Category: Through the Bible Devotions

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Into the future?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The alarm went off at 5 am. As it usually does. I shook off the dream I was having, got up, wandered to the kitchen, pushed the button to start the coffee maker. Headed to the back bedroom to roust the big dog.

And then I woke up. I glanced at the clock. 12:30 am. That’s weird. I just woke up from a dream about waking up from a dream.

It’s like time travel. I was living in the future. My future. I know it was only a few hours. But it was the future. I was there. It felt real.

How cool would it be if I could set my dream clock to a time in the future? Just to get a glimpse. A peek. A whiff of what would happen tomorrow or in a year.

I wouldn’t want lottery numbers or sports results for betting. Or future diseases that will lay me up. I don’t need nightmares of a future dystopian world or where the hurricane will really make landfall.

I just want a snapshot of where I’ll be or who I’m with or what I’m doing. Will I be surprised? Or will it be predictable.

I work hard at being present, in the moment. It’s challenging to not borrow from the future or be weighed down by the past. I want to make sure I don’t miss where I am right now, who I’m with, and what I’m doing.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

This yard sale was a bust

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Saturday’s garage sale was a bust. Seven people stopped by. Two bought stuff. I made $12.

That’s why I’ll only sit out there for a few hours. No two day eight-hour marathons for me. I put it out on social media and a few roadside stands, but it just wasn’t happening.

The first lady who stopped by walked up and asked, “Are you selling any patio furniture?” I choked back a chuckle, looked at the tables of toys, lamps, and kitchen stuff before answering, “No.” Where did she think we were hiding those items?

The second couple was very friendly. As the woman looked over the toys for sale, she said, “Our youngest just moved out.”

I asked, “How many children do you have?” The husband held up four fingers. I followed up with, “Any grandchildren?”

She answered, “No, and we probably won’t. Two have already had vasectomies.” I thought, “Okay, too much information.” They looked very surprised when I told them I had ten grandchildren.

They didn’t buy anything.

My next customers were a mother and son who drove up in a silver Mercedes. I didn’t quite recognize their language, so I asked where they were from. Haiti. They had a lot to say to each other about the items we were selling. He brought a couple of table lamps over for me to plug in. He set them aside to buy, but she put them back on the table. She had him hold up some room-darkening curtains and held up four fingers, trying to talk me down from $20 for two complete sets. I held up ten fingers. She frowned and shook her head.

She had me plug in a hair straightener. It worked just fine, although she really didn’t have the hair to use it on. She put it aside as if she might buy it. She added three glass vases and a dozen plastic storage tubs with lids. The two bickered back and forth, deciding to buy the two lamps, but putting back the straightener.

Finally they were ready to go, adding a small fan and handing me $10. I said, “Merci,” and they drove off.

A young mother was our last customer, gathering up two silicon baking mats and a few toys for a one-year-old still in the car with her husband.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Let’s go check it out!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Random Institute on Unsplash

After a forty day tour of the promised land, the spies said, “It’s wonderful and abundant. Lot’s of people live there in fortified cities.

Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:30-31).

How often do I hear someone’s good news and immediately temper it with a, “Yeah, but…” or “Well, you know…” or “If it sounds too good to be true…” I for one am an expert at deflating someone’s excitement with skepticism and cynicism. I use those exact phrases.

I’m trying not to. Enthusiasm, excitement, anticipation are good things. Let’s assume the best!

In a similar way, we envy the nice things and experiences others have. You know, it’s okay for others to have fun, adventure, possessions, and family. It’s wonderful for them to be happy and fulfilled. And we can embrace that!

Let’s wish them the best. Let’s go with the positive. Let’s go check it out!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

On fire

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning “(Numbers 9:15).

I love the image of the cloud that covered the tabernacle during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. I never thought of the fire that went along with it.

Imagine someone yelling, “The tabernacle’s on fire!” It could happen. Lamps and incense are constantly burning inside. Priests set fire to offerings and sacrifices day and night. Conditions are ripe for fire.

But this is different. Moses saw a bush on fire that wasn’t consumed. The people camped at the base of a mountain that looked like it was on fire. Now it’s the very expensive and painstakingly constructed tabernacle. God in the midst of his people is like fire. Sometimes it consumes. Sometimes it doesn’t.

The Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego encountered God in a fiery furnace. They were not consumed. Elijah and Elisha saw the Lord’s horses and chariots of fire. Elijah was taken away, not consumed. When two disciples had supper with Jesus after the resurrection, their hearts burned within them, but they were not consumed.

But Nadab and Abihu were consumed when they set unauthorized incense on fire. Fire from heaven consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel, along with the stones and water surrounding the altar. The heat of the fire consumed the servants who three the three men into the furnace. God’s fire consumed Job’s sheep and servants. “In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed” (Zephaniah 1:18).

Jesus was consumed with zeal for his Father’s house. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). So we don’t mess around with him. Yet his fire fills and purifies us, temples of his Spirit.

Just like the tabernacle.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Good morning, AI

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Steve A Johnson on Unsplash

In Morning Brew this morning: “Bet you can’t go a whole day without hearing about AI.”

I’ll bet they’re right.

How did I encounter AI today?

My washing machine and dryer both have AI settings. Apparently the machines can determine how much laundry you have, how dirty it is, the best temperature, and the length of cycle. Most of the time, the machines make good decisions for me.

Every Google search gives me an AI summary at the beginning. My search yields many other sources, but the upfront summary is useful.

I think many customer service chats are handled by bots. They often do a good job of resolving my issue.

A lot of the commercials on my streaming services are related to product searches I’ve made. Somehow, my phone, TV, and computer are all connected.

The very fact that I can get next day delivery of an item means somebody somewhere knows what I am likely to want, and stocks the closest warehouse before I think about it. That’s got to be all AI driven.

I daily ask Alexa about the weather. She also plays the stream from my favorite radio station.

Google maps routes my trip based on traffic, anticipated delays, and construction along the way.

My robo vacuum cleaner knows my house and cleans the room I send it to.

I’ve used AI to draft a reference letter. A little editing and it was ready to go.

Just like that, AI has infiltrated my life. So far, it’s all good. But that may not always be the case.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The Significance of Incense in Worship

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Anup Ghag on Unsplash

“Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense” (Exodus 30:1).

“Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come. (Exodus 30:7,8)

Why was the altar of incense and the daily burning of incense such an important part of tabernacle, and later, temple life?

My first experience with incense was at my first pastoral conference in Ashaway, Rhode Island. We gathered for evening prayer in a retreat center chapel. The chaplain for the conference leaned towards high church traditions, and had filled the chapel with thick clouds of incense. It was dense, fragrant, stifling, and intense. That night’s worship was unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Many years later, I was asked to preach at the anniversary of a colleague’s ordination. He also leaned towards high church traditions, and would walk through his church sanctuary leaving a lingering aroma of incense an hour before Sunday worship.

My only other encounter with incense was at the funeral of a good friend’s mother. She was Roman Catholic, and the priest prepared to walk around the casket with incense. To his dismay, there was nothing to light the incense. I watched with interest and amusement as various people did their best to make it happen.

The best explanation of incense may be from a psalm:

“May my prayer be set before you like incense” (Psalm 141:2).

As the smoke of incense rose upward, worshipers would follow the smoke’s upward ascent. Their attention would be focused upward towards the one who is worthy of all honor and praise.

How much of worship is about us? Or me? Plenty. I could use a good reminder that it’s about him, the one, God. He’s the only one worthy of praise.

How could I forget that? When I’m distracted, self-absorbed, and indulgent, the smoke of incense rising up might remind me that it’s about him.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Let’s eat

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Sweetyoga Justine on Unsplash

“From the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil. Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams” (Exodus 29:2-3).

This is an excerpt from the instructions for ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests. Along with a sacrificed bull and rams, the ceremony required a few loaves of bread. Sometimes I glide over these details, but this time I realized that this is about a special meal with God. It’s a fellowship meal, just like one we would have for an ordination or installation of a pastor. A lot of negotiations, workshops, conventions, training sessions, anniversaries, and celebrations all include sitting down to eat. This is just like sitting down to eat with the Lord.

As I thought more about it, I realized that the bible begins and ends with food.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden” (Genesis 2:16).

“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9)

There are so many significant meals in the bible.

  • Abram hosts the Lord and two angels in Genesis 18.
  • Joseph ate a meal with his brothers once they were reunited in Egypt.
  • The Lord fed his people with manna and quail in the wilderness.
  • Jesus fed the 5,000 after his teaching, hosted the Passover meal, ate with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and grilled fish on the beach with the disciples after his resurrection.
  • The father hosted a lavish banquet when his prodigal son returned home.

I can’t prove it, but I’ll bet whenever something significant happens in the bible, there’s food involved in some way.

Now that’s good news. I like to cook, bake, and eat. I guess I’m just a kingdom kind of guy!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

On eagles’ wings

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Rachel McDermott on Unsplash

This time through the bible I paused at Exodus 19:4.

‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

I wondered, “Where did the metaphor of ‘eagles’ wings’ come from?” What did that mean to the nation of Israel? And what does it mean for us?

Another “eagle wing” reference is found in Isaiah 40:31.

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The imagery is also expressed in Deuteronomy 32:10-11.

In a desert land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.

From what I’ve read, the idea of eagles’ wings is an image of secure transport, lifting someone above obstacles and dangers. God displayed his power in various plagues to secure Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. As eagles seem to effortlessly ride updrafts, barely moving their wings, so God carries us through life’s challenges and difficulties. He’s our safety net, as an eagle might catch its young learning to fly.

A few weeks ago, I saw an eagle flying overhead with a fish in its talons. What a great image and reminder that we have a God who picks us up and carries us far above everything that saps our joy to abundant life!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The Lord is my strength

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

After safely crossing the Red Sea and watching God decimate the Egyptian chariots and troops, Moses and the Israelites sang, “The Lord is my strength” (Exodus 15:2).

Even before the fall into sin, people were not all-powerful. Only God is omnipotent. We were designed to be connected to his strength. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Isaiah 40:29).

Having said that, most of us work on being strong, capable, and independent. I’ve done this my whole life. So have you. With great pride we learn to feed and get dressed by ourselves. We walk, run, and drive anywhere we want to go. If we work at it, we can become stronger and smarter.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that. And there’s nothing wrong with asking God for strength.

But that’s not just what God does. It’s who he is. He is our strength. The strength he gives is meant to bring us closer to him, not enable us to live apart from him.

When Moses asked God, “What’s your name?” God replied, “I am.” He is God. There is no other. Yes, God loves. But he’s more than that. He is love. It’s a dangerous world. But he is a refuge. He is creator, father, provider, light, and life. Along with a whole lot of other things.

Much of daily renewing my mind is remembering who God is. With that in place, I remember who I am. I’m his child, I’m loved, I’m alive, and I’m strong.

Because he is my strength.