Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

Have you read this story in the Bible? It’s found in 2 Kings 13:14-19 (NET):

“Now Elisha had a terminal illness. King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. He wept before him and said, “MY father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!”
Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so.
Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” He did so, and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands.
Elisha said, “Open the east window, and he did so. Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he did so. Elisha said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the LORD will give you over Syria. You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!”
Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. He told the king of Irasel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped.
The prophet got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! But now you will defeat Syria only three times.”
Elisha died and was buried.”

This incident is probably why we are still fighting Syria.

This passage of Scripture never ceases to amaze me. Elisha, the prophet, despite his sickness and approaching death, wanted God to use him one more time. He wanted their enemy, Syria, to be completely destroyed and consumed. He would not be able to physically fight Syria, but as a prophet, he could prophetically pronounce the entire destruction of one of Israel’s greatest enemies.

Elisha, as ill as he was, asked the king to pick up his bow and arrows which he did. His arrows were most likely in his quiver. He asked the king to put his hands upon the bow and the king did. Then Elisha the prophet must have climbed out of his sick bed to stand over the king and place his hands upon the king’s hands.

He asks the king to open the east window. Joash the king would have asked his servant to do this as his hands were holding the bow and arrow. He shoots and Elisha prophetically pronounces: “The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria.”

When the prophet asks the king to smite the ground with his arrows, he only smites three times and stops! Elisha was angry and challenges King Joash, “Why didn’t you smite the ground five or six times? You would have consumed and destroyed Syria! Now you will only smite Syria three times.”

Having made this pronouncement Elisha died an angry man. Every man of God wans to go home to Heaven on the eve of a great victory. Sad to say this did not happen.

Why did King Joash only smite the ground three times? Many could say that it was not his fault. How could the king know how may times he should smite the ground?

The answer could be that . . .
1. He was spiritually out of tune with the prophet.
2. He was lazy and apathetic.
3. He may not have had a quiver full of arrows.
4. He used the only arrows he had.

The following are the lessons each of us fathers should learn from this story:
1. Be in tune with the prophetic voice.
2. The children God has given you (your arrows) are for the purpose of deliverance.
3. Never be ashamed of the number of arrows God gives to you.
4. Keep shooting out your arrows to get the maximum victory.

Be encouraged,

Colin Campbell

Photo: The beautiful Torkelson family.

Jesus Christ was Heaven’s best arrow, polished and prepared before the world began. He was shot forth into this world through the humble bow of the virgin Mary and Joseph the humble carpenter. The effect of His birth into this world over 2000 years ago has impacted the lives of multiplied millions of people.

Isaiah 61:1-3: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”

God the Father has never stopped shooting forth arrows of deliverance into this needy world. God did not stop sending arrows after the failure of Adam and Eve. Nor did He stop after Noah, the patriarchs, the prophets, the birth of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament church believers.

God still desires to send forth arrows of deliverance through all Christian married couples. He wants as many arrows as possible to bring forth the deliverance that Jesus Christ paid for on His cross at Calvary.

Psalm 127:3 says: “Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” For Israel to have a mighty army, married couples had to have the vision to bring them to birth and raise them.

I am very concerned that the Christian church has lost its vision for raising the sending forth arrows for God. There are many people who are bound by the prince of darkness. He has enslaved multitudes by drugs, alcohol, pornography, and all manner of sexual perversions. And what about depression, poverty, murder, rape, child abuse, and sex trafficking? Women and children are molested and multitudes live in fear and darkness. Millions are in pain and dying of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases.

The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ needs anointed arrows of diligence to set these captives free. The question is: has selfishness, fear, unbelief, and deception robbed the hurting world of God’s arrows who can bring them deliverance?

Who will bring forth and raise the arrows of deliverance and send them forth into this great, needy world? The good tidings are waiting to be preached to the meek so that the broken-hearted will be bound up and the captives will be set free from their prisons, etc.

The present-day 21st century church has been lied to in many subtle ways so that the arrows are not filling the quivers. Like King Joash, we will not shoot forth more than three arrows. Read the story in 2 Kings 13:14-20. Unfortunately, in today’s world it is much less than three arrows per Christian family (only about 1.8).

Where are all the arrows of deliverance? Our world has multiplied millions that need to be set free. The answer is simple. We have been lied to by the enemy.

Let’s get on God’s side and embrace His truth.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

I am very grateful that God has given us president Donald Trump. He is doing an amazing job of turning this nation around for good, even in the midst of major resistance by the main stream media, the extreme Democrat party, and some Republicans who hate his style and personality.

I heartily enjoyed his State of the Union speech. However, I was concerned over one of his achievements. He stated: “No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year. All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before.” And continued: “We also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before.”

We noticed that immediately all “the women in white” belonging to the extreme left of the Democratic party begin to rejoice, dance around, and high five one another.

I wonder if our president and his daughter, Ivanka Kushner, who is a very strong advocate for the working women, realize that getting women out of the home and placing the children in nurseries and day care centers is one of the major agendas of the communist/extreme socialists.

The actual fact is that 76.8 million women are employed in this nation. Many are mothers. Who is caring for their children? The extreme socialists want to breakdown all traditional home and family values. They want all women out of their homes. They want to take total control of the human race, from the cradle to the grave. Both Hitlerism and Communism had this ideology in common.

A few years ago, Germany teachers encouraged that this ideology should be adopted again because of what they observed as poor parenting in their country. These educators want the children from the cradle.

However, God gave children to parents, not governments or school teachers. He wants them to be nurtured by mothers in their homes, and not even fathers replacing mothers.

Extreme socialism seeks to destroy all godly, traditional roles by mixing them up. Without a doubt, young children need their mothers in the home—loving, teaching, and taking good care of them. Mothers are naturally and innately more qualified to accomplish this than fathers. It is mothers who create the best atmosphere in the family home.

What is a home without a mother in it? It is nothing more than a sterile, empty shell.

Homes are the best place for the ministration of motherhood, not the downtown office or the tough environment of a manufacturing warehouse.

Who told us that mothers at home were not working mothers? What a lie.

Who told us that motherhood was not a true bonified career? I’ll tell you who. The extreme socialists and feminists.

Women take away jobs from men and the traditional family home goes begging. It is vacant for most of the important hours of the day. Thousands of homes could have this placard on their door: “Unoccupied from 8.00 am – 5.00 pm.” Many are unoccupied for longer hours. The home, which is the hub of society if languishing.

Motherhood and fatherhood, from God’s perspective, should always be the foundational roles of every culture. When we forsake these roles or seek to destroy them, we do so to our own peril.

David asks the question in Psalm 11:3: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The answer is, of course, to rebuild the foundations again.

President Trump boldly stated in his State of the Union address and I want to agree with him: “We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” However, the promotion of women to come out from their career of homemaking and replace it with secular careerism is the socialist agenda.

America will only be as great as its foundations. It will only be as great as its homes, marriages, and families.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Painting: “Knowledge is Power” by Seymour Joseph Guy

Last week my wife and returned from a ten-day trip to our homeland of New Zealand. It was marvelous to enjoy our country again. It is very beautiful, scenic, and very fertile and lush. There must be something about the atmosphere over New Zealand as all the colors of nature are so vivid to the human eye.

The New Zealand national emblem is the silver fern tree (the ponga). However, there are many different fern plants and trees in New Zealand. Although this country is away Downunder and relatively close to the Antarctic region it has four seasons and a moderate climate enabling it to grow grass all the year round.

One morning, Nancy and I went for an amazing and exhilarating walk through a glade of ponga ferns. Each fern tree has an amazing umbrella of large fern branches. Beside the track flowed a beautiful stream. What a blessing.

Unfortunately, government/wise New Zealand has become increasingly socialistic and humanistic with very liberal morals. They do not get the truth regarding the United States political situation. CNN and other liberal, mainline media are doing their best to malign, accuse, hate, lie, and in general do their best to turn not only the USA, but the entire world against our president, Donald Trump.

Most don’t know anything about Fox news, who at least, generally speaking, give a fair and balanced agenda.

We Christian families must continue to pray for our president that he will be humble, and yet bold. That he will be wise and not foolish. We need to pray that he will be strong to bear the hateful slanderous words that are daily spoken against him.

We must pray that he will not trust in his own strength or brilliance of mind but become a praying president. We must pray that he will truly experience Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

We must pray that God will give him the desires of his heart as he seeks to earnestly protect this nation’s borders from being violated and to protect us from the human trafficking, murderous gangs, murderers, rapists, Middle Eastern terrorists, and all types of dangerous and illegal drugs.

It makes complete sense that it is wrong for any people to enter this great country illegally. As we would not want people to come into our own homes illegally and help themselves to everything in our shelves, pantries, and cupboards, so we should not want this for our country. Anyone with any brains knows this is flat out wrong.

We must pray that God will change the hearts of our liberal and socialist media. We must pray that our government schools will be disqualified from indoctrinating our nation’s children with all this socialistic junk concerning sex changing, identity politics, homosexual acceptance, etc. All our public schools need to teach our children is the basics as well as the helpful sciences, trades, and careers that will enable them to succeed in life. All this other junk must be rejected.

I pray that this country, the good old USA, flatly refuses all this clap trap that is being pushed by the failing economies of those who belong to the so-called United Nations. We must pray that God will help us to make America great again for without His help it cannot happen.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

P.S. We have available a list of biblical prayers David prayed for his enemies. If you would like to use this list in praying for Donald Trump’s enemies, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

King David was no wimp or slouch. When it came to fighting his enemies he “stuck to his guns.”

Although he began his reign well, David’s predecessor, King Saul, did not have the patience and stickability to wait for the prophet, Samuel (1 Samuel 13:11). When Samuel eventually arrived, he said to Saul: “What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed . . . I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering." In other words, he did not stick to what God told him.

David did not learn stickability from King Saul, especially relating to God’s commands. Where did he learn bravery, tenacity, and stickability? If he learned it from his father, Jesse, how come his older brothers failed the test when they appeared before Samuel? They all had the same father.

God was not looking for the outward physical display of character traits. God was looking for a man who was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13;14 and Acts 13;22).

It is possible to have a fine intellect, physical prowess, outward character qualities, and look like a great leader, but still not be what God looks for when choosing a king. God looked for a man after His own heart. He looked for a man who loved Him with all his heart. He looked for a man who would obey Him.

God wants a man who has stickability in his heart concerning the things of God.

David did not get the victory over the Philistine’s just because he had so much courage, bravery, and intellect. David was a deeply spiritual man.

David saw the giant defying the armies of the living God as a demonically inspired evil giant of war. He was insulting the God who David deeply loved. He looked past the bigness of the giant, because He knew His God was bigger. Listen to his faith in God as he challenges the giant:

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45, 46).

David would have only been a quarter the size of the giant. Goliath was a physical giant, but David was a spiritual giant. We know which is more powerful.

As you read the Psalms of David, you see that he was a deep spiritual worshipper. He played anointed worship on his harp as he sang the songs God gave him. David also deeply loved the people of Israel and prayed much for them. I believe he learned to develop his strength of spirit out in the wilderness, watching over the sheep.

God always favors those who are large in spirit. The stickability of the flesh can never match the stickability of the spirit. A small stone slung from the sling of a young man who has his heart in tune with God will always hit its mark and destroy the evil giants of this world.

God’s arrows and stones require spiritual hearts to be effective and stick fast.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

The Lord wrought a great victory. All the other men of Israel fled the scene and only returned to pick up the spoil.

“His hand cleaved unto the sword.” Obviously, his hand had become so weary slaying the enemy that he was too weak to release the sword. Or possibly God supernaturally cramped his hand to the sword so that others had to pry his fingers loose.

No one can say that Eleazar didn’t have stickability. I think stickability was built into every fiber of his being. I am sure that Eleazar went home that night praising God for the strength, courage, and bravery that God gave him to slay so many Philistines.

I wonder how the other men of Israel felt as they began picking up all the spoils from off the dead corpses. The spoils would have included their battle shields, knives, swords, and money.

The men of Israel came back and get the spoils but Eleazar got the victory and fame for his valor. Eleazar got the respect of all King David’s men that day. No wonder he was one of the “three mighties.”

Men, we must teach our children that valor that comes through NEVER GIVING UP, NEVER QUITTING, STANDING FIRM, and having done all, to KEEP ON STANDING.

God is not in the business of raising wimps, retreaters, and children without stomach and backbone.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

1. The Son of God goes forth to war
A kingly crown to gain.
His blood-red banner streams afar;
Who follows in His train?
Who best can drink His cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below--
He follows in His train.

2. The martyr first whose eagle eye
Could pierce beyond the grave,
Who saw His Master in the sky
And called on Him to save.
Like Him, with pardon on His tongue,
In midst of mortal pain,
He prayed for them that did the wrong--
Who follows in his train?

3. A glorious band, the chosen few,
On whom the Spirit came,
Twelve valiant saints; their hope they knew
And mocked the cross and flame.
They met the tyrant's brandished steel,
The lion's gory mane;
They bowed their necks the death to feel--
Who follows in their train?

4. A noble army, men and boys,
The matron and the maid,
Around the Savior's throne rejoice,
In robes of light arrayed.
They climbed the steep ascent of heav'n
Thro' peril, toil, and pain.
O God, to us may grace be giv'n
To follow in their train!

Israel means “A Prince of God.” What an amazing name. Just think. There would be no Israel if Jacob had not the stickability to wrestle with the angel of the Lord all night long.

How we need men of this caliber of character today. Jacob was a wrestling prayer warrior who would not let go of the angel unto he received the answer he desperately needed. He knew that as he got closer to his homeland, he would have to face his angry brother, Esau (Genesis 27:41, 42).

The angel said: “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men.” One cannot have prevailing power over an army of 400 men that Essau had marching with him unless he first prevailed with God.

Immediately after the blessing “Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him 400 men.” Jacob knew that he would have been killed by his brother because he had stolen his eldest brother’s birthright and blessing. However, he prevailed over the anger of his brother and Esau’s heart melted.

Genesis 33:4 tells us: “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” What an amazing miracle, all because of Jacob’s stickability in wrestling prayer.

This incident teaches us that prayer can be a wrestling match. God the Father wanted His servant, Jacob, to prove himself to be a prevailing prince with God first, and secondly to prevail with man.

This was a generational blessing to all his future generations—that if in their time of need they would wrestle with God in earnest prayer they would prevail with God and man. This passage of Scripture has always been a tremendous challenge and blessing to me throughout my life.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

God’s arrows stick to the course. They are stickers, not quarters. They will never “throw in the towel” and like a wimpy boxer slink back to their corner of the ring.

If one arrows doesn’t fell the giant, they keep on shooting the “sticking fast” arrows. Eventually he will fall. Giving up is not a part of their vocabulary. Come hell or high water, God’s arrows will never give up.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

We read a sad Scripture in Psalm 78:9: “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.” Ephraim was one of the main tribes of Israel. When Israel was divided, Ephraim represented the ten northern tribes and Judah represented the two tribes in Jerusalem.

Why would Ephraim do such a thing? Psalm 78:10, 11 gives us the answer:

1. “They did not keep the covenant of God.”
2. “They refused to walk in His law.”
3. “They forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.”

These three things resulted in their inability to “stick fast” in the day of battle.

As parents, we must never quit imparting God’s truth to our children. If we quit, who else will fire the arrows of truth into them?

The whole church of God desperately needs a revival of “never-quitting, never-giving in, and never compromising” regarding daily family devotions. These are the times when arrows of truth penetrate into our sons and daughters. We must never be casual about this because our children determine the future of our nation, both morally and spiritually.

Remember Deuteronomy 6:6, 7 (AMP): “And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be (first) in your (own) minds and hearts; (then) You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children . . . “

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Numbers 33: 55, 56 (HCSB) says: “But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become thorns in your eyes and in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you will live. And what I had planned to do to them, I will do to you.”

Do you realize that the kingdom for which we fight, shooting forth our arrows, is the kingdom that will eventually rule the whole earth?

We read in Daniel 2:1-49 of a dream the heathen king, Nebuchadnezzar received in the second year of his reign. Even though the king could not remember the dream, he knew it was very important, for his spirit was troubled and he could not sleep any more. Therefore, the king commanded his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dream.

After reasoning with the king concerning his unreasonable request to reveal his forgotten dream, the king became very angry. He then commanded all the so-called wise men of Babylon to be destroyed and their houses to be made a dunghill!

However, God showed Daniel, a Jew from Judah, the king’s dream as well as the interpretation, which saved not only his life and the lives of his three Jewish friends, but the lives and families of all the so-called wise man of Babylon.

We read part of the interpretation in Verses 44, 45: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, WHICH SHALL NEVER BE DESTROYED: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it SHALL STAND FOREVER. For as much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof sure.”

We notice that the stone, cut from the mountains without man’s hands, broke in pieces and consumed all the kingdoms represented in the image and became an everlasting kingdom.

We can be assured of this eternal truth that no matter how powerful, glorious, and wise the kingdoms of man may be, they will, without doubt, be broken and utterly destroyed by the kingdom represented by the stone, cut out of the mountain without hands.

This stone or rock is none other than Jesus Christ who is the “rock of ages (Exodus 33:22).” He is the rock upon which the He builds the church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus Christ is the rock on which those who hear His words and obey them will never fall (Matthew 7:24-27).

True believers are the arrows of this ETERNAL CONQUERING KINGDOM.

God’s arrows are meant to destroy ALL the enemies of Christ’s kingdom. 1 John 3:8 says: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

King Saul was way too casual with the explicit command of God regarding the Amalekites to “UTTERLY DESTROY ALL THAT THEY HAVE, AND SPARE THEM NOT” (1 Samuel 15:3).

Because he only obeyed partly, but did not destroy them all, God said to Saul through the prophet Samuel: “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 that the ft 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” (1 Samuel 15:22,23).

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell

Destroying arrows can only be launched through prayer. It is very important for all those who call themselves Christians to realize that the teaching of warfare in the New Testament is primarily spiritual. The only exception where physical warfare is permissible is through the righteous, judicial system of government. This is for the protection and welfare of the nation’s citizens’ rights and privileges.

All Christians are exhorted to be subject to the higher powers (Romans 13:1-7). Romans 13:1 tells us that governmental powers are ordained of God and verse 2 tells that we should not resist them.

However, we must resist them if they are acting unrighteously, yet we must use righteous means to do so for verse 4 says “for he beareth not the sword in vain.”

Spiritual warfare is to destroy spiritual forces that are behind all physical evil (1 Corinthians 10:4, 5). Spiritual warfare is also very effective in enabling physical warfare to win the victory.

Psalm 20:7 states: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: bu we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

The physical warfare our nation conducts in the battle fields of this world would be much more effective if we would do their part in spiritual warfare. We must put our trust in the name of the Lord our God. His name, when it comes to the battle, is the Lord of hosts “who is mighty in battle.”

Psalm 24:8, 10 says: “Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle . . . Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”

Psalm 33:16, 17: “There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.”

Spiritual warfare is primarily conducted through the avenue of prayer. This is why it is so extremely important for all Christians to engage in prayer. The devil who is the Christian’s arch enemy is not afraid of Christianity per se, but he is very afraid of praying Christians.

The devil is a spirit and the head of all demonic spiritual beings. We can only defeat him through spiritual warfare and this means we must learn the art of praying.

If praying is not a major part of our parenting, then we are setting our families up for failure. Why are families suffering the destructive influence of marriage failure? Because we have not learned how to pray effectively? Why are members of our families being dragged away from being spiritual arrows? Because we have not educated them in prayer.

Every time we offer up earnest, wrestling, fervent, persevering prayers against God’s enemies (who are also our enemies) the devil has to flee (James 4:7). It is only through taking a strong stand in prayer that our arrows will destroy him.

The question remains: will the 21st century Christian church, along with its families, take a strong hold of this truth?

Jeremiah 17:5-8: “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like a heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

“Blessed in the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruity.”

We only engage in the battle to defeat the enemy when we go to prayer. Prayer is our greatest means of resistance.

The difference between defeat or victory is how much did we pray?

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell