What's the Rush: October 6th Devotional

 What's the Rush

James 1:2-3

October 6th Devotional

     On this day in 1960, CBS premiered their newest sitcom, the Andy Griffith Show.  The concept was first pitched on the Danny Thomas Show as a special comedic act featuring Andy Griffith.  The audience reacted so positively that Thomas helped create and direct the new show.   The show focused on the adventures of a widowed sheriff named Andy Taylor who lived in the tiny little town of Mayberry North Carolina.  Living with Andy would be his Aunt Bee and his boy Opie.  Other main characters in the show included the incomparable Don Knotts who played Deputy Barney Fife, Goober and his cousin Gomer, Floyd the Barber, Howard Sprague, Emmett the repairman, Otis the town drunk, Clara Edwards, and my personal favorite, Ernest T. Bass.  Each show opened with the “Fishing Hole” monologue where Andy and Opie head to the lake to do some fishing.   Who can forget the simplistic whistle?  The show would continue for eight seasons, totaling 249 episodes (all of which included Andy), and winning countless awards along the way.  The show was always in the top ten for TV rankings and in its final season it was rated number one.  The show would create a spin-off, Gomer Pyle USMC, and would continue yet another three seasons as Mayberry RFD.  It also went on to produce a made-for-TV movie in 1986.

      My favorite episode is called “Man in a Hurry.”  It follows the story of Malcolm Tucker, a wealthy and important businessman from Charlotte whose car breaks down two miles outside of town.   Mr. Tucker enters the sleepy little burg of Mayberry with high hopes of getting his car fixed quickly only to find out that the town basically shuts down on Sundays.  People take the day off to relax and spend time with family.  Malcolm wasn’t even able to get a phone call out because the Mendlebright sisters would tie up the line all day.  Mr. Tucker was frustrated and fumed trying to get someone to fix his car; he would even exclaim “I want my car fixed now, today, this very minute.”  He struggled with relaxing, he struggled with taking a break, and he struggled with being patient.  I’m reminded of James 1:2-3, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”  Malcom struggled in the face of his trial and his trial proved that he was bankrupt in the department of patience.  Trials often do that.  They put us into the crucible of God to produce godly character.  Trials often touch on how much patience we have, or for some of us, me included, the lack thereof.  None of us like moments that try our endurance, but they are necessary for us to develop spiritual maturity.  Instead of getting anxious and worried maybe we just need to disconnect and simply wait on God.  Mr. Tucker found peace simply sitting on the front porch of Andy’s house peeling an apple.  God invites you onto His front porch to sit down and take your load off.  He invites you in your trial to relax, to rest, and to trust Him.  Don’t allow your patience to be a casualty of life’s pressures.

A Tongue on Fire: January 2nd Devotional

A Tongue on Fire

January 2nd Devotional

James 3:1-12
 

      On this day in 1906 thirty-year-old, Willis Carrier was awarded the first ever patent for what we would now call Air Conditioning.  Willis was born in Angola New York in 1876 and would go on to graduate with an Electrical Engineering degree from Cornell University.  Right after college, he joined the Buffalo Forge Company, a company that specialized in blacksmithing, drilling equipment, steam engines, and pumps.  It didn’t take Carrier very long to become the chief engineer of the company.  One foggy day in 1902 Carrier was standing on a train platform in Pittsburgh when an idea came to him on how to control the relative humidity in the air.  He busily started to sketch, plan, and build.  His invention was a success and was quickly installed at the Buffalo Forge company along with countless other businesses.  The Buffalo Forge Company allowed him to create another branch of their company specifically focused on manufacturing his air conditioning units but Carrier broke away in 1915 to create the Carrier Corporation.  His business thrived until the great depression struck.  Many residential homes simply could not afford the luxury of air conditioning but all of that changed in the 1950s.  The installation of Air Conditioning units started to become the norm in the post-WW II era.  It’s hard for many of us to imagine a world where there was no air conditioning.  It’s hard to fathom not having the ability to hit the dial and lower the temperature during those hot summer days.  Try to envision going shopping with no AC, working with no AC, having a car with no AC, going to school with no AC, to go to a movie theater with no AC.  We might not be cranking the air conditioner on during most January days but in a few months we will be grateful for that cool air.  I for one am grateful for the “Father of Air conditioning.”  

      Some of you can recall a time when your air conditioner wasn’t working.  Your AC never quits on the coolest day of the year, but instead, it always seems to give out on the hottest day.  The Bible talks about staying cool when times are hot too.  James in 3:1-12 speaks a lot about the tongue.  He makes it clear that our tongue is a small part of our body but it can get us into A LOT of trouble.  It’s hard to control the tongue, especially when emotions flare up.  When anxiety, stress, and anger strike us we typically lose our cool and our tongue becomes a burning fire.  As a matter of fact, James 3:6 says “And the tongue is a fire.”  How is the tongue like a fire?  Like a fire, our tongues can burn and damage other people.  We would hate to see how many people and how many times our tongue has done damage.  We would be despondent to realize how many times we failed to encourage someone, love someone, or build someone up.  How many times have we been overly critical of someone?  How many times have we failed to compliment our spouse or lift up our child?  Our tongues can burn and defile other people.  We need to be resolved that when the heat rises around us that not just cooler heads but cooler tongues need to prevail.  

The Inner Battle: November 13th Devotional

The Inner Battle
November 13th Devotional

James 1:14-15

      On this day in 1850, Robert Lewis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh Scotland.  Robert was an only child who was very ill.  His fragile health even lasted into his adult years.  He often missed multiple months of school.  Because of this, he struggled with reading and the ability to make friends.  He developed a love for writing despite his educational struggles.  Stevenson would go to the University of Edinburgh to study engineering.  Most of his father’s side of the family were lighthouse engineers and designers, but Robert found the classes quite boring and would often skip lectures.  After college Robert became an atheist, which broke his parent’s hearts.  During this time, he started to study law and was officially called to the Scottish bar in 1875, but he never practiced.  The only thing that brought him fulfillment was writing.  He became a household name with the swashbuckling adventure “Treasure Island” but his most famous novel was the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”  The idea of this gothic horror novel came to him in a dream (more of a nightmare).  Robert originally wrote the manuscript to the book in three days but his wife suggested that he make some changes.  Robert, who was bedridden at the time decided to burn all the manuscripts, forcing him to start from nothing.  He labored for six weeks on the book until it was finally sent to the publisher.  The book skyrocketed in popularity and became one of Stevenson’s best-selling books.  He would go on to publish 13 novels, 8 books on travel, countless collections of essays, poems, letters, and he even wrote over 120 musical pieces (some set to his own poems).  Robert would tragically die of a stroke at the age of 44, leaving behind many unfinished pieces of literature.

      Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a tale familiar to most of us.  It follows the story of what seems to be two very different men.  A man named Edward Hyde was a villain and murderer.  The other main character is Doctor Henry Jekyll.  Hyde would often commit violent crimes but Dr. Jekyll would have to bail him out.  These events go on for quite some time in the book.  Dr. Jekyll’s friends were flabbergasted by this.  They thought that Hyde was blackmailing the good doctor.  Finally, Doctor Jekyll’s butler informs his friends that Henry had locked himself inside his lab for weeks.  His friends break into the laboratory only to find Hyde wearing Dr. Jekyll’s clothing.  They find a note that gave a grim tale.  The note detailed how Dr. Jekyll often battled the urge of good versus evil.  He tried to repress these terrible urges.  Thus he created a serum that would change him into Edward Hyde.  His alter ego Hyde would then go on a spree of evil and violence.  Eventually, Hyde started to take over without the serum.  Dr. Jekyll determined there was only one way to be free; by tragically taking his own life.  This fictional horror story has an all too real-life feel though.  The story reminds us of the dangers when we allow sin left unchecked in our life.  When we allow sin to domineer our life we will find that it would devour us.  Our sin nature is a monster with a seemingly insatiable appetite.  The draw of sin can derail a life of faithfulness.  Think of how many people have thrown away their families, careers, ministries, or testimonies because sin had become such a dominant force.  The Bible warns of us this in James 1:14-15, which says “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  That when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin: and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”  Those are some very sobering words.  Each Christian has an inner battle; the old man versus the new man, light versus darkness.  It is quite literally a war, but it is a war we need to be aware of each day.  We cannot afford to allow our sinful nature or our ‘inner Hyde” to control us.  We need to regularly be in God’s Word and prayer.  We cannot allow sin to grow in the darkness of our hearts.  Dr. Jekyll’s battle with Hyde consumed him and destroyed him.  Are you battling against the ‘inner Hyde?’

Gifts from Above: June 26th Devotional

"Gifts from Above"

June 26th Devotional

James 1:17

On this day in 1948, President Harry Truman along with other allies begin a massive relief effort called the Berlin airlift. World war II had just ended three years previously and the world was still reeling from the aftermath of so much devastation. Tragically the end of the war did not diminish the tensions at that time. After the war, Germany was divided among the allies into 4 segments. One was given to the United States, another to the United Kingdom, another to the French, and a final quarter to the Soviets. Falling in the middle of this division was the German capital of Berlin. Berlin suffered severe devastation and was struggling to rise from the ashes. To complicate matters the Soviets attempted to create a blockade to prevent any aid to Berlin. This would cut off over 2 million people from food, oil, and other crucial supplies for daily life. President Truman and the allies debated on a military response but resigned to a more peaceful resolution. The Allies agreed to fly planes from the United Kingdom and West Germany over the city of Berlin to provide necessary supplies like food, clothing, fuel, medicine, and other essentials that they were desperately lacking. Multiple different makes of planes were used such as Boeing, Fairchild, and Lockheed, but the most famous were the c-47 and the c52s. Wikipedia mentions that during the length of this mission those two types of aircraft flew 92 million miles, almost the distance from the Earth to the sun. These planes took off every 4 minutes without end. Every day these planes would drop between 5 to 8 thousand tons of supplies. Pilots would often make two to three runs per day. Tragically 70 soldiers died in these operations. The Berlin airlift lasted until May of 1949 when negotiations started afresh with the Soviets. The Soviets saw the futility of their blockade and ended it.

The Germans that were on the ground would often hear the noise of planes and rush outside to receive the much-needed supplies as they were dropped. Their hearts were filled with gratitude for the ample supply that the Allies provided. They often called it gifts from above. The Allies were not the only ones to provide gifts from the sky. The Bible tells us in James 1:17, " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the providing hand of a loving all-knowing Father. A good father loves to provide for their children and God is no exception. It is in his constant unchanging nature to take care of his children. The gifts that he provides are good, perfect, and always in his timing. We can trust in God's never-failing provision because James tells us that there is no shadow of turning (or change) in God's faithfulness. We do not need to look to the skies hoping for a plane to drop good gifts on us. We merely need to drop to our knees thanking our Father in heaven for how he cares for us.