Category: devotional

By October, 1905 the Wright brothers had flown 160 times.  The longest flight was twenty-four miles and lasted thirty-eight minutes.  They could control their plane, fly in circles, bank and lightly land.  The Dayton press was reporting eye-witness accounts.  The Wright brothers wrote to then Secretary of War William Howard Taft in a desire to involve the government with what they were doing.   The Wrights received a form letter from the government basically rejecting their offer and did not even bother to send a representative to Ohio to see.  Meanwhile the English and French governments were courting Orville and Wilber.

Two days after John baptized Jesus, Andrew and another disciple were following Jesus and asked where Jesus was staying.  Jesus response was a classic.  He said, “Come and see.”  They did and how their lives did change. “Seeing is believing” is a fairly reliable way of verifying something.  However, even then our eyes can deceive us.  Magicians are able to do things faster than our eyes can record.  But for most things seeing is good.

When Thomas said he had to see to believe, Jesus was very understanding and came especially for Thomas, who loved Jesus dearly.  It was Thomas who earlier said when Jesus was returning to Judea, “Let us go and die with Him.”   In John 20 Jesus says about us not having a chance to see, “Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.”  Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  While it is true in the beginning of our walk with God it is a faith experience but after a while when we have tasted and seen it is as real as anything can be.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 17, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

In Massachusetts we have to have an annual inspection for our cars.  They check the lights, the horn, the front wheel bearings, the wipers, etc.  Today I took in my car and noted my anxiety.  What if they found something wrong that I was not aware of?  If they did and it was not a quick fix they put a “fix it” sticker on the car instead of the normal sticker.  It would be like Hester wearing her scarlet letter “A”.  Even worse it would be like arriving at the gate of heaven and being rejected because of something we did decades ago and could not remember.

I am so thankful that cannot happen because we are not saved nor lost because of a single act.  Instead, and how wonderful it is, we are saved by the grace of our Jesus, who could produce not just one wrong act but a whole list of wrong acts we did not remember.  Instead Jesus covers us.  Not because we are worthy but because He is worthy and can grant us unlimited grace. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”  Hebrews 7:25.  Please notice the word “completely.”  In the King James Version the word that is used is “uttermost.”   He lives to intercede for us.  This is wonderful beyond words.

So if you are afraid of something horrible in your past, accept His grace and then forget it.  Because after we are forgiven “all” our sins are blotted out.  If God doesn’t remember, (see Isaiah 43:25) why should we?  Oh, I needed a rear light bulb in my car. There was no grace.  I had to fix it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

My younger son bought me a new pair of dress shoes.  My old pair is twenty years old and my family told me they looked it.  Since it was evident I was not going to trade them in, (one becomes attached to old friends) he went on line and found the exact same shoes and got them for me.  They look stiff and I am thinking it will take a few wearings to get them to feel like the old pair.

I like old things.  Old cars, 57 Chevys, 64 Mustangs are treasures. Old friends are the best.  New friends have to be broken in like new shoes.  It takes a while to be comfortable enough not to feel like you have to talk.  You can tell when someone is really your friend.  You can just be together with no need for anything verbal.

It’s like that with Jesus.  Jesus told us He is our friend.  That means praying isn’t talking but being.  You don’t have to be saying something or trying to express your feelings.  It’s comfortable just being. Conversation isn’t stiff like new shoes or new friends. Uh huhs, hems, yeps, yeahs, nahs all work just fine with no added explanations. I have a few friends with whom I can spend lots of very quiet time.  They are the best.  Jesus is the best.  He doesn’t need our yakking.

Have you ever met someone who is instantly comfortable?  You have known them ten minutes and it feels like ten years.  When we are with Jesus face to face will we feel the need to be verbally praising and thanking Him or will He understand profound silence?  After all He is an old friend who has known us since before we were born.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

One of the first things one is taught when taking flying lessons is not to believe what they see or feel.  It has been proven over and again that our senses do not always tell us the truth.  Pilots are taught to trust their instruments which are not subject to human experience.  Sometimes when flying level one feels like one is climbing and so we push in the yoke thinking to fly level but we are really descending.

Thus it is with people, it is not wise to trust or make important decisions on the testimony of just one person no matter how trustworthy.  They can honestly be wrong.  In I Corinthians 15 Paul wrote regarding Jesus’ resurrection, “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time.”  Five hundred is an excellent sample size for researchers.  Then Peter wrote, “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”  Please note the “we” not “I.”

We have a tendency to believe something on a very small amount of data or just because something, we think, happened to us.  The average person dreams three to seven dreams a night.  That is between 1500 and 2500 dreams a year.  Yet, I know someone who claims to believe his dreams tell his future because a few years ago something he dreamed came to be.  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

If we are to know something, really know, we have to have adequate data.  Regarding the resurrection of our Lord, the data and sample size are more than enough.  HE LIVES.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

Our world is full of passwords.  I’m sure I must have a dozen different ones for various computer accounts.  If I lost my password book I would be in huge difficulty.  Through the years it has gotten difficult to use because of having to change passwords that have timed out.  The old passwords are crossed out with new ones scribbled in any available space.  My great grandmother’s maiden name just doesn’t work anymore because now we have to add &*%#’s. No, that isn’t code for bad words.  It really is &*%#.

In Judges 12 there is an interesting story about the password Shibboleth.  One could know the word but if they did not pronounce it correctly, not only did it keep them out, it meant death.  Ouch.  42,000 were killed. (And we think the world is violent now!)  So what’s the password for heaven?  If we don’t know it, it also means death.  Paul lets out the secret in Romans 10:13.  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  And we don’t have to worry about pronunciation.  You don’t even have to say it.  All you need to do is think it!  We don’t have to worry about it timing out.  As He is eternal so it is eternal.

Now I realize some will say, “Hey, that is too easy. You are giving away heaven.”  And my answer is, “You’re right. It is easy.  But I’m not the one giving heave away.  Jesus is.”  Do you remember the parable about those who complained about workers who only worked one hour receiving the same as those who worked all day?  I have always loved the master’s response, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”  God is generous!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

Enduring for over an hour the pedantic Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the glorious triumphal choral ending (Ode to Joy) is like enduring the vicissitudes of life for the glorious beginning.  It’s worth it.  However, if you watch the Ninth on YouTube it is easy to skip the first fifty minutes and get to the good part.  That is obviously something one does not want to do with life.  Even though we are looking forward to being with Jesus, being here with children and grandchildren is a bitter/sweet introduction to what is to come.  Paul wrote, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”   See Philippians 1:22-23

Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem Birches, “I’d like to get away from earth awhile and then come back to it and begin over. May no fate willfully misunderstand me and half grant what I wish and snatch me away not to return. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.”  Obviously he wasn’t of the same frame of mind as Paul but he was right about one thing.  Earth is the right place for love. It is here that we learn how we will live in heaven.

When life’s issues become almost unbearable and we are tempted to abandon hope remember Beethoven’s Ninth.   The glorious end is coming and for us it will be a glorious beginning.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 18, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

Words are pictures of ideas.  We might be tempted to think some words are merely pictures of things.  But things are ideas.  One of the most endearing words ever is Mother.  Mother is an idea embracing so much more than one human.  A Car is a thing.  But the word Car fills our minds with freedom and style and places.  And so it was that John chose to begin his Gospel by calling Jesus the Word.  That name is filled with endless ideas about the greatness of God and His love for us.  John finishes his gospel by saying, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”  In between his introduction and his coda John calls Jesus, the light of the world, the lamb of God, the water of life, the bread of life, the good shepherd.  Each descriptor is filled with ideas.

A word as simple as Mean is not so simple.  It could mean giving meaning.  It could mean being average.  It could mean being nasty and surly.  It could mean one’s intention. If I said something is awful you do not know if I mean it was horrible or so wonderful I was awed by it.  It is no wonder there is so much strife in the world.  Knowing what someone means when they use words is very challenging.  Perhaps the most sensitive task in the world is being a translator at the United Nations.  A wrong meaning could start a nuclear conflagration.

“In the beginning was the Word.”  God is a treasury of ideas that lead on to more ideas which lead on to more ideas.  Eternity will be an endless stream of ideas expressed in The Word.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 13, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

The first thing I do every Sunday is read Blondie and The Family Circus in the funny papers.  Blondie and Dagwood have been a part of my mental family as long as I can remember.  What’s wonderful about them is they are ageless. Alexander and Cookie have grown up but Blondie is as pretty as ever and Dagwood as goofy as ever.  I especially like Dagwood’s boss, Mr. Dithers.  And Daisy, the dog, is as spry as she was seventy years ago.  In 1960 I added The Family Circus to my Sunday morning literary habits.  Their entire family is ageless.  Unlike Alexander and Cookie, the Family Circus children are still children.  Billy, age seven, is the oldest of the children and is eternally delightful.  He has been seven for fifty-six years.  He has been better at keeping young than was Jack Benny.

One of the marvelous wonders of being a parent is watching one’s children grow and develop.  One of the saddest things about being a parent is watching one’s children grow and develop.  There is an ironic enigma to successful parenting.   We want them to prosper and yet one day the nest will be empty.

One of the advantages our heavenly Father has is His nest is never empty.  He is omnipresent and can enjoy us at His will.  However, there is the perhaps not so good thing of knowing too much about your children and their friends.  It is amazing that our heavenly Father continues to love us while knowing everything about us.  I have to conclude that His love is based not upon what we are but upon His knowledge of what we will be.  What we will be is so fantastic Paul says in Ephesians 3:20 it is more than we can imagine.  It will be that good and more.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 11, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

Most of us really dislike dandelions, at least in our own yard.  The leaves are not that attractive, but one has to admit that the flower is dazzlingly yellow.   And when the seeds turn into that snow-white ball yet still cling to the stem, they are beautiful.  No matter how old one gets, the urge to pick that snow-white ball and blow is almost irresistible.  Ever so gently we pick the easily broken stem.  We don’t want any of the seeds to dislodge until we blow.  Then with a birthday cake candle-blowing burst we launch a hundred seeds into the air to drift into our neighbors’ yards.  And how can they be angry?  They too have blown seeds into our yard.

There is an old saying that a weed is just a flower in the wrong place.  Sometimes we are tempted to think this about people when we see them struggling to achieve in a setting that is not a good fit for them.  They look rather like a weed.  But they do have gifts.  Everyone has something they can do very well.  And in another environment they would be dazzling.  The challenge is to find it.  What breaks your heart is seeing an elderly person who never found his or her place to bloom.

There is a beautiful song in the musical West Side Story that says,

“There’s a place for us—somewhere a place for us,

Peace and quiet and open air wait for us—somewhere.”

There is a place for everyone here and in heaven.  Our calling is to help each other find both.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 31, 2004

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

The back cover of a recent Fortune Magazine has the following message.  “89% of the Fortune 100 (corporations) trust Salesforce to power their success.”  So it appears the old expression, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door” is not true.  You can have the best product in the world but you have to let the world know.  We frequent a local business owned by a really fine man.  Unfortunately the lady behind the cash register is surly and unpleasant.  If we did not like the owner we would never do business there.

Jesus is the BEST product in the world.  He offers out of this world comfort and love.  In His wisdom, (which we cannot doubt, but does make us wonder) He has given us the responsibility to be His Salesforce.  I want to say, “Oh Horrors” but, I will trust that He knows best.  Are we really better at this than angels would be?  I guess so.

I along with you want so very much to be a great salesperson for Jesus.  Often sales personnel are incentivized by personal rewards like higher pay or paid vacations to some far off isle.  Sometimes I hear sermons about stars in our heavenly crowns; one star for each person we brought to Jesus.  Oh, please no!  If you are like me we would spend eternity counting each other’s stars to see who was the best.  I don’t want one.  I don’t need one.  If I get one I will put it in a closet.  Our incentive is our love for Jesus.  We get eternal life.  We get redemption and forgiveness.  What possible THING could ever begin to compare.    Being like Him surely is the best way ever to be His Salesforce.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 8, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org