CamDevo

Have you ever been part of a mob? Maybe you’ve never grabbed a torch or a pitchfork and marched in outrage with a group of other crazed individuals also carrying torches and pitchforks toward some perceived threat. But there are many modern day equivalents and not all of them are online.

It’s very easy, when I find myself part of any group, to lose sight of my own values and to give in to the loudest voices, to become swept along with the flow of the mob.

This happens in churches too. That’s why the Bible is critical. It is our grounding truth, and our only valid measure of righteousness and description of God’s character. It’s easier to listen to this “preacher” or that “theologian” than it is to study God’s word myself. But therein lies the enemy, just waiting to trick me and lure me from the truth.

“There are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”
‭‭(Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭7,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

It happened in Paul’s day, and it happens today because there is tremendous power to be had when commanding an unthinking mob. Paul urged the church not to be part of a mob, to remember the one true Gospel: Jesus loves me so much that He died for me, and in return, my purpose on earth is to love Him back by loving other people. Anything beyond that is a distortion and earns a curse.

“If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!”
‭‭(Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬, CSB)‬‬

Dear God,

Thank you for the Bible which is readily available to me in my language. Forgive me for taking it for granted. Remind me of its sacred value and guide me in its careful, frequent, and thorough study so that I can correctly evaluate messages I hear from people who claim to be speaking for you.

When it comes to travel, most of the anxiety I experience revolves around packing. Will I forget something vital? Will I bring what I need and need what I bring?

I can make guesses about what I might need during the days at my destination, with help from meteorologists, but I cannot predict with certainty. Sometimes I guess right, and sometimes I guess wrong. And sometimes needs crop up that I never could have foreseen.

“Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

When packing for travel, the best I can do is guess. And after I’ve packed, I should stop worrying. I just trust I will be able to figure it out when I get there.

The same is true in daily life. The best I can do is guess what future me might need and plan what little I can. Once done, I need to stop worrying. The future is totally unknown to me. But one thing I know for certain, my loving and trustworthy God will be there too.

Dear God,

I’m so glad that you know the future. And I’m so grateful that you love me. Your promise to provide for me now will be true tomorrow as well, if I continue to seek you first. Remind me of this when worries come sneaking around.

I used to be strong. I used to participate in a weights-based workout twice a week that built my muscles and played plenty of tennis for cardiovascular health. I felt fit and capable.

Then I moved. I lost my routine. Then Covid hit. I lost my motivation. Then menopause arrived. I lost a lot of the physical capacity to build muscle even if I had a routine and motivation.

Despite my physical flabbiness, I can still have inner strength. I can be very strong indeed. This pale weak creature that I am on the outside can be like The World’s Strongest Man champion on the inside, tan and glistening with bulging muscles.

How do I achieve this spiritual physique? Only by letting God fill me with His infinitely mighty Spirit.

“I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,” (Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭16,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

God’s power is available to inflate my spiritual muscles like helium in a balloon. His power is available instantly and is limitless. If I seek His will, and ask Him for the strength to succeed in obeying, He will happily grant me the strength required, drawing from His inexhaustible resources.

Or I can try to putter along in my own strength. But as with my limited physical strength, I am sure to tire and fail.

Dear God,

Thank you for providing the strength I need to accomplish your will for me. It’s ridiculous for me to try to live righteously using only my own strength. Even on my best day, I don’t have what it takes. Remind me to always turn to you for spiritual bulking up.

When I think about praising God, I’m almost always drawn to nature and God’s creativity in designing all of that. Well done on those flowers, God! You did a spectacular job with that cloud bank. And the way you made the the rain to nourish the corn field and then drain into the lake to be evaporated into a cloud again is phenomenal. Praise God!

But it rarely occurs to me to praise God for making me. It feels a bit egotistical. Hey God, you really hit it out of the park when you created me.

“For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.” (Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬-‭14,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

God did make me. And my body, while very far from perfect, is pretty wondrous. I can do a lot of amazing things with it. We struggle to design robots that can do things that are easy for us, like climb stairs or gently comb a child’s hair. I have a brain capable of my own creativity. As well as problem solving, loving, communicating, playing music, etc.

Despite problems like disease and disabilities, our bodies are mind boggling in complexity and beauty. It bears contemplation. And my body is definitely worthy of praising God.

Dear God,

I am in awe of your design in creating life, including my very own body. I know it well, and yet don’t understand it at all because it is so complex and marvelous. Scientists have studied for thousands of years and still don’t have anywhere near all the answers we seek about our very own bodies. Bravo! And thank you.

Imagine you were an astronaut. You’ve been to outer space and back. You even lived on the International Space Station for a little while. You’ve had years of training, and you also have some fascinating stories to tell.

Now imagine being invited to speak at a gathering and answer questions about your experiences. When you arrive however, none of the people actually believe you are an astronaut. They say, “She seems like a lovely woman, but an astronaut? I don’t think so.” Every time you try to answer a question about space travel, you get patronizing chuckles and rolled eyes.

Would you stick around? Or would you leave, maybe go someplace where people knew you and believed?

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God — God remains in him and he in God.” ‭‭(1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭15,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

God won’t stick around with me either if I keep calling Him a liar. He sent His precious Son, Jesus, to save me. If I don’t believe His story, why would He stay? He’s outta there if I say, “Jesus seems like a nice guy and all. He was a prophet and taught some lovely things. But God’s Son? Sent to die as an atoning sacrifice for me? Nah!”

God won’t stay where He’s not welcome. Calling Him a liar is a sure way to see Him to the door.

Dear God,

Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to save me from sin and death. Please come and make your home with me.

I lived in the Pacific Northwest for many years. It’s a beautiful place, very green. However, the reason it is so green is because it is also very moist. It’s also very dark. It’s perfect for moss. And mushrooms. But it was not perfect for me.

And yet I lived there for a total of 24 years, mostly due to the good jobs that existed there. In the end, I couldn’t take the cold, dark, wet anymore so we moved to Southern California. I’m more like a sunflower than I am a shiitake.

In the midst of those dark years though, we took frequent trips to warm sunny places. I would excitedly anticipate each trip, fantasizing about sun on my skin and warm breezes. Those beautiful daydreams made my gloomy-weather reality tolerable, even enjoyable.

“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” (Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭12,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

Life here in this fallen, sin-filled world is hard. It’s broken and dark. There is pain and death, frustration and fear. And yet we have a beautiful new world to look forward to. God wants us to think about that, plan for it, and hope. He wants us to get excited, to dream about it, and share the good news of it with everyone we meet so they can have hope too.

One day, Jesus will return and make all things new. He will shine His light into every dark corner and wipe away every tear from our faces. This knowledge makes my current reality tolerable, even enjoyable.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your promise to make all things new, to fix what we broke, and to return goodness and beauty to our lives. I can’t wait! Forgive me for losing track of that beautiful hope and getting mired in the drear of my current struggles. Help me to be patient, to rejoice in expectation, and to never stop praying.

A friend was staying with me one time when she was struggling in her marriage. She was in despair and feeling hopeless. I came home one day to find her curled up and weeping, listening to mournful music filled with lyrics of anguish and gloom.

I immediately turned off that music, put on some gently upbeat music, and asked her to get up and help me make dinner.

I understand the compulsion to find music that matches my mood. It feels good, in a way. When I am sad, sad music feels comfortable. When I am angry, angry music feels right. But sometimes this kind of reinforcement is not helpful. I don’t really want to stay sad or get sadder. But that’s what sad music can do. I don’t want to stay angry or become even angrier, but that’s what angry music does. A downward spiral awaits.

“But I will sing of your strength and will joyfully proclaim your faithful love in the morning. For you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble.” (Psalms‬ ‭59‬:‭16,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

David was scared, desperate, and forlorn when he wrote this Psalm, but you would never know it from this verse. He chose to sing with joy about God. Instead of staying focused on all that was wrong in his life, He sang about God’s positive attributes.

Changing to a positive playlist won’t solve everything. It won’t make my problems go away or cure an illness or mend a broken heart. But David knew it helped, especially when the new songs help me focus on God and His power. God can make my problems go away, cure an illness, and mend a broken heart. If I take my eyes off my circumstances and my ears off my inner dialogue of despair, and shift my entire focus to God, I will find the refuge I need and the hope I seek. An upward spiral.

Dear God,

Thank you for showing me that you are the only true source of comfort and hope. Nothing in this world beside you can provide what I need in my dark moments. Remind me to reach for you instead of things that feel good in the moment but actually make my life worse. Please send me your joy and hope today. I have so much to sing about.

What is the best thing I can do for a person? The absolute number one nicest, kindest, most loving, and generous thing?

You might say I could die in their place. But that opportunity doesn’t come up often. My death would rarely do anyone much good. And it’s not often I run into someone who is about to die. Even if I somehow swapped places with someone on death row, that person may have their freedom, but their life wouldn’t necessarily be all sunshine and roses after that.

So maybe the best thing I could do would be to give my life as well as everything I own to that person. (That would be cruel to my husband though, which kind of takes away from my kindness.) So the prisoner is now free, and they have a little money. But the newly freed person will still have problems. We all do. Life on earth is troublesome.

So what is the best thing I can do for someone? With my very limited resources? Anyone. A stranger, someone I love, someone I don’t.

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭28‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

My resources are small and finite. But God’s resources are vast and infinite. His knowledge is complete, His power is unstoppable, His wisdom is perfect, and His love is boundless. The best thing I can do for anyone ever is to sincerely and urgently ask God to help them, to bless them, and to reveal Himself to them in all His glory.

God wants me to love my enemies. One of the best ways to do that is to spend my days in sincere and urgent prayer for their well-being and listen carefully in case there is some way He wants me to participate in His blessings for them.

Dear God,

Thank you for prayer — for being able to speak with you anytime and anywhere. It seems impossible and miraculous. When it comes to people I love, praying for them comes easily, and somehow doesn’t seem like enough. When it comes to those I despise, praying for them is hard and seems too generous somehow. Thank you for the reminder that my prayers to you are the most valuable thing I can do for anyone, and I should never be stingy with them.

Usually when a contract is breached, neither party needs to fulfill their part in the terms of that contract. For example, a babysitter who doesn’t show up doesn’t need to be paid. And the invoices from a contractor who never builds the house can be ignored. Renters who don’t pay the rent can be evicted.

But God is very different from us humans. Even when His children totally ignored their obligations in His fantastic covenant, He still held up His end of the bargain. Not only that, He attached an addendum that said His son Jesus would meet our obligations for us. That is crazy generous.

Imagine that God commissioned me to paint a picture. He agreed to pay me more than I could ever dream of earning. We both signed a contract. He bought the canvas and the paint, even the easel. All I had to do was sit down and paint. But instead I watched TV, went to parties with my friends, slept… I did whatever I wanted and ignored the easel. Several deadlines came and went, and God was angry.

Then one day His Son showed up saying God had sent Him. He painted the most beautiful picture on my canvas. He gave it to me to sign as if it were my painting. He said I could give that to God thus fulfilling my commitment and repairing our relationship.

That’s not the way things work here on earth. But that’s how God operates with His children because He loves us so much. He is righteous and faithful beyond anything we experience in the human realm.

“For in [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”(Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭17,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

I can trust God to keep His end of our bargain. And He has done everything to make sure I can hold up my end too, by sending Jesus to do it for me. I just need to turn in my painting, with faith, when He returns.

Dear God,

It is amazing that you didn’t just throw us all out and start over when we turned out to be so lousy at keeping our promises. I’m so grateful you didn’t. Thank you for making it possible to be saved despite my failing, to be saved by faith in Jesus instead of my character or behavior.

My body is amazing. Not to brag, but I marvel at all it can do. With just a thought, I can wave my hand, raise my eyebrow, tap my toes, or jump. Without even a thought, I breathe, blink, and circulate blood from my scalp to the soles of my feet and back. All this and more is accomplished with tiny electrical impulses that zip around my nervous system and my brain.

This communication within my body is wondrous, but it can also lead me astray. When my stomach is empty, it sends a message to my brain that is interpreted as hunger. This hunger message compels me to eat. My tastebuds send a message that sugar tastes great so I should eat more of that. This is where things go off the rails. Sugar doesn’t fill me up so I keep getting those hunger messages.

I shouldn’t always listen to my body. Although it is a miraculous piece of machinery, it is not immune to manipulation and is easily duped into self-destructive behavior.

For example, when I’m tired I should sleep, but not while I’m driving. My body insists on sleeping anyway. Or when someone hurts me, my body tells me to retaliate, but this is just as idiotic as falling asleep while driving. It will only lead to destruction and pain for myself and others.

I need to override my body’s urges sometimes. I must not act on every whim and craving I feel.

So how do I know which feelings to follow, what thirsts to quench, and which hungers to satisfy?

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭6,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

God asks me to use His measuring stick. If I prioritize my relationship with Him, I will always be on the right path, and He will meet my true needs. Before acting on any urge, craving, or emotion I should put it through His filter of righteousness. If I do, true and lasting fulfillment will come.

Dear God,

Thank you for this promise of satisfaction when I align my urges to your will. Give me the strength and wisdom to redirect my cravings and emotions toward good and righteous actions. Please forgive me for the times when I give in to self indulgence.