Tag: truth

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Is that true?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from John 18.

I laugh out loud at pictures and videos of people, places, and things that fill my social media feeds. After filling his wheelbarrow at the buffet, a morbidly obese man crashes through the floor and capsizes the cruise ship. A buck with a chain saw fells a tree in which a hunter in waiting in a deer stand. Stephen Hawking and Queen Elizabeth II go MMA in the octagon.

Of course, none of this is real. It’s all AI generated. But it looks real enough to capture your attention long enough to ensure the algorithm will send more.

An email tells me I’ve purchased expensive anti-virus software. A text alerts me about an undeliverable package waiting for me at the post office. A message warns that I am about to go to prison for an unpaid highway toll.

Of course, none of that is legit. But they look real enough that someone somewhere will click on the link.

A door-to-door alarm system salesman tells me about all the break-ins in my neighborhood. Lightning flashes and thunder’s not far behind as the meteorologist predicts a nice, sunny afternoon. An advertisement announces today’s the last day of the sale.

We’ve learned to take it all with a grain of salt.

Not much has changed since Pilate asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). The priests claimed Jesus was a criminal. Others said he was a king. Jesus insisted that his testimony was the truth.

Pilate had learned to take it all with a grain of salt, too.

But what if truth is a person? In the upper room, before his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, “I am the truth.”

Like it or not, you and I have to deal with deception. Every day. Some days, we’ll be duped. Other days, we’ll see right through it.

But we’ll never have to doubt the veracity of Jesus.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Finding Truth in a World Full of Lies

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 120.

“Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips” (Psalm 120:2).

Whoa. That’s a big ask, isn’t it? I mean, think about it. How many people lied to you today? Or what about this: how many people have lied about you?

  • “This offer is only good today.” “Sale…today only!” “Call in the next ten minutes.”
  • A nice young man or woman knocks on my door to tell me that my neighborhood has been plagued by home invasions, car break-ins, and insect infestations. I need a security system, monthly pest treatments, and a personal bodyguard.
  • “I never got your text.”
  • “I’m fine.” “No worries.” “We’re good.”
  • “Trust me.”

Here’s what I want to believe: they are all sincere, just tying to get your attention, and sell you something.

Here’s what I know: you’re all just lying to me. The world is filled with lying lips.

I hate living in a world where I don’t trust, don’t know who to trust, and am afraid to trust anyone.

So that’s my prayer, too. “Deliver me from lying lips.” Don’t let me be a liar. Show me who I can trust. Make me a genuine person in a genuine place.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

In search of a real prophet

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When Ahab, the king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to team up and go to war, Jehoshaphat says, “Sure, but maybe we should ask God about this.” Sound advice.

Ahab has a team of four hundred prophets who all agree, “God will give you the victory!” At that point, I imagine Jehoshaphat rolls his eyes when he asks, “Don’t you have anyone else? Isn’t there another prophet of the Lord we can ask?” He’s either leary of four hundred voices that all have the exact same message, or he knows that Ahab had built shrines for Baal and “did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).

Ahab replies, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil” (2 Chronicles 18:7).

When Paul told Timothy, “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3), he wasn’t telling him anything new. There is, as Solomon told us, nothing new under the sun.

Perhaps we all need to ask ourselves, “Am I listening to what I want to hear, or what I need to hear?” You and I hardly realize it, but social media algorithms make sure we see more digital content of what we like, desire, and approve of. In other words, the online world will always tell you want you want to hear.

Play with it sometime. Get on your preferred social media platform and search for a particular item. Sneakers. Labrador Retrievers. Wine. Before you know it, your feed will be filled with everyone with a cute Lab, wine subscriptions, and state-of-the-art athletic shoes.

Try this, too. Open up your bible. Give God a few minutes to speak to you. It might have nothing to do with what’s on your mind. It might not be what you want to hear at the moment. But it will always be what you need to hear. You might find encouragement, a warning, something shocking, or a promise to hang onto. You’ll hear something that generates questions, shocks you, or even makes you think, “I can’t believe God would say something like that!”

Writers join groups of writers who will honestly critique their work. We need people who will tell us where we need to improve and what we need to work on. Otherwise, with the encouragement of close friends, we never really hone our craft. (Come to think of it, I need to do this.)

Folks in leadership positions often want to have people around them who don’t always agree with them. People who challenge their assumptions. Advisors who make them second-think their decisions.

Couples discover early in their marriage that they are very different from their partner. Each has sought out someone different, someone who can complete what is missing in their lives. It’s not easy, but it is the way we grow and become the person we never could by ourselves.

Thank you, Lord, for those in our lives (pastors, spouses, children, parents) who tell us what we need to hear!