Tag: face

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The look on his face

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 67.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us. (Psalm 67:1)

Our faces communicate much about how we’re feeling. We can express approval, displeasure, joy, or grief with just a glance. I can wrinkle my brow, grin, purse my lips, or roll my eyes, and you’ll ask, “What?” But you know. You know in that moment that I’m concerned, amused, thoughtful, or exasperated.

In biblical thought, God’s shining face is a look of approval. Do you imagine God looking at you with pride, or with disappointment? Is he glad to hear from you, or does he roll his eyes? Do you picture him smiling or frowning?

I hope you picture the Lord with a big grin on his face. He made you, he loves you, he’s proud of you, and he wants to be with you. He came to be with you, to be your Savior, to adopt you as his child, and secure a place for you with him forever. I believe he’s very fond of you, and you can see it on his face!

Take a day and notice people’s faces. What does their face communicate? What do you think is on their mind? What are they thinking? What’s their mood?

Think again about God’s face? Your faith in Christ means he looks at you as he looks at his own son: with love, pride, approval, and joy. Your Father loves you, and you can tell by the look on his face!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Facial recognition

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com

You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8)

As a newborn’s eyes begin to develop, he or she will seek out the face of a mother or father. Their eyes will fix on your eyes. It’s is an amazing moment when our eyes meet for the first time, and we both smile.

I’ve been going to a lot of my grandson’s basketball games lately. I love it when one of the players gets the ball and looks into the stands to see if mom and dad are watching. Of course they are, and they’re shouting, “Shoot the ball!”

Some cell phones come to life with facial recognition. The phone sees your face and grants you access to all your apps. It’s an amazing part of the technology.

I was always taught to look at the person who was speaking to better understand what they were saying. It’s just part of being an active listener.

So it makes sense to seek God’s face. We want to feel connected, we love to know he’s watching us, it feels good to know that he knows us, and we don’t want to miss anything he has to say.

So if you feel your heart telling you to seek his face, do it! Listen, look at what he’s doing all around you, and connect with his promises.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Wow, that’s bright!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by asim alnamat on pexels.com

A “through the bible” devotion from Exodus 34.

In an episode of Friends, Ross decides to whiten his teeth to look his best for a date. But he leaves the whitening substances on for a whole day, and his teeth turn unnaturally white. No matter what color shirt he tries, none of them distract from the brightness of his teeth. Somehow he makes it through dinner without opening his mouth. But when his date turns off the lights, the black lights in the room make his teeth glow insanely white! (Check out the clip here.)

Just like Moses’ face after he’s been speaking with God.

“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with [God]. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to approach him (Exodus 34:29-30). Moses had to put a veil over his face after he had been talking with God, so people could look at him.

We know Moses had a unique relationship with God. “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10). But do you think someone can tell that I’ve spent time with God? I think so.

The prophet Isaiah said, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). When Jesus, the “light of the world” comes, he’s not the only one who shines. Our lives reflect his brightness, in the positive, merciful, and helpful things we do.

Wouldn’t it be something if suddenly a whole lot of people needed sunglasses because God’s people reflected so much of his light?