CamDevo

“Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; in fact, it is near —”
‭‭Joel‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬

The Day of the Lord is a phrase used often in the Bible. Its meaning changes slightly with the context. It either refers to a time in the past or a time in the future. But in either case it is a dreadful, scary time when God decides to enforce His will. He’s done being patient with sin and evil.

In the past there was a Day of the Lord when God sent the plagues on Egypt to free His people from slavery. And when He sent the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and drag His rebellious people into captivity. God is slow to anger when evil is allowed to reign, but His patience does eventually run out.

Today’s verse is talking about the Day of the Lord that is yet to come which is often referred to as Judgement Day. When this time arrives, God will conquer evil once and for all and make all things new. Everything evil will be destroyed forever. Everything belonging to Him will be cleansed and set right, as He originally intended them to be.

The reason for Joel’s alarm is that the destruction that occurs during the Day of the Lord will be pervasive and horrifying. Evil has a very strong foothold in this world because we have allowed it to thrive. So the remedy won’t be gentle.

Imagine a house inundated with deadly black mold. The mold is in the drywall, the studs, the floor joists, the roof rafters and the plumbing. It cannot be cleaned. It must be torn down to the foundation and rebuilt. All the moldy material must be removed and destroyed. Anything valuable that is contaminated must be thoroughly sanitized if possible or it too must be destroyed.

I know I would rather be sanitized than destroyed on the Day of the Lord, but either way, it will be scary. Fortunately because of Jesus, my sanitization is possible. God promises that those who choose Him and accept His cleansing will be saved and will get to enjoy the perfect (mold- and evil-free) beauty of the new world He creates afterward.

Dear God,

Thank you for warning us about the upcoming Day of the Lord. I am so sorry for the evil I have allowed to thrive in my life and in the world around me. Please forgive me and cleanse me so that I can be saved when you clean house. Reveal the things in my life I need to change now. Give me the wisdom, strength, and courage to change them. And protect me during the Day of the Lord.

“Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ ‭CSB‬‬

When I read about Jesus’s ministry, I sometimes think, “Well, it would be easy to turn people to God if I could heal their diseases.” People tend to be easily convinced by something that affects them so obviously, so dramatically, and so positively. Without the ability to miraculously heal people though, I’m just another person saying stuff. So much less convincing and easy to ignore.

The reply I get from God is, “Have you tried?”

Um. No.

I have never gone all over teaching in synagogues (or churches or temples or assembly halls or conference rooms…) preaching the good news of the kingdom. And I have certainly never healed anyone’s disease or sickness.

It’s true that in the Bible Jesus tells His disciples more than once that their faith should allow them to heal people miraculously. And they do!

So why haven’t I? Is it a lack of faith? A lack of trying? Probably both!

I’ve seen on TV and heard stories of miraculous healings at tent revivals and things like that. Where a person in a wheelchair, for example, comes to the front of the tent during a frenzy of praise songs and waving arms. A preacher pushes his hand against their forehead and in a loud quavering voice cries, “Be healed in the name of Jesus!” The person stands tentatively from the wheelchair and starts to weep for joy as the crowd gasps and then cheers and applauds.

My reaction to those scenes and stories is always disbelief and dismissal. I assume there is a trick. The seemingly wheelchair-bound person must have been in on the scam with the traveling preacher, and both were aiming to make some quick bucks before leaving town.

While there certainly are plenty of con-artists using religious fervor to their advantage, the fact remains that Jesus does say that miraculous healing is available to His followers.

So how do I get there? How do I get enough faith to heal someone?

Maybe part of the answer is in today’s verse. The order that Jesus did things is go, teach, preach, and then heal. Healing wasn’t the first thing or the main thing. Maybe if I go around teaching and preaching, eventually God will lead me to the healing part. It would be a lot easier to start with the healing, right? But then I wouldn’t really need faith.

Dear God,

I’d love to have sufficient faith to heal anyone who came to me with a disease or illness. Your word says this is possible — everything is possible for you. Teach me what I need to do today to be your obedient child and faithful servant whether it ever includes healing or not. I want to believe in your infinite possibilities!

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

This is part of how Jesus said we should pray. (The whole thing is often referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.”) This verse is simple, but the wording is a bit strange and brings up a few questions for me.

First, what is His “kingdom” and why am I praying for its arrival?

During Jesus’s ministry on earth, He spent a lot of time explaining how different things were supposed to be in His kingdom. Basically, everything is upside-down. The first will be last, the meek will inherit the earth, and I’m supposed to meet the needs of others before I meet my own and love my enemies…. Stuff like that. When God first created the world, this was how He intended it to be and how it was. Until He granted His people the gift of choice, and we chose selfishness, power and control. We put ourselves first, and at that moment everything turned upside down. It’s been that way ever since. Evil reigns here. Selfishness, greed, fear, loneliness, hunger…

When I pray for God’s kingdom to come, I’m praying for the world to be made right side up again, where love reigns. Generosity, peace, contentment, joy…

The second question I have is, if God is all-powerful, why do I have to pray for His will to be done on earth the way it is done in heaven?

The answer to this question is exactly the same as the first. God gave us choice. He could enforce His will here the way He does in heaven, apparently, but He decided He wanted His children to see the alternative to living His way. So He let us choose, and we chose not to do things His way. Adam and Eve chose to run things their way back in the garden. And every day since then, we humans have been choosing our way over God’s way. Over and over again.

Seeing the result of these choices, I’m happy to pray for God’s will to be done here instead . Why wouldn’t I want to follow the advice of the wisest Being that exists, the One who created everything, knows how everything works, is made of pure love, and stands outside of time and space?

Dear God,

I know your will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Doing things your way is the only way to have peace, joy and love reign on earth. Please bring your kingdom to earth. Turn everything right side up again! Teach me how to live as if your kingdom were already here until you do. I choose your way over mine or any other human’s. Reveal your will to me every day and bring me back when I stray from it.

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬ ‭CSB‬‬

The Proverbs can be kind of like fortune cookie sayings. You never know what’s coming. Sometimes they are relevant. Sometimes they aren’t. But in general, they are often open to interpretation, so they are what you make of them.

In today’s verse I’m looking at the words “friend” and “brother”. I don’t think these are meant to contrast, as in, a friend does this but a brother does that. Instead, I think friend and brother mean the same thing here: a person who loves me even in difficult times, whether we’re related or not.

For one thing, not everyone has an actual brother. Some people only have sisters. Some people are only children. Other people may have a brother who is estranged or missing or unreliable or dead. For these people, this verse ends up not meaning much.

Many of Proverbs was written by a father to his son in an effort to teach him wisdom, to teach him the best way to live and thrive in this world. The intention of today’s verse isn’t to differentiate between relatives and non-relatives. The point is to explain how to be a good friend. To love. Always. In all circumstances including difficult times. To love people I’m related to and people I’m not related to.

This is wisdom. And it’s consistent with Jesus’s second most important command of God for His children. Love one another. Indiscriminately.

Dear God,

Teach me how to be a good friend to everyone you place in my life. Thank you for modeling this for me in the life of Jesus. Forgive me when I have been too selective about whom I love and when to love them. Guide me to the changes I need to make. Help me to see everyone as my friend and brother and every circumstance as being worthy of love.

“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Even though this verse is simple, it is hard to understand. Clearly, if I ask God for a million dollars, it’s not going to come plopping down in my lap from the sky. I just tried. No go.

So what did Jesus mean when He said this?

Looking closely at the wording here I notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Ask, and you will immediately get whatever you asked for.” (Or “Seek, and you will find exactly what you were looking for.” Or “Knock on any door, and that door will open up for you.”)

He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you.” There is no timeframe, and the “it” that I get isn’t specified.

The surrounding verses talk about how a good parent doesn’t give a snake to a child that asks for bread. And how God is more loving and wiser than even the best human parent.

God loves me and wants to give me good things. Things that make me strong and fill my life with joy, things that encourage me and challenge me to grow. He knows exactly what I really need.

But the thing I need the absolute most is Him. So my asking and seeking and knocking all takes place in the context of a relationship and a conversation with God.

In Jesus’s example of the good parent giving his child bread (a need), imagine instead this child walking up to a random stranger and asking for candy (a want). Do you think the child will get candy? Or maybe the stranger, if they are a decent person, will ask the child where her parents are. They may call the police about a lost child. They will take care of the child until the parent is found. Maybe she will eventually get bread and other food, maybe even some candy, but it will be a lot more involved.

In the same way, if I know God, I can ask Him for what I need, and He will provide it in the way and in the timing that is best for me. And He will talk to me about it. I know He loves me, and I can trust Him.

If I don’t know God but I ask Him for what I want, He will ask me who I am, where I belong, and why I’m asking Him. He will happily want to start a conversation with me. Maybe I will end up getting what I need from Him. Once that relationship has begun.

The asking part has everything to do with the seeking and knocking part. Am I asking for what I need from someone I know? Am I seeking to know God? Am I knocking on God’s door? God is the only one who can really provide. To get anything, He’s the one to ask and seek. And He promises to open the door and start a conversation about my wants and needs. He will freely provide the “it”, which is Himself and is all I need.

Dear God,

Thank you for being open to listening to my wants and needs. Thank you for promising to always provide what I need. Thank you for being available to open the door when I seek you. Remind me to always turn to you for what I want and need in this life. Teach me to trust that your answers and provision are always the best.

“Though the mountains move and the hills shake, my love will not be removed from you and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says your compassionate Lord.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

What is something you think is unmovable? Something you feel to be secure, permanent, and reliable.

I had always thought my health was one of those things. I was the healthiest person I knew.

As a child I was rarely ill and never missed school. When I started my career, I never used sick days for anything more serious than a cold or a sports injury.

My grandmother lived to her mid-nineties and that seemed to be the trend for women in my family. We had no history of chronic hereditary conditions. I thought I was going to live a long, healthy life.

But then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I was so perplexed. This was not at all consistent with the world I knew. Somehow, the mountains were moving.

A few years later I was diagnosed with breast cancer. What?! How can this be?

And a few years after that, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

By this point, I obviously no longer consider my health to be unmovable like a mountain. It is totally unreliable.

But at the same time, God showed me that He is reliable. He is here. He is always here. He will always be right here. He is unmovable, unchanging, and reliable in a way that nothing else is. My job isn’t reliable. My family won’t always be there. My house, the government, a functioning civilization… Even the sun shining for another day is no guarantee.

Through all my health crises, God showed me where He was. If I turned to Him, I didn’t have to look far. He was right beside me. And He pointed out to me that I had been a fool to rely on anything other than Him. I won’t make that mistake again.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for revealing yourself to me when I felt so lost and confused — when my mountains were moving. Thank you for the promise of your forever and always love! Show me if there is anything I am relying on more than you so that I can relocate my misplaced trust back to you.

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

What does it mean to seek someone’s face? It’s an odd thing to say, but the call to seek God’s face appears many times in the Bible.

When I was a young girl I remember attempting new and daring things (like cartwheels!) When I felt I’d mastered them, I wanted someone to recognize my expertise and be impressed. Most of the time, my mother was available for the job. I’d say, “Mom! Mom! Watch this!” I would repeat cries like this until she dropped everything she was doing to observe my prowess. Half the time I would fail, but she would still say, “That’s great, honey,” much to my chagrin. The other half, I would do it perfectly only to look up, expecting applause, and see she had gotten distracted and turned away missing my performance. In either case I would have to continue my pleas for her attention. For her approval. For her adulation.

For her face.

When I am seeking God’s face, I’m seeking to please Him. I want Him to watch me and be pleased. I want Him to look at me and smile with delight saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

Dear God,

Thank you for the joy of your beautiful face when it is shining at me. Please forgive me quickly when I behave in a way that makes you turn your face away in shame or disappointment. Show me the changes I must make to turn your smile back in my direction. Teach me how to do things worthy of your attention, things that please you and delight you and make you want to shout for joy.

“And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Whenever a verse starts with “And” I have to look and see what the first part of the conjunction is. Without it, the thought isn’t complete.

Before today’s verse, Paul says the relatively well-known verse, “…God loves a cheerful giver.”

Giving is hard. Why? Partly because we humans cannot predict the future, so we like to store up extra “just in case.” But it’s hard to know how much is enough to have extra, and impossible to know how much extra will be enough!

If I give some to you now, I might not have enough later. Scary.

In today’s verse Paul is telling me that I don’t need to be afraid. God is enough. More than enough in fact. He uses the word “overflow” in fact.

No matter what we are talking about giving here (time, money, energy, stamps, parking spaces, cups of sugar, squares of toilet paper…), God is able to provide more than I need. He says God will provide grace (aka unearned favor) so that I will always have everything I need in every way. I don’t need to worry or hoard or be stingy or starve myself either.

Why does God do this for me when I don’t deserve it? So that I can stop focusing on my needs and start focusing on loving other people — so that I may “excel in every good work.” In order to be a cheerful giver, I have to stop worrying about the what-ifs of my future and worry about the right-nows of someone else. God promises to take care of my future needs if I use what He’s blessed me with to help someone out today.

God doesn’t need me to give, don’t get me wrong. The person He plans for me to help will get help from someone else if God wants them to be helped. However, if I don’t do it, I will miss out on the joy of seeing someone’s situation improved and the joy of seeing God provide for me when I need it! And God really wants me to experience these joys.

It’s like an investment. I can put my $10 under my mattress. Or I can invest it with God. I have to give it away to invest it though, just like I would if I were investing it with a bank. If I opt for the mattress plan, I will have my $10 next year, safe and sound, probably. If I opt to invest it instead, I will be overflowing with dividends forever.

Dear God,

Thank you for your promise to provide for me when I don’t hold on too tightly to what you’ve already given me. Give me the courage to give cheerfully and generously and to trust you to provide for my needs. Show me the good works you have planned for me to invest my resources in today. Forgive me for ever letting fear hold me back.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬

This morning I witnessed a 75% solar eclipse. I marveled at how bright it was with only a quarter of the sun’s light getting through. It’s incredible to me that we can predict these occurrences down to the minute all because God’s workmanship is so precise.

God created the sun and moon to move exactly the way they do. And they will keep doing that until He tells them to stop.

Every night I can look out into the vast expanse of space and wonder about the Being who created all that. How far does it go? What is out there? Did He create it all just so we could wonder about its mysteries and dream of ways to explore it?

There are so many wonders of this world. The deep trenches of the oceans. Nanoparticles and quarks and spaces between them. Even our own bodies hold mysteries we are far from understanding. I think God created all these things because He loves us and delights in seeing His children explore and uncover secrets about His creation and therefore learn about Him. He gave us curiosity and loves hearing our joyful cries of “Eureka!”

I loved exploring the natural world around me as a small child. I would spend entire days just observing and analyzing little bits of creation. I pounded small rocks into sand to examine all the different colors that came out. I would watch how a spider would make a web and how the dew would turn the strands into jewels in the morning sun. And I remember one rare evening when we saw the aurora borealis in southern Wisconsin and marveled at the colorful undulating lights.

If God’s creation is this wonderful, God must be so incredibly amazing. He clearly loves beauty and mystery and detail and wonder. Everywhere I look, I see His love.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for the majestic and intimate wonders you have prepared for me to discover in your creation. I don’t thank you enough for the gifts of discovery and beauty I open every day. Thank you! Keep my eyes open to see your hand in all of it and return to you with gratitude.

“No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

There are a couple of meanings for discipline. The author of Hebrews is talking about the discipline a parent gives their child. But I want to talk about the discipline of physical training. It is similar, and I have more recent experience with it.

Both kinds of discipline are unpleasant at the time, as today’s verse says. But both are meant to improve the life, health, and character of the one being disciplined.

I used to participate in a “boot camp” exercise program twice a week. I absolutely hated going, but I managed to get into a habit and attended regularly for a few years. I remember during some of the exercises thinking, “I can’t wait for this to be over!” But I was always glad I did it after it was done.

In general during that time I felt fit and strong. I was confident that I could run up a flight of stairs and not be winded or go on any hike without difficulty or play a few hours of tennis with no issues. I rarely got injured. And a friend told me she heard me described by someone as being “ripped.” I think that was definitely an exaggeration, but I was happy about it.

Then one day we moved to a new city and away from my exercise class. I got out of the habit of exercising — I lost my discipline. I was busy getting settled in my new town. I enjoyed not dreading the classes twice a week, but I noticed by body changing. I hurt my knee stepping off a curb. I was winded walking up a long flight of stairs. I could barely do a few pushups. My clothes started fitting too snugly. And I just felt weak and tired a lot.

I didn’t have my discipline anymore and it showed! Instead I had comfort and leisure, but the result was weakness and lethargy.

This is true of spiritual discipline too. If I get in the habit of reading the Bible and praying every day, I will be strong when challenging times arrive in my life. I will be able to meet them with the confidence that God provides instead of despair and defeat.

Life is busy and setting aside time for the discipline of Bible study and prayer and meeting with other believers isn’t always something I look forward to at all. In fact, I may even dread it. But as I discovered with my exercise class, “no pain, no gain” is really true. And I’m always glad it did it afterwards.

Dear God,

Thank you for reminding me that the time and energy I spend on learning about you and contemplating your will is highly worthwhile. Help me to recognize the benefits of my investment in my relationship with you. Forgive my laziness, selfish desire for comfort, and misplaced priorities. Give me the strength and wisdom to keep working hard at my faith.