THE DOWNWARD WAY

"For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.
They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and DENY Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord"
(Jude 1:4 NIV).

There are some D words in the Scriptures that are warnings for us. I am sorry that this is not a very positive devotion as I much prefer to only write positive words. However, I must be faithful to the whole counsel of God. We as parents must also be faithful to all that God says in His word--the challenges as well as the lovely promises we like to claim. Therefore, because we want to hear all that God says to us, let's face the following warnings that lead to the downward path and teach them to our children also.

You will notice that God uses very strong words.

1. IT'S DAMNATION

a) To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Mark 3:29 says, "He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."

b) To eat of the bread and wine at communion and yet still live in sin. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 says, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. . . . For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself . . . "

c) To despise the truth and instead take pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12).

2. IT'S DANGEROUS

Matthew 5:21, 22 tells us that to be angry with someone without a cause is dangerous.

3. IT'S DECEPTION

a) To serve any other god except Him. Deuteronomy 11:16 says, "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them."

It's interesting that God uses the word "deceived" when speaking about other gods as it is a very fine line. It is very easy to become passionate about something such as exercise, diet, or even a multi-level marketing selling and not even realize that it is taking more of our love and passion than God Himself.

a) To read God's Word and yet not obey it. James 1:22 says, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

b) To continue living in sin and yet think we'll still get to Heaven. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV) says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Of course there will be thousands of such people in Heaven, but those who have been washed from their sin by the blood of Jesus. However, to continue in these sins bars us from Heaven.

c) To be prideful. Obadiah 1:3 says, "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee."

4. IT'S DELUSION

Thessalonians 2:10-11 tells us that when someone will not receive the love of the truth in order to be saved, God sends them a delusion.

5. IT'S DENIAL

There are many Christians today who think they can live in immorality, fornication, and adultery and get away with it. That's not what the Bible says. Jude 1:4 (NLT) says, "Some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have DENIED our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." To live this way is to deny our Lord and Savior. Our "tolerance" to these sins does not change God's Word! Read the warnings in the rest of Jude 1.

6. IT'S DESPISING

Proverbs 15:32 says, "He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getting understanding."

7. IT'S DESTRUCTION

a) To walk with the wrong crowd. I raised our children on the following Scripture: "He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20). Encourage your children to memorize this Scripture.

Especially as children get into their teens they become very aware of their peers and want to be like them. However, the young people they hang out with can determine their destiny. Many precious young people have gone astray from the faith, and even into rebellion, because they got into the wrong company. As parents, we must carefully guard the friendships of our children. This is one of the blessings of homeschooling. Many children from Christian families go astray, and are often destroyed, because of finding the wrong friends at school.

b) To refuse reproof and harden your heart. Proverbs 29:1 (NIV) says, "Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy."

c) To be proud. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

d) To speak foolish words. Proverbs 18:7 says, "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul." Read also Proverbs 10:14 and 13:3.

e) To choose the easy way. Matthew 7:13 (ESV) says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many."

8. IT'S DEMONIC

To have envy and strife in your heart is devilish. James 3:14-15 (HCSB) says, "But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't brag and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic."

Now lift up your head, for next devotion I will share about the DELIGHTFUL way.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

Dear God and Father, please save me from ever entering any of these downward paths. Please anoint me powerfully to keep my children from these paths. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

The downward path is not for me,

On the upward path I choose to be!

GOD"S ULTIMATE PLAN

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
(Romans 8:29).

God's ultimate plan for each one of us is "to be conformed to the image of his Son." This image was destroyed through sin, but God is so intent on us 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 us with His precious blood but lives in our hearts by His Spirit in order to conform us to His image.

What is the image of Jesus? It is His character which we see revealed through His life and spoken Word. It is the fruit of the Spirit we read about in Galatians 5:22-23. It is everything that is opposite to our fleshly nature. We are impatient, but Jesus is filled with patience and longsuffering. We are proud and yet Jesus Christ, the Son of God from the glory of heaven humbles himself (Philippians 2:5-8). We get grumpy but Jesus Christ who lives in us is filled with joy.

Joy? Hebrews 1:9 tells us that Jesus was anointed with the "oil of joy" more than anyone else! Therefore, if we allow Him to work in our lives and conform us to His image, we will be filled with joy more than everyone around us. It is true that we don't always feel joyful. But, life does not consist of feelings. Feelings come and go, but the Spirit of Christ who dwells within us is PERMAMENT and His life is filled with joy.

As we enjoyed Family Devotions together recently I thanked each of our lovely Above Rubies helpers for coming into the kitchen each morning with a smile on their face and filled with happiness. They help to fill our home with joy as they seek to be more and more like Jesus. And, it proves they have been trained well by their parents.

One of the girls shared how that one morning she came downstairs to the breakfast table in her home with a grouchy face. Her mother sent her straight back to her room and told her to come back with smiling, happy face. Good training!

I hope you don't let your children, and especially your teens (they should certainly be trained by now) come to the breakfast table with a sour and grumpy face. If they do, send them straight back to change their countenance and come back with a smile! Teach your children that the action they put on their face will soon change their attitude within. Of course, you'll have a wonderful smile on your face, to show them the way, won't you? If you are being conformed to Christ's image, then JOY will be one of your attributes.

Did you notice that our Scripture tells us that Jesus is the "firstborn son." But, He is not the only son. He is the firstborn of MANY sons. God wants many more sons who resemble His oldest Son. He wants us to have the family likeness. This is His plan and purpose for us. Hebrews 2:10 tells us that because of Jesus' suffering and death He is "bringing many sons unto glory."

Do the people around you recognize that you have the "family likeness"? What about your children? Are you showing them by your actions and words what Jesus is like?
Are you allowing Him to mold you to His image?

Or, do we want to stay the same? Would we rather keep our stubborn will? Would we rather keep our sour face and grumpy spirit? It certainly takes daily dying to the flesh to allow the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus, doesn't it?
    
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:
Dear Father God, I am awed by your plan to make me to be like your Son. I am the opposite in my flesh, but I ask you to have your way in my life. Help me to be willing for you to change me, even if the change is painful. Save me from staying in the rut of living my selfish fleshly life. I want you to live your joyful and abundant life through me. Amen"

AFFIRMATION:
Little by little I am changing into His image.

 GUARD YOUR TREASURES

"This is a people robbed and spoiled"
(Isaiah 42:22).

In 2 Kings 24:13 we read how Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and carried out "all the treasures of the house of the Lord." They were priceless treasures, made of gold and silver, but were robbed from the temple.

I am sure that you are also seeking to make your home a house of the Lord. Just as in God's house, we have many treasures in our houses. Proverbs 15:6 says, "In the house of the righteous is much treasure." Not a little bit of treasure, but MUCH treasure. The Hebrew word means "exceeding, great, mighty, abundant, abounding, plenteous, and populous."

Some homes are filled with the treasures of material riches, but they are treasures that are fleeting and will pass away. There are greater riches than these. We can fill our homes with eternal treasures. Let's remind ourselves of some of this wealth.

Our Children

They are certainly our greatest treasures on this earth, and not only for earth, but for eternity. Each precious child God gives to us is an eternal soul that will live forever. As we sacrifice and pour out our lives to train these children, our time is not wasted. It affects eternity. Every other career will be left behind, but the career of motherhood invests in eternity.

Satan is well aware of the eternal riches of our children. He wants to rob every child of the gift of salvation and eternal life. He wants to rob them of walking with God and revealing the image of God to this world. More than that, he wants to rob them of life. He wants to eliminate as many children as he can, especially the godly seed.

Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Do you notice the enemy wants to do three things? It reminds me of contraception, sterilization, and abortion. The enemy's first tactic is to eliminate children through birth control and sterilization. If that doesn't work, he then has abortion ready to kill the life that is conceived.

Isn't it sad that Satan has actually duped many of God's people into his strategy to rob them of these great eternal blessings?

The Presence of God

This is perhaps our greatest treasure. Although King Nebuchadnezzar stole the treasures of gold out of God's house, there was a greater treasure He didn't understand--the Shekinah glory of God which dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the recesses of the temple. The greatest glory and treasure of our home is also the presence of God. We can have a beautiful home with every material possession, but it is cold and lifeless without God's presence.

Satan uses so many things to rob us of God's presence. TV blaring during the day kills the presence of God. Tempers, arguing, tension, and strife grieve the Spirit of God. Filling our home with worldly music and entertainment steals the presence of God.

Proverbs 21:20 says, "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise." In the Bible oil speaks of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Let's be on guard for anything that will grieve the Holy Spirit who wants to fill our home (Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Prayer

Satan triumphs in this victory. He has successfully robbed prayer out of most Christian homes. In doing so, he robs us of the most powerful tool we have as families--to pray for one another, and also to pray for lost souls, the nations of the world that do not have the Gospel, the persecuted believers, and for Israel (which is a command from the Lord--Psalm 122:6; and Isaiah 62:6, 7).

Surely, if our homes are God's homes, it is the least we can do to gather as a family morning and evening and pray together. Dear mother, watch out for this daylight robbery! Yes, it happens in daylight. Satan doesn't use evil things to rob of this blessing. He is cunning. He gets us busy doing "good" things. Of course you only want to do good things with your family. But we can end up running around taking our children to this sport and that lesson, and here and there, that we become too busy to gather together to pray! And we become so deceived we don't even realize we have been robbed.

God's Word

It's the same with God's Word. Peter describes them as "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4). How does David describe them? "More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also, than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). I'm sure you'd never say no to some gold. I wouldn't mind some myself! But we already have it in our hands. God's living Word. We can pass out gold to our children every morning and evening. Don't rob them!

Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

"Dear Father, please help me to be a true watchwoman on the walls of my home. Save me from being deceived and robbed by the enemy of all the treasures you want us to enjoy. Help me to see the value of what is eternal. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am a gold dispense to my children.

HIDDEN GLORY

"Thy wife shall be fruitful as a vine, in the heart of thy home, the children round thy table sturdy as olive-branches"
Psalm 128:3 KNOX

In 1 Kings 16 it tells us about how Solomon built the temple for God. In verse 16 it says, "And he built 20 cubits on the sides of the house . . . for the most holy place." What does this mean? Was he adding an extra little room on the side of the house? Oh no. This was the most important part of the whole temple. This was The Holy of Holies, also called The Most Holy Place, The Inner Sanctuary, or The Most Set-Apart Place.

Where was He going to build this shrine for the presence of God to dwell? Let's read it in some other translations to help us understand.

"He partitioned off an inner sanctuary--The Most Holy Place--at the far end of the Temple" (NLT).

"He built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place" (HCSB).

The phrase "on the sides" is the Hebrew word, yrekah and literally means "the rear, the recesses, the most inner part." The dwelling place for God was not to be out in the open for everyone to behold. It was in the hidden part.

What a glorious place Solomon made for God. This inner sanctuary was a cube, 30 feet high, wide and long. And everything was pure gold--walls, floor, ceiling, the ark of the covenant, and even gold chains hanging in the entrance. And the cherubim over the ark were also covered in pure gold. They were amazing--15 feet tall and their wings stretched 15 feet to one wall and 15 feet to the other. Everywhere you looked it was gold. Absolutely dazzling! And if that wasn't enough, the glory of God dwelt in this place.

However, now we come to an amazing revelation. The phrase "the sides of the house" is used in another Scripture that relates to you as a wife and mother. Psalm 128:3 says, "They wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table." How remarkable that the Bible uses the same word for God's holy inner sanctuary as He does for the inner sanctuary of our home. Let's look at some other translations:

"Your wife will be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of your house" (NASB).

"Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house" (NKJV).

Are we delegated to the innermost part of the home because our role is insignificant? Oh no. It is the opposite. The inner sanctuary was for the glory of God, not on the periphery. The inner sanctuary of our home is also our glory. It is our sphere of fruitfulness. It is where we yield our greatest power. It is where we fulfill our highest destiny of raising godly children for His glory.

When we forsake the heart of our home, we say goodbye to fruitfulness. Most mothers who choose a career will end up limiting their family. We leave behind our glory. In Hosea 9:11 God calls conception, pregnancy, and birth the "glory" of the nation. We give our authority of motherhood over to the devil whose plan is to get mothers out of the home so he can influence their children in his ways.

We see the same understanding when a baby is conceived. 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. Read also Matthew 1:20 and Luke 2:21.

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). It 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, born in the image of God, will one day come forth from the home to be bearer of God's image in the earth, influence many people, and generations to come.                   

From the recesses comes forth great miracles and "sharpened and polished arrows" to change the world.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.or

PRAYER:

"I thank you for showing me, Father, that the heart of my home is the place of my glory. Help me to glory in it. Help me to make it a glorious place. And please help me to bring your glory into the nation as I raise sons and daughters for you. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

The heart of the home is my sphere of fruitfulness, glory, and power.