Yes, you can change people’s lives every time you open your mouth!Have you thought much about salutations? They have power to affect people’s lives. What do you say when you greet your husband each morning? I am sure you start with the wonderful words, “I love you.” But you can certainly add more delicious words to delight his heart.
And what about your children? When you go out to the breakfast table, do you greet them with positive and loving words?
“Good morning, my most amazing and incredible children.”
“Good morning children. I love being your mother!”
“Good morning to my mighty world changers.”
And what about the people you meet? Paul wrote to the Colossian believers: “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ. . . Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Colossians 1:2. Do you notice that he called them “saints” and “faithful”? The word “saints” is “hagios” and means “holy, set apart, sanctified, consecrated, and pure.” He greeted them with the positive words: “holy and faithful.”
Why don’t we try to encourage people when we meet them? How lovely to greet friends in a way that will uplift their souls:
“So great to see you today, dear faithful friend. How are you?”
“What a joy to see your smiling face. You light up my day.”
“What a joy to see you. May you be blessed today.”
“I’m blessed every time I meet you.”
Change someone’s life every time you open your mouth.
Be encouraged and blessed,
Nancy Campbell
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One of the names of our God is the “God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Did you notice that He is the God of ALL comfort? We need God’s comfort in different ways as we face different situations in our lives. But there is nothing that is too painful for God’s comfort.
Do you love preparing meals for your family? Or do you find it a chore? Dearest wives and mothers, can I encourage you today that cooking and preparing meals for your family is not an insignificant task? It is a powerful part of your powerful mothering career. It holds families together. It keeps generations alive.
I read this morning Luke 6:40: “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Writing about parenthood, the great preacher and writer, J. R. Miller says: “Duties cannot be transferred.” I happen to agree with him although many modern Christians would not.
How well-taught are your children? In answering this question many mothers refer to the school or college to which they send their children, perhaps the best private school they can find in their area. Parents like their children to go to the most prestigious school possible.
I sometimes hear women use Proverbs 31 as an excuse to be career women. They say that this woman was in real estate because verse 16 says: “She considers a field and buys it.” To purchase land to plant a vineyard is not the same thing as being in a full-time career. Vineyards were part of home life in Israel. They were part of their survival. As this family grew, they needed land to plant another vineyard and so she needed to check out the most suitable land. It is still the lifestyle in Israel and European countries today. When ministering in different countries in Europe Colin and I have stayed with many families who own their own vineyards nearby to their homes.
Not easy to do, especially in our marriages, but it works miracles. Let’s keep soft and humble hearts. Matthew 19:8 tells us that a hard heart leads to divorce.
What a momentous job we have as mothers. It’s no ordinary job. It’s the most powerful in the nation. One of our many great tasks is to be the peacemakers and to keep unity in the home. Wow, that’s not easy, is it? Sometimes we ourselves can be the cause of disunity!
A dear friend shared with me today a beautiful understanding of God who is our El Shaddai which means "The Breasted One."
It is a very important aspect of parenting to build a hedge around our family and home. Truthfully, it is God who builds the hedge, but we have to do our part. God built a hedge around Job's home. Satan was not able to touch Job until God removed the protective hedge He put around him. Satan tells God in Job 1:10: "Hast not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?"
I love the different words God uses to describe our children. God loves to reveal His plans to us by pictures. Psalm 128:3 tells us that our children are like "olive plants" sitting all around our table. The Hebrew word for "olive" is "zayith" and means "an olive (as yielding illuminating oil)." Among many other uses the olive was used as oil for the lamps to light up their homes. It was also used to light the golden candlestick in the holy place of the tabernacle.
Proverbs 26:8 tells us that to bind a stone in a sling is as bad as giving honor to a fool! A stone in a sling is not meant to be bound up but to go forth to hit the target. It goes forth to slay the enemy. In the same way, we are foolish to bind up God's truth and hide it. God intends His words to go out from our mouths to accomplish God's plans and purposes (Isaiah 55:11). The spoken word has great power. God created the world with His Word. Many times, we hold back divine miracles from happening in our lives because we are too shy, too afraid, or too lazy to speak out the word of the Lord.
A mother wrote me, saying, "I love all the positivity about motherhood I read here, but it seems to outweigh the blurbs about loving wifehood. As a young mama who tries to keep my priorities of God, hubby, and children in that order, do you have any thoughts?"
Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?
Are you bold to speak the truth when deception and lies are being proclaimed? Or do you find it easy to stay silent because you feel too timid or you are concerned what people think of you?
The trying days, the sighing days, the days when things go wrong,
Many years ago I remember seeing this cartoon. The mother was sitting at the table with the newspaper spread out before her. The home was in a mess, the toys were all over the floor, and the children were running wild! The husband came in the door and said, "What on earth are you doing?"