Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

To do this takes more intensive mothering. You not only care for your children physically, but you watch over their souls and their spirits. You not only encourage your children, but sometimes you must warn them. It's much harder to warn and admonish. But we do it out of our intense love for them and our desire to see them walking in holiness.

Colossians 3:16 tells us that God's Word should "dwell in you RICHLY in all wisdom." That means we must also get it RICHLY into our children's hearts. This Scripture then goes on to say: "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." ADMONISHING one another. What does that mean? The word is "noutheteo" and means "to put into the mind, to reprove gently, to warn." In other Scriptures this same word is translated as "warn."

I love the words Paul wrote to the new Corinthians believers. He wrote from the heart of a father, but it also speaks to us as mothers too: 1 Corinthians 4:14: "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn (noutheteo) you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers." Paul wrote to warn them, but do you see his heart? He wrote to them as "BELOVED SONS." He warned them because of his great love for them and his longing to see them grow in Christ.

Acts 20:31 shows us again how Paul warned his children in the faith. For three years Paul "ceased not to warn (noutheteo) every one night and day with tears." How did he warn and admonish? With tears. Tears in their presence and tears before the throne of God.

Dear mothers, let's not lack in our mothering. We are nurturing the spirit of our children as well as the physical. We cannot let sin and waywardness go unattended. We must admonish and warn, but we do it with tears. We do it because they are our BELOVED sons and daughters. We will not let them be taken over by the deceptions of the devil.

Be encouraged today,

Nancy Campbell

P.S. Have you heard of nouthetic counseling? It comes from the Greek word we have studied today, "noutheteo" meaning "to warn, admonish." Wikipedia says: "It is a form of pastoral counseling based solely upon the Bible and focused on Christ. It repudiates mainstream psychology and psychiatry as humanistic, fundamentally opposed to Christianity, and radically secular."

Colossians 1:10, 11 says: "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God: strengthened with all mighty, according o his glorious power, UNTO ALL PATIENCE AND LONGSUFFERING with joyfulness."

Did you get it? He strengthens you with all His glorious power to be patient! And longsuffering! You don't have patience in your own flesh, but when you yield to His life in you, His patience, and longsuffering pours from you.

Thank Him for His glorious power filling you with His patience. Thank Him for His longsuffering that fills your heart and consequently pours into our kitchen and your home. The MLB calls it "unlimited patience"! Our patience runs out quickly, but God's patience and longsuffering is unlimited. No matter what is going on in your home, no matter how frustrated you feel. God's unlimited patience is greater than your fleshly impatience.

And did you notice that we don't live in God's patience with resignation and desperation, but with JOYFULNESS?

The works of God are beautiful in us as we yield to Him. James  1:3-4 says: "Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." The strange thing is, most of the time we are not patient enough to let patience have its full work! We give up before God hasfinished working out in our lives what He wants to accomplish.

I love how The Living Bible puts it: "When the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete".

Dear mother, don't despair when everything is going wrong. Rejoice! Let God work out His patience in you. This is how He will make you strong in character. God doesn't want to do a half-work in you, but a full-grown work!

Love from Nancy Campbell

They are planning events such as “queer history,” “queer theory,” “trans sex positivity,” “art gallery – send nudes” and many more that cannot even be mentioned!

Please email your concerns and outrage to Chancellor Beverly Davenport at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To read more go to:

http://www.wnd.com/…/franklin-graham-slams-university-for-…/

Thank you for standing up for righteousness.

Nancy

For He, the King of Kings,
Brings hope
As bread brings bodily strength
To cope
With ev'ry daily task.

He makes
Just baking common pies
And cakes
Seem sort of special, an art
Which excels.
For where Christ is,
There, too, love dwells.

~ Phyllis Michael

The Hebrew word for “cedar” is “ere”z and means “from the tenacity of its roots.” God wants our marriages to be strong. He wants them to be strongly rooted in God’s principles and the covenant we made on our wedding day. He wants them to be strongly knitted together in commitment, faithfulness, morality, unity, and love.

However, they don’t become strong without our putting in an effort to strengthen them. We must do something to build and strengthen our marriage each new day. With our words and our actions.

CEDARS GROW TALL

Because the cedars are strongly rooted they can grow to 120 feet high and 30 to 40 feet in girth. We can either stunt our marriage or make it grow. Which are you doing? We stunt our marriage by curbing each other.

We need to release each other into God’s wondrous plan. We as wives must learn to let our husbands be men. It is so easy to expect them to be like us or even think like us. But they don’t think like us. Forget it! They are different to us. Let your husband be who he is. Let him take the responsibility of his role seriously to provide, protect, and lead you in God’s ways. Don’t take that from him. Many women think they help their husbands by going out to work. That doesn’t help them. It weakens the home and the husband’s mandate from God.

Let’s get it straight. When we embrace our high calling of motherhood and homemaking and release our husbands to their calling, our marriage can grow tall. Neither of us were created to do the job of the other. God made male and female with their own specific purpose. We accomplish far more for God and this world when we do it God’s way.

Don’t forget to do something today to strengthen your marriage!

More thoughts tomorrow.

Love from Nancy Campbell

You are royal. Royalty sets you apart. You cannot live an ordinary life. You have greater privileges and greater responsibilities because you belong to a royal kingdom. You belong to the King of kings and Lord of lords. You belong to a kingdom that is everlasting and that will never be destroyed. A kingdom that will one day rule over every other kingdom.

You are holy. You have no holiness of your own, but the HOLY Spirit dwells in you. Jesus Christ wants to live His holy life through you. The word holy is "haggios" and means "sacred, physically pure, morally blameless, and consecrated to God."

You are God's special and purchased possession. He loves you so much He died for you. He shed His holy, precious blood to redeem you. No matter what you are going through He will never leave you or forsake you.

Why are we so blessed? Let's read the answer from the Amplified version: "So that you may proclaim the excellencies (the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections) of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

Every day you are to show forth through your life and proclaim the excellencies and virtues of the life of Jesus. You are to reveal His life through your life. You do this as you live a holy life. You do this as you live like one who belongs to God's royal kingdom. You walk, talk, and live like royalty.

You are no longer an ordinary person. How can you be ordinary when you have Jesus Christ living in you? He is filled with joy. He overflows in love. He is all patience and longsuffering. He dwells in peace and nothing takes Him by surprise. He doesn't get in a state of turmoil or stress. And He lives in you.

Proclaim who He is, firstly to your husband and children. Yes, everything starts in the family. This is where you first proclaim the excellencies of the life of Jesus. Do you proclaim the virtues of Jesus in your life to your husband? What about your children? Do they see the beautiful life of Jesus shining from you?

Love from Nancy Campbell

Hebrews 12:11 (TPT) says: “Now all discipline seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it.”

However, it is more than discipline. It is yielding to the discipline. Do you notice that? The blessing comes to those who yield to it. Often our first reaction is to resist correction and discipline, but we must learn to yield to it. When we yield do the disciplines of life that are necessary for us, we are changed and formed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). If we resist, we stay in our same old rut. Are you yielding to God’s discipline in your life?

We must also teach our children to yield to our training and discipline. God blesses them when they do this and their character will be transformed. If they rebel and resist the discipline while they are young, they will keep facing the same problems all their lives until they yield to God.

If we truly love our children, we will train and discipline them. We will not tolerate disobedience and rebellious behavior. We are not content for them to grow up pretty good citizens. We long for them to be formed into the image of Christ. We long for them to be transformed by the Word of God and training and instruction. We do not want them to be ordinary saints, but men and women who are passionate for Jesus Christ where everything else in life is subordinate to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives.

This will only happen as they yield to your correction and discipline. Pray that God will give your children soft hearts. Pray that they will have yielding hearts to your training and the moving of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Romans 12:2: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

Let’s be families where each one of us (mom, dad, and all the children) daily yield to God’s correction and instruction in our lives.

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

The disciples were following Jesus, but they didn’t yet understand their Master. They thought that children would be a nuisance to His ministry. They would get in the way. Spoil the anointing.

But when Jesus saw what they were doing, He was “much displeased.” The word in the Greek is “aganakteo” and means to grieve, to be greatly afflicted, to be moved with indignation.” He didn’t gloss over it. He got really upset. In fact, He was indignant! How dare they shoo the children away. How dare they stop the children coming. This was opposite to the heart of Jesus. Immediately he gathered the children to Him for babies and children are at the very heart of His kingdom.

Let’s get the message straight. When we embrace children to our womb, our hearts, our home, and our family we in the very heart of God’s kingdom. As you nurture, teach, and train your children each day, you are in the very center of the kingdom of God. You don’t need to go to some faraway mission field. You serve in God’s kingdom in your kitchen with your children all around you.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-5: “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom heaven. 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.”

Jesus looks upon the way we receive children into our lives as the same way we receive Him? The word “receive” is dechomai and means “to accept deliberately and readily, to welcome, to accept with open arms, minds, and hearts.” What is our attitude to receive children? Do we try to stop having children? Do we push them away? Do we try to stop life coming to our womb? Often when someone finds out they are pregnant, they say, “Well, it was a mistake, but I guess we’ll somehow survive.” How many precious children are called “mistakes”?

How does God want us to receive His children? The same way we welcome Jesus to our hearts and lives. Willingly! Deliberately! “Yes, Lord, I am yielded and willing to receive the precious children You have planned for me to raise for you.” “Yes, Lord, I open my heart, my mind, and my arms to the children You want to give me.”

Be blessed today,

Nancy Campbell

Awaking, they began to top up the oil in their lamps to go out to meet the bridegroom. Desperately, the five foolish exclaimed: “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” Did you notice, they didn’t say, “Our lamps have gone out”? No, they still had some light, but it was fading. They had got used to their dim light, but that dim light was not enough to meet the bridegroom. Because they were not diligent, they missed out on the wedding feast. Read the whole story in Matthew 25.

It’s so easy for our light to go out if we don’t keep refueling. We can get used to a dim light. We must constantly and daily replenish the light in our soul with the oil of the Holy Spirit. We must abide in Christ. We must feed on the Word daily. Unless we feed and refuel, our light fades.

Dear mothers, we have the responsibility to not only keep the light of God burning in our hearts, but also burning in our homes. That’s why the Jewish mother lights the candles on the eve of Shabbat because it is her responsibility to keep the light of God burning in the home. To do this, we must keep our own light constantly topped up with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And keep filling our children’s hearts with God’s Word which is a lamp to their feet and a light to their paths (Psalm 119:105).

Don’t let the light of Jesus grow dim in your home.

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell

How ridiculous to try and be someone you are not! To miss out on your purpose for life!

There were women who rejected their femaleness back in Roman times too. Romans 1:26 tells us that “God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women (a word which means a suckling mother) did change the natural function into that which is against nature.”

But we need to get back to the Scriptures and see what God says. He says it more powerfully than I can say.

1 Corinthians 6:19: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN? For ye are brought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."

Isaiah 29:16 (ESV): “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’: or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”

Isaiah 45:9 (ESV): “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

Isaiah 64:8: “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Jeremiah 18:6: “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”

Romans 9:20 (CJB): “Who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”

Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Romans 14:7: “For none of us liveth to himself.”

God’s way is the best way. It is the only way.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Painting by Mary Cassatt * Mother and Child (1889).

Pitana and Nadia and their children are people of faith. They are raising their children to be people of prayer and faith. Every week they fast and pray along with their children. And they have been continually pressing into God for a miracle for Grace.

Because of the Cloves disease, Grace was born with a divider on her forehead. The left side of her face and body were perfect. The right side was growing the tumors. Praise the Lord, this morning Nadia messaged me with wonderful news. “It is clearing up. The divider was so thick, it went through the skin. It wasn’t just on the surface. But God is clearing it up. Even in the back. So, in faith, we know He has healed her of all! We shall soon see it all.

“Our baby Grace would only turn her head to the left. She would always lay her head facing to the left. Her eyes would also only see through the corner to the left. As of Saturday, praise God, she lays her head facing to the right and her eyes move around, and she can actually see us now!

“Now, instead of going for twelve days without a bowel movement, she went six days! She has had two bowel movements in a row which she hasn’t since her first week of being born. Praise God, He heals and has already healed her. ‘By His stripes Grace was healed.’ Hallelujah!

“Thank you for praying with us. Soon, we will write telling you that the tumor is gone, her feet, legs, and toes are perfect. Her hips are in place. That her mouth is perfect, and her left side is the same size as the right side. That her kidneys are perfect and the same size. And her skin beautiful and same color! Our God is faithful.

“A month ago, we had to contend for her life as the enemy was really attacking her., She would do almost bell crunches in great pain and her eyes would roll. It happened one after the other and left her completely exhausted. At times she couldn’t cry. This lasted for a couple of weeks while getting worse. One night we included the children and stayed up praying as we sensed her life was at risk. Praise God, He has set her free! We give Him all the glory!

“Thank you for praying for us.”

Keep believing and praying for Grace for the great miracle of her total healing.

Love from Nancy Campbell

But we have the anointing of the life of Jesus Christ dwelling within us to speak positive words into our marriages and into the lives of each one of our children. Life-giving words. Healing words. Encouraging words. Sweet words. Affirming words. Uplifting words.

Proverbs 10:11 says: ‘The mouth of the righteous is a WELL OF LIFE.” Most other translations say: “The mouth of the righteous is a FOUNTAIN OF LIFE.” Life-giving water pouring out on your husband and children.

I love Proverbs 10:32 (TPT): “Words that bring delight pour from the lips of the godly.”

What power you have as a mother to fill your home with life and vitality. Light and joy. Laughter and happiness. Love and goodness. All through the words that come out of your mouth.

Be a life-giving fountain today.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

Home should be the greatest drawing place on earth. God is the originator of the Home. Homes are His idea.

Embrace and love your home today.

Nancy Campbell

Therefore, if you are born again and have entered the kingdom of God, you may as well get used to the fact that God’s eternal truths are at loggerheads with human wisdom. Why are you so concerned that you think differently to our culture? You’re not meant to think like our humanistic culture today. Your thinking should be transformed! We are meant to think like God thinks, not like the world thinks (Isaiah 55:8, 9).

Jesus went on to explain to his disciples the meaning of the parable of the sower where people hear “the word of the kingdom.” Verses 20, 21 say: “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has not root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD (the truths of the kingdom of God which are opposite to the thinking of the natural man), immediately he stumbles.”

If we believe and receive God’s Word from beginning to end. If we obey the words of His kingdom, we will receive reaction from family and people around us. We may face ridicule. Be scoffed at. We may even face persecution.

The question is: will we be offended? Will we turn away because kingdom truths are opposite to man’s ideas? Or will we stick fast?

We belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. It is an everlasting kingdom. A kingdom that will never be shaken. A kingdom that will one day rule every other kingdom. Because our kingdom is not of this world, the natural man cannot understand it.

In a society where marriages are breaking up, you build and strengthen your marriage. You are sticking to your sacred vows. In a culture where people do not understand the value of children, you embrace the children God planned to give to you. Even though you receive pressure to leave your children and get out of the home, you stand your ground. You will not give the children God has given you to someone else to raise. You know who God created you to be. You embrace motherhood, home, and family. You are out of step with culture, but you are in step with God.

People can’t understand you, but you are coming to understand the “mysteries of the kingdom.” You know they are God’s eternal truths. They are God’s blueprint. They bring peace, joy, and rest.

“Blessed are your eyes, for they SEE: and your ears, for they HEAR” (Matthew 13:16).

Be blessed today.

Nancy Campbell

What is the most important thing you want to teach your children? I know you have great aspirations for your children. You want them to be successful, that’s for sure. And therefore, you spend much time on their education and taking them to all the different extra-curricular activities.

But have we missed it? I find that even among wonderful homeschooling families that most children come forth from their homes knowing very little of God’s Word. Yes, they had a Christian education, but they don’t know the Word. It’s not inside them. It’s not coming out their mouths.

God makes His plan for raising our children very plain. Let’s remind ourselves of just a few Scriptures, among hundreds:

Deuteronomy 6:6, 7 (AMP): “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be (written) on your heart and mind. You shall teach them diligently to your children (impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths) and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”

Isaiah 59:21 (ESV): “’As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the LORD: ‘My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your MOUTH, shall not depart out of your MOUTH, or out of the MOUTH of your offspring, or out of the MOUTH of your children’s offspring,’ says the LORD ‘from this time forth and forevermore.’”

The above Scriptures command us to get God’s Word, not only into the hearts of our children, but into their mouths. God is very concerned about making sure our children constantly speak His words. They should be coming out their mouths!

We need to also remind ourselves of the Scriptures which promise that if we get God’s Words into our children and they daily walk in obedience to them that they will prosper and be successful:

Joshua 1:8: “The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way PROSPEROUS, AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE GOOD SUCCESS.”

Psalm 1:1-3: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and WHATEVER HE DOES SHALL PROSPER.”

Let’s take notice, dear parents. If we want our children to be successful, we’ve got to get God’s Words into their hearts and MOUTHS! It’s more important than all the rest of their education. It’s more important that all their extra activities. It’s the most important part of every day.

So what are we doing about it? What plans do we have? Do we plan our children’s days with this purpose in mind? Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to be ready to talk of His commands and ways at any moment of the day. But I believe we also need to make specific times. The biblical pattern is the morning and evening principle—to gather the family together every morning and every evening to read God’s Word to them and to pray together. This is the very least we can do.

Make sure that you plan your day around making this happen for the blessing and success of your children.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell