Isaiah 3:9, “The show of their countenance doth witness against them.” Or here is a more modern translation - MLB,  “The expression of their faces witnesses against them.”

Most mornings two of my daughters, Evangeline and Serene, join me for our one-hour morning walk. We walk fast but we talk fast as well.

One morning I asked them the question, “How can we have a heavenly atmosphere in our homes?”

“Wear a happy face,” Evangeline immediately answered.

I didn’t expect that answer, but it was a good one. The face we wake up with will determine the atmosphere in our home for the day. Even if you are feeling depressed, it is important to put on a happy face – for your children and for your husband.

“But that’s not being real,” you answer.

I guess that depends on whether you prefer to give into your feelings or live by the power of Christ who lives within you! There are some who think that reality is living according to how you feel. This is actually deception. True reality is Galatians 2:20 – not living according to the dictates of my flesh or my emotions, but by faith, living the life of Christ who lives in me.

You will be amazed how your actions can change the way you feel.  Perhaps you have been up all night with the baby. You feel tired. Put on a happy face anyway. Smile at your husband. Smile at each of your children. You’ll begin to feel better right away. Yes, you will. Just try it.

Perhaps you are in a negative mood. Everything is going wrong and self-pity is taking over. It’s already showing on your face! Stop. Look up to the Lord and smile at Him. Thank Him for your blessings. Thank Him that He is near you and will never leave you or forsake you. Now show your happy face to your children. Your gloominess will soon leave.

A downcast face will lock you into your tiredness or anxiety. A happy face will ignite a spark of joy in your heart.

A miserable face will sink you into self-pity. Put on a smile, even if it is the last thing you feel like doing, and you will feel your heavy burden lift.

Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” The MLB says, “A happy heart makes the face look sunny.”

I like Proverbs 15:15 in the Living Bible, “When a man is gloomy, everything seems to go wrong; when he is cheerful, everything seems right!”

And what about Proverbs 17:22 in the Good News Bible? “ Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.” Gloominess not only brings death to you, but to your whole family. It casts a shadow over your home.

Dear mother, just as you look to the Lord and are changed into His image, so your children look to you and their lives are affected by your countenance. (Wow, that is a powerful truth!) Yes, they will grow to be like your countenance. I know you have heard the expression, “Looks can kill!” The expression on your face can bring death or life to your home.

A smiling face and a positive attitude can become part of your life. Make it a habit. Show it by example to your children. Don’t allow your children to get into moods, to be grumpy, or to pout! We never allowed this for one second in our children and they don’t battle with any of these attitudes today.

Last Sunday Evangeline arrived at our home after church. She had a breast infection and had such a high fever that she could no longer feel her fingers. She could hardly walk but she still confessed that she was “terrific” even though she was wiped out with the fever! She had never learned the habit of being miserable.

Dear nation changer, put on a happy face, and change the atmosphere of your home.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“O Lord, I look up to you and behold your face. I want to be changed into your image. I want to be changed from glory to glory. Shine the light of your countenance upon me so that it will shine from my face to my children. Help me to remember that there is a higher truth than my feelings. It is the truth of your life in me, and this is the life I want to live.  Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

QUOTE:

Isaiah 63:9, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

The words of Serene’s song, El Shaddai, have been on my mind the last few weeks…

As I hold this baby in my arms

I’m like a picture of You,

To nurture with Your love

Is what you made me to do.

These words, “To nurture with your love is what you made me to do” should ring in the ears and hearts of all women. This is our highest destiny. This is what we were created and destined to do. This is the anointing God wants us to live in. It is an expression of who God is. Read these verses: Exodus 19:14; Deuteronomy 1:31; 32:10-12; Isaiah 46:3-4, Acts 13:18.

“To nurture.” What beautiful words! The world is crying out for nurture. Children are crying to be nurtured. There are millions of adults across the world who need nurturing. They did not receive nurture when they were young and their lives now reveal the emptiness.

This "nurture anointing" is not only relegated to mothers with children. It is God’s intention for all women. If we were to ask who was the greatest mother of this last century, there would be a unanimous reply. Mother Theresa. Was she married? No. Did she bare her own children? No. But she was a great nurturer. She fed the poor. She loved the unlovely. She poured out her life to the needy. She sacrificed her own goals to bless others. Dear fellow wives and mothers, can we rise up into this anointing?

The world waits to feel the anointing of God’s nurturing heart. And it starts with us. It starts in our homes. It starts with pouring out our lives to nurture our own children and then flowing over to meet the needs of the needy around us.

Nurturing is not something that we do at certain times of the day. Nurturing is a lifestyle. It should constantly flow from us - to all we speak to and all we meet.  Nurturing our children is a full-time job. We don’t clock in our time and clock out again at a certain hour. Instead, we lay down our lives to pour out God’s nurturing love.

The dictionary tells us that “nurture’ means…

1.    that which nourishes, food, diet

2.    that which promotes growth

3.    education, training and instruction

Nurturing touches the whole person – body, soul and spirit.

We are to nurture our children’s physical bodies with life-giving food. Remember that life-giving food is not refined, packaged, sugar-filled foodless food. It is not a diet from the Fast Food chains. It is enzyme-packed food that will nourish healthy bodies for the future.

What about the soul? Preparing food takes time, but it takes more effort to nurture the soul and the spirit. It is a full-time job. We nurture the soul by…

1.    Encouraging.

Encouragement is such a powerful tool. It makes the soul fat and flourishing. Perhaps you were not encouraged as a child. You may still feel the loss of that in your life today. But don’t deprive your children. Ask God, who is the God of consolation and encouragement, to pour His encouragement into you so you can encourage your children. It will feed their souls.

2. Training and instruction, which includes disciplinary correction.

This is the meaning of the word that is used in Ephesians 6:4 where it admonishes fathers, “Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” We train and discipline our children because we love them and want them to be sharpened and polished ready for the Master’s use. A child that is left to his own devices is not a nurtured child. It is sad to see children who are out of control and who have no boundaries. They may get what they want by whining and persistence but they grow up empty and dry in their souls.

In Jeremiah 31 God proclaims all the wonderful promises to His people Israel when they return to their land. One of them is in verse 12, “their soul shall be as a watered garden.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all our children could testify to this blessing because of our faithful nurturing and watching over their souls?

And of course we nurture the spirit by feeding and nourishing our children in the ways and words of the Lord. I am sure that your longing is the same as mine that they will be “nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine.” (1 Timothy 4:6).

May the anointing of God’s nurturing heart be poured upon you today – for your own precious children and for the hurting and the needy around you.

PRAYER:

“Father, I pray that you will release your nurturing heart upon me, in me, and through me. I long to live in this anointing. Nurture me, Lord, as I wait on you, so I can nurture my family. Lord, let this become my life every moment of the day – to be a nurturer. And Lord, I pray that you will raise up all your women across the land to be nurturers. Let your nurturing anointing be poured out to this hurting world. Amen.”

QUOTE:

Deep within your heart You hold the source

For everything that’s tender,

Soft and kind. 

To caress the world the world with warm affection

You thought of a mother -

Beautiful design.
 

From Serene’s song, El Shaddai.

Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

As parents, we carry a great responsibility. We can no longer live to ourselves. It is an awesome fact that every decision we make will not only affect our destiny, but also the destiny of our children, grandchildren, and the continuing generations.

Our children were all affected by our decision to move from New Zealand to Australia back in 1982. Fortunately, our children are all glad that we made that decision. Because we lived in that country for nearly 10 years, our three sons married Australian girls. They are glad they found their sweethearts and faithful companions there. We then moved to America and consequently our three daughters married Americans! They are glad of their choices too. But our decisions certainly affected their futures and determined the precious grandchildren that we have today.

Every choice - small or big, on the day-to-day basis or long-term goal, will influence our children. How we need to listen to God’s voice so that He will lead us in the right direction.

I was very challenged by reading the story of Lot. Abraham and Lot lived and worked together for years. The day came when their flocks and goods increased so greatly that they needed to separate. Abraham gave Lot the opportunity to choose first. He chose the plains, the easy way, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Eventually he was lured right into the evil city and lived there. The choice he made eventually caused sorrow and heartache to himself, death to most of his family, and devastating consequences in the succeeding  generations.

Lot lost all his possessions – his home, his wife who was turned to a pillar of salt, most of his family members, and his business.  More appalling than all, was the fact that the children who were born to him by incest were the originators of the Ammonites and the Moabites. These nations became the enemies of God’s people, the Israelites. Lot’s generations became the enemies of Abraham’s descendents! Oh what a devastating consequence! Instead of producing godly generations, Lot produced ungodly generations.

You can read about it in Genesis 19:37-38, “Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.”

It was not an evil man that made this choice. 2 Peter 2:6-8 says that Lot was a just and righteous man, “oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked…” A righteous man made a wrong decision! Oh may God help us to make the right choices.

We need to make every choice in the light of eternity, and in the light of the generations to come. We must not base our decision on how the outcome will affect us now. We must think of what the effect will be upon our children and upon future generations. This will help us to make right decisions.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, you have promised to be my Guide, even unto death. I look to you to guide me in all my decisions, the little ones and the big ones. Help me to stay close to you so I can hear your voice saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ Help me to hear your voice louder than the voices in the world that seek to influence me.  Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

QUOTE:

Judges 14:14, “Out of the strong came forth sweetness.”

I rarely have time to watch TV, but we turn it on a little more lately to check out what is happening with the war in Afghanistan. There are many talk shows with people debating back and forth their point of view but it saddens me when I see women shouting down the men they are debating. It does not seem right. It’s not the place that God has chosen for them and it doesn’t become them as women. In fact, it spoils them.

Are we then meant to be weak as women? No. I believe God wants us to be strong, but it is a different kind of strength than that of men. The ‘virtuous’ woman in Proverbs 31:10 was a strong woman. The word ‘virtuous’ is the Hebrew word ‘chayil’, which means ‘valiant, strength of an army’. We are to be strong in standing for truth, strong in our convictions, strong in faithfulness to our marriage and motherhood, strong in commitment, strong in purity and morality, strong in faith, strong in sacrifice and strong in endurance. It is strength of character rather than dominance and dogmatism that epitomizes a woman. It takes a strong woman of faith to believe for her marriage when her husband is not walking in God’s ways. It takes strength to endure in difficult circumstances.

But how do we demonstrate this strength? Is it by loudness and harshness? Is it by demanding our own way? Is it by stubbornness, which is actually inverted strength?  No. It is revealed by a sweet, serving spirit.

Let me tell you the story of today’s Scripture. Samson wanted to marry a Philistine woman (even though this was against the Hebrew law). On the way down to Timnah to visit her, a lion attacked him, but the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. Some time later when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion and noticed a swarm of bees inside the lion. It was filled with honey and he enjoyed eating the special treat.

It was the custom to tell riddles at weddings and so Samson put forth his riddle. “Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” Nobody could guess the riddle until Samson’s wife nagged him day after day to tell her.

Where did the sweetness come from? It came from strength. Sweetness without strength can be weak and sickly. Strength without sweetness can be harsh and hurtful. We need both. To demand our own way is weakness. Any three-year old can do that! Unyielding stubbornness can be weakness. However, it takes strength to speak kind and sweet words when you’d rather “fly off the handle.” It’s easy to react with sharp words. We need God’s strength to be loving and sweet. 

I love the picture the bridegroom paints of his bride in Song of Songs 4:11, “Your lips, O my spouse, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue.” What does honey taste like? Sweet. What does milk speak of? Nourishment. What kinds of words drip from your mouth? Sweet, nourishing and life-giving words come forth from the strong woman because she is concerned for others rather than herself.

We see another picture of the strong and meek together in the picture of Jesus in Revelation 5:1-8. John wept because there was no one worthy to open and read the book until one of the elders proclaimed, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open the scroll… And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne… stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…” The heavenly elder announced Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but when John looked, it was a Lamb!

Strength and meekness flow together. Even motherhood has these two aspects – sweet tenderness but also strong protection that guards children with our life.

Nobody could guess Samson’s riddle. Maybe people cannot guess where your love and sweetness comes from when you are in the midst of a difficult marriage. They cannot understand your quiet endurance in the midst of trial and tribulation.  They don’t know that it comes from the strength of your inner man, as you trust unwaveringly in the Lord. They don’t understand that true love comes from strength that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) This is the true strength of a woman. A sweet spirit will nourish and build up a marriage. A strong spirit that is not tampered with sweetness can destroy family life.

When Samson found the honey, he also took some to his parents and they enjoyed the sweetness too. Can others feed from the sweetness you offer from your life?

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, strengthen me in my inner man by your Holy Spirit. I cannot be strong of myself. You are the one who makes me strong in trial and temptation. Lord, I cannot be sweet by myself either. My flesh has no sweetness in it. Please work in my heart by your Holy Spirit and pour into me your gentle, sweet spirit. Let it flow out from me at all times, in all situations, and especially in my home towards my husband and family. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

QUOTE: