PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 377: LIVING THE BLISSFUL LIFE, No. 11
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 377: LIVING THE BLISSFUL LIFE, No. 11
We conclude The “koinonia” Lifestyle today. It includes sharing our Testimony (declaring the good things God is doing in our lives), our Touch (befriending one another), our Treasures (sharing our finance and “treasures” with the saints, our “over the top” Thankfulness to our husbands, children, and those around us, and dropping seeds of Truth into the lives of all we come in contact with.
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We continue talking about THE KOINONIA LIFESTYLE. And we are up to point number four of the eight points of this wonderful lifestyle. They all start with “T.” Now, this one is . . .
No. 4. We offer up our TESTIMONIES
Remember, this koinonia lifestyle, the Bible talks about it as a sacrifice which is most interesting. Hebrews 13:15: “But to do good, and to fellowship, forget not, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.”
So, it’s one of the New Testament sacrifices, to fellowship. But as we have also talked about, that’s when we talked about the sacrifice of Christ and how He came to this earth to offer up His body as a living sacrifice. It was an incredible sacrifice. We read how that when He was going to the cross, the end was nearly too much for Him to bear as he thought of what was going to come upon Him. And yet, He was not only obedient. The Word of God says that He delighted to do the will of God.” Yes, He said: “Not My will, but Thine be done.”
In Psalm 40, which was prophetic and was repeated again in Hebrews 10, He says the words: “I delight to do Thy will, oh my God.” We’re taking these sacrifices from the thought of sacrificing to where Jesus took it, into DELIGHT. We DELIGHT to do these things.
This one, OFFERING UP OUR TESTIMONY. Now, some people are not those who want to talk a lot or say a lot, and they say, “Well, that’s not me.” But offering up our testimony is very much part of the koinonia lifestyle. To fellowship we need to be sharing the good things of God.
So, precious ladies, we have to get out of this “me” lifestyle into the “thinking of others” lifestyle so that we’re not thinking about how this affects “me.” “I don’t really feel like sharing, and I’m not going to open my mouth.” No, we must think of how we can bless others with our testimony with what God is doing in our lives.
Psalm 66:16: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.” Don’t you love that? We have to declare, to speak out, to testify what God has done for our soul.
Romans 10:9, 10 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised im from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Sorry, I quoted this Scripture but somehow it was cut out of the podcast).
Can I tell you a little secret, dear ladies? What we testify and speak out with our mouth is what we will keep, because how are we saved? We see here (in Romans 10:9, 19) that we are saved through believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord.
But this is the same way we continue our walk with the Lord. We continue as we read His Word, and imbibe His truths into our lives, that we not only believe them, but we confess them with our mouths. When we confess them, we will have them. They will become part of us.
I really want to encourage you with that, because you can believe in your heart, but, you know, the devil can snatch it out of your heart and snatch it out of your mind. But when you confess it, oh my! It’s clinched. The deal is clinched in you. It’s so powerful. So, not only do we do this for salvation, but in everything in our walk with the Lord.
TAKE NOTE!
That’s why it is so important to TESTIFY, to give our TESTIMONY, to TALK about what God is doing in our lives, to talk about what we’re reading in the Word.
A good thing to do, even if you're at your family table in the evening, when you're all dialoging together, ask your children. Put out the question. Of course, if you have very little children, they won’t yet be doing this. But as your children are getting older, you can ask them as children, “What has God been saying to you today?”
If you have been having family devotions morning and evening, they will be hearing the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will be speaking in their hearts, and as they’re getting to that place of being able to read well, you will be encouraging them to have the own personal time with the Lord each day where they open the Word and ask God to speak to them as they read.
You can ask them, “What is God saying to you? What has God done in your heart today?” Children are usually so spontaneous. You’ll be amazed at what they say. Get them into the habit of testifying, because if they don’t get into the habit of testifying when they’re young, it becomes harder for them when they’re older. Maybe that’s why it’s harder for you now, because you didn’t do it when you were younger. Get your children into the habit of it now.
It’s also a wonderful thing, when you have visitors, you're showing hospitality. Some people say, “Oh, help! But if I have people over, I don’t know what I’d say to them. What would we talk about?”
Well, there’s so much to talk about when you testify! Start asking questions. You can ask them:
“Now, how did you find Jesus? Tell us how you came to know the Lord.”
Oh, if you have a couple with you, ask them, “How did God bring you together? Tell us the story of how God brought you together, and how you got married.” Those are always such wonderful stories.
Ask them to share how God has healed them.
How has He provided for their needs?
Or maybe even how He has changed their heart about having children? Oh, there are so many questions you can ask. Just get them testifying.
Psalm 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” Did you get that? “Let the redeemed of the Lord” be quiet, and believe in their hearts? No, it didn’t say that. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”
We have to say. We have to speak. We have to testify of the good things that God is doing in our lives. Now, I know that sometimes you have to come out of your comfort zone to do that. I think that’s why fellowship is called a sacrifice because you do have to get out of your comfort zone. You can’t just sit away in your corner and live your little life. We are living our lives for others.
I think of Philippians. What does it say there? Philippians 2:4: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” We’re not only to think about, “Well, what do I feel like doing?” No, we’re thinking of others, how we can bless them. So, we are offering up the sacrifice of our testimony. Amen?
No. 5. We offer up the sacrifice of our TOUCH
Well, I don’t think this one is very much of a sacrifice, is it? It’s a delight. We talked a lot about touching in this series of living the blissful life, because part of living a blissful life is touching, caressing, hugging. Yes, it’s that touching of one another.
When God speaks to the older women in Titus 2, and tells them what to tell the you there in “love” there is that phileo love. Phileo love, which is a love which is affectionate, friendly, showing our love by touching, hugging, caressing. It’s a very affectionate love.
It’s the same kind of love when it says we are to love our children. The word there is philoteknon, phileo once again meaning “affectionate love,” and teknon, “children.” In podcast 370, I went through all the different phileo words in the New Testament which are all part of the koinonia lifestyle. You can go back and listen to all those words. There are a lot of phileo words in the New Testament encouraging us with this koinonia lifestyle.
All right, let’s go on now, shall we? Seeing we’ve talked about that one before, we’re going to go on to . . .
No. 6. We offer up our TREASURES
Now, this is an interesting one. Let’s read Philippians 4:18. Paul says here: “Having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.”
Here Paul is saying that when he, and others with him, received the things Epaphroditus brought with him that were sent from the Philippian church, it was like “an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” The sacrifices in the Old Testament, God said they were a sweet odor unto Him. Here this is a New Testament sacrifice. That is, meeting the needs of one another, sharing from what God has given us. We share with others. It’s not only sharing our lives, but sharing our finances, and sharing the things that we have for one another. It’s a sharing and giving lifestyle.
In Romans 15:27, it says: “For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is to minister unto them in carnal things,” or material things. People who share and pour out their lives to bring the Word of God and to care for the people of God, the Word of God says that those who’ve been cared for and blessed should give back to them with material things and financial things.
It becomes a sharing. One is giving the spiritual and the other is giving back the material. It’s rather like back in the Old Testament when the Levites weren’t given a special portion for themselves. They just lived in places amongst all the tribes. Then, the tribes had to give to them. They didn’t go out and earn their money like all the others. They were dedicated to the sacrifices in the temple, and helping the people sacrifice, and doing all the things that are all mentioned there in Exodus and Leviticus. So, they were provided for from the rest of the tribes.
All right. Let’s look at another Scripture. Oh, yes, I’m always challenged by this Scripture:
2 Corinthians 8:1-5. I’ll read it in the New English Translation: “Now we make known to you, brothers and sisters, the grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia, that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth of their generosity. For I testify, they gave according to their means and beyond their means. They did so voluntarily, begging us with great earnestness for the blessing and fellowship of helping the saints.”
The King James says, “Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” The word “fellowship” there in the Greek is, once again, koinonia. It’s talking about how the Macedonian believers gave. They didn’t just give out of their wealth. They gave out of their poverty, out of their extreme poverty.
It says: “They gave beyond their means,” and “urged us” that they would take the gift from them, because, obviously, they didn’t want to take it “You can’t give this. You need it yourselves,” but, “No, no, you must take it! You must take it for the fellowship, for the koinonia.”
They wanted to share with the other saints because they were going through poverty. But these Macedonians were going through even more poverty! They gave “beyond their means.” And so, they were giving, not just out of all their wealth, but giving even beyond what they had. That’s such a very challenging Scripture.
But here, this word is “treasure.” They gave out of their treasure. I love that Scripture in Matthew 13:52. It’s actually a one-Scripture parable that Jesus told: “Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”
A “treasure” is a place where precious things are collected and stored, where we keep valuables. The Amplified says: “To bring out of his treasure things that are new and fresh, and things that are old and familiar.” So, when we give out of our treasure to other folks, and maybe people in need, or those we want to bless, we may not necessarily have to always buy something new. Maybe we’ll give something old. But it’s a treasure and we give it.
I remember once I was in Alaska, taking an Above Rubies retreat. While there, I remembered some very dear, dear people who had visited our church when we were living in New Zealand, Dick and Carol Benjamin, who lived in Alaska. They had come to our church to minister and they had really blessed our church. We were all very blessed by them.
I had this desire to go and see her, so the people I was staying with found out where she lived. They graciously took me to see her. It was so beautiful to meet up with her again and fellowship. As I was going, she said, “Just a minute, Nancy.” And she went to her bedroom, and then she came out, and she gave me a beautiful necklace. It was a beautiful necklace. It wasn’t something new she bought. It was a necklace she may have had for many years. She brought it out of her treasure and she gave it to me.
I’ve worn it many times. I still have it hanging in my necklace jewelry box. Every time I look at it, I think of her, and what a beautiful thing it was. She didn’t just let me go, but she gave me a little treasure to take with me.
That really challenges me. I’m reminded of it again. When we are receiving hospitality, it’s always good to take something with us. I’ve always trained our children, if you go into someone’s home for a meal, take something with you. Always take a little gift, or something to help towards the meal.
But I have been thinking too, how maybe it’s a lovely thing, just as this dear precious lady gave me her treasure, to give a little treasure to someone who comes when we offer hospitality ourselves, to send them home with a treasure. I’ve done this sometimes.
Often, on Shabbat, I would have a girls’ night, and I invited my beautiful granddaughters, and maybe some other of the other girls who live around. Then I would have a little gift for each one. One time I purchased, what was it? A little ring for each one, but a different one for each one. And then another time they came, I purchased earrings for each one. Each one had a little wrapped parcel on their plate. It was some earrings. They all had fun opening them.
A couple of other times I’ve done necklaces for them. I’m a person who loves jewelry, so I’m always giving jewelry because I love jewelry. So, I have done that, especially for my granddaughters, but I have been thinking, yes, I’ve got to think more and more of when inviting people over for a meal, of thinking, “Now what could I give them to take home out of my treasure?” That’s something to think about, isn’t it, ladies?
This also means “finance,” of course, but I also believe it can mean “treasures,” not just new, but old treasures that are very special. Maybe it’s an old book. Oh, I love old books! They’re better, usually, than new books. Maybe it’s one that would really bless a certain person who you are inviting.
Or maybe sometimes it may not even be a material gift, but it can be words. It can be something you write for them to take home. Or, as we were sharing last session, about name places, and how you can write beautiful things. I’ve often, when I’ve had visitors . . . sometimes I haven’t written rhyming rhymes, but I’ll just write their name, and then write a little phrase underneath it. It starts with the letter of their name. Something about them, something about their character, which can be encouraging for them. But we think of something that can bless them, some little treasure. OK?
All right. Now, what is our next one?
No. 7. We offer up our THANKFULNESS
Well, we’ve talked about thankfulness in this series. We started it off on how to be thankful and smiling even when we don’t feel like it. Colossians 2:7 tells us to “abound in thanksgiving.” Some translations say we are to “overflow in gratitude.”
The Greek word there is perisseuo, and it means “to superabound, to be excessive, abundant, exceed, over and above.” In other words, ladies, it’s more than the normal, so when it’s taking about thanksgiving, it says we are actually meant to be more than the normal, over and above, jutting over, exceeding, excessive.
Well, are you like that with thankfulness? I’m reminded of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6. Here, in this passage, it tells us that when they filled up the twelve basketsful that remained, it says that 12 baskets “remained over and above.” It’s the same word, perisseuo, the same word that means “excessive, abundant, over.” Well, that’s how it’s translated. “Over and above.”
As I was thinking about that, I was thinking, “What kind of lifestyle do we really live? Do we live a one-basketful leftover lifestyle? Someone does something for us or gives something to us, what do you say? Oh, you never forget to say “Thank you,” do you? Of course!
But how do you say it? That’s the thing. Maybe you say, “Oh, thank you.” Well, that’s maybe one-basketful. You say “Thank you,” but it’s not very excessive. Perhaps you could say, “Oh! Thank you!” That’s getting maybe to two or three basketfuls. Maybe you say, “Oh! That’s so WONDERFUL of you! THANK YOU! I REALLY appreciate it!” Now you're getting up to maybe five or six basketfuls.
Oh, let me tell you this story! When the Johnson children, that’s Evangeline’s children, were younger, oh, they were so excessive. They were trained in really thanking. Oh, I can remember being there when it was a birthday, or something. The children would all be giving their presents. All the cousins were there. Sometimes their presents would be something they found in their home and they’d wrap it up, sometimes even wrapped up in newspaper!
But it didn’t matter what. When they received that gift and unwrapped it, they would go to the person, put their arms around them, hug them, and say, “THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!” Well, I think that’s getting up to about the 12 basketsful!
Well, a family came to visit us. Anyway, they were just so amazed after visiting the Johnsons. It’s the way they were so excessive in their “thank you’s.” Everything they said was, “THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!” So, they began to say it! I’ll never forget. They had stayed with us for a few days, and they were leaving.
As we always do, when we are saying goodbye to our guests (because we live upstairs, downstairs is our Above Rubies basement. So, we live upstairs). When people are going, we never say “Bye!” and let them walk down the stairs and go out on their own. We always walk down the stairs with them. And we always wait for them to get in their car so we can wave them goodbye on their way.
I remember, as we were waving this family goodbye, they all put their heads out the window and said, “THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!” They really got it. They were up to the twelve basketsful left over.
But dear ladies, maybe you don’t have to go quite to that extreme, but let’s get a bit more excessive, can we?
And your children! Goodness me! Don’t let them just say, “thank you.” No, that’s disgusting! Goodness me! Get them to put a bit of life and reality and passion into saying, “THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!” Get them into the habit of being thankful.
If you just say, “thank you,” that’s not being very thankful. And how does the Bible want us to be thankful? Abundant! Perisseuo! Excessive, jutting over, over and above, more than the norm! Come on, ladies! How are you training your children? What kind of a lifestyle do you live in your home? Imagine living in a lifestyle where everybody is over the top with thanking one another and appreciating one another! Wow, this is the blissful lifestyle!
And what about your husband? Do you thank him? Do you really thank him for the little things he does that you usually just take for granted? No! Don’t take anything for granted. Thank him. Always be thanking him. In your words, maybe in what you write to him. I write something special to my husband every day because we’re not meant to be normal in thankfulness. We’re meant to be over the top.
And, of course, what about our God? Oh, surely, we are over the top, and over above, and excessive in worship, and thanking Him for His salvation, and all He has done for us! Oh my! Never be normal! Never, ever, ever be normal in your thanks, and praise, and worship to God! Oh, let’s be more than, over and above, excessive! Let’s be the perisseuo, abundantly thanking Him. Amen?
Oh, yes. Let’s read Psalm 119:162: “I rejoice at Thy Word as one that findeth great spoils.”
Psalm 119:172, my, we’re getting up to many verses, aren’t we? Psalm 119 has 176 verses. Here he says: “My tongue shall speak of Thy word.” Yes, we are over the top in thanking the Lord for His words, for His salvation, for His faithfulness, for His goodness. Oh, let’s be such thankful people—to God, to our husbands, to our children, to everyone we meet. Amen and amen!
All right! That was the eight points. Oh no, I’m sorry, I missed out on number eight, the truth.
No. 8. We offer up the TRUTH
That was the Scripture I gave you there: “I rejoice at Thy Word as one that findeth great spoils.” Yes, we offer up the truth.
This is a very important part of the koinonia lifestyle, because when we get together and fellowship, we’re not just getting together to gossip and talk about this one and that one. No! We want to fellowship in the truth. Oh, goodness me, when we’re in the Word of God, we are finding great treasures, great spoil, and we want to tell everybody about them.
One of my favorite things is asking people, “Hey, what’s God been saying to you lately? What have you been getting from the Word?” The sad part about it is . . . often there’s no answer. They haven’t been in the Word. They haven’t been getting anything. This should be our normal lifestyle, that when we are fellowshipping with one another, when we’re showing hospitality, we are overflowing with what God is saying to us, what He has been showing us from His Word.
We are encouraging one another with the truth. We are always ready to speak the truth. We are dropping seeds of truth wherever we go. Yes, we drop seeds of truth, even if it’s only a little phrase. We’re just going to drop the seeds of truth because the truth is a seed. It can grow once someone takes it into their life. That seed can grow, and it can bring forth fruit. Truth is so powerful.
Now, the Above Rubies magazine is filled with truth about family, about mothering, about homemaking, and about the lifestyle God wants us to live as mothers. Don’t forget, ladies, to take this magazine wherever you go. Every day, when I go out . . . I don’t go out every day, sorry. I don’t go out much at all, about once a week. I find that I accomplish so much more in my home.
But when I go out, I’ll take a few copies of Above Rubies with me to leave in waiting rooms, to leave in restrooms, and baby-changing tables waiting for the next mother coming to change her baby. Just leave the magazine and drop these seeds of truth wherever you can, ladies.
OK, so that was the last one, the eighth point. Now we get to the last point of the five New Testament sacrifices. I’ll have to tell you this one quickly.
No. 5. THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE
It’s the biggest one of all, the sacrifice of love. Ephesians 5:2: “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and have given Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor.”
Do you get that Scripture, darling ladies? It’s saying that just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as an offering to God, as a sacrifice to God, so, that’s the way He wants us to walk. He wants us to offer up our lives as a sacrifice to one another, as a sweet-smelling savor unto Him.
This is one of the New Testament sacrifices. We’re not in the Old Testament, sacrificing on an altar. We’re now sacrificing our lives, showing love, God’s love. That love where He laid down His life for us. We’re to show that love to one another. It’s a giving life, a giving.
Galatians 1:4: “Jesus gave Himself for our sins.”
Galatians 2:20: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
Hebrews 7:27: “This He did once, when He offered up Himself.”
Hebrews 9:14: “Christ offered Himself to God.”
Hebrews 9:26: “Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” And He says, “This is the way I want you to offer up your lives, for one another.”
1 John 3:16-18: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
The Message Bible says: “Christ sacrificed His life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.”
The New Living Translation says: “We know what real love is, because Jesus gave up His life for us. So, we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
So, here it is. Yes, ladies, we still do sacrifices in the New Testament. We still do sacrifices today. This is what God wants us to do. And how do we do it? We do it by what I’ve just been sharing. Offering up—giving up our time, our table, our talents, our testimonies, our touch, our treasures, our thanks, and our sharing of the truth. Amen and Amen.
“Dear Father, oh, I know we fall so short of the lifestyle that You want for us. And yet, Lord God, it’s a lifestyle of blissfulness, even though a sacrifice, because it takes us out of our comfort zone. Help us to be those who come out of our comfort zones to live the life that You want us to live. Laying down our lives, delighting to lay down our lives, losing our lives, because, Lord, You have told us, when we lose our lives, we find them again. We find You. We find our own life in pouring our lives out for others.
“So, we thank You, Lord God. And Lord, I pray Your blessing on every family, every mother, wife, teenager, child who is listening. Lord, bless them, I pray. Oh, let them come into the beautiful lifestyle that, Lord, You laid out for us. We ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Transcribed by Darlene Norris
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