PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | Episode 54 – How Can We Change The World? - Part 20

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

Podcast 54 - How Can We Change the World- Part 20

Rocky: Welcome to the podcast, FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Hello ladies. We are continuing our series on “How Do We Change the World.” We’re still on No. 15, which is, WORKING WILLINGLY AS WE SERVE THE LORD. It’s always doing something a little bit beyond the normal. We have 25 different points about the way we are to work. We are relating this of course to our homes because we’re wives and mothers. Some of us are young mothers, some middling, some older mothers. We all have to have the same attitudes toward work.

God is the one who instituted work. He shows us how he wants us to do it. I have found 25 different adjectives of how we are to work in our homes. We’re up to number sixteen.

No. 16. RELYING ON GOD

We can’t do it in our own strength, and I know that you’ve found that out. Our own strength runs out, but praise the Lord, we can enter into His strength because His strength is renewed day by day. Every day He gives us new strength. I love that Scripture back in Deuteronomy 33:25 which says: “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” In other words, for each new day you will get your strength. God doesn’t give enough for tomorrow. He gives you enough for today. So if you’re getting through today, praise the Lord! Don’t worry about tomorrow. Because tomorrow, God will give you strength again for that day.

In John 15:5 it says: “Without me ye can do nothing.”

In Philippians 4:13, you all know this Scripture: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” And so, we can rely on His strength for each new day and that’s how you get through. That was how I got through in the early days of my mothering when I had three little babies under seventeen months, then I had four under four, and more later. But in those early days, with so many little ones all around me, I didn’t ever do anything extra in those days. I just got through just looking after and making sure they were fed and nurtured, and we ate.

God strengthened me for each new day even though there were times when my tiredness was overwhelming, but God always got me through and He will get you through too as you trust in Him, as you rely on Him.

One of my favorite Scriptures is Isaiah 26:3-4 which says: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:” God’s strength never runs out, dear precious mothers. It’s everlasting. This is the strength which you enter into, the strength on which you rely, this is the strength which gets you through each new day. His everlasting strength. Amen.

Well the next point, number seventeen, is to work thankfully.

No. 17. WORK THANKFULLY

Colossians 3:17 says: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” And so we do everything with a spirit of thankfulness. Now that’s a new attitude to get into, isn’t it? Because sometimes we go around doing things with a grumbling attitude, groaning and complaining, “Poor me, and I don’t know why I have to do the same old thing as yesterday. I never have time to do what I want to do. I’ve just got to do this to keep this home running, keep these children alive.”

But no, that’s not the attitude. Let’s do everything with thankfulness, dear ladies, thankfulness. So, as we have a thankful spirit, that’s going to ripple onto our children and they will begin to have a thankful spirit about doing their chores, about everything in life. I believe it’s so important to have this thankful attitude.

Sometime back I was reading in the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Now I’ve often told you about the word, abundant. That word, in the New Testament, it means “to super abound, to be excessive, abundant, exceed, over and above, more than is necessary,” and we find this very word in the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand plus—hat was five thousand men, plus whoever else was there.

And you remember how Jesus got them all to sit down? Isn’t that interesting? You know that every single point in the Bible is important. There is not one little word that we gloss over. The other morning in our worship service we sang the words, “I don’t want to miss one word You speak.” It comes from a beautiful worship song. I can’t remember any of the other lines. That line just got to me. And I just keep praying that line. “Oh God, I don’t want to miss one word you speak.” I want to hear what God is saying to me. And when I read the Word, I don’t want to gloss over it, I don’t want to just, oh well I’ve got to read my Bible. No! I want to read EVERY WORD, so that every word speaks to me. I don’t want to miss one word. And so even in the stories in the Bible there are words, there are messages, there are principles in every story.

When Jesus asks the disciples “What have you got?” and they say: “Five loaves and two fishes” and then before Jesus broke the bread and gave them the food, the Bible tells us that He . . .  He didn’t just tell them . . .  the Bible says that He COMMANDED the disciples to COMMAND the people to sit down. They had to sit down in groups. And Jesus didn’t feed them, just oh well, here’s the food everybody and they’re all just mingling around, you know, doing whatever they want to do. No. Jesus got them all . . . ALL . . . ALL, that’s the word that’s used, ALL. there wasn’t one standing up. There wasn’t one just doing what they thought they’d like to do. Everyone was seated. They were being prepared to receive the food. When they were seated, then Jesus broke the bread and gave them to the disciples and they just kept feeding the people and feeding them and the food just multiplied, and everyone was fed.

Now this is the principle, ladies, for our homes. I believe that it is important to SIT FOR OUR MEALS. To sit as we eat. And of course the Bible is always correct because now there are scientific studies done which show that if you eat on the run, you eat standing up, you eat while you’re working, and you don’t really think about your food and half the time you hardly know you’ve eaten, that you don’t get the nutrition, you don’t get the goodness out of that food, unless you are seated. And the more that you sit and fellowship and talk together as you eat, the more nourishment you’re going to get from your food.

There is a principle in the Word of God about sitting to eat. We can pick it up in the Old Testament too, but I won’t go into that today. I want to remind you, lovely mothers, to make sure your children come and sit for the meal. Don’t, “Okay, children. Here it is! Just come and get it” and they walk around eating, or they just go to their room and take it and just sit in front of their social media. No, no, no. That’s not how we eat. Eating is for fellowship at the same time. It’s for nutrition of course. We’re going to get so much more if we sit.

Make sure your children sit at the table. That’s why we have a table. God designed tables. God had a table in his heavenly kingdom before we ever had them on earth. When Jesus was talking to His disciples He said: “I want you to come and sit with me at my table, in my kingdom.” (Check out Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:29; and 22:29, 30). He talked to His disciples about the table that is in His heavenly kingdom. God loves tables.

The picture He gives of a family that is blessed of the Lord is in Psalm 128:3 (TLB): “Your wife shall be contented in your home. And look at all those children! There they SIT AROUND THE DINNER TABLE as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees.” Where are they? Just running around, getting up and down from the table? No, sitting around the table. Now I know it takes time to establish your children into the habit of sitting, because little ones, they want to get up and they want to do this, and they want to do that.

No, you gradually train them to sit at the table and to stay seated while you not only eat food for your body, but you eat food for your soul and your spirit, and we have the reading of the word. Like in Holland, the people there, they call family worship or family devotions “Finishing up the meal” because they won’t leave the table, that’s the godly families, they don’t leave the table before they have finished. That is, you eat food for your body, but then you must eat food for your soul and your spirit before you get up.

We little by little train our children to sit, to sit to eat. I have people often living in our home and I can see that, okay, they’re used to maybe just walking around eating their lunch and they’ll get lunch and start sort of wandering around or just standing up. I’ll say, “Hey, there’s a chair there. Come on, let’s sit together. Because you are going to get so much more out of your food if you will sit to eat.” Anyway, that’s not my story for today. But Jesus got them seated before He gave them to eat.

Then we know that after they’d all eaten and they were all FILLED, because that’s the word the Bible used. They were filled. They weren’t half empty, feeling like they needed more. No, they were filled. But then Jesus told them to go and pick up all that was left over, Oh, I like that too. Jesus didn’t like wasted food. No, He didn’t just let them, well it was obvious, they even left food. There was more than they needed, because that’s what Jesus does. He’s always MORE THAN IS NEEDED. And He gave them more than they needed. It wasn’t to be left around. It wasn’t to be just left over. Jesus told them: “Go and pick up that which is leftover.” They picked up twelve basketfuls.

And what does the Bible say? They FILLED UP TWELVE BASKETS FULL THAT REMAINED OVER AND ABOVE.” That’s the word in my King James Bible in John 6:13. And that word over and above is perisseuo, that same word that we’re always talking about that means “abundant, superabundant, more than is necessary, exceeding, over and above.” And here it is, “over and above.” It was more than they needed. That word is also used in Colossians 2:7 where it tells us that we are to “ABOUND in thanksgiving.” The same word as “over and above.” Some translations say: “Overflowing in gratitude.” Same word. It means “not just the normal.”

Isn’t that what we’re talking about, ladies? We’re not ever going to be the normal status quo. No, we’re over and above! We go beyond. And here it is again, the same word. Same word that’s used for thankfulness. Abound. Over and above in thankfulness. When Jesus told them to pick up the leftovers, over and above. Twelve basketfuls!

Now, the little challenge I have for you, darling ladies, is this: how big is your thankfulness? How much is it over and above the ordinary? Because that’s the meaning. Over and above. Ok, they picked up twelve basketfuls over and above.

How many basketfuls, over and above, do you have in the spirit and attitude of thankfulness each day? Are you kind of just barely there? Oh well, okay, well you know. Actually you’re not very thankful all day. But come on ladies, we can’t be normal like the normal person who’s usually grumbling and complaining and we’re not only just to be thankful, but to be over and above. Now actually, being over and above is a little bit psycho. Now are you one of those you don’t want to be psycho? You don’t want to be thought you’re a bit different. Come on, this is Bible language. We’ll never change the world being ordinary. Come on, if you really want your home to be filled with joy, thankfulness, children that are filled with happiness and joy, a husband that’s filled with joy, a home that just overflows, everybody that comes in feels that spirit of joy, well, you can’t be ordinary. You’ve got to go over and above!

How many basketfuls are you going over and above? How many times do you thank your husband for just going out each day and providing for you and working hard for you so you can be home with your children? Do you remember to thank him? When he does some little thing for you, do you thank him? We take so much for granted, don’t we? We take one another for granted. Let’s not do that. Come on, let’s be the “over and above” people. Let’s get a few basketfuls, you know, gathering up a few more basketfuls. And so, become someone who’s always thanking, remembering to thank your husband for the little things he does for you.

Thank your children when they do your chores. Now, we have to, we expect them to do their chores and do them cheerfully. But when they do, don’t take it for granted, thank them.

“Thank you so much for doing that.”

“Thank you for doing the dishes, I so appreciate it.”

“Thank you for your lovely joyful spirit.”

“Thank you for helping your brother with doing that job.”

Thank you, thank you, we’re just thanking all the time. We get into the habit of thanking. We thank anybody who does anything for us. We thank our children. We thank our husband. It becomes a way of life to be constantly thanking, or as the Bible says, it doesn’t just say constantly thanking, it says ABOUNDING, being OVER AND ABOVE in thanking.

I remember once when a missionary family came to stay with us and they were getting to know all our family, they got to know the Johnsons. Just go through the trees a couple of minutes and there they are. That’s Evangeline and her family. Their children have been trained to be thankful and when they are saying “thank you,” they don’t just say “Oh, thank you.” They always say, “Thank you sooooooooo much!” In fact, that is a typical phrase from a Johnson. “Thank you soooooooooo much!” and they will say that just for the very ordinary things of life. When it comes to birthday time or Christmas time and its present time and each one is giving a present each one will give the other a hug and say, “Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much!”

Anyway, this family really cottoned onto it. It was a real challenge to them. They thought, “Wow, we’ve got to do this in our family.” And so they all began to become more thankful than they ever were before. It was rather interesting. When they were leaving our place and they all had their heads and their hands out the window waving goodbye and they all put their heads out and yelled, “Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much!” They were kind of moving up their basketfuls into maybe seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, have you ever got to that much?

Anyway, I do believe that we need to become a more thankful people, don’t you? Even when we’re working. “Well, praise the Lord! We’ve got all these dishes to wash. My, look at all the food that we filled on these plates, hallelujah, thank you, Lord!”

Well, the other day, I posted, one of my posts on Facebook, because every day I send out a message to encourage wives and mothers. I hope you get it. I’m not a fan of having Facebook to waste your life, but I do use it to bless others and I hope I can bless you. If you want to be encouraged and blessed each day you can go to my Above Rubies Facebook.

I think I told you about it on another podcast, but I was talking in one post about how important it is to start the day with a cheery word and a cheery attitude. I think it is so important as our children come to the kitchen each morning from their bedrooms to get them into the habit of saying, “Good morning, Mummy” or whoever is in the kitchen. And, of course, we will have that same attitude and “Good morning, Bubby! Oh I love you and welcome to another wonderful day we’re going to have together.” And it’s so important to just have this cheery spirit. Especially as we start the day.

I was writing in this post about a family I was talking to and they were telling about their teenager who comes out in the mornings with a very sour face and just mumbles and doesn’t really, you know, want to be very happy. The father was very concerned, and I was saying, “No, you can’t let that go on. You need to encourage her to give a cheery “good morning.” It’s not because, because I know the daughter, she’s a very beautiful girl and very social and she gets on with all of her friends. She’s the most social being, it’s not that she has any problems at all. She has a very lovely life and is very well cared for. It’s just a habit that teenagers can get into.

Well, we shouldn’t ever let them get into it because we should establish the habit when our children are little, but why I am telling you this is because I was very surprised. Because I always get a lot of feedback and lots of mothers were blessed by this encouragement post on Facebook, but there were a couple of ladies who answered negatively. I was surprised at how many ladies liked their negativity.

It actually does concern me. I really want to speak into it while I’m on this podcast and while we’re talking about being thankful and about having a “TWELVE BASKETSFUL thankfulness mentality” and a joyful mentality. Let me just share some of my thoughts. One lady said, “Rather than my sharing about fake cheerfulness . . . ” (Well, I wasn’t sharing about fake cheerfulness. I was sharing about a good habit that we should establish in our homes. Now it is true, that there will be times when maybe one of our children are not feeling well or they are going through a difficult time) and this little reply went on to say, “It is more important to raise children that are in touch with their souls and emotions enough to help others because they’ve healed themselves. I think we should put down this a perfectionism.”

But no, I don’t really agree with that. Ok, there’s two sides here. Yes, if a child has a problem, physically or even emotionally, now, as a mother we’re going to discern that. This is a different thing than establishing a habit of everyone beginning the day cheerfully with a thankful and joyful spirit. If our children are in this habit and they come out in the morning, we will notice if there is something really wrong. You can tell the difference, goodness me. You don’t have to be a mother for very long. Well, I have been mothering for how many years, fifty-five years. You know when there is a real problem. You have discernment to know if your child is sick or if your child is going through something that is very difficult and challenging. You know the difference between that and just a sour, morbid face. Just because really, they can’t be bothered. Teenagers can get into this. Yet they can go out with their friends and they’re happy as a bird.

We can’t allow them to show that kind of emotion at home. Getting in touch with your soul and your emotions . . . can you give me a Scripture where it tells us to do that? Have you actually read a Scripture where it says, “Now I want you to be in touch with your soul and your emotions”?

No. I actually have not found a Scripture in the Word of God that says that. In fact Jesus said, and these are the words of Jesus, He said, “If any man will come after me let him deny himself.” Deny? Deny what? “Deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” And that word “deny” means “to refuse oneself, to give up oneself.” That means, there are times when we have to give up the negative. We have to give up our self-pity. We have to deny it. Because, let’s face it, dear ladies, the easiest thing in the world is to get into negativity. To get into a self-pity party. To get into a mood. If we let our feelings and our thoughts go, they usually go to negativity. They go to thoughts of ourselves. They go to “poor me” and how things are affecting me. It’s all about me. Most people who are thinking about their soul and emotions and are in touch with their soul and their emotions, really all they’re thinking about is me. It’s a me mentality.

I don’t believe that we should foster that at all because it‘s not Bible and it is not for their ultimate blessing. Now of course we’ll discern if there is a real problem and then we will minister to them and of course we will be ministering to them not to stay in that, how to get out of it. We’re teaching our children how to live in victory. Most of the world does not live in victory! Most mothers are not living in victory and in triumph over their problems, over their challenges, over the difficulties they face. They’re under them because they’re so called in touch with their feelings and emotions.

Look, the worst way to live is according to your feelings. Feelings come, feelings go, feelings are not really true. They usually tend to the negative. We need to deny those negative feelings because they don’t bless us, and they don’t bless anyone around us at all. In fact if we go, let me go back to that passage in Matthew, Matthew 16:21-24. If we go back a little before the words that I read, and it says here:

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” I used to read those words and think, “Oh, they are so strong. How could Jesus turn to Peter and tell him to get behind Him?”

Oh that was so powerful. Goodness me, but I had to think about it more and realize that Jesus was seeing beyond the flesh. Peter had such a good heart. Why did Peter say those words? Because He did not want Jesus to go through suffering. He did not want Jesus to be killed. “No Jesus, that can’t happen to you!” But Jesus knew the will of God. Jesus knew the Father’s will. Jesus knew that He had to go the way of suffering. He knew that that temptation was not coming from Peter himself, but it was a temptation to Him from Satan himself. He had to rebuke that negative thing that was against the word of God. He had to speak so strongly, not so much to Peter, but that spirit in him.

Actually, this passage helps us to understand, often many mother-daughter relationships. Especially, I’m talking about married daughters, maybe, you know, you’re finding it difficult too, when you have a child that you’re scared to tell your mother. She doesn’t want you to have another baby. It’s so sad that many older parents today have been so brainwashed by society that they don’t understand themselves the blessing of many children and they think, “Oh my, one or two is enough for my daughter. If she has any more, she might, you know, oh goodness, she won’t be able to do this or that. Maybe she’ll have more sleepless nights. I just want what’s best for her. I just want this lovely life for her. I don’t want her to have any more children.”

Maybe that’s what your mother or mother-in-law is saying to you. Dear mother, they are saying these words in ignorance. They don’t really know what they’re saying. They’re not savoring the words of God. They are savoring the things of men. They don’t really understand God’s perfect will. God’s perfect will is not always the way that’s the easiest way. It’s the way of truth. It’s the way that God has planned. It may take more hardship. It may take more suffering, but it’s the way that God has for us. It’s the way of glory. Because the way of suffering is the way of glory.

Anyway, I just want to encourage you if you do have, you know, a mother who’s so anti your having children. You have to understand that it’s just because she doesn’t understand God’s ultimate plans. But you can keep on knowing you are in the will of God.

It goes on to say, what we’re talking about is denying ourselves. Denying our fleshly attitudes. You know all of us can feel lousy. It’s so easy to just feel depressed and oh, I know myself, I could be the most down in the dumps depressed person if I gave into my thoughts and my feelings. But no, the word of the Lord tells us that we are to “gird up the loins of our minds” (1 Peter 1;13). We are to take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We’re living by God’s truth and not by our feelings. And so therefore, ladies, it is important to teach our children, yes, it’s not a fake cheerfulness. No. When we teach our children to come out in the morning and to say, “Good morning, Mummy and Daddy!” and to have a smile on their face, that’s not fake. That’s teaching them what is right.

What you do with your facial attitudes and your body, it changes the way you are inside. You put a smile on your face. You speak positively and cheerfully. It changes you on the inside. Ok, you may not have felt like doing it, but you do it by faith because it’s the right thing to do. Christ who dwells within you doesn’t go around with a sour face. He doesn’t go around down in the dumps. No! He is filled with joy. He is joy. He is peace. He is thankfulness. He is all that we need, and He lives within us and we’re either going to live according to our flesh and give into the negative, horrible, fleshly feelings and thoughts or we’re going to live according to the truth of the word of God. We’re going to teach our children that from the very beginning.

I do believe, you know, it is true. There is something that I learned, going along in my life. Most people only have a certain amount of emotion that they can cope with. If we turn all that emotion onto ourselves, it is a negative lifestyle. It’s not only negative to us, but negative to our husband, our children, and everyone around us. I do believe that we have to give room in our souls and in our hearts for others. Have you got that, ladies? So many times we can be prone for just keeping it all for ourselves. All my thoughts and all my feelings are for myself. No! If you live that way, you’re going to live a miserable life.

No, we’ve got to give room for others. I often ask, “Lord God, help me to have room in my heart and soul for the needs of others.” I remember one time I was walking over the threshold of my home carrying my groceries. I had just been out to the supermarket and the Lord spoke to me. It’s amazing, isn’t it, how God speaks in very mundane circumstances? And these words came so powerfully, I’ve never forgotten them. “Nancy, how can I reveal to you the needs of others if you are always thinking about yourself?”

You see, we’ve to give room in our hearts for others. We give room in our hearts for our husband, our children, others around us who have needs. Let’s have big hearts for others. Not those who, “we’re in touch with our souls and emotions or our feelings and our negative thoughts.” No. We’re going to train our children not to live that way. But to live for God, live for others. What did Jesus say again? Yes, let’s go read it in another passage because it’s in all the gospels. That was in Matthew. OK, let’s read it in Mark, Mark 8:34, 35: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

We don’t find our lives by just trying to look after little me. We find our lives by pouring our lives out for others. We teach our children this lifestyle. This lifestyle of cheerfulness and joyfulness and thankfulness. We seek, by the grace of God, to be those that have a “TWELVE BASKETSFUL mentality” of thankfulness and joyfulness. How many baskets do you have, dear ladies? Remember it’s the same word, perisseuo, OVER AND ABOVE, twelve basketfuls. Same word that’s used for that food that was picked up. It’s the same word for overflowing, abounding, over and above in thankfulness.

Prayer:

“Lord God, we thank You so much for your word because Your Word brings us to how You want us to live. It takes us from the negative. It takes us from depression. It takes us from our feelings. And You bring us up, Lord to another plane, a higher plane. Lord, we don’t want to live in this low plane in our feelings, we want to live, Lord above. We want to live and overcome above our circumstances and our challenges and our difficulties and everything we face. So we ask that You help us, and You’ll bring us into this lifestyle personally and teaching our families and our children. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”

P.S. The song I mentioned above is “I’m Listening “ by Chris McClarney.

I don’t want to miss one word You speak,

Cause everything You say is life to me,

I don’t want to miss one word You speak,

Quiet my heart, I’m listening.