Month: October 2024

It went “buzz-z-z,” followed by three tones that counted– one, two, three.  Over and over it was clearly imprinted on the hiker’s brain.  Coming out of the forest he went directly to the computer.  It took only a few moments to identify the call as that of the golden-winged warbler.  He had never seen a golden winged warbler, but he knew without a doubt where one lived.  He went back to the forest the next day and the call came again from the very same place.  “Aha, if I am patient, maybe I will see this elusive bird,” the hiker thought.

We have never seen the Holy Spirit, but we do know without a doubt where He lives.  In Ephesians 5:18 Paul writes of his desire that his readers be filled with the Spirit.  It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells within us.  In John 3 Jesus speaks of the reality of the Spirit, not by seeing it, but by seeing what it does.

It produces major changes in our lives and fruit is produced—the fruit of affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity, a willingness to stick with things, and a sense of compassion in the heart…” Galatians  5:22

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2004

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One of the joys of a computer is the ability to take old photographs and revitalize them.  Time fades prints and with a few careful keystrokes and movements of the mouse they look new again.  We can remove wrinkles on loved one’s necks and bags from under their eyes.  We can put a sparkle in their eyes and ever so lightly whiten teeth.  It is great fun!  We can even create events by putting people in the same picture with another person they never met.  Photography is an art.  It is no longer always a representation of reality.

It is little different from what God longs to do for us.  He is an artist.  He longs to paint a portrait of Himself in each of us.  We will look so great with Him as part of our being.  After all He has no wrinkles, no blotches, no blemishes.  He longs to take the wrinkles out of our personalities.  He wants to remove the blotches and blemishes.  It must be great fun for Him to see His loved one becoming what they want to be—like Him.

Isaiah 1:18 is one of the most famous of all verses in Scripture.  It reads, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.”  We must never forget—we were first made in His likeness and it is to that end that we are destined.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2004

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The gas station attendant walked up to the car and said, “Sorry we are out of regular.  But I can fill you up with premium for the price of regular.”  It was like going into a store for plain vanilla and coming out with Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.

So often our spiritual life is like that.  We pick up our Bibles to study and as we start reading the Lord often gives us “premium for the price of regular.”  Passages like “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

Wow!  He blessed us with every spiritual blessing.  He chose us to be blameless. He adopted us according to His good pleasure.  He lavishes us with wisdom and understanding.  And best of all it is free.  That is premium.  That is Cherry Garcia for the soul.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 11, 2003

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One of the most precious words in any language is freedom.  It is pronounced a hundred ways but means the same thing in every human heart.  The desire to decide for oneself what to think and how to live is an inborn desire planted there by our Creator.  Contrary to many religious leaders, true service to God does not demand mental lockstep.  If God wanted us all to live and think and act in unison, He could easily have created us that way.  And what a dull existence life would be!

God is a creator.  He thinks new thoughts and plans new things.  Furthermore, he created us in His image with that same characteristic.   Freedom to dream of doing, writing, singing and going where no one has ever been before is what makes us so special.  To sing freedom, to write freedom, to act freely makes life full and complete, but only if we use that freedom wisely.  One could easily use freedom to destroy one’s own health and the lives of those about them.  We can eat our way into the grave.  We can gamble away all our substance if we choose.

But freedom used wisely is a magnificent thing.  In Galatians 5:1 Paul declares that Christ has set us free from the bondage of rule-keeping systems to allow us room to grow into our own special uniqueness.  God only wants one of you so that forever you will be special.  Your thoughts, your dreams, your goals belong to no one else.  In love we blend them with the dreams of others and produce the harmony of a community.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 22, 2004

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