Isn’t this so true? A big part of parenting is building character into our children but we certainly get shaped along the way too. #parenting #buildingcharacter #powerofmotherhood #ilovemotherhood #mothering #mother #aboverubies
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Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
God’s Word is never out-of-date. His Word is true from the beginning; and from the beginning His Word is true! It’s as up-to-date as tomorrow’s newspaper. God revealed His plan for the way He wanted us to live in the beginning of His Word and it’s the same for 2020! Family—a husband and wife raising their children together. No change. Strengthen your marriage and family today. That’s God’s will for you. #marriage #family #familyisgodsplan #marriageisgodsplan #strengthenyourmarriage #strengthenyourfamily #godswordistrue #godswordiseternal #generationtogeneration #aboverubies #nancycampbell
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Duty? It doesn’t sound like an exciting word, does it? We’d rather do something more ex citing! Read a book! Watch a movie!
However, duty is part of life. I read this morning in Psalm 119: 30 (Knox): “Duty’s path my choice.” We must choose the way of duty, even when we don’t feel like it. It reminds me of the quote, if I can remember it correctly: “It takes character to cope with life when duty rather than pleasure is the sustaining force.”
The dictionary meaning of duty is:
Something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation,
the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right,
an action or function required by a person's position or occupation,
the respectful and obedient conduct due a parent, superior, elder, etc.
an act or expression of respect.
a task or chore that a person is expected to perform.
Our occupation is motherhood and the management of the home. It takes a life of duty to keep a home running smoothly. Sometimes we may look upon it as duty and our thoughts spiral down to drudgery.
However, duty can be drudgery or delight depending to our attitude. We not only choose duty because it is the right thing to do, but we choose our attitude. When you choose and confess that every task in your home—menial or creative—is a delight, it will become your delight.
Make duty your delight and you will love every moment in your home. Sing while you work. Smile as you work. Praise the Lord as you work. Everything depends on what we choose to do.
Love from Nancy Campbell
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That’s why we as mothers (and fathers too of course) must be truth seekers and Bible searchers. We must know the truth and teach it to our children, for they are the coming generation and civilization. The coming civilization will be what the mothers of the nation teach them. We, the mothers of the nation, hold such power in our hands. We have this great privilege and responsibility. #motherhood #mothering #powerofmotherhood #ilovemotherhood #generationalmothering #i fluencenofmotherhood #motherteacher #aboverubies #nancycampbell
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By Renee Ellison
Perhaps one of the reasons that Christ turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana was to show this is what He does on the metaphysical level with marriage itself. He takes two very earthly people, two extremely complex people, two people with disparate backgrounds and vastly different personalities and goes to work upon them—like combining the unlikely ingredients of oxygen and hydrogen and making them into water. But that’s not all. He eventually turns the water into wine too—in us as well. It is just what He DOES. HOW He does it is a mystery, but THAT he does it is sure and true.
Some change is quick like the first night's physical consummation but give it time . . . lots of time . . . and over that lifetime, He consummates the two soul's "beings" as well. Just ask anyone who has been married 50 or 60 years. Some old couples even end up somewhat looking like each other in certain features.
Make no mistake. HE does the work, we just ARE. He is quite sufficient to create the oneness upon us . . . over us . . . in us, without our own frail help or limited intentionality. AND what is even more surprising, He not only makes the marriage's oneness, but the individual's INDIVIDUATION. We become more of who we are via the relationship. We identify ourselves by what arises in the context of the relationship. I like this, I don't like that, I tend to be this, I tend not to be that, etc. Changing water into wine is only the beginning.
RENEE ELLISON
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Have you started off smiling this year? Smiling at your husband? Smiling at your children? Maybe things are not going according to your plans and you don’t feel like smiling! Smile anyway. Did you know that smiles don’t depend on circumstances? Your circumstances may not change but as you smile your attitude will! It will change the atmosphere of your home. The more you smile at your family, the more they will smile back at you! #smile #smileanyway #praisegodinallthings #smilingfamily #aboverubies #nancycampbell
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Oh the depths of mother love—the agony, the ecstasy, the longing, and the glory! There is nothing to compare. #mother #mothering #powerofmotherhood #ilovemotherhood #gloryofmotherhood #aboverubies #nancycampbell
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Embrace your anointed and God-mandated career of motherhood as you begin another year. Don’t hanker after other things. You are already in the most powerful career in the nation. Dear mother, you determine the future of the nation. You influence generations to come. You fill eternity! Put your heart into this great commission God has given to you. You are in His perfect will. #motherhood #mother #mothering #ilovemotherhood #powerofmotherhood #aintnohoodlikemotherhood #generationalmothering #greatestcareer #aboverubies #nancycampbellquotes #nancycampbell
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Not only better, but stronger and wiser. And the wonderful thing is that He makes the two into one again! Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:6 (NET): "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
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THE FOLLOWING IS IMPERATIVE FOR ALL PARENTS TO READ!
FULL TIME HANUKKAH PARENTING (Day 8 of Hanukkah)
Apart from the official Hanukkah celebration, we read about a number of dedication celebrations in God's Word.
1) Dedicating the tabernacle for 12 days. Each prince of Israel dedicated the altar for a day each (Number 7:10-11, 84, 88). This was the first dedication we read about.
2) Dedicating a new house (Deuteronomy 20:5). It is biblical to dedicate a new house.
3) Dedicating Solomon's temple which he built for the Lord (1 Kings 8:62 and 2 Chronicles 7:5, 9).
4) Dedicating the rebuilt temple when they came back from Babylon--Zerubbabel's temple (Ezra 6:16).
5) Dedicating the rebuilt walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:27).
And there is one more! You'll never guess!
It’s found in Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The word "train" is “hanuk,” the verb of hanukkah, meaning "to initiate, dedicate, consecrate." It is not enough to celebrate Hanukkah for eight days. As parents, we are FULLTIME HANUKKAH CELEBRATORS!
When we realize that training our children means to dedicate them to the Lord, it gives us a much larger and loftier vision. Everything we do and plan for our children should be done in the light of dedicating them to the Lord and setting them apart for His service. It's not a one-time dedication. It’s a verb which requires daily action.
When our children are disobedient or don't complete what we have asked them to, we can sometimes be lazy and let it go. But not if we understand we are daily dedicating them to the Lord. How can we let things go when we consecrating them to God's holy service? We have the responsibility to train them to obedient so they will be obedient to the Lord!
As children get older, they can become more worldly and want to do what other worldly teens are doing. We could think, "Oh that's the stage they are going through." But not if we understand that we are daily consecrating them to the Lord. We will pray up a storm. We will fight the devil. We will work with our children to keep them on the narrow road that leads to life. We will do everything to save them from the broad road that leads to destruction. WE ARE PROVERBS 22:6 HANUKKAH PARENTS!
When we “hanuk” our children, it determines how we educate our children. It would be ludicrous to send our children into an ungodly education system each day if we are daily consecrating them for God's purposes.
As we consecrate our children to the Lord, we recognize that they totally belong to the Lord for whatever time God has for them on this earth. Above everything else, we know that we are ultimately preparing them for eternity.
Every day is a day of dedicating our children to the Lord,
NANCY CAMPBELL
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Judas Maccabee and his brothers continually fought battles to save Israel and every time they faced armies far larger and stronger than themselves. I was reading one occasion this morning when the enemy came to wipe them out with 20,000 men and they could only muster 6,000. But their trust was in God.
Listen to Judas' confession before one battle: "When all his followers saw the host coming against them, they said to Judas, 'How can so few of us fight against so many? Besides, we have had nothing to eat all day, and we are exhausted.' Judas replied: 'Many can easily be overpowered by a few; it makes no difference to Heaven to save by many or by few. Victory does not depend on numbers; strength comes from Heaven alone . . . Heaven will crush them before our eyes. You need not be afraid of them'" (1 Maccabees 3:17-21).
The Israelites also had to face enemies far bigger than them. Deuteronomy 9:1-3 says: “Hear O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations GREATER AND MIGHTIER than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims (giants), whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak! Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.”
I know that you, too, often face challenges that loom much bigger than you can handle. Don't focus on your difficulty. Look to God. He is your Strength. He is your Source. He is your Sufficiency. He will always do what you cannot do. When we try to handle our problems on our own, we usually make a mess of the job. Put them in God's hands because He always knows best how to handle them.
Victory does not come by intelligence or fleshly strength. It only comes from God. Just as God delivered the Maccabees time and time again as they faced insurmountable armies, so God will deliver you as you trust in Him. Make sure you have the right confession. Don't confess your problems; confess your trust in God. It's the way to victory.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Hanukkah is also called the "Festival of Lights" because of the relighting of the Menorah. This was a huge thing that happened that day, because the Jews knew that God had commanded the lights in the Holy Place to BURN CONTINUALLY. God said it was a statute that must continue for all generations (Exodus 27:20-21 and Leviticus 24:1-4).
They were to NEVER GO OUT—and they had been out for a long time!
How did they keep the lamps burning day after day, year after year? God said they had to attend to the lamps every morning and every evening. They had to trim the wicks and pour more oil into the lamps, the oil speaking of the Holy Spirit. Once a day was insufficient. They had to do it two times a day to keep the light burning
This is a pattern for our lives today. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He fills us with His light, but it is very easy for the light to dim, or even go out. There are many temptations, deceptions, and evils around that diminish our light. To keep the light burning, we must tend to it every morning and evening. We need to do this individually and as a family.
A powerful way to keep God's light burning in every member of our family is to have Family Devotions (or whatever you call it in your home) every morning and evening. Each time we come together as a family to read God’s Word and pray together, we relight our lamps. If we fail to do this, our light can go out very quickly.
How big is the flame in your family? We are not meant to be a flickering light, but a great light. If your flame is only smoldering, get back to God's "morning and evening" principle.” Let the light in the temple of your body and your home shine brightly.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
P.S. Do you wonder how to go about having Family Devotions in your home? A wonderful help for you, which we use every day, is THE DAILY LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH. It has Scriptures written for every morning and every evening, plus ideas on how to make this an exciting time with your family.
Go to this link: http://tinyurl.com/CreativeIdeasToReadBible
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(Forgive me for sharing such a gruesome story, but it is history)!
A brave mother watched her son being killed. No, not just killed but cruelly tortured. They cut out his tongue, scalped him, cut off his hands and feet, and while he was maimed and helpless, fried him alive! In the same manner, they tortured and killed her second and third sons.
The third son cried out: "I have received these limbs from heaven, and I give them up for the sake of God's laws." Another cried out: "We are prepared to die rather than sin against our ancestral laws" (2 Maccabees 7:2, 11).
Because they would not bend and turn from God's laws this dear mother watched as Antiochus tortured her fourth, fifth, and sixth sons the same way. The mother had only one son left, her beloved youngest. Antiochus tried to influence the mother to save his life. He promised he would make him rich and prosperous and even a political advisor.
She obliged by turning to her youngest son saying: "Son, pity me who carried you in the womb nine months, nursed you for three years, nurtured you, and brought you into this stage of life with care. I beg you, child . . . Don't fear this killer but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death so that in God's mercy I should recover you with your brothers" (2 Maccabees 7:27-29). She watched her last son die before she was put to death herself.
This mother was a nurturing and caring mother. But she had a vision for her children beyond this earth. She raised her sons to fear God rather than man. She raised them to stand for truth, no matter what the consequences. She raised them to see beyond this earth to the endless life of the heavenly.
May God help us to be courageous mothers. May He save us from raising wimpy, mediocre children who are seduced by the humanist trend of an ungodly society. May He anoint us with the mighty power of God to raise children who will have the courage to stand for God and for truth, no matter what persecution they face.
Ephesians 6:13: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all TO STAND.”
(You can read the whole of this amazing story in the Apocrypha in 2 Maccabees chapter seven).
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Why do we call this celebration "Hanukkah"? Because "Hanukkah" is the Hebrew word for "dedication." When Judas Maccabee (the hammer) and his army eventually crushed their enemies, Judas and his brothers said: "Let's go up to cleanse and rededicate the sanctuary" (1 Maccabees 4:36). The temple was desolate, the gates burned, and even shrubs were growing in the courts like a forest! But the Maccabees got “stuck in” and cleansed and restored the sanctuary.
They built a new altar with whole, unpolished stones (because the altar had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes), brought in the Lampstand, the Altar of Incense, and the Table of Showbread, and offered sacrifices as God originally commanded. "So they celebrated the rededication of the altar for eight days" (1 Maccabees 4:56).
How does this affect our lives? God no longer lives in the Holy of Holies in the temple, but in our bodies, which are the temple of His Holy Spirit. We are not only the temple of the Holy Spirit, but the “naos” which speaks of the Holy of Holies in the temple. This is the word which is used in 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 2 Corinthians 6:16. What an indescribable truth!
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple (naos—which is the word for Holy of Holies) of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” You are now the place where God wants to reside in all His glory.
Our temples may not be desolate, but it is easy for us to allow things to come into our lives which grieve the Holy Spirit and spoil and dirty our naos. Just as the Maccabees had to cleanse and rededicate the temple, so we need times in our lives when we rededicate our bodies to the Lord.
Therefore, it is a good idea to have a rededication service one night during Hanukah and dedicate our temples again to the Lord. Choose which morning or evening you would like to do this together as a family. Explain it to your children. Ask each one of them to confess to the Lord anything in their lives that grieves the Holy Spirit and to rededicate their "body temple" to the Lord. This includes mom and dad too. Each one can do this silently or aloud, as you feel led of the Holy Spirit.
When we have all dedicated ourselves individually, the father can rededicate the whole family to be a living sacrifice to the Lord and to be set apart for His purposes (Romans 12:1, 2).
I know that the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily as you experience this dedication service in your home.
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell
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* Jesus didn't come with pomp and ceremony. He came as a babe. Luke 2:12 tells us: "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a BABE wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Yes, a baby! God chose the One who will rule over all kings and nations to come as a baby. No wonder the devil hates babies, for this is the way Jesus came.
* He didn't come with riches, but in poverty. Instead of bringing a lamb to the temple when they dedicated Jesus, Joseph and Mary could only afford pigeons (Luke 2:22-24 and Matthew 8:20).
* Although He was divine, He took on our humanity to feel our infirmities (John 1:14; Romans 1:3 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:14, 17 and 4:15).
* He didn't hold on to His glory but made himself of no reputation. He became a servant. He humbled himself and submitted himself to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:7.
Coming into the world this way, He showed us the way to live. The birth of Jesus shows how to live humbly and lay down our lives for one another.
Love from Nancy Campbell
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What are you filled with this Christmas? Many folks have cars filled with gifts, homes filled with decorations, tables filled with food, and stockings filled with things we will never use. We are filled to over the top. However, when we read about the birth of Jesus, we find that instead of being filled with the things of the world, they were filled with the Holy Ghost!
* The angel came to Zacharias and told him that he would have a son who would be "FILLED with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15-17).
* When Mary came to visit her cousin Elisabeth during her sixth month of pregnancy, the moment she greeted her “the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was FILLED with the Holy Ghost: and she spake out with a loud voice” (Luke 1:41-42).
* At the circumcision celebration for John the Baptist, his father, Zacharias was "FILLED with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied” (Luke 1:67).
* Jesus was conceived by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT COMING UPON Mary (Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:35).
* When Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to the temple to be dedicated, Simeon, a man FILLED with the Holy Spirit and waiting for the coming of the Messiah, took him up in his arms and blessed God (Luke 2:25-28).
* During Jesus' childhood he was FILLED with wisdom (Luke 2:40).
The challenge is: what are we filled with as we remember the birth of Christ? Are we filled with anxiety and busyness, or are we filled with the Holy Spirit? Imagine if we spent as much time seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit as rushing around buying gifts and preparing for Christmas. What would happen? Imagine if we took time to listen to the Holy Spirit. What would He say to us? What difference would it make in our lives and in our homes? Imagine if we asked the Holy Spirit to lead us instead of doing our own agenda. How would He direct us?
May you enjoy a FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT Christmas?
Love from Nancy Campbell
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I was challenged on our first day of Hanukkah when we read Genesis 1:4: “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” God’s purpose is to separate the light from the darkness. One of the plagues God sent to Egypt was three days of darkness. In the land of Egypt, they experienced “thick darkness.” It was so dark they could not see in front of them. No one could move. But the children of Israel had light in all their dwellings (Exodus 10:21-23).
In the Bible Egypt speaks of darkness, deception, and the spirit of this world. God does not want us to have any part of Egypt. Read Isaiah 30:1-3; 31:1-3; 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18; and Revelation 18:4. He wants us to separate from the kingdom of darkness. Separate. Sever. No blur. No grey.
When dark thoughts come into our minds, or evil tendencies from the enemy, we separate immediately!
As parents, we must guard against the dark things of evil that can subtly enter our homea. We must watch the little grey areas. They gradually multiply. You can be outside at dusk and the darkness slowly comes. Then suddenly it is black. We must guard against the encroaching darkness in our homes.
Job 5:5, 6 (GW) speaks of the wicked and says: “The flame of his fire stops glowing. The light in his tent becomes dark.” We must not let the light in our homes become dark. We must expose and push out all darkness and daily open our homes to the light of God.
Isaiah 670:1-3: “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.”
Shine in your home today,
Nancy Campbell
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Jesus Christ, the Son of God was never reticent to speak the truth, even in the face of death. When he came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Dedication, he walked in Solomon's Porch (on the eastern side of the temple) and people gathered around him.
Jesus knew the Jews would be remembering more than the rededication of the temple and the lighting of the Menorah again. They remembered the great victory over Antiochus Epiphanes, but also how he lifted himself to be god over them. It was Antiochus himself who added "Epiphanes" to his name, which means "God manifest" which was utter blasphemy to the Jews.
In the midst of this thinking Jesus boldly and publicly declared, "I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). In other words, He confessed that He was God, which of course, He was! This was too much for the Jews who, remembering Antiochus Epiphanes the evil blasphemer, took up stones to stone him (John 10:22-33).
It was no coincidence that Jesus chose this timing to speak these words. Everything about Hanukkah speaks of standing up for truth even in the face of danger.
May we never cringe to speak the truth, no matter what the consequences.
"The righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1).
Have a blessed day,
Nancy Campbell
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I love the prophetic words of Christ in Psalm 40:7, 8: “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God.” All through eternity, Jesus Christ was already the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). He bore the weight of this burden all through eternity until God’s perfect moment in time.
Oh, come and see what God has done! How did He come? How did God choose to send His Son? We immediately think of how He came as a little helpless baby. But first He came into the womb of a young virgin. Luke 1:31 states: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy WOMB, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” Who could ever dream of such a thing? Our Savior, Jesus Christ related to every aspect of our humanity, even to being conceived and growing in the womb of a woman.
Isaiah 49: 1, 5 is another messianic prophecy which also speaks boldly of the womb: “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far (God wants the whole world to receive this amazing news!); The LORD hath called me from the WOMB; from the bowels (WOMB) of my MOTHER hath he made mention of my name. . . . And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the WOMB to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him . . . “
Because God put such favor and importance on the womb to bring forth His Beloved Son, Satan hates the womb (Genesis 3:15). There is still war against the womb today. Satan seeks to delude and deceive women about the power of their womb. The Son of God came through a womb to deal a death blow to the enemy and bring salvation to the world. But God still wants children to come forth from the womb to bear His image and to bring salvation to many.
The womb is God’s blessing to us. It is His blessing to the world. Nothing in this world can happen except through the womb. All the mighty works God wants accomplished can only happen through His servants and they must come into the world through a womb. All the great feats and accomplishments of this world only happen through someone who was conceived and birthed from the womb.
Why do so many women today choose to close their womb? To stop the function of their womb? Many reject their womb, and yet GOD CHOSE A WOMB for His Only Beloved Son who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Mary’s response was: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). What is your response?
Be blessed today, Nancy Campbell
Painting. The beautiful picture of Mary and Elizabeth meeting. Not only do the mothers meet, but their babies recognize one another! When John the Baptist (in the womb) supernaturally recognized Christ the Lord in the womb of Mary he “leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:39-45). So powerful. This is such an irrefutable truth that babies in the womb are fully human!
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