I grew up in a house on a large hill. I remember being comforted as a child by the knowledge that this house would never suffer from floods due to our high position. When heavy rains fell, the people who lived near the river filled sand bags and wrung their hands with worry. But I was able to get on with the business of being a child. I put on my rubber boots and played in the puddles.
My confidence can be as strong today as it was when I was a child. But my confidence is in God, not in a hill.
Instead of being confident that my elevation will protect me from floods, I can be confident that my God will protect me from any and all of life’s disasters. Problems will most definitely come, but I can trust that God will be with me through them all. He will lift me up, light my path, and comfort me. Even if I lose “everything,” whatever I have left will be all I need because God will provide. I can confidently get on with the business of being His child.
Dear God,
Thank you for the reminder that I can trust you in all things. No matter what life brings, I know you will be with me, your power will protect me, your wisdom will guide me, and your love will comfort me. I am so grateful to be able to put my confidence in you.
In grade school, my classmates and I were required to participate in the Presidential Physical Fitness Award program which involved accomplishing several feats of strength, speed, or agility including a 50-yard dash and a 600-yard run.
I excelled in the 50-yard dash but struggled with the 600-yard run. I loved sprinting but hated running. Still do.
I always ended up walking those 600 yards. To me, the award wasn’t worth the pain.
My pursuit of Jesus and His way of life should not be like my 600-yard run effort. The stakes are very high. The prize is incomparable. Every day, I need to give it everything I’ve got. God deserves my best.
Dear God,
Thank you for giving me your best when you sent Jesus to save me. Forgive me for serving you half-heartedly at times. Thank you for reminding me that you deserve and expect my full effort and attention on the tasks you have laid out for me.
There is a writing exercise that I love where you write just the first line for a potential story. The idea is to come up with the most intriguing sentence you can think of so that anyone who reads it is eager to keep reading.
Here are some samples:
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
This is one of my favorite first lines of a novel. It starts “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C. S. Lewis. I instantly want to know what this boy did to deserve such a moniker.
“It was the day my grandmother exploded.”
This begins “The Crow Road” by Iain M. Banks, and it leaves me thinking, “What?! I have to know more.”
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
This is the first line of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”. We all know being burned is no pleasure so I want to read on for answers…
And here are a few first lines I just came up with because it’s a fun exercise to stimulate the imagination.
“At least he was a polite dead man.”
“I never learned to fly because when it was finally my turn, we moved to this dumb planet where the gravity had us crawling for months.”
“Jamie wasn’t bothered by his leg falling off; in fact, he often took it off himself just to win a fight.”
The imagination is a fantastic gift God gave us. I can imagine a lot of wild and wondrous things.
And yet God says there is nothing I can imagine that He can’t do. In fact, He says He can do better than anything I can dream up. My wildest dreams are a dim, whimpering wish compared to the glorious and powerful plans He has in store.
How marvelous to know that God’s love is bigger, by far, than my imagination.
Dear God,
Thank you for giving your children creativity and curiosity and imagination. Thank you also that your love and power will always out-reach my wildest dreams. Remind me of this when I start to worry. Teach me to dream big when it comes to trusting you.
When someone gives me important instructions, I tend to write them down because my memory isn’t so great. But a written note isn’t so handy for some things. For example, after an unfortunate encounter with poison ivy, my mom instructed me on how to identify the evil plant so I could avoid it in the future. I could have written her instructions down, but I would have had to carry the note with me everywhere and check it every time I encountered a green leafy plant.
Fortunately, the information she gave me was an adage designed to be easily remembered by reciting it a few times: “leaves of three, let it be.” Obviously I still remember it decades later. Of course, my desire to remember is reinforced by the memory of my horrible experience with the plant.
When Joshua was about to lead the Israelites into their long-awaited promised land, God reminded him of the instructions He had given him through Moses.
They were important instructions. Dire consequences would result in ignoring them. Success could only be achieved by following them.
So God told Joshua to meditate on them, recite them over and over. Commit them to memory so that they would always be available.
God wanted Joshua to be able to recognize sin in his midst the same way my mom wanted me to recognize poison ivy and avoid it.
Today I have these instructions inside the Bible. And I have the entire Bible handily in my phone (what an age I live in!) I almost always have my phone, and yet I don’t always consult my Bible. By memorizing scripture, it will always be available to me. I can more adeptly avoid the pitfalls of sin and succeed in living the life God intends for me .
Dear God,
Thank you for your word which is so readily available to me. Forgive me for taking it for granted, failing to read it more, and for being too lazy to commit it to memory.Write your word on the tablet of my heart so it is always with me to show me the right and wrong paths I should take today.
I used to play tennis at an indoor facility that had a viewing lounge overlooking the court on one end of the building. The viewing area had large windows that were open to the court so the players on that court could easily hear anything the onlookers were saying and doing. Often there were many people crowded into the lounge socializing but not necessarily paying much attention to the tennis being played.
Many people did not enjoy playing on that court because of the noise and distraction, especially during tensely competitive league matches. Sometimes the players had to stop and shush the crowd in the lounge.
Whenever I was assigned to play on that court, I tried to view it as an opportunity to practice my ability to focus. I had varying degrees of success.
Some of my friends loved to play on that court saying the cheers and encouragement from fellow team members brought out their best tennis. But also the perceived scrutiny kept all the players honest in their line calls.
Being part of a tennis team is like being part of a church, or it should be. We are here to encourage each other to be our best. And we are here to keep each other honest and accountable in our faith.
Christianity is not meant to be done alone.
Dear God,
Thank you for all the people you have placed in my life over the years that have taught me, encouraged me, and corrected me. Show me who may need my encouragement today. Give me the wisdom and humility to be a responsible and dedicated member of your team.
When my husband and I got married, I asked my mom and dad, my siblings, my aunts and uncles, and my grandmother, who had to be approaching 90 at the time, to travel thousands of miles to attend. My sister even came with her one-week-old baby. You read that right: one week.
Why did I ask this of them, and fully expect that they would comply? Because a marriage vow is considered a very significant event — one that needs to be witnessed, hopefully by people who love me and will continue to be part of my life afterward.
So why the need for witnesses? Do I need them to remind me that I am married? Hopefully not! But anyone making a meaningful vow could use people to help hold them accountable. If I am the only one aware of a vow I have made, it will be very easy to break it. That’s why weight loss clubs like Weight Watchers exist. And why people join group exercise classes. And why Alcoholics Anonymous is so successful.
Vows witnessed by a collection of interested people are more certain to be upheld.
Baptism in Christianity is the same. People usually get baptized in front of witnesses. I was baptized in front of the church I grew up in, literally. There was a little room to the right of the front stage that was curtained off most of the time. In that room was a large tub. When someone was interested in being baptized, they filled the tub with water and pulled back the curtain for the ceremony which was usually tacked on to the end of a regular church service. It was cause for celebration which meant a potluck.
God doesn’t require baptism to be saved. Nor does He require that believers have any witnesses when they first ask Him for salvation. I am saved even if I came to Jesus alone in my car or my bedroom or the shower.
But He knows it’s very helpful to have people in my life to remind me of my vow, to hold me accountable. Jesus Himself modeled the public baptism and confession of faith.
So although I can first come to Jesus in the quiet, by myself, it’s a wonderful thing to “make it official” by inviting many witnesses to my profession of faith.
Dear God,
Thank you for making salvation so simple and easy to attain. But thank you also for your wisdom in the ceremony of baptism. Thank you for all the people who loved me enough to bear witness to my marriage and my baptism. I confess again today that I believe you sent your Son Jesus to save me from my sins because of your vast love.
When I was a little girl I would goof around with my uncles. We had a lot of fun. Sometimes they would pick me up and toss me around or let me ride on their shoulders.
I remember during one phase of my childhood, I would dare them to pick me up. I was convinced I could “make myself heavy” so they wouldn’t be able to lift me. I stood with my feet wide and my knees bent a little and basically just thought about being really solid and heavy. They would pretend to struggle. But in the end they always succeeded.
I know now that I can’t make myself heavier just by standing a certain way or thinking solid thoughts. If I don’t want to be moved, I need something else to help weigh me down or tie me in place.
This is especially noticeable when I go scuba diving. It’s impossible for me to stay below the surface at all without the help of a weight belt. And when I’m down there, the weight belt helps me be heavy enough not to be pushed and tossed around by the current.
God wants me to be strong and stand firm. He wants me to “be heavy” and unmovable in my faith. But He also knows there’s nothing I can do by myself to accomplish this. I need Him to be my anchor, my weight belt in life’s strong currents.
There are a lot of things in this world trying to knock me over or turn me upside down or change my direction. If I hang on to God I can be heavy enough to stay on the right course — one of love and generosity and humility and truth.
Dear God,
Thank you for being my anchor when things around me feel so confusing. Without you I am loose and untethered, drifting along with whatever current is strongest around me. Remind me to hold on tight to you. Thank you for your strength and consistency.
As a photographer, light is very important to me. And the kind of light I’m dealing with is important to know. Does the light reveal true colors or is there a color cast? Is it “warm” or “cool”?
Old fluorescent lights are particularly bad for getting healthy looking skin tones because they tend to give everything a slightly greenish hue. An incandescent bulb will give everything a yellowish-orange tint. And things seem bluish on an overcast day.
Things are even worse underwater. The deeper you go, the fewer colors you will be able to capture. Reds drop out first, then oranges, yellows, and finally greens until it’s all just a murky blue. (Which is a real shame because God created a crazy variety of colorful sea creatures!)
So what is the answer? There are several ways to help see the truth. One way is to use a digital feature called White Balance. You can set your camera for fluorescent light before you take the photo, and it will automatically remove the green cast. Or you can wait until after you have taken the shot and adjust the white balance using software, which can help in many situations.
The best option, however, is to bring your own neutral light source, like a flash, studio lighting, or an underwater light rig. With your own light, you can guarantee true, vivid colors.
When I’m out in the world, it can be hard to know the truth of things. Different news sources and opinions can give information a sort of color cast so that it is no longer exactly true.
How do I solve that problem?
I go to my own light source: God. God created light and He created truth. He knows everything and told me what I need to know in His word (which He summed up with one simple word: love.) He sent His Spirit to live in me and explain His word to me (again, love.) He is the neutral light source I need to switch on every day.
The best part is that when I spend time with my True Light Source, I can reflect that light on to other people as well. I can shine pockets of light and truth all around me by reflecting His love.
And if I still have any doubts about what is true, I can white balance my world by reaching for His handy tool: love.
Dear God,
Thank you for creating light and colors and eyes that can see them. Thank you for allowing me to reflect your light of love back into the word to participate in the battle against darkness. Remind me that I have no light of my own though. Without you things will be murky and skewed. Draw me daily into your bright presence.
When I walk my dog in the desert heat, his tongue seems to get longer and longer. Even though we go at the crack of dawn, before the sun has gained any power, it is already 90 degrees Fahrenheit. One tongue can only do so much.
As soon as we get home I make sure he has plenty of water in his water bowl, but he’s too hot to drink. He “sploots” on our cool tile floor (lying on his belly with his legs spread as wide as he can make them.)
After he has cooled down some, he heads right for his water dish. Because he’s a smart boy. He slurps and slurps. And then burps.
But my dog doesn’t seem to like water most of the time. When we go for a hike in the winter, there’s nothing I can do to make him drink water. Unless it is really hot, he will shun the water bowl.
I think I act that way with God all too often. When things are going smoothly in my life, I don’t have time for God. Maybe I can squeeze in a little Bible study between other activities… But the second things heat up and a crisis appears, I turn to God in desperation. I expect Him to be there ready to help.
Of course God is always here, but my fair-weather worship must be frustrating to Him. (Or should I say stormy-weather worship.)
My dog and I both need water whether we are hot and thirsty or not. And I need God all the time, not just when I have a crisis.
Medical professionals warn me to drink water before I get thirsty. And wise people in the Bible warn me to seek God at all times, in every circumstance.
Dear God,
Thank you for your promise to always be here with me. Forgive me for taking you for granted. Without you, I have no life. I want to enjoy your presence when things are good as well as when things seem dire. Fill me with your refreshing Spirit now.
I’ve often heard people say that kids are little sponges. They soak up everything they hear and see and experience.
Well, we all know what happens when you squeeze a sponge. Whatever was soaked up comes oozing back out.
So you better be careful what you say or do in front of a child.
But the truth is that all people, no matter the age, are really sponges. We put back in the world whatever is given to us, good or bad. When someone bumps into me without an apology or even acknowledgement, I tend to feel like being rude to other people. When someone smiles while holding the door for me, I tend to feel like being kind to other people. It’s human nature.
Instead of oozing out the negativity I encounter in this world, He wants me to love no matter what. By spending time with Him, I soak up His love until I’m saturated. Then His love is what will come dripping out when I’m squeezed.
If I’m feeling full of despair and negativity — because the world has a lot of that to soak up! — I need to ask God to wring me out and fill me up with His love instead.
Dear God,
Thank you for loving me. Thank you for providing more love than I can possibly absorb. Please wring out all the evil from me today so that I can soak up your love until it drips out onto everyone I encounter.
CamDevo 