Recently I read this quote from St. Francis de Sales, "Every Christian needs a half an hour of prayer each day, except when he is busy, then he needs an hour." Immediately I was convicted and wrote beside it, "This is for me." My life is exceedingly busy each day (as I am sure yours is, too). It's easy to crowd out prayer when there is so much to do in our day and our list is so long. But what's the use of all our activities unless they are bathed in prayer? They are like hay and stubble which will be burned up (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
It's the same with reading the Bible. The more activities we pack into our lives the less time we have to read God's Word. However, the busier we are, the more we need the sustenance of His Word, don't we? We'll soon get off the beaten track if we don't have daily doses to keep us in the right direction.
It affects our family life, too. When the schedule is full and everyone is going their various ways, it's easy for the family to become fragmented. Once again, the busier the family, the more need to prioritize gathering together as a family. Nothing is more important as gathering around the family meal table each day to connect, fellowship, pray, and worship together. Other things may seem necessary, but they are often detours from the enemy to keep us from God's best.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
A hospitable home is like God's home. A welcome home. A "let him take the water of life freely" home (Revelation 22:17). A "come to the waters" home (Isaiah 55:1).
God is an hospitable God and He wants His heavenly home filled. He sent His only beloved Son to die and shed His blood in order to "bring many sons to glory"
(Hebrew 2:10). Because He dwells in us, He wants to reveal His hospitality through us.
Some people think that hospitality is for certain people who have that particular "ministry." No, hospitality is the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. It is a biblical doctrine that starts in Genesis and weaves through the pages of the Bible to Revelation. And mothers, hospitality is an extension of your mothering and homemaking ministry (1 Timothy 5:10).
Your home is your greatest place to serve God. As you open your home to the ones God lays upon your heart, you will never have another boring moment, Your home is the greatest place for people to feel the presence of God. It is the perfect place for lonely and broken-hearted people to experience God's love. It is where you encourage the saints in God and keep each other from going astray. And it is where you can serve God will you continue ministering to your family at the same time.
As Peter exhorts us how to live as we get closer to the coming of the Lord, he says, "The end of all things is at hand . . . Be hospitable to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:7-10).
If God lives in your home, it will be an hospitable home.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
It's time to cook supper. "Not again," you sigh. "Why can't I have a break from cooking night after night?" Can I remind you that preparing a meal for your family is not insignificant. It's not a waste of time. It is very much part of your mothering anointing. We see a beautiful description of a godly woman in 1 Timothy 5:10 NASB. The description of her "good works" are, "If she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she was washed the satins' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work."
The word "brought up" is teknotropheo and means “to cherish, nourish, and give food to children.” This is all about food! This means spending a lot of time in the kitchen! It's all part of the plan. And the bigger they get, the more they want to eat.
Don't do it with resignation, but with revelation. You have the privilege of feeding your children nourishing food. You are gathering them together around your table again. You are preparing the way to also feed them food that will nourish their soul and spirit. You are teaching them about life and passing on values to the next generation.
There is too much fast-food eating in our nation already! If you don't lovingly cook meals at home and pass on this tradition, what will the next generation do?
Make every meal a "love affair."
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Why are we so scared to trust God? Why are we so scared to trust Him with our lives when He is the God of the universe? Why do we think we can make better decisions than God when He is Omniscient (all-wise and all-knowing)? I'm not condemning you; I am guilty, too.
I wonder why many couples think that God could not provide for another baby in their family? Is it because we trust in our selves rather than our Omnipotent (all-powerful) God?
How many times have we prayed these lines in the Lord's Prayer? "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Do you notice that Jesus didn't teach us to pray, "Give us this day our monthly bread," or even our "weekly bread"? God wants us to learn to trust Him for today, knowing that He will be faithful again tomorrow.
God only sent enough manna for one day to the Israelites in the wilderness. If they couldn't trust God would provide for the next day and gathered extra just in case, it "bred worms, and stank" (Exodus 16:20)! That's what God thinks about our lack of trust in Him.
Let's pray with the hymnwriter, "Oh for grace to trust Him more."
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Do you remember when the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? Jesus responded by bringing a little child into their midst and said to them, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me" (Matthew 18:1-6). Read also Mark 9:36-37 and Luke 9:48.
These words from the mouth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ tell us that our attitude toward receiving children reveals our attitude to Jesus. We are to receive them in His name. Therefore, shouldn't we receive each new baby as though we were receiving Jesus Himself?
It seems strange, doesn't it, that many couples want to receive Jesus and yet don't want to receive a baby from Him. We are not meant to receive children with the attitude, "Well, I guess we'll survive somehow if God gives us another baby."
The Greek word for "receive" is dechomai and actually means, "to accept a gift deliberately and readily, to welcome, to embrace, make one's own, not to reject." This word is used 55 times in the New Testament. One of the occasions is about receiving Christ into the heavens after He left this earth (Acts 3:21). With what joy and fanfare He must have been welcomed back into His heavenly home. This is the same way God wants us to receive children in His name.
Blessings to you today from Nancy Campbell
Do you always seem to be facing some challenge? Forever going through a difficulty? You can't pay your bills? Can I share a little secret with you? It's actually Paul's secret. He was constantly facing hardships, beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, and suffering, but what was his confession? "Always 'going through it' yet never 'going under'" (2 Corinthians 6:9 JBP).
He goes on to say in verse 10, "We know sorrow, yet our joy is inextinguishable. We have 'nothing to bless ourselves with' yet we bless many others with true riches. We are penniless, and yet in reality we have everything worth having."
No matter what you are going through, you don't have to go under. Well, you may, if you trust in yourself and your own resources. But, when you put your trust in God, He will not fail you. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-6). He is bigger than your difficulties. No problem is too big for Him to handle. Trust Him.
Trust Him when dark days assail thee,
Trust Him when thy faith is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him
Is the hardest thing of all.
When all seems dark around you, the Lord will be your light. Even in the raging torrent He says to you, "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:10). Even if you fall, you still can't go under. His everlasting arms are waiting to catch you and hold you (Deuteronomy 33:27).
Love from Nancy Campbell
Not only does God give us the privilege of calling upon His name, but He calls us by His name. Isn't that amazing? Daniel 9:19 says, "Thy people are called by thy name." Isaiah 45:4 says, "I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee." To think that we are to be known by the most reverent and holy name of God! This fact should influence our lives in everything we do and say. This truth should revolutionize our family life.
However, it is not enough for us to know this fact. People should SEE it. God wants to reveal His image in us so that "all the people of the earth shall SEE that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee" [Deuteronomy 28:9-10). Just think of the impact of God's people upon the land if they could truly see that the name of the Lord is stamped upon us.
God gives us a specific mission to those who are called by His name. 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
We who are the called by his name are to be interceders for the nation. We are responsible to pray for the saving of our nation. If we don't take up this mantle, can we really confess that we are called by His name?
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
I know you love the front cover of the latest issue of Above Rubies as big brother holds his baby brother with the most wonderful expression of love. The mother of these boys, Vera Louden (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) wrote to me yesterday sharing of how she went through a heartbreaking miscarriage recently. She writes, "I delivered our sweet baby at home and we buried him here in our forest. I have been writing a lot since I lost my baby and thought I would send you something I wrote recently."
I trust Vera's words will be a blessing to those who have also miscarried.
"The sun shines brightly,
The sky is a deep blue,
Fluffy white clouds drift by
And then she looks in the mirror,
Notices how her shirt is not full,
How it gives the impression of a roundness.
Her hand touches that spot,
The roundness of the shirt . . it flattens,
She imagines what it would've been like by now,
This week would've been 25 weeks,
The kicks and the squirms,
The dreams and excitement--gone with the touch of that spot.
Her breath catches in her throat
And there's that feeling again,
A sinking. A sadness.
Her face reflects it. And she remembers.
He's gone. In the arms of Jesus.
I'm here and I step forward.
He is with me all the way and all the time."
~ Vera Louden
I have been concerned as I meet children and young people (and even adults) that very few of them can quote Scriptures about salvation. I believe it is important for ourselves, and for our children, to be able to quote by heart these Scriptures. Can you quote Romans 6:23 right now?
I believe this is important for foundational teaching, but also to be able to lead someone to salvation in Jesus Christ.
The following are some foundational Scriptures which we should all know. They should not only be in our heart, but in our MOUTH (Isaiah 59:21). And we should know where they are found in the Bible. Why not start a memory program with your children and gradually learn the following Scriptures? I learned all of these Scriptures as a child and can still quote them today. Get your children learning them NOW, while they are young, and they will be prepared and ready to lead someone to Jesus. And you will, too.
Isaiah 53:5-7; Matthew 7:13-14; 21-23; John 1:12; 3:3; 3:16-17; 10:9-10; 14:6; 12:46; Acts 4:12; Romans 1:18; 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:8-9, 13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 2:5; Titus 3:5-6; Hebrews 9:27; 1 John 1:9; 5:11-12 and Revelation 3:20.
Love from Nancy
Interruptions are part of our mothering life. Let's not see them as frustrations but another opportunity to smile, show the love of God, reveal His patience, teach something new to our children, and part of God's plan for our day.
NANCY
Dear precious mother, I know that sometimes you feel like a failure. Sometimes you wonder if you are accomplishing anything as you are hidden in your home raising your little ones, middling ones, and big ones! I want to remind you that you are not wasting your life. You are in the perfect will of God and you are in the most powerful career in the nation. You are determining the destiny of this nation, and nations or the world.
I want to remind you of the ENORMITY of what you are doing. Be faithful. Embrace your calling. Put your whole heart and soul into it for one day you will get to see how your children will touch the lives of so many people for God and His truth.
I have always loved to pin quotes, Scriptures verses, poems, and powerful statements on the wall for my children to read and be inspired. Many years ago, when most of them were late teens, I posted some words on the boys' bathroom where we lived in Australia at the time: "Australia waits to see what will come out of 18 Welby Street."
Not only did Australia wait to see, but the world. I thought of this again this morning as I realized that we now have over 48,000 people on our ABOVE RUBIES Facebook (although I am looking forward to reaching out to many more than 480,000!). But, then I checked some of my children's Facebooks. Our daughters, Serene and Pearl of TRIM HEALTHY MAMA now have well over 100,000 on their Facebook. Then I checked the NEWSBOYS, owned and managed by our sons, Wes and Steve, and they have 1.2 million on their Facebook (I'd secretly like to beat the Newsboys!). Wes was also the inspirer of the recent movie, "God's Not Dead"!
Apart from the other members of our family who are also touching many people for God through their daily lives, this one little family is reaching out to millions across the world--AND WE'VE HARDLY STARTED YET! Get ready, world.
Dear mother, lift up your head. Put a smile on your face. Stir resolution again in your heart. You can never imagine now what will happen with your children, too. Be ready for surprises. Be ready to REAP THE REWARD OF YOUR FAITHFUL MOTHERING, nurturing, and daily imparting of God's truth to your children.
Much love from your older mother, Nancy Campbell
A Piece of Trivia: When Serene and Pearl were thinking of a name for their Publishing Company, they decided on WELBY STREET PRESS.
Do you always seem to be facing some challenge? Forever going through a difficulty? You can't pay your bills? Can I share a little secret with you? It's actually Paul's secret. He was constantly facing hardships, beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, and suffering, but what was his confession? "Always 'going through it' yet never 'going under'" (2 Corinthians 6:9 JBP).
He goes on to say in verse 10, "We know sorrow, yet our joy is inextinguishable. We have 'nothing to bless ourselves with' yet we bless many others with true riches. We are penniless, and yet in reality we have everything worth having."
No matter what you are going through, you don't have to go under. Well, you may, if you trust in yourself and your own resources. But, when you put your trust in God, He will not fail you. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-6). He is bigger than your difficulties. No problem is too big for Him to handle. Trust Him.
Trust Him when dark days assail thee,
Trust Him when thy faith is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him
Is the hardest thing of all.
When all seems dark around you, the Lord will be your light. Even in the raging torrent He says to you, "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee" (Isaiah 41:10). Even if you fall, you still can't go under. His everlasting arms are waiting to catch you and hold you (Deuteronomy 33:27).
Love from Nancy Campbell
Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatsoever ye do in WORD or DEED, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
This Scripture doesn't give us any way out, does it? All day long I am to be a walkie talkie for God. In my home. In my kitchen. Whatever I say and whatever I do. Whatever I say to my husband. Whatever I say to my children. Every time I open my mouth, I speak on His behalf. Glorifying His name all day long.
No task is too demeaning when we do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Washing dishes, doing laundry, scrubbing floors, and tending to children are sacred tasks when we do them in the name of the Lord.
Every day we walk. We walk in our home. We walk up and down the aisles of the supermarket. We walk to places we want to go. Every step we take we take in the name of the Lord. This makes our walking supernatural. Instead of being insignificant, every step we take can be divinely anointed. What an exciting way to live.
1 John 2:7 says, "He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked." Am I walking how Jesus walked in my home today? I am talking how Jesus talked in my home today?
As you walk each step with Him, acknowledge that He is walking with you. When He is walking with you, you can expect miracles to happen at any moment. Walk with expectancy.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
After sharing the prayer for pregnancy yesterday, some ladies requested a prayer for infertility. Oh yes, how I love to pray for you. I know the ache and yearning in your heart is so strong, sometimes it is unbearable. You are not strange for feeling this way. It is God-ordained. God created the womb to cry out for life (Proverbs 30:15-16). Here is a prayer for you to pray. Although once again, I would encourage you to ask your husband to lay his hands upon your womb and pray over you every day. Your husband is your covering and God hears his prayers on your behalf. The prayers of a husband are powerful.
"Dear Father, the Life-giver, You know the yearning and ache in my heart for a baby. I cry out to You to fill my womb with life.
Please cleanse my womb. I confess any negative word I have ever spoken over my womb or my female cycle. I renounce any negativity over my womb that could have come from past generations on both my mother's and father's side.
I ask that You will clear my fallopian tubes. Please heal every part of my womb. Make it ripe and ready to receive conception. I wait in anticipation. I come to you in faith, acknowledging that You are the one who gives life. I will keep trusting You and never give up hope.
And I yield myself to Your sovereign will. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Love from Nancy
Pray this prayer over your precious baby growing in your womb. Even better, pray together with your husband. Ask him to lay his hands upon your womb and pray over you every day of your pregnancy. If you have a friend who is pregnant, pray this prayer for them.
"Father, I thank You for filling my womb with life. I know this precious little baby comes from You and has been destined by You from the beginning of the world. I thank You for this miracle growing inside me, in the "secret place" of my womb. I thank you that You are giving this little baby to us as a gift, but also as a gift for the world. We can't wait to see another image of Yourself come forth into this world and the plans You have for this child.
We ask you, Father, in Jesus' name, to hedge our little baby about with Your mighty protection. Watch over this little one each day as You intricately create him/her in the hidden sanctuary of the womb. We ask for Your divine health and that you will sustain me in good health and vitality throughout this whole pregnancy.
I ask that You will fill me with Your joy and that everyone will see the glory of God upon me as I nurture this precious life within me. Thank You again for this amazing miracle and for giving us an eternal soul that will live forever. It is awesome to think that I am part of something eternal.
I pray that You will keep this baby growing in the womb until FULL TERM and this baby will come forth in Your perfect timing.
In Jesus' name. Amen."
Great miracles don't always happen in the open. Jesus, the Son of the God of Glory was conceived in the hidden place of the womb. This divine miracle happened in "the secret place" which is the term God uses for the womb (Psalm 139:15). The angel Gabriel told her that the Holy Ghost would come upon her and "thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS" (Luke 1:31). Although this conception was hidden, Jesus came forth to be revealed to the world as Savior and Deliverer.
It is similar with every conception. It doesn't take place in the open for everyone to see. God's handiwork (for only God gives conception) takes place in the recesses of the home and in the womb, the hidden part of the woman.
But, this miracle doesn't stay hidden. Children are born who will one day come forth from the home to reveal God's image in the earth.
In Psalm 128:3 God also gives the picture of the wife in the heart of the home (the Hebrew word means "the recesses, the inner part.") Is this because she is insignificant? No, it's because she is dwelling in her glory. God uses the same word "recesses" to describe the wife in the home as He does for the "inner sanctuary" of the temple where He dwelt in His Shekinah Glory (1 Kings 6:16)..
From the recesses comes forth great miracles and "sharpened and polished arrows" to change the world.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
To which kingdom do you belong? God's kingdom is a kingdom of life, love, light, and liberty. Satan's kingdom is one of lies, deception, death, and destruction. He is a murderer! That's what Jesus said in John 8:44, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth; because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Because he is a murderer, no wonder he is the mastermind behind birth control, sterilization, and abortion. His plan is to stamp out life before it is conceived, but abort it if it is conceived.
The Scriptures tell us that the Father has "delivered us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the reign of the Son of His love " (Colossian 1:13). Therefore, is it right to live in His kingdom and still adhere to the principles of the old kingdom? Don't you think we should be loyal subjects of God's kingdom?
Can we confess one thing and do another? We have to decide whose kingdom we belong to. If we truly belong to God's kingdom we must stand with life because God is a God of life. He is originator of life. He loves life and loves every new baby that is conceived.
If we side with terminating life, or even hindering life before it is conceived, we can't be a hypocrite. We must confess that we side with the enemy and therefore are not loyal subjects of His kingdom.
Blessings from Nancy
Enjoy a thankful day today, not only toward God, but toward your husband and your children. A heart of thankfulness is a contented heart.
Love, NANCY
We love it when our children look like us, don't we? We want them to show resemblance to our features and personality. Who is she or he most like, Daddy or Mommy? We always hope it's "me." This is a God-given desire. God Himself wants children in His family likeness. That's why He created us in His image.
Although this image was destroyed through sin, God is so intent on having His family likeness, that He sent His own beloved Son to die for our sins and redeem us back again to Himself. He not only redeemed with His precious blood but comes to dwell in our hearts by His Spirit to conform us to His image. Romans 8:29 tells us that the purpose of our redemption is "to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Jesus is the firstborn son, but God wants many more sons who wear the family likeness. Are we allowing Him to conform us and mold us to His image? Or, do we want to stay the same? Would we rather keep our stubborn will? It takes daily dying to the flesh to allow the Holy Spirit to make us more like Him (Romans 12:1-2).
Hebrews 2:10 tells us that because of Jesus' suffering and death He is "bringing many sons unto glory." Do the people around us recognize that we are one of God's sons? Do they see the family likeness?
Nancy
With one little member of your body you can light a fire for God in the hearts of everyone in your home or set them on a course destruction (James 3:2-12). With one little member you can minister life or death to those you speak to each day (Proverbs 18:21). With one little member you can build up your marriage or destroy it (Proverbs 14:1).
With one little member you can change the atmosphere in your home, melt your husband to pieces, determine the destiny of your children, and inspire and encourage everyone you meet.
You know what it is, of course. Your tongue.
Proverbs 16:24 says, "Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Positive and lovely words actually make your bones healthy. They keep you filled with life and vitality or miserable and in poor health. Your words have power to bring health to your husband and children.
The Hebrew word for “health” is "marpe" and means, “a medicine, curative, therapeutic and healing, and a source of vitality.” It's the same word in Proverbs 12:18, “The tongue of the wise is health (marpe).”
It's the same again in Proverbs 15:4, “A wholesome (marpe) tongue is a tree of life.” God wants your tongue to be a healing tongue—healing wounds, hurts, insecurities, resentments, and estrangements. Your healing words are the best doctor's prescription you can give to your family members. They work much better than drugs!
Will you ask God to fill your tongue with loving, joyful, positive, and healing words today.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell