Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 28, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”

(1 Corinthians 15:33-34).

The last three days we have been considering habits. Yesterday we discussed bad habits. Bad habits must be broken and replaced by good ones. I hope each of you had a chance to come up with a list of good habits. It takes time, effort, and practice to build and bolster good habits.

Here is my list of good habits. It is by no means exhaustive. You may your own list of things that are good and should be consistently practiced.

1. Read the Bible and study it. 2. Pray for others and for your self. 3. Go to church, to all the meetings. 4. Call a friend or relative and see how they are doing. 5. Be more positive. 6. Be thankful to God. 7. Live today as if it’s your last day on earth. 8. Encourage others, give honest compliments. 9. Tell the truth. 10. Drink plenty of water. 11. Exercise. 12. Do your share of the chores. 13. Take the blame when you do wrong. 14. Be kind to all. 15. Be generous. 16. Give to your local church. 17. Have people over for a meal and fellowship. 18. Testify and witness to the unsaved. 19. Be on time, in fact ten minutes early. 20. Get more sleep.

It is important to commit to good habits. Habits become habits by repeating them over and over. I trust our study has been a blessing. If we want to be faithful Christians we must break the bad habits and build good ones.

Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Bad habits chain us; good habits free us.

Dean

-August 27, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”

(1 Corinthians 15:33-34).

I hope you completed your homework assignment to come up with a list of bad habits. I came up with twenty-two, but there are many, many more. Some of them are sins, others are just poor behavior or poor choices for a believer. It is kind of a “not to do list.”

1. Smoking. 2. Drinking. 3. Taking illicit drugs. 4. Depending on opioids. 5. Gambling. 6. Swearing. 7. Blowing up in anger. 8. Being late. 9. Being sarcastic. 10. Telling or listening to off color jokes. 11. Interrupting others when they are speaking. 12. Not actively listening to others when they are speaking. 13. Desiring or insisting on my own way. 14. Finishing other people’s sentences. 15. Making excuses. 16. Trying to justify my mistakes by blaming others. 17. Overeating or eating junk food. 18. Accumulating stuff in the house or garage. 19. Procrastinating things that need to be done. 20. Spending too much time on line. 21. Wasting time. 22. Not getting enough sleep.

Believe me I am guilty of quite of few of these. It is truly convicting to me. I know I need to break these bad habits, in fact I will tomorrow! Lol. Oh, that’s right, that would commit I #19! Seriously though, if we asked God for His power and were willing to do our part, starting with the most odious, we could change for the better.

So many times we say, “It’s just how I was brought up,” or that’s just the way I am.” For you married folk, you could ask your spouse, “What do I do or not do that bothers you?” If you’re single, you could ask a good friend. But best of all we can ask the Lord to show you and help you break the chains of a bad habit.

May the Lord help us to be accountable to the Lord, our spiritual leaders, and our spouses and children. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Good news! Tomorrow’s lesson is on how to build and bolster good habits. So our homework is to make a list of good habits.

Dean

-August 26, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’ Awake to righteousness and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”

(1 Corinthians 15:33-34).

There are basically two types of habits: bad or good. The definition of a habit is, “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up; a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly, and tends to occur subconsciously.”

If we repeat the same behavior over and over, it becomes a habit. Bad habits in particular ruin our lives and affect those around us. Worse yet, they can destroy our testimony before the unsaved and before our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Good habits on the other hand, promote consistent godly living and enhance our spiritual lives. The key to good habits is the word continue. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard” (Colossians 1:23).

By the power of the Holy Spirit bad habits can be broken and good habits can be built and bolstered. Tomorrow we will consider bad habits and how to break their destructive chains. Our homework is to write down as many bad habits you can think of, then identify which ones are affecting your life in some way.

Have a blessed day walking by faith with good habits, and breaking the bad ones. Stay safe and healthy.

Thinking of our behavior and how much habits play a significant role in our daily lives.

Dean

-August 25, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and earth.”

(Psalm 121:1-2).

In the old western movies, the cavalry would show up in the nick of time to help and rescue those in dire circumstances. The cavalry, as good as they were, Him toi could never compare to the Lord.

The unknown writer of this psalm knew very well where his help came—it was from thr the Lord. The Lord can use whatever means necessary to help us. God can use people, circumstances, pets, and even the weather. God is limitless.

Perhaps you have been a situation where your car broke down or ran out of gas, and someone came along at just the right time to help you. God has a knack of parting seas and rivers, closing the mouths of lions, sending His Angel to destroy a whole army of Assyrians. Paul was delivered from a great storm and shipwreck, and an angel broke Peter out of jail, sparing him from certain death.

Where does your help come from? For all God’s children, our help comes from the Lord. The prolific hymn writer Isaac Watts wrote the hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” He wrote, “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.”

Have a blessed day looking to the Lord for His help. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

When you need an answer, a solution, or a way out, go to the Lord in prayer who will show you the route.

Dean

-August 24, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”

(1 Corinthians 4:2).

As believers we belong to the Lord and everything we own. We are stewards for Christ. The word steward is defined as, “to manage or look after the property of another.”

To be a steward is a huge responsibility, and with it comes accountability. Romans 14:12 says, “So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.” God gives each of us time, talents, and treasures. How we use what He has given us determines our future rewards.

The chief quality of a steward is faithfulness. Not all of us have the same spiritual gifts and ministries, but they are all important to the Lord. When we are faithful to the Lord in the least, we will be faithful also in the much.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his servants and delivered his goods to them” (Matthew 25:14). In the parable the master entrusted five talents to the first man, two to the second man, and one to the third man. The first man made five more talents and the second man made two more talents, but the third man buried his talent in the ground. Upon his return, he blessed and rewarded the first two, but judged the third one for not using his talent.

May the Lord help us to be faithful stewards, using everything He has given us for His glory. Stay safe and healthy.

When our work on earth is done, we want to hear our Lord’s well done.

Dean