LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 229: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land? Part 6

THREE FIGHTING PRINCIPLES

I continue talking about how to defeat our enemies, personally, in the home, and in the nation. God gives us three principles for how to fight, which are important to understand. Of course, we are not fighting flesh and blood, but principalities and powers.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, LIFE TO THE FULL with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Oh, wow! Were you blown away by our last podcast? When Peggy came and shared what is happening with all this transgenderism, oh my! I was blown away myself! We certainly have to stand up against evil, don’t we?

That’s what the children of Israel had to do when they went into the Promised Land. God gave them this beautiful land, but it was filled with evil. They had to dispossess the people, and to drive out the evil, and destroy the evil.

Today, we are facing evil in our land. It’s even creeping into the land of motherhood because it’s touching our precious children! We can’t just take it sitting down. We’ve got to drive out this evil.

I wonder if I can say these words again. I spoke them last podcast, but these are the specific words God gave to the children of Israel, and what they were to do about the evil. We need to get them into our being, because we’re not meant to think, “Well, that’s so terrible. I’m so sad to hear that.” No! We actually have to DO something!

So, let me remind you again. Every one of these is an actual Scripture.

Contend with them in battle.

Drive them out.

Destroy them.

Destroy them utterly.

Destroy them quickly.

Destroy their altars.

Destroy the names of them out of that place.

Pluck down.

Dispossess.

Smite them.

Make no covenant with them.

Show no mercy.

Make no marriages with them.

Break down their images.

Break their pillars.

Cut down their groves.

Burn their graven images with fire.

Overthrow their altars.

Burn their groves with fire.

Hew down the graven images of their gods.

Blot out their remembrance.

Now, we are not going to do this to people. We are not fighting flesh and blood, but we are fighting principalities and powers. It’s the evil spirits that are behind what these people are doing. Ultimately, it is the devil himself, who comes to rob, and to kill, and to destroy. He is the destroyer. He wants to destroy life. This is all about destroying life.

We belong to a kingdom of light, and we’ve got to bring light into this dark world, this deceived world. We’ve got to drive out this evil, through prayer, and through standing up, and through speaking out, and through making the truth known.

In conquering the land, I see in the Word, there were three different principles that God gave them. These principles are the same that we need to use today as we fight against evil. Let me give them to you.

Number one: THEY HAD TO CONQUER THE LAND LITTLE BY LITTLE

Exodus 23:29-30: “I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.”

Again, in Deuteronomy 7:22: “And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.”

God saw that it was impossible to do it all at once. They had to go little by little. As they possessed and overcame the people and obliterated them, then they were able to possess that part of the land. Then they would face the next battle and they would possess that.

Because when we push back the devil, we’ve then got to fill that void with the Lord. That’s even in our own lives. The Bible talks about it. They cast out a devil from someone and if the person is not filled with the Holy Spirit and filling up His life with the Word and the truth, well, then, seven more devils can come in. (Read Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26).

Here God is saying, “You can’t do it all at once, because if you possess the whole land, if you drive out the people from the whole of the land, you don’t have time to possess it all at once. It takes time to possess, and to build, and to be able to look after what you have taken.” We do it little by little. Amen? 

The next principle: TO LEAVE NOTHING REMAINING

When they went into the land, God told them they had to wipe out their enemies until there was absolutely no one or nothing left. This is a very important principle. Once again, we’re not talking about flesh and blood. We’re talking about fighting principalities and powers.

Often, in our own personal life, we may have to deal with something that is not right in our lives. Sometimes we can take pity on ourselves and we’re not ruthless with ourselves. We’re just so kind to ourselves. We leave a little bit of it there so we can still tamper a little bit with this thing.

But you know what? That doesn’t work. If there’s evil in our own lives, or any kind of habit or something that is holding us back, we must deal with it ruthlessly. Even in our homes, or our children’s lives, if we see evil creeping into our home, if we see the spirit of the world coming in, the things of the flesh, and the things of the world, as the Bible speaks about in 1 John . . .

This is a wonderful Scripture. 1 John 2:15-17: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

When we see these things coming in, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and the things of the spirit of this world, well, we don’t want to leave them lurking around. We want to deal with them. We want to eradicate them. God wants us to totally eradicate them. Not just leave a little bit, so we can still, yes, we can have a little bit of the world. No! That’s not how it’s meant to be.

A THREE DAY GAP

Moses was taking the children of Israel out from Egypt. Oh, it didn’t happen at once, because Pharoah was holding on tight. He wouldn’t let them go. He kept making excuses for them to stay in the land. Once of the excuses was when he said, “OK, well, you can go to the border and sacrifice to your God there. But don’t go any further.”

Moses said, “No, God has told us we are to go a three-day journey” (that was three days walking) “before we can sacrifice to Him.” There had to be a three-day gap between Egypt and between them going out of the land and walking into the new land. That is still God’s principle today. We must have a three-day gap, not just a half-hour gap, or perhaps half-a-day gap . . . We’re still sitting on the fence. We’ve got one foot in Egypt, and one foot in the land God has for us. No, we’ve got to have a three-day gap. (Read Exodus 3:18; 53; 8:25-27; and 10:24-26).

Here are the Scriptures God told them, regarding their enemies in the land. You can read Deuteronomy 3:3.

Then let’s go to Joshua 10:33: “Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.”

Verses 36-37: “And Joshua went . . . unto Hebron; and they fought against it: and they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword . . . he left none remaining . . . but destroyed it utterly.”

Verses 38-39: “And Joshua fought against Debir; and . . . he took it and . . . utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining.”

Verse 40: “So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded.”

God did not tell him to go into the Promised Land and to destroy most of the people so, you know, they’d have room to build and grow. No, He told them they were to destroy them utterly. This is the type for how we fight the enemy, how we deal with evil, how we resist evil today. We don’t resist it a little bit. We resist it, and we fight it until there is none remaining, because if we leave a little bit, what happens? Well, God told them what would happen.

Numbers 33:55: “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.”

Again, in Joshua 23:13: “They shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.”

So, ladies, this is a very important principle. When we’re dealing with evil, when we’re fighting back something that is not from God, we know it’s from the enemy. We don’t just deal with it a little bit. We deal with it until there is none left remaining. We do this in our personal lives. We do this in our homes. Because if we leave a little bit, it’s going to come back.

It’s going to be like thorns in your sides, pricks in your eyes, and it will keep on coming to vex you continually. I’m sure you’re most probably already experiencing that. When you don’t deal with something properly or even something that is going on in one of your children, it just continues. You’re fighting that same battle all the time. Usually it gets worse. You have to deal with that thing completely so there’s nothing left remaining. That is Scripture. That’s the principle. It’s wonderful, isn’t it, how God give us principles for fighting back the evil.

The third principle: this is another wonderful principle I want to give you, ladies. This is for every battle you will face in your own life personally, and also even in your home life, and also nationally. Let’s have a look at this.

It’s the principle in God’s Word that GOD FIGHTS FOR US BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO FIGHT

God works for us, but we also have to work. God wants us to fulfill His plans on earth. He is in heaven, but we are His voice, His hands, and His feet on the earth. We see this in every aspect of life.

God is the bread-giver, but we have to work to grow the grain and to make the bread.

God so generously and lavishly provides food for us. He is the food-provider, but we have to work to plant it, make it grow, and then prepare to eat it.

We see this in other areas. Yes, God loves marriage. He loves to bring couples together, but they have to build into their marriage to make it beautiful. We always have to do our part.

Do you remember the wedding in Cana of Galilee? The first wedding it talks about that Jesus went to. You’ll remember how they ran out of wine before the wedding festivities were finished. Oh, the people who were hosting the wedding didn’t know what they would do! That was a terrible thing, to run out of wine before the end.

But Jesus’ mother had a little word with Jesus. She told Jesus what was happening. Jesus told the servants to fill the water pots with water. Wow! I guess they felt a bit stupid doing that. “Just fill them with water.” But Mary, His mother, said, “You just do what He says. Just watch out what will happen.”

And so, they did. They filled. They obeyed the word. They filled all the big water pots and barrels with water. And then, when they took out from that water, it was wine! It was Jesus’ first miracle, and what a glorious miracle! Not only was it wine, but the guests at the wedding simply couldn’t believe it! They said, “You have kept the good wine, the best wine, until now!” So, you see how they had to do something. They had to fill the water pots with water. But Jesus did the miracle (John 2:1-11).

Then there’s another beautiful story in 2 Kings chapter four. Here it tells us about this woman. She was a wife of one of the sons of the prophets. She’s talking to Elijah and says: “Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen,” because my husband is now dead.

And Elijah said to her, “OK, what do you have in your house?” She said, “I don’t have anything, but just one pot of oil.” So, Elijah said to her, “OK, you go, and you borrow, you find every vessel that you can find. Go to all your neighbors abroad. Go as far as you can and get all the pots and vessels that you can. Borrow not a few. In other words, get as many as you can. When you have come in, you’ve got all your vessels, shut the door. And then, pour the oil into the vessels.”

So, she obeyed. When they got all the vessels, she poured out the oil, and what happened? The oil just kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring, until every vessel was full, and there was not another vessel to pour into. The oil stayed. She came and told the man of God, and he said, “OK, go and sell the oil, and pay your debt.”

So, we see that principle there too, how the word of the Lord came. What to do? She obeyed. She did it. She went out, and she got all the vessels. And then God did the miracle. So, God works for us, but we always have to do our part.

Now I’m going to show some more examples of this, so you can see this principle, and you can begin to see it happening in your own life.

GOD DOES HIS PART BUT WE MUST DO OUR PART

Let me take you to Deuteronomy 33:27. This is a wonderful Scripture. It starts off with a glorious promise. “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” I love that Scripture. How true it is that God’s everlasting arms are always underneath us. Even when we feel as though we’re falling, and we don’t even know what to do. Where do we fall? We fall into His everlasting arms. They will always hold us up. What a beautiful promise. Take that promise today if you need those words.

But then, it doesn’t finish there. It goes on to a whole new subject. It says: “He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee.” And then it goes on to say: “And shall say, Destroy them.” Now, do you see a principle there? It says God will thrust out the enemy before us, but then God says to us, “You destroy them.” So, God does His part but then He tells us to do our part.

Let’s go to Deuteronomy 7:2 and 16: “When the Lord thy God shall deliver them before you . . .” OK, that’s God working on our behalf. He’s going to deliver our enemies before us. Then it says: “You shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; you shall consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver you.” So there, that’s the children of Israel fighting. God delivered them before them, but they had to then smite them and utterly destroy them. Do you get the principle? God is working but then He wants us to do our part.

Go to Deuteronomy 7:23, 24: “The Lord shall deliver the nations unto you, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they are destroyed. And he shall deliver their kings into your hand.” Wow! Who’s doing the work there? It’s God. But then, it goes on to say: “And you shall destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.” So now, God’s saying, “OK, your turn now. I’ve delivered them into your hand. Now, you destroy them.”

This is a biblical and eternal principle. When we’re facing a difficulty, we’re facing the enemy, we’re facing a challenge, we cry out to God . . . God will always work for us. He will do whatever He has to do, but He will also give us our part to do. We will have to rise up and begin to destroy and resist and push back the enemy.

Here we go again! Deuteronomy 9:3: “The Lord thy God which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before your face.” Who is working there? It’s God! God is doing this for them. But then, it goes on to say: “So you will drive them out, and destroy them, as the LORD hath said.” So now that’s you fighting. Well, it was the children of Israel there.

OK, 1 Chronicles 14:15, 16. Here we read a strategy that God gave to Israel for one of their battles. “When you shall hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle.” That’s you fighting. “For God is gone forth before you to smite the host of the Philistines.” That’s God fighting. “David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer.” So there was David, fighting with all his might. But God had already paved the way for him. Getting the picture? I hope so.

YOU AND GOD TOGETHER

Now, here’s an amazing Scripture. Jeremiah 51:20-24. I want you to stay with me here. We’re going to look at something. In this passage, it’s actually God prophetically speaking through Jeremiah to Israel. He says: “You are My battleax and weapons of war. For with you,” OK, that’s us. “With you, will I break in pieces the nations.” That’s God fighting. It’s you and God together.

“With you,” He says, OK, that’s us, “I will destroy kingdoms.” That’s God doing, but He's doing it through us. You see, it’s you and God together. Me and God together.

We keep going. “And with you (you fighting) I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.” That’s God doing it.

“And with you (you’re fighting) “will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.” That’s God fighting.

“And with you (YOU fighting) will I break in pieces man and woman.” GOD fighting.

“And with you” (YOU fighting) I will break in pieces the young man and the maid.” That’s GOD fighting.

“I will also break in pieces (GOD fighting) with you (you are fighting) the shepherd and his flock.”

“And with you (YOU are fighting) will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen.” GOD fighting.

We see all these different illustrations. God says, “I’m going to do it through you, but I’m going to be the one doing it. I’m going to be with you. I’m going to be showing you the way. I’m right behind you. I’m doing it, but I’m doing it through you.” This is how God shows us that we fight our battles. It’s God and me together, God and you together.

It ends up . . .  “With you (once again YOU) “I will break in pieces captains and rulers.” That’s God saying what He will do. But He will do it through you.

Powerful principle isn’t it, precious ladies, that we must get hold of. God fights for us, but He wants us to do our part. He wants to do it through us.

I’ll just give you one more. There are so many in the Word. Judges 4. This is the wonderful chapter where it talks about how Deborah rose up as a mother in Israel, and how she went with Barak. They went and destroyed King Jabin of Canaan, and his general Sisera, who actually had 900 chariots of iron.

Judges 4:13: “And Sisera,” he was the general, “gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron,” that’s nearly a thousand chariots. Wow, they were sure facing a big enemy. “And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand.” OK, God is working. “Is not the Lord gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. And the Lord discomfited Sisera.” See, God is working! “And all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet.”

It seems, from when we read the prophetic song, that God sent rain. It all became muddy, and all the chariots got stuck. They had to get out of them and flee because God was making all these bad things happen. But then, we haven’t finished yet, but then it says: “Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword;” because Barak and his army went after them. “And there was not a man left.” God worked for them, but they also had to fight that battle with all their hearts.

So, there it is, my precious ladies, three very important principles in fighting the battles that we face. Today we talked about how we have to fight off our enemies. There are always enemies to fight, aren’t there? We’re always facing, oh my, some evil that we’ve got to stand up against. We face subtle inroads of the enemy who comes into our homes to try and bring in his insidious ways.

MOTHERS ARE WATCHDOGS

As mothers we have to be such watchdogs, don’t we? Watchdogging. Oh, keeping our eyes alert to what is happening in our homes and what is happening in the lives of our children. We can’t really be off doing our own thing. It’s a fulltime job, guarding over our children’s lives. We’re not only guarding over their bodies, but over their souls, and over their spirits.

We’re watching what they are looking at, what they are reading. If they have iPhones, what are they seeing on them? Oh, we are . . .  there’s never been a day when we have to guard, and guard, and watch so powerfully, and so carefully. When we face things that we know are not from God, we know it’s the enemy trying to creep into the lives of our children, or into our homes, or into our husband’s life. Oh, my, then we’ve got to go to battle! Of course, our first battle is in the area of prayer. That is number one, dear ladies, praying. That is the greatest, greatest weapon that we have.

I’m just thinking of this Scripture here. Leviticus 26:7-8: “And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” We’re not talking about natural enemies, but we’re fighting principalities and powers.

We fight in the prayer room personally, but also, we pray as a family. Here it says that five, even a mom and dad and three children, that five can put 100 enemies to flight! It says here that a hundred of you, wow, that’s a whole lot of godly families, they can put 10,000 to flight.

We’re also fighting battles on the home front. We fight battles nationally, and I believe we must be in that fight also. We, as mothers, we’re in a fight to save our nation, because that is the saving of our children. This nation is going down the tubes with evil, with all that they’re bringing in.

Everything that’s so against God, a slap in the face to God, and it’s an abomination to God. Same-sex marriage, and the transgenderism, and continuing abortion, even though we have had a reversal of Roe v Wade. Oh, all this sex trafficking! We cannot even hardly take in the evil that is in our nation. We as families, we can become prayer-watching families. We can become nation-changing families as we pray together and push back the enemy in prayer. That is the number one.

Then, standing up and speaking out, and being a voice. So, dear precious ladies, the battle is there. Don’t hide your head in the sand. Get into the battle with all your might and take hold of the principles God has given us to fight. Amen?

“Father, we thank You that You show us the way You want us to do it. We thank You that You are with us, Lord God, as we cry out to You, that You will bare your mighty right arm. You will go before us. But, Lord, You will also show us what You want us to do. Help us be faithful in the fight. Lord God, not only to just fight half the fight, but fight a full fight, that we will leave none remaining. Oh, God, that we will do what you have told us to do, Father.

“Oh, God, I pray that You’ll raise us up as warriors, that we, as mothers, will become a great army, pushing back the evil in this nation, Lord God. That our children will grow up in a godly nation, Lord, for godliness exalts a nation. Sin is the reproach to any people. Lord, we so long for a godly nation in which our children and our grandchildren can grow up. We pray for godliness to return to this nation.

“Lord God, I pray for prayer warriors to rise up. Lord, we need an army of prayer warriors, rising up in this hour, praying in our homes, praying together with other families, praying in our churches, crying out to You. Because, Lord, You have said there’s only one answer.

“If My people will pray and humble themselves and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will heal their land.” Lord, we need such healing in our land! Lord God, Lord God, we ask, Lord, that You will arouse Your people to pray, and seek Your face, Lord, that we can see this great, mighty healing. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 228: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land? Part 5

Today we talk about how to defeat our enemies in the land. Peggy Weatherford joins me to expose the horrific things they are seeking to do to our precious children in our schools, and in our hospitals. Your heart will be in your mouth, and I am sure you will want to do something to put a halt to it.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Great to be with you again! I’m looking out on another beautiful fall day here in Tennessee, but I must say, although it’s so beautiful, it can’t compare with our northern states.

This last weekend, my husband and I went up to New York State. We were in the Bainbridge area taking a seminar up there. Oh, I just could hardly take in the beauty, and the vividness, and the brightness, and the incredibleness of the colors of the trees! They were so incredible! I feasted my eyes upon them. It was amazing. God’s creation is so incredible, isn’t it?

We had a lovely seminar up there. April Barnett was hosting it. April, I know you’re listening, and I guess you’re sitting crocheting your lovely baby blanket as you listen. When I got to number 200 podcast, April was one of the ladies who emailed me to say that she had listened to every one of the 200 podcasts. Wow! I’m proud of you, April! Now, today, we are up to number 228. We’re going to have a great time together today.

Oh, I must tell you, too, remember how I shared how I was going to call the sheriff of our county, get him to come to our home and speak to us? Well, I did, and he came. We had a great meeting. There would have been about 40 people come in. He spoke to us, and we asked him lots of very, very good questions. It was a very good time.

I would encourage you to do something like that in your county. We do have to be responsible for who we vote in as sheriff. If we don’t know who he is, we’d better find out who he is, because we need in this country, we need constitutional sheriffs who know that they have the power to hold up the Constitution in their county.

Even if the federal government were to try to get us to do something that is against the Constitution, maybe they want to come in, take all our guns off us, well, the sheriff has power to say no if it is against the Constitution. So, that’s very powerful. I think it’s time for us to really take back our “we the people,” starting right from our counties. Don’t you?

All right. Well, we’re now talking about what do we do in the land of motherhood? We’re on point No. 1: WE POSSESS THE LAND. I have been talking about some different things that stop us from possessing the land.

Last time, the last point was about assimilating into our culture. We can’t possess the land for God if we are assimilating into the culture around us. I have one more thought on this before we go on. Recently, I was reading a commentary and it was about holiness. This writer wrote “holiness,” and then he had in brackets the word “uncommonness.”

Well, I’d never really heard that word before, or used it, and I thought, “That’s interesting. “Uncommonness.” How does that relate to holiness?” So, I decided to look it up. I always want to check things out. I found that, yes, that word is a very true understanding of the Hebrew word for “holiness,” in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the word for “holiness” is qodesh. It really does mean “uncommonness,” or “set apartness.”

We are not like the common. We are set apart from the common. Dear lovely ladies, guess what? We are set apart, not only from evil and sin, but we are set apart for God, for His service, and we are set apart to be kings and priests unto our God. Wow! That just takes us into a new level, doesn’t it?

We seem to, oh, I know myself, lovely ladies, and I think we’re all guilty of it, that we live far below where the Word of God wants us to live. We forget who we are!

Who are we? We are kings and priests unto our God! As you mother in your home, precious mother, you are a queen. You are a king (or queen) unto God, living in His royal kingdom.

Revelation 1:6: “He hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.”

Revelation 5:10: “He hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

1 Peter 2:9 calls us “a royal priesthood.”

Now, when we are a king, that means we belong to royalty. We don’t only belong to a royal kingdom on this earth. No, we don’t. We belong to a royal kingdom that has no ending! We belong in the realm of the kingdom of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who is above all kings, and Who will reign forever and ever. This is the kingdom to which we belong! Wow! If only we could take hold of this.

Because I’m from English descent, we have always been aware of royalty. I’m sure you understand that in countries where they have kings and queens, there is royalty, and then there are the people. The people are usually called “commoners” because they are not the royalty. Unless you are born into royalty, or born into nobility, you are called a “commoner.” Sometimes we read of a commoner marrying someone in royalty. Then they do become royal.

This is the meaning of “holiness.” It’s uncommonness. We no longer belong to the common, ladies. We belong to royalty. Can I get it? Can you get it? I think if we really, truly got it, we would live different kinds of lives, even as the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth did, who recently passed away.

She ruled for 70 years, but she had to sacrifice her normal life to be queen, and she was a wonderful queen. She did sacrifice her own desires, plans, and normality to live for the Crown. She would always put aside her own desires to do what was right for the Crown.

Really, this is what we have to do, being now brought into royalty, into God’s royal kingdom. We’re no longer common. We’ve now been set apart for God. Wow! That changes the way we do everything. It changes the way we dress. We don’t dress like the normal person. We dress as though we are royalty! Yes, royalty has to dress a certain way. They have to speak a certain way. They have to walk, and sit, and learn to do everything that belongs to royalty. You watch how someone in royalty sits. Wow. They don’t sit like a lot of commoners, like a lot of people today, like a lot of women today who have no longer learned how to sit.

In fact, we are losing so much etiquette that even we, as commoners, really should know, but they think it is just for royalty. I’ve seen young girls, and women, sit with their legs apart, sit with their legs crossed like a man crosses his legs. Oh, goodness me! Could you imagine royalty doing that? Ladies, we belong to a greater royalty than anything on this earth. We belong to the royalty of the King of Kings.

Let’s look at it a little closer. The word qodesh in the Old Testament means “uncommonness, set-apartness, sacredness, separateness.” It comes from the root word qadash, meaning “to be set apart for a specific purpose, separated from what is sinful, something that is other.” That’s one of the big meanings. “Something that is other,” because it’s separated from the common.

As I began to look at this, I thought I’d look up the word “holy” in the Bible. This is what I love to do when I’m trying to really understand what God is saying. I found every Scripture about what God calls “holy.” I was amazed. I’m still in the middle of this study, because there are so many different things.

God didn’t just call people holy, but He called things, all the vessels in the temple were holy. How does a vessel, a spoon, or a basin, how does it become holy? Because it was separated unto God, for the service of God. What was used for the common day service of the people, it was for the service of God. They were holy vessels, and holy things, and holy pots, and holy pans. All these things were holy because they were set apart. That’s what makes them holy.

In the New Testament, the word is hagios. It has much the same meaning, “different, to have the likeness of nature with the Lord, because we are different from the world. The core meaning of hagios is that we’re different, because we’re like the Lord. We are “other” from the common. It means we are just different, distinct, distinguished.”

We’ll show this in every way we live. It’s good to ask a few questions.

Am I dressing like someone who belongs to royalty?

Do I sit like someone who belongs to royalty?

Do I speak and act like someone who belongs to royalty?

We should be testimonies of God’s royal kingdom, don’t you think?

Another wonderful thing is that ladies, because we have come unto His kingdom, and we’re set apart for Him, everything in our home becomes sacred. Yes, and holy. Everything! If we have yielded our homes to the Lord, and everything in our homes to the Lord, everything becomes holy and sacred. Nothing is ordinary again, or even common. Every single thing you do, every mundane task, can become a holy thing, a glorious thing.

Like it says at the end of Zechariah, how all the pots and pans in Jerusalem were holy. I often love to think of that. Even when I’m preparing a meal, because I’m doing it unto the Lord, well, my pots are holy, and my pans are holy, and everything, my utensils are holy. Everything is holy, because holiness is being “set apart.” If we’ve set them apart for the Lord, they are holy. Amen?

Holiness is not just something that’s all religious. Oh, no! It’s down to earth, and it’s in our homes. I’d love to give you this little quote from a man called Andrew Arndt. He writes, “Holiness should be attained in the tumble of the ordinary . . . the realm of sanctification and godliness is found in blessing and cleaning up meals, and in changing diapers with joy, and hugging my friends and saying ‘hello’ to my neighbors . . . In the familiar sights, sounds, smells, and routines, a radical glory can be made manifest. If you ask me what my deepest desire in life is, it is that. Union with God in the ordinary. A table of holiness.” End of quote.”

OK, ladies. Now, let’s move on to the next point. What do we do in the land of motherhood?

No. 2. WE MUST DEFEAT THE ENEMY IN THE LAND

When God took His people into the Promised Land, this glorious land, this good land, filled with all good things, there were still enemies there that they had to defeat. God told them that they had to get rid of all their enemies. These are some of the words that God told them they had to do with their enemies. In the transcript, I will give you all the Scriptures. Everything I’m going to say now is straight from the Scriptures.

This is what He told them to do:

Contend with them in battle.

Drive out.

Destroy.

Destroy them utterly.

Destroy them quickly.

Destroy their altars.

Destroy the names of them out of that place.

Pluck down.

Dispossess.

Smite them.

Make no covenant with them.

Show no mercy.

Make no marriages with them.

Break down their images.

Break their pillars.

Cut down their groves.

Burn their graven images with fire.

Overthrow their altars.

Burn their groves with fire.

Hew down the graven images of their gods.

Blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

(Scriptures at end).

That was the language God gave them about what they were to do about their enemies. Well, I’ve got quite a few points and Scriptures to give you about this, but I have with me this morning a visitor! I’m only introducing her now. In fact, I called my dear friend Peggy this morning. She lives just down the road from me. I said, “Peggy, I heard that you were going to a rally tomorrow afternoon to stand against what is happening in our city in Vanderbilt Hospital, with all this transgender stuff. Can you tell me a bit more about it?”

Well, she began to tell me things that were blowing my mind! I could hardly believe it! I said, “Peggy! You’ve got to come and tell this to the ladies on my podcast this morning.” Well, poor Peggy, she was in the middle of all the stuff she had to do in her home, and she’s got to leave pretty soon to go a dental appointment in the city. But I said, “Oh, no, Peggy, you’ve got to fit it in somehow!” So, here she is!

Peggy Weatherford: Hello, everyone. I’m happy to be here, Nancy.

Nancy: Yes! So great to have you! I have mentioned before on our podcast how we watched that documentary by Matt Walsh, What is a Woman? Now, I hope you have seen it. If not, you can still get to see it. Matt Walsh has such a burden about what is happening with this transgenderism that’s coming into our nation. Not just for adults, but they are attacking the children!

Oh! And I think, lovely ladies, we’ve got to wake up to see what is happening, and then we’ve got to stand against it. We’ve got to begin to do what God told His people to do in the land. And that’s to drive out the evil and destroy it! We can’t sit around letting it happen! What do you say, Peggy?

Peggy: Oh, I one hundred percent agree, Nancy. One hundred percent. The darkness is prowling like a lion.

Nancy: Now tell me, it started with this rally because of what they heard the doctors say at Vanderbilt Hospital. What were they saying behind the scenes?

Peggy: Yes, it’s easy to research. Matt Walsh was able to get ahold of some video and audio of doctors at Vanderbilt discussing transgender procedures being done on youth, underage children, and how profitable it was. How much money there was to be made. And also, the doctors that did not want to participate did not need to be working at Vanderbilt.

Nancy: Now, they were trying to do that in Nashville, in the buckle on the Bible belt. If that is happening here, what is happening in your state? Wow! They’re having a rally tomorrow, aren’t they, about that, for people to come?

Peggy: Yes, Matt Walsh is sponsoring a rally in Nashville tomorrow called “The Rally to End Childhood Mutilation.”

Nancy: So, that will be over by the time you hear this podcast, but praise the Lord, they’re having a rally. I trust that others will begin to do something in their states, too, because wow! If they’re doing it in hospitals here . . . have you heard if they’re doing it in other hospitals?

Peggy: Oh, yes, it’s happening all over the country, Nancy. One thing that’s really scary is California has legislation right now, making itself a sanctuary state for youth who come from states where it is being banned. So, literally, they are overriding other states’ laws. So, a child, say, in a state where maybe there is a law against surgeries or procedures or hormones being given to young children, if they can get themselves to California, they can have whatever they want without parental consent.

Nancy: I heard, if you could confirm this, that they’re watching out. Any child that in any way seems to be not happy being a boy or a girl, they will immediately take hold of them and get them into a program to begin changing their whole gender! Tell me what’s happening there.

Peggy: Well, yes. You know, you really have to back up a little bit, and look at the entire education system. The things they’ve been seeing happen within the education system in our country, everywhere. It’s in all 50 states, and it you don’t think it is, you’re just wrong. It’s called “Social Emotional Learning.”

Nancy: “Social Emotional Learning.” SEL, which is the new thing.

Peggy: Yes, and if you want to research that, you will want to look up “Social Emotional Learning,” or “CASEL,” SEL standing for “Social Emotional Learning.” I’m not sure what the first two letters are for.

Anyway, the whole idea of that is to create a social consciousness, starting at a very young age. That’s why they’re introducing these sexual topics to children in schools. The first day of school, children are asked what gender pronouns they prefer. It’s becoming a . . .

Nancy: What age do they ask that question?

Peggy: It varies, but as young as kindergarten. They don’t even have a concept of what you’re even talking about. Children naturally trust adults. The Bible tells us to have faith like children. Children have faith in the adults around them. That’s what we’re here for.

Unfortunately, our school system is working hard to confuse children about gender, to make them believe that they’re multiple genders, and that their body has nothing to do with what their gender is. That’s where it begins.

Then they work over the years. By the time children hit puberty and adolescence, when they’re naturally uncomfortable with their bodies, or maybe they are having homosexual thoughts, or something like that, or problems at home. Autistic children are very vulnerable to this.

But once a child goes to a guidance counselor and says, “I might be gender dysphoric. I might be a boy in a girl’s body, or a girl in a boy’s body,” the school can take it there. They are using the privacy laws to conceal this from parents. In Florida, a school actually began transitioning a child without telling the mother. And the mom found out about it, and she filed a lawsuit. But that’s in Florida, y’all. So, just because you live in a red state, don’t think it can’t happen. It’s everywhere.

Nancy: And this can happen through the schools. Then, if parents will take a stand against it, the CPS can come in and take their child from them. Is that true?

Peggy: That is what our government is working on. Biden in June ordered his health agency to begin efforts to ban conversion therapy and other psychological interventions, and to expand access to gender-affirming treatments after a slew of states attempted to limit transgender health care. So, the federal government is trying to make it illegal for parents, and anybody else, to intervene when a child says that they have gender dysphoria.

Nancy: Goodness me. I don’t think I would like to have any of my children in public school in this era of society! There was a time when a child could survive public school. Back when I grew up, I went through the public school system because I had never heard of homeschooling. No one had heard of it when I was going to school. And I became a high school teacher.

But today, you can’t even compare to back then. It is so scary. As a godly parent, God has given us the responsibility to guard and watch over our children—their bodies, their souls, their spirits, every part of them. This is the thing; this is what motherhood is. It’s not just caring for our children and feeding and clothing them. It’s guarding them night and day, and not just their bodies, but their souls, and their spirits.

We have to know what they’re being taught, what is happening. In fact, if you’re not taking your child out of public school, you’d better be there, watching to see what’s happening, and going into the classroom to hear what they are saying! You can’t just send them off and leave them to the lions in this hour of what is happening.

These people have become militant to rob our children of everything that God created them to be. To rob them of their true life, their true potential, their true dynasty, their true everything that God has for them.

You were telling me something, Peggy, about the little children, that they could even become eunuchs! Oh, help me! What’s happening there?

Peggy: Let me find my notes on that. The organization that . . .

Nancy: Imagine telling little children this! They haven’t even yet reached the age of where they become aware of their sexual desires. God has created us. We get to a certain age, and we begin to desire the opposite sex, because God’s ultimate plan is to bring us together, to a holy marriage, who will create a godly home and bring forth godly children. But imagine, just brainwashing children before they have any idea of all the joys and glories that are ahead of them. They’re going to wipe it all out from them.

Peggy: Well, Nancy, what you just said would be considered “hate speech” in public school. I want you to know that.

Nancy: But I won’t stop saying it!

Peggy: Don’t you dare stop saying it! Because it’s the truth. It’s the truth, and we have to stand up for what the truth is. But the fact is, that the major organizations, the American Medical Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Children’s Hospital Association, are all saying that affirmative care is the only appropriate care for a child who claims to be ready to transition, who claims to have gender dysphoria.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health recently published new standards of care guidelines that seek to include the category of eunuch in the gender category. Now think of this. You’re a parent. You send your child off to school. They completely confuse them about what their gender is.

Your son could be convinced that he should be a eunuch, and the parents are considered terrorists or abusers by the United States government if they try to interfere and say, “Wait a minute. Let’s maybe get some counseling here. Let’s talk about this. Let’s wait until you’re 18 before you make some kind of a decision like that.” But no. That is considered abuse in many states.

Now, every state can make state laws, and different states do have different laws. But the federal government, at this moment, is getting rid of any psychological evaluations, and going straight to intervention, which means physical intervention, surgery, chemistry, chemicals, hormones, puberty blockers. These are harmful things.

There’s very little research on the long-term effects of what happens when you block a child’s puberty. One thing for sure, some sexual characteristics will never develop properly. Their future sex life will probably be impacted. They may not be able to experience normal feelings in that department. They may very well be sterilized for the rest of their lives. If they go under the knife, they’ll be permanently deformed. There’s a growing number of detransitioners. That’s children who realized later, too late, that they had made a terrible mistake.

Nancy: It’s most probably too late to ever really be normal again.

Peggy: No, they won’t be normal.

Nancy: They will never be normal again. This is the most horrific thing that has ever happened in our nation! How can it be happening in this nation that is a godly nation, founded on godly principles? We think of our forefathers, and the Pilgrims who came, who were godly people, and established godly foundations for this nation. How can this be? Where have we been as God’s people, to allow this?

These people who are bringing it in, they are a minority. But they’ve become so militant that they’re taking over. We cannot sit back idly, dear precious mothers. I guess most of you who are listening are homeschooling. But my, we can have such a burden for these other precious mothers and be standing up against this.

If you are, you do have children in public school, I would urge you to get them out! In this hour of what is happening now, you cannot even leave them there! Unless you’re going to be with them every day. Because this is beyond what we can even dream about.

Of course, it is all to do with this one world order, and the World Economic Forum, which is to limit and to eradicate most of the world’s population. As we know, their number one thing on the Georgia Guidestones, which were blown up (I think by God) it said, “To reduce the world’s population to 500 million.” Well, it’s eight billion now. That would be, goodness me, most of the population of the world.

These people who go into this will never be fertile. Even with the vaccinations, so many are finding more and more miscarriages and infertility happening. This is going to the next thing. They will never be fertile. They’ll never, as you were saying, these precious young children, and they’re going to grow up, and they will never experience the joys of a normal married life, and sexual intimacy, and the glories of it. They’ve been deprived of every gift that God has ever given to them!

Peggy: Absolutely. And I also think, I am a homeschool mom, you also have to be aware of other sources of this. It’s on the internet. If your child has social media, or even just access to any online anything. My little 13-year-old daughter is not on social media. She’s not allowed to do anything really except to look at news and stuff and she gets this advertisement for, “Oh, take a quiz! Maybe you’re trans.” All the time! It’s online. It’s everywhere.

Nancy: It’s amazing! I never get anything like that come up. But they must be focusing on these young people.

Peggy: There are algorithms, and they know how to push these kids’ buttons. They know what they react to, and they are definitely trolling online to try to get young children. Young girls, I think the number, I maybe wrong on this, but I believe the number is up to a 4500 percent increase in young girls transitioning to boys or wanting to transition to boys.

Often, it’s in groups, friend groups. Ok, because young girls will do that. There is such a thing as social contagion. Think about that. A 4500 percent increase in young girls! Some people might want to say that the reason the increase is there is because it’s being more accepted to be trans. But we’re not seeing this increase in boys. We’re not seeing this increase in adults. We’re seeing this increase in children, primarily girls.

Nancy: Yes, they’re brainwashing them and conditioning them. Yes! Have you got some ways that we can stand up against this and do something? As you’ve been listening, ladies, is everything within you rising up? “I’ve got to do something!” What do you think we should do?

Peggy: Well, there are a lot of things that people can do. One is talk to your family members, even if you’re homeschooling. You probably have neighbors and friends, maybe children and grandchildren who are in public school. Talk. Make sure people understand what is happening in the schools.

If you do have children in school, or grandchildren in school, you definitely want to opt out of all the digital surveys. What they’re doing is creating a personality profile for their algorithms. You do not want that. You need to understand Social Emotional Learning.

You defend your own children, but then also speak out. Go to school board meetings. Find out what’s in the library at school. It will blow your mind, how obscene. It’s the worst kind of porn available now in school libraries. Join the school board.

Also, write letters to your senators and representatives. Don’t be quiet, and don’t put your head in the sand and pretend this is going to go away because it is not. They are absolutely working on the next generation. In a few years these children are going to be voting.

Nancy: But what is going to happen to these children? Can you even imagine? As they grow, and they become deformed and mutilated, they won’t even be who they’re meant to be! They’re going to become totally twisted up inside. How are they even going to operate as human beings? It’s unbelievable!

So, ladies, I would encourage you to find out what is happening in your state, and then call your senators, and congressmen, and governor, and councilors, and sheriff, and everybody you can. Speak forth against this. Of course, pray! We’ve got to pray. Our greatest weapon is in prayer.

That’s one of the things that so burdens my heart, that what has been happening in the past couple of years, and what is happening now with this incredible . . . you can’t even say increase, what would be the word? It’s like an avalanche of this trying to get our precious new generation to be totally changed from who they are. It’s like an avalanche that’s coming down upon us.

And yet, I haven’t seen the church in any way begin to be desperate and praying, and calling out for prayer meetings, and getting together to pray. I often wonder, what will have to happen before we really get desperate? I believe these are times for desperation. It’s not enough to pray on our own. We need to grab another family once a week, or something. Say, “Please! Come and pray with us! Let’s pray against the evils of this nation. Let’s talk together about what we can also do, and how we can stand up!”

Peggy: Amen. I have a couple more. I want to recommend getting involved with Moms for Liberty.

Nancy: Is that in every state?

Peggy: Yes, it’s a national organization. Here in Tennessee, I’m a member of Moms for Liberty, Williamson County, which is an excellent chapter. MomsForLiberty.org. If you want to look at Moms for Liberty, Williamson County, they have a wonderful series on all the different things that are happening in schools and all the different facets of this.

Also, there is a book called “Irreversible Damage” by Abigail Shrier. Amazon tried to ban this book. Amazon tried to ban this book, but it’s a wonderful book about the realities of what’s going on with the gender dysphoria in our country.

Also, you pray. Remember, Jesus said that it is better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown in the ocean than to lead a child away from the Lord. That is our responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Nancy: Thank you, Peggy, for coming and sharing this. I’m so glad I called you this morning, and I’m so glad you fitted this in! Now you’ve got to rush to your appointment. But thank you, because, oh goodness me! I didn’t even know all this that you’ve been sharing.

Ladies, wow, I think this is also just the tip of the iceberg. Peggy’s nodding her head with all her myriads of papers here that she hasn’t even got to tell us about! Did you have one more important thing?

Peggy: One more thing was that this whole thing started in Scandinavia. It started, I believe, in the Netherlands. It’s called The Dutch Protocol, this intervention, puberty blocking, blah, blah, blah, about 20 years ago. They have banned it now. OK? They have banned it. Sweden, Norway, these countries where it was the rage have all realized it doesn’t do any good.

I think I’ve got a little quote here. There have been some studies. The major finding is that there was little or no change in gender dysphoria, mental health, body image, or psychological functioning from any of this. It is a high risk of bias and poor quality overall. There is very little research. They say there’s all kinds of research supporting it. There is not. They’re not tracking these people who they’ve been doing this to.

It’s a lie. Don’t let being called a hater, or whatever they want to call you, a racist, or a homophobe, or a transphobe. Don’t let the names bother you. They’re just calling you names. Sticks and stones.

Nancy: Yes, absolutely! Goodness me, it’s out of the longing and love of our hearts that we’re so concerned for the precious coming generation. Let’s pray.

“Oh, Father, we thank You for awakening us, Lord, to what is happening. So many of us, Lord, are in our homes, in the sanctity and security of our homes, homeschooling our children. Lord, sometimes we’re unaware of what’s going on around us.

“But, Lord God, oh Father, we pray that You will help us to be those who, Lord, will be a voice, and who will stand up and speak out, and come against this horrific evil that is encroaching upon our nation. Lord, we pray that You’ll show us what to do. I ask that, Lord, You’ll raise up an army against this thing in every city, and every state in this nation. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Scriptures about driving out our enemies:

Numbers 33:50-55; Deuteronomy 2:24; 6:19; 7:1-5; 9:3; 12:1-3 and 25:19.

For further information, go to these links:

Book: Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier

Excellent investigative book about the history and present situation regarding the transgender situation in the US, especially the contagious aspect among young people and the helplessness of parents to stop it.

http://momsforliberty.org/- Organization to root out inappropriate social and political trends in schools. Chapters throughout the US. Even homeschool moms can join and help- anyone who cares!

http://momsforlibertywc.org/- Moms for Liberty Williamson County; very active chapter. They have archives of presentations, guests and interviews from the last couple of years. Many presentations are available to view on YouTube.

https://www.trevoices.org/- Started by Scott Newgent, a detransitioner featured in Matt Walsh documentary “What Is a Woman?” Website is a great resource for legislation, information, research data, and separating facts from fiction around all aspects of transition and detransition.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-administration-transgender-agenda-youth-sex-change-hormone-therapy 

https://www.kff.org/other/issue-brief/youth-access-to-gender-affirming-care-the-federal-and-state-policy-landscape/ - This contains a good amount of information about what different states and the federal govt. are doing. NOTE: This is from the Left point of view, i.e. pro trans legislation.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/07/11/vanderbilt-health-is-treating-tennessee-minors-without-parental-consent/ - This article explains Vanderbilt’s policy of excluding parents from access their children’s medical care or records after the age of 13. Photos of the policy and signage alerting parents of the policy.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/21/the-real-victim-of-matt-walshs-trans-expose-isnt-vanderbilt-university-medical-center-its-all-the-kids-they-maimed/ - Contains many leaked videos and now-deleted website links outlining Vanderbilt’s resources for minors seeking transition.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/adolescent-chest-reconstruction-surgeries-increase-nearly-400-in-us-report - Report on the JAMA journal report on the nearly 400% increase in “top surgery” from 2016-2019

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2797439- Full JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) report

https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-called-to-love-god-and-love-my-neighbor-19-year-old-responds-to-protester-who-stole-and-ate-his-beloved-personal-bible-at-matt-walsh-event - Story on the young man whose Bible was shredded and eaten by pro-trans protestors at a screening of “What is a Woman” documentary.

https://nypost.com/2022/10/24/why-did-president-biden-just-endorse-the-most-radical-trans-madness/ - Biden grants interview to transgender Tik-Tok influencer with 8 million followers; says that state efforts to curb “gender affirming” treatments for minors are “outrageous” and “immoral.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252376/chloe-cole-leading-fight-to-protect-children-from-transgender-surgeries - Article on Chloe Cole, the young woman who transitioned to male and then detransitioned back to female. NOTE: video of her speech at the Nashville Rally was taken down from YouTube since I watched it on Tuesday night. This is another speech she gave.

https://nypost.com/2021/11/23/social-and-emotional-learning-is-often-cover-for-progressive-indoctrination/ - on Social Emotional Learning

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 227: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land? Part 4

The latest George Barna poll reveals that only six percent of Christians have a true biblical world view. What an indictment against Christian parents! Are your children established in a biblical world view, and how does this question impact your mothering?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Good to be with you again. We are currently talking about the things that stop us from possessing the land. We began talking last week about discouragement, and how we can have the victory over it.

In Ezra chapter four, we see four different things of how the enemy came to stop them building the temple. He came to them to 1) discourage them, and 2 to put fear in them, 3) they hired counselors to frustrate them. And then, the fourth thing that they did was to send a letter of accusation to the king of Babylon, the king of Persia, actually. Yet again another thing that the devil still does today. He has the same strategies. He hasn’t changed. His strategies are the same.

So, ladies, you’ve just got to take hold of this and understand it. This is how the devil came back in those days. He came to discourage, to put fear in our hearts, to frustrate us (often with humanistic counseling) and then to accuse. The devil is the accuser of the brethren.

This letter that they wrote to the king was actually very successful. It caused the king to command them to stop building the temple. Accusations can be very powerful. But praise the Lord, that wasn’t the end. Eventually through God intervening, they did start building the wall again.

It actually did take 20 (no, it was the temple at this time), but it took 20 years for them to finish the building after they had come back from Babylon. That was quite a long time, but they did finish it. That’s important. We always want to finish, don’t we?

Those are the strategies of the enemy. Get to know them, ladies. When you find these things happening in your life, know where they come from. Resist the devil in the power of the Name of Jesus. Don’t let them have the victory. Amen? Amen!

All right. Now, the next thing that we’re going to talk about, the next thing that stops us from possessing the land is . . .

No. 5. HALF-HEARTEDNESS

We’re going to find that in Numbers 14. They had now come out of the wilderness. They’re going into the Promised Land.

Here we’re talking about Caleb. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who went into the Promised Land of those 20 and over who came out of Egypt. Isn’t that incredible? They came out of Egypt and were meant to go into the Promised Land but all those who were 20 and over never got in because of their unbelief and their fear of going into the land.

But Caleb had to, oh, can you imagine it? He’s had to wait all those years, just longing and chomping at the bit to get there. Oh, but at last he’s going in! He’s now 85 years of age. Somewhere, I’m not sure where it is, I’m not seeing it in my chapter here, but he says he’s just as fit as he was when he was young (Joshua 14:11).

Here we read, in Numbers 14:22-24, the Word of God is talking about those who did not believe and did not trust the Lord. “Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it: but My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed (his children) shall possess it.”

But why did Caleb get in, ladies? Because he had a different spirit. He was different from the rest of them. He didn’t just fall into the groove of what everybody else was thinking, and the unbelief, and the fear. No, he kept trusting God. We have to have that spirit.

Dear ladies, if we’re going to really come into all that God has for us, in His kingdom, because as we read these Scriptures about going into the land, it’s a type of coming and living in the kingdom of God that God has for us. But also, where are we in His kingdom? We are in our homes in the land of motherhood. This relates to us too.

EMBRACE MOTHERHOOD FULLY

As we go in, we must go in, not half-heartedly, not, “Oh, well, I’ve got this baby now, but really, help! I love this baby with all my heart! But I love my career too, so what am I going to do?” So many times, many precious mothers put aside motherhood. Oh yes, they love their babies. They love their children, but they don’t love motherhood yet. They put aside the fullness of their career of motherhood to go out into another career. Can you believe it?

And yet, that’s thought normal to them. Dear ladies, it’s not normal. It's abnormal! It goes against the very nature of who God created us to be. Our nature longs and cries for our babies and our children because God put that within us, that longing to nurture and to mother them. This is our career. Any other career is not THE career.

Maybe it’s something that you think is important but it’s not as important as motherhood. We can’t go into this land of motherhood with a half-heartedness. “OK, I’m going to have one foot in the land of motherhood, and one foot, or maybe a few more feet, in my career.” No, no, we’ve got to go in fully, fully, just as it says here.

“Caleb had a different spirit. He has followed Me fully.” This should be our attitude as we live in this land of motherhood. Oh, dear lovely mothers, embrace it fully! This is where you come into the joy of it, and the glory of it, knowing this is where God has placed you.

Even if you’re facing challenges. Many days are difficult, but God is with you! And you’re in the greatest career that He has given to women. We have such power to impact the nation, dear precious mothers. Oh, the more that you can pour into your children and prepare them to come forth one day from your home to be mighty sons and daughters of God, there is nothing greater that you can do.

So, none of this half-heartedness. No, it’s not half in the land of motherhood and half in your career. No, it’s all in, all in, just like Caleb was all in. Amen?

And then, the next one that stops us from possessing the land fully:

No. 6. ASSIMIMLATION AND INDOCTRINATION

These things will keep us from possessing the land fully. Let’s go back, shall we, to Leviticus 20:22-26. I’ll just read little bits from them, but you can always go back when you’ve got time, when you’re maybe not walking along the road as you’re listening to me, or maybe doing the dishes, or something like that. You can read it in your Bible later.

Also, remember you can get the transcripts for these podcasts. In the transcripts, I make sure I have all the references for you. Sometimes I put in a lot more references that we don’t even have time to talk about on the podcast because sometimes I have so many Scriptures. I don’t even give them all to you, but in the transcripts I will put all the references for you, if you want to have further studies.

All right, Leviticus 20:22-26: “Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spew you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for. . . I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean and unclean. . . And ye shall be holy unto Me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.”

God is revealing to them here who they are. Who are His people? They are a holy people unto Him. He has separated them and severed them from every other people on the face of the earth. Now, did you notice there, we read, “which have separated you from other people,” and then in verse 26, “and have severed you from other people.”

Actually, both words are the same in the original Hebrew, but we get the real feeling, don’t we, when we read them. We read “separated,” and then we read “severed.” Yes, God severs His people from all the other nations. They were to be different. They were set apart to Him. They were His people, a holy people unto Him.

And dear ladies, this is who God wants us to be in the land. We are His people, His mothers, teaching our children His ways, because we are set apart to Him. We are not meant to be just like everybody else.

OK, what’s everybody else doing? Well, most probably, everybody else in your neighborhood is going off to their careers, going out to work, putting their children in daycare, sending them off to school each day. That’s the norm. But are you the norm? No, you’re not meant to be just the norm. God has separated us. He has made us different. We’re separated and set apart unto Him.

It seems to me such a sad thing today. It seems like so many people who call themselves Christians are wanting to be as much like everyone else as they can. Yes, they believe they are born again, and they love Jesus with all their heart, but they still don’t want to be severed. They want to be as much like everyone else around them, doing what everybody else does.

Dear ladies, we don’t live our lives that way. We have to check out everything in the Word of God. Is what I’m doing what the rest of the humanistic society is doing around me, or is it the lifestyle of the kingdom of God? What is the lifestyle I am living? Do you really know the lifestyle of the kingdom of God? We need to know what it is.

Now, let’s see a few other things here. Leviticus 20:23: “And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you.” Now, that word “manners” is the word that means “the customs and the ways of that land.”

We go to Leviticus 18:3: And God says, “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, you shall not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.”

And then, if you have time to go and read Leviticus 18, you will see all the evil things of those lands that God is against. He says, “I don’t want you to have anything to do with them, the customs and ordinances of those lands.” Of course, He speaks about the different sexual things that are abomination to Him. All different kinds of immorality, and even homosexuality. And God calls them all “abominable customs.”

That word for “manners,” or “ordinances,” or “customs” is the Hebrew word chuqqah, and it means “appointed customs, manners, ordinances, statutes.” Now, ladies, the very interesting thing is that that same Hebrew word is used to describe God’s laws, and statutes, and ordinances. And He uses the same word to talk about Satan’s statutes, and laws, and ordinances.

Just a moment. Did you know, did you know, ladies, that Satan also has statutes, and laws, and ordinances? We often don’t think of that, do we? We think, “Oh, yes, the Bible talks so much about God’s laws, His statutes, His ordinances, His commandments, which He wants us to obey and to follow.”

There are some people who don’t even want to follow God because they don’t want to come under any statutes, or laws, or ordinances, thank you! “I want to be free. I want to do my own thing!” But do you know what? Nobody does their own thing. We live in either of two kingdoms, the kingdom of God, which has its own laws and ordinances from God. Or we live in the kingdom of the devil, Satan’s kingdom, which also has its own laws and statutes.

Now, let’s have a look at some other Scriptures. Go to Leviticus 18:30: “Therefore shall ye keep my ordinances, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.” You see, those abominable customs, that word is the same word talking about obeying God’s customs. We’re either going to obey His laws and customs or we will obey Satan’s laws and customs.

We go over to Deuteronomy 18:9: “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.”

2 Kings 17:7-13: I’ll just read you a little bit of it. “The children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. . . and walked in the statutes of the heathen.”

Do you notice that ladies? “The statutes of the heathen.” That’s the statutes of Satan’s kingdom. “Yet the Lord testified against Israel. . .. saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes.” So, we’re going to choose one or the other.

Did you know, ladies, that between 1995 and 2016, our federal government instituted 88,899 new rules, and 4,312 laws? Now that is coming from a liberal government. Most of those laws are really just to frustrate us, to bring us under tyranny. They are not laws of freedom. Most of them are totally unnecessary. Did you hear that? 88,899 new rules! Yes! Goodness me! Today there are 170,000 pages of government regulations on the books, most of them unnecessary, and all just tyrannical.

I remember staying with a dear friend of mine. We stay with her every time we go to Scotland. She was telling me one year, quite a few years ago, “Nancy, I went to the supermarket, and all I needed to buy was a potato peeler. I’d just run out. I was there at the checkout, getting my potato peeler and the light came on! A checkout girl said, “Just a minute. I have to get my superintendent when the lights come on.” So, the supervisor came, and she had to check that she was over 18 to buy this potato peeler because it could be a dangerous weapon!

How stupid can you get? Such ridiculous laws! A potato peeler being a dangerous weapon? That you can’t use one until you’re 18? This is how ridiculous . . . so many, (and we have crazy laws like that here too). It’s so ridiculous!

But, ladies, how are we living? Are we living by the laws and ordinances of God’s kingdom? Or of the kingdom of the enemy?

You’ll be familiar with George Barna, who is a research pollster. He did research in May to check out how many Christians are living by a biblical world view.

Now, if we really belong to the Lord, we’ll be living by a biblical worldview. Did you know that according to this research, only six percent of Christians have a biblical worldview? Actually, 51% of these Christians said that they had a biblical worldview, but when they were asked certain questions to prove it, it worked out that only six percent truly had a worldview from the biblical standpoint. Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that tragic?

Some of the questions: e.g., 49% said that reincarnation was a possibility after they died. And this was supposed to be people who said they had a biblical worldview! Can you believe that? Only 33% believed that human beings are born with a sinful nature and can only be saved from the consequences of sin by Jesus Christ. Wow!  

But precious mothers, this comes back to us parents. We are the ones that determine what our children are believing. We are responsible for what we are teaching them. How can it be, dear precious mothers, that only six percent have a truly biblical worldview? Do your children have a biblical worldview? Do they understand God’s truth and what it says in His Word regarding any subject at all? Or are they conditioned by this humanistic philosophy of this world?

Sadly, if they are in public education, they will have a humanistic worldview because this is what they are being taught from morning to night. In fact, more than a humanistic worldview, they’re now being totally brainwashed to believe abominable things, such as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, transgenderism. These are even abominable customs, and they don’t belong to the kingdom of God.

Precious mothers, even homeschooling mothers, our children have so much bombarding them with the social media and if they’ve got iPhones. You can’t believe what they can pick up. We have to be constantly pouring into them God’s truths, His Word, that they know His Word, that they understand a biblical worldview. It is so important.

In 2 Kings 17:24, this was in the land of Israel, but there were people here . . . when they had taken the Jews to Babylon, they brought other people into the land, who didn’t know the ways of God.

It says here in 2 Kings 17:26-28: “Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore, He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner (or the customs) of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, take one of the priests . . . and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.”

We see here that God was concerned that in the land, they followed His customs, not the customs of the people who had been in the land hitherto, because God had cast those people out, to bring this people in. We also are to live by the customs of the Lord, by His Word, by His statutes, His laws, His commandments, not by all the humanistic ordinances that are all around us, because they are also laws and statutes, but from a different realm.

So, ladies, here we are. This is our responsibility, to be teaching our children the customs and the way of the Lord, Amen? This is important, and if we’re not doing this, this will stop us from totally possessing the land. We can’t possess it unless we’re living in the lifestyle and the commandments, and the laws of the kingdom of God. Because every kingdom has its own laws. That what a kingdom has. A kingdom has a king, and a kingdom has laws. That’s how it operates.

Talking about laws, here’s another thing. It’s a little bit off the subject, but I thought of something that I would just pop in here. But it’s also talking about laws and ordinances. It’s talking about when people came into the land, or maybe strangers came into the land of Israel, and the Word of God says: “Or whosoever is among you.” God gave them certain principles.

Now, these Scriptures were a wonderful answer to me in things that I didn’t quite know what to do about. As I said earlier, every question I have ever had, I have found my answer in the Word of God.

Colin and I love to have hospitality. We love to have people coming and staying with us. Throughout the years, we’ve had so many different people come and stay, even come and live with us for long lengths of time.

But some people would come into our home, and they had different customs to us. I’ve had people in our home who would come in and they’d turn on the TV in the day and sit down and watch it. We don’t do that. We never watch TV at all, but there was a time when we would maybe watch in the evenings. Colin would love to watch the news, so we would put it on to see the news in the evening. We don’t even do that now. We even think that’s a total waste of time.

But I have had a law in my home that I don’t have TV on in the day because the day is for work. The day is for productivity. The day is not for sitting around, loafing on the sofa, gawking at some soap opera. That’s never been part of the law of my home.

And, dear ladies, every one of us has our own laws in our homes, don’t we? The only way we can function is if we have certain laws and principles so we can keep the home functioning. I thought, “Help! What do I do about that? Do I say anything or don’t I?”

Then I’ve had other families come in with their little children. And, oh, goodness me, you can’t believe it! They run into the bedrooms and jump on the beds! Well, I don’t allow children to jump on beds. That ruins the mattresses. It’s not one of the things that I allow in our home. But what do I do? Do I say anything or not? Do I just let them run over my house and do what they like?

Well, I found my answer. It’s very interesting. There are a lot of Scriptures here. I’ll just read one or two of them, and I’ll put them all in the transcript for you. It shows here what God wants us to do. OK? You have your strategy, your plan, your rules. Not that you’re making it a legal thing, but you have your structure for your home, and the things that you will not have in your home, or you’d love to have.

Exodus 12:49-50: “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”

Leviticus 24:22: “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.”

Numbers 15:14-16: “And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever he be among you (friends, foes, it doesn’t matter) whosoever he be, as ye do, so shall he do.” Did you get that ladies? “As ye do, so shall he do . . . One ordinance shall be for both of you of the congregation. And also, for the stranger that joineth with you. As ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner (or custom) shall be for you, and for he that sojourneth with you.”

And there are other Scriptures too.

I said, “Oh, thank You, Lord. You’ve shown me what to do! You’ve shown me that there is one law, so that when people come into my home, they maybe will do things that I don’t want to do in my home.” I’m not talking about every little thing, of course, but certain things that would really upset the workings of our home.

Now I have the freedom, because I have the Word of God, to gently share with them, “Well, do you mind? We don’t like to do this in our home. So, if you wouldn’t mind, while you’re here, if you don’t do this.” I have had to do that. It’s not always easy to do, but it’s what the Bible says.

Maybe you’re facing something like that. Sometimes you even face it from in-laws, and people who come into your home who don’t know the laws, especially when talking about family here. Maybe you have parents who are not Christians, or something like that. You do have to keep to the standards that God has given you. One law and one custom shall be to the ones who are in your home, and those who come in, “whosoever they be.”

I thought I’d give you those, because I’ve often had people ask me, “What do you do? I’ve had different situations I’m facing. Help! This is happening in our home, and I don’t even know what to do about it! What should I do?” Well, here God gives us the Scriptures, and we have a strategy for what He wants us to do. Amen?

All right. We must conclude this session.

“Dear Father, we thank You again as we so often do, for Your wonderful Word, and how You teach us in so many different ways. Lord, it’s so easy to go our own way, but we thank You, Lord, that You give us the answers, You give us Your laws, and customs, and Your Word in how You want us to live. And how You want us to live in Your land, in our land of motherhood.

“We ask that You will teach us and show us Your way. Lord, we think of Your Word. The meek will He show His way. The meek will He teach His way. Lord, we want to have a meek spirit before You, that You will continue to teach us and show us Your ways. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

FOR YOU TO PRINT OUT:

THE SAME LAW

ONE LAW, ONE ORDINANCE

“AS YE DO, SO HE SHALL DO”

Exodus 12:48-50: “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”

Leviticus 24:22: “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.”

Numbers 9:14: “Ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.”

Numbers 15:14-16: “And if a stranger sojourn among you, or whosoever be among you in your generations . . . AS YE DO, SO SHALL HE DO. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, and ordinance forever in your generations: AS YE ARE, SO SHALL THE STRANGER BE BEFORE THE LORD. ONE LAW and ONE MANNER (custom) shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.”

Numbers 15:29: “Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.”

Whatever laws God gave to His people, He expected the strangers in the land to adhere to them also. He included the stranger in all the laws and all the feasts and all the gatherings of Israel.

Read Exodus 20:10; 23:12; Leviticus 16:29; 17:10-16; 19:34; 20:2, 3; 24:16; Deuteronomy 5:14; 16:11, 14; 29:10-13; 31:12, 13; Joshua 8:33; 8:35; 2 Chronicles 30:25; and Isaiah 56:6, 7.

 

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 226: What Does God Want Us to Do in the Land? Part 3

One of Satan's biggest ploys in hindering us in our walk with God, and in the task God has given us to do, is discouragement. Do you get discouraged? How do you deal with it? God has an answer for you.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Oh, it is such a beautiful fall day! As I look out this window and see the lovely leaves turning yellow, and red, and gold, it’s always such a wonderful time of the year, isn’t it?

Well, let’s get back to our series. We’re now doing “What do we do in this Great Land of Motherhood?” No. 1 was POSSESS THE LAND. We’re still on this No. 1 points but now, we’re talking about, WHAT STOPS US FROM POSSESSING THE LAND?

We’ve talked about how unbelief can stop us. Fear can stop us. And now, today, we’re going to talk about discouragement. We talked about that last time, but I want to share a little bit more with you on this subject, because I think this is something that many mothers face. Oh, it’s so easy to get discouraged, isn’t it, dear mothers?

But before we go on to this point, I want to tell you about a Scripture that we read this week. In fact, it was a Scripture that popped up in one of our prayer boxes. I’ve told you before how we love our prayer boxes. Every morning and evening, when we have our family devotions, we use usually two of our prayer boxes. I have about nine different ones on different subjects.

We had chosen our prayer box about praying for Israel. In our prayer boxes, I do also have a lot of Scriptures, because, ladies, it’s so good to pray the Scriptures, isn’t it? To pray the Word of God. You know you’re in the will of God when you’re praying the Word of God. Sometimes we pray, and often we don’t know whether we’re really praying the right things, although God sees our hearts. That’s so wonderful.

But this Scripture was Jeremiah 32:41. It’s a promise from God about bringing His people back to the land. There are hundreds of Scriptures in the Word of God talking about bringing His people back to the land. Right now, we are continuing to live in this season of Bible prophecy, where God has already brought back so many. And He’s still bringing back His people to the land of Israel. Even though they were scattered to the four corners of the earth, God promised that He would bring them back to their land.

He says here: “Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” What an amazing promise! But, ladies, do you feel the compassion that’s part of God in this Scripture? He doesn’t just say, “And yes, I will bring My people back to the land.” No, He says: “I will plant them in this land ASSUREDLY.” Wow, what a word! “Assuredly.” “With my whole heart, and with my whole soul.”

This was God’s longing and heart for them. He wants His people in His land that He chose for them. He wants to plant them in the land because He chose this land for them. This is where He wants them to be.

GOD WANTS TO PLANT YOU IN YOUR LAND OF MOTHERHOOD

And ladies, we’re taking these Scriptures into our land of motherhood. It is true. God has this same heart for you in your land of motherhood. He wants to PLANT you in this land. He doesn’t want you to be just on the edge of it, with your toe in it.

No, He wants to plant you in this beautiful land of motherhood, because this is the land He chose for you. He wants to dig you into it. That’s what you do when you plant something. You have to dig into the dirt to plant it. He wants to dig us in so we’re established. When we’re established, when we’re planted strongly, and our roots are down, then we can grow.

Sadly, many moms don’t grow in their land of motherhood. They’re just there, and they’re so shallowly in it that they’re dry and wilting. They’re not lush and growing, because they’re not planted. But God will plant you as you let Him, and as you make this your purpose, knowing that this is God’s wondrous purpose for you. He wants to do it with all His heart, and with all His soul. He wants us to have that same purpose, too, that we want to plant ourselves in this great land of motherhood, with all our heart, and with all our soul.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE PLANTED, MOTHER

Oh, I hope you are blessed by that Scripture. You take hold of it in your land of motherhood, and you won’t be a little plant that’s hardly planted, that’s not growing any fruit because it’s not planted deeply. We can only produce fruit, and we can only live in the fullness of the glory of motherhood, in the lushness of motherhood, when we’re planted. We’ve got to be planted, ladies. Amen?

THEY DISCOURAGED THE PEOPLE

OK, back to our talking about discouragement. Deuteronomy 1:28, talking about going into the land. Some of the people said: “Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart.” That’s where you get discouraged, isn’t it? In your heart. You can get discouraged in your heart.

I know it’s easy. I can get discouraged, too. In fact, at the moment, I have a concern, something I’m grieving about. I could get really discouraged, but I have to do something about it. We’ll talk about what we have to do in a moment.

But let’s look at another Scripture, Numbers 32:7: “And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord God hath given them?” It seems that whenever God has a purpose for us, and His plan for us, there will always be those who discourage it. That discouragement comes from the enemy, because discouragement comes from the devil. It never comes from God.

When you’re discouraged, you’ve got to know where it’s coming from, dear ladies. It’s coming from the devil. Now, he may be using somebody else to say things into your life which discourage you, or say things about you, which make you discouraged. Or, you have to face circumstances that discourage you.

But let’s see. Numbers 32:9: “For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. And the LORD'S anger was kindled.” God was wroth, although I think you say “wrath” here in America. I grew up saying “wroth.” But anyway, God was angry, because those spies discouraged the people.

Deuteronomy 1:21: “Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.” God says these words to you today, Mother. Oh yes, I know. There are so many things that come against you, to discourage you. There are always people who are going to say all these derogatory things about you.

“Why are you staying home to look after these children, when you could be out earning so much money? And in your career.” And they discourage you in your powerful calling of motherhood. You get discouraged from this one and that one, and there’s always someone to say something negative to you, just make you feel lousy and down in the dumps. Oh, yes. Discouragement is all around us, isn’t it?

But the other day, I was reading in the book of Ezra. I noticed in Ezra, chapter 4, four different ways the enemy comes to bring us down, discourage us, and stop us from the great works that God has given us to do. As I read them, these were the things that they tried to stop them from building the wall. The people had come back from Babylon, and they were rebuilding the Temple. But their enemies and adversaries all around them were trying to stop them.

That’s what the devil is doing. He’s always trying to stop us do the perfect will of God. And when God gives us children, the perfect will of God for us is to embrace these children, to mother and nurture these children, to raise them in the home, not out of the home. No, in the home. God has given the home to raise children. He doesn’t want them out there in daycares and out with people who don’t walk with God. He wants His children to be raised in His presence. The enemy comes to discourage us and to stop us doing what the Lord wants us to do. Let’s look at this passage, shall we?

It's in Ezra 4:4 where it says that these adversaries (and we know that the devil is our adversary, the adversary, the devil, that’s what the Bible calls him, “our adversary, the devil”). It says their adversaries (the devil was using these people) “weakened the hands of the people.” Now, nearly every other translation of that Scripture says they discouraged the people. That’s what the word literally means, “to discourage.”

But of course, if we’re discouraged, we’re going to be weakened, aren’t we? When you’re discouraged, you feel weak. You don’t feel, “I’m ready to go! I can take on anything in the world!” No, you feel weak and useless. That’s what discouragement does to us.

The Berean Study Bible says: “Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build. They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plan.” They tried to get them down, to weaken them.

So, lovely ladies, when we’re in this place, maybe you’re going through something now. And you’re feeling very discouraged. Maybe you’re even feeling discouraged with homeschooling. You’re feeling discouraged. You’re not really making it. You just feel helpless. “Oh, I don’t know how I can even do this!” Dear mothers, it’s the enemy who puts these discouraging thoughts in your mind. We’ve got to realize, the first thing we have to realize, is that discouragement comes from the enemy. What are we going to do?

1) WE’VE GOT TO ENCOURAGE OUR SOUL

Oh, that’s such an important thing to do! In Psalm 42:5 & 11, and Psalm 43:5, three times David, the psalmist, says this same thing. Three times we read this Scripture. OK, let’s read this right: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

We see here that David is feeling pretty down. That often happens when you’re reading the Psalms. You see, “Oh, David is complaining about what he is facing!” The enemy is against him, but he never stays there. You never finish a psalm without him coming into victory and putting his trust in the Lord. Here he says, “Oh my soul! Come on, soul!” He talks to his soul. Sometimes we have to do that, ladies, because it’s in our soul, in our heart, we get discouraged. Therefore, we’ve got to speak to our souls. Say, “Come on, soul! Get up! Come on! Put your hope in God.”

Now this word, because other translations say: “Why art thou discouraged?” The word is “cast down” here in the King James, but other translations say, “discourage.” Some translations say, “bowed down.” But when we’re feeling like this, we speak to our soul. “Oh, thank You, Lord, I can trust in You. Oh, come on, soul. Come on, soul! Praise the Lord! He is my help. He is the help of my countenance.”

Down in verse 11, it says He is “the health of my countenance.” But the interesting thing, ladies, is that it’s actually the same Hebrew word in both Scriptures. In one, it says that “He is my help.” In the other Scripture, it says: “He is my health.” But it’s the same Hebrew word, Yeshua. Of course, that is the name of Jesus Himself. It means “salvation, healing, deliverance, victory.”

So, we can speak to our soul and say, “Come on, soul. Look up to your Savior. Lord Jesus, You are my salvation, You are my deliverance, You are my healing, You are my health, You are my victory!” When you talk to your soul to get with it, and look up to the Lord, and look at Him instead of looking at your problems, it’s amazing what happens, and how your attitude changes.

Talking about encouraging your soul, I think of that story about David. Do you remember that story, when David had been out doing battles? He came home, he came back to Ziklag. This is the city in which he was living with all his fellow soldiers. It’s in 1 Samuel, chapter 30. Oh, it’s a sad story. David and all his soldiers had been out fighting and they came home.

And they came home to nothing! They came home to their city and what did they see? Nothing! It had been burned with fire. The Amalekites had come through and completely wiped out their city. Where were their wives? Where were their children? They were all taken captive. There were no wives or children. There was nothing! Can you imagine it?

My, I think they were more than discouraged. In fact, we go down to verse 6: “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters.” And so, not only did David come home to nothing, but now his men were rising up against him! They were going to stone him! What was he to do?

It also says here what they did in verse 4: they “lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” There was not another tear left! And they still didn’t know what to do. But then, David did something. At the end of verse 6, it says, “but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”  

He spoke to his soul, just like he did in Psalms 42 and 43. And He encouraged himself in the Lord. “God, you’ve taken everything! But, Lord God, I look up to You. You are my God. I trust You. Lord God, You are my deliverer.” And as he looked to God, God then began to show him what to do.

Now, ladies, there is a real principle here and I have found this in my own life. I’m sure you have, too. That when you’re discouraged, when you’re bowed down, and when you’re taken up with all that you’re going through, it so overwhelms you, and so overtakes you, that you can’t even hear the voice of the Lord. All you hear is all the negative. You just get more and more into your self-pity, and you never have an answer. You just stay in your rut.

But we’ve got to come to that place of encouraging ourselves in the Lord. “Lord God, You understand. It’s all in Your plan. You are bigger. I trust You.” And as David looked up to the Lord, he then said, “Wow, get me an ephod! I want to hear from God!” And he listened to God, and God spoke to him and gave him a strategy, showed him what to do. He said, “You go after them.”

So, David and all his men went after the Amalekites. You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 30. It tells you how they did it, and how they found them. And then verses 17-18: “And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels. . . And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”

Isn’t that great? But that only happened because he took his eyes off his discouragement, off this. What could have been worse than what they were facing? But he put his eyes upon the Lord. That’s what we have to do, ladies.

Number one: we’ve got to speak to our soul and encourage ourselves in the Lord. I love the Berean Study Bible of Psalm 42:5 and 11, where it says: “He is the help,” or the health “of my countenance.” This translation says: “He is the salvation of His presence.” It’s His presence. If we look up to Him, we begin to experience His presence again.

2) TAKE HOLD OF GOD’S WORD

The next thing we have to do is take hold of the Word of God. We can either stay in our rut of despair, or we can take hold of God’s Word. I love Psalm 146. There’s a little Scripture there, Psalm 146:8: “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind: the Lord raises them that are bowed down: the Lord loves the righteous.” That little phrase there, “The Lord raises them that are bowed down.” This is the same thing as feeling discouraged, isn’t it? When we’re discouraged, we feel bowed down.

I can remember a way, way, way, way back, when I was just a young mom. I was facing a situation that was really quite bad. It was so bad that it was actually not just bowing me down in spirit, but I was totally bent over with the weight of it, and the grief of it, until I learned how to get delivered.

I’d never really experienced that before . . . because I learned my lessons, I learned my strategies of victory. But unless you take hold of these principles, you can not only be bowed down in your heart, but your whole body can be bowed over. I did experience that because I didn’t know how to get the victory at that time.

But this Scripture says, and here are some other translations:

“The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.” That’s the New Living Translation.

The New Revised Standard version says: “The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.”

The Good News Translation says: “The Lord strengthens the backs of those who are bent over.”

I like that, because the literal meaning of being bowed down is “bent over,” just like I had experienced, way, way back, so many years ago. But the Lord can straighten our backs! He lifts us up as we look unto Him.

We can take this Scripture and we can say, “Thank You, Lord! You are the One who lifts up those who are bowed down. I don’t have to stay bowed down. Lord, You see these circumstances but I thank You that You are bigger, You can lift me up, even in the midst of them. I trust You, Lord. I thank You.” We take the Scriptures and get into the Word. Read the Psalms. Take hold. As you’re reading, take hold of the promise that God gives you and speak it out loud. Take it to yourself.

3) PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD

Ephesians 6. You know how to do that, don’t you? But sometimes we have to do these things.

4) APPLY THE BLOOD OF JESUS

Another thing we can do is to, no, I don’t mean literally, I mean spiritually, to apply the precious blood of Jesus which is our covering, and which also has power to set us free, not only saving us from our sins, but also healing us, and delivering us, because that is the fullness of the word “save.”

That when Jesus saves us from our sins, the word is sozo. It also means “to deliver, to heal, to make whole.” There’s such great fullness in that word. It comes through the precious blood of Jesus. Way back in the Old Testament the priests had to apply the blood on their ears, and on their hands, and on their toes. Then, not only on the priests, but on all the people. The priests would take the blood, and they would sprinkle it all over the people, so they were covered with the blood.

Now, we are not going to do that today. But in the spiritual realm, by faith, we can ask the Lord to cover us with His precious blood. It is such a powerful thing. Even last night, at our prayer meeting, one of the brothers was sharing how his two little children were so sick, and coughing, just filled up with cough and cold. They couldn’t sleep. They didn’t know what to do.

Then he thought, “Wow, the power of the blood of Jesus!” So, even though they were just little, their little four-year-old, and their little toddler, he gave communion to them in the middle of the night. Guess what? They were immediately healed and went to sleep for the rest of the night! Isn’t that amazing? Incredible testimony.

5) DAILY STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNME SYSTEM

We’ve been speaking spiritually. But also, we do need to look after ourselves physically, because even when you get weak physically, it can affect you spiritually. Even that can make you discouraged too. It is important to always live as a mother (not only giving your children and because you want to feed your children healthily) but you must look after yourself and feed yourself healthily.

Whole foods. No refined foods. Just keep yourself eating whole foods, the foods that God gives you. Not all the junk, and the packaged food, and the refined food, but eat wholesome food.

6) DON’T GET TO BED TOO LATE

These are things that can run you down physically and then they affect your spiritually and make you discouraged. But God always has His answers for us, doesn’t He? Amen?

Now you know how to defeat discouragement. First of all, knowing it comes from the enemy, and because it comes from the enemy, you’re going to rebuke him in the name of Jesus.

“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). How did Jesus resist the devil? He spoke forth the Word of God.

Matthew 4:4: Jesus said these words to the devil: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

When we speak the words of God, His living words, we speak them out loud, and we speak them to ourselves, and we speak them to the devil—and he flees. He doesn’t like the Word of God. He doesn’t like the precious blood of Jesus. He doesn’t want these things, but these are our weapons against the enemy.

THEY MADE THEM AFRAID

All right. Well, the next point. It says they “troubled them.” We’re going back to what they did when they were building the Temple. The word “troubled” means “to make them afraid.” The word means, “to terrify, to palpitate, to be anxious, to dismay.” They actually put fear into other people, to try to stop them. We talked about that last session, I think, didn’t we? About how fear can paralyze us. He loves putting fear into our hearts.

Oh, goodness me! If mothers were to listen to everything the medical profession said to them about having babies, I don’t think anybody would ever have a baby! They’re always putting fear into mothers. “Oh, this might happen!” “Oh, I don’t think you could have any more children because of this, because of that!” Help!

Things that might happen most probably never will happen. It’s never a surety. It’s always something that might happen. It’s a fear of a fear. We do not take any notice of the fear that the enemy brings to us, because fear also does not come from God. It comes from the enemy! Yes.

THEY HIRED COUNSELORS

And then the next thing they did; they “hired counselors to frustrate them.” That’s interesting. They hired counselors. That’s an interesting one. We live in a day, ladies, where it seems that everybody is going to a counselor for something! For this or for that. Why is everybody running to counselors these days? Why don’t they run into the Lord? Why don’t they run to the Word?

The Word of God is our greatest counselor.

Psalm 119:24: “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.” Do you know that I have always found an answer for every single thing I’ve ever wanted to get an answer about? I find it in the Word of God. You can find it if you search for it. It is there. God’s words are our counselors.

Now, I know there are some godly counselors. Actually, they’re rather hard to find, because there are so many humanistic counselors today, even in the church. Just because they’re in the church does not mean to say that they are truly a godly counselor. Many are guided by humanistic understanding. Most counselors have their degrees in psychology and sociology. That’s all humanistic. People are running to these counselors, and they’re getting humanistic counseling, which is not going to help at all.

These adversaries, they hired counselors. Oh yes, and what were those counselors going to do? They weren’t going to help them to build. They were going to stop them from building. They were going to frustrate what they were trying to do. 

We have to careful, ladies, where we run to as our source. Who is our source? Isn’t it God? Look, He is our source. He is enough. He is the God Who is enough! If your God is not enough, it's not the God of the Bible. You have a god of your own imagination if your god is not able, and you’ve got to run off to some counselor. God is enough. We can find our victory. We can find our deliverance. We can find our healing. We can find our comfort. We can find our encouragement in Him and in His Word. Amen?

So, we do have to watch that. The Message Bible of that Scripture says: “So these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built. They even hired propagandists to sap their resolve.” Oh my, how the enemy loves to sap our resolve! To just take away our energy, take away our purpose, take away even the truth from us! And fill us with all this other stuff.

Oh, isn’t it amazing, that there are counselors today in the church who even advise young couples to “Please delay your childbearing. Just wait until you’ve got your house, and you’ve got everything. You’d better make sure you limit your family.” Hey, where did they get all that junk from? It’s humanistic counseling. It doesn’t come from the Word of God. We have to watch that.

But time has gone, so let’s pray.

“Dear Father, I pray for every precious mother today who’s feeling discouraged. Oh God, we know how easy it is to feel discouraged, but Lord God, I pray that You will remind these precious ladies today that You didn’t give them this discouragement. It comes from the enemy.

“Lord, I pray that You will help them to look up to You. Oh God, to know that You have not deserted them, that You are with them. You’re with them, right there in their situation. You’re there with them, right there in their homes, with all they’re facing. In their marriage, with their challenges with their children. With the circumstances, Lord, that maybe they’re facing at this time.

“Lord God, lift their hearts up to You. You are the One Who lifts up those who are bowed down, so You can straighten our backs. Lord, You lift us up. I pray that You will lift these precious ladies up, Lord, up from their pit of discouragement, up to a higher plane, a plane where You want them to be, Lord, where we are.

“The truth is, we are seated with You in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Lord God, save us from, Lord, coming down to this pit of self-pity and discouragement. Lord God, help us to see where You have placed us in You, in Christ, and seated at the right hand of the Father, in Christ.

“Thank You, Lord. Oh Father, pour out Your blessing, and Your encouragement, and Your comfort, and Your love all over them today, Lord God. Oh, Father, come to them. Let them feel Your presence surrounding them, Lord, all around them, filling them, Lord God. Oh, I ask this in the Precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.