Category: devotional

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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Dirt sneaks up on you.  Ever so slowly it changes the appearance of something in a house until one day you look with horror at the door from the garage into the house and wonder how something could have gotten so dirty without your noticing it.  What about the earpiece on your telephone–have you looked at it lately?

Dirt sneaks up on our characters.  Continued exposure to media that feels the need to press the edge of decency has its subtle effects on us.  Things that used to offend are now taken for granted.  The edge of offense has moved.  Little by little we change until one morning we wake up wondering how we got “here from there.”  We never noticed it happening.

Sometimes we think it is sophisticated not to be offended or shocked by indecencies.  We are fearful of appearing immature or prudish if immorality insults.  Paul understood this and appeals to us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We really need to be careful; dirt does sneak up on us!

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 28, 2003

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The secret of effective marketing is to spend your resources exactly where your target audience is located.  Have you ever noticed that the network evening news hour has an abnormal number of commercials for painkillers and digestion remedies?  No Gap advertisements during the evening news.  Just painkillers and car commercials.  Marketers know the ages, needs, and desires of those who watch the evening news.

At a small town Dairy Queen just above the opening where orders are placed is an advertisement for a local fitness program.  While ordering a super-sized double fudge gigantic chocolate malt one has to read about the wonders of Ralph’s personal training program.  This is extremely effective marketing on someone’s part.

Marketing the Gospel of Jesus is a challenge.  While it is true everyone needs Jesus, everyone needs Him for their own reasons.  Some people respond to messages filled with scary threats about hell.  Others are turned off by that and will only respond to a message of assurance and peace.  Young people are attracted in different ways than people over forty.

If there is someone dear to you who has never accepted Jesus, the question to ask yourself is, “Do I make Jesus attractive or repulsive by the things I say and the way I act?”  Marketing is very important.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 26, 2003

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We used to joke about getting an “A” in recess on our report card.  Now we know how very important recess is.  Recess isn’t a child just running about between reading and math.  Recess is a child stimulating physical health, mental coordination and the development of social skills.  All three are extremely important for life after school.

Often times during the job interview process a highly educated person is passed over in favor of a lesser-trained person because the latter had better social skills.  A sour apple can spoil an otherwise wonderful work place.  Recess is a rough and tumble place where the “sour apple” learns how to get along.

In Romans 14:19 Paul counsels, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

This is called getting along.  Sometimes it is a challenge.  Sometimes it means surrendering a privilege.  Being a mature person means weighing the outcomes of certain actions and behaviors.  It means selecting that which will bring harmony to a potentially explosive situation.  Often it is a skill learned during recess.

Recess is important.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”  Matthew 5

Written by Roger Bothwell – October 2002

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Fall days in New England are glorious.  When the leaves are starting to turn, the cool weather invites one to get out of the house and fill one’s lungs with the freshest oxygen in the world.  The invitation was all that one bicycler needed. Before leaving home he put fresh batteries in his GPS, turned on the tracking feature, and tucked it into his pocket.  After an exhilarating two hours he returned home, plugged the GPS into his computer and clicked the download button.  The most marvelous thing occurred on the computer screen.  A map appeared of the forest with a yellow line detailing his exact journey with all its twists and turns.

A marvelous promise is found in Psalms 121.  Verses 7 and 8 say, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

If a small, pocket-sized, electronic device with two penlight batteries can track and save the wanderings of a lone bicycler in the forest, it is surely not stretch of the imagination to understand how an infinite God who sees all can do exactly what He promises.  He will watch over you both now and forevermore.  What comfort!

Written by Roger Bothwell in October 2002

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Words are wonderful.  These audible and written symbols that enable us to transfer ideas from one person’s mind to another can be wonderful or horrific.  Words can heal.  Words can wound.  Words can restore life.  Words can bring death.  These sounds that come from our mouths are awesome tools for good or evil.

Words bring us joy and sorrow.  Words can be fun.  Betty Bobsy bought bitter butter that made her better batter bitter.  Sometimes they are incomprehensible and make us rush to our dictionaries.  Other times they are from a totally different language and dictionaries don’t help.

The psalmist understood.  In Psalms 19:14 we read, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”  Our words reveal who we are.  Sometimes we craft them very carefully and other times they pop out surprising even us and we say, “I can’t believe I said that!”

Solomon said, “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious…”Eccl. 10:12.  Wouldn’t it be grand if our words were always gracious and healing?  With God’s help we can be filled with words of life and hope to all who hear us.  We can tell the story of Jesus.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 26, 2003

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In the backs of our brains we store all kinds of information.  Occasionally, just for fun, we swipe away the cobwebs of our minds and try to remember some of our mental treasures.  Among some of the treasures we sometimes find old word parts from a Latin or Greek course taken years earlier.  One such prefix is “epi-.”  It means “upon” or “about.”

Perhaps we remember this prefix because we see it so often in English words. People in California regularly hear about the epicenter of the latest earthquake.  At funerals we hear epitaphs.  On television we watch episodes.  At the end of a book we read an epilogue.  Some winters we experience epidemics of the flu.

Thinking about one’s relationship with Christ and how He showers us with grace, may cause us to wonder if it could be called epigrace.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit falling upon us could be called epidivinity.  One thing for sure is we have experienced epilove.

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression—it is by grace you have been saved.”  Eph. 2:4-5.

Written by Roger Bothwell on Oct. 15, 2002

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We used to joke about getting an “A” in recess on our report card.  Now we know how very important recess is.  Recess isn’t a child just running about between reading and math.  Recess is a child stimulating physical health, mental coordination and the development of social skills.  All three are extremely important for life after school.

Often times during the job interview process a highly educated person is passed over in favor of a lesser-trained person because the latter had better social skills.  A sour apple can spoil an otherwise wonderful work place.  Recess is a rough and tumble place where the “sour apple” learns how to get along.

In Romans 14:19 Paul counsels, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

This is called getting along.  Sometimes it is a challenge.  Sometimes it means surrendering a privilege.  Being a mature person means weighing the outcomes of certain actions and behaviors.  It means selecting that which will bring harmony to a potentially explosive situation.  Often it is a skill learned during recess.

Recess is important.  Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”  Matthew 5

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 8, 2002

rogerbothwell.org

Fall days in New England are glorious.  When the leaves are starting to turn, the cool weather invites one to get out of the house and fill one’s lungs with the freshest oxygen in the world.  The invitation was all that one bicycler needed.  Before leaving home he put fresh batteries in his GPS, turned on the tracking feature, and tucked it into his pocket.  After an exhilarating two hours he returned home, plugged the GPS into his computer and clicked the download button.  The most marvelous thing occurred on the computer screen.  A map appeared of the forest with a yellow line detailing his exact journey with all its twists and turns.

A marvelous promise is found in Psalms 121.  Verses 7 and 8 say, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

If a small, pocket-sized, electronic device with two penlight batteries can track and save the wanderings of a lone bicycler in the forest, it is surely not stretch of the imagination to understand how an infinite God who sees all can do exactly what He promises.  He will watch over you both now and forevermore.  What comfort!

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 7, 2002

rogerbothwell.org