Tin Can Beach

And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. Colossians 2:13 (New American Standard Bible)

Growing up in southern California in the 1950s I got to spend a lot of time at beaches along the coast. There was one beach that was called Tin Can Beach by the locals. The reason it was called that is it had received the trash, broken bottles, tin cans and other assorted debris over the years from people who went to spend the day at the seashore. The standard operating procedure for trash before Woodsy Owl’s “Give a hoot-don’t pollute” campaign was when you were done with it toss it on the ground (or the sand). Tin Can Beach was one of the filthiest public places I can recall ever seeing. As the new decade of the 1960s came in the City of Huntington Beach cared enough to clean up Tin Can. Over a few months all the trash and rusted tin cans were cleaned up and the beach was given a clean and manicured look. It even got a new name-Bolsa Chica State Beach. Imagine how shocked I was when I first saw the new face of this beach. It was clean. It was neat. As a teenager I spent a lot of hour’s enjoying the new beach forgetting how dirty it had been at one time.

I’ve been thinking about Tin Can and how dirty and messy it got through years of neglect. Standing on that stretch of shoreline we all thought it was beyond redemption and too far gone to be worth doing anything with. It would be forever a beach full of rusted tin cans. We were like that once and many people who saw us said “That guy (or gal) is too far gone and dirty for God to change.” Or the classic; “You need to clean up your act before God will consider being your friend.” Uh-huh, like Tin Can Beach could have cleaned itself up. If that had been the case it never would have happened. A lot like us. It took concerned and loving hands to clean up Tin Can and it took concerned and loving Hands to clean us up. We didn’t have to go to God first because He loved us first and approached us with the intent to clean up our soiled lives through His redemptive plan that involved His Son Jesus Christ. Tin Can Beach could not have gone to the city council and asked to be cleaned up. The city sought to restore this stretch of California shoreline. In the same way the initial offer of human restoration was made by God to us and not by us. What a glorious saga this story interweaves throughout the Old and New Testaments. For while we were as dirty and foul as Tin Can Beach Christ died for us (Romans 5:10).

It’s good to recall Tin Can at times. It was something that was dirtied beyond belief yet still loved and wanted. The thing about Tin Can is that after it was cleaned up and given a new name the City of Huntington Beach continues to keep it in a continual state of care. If people are willing to clean up such a mess and continue to care for it how much more is Christ willing to save us from our bad choices and by His power to keep us clean and sanctified? God saw us before we were born and knew what the condition of our own shoreline would be, yet He came to us in our dirtiest state because He first loved us and cleaned up our lives when we called on the name of Christ for help. Dirty beyond belief and then cleaned with great relief. The vast Pacific rolls its breakers upon a clean beach in southern California. So Christ has done for us in cleaning up our own Tin Cans. And coming from that vast ocean of His love to us is wave upon wave of astounding grace.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Rhoda and the Gang

And when she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the front gate. Acts 12:14 (New American Standard Version)

A few times when I’ve prayed for something that didn’t come to pass someone has said to me, “Well, Ken, your faith just wasn’t strong enough.” Honestly, it used to torque my jaws when this was said but now I have to chuckle and refer them to the prayer meeting of Rhoda and the Gang. Peter had been put in prison by King Herod for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A group of believers got together at the home of John Mark’s mom, Mary, to pray for Peter. During that prayer vigil an angel went into the prison and got Peter out of stir. Peter immediately set off down the dark streets to Mary’s house. When he knocked on the door a young woman named Rhoda answered and heard Peter’s voice and with joy ran to tell the others Peter was at the front door. Those great men and women of faith immediately told Rhoda she was out of her mind and it couldn’t be Peter! But to Peter’s credit he kept knocking until someone let him in. And the greatest part is when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed it was actually the guy they’d been praying for (Acts 12:16).

Now Peter could have just walked on home, gone to bed, and got in touch with the Brethren the following morning, but it is interesting the Lord led him to Mary’s house that night where a prayer meeting was going on for him. Those folks were praying but it is evident from their response to Rhoda they didn’t have much hope that God would answer their prayers. So where was the faith that got Peter out of the Big House? It is obvious the belief of those praying wasn’t very high yet there was indeed faith in all of them deciding to come together to pray.

Because God is Sovereign He chooses to act any way He sees fit even if it’s answering a prayer given in a rapid state of decay. Indeed He knows our makeup and that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14) yet the Bible is consistent in telling me and you how compassionately He loves us and that His loving kindness will last forever. With that Kindness and Might working for us and the ever present problems we face are we still uncertain God will act mightily on our behalf? Rhoda and the Gang didn’t seem to have much faith but there was faith in meeting together to pray about big issues and Peter facing possible execution was a big issue. There are many who use prayer as an excuse against involvement. Hey, I prayed about it, OK? And then they go on without offering to become part of the solution. The Lord calls those who will pray to do so and He will deal with those who use it to get around getting involved. The Lord commends us to fervent prayer for one another and even for our nation struggling to find peace that only Christ can impart. Rhoda and the Gang may have prayed without much faith but the results were noteworthy anyway. It broke Peter out of stir. If need be He can bust us out of stir too or even change and revive the heart of a nation.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

David the Speechless

Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” 2nd Samuel 7: 1, 2 (New American Standard Version)

King David was filled with regret. God was living in the Tabernacle (a tent of meeting) while he, David, was living in a fine palace. Because of this he called his friend and prophet of Israel, Nathan, to him and revealed his plan to build the Lord a house worthy of His Name. Nathan was pleased and told David “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.” Later that night, God spoke to Nathan and explained that because David was a man of war his hands were tainted with the blood of battle. Because of that he would not be allowed to build the Lord a house. But instead of only bad news the Lord told Nathan to tell David that He would instead build David a house. In His loving kindness and mercy this house God would build for David would endure before the Lord forever including a Kingdom Throne that would be established forever (2nd Samuel 7:16). That throne’s everlasting power and glory was given to David’s descendent Jesus Christ.

The next day Nathan gave David the news. Instead of David showing regret or anger or sadness he was moved with awe at the goodness of the Lord. He went in and sat down before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me this far?” He went on to say, “What more can I say to you?” David was probably one of the most articulate men in history. If that is difficult to believe read the Psalms. But when the grace and kindness of his Lord was shown to him in his wonder and praise he went from being David the Articulate to David the speechless.
When we know what we truly deserve and the goodness God gives us instead through His grace it is enough to leave anyone speechless. David was not the most faultless saint in God’s eyes. The Lord knew the bad choices David would make yet He poured out blessings upon him even to bringing the Messiah through his earthly line. We ourselves are certainly not faultless in our actions and thoughts yet God loves us unconditionally and has given us a house of righteousness to dwell in through His Messiah and Son Jesus Christ. When we do stop to consider how much God does love us and how He continually blesses us it is a channel for intensely moving praise. And when I consider that for my own life it truly does leave me speechless.

O Lord God we are in awe of your continuing grace. No words of praise we can express sufficiently honor your Glory as You deserve to be honored. Yet You delight in the wonder, awe and praises of your children even when that awe leaves us speechless. Thank you for all the good things you do for those who love and serve You.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Big John's a'Comin'

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18 (New American Standard Version)

A tenderfoot had just arrived in a town in the Wild West. He no sooner stepped off the stagecoach than many of the townsfolk came running past him in terror. Weeping women were grabbing their children and hurrying off to hide. One old timer ran past the dude shouting, “You’d better find a good place to hide, Stranger. Big John is a’comin’!” Everyone in town was getting out in a hurry. Instead of running the dude from the East was curious and stepped up on the wooden sidewalk to see what was going to happen. In a few minutes he noticed a large dust cloud heading down the street. As he watched, out of the dust cloud rode a weather beaten old man riding a grizzly bear and using a rattlesnake for a whip. The old man rode the bear up to a water trough, climbed down and dunked his head into the trough, drinking until all the water was gone. After a few moments he looked up, shook water out of his scraggly beard and said with alarm, “You’d better head for the hills, Stranger. Big John’s a’comin’!”

I learned early on in my life that no matter how big and bad someone is there’s always someone who’s tougher. I remember a 4th grade classmate named Roger who took down a 6th grade school bully named Billy. Billy the Bully. All of us kids were scared to death of this kid who routinely terrorized whoever was close enough to make eye contact. He used our fear as a tool toward intimidating us. This one particular day, to our great pleasure, Roger got that big bully into a headlock and held him until the bully started to cry and beg for mercy.

I often remember that story when Satan and his power seem to loom too big and too unstoppable. Satan does have limited power yet it is dwarfed by the power of Jesus Christ. Whatever Satan does he does only by the assent and will of God. Satan has been trying for thousands of years to destroy the work of God only to be thwarted at every turn by God’s Wisdom and Eternal Power. Like a bully Satan uses bluster and fear to scare us into discouragement and paralyze us into inaction. While he does have more power than we humans that power can be compared to a match flame in a hurricane compared to the Power of Christ. There is a feeling within the human community that Satan is the equal of Jesus Christ. He is not nor has he ever been. He may be the equal of the archangel Michael but he does not hold power or command anything close to the power and authority of the Son of God. Jesus said all power and authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. I think the adjective all pretty much sums it up. We can be sure when Satan rides into town in a swirl of dust he’s constantly looking over his shoulder because he knows Jesus is right behind him. Yes, I would say all power and authority pretty much covers it.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Who Ate Who's Lunch?

Then Rabshekeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have?’” 2 Kings 18:19 (New American Standard Bible)

I recently heard a minister speak a good word about how near and strong God is for those who honor and serve Him. Hezekiah was king of Judah and had been approached by a guy named Rabshakeh, an emissary of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, telling Hezekiah that Judah was doomed and, to use a modern colloquialism, was going to “eat Hezekiah’s lunch,” that is, overthrow and destroy him and his kingdom. Needless to say Hezekiah was quite frightened. He sent his servants to the prophet Isaiah and inquired as to what the Lord would do.


Isaiah told the servants to tell the king not to be afraid because of the threats with which the king of Assyria threatened Judah and blasphemed God. The Lord had a plan for little Judah, outgunned and standing alone against the mightiest army of that day. Isaiah’s word from the Lord was “Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.” That very night an angel of the Lord went out and destroyed 185,000 soldiers in the camp of the attacking Assyrian army. After this defeat Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, where he suffered the ignominious fate of being murdered by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer (Isaiah 37:38).


When we are threatened by the Rabshekehs of the world and find we are vulnerable all around it is a great encouragement to remember we serve a God who is powerful to save. He knows and understands where we believers are and can certainly intervene on our behalf. He has never lost control and He always hears us when we pray to Him. He may not always respond for us in such a way as He did for Judah, although He is still able to. Any way He chooses to respond for us is perfect because He is perfectly holy. You can take His response to Hezekiah as one of the defining aspects of His personality to those who love and serve Him. Those who want to eat our lunch may ask what is this confidence we have? “Because you have prayed to Me about your situation I have heard you.” Rabshakeh and Sennacherib came with the intention of eating Hezekiah’s lunch but the Lord sent them both away hungry. Is someone trying to eat your lunch? You may find that when the sun next raises the camp of your most ardent enemy is no longer a threat.


Ken


www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

One of These Days, Alice

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase. Daniel 12:4 (New American Standard Bible)

For those of us old enough to remember the 1950s situation comedy “The Honeymooners,” we recall Ralph Kramden’s continued hollow threat to his long suffering wife Alice, “One of these days, Alice…pow, right to the moon!” Today is the 40th anniversary of the day humans first walked on the moon and I’m happy to report we did it without Ralph’s help. I was a mere 19 years old at the time and was as astounded at the feat as was the rest of our planet. I learned later that at the moment the moon landing was being broadcast around the world the crime rate in every nation fell. I guess all the crooks were indoors glued to someone else’s TV set.

The angel Michael told the Hebrew prophet Daniel that in the last days before God begins finishing His redemptive plan for planet Earth that people would be going back and forth throughout the earth and knowledge would be greatly increased. It was only 66 years from the time Orville and Wilbur Wright lifted their Wright Flyer off the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina for a fleeting 59 seconds that Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin put their feet on the surface of the moon. Since 1950 the time between the doubling of knowledge has grown increasingly shorter. At first knowledge was doubling every decade or so, then every 8 years, then every 5 until today it is estimated that all knowledge is doubling at a rate of between every 22-24 months. Because of commercial air transportation people are going to and fro throughout the entire earth in a matter of hours instead of weeks and months as a mere 100 years before.

Knowledge began to really move in the 20th century and has picked up to a blistering pace into the 21st. Most would agree the earth is in quite a mess at the moment and if there isn’t an answer to the problems we face as a race then we are truly hopeless. There are wars and rumors of them, earthquakes in various places, famines and pestilences worldwide, not to mention the madness we see in daily news casts. So what is the answer? The Jewish prophets foresaw total redemption of mankind and the earth through the personal intervention of God Himself. Daniel prophesied about the redemption of the earth from its curse and the return of the Messiah to rule it from His Temple in Jerusalem. The conclusion of the age is exciting to contemplate and the signs of the last days as the Bible relates them add additional evidence to its closing. Jesus said when we see these things coming to pass then lift up our heads for our redemption is approaching. What an encouragement from the word of God. And for Him to do it for us we don’t have to ask for the moon. He is in the process of being faithful to His word and to finish His work of redemption. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

A Guy with a Mop

A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 (New American Standard Bible)

One of my most memorable experiences with the wisdom of King Solomon came one day while I was working at a local hospital in the house keeping department. My supervisor assigned a young fellow, new to the job, to me to take around the hospital and acquaint him with things and with what needed to be done on a daily basis. We were chatting as I finished mopping an area of tile floor that went out to the loading dock. As I was wringing out my mop two women from the hospital offices came through as my charge and I continued our friendly conversation. All of a sudden our chat was broken by a loud voice strained with subdued fury. “Hey, you with the mop.” We looked up. One of the women was pointing her finger at me. I remember her friend had lowered her eyes in embarrassment. The lady speaking went on to say to me, “This floor is way too wet. Your carelessness is going to cause someone to slip and get hurt. You need to pay attention and be more careful!” I looked down at the floor and saw it was the normal dampness after having been mopped. As I stared at the floor for those fleeting seconds I was thinking shall I be defiant? My mind was going over some really harsh words. What to say, what to say?

Then today’s verse came to mind. I looked all around me at the freshly mopped floor and raised my eyes to her. She was glaring at me, daring me to defy her. I said gently, “Yes ma’am, it is a little wetter than it ought to be isn’t it? I will be more careful in the future. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.” The steam went out of her and her mouth actually dropped open. Her friend’s eyes went wide with surprise too. Not knowing what else to say my antagonist replied, “Well, you just watch what you’re doing or I’ll report you to management.” Having been deprived of ammunition to continue her attack she and her friend hurriedly exited the area. My young apprentice looked at me and said, “Man, I wouldn’t have been that nice. I would have told her where to go.” I told him “I can’t respond with that kind of gentleness and restraint on my own. Only the power and grace of Christ could make me answer like that. That lady could have just been chewed out by her supervisor or had a tiff with her husband this morning and her reaction was just a symptom of her anger and frustration. I just happened to be handy to lay it on.” He looked thoughtful and we continued our training.

I wish I could be consistent in answering with a soft answer all the time, but alas I am not. I’m just glad there really is Power through the Holy Spirit that strengthens me to respond and not react. Knee jerk reactions can eventually cripple our walk with Jesus. Who knows but that lady went home that evening and after considering my response may have said to her family, “I had the strangest encounter today with a guy with a mop.” A soft answer may not be what we want to give in moments of stress and attack, but they really do turn away wrath and in the process demonstrate the greater power of Christ in our lives to those around us.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com