2 Corinthians 6:17-18, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

We continue our meditation from the last two weeks as we seek to dig up the things that are precious to God and separate them from the worthless. If you haven’t read the previous two devotions, go back and read them too, so you can understand what has gone before.

GOD’S PEOPLE

Lamentations 4:2, "The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold…"

Do we look upon God’s redeemed people as precious? Or do we destroy them by gossip and judgmental attitudes? Let’s ask God to see His people as He sees them.

Let’s look at how the psalmist viewed God’s people. Psalm 16:2-3, "O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord; my goodness extends not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight."

When the psalmist was overflowing with love and praise the Lord, he extended it not only to the Head, but also the body - the saints in whom he delights. He calls them "the excellent" which is a powerful word. In the Hebrew it is addir, which means ‘mighty, gallant, great, powerful, glorious, majestic, splendid, stately and distinguished.’ It is also used of God in Psalm 8:1.

This may not be how the body of Christ is truly portrayed today. However, it is a picture of the triumphant bride who will emerge in the last days "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." In the meantime, instead of judging, let’s pray that God will truly be revealed in each individual believer and consequently in the corporate body of Christ.

A GENTLE AND QUIET SPIRIT

1 Peter 3:4, "Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is." very precious in the sight of God

This is the kind of spirit God is looking for in His women. It is very precious to Him. The Greek word is poluteles and it means ‘extremely expensive, very precious, of great price, very costly.’ If it is so very precious to God, don’t you think it should be precious to us too? Shouldn’t we seek after it with all our hearts? Shouldn’t we separate it from the callous, hard, independent and rebellious attitude we often display?

This is the same attitude God talks about in Philippians 2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Seek God to help you be gentle in mothering and nurturing your children. Seek God to have a quiet and submissive spirit to your husband whom God has placed as head of your home. This attitude may be laughed at by the world but it is of surpassing value in God’s sight.

A VIRTUOUS WOMAN

Proverbs 31:10 AMP, "A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman, who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls."

Who is a virtuous woman? The word virtuous in the Hebrew is chayil. It means ‘virtue, valor, military strength.’ A virtuous woman is one who is strong in character. She is not strong in independence but strong in the precious qualities that God longs to see in his female creation.

Her strength of character enables her to submit to her husband instead of jumping up and down and demanding her own way.

Her strength of character enables her to guard her mouth, instead of spitting out harsh and hurtful words.

Her strength of character enables her to stand strong against temptations of lust. She is strong in morality and purity. She will be true to her husband as long as she lives. She lives only unto him as she vowed on her wedding day. In fact, her strength of character enables her to stand true to her marriage vows no matter what difficulties she faces – "for better, for worse, in sickness and in health…" etc.

Her strength of character will keep her calm and trusting God even when life is overwhelming and full of trials. The virtuous woman is one who knows how to trust in her God, no matter what is happening around her.

Her strength of character will save her from getting sucked into the humanistic mindset of this world. She is not swayed by the crowd and what everyone else is doing. Instead, she searches the Word of God to see what God says. Her life is lived by the eternal principles of the God’s Word rather than the mindset of current society. She is prepared to do it God’s way even if no one else is following!

Her strength of character will save her from lowering herself to gossip and worthless words. When she speaks, she opens her mouth in kindness. Proverbs 31:26 says, "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness."

Her strength of character saves her from being taken up with herself and thinking only of her own needs. Her heart is big and open to the needs of others. Proverbs 31:20 says, "She stretches out her hand to the poor; yes, she reaches forth her hands to the needy." Read also 1 Peter 5:10 for a description of a woman who lives the way God intends.

Her strength of character enables her to work hard and make sure that her family is fed and clothed. She "looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27.

This woman is very precious. But dear mothers, don’t despair if you don’t feel that you have arrived. You cannot wave a wand and become a virtuous woman. You will grow into it as you seek God, seek His precious Word, and seek wisdom.

TRUSTING GOD WHEN HE DOESN’T ANSWER

Jeremiah 15:18-19, "Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them."

We now come back to the first scripture with which we started this meditation two weeks ago. What is happening in this story? Jeremiah is really down in the dumps. He doesn’t trust God’s promises any longer. God isn’t coming through the way he wants him to. God isn’t answering his prayers. He feels that God has failed him and tells God so!

What is God’s reaction to Jeremiah? The Living Bible says, "The Lord replied: "Stop this foolishness and talk some sense! Only if you return to trusting me will I let you continue as my spokesman."

God says it is vile to Him when we complain that He fails us. He wants us to separate from our complaining and grumbling spirit and to trust Him, even when He does not answer us. Can we trust Him even when we don’t see an answer in sight? Can we trust Him when we can’t even feel God?

Habakkuk 2:20 says, "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him." In other words, God does not have to answer to mankind for what He does. He is God. We can have no arguments or queries against Him. All we have to do is trust Him – for He knows what He is doing.

God doesn’t have to answer our prayers. He doesn’t have to do it the way we want. He is the Sovereign Lord. All we have to do is trust Him no matter what. This attitude is most precious to God.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Oh God, please forgive me for when I have not believed you. Help me to understand that I can trust you even when I can’t see you at work. Help me to separate this vile complaining spirit from me, so that I can say with all my heart, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Amen."

QUOTE:

"If you cannot trust God for temporals, how dare you trust him for spirituals? Can you trust him for your soul's redemption, and not rely upon him for a few lesser mercies? Is not God enough for thy need, or is his all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants? Dost thou want another eye beside that of him who sees every secret thing? Is his heart faint? Is his arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if he be infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so much to seek another confidence? Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon?" Spurgeon.

We continue our meditation from last week as we seek to dig up the things that are precious to God and separate them from the worthless.

WISDOM

Proverbs 3:113-15, "Happy is the man that finds wisdom… she is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her."

How can you dig for wisdom? You won’t find her watching TV and videos. You won’t find her reading novels. You won’t find her listening to the mindset of this humanistic society. You have to look beyond that. You will find it seeking after God’s heart and His mind. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We have to seek a higher plane. We seek after many things in this world, but God says that nothing can be compared to seeking wisdom.

In Proverbs 9:1 it tells us that, "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars." What are the seven pillars of God’s wisdom like? James 3:17 gives us a picture. It is…

utterly pure

peace-loving

courteous and gentle

easy to be entreated and willing to yield

full of compassion and good fruits

without partiality

without hypocrisy, sincere and free from doubts

Are these pillars of wisdom flowing through your life as you mother in your home? Do these wisdom attitudes influence your relationship with your husband? Separate these pillars of wisdom from the selfish and independent spirit that often creeps into our hearts. Don’t let them get lost in the midst of all that is going on in your life.

SPEAKING KNOWLEDGE

Proverbs 20:15, "There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel."

May God fill your lips with His wisdom and His word that it will constantly drop from your lips as you daily teach and train your children. Mothers should have lips that drop with wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord. Scriptures that speak about "dropping" words are Job 29:22 and Ezekiel 21:2. The word is nataph and it means ‘to ooze, drip, flow, to speak by inspiration.’ May God’s ways and His words literally ooze and drip from our lips.

A GOOD NAME

Ecclesiastes 7:1, "A good name is better than precious ointment…" Read also Proverbs 22:1

It is more important to keep a good name than compromise. If we give our word, let’s keep it, even if it is inconvenient for us. I love the example of David in 1 Samuel 18:30, "David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by." In the margin my Bible says that ‘much set by’ literally means precious.

GOD’S THOUGHTS TO US

Psalm 139:17-18, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand." Read also Psalm 40:5.

Take time to meditate on God’s thoughts. Let them fill your mind. When I was a young teen I memorized Joshua 1:8 and it has been part of my life ever since, "This book of the law shall not depart of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

The word ‘meditate’ in the Hebrew is 'hagah' and it contains three different meanings:

• to ponder, muse, meditate, imagine
• to mutter, to murmur
• to speak the word out loud

As you meditate on God’s thoughts to you, murmur them to yourself. But don’t keep them to yourself; speak them out loud to others. Bless others with the revelations that God gives to you.

Teach your children how to separate the vile thoughts from their minds and to think precious thoughts.

PRAYER:

"Dear Lord, please help me to separate vile thoughts from my mind – the negative thoughts of unbelief, discontentment, despair, bitterness and self-pity. Lord, I want the meditations of my heart to be acceptable in your sight. I ask you to transform my mind. Fill my mind with precious thoughts – thoughts of faith, hope, love, joy, gratitude, thankfulness and joy. Amen."

QUOTE:

Jeremiah 15:19, "…If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth."

God wants us to separate the things that are precious in His sight from the things that are worthless and vile. God does not live in a gray area and He doesn’t want us to either. He doesn’t want our minds to be clouded and dulled by the thinking of this world so that we can no longer discern the difference between what is precious and what is vile. God cannot stand lukewarmness. He would rather we were hot or cold. I’m sure you remember that it says in Revelation 3:16 that if we are "lukewarm" He will "spew us out of His mouth."

In Ezekiel 44:23 God tells his priests to "teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." Read also Leviticus 10:10 and Ezekiel 22:26.

Sometimes the precious things of God get submerged under the busyness of our hectic lives. They get clouded and jaded because the deceptions and mindset of this world overpower us. They get forgotten in the maze of everything else that clamors for our attention.

How would you like to do some digging for the precious things? Let’s see if we can dig them out from all the worthless junk that has crowded our lives. Once you’ve dug them out again, keep them separate. Make them preeminent. Don’t let them get lost again under the big junk pile of worthless and unnecessary garbage that fills our lives.

What are the precious things of God? Everything that is pure and holy. All that is good and wholesome. All the beautiful things that are mentioned in Philippians 4:18 - the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy.

However, there are a number of things that God specifically states are precious to Him. Let’s look at some of these, shall we?

JESUS

Isaiah 28:16, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation…" 1 Peter 2:4,7; Colossians 1:15-19.

Is Jesus the most precious of all to you? Is He the corner stone on which everything else in your life is built? Does everything in your life pivot from Him? Have you separated Jesus to be the preeminent one, above everything else in your life?

Whisper His name all day long. Speak His name out loud frequently. Lift up the name of Jesus in your home. You only exist because of Him.

THE BLOOD OF JESUS

1 Peter 1:18,19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold… But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

The blood of Jesus is very precious. Without the blood of Jesus we would still be under the guilt of sin. Without the blood of Jesus we could not enter into the presence of the Lord. Without the blood of Jesus we would still be alienated from the kingdom of God.

Thank God every day for the blood of Jesus that was shed for your sins. Honor the blood of Jesus. Plead the protection of the blood of Jesus over your family and over your home. Don’t lose sight of its preciousness.

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THE WORD OF GOD

2 Peter 1:4, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…"

How precious are God’s promises to you? How much time do you take out of each day to read and meditate on them? Are they more precious to you than life? Job says in Job 23:12, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Dear mother, I know that you don’t have a lot of time to read the Word of God when you have all your little lambs around you.

However, even though you don’t have time to have long sessions reading the Word, it is amazing what you can receive here and there throughout the day. Place the Bible on your windowsill above your kitchen sink and open it to the Psalms or Proverbs. Every now and then you can look up and read a Scripture and meditate upon it as you wash the dishes and cook.

Place an open Bible on the table. You can often read a verse as you pass by or sit for a few minutes. Read a few verses when you nurse your baby. Keep a Bible in the bathroom. I have often received wonderful promises from the Lord in these moments.

One older mother shared with me what she used to do when her children were little. "Some mornings I would get up I would have so much work to do and I would wonder where to start. Many times the Lord would speak to me and say, ‘Now, Mother, just clean off the table and make it look really neat and pretty. Lay a little cloth in the center of the table. Find a scripture in the Bible and lay the Bible open on the cloth. Light a candle and put it beside the Bible, as a symbol that the Word is a light unto your feet. As you fix your breakfast speak sweetly to the children and refer often to the little candle and the open Bible. Sing sweet songs of joy and as you run by the table, glance often at the promises you have marked in your Bible.’ This simple act of faith often organized my day."

Of course, don’t forget your Family Devotions together as a family. As you faithfully do this in your home each day, your children will also realize the importance and preciousness of God’s Word.

THE TRIAL OF FAITH

1 Peter 1:7, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Read also 2 Peter 1:1.

Dear mother, don’t be discouraged when your faith is being tested. This is a necessary part of your walk with the Lord. Faith must go through the fire to test if it is real and lasting. We will all have our faith tested at certain times. Often these times seem so hard – and so long. But remember, if we allow God to work in us, refine us, and mold us more into the image of Jesus during these times, without resisting and rebelling, we will receive great reward in the eternal kingdom. And it will be very precious to God’s heart. Read also 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.

In the next two weeks we will look at more issues that are very precious to God.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Lord Jesus, I want you to be preeminent in my life. I want you to be uppermost in all my thoughts. I want to say your name over and over again. Lord Jesus, please help me to truly discern between what is holy and what is worthless. Save me from becoming jaded by the thinking patterns of this world. Amen."

QUOTE:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace."

Matthew 19:8, "But from the beginning it was not so."

We are now entering the 21st century – 6,000 years since God created man. Are God’s people still walking in the ways God originally intended for mankind? I think there are many of God’s people who no longer understand God’s original plan. It is so easy for us to become assimilated to the current trend around us, isn’t it?

Others may say, "Oh yes, I know all that, but it’s not relevant to this era of history." This kind of statement totally undermines the validity of God’s Word. I believe God’s Word is timeless. The Psalmist proclaims that God’s commandments "stand fast forever and ever." (Psalm 111:7-8.) They don’t have to be adjusted for each new generation. They are eternal laws that were designed and refined in the eternal realm to be workable for all generations.

This is why Genesis is such an important book of the Bible. Here God establishes His eternal laws on many subjects. Let’s check to see if we are still walking in God’s original intention in just two basic areas.

In our text in Matthew 19:7-9, the Pharisees challenge Jesus that Moses allowed for divorce. What was Jesus reply? "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." Divorce has become part of our lives, nearly as much amongst those who say they are Christians, as those in the world, but it is not God’s original plan.

Why does marriage not work today? Because we try to do it our way! We think we have a better way than God. God intends the husband to be the head of the home, but most women run from this principle. Yes, I know that many cruel men have hurt women, but this is far from God’s heart. God’s purpose is not to imprison a wife, but to protect her.

The husband’s mandate from God is to cover his wife by caring for her needs, physically, emotionally and spiritually. He covers her by caressing her with the same kind of love with which Christ loved the church. He provides for her so she doesn’t have to leave her nest and her little ones to the mercy of others. He protects her from the deceptions of this world so she can walk in peace. The wife’s privilege is to submit to this covering and to be blessed.

Many women are more submitted to their boss at work than they are to their husband at home. They have to fit in and run to the dictates of their employer rather than the desires of their husband.

"But I can earn more than my husband," you reply. It doesn’t matter whether you make three times as much as him; you have still got away from God’s original plan. God didn’t create two Adams. He created an Adam and an Eve, each to fulfill a different task. We see God’s plan for the husband to be the head of the home even in the order of creation. Man was created first then the woman was created to be a helper to the man. She needs him but he can’t function without her.

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Why does God hate divorce? Because it hurts the godly seed. You can read about this in Malachi 2:14-16. A child cannot avoid being hurt and tortured in his or her soul when parents divorce.

We usually have a testimony time at our Above Rubies retreats. A few weekends ago a beautiful mother shared how she found it so difficult to mother the way she wanted to. She had build up hard walls all around her. They started the day her father left when she was a child of four. She still remembers him driving down the road. She remembers the color and kind of the car. She hates that kind of car and that color today. From that moment she began to put up walls that she is still finding hard to break down today. This is a typical story of thousands of others.

What about the message that God gave to the first wedded couple? What was it? Listen to it again. "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over… every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28.) These were the very first words that man ever heard from the mouth of God! Wow! They must be important! But do we take any notice of God’s original plan? Oh no! We’d rather do anything than obey God’s very first command. We’d rather go to Siberia and "serve the Lord" than have another baby! We are so emphatic about it that we get "sterilized" to make sure that the reproductive cycle which God so amazingly designed can no longer function!

But it wasn’t so at the beginning! They filled the earth. In fact, when God’s people were in Egypt, they continued to be fruitful, even in the face of hard bondage and persecution. They became "more and mightier" than the Egyptians! (Exodus 1:7-12).

When a husband and wife fulfill the specific tasks that God planned for them they will accomplish far more than both trying to do the same job. When both partners are trying to do Adam’s job, the wife cannot fulfill her true nurturing anointing of embracing children and training them for God’s purposes. And the opposite can be true. I have seen husbands who have been badgered into doing half the wife’s work and therefore he is hindered from accomplishing his task of providing adequately for the home.

The big question is: are we living our lives according to thinking of society today, or are we living according to what God stated at the very beginning. Listen again to what Jesus said, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, And said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19: 4-6.)

Love from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

"Father, help me to understand your ways. Forgive me for walking away from your original mandate. Lord, I want to live my life by your rules, not by the customs of this age. Give me strength and anointing to live in your light in the midst of darkness. Help me to stand strong and not give into the trends of society around me. Help me to walk the "narrow way" rather than joining the throngs on the broad way that leads to destruction. Thank you that you will lead me, Lord. Amen."

QUOTE:

"God’s perfect will for our lives will never contradict His original commandments." Nancy Campbell