Episode 36: How Can We Change the World – Part 2

God not only wants us to be courageous, but VERY courageous.

God not only wants us to be righteous, but UNCOMPROMISINGLY righteous.

God not only wants us to avoid evil, but to ABHOR evil.

God not only wants us to shine, but to SHINE greatly.

God not only wants us to be fruitful, but EXCEEDINGLY fruitful.

More next week.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Today we are going to continue talking about how we can change the world. Have you been doing that this last week? Even in your home, with your precious children? Every moment that you nurture them, love them, pour God's Word into them, pour His Truth into them, you are changing the world. You're getting ready world changes.

Isn't that exciting? Oh, you don't have an ordinary role in life. You have a most powerful and significant role that has been given to you by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Oh, you have a heavenly commission, a divine commission, a high calling. Oh, rise up, and pour everything into it!

Now today, let's get into our second point. If you missed last week, we talked about how God wants us to be strong and courageous, but no, more than that, He wants us to be very courageous. That word, “very,” in fact I didn't even get a chance to tell you what that word meant in our last session.

The word, “very,” means, it's meod, and it means “vehemently, wholly, diligently, exceedingly, mightily.” So it's not just being a little courageous, or perhaps a little extra courageous, but no! Vehemently courageous, wholly, diligently, exceedingly, mightily! Oh, these are the words that are used in the Word of God. This is the full Hebrew meaning of that word, that little word, “very.”

So we see that we're coming out of living this ordinary, normal, boring, mediocre lifestyle. We, as a people of God, have got to come up to a new level, a new realm, if we are going to change the world.

No. 2: UNCOMPROMISINGLY RIGHTEOUS

In Proverbs 14:19, let me get it here to read it to you...OK, here it is. It says: “The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.” The Amplified Version, which explains the full meaning, says: “And the wicked will bow at the gates of the uncompromisingly righteous.”

It's not enough to just be righteous. We have to be, as God's people, uncompromisingly righteous. There's too much compromise today, too much compromise with the devil's ways, too much compromise with the spirit of the world.

In fact, the spirit of the world seems to have crept into the church today. It's crept in in so many ways. It's crept in in the way the people dress. In fact, you go to church today, and you'd think perhaps you were down on the beach.

I can't believe, I cannot get my brain around the fact that I can go into a church, and I can see women with cleavage. I beg your pardon? It's bad enough anywhere, but church? Bare shoulders, bare backs, half clothed. And they're in church.

These are not people who have come off the street. Oh well, if they were coming in, we'll just be gathering them, and loving them, and embracing them. No, these are the church people. And they're dressing like the world.

The spirit of the world has come in, even in the lifestyle. The lifestyle, apart from the fact that they believe in God, and they come to church every Sunday, they seem to live pretty good lives, but their ultimate lifestyle is not much different than the lifestyle of the world.

Most of the mothers in the church are limiting their families. Oh, they don't want more than two or three children. Oh, no! Most of them are out for their careers. I mean, it's no different to the world. There's such compromise with the spirit of the world.

Today, so many of God's people do not want to say anything against evil, against abortion, against homosexuality. “Oh no, no, I don't agree with it, but, but, but, you know, I can't really say anything to them. I mean, they can choose.”

I beg your pardon? It's time we stood up with truth! Why is evil increasing? Because the righteous have gone into a corner! The righteous are silent! The righteous have become so mediocre and normal that they will never rock the boat!

We will never change the world if we don't rock the boat. Anyone who changes the world will face ridicule and persecution and everything coming against them. Maybe we're not ready for that.

And yet we have so many thousands and thousands of our precious believers who are part of our body who are suffering persecution, who are being thrown into jail, who are being beaten, who are going through incredible torture because they will not deny the Name of Jesus.

Yet here in this land, we can speak the Name of Jesus, and we don't have to face that. Yet we can't even open our mouths against evil. I speak to myself. May God help us, change us, oh, pour out His Holy Spirit upon us! Oh, the church of God, we need to rise up, and be who He wants us to be. To become like the early church, a people who were not afraid of man, a people who feared God rather than man. The people who would not compromise with evil.

So let's begin to be uncompromisingly righteous. It starts in our homes. That Scripture, I love that Scripture in Proverbs where it says how that, let's read it again: “The evil bow before the good.” That's an amazing thing. We don't actually see that happening. I so want to see that happening.

I see evil all around, and somehow many of the good are bowing to that evil. That is wrong! That's the opposite of how it should be. “And the wicked bow at the gates of the uncompromisingly righteous.” I believe that when there's uncompromising righteousness, when we're not compromising, and it's not just, you know, gray, but when it's truly black and white, we're standing totally with God. There are no gray areas, but that's when the wicked will come, Whoa! They’ll come to a halt, a skidding halt at the gates of the righteous! Because they cannot enter where there is uncompromising righteousness. So, let's move into that realm, shall we?

No. 3. ABHORRING EVIL

It's not enough to avoid evil. We have to fight, expose, abhor, and reprove all evil. Well, we've really been talking about that already, haven't we? Ephesians 5:11 says . . . I should remember it. Let me just go to it here. Ephesians 5:11 says: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather, reprove them.”

Some translations say: “expose them.” So, OK, I'm sure none of us are wanting to have fellowship with the works of darkness. No, we don't want to get involved with that. But it's not enough just not to be involved in that evil. The Bible says that we are to reprove it! We're to expose it! We are to open our mouths and say something. Let's get into this new year, into this new realm where God wants us to be.

Over in Romans 12:9 it says that we are to “abhor evil.” Not just, “Oh, no, we won't get involved with that,” No, we should abhor it. That word, “abhor,” in the Greek, literally means to “shudder at evil”. When we hear about evil, it makes us shudder. Oh, we grieve, it just hurts us to even hear about it.

Is that our attitude? Or do we get used to it? We're living in a society where abortion is legal. We're living in a society where homosexuality is legal. I mean . . . (sigh) this is evil! Homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of God. Of course, we don't despise the person. No, never! But we despise the act, and we do have to speak out.

We've got to teach our children what is evil, and to put in them a fear of God, and a shuddering at evil. We dare not let them get used to it. In fact, as children go into the school system, and into high school, and even more as they get into college, these things are so rampant now that they can think that this is just, this is how, this is what life is all about.

No, no, it's not. We have got to, in the middle of this deceived society, we have to stand up and abhor evil and shudder at it. Amen?  I hope you are with me in this.

No. 4. GREATLY SHINING

We are to be a light. But once again, the Bible doesn't only tell us to be a light, but to be a great light. Now it tells us in, now let's see, did I write that down? It's Matthew, chapter four, let me take you to Matthew four. It's talking about when Jesus came and when He began His ministry.

Matthew 4:13: “And leaving Nazareth, Jesus came, and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness, saw great light. And to them which sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up.”

So it was talking about how Jesus came into that region, and how that He didn't only come as a light, He came as a great light. Now that word comes from Isaiah, and it was prophesied by Isaiah. Now the word in Matthew four is telling us this prophecy has come. It has come to fulfillment! Jesus has come! And He's not a little flickering light. He is a great light.

That's what He wants to be, in me, and in you, dear wife and mother. In your home, when you go out, when you go to the supermarket, when you go to this meeting or that, wherever you go, you're not to be a little flickering light, but a great light.

You see, here we see another adjective. God always has adjectives with the words that He wants us to be! Are you getting it? We cannot be ordinary, mediocre. No, we have got to be above the norm, beyond the average. He wants us to be great lights.

We go over the next page, to chapter five, and Jesus speaking in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, verse 16, Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.” Our light will be so great that it will be seen by everybody! Oh, may God help me, and you, and our children, wherever we go, that our light, the Light of Jesus within us, will be seen, that everybody who sees us, and who we talk to, will see this Light. Amen?

Let's go over to Philippians, chapter two. (flipping pages) Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, chapter two. Yes, verse 14: “Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as light in the world.”

“Among whom ye shine in this crooked and perverse nation.” This is exactly where we're living today. It's a crooked and perverse nation. All around us there is perverseness, there is crookedness, people are deceived. They're not living the life that God intends for us.

But we have to embrace the lifestyle that God intends for us. As we do that, we shine. We are a light. Dear precious mother, even as you embrace motherhood, you are shining. You are revealing who God created you to be, and therefore you are bringing glory to God.

When you function as who He created you to be, and His purpose for you, you glorify Him. If you decide to not live that lifestyle, to turn away from it, you are no longer bringing glory to God. So let's glorify God. That's how we shine.

But I just want to look at this word, “shine.” In my Bible, I talked about this in one of my podcasts. How I love the Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible. It gives me a number that I can look up. I can look it up in the Strong's Concordance, or I can look it up in my Lexicon at the back of my Bible. This Lexicon will give me a full understanding of what this word says.

The number is 5316. So let me look it up. I'm not sure what it's going to say! So you come with me, and we'll both find out together. OK, 5316. OK, and the word is phaino, and it means, “to shine, to appear, to be conspicuous, to be seen.”

That's really what that Scripture said, isn't it? Shine, let your light shine so that everyone can see. They can see, they actually see your good works. And then they can glorify God. That's the meaning of this word—to be conspicuous.

So we're not going to hide our light. When we go out into this world, dear mother, be conspicuous! OK? Conspicuous! Have you got it?

So, you've got all your little children around you. You do not have to feel ashamed, as though you're some freak, because you've got maybe three, four, five, six, or even more children. By getting out of your van, and people look at you, and they say, “Oh, are all these children yours?”

Don't feel in any way condemned. No! You're shining! You're being conspicuous! Yes, lift up your head, and put a smile on your face, and say, “Yes! These are mine! These are the children God has given me. We're so blessed!” Yes! Make it an opportunity to speak forth the Glory of God! Because this is what it is. You are doing what God wants you to do. You're bringing glory to Him.

Or you could say, perhaps, “Oh, yes, we love children! Don't you?” And then what are they going to say? They see these beautiful children, and they're not going to say, “No, I don't!” They're going to feel a little bit ridiculous asking you such a question, because how can they help but love children?

Even people today who have been turned off having children, who limit their families, they still love children. It's in us to love children.

So we're being a voice. We're being conspicuous. Do it with a smile. Tell your children before you go out, “Children, we're a testimony to Jesus.” Pray with them before you go out. Gather all your children around you, and pray, and ask God to fill you all with His Spirit, with His Shining Light. Encourage the children to be good, and obedient, and smiling to everyone they meet. So you're all going to be a testimony. Amen?

You're going to shine. Let's go back to Isaiah 60. Let's see, Isaiah 60:1, 2: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come. And the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”

Do you notice that again, His Glory is to be seen? It is to be conspicuous. So shine, dear lovely ladies, with the glory of the Lord. Let your children be a testimony if you go out into your neighborhood, into the city, or wherever you go, because every time people see you with your children, it is a testimony to God's plan! Amen!

All right, what's our next one?

No. 5. EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL

God wants us to be fruitful. But once again, He doesn't want us to be fruitful, but to be exceedingly fruitful! Isn't that amazing? God is always wanting more. Let's go, shall we, to John, chapter 15. Here Jesus is speaking, and here it is the chapter about Jesus being the Vine. “I am the True Vine.” Verse 2: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit is taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth, so that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Do you notice? We started with fruit, and then it talks about more fruit. Now herein this passage, it is speaking about spiritual fruit. God is not satisfied with our having some fruit in our lives. He wants our life tree to be filled with fruit.

Sometimes He allows things in our lives, difficulties and challenges, to purge us, and to cut away all these unnecessary branches, and all these extra things—things, things, things, things—that we get involved with. Oh, we can get involved with so many things. We’ve got so many branches, but we don't have so much fruit.

Oh ladies, it is so true that trees have to be pruned if they're going to bear a lot of fruit. Now I know this from experience, because I am the worst pruner in the world. I planted all these fruit trees, and some of them, I just had to cut down. They just got so bad. But I really didn't know how to prune them. I really must learn how to prune properly.

But these trees, they had so many branches, and they grew so big. They never had any fruit because I didn't prune them. Then you look at these trees that are pruned way down. Oh, yes, you can't even believe it! Help, they cut all these branches and they prune it right down. But then the next season, wow, they're just laden with fruit!

And especially vines. Do you notice that after the season of the harvest, they then go back in the spring, and they prune the vines? They prune them right down. They look so ugly, because they've been pruned right down! But then they grow, and then the harvest time comes. And they're just absolutely laden with these beautiful, big bunches of luscious grapes! But they don't get them without being pruned.

Often we have to be pruned. Sometimes we can just prune ourselves and cut back on a lot of junk that we’re involved in. Well, maybe it's not junk, because a lot of good things, a lot of good things we have to prune away too, because there's nothing wrong with them. There's nothing wrong with all those branches on the tree. Nothing wrong with them at all.

But they're just stopping the fruit. They've got to be cut away if there's to be more fruit. We can have a beautiful tree of leaves and leaves and leaves, but we want fruit. We have to prune.

Now if we won't prune ourselves, sometimes God has to do the pruning for us. Because God is not even satisfied with the much fruit. We keep reading, we go down to verse five, and Jesus says: “I am the Vine. You are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without Me, you can do nothing.”

Do you notice the progression? Fruit, more fruit, much fruit. And then we go to verse eight: “Herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit.” This is repeated two times, the much fruit. And then it says: “So shall you be my disciples.” If we're really one of Jesus' disciples, we will be bringing forth much fruit.

And we will be allowing Jesus to prune us, to prune off the unnecessary branches, the unnecessary things we get involved with, things that are not necessarily wrong, but they're not going to help us bring much fruit for the kingdom of God and to bring glory to Him.

This is how we glorify Him. We don't really glorify God by, you know, getting involved in so many things. We've got our hand in this, and our hand in that, and our hand in this, and we're doing that, and we're doing that, but we're not really bringing forth much fruit. We've got lots of branches and leaves, and that's all.

I have found, in my own life, that I have to continually do this. I have to continually say No to a lot of things, because they're going to hinder what I know I am meant to be doing in God's Kingdom. I have to say No to that. It's not that it's anything wrong, because, you know, it could be something good, something everybody else is doing, but I haven't got time for that, because I have greater things to do.

Dear precious mother, you have the greatest thing, the greatest purpose, the greatest mission that anybody could ever have, of embracing children that God wants to bring into this world. To train them, and prepare them for Him, what He has for them, His destiny for them in this world, and for the eternal kingdom. Because motherhood is eternal.

And also, what God has for us, and His purpose for us in His kingdom, is for eternity. Yes, so this speaks to us, both spiritually and naturally, because we are meant to be fruitful in every area. Fruitful in the spiritual realm, yes, but fruitful in the natural realm.

I have had people come to me, and say, “Well, you know, God's not interested now in how many children we have. You know, that's not the point. We have to have spiritual children now, so I'm interested in getting spiritual children.”

Well, I'm so glad that they want to have spiritual children. But the Word of God does say, “First that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.” And, can I ask you this question? How can we have spiritual babies if we don't have natural babies?

If God's people stop having natural babies, or even the people in the world stop having natural babies, there would be no people to then evangelize and bring into His Kingdom to have spiritual babies! Even spiritual babies start as a natural baby! You can't get a spiritual baby from out of the air. A spiritual baby starts with a person, a person you lead into God's kingdom.

So, the more people we bring into this world, the more people there are to evangelize, and to draw into the kingdom of God. It's first that which is natural, and then that which is spiritual. So God's picture for the spiritual is to bring forth much fruit.

But it's the same picture in the natural. That's how it actually, originally, started. In Genesis 1:28, where the very first words that God ever spoke into the ears of man were: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.” The very first word! Fruitful. Be fruitful. That's on God's heart.

You see, God is not Someone who is normal. No! God doesn't want a little fruit. He wants more. God wants much fruitfulness. He said: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth.”

As we close this session, let me give you just one little example. We'll go to Exodus, and I'm always amazed at this passage. Exodus chapter one, and this is talking about the children of Israel who are in Egypt, and at this time, they're under the servitude of the Pharaoh. They're living a terrible life with hard taskmasters who are whipping them and beating them and making them serve with hard bondage.

They're going through an incredible, terrible time of their lives. It says here, in verse seven: “And the children of Israel were fruitful.” More than that, they “increased abundantly.” More than that, they “multiplied.” More than that, “they waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them.” Verse 9 says that they became “more and mightier” than the people of Egypt.

You see, dear precious saints, dear lovely mothers, this is God's intention for His people right now, in the USA, in every nation where His people live. He wants His people to be “more and mightier” than the heathen around them.

Today, we are in a neck and neck race. It's a fight between the righteous and between those who are unrighteous. It's not how it's meant to be. There should be an absolutely, overwhelming filling of the land with God's people. If His people will embrace His very first commandment, that's what will happen.

Now of course, the Egyptians, they got scared. They got mad. They didn't know what to do. They thought, “Wow, these people are going to overtake us. So we're going to afflict them. We're going to make it harder for them.” Verse 12 says: “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”

My, we don't even have persecution today. We still can't even multiply. What is wrong with us?! But that's what the children of Israel did. And they were more and mightier than the Egyptians.

That's what God wants us to be. Come on, ladies, let's get to understand God's heart. Let's get off the fence. Let's get off being mediocre, boring, and mundane, and just the normal. Let's be the people who God want us to be. Amen?

“Dear Father, I do thank You so much for every precious one listening today. Young persons, mothers, grandmothers, bless them, Father. I pray that You will pour out Your Spirit all over them and make them fruitful. Not only fruitful, but very fruitful, exceedingly fruitful. Much fruit.

Lord God, help us to be those who shine with Your Light, and who bring glory to You, and who bring forth much fruit. Help us to bring forth fruit in the natural and in the spiritual, so that we may glorify Your Name. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

Episode 35: HOW CAN WE CHANGE THE WORLD (Part 1)

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

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

Nancy: Hello ladies, always great to be with you and to be able to open the Word with you and encourage you in your home as a mother with your little ones all around you, maybe a grandmother, single, whoever you are. Let's get into the Word again today.

Today, I'd like to speak to you about HOW WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. It doesn't matter who we are. Whether we are a young person who's still unmarried, whatever we are, a mother with little children, older children, a grandmother, whoever we are, our lives are always influencing someone, and we have the opportunity to change the world in some little way or maybe even a big way, every day. In our home or wherever we go, even if we go out to the supermarket, we constantly can be available to affect people’s lives.

The trouble is with most of us, we are too ordinary; we are too boring; we are too mediocre; we are too middle-of-the-road. Most people don't want to rock the boat. They don't want to do anything that would maybe upset anyone. They don't want to say anything that might challenge somebody because then that person perhaps wouldn't be too happy with them, so we just stay middle-of-the-road. We are never going to change the world if we are just ordinary, when we are middle-of-the-road, when were on the fence. No, we have to be radical. As we go into the Word of God, we find that God doesn't expect us to be normal. No, He expects us to be above the normal, beyond the ordinary, over the top.

As we read the Word of God, we read so many adjectives. I'd love you to look out for the adjectives as you're reading the Bible. I'm amazed at God's Word. It is so extravagant, and it's filled with adjectives. When we read about peace, we don't just read the word “peace.” It describes peace. It says that when we have Christ dwelling in us, we have “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4;7). That was written to people who were suffering difficult times and persecution. It's not talking about being peaceful because everything's great, the sun is shining, we are sitting on the beach and life is happy. No, it's facing life, facing the difficulties, facing the challenges. No matter what we are facing, when Christ dwells within us, we have “peace that passes understanding.”

The Word of God talks about joy so much, and it doesn't only say the word “joy.” It talks about “exceeding joy” (Matthew 5;12 and 1 Peter 4;13). It talks about “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). Once again, that passage where those words were written, were written to people who were suffering persecution. The joy that Jesus gives us is not just happiness because everything is great. It's joy that we have because Christ dwells in us, because we know that we can trust Him. We know that we have an eternal hope. We have an anchor. We know that we can trust our God.

When it's talking about life, when Jesus said: “I have come to give you life,” He didn't only say “life.” What did He say? He said: “I have come to give you life more abundantly.”

Did you notice that every promise has an adjective? Then we go into the Greek or the Hebrew to check out those words, we get a string of new words to describe that adjective. When we look up how Jesus wants to give us abundant life, we find that it's life that means “superabundantly, over the top, more than enough, beyond the normal.” It's beyond mediocrity.

Dear precious ladies, can I give you a vision of reality? Not just some “I'm talking off the top of my head.” No, this is God's Word. This is truth. This is reality. I have to speak to myself because I have to confess that I'm so often normal myself. I'm just ordinary, yet how can that be? How can that be when I have dwelling in me Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, with all His enemies under His feet, who will, one day, be crowned as King of kings and Lord of lords and has all power over the enemy? He dwells in me; therefore, I am elevated to a new realm of living, not under but over. Overcoming in Christ.

Let's look at a few points today of how, if we are going to be effective in changing the world (and let me pop in here), I want to say to the mothers who feel very trapped in your home, and you've got little ones around you, and you think, how can I change the world? Dear mother, you are changing the world by mothering your children, by nurturing your little ones. Even sitting on your rocking chair, nursing your baby, you are impacting the world. It is true: “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” because a nation is only what its people are.

Not only its people, but the marriages and the homes and the families and YOU, as the mother, have the greatest power, the greatest potential, to mold the lives that God has given to you in your hand, in your home, in your four walls. You have these precious children, and you are training them; you are molding them. You are preparing them to go out into this world to impact this world, to reveal Christ, to reveal His love, to speak out His salvation, to show forth His love and compassion, and you are going to raise children who will take Christ into this nation and maybe to many other nations of the world.

Now, of course, while they are little, you are not sending them out. I hear many mothers say, “I send my children out into the public school to be witnesses for Christ.” I have found that that doesn't usually work like that. It may in some few cases, but it's a tough world out there, even in the public-school system, even amongst the children. Then, as they sit in the classroom, being taught by their ungodly teachers (of course, we have some godly teachers dotted here and there who are still in the system trying to be a light and we thank God for them), but on the whole, there are more ungodly teachers because they are trained in an ungodly system. Our colleges today, our universities today, are now training grounds for extreme socialism and leftism and pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality, and even pro-transgender. It's hard to even believe.

I mean, there was a time years ago, when you could go to college to get a great education, and you would not be affected by all this ideology. But now, this is the main theme of the professors in our universities and even in our schools, even right down to very young grades.

I can never understand that godly parents would send their children into an ungodly system, which it now is unfortunately, to sit under ungodly teachers and unlearn all that they are teaching them at home. No, we have a responsibility to teach our children God's ways, His word, His character, and to prepare them to be strong, ready to go out into this deceived world.

Now, they are not ready to go out when they are little. They don't even have the truth of the Word filling their lives. It takes time to get that Word into their hearts and into their minds, to become part of their very being. God's plan for us as parents, mothers with your little ones, and mothers with your middling ones, and your teenagers, it is His plan for us to not only get His Word into the minds and hearts of our precious children but into their mouths. That's the plan. Now, that takes time, to get it so powerfully into them that it's coming out of their mouths (Isaiah 59:21).

Can I ask you this little question? Is God's Word coming out of the mouths of your children?

I speak to many young people today, I talk to many young people, who are from Christian homes, who are in Christian churches, and I am amazed at how little they know of the Word. That Word is not coming out of their mouths. No, everything else is coming out. Goodness me, they know about the latest movies and the latest this and the latest that and the latest fashion, but I never hear the Word coming out of their mouths. They are not prepared to go out and face a deceived nation. No, because they haven't got truth; they haven't got an answer. We have to be ready. What does it say in the Word? It says, we are to be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us the reason of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). We have to prepare our children so that they have His word in their hearts and in their minds, coming out of their mouths. They’ve got it there, so they’ve got the answers of the hope that is within them because, especially in today's society, that truth, that hope that we have from God is so opposite to society.

I remember growing up as a child in New Zealand, and even the non-Christians lived by Christian standards. Today, we don't find that. Today, even in our schools, the transgender ideology is being promoted. Colin and I were speaking at an Above Rubies family retreat the end of last year, the last retreat we did for the year. There were two school teachers there. Both were homeschooling their own children, but of course, they taught in the public school because that was their job.

This one particular guy got up to share and asked everyone to pray for him. He said, “I am in a school where I am the only Christian.” He said that they are promoting the transgender ideology. He has two of his students in his class, fourteen-year-olds, who are in the process of changing their sex. He said, “We are commanded to encourage them and get the whole class encouraging them that this is a great thing to do.”

Now, this is an evil hour in which we are living. Precious ones, it's an evil hour, it's a time when we cannot be normal; we cannot be mediocre. We have got to rise up and truly be the people of God. These people in our nation are a minority, but they are ruling the nation, and they are ruling our schools. They are seeking to rule government because they are bold. We just stay in our little mediocrity. We've got to get out of that.

Dear mothers, it is not insignificant what you are doing. It's powerful; it's forceful; it's going to be forceful. This is going to take everything you have to raise children who are strong in the truth. You are going to have to do that while they are young and get them stronger and stronger. There will come a time when they will have to go out, when they're older, when they're ready. We send them out because we are not training them for hibernation. We are training them for the revelation of God into this world, but we have to get them ready for that. As we send them out, they cannot be mediocre. They will get flattened by the enemy; they'll get deceived themselves. To go out into this world, they have got to be absolutely passionate for God, to know His truth, be able to face persecution and ridicule, but who know how to stand up for truth.

What a mighty, mighty task you have as a mother. You are training children for God's end-time army. You are enlisted in God's plan. You are called, and you are commissioned by Him to do this. Please don't take your motherhood lightly. It is powerful. Take up the commission that God has given you to raise children who will be mighty soldiers in this end-time army, in which we live.

Let's look at a few of these characteristics that we need to have ourselves and also that we need to impart into our children's lives.

No. 1 BE VERY COURAGEOUS

Let’s look at the words that God spoke to Joshua as they were going into the promised land. Now, they had been in the wilderness for forty years, and now, all those ones who didn't believe God, who were scared to go into the promised land, they all died, and there's a new generation. Joshua is taking them in.

In Joshua 1:7, these are the words of God to Joshua: “Only be thou strong and courageous.” Now those are great words, aren't they? Encouraging him, stirring him up, but actually, I didn't read it correctly. What does it really say? “Only be thou strong and VERY courageous.” Yes, did you notice the adjective? You see, God is always putting in the adjectives. We are never meant to be just normal, or even just courageous. No, it's not enough to be strong and courageous. To go in and possess the land God wants us to possess for Him, we have to be strong and VERY courageous, VERY courageous.

That word in the Hebrew is meod, and this is what it means, “to be alert, physically and mentally.” When you're reading about being strong and courageous, you're thinking of someone who is really strong physically, but it is more than that. It's being strong mentally, being alert mentally. It means being steadfastly-minded. Nothing is going to deter you. Nothing is going to lead you off to the right hand or the left. No, you have a straight course because you know what God has given you to do. It means, “to fortify, to strengthen.”

As I think of how it means to not only be strong physically, but alert mentally, I think of 1 Peter 1:13. The Word says to “Gird up the loins of your mind.” We constantly have to do this. That's a beautiful picture Peter gives in 1 Peter 1:13. Back in those days, the men also wore long robes. When they wanted to do something physically, they would have to gird up, pull up, their long robes and tuck them in their belt so that they could run or do something that took a lot of action, and they couldn't have robes in their way. They had to get them out of their way, so they'd have to gird them up and tuck them in their belt.

That's what we have to do so often with our thoughts. Our strength really starts in our minds, doesn't it, ladies? If we are not strong in our thoughts, we are not going to be strong at all. We have to be strong in our thoughts. That means we have to get rid of all the things and all the thoughts that hamper us from action. We've got to cast them off. We've got to get rid of them. All those deceiving, deluding, disheartening, disappointing thoughts, all those thoughts that tend to despondency and despair and sorrow, those thoughts of self-pity, we've got to get rid of them. Gird up the loins of your mind.

Do you remember what the very first thing the older women are too teach the younger women? We read about this in Titus 2:4. I wonder if you can think of it. I'll tell you. The very first thing it says that the older women are to teach the younger women is to “be sober.” Now, that word doesn't mean to not be drunk. It means a lot more than that. The Greek word is sophronizo. It simply means to have a sound mind. You’re thinking the right thoughts. You're not filled with thoughts of “poor me” and self-pity and grumbling thoughts and “I wonder what’s going to happen? “How can I do this?” Thoughts of negativity.

No, you've got a sound mind, thinking according to the Word of God. That's why we have to be in the Word. We've got to have the Word so that we can have a sound mind, so that we think straight. That word comes from the Greek word sofron, which also means “a sound mind, a person who limits their own freedom and ability with proper thinking.” Not just here, there, and everywhere and whatever I feel like, I'll do. No, they have a purpose. They have a purpose.

You as a mother have a purpose. You have a purpose to make your home a beautiful sanctuary for God. You have a purpose to build your marriage and make it beautiful. Did you know, precious mother, that your marriage is what it is according to what you've been building into it, what words you have been speaking, how you have been thinking? You've got to think about how you can make your marriage more beautiful. How you can make life lovelier for your husband. How you can serve him to show your love and appreciation to him. Think of words you can speak into his life each day. You don't go through a day without saying I love you. You have a purpose to build your home and your family and raise your children to be mighty men and women for God. You have mighty purpose. You can't flitter away your life doing what you feel like. No, you've got a purpose, so you've got to stick to it. That's part of having a purpose.

If you have a purpose, you have to put aside many other things. Anybody who is great at something in their lives has to sacrifice many other things. Now, I'm not saying they're wrong things. They may be very good things. They have to put aside even good things to be able to excel at the best thing. That is the same for us as mothers. There are many things that we can go out and do and be involved in this and that, and they can all be good things, but often, those good things can hinder our being the very best. They can hinder our fulfilling the purpose that God has given us. Often, when we get involved in too many other things, those other things tend to weaken our family life. They will tend to fragment us as a family. Therefore, we have to keep to our purpose and decide to do those things that are going to keep our family together and strengthen it and make it greater. The things that are going to make our marriages greater. We put aside other things, even things that are good. There's nothing wrong with them, but they don't fulfill our highest purpose.

I wrote on my Instagram yesterday a little statement that God gave me some time back, and it says, “Everything that is good comes from God but not everything that looks good is from God.” You see, there's a lot of good things, but they may not be what God wants us to do because they hinder the highest purpose that God has given us. If we have a sober mind, we will be thinking straight. We will not be flittering here and there and just, “Oh yeah, that's a great idea” and get involved in that and go here and there. No, many of those things will fragment our family life. We have a strong mind that keeps to our purpose.

It's exciting to look at the words in the Bible. To be sober is the word sophronizo. It comes from the word sophron, “having a sound mind.” Sophron means a “sound, safe, and self-controlled mind” and then that comes from a basic word which is sozo. I love that word, sozo. That's a very common word in the Bible. We read it all the time. Most of the time, it is translated “saved.” It talks about how we can be saved from sin but also saved from other things in our lives too because that word has such a full meaning.

It doesn't only mean saved from sin. It means to be saved from deception. It means to be healed, delivered, protected, preserved and to be made whole. Many times, when Jesus healed the sick, we read the words, “And they were made whole from that moment,” or what Jesus would say, “Your faith has made you whole.” Those words, “made whole” are also the word sozo which means “to be completely whole, healed, preserved.”

I love this word because it also speaks to us as mothers. In 1 Timothy 2:15 it says that mothers, we will be saved, “sozo”, through motherhood. As we embrace motherhood, we are saved; we are healed; we are preserved; we are delivered, and we are made whole because it is a beautiful lifestyle that God has planned for us as women. We were even created for this lifestyle. We were created with a womb to bring forth a child. We were created with breasts to nurse that child. That's why, as we embrace it, we are healed. We are preserved because we are doing what God intends us to do.

Continuing this strengthening the mind let's go to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. I know you love this Scripture. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations . . .“Do you notice that we have to be ruthless with our thought life? Do you get ruthless with your thought life, or do you let it take over your mind? Dear ladies, it's so easy for our thoughts to take over our lives. Thoughts usually tend to negativity. They usually tend to despair. They usually tend to self-pity. When we let them take over, they pull us down into the pits. We are no good to our husbands. We are no good to our children.  We are no good to anybody else around us. We can't change the world when we are letting our mind be overtaken. We have to be strong. We’ve got to gird up the loins of our mind.

Here in this Scripture, it says, we've got to pull down the strongholds. Sometimes, it takes work to pull them down. We've got to be ruthless. “In the name of Jesus, I rebuke that thought. It does not come from God; I will not receive it.” Then we begin to think on God's Word. We think on the things that our lovely. We think good thoughts. We think the truth. We think what God says about us. Then it goes on: “Casting down.” Here again, we've got to pull down, cast down, be ruthless.

“Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” I love the Passion translation of this passage. It says: “We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought.” Now, isn't that good? You've got to capture your thoughts that are negative and pulling you down. I've got to do that too. This is a good reminder to me because we are all prone to it, aren't we?

If we are going to be strong and very courageous, it's going to start in our thought life, and we've got to be ruthless. “Capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One. Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion.” That has to be our attitude when we notice any rebellious thoughts, stubborn thoughts, self-pity thoughts, airy-fairy thoughts. We’ve got to take them into captivity. We capture them like a prisoner of war. We put them in prison. We get rid of them so we can be strong in our minds.

I see that time is gone and we only talked about one point, but we will carry on next week. Let me pray for you.

“Father, I thank You so much for Your precious Word. It shows us the way to go. Thank You for speaking to us again today and reminding us about Your thoughts. Lord God, it's so easy to let our minds go. We pray that You will help us to be very strong, very courageous, and we will be those who will not give in to deceiving thoughts, but Lord God, You will give us the strength to pull them down, cast them down, capture them and to gird up the loins of our minds so that we can think straight, so that we can think correctly, so that we can be those that are sober-minded, with self-control. We ask it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.”

 

 

Episode 34: Every Good Thing

God has given us every good thing we need to enable us to mother in victory, rest, joy, cheerfulness, patience, and longsuffering. How can this work in our daily lives?

Plus, Cherish Allison joins me again for this pod. She talks about life in the Allison family—family communication and interaction. We have the power to make the kind of life we want in our family lives.

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

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Lovely to be with you again. Yes, I've got Chalice with me . . .

Cherish: Cherish.

NC: See? I'm always mixing them up! Do you mix your own children up? I was always doing that when I was raising our children. I'd go to call one of them, and I'd go through the whole lot of them to get the right name.

Cherish: Mum does that.

NC: Yes. But anyway, I'm going to get Chalice to talk to you more in this session too . . .

Cherish: Cherish! (laughing)

NC: I can't win. Anyway, at the end of the last podcast, I shared how I love to write down what the Lord is saying to me, because I would forget. Many times, in the morning, while I'm in the Word, I get this great revelation and understanding. If I didn't write it down, at the end of the day, you would perhaps ask me, “Hey, what did you get from the Word this morning?”

And I would think, “Oh, help. What was it? This day has been filled with so much, and I've been so busy, and I can't even remember.” But I can go back to my book. I've written it down. I haven't lost it.

Now I do believe, that when God sees our expectancy, our faith, and that we really don't want to miss what He says, that He will give more to us.

When we're not really concerned, when we're “Oh well, what does it matter if I forget that,” is He really going to give us more? I believe what the Word says that He gives those who have much, He gives even more. I think that when He sees, that yes, we treasure what He gives us, and we don't want to forget it, and we write it down.

Now I know some of you darling mums have got little babies and toddlers all around you. And you think, “How will I have time to write stuff down!?” I understand that. I went through those seasons too. I remember when I had three children in 17 months. I had twins for my second.

Then I had four under four, and so on. Those were such busy, busy, overwhelming, tiring days. And yet, wonderful days. Oh, glorious days, even in the midst of my tiredness. They were still wonderful.

I didn't have time to write like I can now. But I did try. Instead of having a book with maybe a whole page where I could write something, I would get a journal for the year that would have about four days on one page. Then, even if I could just write one Scripture, even if I didn't have time to write anything about it, I would try and do that.

I've still got some of those books, and I have to confess, there's lots of gaps also, because some days I just didn't even have time to write a Scripture. But I did what I could.

God knows, because there are seasons in our lives. There are seasons where we have all little ones all around us. But these darling little children, they grow, and they get bigger. Somehow you have more time. Even when another baby comes on, you've now got older ones who are helping to do things in the home. It still is easier. So, you do what you can in the season that you're in. If you're able to do this, well, do it, because it will bless you.

I thought I'd just give you a little revelation I got just a couple of days ago. It's written here in my book. Otherwise, I most probably would have forgotten it.

I was just reading the story in Genesis of how Abraham's servant, I think it was Eliezer. It doesn't say the name, but Eliezer was his chief servant, so it was most probably him. It says: “And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed” (This was to go and get a bride for Isaac)” for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose, and went.”

I was arrested by those words, “And all the goods of his master were in his hand.” Dear ladies, everything that's written in the Word is written for our learning. Everything is a type, even the stories. Even every little thing that happens in the stories, they are literal stories, they actually happened.

But there is more. The Scripture has layers. It starts off with the story, the literal thing that happened, or the literal promise that is going to happen. But then it goes down, and it's also a type that can speak to us today. And it goes down and down into depths and depths. The more we meditate, the more revelation God gives.

As I read this, that all the goods of his master were in his hand (Eliezer was his servant) and he had everything of Abraham's at his disposal to use for the good of Abraham's house.

Now lovely ladies, we are more than servants in God's Kingdom. Jesus has made us, not just His servant, but His friend. We are more than His friend, we are His begotten children. We are more than His begotten children. Romans 8 tells us that we are joint heirs with Christ. And all that Christ Jesus is heir to, we are heir to.

I mean, we can't hardly take that in, but it is the Scripture. Most of us don't walk in the truth of it. We don't walk in the truth of hardly anything in the Scriptures! But we've got to start walking in it.

This here is the type of this whole revelation truth. All the goods of Abraham were in the hand of Eliezer. He could take what he wanted. He took ten camels, but there were loads more cannibals. Not cannibals! (Cherish laughing) Camels! He just took ten of his master's camels, because that's all he needed for this trip. But whatever he needed, if he needed 100, he would have taken 100, because they were at his disposal.

Now all the promises that are in Christ Jesus are ours. All that is in Christ is ours, precious ladies, all the good things. This Scripture reminds me of a wonderful Scripture in Philemon, verse 6. This Scripture was a Scripture that totally catapulted me into victory as a young mum.

I started off living by my feelings, up some days, down the next, according to how I felt. But that's a lousy way to live. We're not meant to live by our feelings. We are meant to live by the Truth of the Word of God. Every word, and Jesus said, every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

This is how we are to live, lovely ladies. Is that how you live, by the truth of what God says about you in His Word? Or by your feelings? No, let's get out of that rut of living by our feelings and come into all that God has promised us.

Now in Philemon 1, verse 6, it says that “the communication of your faith may be effectual,” effective, working, working out in your life. Do you want your faith in your home, as a mother with all your little ones around you, to be effective? Well, it goes on to tell us how, so let's listen.

“That the communication of your faith may be effectual by . . . “ How? “By the acknowledging of every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus.” So what it's saying is, all the good things that are in Jesus are in you, because He dwells in you. That's a fact. That's the truth.

If Jesus dwells in you by His Spirit, and He does if you are born again, that means everything that is in Jesus--all His victories, His peace, His joy, His rest, His patience, His longsuffering, that's all in Christ. Those are all the beautiful, lovely, good things in Christ. If He's in us, well, they're in us. So, all at our disposal. Are you getting the message?

Isn't it incredible? It's just as Eliezer experienced. All the goods, every good, wonderful thing of his master's house was available to him. Now we, who are God's children, joint heirs with Christ, all the good things that He has promised us, all the glorious good things of the attributes of Jesus that are in Him are in us, and at our disposal.

So lovely darling mums, every day in your home, you can walk in victory. You can walk in rest. You can walk in joy. You can walk in victory. You can have patience when you want to blow your top!

Yes, because, not that you've got it. Your flesh just stinks! Mine stinks. It always wants to do the wrong thing. But Christ dwells in our hearts, and it's His life we yield to. In every situation, when we're feeling mad, angry, our temper's getting up. Instead of yielding to that, we yield to Christ.

“Thank You, Jesus, for Your patience. It lives in me. I'm full of patience. Thank You, Jesus.”

When you're tempted to be despondent and down, and give into a self-pity trip, that's just giving into your feelings! No! Yield to the Life of Jesus in you. Thank You, Jesus, for Your Joy! I am filled with the Joy of the Lord, because Christ dwells in me. He is Joy!

You see, we yield to His Light. We yield to His attributes, which are in us. They are all at our disposal. They are for you. You don't have to get into a state, and your stomach tied up in knots, and get into a terrible stress mode, because Christ dwells in you. He is rest.

He lives in rest. You can live in rest if you yield to His rest. “Thank You, Jesus. You are Rest. You live in me. I take of Your rest. I trust You. I bask in Your rest. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. I don't have to take all this stress. I just give it to You, Lord. Thank You. I'm just going to live in Your rest. Thank You.”

So all the good is at your disposal. This word “good.” It's just a very ordinary word, we think. We use “good” all the time. “Oh, you're having a good day?” “Oh, that's good!” “Oh, wow, I love that. It's so good!” “Good.” We're always using that word.

The Biblical word “good” is amazing. Because, I think I have shared with you before, that we read a word in the Bible, and then we look it up in the Hebrew, and we blow our minds, because it has so many meanings, the fullness of that word.

Look, this is what the Lexicon of the Hebrew Words for just this little ordinary word “good” is.  Now let me tell you. It says it means “pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious.” Wow, I can't read that. Yes, “sound, cheerful, kind, correct, righteous, the right, virtue, happiness, pleasantness, moral goodness, bountiful, gracious, glad, merry, sweet, prosperity, pleasing, pleasure.” All those words combine to explain the word “good.”

What does the Scripture say? All these good things, that beautiful description, are all in us, all at our disposal. And then, oh, be blessed dear mothers. Don't yield to your feelings. Yield to the Light of Christ that dwells in you.

Now tell us, Cherish! You've been sitting while I've been talking!

Cherish: That was amazing. I was relaxing.

NC: You were relaxing in His rest. Amen. I want to ask you another question. Tell me, what do you love best about being in your family?

Cherish: Oh, I love it when we all get together, and we fellowship. Every night, our family will, I mean, we'll all be busy in the day with all different types of stuff. But once we sit down together in the lounge, we just talk about everything and anything. And it's that's just, oh, that's something I cherish.

NC: Yes, Cherish cherishing. Well, it's true, because I think there's nothing I love more than popping over. I wonder, do you say that in America? Popping over. That's a real New Zealand thing. We often say, “OK, I'll just pop over.”

We love to pop over to your home, especially after supper, when that's exactly what you're doing! You're all sitting around the lounge, and you know, everyone of their different ages, all doing their little things. But you're all together, fellowshipping one amongst the other. It's so wonderful.

Arden is here recording, and I know you love to do the same, don't you, Arden? Even though Arden and Esther are married now. How often when we pop over, they've popped over too, just enjoying the beautiful family fellowship.

I just love that. I think that's what family is all about. It's communication and fellowship. A lot of families are not experiencing this today. They're too busy. They're too busy going here, going there, involved in too many things.

Dear mothers, we can get involved in too many things and miss out on the simple joys of family life, these joys that are so precious, and make such wonderful memories. Just sitting together and talking, communicating. I think in your family nothing is unsaid. If there's a problem, or something's happening, you all talk . . .

Cherish: Oh yeah, everything comes out. (laughing)

NC: There's nothing hidden.

Cherish: Oh, no, no. But it's fun.

NC: Yes, and Serene and Sam, their mum and dad, they don't allow anything to be hidden. And it all comes out, and everything is discussed and communicated. That's the center of family life, that's the strength of family life.

But we have to make that happen. And that's something your parents have chosen, is that they haven't gotten hooked in all the extracurricular activities. Because that usually is for one person, or just a couple in the family. They want to keep the family together.

Now I remember when you were young. If you could just see Cherish sitting here. Cherish is so strong. I mean, she is sooo strong. Look out if you're doing an arm wrestle with Cherish! You won't win. Also look out when you get a massage from Cherish. Oh my! If you want a really strong massage, come to see Cherish! She's very strong.

When she was young, she was amazing at gymnastics. She was so strong and agile. They took her for a few times, didn't they, because your mum and dad realized you were so good. So they went along a few times, and, “Oh, wow, this girl! We could train her for the Olympics!” They just wanted you to get so involved.

Then your mum realized, this is not the life. You would just be involved every day. It would take over family life. So they quit it. So you never lacked by quitting. Your whole life would have been running around like a lunatic. You wouldn't even know the joys of family life that you experience today.

Cherish: I wouldn't even know my cousins or my brothers and sisters.

NC: Yes, that's another thing. You have your brothers and sisters, and then your cousins. The life that you have with them, well, actually, here on the Hilltop, is like, what would you say? A young people's group every day and night of the year. It's so wonderful, because they have so much communication together too. But it's just such a wonderful life.

You know, dear mothers, we do make the life that we want for our family. We determine what we want. Some families, they determine that they just want to be running around everywhere, taking their children here, there, and everywhere. They'll be all good things, I know that, because I know all of you want to do good things. There are so many good, good, good things you can do for your children.

But sometimes these good things are not the ultimate best. We miss out on a lot of the really best and most wonderful things because we're too busy doing “good” things! So we do have to watch that.

I really encourage you to make family life. Did you know, it doesn't just happen? You have to make it. You've got to decide what you want, and you have to make it happen. It will be such a blessing in your family.

Yes, of course, now you're earning some money. You're saving up. Why do you want to save some money?

Cherish: I really want to go to Israel, go and see all the amazing cool places.

NC: Yes, maybe I'll have to come with you. Or you'll have to come with me. I've been to Israel, let me see, about five times. But you can never go too many times. You're never the same again, once you have been. So that would be wonderful. Any other places you want to go?

Cherish: Oh, I want to go back to Liberia and visit some of my family there. My older sister, she's thinking of going next year to do some stuff over there.

NC: Yes, when Sam and Serene adopted, they adopted five children from Liberia, no six, I think. I lose count. But there were three of you.

Cherish: Yes.

NC: So you've got Selah, and Isaiah, and you. Three siblings. The others weren't siblings. So Selah is married, and she has six children. She has three of her own, and then Selah went back to Liberia and adopted another three from Liberia, because they were family members whose parents had passed away from the Ebola over there, and so on.

They were grieving that they had family members, little children who were left with no one to care for them, so they brought them back, and now she has six little children. She is doing such a beautiful job. Selah is the most beautiful wife and beautiful mother.

Isaiah, some of you may remember praying for Isaiah. He had a terrible car accident. It was a head injury, and they didn't think he would even live. If he did, they didn't think he would ever come out of a nursing home. But God answered our prayers, and your prayers, and he came out. He is doing so well today.

And then there's you. So there were three siblings. Selah, she is wanting to set up an adoption agency, isn't she?

Cherish: Yeah.

NC: So she's going back there to do that. Oh no! Before we finish today, another thing! Although Cherish has graduated now, when Serene was homeschooling her, she'd give the girls projects every day. Essays to write; always getting them to write, because writing is so important. Some days she'd give them a subject to write or write a poem. I've read some of your poems, and they're so lovely.

I want to look here at the one you wrote when little Solly was born. Solly, her name is actually Solace Ling, but we call her Solly. Solly is about ten months now, isn't she?

Cherish: I should know, but I don't know. (laughter)

NC: She grows every day.

Cherish: She's getting so big now.

NC: Read this poem you wrote when she was born.

Cherish: All right So it goes:

Solace Ling

 

My dear lovely sister, Solace, so kind and so sweet.

You're a bubble of sunshine I'm so privileged to meet.

As I fondly gaze upon your face, I see a wonderful glow

Filled with love and joy which I pray will stay as you grow.

My dear little sister, God will use you for much more.

Small right now, but in time you'll bless people galore.

Beautiful Solace, we welcome you into the arms of the Beloved.

He will be your Guide, your Shelter, your Protector from above.

NC: Yes, tell me how you enjoy Solly.

Cherish: Oh, my goodness! She is definitely a bubble of sunshine in our house, the sweetest little cute thing.

NC: How do you love having another baby come into the home?

Cherish: Oh! It's definitely another amazing new thing. It's just, I don't know, it's a whole new environment. I just love it. I never get tired of babies.

NC: Oh, so you're hoping that Mommy will be able to have even more babies yet.

Cherish: Yes!

NC: Yes, yes, (Laughter) Oh, now I remember when you wrote this one, about America. Wow.

Cherish: Yes, I forgot about that.

NC: I know. But I had it just lying around. Yes, and I found it today, and I said, “Wow, this was Cherish's poem.” So read it. Wow.

Cherish: You can read it.

NC: No, because you've got to read it. It's a powerful poem.

Cherish: Hope I can do it right.

AMERICA

America, America, oh, can't you see?

America, America, it's time to fall on your knees,

Our country is raging and falling apart,

Evil is attracting our very own hearts,

It's time to come back to the arms of God

And leave behind the evil of this world.

Our Father in heaven, who's watching above,

Wants to give each one the Gift of His Love,

We just have to be willing and allow Him in,

He is more than ready to wash away our sins,

America, America, turn back to God Who waits

With His arms wide open; it's never too late.

NC: That's powerful! Oh, now that you have graduated, you mustn't stop writing poems. You've got a gift for them.

Cherish: This one, the America one, I was actually . . . I did this on my own. It was not for my school.

NC: Wow, it wasn't for school? You just got a burden to write.

Cherish: Yeah, I was sitting down, and I had, you know, I had a paper and pen. I was praying to God and everything, but I mean, God literally gave me that poem. I just kept on writing it. It was just like, God gave it to me.

NC: That is so wonderful. Yes, one more! It's about shining our light. I like that one.

Cherish: So this one is called . . . 

IS YOUR LAMPSTAND LOCKED UP?

Is your lamp stand locked up in the basement to waste away?

Or is it shining fervently throughout all of the day?

Is your lamp shining brightly so the lost can see?

Or does it stand in the dark, withering like an old tree?

Do you fill up your lamp and never let it go out?

Or do you let darkness cover it and fill it with doubt?

Let's be a lampstand that shines out firm and strong

Blinding out everything that's evil and wrong.

NC: That is so great! I love to come over and read the poems and stories you girls are writing. That's why I had some of them here. I pinched them! (laughter)

Yes, well, our time has gone so quickly again. I love to pray for you each time, but I even found a prayer that Cherish had written. So I'm going to get her to pray it for yourself. I think you could pray it with her, and we can all pray it for ourselves as Cherish reads it. OK, darling?

Cherish:

“My life won't change truly, apart from being with Christ.

Instead of dwelling on stuff that doesn't matter, I want my first thought in the morning to be about thinking and praising Him.

God, You never created me for my own self, my own pleasure, my own fulfillment, my own desires. You created me for Your image, for Your likeness, for Your love.

Father, I put off every work of the flesh. I say these things shouldn’t own me and never will.

God, I thank You for being my Father.

Lord God, I put on Your tender mercies, Your loving kindness, and I rejoice that Your heart is inside me. I rejoice that I look through the eyes You behold in the Father.

Thank You for changing me. Amen.”

NC: Amen. Thank You, Lord God, for changing each one of us. We yield our lives to You again, that You will change us, that we will allow You to change us, that we will not stubbornly stay in our rut, but that we will let You change us and grow us into Your image. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.”

 

Episode 33: What About Book Parties?

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

Nancy: Hello ladies. We are up to number 33 podcast. It was way back in the beginning, at number seven podcast that I introduced you to Chalice. Chalice is Serene and Sam's eighteen-year-old daughter, but they have another eighteen-year-old daughter, and she is with me today. Her name is Cherish. I often get mixed up with Chalice and Cherish because they are both the same age, and their names sound quite similar.

Cherish comes all the way from Liberia, but you wouldn't know that because she is so part of our family. She was adopted into the Allison family and our whole extended family when she was only five years old. Cherish is eighteen now, and she is so much a part of this family, as if she was born into it as a little baby. We love having her apart of this family.

I think I did tell you, if you ever listened to number seven podcast, that we have something rather unusual or quite interesting on the hilltop, where a number of us live here. It's what we call CNN. Well, I never listen to CNN, and I doubt whether you do also because, as we know, it is fake news and who would want to listen to it? But we actually have CNN news here on the hilltop, but it's not fake news. It stands for COUSIN NEWS NETWORK, and it's quite amazing.

Somehow all the grandchildren, the cousins, find out about everything that's happening. When there's a new romance coming in the family, well, they know everything, and of course, they tell their parents, and then I ask them, and then everybody's whispering, and everybody knows what's happening. It's rather exciting because no one can do anything on the sly here. Cherish, I would say, is head of CNN on the hilltop. Cherish usually knows what's going on, so if we want to know something, we'll ask Cherish. Cherish is our social girl. When I introduced you to Chalice, I think you would have noticed that she is a little shy but cherish is the opposite. Cherish, it's so good to have you here today.

Cherish: Well, thank you for having me, Nana, and I'm so glad that I can be on this podcast.

Nancy: That's great. Well, Cherish loves to talk. Now Cherish, I know, like Chalice, you also love to read, don't you? They are always coming over to Nana's and ordering books on Amazon, getting the new books that they want. There's a set of books that recently all the young girls on the hilltop were reading. They were a series of books by Tricia Mingerink. Tell us about them. What was the name of the first one?

Cherish: The first book was Dare, and it's amazing. You have Dare, Deny, Defy, and then Deliver.

Nancy: Is that what you're reading at the moment?

Cherish: Yes, I've only got a little bit into it, but so far, it's amazing. It's so good.

Nancy: You're a little bit behind because everyone was borrowing your book; you couldn't even get it. I think the books, they were just going, and I got in on it. Because, often, when they're getting into some books, they tell me all about them, and I think, I have got to get in on it. I've also read Dare, Deny, Defy, and Deliver and everyone got better. Can you tell them what it’s all about?

Cherish: Oh, my goodness, I'm not really good at explaining books. I read the books, but Chalice loves to explain it a lot more, but all I can say is they are amazing. As soon as you start, you won't be able to put it down.

Nancy: Yes, and it's about these, they were called the Blades, and they are very evil, but the book brings out how some of them, not many, came to know Jesus and how He changed their lives. I loved, as I was reading the last book, Deliver, to see that these most wicked men, they were actually just taken as children by this wicked king, trained to kill and so on, but it was amazing how when Jesus came into their lives, how they changed. God can change anyone, can't He? Now, number five is out, so you ordered it today.

Cherish: I just ordered it today, and I'm so excited even though I'm still on the fourth one. But I read really quickly, so I'm really excited for the fifth.

Nancy: It's fun when all the young people, and all the cousins, there are so many cousins just round about the same age, and they get into a series of books, and they all read them so they can enjoy them together.

In fact, something very special that we do here at Christmastime, that is us adults, the couples, we have what we call our ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BOOK PARTY. It started years and years ago when the grandchildren were young, and our Christmas would be bedlam with little children running everywhere. I thought, we need to have something that's quieter and more sedate and a special evening. I got this idea that we would have all the couples, the parents, would come, and we would have a book party. Each one of us would buy a book, and it had to be a decent book because we would play the white elephant game where we would put all the books in the center, and each person would take a turn to either choose a book or fight for one that someone else has got. It's a bit boring if everybody brings books that are ordinary or pretty boring.

Cherish: Don't you have to bring books that you want so that you can fight for it?

Nancy: Yes, that's a good idea. That's true. Well, you bring something that you know someone else will want, or if you can’t think of one that someone else will want, you bring something that you will want, and you'll fight for it. We had our adult book party just recently, and we've been doing it for so many years now that they've learned to get the best books they can because then everybody wants them.

The only thing is that it hasn't turned out to be this sedate, quiet evening. Well, it is wonderful when we arrive, and I make the place so beautiful, and the ambiance wonderful, and we have a glorious meal together, but then we start on our books. Then, it gets rowdier than with all the little children around. Everybody begins to fight over books, and we have wrestling matches and goodness knows what. It's all in fun, of course, because we are a crazy, outrageous family, and if we were going to sit there and just be boring people, well, none of us would enjoy it anyway.

At the end, there were still books waiting to be opened because everyone had been vying for books, back and forth. We don't even do the usual rule where if you get it three, that stops. No, we allow that you can have four times before it becomes your own. It gives chance for swapping and going after one-another's books, and it's a really exciting time.

You girls did something this time, didn't you?

Cherish: Yes, we did. Usually Tiveria, one of the cousin girls, will put on a Christmas party but then Chalice and I were like, well, we all love books so why don't we have our own COUSIN GIRL BOOK PARTY? It was exactly like you guys. You start off all nice and everybody's nice and sweet and then . . .

Nancy: Because you had yours in Chalice's palace. Now, this is something amazing. What is Chalice's palace? Well, this is a little house, well it was meant to be just a little room that Sam was going to build for Chalice for her library because she loves books. It was to be her Christmas present for about three Christmas year’s presents in a row. But the problem is with Cherish's dad, Uncle Sam, is that he can't do anything little. This little room that he was going to make as a library for Chalice ended up into a three-story place. So, we call it Chalice's palace. Anyway, they decided to have it on the third floor of Chalice's palace, but it's not all quite ready yet. You didn't get the heating on, did you? Tell them what happened.

Cherish: We got it all nice and beautiful, and it was going to be nice and warm, but then we forgot to put the heater on before everyone arrived. We put it on just before everybody got there, and instead of having a beautiful, warm place, it was freezing cold, so we all ended up just hovering over the fire. We could barely do anything for a few minutes because it was so cold. In the end, it warmed up, and it was fun. Next time, we are going to make sure the room is warmed up.

Nancy: So, it's going to become a tradition?

Cherish: It is. We really liked it this year so next year . . .

Nancy: I think it's wonderful how they've followed our tradition, and although you're listening to this in the New Year (a secret), we are actually recording this just before Christmas. We are also going to have one for all the young couples because we didn't know what to do because now we have all these amazing young couples who are getting married. Now, we have as many young couples as we do the older couples, so it was too many to all meet together, so Colin and I are going to host one this year to start off for the young couples.

Now we are going to have three book parties a year. They are all such fun. People don't just go out, and “Oh, I better get something.” No, we think about it all year, deciding what we are going to get. Evangeline came with two books this time, and she wanted them for herself, so she fought for them. She had to fight hard, and she actually got them.

Cherish: She got them? Oh, my goodness. Wow.

Nancy: Yes, and then your mom brought a book that she thought nobody else would want, just her, but no, Pearl was fighting for it too and others. I brought a trilogy of three books by Elizabeth Gouge (The

Eliot Family Trilogy). I wonder if you have ever read anything of Elizabeth Gouge? She is a wonderful writer, and anything by her we all devour, so that was popular.

I also brought a book that I had just read. This book is called The Holy War by John Bunyan. Now, we all know that John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress. That's a very famous book; I guess you've got a copy of The Pilgrim's Progress, just about everybody does. The children's version is a wonderful version to read to your children. The original is sort of in Old English, but the children's version is wonderful.

I have to confess that I had never read The Holy War by John Bunyan. I also have to say that it's better than The Pilgrim's Progress. It is the most exciting book. I could not put it down. It's an allegory about this town called Mansoul, and of course, it's about the soul of man. There is the fight between Shaddai, who is God in this allegory and Emmanuel is His Son, Jesus Christ. The devil is Diabolos with all his demons, and they all had different names. The fight, oh the battles were so intense. It was a very, very exciting book, but the message you begin to see is how we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but we are fighting principalities and powers, and the enemy is always trying to get and take the soul of man. He wants man. He wants to overcome us, and it's a very powerful book. I would recommend it to you if you haven't read it. I really think it's a book that everyone should read.

Cherish: I want to get it.

Nancy: You need to read it. Chally needs to read it because she loves allegories, doesn't she?

Cherish: Yeah.

Nancy: She just loves allegories, and you would love it because you wouldn't be bored.

Cherish: Oh, it sounds like my book completely.

Nancy: Absolutely, and it's life-changing. I was so blessed as I read it, so I decided I was going to buy one for the book party.

Cherish: How did you learn about it?

Nancy: I found it lying around in our house. I don't know where it came from. I picked it up and I said, “Oh, I'll check this out.” I was amazed. I was reading a little about John Bunyan today because he lived back in the 17^th century, between 1628 - 1688. I think those were his years. He only lived for sixty years, but he accomplished so much, and most of his books were written in prison. He was put in prison because he was a separatist. He did not conform to the Church of England with all their things that they tried to put on the pastors. He wanted to be free to just preach the Good News.

His hardest thing in prison was having to leave his wife. It was his second wife. His first wife had died, leaving him with four children. Now, he had a second wife and had to try and somehow provide for them in prison. He was a tinker, and he used to try and make shoelaces in prison to get some little bit of money for them.

He could have been freed if he said he would refuse to preach the gospel out in the open, but he said No, he would not stop preaching, and he would remain in prison “until the moss grew on his eyelids,” rather than fail to do what God wanted him to do. That was the kind of man he was. In prison, he wrote many of these amazing books.

While we are talking about books, I must mention a few more books. In fact, if you missed podcast seven, go back and you can listen again, or you can even read the transcript because we now do transcripts for our podcast. We talked about many books that day, and there are loads of wonderful books that are listed there.

Another great book that I never had time to tell you about and won’t have time today to tell you about all the books I want to talk about. One book that we read when we first came to the States, we came to America in 1991. At that time, Serene and Pearl came with us, and we were traveling and ministering.

Our first Christmas here on the continent was way up in the Caribou of Canada. My sister was living there on a ranch in a huge log house. They weren't like a normal log house, they were massive logs. This house was in the Caribou, looking out on the Fraser river. We arrived, and it was in a snow storm. They lived way up on this hill. There was no way we could drive up. Her husband had to come down in the tractor and tow our car up behind the tractor, and then we were iced in and snowed in for the whole time we were there. We didn't even want to go out because we were so scared to go down that hill. You have to use chains to go down and chains to go up on the couple of occasions that we did. I stayed home, and I made homemade soup and homemade bread every day. Christmas day came. At that time, we had no money to buy presents. We didn't even want to go out to buy them.

Cherish: You were still snowed in?

Nancy: We were snowed in. What we did was we wrote poems for one another. I still have those poems. It's amazing; things like that are really far more meaningful than even gifts that we get that we lose. They kind of get lost, or they wear out or whatever. You don't even remember them, but I still remember those poems. While we were there, we got hold of a book called, Nothing too Good for a Cowboy. Have you ever read it?

Cherish: No, but I've heard about it.

Nancy: Yes, because you've heard your Mom talk about Mulligan soup. 

Cherish: Yes.

Nancy: Yes, Mulligan soup.

Cherish: Is that where it came from?

Nancy: That's where it came from.

Cherish: Oh, my goodness.

Nancy: Yes, from Nothing too Good for a Cowboy. I must tell you about Mulligan's soup. I read through this book while we were traveling. We were traveling through Canada and ministering, and Colin and I would speak, and the girls, Serene and Pearl, would sing. As we were traveling, I'd read this book and other books we got to, but this was about a cowboy up in the Caribou. True story.

Anyway, it got to this chapter about how every few weeks he would make Mulligan soup because his name was Mulligan. He didn't use a pot. Oh no. He used a great, big boiler tub. Maybe some of you wouldn't even know what a boiler tub was like. Well, I knew because when I was a little girl, every Monday, my Mom did the washing. We didn't have a washing machine. Oh no. You put all this water in this great big boiler tub, and you boiled up the water, and you threw all the clothes in the boiler and stirred them round. Then, the really dirty ones, you'd have a rub-a-dub-dub, one of those things, and you'd rub them against that. This is how we did the washing.

Well, this was how Mulligan made his soup. He'd fill the boiler, and then he would throw in the food. Out to the garden he'd go. There was no time to wash vegetables. You didn't wash vegetables. He'd pull the big carrots out of the garden, and he would throw them in, throw in the carrots. And he'd get a couple of cabbages, about 8 pounds in weight and he’d throw in the cabbages. And then he'd throw in beets and spinach and heads of lettuce and parsnips and horse radishes and handfuls of garlic. Not little cloves, of course, the bulbs, just throw them all in.

Nothing was washed, right out of the garden, clean dirt. He would throw it all in. Of course, they had the rivers, and they would get the trout, and they would throw in the trout. They would throw it in, heads and all and boil it all up. Wow, Mulligan soup. When it was all boiled up, they would sit there, and they'd eat it. Mulligan, especially him, would be bloated. Then, that soup would last them for six days. Then, when it was over, they would start again.

Anyway, I know your Mom, when you want to make a big soup and use all of the stuff in the refrigerator and whatever you've got there, she calls it Mulligan's soup.

Cherish: Makes a lot more sense now. I was wondering where we got the name from.

Nancy: Yes, it's from the book, Nothing too Good for a Cowboy. It's a great book.

I wanted to mention some children's books that I loved when I was a child. They are still available today by Patricia St. John. Now, Treasures of the Snow is one. Another is called The Star of Light and another is The Tanglewood's Secret. Wonderful books and you may love to get them for your children. They are not for little children, but for middling children, they would enjoy reading them.

There was another book at our book party, my sister, Kate brought it because Kate now lives here in this Nashville area, no longer up in the Caribou. She brought The Exodus by Leon Uris. Now, I had read that book years and years and years ago. Kate had too, but she had recently read it again, and she said, “Nancy, you've got to read it again.” This book is about the establishing of Israel. Israel became a nation in 1948, and it’s the amazing story of the establishing of that nation. It's a novel, but it has so much historical facts too. It's a wonderful story.

Anyway, we better not keep taking about books because we would go on forever. The best book of all is the Word. As I love to tell my little grandchildren, singing . . .

The best book to read is the Bible,

The best book to read is the Bible,

If you read it every day,

It will help you on your way.

Oh, the best book to read is the Bible.

What do you reckon? Do you love to read the Bible?

Cherish: Oh yes, I love to read the Bible. You can make it exciting, or you can make it feel like a chore. When I read it, I'll pray first, and then, when I read the Bible, I'll put myself in it like I'm going through that journey. That's me doing this, and it's a lot more exciting and fun, but there a lot of cool, amazing fun ways that you can do it.

Nancy: Yes, now, do you like to try and read a chapter a day or how do you go about it?

Cherish: Sometimes, when I read the Bible, sorry, I'm thinking . . .

Nancy: You were telling me earlier today that you like to do what Auntie Vange does. What does she do?

Cherish: When she reads a Scripture, she'll read it, and then, she can't go on because it's so deep, and you have to ponder it. You keep getting new things and new ideas, and it's like you're stuck on that one page. Every time I reread it and reread it, that just, yeah.

Nancy: So rather than trying to make sure you read a chapter every day, you read until you read something that really grabs you. Then, you'll stop and pray about it and think about it. Do you ever write down things about it?

Cherish: I used to. I need to start doing it again, but yes, I used to. God would give me loads and loads of revelation, and it's crazy.

Nancy: A good thing to do is to keep writing because I was exactly your age (I was eighteen years of age) when I began to write what God showed me in His Word, and that has been the most, greatest blessing of my whole entire life. I have books down there on my shelf that started when I was eighteen years of age, and I have continued every year.

This is how I read the Word too. When I open the Word, I'm not just saying, “Oh, well, I've got to read the Bible.” I open the Word, and I am excited. I am looking for God to speak to me. I am believing that God is going to speak to me. I'm looking at every word I read, and when I come to something that arrests me, I don't just keep reading. I stop, and I think about it, and I meditate about it.

Then, I have my book. I always have my book there ready to write, write what God is saying to me about it, what I feel the revelation of the Scripture is, and I just write. I find, as I write, more and more, understanding comes.

There's a little saying that says:

“Thoughts tend to disentangle themselves when they pass through lips or cross pencil tips.”

Although, now we use pens of course. But I have found that so true. You talk about that Scripture to someone else, it becomes clearer as you talk about it. That's why it’s so good to fellowship over the Scriptures but also to write. Keep writing, get your journal. I like to get a journal with one page for every day of the year. I'm looking out for everyday to fill my page. Sometimes, I need more, so I'll have an extra book to write more that I want to write too. That's a great blessing. That's something that can bless you, precious ladies, too. Well, you've got to stay on for the next session. We've got to do another poddy while you're here because I've got to ask you more things. Let's just pray.

“Father, we thank You for your blessings, for the joy of family life. I pray that You'll bless every dear mother and wife listening today. Fill them with Your joy, fill them with Your peace, and Father, I pray that You will bless them as they open Your precious Word, which is the best book. Lord, we can read all these other books, and they are so great, and we enjoy them, but Your Word is life. It is life. The words that You speak unto us are life. They fill us with life; they change our lives. I pray that Your Word will become precious to each one in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Books Mentioned:

The Eliot Family Trilogy by Elizabeth Goudge

The Blades of Acktar series (Dare, Deny, Defy, Deliver, Destroy) by Tricia Mingerink

The Holy War by John Bunyan

The above book, THE HOLY WAR is available from Above Rubies.

Go to this link to order:

http://aboverubiesbookstore.mybigcommerce.com/the-holy-war-john-bunyan/

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

Nothing too Good for a Cowboy by Richmond Hobson

Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John

Star of Light by Patricia St. John

The Tanglewood's Secret by Patricia St. John

The Exodus by Leon Uri