1 Chronicles 28:10, 20, “Solomon my son… Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it... Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work…”

It was not enough for David to encourage Solomon to build a house for the Lord, but he also inspired him to do it! We can get great ideas and dreams of what we want to do, but it is another thing to do them. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but doers!

There is more yet. David exhorted Solomon, not only to do it, but to finish it! Not only do we have to get stuck in and do what we have to do, but also finish the task. But there is even more yet! David said, “I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God…”  It is not enough to do the job. It is not enough to finish it. We have to do it with all our might! Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with thy might.” And Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily.”

These are three important principles that we need to implement into our daily lives in the home. There are many tasks that need attending to—laundry, dishes, cleaning up the kitchen and other tasks on our “to do” list. You want to do them, you plan to do them, but you just have to do them. That’s all there is to it. You have to get up off your seat and start tackling the job. I have made this a habit in my life—not to look at something and think about doing it, but to get up and do it! It’s the only way things get done! Many times I don’t feel like doing it, but I make myself get up and do it.

We need to teach these principles to our children too. They are God-like principles. God lives by this principle. He states, “I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:11)

Even Jesus Himself put this principle into action. He exclaims in Psalm 40:7-8, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” Jesus didn’t come to study God’s will or to meditate upon it, but to do it! None of us will ever understand how hard it must have been for Him to fulfill the plan of the ages to come and suffer and die for our sin. He asked God to take the cup from him, but He faced it and did it.

During the time of Ezra’s ministry, he discovered that the Israelites had not separated themselves from the people round about and were doing according to their abominations. He repented before God on the behalf of the people. But that was not enough. He needed to exhort the people to repent and separate from the evil. In Ezra 10:4 Shechaniah encouraged Ezra, “Be of good courage, and do it.” They did.

Exodus 19:8 says, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Is this our response? (Exodus 24:3)

Genesis 31:16, “Whatsoever God has said unto thee, do.”

Proverbs 3:27, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.”

James 4:17, “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Are there necessary things waiting to do in your home? Is there some task that you have been putting off? Don’t think about it any longer. Just do it!

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to do what I need to do. Please give me your strength. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am not just a hearer, but a doer!

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Isaiah 32:18, “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.”

A quiet resting place! Doesn’t that sound idyllic? It sounds like a wonderful vacation, to me. But let’s get back to the real life. It’s not always quiet when you have lots of children around you. There is often so much to do that life doesn’t seem like a rest! I know that I would have to go away for a vacation to have a rest from my busy life around here.

And yet this is what God calls our homes—resting places. I don’t think it is necessarily a rest from noise and activity (although we need these respites from time to time). I believe it is a rest from fear. A rest from tension and strife. A rest from anger, bickering and fighting. A rest from complaining and grouching. These are the things that put strain upon your home. It’s not the noise of children; it’s not the hard work—it is the wrong attitudes! They cause frustration and vexation of soul more than outward circumstances.

Jesus gave us a wonderful invitation to rest, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Do you notice there are two rests He calls us into? Firstly, the rest of sins forgiven when the burden of the guilt of sin is rolled away. Secondly, you can experience a deeper rest in your soul as you take His yoke upon you and learn of Him. As the ocean is calm underneath even though the violent storm tosses the waves above, so you can experience a deep rest in your soul even when the waves of turmoil billow over you. You can have a rest of spirit in your home, even in the midst of noise and the bustle of activity.

Of course God also wants us to have times of literal rest, too. The evenings should be quieter times of family togetherness. My daughter Evangeline’s home is not always quiet with her eight children (and she is the rowdiest of them all!) but when they come in for supper time, she expects them to change from being cowboys, Indians, pirates, or army guys etc. and welcomes them into twilight zone. She dims the lights and lights the candles in the winter time to promote the quieter atmosphere.

God also gives us one day a week to rest from our work and the busyness of the week. This also helps to make your home a resting place.

Another Scripture where God calls our home a resting place is Proverbs 24:15, "Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting place.” God does not want anyone or anything to spoil your home. Deal severely with anything that spoils the rest in your home. Are you harboring a bad attitude to someone? Forgive and put it right. Are you mad with your husband? Forgive and take a humble attitude. Are you complaining about anything and everything? Get your attitude right. It’s not worth spoiling the rest in your home. 2 Chronicles 23:21 tells us how the land if Israel was quiet when they got rid of evil.

Don’t be like the Israelites. God called them to rest but they would not receive it. “In returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” (Isaiah 30:15) Perhaps you are too busy doing things out of the home that you have no time to create peace in your home. When you return home you will find rest. Zechariah 10:6 Knox says, “In their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.”

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Dear Lord, please show me the attitudes in my heart and in the things in my home that spoil the rest. Give me strength to get rid of them for I want my home to be a resting place for everyone in my home and all who come to visit .Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

In the midst of lots of noise

I will never lose my poise,

Although my work may never cease

I will never lose my peace!

Deuteronomy 28:1-4 NASB, “If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments… Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body…”

Some people love to live in the city. Some love the country. There are others who live in the city but who long to move to the country. They think that this will be a better life for their children. That may be so, but God has promised, if we are obedient to His commandments, to bless us whether we live in the town or the country.

If you hanker to live in the country, and yet there is no way for you to do this, stop pestering your husband and be content. To be content where you live is more important than where you live. The requirement for God’s blessing upon you and your family is not where you live but whether you are being obedient to God’s Word.

We now live in the country. I love it. I prefer it to the city. But through all the years of raising our children we lived in the city. They were wonderful years and God blessed us. I remember when we moved from New Zealand to Australia, not just to a new country, but to the playground of Australia--Surfer’s Paradise. Our home looked out on the casino! Help! How do you raise teenagers in this environment? Because this is where God sent us to serve Him, He blessed us and our children. Instead of being on the defensive, they were on the offensive for God. All the children, teens and younger, preached every weekend in the open air mall in Surfer’s Paradise. They helped us grow the church. They are all loving and serving the Lord today.

When we moved to America, we lived in an apartment complex. By this time, only Pearl and Serene were home, the others were all married. We squashed ourselves and the Above Rubies office into this apartment. We opened our doors in hospitality and filled it with people gathering around our table for meals. Once again we were blessed! We had wonderful times and great fellowship with many people in this dingy apartment.

I have found that the secret of enjoying life is to accept where I live and make it my life, rather than pining for what I have had in the past or what I would like to have in the future.

By the way, here is a secret for getting a bigger home. Fill the one you have. Fill it with children. Fill it with people as you reach out in hospitality. When God sees you filling up the home you have, He will open doors for you to get a bigger one!

Some folks think that it is too difficult to have children in the city. However, the next words God speaks after telling us He will bless us in the town and in the country is that He will bless us with the fruit of the womb. This blessing is for those who live in the city and for those who live in the country. God will help us and provide for us in whichever place we live.

Trust His promises.

NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

AFFIRMATION:

Psalm 113:5, “Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwells on high.”

What is our God really like? Eternity will not be enough time to fathom the greatness and awesomeness of our God. However, we get glimpses of what He is like as we read His divine word. Psalm 113 gives a beautiful description of our God. It does not describe His majestic greatness, but reveals His heart of love and compassion.

This Psalm tells us that He is the One who raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy out of the rubbish heap! Our God, whose glory is above the heavens, humbles himself to look upon what goes on in heaven and in earth. And even more! He aligns himself with the needs of the poor and the needy. Wow! It is not the proud and the rich who get his attention but the poor and the wretched. He wants to lift them up and seat them with the princes of the land.

The Psalm then goes on to say that He is the God who settles the barren woman in a home and makes her a joyful mother of children. Once again we see who God is really like. He is a God whose heart is for children and mothers. He wants to give mothers children. He wants them to be filled with joy as they mother the children He gives them. This is who our God is like—a God who loves children and who ordained the high calling of motherhood.

I think it is important to understand the God whom we love and serve. There are many today, even in the church, who have no interest in the poor and less interest in mothers having children! I wonder what God it is that they are serving? Many times women are pulled away from their children and home to get involved in “ministry”. The work may be a good work, but is it God’s perfect will? The greatest ministry God gives to women is to create a godly home and raise godly children. The God of the Bible is the One who aligns himself with mothers in their homes.

But there is even more to this wonderful psalm. Remember, He wants to seat the poor with the princes. I checked out the word princes. It is not the word that is used for ‘sheik, king or chief’ but it is the Hebrew word nadiv, which means ‘willing, generous, and liberal.’ The same word is translated ‘willing’ in other Scriptures. (Exodus 35:5; Judges 5:2; 9; 2 Chronicles 17:16; Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 32:5) In other words, God says that He seats them with the generous of the land, those who willingly open their hearts and homes to the needy, the poor, the orphans and the widows in their distress. It is these generous open-hearted people who are the princes in the land. They reveal the true heart of God.

May God help us to align ourselves with who God is like, rather than the selfish ways and ambitions of this world.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh God, I am amazed at your love and compassion. You and high and lifted up and yet you humble yourself to feel my pain and infirmities. Help me to have the same heart that you have. Amen.”

 

AFFIRMATION:

I will not get entangled in a worldly net,

Instead…

The orphans and the widows I will not forget!