LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 168 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 3

How can you be FILLED with joy, peace, hope, and all the fruits of the Spirit? Find out how we can make this work in the nitty gritty of everyday life.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. We are currently on our third session of this series, which is called, “LIFE TO THE FULL.”

I’m also changing the name of this podcast, which was From Our Home to Yours. But I feel to change it, because I think I don’t really speak about everything I’m doing in the home all the time. I’m speaking more about the life that God wants us to live in our homes, and it is LIFE TO THE FULL. We’re going to be learning more about it today. So, everything’s the same, only just the name change, LIFE TO THE FULL with Nancy Campbell.

So glad you are here and listening. We do need the encouragement of one another, don’t we? It’s so important. I remember when I was raising our children. I think one of the greatest blessings was the fact of having fellowship with other mothers.

I always had a Bible study in my home and would invite other mothers in with all their little children and babies. We always had more children than mothers. Often the children would wreck my house, but it was still worth it, because we could have fellowship together.

I think, mothers, one of the biggest things, the hardest thing, I think, for mothers, is being in your home and not having fellowship with anyone else. But when you can get with other mothers, it’s so great.

So, we would go through a mother’s Bible study together and we would encourage one another. We’d laugh with one another. We’d cry with one another. We’d pray for one another. And then we’d always eat together and have fellowship lunch together.

We did the togethering, just like God wants us to do togethering. That’s the whole lifestyle of the early church. It’s God’s plan for His people, to be a togethering people. That’s why He says, “Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together.” It’s a togethering lifestyle. We will grow so much more in our faith as we come together.

So, if you’re feeling rather lonely, and you know, you don’t seem to have anyone to fellowship with, look out for another young mother. Look out for one at church, or maybe someone. Invite them to your home. Invite them to lunch. Enjoy this time together, and then, you may even decide you’d love to do a Bible study together.

A lot of people love to use my manual, The Power of Motherhood. It’s a great Bible study for mothers. It takes you into the Word of God to see what God says about being a mother. Not what the world says, but what God says. And He has so much to say.

This manual has questions at the end of each chapter, which you can do personally. Or you can get some other mothers do it with you, and you can chat about it, and do it together. In fact, it can take quite a long time to get through this book, because there’s so much there, and so many Scriptures. You may even like to choose the chapters that you want to do. But anyway, that’s something you may love to do.

Now, we are currently on our third session of “LIFE TO THE FULL.” We began, starting with Genesis, about how God wants us to be fruitful, multiply, and fill—fill our homes and fill the earth. But now we’re moving on to see also, how God wants us to be filled with so much! Oh, we talked about how He wants to fill our homes with His presence and His glory, how He wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit.

And then we talked about being filled with joy. We didn’t quite finish that, and I’d like to give you a few more Scriptures about being filled with joy. Because when we read about joy in the Bible, there are so many Scriptures that don’t only talk about joy, they talk about being FILLED with joy.

Let’s go to John 15:11. Jesus is speaking, and He says: “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” There it is ladies. Not a little bit of joy but FILLED with joy.

Now, the only way we can truly be filled with joy is, we have the joy of Jesus in us. Because what did He say? “My joy. That My joy may abide in you. When My joy is in you, your joy will be full!” Isn’t that good? Yes.

When we only have our joy, we are dependent on our circumstances. If they’re not going too well, we’re not going to be very joyful, are we? And that can happen so many times in life, because life isn’t perfect. Life doesn’t always go just the way we want. Therefore, we’ve got to get Jesus' joy, His joy in us.

And, if we’re born again by His Spirit, we have His joy. Because when He comes into our lives, He doesn’t leave His joy out, or any of His other beautiful attributes out. He comes as who He is. And so, we can be filled with His joy.

Let’s go to Acts 2:28. This is when Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, and he says, in verse 28: “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance.”

Once again, how do we get full of joy? As we’re looking at the face of Jesus. Look to Him. If we look to our circumstances, look to what’s happening, look to what’s happening around this world at the moment, and in our nation, and how they’re trying to lock us down again, all these negative things happening, well, it doesn’t give us a lot of sources for joy.

But you see, our joy comes, not from looking at our circumstances, it comes from looking at the face of Jesus, at His countenance, His presence. This is when we’ll be filled with joy. Are you getting the picture?

Let’s go to 1 Peter 1:8. Peter is writing here to the saints, actually to the strangers scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, way out, to all these places. Do you know where they were? They were way out in Turkey. In fact, Cappadocia is a way out in the middle of Turkey. I have been blessed to visit Cappadocia.

Colin and I used to take tours to Israel. And then we would also take our people to another country as well. So, one year, we did Israel, and then we went to Turkey. We visited the sites of where the seven churches of Revelation were located. That was just the most wonderful experience.

And then we went right out into the middle of Turkey, to Cappadocia. Oh, it was like visiting the moon! It was like visiting a whole other world because this whole place was filled with these cone-like structures. They were just so amazing. You cannot even think them up in your brain! Maybe if you went to the internet and put in Cappadocia, they would most probably show you some of these most amazing shapes.

People lived in these places, and they also had underground cities where they lived. This was a place where many of the Christians fled to in the times of persecution. They were living underground. So, it’s an amazing place, out there in Cappadocia. It was such a privilege to go out and see it.

So, Peter is writing to these people in these different places. He says, talking about Jesus: “Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Wow! Isn’t this amazing?

The Bible doesn’t just talk about, “Oh, well, you’d better have joy.” And it’s just a bit of joy. You’re half-filled with joy. Or maybe, you may be, perhaps, two-thirds filled with joy. No! It talks about being filled with joy! FILED WITH JOY. “Joy unspeakable, and full of glory.”

Sometimes, when we read these words, we realize that we’re really not living the true Bible lifestyle. We’ve got to come up, come up from all our doldrums and self-pity, and our grumblings and groanings, and let’s get with it! Let’s get into the real lifestyle that God talks about in His Word!

My, no wonder we don’t draw people into the Kingdom of God! We’re not living the Kingdom of God lifestyle which is a lifestyle that is filled with joy.

All right, let’s go to 1 John 1:4: “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” There it is again!

Let me take you to one more. Luke 6:22-23. Jesus is speaking again here. He said: “Blessed, (happy) are you, when men shall hate you.” Wow! You wouldn’t expect us to be happy when people hate us, would we? But this is what Jesus said: “And when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”

So, here it talks about leaping with joy. It’s not leaping with joy when everything is going great, when you’re having a great time! Wow, everything’s fantastic! So, you can leap for joy!

No, this is leaping for joy when people hate you, when they separate you from their company. They don’t even want you. They think you’re crazy. They think you’re stupid. They don’t even like you! And they want to separate from you.

And when they reproach you, and when they call you evil, Jesus says: “Leap for joy!” Wow, have you ever tried that? That’s something different, isn’t it? Do you get it, ladies? The lifestyle that Jesus talks about in His Word is so foreign to the way we live. It’s the opposite to the way we live.

So, maybe, next time you’re having a little bit of persecution, or even family members are not very happy with you, you’re getting spoken about, or spoken to because you’re homeschooling, or maybe you’re having another baby . . .  Well, what are you going to do? Get all upset? No! Try leaping for joy.

I have tried it. When you leap for joy, when you do an action, it has power over your whole body. It's amazing. It can change the way you feel, just through doing an action. And leaping is something that you do with excitement because it’s fun, it’s great, it’s wonderful! So, you can change your whole attitude by trying it out. Try it out. Leaping for joy. Amen?

No. 4. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH PEACE

God want us to not only be filled with the Holy Spirit, not only be filled with joy, but He wants you and me to be filled with peace.

Let’s read Romans 15:13: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

What an amazing Scripture! I love this Scripture. I have it memorized. I’d encourage you to memorize this Scripture. Here it says that we are to be filled with joy. We’ve talked about that. But also, to be filled with peace. So, God wants us not only to have peace, but to be FILLED with peace.

Yes, this is the lifestyle of the Kingdom of God. It’s not just scraping the barrel. It’s being filled, filled to overflowing! As it says in Philippians 4:7 that we will have “peace that passes all understanding.”

I love Isaiah 24:3, 4. This is also one of my favorite Scriptures, which I have memorized, and which I love to constantly say. It tells us here that, goodness me, I said I’ve got it memorized, and now I just go to say it to you and I’m forgetting how it starts. Isn’t that amazing?

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Don’t you love that? Oh, I have to go to that Scripture constantly.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.” That’s a double word there. It means “peace, peace, perfect peace.” It’s a plural word. We will have perfect peace, peace that passes understanding, as we keep our minds fixed upon the Lord, looking to the Lord.

So, we forget looking at our circumstances and we put our eyes upon the Lord. Amen? That's how we are filled with peace. We will not be dependent on what’s happening around us because our eyes are upon Him. Amen?

No. 5.  GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH HOPE

But this Scripture, Romans 15:13, speaks about another wonderful attribute, hope: “That ye may abound in hope.” Now it doesn’t say “filled with hope,” but it means the same. “May abound in hope.”

So, this is number five. The word “abound” is perissueo. This word, you often hear me talking about this word. It comes up so often. It’s one of the reasons I changed the name of my podcast to LIFE TO THE FULL because I’m often talking about this Greek word, which is often translated “abounding, exceeding, abundant.” This is what it means.

If you go to a lexicon or a concordance, you will see all these different English meanings for this one Greek word: “to superabound, in excess, abundance, enough and to spare, over and above, filled to overflowing.” So, God wants us to be filled to overflowing and abounding in hope.

Hope. What is hope? Hope is believing that God is going to do good things because He is a good God. Yes, there are so many Scriptures that we could read about God being a good God. But let me just go to 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.” Well, that’s King James language. Most translations say: “to a living hope.” It’s alive! It’s active! “A living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

This hope means that we can trust God, that He is going to do good things. He is working everything out for good even if it doesn’t look good. Oh, it may look bleak! Terrible! No light, even at the end of the tunnel!

But we can put our trust in God because He has it all in control. He is always working everything out for good. I’m just thinking now, as I talk about this, of Joseph, one of my favorite stories in the Bible. We know of all that Joseph went through: how the young teen, of about 17, he was taken away, ripped away from his family and everything that he knew, taken to a strange country. But everywhere he went, God blessed him.

It was in Potiphar’s house. Even then, someone betrayed him, and he was thrown into prison. Then he was just left there. You know, goodness. I mean, most of us would have thought, “God’s finished with me. He has forgotten me. I mean, God doesn’t even know what’s happening to me! Here I am, languishing in prison, forgotten by my family, forgotten by everyone!”

But God was in control! And God was working everything out for good! Oh, I love that Scripture! Let’s see if I can find it. Oh yes, Genesis 50. This is the most incredible moment when Joseph is revealing himself to his brothers. Actually, this is after that. He’s already revealed himself to his brothers. His father has died now.

So, his brothers are scared. “Oh, goodness, our father has died. Now Joseph will really get back on us for all that we did to him in selling him down to Egypt.” But Joseph says to them, in Genesis 50:19: “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

God had allowed Joseph to suffer and go through this because there was a greater plan. He was going to be used to save his own family from famine. And the whole nation of Egypt, and many, many other nations around. It was a huge thing.

And also, God raised him up and promoted him. He became next to the Pharoah of Egypt. God was working it out for good. He always is because He is a good God. Amen! So, we’ve got to be filled with hope.

No. 6. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

 God wants us to be filled with righteousness. Philippians 1:11 tells us that we are to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus.” Well, we don’t have any of our own, do we?

I mean, all our good works, the Bible says, are as filthy rags. None of our good works will ever get us into heaven or ever get us salvation. It’s only through Jesus’ death upon the cross and through His precious blood that He shed for us.

You all know Ephesians, don’t you? Ephesians 2:8-9. Once again, a Scripture that every one of us should know and have memorized. If you don’t know it, learn it. This is one of those wonderful Scriptures. Get your children to memorize them so they know them. Many of these Scriptures I learned as a child, so, being with me for life.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” But then verse ten goes on to say: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

So, we have no righteousness of our own, no good works of our own, but we can only come to salvation through the precious blood of Jesus. But when we do come to salvation, then God has some good works planned for us from the foundation of the world that He wants us to walk in. And He gives us His righteousness. We’ve none of our own. But our righteousness comes by Jesus Christ and that’s what we can be filled with, righteousness. Isn’t that great?

If we were relying on our own, we might be able to muster up a tiny little bit of righteousness and think we’re so great. That would be nothing. We’re only filled with righteousness because it’s the righteousness of Jesus in us.

And, when He comes into our lives, He comes into us with all His righteousness. He is the One who hates evil and loves righteousness. Hebrews chapter one tells us that, oh, let me take you to that Scripture. Here it’s talking about Jesus. Hebrews 1:8: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Isn’t that amazing?

It’s here sharing a picture of Christ, who was filled with righteousness. He loves righteousness and He hates iniquity. Because of that, He has more joy that all His contemporaries. You see, joy is a twin with righteousness. Righteousness is not a killjoy. No. When we have righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, not some righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, but the righteousness of Jesus, it will also fill us with joy. Jesus was filled with joy above His fellows because He loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

1 Corinthians 1:30: “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” It’s all through Jesus Christ. It's all through His life in us. You see, the gospel, ladies, is so huge. It’s not only that Jesus came to die for us, and take our place, and suffer for our sins. He did that so we could go free, so we could inherit eternal life.

But He also died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God, and He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell us, fill us with His Spirit and all these beautiful fruits of the Spirit of joy, and peace, and hope, and now it’s righteousness. And it’s all His life in us.

Dear ladies, are you getting this? Are you getting that Christ is in you, the hope of glory? Dwells in you, not in a little way, but He wants to dwell in you in fullness. He wants to fill you with all these beautiful fruits. We are to be filled, not a little bit, but filled. That’s the word.

I like Isaiah 33:5 too, where it says: “The Lord is exalted; for He dwelleth on high: He hath filled . . .” There’s this word again. It comes so much in the Bible. “He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.” God was talking about Israel there, but Zion also represents the people of God.

The church of God, the church of God’s redeemed saints, is meant to be filled with judgment. The word is actually “justice,” and righteousness. The church of God is to be filled with righteousness because it’s filled with people who are filled with righteousness.

It is sad that as we look out across the body of Christ today, there's so much worldliness. There is sin in the church. There is often adultery. There’s backsliding. There’s so much sin, but God wants a testimony that we are filled with righteousness. When we begin to experience this, we’ll be filled with joy. Also, we will begin to have an impact on the people who live around us.

No. 7. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH GRACE AND TRUTH

 Jesus wants us to be filled with grace and truth. Here are some more twins. Grace and truth go together. Yes. John 1:14-16: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

This was a picture of Jesus. Jesus came with grace, and He also came with truth. They are twins that are mixed together. This is something that we really need in our lives too. Sometimes we can have truth. Truth on its own can sometimes get hard and legal. Or we may be someone who’s full of grace. But grace on its own can be very wishy-washy and compromising. So, we need them both. We need grace and truth just as Jesus had. He was full of grace and full of truth.

Sometimes it’s more difficult for us to know how to be filled with both at the same time. We may be hammering truth, or we may be showing such grace that we’re actually compromising. But no, somehow, we’ve got to get it together. I think that we can get it together as we allow Jesus to have His way in our lives

As we also search His Word of truth, we have to know the truth, to be filled with truth. You can only be filled with truth as you know the truth, and you cannot know the truth unless you are filling yourself with God’s Word, and that you’re daily in His Word. You say, “Oh, help! How do you expect me to be reading the Bible for hours every day? I’ve got all these little children, and a new baby, and I’ve got so much to do. How do you expect me to do this?”

Well, I understand, ladies. Before I was married, as a teen, well, I was about 18 years of age. I had come to the Lord as a little child, but I was 18 when God got a hold of my life. I began to seek God with all my heart and began to spend at least three hours a day in the Word and waiting upon God.

But then I got married! Wow! And that was fine. But then, in one year, it was just about the time of our anniversary, we had our first baby. And then, seventeen months later, I had another two babies! By surprise! Didn’t even know I was having them until I was giving birth.

Suddenly, I didn’t have any time! How could I sit around reading the Bible? I could hardly get through the day as I looked after these three little babies. I had no help. We’d just come back from the Philippine Islands where we’d been doing missionary work. So, I had to learn to get little snippets of the Word wherever I could. I’d put a Bible in the toilet, a Bible on my windowsill above where I was preparing meals, a Bible where I would be nursing the baby so I could just get something, even at Proverbs or Psalms where I could pick up a little Scripture and get it, to feed me.

Of course, too, another wonderful thing is that when you make your plan of your day to have your devotions as a family morning and evening, you’re getting the Word there. And so, you have seasons in your life, seasons when you have more time, and then seasons when you’ll be with little children, and God understands.

But even in those times, you can get your little bits to feed you. Because we want to be filled with truth and filled with grace. So, when we’re speaking to people, we’re not going to compromise on the truth. Never, never, never, never! But we’re going to do it with grace, and with love, and with compassion. So, we’re filled with both.

But where did time go? We’re at the end of another session. Let’s pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You so much again. We’re always thanking You, Lord. I can’t stop thanking You for Your Word, which is so filled with life and truth, and showing us the way to live.

Lord, we do confess before You that we live so substandard to the way that You’ve planned for us. You’ve given us everything we need. You’ve come to dwell in us by Your Spirit and fill us with all Your beautiful fruits. Lord, we invite You to fill our lives. We will be filled with them. Lord, not just in a tiny bit, but filled to overflowing. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org

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

Would you like to email Darlene and thank her so much for faithfully and freely transcribing these podcasts every week for your benefit?

THE POWER OF MOTHERHOOD

What the Bible Says About You as a Mother

Every mother needs this book. At her side and beside her bed.

Young mothers desperately need the encouragement! Middling mothers need it! And even older mothers need it. Older mothers need a refresher course in God’s plan for mothering, so they can take their place as the older mothers who teach the next generation.

You will be amazed at what God has to say to you as a mother! You will receive wonderful understanding through the 245 pages of this manual. 

Mothers can use it as a study guide for their older daughters. Many women use this manual as a guide for their Motherhood Bible Study groups.

Go to: POWER OF MOTHERHOOD - New Updated Edition - Study Manual by Nancy Campbell (mybigcommerce.com)

 

 

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 167 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 2

God is the God of the FULL HOUSE! God wants our homes filled, and the land filled. Isaiah 45:18 says, “God that formed the earth, and made it … He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” What else does God want us to be filled with? Check it out.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home To Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. We are doing a series called “LIFE TO THE FULL.” We began last week finding the very first Scripture about this word. We found it started right in Genesis, chapter one, where God said, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.”

We are finding that He didn’t only say it once, but this word occurs many, many times on this subject. So, let’s continue, shall we?

Now, we’re coming up to Psalm 127. I think you all know that psalm. Psalm 127 and Psalm 128 are family psalms. I believe that we should read these Psalms every now and then, or even more than that! Frequently, because they give us God’s heart about how He feels about family.

It says in verse . . . Wow, you wouldn’t believe it! It’s even torn out of my Bible, which is coming to grief here (that means it’s falling apart). But I think it’s Psalm 127:3: “Children are the heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver FULL of them.” We get that word again! “Full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”

It’s interesting that it says here in this Scripture, the parents who have “their quiver full of them” are happy. Actually, this word “happy” here should be translated “happy happy.” It’s a double word. Not just “happy,” but “happy happy.”

The parents who have their quiver full will not be ashamed. The parents who have their quiver full will have children who know how to speak in the gates. The gates are the places where everything happens in the city, the civic center of the town, the place of administration of justice.

Of course, we have our gates of the nation up there in Washington, DC. God wants us to be training and preparing children who can speak in the gates. Yes, children who not only are strong in their convictions, but they can speak out their convictions. They can speak out the truth. They know the truth and they know how to contend for the truth.

This is what this is talking about, this man, this mighty warrior, he has children who are growing up to speak truth, speak justice, and speak it in the gates of the cities where they live. Even moving out beyond there. That is such a wonderful Scripture.

I love Zechariah 9:13, too. God is talking here about Judah and Ephraim, and how He wants to use them for warfare. He wants for them to fight against the enemy. He says: “When I have bent Judah for me, FILLED the bow with Ephraim,” (filled the bow. He wanted His bow filled with His people, ready to shoot out) “And raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.”

Here God is speaking about His people. He looks upon them as arrows in the bow, ready to shoot out at the enemy. In Psalm 127, it’s telling us how we’re to raise these kinds of arrows who are ready to speak out and contend against the enemy. This verse talks about not only arrows in the bow but also the sword of a mighty man. God wants us as His people, to be His weapons of war.

Jesus Himself came . . . It says in 1 John 3:8 that Jesus came to destroy the works of the enemy. Now, He dwells in us, and He still wants to destroy the works of the enemy. Much of our lives on this earth are learning how to overcome evil, how to overcome the enemy. In fact, the crown and the rewards are going to be for those who have overcome—overcome the evil, overcome the enemy of our souls, overcome the devil.

Of course, one of the biggest ways we overcome is through the Word of God. That’s how Jesus overcame the enemy. Remember when the devil came to tempt Jesus, and Jesus answered him with Scripture: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

And every time the enemy came to Him, He would bring the Scripture at him and speak it out. So, we overcome the enemy by the truth of the Word of God. That’s why we’ve got to know it, we’ve got to be filled with it. Also, by prayer. Of course, that’s another powerful weapon against the enemy.

So, let’s be His weapons of war. Let’s raise our children to be weapons of war. Yes, we have to make war. Goodness me, help! That doesn’t have anything to do with Jesus, does it?

But I was just reading the other day in Revelation because I’ve been reading through Revelation. Revelation 17:14: “And these” (yes, how does it go? I’m just quoting it from memory. “And these overcame . . .” Let me get to it. I did memorize it, but I’ll just get it started.

Revelation 17:14: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” Jesus had to make war.

At this time, He is still having much grace as He waits, and waits, and waits for more to come into His kingdom. But there is coming a day when He will rise up and He will be the One Who goes forth on His white horse, to make war, and to overcome (Revelation 6:2 and 19:11).

So, war is part of our Christian life. If we put it aside, well, we’re not really in the Christian life, because it is a war. We have to realize that don’t we? Yes. Anyway, back to Psalm 127. This is the picture of a family that is blessed, a family who embrace children, whose quiver is full of children.

Now society, and even the society in the Christian church, sadly, think differently. Isn’t that interesting? It is interesting how we can think differently to the Word of God. I think, if we’re thinking differently to the Word of God, that means we’re not reading it very much, because it’s not getting into our thinking. The Word of God should be in our thinking. We should think like what the Word of God says.

So, the Word of God says that, blessed, “happy happy” is the man who has his quiver full, full, of them. That’s God’s thought patterns. So, we have to get with Him, don’t we? Sadly, that’s not really how we think today. I’ve been thinking about this, and I’m wondering why it is that there are so many that, they confess the Jesus is their Savior. They belong in the Christian community, and yet, they are really giving in, in this hour, to these tyrannical mandates that are coming upon us. They’re yielding to them as though they are normal. Why do they have this thinking?

I think it goes back. A lot of Christians are already deceived. They are deceived about the whole understanding of children. They don’t believe in embracing children. They don’t even believe (we were talking about last week God’s very first command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth). They haven’t got that vision in their thinking. That have more the thinking of our humanistic society, which is two-child family, perhaps maybe three.

So, as we have given into that deception, we become more vulnerable to other deceptions. I believe that every time we give into a deception of humanism, and all the other isms that are around today (because they are so part of society), we can so easily give into them. But as we do, we become vulnerable to the next deception.

So, last year, as this plandemic came upon the world, there were so many churches who stopped meeting! I beg your pardon? They stopped meeting? And people were just as happy to have a Zoom meeting. But that, that’s good, but it’s not the real thing. It’s not biblical. * (See explanation at end).

But people gave into that. You see, if you’ve already given into one deception, you’ll give into another. And then they gave in to masks. Now they’re giving in to these vaccinations, which do carry, they have part of their thing having come from aborted babies. How can any Christian stand with that?

Many have not listened to all the truths. They’ve only heard the fake media and everybody around them. But there is so much scientific material, and so many warnings out there about these vaccinations which are at this stage, just experimental.

We are very aware of the spike protein, which has the possibility of very negatively affecting people's bodies. There have been, according to the CDC, already 12,000 who have died. But that is a very minimum number of what people really believe. There are many who say it’s up to 45,000 who have died through these vaccines already and so many who have had adverse things happen to their body. Apart from this fact, that there will be so much infertility come through this spike protein.

Of course, this is the underlying plan as Bill Gates has stated clearly. He is a eugenicist, and that these vaccinations would be for depopulation. How is it that people do not even believe what has been spoken out? I mean, this is knowledge that I have heard him say with my own ears.

Of course, now, it’s being made known that their trade secret, yes, it’s a trade secret, it’s not on the list of what is in the vaccine, but it’s now been exposed, and that is the graphene oxide, which is a poison. That is also, and apart from many other things.

So, how is it that even God’s people are giving in, caving into this? It’s very interesting. We have got to be those who are filled with God’s Word. Amen? We’ve got to think like God thinks. Anyway, let’s carry on with these Scriptures.

The next one I have, oh yes, Zechariah 8:4-5. I love this Scripture. This is a Scripture that’s yet to be fulfilled. It’s in the future, maybe the millennium. But it says here: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.”

Isn’t that a beautiful picture? The streets full of boys and girls. There it is again, that word, “full,” or “filling.” That’s a picture that God wants to see. It’s in the future, but it’s a beautiful picture.

I can remember back to my childhood in little New Zealand, in a little town. Actually, it was very much like that. After school, all the children would come home and throw their bags indoors, and out they would come to play in the streets with one another. We would play out on our front lawns, out on our streets, and it was so safe. I mean, today, you really, in so many areas, you cannot do that. You would fear for your children’s safety. You would be scared. Who could come and just take one of them away? But back then, that was a very safe thing.

In fact, I can remember when my oldest son was a little baby, and I would put him to sleep in his pram. We had those big prams back in those days. I would wheel it out to the front lawn. The front lawn? Can you believe it? There was a beautiful tree there. I would put him under the tree.

Of course, I would be observing him while he was sleeping. I loved him sleeping out in the fresh air. His little cheeks would get so rosy, and he would wake up and be looking at the little branches fluttering in the breeze. It was so beautiful. And yet so safe! Goodness, you couldn’t do that today. But anyway, that’s what the Scripture said.

And then, here’s the last one about this particular subject of filling the land with God’s people. I started with this Scripture, Luke 14:23. It’s a story, a parable that Jesus told, of this man who was putting on a feast. He was wanting to invite all these guests, but they all had excuses about why they couldn’t come.

So, then he said: “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." God is the God of the full house. He wants His house to be filled. I often think, if we want God’s house to be filled, we’ll be wanting to fill our houses along the way, because this is the heart of God, a full house. Is your house a full house? Or is your house empty?

There are many houses today that have more TVs than they have children. But God wants us to have a full house. Maybe the Lord hasn’t given us so many children. But we can fill our houses with people. We can fill our houses, showing hospitality, inviting people in, inviting them around our table. There’s nothing like filling your house with people. It is such a blessing.

All right. Now, I’m going to move on. I found, actually, 20 different areas where God wants us to be filled. Different things that He wants us to be filled with.

No. 1: GOD WANTS OUR HOMES TO BE FILLED WITH GLORY

God wants us, well, He wants to fill our homes with His glory. Now, that’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? God is the God of Glory. He is the King of Glory. If He is the King of Glory, and we invite Him to come into our homes, then glory should fill our homes.

God had some houses on earth. He had the tabernacle. You will remember how God told Moses to build the tabernacle. It was to be built according to the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle. When they had finished building it, getting it all done, then the Bible tells us in Exodus 40:34, 35: “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

Then, later on, they built a temple, a more established house for God to dwell. Then in 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14, let’s read it here: “And it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make the sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord. So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.”

He filled the tabernacle. He filled the temple with His glory. And then we read about Ezekiel’s temple. Now Ezekiel’s temple has not yet been built. It’s something for the future. I don’t know when it is going to happen, or how it is going to happen, but there’s loads of chapters that talk about Ezekiel’s temple.

And when Ezekiel had visions about it, he saw God filling this temple with His glory too. There’s a number of Scriptures. I’ll just give you one, Ezekiel 43:5: “The spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.”

So, God wants now, to come and fill our homes. We don’t have a tabernacle, we don’t have a temple, but we have our homes. And God wants to fill, to fill. This is the word that we’re talking about, ladies. It’s not half-filled. He doesn’t mean half-filled, or a little bit filled. He means filled. Yes.

He wants us to fill every room in our homes. I love Proverbs 24:3, 4: “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Even our chambers. Chambers are more the inner rooms of the home—the bedrooms, the private rooms. Even they are to be filled. Yes, God wants every room filled. Not just one room. Every room filled with His glory.

Here it talks about filling them with “precious and pleasant riches.” Wow, that’s a big challenge, isn’t it? You know, to really . . . I know, I fall short myself. It takes time, and thought, and prayer, and creativity to think about filling every room with the presence of God. Not that we can do it, but allowing and inviting His presence into our homes, and into every room of our homes.

When we sit together at the table, we invite the presence of the Lord to come to our table, because God loves to come to tables. He loves tables. Oh, even in Psalm 128, when God is speaking about the home, the picture that He gives of the home is a family sitting around the table.

Psalm 128:3: “Thy wife shall be like a fruitful vine within thine home: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.”

God just loves the family sitting around the table. He loves to come and bring His presence with Him. Invite Him to your table. Invite Him into your home. Even into your bedroom. Invite Him to your bedroom, that you can fill your chambers with all beautiful and precious and pleasant riches in the blessings of the Lord. Such a beautiful thing.

No. 2. GOD WANTS UF TO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ephesians 5:18 says, “Be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Well, it’s so easy to leak out, isn’t it? We can start the day with God. We can get into His Word. We ask Him to fill us with His precious Holy Spirit. And then we face things during the day. Maybe we get mad with the children. Maybe we get angry. Maybe we get upset. Oh, goodness me, we’re not feeling very filled with the Holy Spirit.

But being filled with the Holy Spirit is a continuous thing. It’s written in the continuous present tense. It’s a “be ye being filled with the Holy Spirit.” It’s really an abiding, abiding in Him, and He is abiding in us. So, it’s a continually being filled. You can come again, and again, and again. “Oh, precious Lord Jesus, fill me with Your Spirit.”

God has an inexhaustible well that never ever runs dry. We run dry so quickly, but we can constantly come into His inexhaustible well that never runs dry and receive of His fullness, for in Him dwells all the fullness of God. Wow! We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us. So, we are to dwell in fullness! Isn’t that amazing? I mean, it’s truth, but sometimes it’s far beyond our experience. But this is what God intends for us, to be filled with all the fullness of God as we continually keep coming to Him.

In Acts 2:2, this is when they were waiting for the initial filling of the Holy Spirit, back in the early church. “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house.” Not just a little bit of the house, not just some parts. “It filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

No. 3. GOD WANTS US TO BE FILLED WITH JOY

Romans 15:13: “Now the God of hope fill you” (we get it so many times, ladies, this word “fill.” “Fill.” Are you getting it? We’re not to be half-filled, a little bit filled, or a tiny bit filled. But filled to the top and overflowing) “Now the God of hope fill you with ALL joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

There’s a few more Scriptures about joy. John 15:11: “These things have I spoken unto you” (Jesus said) “that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

You see, Jesus wants us to be full of joy. And do you notice that it’s talking about His joy, that “My joy will remain in you.” Yes, it’s His joy, which becomes our joy. So, ladies, sometimes you’re facing things in your life. I know that they really don’t. . . well, how can you have joy about them?

But you see, our joy is not dependent on our circumstances, what we’re going through, or whatever we’re facing. Our joy is Christ in me, the hope of glory. It’s His joy. When He comes to dwell in me, when He comes to dwell in you, He comes with His joy. So, we embrace His joy, and we can be joyful, because of His joy, not because of our circumstances.

In John 16:24, Jesus said: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

In Acts 2:28, it was speaking back of David. David said: “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance.”

Now, in this Scripture, the word “make” is the same word for being filled. The word “filled” in the New Testament. Last week I told you about the word “filled” in the Old Testament. It’s the word male. In the New Testament, it is the Greek word. It’s the word pleroo. Here in this Scripture, the word “make” is pleroo, and also the word “full” is pleroo. So, it comes two times.

In Acts 13:51, Paul and Barnabas had been out preaching the Gospel, but persecution rose up against them, “and they expelled them out of their coasts.” But what happens? It says: “They shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost,” even in the midst of persecution.

In 1 John 1: 3-4, it says: “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

One more Scripture as we end, 2 John 1:12. John the disciple was writing to the elder lady, and he says to her: “I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.”

So, God wants us to be full of joy, and He wants our joy to be full. Can you say amen? Can you get with this? Not half-joyful, but fully joyful.

And I love this Scripture. Why does he say our joy will be full? “Because I want to come to you and talk to you face to face. Did you know that true fellowship is face to face? In the Greek, it really means “mouth to mouth.” You are speaking with one another, facing one another.

This is important. This is the fellowship that God talks about in the Word of God. And He commands us to have fellowship with one another, to have face-to-face fellowship with one another. That’s what happened with this plandemic last year, and churches were closed, and they had their Zoom meetings.

Yes, you could still hear the Word, but you were not having fellowship. You were not meeting together with the saints, and assembling together with them, which the Word of God commands us to, so we can have that face-to-face fellowship. It is a beautiful thing. It brings such joy.

There’s nothing like true fellowship in the Lord. And every believer needs it. We cannot really live this Christian life on our own. We have to do it together. It is a togethering. And that’s how God intends it to be. Of course, it brings our joy to the full too.

Anyway, time is gone, and I’ve got some more points for you next week.

“Dear Father, we love You, and we want to thank You, that You, Lord Jesus, are filled with all the fullness of God. And You dwell in us. Oh, Lord God, You want to dwell in us, in all Your fullness. Help us to open our hearts and our lives unto Your fullness.

Lord God, save us from living this half-measure kind of life. Bring us into living life to the full. Lord God, I pray that You will save us from having our homes just half-filled, or even just a little bit filled with Your presence, and with Your glory, and with Your Spirit. Lord, we want to open up our homes, and every room of our homes to the fullness of Your Spirit, to the fullness of Your presence.

Lord God, we pray, that as we see things that grieve the Holy Spirit, things that are unholy, oh, God, things that are against what Your Word says. Give us grace, and courage, and strength to come against them, Lord God. That we will create and build holy homes for Your presence, that You can fill every room. Fill our dining rooms, our lounges, our bedrooms, every room with Your presence. We ask in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

* To clarify. Of course, zoom meetings can be a great encouragement, and can add to church life. Here I am speaking on a podcast to you. But they shouldn’t take the place of God’s mandate to gather together as it says in Hebrews 10:25 that we must “not forsake the gathering of ourselves together.” Church is far more than a meeting. It is a gathering to fellowship with one another,  pray for one another, love one another, break bread with one another, show hospitality to one another, care for one another, etc. Our faith is not only a personal faith, but a together faith, a mutual faith, a “you and me” faith (Romans 1:12).

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org

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

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LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 166 –  LIFE TO THE FULL, Part 1

Today, I begin a new series, LIFE TO THE FULL. God does not want us to be half full, but truly FULL. Today, we look at the very first FILL word in the Bible.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. We’re starting a new series today, LIFE TO THE FULL. I wish I had called this podcast that very name, LIFE TO THE FULL, because I think this is what this podcast is all about. I’m always sharing with you from the Scriptures, how God wants us to live. And it is, LIFE TOP THE FULL!

This podcast is called From Our Home to Yours, With Nancy Campbell. Yes, I do sometimes talk about what’s going on here. But really, I love to speak more from the Word. I love to fill you with the Word, about life to the full, because that’s how God wants us to live.

John 10:10: Jesus said: “I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.” And our God is a God of fullness. We read in the Scriptures, Jeremiah 23:24: “Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.”

Psalm 33:5 tells us how “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

Psalm 119:64: “The earth is full of His mercy.”

Psalm 104:24: “The earth is full of His riches.”

Habakkuk 3:3: “The earth is full of his praise.”

He is a God of fullness. In everything that God is, He is in complete fullness.

We go over to the New Testament. I love this Scripture from one of the stories that Jesus told. In Luke 14:23, Jesus was telling the story about how all these people were invited to the feast, but they all had their excuses why they couldn’t come. So, the one who was the host, he said, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them that they may come in, that my house may be filled.”

God is THE GOD OF THE FULL HOUSE. He wants a full house. He wants His house in eternity to be filled. That’s why one of God’s favorite words is “Come. Come unto Me. Come, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden. Come, those who are hungry and thirsty. Come, be filled, come into My Kingdom.”

God wants to have a full house. But because God is a God of fullness, He wants His people to have this same mentality about being full. Not half-full, but full.

We go over to Ephesians.1:21-22. Oh, this beautiful Scripture! Talking about Jesus, Who is “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come: and hath put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body,” and, listen to this, ladies, “THE FULLNESS OF HIM THAT FILLETH ALL IN ALL.”

Christ is the fullness. He is the One that fills all in all, that fills everything. He wants His body, His church, that is us, to be filled with His fullness, the One Who fills all in all. And so, it’s all about fullness, ladies, life to the full.

So, I’d like to take you through some Scriptures because God speaks about many different things, of how He wants us to be filled and what He wants us to be filled with throughout the Word of God.

So, we’ll look at some of these things. But we always have to start with that which is first. I believe in starting with first things first. That means we go right back to the beginning. And God doesn’t take very long to start us off on this great revelation of fullness.

In fact, he talks about it in the very first chapter of the Bible. We don’t even get past the first chapter and God is talking about the word “fill.” And, of course, it’s Genesis 1:28. It’s the very first words that God spoke into the ears of man. And he used the word “filled.”

You see, it’s Who God is . . . it’s on His heart. So out it comes, from His mouth, onto us, His people, onto the very first creation. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

That’s King James, but most other translations, I think nearly every other translation says: “And fill the earth and subdue it.” Because it is the Hebrew word male, or mah-lay. Those Hebrew-speaking people, forgive me, if I give you the wrong pronunciation.

But the word in the Hebrew is m-a-l-e, and pronounced, I think, mah-lay. In the Strong’s Concordance, it’s the number 4390, and also 4392. They are both male, and both have just about the same meaning, meaning, “to the full, fill to overflowing.”

So, God comes out with this great word, right at the beginning, the very first words He speaks into His creation. Therefore, ladies, we do have to take notice of them. I am amazed how many, even people who say they are Bible believers, take no notice of these words. “Oh, that was just for back then.”

No. Every word God gave was powerful. It was eternal. It was for all generations. And God spoke this word to give us His heart and His plan for us. And God hasn’t changed. This is what He speaks to us today, to all married couples.

God says, “I bless you.” And His blessing is “be fruitful, multiply.” The word multiply is rabah, and it means “abundant, increase, make greater, more, and fill the earth.” Was that the only time God said these words? No. While we’re on this subject, the very first subject for the word, “fill,” I’ll take you on to quite a few other Scriptures.

We go on to Genesis 9. This was after the Flood, and because sin came, and, oh, God was so sad that He even made man. And He sent this flood to destroy the whole earth. But He saved Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives, the only people who were not contaminated by the evil at that time.

Isn’t it interesting, ladies, that right throughout Scripture, we see remnants? You know, it’s not always all the people who are on the right track. No, it’s usually the remnant. Even Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14).

The popular idea, the popular way of life, is not always God’s way. And in that time of that evil upon the earth, God only found eight people. That was a very small remnant. Interestingly, what does the Bible say in the New Testament? That when Jesus comes, it will be like the days of Noah which were days of great evil. And in those days, there was only a remnant that was saved. This is very challenging to me. Oh, I often cry out to the Lord. Do you also?

I say, “Lord God, I want to be in Your remnant. Oh, don’t let me miss Your remnant!” Because the Bible tells us that there will be a great falling away and many will be deceived. Even some of the elect will be deceived. Oh, how we must be so careful, even studious, to study, to discern, to know, what is God’s mind, and to be with Him, and walking with Him, rather than walking with the popular opinion of the day.

So, after this flood, when most of the earth was destroyed, God came again to Noah and his family, and He repeated the words He gave in Genesis 1. Because, you see, this is God’s heart. He wanted them brought again, He wanted to remind Noah again, because this was His plan.

So, He comes again with these same words, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth.” Male, fill to overflowing. No, not just, “Well, just have a few children, just whatever you think you could perhaps manage.” No, fill the earth!

This is God’s heart. Do we really think like God, or do we think like this humanistic age? We are to think one way or the other. Here, God said it in verse one, and He said it in verse seven, again. This time, He said it two times, so they would get the message.

Yes, so we move along. Then time goes on, and, yes, the people of God were filling the earth. God began to bring out of the earth a people, a special people, a people for His Name who would be His people, who would bring forth the Messiah, who would bring forth the Word of God into the world. They were the people of Israel, beginning with Abraham.

We get to the story of where the children of Israel, they’re now down in Egypt. You remember how Joseph was used to guard, to save Egypt and many countries, and, especially his own people, from famine. He brought his father and all his family down to Egypt. They dwelt in the land of Goshen.

The years went by, and they multiplied. But now, a new Pharoah has come. He didn’t even really know who these people were. So, let’s read about it.

We’ll start with Exodus 1:7: “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." So here we get this word “filled” again. It keeps coming. We’re going to see that it keeps coming up, right throughout the Word of God.

We see that the people of Israel, they were doing what God intended them to do. Did you get it? My, there were a lot of adjectives here. They were . . .

“fruitful, and

 increased abundantly, and

multiplied, and

waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was

FILLED with them.”

“Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we are.” Oooh, what an amazing testament.

Did you know, ladies, that that should be the testimony of the people of God? That should be our testimony right now, in 2021, because this is God’s heart. This is His plan. When God gave that first command in Genesis 1:28, and He said, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth,” He didn’t stop there.

He went on to say, “And subdue and take dominion.” You see, God wants His people to take dominion on the earth. He wants them to reveal His glory on the earth, to show forth His salvation from day to day, to show forth His mercy, and love, and glory, and judgment, and justice, and all the character of God.

God wants who He is to be revealed on the earth through His people. He wants them to take dominion. He doesn’t want the other side. He doesn’t want the devil’s followers to take dominion.

But how does it happen? It happens through filling the earth with His people. When we stop filling the earth, when we limit our families, we limit the government of God in the earth, we limit the revelation of God in the earth. We limit the justice of God in the earth. We limit the salvation of God. We limit the glory of God in the earth.

And, we are living in that time now. It is a sad state that the last few generations or so have turned away from the Word of God, from God’s very first commandment today, from the very first words that He ever spoke into the ears of man. They have turned to the worldly way.

Well, it’s really the devil’s way, because the devil hates life. God is the giver of life, the author of life, the lover of life. Satan, who cannot give life, hates life. He seeks to eliminate it, every way he can. Sadly, the devil has been very, very successful in blinding the eyes of even God’s precious people to begin to think like the humanistic mindset.

And to think, “Oh, wow, it is much better to only have, well, maybe two or perhaps three children, where we can provide for them. Then we’ll have time to do all the things that we want to. Of course, I can’t have too many children if I’m out in this career.”

Somehow, oh, I don’t know how it’s happened, but it’s happened gradually. Now, in so many, many churches today, it is the normal thinking. You go into a church today and apart from going to church on Sunday, apart from worshipping the Lord on Sunday, their lifestyle is not very different from the secular world.

Most of the women in the church are limiting their families. They are going out to work. They are not actually doing God’s ultimate plan, which is to fill the earth, to embrace the children God wants for them. Because this is how God brings His revelation into the world.

Now, we are living in a time such as we have never lived before. We are becoming under tyranny from those who do not fear God, those who try to bring us into subjection, instead of God’s people having dominion. It's all because we have limited the godly seed.

Just think of the thousands of millions of godly seed that would be on this earth, filling the earth with His glory, filling it with His justice, bringing righteousness into the land, instead of more and more evil. Instead, we are where we are today.

I don’t know. Is it even too late to get back? We have lost thousands and thousands and thousands of the godly seed.

But here we are, back in Egypt, they were doing it right. And they were more and mightier than the Egyptians. That was God’s intention. It’s still God’s intention.

But, of course, they (the Egyptians) didn’t like it. So, they said: “Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply.” Wow. Yes, can you see the devil’s cunning plan there, ladies? Do you see it? “Come on now, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply.”

The devil is scared of multiplication! He is scared of the godly seed. He is scared of more and more of God’s people filling the earth. And so, he duped God’s people. Yes, he gradually duped us. He used his worldly wisdom to put these thoughts in their minds.

“Oooh, wow, the world, they seem to know best, don’t they? I mean, have all these children? Goodness me, how can you even survive? How can you provide for them? And how can you do all you want to do in life? How can you even serve the Lord?”

He puts all these thoughts into our minds, and he dupes us, lest we multiply, because he is scared of the godly seed. He is scared of godly mothers who know who they are. He is scared of those who are open to embrace the godly children. Oooh, he doesn’t want that. This is what he does.

And it goes on. Verse 11: “Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.” But verse 12 says, listen to this: “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” Wow! Isn’t that amazing?

Here we are, you know, in a very affluent society. At this time, we don’t know what is going to happen. I am praying for God to move so mightily. I so long that we would see a great harvest of souls in this end time before the Lord comes. But I don’t know.

We are either getting very, very close to the end, as we see what is happening, even now, with trying to bring mandated vaccinations. This mandating is totally against our freedoms, the freedoms of us individually, the freedoms of us as a nation, the freedoms that we have through our Constitution.

All this is totally anti-Constitution, anti-who God made us to be, anti-everything that we are as a nation. It's not of God. It’s just like what we know is going to come at some time. Will it be soon, or is it in the future of the mark of the beast where we will not be able to buy or sell?

We’re certainly having a practice run now. Or it’s getting very close now, where already, in some of our states, they’re already mandating, “You can’t do this unless you have this vaccine passport.”

So, we are living in very precarious days. But right up until now, we have lived in freedom, the greatest free country in the history of this world, here in America. And yet, people, even in this beautiful country are still limiting the godly seed.

Here in Egypt, even with great affliction and taskmasters, whipping them and bringing them into bondage and servitude, they still did not stop bringing in the godly seed. They continued to fill Egypt.

So, wow, what an example it was! Then we go on, how the king of Egypt even told them (the midwives) they had to kill the sons when they were born. But the Hebrew midwives, oh, my. It goes on, verse 19: “And the midwives said unto Pharaoh” (because they kept the male children alive, and he was upset with them), they said: “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. And therefore, God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied.”

They still multiplied! Even when the king sent out this mandate: “Midwives, you must kill every male child!”  Did they take notice? No! They defied the mandate! They defied the king of Egypt, the Pharoah. They defied it, in the face of death.

There are many who will say, “Oh, we must heed to Romans 13 which says we must submit to the government, whatever they say.” Yes, I believe that is true, but I don’t believe we submit when it is against God.

Just as in a marriage, a wife is to submit to her husband. That is biblical. But a wife doesn’t submit to something that God has said is evil or is not right. She cannot submit to wickedness. We think of the disciples who said:  “We must obey God, rather than man” (Acts 4:18-20 and 5:28, 29),

Here, we see in this passage, how these midwives, they were given a mandate. They were given a law that they were to kill them, these precious babies! But they defied, they defied the king of Egypt. There are times when we have to defy that which is evil. And in the midst of all this, it says: “And the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.” OK! So, they were filling the earth.

All right! You know, terrible things can come when we don’t do what God wants us to do. Did you know that Saudi Arabia was once a Christian nation? It’s now a totally Islamic nation. In 100 years, it became Islamic. Nations can change if we don’t continue to walk in the fear of God, and in obedience to God’s ways.

All right, let’s see another Scripture about filling. Ecclesiastes 11:5. This is an interesting Scripture. It talks about how a baby is being created in the womb. It says: “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” The words “with child,” ladies, it’s the same word we’re talking about, male, “filled to overflowing.”

And God uses that word when a baby is growing in the womb. Gradually this baby fills the womb. This is the word God uses. Isn’t that beautiful? The Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible says: “In the womb of the full one.” So, gradually, this little baby grows and fills the womb.

When this baby is filling the womb, it gets to a stage, where, oh, my, there’s no more room at all! And it comes time for this little baby to be born. But once again, we see this Hebrew word, “filled to the fullness.” It’s also about a baby coming on.

All right, let’s go to another passage, Psalm 80. In this passage, God is revealing His plan for Israel. It’s also His plan for His redeemed people. This is what God wants.

Now, sadly, because the people of Israel, they sinned, they turned away from God. We do not see, we have not yet seen the fullness of this Scripture. But it will come, because every word that God has given, there will come a time when it will be fulfilled. But it’s a beautiful picture.

Here is it, Psalm 80:8-10: “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt.” It’s talking about bringing His people out of Egypt. “Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.” God brought them into the Promised Land. They had to push them out and overcome the enemy. They had to annihilate them so they could fill the land.

“Thou preparest room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.” There was a time when the children of Israel went in and they filled the land. That was God’s plan. Sadly, because of their sins, they ended up being cast out of the land.

But let’s continue the beautiful picture. “The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.”

So, that was the picture. It’s the picture God has for His people, filling the land. You notice the word “fill” again. You see, this is God’s Word. He loves this word. It’s His heart. It’s what He wants. He wants the land filled with His people. They did that when they went into the land.

But then it goes on to say: “Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the woods doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; And the vineyard, which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that Thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from Thee: quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”

Oh, my, we need to cry out that prayer before the Lord, because God’s people have been cut down even in this land. Even God’s people have refused to bring them in but God wants . . .  His longing is for the land to be filled with His people.

Isaiah 27:6: “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.”

And then we go on to Numbers 14:21: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” You notice the word “filled” again? This is what God’s plan is, the glory of the Lord.

Now, what is the glory of the Lord? Well, His creation is His glory. Yes. But God has a greater glory. It’s His people. God wants to fill His people with His glory and He wants them to fill the earth. This is His ultimate plan, that there will come a day when all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, the glory of His people filling the earth.

Psalm 72:19: “Let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen,” says the Psalm.

Habakkuk 2:14 and Isaiah 11:9: “For the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

All right, one more Scripture for this session, and we’ll have to keep going next time. We’ve got so many more! Ezekiel 36:38. In this Scripture, it’s in the context of God bringing back His people Israel to the land of Israel. Oh, I love this chapter of Ezekiel! I’d love you to read the whole chapter sometime when you get a moment. It’s amazing!

In fact, in this chapter, God is prophesying through His servant, Ezekiel. He’s not prophesying to people. We always think, when there’s a prophetic word, it’s a word to people. But here, the prophet is prophesying, not to people.

He says, verse 4: “Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and a derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the heathen,” and so on.

Then He carries on again, verse 6: “Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains” (here it is again) “and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys,” and so on. It’s talking about how the land is to get ready for God’s people who are about to come.

Verse 8: “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.” It’s amazing, ladies, that we, as we are reading this, we are actually living in the time of this prophetic word being fulfilled.

We all know how Israel became a nation in 1948. Hitler tried to get rid of God’s chosen people, the Jews. He tried to eliminate them. But three years after he died, Israel became a nation again. God was working out His plans. And God did it. He has been bringing back His people to the land, from that time, even before that time.

And more and more, since 1948, and right up to this day, Jews are still coming back to the land and the land is blossoming. The land is bringing forth fruit. It’s amazing. I have been out to the West Bank, to some of these desolate places in Israel.

I went out with one tour. Part of the tour is to go and plant a tree for Israel. So, we go out, and there on the barren hills, they’re just stones. They give you a tree and you look at this little spindly tree, and you think, “Help! Am I to plant this here?”

“Yes, just go and plant it over there.” It’s just a bit of stony stuff. There’s no real good soil. You think, “This is ridiculous! OK, well, better plant it.”  You try to dig a little bit and you plant this tree in this sandy soil, stony soil, really it is. Sorry, I’m going over time. I’ll just finish this story. But you look around, and there’s all these amazing, beautiful trees, so lush and glorious, that other people have planted. And they grew!

Then I went out to be with these dear friends of ours, the Wallers, who have the organization Ha Yovel. They are planting vineyards on the mountains of Samaria out on the West Bank. They’re planting vineyards.

Once again, it’s on this stony, rocky land, and you think “How could anything grow?” You look around, and these glorious, luscious vineyards are growing, because they’re growing prophetically! God said, He prophesied the word, that this land would get ready for His people. And when they came back it would flourish! Not only would it flourish, but it goes on to the end of this chapter.

Verse 37: “I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feast; so shall the waste cities be filled (there it is again) be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.” God wants, He loves the world filled, and He wants us to fill the earth.

“Dear Father, we thank You for Your Word. Without Your Word, we would not know Your plans. We would not know Your heart. And, Lord God, we see Your heart. You are God of the filling, the God of fullness.

You want us, also, to be part of Your plan. Help us to understand Your ways. Take us, Lord, from this earthly, humanistic thinking of our society, and help us to be people who think like You. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org

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

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FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 165 –  MEET THE MOM OF ELEVEN SONS!

Today you will meet Cassie Fox, the mom of 11 sons! Baby number 12 is coming, and guess what? It's another son! You will be blessed as you hear from Cassie, who the doctors said would never be able to have children. She also endured many miscarriages, and they have one special needs son, who is a blessing to the whole family.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. I have someone to introduce to you today. Her name is Cassie Fox. And Cassie, can you believe this? She is the mother of 11 children! But not just 11 children, she has 11 sons! How about that? And Cassie is expecting number 12. And Cassie, what is this little one?

Cassie Fox: Number 12 is also a boy.

Nancy: Isn't that exciting? She is going to be the mother of 12 sons! Oh, I just think that is so amazing. So I'm going to be chatting with Cassie today. I know you're going to enjoy it so much.

But I have a couple of questions for you, before we start chatting together. I wanted to ask you, maybe you have listened to the last series. I just finished last week a series of six podcasts called “LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY.” It was all about clothing, and how the Bible tells us how to dress.

Isn't it amazing how God is so interested in everything that we do? He even gets down right down to the nitty-gritty of even how we're meant to clothe ourselves.

Anyway, I have a question to ask you. I wonder, as you listened to these podcasts, did you change in any of your attitudes about this subject? Did you change the way you dressed. thinking about this subject? I wonder. Wow.

Actually, I'm going to stop for a minute. By the way, I just thought I'd ask, because I read this Scripture yesterday morning, and I've always been challenged by this Scripture. I was challenged again. It's Mark 4:24-25: “And Jesus said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

That's challenging, isn't it? I believe that, when we embrace what God speaks to us from His Word, if we will not only listen to it, but actually take heed, embrace it into our lives, that God will give us more. I want more revelation. don't you? I'm always searching for more truth. But I can only get that if I will obey that which He already gives me.

And it's such a challenge when you say to those who don't have, we don't take notice of what God is saying to us. well, He takes away even what we have. But those who receive, He gives more. So I trust that that series was a blessing to you. I know there were challenging parts, but they were all from the Bible. I had to even change my own ways. That's what we have to do when we read the Word, don't we?

And another question: My last podcast, at the end, I shared a Scripture that I had currently been memorizing, because I feel it so relates to this hour in which we are living. It was Revelation 15:2. John was looking into the heavenly realm, and he said, “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; And them that had gotten the victory

OVER the beast, and

OVER his image, and

OVER his mark, and

OVER the number of his name.”

 

That's powerful, isn't it? John saw these people in the heavenly realm, around the throne, because they had overcome. They had overcome the beast. Well, maybe they had their heads chopped off for overcoming. Maybe they got there by being martyred. But somehow, they overcame, in a time when they could not even buy or sell if they did not take the mark of the beast.

And we know, don't we, that's something we must never, ever do. We must be teaching our children, that they have got it right in their very being. Because they will be faced, our children will be faced. We don't know when this is going to happen. We've had a lot of practice runs in these last eighteen months.

We have a practice run even now when people are being forced to take this experimental vaccination. People are taking it because, oh, they might lose their job, or they can't go and shop, or they can't do this, or they can't do that.

Well, I don't believe this is the final mark of the beast, but my, it is a great practice run. Are we overcoming now?  Because, I really wonder, if we cannot overcome in what we're facing now, how will we overcome in that time?

I just wanted to remind you about it again, because I suggested to you that you memorize this Scripture with your children, so you can say it out loud together, every day. It's some time. Will it be sooner, or will it be further away? We don't know, but we know it's coming at some time. It's some time. We have to be ready.

We have to exercise our courage muscle. We have to prepare, and we have to prepare our children, that they will be strong in this hour, to stand for God, and never cave into the plans of the enemy, or ever take that mark of the beast.

So, get out that Scripture. Haven't done it yet? Can I remind you again? That you will seek to try to memorize it with your whole family. Say it over together because it's so powerful. Four times it says “over,” and that word “over” means “to prevail, to conquer, to have the victory.” That's the spirit that we have to get in our very being, isn't it?

OK, that was just a little reminder to you.

So now, I've got Cassie here! We've got to talk to her. So, Cassie, it's so great to have you. I’m just getting to know you. I think we'll get to know one another more in the future, because my granddaughter, Cherish (Cherish is one of Serene's daughters) and Cherish and Cassie's son are courting. His name is Ben. We love Ben. He is such a fine young man. We are so happy about Cherish and Ben. Are you happy about them?

Cassie: I am. Cherish matches Ben perfectly. She was made just for him, I think.

Nancy: Yes, they're just so beautiful together. It's so funny, because we've already got the wedding date organized. On January 22, isn't it, I think? You don't know? (laughter) That's what Cherish told me. She said she thought that day, but I don't think he's even popped the question yet! So they've got the wedding date, and he hasn't popped the question. How about that? (laughter) Isn't that amazing?

But anyway, we're looking forward to that. It will be great for Cherish to get married because Cherish has been a bridesmaid, I think now, about ten times! She must be the most popular bridesmaid in the history of the world, I think. That will be so great.

Cherish is one of Serene's adopted daughters. Serene and Sam adopted quite a number of children but there were three siblings. That was Selah, and Isaiah, and Cherish. Selah is married. Oh, Selah, she's so beautiful, the most beautiful girl. Beautiful wife, beautiful mother of six children. She also fosters children. She's just so amazing.

And then Isaiah. He's getting married, at the end of this month, September? Very soon, three weeks or so, yes. He's getting married to Addie, who was an Above Rubies girl. That's going to be beautiful. Then Cherish will be getting married. So great!

I haven't got to know all your family yet. We know Joey, because we see a lot of Joey. I think they came into our lives because Joey and Ben were working with CMS, weren't they? CMS is the manufacturing plant of Trim Healthy Mama. I think Ben, he now works in building now, isn't he?

But I was talking to Joey on Sunday. I said, “Oh, do you know I'm going to interview your mom this coming week?” He said, “Oh, yes!” I said, “What shall I ask her?”  And you know what he said? He said, “Oh, just ask who her favorite son is! Because it's me!” (laughter)

Cassie: That's the competition they all have. I hope they all think they are. That's the goal.

Nancy: That reminds me. Did you notice, ladies, in the latest magazine, Above Rubies 98, which I'm sure you have received, there is an advertisement for a tee shirt which says, “I’M THE FAVORITE!” It was Allison Hartman, actually she wasn't the first to get that. It was, oh, it was another friend of mine who thought of that, Heather Bryant who has organized so many Above Rubies retreats in Washington State.

But they put it together, so you can go to the magazine, and you'll see the link. You can buy a tee shirt, “I’M THE FAVORITE!” for everyone in your family. They've got them for every size. You can go round and everyone in your family has got their “I'm The Favorite!” I think that's such a great idea.

Yes, so anyway, Cassie, you were telling me that when you were married, they said that you wouldn't be able to have children.

Cassie: Actually, before I got married. Right after I met my husband, we were dating. I was sent to a doctor because I'd had problems for years. The doctor did surgery. I had cysts, I had. . .

Nancy: All this before you were married!

Cassie: Before I was married. He said I had endometriosis and several other things that I don't even remember, because I didn't understand.

Nancy: Endometriosis usually causes infertility.

Cassie: He told me, “If you do get pregnant, which you probably won't, you'll probably miscarry. You're not going to carry it.” I had just found the person I was going to marry. He wanted a large family which we thought was four kids (children). (laughter)

So I went back, after the break between our college semesters, and told him, “You can marry someone else if you want. I understand. I can't have children.” He said, “No, God told me you're the one. He actually told me we're going to have children.” And he picked our oldest son's name, Cody Michael, and he said, “That's going to be our first son's name.”

We got married a year later, and I still did not have faith that I was going to. But he did. We were married four months and I went on a women's retreat with my mother-in-law. And the woman spoke on infertility. She talked about Hannah and Samuel.

I committed to the Lord then. I said, “OK, I'll take the child however you give it to me. Adoption. However.” But I was trying to . . . It was my first step in trusting.

But a month later, Mother's Day, one of the women at church said, “Oh, next year, you'll be up on the platform for Mother's Day.” I just walked out of the church, went over to my in-law's house and cried. I said, “God, I know You're probably not going to give me a baby.”

Next month was Father's Day and my husband was on the platform. They gave him that month because I was pregnant, and he was the newest father. It was an incredible moment, that I still hadn't completely trusted the Lord, I guess, because the next month I was in the hospital with a threatened miscarriage. We went the whole pregnancy in and out of the hospital.

They kept stopping my contractions. One time I was in there and I was panicking in the hospital, just totally panicking. And the nurse got in my face, and she said, “Are you a Christian?” And I said, “Yes.” She said, “Well, pray to your God.” That was the moment I was, “OK, God, I completely give it to You.” And I prayed and trusted Him, and we did get Cody.

Nancy: How wonderful! When was he born? Was he premature?

Cassie: No, he was born on his due date, February 18^th, 1999. Our first son.

Nancy: Wow!

Cassie: Which is a miracle. I started praying, not just to have a child, but to have a sibling for him. I wanted my son to have a brother. I prayed for a brother, and God gave us Stephen, nine months after Cody's first birthday. So they were not quite two years apart.

I thought, “Well, OK, we now have two kids (children).” I thought that's what we were going to get. And then Joey.  Only five months after I had Stephen, God gave me Joey. I told my husband, “Whatever they said was wrong. This is not a problem anymore.”

I didn't know Joey was a boy. We didn't have any ultrasounds. God really spoke to my heart during his pregnancy, and told me . . . I only told my husband, because I thought people would think I'm crazy that God was going to give us a lot of sons. So we're going to have more sons.

And two women, two different strangers, two different places, came up to me and said, “I'm the mother of seven sons, and I saw you, and I know you're going to have many sons.” I don't know who those two women were. I never saw them again. I knew Joey was a boy then. Sure enough, he was.

And then Benjamin. Shortly after that, those four, and I got to keep my first four pregnancies, which was pretty incredible.

Nancy: All miracles! Isn't God amazing? Oh yes, you know, we often hear so much negative stuff from the medical profession. So many women hear, “I'll never be able to conceive,” or, “You won't be able to get pregnant,” or this or that, or “If you do get pregnant, something terrible will happen,” or, “You shouldn't.”

But God is so much bigger. He's amazing, isn't He? That is just so wonderful! So, you've got four boys now. What happened? Did you just keep trusting God?

Cassie: We did. The next pregnancy I had I did miscarry. It was very difficult. I was told by two different Christians, “Well, that wasn't a real baby. That was just tissue that didn't work out right.”

But in Jeremiah, the Bible tells us that God knew us before, before He formed us (Jeremiah 1:5). So I knew God knew that child. I used that to make me recommit myself, not to take advantage of the fact that I had four children, but to welcome any more that He would give me.

He gave me twins the next time. I had two boys the next time. One of them has cerebral palsy. He ended up with several other issues along the way. That helped me appreciate and care for him even more because I got to keep him. I got to keep both of them. That changed our family a lot too.

Nancy: Oh, I guess it did! What is his name again?

Cassie: Jacob.

Nancy: Jacob, yes. What a lovely, lovely boy. Oh, he is just so beautiful. In a wheelchair but just so beautiful. Tell us more. Tell the ladies more about Jacob and what he faces in life. Also, how it's affected your family.

Cassie: Well, Jacob is the younger twin. I always said Caleb was given to us for more than one reason. He's very, very special. He helps me. Every day, he helps me. Jacob had a stroke in my womb, at least three of them. I felt them and talked to the doctor about it.

The doctor told me I was crazy, that you can't know that. I didn't say “stroke,” but I said, “He's not breathing. He's just struggling to breathe.” You could feel his little body. When he was born, of course, that was true. It's a very, very long story.

But the short of it is that he ended up with some different doctors that weren't always the best. They medicated him, and caused him more injuries, seizures, and issues. I thank God for a good doctor we finally came across when he was about five. He helped me a lot, and Jacob.

Between five and six, he stopped all medications, was much healthier, able to communicate with us to a point. He was doing a lot better. He was able to get saved and understand for sure. He knows what he loves. He's been baptized. He's able to understand so much. We're just thankful we were able to get him off that medication. You don't have enough time for all that.

Nancy: Oh, please! We just want to hear everything, don't we, ladies?

Cassie: He's changed everyone in our family's hearts. Each of our older boys had to help at different hours. Our oldest son was seven, almost eight. He would just sit and hold Jacob, because Jacob was afraid. His little body would just tremble if you left him anywhere. He needed to be held when he was very small. Each of the boys would help feeding him, taking care of him, making sure he did everything they did.

Nancy: And how old were those boys, about that age?

Cassie: How old were they? When Jacob was born, our oldest was seven and a half. When his seizures started, my oldest was ten. So, ten down to, let's see, Benjamin would have been almost six, I think.

Nancy: So they were just young boys, but they learned how to minister to this little one. That's amazing.

Cassie: They all still do. They all still help, make sure he's. . . Benjamin has actually been the one who asked if, when I can't care for Jacob anymore, if he could have him, if he could take care of him. I know that if he couldn't, all his other brothers are like, “Well, we will.”

God placed him in the middle. He's really in the middle right now. He has five older siblings and five younger. But they all love him and take care of him. Each little brother, they don't know anything different than him in their care.

Nancy: I could imagine both Ben and Cherish welcoming him.

Cassie: They take him out together. They take him to the lake and out to eat. They sit with him, and he loves it.

Nancy: Oh, it just makes me want to cry. So amazing! What are some of the things that they have to do for him each day, currently?

Cassie: Well, Jacob has a feeding tube, which the majority of the nutrition goes through. He did not need that until after the medication reactions we had. He always ate by mouth. So I make . . .

Nancy: Really, those medications do so much more harm.

Cassie: Yes. So I make all his food in the blender, the majority of his food. Caleb, right now, is the one that will feed him through the tube in the morning when I'm taking care of the baby.

We have stairs in the house right now. Hopefully, in two weeks, he'll be on the same level with us. But right now, Caleb carries him down every morning. Jacob's small for his age but he's over 100 pounds. It's a lot of work.

I dress him, but then Caleb puts him in his chair. He's with him right now, watching him. They do school together. His requirements are less, but Caleb always puts on something. They're doing some things separate. He sets it up for Jacob if he needs anything. He loves beads and things to hold, so if he drops them, all the kids (children) know, oh, go get him that. Make sure he has what he needs.

Nancy: He's not really able to communicate? How does he communicate?

Cassie: He has “yes” and “no” sign language, “yes,” and then his head for “no.” He does, every once in a while, say words. If he doesn't think too hard, it will come out naturally.

Nancy: So it’s actually there in his head, yes?

Cassie: When he was younger, he could use his foot a little bit to write words, letters. Now that he's older, he has a speaking device. It's a little hard for him to use. They're going to change it to where he can control it with his eyes. So I'm excited about that because he knows what he wants. He knows what he likes. He can communicate a little bit better that way.

Nancy: I'm sure the greatest blessing is just the fact of him being with his family, not only having so many to care for him, but so much going on. I mean, he would be totally bored in a little, maybe two-child family. What would he do? But there, he's just got so much to observe, look at, and be part of, hasn't he?

Cassie: One of his therapists told me, and I thought they were going to be very judgmental when we had our seventh son. She said, “No, all the kids (children) in this unit who have younger siblings try harder.” And he did.

He's very protective of the younger kids (children). We couldn't tell our one born after him No. Jacob would get upset. He didn't want us to ever tell anyone No. We couldn't scold anybody. It's funny. Yesterday they were watching the kids (children). I came home, and one of my little ones had been naughty. They told Jacob, “Don't tell Mama I was naughty.” Jacob said, “No, no, he was fine. He was fine.” He doesn't like the little ones to get in trouble. He tries harder around them.

Nancy: That's just so amazing. That's another amazing thing, that even though you have this “special needs” child, you never thought of not having any more. Did you think about that, or what?

Cassie: No, every new one was definitely harder. We actually had a miscarriage after the twins. That was the seventh. That was a very difficult loss. Again, it did make my heart yearn more for children instead of stopping it.

We got Luke, and he was a joy. The boys were a little bit older. To see how excited they were with him brought more joy. We thought, “Lord, we're going to keep. . . Whether You take them from us, or let us keep them, we're going to keep accepting what You give, and how long you give them.”

Nancy: That's so beautiful. Everyone has been the most beautiful blessing. Now, you're waiting for another new blessing. How incredible! But you had quite a few miscarriages along the way, didn't you?

Cassie: Yes. After Luke, I got pregnant again. I assumed we'd probably miscarry again. I had a friend, because she had a son with cerebral palsy also, who's a doctor. “Let me do an ultrasound for you, early on.”

I thought I had miscarried, so I went in. I had twins, but I'd lost one of the twins. So I was able to keep Lincoln. Lincoln really says he's a twin in himself because he's got a lot of energy. So I was able to keep him. I thought, “OK, well, maybe the Lord's going to keep letting me have them.” But we had two more miscarriages after that loss.

I thought, “Well, maybe we're done. I don't know what God's doing.” I prayed the same prayer, the same as I had before about Samuel. After Lincoln, our child that we had was Samuel. That was probably my hardest pregnancy, because I really struggled again, kind of back to where I was again, losing three in a row.

“Am I going to get to keep this child?” I think he was about a day old, before I was, I had him, that it's over, and he's here. He's a sweet, sweet boy. So he's probably the one next to Jacob, constantly with him. He's seven. But God let us keep him and He let us keep the baby after him, Brent. And so we were surprised. We got two, back-to-back again. He's five now, and he's sweet.

And we thought that we were probably done. We've gotten kids (children). That's a lot! And then we ended up having a miscarriage, and then we ended up having a tubal pregnancy. It almost cost my life. That one was pretty serious. My ovary had exploded, literally, and my tube was gone. I had hours.

But the Lord brought a doctor to me. She did the surgery, and she told me, “You can still have children.” I didn't think I could. She said, “I'll deliver them. I'll help you.”

Nancy: Did they save the fallopian tube?

Cassie: It was gone. It was exploded.

Nancy: So you just have one ovary.

Cassie: I have one. I had several people tell me, “Oh, no, that makes you more fertile.” I didn't think it did. But it did. I work twice as hard now! I ended up with four more miscarriages, though. I thought, “Well, I might be able to get pregnant.”

But a lot of things, I had many surgeries in that time frame. More cysts and issues, and all those things that what the doctor told me would happen, was happening. I thought we were done. One of them, I carried five weeks, the other three twelve weeks.

So when I got pregnant for the seventh time in a row there, I went into the doctor and said, “Just tell me, is the heartbeat still there, or is it weak? Which one is it?” And she said, “The heartbeat's there, and it's strong. You're going to carry this baby.”

She was so excited because she wanted to deliver one of my kids (children). And he was fine. He tiny, but he's here. He just celebrated his first birthday. I got pregnant again, and she told me the same thing. “This baby's strong, and it's going to make it.” We’ve got sixteen weeks left, I think. It's so exciting.

Nancy: What a beautiful story! So, how many miscarriages have you had in total?

Cassie: Total, a vanishing twin, and then a tubal, and then nine pregnancies, so eleven babies, eleven.

Nancy: Wow. So that means, when this precious baby is born, you will have 23! What a blessing! Wow! So not only do you enjoy with all these amazing sons here, but then you've got all these surprises to meet in eternity! It's just so amazing!

Cassie: Yes, we've talked about it a lot. My mom passed away in November, and I'm like, “She got to meet them all first!” She's probably up there rocking grandbabies. That's what she liked to do. We have them all. I'm so excited.

Nancy: So wonderful. And then I think you have these testimonies that are so encouraging. Sometimes, when you're having a lot of miscarriages, and then my daughter, Serene, has just had a third miscarriage. She's so grieving, and so disappointed. I mean, a miscarriage is not just a miscarriage. It's a life, and you grieve this life, no matter what stage it is, whether it's in the womb, or it's later. Because it's life.

But I'm just so blessed to hear how you kept trusting God. And I think that's the most wonderful thing. And you're getting blessed. Now you have these two babies that are coming, the last one, and now this one. It's so amazing.

I've got lots of beautiful poems about miscarriages, because, you know, women face this quite frequently, and I love to have things to encourage them. So I'll read one of them to you today. I love this. It's called “Holding us Both,” by a mother, Heather Hamilton.

My little one, barely formed

I’ve never seen your face

In this life I’ll never hold you close

And yet

For just a little while my womb was your home

From the moment I knew your life was in me

I loved you

I touched my womb and knew that you were there

A miracle was being woven

But something was not right

I lost you, my little one

Before I got to know you,

hold you close or see your face

My dear little one

My heart cries out for you with such loss and deep sorrow

But I know the LORD will hold you for me

And one day I will see your face

My precious little child

And joy will replace the grief and loss

But until that day the LORD will hold us both.

 

Isn't that lovely? Yes. Now, as you've been having all these children, you know, our current society doesn't really understand the blessing and joy of children. I think this is one of the greatest testimonies that we can be in this world, as a joyful mother of children. We are revealing what God is like. He is a lover of children.

But I guess you've had lots of negative comments as you've gone out. What are some of the things you've replied, or said, when people said, “Oh, are all these yours?” Or things like that.

Cassie: Oh goodness. It's been a while. I used to get pretty upset. But I'm proud of who my children have become. When I had the older ones, when they were little, I'd get a lot of negative stuff from women.

Men would always tell me, “I wish my wife would have more kids (children).”

That was in California. Out here, it's been the opposite. I'll have women come tell me, “I wish I had more kids (children).” But usually, they ask if they're paying to feed my kids (children). And they're not. We're feeding our own children.

Nancy: What a rude question to ask! Oh!

Cassie: My husband's a hard worker. And our boys are hard workers. Now usually when they find out, I get asked, “You don't have six kids, do you,” when they see the little ones with me.

And I say, “No, I have 12!” And I like these four men, my sons who are adults, Ben's almost there. I like who’ve they’ve become. They're good men. They're godly men. They're hard workers. I like to see who they've become.

I think sometimes one or two kids (children), people have, and they haven't turned out. You can’t say something to me. My experience isn’t yours.

Nancy: I think it's different too. People will see a mum with lots of little children, and “Oh, goodness! How does she survive that? Goodness me!” When people see a mother with these big sons all around them, fine, upright young men, hard-working young men, oh my. There is not one negative thing they can say.

Cassie: I feel like that's why I get more positive stuff. Out here, of course, in Tennessee, there's a lot more larger families, so you get that more frequently.

But yes, exactly. It is hard when you have to teach your child to cook, or to behave. It takes time, but the rewards later on, it's a lot easier. Things are easier when they're well-behaved, and they're good men.

Nancy: Absolutely! It's just a joy. I often say to young mums, when people look at a mum with all her little ones and say, “Oh! Are all these yours?” And I say, “Just beam with joy and say, 'Yes, we love children! Don't you?'”

Well! It gets back on them! Don't they love children? Well, they don't know what to say. They can't say, “No, I don't love children!” They why are they asking me such a stupid question? (laughter)

Well, now you are just having this beautiful twelfth pregnancy, well, you've had more. But your twelfth baby coming. How has that affected your health? Have you found pregnancy has been a blessing and that actually you've even got healthier as you've gone along?

Cassie: I think so. Most of my pregnancies have been pretty smooth. The first two I was stressed a lot and had different issues there, but overall healthy. I've had gestational diabetes once, with the last pregnancy, but overall, yes, the doctor said, “You're healthy, you're strong.” God made me to have babies, and He puts them in there.

Nancy: That's exactly right! And I just want to encourage young mums listening today, and you're hearing about this beautiful mother, having her twelfth baby. And you think, “Oh, how could I ever do that?” But you know. lovely ladies, we, as Cassie just said, we were born to have babies! That's how God created us!

And the blessings are so amazing! I thought I would just, as we're closing, mention some of these blessings that we sometimes forget about. Of course, we go to the Scripture. In 1 Timothy 2:15, where it says that “Women will be saved in childbearing.”

The New American Standard says: “Women shall be preserved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and love and sanctity, with self-restraint.” That word, “to be saved, or preserved,” is an amazing word. It's the Greek word sozo. It's actually pronounced as “sode’-zo.” It means, listen to what it means. It means, not just to save, it means “to save, to deliver, protect, heal, preserve, keep safe, and make whole.”

That's the full meaning of that word and that word is used for women. It says: “Women will be preserved, delivered, healed, made whole, through childbearing.” That's not just through giving birth to a child. It's the whole embracing of childbearing, of pregnancy, birthing, and raising and nurturing that child. We will be saved and preserved through that.

It's the same word, exactly the same word when Jesus healed people, when it said: “He made them whole.” Isn't that amazing? When He healed the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus said, “Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

And if you go back to the Greek, the words “hath made” are sozo, and “whole” is sozo. So it comes two times in that same sentence that Jesus said, “I make you whole.” And that's what childbearing does. You are made whole. It's so amazing.

You go on, when Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus. And Jesus said to him: “Your faith hath made you whole.” So it goes on and on. You read so many stories in the Gospels about that.

But I just thought I should remind you again, how, so many of the things, how we are preserved. Oh, I wrote an article on this one. I'll just give you a few little tips just now.

Pregnancy hormones are beneficial to the ovaries. They help to clear pre-cancerous cells from the epithelial lining of the ovary.

Now because older women accumulate more cells than younger women, pregnancy at an older age is such a blessing. Isn't that amazing? So older women can be more prone to getting these pre-cancerous cells, which can grow, but when they conceive and are pregnant, it clears them away. Hallelujah! Isn't that so incredible? It's so amazing!

And then of course, we know how breastfeeding is an antidote to breast cancer. There are so many articles written about that. I don't even need to go into them all. Oh, yes, you know when you feel sick when you're pregnant? You go through that, “I don't know, why do I have to go through this?”

Oh, don't be in despair, ladies.  Maybe you're going through this now. It's a good thing, because when you feel this lousy morning sickness, remember that this hormone is gonadotropin. That's the hormone. It's also a hormone that prevents cancer. Isn't that amazing?

So every time you conceive, you get sick, and sometimes even mothers may miscarry later, but they have still been through that time. That is all anti-cancer, that hormone, going through that time. That is amazing. And I love the fact that estriol is one of the three estrogen hormones that we, as women, have. But estriol, this particular one, it elevates 1000 times when we're pregnant. Isn't that amazing?

Yes, oh, goodness me, they have found that this level of estriol that you have during pregnancy, it causes the risk of breast cancer to decrease even 40 years later! Isn't that amazing?

And get this! Estriol is the anti-aging hormone! Wow! Isn't that exciting? Yes, they put estriol in anti-aging creams. You don't have to pay all the money! Just get pregnant! (laughter) Yes! It's so incredible.

Oh, I just watched the YouTube of this woman in Australia. She's 107 years of age! She wasn't all doddering, and they had to help her walking along and with her walking stick. I couldn't believe it! She was walking like some fit woman of about 50! She was amazing! And she had 11 children! And here she is, at 107. She had lots of pep still. She's going great! Isn't that amazing?

Yes, and of course, when you're pregnant, you have glorious oxytocin and prolactin, and all those wonderful things. And progesterone, oh, goodness, that elevates. It jumps to 100 times more when you're pregnant. Yes.

Progesterone guards you from breast cancer, and it alleviates anxiety and depression. It also improves the immune system, builds bones, improves serum, and protects from seizures, decreases allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, and loads of other things. Wow! You just get so blessed when you're pregnant!

In our society, we are told lies. This whole of society is filled with lies. It's just deception and lies. And we've got to get the truth. People are made to think, “Oh, if I had more babies, oh, goodness me, it will be bad on my health.”

It is the opposite! Because your body was created to conceive a child, and give birth, and nurse from your breasts. As you do these things, you have all these glorious blessings, physically, but also emotionally, and spiritually. Yes, but we've run out of time! Do you want to say anything more?

Cassie: Just thank you so much for having me. It's been fun.

Nancy: Oh, it's been so great. I know you've been blessed by Cassie's story. Oh, we'll have to tell you when this baby comes. Oh, thank you, Cassie. Let's pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You that You are a God who loves life. You love babies, You love children. This is Your heart. This is Your plan. You created us female for the privilege, and the honor, and the glory of bringing forth life into this world. And Lord, You give us all the blessings along with it, these physical blessings.

We thank You, Lord God. I pray, Father, that you will bring each one who's listening today into all Your truths. Lord, God, let us be women of truth, rather than being just kind of influenced by the humanistic thinking of this age. We ask it in the Name of Jesus.

I pray Your blessing on every marriage, and every family, and every child. And that we will all, in this hour of deception, walk in Your ways, walk with courage, walk with bravery, walk in the strength of the Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org

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

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