Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-June 30, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit.”

(Job 10:12).

On my birthday Wednesday, June 27, I read this verse in the book of Job. It is amazing how many and severe his trials were. As I mentioned before, he got very discouraged but he didn’t give in or give up—in the end God dealt with him and he was vindicated in the eyes of his friends.

Job never lost sight of the Lord and recognized that God had been so good to him all through the years. He made two wonderful statements that apply to us as well: first, He granted him life and favor, and second His care preserved his spirit.

Each time we have our birthday, we should take time to remember God’s faithfulness through the years. He has richly and abundantly blessed us.

I. Granting us life and favor – Not only has the Lord given us physical life, He has given us eternal and abundant life in Christ. John 10:10 says, “I have come they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

He has also granted us His favor. The word favor is defined as,” approval, support, or liking for someone or something; an act of kindness beyond what is due or usual.” God goes way beyond we can ever imagine or deserve. We deserve nothing, His has given us everything. We are His children. The unknown Psalmist wrote, “Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people. O visit me with Your salvation.”

II. Granting us care in preserving our spirit – God cares for each one of us as if we were his only child, and even more, as He does His Son, Jesus Christ. He preserves our spirit. He is with wherever we go and in everything we do. He either protects us from it or He sees us through it. His grace is sufficient for us.

Have a blessed and thankful Saturday. Stay safe and healthy.

Your name is inscribed on the palms of His hands—that makes you special.

Dean

-June 28, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”

(Acts 8:4).

The stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the church marked the beginning of a tremendous persecution against the church. Saul of Tarsus became the chief protagonist of the church, going house to house, dragging off the Christians, men and women, committing them to prison.

Satan was behind the persecution, but God used it to spread the gospel outside of Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 says, “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

The Lord Jesus had instructed the apostles in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” They done a great job in Jerusalem but it went no farther. They needed a little push to get them going out.

The word scatter is defined as, “to separate and go in various directions; to sow by casting in various directions.” In Acts 8, there are two scatterings: the movement of the saints from one place to other places and the sowing of the seed of the gospel far and wide.

We don’t know exactly why all the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. Perhaps it was they felt more comfortable, or they may wanted to keep Jerusalem as their headquarters and home base. It was unlikely because they were afraid, because they had showed great boldness in proclaiming the gospel.

The lesson we can learn from this is that God moves in mysterious ways, using people and circumstances to accomplish His will. Sometimes we need a little push to get us going or to bring us back to Him, or to move us to where He wants us to be.

I know God has given me a little push at times. We can become too set in our ways, too comfortable, even being complacent in some ways. He speaks to us through His Word and through prayer, and godly counsel. The general rule is to stay where He places you until God moves you; and then go when and where He wants you to go.

Have a blessed day in God’s will, doing God’s work, in God’s way. Stay safe and healthy.

When God pushes, we shouldn’t pull.

Dean

-June 27, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1).

There is a purpose for every believer in Christ. God has a plan for us each day, He just hasn’t revealed to us yet. The best and simplest way to live is one day at a time.

We make plans but God directs our steps according to His will. Yesterday I was planning to buy lunch for some family members. As I pushed the button to open the garage, it wouldn’t open. It worked fine the night before. The spring broke and I couldn’t even open it manually.

I called the company that installed it quite a few years ago but their schedule was full until next week. I several other calls and I found the same situation, until I finally reached one who does emergency repairs. I had to be at Worship Team practice at 6:00. They gave a time window of between 2-4. Just before 4:00 I started getting nervous and called to check on my appointment. The technician arrived at 4:20.

The technician did a great job and was done with plenty of time to get to the church, open our security gate and the church. I rejoiced in God’s faithfulness to me. If this had happened on another day or at another time, things would not been good. Imagine if it happened on a Sunday morning or when I had a doctor appointment.

Solomon also wrote, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God knew all about before it happened.

The old expression is often the case: all’s well that ends well. Have a blessed day according to God’s will. Stay safe and healthy.

God specializes in happy endings.

Dean

-June 26, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“But now it comes upon you, and you are weary; It touches you, and you are troubled.”

(Job 4:5).

Little did Eliphaz realize at the time that his words would spark the debate, “Why do the righteous suffer?” Or as we may say, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The other related question is, “Why do good things happen to bad people?” We are living in a broken, sinful world. Things happen, but how do we respond?

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were the three friends of Job who came to comfort him. They sat silently on the ground with him for seven days. Then Job spoke first. Once he did each of them responded and in affect accused Job of sinning, though they had no evidence of his wrongdoing. In the end, God had the last word and dealt with Job and rebuked his three friends for being completely wrong.

Today’s verse brings up a very important issue: how do we handle hardships when they happen to us? So many times we help others, comfort others, and encourage others who are going through great pain and suffering. We may visit them in their homes or hospital rooms, pray for them, and do all we can for them. This is what Job did. He was a helper, now he needed help.

Job 4:4 says, “Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.” Now, it happened to Job and he got very discouraged, but he never blamed God nor did he lose his integrity. He is forever known for his patience.

How do you respond when it happens to you? When you are the one in pain; you are the one who is troubled; you are the one who is grieving? God uses our afflictions to develop our patience, endurance, perseverance, empathy, caring, and compassion. It gives us a whole new perspective when it happens to us!

There are many people who see what we are going through and how we are handling it. It is a real opportunity to be a testimony for Christ in the midst of our suffering. Am I going to fall apart or am I going to fall on God? Is my faith going to carry me through or my faith going to fail at the crucial hour?

I found a mug in my cupboard that was given to me years ago. It has several quotations on it by Ellen M.Cuomo regarding faith. My favorite one is so telling. It says, “Faith is holding on when you want to let go. It is letting go when you want to hold on.”

This quote really spoke to my heart. There are times when I am hurting so bad I just want to let go and give up; and conversely there are times I want to hold into my own will, my own ways, my own plans, my own solutions, and I just need to let go and let God handle them.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for who comes to God must believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Have a blessed day trusting the Lord and clinging to Him. Stay safe and healthy.

Faith doesn’t look for a way out; it looks for a way up.

Dean

-June 25, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.”

(Job 1:1).

There is a vast difference between character and conduct; character is who we are, conduct is what we do. The two should go together in one’s life.

We tend to evaluate another’s conduct, because it is easier to evaluate. We look at performance, success, wealth, possessions, status, and ability. While these things are important, the character is what most important to God, and should be to us as well. The sports teams are using character more in more in their evaluations on who to select for their teams.

It is much easier to change our conduct than it is our character. When we yield to the Lord and seek Him, He will work on our character. Job had a godly character which resulted in a godly lifestyle. He was consistent day in and day out.

There were four essential elements to Job’s character: he was blameless, upright, fearing God, and shunning evil. As a result his behavior was good. Like us, he wasn’t perfect, but he was a man of faith known for patience. Nothing and no one moved him.

1. Blameless – To be blameless is not to be sinless. What it means to live in such a way that pleases God. To do so he repented, confessed his sin, and forsook it. He didn’t sweep anything under the carpet. He harbored no grudges or ill will toward others.

2. Upright – To be upright is to have high standards, God’s standards. He was honest, sincere, and transparent as a man, husband, father, and businessman. He practiced what he preached and was an example to young and old alike. His conscience was clear. He was at peace.

3. Feared God – To fear God is to reverence and respect God. He lived by the Word of God. Bible scholars tell us he lived in the days of the patriarchs Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Think of it, before the Law was given. He was obedient to God and walked with God daily.

4. Shunned Evil – To shun evil is hate it, stay away from it, and be on guard against it. It can be literally translated, “turning away from evil.” Oh how this is needed today! We live in an evil world under the control of Satan, the evil one, the prince of the power of the air. It drives us to our knees to pray for our country and our world for people to be saved.

It’s not easy to be a man like Job. We all fall short, but through Christ we are growing to be more like Him. Let us strive to be blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. God wants us to be people of integrity in good times and bad.

Have blessed day walking with God no matter what may come. Stay safe and healthy. The real me is what only what God can see.

Good conduct stems from good character, and good character comes which from and through Christ.

Dean