Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

 

Although I have known these Scriptures from a child, it was only in recent years that I discovered that the- word “acknowledge” is “yada” in the Hebrew. This is far more than a casual acknowledgement of God. It means to know God in an intimate way. This same word is used of sexual intimacy. We read how God knew Abraham in a personal relationship (Genesis 18:19), He spoke with Moses face to face (Exodus 33:17 and Deuteronomy 34:10), and He knew Jeremiah in the womb (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).

 

We can only experience God’s true direction in our lives as we KNOW Him. If we put God into our little box and made Him a god of our own understanding, we will be led our own way. And our own way always leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13, 14).

 

Dear mother, we must seek above all things to teach our children to KNOW God, not only know about Him. When God spoke to the little boy, Samuel in the temple 1 Samuel 3:7 states: “Now Samuel did not yet know (yada) the LORD.” Samuel lived daily in the temple with the priests but didn’t know God personally yet.

 

Your children can grow up in your godly home and know about God, and yet miss KNOWING Him personally. Pray that they will come to know God intimately. Fill them with the Scriptures daily because it is the Word that makes them “wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:17). Make sure you are revealing to them the God of the Bible, not a god of your own imagination. They will only know God’s ultimate direction upon their lives as they know God truly and intimately.

 

This is the greatest thing you can teach your children.

 

Be blessed,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Maybe you’ve been longing for this day. Maybe it’s a surprise! Maybe it wasn’t the news you wanted to hear!

Whatever the reason, I want to remind you that it is a MIRACLE FROM GOD. God is the author of this life. He destined this child. He has plans and purposes for this precious one. Let’s contemplate on the MIRACLE.

 

M God chose you to be the MOTHER of His child. It is His divine MIRACLE.

 

I God is INTERESTED in every minute detail of your baby, from creating every part of his/her body in the womb to the plans for his/her life and destiny.

 

R God will REVEAL more of His character and His ways to you as nurture and train this little one.

 

A God will give you His ANOINTING and ABILITY to train this child. He knows you cannot do it in your own strength.

 

C God has CREATED you for this purpose. He has CALLED and COMMISSIONED you for this great career.

 

L God’s LOVE will permeate your whole being as you nurse your baby at the breast and as you nurture and nourish and train this precious life for God’s purposes.

 

E God is creating within you an ETERNAL soul that will live forever. You are embarking on an eternal mission.

Praise God for your miracle.

 

Love from Nancy Campbell

 

As I was raising our children, I took hold of the Scripture in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your WHOLE SPIRIT AND SOUL AND BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lod Jesus Christ.” My constant prayer was that one day when I stand before the Lod I could present my children before Him, whole, in spirit, soul, and body. This is a huge vision.

 

We may not fulfil completely our dreams, bu if we keep them before us, we will be constantly motived to keep pressing forward in our goals.

 

I also made an acrostic to affirm my purpose as a wife and mother.

 

P Passionately love my husband and bring delight to his life.

U Unflinchingly keep my eyes upon the goal of raising a godly generation.

R Resist all temptation to come down from my high calling.

P Persevere in building my marriage and home in the face of all obstacles.

O Order my home with diligence.

S Saturate my children with God’s Word and loads of encouragement.

E Embrace my life-giving role of mothering and nurturing.

 

Blessings to you today,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

In this Scripture the “afflicted” are not those who go through great misfortunes but those who see the worst in everything. They are depressed in their minds. The New Living Translation says: “For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”

 

When we see the negative in everything, we live a miserable life. And what is the bottom line? We are leaving God out of the equation! For no matter what happens in our lives, in the little annoying things of our daily lives or the big situations that seem like the end of the world, God is in control. He is bigger than our problems and difficulties.

 

We can totally trust Him, and “Whoso trusts in the Lord, HAPPY IS HE” (Proverbs 16:20). When we put our trust in the Lord and rejoice in the fact that He is our Strength, our Source, Our Rock, our Help, and our

Deliverer, we can keep our hearts joyful in any situation.

 

Your life can be a continual feast! How can that be? It’s all in how we look at things. I love Paul’s confession in 2 Corinthians 43:8-10: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed.”

 

He goes on to say in verses 16-18: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a FAR MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY; while we LOOK NOT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN, BUT AT THE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT SEEN: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

 

Instead of looking on the dark side today, why not count some blessings?

 

Love from Nancy Campbell

 

God doesn’t bless us with children without giving us the strength to nurture and train the children He gives us. This promise is tailor made for parenting.

 

You may think, “How on earth could I ever cope with another child? My hands are full already.” Dear mother, God is your Strength. He promises to give you strength for each new day. He doesn’t give you strength for tomorrow, but for TODAY. And He doesn’t give you strength and energy for a baby that has not yet arrived. If God sends you another blessing from Heaven, He will give you the strength when that baby comes. What a wonderful God we have.

 

Look to Him for His strength for today.

 

Love from Nancy Campbell

 

Painting: First Smile by Magdalena Palega

 

God puts boundaries on nature. God has put limits on the seas and the oceans. Psalm 104:9 says: “Thou hast set a bound (for the waters) that they may not pass over.” Proverbs 8:29 says: “He gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment . . . “

 

God gave the angels of Heaven their boundary. Jude 1:6 (GW) tells us: “They (the angels) were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.”

 

God masterminded the and holy estate of marriage, the most beautiful estate on earth when we live it according to God’s plans. But God has placed boundaries on marriage. When a couple are joined as one on their wedding day, they enter into the exclusivity of marriage. We don’t share our marriage with anyone else. Oh yes, we open our homes and lives to encompass people, but our marriage is sacred. We will never embark on a personal relationship with someone of the opposite sex apart from with our husband.

 

God has given to women a powerful domain over which to rule. God planned for women to be queen of their homes and be the continuers of godly generations revealing the likeness and image of God.

 

God does not intend us to enter the realm of the male domain. Of course, we can if we want, but it will not be to our detriment. God’s blessings are poured out in the domain that He gives to us.

 

And our domain, mother, is a glorious domain. Did you read my article, LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, in the current issue of Above Rubies?

 

I love David’s confession in Psalm 6:5, 6 (GW): "Your boundary lines mark out pleasant (delightful) places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.”

 

I love the CJB version: “Pleasant places were measured out for me; I am CONTENT with my heritage.” It is a beautiful thing when we are content within the boundaries that God assigns to us. In these boundary lines we have the greatest freedom because God is also the author of freedom. He wants us to live free.

 

The words of Jeremiah 5:22, 23 are challenging: “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”

 

Wow, God uses the example of how even the oceans, although they roar and toss, cannot pass God’s boundary lines. And yet, unbelievably, His people do it. God mandated boundaries for His people Israel. He gave them laws and decrees, not to imprison them but to bless them, to make them healthy, and to make them His special and chosen people in all the world. But they didn’t want it. “THEY ARE REVOLTED AND GONE!”

 

This is often our testimony of many women in the church today. They don’t understand that God’s truths do not inhibit us. They set us free. But they don’t want freedom within their boundaries. They want their own kind of freedom. God mandated for women to be in the home. But where are they? Most homes in America are empty today. The mothers have REVOLTED AND GONE!

 

This passage continues in verse 25. “Your sins have withholden GOOD THINGS from you.” We miss out on the “GOOD THINGS” when we move away from the boundaries God has assigned for us.

 

Let’s embrace all that God has for us and live in the fullness of the blessings He longs for us.

 

Drawing you back to His glorious ways,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Painting by Jessica Zemsky

 

P.S. Oh help! I can imagine the reaction to some of my above statements. I must say that I know that most women today are brainwashed by our humanistic society. They have beautiful hearts, would never want to do anything to offend God, and think their lifestyle is absolutely normal because that is all they know. Most women today are ignorant of God’s Word and His plan for women and so they are ignorantly living their lives outside the home. Others are in very difficult financial situations and are forced, often against their will, to vacate the home. Feminism has been very successful in making it more difficult for women as they have lowered men’s wages and advocated for their so-called women’s rights.

 

I understand the many reasons, dear mothers, but at the same time, as an older mother, I must be faithful to teach what God says from His Word. I know that our society is so far away from God’s original intention that it’s a long road back. To some it even looks impossible. But ultimate revival is for us to turn back. We cannot live under the fount of His full blessings unless we live in the boundary lines He has designated for us.

 

But this hits on a truth in God’s Word that we all need to understand. And that is that God works, and we work. God works for us and on our behalf, but He also wants us to work. He wants us to do our part. He wants to work together with us. He is in Heaven, and we are His voice, His hands, and His feet on the earth.

 

We see this in every aspect of Life. God is the bread-giver, but we have to work to grow the grain and bake the bread. God generously and lavishly provides food for us, but we must work to make it grow and prepare it to eat.

 

God loves marriage. He brings couples together, but they have to build into their marriage to make it beautiful.

 

God gave the land of Canaan “a land flowing with milk and honey,” to His people as an everlasting possession, but they had to go in and fight the giants and possess the land. God promised them that He would be with them and fight for them, but He didn’t do all the fighting. They had to get into the fight too.

 

Let’s look at some Scriptures. Oh, I could give you so many, but here are a few.

 

Deuteronomy 7:2, 16: “When the Lord thy God shall deliver them before you” (that's GOD fighting), thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver you.” (That’s the children of Israel fighting).

 

Deuteronomy 7:24: “He shall deliver their kings into thine hand” (that's GOD fighting) and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven.” (That's YOU fighting).

 

Deuteronomy 9:3: “The Lord thy God, which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire, He shall destroy them and He shall bring them down before thy face.” (That’s GOD fighting). Then it goes on to say: “So shalt thou drive them out and destroy them, as the Lord thy God hath said to thee.” (That's YOU fighting,)

 

In 1 Chronicles 14:15-16 we read a strategy that God gave to Israel for one of their battles: “When thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle.” (That's YOU fighting). “For God is gone forth before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” (That's GOD fighting). “David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon, even to Gazer.”

 

Are you getting the picture? God does His part BUT He also gives us some fighting to do to.

 

I'll give you one more. In Jeremiah 51:20-24 God prophetically speaks through Jeremiah to Israel:

 

“Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee” (that's YOU fighting), “will I break in pieces the nations.” (That's GOD fighting).

 

“And with thee,” (YOU are fighting), “will I destroy kingdoms,” (GOD fighting).

 

“And with thee” (YOU are fighting) “I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.” (GOD is fighting).

 

“And with thee” (YOU are fighting), “will I break in pieces the chariots and his rider.” (That's GOD fighting).

 

This is a biblical principle we must remember as we fight our battles. God fights for us but we also have to fight.

 

“Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

 

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

 

P.S.

 

Awhile back I did three podcasts on LIFE TO THE FULL about the war we have to fight as mothers and in our daily lives. You can find them at these links.

 

128. WHO ARE YOU AS A MOTHER?

 

129. THE LORD MIGHTY IN BATTLE

 

130. IF GOD FIGHTS FOR US, SHOULDN’T WE FIGHT FOR OTHERS?

 

 

 

God doesn’t want us to keep our eyes and actions only in our back yard. Of course, this is where we live as mothers. But we can reach out in prayer and certain actions to other nations of the world.

 

God’s heart yearns over the nations. Psalm 66:7 says: “He ruleth by his power for ever; His eyes behold the nations: Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.” His eyes behold the nations and what is going on. If we have God’s heart, we will be doing the same thing.

 

In the Messianic psalm of Psalm 2:8 God speaks to His Son: “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH for thy possession.” We can also pray this prayer because this is the heart of Jesus.

 

Psalm 22 is another Messianic psalm of Christ and verse 27 states: “ALL THE ENDS OF THE WORLD shall remember and turn unto the LORD and ALL THE KINGDREDS OF THE NATIONS shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’S and he is the GOVERNOR AMONG THE NATIONS.”

 

Psalm 72:8: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea.” If we are one of God’s children, we will have the same heart and vision that He has for the nations. We will want to see His rule for righteousness across the whole world. We believe in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.“ And therefore we can’t keep our nose in our own back yard.

 

We must have a big heart for the nations. Families, hidden away in their homes, can become world-changing families as they watch over the nations in prayer. And of course, you can’t pray without doing something!

What were the words of Jesus to the early church? First of all, He gave the great commission:

 

Matthew 28:18-20: “Go ye therefore, and teach ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

 

And then He reminded them again in Acts 1:8: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all the Judea, and in Samaria, and unto THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH.”

 

We see this truth right throughout the Bible. Even back in tabernacle days. The brazen altar where they conducted the daily sacrifices had four horns on the altar, speaking of the four corners of the earth. God’s salvation is to go out to the four corners of the earth.

 

We study the golden altar of incense, and we see that it also had four horns, once again representing the four corners of the earth. You will know that the altar of incense speaks of prayer and intercession going up to God.

He wants our prayers to go up to Him, not only for ourselves and our own families, but to the four corners of the earth.

 

God has a big heart, and He wants us to have a big hearts too. He wants us to be interceding for the nations of the world.

 

Be blessed,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

I have been in touch with people who been “on the ground” IN THE FREEZING COLD at the Ottawa protest since its inception and are still there. I have watched videos and it has been a joyful and peaceful protest of people singing, worshipping God, and praying. In fact, most reports reveal that this peaceful protest is predominantly Christian.

 

These are people are standing for their freedom against mandates that take dominion over their lives and over their bodies. I think of the words in Nehemiah 9:36, 37: “Behold, we are servants this day and for the land that thou gavest unto our father to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it . . . also they have dominion over our bodies . . . at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.”

 

This is what is happening with mandatory vaccinations. Most of these truckers have already lost their jobs and their livelihood. But they are standing not only for themselves but for all those who are being tyrannized.

 

Canada is meant to be part of the free world, and this is nothing less than tyranny! It is disgusting and the beginnings of Nazi Germany.

 

We are in a war, a war of freedom versus tyranny. Our greatest weapon of war is the place of prayer. Are you praying? We have been praying morning and evening and will continue to pray. But we must also stand up and be a voice. We cannot carry on with our lives without doing something. This issue will affect the whole world. If Trudeau has his way, it will set a precedent for the whole world to come under tyranny.

 

If freedom wins, it will set free many other countries that are locked down and where their people are under servitude and already being thrown in internment camps. Are you aware of what is going on in the world?

 

I was talking to a Canadian this morning and she said that they ware wanting people all over the world to contact their Canadian Embassy and register their disgust at what is happening

 

Let’s respond by calling our Embassies. The phone number for the Canadian Embassy in USA is 1 844 880 6519. You will have to wait on the line after 9 options. When I spoke with a representative, she tried to give the excuse that there was violence in the protests but that is the liberal agenda they are trying to portray. Be strong and register your protest.

 

You can also email them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Let’s do our part to bring freedom to this nation and ultimately the world. We dare not sit back and do nothing for the sake of the future of our children and grandchildren.

 

Yours for freedom,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

P.S. Let’s pray for the JERICHO MARCH. Every morning many folks march around Parliament Hill in Ottawa. On Thursday they will march around seven times.

 

First of all, in v. 23 it gives the description: “Very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.” Yes, God gave them WORK to do. And they were to SERVE. They weren’t sitting around praying all day.

 

Dear mother, your home is also a house of God. And God gives you work to do in your home. You are in the perfect will of God as you serve in your home.

 

Verses 19 – 26 tell us about the work of the gatekeepers. You are also a gatekeeper of your home as you protect and guard it from evil and in the inroads of the enemy.

 

Verses 28 - 32 tells us about more practical tasks God gave to His priests and Levites. Some were in charge of the vessels and instruments of the sanctuary which they had to count when they were brought out and count when they were brought in.

 

Others were in charge of the fine flour, the wine, the oil, and all the spices. Others were in charge of mixing the spices. Mattithiah was appointed to take charge of baking the bread for the offerings.

 

Other priests were in charge of making the showbread to put upon the Table of Shewbread each week. Baking bread? Yes, God looked upon it as a priestly duty! What attitude do you have to baking bread in your home?

 

And what do you do when you’ve baked bread? You have to wash the pans and all the utensils you used. These priests did a lot of washing dishes too!

 

But there’s more yet. God’s Word states that all these people were ordained “IN THEIR SET OFFICE ” (verses 22, 26, and 31). The word “office” in the Hebrew means “faithfulness, firmness, fidelity, stability, truth.” It is translated “faithfulness” 26 times in the King James Version.

 

These men were to be faithful to their tasks, even though many of these tasks were menial.

 

Dear lovely mother, you have also been ordained to a “set office” by God. As you manage your home—preparing meals, baking, washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning floors and toilets, and caring for your precious children, God sees each task as a priestly duty. You are doing these things in His presence. He sees these duties as powerful and anointed as a minister preaching his sermon on Sunday. Please, do not ever see them as insignificant. Everything you do in the presence of God is sacred and therefore powerful.

 

Embrace every little practical task in your home today. Rejoice in it. Be faithful to it.

 

Oh yes, one more thing to encourage you. This attribute of faithfulness God wants us to have toward our homely duties is the very same word that is used 20 times to describe God’s faithfulness! When you are faithful, with joy, to your daily tasks, you reveal the character of God! Wow! That is powerful.

 

Have a wonderful day,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

 

Wow! She didn’t even have time to be single. She didn’t have time to find who she really was. She didn’t have time to have her fling before she settled down into marriage. She didn’t have time to have fun before she had children. She didn’t even have time to go to college! These are the comments we hear in today’s society.

 

Now don’t get me wrong. I know there are some women who will not get married. There are others who do not meet “the right one” until their thirties, or even forties. However, the majority meet when they are relatively young. This is God’s plan. This is the way He has created us. This is the time of life when He puts the desire within us for marriage, and yes, for sexual union.

 

Society today believes in the waiting game. You must wait unto you are more mature. You must wait until you have finished college. You must wait until you are financially settled. You must wait until “you have all your ducks in a row.” You must wait until you have traveled and seen the world! This sounds wise advice, but is it biblical?

 

We read in Malachi 2: 15 about the “wife of his youth” and Joel 1:8 about the “husband of her youth.” We read in Psalm 127:4 about the “children of your youth.” The word “youth” in the Hebrew word “na’uwr” and means “young people, juvenile.” That doesn’t sound like old to me.

 

If Colin and I had waited until we were financially secure before we married, we wouldn’t be married yet! If we waited for the “perfect” time to have children, we still wouldn’t have any children! It all sounds so plausible, but it’s hot air and the wisdom of this world. The reality is that God intends couples to marry young and have children when they are young.

 

We don’t find who God wants us to be by doing our own thing. We find who we are as women through marriage and motherhood. This is how we mature. This is how a young man matures. There is nothing like marriage to mature a young man. You watch him grow before your eyes (unless he is unteachable and without godly training). Ultimately, God gives parents the responsibility to prepare their children for marriage, from childhood through adolescence.

 

Amazingly, many couples are quite happy with the waiting game. But what happens with all this waiting? Instead of coming to marriage as pure virgins and righteous young men they come violated. God’s plan is for “young men to marry virgins” (Isaiah 62:5). The waiting game does not help God’s plan.

 

Why do we think we know better than God?

 

Blessings,

 

Nancy Campbell

 

Painting: “The Wedding Morning” by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868- 1914) British painter

 

The words of this book can be read as the words of our Heavenly bridegroom to the church, His bride. They can also be taken literally as the husband and wife speaking to one another. As we read this description, do you think it is a description your husband would say of you?

 

I notice four adjectives in this one little sentence.

 

HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU ARE. The Hebrew word is “yaphah” which is the word used in Israel today for beautiful. It means to “make oneself beautiful, to decorate.” We know this means beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. Not all of us are what we could call beautiful, but we can make ourselves beautiful with a loving smile and attitude. This far outweighs any outward beauty. How often do you smile adoringly at your husband? Many times a day?

 

HOW SWEET YOU ARE. The word “pleasant” in the Hebrew is “na-em” and means “to be agreeable, to be a delight, to be pleasant, to be sweet.” Are you agreeable to live with? Or are you reactionary? Are you sweet to your husband or cold and boring?

 

HOW LOVED YOU ARE. Your husband cannot help loving you because of the love you show to him. When you pour out love it comes back to you.

 

HOW DELIGHTFUL YOU ARE. The Hebrew word “delights” is “ta-anuwg” and means “delight, pleasant, delicate.” This Scripture is in the context of love-making. Are you intoxicating him with delights? But it is far more than that. It relates to every department of our lives as wives in the home.

 

Do you notice the word is plural? It has an “s” on the end! It is not one delight but continual delights. Do you continually delight your husband—in the bedroom, in the kitchen with delightful and wholesome meals, in every situation in your life? Do you delight to serve him?

 

As you seek to delight him, he will delight in you.

 

Love from Nancy Campbell