Tag: God

Posted in God, Through the Bible Devotions

Morning glory

Posted on by William Douthwaite

In the opening chapter of Job, a good, God-fearing, blameless, upright man suffers the unthinkable loss of his camels, oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants all his children, and his health.

Satan, who has caused this devastation, is certain Job will curse God. Job’s wife thinks he should curse God and die.

However, twice we read that Job did not sin in what he said. He doesn’t charge God with any wrong doing (Job 1:22: 2:10). Instead he praises God.

So what do you think it means to curse God? Blame him? Question him? Complain about him? Say bad things about him? Call him names? Accuse him of wrongdoing? Challenge his sovereignty?

Do we think of any of those things as sin? The commandments are clear. The bad stuff includes idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and lying. Upset with God’s performance? Seems minor in comparison.

Except that evaluating Gods performance is putting oneself above God. And that flies in the face of commandment #1: no other gods.

What if the only appropriate response to God is praise? Praise for who he is, who he has revealed himself to be, and his undisputed place as God.

Doesn’t sound complicated. Yet it’s the hardest thing for us to do. On a good day. Never mind a day like Job had.

Start early. Don’t wait to see how the day unfolds. Just praise the one who gave you the day. Morning glory.

Posted in pastor, Through the Bible Devotions

Getting ready to get down

Posted on by William Douthwaite

So I’m reading along, finishing up Nehemiah, and the narrative suddenly gets aggressive.

  • Nehemiah throws all of Tobiah’s stuff out of a room in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Apparently, Eliashib the priest rented space out like a storage unit. No more of that (Nehemiah 13:7,8).
  • When he finds out that Levites and singers have all gone home because they weren’t being paid, he has “sharp words” for those in charge (13:11).
  • After Nehemiah shut down buying and selling on the Sabbath, he finds merchants camping outside the gates, waiting for the markets to open. He threatens to “lay hands on them” (13:21).
  • Once he finds out that men of Judah had married foreign women and hadn’t taught the children the language of Judah, he “rebuked them and called down curses on them…beat some of the men and pulled out their hair” (13:25).

I think every pastor dreams of Nehemiah moments:

  • Moments when he wants to just throw out a bunch of junk that has accumulated in the church. Old donated pianos no one plays and no one wants. Old books no one wanted to read that will take up shelf space in the rarely used church library. Food pantry donations way past expiration dates. Non-functioning computer monitors and printers that “the church might be able to use.” Throw it out!
  • Some people need sharp words. Like, “Stop it.” Or, “There are other places to worship.” Or even, “Put up or shut up.”
  • Fund raisers. Car washes. Raffles. Garage sales. Didn’t Jesus clear money changers out of the temple? How about not doing those things on a Sunday morning?
  • Physical violence? Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Punching and hair pulling? Maybe not. Pushing and shoving? Might get your point across.

One through three? Been there, done that. Number four? In my dreams. You know who you were.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

How about a little more dancing?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

After being reprimanded by his wife for leaping and dancing half-naked before the Lord, David replies,

“I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes” (2 Samuel 6:21,22).

Everyone is shouting, blowing trumpets, and escorting the ark of the Lord into the City of David. It is a time of unfettered celebration and worship.

Most worship isn’t like that, is it? Rather than celebratory, undignified, and humiliating, our worship is meditative, measured, and staid.

Someone told me that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. In this case, this would mean thinking more of God than myself in worship.

Which is typically not the case. I want worship to be convenient and comfortable. I want the music I enjoy in an inspirational setting. I want a message that addresses the world’s ills without getting too close to mine. I want to sip on coffee, snack on a donut, park near the entrance, and get a pen with the church’s name printed on it to take home. I want the church to be fully staffed so I don’t have to worry about volunteering.

Okay, not exactly. But there’s more truth there than you or I like to admit. Should worship be easy? Or should it take some effort? Should we work up a sweat?

Whether I look out from the pulpit or around me in the congregation, I’m astonished to see folks sitting there who don’t sing or participate in liturgy. Only listen. They don’t smile. Only grimace. Don’t engage in conversation. Only enter and exit.

To be fair, I don’t know their story. They may have had a rough week. They might have a lot on their mind.

How about we worship in the presence of God instead of in front of a mirror? Let’s listen to what he thinks of us (a little Law and Gospel) and a little less about others or our own insecurities.

Just know what you’re in for. Grace has a way of loosening us up. Before you know it, you might be dancing, too!

Posted in love

God is love. Love is God.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jamez Picard on Unsplash

In church yesterday, the pastor tackled “God is love” (1 John 4:16). It’s part of a series about the nature of God.

Afterwards, I thought about how I would approach that divine attribute. We use adjectives to describe God. God is powerful. Gracious. Just. Merciful. All-knowing. Unchanging. Eternal.

But we don’t use the word love as an adjective. It’s a feeling. I “love” something or someone. Or it’s accompanied by an action. Christ loved us and gave him for us. Or it’s a noun. God abounds in steadfast love.

So this is very different. At first I thought, “I don’t know how I would come at this.”

But then I thought, “What if I turned it around?” What if I start with “Love is God”? Like Paul’s description of love. “Love is patient. Love is kind…” (1 Corinthians 13:5-8). No one truly loves like that. No one but God.

So we learn what love is by observing God. And then we know God because we have seen his unconditional, sacrificial, and unending love.

Love is not just an attribute of God. It surrounds and permeates every other attribute. When God justly judges sin, it’s because of his love for us. He doesn’t want it to destroy us. God reveals his power because of his great love for us. We need a God who can do more than we ask or imagine. An unchanging God reveals his unchanging love for us. No matter what we do or don’t do, he doesn’t change and his love doesn’t change. God’s knowledge is complete. He knows everything about me. And yet he still loves me.

So once you grasp what love really is, you get a glimpse of God. And then you realize he is the essence of love. He is love.

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

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 bible

Finding Worth in God: Rescued and Redeemed

Posted on by William Douthwaite
image from bible.art

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

As Moses had encountered God at a burning bush, the nation would now encounter God at the base of a fiery mountain. They were more than a group of people. They were rescued people, brought here to be with God. They were covenant people, in a relationship with God. They were valuable to him, his “treasured possession.” They would function as priests, representing God in the world. They would also be holy, that is, set apart, redeemed, and forgiven.

And you know what’s amazing? They hadn’t done a thing. It was all God. It turns out that if you know him, then you know a whole lot about yourself, too.

That’s important. We seek significance, approval, and appreciation. We compare ourselves with others to feel better about ourselves. We skillfully conceal our shortcomings and failures.

But none of that matters to God. Rather, you do. Rescued by his own son, whose blood seals the covenant, you are valuable enough to die for, are declared righteous through faith, and are his ambassador to the world. He has granted us all those things you and I seek.

That means you can bring to the world all those things you seek. You can show appreciation. You can be grateful. You can speak words that help others feel better about themselves. You can be honest and open, both apologizing and showing grace.

Knowing who I am begins with knowing God. He’s revealed so much about himself to me, and that changes everything.