Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 19, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.”

(Psalm 107:8).

The writer of Psalm 107 is anonymous and is one of the longer psalms with forty-three verses. The title of the psalm is, “Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance.”

The same words are repeated four times in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31. These words tell us to be thankful; what we should be thankful for, and to whom we should be thankful to. It represents God’s desire for us all.

• Give Thanks to the Lord – The psalmist wrote, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord…” God is the source of every blessing. The words of the Doxology say, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” It is like picking a ripe fruit off a tree. Someone had to plant the tree, water the tree, and let you take one of its fruits.

• For His Goodness and His Wonderful Works – God is good and He showers us with His goodness at all times, in all ways. Even in our times of suffering and pain. He has saved us and given us all things in Christ. His blessings are past, present, and future. In our analogy of the fruit tree, the owner tells us to come by as often as we desire to eat from it at no cost.

• To the Children of Men – God’s offer goes out to all people, but only few choose to respond to it. They are either too busy, too preoccupied with other things, or think they have plenty of time to decide to come at a later time. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The devil in the form of a serpent craftily lied to them, making it seem God was depriving them of something good. He is still employing the same deception today.

The very next verse demonstrates what God has for us, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (verse 9). Our souls are longing to be satisfied, our hungry souls to be filled. God always fulfills His promises to us. Our cups run over, over and over.

The song writer wrote, “He is my everything, He is my all; He is my everything, both great and small; He gave His life for me, made everything new; He is my everything, now about you.” God is our enough.

Have a blessed day seeing His goodness and wonderful works all around us, and thanking Him. Stay safe and healthy.

A thankful heart is a happy heart.

Dean

-August 18, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort to those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

(2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

I stand in need of comfort, for I lost my dear Sylvia, my second mother, I love so much. We grieve over her loss, but not like the world, for our hope is in Christ. She with the Lord right now.

Sylvia was my mother, my teacher, my counselor, and my friend. She taught the women of our church and was so knowledgeable in the Word, especially of the end times. She also taught a revelation seminar several times over the years.

She was like a mother to every member of our church family. We love her miss her so much. There will never be another Sylvia. She and her husband Adel founded our church in 1977.

Losing a loved one is so hard, but God comforts us, and so do the members of our church. We have a great support system. I thank the Lord for the phone calls, cards, emails, and texts I have received. They mean so much to me.

God comforts us so that we can comfort others who are suffering. No one likes death, but we have to face it. The Lord will get us through it by His mercy and grace.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day in worship and the Word. Stay safe and healthy.

Wounded hearts are slow to heal; only God can heal them in His time.

Dean

-August 17, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is near” (2 Timothy 4:6).

“The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:22).

Paul wrote two letters to Timothy, the pastor of Ephesus. He knew very well that his days are earth were numbered. He was imprisoned in Rome and the time of his beheading was imminent.

He served the Lord Jesus faithfully until the end. He told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul knew where he was going: to heaven to be with the Lord and that he would receive the crown of righteousness. All believers who love His appearing will receive it also.

Throughout his ministry he taught, discipled, and encouraged Timothy to continue in the faith and in the ministry of the Word. His final words were so beautiful, not only to Timothy, but to all the saints.

Paul’s farewell was a benediction, which consisted of two things: God’s presence and His grace. We ourselves need these two essential blessings.

He said, “The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” It is important to know our Savior is with us. He promised in Matthew 28:20, “…I am with always, even to the end of the age.” God promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We cannot live without His presence.

Not only do we need His presence, we need His sufficient grace to handle any situation that arises. Life is often like the weather, changeable and uncertain. There are sunny days, cloudy days, rainy days, snowy days, hot days, and cold days. We experience many different storms in our spiritual lives.

Paul often used the phrase, “grace and peace.” Grace is the Greek word, charis, and peace is the Hebrew word shalom. Both give great encouragement to our soul and spirit. For the believer who passes into eternity, we say, “until we meet again.” Heaven is our final destination.

Have a blessed day encouraging others with our words and actions. Stay safe and healthy.

Serving until the Lord calls us home.

Dean

-August 16, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.”

(Psalm 104:23).

The wise expression says, “An honest day’s pay for an honesty day’s work.” As Christians, we must follow this mantra every day. Nowadays in the world, many people want to do just enough to collect a paycheck.

As you know I am retired from my job and I serve the Lord in many ways. I work hard and I am busier now than when I was working. I now work seven days a week.

Today is Friday, the last day of the work and school week. I am not so sure how productive most people are on Fridays. Mondays aren’t always that good either, as they are coming back from the weekend. From what I have seen Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are the most productive in the work week.

From the time we arrive at work until we leave we should give it our all and do it for the Lord. Then we can go home and rest. There is nothing wrong with working hard, especially when we do it for the Lord. Paul writing to the Ephesians wrote, “Bondservants (employees), be obedient to those who are your masters (bosses) according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:5-7).

Let us work hard at work, at school, or in whatever we do for the glory of God. People who know we are believers are listening to our words and watching our lives to see if we live what we preach.

Have a blessed day doing everything in Jesus’ name. Stay safe and healthy.

Working for Christ, the best Boss.

Dean

-August 15, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”

(Psalm 101:18).

The church will prevail both now and in the future. Our children and grandchildren are the church of the future. They must grow up and take up the mantle into the future.

It is so important to train our young people and give them opportunities to serve the Lord. Churches can die if all the older ones do everything and when they go home to be with the Lord, there is no one to carry on the work.

The psalmist looks ahead to a people yet to be created, that is not even born yet. In Moses’ day, in the wilderness, there was a new generation that would be led by Joshua into the Promised Land.

Psalm 78:6-7 says, “That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may declare them to their children. That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but but keep His commandments.”

Let us prepare the next generation to know and serve the Lord. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Looking to the future in building the next generation.

Dean