Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-June 9, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

(Philippians 1:21).

This verse should be written on the tablets of our hearts. Life doesn’t start for us until we meet Jesus when He reveals Himself to us in His Word. When we come to Him, repent of our sins, believe that He died for our sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior—spiritual life begins and never ends.

Before salvation, life revolves around me, myself, and I. Jesus changed all that! Now life is all about him. This is why Paul could write, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” That is how Paul lived all his life in Christ and for Christ. He counted all his religious training in Judaism—all the festivals, all the rituals, all the sacrifices, all the knowledge, and all the training as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.

When we live as if nothing matters but Christ, we find we need nothing else in this life but Christ. He is my everything, my all. I am like the tiny planet earth that revolves around the mighty, glowing sun. Early scientists once believed the sun revolved around the earth, until they discovered the reality of the universe.

I found the words to a Christian song by Paul Oakley. The title is, “Jesus Lover of My Soul (It’s All About You).” The verse says, “It’s all about You, Jesus and all this for You. For your glory and Your fame, it’s not about me. As if You should do things my way. You alone are God and I surrender to your ways.”

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb—it’s all about Jesus; Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus and placed Him in his own tomb—it’s all about Jesus; Peter after being restored preached the gospel and cared for God’s flock—it’s all about Jesus—Stephen stood for Christ and was martyred—it’s all about Jesus. Paul sacrificed everything, his very life—it’s all about Jesus.

May each one of us live lives that are all about Jesus, not about us. Have a blessed day of worship and praise. Stay safe and healthy.

To live is Christ, and to die is gain,

Dean

-June 8, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.”

(Matthew 6:22).

Our eyes are extremely important; God gave us two of them. They are so intricate in so many ways. Friday morning my left eye started to feel like something was in it. It was very bothersome. I have see the doctor Saturday.

The human body is so amazing. When one member is injured, the whole body is affected. My focus all day has been on my left eye. We need our eyes to read, to watch a movie or television program, in fact, we need them for everything.

Many Bible scholars believe Paul’s thorn the flesh was his eyes. I believe that was true. We often take our eyes for granted until something happens.

Our spiritual eyes are even more important than our physical ones. We see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Let us take care of eyesight, appreciate it, and be healthy. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Is your spiritual sight is 20/20. (See John 20:20).

Dean

-June 7, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

(Psalm 90:12).

Moses wrote Psalm 90, and it is a beautiful psalm on the eternity of God and the brevity of our lives on earth. Life is lightning fast compared to eternity.

The Scriptures compare our lives to a vapor, a breath, and a passing shadow. God has placed us here on earth to be a blessing to others, saved and unsaved. Time is fleeting at hypersonic speed. We need to make each day count for eternity.

James 4:14 says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” A vapor is extremely brief.

Moses lived a good life of 120 years, still it was short compared to eternity. Psalm 144:4 says, “Man is like a breath, His days are like a passing shadow.”

We look back and wonder where did the years go? Since life passes by so quickly, we need to live life one day at a time. Only God knows how long we will live on this earth. We do know we will be with the Lord in glory forever and ever.

As we grow older, we grow wiser. We learn from the many experiences we have been through; we learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. We desire with Moses to present to the Lord a heart of wisdom.

Let us determine to live each day for Jesus; to smile, to laugh, to encourage others. May we point people to our Savior by our actions and our words. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

The quality of our lives is greater than the quantity.

Dean

-June 6, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

(2 Chronicles 16:9).

Asa was a good king of Judah who started off well, but then did not trust the Lord as he did before. Early in his reign he relied fully on the Lord when the Ethiopians attacked Judah with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots.

He called on the Lord for His help. 2 Chronicles 14:11 says, “And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, ‘Lord it is nothing for You to help, with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on you, and in Your name we go against this multitude, O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’”

What a victory God won for them! “So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled” (2 Chronicles 14:12).

Fast forward to another attack, this time by Israel who came against them. In stead of trusting the Lord, Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and sent it to the Syrians to break their treaty with Israel and it worked, but it was not God’s. God sent His prophet Hanani to rebuke him.

He relied on man not God. This sometimes happens in our lives. We trust Him and He gives us a great victory, does a wonderful miracle. Then something else much smaller happens and we start to rely on ourselves or someone else, and then we fail and fall.

May the Lord help us to trust Him in big things and in little things, and in all things. God sees not only what we do, but our attitudes, motives, and desires. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Relying on the reliable, almighty God.

Dean

-June 5, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Now when asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

(Luke 17:20-21).

The Pharisees were spiritually blind and missed the point of Jesus’ coming completely. They weren’t alone, so many Jews were looking for a physical kingdom, and a king who would deliver them from Roman rule and occupation.

The Second Coming of Christ will be to rule; His first coming was to die on the cross to save us from our sins. Even the disciples asked Jesus, “…Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age” (Matthew 24:3).

Thus there will be a physical kingdom in a coming day. Right now the kingdom is a spiritual one composed of every believer in Christ. His kingdom is not of this world. Jesus told Pilate in John 18:36, “…My kingdom is not of us this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

It is such a blessing that the kingdom of God is within us. It is Christ in us, the hope of glory. We are kingdom disciples, kingdom men and women. We live by kingdom principles for Christ our King. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. We live in this world, but we are not of this world.

This world is broken, contaminated, and and ruined by sin. We live to speak the good news about Jesus and His power to save. We are citizens of heaven while living on this earth until we leave this world to go and be with Him.

Jesus our King is with us, in us, and for us. He gives the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. He has changed our lives. Our thoughts, motives, attitudes, and desires are different; our words and our actions are different. We belong to Jesus. We are part of the kingdom, the body of Christ.

Let us live for Christ, His kingdom and His righteousness, serving Him every day of our lives. We are His representatives, ambassadors, and missionaries to this world. Have a blessed day in the kingdom. Stay safe and healthy.

When can always sing, when we walk with the King.

Dean