Category: devotional

Every school day of my childhood began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. So it is not surprising that on occasion the words “with liberty and justice for all” run through my consciousness. It was not until much later in life that I began to comprehend what “liberty and justice” are.  Liberty is the foundational principle of our constitution.  France even gave us a statue to memorialize such.   According to the dictionary liberty is “the freedom to think or act without being constrained by necessity or force.”*

Galatians 5 is about our freedom in Christ.  Christ liberates us from the guilt and punishment for our sins.  He also frees us to live by principles instead of rules and regulations by helping us understand that righteous laws emanate from love.  The above definition of liberty comes into question.  In II Corinthians 5 Paul wrote, “The love of Christ constrains us.”   We are not at liberty to indulge our lusts.  As is often said, “Our liberty stops at the tip of another’s nose.”  The liberty I spoke of each morning as a child is maintained by the threat of force.  Now that childhood is a distant memory I am instead constrained by genuine care for others.

Liberty can only exist with constraints or we would destroy ourselves and others.  My sinful nature must be held under control.  Freud called it our superego constraining our ego, which calculates how to feed our id.  How grand it is to be constrained by love instead the constraints of the fear of punishment.  When liberty originates in love we cease to be aware of love’s constraints because we are doing what we want to do.  That’s liberty.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 12, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Toward the close of Ephesians 3 Paul prays for the people in Ephesus and in verse 16 he says, “That God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.”   Out of God’s riches our inner man is made strong.  Just what is our inner man?  It is our intellect, our conscience and our will.  This is a great prayer.  Who among us would not want to have a greater, stronger intellect?  Once that is in place we need a more sensitive conscience. The smarter we are the more able we are to recognize the needs of others or to create mischief.  It works for good or bad.  Thus the need for a stronger will.  With our strengthened intellect and sensitized conscience we will recognize wrong and have the will to walk away.

This is a great prayer that goes on to say, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”  Often we speak of this verse in the context of how wonderful heaven will be.  But Paul is also speaking about now.  Because we have this better inner man, God is able to do marvelous things with us.  Not just in the far future but right now.  We will be better parents.  We will be better employees or employers. We will be better citizens and use our strengthened powers to enhance life for everyone around us.

This inner man is made strong by the indwelling Spirit of God.  If we want something meaningful to pray about, the inner man is it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 11, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I went to a dermatologist last week.  She was brutal.  Apparently I have old man spots on my head and she was determined to destroy them.  She was armed with a can of super cold stuff and she sprayed and sprayed and sprayed and sprayed.  I’m not exaggerating.  About halfway through I had a brain freeze without the ice cream, but she kept on spraying.  It better work.

Her diagnosis was too much sun from too many years in Africa, Georgia and California.  Our sun – we can’t live without it and we can’t live with it.  That is at least too much of it.  Finding the right balance is one of life’s great challenges.  In I Corinthians 9:25 Paul wrote, “Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things.”  Temperance is abstinence from bad things and no indulgence in good things.

It would be easy at this point to go on a diatribe about certain foods and habits.  But that would be insulting your intelligence.  We know we should be eating our veggies, fruits, grains and nuts.  We know we should exercise and get adequate rest.   Instead let’s look at the word “mastery.”   The dictionary defines it as being in total control, being an expert in something.   It helps if we have a mentor or a role model.  I cannot think of any role model more outstanding than Jesus Himself.  Talk about total control.  In Hebrews we are told He was tempted just like we are and yet was without sin.  He was a master of Himself.  And He did this while dining with publicans and harlots.  If we seek mastery we best contemplate the life and teachings of Jesus.  Go for the best.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 10, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

While watching my mechanic put new brake pads on my car I remembered something I heard from one of my friends who races stock cars.  He mentioned that the brakes on his car were the best he could find.  When he saw the puzzled look on my face he said, “Unless you have the best brakes and can quickly stop you cannot (should not) go as fast as you might otherwise.”

Jesus, a man without a massive army, a man without a great university, a man without a personal legacy of writings divided history.  His personal purity among friends of questionable character propelled Him to the heights of history. Had His personal life been stained with the failures of humanity this would not have been so. He would have been a flash and then lost in the unknowns of billions who have breathed our air.  It was His moral brakes.  He could mingle.  He could race.  He could as expressed by Jeremiah 12:5 run with the horses.  He could go head to head with Satan himself and yet not sin.  In Hebrews we are clearly told He was tempted in all things just as we.  The difference was His brakes.  He knew when to stop.  He knew where not to tread.  His daily time spent with His Father gave Him the best brakes.

All of us are tempted. All of us sometimes think how sweet certain forbidden behaviors might taste.  The difference between those who fall and those who are successful in stopping prior to the disastrous accident are those with the best moral brakes.  And just where can we obtain such?   They are available to us at the same place Jesus found His.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 2, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Titus was a gentile convert who had responded to the preaching of Paul.  He traveled with Paul and Barnabas and was left in charge of the new church on the island of Crete.  Somewhere along Paul’s travels he wrote to Titus.  There are a few verses that seem to be a simple summary of Romans and Galatians put together and simplified for us.

Enjoy this from chapter 3, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

There is the entire Gospel in a nutshell. If you have difficulty with some of Paul’s work in Romans, Peter admitted to struggling to understand Paul (II Peter 3:16), all you need to read is Titus 3.  If you understand this you get it.  It contains all the elements. 1. We didn’t do the righteous deeds.  2. It is all mercy. 3. We are justified (declared sinless) by grace.       4. We are heirs of eternal life. 5. We are generously filled with the Holy Spirit.

I like things when they are made simple.  I used to tell my ministerial students, “The mark of an educated person is not one who makes simple things complicated but one who can make complicated things simple.”  Paul was a master of the latter while also being able to challenge the brightest minds.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 5, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”  City managers in Massachusetts need to read their Bibles.  According to our newspaper local towns have exhausted their snow removal budgets for the year and are going in the red.  It is true that we have had a fair amount of snow and more is coming. However, last year we barely had any snow and they used very little of their snow budgets.

Even as a little boy I knew the story of Joseph in Egypt.  They had seven fat years and seven lean years and they filled the storehouses during the seven fat years.  It’s a great lesson.  When you have a windfall don’t spend all of it.

Scripture isn’t merely useful for training in righteousness.  It teems with life lessons.  Jesus’ parables are a great source of life wisdom.  There is everything from not building on sand to not hiding your talents.  Many years ago I saw one of His parables play out in a committee room.  One eager fellow came and sat in the chairman’s seat.  When the chairman arrived he was very kind and sat with the rest of us.  During a break someone quietly moved the eager fellow’s papers to an appropriate seat.  The best part of the story is when he came back he picked up his papers and again sat down in the chairman’s seat.  How much better it would have been if he had remembered Jesus’ counsel to take the lowest seat.  Life is interesting.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 23, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

After our very pretty waitress left our table this evening my wife said, “How I wish I could stay like that and yet still have my current brain.”  One of the joys of youth is you don’t know what you don’t know; therefore, you think you know when you really don’t.  The result being that you are quite happy.

When I left the seminary I was an absolute authority in the area of theology.  After all, I had an MA in Systematic Theology.  What else would someone need to be a pastor?  Lots.  I just didn’t know.  Now decades later my knowledge of God has lessened. He is bigger and grander than I knew.  However, don’t misunderstand me.  I don’t want that twenty year old brain.  I just want my twenty year old strength.

What Jesus promised in John 5:24, “. . . whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life . . .” is what my wife was wishing for.  Jesus is promising eternal youth with a never ending growing mind.  The concept is overwhelming.  Best of all there will not be any senior moments.  Oh those are frightening things greatly to be abhorred.  We can be talking about someone we have known for decades and both of us cannot recall the person’s name, that is until we stop trying and then it pops right up.  What’s with that?

How can we explain senior moments to young people?  They think it is just us and it will never ever happen to them.  Boy, are they in for a surprise.  Or they think, “Well that is a long time away.”  No, that’s not true either.  Years become months and weeks become days.  Jesus is not just a good idea.  Jesus is a necessity!

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 7, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

On the way out of class I passed a man carrying a box with the words “Class Disposal.”  When I looked more closely I saw that someone had placed a piece of tape on the box turning a “G” into a “C.”   But I like the idea of “Class Disposal.”  No, I am not thinking about disposing college classes.  I love classes.  Especially being the teacher.  When I am thinking of “Class Disposal” I am thinking about social classes.  I realize when I start talking about a classless society I am treading into dangerous political ideology.   But putting politics aside, wouldn’t it be grand if we lived in a world where everyone was a “Have” and there were no “Have Nots?”  It’s not that I want less, it’s that I want everyone to have what I have.

When Paul was thinking of our being one with Christ he wanted classes or groups to be nonexistent.  He wrote in Galatians 3, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

I grew up hearing that in heaven we will have one star in our crowns for each person we helped receive salvation.  If that is so we certainly will need better characters than we now have.  This has the potential of developing a star class structure.  The more stars the closer to Jesus or something else.  Honestly, I hate it.  There only needs to be one class – the redeemed.   There are many of us that desire hair on our heads instead of a crown.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 5, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I just received the following message from one of my best friends. She wrote, “My favorite azalea has been stolen.  It was in a huge pottery pot, lovely pale green, well grown azalea of deep beautiful pink color.  Hope they enjoy it, whoever they are.”  First off, I cannot imagine someone stealing something like this.  I hope they had a pickup truck.  Secondly, I am not sure how someone could enjoy it should they put it in their yard.  Wouldn’t it be a daily reminder to them regarding their character or lack of?

What I do admire is my friend’s lack of animosity and desire for the thief to enjoy it.  She is certainly not a dog in a manger.  There are some people who if they cannot enjoy something they don’t want anyone to enjoy it.  Satan is a dog in a manger.  He has lost eternal life and since he cannot have it he is on a savage campaign against each of us trying his best, or should I say worst, to see to it that we are lost with him.  If he can’t have it why should we?

We are so blessed.  Each of us is presented on a daily basis the opportunity to extend our lives into an endless future.  If I had a pill that would guarantee an additional ten years of life, I would be a very rich man.  But that is only ten years.  What we are offered is a gazillion times better.  Jesus said, “I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 4, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

When we were children we thought fairness was treating everyone exactly the same.  As we grew up the true definition of fairness dawned on us.   Fairness is meeting each person’s needs.  Just as each of us is unique so are our needs.  Fairness isn’t giving something to someone if they don’t need it while skimping with someone who needs more.  Thinking about this made me wonder about grace.  Do some people need more grace than others?  Does my pastor need less grace than some mass murderer?  If so, I could imagine that heaven will be a pain because some people like to brag about their sinful past and how much grace it took to save them.  Of course, it could go the other way and some would brag that they were so good they didn’t need much grace.

You know what?  This is stupid.  The truth is we have all earned death and it took the same thing for my pastor as for the mass murderer.  It required the death of a righteous person and the world didn’t have even one.  So God sent His son to do it for us.  A saint isn’t someone with lots of personal merit.  A saint is someone who acknowledges their need and accepts what God has given.

Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23   There will be no room for bragging in heaven other than our outright adoration for Jesus.  Him we can brag about.  There will not be enough wondrous adjectives in our vocabularies to come near describing His love and grandeur.   But it will be great fun trying.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 3, 2013

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, Saint Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org