Don't forget to say something special to your husband today. And don't forget to say, "I love you." And don't forget to give him a hug and a kiss.
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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.
Do you want to be inspired today in your powerful role of mothering?
Check out these pictures of beautiful mothers and babies. Your heart will melt and you will be stirred again in your high and noble calling:
https://www.pinterest.com/abov…/i-love-motherhood-paintings/
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Isn’t it amazing that many people would rather stake their lives on the temporary rather than the enduring? Many believers conduct their lives on the contemporary values of our modern society.
Jeremiah 6:16: “Thus saith the Lord, Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” What are these old paths we are to seek after? Doesn’t it seem rather old fashioned to ask after “old” ways?
But what does this word really mean? The word “old” is olam in the Hebrew. It means “from time immemorial, without end.” In most places in the Bible this word is translated as “everlasting.” God’s ways for us are everlasting ways. They stand the test of time from the beginning of time to the end. They were refined in the courts of heaven before they were given to us on earth. They are divine, they are eternal, and they work!
Forget the modern humanistic trend. They are going down the wrong track. Dare to stand up and be counted. Go after God’s everlasting plan, no matter what relatives or friends have to say. Rejoice when God gives you another baby. You are walking in the everlasting plan. You are doing something that is eternal.
What could be more important that nurturing and caring for an eternal soul who will live forever? All other careers will be left behind.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting: Motherly Love by Gabriele Baber
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Every marriage tells a story. What story does my marriage tell? What does yours? We first tell the story to our children for they perceive marriage as they look at us. Is it a sweet, loving story? Does it make them excited to be married? Do we show them a picture of the relationship of Christ and His church?
Is it a story of constancy that makes them feel secure? Do we tell them a story of God’s ways, showing them clearly the different roles God gives to husband and wife, father and mother? Do they see us functioning joyfully in our particular role? Hopefully they don’t see a blur, or our taking our husband’s role.
We also tell a story to everyone around us, either positively or negatively. Let’s show our children and the world a beautiful story of God’s plan for enduring marriage. Amen.
Love from Nancy Campbell
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Yesterday we talked about rejoicing in the name of the Lord. However, to effectively rejoice in His name we need to KNOW HIS NAME. We can never know God fully for He is incomprehensible. However, in His mercy He chooses to reveal His attributes to us through His names.
To know and understand the names and attributes of God should be the greatest pursuit of our lives. Our knowledge of Him determines our walk with Him. And our walk with God determines the way we run our home and mother our children. Also, it’s only as we know God that we can reveal Him to our children.
Here is a good idea for you that I found a great blessing. As you read God's Word, look out for Scriptures which reveal the names of God and His attributes--His faithfulness, longsuffering, love, mercy, justice and judgment, vengeance, holiness, goodness, wisdom, and so on. We often stay stuck on God's love and do not understand the full character of God. Get a notebook and make headings of God’s names and attributes you discover. Write the appropriate Scriptures under each heading. You will eventually have your own personal concordance of the character of God.
As you meditate upon these Scriptures and ask God to give you more understanding and reveal Himself to you through His names, you will come to know Him more and more. You can also take a different heading from time to time and read the Scriptures to your children, perhaps at Family Devotions, and discuss them together. There is no more powerful thing you can do than teach your children to understand and experience the names of God in their lives. I am sure you are like me. You don’t want your children to only know about God, but to truly KNOW Him.
And the more you know of His name, the more you will rejoice in His names.
God bless you and your family today,
Nancy Campbell
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Are you rejoicing today? “Help, I don’t have anything to rejoice about,” you exclaim! Sometimes you can feel like that when everything goes wrong, insurmountable problems confront you, or you feel just plain lousy.
However, Psalm 89:16 inspires us: “IN THY NAME shall they rejoice all the day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.” It is true that you can’t always rejoice in your circumstances or what is happening in your life, but you can rejoice in the name of the Lord. His name never changes. It is always constant. His name is holy. It is awesome. It is glorious. His name is Jehovah-Jireh--the Lord who provides, Jehovah-Rapha--the Lord my Healer. The name of the Lord is a strong tower into which you can run. And on and on.
And never forget God has given Jesus “a name which is ABOVE EVERY NAME, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ( Philippians 2:9-112).
We never have an excuse to not rejoice in the name of the Lord. No matter what your difficulty, by faith, rejoice in His name. Praise Him for His glorious attributes Rejoice you are called by His name.
“Rejoice in the LORD, and again I say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).
Encourage yourself in His name today,
Nancy Campbell
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Do you use a Prayer Box in your home? We find it a wonderful blessing. Did you know you don’t have to be limited to only one Prayer Box? You can make up more than one for different subjects. You can then alternate them each week. Here are some ideas for different Prayer Boxes you may like to have in your home.
OUR FAMILY PRAYER BOX
On your prayer cards, write the names of each member of your family, plus extended family.
OUR WORLD CHANGING PRAYER BOX
Write on your prayer cards the needs in our nation, international needs, missionaries you are praying for, and current needs that require prayer. Look up this link to get ideas to pray for the needs of the world: http://tinyurl.com/IdeasForPrayerCards
OUR CHURCH FELLOWSHIP RAYER BOX
Going through my cupboards the other week I found this very box which we used for some time. Write cards of the different families in your church who need prayer and encouragement.
OUR PERSECUTED CHRTISTIANS PRAYER BOX
This is such a powerful and biblical Prayer Box to use. There are so many countries persecuting Christians that it is hard to keep up with all the needs of the persecuted church around the world. The persecution of Christians in the 10/40 Window has increased by 400 percent over the last 10 years. That’s why it’s great to have a box especially designated for the persecuted church.
Your box will be fat with cards, especially if you write in every one of the 60 countries who persecute Christians. Then you have specific needs happening to those who are being persecuted. Don’t forget North Korea which is the most persecuting country of Christians in the world.
And how can we not pray every day for what is happening in Iraq and Syria where they face beheadings, rapings, and cruelties beyond measure.? No wonder Hebrews 13: 3 tells us to pray for them as though we were in prison with them and to feel their suffering as though we were suffering their pain in our own body.
Here is a link to give you more information about the persecuted church:
http://www.worldwatchlist.us/world-watch-list-countries/
OUR 10/40 WINDOW PRAYER BOX
The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. These countries include the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists--a high percentage of the least evangelized and unreached peoples with the Gospel.
These countries include: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Brunei, Burkina Faso
Cambodia, Chad, China, Hong Kong China, Macau
Djibouti, East Timor, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel
Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan
Laos, Lebanon, Libya
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma)
Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam,
West Bank / Gaza, Western Sahara, Yemen
Wow! Do you know where all these countries are situated? What a great project to learn about each one gradually and add to your Prayer Box. It is such a great way for your children to learn about these countries and get a heart for missions at an early age. Not only a heart for missions, but a heart to pray for the lost and the unreached peoples of the world.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER BOX
If you have a vision to reach out to your neighborhood, your community, and city, the best idea is to start with your Prayer Box. Put in the names of the families God puts upon your heart to pray for. As you pray for them, God will show you how He wants you to reach out to them. Maybe He will inspire you to invite them over for a meal to show them God’s love and what it’s like to live in a Christian home.
Get your children helping to make the Prayer Boxes you would like to use in your home--and also writing the cards.
Another good idea is to use pictures of people (missionaries, a certain person you are praying for to be saved or healed, the kind of people who live in a certain country and so on) and places (pictures or maps of the countries you are praying for), especially when you have young children. This helps them to pray more effectively.
May you be blessed above measure,
Nancy Campbell
P.S. More links to check out:
http://tinyurl.com/OurPrayerBox
http://tinyurl.com/RecommendedLinks
http://tinyurl.com/PrayerInTheHome
http://aboverubies.org/morning-evening-principle
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Do you remember the account of Jesus when he was only twelve years old? The family came to the Feast of Passover at Jerusalem. On the way home, along with all the other hundreds of families returning from Jerusalem, his parents noticed Jesus’ was missing. They immediately returned to Jerusalem but it was three days before they found Him.
Where was he? In the temple, sitting among the teachers and doctors, asking and answering questions about his Father. What did Jesus answer to his frantic parents? “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).
What vision do you have for your children at this age--twelve years and moving into early teens? It saddens me that when they get to this age many children become less interested in the things of God. This breaks my heart. Statistics reveal that children who grow up in Sunday Schools rather than being in the main service with their parents are usually not interested in church by the time they are twelve years of age. They are influenced and conditioned by their peers to worldly things rather than pursuing after God.
Some translations of the Bible say that Jesus replied, “I must be in my Father’s house?” The Greek allows for either translation as it is only a definite article, not a specific word. I love the words “be about my Father’s business,” or “my Father’s affairs.” Even at this young age He wanted nothing else than God’s will. This was His consuming passion for life.
I also love the words, “My Father’s courts” or “my Father’s house.” He loved to be in the house of God. He loved to talk with and learn from older men of the deep things of the Word of God. This was his home. Do your children love to come to church, love to pray, and love to listen to adults sharing the deep truths of God?
What is the spiritual temperature of your twelve year olds and teens? Let’s pray intently for our children that they will become more passionate for God with every passing year, rather than less and less.
Bless you today,
Nancy Campbell
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Ephesians 6:8 tells us: “Whatsoever GOOD thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive the Lord.” Dear mother, I want to remind you that you are doing a GOOD work.
God tells us in Titus 2-5 that the “GOOD” things the older women must teach the younger women are all about the home--loving your husband, loving your children, and being a keeper at home. When you embrace this lifestyle God planned for you, you are doing a good work. When you nurse your baby, teach your children, prepare the meals, and clean and keep your house in order you are doing GOOD things.
1 Timothy 5:10 also describes the woman in the home--embracing and nurturing children, showing hospitality, and ministering to the needy. Once again it says these are “GOOD works.”
And what does God say when you do the good things He wants you to do? You receive your reward from the Lord. Be encouraged today. As your pour your life into building your marriage and your family, it is never wasted. God sees every effort. And you will not miss your eternal reward.
Live in the joy of knowing you are doing a good work,
Nancy Campbell
P.S. Painting by Norman Rockwell
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Some people allow themselves to get eaten up inside with bitterness, hurt, and jealousy etc. We cannot allow this to continue in our lives for it will only destroy us and our entire family. We have a responsibility as mothers to keep our spirit whole--pure, blameless, and continually forgiving.
However, there is one area where the Bible tells us we are to get eaten up in our spirit? Do you know what it is? John 2:17 says of Jesus: “The zeal of thine house hath EATEN ME UP.” These words were spoken after Jesus made a whip and cleansed the temple, driving out all the sheep and oxen, and tipping over all the tables and money and cried out: “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16) and “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13).
Your home is also God’s house if you have dedicated it to the Lord, which I am sure you have. We can’t be lackadaisical about building our home for the Lord, about making it a house of prayer, and about keeping it a holy place for God. Our passion and vision to raise a godly family in this ungodly world should consume us. It’s the only thing we are allowed to eat us up! Jesus was zealous for His house. We should also be zealous for the house we build for Him.
Jesus Christ redeemed us to be “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Building your home and family for God is a good work. Do it with zeal. Don’t do it half-heartedly, allowing other things to consume your mind and time than the great commission God has given to you.
May you be zealously anointed for God in your home today.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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I wonder what kind of table you have in your home? Is it round, square, or rectangular? Is it old or new? It doesn’t really matter what it looks like. The real question we have to ask ourselves is: who does our table belong to? Is it my table? Or is it the Lord’s table?
If God dwells in our home, it will be God’s table.
Did you know that God loves to have a table? In the Old Testament He says: “They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to MY TABLE to minister unto me” (Ezekiel 44:16). Everything changes when you understand your table belongs to God. It changes how you conduct your meals. It changes what you do at your table. We understand that the table is not only a place to eat some food, but a place where we feed our children body, soul, and spirit. We feed their bodies, but God is present to feed their souls and spirits.
We notice four wonderful things about your table which belongs to God.
1. God reminds us to “enter into my sanctuary.” We cannot taste the delights of God’s table unless we come to the table. Oh how many hours of delights families miss together because life’s programs stop them from sitting at the table together. So many of our activities happen around the evening meal time. They may be good, but they deprive us from the best.
We have to come to the table. We have to enter into His sanctuary. We have to understand that our table is a sacred place because it is God’s table. When we understand it is God’s table, we won’t want to miss being at the table to meet with Him.
2. God reminds us to come NEAR to Him. God doesn’t want us to be far away from Him. He doesn’t want everything else in the world to captivate our hearts. At the table we come near to one another and near to Him.
3. God reminds us (as we have mentioned) that our table is HIS TABLE.
4. God reminds us that the table is where we MINISTER UNTO HIM. God had His table in the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Every single day the twelve loaves of bread sat upon the table. Every week the priests came in and ate of the bread and fellowshipped with God and then placed new bread upon the table. The table was never without bread. It was called the “CONTINUAL shewbread” (Leviticus 24:5-8 and 2 Chronicles 2:4). Even when they traveled to a new place the continual bread had to be upon the table (Numbers 4:7).
God always has bread on His table. It’s there every day for us. It never runs out. We never have to go hungry in our souls and spirits. And therefore at our table each day, we open God’s precious Word and read it. It ministers to us and to our children. It prepares them for life. It prepares them to face the world. We cannot do without it or we starve spiritually. And not only does God minister to us by filling us with His eternal bread, but we minister to Him as we pray, and praise Him for all that He is.
Don’t vacate God’s table. He waits at His table in your home to meet with you, to feed you, and to have fellowship with you.
Be encouraged,
Nancy Campbell
Painting is by a Scottish painter: John Henry Lorimer (1856-1936)
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Did you notice the comment from Renee Fogg with the post below, “Are you living in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness? I’ll post it here for you in case you missed it. It is encouraging.
“Forgiveness does NOT mean:
a) you're down-playing what happened,
b) you're acting as though it didn't happen at all,
c) you're acting as though it didn't really matter,
d) that they are "off the hook." They are accountable to God.
Forgiveness IS:
a) Getting YOURSELF "off the hook," because unforgiveness gives Satan "hookholds" to harm you and others so much.
b) Positioning yourself closer back to the Lord's side, because unforgiveness is sin. It comes between us and our Good Shepherd, a dangerous place to be. "Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death."
c) It leaves the offending party's offense at the Lord's throne, where only He can deal perfectly with it. We will only botch it up! We are not God.
d) It frees us from terrible bitterness which "defiles many," and only wastes away years of your life, which should instead be spent serving and glorifying the Lord.
e) It sets the Godly example for who knows how many generations to follow.
Do not be as the "unforgiving servant." Instead, forgive as He has forgiven YOU. There is nothing anyone could do to you that is worse than the sin God forgave YOU for.
And do not forget to "Pray for your enemies," in the hopes of their receiving forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to empower us to do so, for the Lord has commanded it. Our Father God knows best and He loves us far more than we love ourselves.”
~ Renee Fogg
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I remember seeing a cartoon many years ago. It was a picture of a mother looking at the adverts in the newspaper. Around her were children out of control and the house in utter chaos. The caption read: “I’m looking for a job, I need a rest!”
This may be just how you feel sometimes. Dear mother, I want to remind you today that you already have the greatest career in the nation. I know it’s not easy. It has the longest hours. It’s full of challenges. Sometimes you feel so tired you can hardly see straight. But no job that is nation-changing, generation-influencing, and eternity-investing is easy.
And to top it all off, God is with you all the way through. He does not give up on you half way through your commission. He is with you to the end. David reminded his son, Solomon that “God will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD” (1 Chronicles 28:20).
God is also with you as you build your “house of the LORD” and daily serve Him as you mother and train your children. And did you get the message? He will be with you UNTIL YOU FINISH THE WORK! Yes, in all the serving in your home. Not half way through, but all the way through. You may feel exhausted along the way, but because God is with you, you will make it to the finishing line!
God’s promise to you in Hebrews 13:5, 6 says: “Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament reveal the full meaning of this Scripture: “I WILL NOT, I WILL NOT, I WILL NOT let thee down, leave thee in the lurch, leave thee destitute, leave thee in straits and helpless, abandon thee.”
Lift up your head today. You are not doing this on your own. GOD IS WITH YOU UNTIL THE FINiSIHING LINE!
Be encouraged.
Nancy Campbell
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It’s so easy to get carried away without thoughts, isn’t it? I find that that when I don’t discipline my thoughts they can often tend toward self-pity, “poor me, why do I have to put up with all of this?,” selfishness, and even my own pitiful thoughts about God which are not worthy of Him.
We must bring our thoughts into captivity for we live according to how we think. Our mothering is according to how we think. The whole atmosphere of our home depends on how we think! That’s why God wants us to think correctly. That’s why He wants us to be transformed by the daily renewing of His living Word (Romans 12:1 ,2).
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (HCSB) says: “For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments (reasonings) and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Are you ready for some warfare? We can’t hope our negative and unbelieving thoughts will disappear. We must take action against them. Demolish them! That’s right. The word literally means “to demolish, destroy, overthrow, and make extinct.”
Speak out: “I refuse these high-minded, deceiving, destructive thoughts in the name of Jesus. They don’t belong to me. I demolish them through the power of the blood of Jesus.” Now, go to God’s Word and speak His living words out loud. This is how Jesus over came the enemy (Matthew 4: 3-11). Every time the devil put his thoughts into Jesus’ mind, He demolished them by saying, “It is written.”
Through the Word of God and the power of the name of Jesus you can have victory over your thought life.
Be blessed today.
Nancy Campbell
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THE GREATEST MAN in history
had no servants, yet they called him Master.
had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.
had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
He is my Savior and Redeemer.
His name is Jesus Christ, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS!
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What’s happening in your home today? Is everything piling on top of you--laundry, dishes, and teaching the children all waiting to be accomplished? Don’t throw in the towel, dear mother. Don’t look at everything waiting to be done. Just tackle one job at a time. Priorities first. But do each task with ALL YOUR MIGHT. Not half-heartedly, grumblingly, or lazily. And teach your children to do their chores with all their might, too. Inspire this attitude in them as they see the way you begin each responsibility.
The Bible always shows us the way:
Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy MIGHT.”
Colossians 3:23, 24: “And whatsoever ye do, do it HEARTILY, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.”
Colossians 3:17: “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.”
1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatsoever ye do, do all to the GLORY OF GOD.”
Philippians 2:14: “Do all things WITHOUT MURMURING.”
Matthew 25:21, 23; Luke 16:10: “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.”
What a great day you will have in your home today as each one does everything with all their might.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I hope you enjoy this beautiful poem about children. I’d love to know what is your favorite line. There are some beauties. ~ Nancy
Come to me, O ye children!
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.
Ye open the eastern windows,
That look towards the sun,
Where thoughts are singing swallows
And the brooks of morning run.
In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,
In your thoughts the brooklet's flow,
But in mine is the wind of Autumn
And the first fall of the snow.
Ah! what would the world be to us
If the children were no more?
We should dread the desert behind us
Worse than the dark before.
What the leaves are to the forest,
With light and air for food,
Ere their sweet and tender juices
Have been hardened into wood, --
That to the world are children;
Through them it feels the glow
Of a brighter and sunnier climate
Than reaches the trunks below.
Come to me, O ye children!
And whisper in my ear
What the birds and the winds are singing
In your sunny atmosphere.
For what are all our contrivings,
And the wisdom of our books,
When compared with your caresses,
And the gladness of your looks?
Ye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said;
For ye are living poems,
And all the rest are dead.
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The following are a couple of statements (of thousands that we could quote) stating publically and unashamedly the aim of the public education of our children:
“I think that the most important factor moving us toward a secular society has been the educational factor. Our schools may not teach Johnny how to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is sixteen tends toward the elimination of religious superstition. The average American child now acquires a high school education, and this militates against Adam and Eve and all other myths of alleged history.” ~ P. Blanchard, “Three Cheers for Our Secular State,” The Humanist
“Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday school’s meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?” ~ Humanism: A New Religion, 1930
It mystifies my brain that godly parents who long for their children to grow up filled with the knowledge of God’s Word and influenced by the power of the Holy Spirit are quite happy to send their children into the public education system which openly states their plan to turn the children away from God and the Bible. And they are becoming more and more blatant.
While the Bible is banned, the teaching of the Muslim religion is more and more being established in our schools. We long for our children to grow up living moral and pure lives, and yet alternative sexuality is proclaimed in our schools The gay lifestyle is becoming more and more entrenched as the homosexual agenda pushes it into the curriculum. And yet this is an abomination against God?
I can understand the ungodly being quite happy for their children to be influenced by this kind of education. But I cannot understand why the godly would do so. Many years ago Marin Luther said these words: “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.”
Psalm 1:1-3 should be our testimony: “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD: and in his law doth he mediate day and night.”
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
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King David was passionate about building as house for the name of the Lord, although his son, Solomon completed the vision. 1 Kings 8:17-19 says: “And the LORD said unto David my father . . . thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house UNTO MY NAME.”
God wants us to also build a house unto His name. A home that honors and lifts up the name of the Lord. A home where God delights to dwell. Solomon acknowledged in 1 Kings 8:13: “I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in forever.” And when He dedicated the house to the Lord, he prayed: “Now therefore arise, O LORD God into thy resting place” (2 Chronicles 6:41). Is your home a resting place for God, where He feels comfortable, and is not continually grieved?
And to what name are you building your home? Is it for the glory of your own name? Is it to the name of your own agenda? Or are you building it to God’s name?
To answer this question, we have to ask another question: Do we know the name of the Lord? This is a huge challenge to me. How can we build a home to the name of the Lord if we don’t truly know the name of our God? We often think we know God, but sadly, it is often a name we have conjured up in our own imagination. We so easily bring God down to our level, to fit into our lives. or into the “box” we make for Him.
The greatest challenge and pursuit of my life is to know more and more of the character, the attributes, and the name of God. It is only as I know His name and His attributes that I really know Him. And I can only know His character as I see it revealed in His Word.
We will never ever fully know God. It is impossible, for He is God. He is incomprehensible! But in His mercy He chooses to reveal to us what He wants us to know of Him. Therefore, here is a good idea for you. I did this when raising our children as I not only wanted to know God for myself but to reveal Him to my children.
When I read in God’s Word of an attribute of God or one of His names (for He has many names), I wrote it in a notebook at the top of the page. Underneath I wrote the reference. As I read the Word each day, I continued to write attributes I discovered. As I found more Scriptures about that name or attribute I wrote them under the heading. Eventually, I had my own book, filled with Scriptures about the character of God.
Gradually, one at a time, you can read the Scriptures regarding a certain attribute of God to your children in your Bible reading time and discuss it together. This is the way we get a true understanding of God.
And the more and more we know of Him the more we can build our home to His name, not a false name of our imagination, but the true image of God.
Hope you take up the idea.
Love from Nancy Campbell
P.S. Go to this link to read more about building a home to the name of the Lord:
http://tinyurl.com/BuildHomeHonorGod
Here some wonderful books to read about the character of God:
“The Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer
“The Attributes of God” by A. W. Tozer
“The Attributes of God” by Arthur W. Pink
“The Names of God” by Andrew Jukes
“The Names of God” by Lester Sumrall
“Names of God” by Nathan Stone
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We talked yesterday about living in the true reality, the reality of the heavenly world. How on earth do we do this?
We come to the understanding that when Christ dwells in our hearts everything is sacred. No matter how mundane the task at hand, it cannot be anything less than holy if God dwells in us, for He is doing the task with us. You have to just acknowledge this truth and believe it!
When you clean toilets, you can sing for joy because Christ sings with you and over you (Zephaniah 3:17). When you wash the dishes, you are aware of the presence of Christ with you. When you prepare yet another meal for your family, you do it with joy and excitement because Christ is with you. He doesn’t leave you when you do the commonplace duties. He is not apart from you in the humdrum of life. He is with you.
He promises: “I will NEVER leave you, or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). No matter what you are doing (unless you are sinning and grieving His Holy Spirit), He is with you.
I love Zechariah 14:20, 21 (NET): “On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription “HOLY TO THE LORD.” The cooking pots in the LORD’S temple will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the LORD who rules over all.” Every saucepan you pick up is holy because you, and everything in your home, is sanctified by the power of the living Christ who abides in you. To prepare a meal for your family is as sacred as a minister who prepares a spiritual meal for the church!
Therefore, enjoy every moment and every task in your home today.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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