Tag: promise

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

You should have seen it coming

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jun Weng on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Lamentations 2.

The Lord has done what he purposed;
    he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
    he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
    and exalted the might of your foes. (Lamentations 2:17)

When I think of God’s promises, I think of positive ones. I remember promises of his presence protection, provision, and forgiveness.

But what about God’s promises of discipline, punishment, and destruction? As Jeremiah witnesses the siege, invasion, and destruction of Jerusalem, he recalls God’s promise of consequences for unfaithfulness and disobedience (Deuteronomy 29). Whether you like it or not, God keeps his word.

I used to have a little book that listed all of God’s promises by topic. Well, not all of them. Only the positive ones. It never occurred to me that the negative ones had been conveniently overlooked. I don’t think they would sell as many of those books.

Come to think of it, the first promise in the bible was a warning. “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) I never see those words on a t-shirt or wall plaque.

So when you want talk about God’s faithfulness, don’t forget the warnings as well as the blessings. It’s all part of his word that teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains (2 Timothy 3:16).

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Shifting your burdens to him

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Marcin Simonides on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 55.

Whether you got a lot of things on your plate or a lot of things on your mind, this promise from Psalm 55 is powerful and comforting:

Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:12)

As I ponder those words, I can’t help but wonder, “How exactly does one do that?” What does it look like to cast your burdens on the Lord?How do I go about shifting a burden from my life to him?

I’ve thought of a few practical ways to do that.

Confession. That’s the obvious one, right? If we confess, he is faithful to forgive. He arranges the ultimate trade: Jesus takes the burden of our sin on the cross and gives us his righteousness through faith. Bonus: his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Repentance. Not so obvious here. To repent is to turn, to do an about face from sin and follow Christ. The burden is now on his to lead you in paths of righteousness.

Prayer. Talking it out with God means that at least one other will share your burden. A pretty good deal if you ask me.

Do it together. When we gather for worship as a church, we remember that we don’t do this alone. We do it as the body of Christ. We’re called to bear each other’s burdens. You help others cast their burdens on the Lord simply by being there for them. They are there for you, too.

Posted in Advent devotions

The house we always wanted

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When we moved to Florida, we had the option of building a new house. I never thought we’d be able to do that. By the grace of God we had enough equity to build when startup costs were affordable. Before we move, we looked at lots of houses, but decided we needed to build new. It was the right decision.

David wanted to build. He wanted to build a house for God. A temple. A place of worship.

As usual, God has a better idea. This wouldn’t be David’s project. It would be his son’s. And God’s.

It was more important for God to build David’s house. It was more important for God to insure that David’s descendants would always rule his people. It was more important that God make a house, or dynasty, for David. Our projects are always so small compared to what God has planned.

In the end, we don’t have to do anything for God. He does everything for us. He creates, saves, and blesses us. We can do nothing in return, except to live as those who have been created, delivered, and blessed.

David is a part of our Jesse Tree because one of his descendants, Jesus, will be the king God’s people always needed.

Posted in Devotions, Through the Bible Devotions

Faith is hard

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Klemen Vrankar on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Genesis 15.

“Proof is easy. Faith is hard damn work.” – Johnny Prentiss

You’ve probably never heard of Johnny Prentiss. He was a character played by Penn Teller in the TV series “Code Black.” Johnny was a magician in the emergency room with a mass in his chest. As he waited for test results, he amazed doctors, nurses, and other patients with a deck of cards.

Over and over again, someone would ask him, “How did you do that?” Johnny answered, “I can’t imagine a world without magic.” For him, magic inspired hope and faith, things that he desperately needed to live.

God told Abram that a son from his own body would be his heir, the first of descendants as numerous as stars in the night sky. Amazingly, Abram believed God (Genesis 15:6).

If Abram had been standing there with his infant son in his arms, it would have been a lot easier to believe that he would be the father of a great nation. But on that night, all he had was God’s word. All he had was a promise.

Aren’t you pleasantly surprised when someone keeps a promise? I think we want to believe, but we’ve been let down too many times. But someone didn’t show up. Or they outright lied. A product didn’t work as advertised. The check wasn’t in the mail.

If someone says, “All you have to do is believe,” they know nothing of faith. Faith is indeed hard work. It means setting aside what you know to be true to embrace what God says is true. Faith is humbling. Faith rarely make sense. Faith is often terrifying. Faith is tough.

But faith is where a relationship with God begins. “God counted it to [Abram] as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

You can watch Season 2 Episode 9 of Code Black on Amazon Prime Video. Thanks for reading this “through the bible” devotion.