Category: devotional

I saw the strangest thing this evening.  I was standing at the condiment counter at a McDonalds beside a fairly nicely dressed elderly man who was stuffing his pockets full of those little packets of ketchup, mustard and relish.  Looking right at him I said, “Hey, how you doing?”  Without the slightest embarrassment he responded, “Fine” and kept right on cleaning out the bins.  Unlike the day I observed an old man steal a fish from our supermarket, I wasn’t sure if this man was stealing.  I mean, those packets are there for people to take.

Have you ever done something that wasn’t illegal but somehow just didn’t feel quite right?  It’s one of those fine line issues that isn’t covered by a rule or law and yet isn’t really right. It’s the difference between living by laws or living by principles.  It was what Paul was talking about in Galatians.  When we begin to live by the principle of love, laws cease to matter.  We don’t need a law telling us not to steal because love motivates us not to harm someone by taking from them.  The same goes for telling bad stories about someone.  When we love we will not do that because we don’t want to.

Have you ever heard someone say he did not want to be a Christian because there were too many don’ts?  They just don’t get it.  When one is a Christian there are only two principles to guide us, love for God and love for man.  It’s the non-Christian who has to worry about not doing a host of things he might want to do. Living by principles is what Paul is referencing in Galatians 5 when he speaks of our freedom in Christ.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 30, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

The fall 2010 Football season began this evening with a battle between the reigning Super Bowl champions verses the oldest quarterback in the league.  You will have to forgive me for what I am about to write because I am a psychology teacher at our college and I cannot resist a bit of Freudian philosophy regarding the value of football to the male community.   One of Freud’s famous ego-defense mechanisms is identification.  The success on the football field of a few provides a feeling of success for those who have chosen to be fans.   If life hasn’t provided very many exhilarating moments we (usually guys) can get pretty excited when the ones we are rooting for perform with excellence.  A long pass for a touchdown, a fifty-yard field goal can raise our blood pressure and fill us with almost as much joy as if we were the one who kicked the ball.   We identify with winners and quickly become disinterested when our team doesn’t do well.  Being a fan is of undisputed value for youth and old guys who never felt the joy of hearing applause directed their way.

Somewhere along life’s journey I discovered the unutterable joy of being a fan of Jesus.   What happened on Sunday morning means we are identifying with the ultimate winner.  Don’t you love Revelation’s promise that overcomers will sit with Him in His throne?  What a joy to hear Him invite us up.  What a wonder to participate in the divine nature.  What a thrill to put this aging body aside and awaken every morning to renewed strength and a new opportunity to learn and grow more talented.  I enjoy football but I thrill to identify with Jesus.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 9, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

This morning I read 1 Thessalonians 4 to a class of thirty-six supposed Christian youth average age of about twenty-one.  I don’t know what I expected.  I know I didn’t expect Hallelujahs and Amens but what I did get startled and bewildered me.  Basically what I got was nothing.  No changes in facial expressions.  They looked bored when I started and they looked bored when I finished.  I had to jar myself to remember that I teach in a “Christian” school.   Have we become so jaded by pop culture that unless text is accompanied by a carefully scripted soundtrack of music it makes no impact?  Or worse, have we become so used to the spectacular promises of God’s Word that they have become ho-hum?  Does the joy of the Word regarding resurrection and eternal life only mean something to those of us who are running out of years?  When one is twenty-something with decades of career and family ahead perhaps they are overwhelmed with thoughts of “that’s not important for me now”?  I will not even suggest that perhaps they just don’t care or believe.

Once again let me say I don’t actually know what I was looking for, but what I got left me with a feeling of desperation.  When we open the Word we are handling the Bread of Life.  We are reminding ourselves of the greatest promises in the universe.  Surely angels must long to have the opportunity I have each day to share the finest and the best of God with young people.   Maybe my wife got it right.  She said, “It is the beginning of the semester.  Those students don’t really know you.  Perhaps it’s them that don’t know what to expect.”   I do hope she is right.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 8, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell org

 

 

This afternoon we stood 140 feet above the Connecticut River in the middle of the King French Bridge.   Since 1932 it has safely aided millions of trucks and cars across its 460 foot span.  It is a thing of beauty.  While we were watching speed boats below us two semis, one going west and one going east, rumbled past.  Ever so gently the bridge trembled under our feet.  It was a tremendous amount of weight but the bridge was more than up to the task.

It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t help but think of Jesus who spanned the abyss of sin and death.  Without Him it would have been impossible for us to have safe passage across the hell that hungrily devours the lost.  Millions without Jesus fall into the depths of despair and death.  Every day we see miserable lives and we long to have them understand there is a way to happiness and life.  In John 14 Jesus declared He was the way.   Our trying to scale our way to heaven by our own righteousness is like the ancients trying to build a tower to heaven.  It is so futile it mocks our feeble efforts.

In Genesis in a dream Jacob saw a ladder from earth to heaven.  The ladder was Jesus.  He is the Way.  His righteousness is so perfect we need nothing else.  If any righteousness was required of us we would most likely brag that we had done the whole thing. It is Jesus from beginning to end.  He is the Alpha and the Omega.  As Isaiah so descriptively put it, “Our righteousness is like filthy rags.”  We have a bridge and the name is not King French.  It is King Jesus.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 7, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It is difficult for us who have been born and raised in a Christian culture to understand just how revolutionary was Jesus.   We take for granted the promises of grace and adoption into God’s family. We grow up calling God, “Our Father.”  Early on we learn to “come boldly” before His throne with our requests.  We never had to depend on a human priesthood to make intercession for us because we have Jesus who opened the way into the throne.  Because Paul wrote in Romans 10:4, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth” we did not think we could by our own works obtain righteousness.  We knew from Ephesians 2 that we are saved by grace.

Jesus changed everything.  Solomon once wrote there was nothing new under the sun.  Obviously he didn’t know the Good News that was coming.   Over and over in Galatians Paul speaks of the bondage of law keeping and the wonders of freedom in Christ.  Because of Jesus the keeping of the law became a joyful process of wanting to be like our Savior by being as much like Him as possible.  The law was not a list of don’ts but a model of love for God and love for each other.

Paul couldn’t have said it more clearly than he does in II Corinthians 5:17. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”  It’s a new day.  It’s a new message.  It’s a new way of life.  It is why the first four books of the New Testament are called Gospels.  It is why the early church referred to itself as “The Way.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 6, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Most of us have restore dates on our computers.  It is a marvelous feature.  Should we be invaded by some horrible virus that corrupts your system we can restore our system to a previous date when all was well.  More than once this has saved me headache and heartache.  Now all I need is a restore date for my human behavior.  Wouldn’t it be grand if we could back up and start over on a previous date?   When I say something stupid or hurt someone or violate my sense of right and wrong it would be terrific to back up and start over.

In one sense we do have that.  God is quick to forgive and forget.  Restoration is but a prayer away.   However God isn’t the only one with whom we have to cope. He’s not the problem.  It is humans that are the problem.  Hurtful words, calloused attitudes, slights, and deliberate meanness leave indelible impressions on the minds of others.  Even though they might be smart enough to forgive us (It’s always smart to forgive.  It lessens the pain.) they will have trouble forgetting what we did.

It is a rare person indeed who can forgive without the transgression forever affecting the relationship.  Once a trust has been broken it can never have the luster and shine when it was perfect.  Let’s face it.  There are no restore buttons available.  Forgiveness – yes.  Having it exactly like it was prior to the event – sorry.  Life on earth just doesn’t work that way.  It does work that way in heaven.  Isn’t God grand?  When forgiven He treats us as if we had never sinned at all.  That’s the best restore button ever.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 3, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

When we moved into our home in Massachusetts we discovered the former owner left behind a wonderful old leather-bound set of Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1910.  I learned it was a classic edition.  While doing some research this evening I wondered what scholars thought about my topic exactly one hundred years ago.  So I pulled down volume XIII – Harmony to Hurstmonceaux.  While doing so I remembered as a child we had a set of World Book Encyclopedia, not quite in the same league as Britannica, but respectable for a child.  I used to wonder what it was like to be so famous one got an article about oneself in such books.  This evening I turned page after page of such names without recognizing one name.  I realize my education is limited but really I should know some names.

Who or what was Hurstmonceaux?  Why should I care?  Does anyone in the 21st century care?  Probably the people who live there care.  It is a village in England.  In 1818 Percy Shelley wrote the famous poem, Ozymandias about an old statue in the desert.

“And on the pedestal these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Greatness and fame are a fleeting thing in this world.  So tonight I think of my childhood curiosity about fame and realize the only place I want my name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life mentioned in the book of Revelation.  There is Someone in charge of that book who will never forget us.  Let the ages pass and we will not only live in His memory but be alive forever in His kingdom.  How grand!

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 2, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Jesus had come home.  Sabbath morning the little place of worship was packed with relatives and friends.  Nazareth was a little town.  Most everyone was somehow related and everyone knew everything about everyone.  Rumors about Jesus had set their imaginations on fire.  The room was hushed when He rose to speak.  Isaiah flowed from His lips.  “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”   The crowd was electrified with horror at the blasphemy.  Uncles, nephews, granduncles, and grandnephews grabbed Jesus and dragged Him out of town to a cliff.  But before they could throw Him over, their own flesh and blood, He walked right through them.  It is the last time He would go home to Nazareth.  A few years later He went to His real home.

His message is just as appropriate today.  The good news is salvation is a gift no matter how bad we have been.  The freedom is from our guilt and slavery to our nature.  Sight is to enlighten our understanding that we need not fear the future.  Our place in eternity is secure. The release is from the oppression of memories of a not so perfect past.  We are given power to forgive others as well as ourselves.   Is there someone who harmed you?  Let it go.  Is there someone you harmed?  Fix it if you can.  If you can’t, let it go.  God will fix it for you.   Take Him at His word.  Believe Him.  If we don’t we are just like the folk at Nazareth.  When we do believe, joy and inner peace are the natural fruit.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 31, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

If the wind blows just right four times a day we can hear a deep throated whistle blast from our downtown fire station.  It has beenthis way for decades back into the past century.  Eight A.M. signals the beginning of the workday.  Noon signals lunch.   Six P.M. signals the end of the workday and 9 P.M. reminds people to tend to stoves and lanterns before going to bed. It’s nice.  It’s a tie to a past that seems to be rushing away from us.  The sound of the blast from the firehouse almost makes one think if one went down to the firehouse one would see firemen busy putting big fire horses up for the night under the watchful eye of a Dalmatian.

People need to remember. We need to be reminded of our roots.  It’s a value system grounded in hard work and simplicity.  Our traditions tell us who we are.  We are not refugees in a sea of angst.  We are travelers with purpose and goals.  We care about community and neighbors.  The neighborhood school isn’t there merely for our children but for all children with dreams and ambitions.  The local little league baseball teams or the football or soccer leagues get us out of our electronically sequestered lives and we see and talk to real people just like ourselves.

Families need traditions and customs that tie each to each.  Modernity fills us with so many weekday responsibilities we must make efforts to make Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays special.   Sitting around the table actually looking at each other as we talk and eat, going to church, taking a weekend jaunt together, these are the things our children will remember and cherish after we are gone.  These give us identity.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 6, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I almost felt like I had to say, “Excuse me” as we drove between them.  On a very busy street with cars streaming both ways two people were holding an animated conversation across the street from each other.   I felt like it was a typical conversation I have with God.  Life is streaming between us. I realize He is supposed to be inside and speak to me in a still small voice, but reality is that life is full and loud and takes up our days.   I call to Him and I know He calls back but there is so much going on I fear some days I don’t hear.  I know He hasn’t gone anywhere.  It’s me.

Remember the night God spoke to a little boy named Samuel?  “And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”  And Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

I love that story.  Knowing that God doesn’t play favorites means He calls to us.  We might not hear our name called in the middle of the night because He is as diverse as we are diverse.  He speaks to us via Scripture, sermons, devotionals such as this, friends and sometimes those who are not are friends.  The important thing to remember is He wants to dialogue with you.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 9, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org