The Power of the Rod

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 (New American Standard Version)

 Do you know what a shepherd’s rod is or what it’s for? I quoted today’s verse for years with no idea what I was talking about. When I did finally learn what it means for a shepherd to carry a rod I came to a whole new appreciation and respect for the care and courage of the shepherd. A rod is a weapon of protection for the sheep. Shepherds in the Middle East and Africa still carry them. A rod is a short club that is crafted from a young sapling and cut to fit the hand of the shepherd. After the shepherd finishes making the rod he practices throwing it until he perfects his aim against any predator that may threaten the sheep. A rod in the hand of a good shepherd becomes not only a weapon of protection but also a symbol of power and authority in defense of the flock. The sheep of his care rest easy in the nearness of a good shepherd knowing that remaining near him means he will not hesitate to protect them in any frightening valley or from any lurking shadow. The staff is a sign of guidance, supervision and even fondness. Sometimes a shepherd will walk beside his favorite sheep allowing his staff to rest upon the back of the beloved one in a sign of affection.

When I’ve walked through my own personal valleys it was sometimes difficult to know that I was under the guarded eye of the Good Shepherd. But when I came out of the valley of the shadows into the light it was both a surprise and great comfort to see Him walking beside me with His rod in one hand and His staff resting upon my back. Not only was He guarding me He was holding me in the highest regard and affection. His protection isn’t a duty but a love. In any darkness you may find yourself today I encourage you that the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is right there in the dark places with you. May you be comforted knowing His rod is ready to protect and His staff to give guidance, fellowship and affection. His Authority given by the Father is His rod and His Loving Kindness to you is His staff. You can be comforted in the dark places and know He is really there with you. Where you are right now might be dark and scary but His watchful eye is upon you. His rod and His staff are ready to do their job. There is the greatest comfort in that.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Last Word

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” John 18:38 (New American Standard Version)

The words Jesus spoke are the most profound any human has ever uttered. Why then did He say so little during His trial before His crucifixion? He was silent before Herod Antipas. When the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, later interrogated Jesus Pilate asked the rhetorical question, “What is truth?” It really wasn’t a question asked to gain insight but was asked in a spirit of distrust and skepticism. It is not recorded that Jesus said anything to him in reply. We can look at that momentary pause after Pilate put that question out and are surprised that Jesus said nothing. Imagine what He could have answered in that moment. He could have said something that would have knocked Pilate to the marble floor. He did it to the men who came to arrest Him with the simple words “I am He.” (John 18:6). But He made no defense to this Roman chief but only agreed He was indeed a king. Most of us would be looking to sing like canaries, to give a rapid defense and to have the last word. It isn’t that Jesus was powerless to do so. He told his disciples that if He wanted He could summon more than 12 legions of angels for help (Matthew 26:53). To give you an idea of what that might have looked like consider a fully equipped Roman division of infantry (a legion) consisted of about 6000 soldiers. Twelve legions would be 72,000 men. Now 1 angel went through the camp of the Assyrians and slew 185,000 of Israel’s enemies in one night (2nd Kings 19:35, Isaiah 37:36). Imagine what 12 legions of them released for war could have done to the earth in defense of the King of Glory. I truly believe Jesus was keenly aware that all He needed to do was speak the word and thousands of angels would immediately pour out of heaven on His behalf.

Why didn’t He do that? When He was brought before the disbelieving Jewish Council wouldn’t it have been grand if He’d proved without a shadow of a doubt that He was Israel’s long awaited Messiah by releasing His power before them and revealing the truth of who He really was? Instead the opposite happened. Jesus made no defense. As Isaiah foretold, as a sheep before its shearer is silent He didn’t open His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). During the entire arrest, trial and execution of Jesus He didn’t strive to demonstrate the upper hand although He held it the entire time. At any moment He could have called on heaven to immediately get Him out of the situation. He simply chose not to. There was another motive He followed and that was obedience to the will of His Father to become the supreme sacrifice for all the sins of the human race. To those who arrested Him He said simply, “But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” What He did that night in allowing His arrest was not by constraint, but by consent.

Jesus Christ could have had the last word but for your sake and mine He chose not to. He knew the shedding of His blood would bring the solution of total forgiveness for our sins. His silent obedience led Him to a cruel method of execution and the perfect sacrifice and the shedding of His innocent blood satisfied God’s wrath toward sin and sinners. But before He died on the cross His final sentence proclaimed the plan of God’s redemption as finally finished. Three days later the grave He’d been buried in came up empty with no practical explanation of how it was done under the noses of seasoned Roman troops guarding the tomb. He had been resurrected from the dead and in the ensuing days He was seen powerfully alive to hundreds. Considering the evidence of His living presence throughout the past 2000 years it is clear He will again have the opportunity for the Last Word and at that time He will not remain silent. The next time the King of Glory speaks it will be in His established eternal kingdom ruling in all Authority. There will be no doubt that as a man born in a lowly Middle Eastern town some 2,000 years ago He is now the Exalted King of Glory. His kingdom will be established in the highest and greatest glory the universe has ever seen or ever will. All because when He had every right to do so He chose not to seek the last word.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

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