"I have watched your children for awhile now, I see how they act with one another, how they treat each other. They lift each other up and give each other confidence, instead of what I am use to seeing with other siblings. You, have worked hard to train your children to be this way with each other. I see it." The tears in my eyes and hers started forming, those words meant so much to me. This came from an unbeliever and by her saying this, my children, my family, have shown the love of Jesus Christ to her. That is the reason I do what I do. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Here is a devotion I came across this morning on my computer. I receive a lot of encouragement from this certain person, in her ministry. It seems, in this world, there aren't a lot of mother's like me anymore. Sometimes I feel like I am from the "old school" as they would say. I stay home, home school....etc...., but when I read her stuff and magazine...I know there are others out there like me and it helps me to keep going! I hope you enjoy her words too, and wouldn't you know, it's on the same subject I have been discussing! Imagine that!!
FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY!
"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones"
Proverbs 16:24.
We continue the description of the "land" of our family life.
IT FLOWS WITH HONEY
Honey energizes
Honey energizes the heart and increases blood flow. Our homes should be full of energy. "Oh my, you don't have to tell me that," I hear you reply as you try to curb the exuberance and noise of your little ones. Don't worry; this is all part of raising little ones and the life of the "land of motherhood."
However, we can have productive energy in our home--not the energy of the flesh, but of the Holy Spirit.
The energy of vision and leading our children into profitable and good things. The energy of creativity and developing many projects.
The home is firstly a nurturing center, but it is also a birthing center, a training and education center, a praise and worship center, a prayer center, an eating center, a hospitality center, a cultural development center, a social center, a counseling center, a health and healing center, an industry center, a convalescent center and a garden center!
How do you have time to leave?
The home is such an exciting place. It is where everything happens. We don't need to go out of our home to find fulfillment and excitement. It can all happen in the home!
Honey Sweetens
The land of our family life is not a land of complaining and sourness. It is a pleasant and amiable land. It is where we are sweet and kind. It is where we speak sweet words rather than harsh and hurtful words.
My husband loves me to speak sweetly to him. If I start to get on my "high horse" he will say to me, "Nancy, you've got to be sweet to me." He doesn't give me a chance to get harsh!
Solomon, speaking to his bride in Song of Songs 4:11 says, "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue."
What drips from the honeycomb? Sweetness!
What kinds of words drip from your tongue to your husband and children?
The land that flows with milk and honey is a land where we speak sweet, soft, encouraging, considerate, gentle, cheerful, positive, helpful, supportive, kind, wise, forgiving, loving, pleasant and life-giving words.
Proverbs 15:1 NASB says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath."
And here is another challenge from the Song of Songs 4:3 Knox trans., "Thy lips a line of scarlet, guardians of that sweet utterance."
Do our lips guard the harsh and nasty words that so easily fall from our lips?
The Word of God is also likened to honey. Psalm 19:10 says they are "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
Psalm 119:103 says, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
The more God's Word dwells in us richly the more "honey" will flow from our mouths.
Honey Soothes and Heals
Honey is soothing to the throat and calming to the nerves. It heals many physical problems, even ulcers.
My mother healed a terrible ulcer on her leg by using only honey.
Medical journals report large bed sores, which would otherwise need skin grafts, being healed without scarring after honey treatment.
Our task as mothers it to soothe and heal heartaches and "to bind up the broken-hearted."
Life is not perfect and there will always be conflicts in family life. However, instead of being part of the conflict, our job is to bring healing to the problem.
We should try to keep a peaceful atmosphere in our homes. That doesn't always mean a quiet atmosphere! We can have peace in the midst of noise and activity.
Peace is having a tranquil spirit in the midst of whatever is happening. Peace is eliminating tension and strife in the home.
Ultimately, God is our Peace and we find our rest in Him as we look to Him instead of looking at the problems.
I would have to say that my favorite Scripture is Isaiah 26:3-4, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in thee."
Leviticus 26:6, "I will give peace in the land."
Psalm 147:14, "He makes peace in thy borders."
Isaiah 32:18, "My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation."
And when God descries motherhood in Isaiah 66:11-13 He says, "I will extend peace to her like a river."
When a mother gives birth to a new baby and begins the big task of caring for her little child, God does not leave her stranded.
When a mother nurses her baby, oxytocin is released which is a calming and relaxing hormone. This is one of the blessings of "the land of motherhood."
The more babies a mother nurses over the years the more peaceful and calm she becomes.
LOVE FROM NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org
PRAYER:
Dear Father, please save me from filling my home with conflicting, harsh and negative words. Help me be a healer in my home, healing bodies, relationships, hurts and broken hearts. Help me to be like honey and drip sweet words from my mouth. Amen."
AFFIRMATION:
I am anointed by God to bring healing to my home.
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