Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 16, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“…he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life…”

(John 5:24b).

Yesterday we began the subject of our passport to heaven. One must hear God’s word and believe it in order to have everlasting life. Everlasting is defined as, “lasting or enduring through all time; eternal. It simply means forever and ever. When we get to heaven it will be truly be “a happily ever after.”

When you put the word life after the word everlasting, you have something special, something great. It is not just something we will have in the future, we have it now. What a great blessing!

The phrase “everlasting life” is found 13 times in the Bible, 1 in the OT and 12 in the NT. The most familiar and wonderful verse is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

God gives us the assurance of life with Him in the glory of heaven for all eternity. I can’t wait to reach my heavenly home.

Have a blessed and abundant life in Christ until we see Jesus face to face.

Dean

-May 15, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

(John 5:24).

If you ever travel outside your home country, you must have a valid passport. You can’t just go to the airport, hop on a plane, and travel to a foreign country without one. The process of obtaining a passport takes some time, so preparation is essential.

We are born in sin and are sinners by position and by practice. We have absolutely no access to God. Only through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross do we have everlasting life, the forgiveness of our sins, and an eternal home in heaven.

Today’s verse is so encouraging, and a great one to cherish and memorize. Jesus tells us the key is to hear His word and believe in the Father. All spiritual blessings flow from our decision to receive Christ. There are three specific things that take place the moment we accept God’s offer of salvation: everlasting life, deliverance from judgment, and passing from death to life.

Do you have your passport to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ? Over the next three days, we will consider each one these three blessings in detail and how they apply to our daily lives today. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Our passport to heaven is issued by God and never expires, never needs renewal, and can never be lost or stolen.

Dean

-May 14, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“So the man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, ‘Pick it up for yourself.’ So he reached out his hand and took it.”

(2 Kings 6:6-7).

This incident is recorded in 2 Kings 6:1-7. It is one of several miracles that God did for through prophet Elisha. Interestingly, all the miracles that Elisha did by the power of God helped people in specific, tangible ways.

This particular miracle was performed in order to help one of Elisha’s fellow prophets. The prophets decided to cut down some trees and make a dwelling place of wood for themselves. As they were cutting the trees, one of axe heads flew off and into the water. To make matters worse it was borrowed.

Imagine borrowing something from a friend or neighbor, and it breaks. You would feel horrible. You would rush out to replace it; you would apologize profusely to your neighbor who trusted you and loaned it to you.

But God can do all things. He does miracles. We all know that iron can’t float, it sinks. Elisha made the iron float by the power of God. I once spoke at a Christian school in California on this story and the kids loved it. To make the lesson understandable, you need a heavy iron hammer and a clear bucket filled with water. Drop the hammer in the water and see it sink to the bottom.

The prophet retrieved his axe head. I’m sure he repaired it and was able to return it to its rightful owner. There are incidents in our lives where God does something amazing and exciting. He alone can make iron float. He is the limitless God, all-powerful, Almighty God.

There are so many other water miracles” in Scripture. Moses struck a rock, and water gushed out; Peter walked on water; Jesus turned water into wine; God parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River; and Naaman the leper dipped seven times in the river Jordan and was cleansed from his leprosy.

God can do miracles when it is something urgently needed and it is His will. Do you need iron to float? He can do it. Mountains to move? He can move them. Rivers to cross? He can cross them.

Have a blessed day trusting the Lord for the big things as well as the little ones. Stay safe and healthy.

Never overestimate your problem, or underestimate the power of God.

Dean

-May 13, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

(Job 19:26-27).

No one would question Job’s love for and devotion to the Lord. Yes, he was tried to the utmost and came forth as gold, as refined by fire.

The word heart in today’s text literally means kidneys. Job had a deep, inner desire for the Lord. He never gave up, he never quit. Sure he experienced the greatest pain and anguish of anyone in Scripture. He lost nearly everything, but he never lost the Lord, and the Lord never left him.

There are times when God tests the reality of our faith. Do we love Him for who He is or just because He gives us things and blesses us? Do we follow Him in prosperity as well as in adversity? David also found himself in troubled, difficult, adverse situations, he clung to the Lord and yearned for Him.

Psalm 42 was written by the sons of Korah. The title of this psalm is, “Yearning for God in the midst of Distresses.” Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants (or longs for) the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?”

The Lord delights in those who passionately seek Him and spend time with Him. The word yearn is defined as, “to have an intense feeling of longing for something that one has lost or has been separated from. One day we will depart this earthly scene when we are taken up into heaven. We will see our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a day that will be.

Let us yearn more and more for the Lord; yearn to be with Him, follow Him, and serve Him. Have a blessed day in His presence. Stay safe and healthy.

Loving Jesus and yearning for more of Him.

Dean

-May 12, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day, happy Mother’s Day,

“She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.”

(Proverbs 31:15).

Mothers are tireless; their work never seems to end. Mothers put in more work in half a day than we men in a whole day. They are doers. They work through tiredness, pain, and illness. If a mother was adequately compensated for her work, she would be the highest paid on earth. Can you say, amen to that my friends?

I have the highest respect for teachers, and mothers are great teachers; I have the highest respect for police officers, and mothers maintain peace and safety in the home; and I have the highest respect for nurses, and mothers care for the needs and welfare of her children.

Proverbs 31 describes a godly woman. It was written by King Lemuel, who is Solomon. Solomon loved, respected, honored, and cared for his mother Bathsheba. He learned so many things from her. He wrote, “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).

He describes all the things she does: she does good to her husband (v.12); she willingly works with her hands (v.13); she brings her food from afar, that is, grocery shops (v.14); she arises early to prepare for her household, that is, she makes meals and prepares lunches (v.15); she makes money and uses it wisely (vs. 16, 22, 24); she strengthens herself in the Lord spiritually and physically (v.17); she works skillfully night and day (vs. 18,19); she makes time to help the poor (v.20); she clothes her family and herself; she speaks words of wisdom and to her youngsters and to everyone else (v.27).

Now you can see she is a doer. Let us take the opportunity to honor her, thank her, cherish her, pamper her, and most of all love her. Have a blessed Lord’s Day and Mother’s Day. Stay safe and healthy.

We can never thank our mothers enough, nor can we out give or out love them.

Dean