Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 26, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“He answered, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

(John 9:25).

Today’s verse represents the testimony of this blind man whom Jesus gave his sight. This man was born blind. He never saw the beauty around him until Jesus worked a great miracle.

This man didn’t know much about Jesus. The Pharisees tried to detract from Jesus’ work. They disparaged Him. They interrogated this man and him his parents. He stood his ground. Later Jesus met him and confirmed who He was: the Son of God. He believed and worshipped.

Jesus told the Pharisees, “…For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may be made blind” (John 9:39). Jesus called the Pharisees blind, and blind leaders of the blind.

This blind man as a new believer knew more and had greater spiritual insight than all the Jewish leaders combined. This man gave such a great testimony. He told them, “…that though I was blind, now I see.”

This what a personal testimony is, telling others what your life was like before Christ, and how it was transformed by Jesus, and what life is like now. People can argue against the gospel, but they can’t argue against a changed life.

The preacher and hymn writer John Newton, the former slave trader who got saved, wrote, ‘Amazing grace! How sweet the sound—that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

We were all blind, but now we see. We see God, we see that everything is new. He changed us. We are no longer the same; we are a new creation.

This blind man was so happy and joyful! He didn’t care that the Jews excommunicated him from the synagogue. He cast his lot with Jesus. The chorus of the hymn, “The Light of the World,” by Philip Bliss says, “Come to the light, ‘tis shining for thee! Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me; Once I was blind, but now I can see—The Light of the world is Jesus.”

One preacher once said, “We are blind beggars telling other blind beggars where to find bread.” We are sinners saved by grace sharing with lost sinners how Christ changed our lives for all eternity.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day singing God’s praises and worshipping Him. Stay safe and healthy.

No longer blind but now we see, the One who died on Calvary to set us free.

Dean

-May 25, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“So David went on and became great, and the Lord was with him.”

(1 Chronicles 11:9).

People in the world hold those in high esteem who make it big in this world. They start with almost nothing and end up achieving greatness. A person who through their own hard work, skill, ambition, and wisdom become great.

A person who pulls himself up by his own boot straps is a “self-made man.” They often become presidents, CEO’s, sports superstars. The world idolizes people like that. God has a different definition of greatness. He looks at the heart.

David was great in God’s eyes, by God’s help. David was truly a man after God’s own heart. He was strong in character, spirit, soul, and body. God made him great. It didn’t just happen overnight. God chose Him, led him, and preserved him. He was a God-made man. He followed and obeyed the Lord.

People may look at you, dear brother, dear sister, as insignificant, lowly, ordinary; but God sees you as great. You are His child, His servant. The devil wants to put you down, God wants to raise you up.

Our text tells us, “…and the Lord of hosts was with him.” Think about it! You are not alone, you don’t have to try to make it on your own. The Lord fills us with the Holy Spirit and empowers us to do great things for His glory.

God promised each of us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Those are five promises we can claim and live by.

Have a blessed day with the Lord. He is great and uses to do great things for Him. Stay safe and healthy.

Strive not for greatness in the eyes of man; Seek greatness in the eyes of God alone.

Dean

-May 24, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“…Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, and that I may not cause pain.”

(1 Chronicles 4:10).

Jabez made a very heart felt, earnest prayer to the Lord for the Lord’s blessing and help; so that he would be a blessing and help to others. In 1 Chronicles 4:9 we read of his character in relationship to his family, “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.” We are not told how many brothers he had or what exactly he did.

There are five requests Jabez makes to the Lord: that the Lord would bless him indeed, enlarge his territory, that His hand would be with him, and keep him from evil, and that he would not cause pain.

1. Bless me indeed – Jabez not only asked for God’s blessing, but His blessing indeed. This first request is of a spiritual nature. His priority was good. He wanted to do good in God’s sight. He wanted God’s best for his life.

2. Enlarge my territory – This is request for God’s favor on all that he was doing and would do. God gives each one of us a lot in life; what we do with that lot is what counts. We want to use all the talents, gifts, abilities, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that God has given to us to the max. We want to grow in Christ and flourish in every way.

3. That Your hand would be with me – This means that God would be with him each day in every way. We can’t do anything without the Lord. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

4. Keep me from evil – This shows his desire to please God and do what is right in His sight. He didn’t want to sin. When Jesus spoke the Lord’s Prayer, one of the requests he told them to pray was: “And lead us not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).

5. That I may not cause pain – Though his name means, “He will cause pain,” he didn’t want to live down to his name. He didn’t want to cause pain to the Lord or anyone else. The old nature causes God pain, others pain, and ourselves pain. Now that we have Christ and the new nature, we bring forth love, mercy, compassion, and kindness instead of pain.

The Prayer of Jabez is so beautiful and teaches us what we should pray for ourselves in order to impact others. With all God blessings, let us be a blessing. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Many prayers for others, a few for ourselves; but God hears and answers them all.

Dean

-May 23, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.’ So God granted him what he requested.”

(1 Chronicles 4:10).

Today’s text is appropriately called “The Prayer of Jabez.” Right in the middle of all the genealogies is this beautiful and special prayer. It was only a few years ago where I heard this term used. I have read through the Bible in a year many times and read right past it, but not digging deeper into it.

When I started studying it more carefully, I was so blessed and I found some great lessons on praying for what we need, when we need it. We read of Jabez, his mother, and his brothers, but we don’t read anything of his father. Perhaps he passed away before Jabez was born. We don’t know for sure.

Jabez’s birth was certainly clouded by his mother’s very difficult delivery. Her pain was so excruciating that she named him Jabez, meaning “He will cause pain.” His birth reminded him of the birth of Benjamin where Rachel died giving birth to him. Before she died, she named her last son Ben-Oni, meaning, “Son of my sorrow.” Fortunately, Jacob called him Benjamin, “Son of my right hand.”

Jabez was not so fortunate to have a name change. He had to live with the name meaning pain all his life, which pardon the pun, was a real pain! Not everyone gets off to a good start in life, and have to live with mental, physical, and emotional scars for years.

Only Christ can change a person’s life and give them an abundant and eternal life. Only God can cleanse our minds and hearts. Jabez didn’t want to cause anyone pain, he wanted instead to be a blessing. His desire to please God and help others is something we should all desire and strive for.

We may have misfortunes in life, and bad memories and experiences. God can turn them around and use them to make us what He wants us to be. Tomorrow in Part II we will consider each of his five requests and how they apply to our lives.

Have a blessed day and pray about everything. Stay safe and healthy.

God shows He cares when He answers our earnest prayers.

Dean

-May 22, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

(John 8:12).

When Jesus came the first time into our world, it was one dark place, a den of iniquity. Darkness is the absence of light; It is downright oppressive. Things haven’t changed today, and fact it has gotten darker.

The Lord Jesus is the light of the world. The Apostle John wrote, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5).

Jesus brought light and life to those in darkness. The context of our verse today is the incident of the woman caught in adultery being brought to Jesus. The self-righteous scribes and Pharisees tried to use her to find fault in Jesus and discredit Him.

They put Him in an awkward and uncomfortable position: if He condones her, He will be blamed for condoning sin; if He condemns her, He will be blamed for being too harsh and insensitive toward the woman. Like other times He faced similar dilemmas, He did so with the utmost grace, wisdom, truth, and compassion. He always said and did just the right thing according to the Scriptures.

He told them, “…He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7). They all left, from the oldest to the youngest. He told the woman, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

As the light of the world, Jesus illumined, exposed, and condemned sin, but loved the sinner, hating their sin. When we follow Jesus, we no longer walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

We are most like Jesus when we bear God’s light in this dark world. So many are trapped in darkness, enslaved by sin and Satan, and on their way to eternal darkness in hell.

Let us walk in the light, confess our sins, and help others to find Jesus and and be saved. Colossians 1:13-14 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Have a blessed day walking in the light of the world. Stay safe and healthy.

Darkness and light are opposites we can see; Jesus died in darkness to bring light and life to you and me.

Dean