Category: devotional

Most of us are disappointed the first time we hear a recording of our voice. We thought our voice was deeper, more impressive and dignified.  The playback allows us to hear what other people hear when they listen to us. The reason for the discrepancy are the bones in our head.  They pick up vibrations from our vocal cords and add to what comes out our mouth and back into our ears.  Those bone vibrations add a richness other people don’t hear.  Don’t you envy people with incredible voices?  I used to have a friend who had a magnificent voice and when he spoke in public a rich English accent added to the mesmerizing effect.  We used to laugh together in private because the English accent disappeared when it was just the two of us.

When God spoke to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai the people heard thunder.  I don’t think our ear drums are equipped to handle that kind of voice.  Several times in the Bible God sent angels to deliver messages.  We must be better equipped for angel voices.  The big problem with angels is they are scary. Please note most of the time angels would begin by saying, “Don’t be afraid.”   Most of the time God whispers to us in a still small voice.  We can handle that.

Romans 1:20 is a fascinating verse.  Paul believed God speaks to us via his handiwork.  By the things He made we can learn about His invisible characteristics. And Hebrews 1 says in times past God spoke to us by many different ways but now He speaks to us through the life of Jesus.   If we want to know what God is like and want to hear Him we should study the Gospels.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 25, 2009

Spring of Life Ministry St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

Most of my friends who have been adopted wish, upon adulthood, to find their biological parents.  There is something that completes us when we find our roots.  I know a man who wishes he had been adopted.  His biological roots, his parents, did not provide much of a childhood.  He wished he had had better.  Our relationships with our parents can be very complicated.  They start off being our gods and end up being our children.  It is a mystical journey.

It must have been the product of much thought when God decided to represent Himself to us as our Father.   He knew that came loaded with horrendous stacks of baggage.  Your father and my father were very different.  To tell us to call Him Father meant each of us would have a unique experience with Him.  Basically speaking, your God and my God are different even though we think He is the same.  When I am puzzled by people’s reactions to a sermon, I have to remind myself everyone who listened arrived at church via a very different road.

In Romans and Galatians Paul speaks of our being adopted by God into His family.  I wish I could speak with Paul about the reverse side of that coin. When we respond to God’s call it is us who are adopting Him.  We are adults. We see this all powerful needy God desperately wanting to be part of our  family.   He wants to be included in our lives.  He wants to attend our birthdays and go for walks with us.  He is hurt when we fail to recognize His need.   Am I overly anthropomorphizing the God who is a spirit? Probably so, but who’s to say?

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 3, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I’m not sure why but for some inane reason I was thinking about Superman on my way to school this morning.  Just imagine having to wear black-rimmed glasses all the time so people wouldn’t recognize you.  Then there is that Kryptonite thing.  Realizing that bad guys like Lex Luthor were out there with a substance that could destroy him must have been a nightmare.  We too have an enemy stalking us.   Peter uses a lion as a metaphor to describe our enemy.  That could be frightening. Our enemy has been around since the inception of our world and he has special Kryptonite for each of us.  It isn’t the same for everyone since each of us has our own unique weakness.

In my psychology classes we study various kinds of existent personalities. While each of us is unique it is also true that each of us can be compartmentalized into some very specific groupings.   Our enemy is a master psychologist and knows which kind of Kryptonite he needs for our downfall. It could be love of money, pride, some kind of obsession or jealousy. Every one of us is vulnerable.

Now I don’t want to paint a bleak picture because there is great news.  We have someone on our side who is so very much more powerful than our enemy and his Kryptonite.  Paul wrote in Romans 8, “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 31, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

When we talk about our calling most of us respond with the name of a career or a profession.  At our college we talk to our students about their calling to be a teacher, a nurse, a businessman, a pastor, a tradesmen or a service provider.  Happy are the persons who knows their calling.  They can get on with life and pursue excellence in their field.  Sometimes I see frustrated students nearing graduation and still not know their calling.  Often we guide them on to graduate school hoping they can use that as a stepping stone to fulfillment.  According to I Peter 3 there is a common calling for all of us.  This day, this very moment, God is calling each of us to be a blessing.

This supersedes all other callings.  This is the icing on the cake for whatever profession, job or career that fills our lives.  No matter how rotten we feel when we get up we still have a calling.  We are to find someone that day whose burden we can lighten by providing something physical or emotional.  Peter wrote, “All of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this!”

He goes on to tell us we also will receive a blessing.  It is true.  The best way to get ourselves out of the dumps is to do something nice for another.  It is very difficult to stay in a bad mood when we see another person light up because of something we did for them.  It’s contagious.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 21, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Our yard is one vast nursery.   We have a cardinal nest, a robin nest, a chickadee nest, a catbird nest and a phoebe nest. There is a squirrel nest, a chipmunk nest and a rabbit nest.  I’m sure there are more but those are the ones I know for sure.  How grand it must have been on days five and six of creation week.  Moses wrote, “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’”   What great joy it must have been for God to design such wonders.

The variety and extravagant use of color on the birds gives us a glimpse into the artistic mind of God.   I have a friend who is a” bugologist.”  He tells me there are thousands of kinds of bugs still to be discovered and named.  I asked him if he could name a bug after me.  “Sure,” he said. “We’ll find a really nasty looking fellow just for you.”  That shouldn’t be difficult because we all have seen some really ugly bugs, which makes me wonder about God’s sense of humor especially since Genesis 1 closes with “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I am sure those ugly male bugs find the ugly female counterpart to be stunningly beautiful.

Cecil Alexander said it so well when he wrote, “All things bright and beautiful.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 13, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I listened to a radio preacher today tell his listeners, “Sin is sin because God said so.”   I kept waiting for him to answer the question, “Why did Godsay so?”   He never did.  I was reminded of a small child asking his parent why he had to do something and receiving the very unsatisfactory answer, “Because I said so.”  Parents usually have good reasons for their requests but sometimes don’t have the time and energy to get the small child to understand.  God is not like that.   He has a reason for every single command and He wants us to explore with Him the reason why.  God is honored when we question Him.  It gives Him an opportunity to display His good sense and love for us.

There is not a single commandment that does not benefit us to obey.  God is not some twisted psychopath who plays with us.  He does not give us rules just to see if we will comply.  He gives direction because in His infinite wisdom He knows what is best for us.  Don’t be content with a “Because I told you so” answer.   As adults we deserve to know the reason and our heavenly Father is delighted to comply.  He knows once we understand we will appreciate and love Him ever so much more because He always has our best interest at heart.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 13, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Some of my undergrads asked me if I have any clothes other than blue shirts and khaki pants.  And if I do, why don’t I wear them?  Well, I don’t.  I have no problem getting dressed in the morning.  I don’t stand there and say, “Humm, shall I wear this blue shirt or that blue shirt.”  I grab the one that’s closest.  It is kind of boring, but it works.

This morning I read Colossians 3 and came across a marvelous verse.  Paul wrote, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  Please note this is not getting up in the morning and deciding which of these we will wear today. We don’t say, “On Monday I will wear compassion, on Tuesday kindness, on Wednesday humility.”  Oh no.  Every day we wear them all.  Every day we are gentle and patient. What is amazing about this wardrobe is it never gets boring.  Undergrads are not going to ask if I have any other clothes.  Compassion and kindness always work.  They never go out of style.  Humility and gentleness never get threadbare.  Patience never loses its buttons.  This is one great wardrobe.

Paul even adds some more to it.  He wrote, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love.”  Well there it is, the all purpose coat that covers the rest of the wardrobe.  It’s love.  Love is stylish and expensive. When it is worn we look marvelous.  I have never ever in all my decades seen someone who loves not look like a million dollars.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I enjoy watching new buildings getting higher and higher.  It isn’t long before the building is higher than the highest crane.  However that is no problem.  The workmen put together a new crane on top of what has already been built and so the building goes higher and higher.  It is the same with building information. Children know lots more about science than their parents.  It isn’t because the children are smarter.  It is because they are building on top of what was discovered by those who have gone before.  We build on the shoulders of giants thus rising higher and higher.

It is the same with our knowledge of God.  Moses and David would have loved to have known as much about God as we know.  It isn’t that we are smarter. It is because we have Matthew and John and Paul.  Those great men stood on the shoulders of the prophets of old and gave us an ever growing clearer picture of God.  We stand on the shoulders of Paul and see even more.  It isn’t that we are smarter than they.  It isn’t because God loves us more than them. We start from a different position.  This is the way it is supposed to be. Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”   The God of the Old Testament is the same God as in the New Testament.  However the writers of the New had the advantage of seeing Jesus, who said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” In the Old Testament God got blamed for a lot of bad stuff that He didn’t do.  One of Jesus’ tasks was to show us the truth about His Father, our Father.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 17, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

All the recent rain left some serious road damage on our way home.  Today they were patched.  Patching works but it isn’t the same as new.  As I bounced across one of them I immediately thought of Matthew 9:16.  Jesus said, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.”   I remembered being a little boy and watching my mother patch my school pants and darn the holes in my socks.  Does anyone darn any more?   While the repaired socks never really felt right I sort of liked the patches on my pants, especially if they were colorful patches.

The context of Jesus’ comments seems to indicate He wasn’t overly enthused about people trying to patch up their broken lives.  He seemed to be more in favor of starting all over with something completely new.  His comments to Nicodemus in John 3 are about a new birth.  Apparently an alteration here and there just isn’t going to do it.  We need a fresh start.  That’s what baptism is all about.  You bury the old man under the water and a new one comes to life.

That is great symbolism and easy to say.  However, I fear most of us have had the unfortunate experience of having the old man resurrect.  He’s like a zombie that refuses to stay in its tomb.  That is a yucky thought.  The old man causes us to commit yucky deeds.  The symbolism of baptism is great but unfortunately it is applied to flawed beings.  Does that mean we shouldn’t bother?  Oh, no.  It just means we need to pay attention and as Paul says we should put him down every time he pops up.  Jesus helps.  Just ask.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I opened a drawer this afternoon and discovered it jam-packed with out-of-date computer STUFF.   There was a tangle of cables and mouses (mice).  We got our first computer in the early 1980’s.  It was a Radio Shack TRS-80 and had huge internal memory of four K.  As I looked in that drawer I realized I could or should toss it all because it will never be useful again.  But some of it still works in a primitive way like that fifty pound screen that takes up an entire desk.  I will most likely keep it in the corner for another twenty years before I finally dispose of it.

Getting rid of old things can be very difficult.  Even though we haven’t used them in years we think there is a chance we just might need them.  Old habits are hard to break.  Even when we realize they aren’t just filling up brain space but are actually harmful, we just don’t want to let them go.  There is comfort in “this is the way I have always done this.”

When I read Romans 7 I wonder what “old man” things Paul was trying to get rid of.  He said he did things he didn’t want to do and didn’t do the things he did want to do.  Paul had been Saul, the perfect Pharisee.  He lived by the letter of the law.  He did not have to give up a life of carousing.  So what was he talking about?  Could it be that sometimes the Gospel seemed just too good to be true and he fell back into law-keeping?  The Gospel is pretty amazing.  No other religion in the world is so radical. It is difficult to quit trying to do it ourselves.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org