OFF COURSE!

"For My people have forgotten Me... they have stumbled from their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, not on a highway" Jeremiah 18:15.

To be less than half a degree off course can take you down a path of deception. When a surveyor surveys land, he must have his calculations correct. If he is one degree, or even less than a degree off course from the starting point, the line will veer further and further away from course.

Many today are walking down a bypath that is taking them in a wrong direction and they have no idea they are on the wrong course. Many people are traveling the same path with them so they think it is the right one. How did they get there? Not because they were straying off at the beginning at 30 degrees angle, but maybe only less than one degree. They imbibed just a tiny humanistic lie. That was enough. Just a little degree off and it gradually takes them further and further away from the truth.

We read in Amos 7:8, "The Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?' And I said, ‘A plumb line.' The Lord said, ‘Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel.'" A plumb line is a string with a piece of pointed lead or weight on the end to provide an exact measure for a vertical line. It is used by masons and bricklayers to keep their walls straight and without it they could easily make a crooked building. The plumb line is accurate, providing a consistent standard for the walls being constructed.

The Word of God is our plumb line for life. It measures our thoughts, actions and beliefs. It is only from the Word of God that we gain a true world view. God will not judge us according to our opinions, or our circumstances, but only by the plumb line of His Holy Word which abides eternally.  One writer says, "The Bible is the only tangible, visible, readable, understandable and applicable measure for spiritual issues that we have." If a bricklayer finds his wall crooked, will he try and adjust the plumb line to his crooked wall? Impossible. He must rebuild the wall according to the plumb line.

God says in Isaiah 28:17 NIV, "I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line." The plumb line of God's Word judges everything by an exact standard, not our standard. We must keep our minds stayed upon the Lord (Isaiah 26:3-4) and feed our souls constantly on the Word of God.

The more the Word of God fills us,

the easier we will keep on course.

The less the Word of God fills us,

the easier we will stray off course.

If we want our children to stay on the right course, we must daily feed them with God's Word.

I am reminded of Christian and Faithful in Pilgrim's Progress when they turned aside into Bypath Meadow.They would never have dreamed of straying from the King's Highway, but Bypath Meadow was going in the same direction, only it was a much easier path. They decided to have a rest and take the bypath, ready to jump back to the King's Highway if they noticed it veering away. But a storm came and flooded the path. They were enveloped in darkness and could not find the way back to the King's Way.

None of us ever intend to steer from God's path. That's why we must watch diligently, for only one degree, or even half a degree, will take us more and more away from the truth. I wonder why many who say they believe in God laugh at families who open their hearts to having the children God wants them to have? Where did they get this attitude which is totally foreign to the Word of God? They are now 100 degrees opposite to the Word of God and don't even know it! They have joined the unbelievers who have formed their own opinions and laugh at God's absolute truths.

If we can stray so far from the plumb line in this life, what about future generations? We can be guilty of taking our children on a deviant path as they imbibe our values and beliefs. And often they take on more deception as they continue walking away from the plumb line. Someone has said, "One generation is only one generation away from degeneration." I think of a Christian family I know. Their lives were so busy following the material pursuits of this world that they rarely sat down as a family to eat their meals together at home and instead ended up grabbing fast-food or eating in a restaurant. I remember saying to the wife, "If you don't establish the habit of sitting together as a family around the meal table, what will your children do when they are married?"

As this couple gradually moved further away from God's measurement and lived by their own desires, they ended up much farther from the path than they realized. They are now divorced. Their children struggle with drugs and are not walking with the Lord. Just a little straying eventually resulted in destruction.

The Moffat's translation of Jeremiah 18:15 says that they "take to bypaths of their own." Are you going down a bypath of your own reasoning, or sticking to the plumb line? Where are your children heading? Are they building their lives on the plumb line of God's absolute truths or walking down a bypath?

Let's come daily to the plumb line of God's Word to check if we are on the right track.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, ABOVE RUBIES

PRAYER:

"I thank you, Father, that you have given me a plumb line. I don't have to guess my way. You have shown it clearly. Please help me to keep a straight course and give me wisdom to keep my children on this course. Please keep us from detouring on bypaths. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I'm building my marriage and family according to the plumb line!

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

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HIS COMING CONTINUES TODAY!

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same" (Hebrews 2:14).

Joy to the world, the Lord has come. He came! This is the greatest news in all of history! What joy to celebrate His coming. We know this may not have been the time He was born (more likely the time He was divinely conceived), but the actual day is insignificant compared to the opportunity to celebrate His coming.

HOW DID HE COME?

He didn't come with pomp and ceremony. He came has a babe. Luke 2:12 tells us, "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Yes, a baby! God chose the One who will rule over all kings and nations to come as a baby. No wonder the devil hates babies, for this is the way Jesus came. I love the words of Mark Lowry's Christmas song...

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM.

I love the words of this Christmas song too...

It's still a mystery to me that the hands of God could be so small,
How tiny fingers reaching in the night were the very hands that measured the sky!
It's still a mystery to me how His infant eyes had seen the dawn of time!
How his ears had heard an angel's symphony. but still Mary had to rock her

Savior to sleep!

He didn't come with riches, but in poverty. Instead of bringing a lamb to the temple when they dedicated Jesus, Joseph and Mary could only afford pigeons. Read Luke 2:22-24 and Matthew 8:20.

Although He was divine, He came to take on our humanity and feel our infirmities. Read John 1:14; Romans 1:3 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:14, 17 and 4:15.

He didn't hold on to His glory but made himself of no reputation. He became a servant. He humbled himself and submitted himself to the death of the cross. Philippians 2:7-8.

In coming in this way, He showed us the way to live. The birth of Jesus shows how to live in humility and lay down our lives for one another. This is the Christmas message.

WHAT DID HIS COMING BRING?

SALVATION!

Matthew 1:21 says,"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."He is still bringing salvation to all who will receive Him today.

JOY!

He came to bring joy! The angel's message to the Bethlehem shepherds was, "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of GREAT JOY, which shall be to all people For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).Not only did Jesus bring joy at His birth, but He now dwells in us to give us continuous joy! Because He came we have joy! Our joy is not dependent on our circumstances or how we feel, but Christ's joy in us. No matter what is going on in our lives we can still rejoice!

LIGHT!

He came to bring light. Luke 1:78-79 says, "The dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death." Jesus came to bring light to our darkness of despair, deception and depravity. But the wonderful thing is that He still brings light. When Jesus Christ dwells in you by His Holy Spirit, you have light in your soul, no matter how dark your situation, because He is Light. Jesus was not a little light, but "a great light" (Matthew 4:16). Now that He lives in us, He also wants us to shine and expose the darkness around us. We are not to be a  flickering light but a great light!

PEACE!

He came to bring Peace. Luke 1:78-79 also tells us that the dayspring from on high visited us "to guide our feet into the way of peace." To herald Jesus' birth the multitude of the heavenly host praised God saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men" (Luke 2:13-14). Jesus came to not only bring peace at His birth, but to bring peace to your heart! He came to dwell in your heart by His Holy Spirit to give you peace even in the midst of storms!  He wants you to be a peace-maker. Oh thank you, Lord Jesus that you came!

LOVE!

We are reminded again of John 3:16, the most well-loved Scriptures in all the Bible of how God "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son..." This was love beyond comprehension! God introduced a new kind of love into the world, agape love-love that goes beyond what people deserve, love that goes beyond how we feel about a person, love that loves even the unlovely. Jesus not only came to show us this love but to live in our hearts so that we could also experience this love and reveal it to others.

TRUTH!

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." He came to bring truth and still continues to bring truth to us by the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Read John 14:26.

LIFE!

He came to bring life. Abundant life! Read John 14:6 and 10:10.

FULFILLMENT OF ALL MESSIANC PROPHECIES *

In the gospels we constantly read Scriptures similar to Matthew 4:14, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying..." Next time you read the Gospels notice how many times it says, "that it might be fulfilled." There are too many to list in this devotion. Some theologians say that Jesus fulfilled 365 prophecies; others say over 400. I haven't counted them myself but there are certainly more than we need to prove that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the Messiah of the world.

Aren't you glad He came as a little baby? God chose that a babe would bring salvation and one day rule the world. Don't forget at this Christmas time that we are not only remembering that Jesus came, but that He came to dwell in your heart by faith. He is still here! He is in your heart! Can you burst forth with a Hallelujah?

Love and blessed Christmas greetings to you and your precious family,

NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Thank you, dear heavenly Father for sending your only begotten son to this world. Thank you, Jesus that you came. You came at the perfect moment in history, even though you were the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Thank you that you did not leave me stranded but you sent your Holy Spirit to continually live in my heart. Your coming continues today. I am blessed forever. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I confess with Mary, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord." (Luke 1:46)

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

· To check out some Messianic prophecies refer to the Scriptures below:

THE LITTLE THINGS

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee rule over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" Matthew 25:21.

Doing little things can often seem so insignificant, can't they? Especially menial things. Tedious things. The things that you have to do over and over again like making beds, doing laundry, doing dishes and preparing meals. Can I remind you that no little thing is insignificant? Little things accumulate and add up to big things. And more important of all, God notices. He is interested in the little things as much as the big things.

When God, who is watching over the walls of your home, sees you faithfully and joyfully embracing your daily tasks, it pleases His heart. He takes notice of it. God takes as  much pleasure in the little things as He does the big things. He created the huge mountains, but put even more intricate design to each tiny snowflake which you can only see under a magnifying glass. He created the giant redwoods (you may have driven your car through one of the trunks of these trees in California, as we have), but He created the beauty of the little violet and forget-me-not flowers.

God poured beauty and intricate design into the tiniest of His creations, some that can't even be seen by the eyes of men. You also are being transformed into the character of God when you make beauty and joy out of your little and menial tasks, tasks that you think are boring. Nothing is boring when God is in it! Seek ways to do your little tasks faster, better and more creatively. Sing while you do them. Thank God that He is with you as you do them.

I am always challenged by Frank Bunker Gilbert in Cheaper by the Dozen who sought to do every household task more efficiently and quickly. He timed his children doing each task to see if they could do it more quickly the next time. That's why we have so many wonderful  inventions in the world today because people seek ways to do things quicker and better than before! The little can lead to the amazing!

This can happen in your home every day as you bring God into every task! It changes the boring to the interesting; the mundane to the creative and the little to make the way for the great.

I feel very blessed to have the privilege of encouraging the mothers of the world and printing 160,000 magazines each time we print a new Above Rubies. Did I start with this number? No. when I printed the first issue over 33 years ago I printed only 1500 copies! But it started even before I was married. I was teaching and gave my vacation time to ministering at girls' camps. These young girls came in from all over the country, many from non-Christian homes. It was a joy to lead many of them to the Lord, but I knew they would go home to receive no encouragement in their faith. I began writing to them and  ended up writing regularly to over 100 girls. Looking back, I believe that because I was faithful in that small task, God chose me to do a bigger task and to reach thousands and thousands of families across the world.

Many women send in poems and writings to me for inclusion in Above Rubies. Sadly, I can't use them all. I cannot find space for all the poems. But can I encourage you? Don't wait to be published. Write your poem or prose out beautifully on a lovely card and give it to someone in need. Write poems for your husband, children or grandchildren. Write rhymes for Name Places at the dinner table. Write encouraging letters to those who need uplifting. Use your writing talent for your family and the people God puts on your heart. As you share your writings with those around you to bless and uplift them, God will open bigger doors. He gives rulership to those who are faithful in the least.

Do you feel you have a message to speak to thousands? You may wait forever for that opportunity. Start where you are. Bless your family with your inspirations. Speak to everyone you meet. As you are faithful to do this, God may open up remunerative opportunities.

Are you an artist? Paint the walls of your home. Paint beautiful pictures to give to friends. Draw a picture for an older person living on their own.* Decorate cards and give them to those who need encouraging. Use your gift to bless those around you and God will open bigger opportunities.

Zechariah 4:10 says, "Who has despised the day of small things?"

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL, ABOVE RUBIES

PRAYER:

"I thank you, dear Father, that you are interested in the little things as well as the big things. Help me to know that you are with me in every small task I accomplish in my home. I thank you that even the mundane things are wonderful when you are in them. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am making every little task into an amazing one!

* I am always looking for illustrations and beautiful decorative borders to include in the Above Rubies magazine. Contact me if you are interested. Nancy

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ON ALL FRONTS!

"Appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and each in front of his house" (Nehemiah 7:3).

God is very concerned about guarding. We don't have to wait long in the Bible to learn the principle. When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden He told them to work in it and guard it! (Genesis 2:15) To guard a home is high on God's priority. We turn over from the first book of the Bible to the last and find that God has twelve angels guarding the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:12) If it is important for God to have angels guarding each gate of His holy city, then surely it is important to guard the gates of our homes.

We go to 1 Chronicles 9:17-27 and see the gate-keeping Levites guarding the house of the Lord in Solomon's time, just as their ancestors had guarded the tabernacle in the wilderness. They guarded "the entrance" and they guarded "the four sides, to the east, west, north and south... And they spent the night around the house of God, because the watch was committed to them." In Nehemiah we read that they appointed guards, "each in front of his house."

We are also gate-keepers, guarding on all fronts! We can never let down our guard. The enemy is subtle and he is out to destroy marriages and fragment godly homes. The biggest threat to his success is godly gate-keeping mothers who will not allow one opening for him to enter their home. They watch at their entrance and they watch on every side. They watch what their children listen to, look at, read and even what they speak! They check what is happening on the Facebook accounts of their children. They establish God's standard of righteousness in their home, not the world's standard. Consequently, when the enemy comes running to attack he comes to a screeching halt at the gates of this righteous home! He has no access! No loop holes to get in! And he bows! Proverbs 14:19 says, "The evil bow before the good: and the wicked at the gates of the righteous."

One of the greatest ways we guard is by example. Your children see whether you have courage to act according to your conscience or whether you compromise. Sometimes on the weekend the extended family will come and we watch a family movie together. We have a big screen for our songs at church so we can play the movie on the big screen. It is sad that we sometimes find a scene that is not wholesome, even with family movies! What do we do? We have to immediately stop the movie-that's the end of that, even though we could be tempted to see the ending! But the children are watching. By our example they are going to learn to stand strong with their conscience or compromise!

An Above Rubies helper asked Evangeline how she guards her 10 children. She replied, "We train them to be gate-keepers themselves. We train their conscience. We teach them righteous principles and train them to keep to them, not just when people are looking, but to be true to their own soul."

We cannot weaken in training our children. Proverbs 29:15 NASB says, "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother." You leave your children unguarded when you let them get their own way. You are teaching them how to give into temptation. You are setting them up to be a prey to the enemy!  You are preparing them to have a turbulent marriage. The diligent gate-keeping mother will teach her children how to say No to the temptations of the flesh.

We also guard our home by conducting Family Devotions with our family each day, morning and evening if possible. It is hard for the enemy to take hold when we read God's Word and pray together each day as a family. In Chronicles 8:13-14 NASB tells us that, "Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord... and did so according to the daily rule... he appointed the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule..." *This was a daily rule God expected of His people, morning and evening.

"What's all this business about a daily rule?" you argue. "Isn't that religiosity and legality? Shouldn't we do it when we feel the urge? I don't like the sound of duty." Yes, I am sure that it could become tedious if it is done without the anointing of the Holy Spirit who illumines the Word. 2 Corinthians 3:6 tells us that the "letter kills" but the Spirit gives life. But how can a "daily rule" be legality when we are reading LIFE GIVING WORDS? Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). God's life-giving words, anointed by the Holy Spirit will guard your marriage and your children from the deceptions of the enemy. Read also Hebrews 4:12 and 2 Peter 1:3-4. Sadly many marriages are no longer together because they never established the daily rule of praying and reading God's Word together. Many families are in disarray because they have not gathered together daily around the Word of God which is our manual for life.

May the enemy be scared of you as you guard the entrance to your home! Guard your home on all sides! Give no foothold for the devil.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Father, please teach me how to be a diligent gate-keeper of my home. Please show me areas that are weak in my marriage and in our family life and please teach me how to build up the wall again. I want our family to be a bulwark against the enemy. In Jesus' name, Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am guarding my marriage and my home on all fronts!

Further Scriptures to read: Exodus 29:36, 38-39; Numbers 28:3; 1 Chronicles 16:40; 23:30; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 13:11; 31:3 and Ezra 3:3-4.

To understand more of the Morning and Evening principle, go to Articles and Stories, Click on Bible in the Home and then The Morning and Evening Principle.

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.