THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 2

“Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it”
(Colossians 4:17).

3. GOD COMMISSIONED YOU FOR THIS CAREER

Motherhood is not an idle pastime. You are part of a mighty army in the home. In Psalm 68:11, 12 the psalmist talks about two armies—the men who go out to fight the battles to protect their homes, families, and their land. But it also talks about the army of women who dwell at home. Mothers who hold the home fort and build strong families. Mothers who proclaim the Word of truth. Mothers who prepare soldiers for the army. Mothers who divide the spoil and share the blessings.

Solomon 6:10 (NLT) is a picture of a mighty woman fulfilling her commission: “Who is this arising like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”

4. GOD WANTS YOU TO BE COMMITTED TO YOUR CAREER

You are not tossed about by each new trend in society. You are not moved by negative statements from family and friends. You are not moved when facing hardships or financial stress. You've counted the cost. Your heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. You are unshakable. You are immoveable. You know you are in the perfect will of God. You know your purpose. You stand true to your convictions.

Your heart is like David’s heart: “My heart is fixed (established), O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” David repeats his confession again in Psalm 108:1.

When Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to repair and build the gates of Jerusalem he faced continual persecution and ridicule. His enemies did everything in their power to thwart him from his great purpose. When they asked him to come down, he refused to stop his great work. Instead, he sent messengers to them, saying: "I AM DOING A GREAT WORK, SO THAT I CANNOT COME DOWN: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3). Make this your confession too.

Colossians 4:17 (MOFFAT): “Attend To the duty entrusted to you . . . and discharge it to the full.”

Colossians 3:12, 12 (JBP): “Whatever you do, PUT YOUR WHOLE HEART AND SOUL INTO IT, as unto work done for God, and not merely for men – knowing that your real reward, a heavenly one, will come from God, SINCE YOU ARE ACTUALLY EMPLOYED BY CHRIST.”

5. GOD WANTS YOU TO COMPLETE YOUR WORK

In this great work of mothering, we are committed to the end. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says: “Better is the end of a thing that the beginning thereof.” As children grow up, many mothers think they have come to the end of motherhood. They fling off their motherhood mantle and set out into the world for a new life. That’s not God’s plan. He doesn’t want us to stop half way through. He created us physically and innately to be mothers, and we are mothers to the end.

Jesus Himself gave us the example. He stated in John 4:34: “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to FINISH his work.”

Jesus prayed in John 17:4: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have FINISHED the work which thou gavest me to do.” We bring glory to God by finishing the task He gives us to do.

In biblical days the watchman watched over the cities to be aware of any enemy activity. The watches were divided into four times:

First watch: 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm.
Second watch: 9.00 pm – 12.00 pm midnight.
Third watch: 12.00 pm – 3.00 am.
Fourth watch: 3.00 am – 6.00 am.

No watchman was allowed to go to sleep on his watch. It was a very responsible assignment. Many people today use these times as prayer watches as they pray and watch for the enemy in this “night season.” However, I would like to relate them to our mothering seasons of life.

Next week we’ll begin with the FIRST WATCH.

Be blessed.

Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Father, for giving me this great career of motherhood. Thank You for the precious children You have entrusted to my care Help me to be faithful to the end. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

I have the greatest job on earth and I’m in for the long haul!

THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 1

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain”
(John 15:15).

Dear mother, do you understand the power of your calling as a mother? You were ordained, designed, and designated for this great career.

Let’s seek further understanding:

1. GOD CREATED YOU FOR THIS CAREER

It’s not hard to understand when we observe our female body that it was created for the ultimate purpose of motherhood. And yet isn’t it amazing that many women spurn the way they were created? God created us physically with a womb where we have the privilege to conceive and grow a baby. We have breasts to nurture and feed the baby.

However, are not only physically created for the job, but innately. We are inherently born with a nurturing heart. It is part of every female, even those who refuse children. If they don’t have children, they’ll have pets, because in is instinctive to nurture. It is part of being a woman.

We have been created with perfect design (Deuteronomy 32;4; Psalm 18;30; and Job 37:16). Because God chose to create us female, the most obvious thing in the world is to embrace our womanhood and femininity with our whole being.

I often think how sad it is for someone to go through life and not fulfill the plan God has for them. It is basic understanding that if God created us female, it is as a female we will fulfill the destiny God has planned for us before the foundation of the world. Therefore, let’s acknowledge and live out our womanhood and motherhood. This is how we will glorify the God who created us. We either help to dampen the image of God or reveal the image of God.

Isaiah 45:9-12 (NET) says: “One who argues with his creator is in grave danger . . . The clay should not say to the potter, ‘What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill.’ Danger awaits one who says to his father, ‘What in the world are you fathering?’ and to his mother, ‘What in the world are you bringing forth?’ This is what the LORD says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: ‘How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands! I made the earth, I created the people who live on it.’”

Also read these powerful Scriptures: Psalm 100:3; 111:1-8; 119:73; 139:14; Isaiah 10:15; 29:16; 64:8; and Revelation 4:11.

2. GOD CHOSE YOU SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CAREER

Dear mother, the career of motherhood is specifically and uniquely for you as a female. God did not give the career of motherhood to men. He has a different role for them. He wants them to rise in their fatherhood anointing. To father their children, not mother them. I hope you understand that there is a difference in fathering to mothering. That’s why children need a father and a mother. They receive different blessings, affirmations, and parenting from each parent. It’s not the same! I minister to my children far differently from my husband. But our children need us both.

You are the only one who can truly mother your children. It is unique to YOU. Don’t for a minute give in to this genderless society. Genesis 3:20 says: “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve (life-giver); because she was the MOTHER of all living.” At this stage Adam had never seen a mother, so what was he talking about? He spoke under the inspiration of God. God called Eve, the mother, not Adam the male.

When Jesus answered the Pharisees in Matthew 19:4 he stated: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made the male and female.” The word He used for “female” was the description of a “suckling mother.” A man is not a suckling mother. It is the female!

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I thank you so much that You purposely, eternally, and uniquely chose me to reveal Your nurturing heart to the world and to be the mother of my children. Please help me to glorify Your wonderful name as I embrace my mothering as a female. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am ordained for the ministry of mothering as much as any person is ordained to be the minister of a church!

P.S. A very important message coming to you next week when I send you Part 2.

PROCLAIMING MOTHERS

“The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it”
(Psalm 68:11).

This is the seventh and last point in our series of PURPOSEFUL mothers.

7. PROCLAIMING MOTHERS

Psalm 68:11 (NASB) says: “The Lord gives the command; The women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host.” The Young’s Literal translation calls the women “female proclaimers.”

Let’s look at it a little more closely. The word “company” is the Hebrew word tsaba and means “a mass of persons, especially organized for war, an army, battle, soldiers.” Therefore, those who proclaim the word of the Lord are a great army.

The next question we must ask is who is this great army? The participle “those who announce the good tidings” (hammebasseroth) is feminine plural in the Hebrew. Therefore, female proclaimers or heraldresses is correct according to the original.

But now we are in a state of tension. Does this Scripture release women from the home to be pastors and evangelists? What about Scriptures on the other end of the scale that exhort women to be “keepers at home” and embrace their mothering role?

We often come across the “tension of truth” in the Bible. We notice paradoxes—two apparently contradictory things, and yet because God’s Word is divinely inspired, both are true.

Tozer writes: “Truths that are compelled to stand alone never stand straight and are not likely to stand long. Truth is one, but truths are many. Scriptural truths are interlocking and interdependent. A truth is rarely valid in isolation.”

Another commentator writes: “No matter how much two teachings of Scripture may appear to be contradictory, they are not. They may be paradoxical, but they can never be contradictory . . . Denial of one set of biblical truth in order to affirm another is never an option for the faithful student of Scriptures.”

Therefore, as we pursue the fullness of God’s truth it all becomes clear. The Bible clearly states that God ordains women to embrace motherhood, home, and family. He created them for this purpose. Without mothers, the world stops. Without godly mothers building strong families the nation weakens. Mothers in the home are the foundation of a strong and great society.

But women do not have to be silent. It is a known fact that women talk more than men. We are the teachers of our children from the day they are born and onwards. We talk to them from morning ‘til night. When we go out to the supermarket and to the many activities we become part of as our children grow, we can take every opportunity to proclaim the good news—the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a word of cheer to someone who is cast down, or encouragement to a fellow mother. We pray for those who are sick and need uplifting.

You don’t stop proclaiming because you are a mother. You open your mouth and proclaim God’s truths wherever you are, in the home or out and about. You drop the seeds of God’s truth all day long. The opportunities are constant and endless.

The word basar from hammebasseroth means “to be fresh, rosy, full of cheer, to announce, to bring good news, to tell glad tidings, publish, to be a messenger.”

What does it mean to be a female messenger? To be fresh with the presence of the Lord. To be healthy and happy, both spiritual and physically. To be full of joy as we mother our children. The anointing of joy upon our lives as we go out into society with our children is our greatest testimony to the world. The enemy has no argument against a joyful and cheerful mother.

We should always be ready with a new testimony of God’s goodness, His provision, and leading in our lives. We don’t proclaim sad news. We announce good news! The goodness of God. The salvation of our God.

Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15 talk about “the feet of him that brings good tidings." You drop God’s words of truth wherever your feet take you—in your kitchen and trotting off to get groceries.

Psalm 96:2: “Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth (basar) his salvation from day to day.” Every day you show forth the salvation of God to your children. It’s a daily thing.

You are both mother and proclaimer! They fit together like a glove. You don’t have to leave your highest calling of motherhood to be God’s messenger. You are His messenger in the midst of your mothering. IT’S ALL PART OF YOUR MOTHERING CAREER.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Thank you, dear Father, that You make Your purposes clear in Your living Word. Thank You for giving me a realm where I can nurture and train my children and daily be a messenger of Your truth and revelation to my children and all the people I meet. Help me to be a faithful and anointed messenger. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a Mothering Messenger from the Lord.

PROTECTING MOTHERING
Part 3 with Protecting and Praying Mothering

“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth
as touching any thing that they shall as,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”
(Matthew 18:19).

We continue looking at the Ps of Powerful mothering.

5. PROTECTING MOTHERING

As we meditate on the aspects of purposeful mother, we remind ourselves that we need a vision. Without a vision we are aimless. It is as important to have a vision and goal for our motherhood as we would for any career. When raising our children, I took the prayer Paul prayed for the Thessalonians believer as my mothering goal.

1 Thessalonians 5:23: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is a huge goal, impossible without the help of God. To stand one day before our God and present our children before Him, as we will do. How will we present them before Him? Will they be whole? Body, soul, and spirit? That takes more than giving food and clothing. This takes our whole lives as we guard our children. The word “preserved" is tereo and means “to guard from loss or injury by keeping the eye upon.” It’s not enough to watch over their physical lives. We guard their minds, their souls, and their spirits. We watch over what they read, watch, and see.

The word “watchmen” is not only for men. The Above Rubies woman who “looks well to the ways of her household” (Proverbs 31:27) is exactly the same word as “watchman.” We are as much a watchwoman over our home and family as the watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem.

Of course, it makes sense that you have to be in your home to be a guard. A watch dog cannot watch the home if he is not there. A mother cannot watch over her home and family if she is not present.

6. PRAYING MOTHERING

This includes praying grandmothers—and great-grandmothers. I knew a godly grandmother, who each time a new grandbaby was born, would set her alarm clock quarter of an hour earlier in order to pray for the new baby. She kept getting up earlier and earlier!

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t get through mothering without praying. In fact, I don’t believe we can mother powerfully without praying powerfully over our children.

You will pray personally for your children, but I believe it is even more powerful for you and your husband to pray together. There is power in the prayer of agreement. And especially when a husband and wife pray together. And if you don’t pray for your children who will?

Matthew 18:19 says “if two of you shall agree . . .” Did you get those words? “TWO OF YOU”! Claim this marriage promise.

Perhaps you are not currently praying with your husband. Find the right moment to sweetly talk to him about it. “Honey, have you noticed that our children need prayer? My prayers are not enough. Do you think we could find a time to pray each day together for our children? I’ll fit in with your time. Can you let me know which time would be best for you?”

Set this time together and bring each child before the Lord by name. Can you imagine what God will release in your children’s lives because of your united prayers?

I would encourage you to go to the following links which will give you more encouragement in praying for your family.

https://tinyurl.com/HowToPrayForChildren
https://tinyurl.com/HowToPrayForHusband
https://tinyurl.com/OurPriestlyResponsibility

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Beloved Father, I thank You for your powerful promise that “if two of you shall agree . . . it shall be done for them.” Please help us as a married couple to be faithful in prayer for our children that You have given to us. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a watchwoman, standing guard over my home. Look out enemy!