Category: devotional

One of the very first sets of books I ever read was Bedtime Stories by Uncle Arthur Maxwell; five books filled with character building stories for little people.  When I was learning to read my father sold those books door to door.  Well, that was what he was supposed to do but he was the principal of an elementary school and instead of going door to door he got his colleagues to put them in their school libraries.  Never did I dream in a thousand years that as an adult one of our best friends would be Arthur Maxwell’s son.  Today the stories are very outdated but the moral lessons are eternal.  Good morals never go out of date; only the cultural details change with time.

This afternoon my sister went to a u-pick apple orchard and was laughing at people trying to get just one or two more apples to balance on top of the baskets they purchased to fill.  Inevitably the balanced apples tumbled to the ground before they got to their cars.  When she told me about it I immediately remembered one of Uncle Arthur Maxwell’s stories about their family sitting around the table and one of the boys always made sure he got the biggest pie or apple or whatever, just so it was the biggest.   Then one day the biggest pie was hollow and the biggest apple had a bad center.

It is part of our nature to want to get the biggest and the most but so often in life the biggest isn’t the best.  True happiness in life comes from service to others.  Real happiness comes from helping others get the best.  Life’s greatest rewards are the fruit of unselfishness and from putting apples in another’s basket.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 11, 2010

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Occasionally I receive emails from individuals who remind me that even though salvation is free we can’t go on sinning as usual.  What I want to say but won’t because it wouldn’t be nice is “Duh!”  Of course not.  If one truly understands God’s incredible gift of grace one would want nothing more than to be like their saving hero.  That means by His grace and with His help I will do all I can to be “good.”   The key here is motive.  I am now wanting and trying to be good not to be saved but because I am saved.  The real fruit of a Christian life is that which comes because more than anything we want to be like Jesus!

When I was a little boy I wanted to be like Roy Rogers.  I had a double holster with two cap gun six-shooters.  I used to stand in front of a mirror and would see how fast I could draw those guns.  I had seen a movie when Roy drew them like lightning and that is what I wanted to do.

“Now that I have put away childish things” I still want to be like my hero.   Except now instead of my hero drawing a six-shooter He draws something so much finer.   My Jesus draws pictures of His perfect character on the canvas of grateful souls who know there would be no possible way for them to have eternal life other than by grace.

The tone of the emails I receive are almost like people are afraid someone will be saved and still get away with doing something bad.    Well, we will, but not because we want to.  It us just because God is still working on that canvas!

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 20, 2010

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While going through old papers, one of our friends in California came across a forty-seven-year-old newspaper from Andrews University.  Thoughtfully she mailed it to me thinking I might be interested since my picture was on the front page. I doubt if anyone in my present circle of friends would recognize me if my name wasn’t also there.  If it is true that we totally exchange all our cells every seven years or so that means I have had almost seven different bodies since that picture was taken.   Since I have in the past year or so gotten a new knee and a new hip that brings the score up to eight for those parts.  That person in the picture was me but isn’t me.  So the question arises who are we or what are we.  If that was me but isn’t me who is me?

For all of us, “Who am I” is one of life’s great questions.  I am my mind. But what is that and how does it differ from my brain?  Perhaps my brain is a house where my mind lives. Am I but a collection of memories, attitudes, ideas and a temperament?  Are these what God saves when this mortal shell stops breathing?  If I read 1 Corinthians 15 correctly Paul says we are but a seed to be buried that will yield an incredible being as unlike the seed as a big red juicy watermelon is different from the black watermelon seeds we spit into the grass on a hot summer afternoon.  It does appear that resurrection is really recreation.  Or should I say creation, since what appears is not like what died?

When I was 22 and a graduate of the seminary I had answers.  No more.  Now I wait for the God, who promises to do far more than I can imagine, to give me the real answers.  See Ephesians 3:20.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 19, 2010

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With great regularity my wife comes up with terrific ideas.  It’s nice to live with her because I often take the credit for the good things that result from her brilliance.  Here’s one of MY latest really bright ideas. Our new puppy Annie walks about the house looking for things to chew. We supplied her with lots of chewy stuff but noticed the novelty of each new item soon wanes and she is off looking for something else.  My new idea is to put the chewy items in the bag with her food.  They soak up the flavor and are then received with great unwaning interest.

Very early on in life I learned the value of surrounding one’s self with people who are smarter than I am.  My wife is smarter than I.  Thus we had children who are smarter than I.  I really don’t mind being the dumbest person in the family because of the collateral benefits I then receive.  It also works with friends.  I must say I have many really brilliant friends. They are fun to be around because they are witty and kind enough to laugh at my often poor attempts at humor.   Once again I benefit.

This idea also works in my spiritual life.  Some people are easily influenced by those about them.  I think I am one of those easily influenced because I note how quickly my conversation degrades or elevates depending upon the moral tone of those about me.  I’m a better person when I am with good people.  I can be pretty seedy when with those whose conversation focuses on base things.   If you are like me and have a malleable character, make it better by spending time with good people, smart people and best of all, spend time each day with Jesus and His word. You will be so pleased the result.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 23, 2010

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While I cannot remember a specific occasion I most likely have committed a social indiscretion through the years.  Only today did I learn that one is never to congratulate a bride.  Only the groom is to be congratulated.  To congratulate is to express joy over one’s accomplishment.  To congratulate a groom is to be joyful that he has won the heart of his intended.  To congratulate a bride would mean she finally got her man and is saved from spinsterhood.  Humm?!

The above logic presents an interesting idea regarding Revelation 19.   John portrays Jesus as the Bridegroom and we are His bride.  We are not to be congratulated upon receiving our salvation.  It is Jesus who is to be congratulated for winning us.  We are the object of His wooing.  He is the one who paid the horrendous price that we might be His.  He is the one who chases us and will not let us go.  He is the victor and the glory belongs to Him.  We are the ones taken to His house.  We are the ones bound into the family of God.

The one thing that makes Christianity different from all other religions is not our moral code.  Other religions have high moral standards.   What makes Christianity different is it is the only religion that proclaims the truth that from the foundation of the world God has been pursuing us.  Other religions proclaim the mistaken notion that God can be found by us if we sacrifice enough and perform penance for our sins.  Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.”   We do not need to go on pilgrimages to find that door.  It is in our minds all the time.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 25, 2010

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I passed a very specific group of people this weekend and found myself grateful that I did not have to associate with them.  My sons would accuse me of being an elitist but I would argue that was not the case.  It was not that I felt that I was better than those in that group.  Not at all.  It is just that talking with them would be uncomfortable because we have so little in common.  Conversation would be strained and artificial.  I cared little about what seemed important to them.  I could have asked them lots of questions.  I don’t mind appearing ignorant; I am in many areas.  And while I could have informed myself, I really didn’t care to.  It’s true that birds of a feather flock together and for very good reason.  It is comfortable.

Jesus tells us we must love each other.  He does not expect us to like each other.  I doubt if Jesus liked Herod the night Herod had Jesus beaten. Sometimes we err in confusing liking and loving.  Loving is wanting the best for you and wanting the best for your family.  Liking is wanting to spend time with you.   I have never understood Will Rogers’s famous line that he never met a man he didn’t like.  He was so much more eclectic than I.  I wish I were like him.   (That’s a different use of the word “like.”  No wonder English is difficult.)

Jesus’ comfort level with everyone has always intrigued me.  He was comfortable with the lowest of the low and seemed equally comfortable with the wealthy.  He was a common man.  He was a man who labored with His hands.  He was royalty. I really wish I were like Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 23, 2010

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Last semester I overhead two theology majors discussing the physical features of the cross of Jesus.  One had taken the position that Jesus’ nailed feet were only a foot above the ground while the other took the more traditional view that His nailed feet were about eye level.  Both of them were quite passionate regarding their position.  After one reads Ephesians 1 one can easily come to the conclusion that it does not matter.  What matters is “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, . . .”

Using ancient Middle Eastern imagery Paul envisions Jesus’ absolute dominion over the entire universe by placing everything that is under His feet. Jesus rules.  Please note this is not a future tense but a present tense reign. Best of all it is eternal. It will never be usurped.  That is good news for us.  His lavish beneficence toward us means there will never be a time when all our needs will not be fully provided.

When I use the word “needs” I am not speaking of the basic needs of survival.  I am referring to the entire needs pyramid.  We will have all the basics, all the security, all the love, all the self-esteem and all the actualization possible for that specific moment in eternity.  The next day it will be increased as we increase in the likeness of Him.  Please notice verse 18 speaks of our increased understanding and the riches of His glory being ours. This is heaven far beyond petting lions and playing with tigers. This is big people’s heaven.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 3, 2010

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Yesterday, while I was in a middle school, I walked past a table filled with mittens and gloves.  I mean filled.  There must have been a hundred pairs and then another hundred singles.  We are having fifty degree days now in New England so I am thinking most of those gloves will not be missed until next fall.  By then the owner’s hands will have gotten bigger so new ones will be the order of the day.

When I was little and had lost several pairs of mittens my mother finally put a string on them that ran through the sleeves of my coat.  I stopped losing them.  It was a bit dorky but it worked. Not every thing that is practical can be cool.   Functionality trumps beauty over and over. What is wonderful is when you have a combination of both.  It’s great to get a beautiful wife who can also cook a great meal and also bring home a paycheck.  I know.  I know. That was a crude thing to say.  How about this for an illustration?   A beautiful car can also get thirty miles to the gallon and get you safely to your destination.  That most likely works better as an illustration.

Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder I believe God thinks each of us is beautiful. How grand it would be if we would allow ourselves to be functional for Him.  In Ephesians 2 we are told God has a work for us to do. If we cooperate with Him we are beautiful and functional.  There were some beautiful gloves on that table at the middle school.  Alas, they were not being very functional.   They were lost.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 12, 2010

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Almost everywhere I go these days there are containers dispensing hand sanitizer.  I see them in schools and offices and this weekend I noticed one in the lobby of my church.  It’s a good idea considering how often we shake hands with others.  It really is surprising how healthy most of us are considering that people cough and sneeze into their hands and then shake our hands.

Shaking hands is a very old custom crossings many cultures.  Last evening I noticed the following in Galatians 2:9, “James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship.”  Martin Luther once refused to shake hands with Zwingli because Zwingli believed the Lord’s Supper was only a memorial. And John Wesley refused to shake hands with George Whitefield because they disagreed over the doctrine of election.  It is interesting how passionate we can be over our beliefs.  I won’t mention politics other than to say I know a Republican who won’t shake hands with a Democrat.  Ouch.

If you want an interesting topic to occupy your time look up variations of the word “shake” in a concordance.   You will find hands shaking, heads being shaken, the heavens and the earth shaking, fruit trees shaken, knees shaking, minds shaken and of course the whole room was shaken when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost.   Jesus even told His disciples to shake the dust off their feet if they were not welcomed where and when they tried to share the Good News.

I have often thought about shaking Jesus’ nail scared hands.  I do think He will extend them to us, but I think the sight will be too overwhelming for me to reach out and touch them.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 20, 2010

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Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “In much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”   This is part of Solomon’s dissertation on the futility of life.  The more we know about the world the more we learn of man’s inhumanity to man.  The more we know about ourselves the more knowledgeable we become of our defects and natural depravity.  If one is speaking of the end result of much education and study then Solomon is absolutely right.   With knowledge comes despair because injustice and pain just keeps on going.

However, it is imperative to say Solomon is not completely right and had he known Jesus he surely would have added an exception.  To know Jesus is to know what God is really like.  To know Jesus is to know there is hope for a better tomorrow.  Not all tomorrows will be like all our yesterdays. The sun will not always come up and go down with the same wearisome effects. To know Jesus is to know that character growth and godliness are contributive to a better eternity with God and it is not merely something that will decay in the ground with those who never bothered to better themselves.

Had Solomon known Jesus he most likely would have amended       Ecclesiastes 1:18 to read something like this.  “In most wisdom there is much grief, and he who increases worldly knowledge will increase sorrow.  But he who learns much about Jesus will grow in wisdom and joy.”   Jesus was a game changer. He took the human experience and turned it from futility to purpose.  Jesus showed us that life is full of pain but only for now because a richer, better, fuller future awaits those who grow in Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 4, 2010

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