Category: devotional

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 2 Marc Antony rises to speak at Caesar’s funeral and says, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”  Thomas Jefferson was brilliant.  He was encyclopedic in his knowledge of science, philosophy and government.  He along with a handful of brilliant men gave us America. Winston Churchill stirred the hearts of his countrymen and fortified them to resist in the darkest of times.  Yet, so often I hear that both men were spendthrifts with little control over their wallets.  Why do we do this?  Why do we say things like this?  Is it to reassure ourselves that even great men are not perfect?  Why when speaking of Judas do we always talk of the betrayal and rarely speak of his genuine love for Jesus?  Why when speaking of Noah do we refer to him as a drunk and rarely, if ever, speak of him as the savior of humanity?

Even as I write I realize I am doing it.  In a backhanded way I am reminding you of these great men’s faults lest you forget they were not perfect.  Jonah must have been a powerful preacher but rarely do we hear about his oratory.

In Romans 12 Paul wrote, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”  If we did surely we would not be sure to speak of another’s failures.  I know a man who calls me friend and yet every time he sees me he speaks of one of my failures.  I really don’t need him to do that.  I know and remember them well.  I confess I am happy to rarely see him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 15, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I was in Walmart this week and was suddenly enveloped in a cloud so potent I almost gasped for a breath of fresh air.  He looked like he was 15 and apparently he had just taken a shower and finished off with some manly body wash.  He was a walking advertisement for Old Spice or some other manly fragrance.  I wondered how that was working out for him.  I looked around for a female 15 year-old thinking he might be on a date treating his sweetie to a trip to Walmart.  Pretty classy place for a date.  But he seemed unattached.  Maybe he was on the prowl.

Being that I had just read II Corinthians 2, I subsequently thought of the following, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved.”

What a great idea.  Paul wants us to be a pleasing presence because Jesus is in our hearts.  So, why is it then that I am often put off by the scent of some so-called Christians.  I am uncomfortable with their holy vocabulary and better than I attitude.  I should be careful here, because some people like Old Spice and others like Polo.  Perhaps the aroma of Christ comes with different fragrances to appeal to different kinds of people.  Just as one size does not fit all so one fragrance does not appeal to all.  That’s why Jesus needs all of us.  There is someone out there who needs you or me and no one else will do.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 15, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I received two birthday cards yesterday, one from my sister and one from a dear friend.  They are exactly the same other than the personalizations inside.  Since both of the senders will read this I want to assure them that it is okay, because it is the personalization that makes the card so special.  It’s like people are to God.  People are basically all the same.  If not, it would be impossible to write a psychology textbook.  Psychology is only possible because of our samenesses.  God has created billions of us.  However, we are basically the same no matter what race or gender.  Normal people (two standard deviations on either side of the mean) act and think alike.  I doubt if I have ever thought an original thought because somewhere in time and space someone has already thought that thought.

But then there are the personalizations.  Each of us is unique enough to make us special for God.  God has never had persons like us.  Perhaps there have been a trillion humans since Adam and Eve and never has there been another so like you and me.  It’s the personalizations that matter.  That is why God will forever mourn the eternal lose of someone who fails to accept the gift of eternal life.  Every parent knows when they lose a child that no other child will ever fill the void left behind.  I once heard someone try to console a grieving parent by saying, “You can have another.”  Really?

Even if you have a hundred doppelgangers it does not make you replaceable because it isn’t your cheekbones God loves.  It is your soul, your personality, your you.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 13, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

I am so thankful for the option in my email program that allows me to preassign certain senders to the junk graveyard.   I along with you probably receive over a hundred emails a day, of which 80% are unwanted.  It would be awful if we had to decide on each one each day whether or not to read it.  I love getting email from my friends and I love being able to only pay attention to the emails that matter.

In II Corinthians 3 Paul refers to us as letters.  He wrote, “ You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

I love the concept that we can be a letter from Christ to our friends and family.  How utterly awful to be junk mail.  We all know people who, when showing up, make us groan inside because we know some unpleasantness is about to descend upon us.  That’s junk mail.  But it is so grand to think that we can bring genuine joy and peace to people merely by showing up.  When that is the case we are letters from Christ.

Some of you might be thinking, “Did he just say some people are junk?”  No.  That’s not what I intended.  But, I did intend to say that the message some people bring is junk.  With Jesus in our hearts we can light up a room and chase the gloom of ridicule away.  Jesus makes us positive and it just spills out.  We can’t help it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 14, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

When we need to fly somewhere my wife always buys our tickets early enough so she can select our seats.  She prefers the aisle seat while I like the window seat.  She doesn’t feel so confined and I can sleep with my head against the side of the plane.  It works pretty good but there is a problem. More times than not we alienate the person sitting between us.  It’s not because we are talking over them.  We try not to be so rude.  It happens when they first arrive.  You should see their faces light up when they realize we are together.  How could they be so fortunate?  This is an opportunity for them to be noble and offer to change seats so we can sit together.  We won’t mention that they will not have to sit for hours in the middle seat.  When we decline their generosity they go hostile on us.  There is an instant disappearance of their smile and a humph.  They plop down into the seat of discomfort and rarely will they ever again say a word to us.  It is like it was our fault they bought their ticket too late to get a decent seat.

Now being the nice guy that I am I sometimes try to warm them up with a smile or a greeting but it rarely works.  I know what Jesus would do but I am not yet that sanctified.  Jesus said, “Do unto others what you would have them do to you.”  The Golden Rule indicates I should give up my seat.  But I revert to the Silver Rule of don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.  I never awaken them so I can crawl over them to get to the restroom.  I can wait.  After all I am a nice guy!

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 9, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

Have you ever wondered what it means when the emcee of a contest tells the finalists, “Good luck to all of you”?  Only one person is going to win. Saying “Good luck to all of you” is meaningless.  If the emcee said good luck to just one of them, that would have meaning.  However, he/she would be violating any appearance of being impartial and make it appear the contest is rigged.

At first I wanted to say God says to us, “Good luck to all of you.”  That would have meaning because we can all win.  However, that doesn’t work because the word luck denotes chance as in rolling dice.  We are not saved or lost because of chance.  We are saved as a gift and lost only if we do not accept the gift.  There is no luck involved. We do not win salvation at the expense of others being losers.  However, I get the feeling that many people think luck is involved.  If asked if they are saved, many people say, “I hope so.”  Somehow, that seems to include a hesitancy that includes a bit of chance.

I love what John wrote in I John 5.  He said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  Please do not fail to notice the word “know.”  Assurance of salvation is the difference between an abundant life and a so-so life.  This weekend we flew back and forth from Mass to California.  Without assurance of salvation I would have been listening for any strange noise coming from the aircraft.  With assurance I settled in knowing whatever happened wouldn’t change eternity for me.  That’s a done deal.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 7, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

The New King James Version translates Ephesians 5:1 as “Therefore be imitators of God.”  And I respond, “Really? Can Paul be serious?”  Just what is he saying?  There is no way I can imitate God and speak worlds into existence.  There is no way I can be a source of life by saying, “Lazarus, (or whoever) come forth.”  God is morally perfect.  I cannot be so other than by allowing Jesus to stand in my stead.   Part of the problem here is I haven’t considered the milieu of Ephesians 5.  It’s dangerous to lift any text or sentence out of its context.  If we look carefully at Ephesians 5 Paul is telling us to walk in love for others.  Even that is difficult.  To love one’s friends is one thing but to love one’s enemies is another.

Often we hear people say, “I only attack people who attack me.”  And that is the reason the world is in and has been in a mess for all of recorded history.  The eye for an eye Old Testament philosophy leads us into a nowhere future of just more of the same.  Paul goes on in Ephesians 5, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them.”

The wrath of God Paul is speaking of is not a vengeful God pouncing upon us when we do evil or just plain stupid things.  God’s wrath is passive.  He merely allows us the tragedy of reaping the fruit of what we sowed.  If when attacked we return the gesture with a turned cheek and a “I’m sorry I agitated you” we will then begin being imitators of God just as Paul counseled us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 1, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

I don’t know what she saw but it initiated a full scale attack.  All 100 pounds of our beautiful black lab hurled toward the dangerous object.  Unfortunately there was a thick glass storm door in her way.  I have never heard such a sound before as she lay crumbled on the floor.  It was a pain-filled wail.  Fortunately, it only lasted a few seconds. She is okay but her nose took a horrendous hit.  I am sure she will never do that again.  She is a fast learner.

Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there.  And of course the opposite is true.  Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it is there.  We need to sense other factors.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 6, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

There are some who love conspiracies and think some evil plan lurks behind every event in their lives.  Actually, we are quite capable of inventing ways of self demise. I doubt if the world would be any better if Satan died today.  Humans are quite adept at creating and doing evil.  Yet, we should not be so quick to write off conspiracies.  In his first letter Peter wrote that Satan is like a prowling lion seeking to devour us.  Fortunately, there are other unseen beings.  Psalm 91:11 assures us there are angels assigned to guard us.  The fact is we are not alone.  Just because we cannot see them does not mean they are not here.  Hopefully, we will be fast learners and be aware

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 31, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

I had a chore this morning that needed two extension cords for extra distance.  I plugged them in and started across the yard.  However, I ran out of cord before arriving at my destination.  Looking back to see what was wrong I discovered instead of plugging them together I plugged the end of the second one into its own receptacle.  It was a loop.  It was plugged into itself. It was hopelessly powerless.

At this point I can imagine you know what I am going to say.  You think I am going to say that cord is just like people.  As long as we are plugged into ourselves and not into a true power source we are hopelessly powerless.  If you thought that, you were absolutely correct.  Now, we might not be totally powerless.  We are like batteries that have some self-contained power and can accomplish some things.  But all batteries no matter how good eventually run dry.

If we want to accomplish great things, if we want to exceed our expectations, then we must plug into real power.  In Matthew 19:26 we read, “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  As long as we think we can do it by ourselves we are destined to be so much less than what we were created for.  Paul wrote, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, . .”  Ephesians 3:20.   God has great plans for us and they will happen if we cease being plugged into ourselves.  Then and only then will our Father’s dreams for us be fulfilled.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 30, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

This afternoon I called one of those Papa places to order a pizza.  I told the girl I wanted a large with two toppings and asked her the price.  She told me it was $16.00.  I then said I was sure she could offer me some kind of special.  “Oh yes,” she said.  “You can have a large four topping for $9.98.”  So I said, “I want a large four topping pizza with onions, green peppers, pineapple and mushroom.  Oh, could you please hold the green peppers and pineapple.”  “Great,” she said, “That will be $9.98.”  I just love talking to teens.

It’s natural for us to want things as cheaply as possible.  Often we wait to purchase something until it is on sale or if we can find a coupon. If eternal life was offered for sale I’m sure we would do our best to get it as cheaply as we can.  The rich young ruler asked Jesus what he had to do to be saved.  When Jesus told him to give away all his goods, the young man went away sorrowfully.  The cost was too much. In Luke 14 Jesus told us to count the cost before embarking upon a project.

So just what is the cost of salvation?  It’s free.  But there’s a rub.  It cost everything you are.  The issue is love.  We can’t buy love but once we experience love we would give everything – even your life.  Notice I said everything we are and not everything we have because God isn’t interested in what we have.  He only cares about what we are.  He wants us to be His child.  He wants us to be like Him.  It’s because He knows if we are like Him we will live the most abundant life possible and that makes Him happy – Very Happy.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 26, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org