Boundaries for Women

 

Nancy Campbell posts are filled with abundant wisdom.  This article is spot on, as I think about and do my best, to teach younger women.  I pray you will read and share it.

 

 

REVOLTED AND GONE 

by Nancy Campbell 

(used by permission)

I am a freedom lover. In fact, I am a freedom fighter. However, I also believe in boundaries. True freedom is only found in the boundaries that God assigns for us. A train running on its tracks is free to go anywhere the tracks take it. However, if the train decides it doesn’t want the confinement of tracks and veers off, it would be its destruction.

 

God puts boundaries on nature. God has put limits on the seas and the oceans. Psalm 104:9 says: “Thou hast set a bound (for the waters) that they may not pass over.” Proverbs 8:29 says: “He gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment . . . “

 

God gave the angels of Heaven their boundary. Jude 1:6 (GW) tells us: “They (the angels) were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.”

 

God masterminded the holy estate of marriage, the most beautiful estate on earth when we live it according to God’s plans. But God has placed boundaries on marriage. When a couple are joined as one on their wedding day, they enter into the exclusivity of marriage. We don’t share our marriage with anyone else. Oh yes, we open our homes and lives to encompass people, but our marriage is sacred. We will never embark on a personal relationship with someone of the opposite sex apart from with our husband.

 

God has given to women a powerful domain over which to rule. God planned for women to be queen of their homes and be the continuers of godly generations revealing the likeness and image of God.

 

God does not intend us to enter the realm of the male domain. Of course, we can if we want, but it will be to our detriment. God’s blessings are poured out in the domain that He gives to us.

 

And our domain, mother, is a glorious domain. Did you read my article, LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, in the current issue of Above Rubies?

 

I love David’s confession in Psalm 6:5, 6 (GW): Your boundary lines mark out pleasant (delightful) places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.”

 

I love the *CJB version: “Pleasant places were measured out for me; I am CONTENT with my heritage.” It is a beautiful thing when we are content within the boundaries that God assigns to us. In these boundary lines we have the greatest freedom because God is also the author of freedom. He wants us to live free.

 

The words of Jeremiah 5:22, 23 are challenging: “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”

 

Wow, God uses the example of how even the oceans, although they roar and toss, cannot pass God’s boundary lines. And yet, unbelievably, His people do it. God mandated boundaries for His people Israel. He gave them laws and decrees, not to imprison them but to bless them, to make them healthy, and to make them His special and chosen people in all the world. But they didn’t want it. “THEY ARE REVOLTED AND GONE!”

 

This is often our testimony of many women in the church today. They don’t understand that God’s truths do not inhibit us. They set us free. But they don’t want freedom within their boundaries. They want their own kind of freedom. God mandated for women to be in the home. But where are they? Most homes in America are empty today. The mothers have REVOLTED AND GONE!

 

This passage continues in verse 25. “Your sins have withholden GOOD THINGS from you.” We miss out on the “GOOD THINGS” when we move away from the boundaries God has assigned for us.

 

Let’s embrace all that God has for us and live in the fullness of the blessings He longs for us.

 

Drawing you back to His glorious ways, Nancy Campbell

Painting by Jessica Zemsky

 

P.S. Oh help! I can imagine the reaction to some of my above statements. I must say that I know that most women today are brainwashed by our humanistic society. They have beautiful hearts, would never want to do anything to offend God, and think their lifestyle is absolutely normal because that is all they know. Most women today are ignorant of God’s Word and His plan for women and so they are ignorantly living their lives outside the home. Others are in very difficult financial situations and are forced, often against their will, to vacate the home. Feminism has been very successful in making it more difficult for women as they have lowered men’s wages and advocated for their so-called women’s rights.

 

I understand the many reasons, dear mothers, but at the same time, as an older mother, I must be faithful to teach what God says from His Word. I know that our society is so far away from God’s original intention that it’s a long road back. To some it even looks impossible. But ultimate revival is for us to turn back. We cannot live under the fount of His full blessings unless we live in the boundary lines He has designated for us.

 

* CJB is the Complete Jewish Bible, which I use and highly recommend.  I especially like the CJB Study Bible. 

Nancy Campbell's website is a gold mine of wisdom and encouragement: ABOVE RUBIES.

Turnaround Tuesday - Praying for Prodigals

 

I'm sharing something heavy on my heart today:  prodigals / lost family members.  The article below my comments is by Nancy Campbell and is used with her permission.

Up until about seven years old, I stayed with my aunt while my parents worked.  Their family prayed together and it left a deep impression on me.  Also, praying together with my husband is the high-light of my day.  We already read the Word and pray in the morning, but will begin evening prayer. 

I hope you'll join in this on all points:  the family alter, fasting and praying for prodigals on Tuesdays, and that these prayers will bring revival.

This really lit my fire.  I believe in prayer and am burdened for four family members who have gone astray.  The graphic above really speaks of the state they are in.  Let's pray and believe that our prodigals will "come to their senses" and return to their Father's House.  (See the parable of Yeshua in Luke 15:11-32).  

Let's remember this:  the prodigal did not bring the pig pen home with him.   He had hit bottom.  Living and eating with the pigs is about as low as a Jewish boy can go.   He was humbled and repentant. He returned to the Father in surrender and obedience to His Laws.  This is important!  He understood that the Father would not allow his son to wallow in sin like before. 

If you'd like us to pray for your prodigal, please let me know in the comments section below.  And if you join in, please pray for four members of my family to return to the Father's House.

I hope you will share Nancy's article with others.

THE FORGOTTEN PHRASE

 

At the beginning of this year a member of our church fellowship shared some insights she had read from the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, a group of intercessors who meet together every year to pray and seek God for what He is saying to the body of Christ.

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One of the things she shared was that they felt there would be a return to the “family altar.” She stopped and said, “Well, I don’t know what that means. I have never heard of it.” But I did know what it means, and my heart leapt to hear these words because they are forgotten words in the body of Christ today. Even archaic words. But they shouldn’t be archaic because the truth comes from the Living and eternal Word of God.

 

I decided to check out what she was saying and found it on the Internet. In one of the paragraphs I read:

 

“During this Era of the Holy Spirit, many prodigals will come back to the Lord. We are backing the Turnaround Tuesday movement where the Body of Christ fasts on Tuesday for the salvation of families and for prodigals to come home. God will also shake and prune the church to prepare to receive them, along with the great harvest. (I had not heard about Turnaround Tuesday but it sounds great. I am sure that families who have prodigals would love to check this out and join in this fasting and prayer).

The vision continued: “There will be a special emphasis in 2022 on the family. God is calling families to “build the family altar” in their homes and pray with and for their families.”

 

There was the phrase in writing. What does it mean? “The family altar” was one time part of the daily life of every Christian family. Every morning and evening they would gather as a family to meet with God—to hear His words and to pray and worship together. 

 

It comes from the passage in Leviticus 6:8-13 where God gave the instructions of how to conduct the burnt offerings on the altar. He told them that the fire on the altar was NEVER to go out. He told them to keep it going by attending to it every morning and every evening. If we want the fire of God to keep burning in our lives and each member of our family, we must attend to the fire every morning and evening. Fires go out easily if they are not constantly refueled. 

 

God wants each family burning brightly for Him. O, how I was encouraged to hear that God is calling His families again to the family altar. 

 

THE MODERN CHURCH MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN BUT GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN! 

 

Will you hear His call? Are you ready to rearrange your family lives to incorporate the family altar into each day? To meet with Him morning and evening is the very least that we can give to Him in the 24 hours He gives us each day. I have found in my own experience that I cannot hope this will happen. I must make it happen. I make it happen and everything else fits around it. If other things don’t get done, it doesn’t matter. But if we let this go, the fire will go out.

 

Let’s respond to God’s call. This is the beginning of revival. If a move of God does not begin and CONTINUE in the families of God’s people, it will be something that comes and goes but does not last.

 

Oh, let’s turn back to His ways, Nancy Campbell

 

These links are from Nancy. 

 

I would encourage you to check out the following materials:

To read more about the Morning and Evening Principle in the Scriptures go to:

http://aboverubies.org/morning-evening-principle

BOOKS:

FAMILY DEVOTIONS - The Husband's and Wife's Role E-Booklet (mybigcommerce.com)

HOW TO HAVE A FAMILY ALTAR

http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/.../HowtoHaveAFamily...

 

 

**Personally, I recommend a daily reading of Proverbs - there's one for every day of the month. I've been doing it monthly for twenty-seven years.  

Also, it is a practice in Judaism to study through the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) yearly.

Jem and I  also use a daily devotional with a Messianic Jewish focus titled  The Voice of the Lord.  It is a collection of meditations written by various authors, and is edited by David J. Rudolph.

 

 If you have some recommendations, I'd love for you to share them with us.

Shabbat Shalom to you all, dear Gail-Friends.