Whatever happened to the Kool-Aid Man?

The other day while being silly on Facebook for my status quote I wrote- I wonder whatever happened to the Kool-Aid man? Is he still busting through walls?

I got the funniest response from MK Nathan Nicholls- He wrote:

“I just read the other day that Mr. Aid was arrested in Cleveland when he burst through the wall of a retirement community's recreation room. Unbeknownst to him, there was an elderly woman leaning against the wall, catching her breath after a rather intense game of tidily winks and she took cinder block shrapnel in the abdomen and had to be rushed to the ICU.

Mr. Aid claims that he had heard reports of intense thirst had broken out in the community because of the tidily winks tournament, but police claim that he broke no less than three ordinances and arrested him on the spot.

Mr. Aid plans to represent himself when he appears in court next Tuesday, but according to Mr. Samuel Harrison of the Cleveland District Attorney's office he will face a difficult challenge in that "local law, state law, and federal laws are all very clear on the illegality of breaking and entering, of which this is clearly a case."
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Candle-light vigils are being held for Mr. Aid all across the country.
Another person said that the Kool-Aid man married Mrs. Butterworth and on and on it went.

Now you are probably reading this and you are thinking can you write a devotional about this? How can you not write a devotional on this?

Laughter and joy are two things the Bible is very opinionated about. You have to have joy -it is your strength. Joy is not an option.

You have to have strength to fight. The Bible calls us to “fight the good fight of faith” I Timothy 6:12. So many people today are tired of fighting the fight of faith. The reason for their struggle is because they have lost their joy.

Maybe you are tired of fighting for your marriage. You have had it with your spouse, with your marriage. You think he or she doesn’t love you anymore and you are ready to call it quits.

Maybe you're sick and tired of being sick and tired. You have been sick for so long that you don't remember what it's like to be healthy. At one time, you battled this sickness, but the sickness seems to be winning. So you think, what’s the use, I might as well accept this sickness and learn to live with it. I'm never going to get well.

Possibly you once waged war against your financial debts. But things haven't changed much, and you're beginning to get discouraged. You think that you are never going to get out from under all your bills.

You might be having trouble with your children. You wonder if they are ever going to change, if they are going to straighten up their lives. You are worn out from their rebellion wondering if God can ever change them.

What does the word of God say about all of this? Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Finding Joy and Rejoicing in him is your key. ALWAYS does not mean try it out for one day and put it back in the box- it is a consistent doing it.

How do you find joy? Does that mean that you walk around with a silly grin on your face? Absolutely not! Joy is an inward peace even when outward situations do not warrant it.

If you had joy last week, that joy will not give you strength today. Joy can only give you strength today, if you have it today. This is why you must rejoice always.
You might be thinking today "I don't feel like rejoicing." The Lord did not tell us to “rejoice only if you feel like it." No! He said, "Rejoice always." Obviously, God knows that you don't feel like rejoicing always. Yet you need to rejoice always because if you don't then you lose the strength to fight.

James 1:2 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Pure joy is not happiness. "Happiness" comes from the word "happen." Happiness is based on what is happening. If something good is happening, then you are happy. However, God says that we can have pure joy even in the middle of our trials. That means even when our car breaks down, when your child has a fever, when you have lost your job, when your spouse is in a bad mood- and the list goes on and on.

Why does James tell us to count it pure joy whenever we face trials? Because joy gives you the strength to fight those trials and when you fight you WILL overcome.
James finally says “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (v. 4). You see, James has in mind "victory over trials", not "acceptance of his trials." So by rejoicing, you overcome your trials.

So back to the Kool-Aid man and Nathan Nicholls. What did the conversation with Nate Nicholls do for me? It brought me joy. It let me know that today I can laugh; today I have strength in HIM.

Surround yourself by people who can bring a smile to your lips, people who are life givers and strengthen you. Some of you might be in the heat of the battle today and feel like there is no ending. Move into his presence today- for the word tells us in Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand pleasures forever more.”