Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Although Saul was relatively obedient, he was not totally obedient (relative meaning “good enough, partial.”) If Saul had only been explicitly obedient to the words God gave him his ancestral kingdom would have been established.

There is conflict of opinion as to how long Saul reigned because of numerical gaps in the Hebrew manuscript. However, Acts 13:21 states “by the space of forty years.” Forty years of reigning over Israel was quite a long time. However, because of his disobedience to the explicit word of the Lord, he lived most of his reign without the presence of God.

1 Samuel 15;35 says that “Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death.” 1 Samuel 16:14 states: “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.” Saul became more of a hindrance than a blessing to Israel after God left him.

We as Christians have been called to be kings over the realms God has given us, primarily our own individual lives, our marriages, our families, and our occupations in life. But does our reign affect the next generation for God?

The fact that Saul still reigned over Israel for forty plus years does not negate the fact that his kingdom was not established. It never passed on to the next generation. The generational reign was given to David until Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah and ours also came, who is the seed of David.

Acts 13:22,23: “And when he had removed him (Saul), he raised up unto them David to be their king: to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man’s seed that God according to this promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus.”

Let us learn this lesson thoroughly. The success of our own realm of reigning in Christ depends upon our obedience to the explicit, clear words of Christ (Matthew 7:24-28.

Saul relied on partial obedience and situational ethics. This is a false reliance and will not stand the test on judgment day.

When David sinned, he repented with all of his heart and cried out in prayer: “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). He was aware what happened to king Saul, for he had to duck to miss the javelin from Saul on more than one occasion.

As kings and priests in Christ Jesus may our reign over our lives and families be thick and rich with all the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit. May our godly reign affect the generations to come.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Israel’s first king sadly lost his throne because of unrighteousness. His unrighteousness was revealed in the two tests God gave him in regard to defeating Israel’s enemies.

TEST NO. 1 * 1 Samuel 13:8-14:
God, through the prophet, Samuel, told Saul that he was not to take any action against the Philistines who vastly outnumbered his small army of 3,000. The Philistines, on the other hand had “30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude.” All these came and drew the battle against Saul’s pitiful 3,000 man army.

The first thing King Saul had to do was to wait for the prophet Samuel to arrive and offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, plus peace offerings. After seven days of waiting for Samuel to arrive and great pressure mounting, Saul committed his first act of unrighteousness. He disobeyed the word of the Lord. Through impatience, he offered the sacrifice himself! This act of disobedience began the de-establishment of his throne. It was sad, and understandable from human reasoning. But our human reasoning is no excuse for disobedience from God’s sovereign point of view, no matter how extreme the pressure.

The greater the pressure, the greater opportunity for God to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.

Despite Saul’s disobedience, God gave Israel an amazing victory over the Philistines through his son, Jonathan. Praise God for his amazing grace.

Sadly, Saul did not learn from this experience. Even though God put to flight the Philistines, He never realized the importance of being completely obedient to God. Therefore, his kingdom continued to become weaker.

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

King Saul had a wonderful opportunity to establish his kingdom forever (1 Samuel 13:13, 14). What a privilege to be Israel’s first king. However, because of unrighteousness he lost his crown and King David became Israel’s most beloved king, even to this day.

How sad to read the following words: “For now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”

This means that if King Saul had lived righteously and been obedient to the word of the Lord, all of Israel’s kings would have descended from his family tree. What an enormous loss and disgrace to the first king of Israel, but also the tribe of Benjamin, and the family of Kish.

When you read 1 Samuel 9:1, 2 you can’t help but love the young man, Saul. However, by the deeds of unrighteousness his throne was not able to be established. It goes to prove that it is not enough to come from a family lineage that is famous (his great-great-great grandfather was “a mighty man of power”).

Saul himself was described as . . .
1) a choice young man
2) goodly
3) more handsome than any other man in Israel
4) stood head and shoulders above all other the people
5) Little in his own eyes (1 Samuel 15:17)

Obviously, his humility was a factor in God’s choice of Saul. Unfortunately, like so many, humility quickly vanished after he rose to power.

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

The Hebrew word for “establish” in this Scripture is “kuwn,” pronounced “koon.” It means “to set up, stand perpendicular, to establish, to fix, to render sure, proper or prosperous.”

As followers of our great King of kings we are called to be kings and priests (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10). As kings we have been given a throne. The Hebrew word for “throne” is “kicceh,” pronounced “kis-say.” It means “to be covered, i.e. a throne (as canopied), seat.” It is a position of rulership and authority over an empire, country, city, town, or a family home.

It can also be a church. 1 Timothy 3:5 says: “For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”

Proverbs 16:32: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”

Proverbs 25:28: “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

The word “righteous” is “tsedaqah” and means “rightness, justice.” Righteousness is not a matter of doing what is right in our own eyes, but what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Proverbs 21:2: “Every way of man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”

When Samuel judged Israel, God told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king of Israel in place of Saul. 1 Samuel 16:6,7 states: “He looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature: because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.“ Samuel could not see Eliab’s heart. Obviously, there was something unrighteous about his heart.

It is interesting that our President has nominated Brett Kavanaugh for our next Supreme Court Judge. He looks and sounds like a great Supreme Court Judge, but only God knows his heart. If he rules in the righteousness of God’s holy Word, as well as the constitution, I pray that he will be established on the throne of our country’s Supreme Court.

In a smaller degree, all Christians are called to rule in righteousness. King Saul lost his throne because his heart was not right with God. God looks for heart righteousness. Make sure your heart is right.

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Micah 5;2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be LITTLE among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

In His infinite wisdom, God our Father in Heaven sent His most Beloved Son to be the greatest king that this world has ever known. But He sent Him with great humility, opposite to the way the world thinks. In the midst of such humility and servanthood He revealed to the world that humility and servanthood are the very foundation of His throne, kingship, and glorious reign.

King Jesus Christ went through all His trials as a living example of how He wants us to reign in our kingship on earth. 1 Peter 2:21 says: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.”

How do you live as a servant king in your home?

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

God does not call us kings and priests for no reason. He wants us to claim our kingship and let no man take our crown. Revelation 3:11 says: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

King Cyrus of Persia, also known as Cyrus the Great and King of the Four Corners of the Earth is mentioned 23 times in the Bible and alluded to several other times. He was mentioned by name in the Bible 150 years before he came to the throne.

He was a Gentile king and worshipped other gods. He was not of Jewish descent and yet God spoke very highly concerning him. God says in Isaiah 44:28: ‘That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”

We also read in Isaiah 45:1-4: “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in under the bars of iron:
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by name, am the God of Israel.
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”

The reason I mention Cyrus is that he was an extremely benevolent king who was loved by all his subjects. He constantly looked for opportunities to show favor to people, especially his soldiers. Even the countries he conquered loved him and he encouraged all his subjects to be generous and give gifts to people who excelled in any good thing. Some theologians regard him as a prototype of Jesus Christ.

He was trained in school as a child for “justice and righteousness” as well as to be generous. His leaders believed that “Ingratitude is the ring leader and chief instigator to every kind of baseness.” But this was also part of his own benevolent nature.

God, our Father wants us to be royal lovers and royal givers. Someone has said: “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”

There are countless ways we can reward and bless others. We should always be lavish with genuine words that encourage others. We should always greet people with genuine smiles. We should always be hospitable to everyone.

We should try to out-do one another in benevolence. Hebrews 10:25 (TLB) says: “LET US OUTDO each other in being helpful and kind to each other.” The NLT says: “Think of ways to ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER to outbursts of love and good deeds.”

We should seek to be creative in scheming up ideas and ways to bless others. Isaiah 32:8 says: “But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.”

We should wake up each new day asking God to show us who He wants us to bless. Without a doubt, this is the type of kingship God wants us to demonstrate every day of our lives.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

We should not be kings who crave the attention of others or be taken up with accolades and the applauses of others. This is not kingly. We demonstrate godly kingship as we seek to do special favors for those in our realm of influence.

Does your family know you to be a generous king (or queen if you are a woman)? Selfishness does not reflect the kingdom of our great benevolent King, Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

God’s kingdom is a kingdom made up of royal sons and daughters who are always on the lookout for those to whom they can show favor and mercy.

In Esther, chapter six, we read of King Ahasuerus who was not able to sleep and therefore commanded for the book of records to be brought to him. As they read to him, he heard how Mortdecai had saved him from a plot to assassinate him (you can read more about it in Esther 2:21-23).

The king then exclaimed, “What honor and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this?” They replied, “There is nothing done for him.”

At this moment Haman, who was second in command to the king, was in the court seeking permission to hang Mordecai. Instead, the king asked him what should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Of course, Haman thought it must be for him and chose great honors for himself which he ended up having to confer upon Mordecai instead of himself. Much to his utter shame (6:3-12).

I am sure God gave the king a good sleep after he had shown favor to his wise servant, Mordecai.

Are there times when you cannot sleep at night? Perhaps there is a reason. Or now you know the remedy of what to do when you can’t sleep. Think about someone who has done a good favor to you and remember to acknowledge and bless them as a king should.

To be continued.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Do you realize the above Scripture is in the New Testament, the book of grace? God’s judgment is against sin even under the covenant of grace.

2 Corinthians 5:10, 11: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

Freedom of speech is a privilege in this country. However, it was never meant to be abused for the defamation of character, especially without any just reason for doing so. Great damage can be done, especially by the media, to an innocent person’s character by false accusation which is for the sole purpose of venting hatred.

The left-wing media currently uses freedom of the press to malign and destroy the integrity, honesty, and innocence of good people. This destroys the very foundation of this nation.

Something should be done to rein in the swamp media.

It is our God-given responsibility as parents to teach our children the importance of these things. And to get them joining in prayer with us.

Keep praying and never give up.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Do you realize the above Scripture is in the New Testament, the book of grace? God’s judgment is against sin even under the covenant of grace.

2 Corinthians 5:10, 11: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

Freedom of speech is a privilege in this country. However, it was never meant to be abused for the defamation of character, especially without any just reason for doing so. Great damage can be done, especially by the media, to an innocent person’s character by false accusation which is for the sole purpose of venting hatred.

The left-wing media currently uses freedom of the press to malign and destroy the integrity, honesty, and innocence of good people. This destroys the very foundation of this nation.

Something should be done to rein in the swamp media.

It is our God-given responsibility as parents to teach our children the importance of these things. And to get them joining in prayer with us.

Keep praying and never give up.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Psalm 12:3, 4: “The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?"

The fake media who are meant to be unbiased, fair, and balanced are anything but these things. Most liberal channels are now known as HTM (Hate Trump Media). Freedom of speech is highly abused.

As I pray for the media, the above Scriptures come to my mind: “Our lips are our own: who is lord over us?” I feel led by the Holy Spirit to pray binding and loosing prayers according to Matthew 18:18: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In the name of Jesus, I bind the spirit of this fake, forward, perverse media whose tongues and lips are like the active volcanoes in Hawaii and Guatemala, spewing out their hot lava of hatred and lies.

Will you join me and agree with me as you pray that their tongues and lips will be bound? Will you also pray with me that the tongues and lips of the righteous will be loosed so that righteousness will prevail?

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

God hates all types of stealing and robbery in giving and offering, especially those who take something that is not their own and offer it to God as an offering.

1 Samuel 15 tells us how the children of Israel took the best of the sheep and oxen that God had told them to destroy. They did it with a good motive to sacrifice them as burnt offerings to the Lord. But it was disobedience.

1 Samuel 15;22, 23 says: “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Conversely, we read how when David went to offer a sacrifice to stop a great plague, caused by his own sin in numbering the people, that he refused to sacrifice something that would not cost him something.

In 2 Samuel 24:24 David says: “Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price, neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of THAT WHICH DOTH COST ME NOTHING. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.”

God accepted David’s offering because it was a true sacrifice.

When we cheat our employer’s time to pray or witness, this is not acceptable to God. God desires us to sacrifice to Him the things which mean a lot to us. The things that do not cost us anything, or we will not miss if we give them, are not a true sacrifice. True sacrifice is determined by how much it costs us to give.

David prayed in Psalm 51:16, 17: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

We need to ask ourselves: Have we, like David, offered this type of sacrifice for our sins we have committed? I feel challenged as I write. We may not have committed sins as great as David did by his sin in taking another man’s wife and having her husband put in the most dangerous part of the battle to be killed. However, David repented when exposed by the prophet Nathan.

David’s sacrifices for his sins were a broken and a contrite heart which the whole of Psalm 51 describes. All other types of sacrifice would not have been acceptable to God. Read the whole Psalm.

Luke 18:10-14 also shows the heart God wants us to have: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

True repentance is, in a sense, a sacrifice to God, especially when it is coupled with godly sorrow (1 Corinthians 7:10). I wonder if much of our 21st century repentance is but a shallow repentance. Many just walk forward at an evangelistic meeting and are clapped and applauded by the congregation as if they were heroes for going forward. Is there any repentance?

Men, we must teach our families what it means to give sacrifices that are acceptable to God and the meaning of true repentance.

Be encouraged,

Colin Campbell

We fool ourselves if we say we fear God and at the same time we are soft on things that God hates.

Should we not hate what God hates? Absolutely.

God hates idols (Exodus 20:5). Regarding idols, God reveals Himself to be a righteous “jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” At the same time, God shows “mercy unto thousands that love him and keep his commandments.”

Colossians 3:5: “Covetousness which is idolatry.” To covet is to greedily want what belongs to another. This type of idolatry causes people to make wrong decisions to obtain the thing they covet. We must teach our children to hate covetousness.

Proverbs 6:16: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that deviseth wicked imagination, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

1. God hates a proud look. Do I?
2. God hates a lying tongue. Do I?
3. God hates hands that shed innocent blood. This includes abortion. Do I?
4. God hates a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations. These are schemes to do evil. Do I?
5. God hates feet that are swift to run to mischief. Gossipers could be included in this. Do I?
6. God hates a false witness that speaks lies. Do I?
7. God hates those who sow discord among the brethren. Sowing discord among our brothers and sisters in the family as well as in the church is something God hates. Do I?

Our political TV channels are full of sowing seeds of discord and God hates it. Certain things need to be exposed. It is right to expose evil, but we must be careful not to be involved in fake dossiers, etc. to break down righteous unity.

God wants us to employ our tongues to bring about righteous unity, to heal broken relationships and broken hearts, and to be righteous peace-makers.

To be continued.

Be encouraged,

Colin Campbell

Psalm 2:9-11: “Thou shalt break them with a rod if iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

In this passage of Scripture, we have the tension between two truths. On the surface they appear to oppose one another. However, to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, they complement each other.

We are to greatly rejoice in the Lord and yet at the same time, we must be careful not to disrespect His awesome power and holiness. We must tremble at His awesome, glorious presence and holiness and yet at the same time not allow ourselves to be so extreme with fear and trembling that we lose our joy, gladness, worship, and praise at the remembrance of His goodness and grace toward us.

A great example of these two truths complementing each other was when David sought to bring the ark of God to himself and to Jerusalem the second time. This time, he had learned the ark, representing God’s presence, had to be brought back by God’s methods as outlined in the Holy Scriptures, not by his own ideas or methods.

When David, the king of Israel brought the ark of God’s presence from the house of Abinadab we see how offensive our conduct can be before the Lord when we do something which displeases God (2 Samuel l6:1-11). In one sense David did right in that He wanted the presence of God with him at Jerusalem. On the other hand, the way he went about bringing the ark back was wrong. He did not seek God’s “due order” (1 Chronicles 15:12-15) for carrying the ark which resulted in death and destruction. This caused David to be afraid of God. 2 Samuel 6:9 states: “And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?”

Even though David and all the house of Israel played on all manner of instruments before the Lord it did not stop the anger of God from being kindled. Even when we decide to do a good thing, we need to seek God on how He wants it accomplished.

In 1 Chronicles 15 we read how David brought the ark back from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem according to the “due order.” In this second attempt, Kind David realized that the presence of God could not be manipulated by man’s methods.

1. He prepared a place to receive the ark (v. 3).
2. He realized that no one had the right to carry the ark but the God-appointed Levites (v. 15).
3. He realized only the Levites could play the instruments, not all of Israel (v. 16).
4. They offered seven bullocks and seven rams after they had taken six steps (v. 26 and 2 Samuel 6:13).
5. They did not do anything until they had sanctified themselves (v. 12).
6. They brought back the ark with joy, singing, shouting, and the noise of musical instruments (v. 25-28).
7. David danced before the Lord with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14).
If they could do all these things under the Old Covenant, how much more should we rejoice with trembling under the New Covenant? Read Hebrews 10:28-31 and 128, 29).

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell