FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 143: WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? Pt 4

The revelation of God's face – He wants to smile His blessing upon us, but sometimes He has to hide His face. Let's live in the lights of His countenance.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies. Great to be with you again! And also, I'm so pleased to tell you that a new Above Rubies is going to be coming to you soon. It will go to the printer's this very week, so Number 98 is coming your way!

I know, you've had a long wait, and that's because we have to wait for the finance to come in. I rely on the donations of those who want to get this message of strengthening families out into the nation and into the world. Sometimes I have to wait longer than I want to wait. I love to get it out to you to encourage you and so that you can share it with others, to encourage them.

Now at this time, of course, we're preparing our database, and cleaning it up, as we do each time we send out a new magazine. So if you have a change of address, please send it in. Email it to me at ,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We'd love to get your change of address if you've moved, because if you send it out to the wrong address, well, we have to pay for it. And they send it back to, well, they don't, they just send back a little card, so the magazine is destroyed. And then they charge us for letting us know that it couldn't get to you! So do that.

Also, some of you who are listening, you may not even get the Above Rubies magazine. Well, that's the origin of Above Rubies! It's a magazine to encourage you, and uplift you, and bless you, and, oh, fortify you in your great and high calling. It's filled with testimonies of other wives and mothers, and it will bless your soul. So if you don't get the magazine, just email me, and you can send your address in, and we'll put you on the mailing list.

Some of you may want to get more to share with others. That's our vision, to share this message to everyone we can. So you're welcome to write in, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and ask for more copies.

Oh, also, my Above Rubies Instagram account, some of you may have been following that. A few weeks ago, it was hacked. I haven't yet got it back. Sadly, that is 12,300 followers. I had posted there 1,572 posts to encourage and bless mothers. They're all gone, so that is so sad.

But anyway, at last I have set up another Instagram account. It's still the same address, so you can go to it: _Above_Rubies_. So it's “Above Rubies,” with an underscore at the beginning, the middle, and the end.

So I've got to start all again. Please share with friends and let them know that it's beginning again. I'll start posting now every day to you on Instagram, just to give you something to bless you, and inspire you, as a wife and a mother.

Also, the Equality Act, have you been listening to anything about that? It's an act that's already been passed in the House. Sometime ago it was passed, but now Nancy Pelosi and all these demos, they are desperate to get it passed through the Senate.

Now, this Equality Act is not what it sounds. Like everything that they put out, they make it sound so beautiful, but it is the opposite of equality for all people, especially for those who are conservative with Bible-believing principles.

This Equality Act will cause girls who are in sports to have to compete with transgenders, those who  have changed from male to female, but still have so much more manly power. Of course, that's not even fair.

It will affect those who are in business. They cannot refrain from employing someone who is homosexual or transgender. Any business they will do for them, they can't say no, because they'd rather not do it for someone in that position. So they are bound to do it.

Also for churches, they cannot say no to even a homosexual or transgender who would want to come and work for them. They cannot even say no. This is what it's all about. That's only just the beginning. You can read up about it. Just put it in, “Equality Act.”

But what we all have to is call our senators. So I would encourage each one of us to call our senators, because if we don't do this, this thing will be passed. And we're just going down the drain, like we already are.

In only just over a month, since Biden has been the illegitimate President of our nation, he has now signed over 50 executive orders. Now, in that same time frame, Obama signed six, and Trump signed five. But Biden has signed over 50, every one of them bringing down this nation, causing people to lose jobs, and bringing us to poverty, and taking us away from our conservative and Biblical values. So this is where we are heading. We've got to stand up for everything that we can, so do call your senator about this bill, the Equality Act, and plead with them to vote against it.

Of course, let's keep praying for our nation. It's sort of hard to know what to do, isn't it? When we think, “Wow, we're just, they're just pushing in everything that's against our Biblical values!” Here they're doing this in a fraudulent way, because we all know, it has been proven without doubt that this election was won by Trump.

So where can we go? Our Supreme Court is not standing with us. No one is standing with us. We only have God. But our God is big, so let's not give in. Let's keep praying, let's keep trusting God, and let's keep standing up for truth. Amen?

Well, dear ladies, we're continuing Who Are You Listening To? The fake media, or God's Word? I'm sharing God's Word to you on a few different subjects that are challenging us at this moment.

I've talked to you on quite a few, a couple of podcasts about masking and what does God think about it in His Word? I thought I'd completely finished with that, but, ladies, I can’t believe it! Just in my daily readings, I am still seeing more Scriptures that give us an understanding of what we should do in this situation. It's so amazing, isn't it, how the Bible is filled with truth and it gives us the answer for everything that we are facing.

So I've got to share a few more verses with you. Do you mind? I'm one, who when I'm studying the Word, I want to find out everything God says on a subject. I often don't find out all about it at once. I'll think, “Oh, wow, I've got it!” And then I'll see more! So I want to share more with you.

Now, I have talked to you about how we get to understand and know God, by seeing His face. Of course, we know the Scriptures that if any man looks upon the face of God, he will die. But you see, God is Spirit. And in His Word, He reveals Himself through showing us His character.

Often He shows it by physical things, so we can understand. We can only understand the physical, even when it talks about God's face. Did you know that the Bible mentions many aspects of God's face? Even though He is a Spirit, God uses these analogies so we can understand more about Him.

I remember telling you about the Table of Showbread in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and how on the Table of Showbread, they had the Showbread. It is also called the Bread of Faces, lechem ha panim, the Bread of Faces. The bread represented Jesus Who is the Bread of Life. But it wasn't just “face,” but “faces,” because there are so many aspects to His character. And as we feed upon Him, in His Word, and wait on Him, we learn more and more of who He is.

GOD SMILES HIS BLESSINGS UPON US

Now I want to show you a few more things today. I was thinking of Numbers 6:24-26 which is the blessing. It's the blessing that God told the priests that they were to impart to His people. It's the blessing God wants on His people—on His people Israel, on His redeemed blood-bought people who are saved by His grace.

You all know this blessing. Let me read it again:

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee:

The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

Now, do you notice, ladies, that in the blessing that God wants to put upon us, when He wants to show us His favor and His blessing, it talks about His face? You see, here it comes again, His face. Now “The Lord make His face”  (it's the Hebrew word paniym). then it says: “The Lord lift up His countenance” (the Hebrew word is paniym again. It uses two different words, but it's the same Hebrew word, “face,” the face of God.

And so, when God wants to bless you, lovely ladies, He wants to shine His face upon you. He wants you to see His face. Yes, He is Spirit, but He wants you to see who He is, and all that He is—His love, and His compassion, and His longsuffering, and His patience, and His peace, and His rest, and everything that is in Christ. It's all comes through His face. It shines through His face.

Now, in the Knox translation of the Bible, it translates the word “face,” as the “favor of God,” it's translated as “smiled.” I love that. Let me give you a few Scriptures here. Yes, in this beautiful blessing, it says, “The Lord smile on thee.”

It's giving the picture: “The Lord make His face shine upon thee.” So the Knox translation brings it out, “The Lord smile on thee.” Isn't that beautiful? You see, that's how we show our favor.

When we're looking at our children, how do we show our favor to them? We smile at them, don't we? When we lift up our countenance . . . What does it mean to life up your face, lift up your countenance?  Well, your face is lifted up. And when it's lifted up, it's smiling! It really just means “smiling.” So God loves to smile on us.

Yes, God smiles. He smiles upon you. That's His blessing upon you. And who God is, we are to reveal Him, in our small ways. So dearest, lovely mothers, in your  home, with your children around you, you are to show what God is like to them. You show to them what His blessing is like upon their lives. And so you're going to smile at them. OK? Are you doing that? Are you smiling?

Of course, that's why you have an open face. You can't smile through a mask. That's ridiculous! So we need an open face. You're smiling at your children, and as you do that, you're blessing them. Do you want to bless your children? SMILE AT THEM!

Do you want to bless your husband? SMILE AT HIM! How often do you smile at him during the day? Of course, unless he's out working, but when he comes in, when he's around, how often do you smile at him? How often are you smiling at your children? It's very easy to put on a kind of dark, frowning countenance, isn't it? But the blessing is the smiling countenance.

OK, let's look at some other Scriptures.

Psalm 21:6. “We are comforted by the smile of Thy favor.”

Psalm 44:3: “Thy smile shine upon them, in proof of Thy favor.”

Psalm 67:1: “May God be merciful to us, and bless us. May He grant us the favor of His smile.”

Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19: “Smile upon us, and we shall find deliverance.”

Psalm 90:17: “The favor of the Lord our God smile upon us.”

Psalm 89:15 “Happy is the people that lives, O Lord, in the smile of Thy protection.”

Psalm 119:135: “Restore to Thy servant the smile of Thy loving favor.”

So, we see here again that God has an open face. His blessing is to smile upon us. That is not masked. So we're getting that understanding again of how masking up people is totally antipathy to God's heart, and the way He wants us to live.

Of course, we know, I'm giving you the Word, but I can spend a whole podcast with the science of how masks are not healthy at all. They are the opposite. And when God created us, He didn't create each new human being with a mask to protect them all their life. No, He created them with a powerful immune system.

GOD CREATED US WITH A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM

You see, God has provided us with everything. He's provided us with an immune system that fights disease, that helps us to stay healthy. Our job as mothers is not to mask up, or mask our children up. It's to strengthen and build up, daily and diligently, their immune systems. That's how we keep them healthy.

In fact, an immune system has to get used to diseases and stuff around. Now what happens with a little baby at about eight months of age? They're still a little precious baby, and they begin to crawl. Crawling is important. Crawling is important for their mental development.

But crawling is also important for them to start being able to cope with diseases, and this and that, and all the dirt and junk that's around them, and all the things that are in life that we could possibly catch. They've got to get immunity to them! So God causes them to crawl down on the dirty ground, and on the dirty floor.

Well, when we've got babies, we try to keep it all nice and clean, but it's still dirty. People walk on it. And then babies go out, and they just love to get into the dirt and pick up everything they can, and eat it! And they don't die! No, they're getting a strong immunity! Oh, goodness me. That's how God created us.

Anyway, so we see how God just wants to smile upon us. So you're going to be a smiling mother, aren't you? I love that quote of William Makepeace Thackeray. He said. “'Mother' is the name for God, in the lips and hearts of little children.” We show to our children what God is like, through our face, through loving, and through our face, smiling at them through our face. God wants you to be doing this all day long. And of course, to your husband.

GOD HIDES HIS FACE FROM SIN

And on the other hand, OK, we have these Scriptures about God's smiling on us, but when God is bringing judgment upon us, yes, God is also a God of judgment against sin. It tells us that He hides His face from us.

You see, the hiding of the face is not a blessing. The hiding of the face is a judgment. It's a curse, and we need to realize that, even with this masking business. When we hide our face, it's a curse. We hide our face from people we don't like. You know, if you don't want to be in fellowship with someone, you hide your face from them.

God hides His face when there's sin around. Deuteronomy 31:17-18. “Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they shall say in that day, 'Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?'”

It was because they had turned away to other gods. It goes on to say: “And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” You see, the Word of God is so expressive, isn't it? And it's all to do with the face! He shines His smiles on us with blessing, but He turns His face from us in judgment when we are sinning.

Deuteronomy 32:16-19: “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger . . . Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them... And He said, ‘I will hide My face from them.’”

Those words in Deuteronomy 31 and 32, where it talks about God's anger, that particular word is aph in the Hebrew. I've been doing a study on this, and I simply can't believe it, ladies. You know, it is important, isn't it, to really understand the full understanding of God's Word, and to understand truly who our God is. Because He's such a God of love and compassion, who just loves to smile upon us.

This is the blessing He so longs to pour out upon us. But because He is God, and holy and pure, He has judgment against sin. And He hates sin. He abhors sin. He cannot stand sin. He is angry at sin. Because of His longsuffering, He holds back His anger.

He is slow to anger, but we read so many times in the Old Testament of how He became very angry when the children of Israel turned away from Him and turned to other gods. Then He would turn away from them and just let their enemies take over them. They became slaves to enemies for years, and then they'd cry out to God. Of course, in His mercy, He would hear them and send them a deliverer and save them again.

We are in this day of grace. But there is coming a day when God's anger will be released against all sin. As I've been reading these Scriptures, I just can't believe how many there are. There's hundreds! I have found not only this word aph, but eight different Hebrew words about God's anger. In the “fierceness of His anger.” And the “rod of His anger,” and the “power of His anger,” and the “indignation of His anger.” And so it goes on.

I believe that we also can be indignantly angry against evil, because that's how God is. He is angry against evil. We are not meant to be, “Oh well, you know, it's OK, we're just gonna gloss over it.” No, we have to take a strong stand against evil.

Oh yes, let me t show you how God uses, even talks about, specific parts of His face to describe how He feels. Now, we know He is Spirit. The Word uses these parts of the face to describe the emotions and the heart of God. But it's amazing how He uses the face. He uses the mouth. We often read “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.”

He talks about God's lips. Isaiah 30:27, 28: “Behold, the Name of the Lord cometh from afar, burning with His anger . .  . His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire: And His breath as an overflowing stream.” All these are aspects of the face, because it's the face that reveals the character.

Nostrils. Psalm 18:8: “There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth.” When someone is really angry, it's like they're smoking through the nostrilsand that's the picture that is given here.

It talks about His nose in Isaiah 65:5: “These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” You're getting to see how the face is so important. Every part of the face is portrayed.

His eyes and His eyelids, Psalm 11:4: “His eyes behold, and His eyelids try the children of men.”

So I just wanted to share that with you as I've been discovering how, yes, the face is so important. The open face, because it declares who we are.

God's face declares who He is; our faces declare who we are!

FACE TO FACE FELLOWSHIP

Let's go over to the end of the Bible now. Let's go to the New Testament. Right at the end, to 2 John. Second John is just a little letter of one chapter. John is writing to the elect lady. This lady was obviously someone who had a church in her home for her family and for others who came into her home.

So John is writing to her. But he hasn't got enough time to write everything he wants, so we get down to verse 12, and he says: “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you and speak face to face.” The Greek is actually “mouth to mouth.”

Open faces, sharing together. He loves to communicate, to speak face to face. That is the ultimate. Now today, we are still facing, I hope not so much, but it seems that there are still churches who are social distancing and masking. Some are not even coming back, and some who are, are social distancing in their churches. It's all so opposite, so opposite, to what God intends. God loves the face-to-face fellowship.

We go to 3 John, and this letter is also one chapter. He's writing to Gaius. We come down to verse 13, “I had many things to write,” but he doesn't have time to write them all. But he says: “I trust I shall shortly see you, and we shall speak face to face.” Oh, how John loved face-to-face fellowship! This is what the New Testament is all about.

Right at the very beginning, in Romans 1:12, Paul was writing to the believers, and he introduces them to their faith and he tells them what it's like. In that Scripture, he says: “Your faith is a mutual faith.” In other words, it's not an individual faith. Oh yes, it is individual, but it's mostly, ultimately, predominately, a mutual faith.

And that Greek word, allelon, in every other place, it's translated “one another.” Love one another. Be kind to one another. Fellowship with one another. Gather with one another. And on and on. I think I found nearly 40 different “one anothers” in the Bible.

Actually, I did do some podcasts on them. If you didn't actually hear them, you need to go back. I did two podcasts on Should Churches Be Meeting Together? Podcasts 102 and 103. Please listen if you never heard them.

And then I did four podcasts on the whole doctrine of TOGETHERNESS, podcasts 104 to 107. And in those, I talked about all the different “one anothers.” It's just so amazing.

“LET US” DO IT TOGETHER

Then we go to Hebrews and we see how there are ten different times, ten different Scriptures, where the Word says: “Let us.” It doesn't say, “Well, I want you to do this.” No, “Let us.” The writer of the Hebrews (we think it was Paul, it may have been someone else) he didn't say, “Now, this is what I want you to do,” or “This is what I do.” No, “Let us.” This is what I'm to do, and this is what you're to do. We're to do it together. It's together we do it.

Because you see, our God, lovely ladies, is a “let us” God. Right in the very beginning, Genesis 1:26: “God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'” God is a triune Being. And within the Godhead, there is glorious, beautiful, unifying fellowship.

You see, God doesn't tell us to do anything that He is not already doing. That is not part of Him. God is plural. God fellowships—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It is an “us” God. “Let us, let us.” It's togetherness and out of these anointed God togethernesses, He encourages us to be a together people.

We're not to be a separated people. We're not to be just having our faith on our own. That's why there is so much encouragement to meeting, and assembling, and gathering together. We can't have this “one another” lifestyle on our own. We have to come together. Everything we have to do in our Christian walk, if we do it together, it will be more powerful.

As we do things together, we become stronger in the faith. We don't grow strong on our own. It's like a fire of coals and they're all together, burning so brightly. Oh, it's just so warming, and so delightful, and they're all hot. Hot, yes. God wants us to be hot for Him.

But if we take one of those coals and we put it on the hearth, it's not long before that coal goes black and all the beautiful red heat goes out of it, and it's no longer hot. It's no longer burning. It's just there, cold on the hearth. And that's what happens when we try to do it on our own.

Well, I'd like to take you through these ten “let us” things we're to do together, but I think we'd better start and do them in the next session, because time is going. .

LET’S BE GOD’S WORD PEOPLE

Well, dear ladies, forgive me. I didn't mean to get on this subject again, but it's all in the Word, and I want to give you everything that's in the Word. When you come to these podcasts, you're not coming just to hear me talk about a lot of this, that, and the other thing. No, I want to give you the Word.

And I do trust that you are built up in the Word as you come to listen to these podcasts, because, dear ladies, there's nothing better we can listen to. We can listen to stories, we can listen to ideas, we can listen to people say this and that. But it's the Word that we need, and if we get this Word right down into our beings, that's how we'll live. We'll live by the Word.

That's why I'm doing this series. We're either going to live one of two ways. One, by the Word, or two, by what we hear in society, what we hear on the fake media, what we hear other people saying. So which one is it going to be?

Let's be Word people!

Dear lovely mothers, oh, impart that Word to your children. Oh, make your children Word-children so that as they go out into this world, they will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and against the deceptions, and against all the junk that is out there.

I know many of you are homeschooling your children, and it is so beautiful. You have them in this safe environment, and this is what we are meant to do. And then, in some ways, we're hibernating them. But we're not doing it forever.

We're doing it now, to put God's Word, and His truth, into them. But we're ultimately doing it to make them strong for one day when they leave our home and go out into this world. And then they go out to bring the revelation of God and the truth of God. So you are not educating them for hibernation, but for the revelation of God in the world.

Dear Father, we thank You so much for Your Word, and thank You for showing us again the importance You put upon the face. And how every facial feature and every facial expression is either revealing You to our children, and to those around us, or it's giving off a negative thing to them.

Lord, help us to be those who shine with Your smile of blessing. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Bless these dear mothers, Lord. Bless these dear wives, and their children, and their families. I pray that You will help them to lift up their faces, and lift up their heads, and walk in freedom and in truth, according to Your Word. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Transcribed by Darlene Norris. If you would like to thank her, her email is: momcat617

P.S. There are still so many more Scriptures about the  importance the Bible puts upon the face. I thought I better stop doing podcasts on this subject but there is more for you to checkout. For those who really want to dig into God’s Word, here are lots more Scriptures for you. Be blessed.

The importance the Bible places on the face.

We see the importance of the face at the very beginning of creation.

Genesis 1:26, 27: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

God created us in His image to reveal His likeness. The Hebrew word image is tselem and means “to shade.” We are not the perfect image of God, for we are not God. But we are to reveal His character and His likeness, and we do this through our face. People see what we are like and behold our character as they look at our face.

God wants the revelation of His image to be revealed through the face of his people. Conversely, Satan wants to hide the image of God in the world. He is the instigator of masks.

The following Scriptures in this article are the Hebrew word, paniym.

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF MEETING FACE TO FACE

JACOB AND ESAU

Genesis 32:13-21. On Jacob’s return from Haran, he wanted to reconcile with his brother Essa. He was so concerned about it that he sent on a gift to him before he actually met. It wasn’t a little a gift but an assortment of 620 animals from his flock. He sent the present on ahead and said: “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.”

We would normally say, “I will see him after he receives my gift,” but the Bible specifically says, “I will see his face.” To truly meet someone you must see their face. When we think of seeing them again, we think of their face. We see their face before our eyes.

When Jacob and Esau met Jacob said to him: “If now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as thought I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me” (Genesis 33:10). We would most probably have said, “After all these years I have seen you again,” but Jacob said, “I have seen your face.”

Genesis 35:1, 7: “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother . . . And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el, because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.”

When Jacob fled from his brother to Haran because he stole his birthright. God Himself  only say, “When you fled from your brother,” but when you “fled from the face of your brother.” Check out also Genesis 36:6, 7.

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS

There was great famine in the land of Egypt and Canaan. Jacob’s sons had already been down to Egypt to get food and now they had run out again. It’s time to go again but Judah speaks to his father in Genesis 43:3, 5: ”The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.”

Further on in the story Judah is now speaking to Joseph (although he still does not it is long lost brother): “And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more . . . “ (Genesis 44:23, 26).

We would say, “ You will not see me unless your youngest brother is with you.” But the Bible specifically says, “you won’t see my face.”

Are you getting the importance the Bible puts on seeing the faces of one another?

JACOB AND JOSEPH

Genesis 46:30 speaks of the glorious reunion of Jacob and his son Joseph whom he thought was dead: “And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”

Genesis 48:11: “And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.”

MOSES AND PHARAOH

Exodus 2:15: “Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses, But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.”

Exodus 10:28, 29: “And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.”

These words were spoken before God sent the last plague on the Egyptians, that all their firstborn sons and firstborn cattle would die.

SEEING GOD FACE TO FACE

The Bible says that no man can see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:21-23). And yet the Bible speaks of different ones who saw God face to face.  Because the face speaks of God’s character and His presence, these men experienced the manifestation of God’s presence in special tangible ways. To know God is to see Him face to face.

JACOB

Genesis 32:24-30: “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

MOSES

Exodus 33:11: “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”

Deuteronomy 34:10: “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”

CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

Deuteronomy 5:4: “The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.”

Numbers 14;14: “And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.”

COVERED FACES ARE DISGUISES

Genesis 38:15: “When Judah saw her (Tamar, his daughter-in-law), he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face.”

Job 24:15: “The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguised his face.” Masks and disguises are for those who do evil.

WE BLESS OTHERS WITH OUR FACE

Numbers 6:24-27: “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance (face) upon thee, and give thee peace.” The face is involved in blessing.

1 Kings 8:14 and 2 Chronicles 6:3: “The king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel.” King Solomon turned his face toward the people when he blessed them.

We are commanded to bless one another, and we cannot do it with a covered face. The blessing of the Lord comes out of our mouths, through the smiles, and the favor we show upon our faces. We cannot bless others with a mask on!

WE TURN OUR FACE TO THE PERSON OR THE THING WE ARE PROPHESYING TO

We are commanded to set out faces toward whoever or whatever we are prophesying over. E.g. Ezekiel 6:2; 20:46, 47; 21:2, 3; 25:2; 28:21; 35:2; and 38:2.

WE MUST SEEK GOD’S FACE

To seek God’s face is to seek His presence. It means to get to know Him through His Word, through prayer, and waiting on Him. The Bible not only exhorts us to seek God, but to seek His FACE! The following Scriptures all speak of seeking God’s face:

Chronicles 16:11: “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”

2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face , and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Psalm 27:8: “When thou sadist, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”

Also read 1 Kings 13:6; Job 22:26; 33:26; Psalm 17:15; 24:6; 34:5; 105:4; Daniel 9:3; Hosea 5:15; and 2 Corinthians 3:18.

REFUSING TO SEE SOMEONE’S FACE

KING DAVID AND ABSALOM

2 Samuel 14:24, 28, 32: “And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face . . . So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face.”

We would most probably say, “I do not want to see you,” but the Bible says that David would not see Absalom’s face! Interacting with each other’s faces is how God intends us to live.

WE MUST NOT TURN OUR FACES AWAY FROM GOD’S HOUSE

Read 2 Chronicles 29:3-36. Verse 6 and 7: “For our fathers have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel  . . “

The habitation of the Lord was the tabernacle where they came to meet with God. The New Testament counterpart is the gathering of the saints together which we are commanded not to forsake (Hebrews 10:25). We must never turn our face from the house of God. We show our commitment to God by our commitment to His house and the gathering of His people.

God’s fierce wrath was on the people because they had turned their faces away from His tabernacle. Conversely, we cannot expect God’s blessing upon us when we do not diligently gather with God’s people. When we choose to do something else rather than gather with the saints, we are turning our face away from God Himself.

WE MUST TURN AWAY OUR FACES FROM EVIL

Ezekiel 14:6: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”

WE DON’T KNOW SOMEONE UNTIL WE SEE THEIR FACE

Galatians 1:21-23: “And (Paul) was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.”

WE SHARPEN ONE ANOTHER’S FACES

Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance (face = paniym) of his friend.”

We cannot have true dialogue without seeing one another’s faces and expressions. Masks spoil fellowship. In fact, they completely hinder true fellowship.

CJB: “Just as iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend.” The CJB uses the word “character” but it is paniym (face) in the Hebrew. But of course our character is revealed through our face. Therefore, as we sharpen one another in conversation and discussion we sharpen the character of each other.

TO ACCUSE SOMEONE, WE MUST DO IT FACE TO FACE

Acts 25:16: ”It is of the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.” We don’t accuse behind someone’s back, but face to face.

Galatians 2:11: “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I (Paul) withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

SAD GOODBYES

Acts 20:37, 38: “And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.”

The Ephesians elders sorrowed because they did not believe they would see Paula gain. How does the Bible describe this scene? That they would see his face no more. It was his face that was dear to them. His face revealed God’s glory. From his face came the words of revelation and life. We often say, “I am so sad I won’t see them anymore.” But the Bible expressly states that it is the face they will see no more. The reason being that a person reveals himself through his face.

WHEN WE LONG TO SEE SOMEONE, WE LONG TO SEE THEIR FACE

PAUL

1 Thessalonians 2:17: “But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.”

1 Thessalonians 3:9, 10: “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?”

JOHN to the “elect lady.”

2 John 1:12: “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.”

JOHN to Gaius.

3 John 1:13, 14: “I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee; But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face.” The Greek in the last two Scriptures is actually “mouth to mouth.” You can’t speak or fellowship “mouth to mouth” with a mask on!

WE MUST TURN OUR FACES TO ZION

Jeremiah 50:5: “They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward.”

NET: “They will ask the way to Zion, they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.”

This is literally speaking of God’s people returning to Zion, back to their land. But it is the same attitude that we should have. Our faces should always be turned toward God, to His Word, and to that which is on His heart. Our faces should never be turned to the things of this world but only to God Himself.

Jeremiah 32:33: “They have turned unto me the back, and not the face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.” May our faces always be toward the Lord, and never our backs.

CHRIST LONGS TO SEE OUR FACE

Song of Solomon 2;14 (NET): “O my dove . . . let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.” God longs to see your face as He fellowships with you.

THE ULTIMATE JOY OF LIFE WILL BE TO SEE JESUS FACE TO FACE

1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

We have a faint picture of Christ now as we see Him in His living Word, as we get to know Him in the place of prayer, and as we wait on Him, but it is not yet a perfect picture. One day we will see Him face to face.

Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
Face to face—what will it be,
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me?

Refrain:
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!

Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkened veil between,
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.

What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain;
Death is swallowed up in vict’ry,
And the dark things shall be plain.

Face to face—oh, blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so.

THE FACE OF GOD

Revelation 6:15-17: “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?”:

Revelation 22:4: “And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.”

GOD LOVES TO SHINE HIS FACE UPON US

Psalm 4:6; 21:6; 31:16; 34:5; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; 119:135; 140:13; and Hossa 6:2.

GOD’S FACE MAKES US EXCEEDINGLY JOYFUL

Psalm 16:11: “In thy presence (paniym = face)

Psalm 21:6: “Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.”

As God’s face makes us filled with exceeding joy in His presence, so our faces should make other faces to be filled with joy. Looking at a masked face, does not give us any joy. But as we go about with a happy and smiling face, we bring joy to others.

GOD WANTS TO SHINE HIS LIGHT THROUGH OUR FACES

2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

We come to the knowledge of God through beholding the face of Jesus Christ. As we behold His face (His character) we understand more of God.

The Passion Translation: “For God, who said, ‘Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.”

Christ has shined His light into our hearts so we can shine His glory from our faces, which is reflected glory from His face. When we understand this we realize the deception of masks.

GOD’S FACE WATCHES OVER US

Psalm 11:7: “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold he upright.”                                                              

Psalm 41:12: “And as for me, thou upholdeth me in my integrity, and sittest me before thy face forever.” Most translations say: “You have set me in your presence forever.” God’s face speaks of His presence.

WE CAN PROVOKE GOD’S FACE TO ANGER

Isaiah 65:3: “A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face.”

GOD SETS HIS FACE AGAINST EVIL

Jeremiah 21:10; 32:32; Ezekiel 7:22 and 15:7. We should also turn our faces from evil.

GOD HIDES HIS FACE FROM SIN AND EVIL

Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Deuteronomy 31:17, 18; Psalm 10:11; 27:9; 30:7; 34;16; 44:24; 51:9; 69:17; 88:14; 102:2; 104:29; 132:10; 143:7; Isaiah 8:17; 54:8; 64:7; Jeremiah 18;17; 32:31; 44;11; Ezekiel 7:22; 14:8; 15:7; 39:23, 24, 29; Micah 3;4; and 1 Peter 3;12.

GOD WANTS TO PLEAD WITH US FACE TO FACE

Ezekiel 20:35: “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.” God wants to see us face to face. He also wants us to have open faces to one another. This is God’s way.

GOD WILL NOT TURN HIS FACE AWAY IF WE RETURN TO HIM

2 Chronicles 30:9: “For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.”

THE FOUR FACES OF THE LIVING CREATURES

The four faces of the living creatures in Ezekiel, chapter one speaks of four different aspects of the character of God. Read verses 10, 11, 15; 10:14, 21, 22.

Ezekiel 1:10: “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion . . . the face of an ox . . . the face of an eagle.”

EXHORTATIONS

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Exodus 20:20: “God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”

WE MUST HONOR THE FACE OF THE ELDERLY

Leviticus 19:32: “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD,”  cf. Lamentations 5:12.

FURTHER SCRIPTURES TO CHECK OUT

2 Samuel 2:22; 2 Chronicles 25:17, 21; Proverbs 27:19; Jeremiah 1:8, 17.

And there are still more!  

Blessings from  Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 142: WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? Pt 3

More Scriptures today about your countenance, about beautiful women (yes, the Bible talks about beautiful women), and God's plan for men to work.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies! Well, here I am again, still giving you Scriptures about the countenance, because there is so much in the Word of God about it.

I love those lines:

            Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in thee,

            All His wonderful passion and purity.

            Oh Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,

            Til the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

 

We used to sing that when I was young. I wonder if you've ever heard that chorus? But how can people see the beauty of Jesus in us? They will see it in our actions, but mostly they'll see it in our face. Therefore, we're not going to hide our face.

Now the word “countenance” in the Bible is expressed through many different Hebrew words. We talked about aph, which reveals showing anger in the face, and also other emotions. We talked about panim, which often speaks of the face of Jesus.

Now we have another word, mareh, and it literally means, “the appearance, the act of seeing visions.” So this word is also used regarding our relationship with the Lord, and our relationship with one another.

In Numbers 12:8, God is speaking to Moses. He says,“With him, with Moses, will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold.” The New English Translation says, “With him I will speak face to face, openly.”

That's the actual Hebrew word, “countenance.” When it uses that word, it's speaking of an open, unveiled countenance. This is the relationship God wants us to have with Himself. It's an open, unveiled relationship. He also wants us to have that with one another.

In Judges 13:6, the angel came to this woman who was to be Samson's mother. After she had seen him, she came to her husband and said, “A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible.”

Then in Daniel's vision of the Lord, Daniel 10:6, it says, “And his face was as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire.”

The Hebrew word mareh for “countenance” is used about 35 times in the Bible. I love the Scripture in Song of Solomon 2:14, where the Bridegroom is speaking to the Bride. Of course, we read it also as the relationship with Christ and His church, and of our relationship, personally, with the Lord.

He said, “Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” The word means “beautiful.”

We see here the heart of God, to have that beautiful, unveiled relationship with us. He wants to see our countenance. He wants to hear our voice. He wants us to come into His presence. He wants to hear our voice. Our voice is sweet to Him.

If only we could understand how He feels about our relationship. “Your countenance, your face, is beautiful,” he says, especially when we look up to Him in adoration, and we have that open face. “Lord, I'm open to You. I want to hear from You. I want You to speak to me. I am listening for every word.” Our countenance is beautiful to Him.

When Daniel and his friends were first taken to Babylon, they were chosen by the king to be trained in the ways of Babylon. But Daniel wasn't too pleased about having to eat the food, because much of that food was sacrificed to idols, and he didn't want to have anything to do with it.

So he asked the one who was in charge of him, let's see, if we, will you let us eat vegetables and only drink water for ten days... “Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenances of the children that eat the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.”

And we know, of course, that Daniel and his three friends, that after ten days of just eating these purer foods, that their countenances were fairer, and more wonderful than all the other men. He didn't have to eat those foods of Babylon.

But how did he know? By their countenance! That's how this man was able to tell if it was working, by his countenance.

Now, in the Bible, it talks about the countenance of many women, and a few men as well. Especially about beautiful women. Oh, dear ladies! Did you know that the Bible actually talks about beautiful women? Yes, this is the Bible. And the Bible talks, and says when a woman is beautiful, the Bible was not ashamed to say she was beautiful.

Shall we look at some of these women in the Bible? Tamar, 2 Samuel 14:27: “She was a woman of beautiful countenance.” That's the Hebrew word mareh there.

Then we have Sarai, before her name was changed to Sarah. Genesis 12:11: “When they came into Egypt, Abram said to Sarai, his wife, 'Behold I know that thou are a beautiful woman to look upon.'” The word upon is actually the Hebrew word mareh, meaning “countenance,” because when you see a beautiful woman, you only know by looking upon her.

Of course, Abram was so scared, because he thought that he could be killed for his wife, because she was so beautiful. She must have been incredibly beautiful, that when they went into Egypt, the Pharaoh had his scouts out to look for the most beautiful women to bring into his harem.

Yes, of course, they noticed Sarai, as she was at that time, and so beautiful that she was brought before Pharaoh. So we all know the story about that. But it was because of her beauty. The Bible says she had the most beautiful countenance.

I'm sure that was not only beauty of looks, but that beauty that came from her inner man as well. Because we read about that, don't we, in 1 Peter, chapter three. In this beautiful passage, as a young woman I used to really, oh, I didn't quite know how to get over this passage, because I never felt that I was the description of this woman in 1 Peter, chapter three.

It says here, talking really to women whose husbands are not walking with the Lord, “Likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if any obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation,” or manner of life, or their lives, “while they behold your chaste conversation,” or manner of life, “coupled with fear, whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold or putting on apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time,” some translations say, “once upon a time,” way back 2000 years ago, when this was written, “the holy women also who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.”

Now we've come along another 2000 years, and we're further and further away from this spirit of the women in this passage. “Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters you are, as long as you do well and not afraid, or do not give way to panic.” So we see by reading that passage, that she was not only beautiful of just her face, to look upon, but also that beauty of spirit came from within her, too.

Yes, so that was Sarai. And then we go to Rebekah. Genesis 24:16: “And the damsel” Rebekah, “was beautiful to look upon.” Wow, isn't this amazing? Have you ever noticed this before, ladies, about all these beautiful women?

And then again, years later in Genesis 26:7. Now Isaac, of course who was husband to Rebekah, they had moved to Gerar. “And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, 'She is my sister,'” because just like his father, he was scared “to say 'She is my wife,' lest said he, 'the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah,' because she was fair” or very beautiful, “to look upon.”

Wow! All these beautiful women! And the patriarchs were married to beautiful women. We turn to Bathsheba. We know that she was the woman who David eyed, and he took. It says, “The woman was very beautiful to look upon.”

And then we have more. But this time, we have... Those were from the Hebrew word mareh. But there's other words that are used, too. Then there's Abigail. Talking about Abigail, it uses two different Hebrew words, yapheh, meaning “beautiful,” and toar, meaning “countenance.”

In 1 Samuel 25:3, it says that Abigail, you remember her? Her husband was Nabal, and he was a terrible man. Somehow this beautiful woman was married to this man who was no good at all. But it says of her, “She was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.”

Now the word toar doesn't only mean having a beautiful face, it also means having a beautiful figure. The word means “figure and appearance, beautiful in countenance and form.” So isn't that interesting?

So what it's really saying there... In fact, let's look at it, shall we? I wonder if I have it written in another translation? Yes, let me see. Yes, so in the New American Standard Bible, it says that she “was intelligent and beautiful in appearance.” No, that's not... I don't think I wrote it there, but in some translations, it brings out that she was beautiful of form and face.

All right. Let's see, who else was beautiful in the Bible? Esther! Yes, in Esther chapter two, verse seven, oh yes. There's another translation  that says she was “beautiful of form and face,” because the word toar is used. The New English Translation says she“was very attractive, and had a beautiful figure.”

So two Hebrew words were used to describe her, yapheh, which means “beautiful.” It's still used today if they're talking about a beautiful woman. In the Jewish language, they will say yapheh, “beautiful,” and also toah, meaning “beautiful figure” as well.

Ladies, I'm talking Bible. Yes. The Bible actually speaks of the beauty of a woman, of both form and figure and face.

Then we have Vashti, who was the queen from whom Esther took over. She was also beautiful. Then there was Abishag. She was very beautiful. I think we have pretty well covered all that are mentioned in the Bible.

Oh, the daughters of Job! Remember, all his family was taken from him, but then God restored to him, he restored his family to him. And he gave Job seven more sons, and three more daughters. It says that “in all the land, there were no other women as lovely and beautiful..” the word is yapheh, “as the daughters of Job.”

So there we are, ladies! Talking about the beautiful women. Sometimes it mentions their figure, but mostly their beauty was shown and revealed in their countenance. And it is sad, isn't it, when you see a mask on a beautiful woman.

She didn't wear a mask very much, but I noticed one or two pictures of Melania Trump with a mask on. Very rarely, but it spoiled her beauty. When I looked at her, I'd think, “Get that mask off! I want to see you!” Someone who's ugly might want to mask up, but a beautiful woman, oh goodness me, it's so glorious to see her!

And you know what, every woman is beautiful, especially when she smiles. Even someone who is plain, when they smile, oh, their face changes, and they're beautiful! When love and kindness comes out of a person's eyes, and face, and smile, they are beautiful to behold. And we should be blessed to see that beauty!

I love to look at people. I love to see the beauty of faces. I love to see character in faces. I just love looking at faces, and I have to tell you, I hate looking at masks. I think they are revolting, especially because they cover up what God wants revealed! It's just against everything that's in us, and who we were created to be!

How do we submit to that which is foreign, and that which is fake, and that which is deception, and that which is not meant to be! I don't know. Oh, I just cannot believe, I can't believe how people have submitted to this. If the people had never submitted, well, we would never be facing this today. No one had to ever submit to this.

I know, I know, people were duped. People were told that they would cause other people to die if they didn't. That is not true, of course. That is false information. But we were duped with that. And we had to do a bit of research to find out what was true. So we all had to do that. But when we find out the truth, we should not longer go on in a duped fashion.

Now there were also men who had beautiful countenances. Did you know that? Yes, Joseph! in Genesis 39:6, it says, “Joseph was a goodly” or beautiful, “person, and well favored.” That's the word for “beautiful countenance.”

Then we have David. When they first brought him in when Samuel came, because he wanted to anoint him as king, they'd gone down through all of Jesse's sons, but not one of them was the right one. So eventually they found David way out in the pastures, looking out for the sheep. Now, it says he was “ruddy and of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.”

The Holman translation says “He had beautiful eyes, and a healthy, handsome appearance.” Now, where did he get the idea of beautiful eyes? Well, it's in the Hebrew, because this time for the word  countenance, it's the word ayin. It means “the appearance, the countenance,” but also “the eye.”

It's interesting that not only does the Bible say that David had beautiful eyes, but in history, I have read about it in history, how that he was known to have these beautiful eyes. Some say that they were green eyes. I don't know whether they were, but they were beautiful, because even the Bible says that he had beautiful eyes.

1 Samuel 16:8 was also speaking about David. It says, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person,” a beautiful, toah ,person. Actually toah is mentioned there, which is “beautiful of countenance and form.” And then the last part of the description was, “And the Lord is with him.” How wonderful!

And I think that's the best description we can all have over our lives, don't you, dear ladies? “And the Lord is with her. The Lord is with him.” If we have the Lord with us, it will be seen, He will be seen on our countenance. And of course, if He is seen on our countenance, we'll have a beautiful countenance, even if we're plain, because His beauty, His glory, will make even our face beautiful. Praise the Lord for that!

OK, Daniel. Daniel and his three friends. It said of them they were “children in whom was no blemish, but well favored.” They had a beautiful countenance. The word is mareh.

And so, ladies, there it is. All those beautiful Scriptures about “countenance.” Are you just getting it? You see, when we see this, and see, it's just so much part of the Bible, we understand how the countenance is so important, and how we are not meant to cover it up.

Well, I've been giving you Scripture answers, because this is what we're talking about. We want to know, are we living according to the Word of God, or are we living according to our fake society? And our deceptive society in which we live? We've got to choose one or the other!

But apart from all the Scriptures, there have now been so many warnings, and scientific studies, which reveal that masks are dangerous to our health. Did I bring up something? I thought I did. And you know what? I don't even think I have brought it up to here, where I'm doing this podcast. Oh, yes, here I am!

I read about one study just recently, of many works out there, but they have found that this constant wearing of masks, it could be detrimental to our lungs. This says a recent study in the journal Cancer Discovery, that's where this study is found, that “inhalation of harmful microbes can contribute to advanced stage lung cancer in adults. Long-term use of face masks may help breed these dangerous pathogens.”

Microbiology agreed that “frequent mask wearing creates a moist environment in which microbes are allowed to grow and proliferate before entering the lungs. These foreign microbes then travel down the trachea and into two tubes called the bronchi, until they reach more air sacs, covered in blood vessels called alveoli.”

Another scientist says, “The lungs were long thought to be sterile, but we know that oral commensals – microbes normally found in the mouth – frequently enter the lungs, due to unconscious aspirations.” And of course, with wearing masks, we are... All these little droplets are coming out, and they're not just going out, they're being trapped there. They could be very negative to the lungs, some even saying it could cause, down the road, lung cancer.

I don't doubt that, because surely common sense tells us these things. You know, common sense, why is common sense being thrown out the window? Common sense tells us that we're not meant to cover up our mouths. We're not meant to breathe back our carbon dioxide that we're breathing out.

You see these people, and their masks are going in and out. I mean, they're not making noise like I was, but you see the inhaling in and out. It looks so ridiculous. Oh goodness me, this is not what meant to happen! It's so bad for our health. and our breathing, and it's not in any way helping anybody else, or saving them either. They have proved that.

Even some dentists have now warned about a phenomena known as “mask mouth,” in which patients are arriving back to the dental office with an increase of tooth decay as high as 50 percent! In a period of just a few months of mask wearing!

So, there it is, just a few things. I'm not going into all of them, because I'm mainly speaking about the Scriptures.

All right. Well, we might have time for just one more today, to check out, if we are living according to the Word of God. That is about, really, it's not about us so much, but about our husbands. And about our husbands going to work.

Now, sadly, since Joe Biden has become the illegitimate and fraudulent president of our nation... I'm sorry, but I find it very hard to accept a fraudulent president. I can't believe we're like Venezuela, who has now been landed with a fraudulent president, because of fraud and stealing an election. It's unbelievable! This is not America.

So although I'm not going to be like the leftists, and these kind of people who go out and burn buildings, and they're mad... No, I go to prayer. That's what I do. I am praying, but I do not accept in my heart fraud, because it's against God. It's against the Bible.

And now we are seeing just already in just this last month... I mean, just in this last month, what's happened to this nation! Can you believe it? Already the border down between us and Mexico is stopped. So all these caravans already, they just come piling into our nation again. All these illegals and they're all going to be given everything that they want. When we can't even get things, they'll get it free! Oh yes, just give it to them free.

And now the pipeline is stopped, and thousands of jobs, men are out of work. Of course, they're stopping businesses. There's so much restrictions on businesses, and restaurants, and mask wearing, and all this stuff.

So hundreds and thousands are out of work. Now, that is not Bible. No matter what we say, this government is totally antagonistic to the Word of God. I don't believe that small businesses should stop. Because are we either going to live according to God's Word, or are we living according to this deceptive mandates that people, that these leftist governors, are trying to bring upon us?

Because we know it's nothing to do with a virus which has a 99 percent survival rate! You say, “Oh, I don't know whether I believe that! I know people have died.” People have always died! And thousands have always died of the flu.

If you go to the CDC, the death rate for last year, and the year before, are hardly much different. I mean, last year, according to the two previous years, not much difference at all! The same amount of people have died! Only last year, they put it down to covid. No matter what a person had, they died of covid!

It is all to bring in communism, to bring down the economy of our country, so people are going to be relying upon the government. It's going to... This is how communism starts, and it's already happening!

And so I believe, where possible, men should stand up. If they've got a business, they should not give it up! Do everything in their power! Look, if every business in a community all decided to keep going, what could they do? They can't go and arrest everybody. It's when everybody submits that they have power. When everybody does what they're meant to do, they can't do anything!

What does God say?  Genesis 2:15, very first thing He did when He created man. First thing He did, “The Lord God took the man,” took the man, “and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” That word, “dress it,” is “to work, work hard,” even work til you're weary and fatigued.

It's work! God gave the ethic of work. Work is so therapeutic. When a man works, when we work, we feel good, and we get a good night's sleep. Not only do we work to feel good, but we work to provide for our family, and to bless others.

Ephesians 4:28: “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands, the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” So we not only work to provide for our own provision, but to bless others.

Now, of course, you may be in this position. Your husband's desperate for work. Maybe his business has been taken away. Maybe he has not worked because of all these crazy mandates. It is so sad, and I am so sorry, because it's antagonistic and antipathy to God's Word, who commands every man to work six days.

“Six days shalt thou work, and rest on the seventh day.” This is how God planned mankind to live! We do not have to give into something that is so foreign to... What has happened for how many centuries? Goodness me! For generations, this is how we are meant to live!

Galatians 6:5: “For everyone will carry his own load.” We don't give it to the government to carry. No, we carry our own load, “Every man sitting under his own vineyard, his own vine-tree.” This is what the Bible said, when the blessing of God is on the nation, every man sits under his own vine-tree, with the blessings of provision of his own. They are not relying on someone else. They're not relying on the government. Everyone has their own provision.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12: “Study to be quiet, and do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.”

This government, which is controlled by China, and which is bringing in communism and poverty to our nation, does not want you to own anything. In fact, this Great Reset that they are trying to bring in, what's number one on the list? Have you read it? I've read it with my own eyes.

Number one: “You will own nothing,” and then it goes on, and has the audacity to say, “and you will be happy.” No, no man is happy when he does not own his own things. God created us to have our own home, and our own work, and provide for our own family. That is God's plan. Never to rely on the government. This is what they are wanting to do.

We have to be praying. Are you still praying? We haven't given up praying. We'll be having another prayer meeting here tonight. We'll be praying. We're still crying out for this nation. We're still crying out for things to change, for God to do a mighty miracle, because this is not where America is meant to be.

We are meant to be where every man is free to start his own business, to do his own work, and to have a good job, “that you will lack nothing.” That's God's plan for you. This bringing down to poverty, and stopping business and all this, this is the devil's plan! It's the devil's plan, and we've got to resist it, stand against it! Resist it! Pray against it!

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12: “We commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” Now, some men don't have work at the moment, but it's not because they don't want to. They are desperate for work. It's what our government is doing.

“Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” Maybe if you are in this position, may God just open up amazing doors for you to get work.

1 Timothy 5:8: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” And so we just see God's plan, the way He wants man to live. It's not this way our government is bringing upon us. We've got to resist it, pray against it.

I pray that Biden will not last in office, because this is totally antipathy to what God intends. Let's remind ourselves of these Scriptures and stand up for what is right.

I noticed this Scripture today. I hadn't noticed it before, well, I most probably read it many times. Judges 19:16: “And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening.” Isn't that amazing? Even an older man, still working, and working all day out in the field, in the hot sun. He comes out of the field at evening time. Even the older men were working, because work is what God gives us to do.

This government wants jobs to stop, and poverty to come, so communism can come in. Let's not acquiesce, and give into this, dear ones. Let's stand up for truth. Let's be those who seek, while we have some little moment before it's too late, to live by what the Word says. Amen?

Dear Father, we are so concerned at the hour at which we are living, which is opposite to Your precious holy Word, because, Lord, when we live according to your Word, we live in blessing, we live in provision, and we live in joy. This is Your plan for us.

Lord God, we just pray again, against what is happening in this nation, this stolen election, this fraudulent election, and all these things that are happening, and all these executive orders that Joe Biden is just signing every day, to bring our country to poverty.

Lord God, we pray for rising in this nation, that, Lord, Your people, and people all over this nation will rise up against this deception, and Lord, that they will not give into it, that they will not just acquiesce, but will stand for the freedom that You intend for this great nation of America. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 141: WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? Pt 2

“It is impossible to enslave, mentally or socially, a Bible-reading people.” How do we live? By God's living Words, or by the influence of our society? God has a lot more to say about our faces.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Well, we have just enjoyed a most wonderful week of snow. Maybe you enjoyed that too in this last week. It seems so beautiful. We've had quite a lot of snowfalls this year, some only lasting for a day. But this one has lasted all week. There's been quite a few snowfalls throughout the week.

We had staying with us the youngest Allison children, six of them. We've had other visitors as well staying with us, so we had a great big, crowded house. Snow all around us! Some days we couldn't even get out, so we just made do with what we had.

But the children had the most wonderful time sledding. We have a lovely slope outside the home. They got out there sledding. And then, of course, they wanted Nana to come with them. At first, I wasn't too keen about going. Eventually I did it once! But then it was so fun, well, I just wanted to keep going!

So Saturday, oh wow! I went out there, and we did so many wonderful sleds together. You know, having competition to see who could win. I won sometimes, and they won sometimes! It was such great fun!

But now, after a week, our snow is all melting. The temperatures are warming up. We're getting back to normal.

All right. Well, I wonder if you have ever heard of Horace Greeley? Horace Greeley lived in the early 1800's. He founded and edited the New York Tribune. He was actually the man who urged the settlement of the American West. He saw it as the great opportunity for those who had no work. He was the one who popularized the slogan, “Go West, young man!” I'm sure you've heard of that.

Let me read you a few quotes from this guy. One I particularly want to give you (there's a few others that I thought were quite good too). “

“Go West, young man! Go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles.”

“Common sense is very uncommon.” I think that's a good quote for today, don't you?

“The way we do things is to begin.” I've always believed that. In fact, I think it's one of my quotes as well. I think it's such an important thing to know that sometimes when tasks are looming before you, and I know you often find that you feel overwhelmed, you wonder where to start. Well, you choose one place to start, or you take one job you will start with. And you begin! And it's amazing. You just do that job ‘til it's done. Then you begin another one. So I believe in that quote.

“Ah! if the pulpit would practice what it preaches, then all would be well.” That's a true one, too.

“The darkest hour in any man's life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it.”

And again, he says:  “The darkest day in a man's career is that wherein he fancies there is some easier way of getting a dollar than by squarely earning it.”

Another quote: “Duty and today are ours; results and futurity belong to God.”

 Here's another one that I think is very apt for today: “We are not one people; we are two peoples. We are people for Feedom, and a people for Slavery. Between the two, conflict is inevitable.” Well, that was written way back in the 1800's. I think it could be written for today, don't you?

But here's the quote that I wanted to give you. It's always been a favorite quote of mine by Horace Greeley. It says:

“It is impossible to enslave, mentally or socially, a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.”

How true are those words!

I believe, dear wives and mothers, that if we are a people who know God's Word, and His Words are filling our minds and hearts and our beings, we are not going to be a people who are enslaved. Who are the people who are enslaved? People who are deceived. People who are ignorant of the truth. That is the only way you can deceive people.

That's why it is so important to be people of the truth, people of the Book, meaning the Bible, of course. So we, as mothers, need to be filled with truth. We need to be mothers who are filling our children with truth. Every day, little by little, line upon line, here a little, there a little. We are imparting the truth ‘til it becomes part of them, so that they will not be enslaved by propaganda, by fake media, by deception, and by ignorance.

We must be people who know the truth. The Word of God says: “My people are ensnared,” and how true that is! So many of God's people, not just the people of the world, but God's people, are ensnared and enslaved. They've been taken up by fake news, and that which is deception.

And that's why, in these current podcasts, I am talking about, are we people who live according to what God says, or are we those who live according to what society says? We're one or the other.

Last week, did you listen to the podcast, “To mask or not to mask? That is the Question”? Well, we talked about it, not just about the normal answers. We talked about what God says. You see, lovely ladies, there is not one thing we face in this life, or even in our day-to-day lives, or at this current time in our history, that we will not find the answers in God's Word.

If you didn't hear last week's podcast, please go back and listen to it. Because I share what God says, His heart, the Scriptures about this whole scenario of mask-wearing. I was going to go on to another subject today, but do you know, there are still more Scriptures? So I think I'll give you some more today, because we might as well be filled.

I mean, most probably, most Christians, if you said to them, “Have you got any Scriptures about mask wearing,” well, they wouldn't even be able to think of one! I think we should start thinking of some. We talked about it for a whole session last week, and now, let's look at a few more this week, so we really get what God says. OK?

So, last time, I won't go into it, but just recapping a little bit, I took you to 2 Corinthians chapter three, and then verse two talks about how our very lives are a letter that anyone can read, just by looking at us. God says that we're a letter. We're a letter from Him to our husbands. We're a letter from Him to our children. We are a letter from Him to the world, to everyone we are in contact with.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 it says, and this is from the New Living Translation: “If the good news we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News . . . For God, who said, 'Let there be light in the darkness,' has made His Light shine in our hearts, so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The Passion Translation says: “If our gospel message is veiled, it is only veiled to those who are perishing. For their minds have been blinded by the god of this age, leaving them in unbelief. For God who said, “Let His Light shine out of darkness” is the One who has cascaded His Life into us, to bring in dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God, AS WE GAZE INTO THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.”

I talked last week about the face of Jesus, and how we, as we look at His face, and not just His face, but the many, many attributes of His face, because His face reveals His character, we grow into His likeness. As we grow into His likeness, it is then revealed in our face. And so we become this letter of Jesus, and the knowledge of Jesus, through our face.

We talked about paniym, which literally means “faces.” Let me give you a few more Scriptures. I didn't give you these ones last time, about how God wants us to live in the Light of His countenance, or the Light of His face.

WALK IN THE LIGHT OF GOD’S FACE

You see, God wants us to be looking up to His face, the face that is unveiled, where God will reveal His glory to us. And He wants to look on our face. He doesn't want a veiled face. He wants an open face so that His glory can be reflected from Him to us, in our face, out to others!

Have you got the message?

This is the message, lovely ladies, of the unveiled face. Of how God created us. He never created us to mask up. No! But to be unveiled, to reveal His glory, and to walk in the Light of His countenance.

Psalm 4:6: “Lord, lift up Thou the light of Thy countenance upon us.”

Psalm 11:7: “For the righteous, Lord, loveth righteousness. His countenance (it just means face) His  face beholds the upright.”

Psalm 21:6: “Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance.”

Oh my. As we look to the face of Jesus and we gain knowledge of Him and Who He is, and His glory  reflects on us, we're just living in this reciprocal light of God's glory through our faces. God's face, our face. This brings us into exceeding gladness.

Psalm 42:11: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me?” And then the Psalmist speaks to his soul, and he says: “Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, for the help of His countenance.”

What is that phrase talking about? “The help of His countenance.” The word “help” is actually yeshua! We all know that Yeshua is the Jewish name for Jesus. Jesus, meaning “salvation, help, healing, deliverance.” He is the help. It comes from His face shining upon us. The help of the saving, the salvation, the deliverance, the healing of His countenance.

Dear lovely ladies, to receive this, we receive it from His open face. But we need an open face to Him to receive His salvation, and healing, and deliverance. We find that Scripture in Psalms 42:5 and 43:5.

Now, how did God give the children of Israel their promised land? Psalm 44:3 says: “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but by Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the Light of Thy countenance.” Isn't that beautiful?

Psalm 89:15: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the Light of Thy countenance.” This is how we're meant to walk our lives in the Light of God's face, shining upon us, and His glory reflecting to our face, and then our revealing it to those who are around us with an unveiled face. We talked about that Scripture last week.

Now here's a bit of a scary one. Psalm 90:8: “Thou hast set our sins,” or iniquities, “before Thee, our secret sins in the Light of Thy countenance.” So we don't get away with anything, do we? Even our secret hidden sins are shown up in the Light of His countenance.

You see, that's what masks do. They hide what is going on inside us. They're a cover-up. That's why before Covid, who wore masks? Gangsters, and bank robbers, and people like that.

Even people who wore masks just to be acting a part or acting out as someone. In fact, Britannica Encyclopedia says about mask-wearing, “To act out as someone.” But it says, “Often the wearer seems to become psychologically one with the character he is helping to create. He seems to become an automaton, without his own will, which has become subservient to that of the personage of the mask.”

Just a little quote, but it's a big, long article, showing how the spirit of the person that they are trying to mask can come upon them. That's truly what happens when we mask up. We are covering up who we are, dear ladies, and who God created us to be. We are covering it up. God never intended us to cover up. No, He wants an unveiled face. It's just not His plan.

ENSLAVEMENT PERSONALITY

In fact, what we do when we cover up, we take on a whole new personality. We take on an enslavement personality. We take on this subjection to tyranny and it becomes part of us. You see that people have become enslaved to tyranny just because someone has mandated this. But it is not a law of the land, and it is not in the Constitution. Constitutionally, we are a free people!

I mean, you can't go round naked, but you are free to wear what kind of style you like. And you are a free person to be who God created you to be! Not to cover up who you are. And so, if you take on this enslavement mentality and I see that in people who have given in.

Now there are sometimes when you just have to wear a mask because there was no other way out of it, but you seek not to when possible. What I seek to do is never wear one. The only one time I have was on an airplane.

But you see, when you give into this, you are giving into enslavement and you take that on. You see people, that spirit comes upon them! God has given us a free spirit! We are a free people. America is a free nation! We only give to these people who are trying to enslave us. We are only giving them the power by just giving into it, by submitting to it, by cowardly submitting to it. So be who you are! Not an enslaved person!

Our daughters have just come back from Mexico. In fact, they were there as couples. The three girls, Evangeline, and Serene, and Pearl, with their husbands, went down for a week to Mexico. Serene was saying before they got on the plane to come back home, that down in Mexico they had to have a Covid test to check that they were completely healthy before they could fly. Now you would think after having a test and they proved negative, that they could just get on the plane.

But no, even though they proved negative, they still had to wear a mask on the plane. There was no necessity for that. Everyone who got on that plane was completely free. So therefore, it is not to do with health. It is just a mandate of slavery.

Of course, the girls are so against masking themselves up, especially for their health. So they actually purchased masks that were breathable. They could breathe through them. You know Serene. She wouldn't wear anything else.

Oh, but did you hear? Those of you on Trim Healthy Mama Facebook, you most probably saw, because Pearl posted it, how on the very last evening they were there, Evangeline had an accident? Well, it wasn't even really an accident, because the whole week they did all these most incredible adventurous things. This time they weren't really doing . . . Well, it was pretty adventurous. They'd all gone over to this island on this boat, on these choppy seas.

They were on this island, and they were walking around on the rocks, and then Evangeline, who was way ahead of all of them, as she usually is, apparently slipped on a rock that was in the water. It wasn't even a big boulder; it was just a rock. But it was so slippery, and her body just went out from under her.

She landed, obviously in just the wrong way. She broke the upper part of her arm, just past the shoulder. Apparently, the bones went into other parts of her body. It was pretty horrific. She was just, her arm was just hanging. Of course, she fell into the water. She'd just been rolled up by the surf, and rolled down again, and rolled up.

Anyway, Sam saw her, and he got to her to rescue her. Serene was coming up next. She realized what was happening, but she was a long way, and screamed back to Howard to run, that Vange was down. He eventually got to her. So then they had to get her back. They had to walk a quarter of a mile across the rocks.

Then they had to get back into this boat in this choppy sea. Apparently, it was the most excruciating painful experience for her to get back onto land. Then they had to call for a taxi. She said that was even worse than the boat ride, to get her to a hospital! They eventually did a two-hour operation on her arm, putting in plates, and all kinds of things. So you can pray for her for great healing for her arm. So that was a little sad end to their wonderful holiday.

All right. Well, let's continue here. I love word studies. That's really what we're doing here today. We're doing a word study. We're going into the Word. Now in my podcast, you're going to get a lot of the Word, and that is so good, because the Word is just going into you.

Whatever you're doing now, if you're washing dishes, folding laundry, you're out walking, you can just embrace this Word. And when I read the Scriptures, don't think, “Oh, that's the Scriptures. Well, I can just turn off and dream.” No! Just ignore that, and “embrace Your Word into my heart!” Let's just get so filled with the Word!

DOES GOD GET ANGRY?

So I have been doing a word study this last week. It just happened, that that's how my word studies happen. I'm reading a Scripture about God's anger, and wow, we don't expect to read about God getting angry, do we? We look upon anger as a sin.

But when it talks about God's anger, it's talking of how He feels about sin. I think sometimes we don't even understand how God feels about evil. I mean, evil is so horrific to Him. That's why He sent His only beloved Son to die, because we've all sinned. The punishment for sin is death. Because that's how revolting evil is to God.

But He sent . . . that’s why He hates sin, but He's such a God of love that He sent His own Son to pay the punishment of our sins. But it's good to understand Who our God is. There are so many Scriptures . . . I haven't even finished this study yet!

I noticed how in many of these Scriptures it says God is speaking, and He says, “My anger,” God actually owns this anger. He's not talking about somebody else's anger but “My anger.” And I have a whole paragraph of Scriptures in the next heading, “The Anger of the  Lord.” Another whole paragraph of Scriptures for “Thine anger,” “His anger,” “the fierceness of His anger,” “the power of His anger,” “the rod of His anger,” “wrathful anger,” “the burning with His anger,” “the vengeance in anger,” “the heat of His great anger,” “the indignation of His anger.” Yes, Let me go over the page. “The fury of His anger.” 

And all the Scriptures! Wow! Oh goodness me! That's pretty unbelievable, isn't it? So we have to, if we really want to know God, yes, how we love to know His love, and compassion, and mercy, and forgiveness, which we need every day, and which we bask in.

But God is God. And He's also angry with sin. And the full meaning of that Hebrew word there is aph. It's mentioned 273 times in the Bible. It means, “rod, anger, rapid breathing in passion.” Wow! When someone's angry, sometimes you can see this is how they act. But it also means, can you believe this? It also means, “the countenance, the face, the nose, the nostrils.”

You see, all our emotions are revealed on our face. So “angry,” let's look at a few things here. So this word that we read, you know about anger, mostly translated “anger and wrath.” Here in Psalm 10:4, it says: “The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God.” That's the same word.

It's translated, that same word is translated “face” 29 times. In Ezekiel 38:18, it says: “My fury shall come up in My face.” Whoo! Have you ever seen someone get red in the face because they're angry? Well! My! Maybe that's how God feels about sin. When people turn away from Him and, oh . . .

And this same word is translated “nose” 12 times. Here in Isaiah 65:5: “These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day.”

And then it's translated “nostrils” 13 times. In Psalm 18:8: “There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth.” So, there it is, in that word that means “anger,” but also, it's shown in the face.

All right, and then there's that beautiful word, paniym. I talked about it last week, meaning, “the face of God, the face of Jesus.” But here in Genesis 31:2 it says: “And Jacob beheld the face of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before.” And how did he know that? Because he looked at his face!

And so this word paniym, it's also translated as an “angry countenance,” and then a “sad countenance,” because all our emotions are revealed on our faces, ladies. Our negative emotions, and our lovely emotions. But they all show on our face.

In 1 Samuel 1:17, Hannah's countenance was no more sad after Eli said to her, “The God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.” That was when she cried out and asked for a baby, because she didn't have a baby! She'd longed and longed and longed, and waited and waited and waited! But when Eli said to her, “May God give you your answer,” it says: “And her countenance was no more sad.” So her countenance changed from sadness to joy.

King Artaxerxes said to Nehemiah, who was his cupbearer, “Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” So it was showing on his face.

Now this word paniym also means, “a fierce countenance.” In Deuteronomy 28:50, it talks about “A nation of fierce countenance.” Daniel talks about in the end times of “a king of fierce countenance.”

There's a “rebuking countenance.” Psalm 80:16: “They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.”

Sometimes we have that rebuking countenance, don't we, mothers? Do you get that rebuking countenance on you sometimes? Well, sometimes we have to do that because it's necessary for the training of our children. We don't usually have a lovely face where we have a rebuking moment, do we?

A “troubled countenance.” Ezekiel 27:35: “They shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance,” because they were afraid. And their fear and the troubling of it showed on their face.

A “cheerful countenance.” You know this one, Proverbs 15:13: “ A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.” So that's a good one to have in your home. That's why we don't put on, well, you would never put a mask on in your home, would you?

And yet, I have a friend comes to our fellowship, and he has to go to homes to fix certain things in the home. He says, he can't believe it, that he has been to the door, and the people in the house are masked! In their homes with their own children! Can you even believe it?

It shows you how people can become so enslaved to a lie. So taken over by a lie that even in their own home, they cannot be who they are! This to me is so sad. I can't even believe it. Wow!

But we're meant to be unveiled, with a merry heart, and a cheerful countenance, showing it to our husband, smiling at him. Do you smile at your husband every day? When you look at him, do you smile at him? Maybe you haven't smiled at him today. Well, make sure you do.

When he comes home, be ready with smiles. Be ready with a good word. Be ready with a hug. Be ready to welcome him with your eyes, and with your smile, and with your whole countenance. You know, we can have a disdaining countenance or a welcoming countenance. Don't let your husband, or your children, miss out on your beautiful, unveiled, cheerful countenance which you are shining on them and smiling on them all day long!

And then Proverbs 27:17 talks about sharpening one another's countenance. “Iron sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” You can't have heart-to-heart discussions without looking into someone's face and sharpening one another. You've got to have open faces with one another.

Now, just one more because time is going, like always. We also reveal our character on our face. I've always loved this Scripture, Isaiah 3:9: “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them.” OK, let's give it to you in some other translations.

The Holman Translation: “The look on their faces testifies against them.”

The New Living Translation: “The very look on their faces gives them away.” And it's actually in the context of the passage that they are guilty. Guilt shows on the face, doesn't it?

Have you noticed that with your children? They are trying to maybe tell you a lie and get out of something, but the look on their face, guilt is all over their face. It gives them away, and you usually know what's happening by looking at their face.

So ladies, time is gone. It looks as though I'm going to have to, next week, tell you a little more, because I haven't finished yet! Do you see how the Bible is filled with this understanding of our countenance and how we reveal ourselves and our emotions through our countenance? It's not meant to be hidden! It's meant to be revealed. Of course, especially our positive countenance. We don't want to be putting on a negative one, do we? And so let's pray.

“Dear Father, we thank You, Lord, that Your Word shows us everything. We pray that You will help us to be people who live in truth, who live according to Your Word, who live with unveiled faces. Who will reveal in our homes Your love, Your compassion, Your glory, the glory of Your face, reflected through our face, shining out on our husband, and our children, and all we meet.

Help us, Lord God, to be who You created us to be. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris. If you would like to thank her, her email is: momcat617

P.S. I shared with you on this podcast about the different emotions that show on our face. But there are more! Here is a more extensive list (including the ones I gave you).

THE FACE SHOWS OUR INWARD ATTITUDES

Isaiah 3:9: “The show of their countenance doeth witness against them.”

Angelic face: Acts 6:15.

Angry face: Esther 1:12, 14 and Proverbs 25:23.

Cheerful face: Proverbs 15:15.

Confused face: Ezra 9:7; Jeremiah 7:19; and Daniel 9:7.

Crestfallen face: Genesis 4:5.

Determined face: Isaiah 50:7; Jeremiah 42:17 and 44:12.

Fierce face: Deuteronomy 28:50 and Daniel 8:23.

Guilty face: Isaiah 3;9 (NLT): “The very look on their faces gives them away.”

Hardened face: Proverbs 21:29 and Jeremiah 5:3.

Impudent face: Proverbs 7:13.

Lion-like face: 1 Chronicles 12:8.

Pale face (because of trauma): Isaiah 29:22; Jeremiah 30:6; Joel 2:6; and Nahum 2:10.

Prideful face: Hosea 5:5 and 7:10.

Radiant face: Psalm 34:5 (most translations).

Rebuking face: Palm 80:16.

Sad face: Nehemiah 2:2, 3; Job 8:27 (ESV); and Matthew 6:16.

Shameful face: Psalm 44:15; 69:7; 83:16; 2 Chronicles 32:21; Ezra 9:6; Jeremiah 51;51; Ezekiel 7:18; and 15:7).

Sharpened face: Proverbs 27:17.

Shining face: Exodus 34:35 and Ecclesiastes 8:1.

Smiling face: Job 29:24 (NLT): “When they were discouraged, I smiled at them.”

Strong face (chazaq): Ezekiel 3:8.

Troubled face: Ezekiel 27:35; Daniel 5:9; and 7:28.

Unashamed face: Psalm 34:5.

Blessings from Nancy

www.aboverubies.org * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 140: ARE WE LISTENING TO THE SHEPHERD OR THE VOICE OF STRANGERS?

Today we check out the Scriptures about masking. It's easy to listen to what everyone in society is saying but have you ever checked out what God says?

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello lovely ladies! Well, back together with you again! Can I take you to Isaiah 25:1? “Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Do you notice that it says: “Thy counsels of old”? Do you know that God's counsels, His Word, they are as up to date as tomorrow's news? God's Word is eternal, and it is much alive, and it relates to us as much as when it was the written at the very beginning.

I love Psalm 119:160: “Thy Word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” In the margin In my Bible, it says: “The beginning of Thy Word is true.” So whichever way you take it, “Thy Word is True from the beginning,” or “The beginning of Thy Word is true.” Whichever way, we can take it as everything that was written at the beginning is written for us today.

That's why every single word of God is alive and living. When you read the Word of God, read it, looking for God to speak to you from every word. He can speak to you. He can enlighten one little word. One little one can change your life.

I love Jeremiah 6:16: “Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” The old ways. Some people think, Oh, we don't have to look at the old ways! We don't even have to bother reading the Old Testament! We're in the New now! We're in the New Covenant!

Yes, we are. But, oh, I love those words:

“The New is in the Old concealed.  

The Old is in the New revealed.”

The Old Testament lays the foundation for the New. We have to have the Old to fully understand the new! So we don't discard the old ways, because they're the good ways, they're the ways God has given. His ways are everlasting! They're not just for one generation. They are for every generation! So let's embrace that as we seek the truth.

I notice that at the end of this verse, it says: “But they said, we will not walk therein.” That's pretty sad, isn't it? I know your response is, “Yes Lord, I want to walk in Your Ways, in Your old ways, because Your old ways are the up-to-date ways. They're the everlasting ways. They are the eternal ways.”

I love all the different words in this Scripture. It says it's a good way, and it's the way of rest, where, if we embrace God's ways, we will walk in rest. Many times, we're walking in a state of confusion, and a state of uptightness, and a state of despondency. We can't have rest in our souls. But usually it's because we're walking out of God's will.

Many times mothers are so busy doing things out of their home. They're rushing here and there, and doing this and that, that they're not seeing their homes as their priority. And, therefore, they get into a place of tension and stress. God doesn't want that! No!

When you find you're getting into that, just pull back. Come back to the home. Come back. This is where you're meant to be. Home is not an insignificant place. Home is not a boring place.  Home is where you can change the world! Yes, you're changing the world as you are raising godly, truth-filled,  God-loving, Bible-adhering children.

But you can also do so many amazing things from your home! Without rushing about here, there, going out . . . Oh, I find to go out, I find it such a waste of time. I can do so many more powerful things in my home, because home is what God has given to us as women.

Of course, we will have to go out to do things. But this is our priority. If we see it and understand it from God's plan in His Word, we will find that it's the . . .

most exciting, most fulfilling, most powerful,

and most world-changing place on earth!

All right. I keep saying in every podcast these days that I'm going to talk to you about WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO? We've been doing that, but I want to take up specific points. In one podcast, we did do No. 1, which was talking about this stolen election, and how that we have to know God's truth about that, and how we cannot side with deception and lies. We have to side with truth and integrity. So we'll move onto the next one today.

No. 2. TO  MASK OR NOT TO MASK – THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Number two, and that is, the covering of our faces with masks. Now that has become the norm in our society today. People call it the “new norm.” Well, I'm sorry! I am not adhering to the “new norm” because I'm not listening to the voice of the stranger. I'm not listening to the fake news. I'm listening to what God says.

Now dear ladies, in every little thing we face, and every big thing, and this is a pretty big thing,  because there's something . . . They have tried to completely take over our nation. And we, as people, to me, it's total tyranny, that these people, these whoever they be, that come along and just say, “OK, you have got to wear this mask over your face and cover it up.” I have never heard of such tyranny in all my life!

Now, oh goodness me, I can now hear some people say, “Ooooh, so you don't care about all the people getting sick!” Yes, I do. But dear precious ladies, they have proved that these masks don't stop people getting sick. They don't stop you getting sick.

In fact, this plandemic, or whatever you want . . .  I never call it a pandemic. I call it a plandemic, because it was planned. Or the China virus, or the CCP virus, because this is where it was planned. And it was planned, yes, it was a plan of war against the United States and the whole world. 

It was to bring down the economy and also to hopefully get rid of Trump by bringing down the economy, which it has. It's caused so many people to be out of jobs.

But these masks, they don't . . .  It has been proved scientifically. Well, you've got a few scientists who say that “Yes, it's OK.” But OK, let's get with it. I mean, there are scientists and scientists. It depends which scientists you are listening to! Well, I think that sometimes just listening to common sense . . .

Oh, I was watching just recently, a senator or congressman, one or the other. He was up there in the Capitol, giving his speech. He had his mask on. Well, I couldn't believe it. He was fingering it the whole time! He was touching it, and adjusting it, and fingering it. I thought, “Goodness, me, he's just putting his hands over that thing all the time!” And people are doing that. I mean, it is so ridiculous!

I have refused to come under this tyranny, Well I have had to wear a mask when I boarded a plane. That is the only time I have ever put a mask on. I couldn't get on the plane without it. They refused. So I had to submit to tyranny. So I thought that “Well, I'm not going to submit without being a voice” so I had ordered my mask which says on the front, “This is stupid. Make America Great Again!”

So I wore that when I had to. Took it off as soon as I no longer had to have it on. My  husband, he wore a mask that says, “Resist Tyranny.”

So I would suggest that if you're in a position where you have to, and you know, there are so many places where people think they have to, and they don't. You don't have to. It may say, as you walk into a shop, “You are required to wear a mask,” but I never bother. I've always managed to do my shopping.

But, oh yes, when I was on the plane, and I had to have this mask on . . . You go through security, and they say, “Please lift your mask,” because they have to see your face. They cannot let you through without checking the face they see with the face on your passport, or on your license. So they've got to check that out. You see, the mask hides the face. That's what this mask is doing. It's hiding us from one another. That is not how God intended us to live. It is the opposite.

Well, let's look at some Scriptures. Because this is what I'm seeking to do. I'm not trying to say, “Oh, this is just my idea.” No, I want to have a Scriptural foundation for everything I believe.

We're either going to listen to the voices of the strangers, which are the fake news. All this tyranny, and tyranny does not come from God. We're supposed to be the land of the free. Instead, we have been brought into slavery and bondage in this last year. But what does the Scripture say?

Well, let's go to John 1:14. This is speaking about Jesus: “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.” When Jesus came, He came to reveal His Father to the world. Yes, He came to die and shed His blood for our sins, but He also came to reveal what His Father was like.

And John says here: “We beheld His glory.” Where did they behold  His glory? They beheld His glory through His face. Yes, they saw it in His actions. They saw it as He healed the sick and He raised the dead. They saw it in all the beautiful things that He did. But they ultimately saw it in His face because this is where we see one another. It's where we see who we are.

Let's go over to John 17. This is the prayer of Jesus that He prayed for His disciples when He was on earth. He prayed this prayer, not only for them, but He prayed it for us. He prayed it for those who would believe on Him in the generations to come. So this prayer is also for us.

Let's read it. Verse 22. The whole prayer is wonderful. You can read it later. Verse 22: “And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them.” Wow! Isn't that amazing? Now Jesus came and they beheld His Glory, which was the Glory of the Father. And then He says: “And the glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them.”

Wow! Did you know that Scripture was in the Bible? There's so many Scriptures that are . . . you can hardly take them in. Do we really take them in? I don't think I do. Wow! This glory that Jesus revealed, He's given to us. He's now gone back to the heavenly realm, seated at the right hand of the Father, but He also comes and dwells in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He wants to reveal His glory through us, His redeemed people on the earth!

That's God's plan, to reveal His glory through us! Well, yes, people can see His glory, in a way, by all the things we do. And we serve and we can minister with our hands. We can go places with our feet, but ultimately, they see glory on our faces. They see the likeness of Jesus coming through our expressions on our faces. The face is the revealer of who we are.

When we cover up our face, we cover up our glory. We cover up the revelation of God to the world. So it's not just some outward thing that's happening here. This is something from the enemy. You see, I wrote a little, just a little phrase, but I think it's so true.

“God wants open faces to reveal His Glory.

The devil wants covered faces to hide God's Glory.”

You see, the devil doesn't want the glory of God to be seen in us. We are the revelation of God to the world. We are the light. We are the salt. We show His Glory, and that's God's intention for us.

Every precious new baby we bring into the world is another Image of God in the world. The more of the Image of God we have in the world, the more we reveal of God in the world. And, dear, precious believers, those of you who have Christ in you, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” we are not meant to be covering and hiding our faces and hiding the glory of God.

When we go out, we are meant to shine! We are meant to go . . . we go into a supermarket and we just shine! We smile at everyone. We shine with the glory of God! You don't cover up.

Now, I know this is opposite to what's happening, because I go into shops, and, whoo, you can't even believe it! All these people all masked up. I can't believe it! I mean, why? They are brainwashed. And they are just cowardly submitting to what someone has said. But we, as believers, we've got to know the Word. We live by the truth, or we live by deception, one or the other!

OK, let's go to 2 Corinthians, chapter three. Paul is writing to the Corinthians, and he says to them, verse two, “Ye are our epistle . . . ” That just means you are a letter! You are a letter, “written in our hearts, known and read of all men.”

Here, there's another picture. You know, the Word of God is painting a picture. We're a letter. And every time we go out, wherever we go, down the street to the supermarket, visiting wherever, we are a letter that is being read. People read us. They read what we're like. And how do they read us? They read us through our countenance.

In Isaiah it says: “The show of thy countenance doth witness against thee.” That's in a negative way. But the show, the revealing of your countenance reveals either the glory of God, or it can reveal a negative thing. If you are not revealing God's glory, then you're in a state of self-pity, and you've got depression all over your face. Wow! Whoo! That's pretty horrible to look at!

But you see, whoever we are, or whatever we are feeling, or whatever is happening, we're going to show it on our face! We're a letter that's read of all men. And God does not intend us to shut the book! To cover up the letter! He wants this letter to be read! How can they read it when we're covered up?

I went to a . . . just before Christmas, I went to a beautiful Christmas morning, and it was such a lovely, beautiful thing. Everybody was there. No one had masks. Everyone was greeting one another. You know, when you greet one another, you see each other's faces, and you smile at one another, and it's so glorious.

Suddenly two ladies appeared with masks on! I said, “Oh, I don't know who you are!” I didn't really mean for it to come out like that, but I'd been so sort of taken up with reuniting with other friends and meeting them. Oh, saying, “Hi!” It was so great. And suddenly there were two masked people! I couldn't see them. I truly thought, “Who are they?” They were hiding! And that's the thing. It's just so opposite.

Anyway, we haven't finished yet! Let's go to the same chapter, 2 Corinthians 3:18: ”But we all, with open face. (or unveiled face. That's the real meaning of that word. Unveiled! That's what it says! Unveiled!) “We all, with open (unveiled) face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Such a beautiful Scripture! Revealing that when we are in the Presence of the Lord, when we're in His Word, and as we wait on Him, that we're changed little by little, more and more, into His Image. To reveal His Glory.

But not only are we changed by the Word, but also by one another. Because in the same chapter, it says we are a letter, read of all men. We change as we behold the Lord, the glory of the Lord in one another! It's such a beautiful thing. God intends us to be inspired, encouraged, blessed, as we see Him in others.

And we see different aspects of Jesus in one another. Some have that beautiful anointing of kindness on their faces. Some have that beautiful, sweet spirit. Some have different things. There are different anointings and people show different aspects of the character of Jesus.

But we see it on their faces. It inspires us. We are blessed. And we are encouraged. We grow more and more into His Image as we not only behold Him in His Word, but as we behold Him in one another. So what we see here are the Scriptures. And the face, oh the face, the face! It literally means “the presence of God.”

If we go back to the Old Testament, and into the Tabernacle. Oh, it’s so wonderful to go into the Tabernacle! Not that we can go into it literally, because there's no Tabernacle now. But we can go into it by faith as we read the Word of God and understand all the lessons that God has there for us.

As we move on into the Tabernacle, into the Holy Place, there are three pieces of furniture there. I'm sure you know them. We have the candlestick, the candelabra, on the left. On the right, we have the Table of Showbread. And then just before we go into the Holy of Holies, we have the golden table of incense, the table of incense.

But let's go back to the Table of Showbread. On the Table of Showbread was the Showbread. That's why it was called the Table of Showbread! The Hebrew is lechem hapaniym. That means “the bread of faces.” Lechem is “bread,” and paniym means “faces.” Because it has” im” at the end, it's a plural word. “The bread of faces.”

And on that table, the priest had to put 12 loaves of bread every week, one representing each one of the tribes of Israel. That bread was never, ever, ever off the table. In fact, when the priest would come in at the end of the week, or the beginning of the week, I think it's the end. They would, one set of priests would take that bread off the table and the other set of priests would put down the new fresh bread immediately. So there was not even a slight, little bit of a second when the bread was not on the table.

Because it was everlasting bread. It spoke of Christ. It was to be always there. It was lechem hapaniym, “the bread of faces,” ultimately representing Christ, who said: “I am the bread of life. I am your sustenance.”

But as they feasted on the bread, and once a week the priests would feast on the bread, the bread that had been sitting on the table for a week. It was sitting in the Presence of the Lord, so it wasn't stale. And they feasted on that.

It represented not just the one face, but the many faces of Christ, because it spoke of all the glorious aspects of His character. He doesn't only have one attribute, but many attributes. So lechem hapaniym, “the bread of faces,” it's speaking of Christ. Behold His attributes, His faces, because His faces speak of His character, and His attributes, and Who He is. This is what the face is all about. The face is so important. And God doesn't want it covered up.

Also that bread, of course, it did represent the children of Israel too, because God had planned to have the 12 loaves, each one representing the 12 tribes. It was like their faces were before the Lord. They were to behold His faces, but their faces were before Him. As He beheld them, they were close to His heart. Such a beautiful thing!

But let me take you now to Romans 8:19. So are you getting the Scriptures, dear one? Who are we listening to? Are we listening to the Word, or are we listening to the voice of strangers? And I believe no matter what, we need to seek as much as possible to live our lives according to this Word.

Romans 8:19-21, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

So this is ultimately speaking of the day when our bodies will be changed, and the full revelation of the  sons of God will come. But there is also the revelation that, yes, there's coming a day of the full manifestation of the sons of God. But God wants to have the sons of God manifested now, on this earth.

THIS IS HIS PLAN!

When he comes to dwell in us, he doesn't come to hide.

No, He comes to reveal and manifest Himself to the world!

We are now His representation on this earth!

And the Lord looks for the manifestation, the revealing of the sons of God.

Now many times, we don't do a very good job of revealing His glory, do we, dear lovely ladies? I know I don't. But this is God's ultimate will for us. He wants us to manifest His glory. And we do it through our faces. We do it, right starting in our homes. Praise the Lord, we don't have to wear masks in our homes!

So we can reveal His glory through our love to our husbands. We reveal His glory to our children, even as we smile at them, and you have an open face before them. We're not going round with depression all over us. Ohhh, help! That just brings such a terrible atmosphere into the home. No, we're bringing the atmosphere of the Presence of God.

And then as we go out, into this world, we are going to bring His Presence, to show His glory, to reveal just maybe, in a little way, Who He is. We're going to smile at someone when we go out shopping. We're going to have a little word for someone.

Yes, you can speak through a mask, but it's not the same. Well, I don't hear anybody speaking through a mask. I have to see people's lips, because I'm pretty deaf. Some of you can do that, but it's not the same. No, God wants a totally open, unveiled face.

Do you think you can listen to His Word? What He says? Now, I know it will be a challenge. You have to have courage, many times, not to wear a mask. Courage, yes. But courage is not only a virtue, it's a muscle. And we've got to exercise it. Sometimes we've got to do something, and we get more courage to do it a little more. And a little more.

Let me close again with that little line I wrote.

“God wants open faces to reveal His Glory.

The devil wants covered faces to hide God's Glory.”

Shall we pray?

“Dear precious Father, we come to You in the Name of Jesus, thanking You for your Word. Lord, Your Word is so opposite to the way of the world. And of course, it's opposite to what's happening, Lord, in our nation, with all this mask wearing, which is totally, completely opposite to the way You planned for Your people to live.

Lord God, help us, Lord, to see, to see through the deception, to see what is really happening, to understand that it's not for our health. It's never been for our health. But Lord, You want us to live in ultimate health! You are for health! Lord, we are for health! But this was not for health. This was tyranny. This was to bring us into bondage.

Lord God, help us to see the truth, and help us, Lord God, to take hold of Your Word, and to be who You created us to be. To be the manifesters, the revealers of Your Glory, showing through our open, unveiled faces the glory of the Lord, wherever we are, in our homes, and as we go out into this world. We ask it in the Precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Darlene Norris.

Testimony from this podcast:

“I am sitting here at a dentist office WITHOUT a mask on because of your encouragement to not give in to tyranny! Thank you for helping me be bold in my convictions. And I was reminded as my mask was off that I am to shine the love of Jesus with my whole countenance! A reminder to smile and love people even if they are angry at my non-compliance.”