Tag: advent

Posted in advent, Advent devotions, Devotions

2020 Advent devotion: A virgin shall conceive

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 7, 2020. Read Isaiah 7:14 and Psalm 2.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

These words from the Lord came to Ahaz, one of the kings of Judah, more than seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. To describe him as a king who did not do “what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God” is an understatement. King Ahaz pursued an alliance with Assyria, the foreign power that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. He practiced and promoted idol worship by sacrificing his own son and constructing a pagan altar in the temple!

The Lord had told Ahaz he could pick any sign he wanted as an assurance that God would faithfully defend his people from their enemies. Ahaz wouldn’t choose one. So the Lord gave him this well-known Christmas promise. The birth of a child would be the sign of God’s presence and involvement in the lives of His people.

If God gave you carte blanche to ask for any sign you wanted from Him, what would you choose? I’ve talked with many people who wish God would give them a sign. So I’ll ask, “Like what? What kind of a sign would you like?” The typical answer is, “Oh, I don’t know. Something big, spectacular and in-your-face.” I’m not sure what I would ask for. Anyway, how could I really be sure that a particular sign came from God?

Did anyone else ever ask for a sign? Gideon, one of the judges. But his sign was kind of weird. All he asked for was a dry rag out in a dewy field. Yawn. Hezekiah asked for the sun to move backwards in the sky. Nice. But a day or two later, you might ask yourself, “Did I really see that?” What about a virgin birth? Three-star, for sure. But those who heard about it assumed it was a scandal rather than a miracle.

But you know what? It is a sign that God cares when He shows up. After all Immanuel means “God with us.” What better way to show the world that He is real, He cares, and you don’t have to do this alone? Texts are nice. Cards are nice. But when you show up to share the moment, the celebration or the tears, it means a whole lot more.

When Jesus was born and grew up and started preaching, some asked Him for a sign. “Give us a sign so we know you’re the real deal.” Jesus didn’t bite. He was the sign, live and in person!

Thank you, Lord, for such a great sign! Your presence as a baby, a miracle worker and my Savior means everything to me. Amen.

Posted in advent, Advent devotions, Devotions

2020 Advent devotion: Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by René Ranisch on Unsplash

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 6, 2020. Read Judges 13:2-7 and Psalm 37.

I like to imagine Manoah and his wife sitting down for supper one night and he asks her, “Would you like some wine?” “No, thank you.” she replies. He just looks at her while she continues, “You know, the funniest thing happened to me today. A man of God appeared to me and told me not to drink wine or eat any unclean food, because we’re going to have a baby! And it’s a boy!” Were they shocked? Overjoyed? Amazed?

I love Manoah’s reaction. Basically, he says, “I want to talk to this guy.” When the angel of the Lord — the man of God — returns, Manoah meets him out in the field and asks, “So, what’s up with the birth announcement?” After the angel of the Lord repeats the good news, a meal is prepared, flames shoot up to heaven, and Manoah and his wife know they have seen and heard from the Lord Himself! It is a pre-Bethlehemic gender-reveal gala from long, long ago.

The birth of a child is a life-changing event for any couple. All of a sudden this person shows up in your home and expects you to put them up, prepare meals for them and cater to their every need. Of course, we do all that with joy, for we discover a love like we’ve never known before — love for our son or daughter. And if we get a bonus of more than one child, we experience the miracle of love that multiplies for each and every one of our sons and daughters.

That’s the kind of love God has for you. You are His child, adopted by grace and the redemption we have in Jesus Christ. He is overjoyed to call you His son or daughter and to provide a home, meals, and all of your needs.

I think it’s cool to think of your baptism as a birth announcement, the surprising and amazing news that someone important, influential and loved has joined God’s family. Born of water and the Spirit, you’ve got the promise of victory over sin, the world, and the power of the devil himself.

Every once in a while, you might want to talk to the guy who told you all this. Feel free. He would love to hear from you!

Lord, thanks for the glorious birth announcements in Scripture, including my own! Amen.

Posted in advent, Advent devotions, Devotions

2020 Advent devotion: The commander of the Lord’s army

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jaime Spaniol on Unsplash

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 5, 2020. Read Joshua 5:13-15 and Psalm 124.

It is an exciting time for the people of Israel and their new leader, Joshua! God had stopped the Jordan River so they could cross into the promised land on dry ground. They don’t have to eat manna anymore, because they now have access to the abundant produce of their new home.

They are ready to begin their conquest of the land by taking the city Jericho, when suddenly, Joshua looks up and sees a man with a drawn sword in his hand. I’m sure Joshua had his sword out too when he stepped up and asked, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Will the fight begin right here and now?

The man answers, “I am the commander of the army of the Lord.”

This is no ordinary soldier. Joshua falls facedown on the ground and worships. He has to take off his sandals at this holy place, just like Moses did in front of the burning bush. This must be more than just one of the heavenly host. This must be the Lord, live and in person!

I don’t know about you, but if I were team captain and choosing sides, I would definitely want the Lord on my side! Scripture names other impressive warriors. Like Samson, who killed a lot of Philistines. Or some of David’s mighty men. But as David said, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). When the Lord is on your side, victory is a given!

Before this, Moses told the people, “the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory” (Deuteronomy 20:4). Later, Joshua would also remind the people, “it is the Lord your God who fights for you” (Joshua 23:10).

Much later, the apostle Paul would write to Timothy, encouraging him to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). The Christian faith is a struggle, a battle if you will, to hold onto the eternal life we have in Christ. The devil, the world and our sinful nature constantly attempt to distract us with promises that never fulfill, never last and never live up to expectations.

It’s a losing battle – unless the Lord is on your side. Here’s the good news. Not only does He fight for you, but He overcomes the world, he defeats death and He wins the victory for us! So don’t give up. Keep fighting the good fight of faith. The battle belongs to the Lord! (1 Samuel 17:47)

Lord, thank You for the victory You have given me in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Patrício Souza on Unsplash

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 4, 2020. Read Exodus 13:17-22 and Psalm 23.

“In two miles, keep right and take exit 122, Main Street…” By now most of us are used to the little voice coming from the map app on our smart phones, telling us exactly how to get to our destination. Over a span of forty years, God’s people would get used to the Lord going before them as a pillar of cloud during the day or fire by night. They never had to wonder which fork to take, if they had missed a turn or an exit, or whether it was time to take a break and set up camp. God took care of all that for them, live and in person, as cloud or fire.

This pre-incarnate appearance of Christ took them through some unlikely places on routes they never would have chosen on their own. Instead of taking them the quickest way through Philistine country, God led them to the Red Sea where they would see another demonstration of His power. He would take them to Sinai, where Moses would receive the tablets of the law. He would lead them through a dessert where they would be completely dependent on Him for their food and water. The would take them through the unfriendly neighborhoods of enemy nations. It wasn’t the easiest, quickest or scenic route. But they would survive and they would arrive at their destination, the promised land.

Much later, Jesus would call Himself the Good Shepherd. He was indeed the One who would guide people to pasture, water, safety and a forever home with Him. Jesus invited many but never forced anyone to follow Him. He still doesn’t. So why do we?

When speaking of being the Shepherd, Jesus said that His sheep recognize His voice and they follow Him. They won’t follow a stranger. They follow the One who has always cared for them, protected them and provided for them.

Our Lord led His disciples to places they probably never would have gone one their own. Desolate places where people were hungry. Sad places where people were mourning. Frightening places where the demon-possessed lived. Dangerous places where some picked up stones to kill Jesus. Awesome places where He met with legends like Moses and Elijah. In each place, He revealed another dimension about Himself. In each place, they would learn to trust Him more

Jesus is still our Good Shepherd, He still leads us with His voice, and He still leads us to places we would never choose on our own. His Word leads us to the least with whom we share our food, drink, clothes and homes. His Word leads us to those we have hurt with an apology. His Word leads us to forgive those who have hurt us, for we have received much forgiveness from Him. His Word leads us to the food and drink of the altar, when we might have chosen to stay in bed.

In each place, we learn more about Him. And we too, trust His voice to lead us.

Lord, thank You for Your voice and words that lead me in new directions, to new places, and always closer to You. Amen

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: The burning bush

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Neil Mark Thomas on Unsplash

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 3, 2020. Read Exodus 3:1-4 and Psalm 130.

I think I am just as surprised as Moses to find God speaking from a burning bush on Mt. Horeb. It had never happened before. It never happened again, at least not in the bible or anywhere I’ve ever read. But here on the mountain, Moses has a physical encounter with the Lord who comes to save His people long before His birth in Bethlehem to save His people from their sins. Forty years later Moses would tell the people, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire” (Deut. 4:24). But not today. Today, “the bush was burning, but it was not consumed” (Ex. 3:3).


I can sit and gaze into a campfire for a long time. It’s so relaxing and peaceful. Until it starts talking to you! Once he knew who it was, Moses was afraid to look (Ex. 3:6).

Why do you suppose God chose to manifest Himself in this way to Moses? Well, for one thing, it certainly fits with the law and gospel message of scripture. Fire can burn and destroy. Fire also produces heat and light. Bad news and good news, which you need to fully get the message of God with us. Yes, a holy God comes to punish sin. He also comes to save us from sin. In that sense, fire captures and reveals the very nature of God who is at the same time the Almighty and the all-merciful.

When John the Baptist came preparing the way of the Lord, he said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11,12). That ancient fire was returning for both salvation and judgment.

The flames of our Advent candles are a great reminder of these moments. I’m very thankful for the warmth and brightness Jesus brings to what would otherwise be a cold and darkened world!

Thank you, Lord, for the fire of your presence in my life to save, purify and light the way. Amen.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: Wrestling with the Lord

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 2, 2020. Read Genesis 32:22-32 and Psalm 3.

Photo by Chris Chow on Unsplash

Jacob ran away from home twenty years ago. After cheating his brother Esau and deceiving his father Isaac, he literally had to run for his life. Now with two wives and a boatload of kids, it’s time to return. The night before the reunion, he wrestles all night with a man later identified as God himself, a unique pre-incarnational appearance of the Lord.

If there was ever a person who could make you say “uncle,” it would be the Almighty. But Jacob will not give up. He said, “I will not let go unless you bless me” (32:26). And God does! He blesses Jacob, who will now be known as Israel (32:29). Until this moment, who would have thought you could wrestle a blessing out of God?

In one of his lessons on prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to always pray and not lose heart, just like the proverbial widow who wouldn’t stop bothering a judge until she got justice (Luke 18:1-8). With boldness and confidence we call God “our Father” when we come to Him in prayer because we are His dear children. The point is, you really don’t have to try that hard to wrestle a blessing out of God. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32)?

I remember wrestling with my kids. When they were little they loved hanging on me, climbing on me, jumping on me, and rolling around on the floor with me. The blessing was in the wrestling! They knew they couldn’t win, and I didn’t want to win. It’s reassuring to know that your father has strength you can count on when you need him! Just like Jacob needed to fully realize the power and the promises of God.

Did anyone else in the bible wrestle? Rachel “wrestled” with her sister Leah who was able to have more kids than her (Genesis 30:8). Samson kind of wrestled with a lion, tearing it to pieces with his bare hands (Judges 14:5,6). Paul writes that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but with evil spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12). That’s scary!

But you know what? Once you’ve wrestled with God, you know He can handle those spiritual enemies, and nothing can ever separate you from His love!

Lord, I think I’ll just hang on to you with every ounce of faith I have, for you are the One who blesses me with every good and perfect gift from above! Amen.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: A drink and a snack

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for December 1, 2020. Read Genesis 18:1-22 and Psalm 19.

Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash

So Abraham is just chilling in his tent by the oaks of Mamre when three men show up. The gracious host in him shifts into high gear and he invites them in for a drink and a snack. And what a snack that was! Freshly baked bread, a little cottage cheese and veal.

The conversation turns to Sarah, listening in the tent as “the Lord” says, “Congratulations! You’re gong to have a son next year!” Sarah must have overheard the conversation, and chuckled to herself, “I’m a little old for that!” (18:12) “The Lord”  heard her and wondered why she was laughing. Such a blessing isn’t too hard for someone like the Lord!

Anyway, two of the men head towards Sodom to see if it’s as evil as everyone says it is. In 19:1, we learn that they are angels. But one, the Lord, stays behind to let know Abraham know about the destruction to come (18:22). After Abraham tries to bargain for the survival of the righteous in Sodom, “the Lord went His way” (18:33). I am certain Abraham never forgot the day the Lord stopped by his tent!

If Jesus stopped by your house for coffee and cake, how do you imagine the conversation would go? Would you have the guts to ask Him all those questions you say that you want to ask Him? Would you make sure you told Him why you didn’t make it to church last week? Or apologize for some of the things that have come out of your mouth recently? Show him pictures of the family? While I would love to know about unexpected blessings on my way next year, I wouldn’t be as excited to hear forecasts about imminent devastation and destruction.

That “snack” we have in worship, the Lord’s Supper, is accompanied by words of blessing and judgment. The body and blood of Christ bore God’s judgment for our sins on the cross. But it is also ours to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation, the most unlikely and surprising blessings we could ever receive from the Lord.

I love the bible’s banquet imagery of heaven. At that occasion, the Lord is the host with a table full of blessings like no other. We won’t be talking about judgment. That will all be in the past. We won’t have to dig deep to believe the good news, either. It will – He will – be right there before our eyes, live and in person!

Thanks, Lord, for inviting me to the meal that speak both law and gospel. And thanks, too, for the invite to the ultimate banquet of heaven! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: “What are you doing out here?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for November 30, 2020. Read Genesis 16:7-14 and Psalm 16.

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

It has been four chapters and ten years since Abram believed and obeyed the command of the Lord to go to Canaan where he would become a great nation. Abram and his wife Sarai still have no children. Not much of a nation so far. So Sarai has her husband sleep with her servant Hagar. Hagar conceives and Sarai is not happy. She treats Hagar badly until Hagar finally leaves.

The angel of the Lord finds her at a spring and asks, “What are you doing out here?” Now that phrase “the angel of the Lord” means more than just an angel like the ones Jacob sees in his staircase dream or that the shepherds saw on the night when Jesus was born. By the end of these verses, Hagar knows she has seen the Lord, “a God of seeing,” “him who looks after me” (16:13). This moment is one of the pre-incarnational appearances of the second person of the Trinity, whom we will later get to know as Jesus Christ. No one can look at God the Father and live. You can see God the Holy Spirit at work, but it’s like the wind. You can’t see it but you can see its effect. It must be the Son.

Hagar couldn’t win. She did what she was told, but still got in trouble. It was one of the first “no good deed goes unpunished” moments. But the Lord found her and sent her back home to be the mother of a great nation. Hers would not be the covenant people of God, but they would be a family to be reckoned with nonetheless.

All of us have had moments when we’ve done everything right, but it still turned out wrong. A recipe that tasted terrible. A do-it-yourself project that soon ended up in the trash. A best effort that only earned a “C” from the teacher. A carefully chosen gift the recipient returns the next day.

What do you do when you just can’t win? You remember that God doesn’t care about you because you’re a winner, or successful, or get lots of “likes.” He cares about you because you are one of His. He made you, knows you, loves you and sometimes asks “What are you doing?” Jesus, live and in person, would later reassure His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:58)!

When it feels like I’m out in the middle of nowhere, thanks for finding, seeing and looking after me, Lord. It is so good to know that I’m not alone! Amen.

Posted in Advent devotions, Devotions

Advent devotion: The Offspring

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Live and in person” Advent devotion for November 29, 2020. Read Genesis 3:15 and Psalm 85.

Photo by Austin Ban on Unsplash

The consequences of the first disobedience and fall into sin are immediate and varied. The man and the woman cover their nakedness, hide from the presence of God in the garden, and make excuses for their behavior. But the effects of sin will go much further, affecting families and relationships, what it means to work the ground to produce food, and making life finite. After all that, you will die. Or as God puts it, “to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:16-19).

Before all that, though, God addresses the serpent, whom John will identify as the devil and Satan in Revelation. He condemns the serpent saying, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14). God goes on to say, “I will put enmity between you and the woman.” In other words, you’re now the enemy. That hostility will span generations, “between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).  One day an offspring, a descendant of the woman will step on the head of the enemy, an image of victory over an opponent.

One of the first things I do when I see a bug in the house is step on it. Problem solved. Well, most of the time. I once stepped on a wolf spider whose babies scattered in all different directions! It’s not always as easy as it seems.

A descendant of the woman, Jesus of Nazareth, stomped on the head of Satan and won a decisive victory over sin, death and the devil’s power. But it wasn’t easy. The Son of God, live and in person, experienced the same struggles of life that we do. When He showed up, it seemed like the demons came out of the woodwork like swarming insects (or arachnids). His ministry quickly took Him to the cross, a Good Friday death, and a Sunday resurrection that swallowed up death forever.

From “way back when,” God intended to come and take care of the problem Himself, live and in person. The eternal Word would indeed become flesh to not only live among us but overcome death for us, too.

A virtual doctor’s appointment might be able to prescribe something for your sore throat. But you’ll need the hands of a surgeon to take out those tonsils. Or a visit from a pest control person to really take care of those spiders. And a Savior, live and in person, to give us life.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the amazing gospel promise wrapped up in Your condemnation of the serpent so long ago. Thank You for the fulfillment of that promise in the birth, life death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.