Daily Devotional

There was a short time in my life when driving was a struggle for me.  During my junior year of college, I was involved in an accident that totaled my car and sent me to the hospital. Thankfully, everyone involved in the accident would be physically fine, although neither of the cars in the incident would ever be driven again.

Although I did not realize it at the time, the wreck affected me more than just physically. The impact happened at more than 70 mph. Over the next several weeks, I had to wrestle with both the bodily pain and the mental impression from the wreck. As I became physically able to drive again, I had to mentally prepare myself to drive.

After my wreck, there were obstacles that I had to overcome to enjoy driving once again. I could still see the wreck taking place in my mind…

So I went up by way of the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate and so returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace.” I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they committed themselves to the common good.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

This past week, I had the joy of joining several high school students at my daughter’s school for “See You at the Pole.”  It was a cool, breezy morning as the students gathered in front of the school with the purpose of praying for each other, their school, and their community. It was a wonderful site to see.

As we gathered around the flagpole, we read from the book of Romans. It was the verse that had been chosen by the national “See You at the Pole” ministry. In this verse, the Apostle Paul encourages the church to be, “faithful in prayer.” Paul’s hope was to teach the young church how to live a life that reflects the love and grace found in Jesus, one of the key practices to live out the life of faith.

Our sermon series theme over this last month, Living to Learn and Learning to Live, has inspired us to open our hearts and minds to grow more in our faith. There are so many great resources for us to gain a greater understanding of our world and of nearly any topic you could imagine. We are surrounded by great information and unfortunately even some misinformation. Sorting through and applying this knowledge to our lives is what wisdom is all about. We have been given a great resource in the Bible as a way to learn more about God and about ourselves and our world.  The book of Proverbs is considered one of the books of wisdom literature. Many of the chapters are filled with clever sayings that compare and contrast ways of wisdom and foolishness, or share important truths about handling practical situations…

Unlike many of the toys from my childhood, the transformers are still around. In fact, the movie franchise continues to this day. Multiple new cartoons have been released over the years. There’s something about this toy that resonates with so many people, over so many years. I wonder if it is the ability to transform?

As a child with a great imagination, I often looked at these toys and thought…

At times, age rightfully defines parts of our lives, but age is not the only factor that determines who we are and what we are able to accomplish. Carl Allamby is a wonderful example of this. At a young age, growing up in Cleveland, Carl and his family struggled. He grew up in a family that often faced economic hardships. Carl dreamed of getting a great education and perhaps becoming a doctor. Sadly, Allamby would not be able to leave high school for college. He went to work to help care for his family. He would become an auto mechanic and work in that field for many years. He was proud to help his family.

Carl never gave up on his dreams of education and becoming a doctor…

It had been a long day; in fact, it had been a long day and night. I walked into the house after a day of work and an exciting Wednesday Night Alive, only to be greeted by warmer temperatures in the house than outside. Something had caused our air conditioner stop working. It was not the homecoming we were expecting.

It is important to note, that I really like my air conditioner. Like, I really, really, really like air conditioning- especially keeping the temperature low at night.  It makes sleeping a joy. When the air conditioner does not work, I get cranky (my family might say this word is not strong enough).  So, the prospect of enduring a warm, sleepless night was challenging for us all.

I was prepared to stay home the next day and wait for the AC company to come and repair our system.  However, I sat down and opened YouTube…

The next day, as they were on their journey and coming near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and desired something to eat; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”