the whole nation to CHOOSE LIFE rather than death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

We are our "brother's keeper" (Genesis 4:9). We are to "save others by snatching them out of the fire" (Jude 1:23). We are responsible for one another. To warn or save people from a wrong decision or destruction is far greater love than saying, "Please yourself. You have your own free will."

One person commented, "How would you like it if someone told you what you can and cannot do with your body?" It would be my decision what I do, but I would welcome all the advice I could get. I would be seeking and researching for wisdom and advice, not rejecting it.

And I will certainly be standing against "death with dignity" becoming law in every state. This would eventually take away people's free will. I don't want to come under a government that tells me that it is time to end my life when they think I am too old or whatever. I pray against the situation that was happening in Nehemiah's time where those who ruled over them had "dominion over our bodies . . . at their pleasure, and we are in great distress" (Nehemiah 9:37).

Blessings from Nancy

I am grieving. I am sad to hear of the death of Brittany Maynard, the 29 year old lady who chose to end her life on Saturday. I grieve because she has died and also that she decided to end her own life. Yes, she had terminal brain cancer and was informed it would be a painful death. But how do we know for sure? The medical profession give so many diagnosis that often do not eventuate. God is able to heal. He is able to help people through suffering. Not so long ago my husband's brother, and his son, both died of very invasive brain cancers. But they did not take their own lives. God was with them right to the end.

At this present time, "death with dignity" is only legal in Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. Brittany's legacy is that she wants this to become legal in every state in USA. But we must face the facts. It is not "death with dignity." It is suicide, the meaning of which is: "the act of intentionally causing one's own death, taking one's own life." And this should never become law.

The liberalists love to choose euphemisms for their choices. They use "pro-choice" instead of abortion. Once again it is a lie--abortion is a choice to murder a life, a life that is being nourished in the sacred place of the womb.

We cannot be wishy washy in our beliefs. If we believe in God, we believe in life, from conception to the grave. There are only two kingdoms in this world--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. God's kingdom is a kingdom of life--He is the author of life and loves life. Satan hates life and seeks to eliminate it every way he can, in the womb and before God's time is up for a person to die.

Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV says, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse Therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that you and your offspring may live." We must choose life for every baby in the womb and choose life in every decision we make at the potential end of life.

I was with my father the last few days of his life. One day the pastor came to see him and said to him, "Ivan, you have lived a great life. You are ready to meet the Lord. We release you to go to Him now." I didn't think anything of it at the time. It was a few months later when God woke me up one night and spoke to me. I came to realization that this man did not have the right to tell him to go. It is God's prerogative. Even though my father could not communicate at this time, I sensed he loved being in our presence us as we cared for him in the lounge. Although he was ready to meet the Lord he was savoring every last moment with his loved ones and passed so peacefully when he eventually took his last breath. Who are we to tell someone when they should go?

According to USA TODAY, there are now 40,000 suicides every year in America, one every 13 minutes. We already have an epidemic of suicide in this nation, each one thinking they have a valid reason. We do not need the state or federal government to pass legislation to approve or encourage any more suicides.

As a nation we do not want Ebola to take over our lives and we should not congratulate or make heroes out of people who take their lives. This only influences others who are going through a difficult time to do the same.

Let's CHOOSE LIFE in every situation, no matter what the circumstances.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Ruth 4:16 tells us that "Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it." The word "nurse" is "aman" and is broad in its meaning. It not only speaks of nurture, nourishment, and caring for a child. It also speaks of stability and faithfulness.

This Hebrew word is translated in the KJV by these words: faithful, sure, believe, long continuance, assurance, establish, trust, verify, trusty, stand fast, and steadfast. What wonderful adjectives to think about when you are mothering or foster-mothering. It is not a flighty task. It takes faithfulness, continuance, and steadfastness even when we don't feel like it. But as we seek to work out these characteristics in our mothering our children will have a sure foundation, confidence, and trust.

And remember, dear mother, that these attributes are the attributes of God. You show your children what God is like when you mother in this way. Deuteronomy 7:9 describes God: "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the FAITHFUL (aman) God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations."

It is also used to describe God's eternal Word. Psalm 93 5 says, "Thy testimonies are VERY SURE (aman)." We can totally rely on them. Read also Psalm 19:7 and 111:7.

Motherhood is stickability, continuing on, and faithfulness through thick and thin.

Blessings from Nancy