Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 6, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.’”

(1 Kings 11:11).

The older I get the more I realize how important it is to stay close to the Lord, do His will, and rely completely on Him. King Solomon is a prime example of one who began well but fell far short in his older years.

The seeds of his fall were planted when he married Pharaoh’s daughter and took many other foreign wives who took his heart away from the following the Lord to worship idols.

1 Kings 11:1-2 says, “But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, you shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love.”

Solomon had great potential for the Lord but never lived up to it. God had given him peace and rest, wisdom beyond measure, great riches, honor, and fame all over the ancient world. It is hard to believe that the same man wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The former was all about wisdom and godly living, and the latter all out earthly pursuits of everything under the sun apart from God, which is vanity.

We are no different than Solomon, we can allow the pleasures of this world to distract us and attract us; hinder us and weaken us spiritually. It often begins very subtlety and before we know we are drifting away from who God wants us to be and what He wants us to do.

1 Kings 11:9 says, “So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” God tore 10 tribes from him and gave them to Jeroboam his servant. God didn’t do it in his lifetime but in his son Rehoboam’s. He did however bring adversaries against him: Hadad the Edomite, Rezon the son of Eliadah, and his own servant Jeroboam.

God uses people and circumstances to get our attention and bring us to repentance and restoration. If we don’t heed His voice, He will take more severe measures to bring us back to Himself. God said in Hosea 6:1, “Come, let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”

Let us listen to the Lord, repent, and turn back to Him. Paul warned us, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Satan is a very crafty foe. He knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The Lord is much stronger and will help us when we humble ourselves and seek Him.

Have a blessed day all the way through the day and the rest of our lives. Stay safe and healthy.

From beginning to end, let us stay close to Jesus our Savior, Lord and Friend.

Dean

-May 5, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“And when they came to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.”

(Luke 23:33).

What happened at Calvary, also known as Golgotha, is the most significant event in the history of the world. Jesus the perfect, sinless, innocent Son of God died for lost, guilty sinners like us.

We who were unworthy became worthy; and the only way for God to make us worthy was for Christ to bear our sins. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.”

Many individuals were crucified by the Romans at the exact same spot, but no one ever offered Himself for the sins of the world, nor could they. The scene was different. The sun was obscured and it became as dark as night; there was a great earthquake; the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

The Roman Centurion came to the inescapable conclusion, “So when the centurion saw what happened, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous Man’” (Luke 23:47).

Jesus died for us, was buried, and rose again. He won the victory over sin and death. Many hymns have been written about Calvary, many sermons preached, many books published.

One beautiful hymn we sang many years ago is entitled, “Crucified.” C. Austin Miles wrote, “They nailed my Lord upon the tree and left Him dying there: Thro’ love He suffered there for me; ‘Twas love beyond compare. Crucified! Crucified! And nailed upon the tree! With pierced hands and feet and side! For you! For me!”

Let us journey back in our hearts and minds to Calvary today as we remember what our Savior accomplished for us on the cross. May we worship Him, praise Him, and thank Him today and every day.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day. Stay safe and healthy.

I should have died, He died for me; to save my soul and set me free. His blood was shed to cleanse my soul, forgive my sins and make me whole.

Dean

-May 4, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

(2 Samuel 7:12-13).

David had a desire on his heart to build a house for the Lord. He told this to Nathan the prophet. He told him to do all that is in his heart, for the Lord is with him. The same night God appeared to him and tell David that it is not God’s will for him to build the temple, instead, his son Solomon would build the house of the Lord.

How would David react to God’s no? Would he argue his case? Would he complain? Would he pout? No, no, and no. He accepted God’s will, knowing God knows best and has a better plan.

There are several examples of God saying no to his servants. It isn’t easy to hear God’s no’s. We can learn so many lessons from Paul, Moses, and Jesus our Savior.

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that God would remove the cup of death from Him. The answer was there was no other way to save sinners. Moses wanted to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land so badly, but God said no because he had struck the rock in anger to bring forth water. He should have obeyed and hallowed the Lord, and spoke to the rock. Paul prayed three times that the thorn in his flesh would be removed. God instead told him, “My grace is sufficient for you.” He gladly accepted God’s will and trusted Him.

May the Lord help us to accept, approve, and appreciate God no’s. When God says no, He has something better for us: a better school, a better job, a better spouse, a better everything. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

God’s no’s are better than our yeses. Never second guess the Lord.

Dean

-May 3, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

(John 9:4).

Jesus taught His disciples the meaning, value, opportunity, and appreciation of work hard for the Father every day. Before the advent of electricity, people could only work dawn to dusk, from sunrise to sunset. From an astronomical standpoint, dusk to dawn refers to when the sun is at an 18 degree angle in the morning, and reaches an 18 degree angle in the evening.

In Jesus’ day, the time began at the first hour (6:00 am) and ended at the the twelfth hour (6:00 pm). Hence, John 11:9 says, “Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.’”

Days are getting a little bit longer every day until we reach the Summer Solstice. Because there is more sunlight, we can do more and enjoy being outdoors longer. Temperatures are warming up also.

God wants us to use every waking hour to serve Him. Days may be getting longer, but the time before the Lord’s coming is getting shorter. Jesus may come at any time day or night. Now is the time to get going for the Lord; to proclaim the gospel, to encourage one another, and to live for Him and serve Him while we have life and breath.

Every day has twenty four hours, every week one hundred and sixty eight hours, every year three hundred sixty five days, except in a leap year three hundred sixty six. There is no time to waste.

Paul wrote, “See then you walk circumspectly (or carefully), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). Let us walk in the light, as children of light, bearing the light.

Have a blessed day using your time to serve the Lord daily. Stay safe and healthy.

While there is time, while there is light, let us walk in His light by day and by night.

Dean

-May 2, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, that you may cling to Him…”

(Deuteronomy 30:20a).

We, like the Israelites of old, must cling to the Lord at all times. It seems life is moving so quickly and times are very tough; we need the Lord. The word cling is defined as, “to hold or hold on tightly or tenaciously; to have a strong emotional attachment or dependence.”

When we love and obey the Lord we cling to Him. There are times when we have no answers, no solutions, no way out. Let us cling to the Lord with all our heart. The Lord is our Rock, our fortress, our deliverer. We just need to hold onto the Lord, who hold onto us.

The Psalmist wrote, “I will cling to Your testimonies; O Lord, do not put me to shame” (Psalm 119:31). It is also a great blessing to cling to the Word of God. These are uncertain, troubled times in which we are living.

Let us cling to the Lord tightly and tenaciously. He will see His through by His grace. Have a blessed day clinging to Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

God will hold us when we cling to Him.

Dean