Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-March 1, 2024,

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

(Psalm 37:5).

Life isn’t easy, we can’t make it on our own without the Lord. Today’s verse is a command with a promise. In mathematics, there are numbers added together that equal a total. Here we have commitment + trust = a good result by God in our lives.

David, the writer of this beautiful thirty-seventh psalm, found this to be true in his life over and over. He recognized that to be victorious, successful, and happy he had to rely on the Lord fully on a daily basis.

• Commit your way to the Lord – The word for commit in the Hebrew means to “roll off into.” Imagine rolling a rock upon the Rock of Ages. He wants us to bring Him our troubles, our needs, our frustrations, our fears, and our sorrows to the throne of grace and leave them there. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

God never intended that we bear burdens on our own. They are much too heavy for us. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

• Trust also in Him – God is our Father, He knows best, and we must trust Him. David wrote in Psalm 56:3, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” He is our hiding place, our refuge, our fortress. We can trust God in the dark for He is our light and salvation; we can trust Him in the silence for He is the living Word.

Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Whatever you are going through today, He knows, He cares, and He will guide us through it by His grace.

• He shall do it to pass – Whatever your “it” is. “It” may be spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, material, or financial. “It” may seem impossible, immovable, or impassable, but He shall bring it to pass. The Lord has the answer, the resolution, and the solution. He takes care of His side of the equation. He directs and protects. The angel told Mary, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

Let us then commit our ways to the Lord, trust in Him fully, knowing He shall do it. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Trusting in our Pilot, Jesus Christ, through the turbulence of flight of life,

Dean

-February 29, 2024-

“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

(Ephesians 4:3).

Unity in Christ is a central theme in the NT. It takes love, care, commitment, effort, and sacrifice to maintain unity among brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul uses the phrase, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit,” meaning it takes effort.

Jesus is our Lord, Savior, Master, and King, and thus to show unity in love to others is extremely important. This brings us to the pledge to the Christian flag, which is a symbol of our unity in Christ.

The pledge says, “I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands, one brotherhood, uniting all Christians in service and love.” When we commit our allegiance to our Savior, and His kingdom, our unity will result in service and love.

Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He promises to provide for all our needs. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

When we commit ourselves first to the Lord, our lives will result in service and love. The devil divides, Christ unites. Our unity should be strong, tangible, and practical. We all need each other.

There is a wonderful Christian song that says, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, we are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord; and we pray that all unity will one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

Have a blessed day endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, in service and love. Stay safe and healthy.

The Holy Spirit is the giver of our unity and we through His power are the keepers of it,

Dean

-February 28, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ the Savior of the world.’”

(John 4:42).

From the moment the Samaritan woman got saved, she became a missionary to share with her fellow Samaritans the gospel of Christ. She testified to them, “He told me all that I ever did.” They listened and came to see and hear Jesus and believed in Him for themselves.

Her allegiance changed to being a believer in Jesus Christ. Now she flew the colors of Christ. Every nation has its own flag, the symbol of their country. There is a Christian flag that stands for our salvation, faith, and unity in Christ our Savior.

The Christian flag came into existence in the 19th century when Charles C. Overton, a Sunday school teacher at a chapel in Brooklyn, New York, realized there was no flag or universal image to represent Christianity as a whole. Ten years later, in 1907, he collaborated with Secretary Ralph Diffendorfer and began the official plan and formation of the flag. The Christian flag began to be accepted by most Protestant churches and to be displayed inside churches around the world in the late 1900’s.

Each of the colors are symbolic of our faith in Christ. The Christian flag has three colors: white, red, and blue. There is white, standing for our righteousness in Christ; red, standing for the blood of Christ; blue, standing for heaven and faithfulness, fidelity, and loyalty. The background color is white, with a Red Cross prominently displayed on a blue background.

At our church we have two flags: the American flag and the Christian flag. It is wonderful to have the Christian flag. Jesus is the Savior of the world. We unite in love, faith, and hope in our Savior. There are Christians all over the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ; we share a common faith with them. We may not speak their language but we all share in the language of the love of Christ.

Have a blessed day standing with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is always a joy to meet other Christians when we are out and about. Stay safe and healthy. Tomorrow we will discuss the blessed words of the pledge to the Christian flag.

Standing together, united and faithful,

Dean

-February 27, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

(Colossians 3:16).

As a young man I read and studied the Word of God and learned all I could from the Scriptures. I still have and ravenous and insatiable appetite for the Bible. As I have grown in my faith, I realized more and more how important it is to read, study, meditate on, memorize, obey, and apply the Word to my life.

Paul in writing to the Colossians said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” Paul had way more than a casual acquaintance with Jesus, the living Word, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God. He lived it, he taught it. He was a great example to all the saints.

The word dwell in the Greek is enoukeo, meaning to dwell in. It comes from another Greek word to inhabit. It should be our habit to dwell in the Word so that the Word will dwell in us. God speaks to us through His Word. It is nourishment for the soul.

There is a beautiful song by the group Mercyme entitled, “Word of God Speak.” It says, “I’m finding myself at a loss for words and the funny thing is it’s okay. The last thing I need to be heard but to hear what You would say. I’m finding myself in the midst of You; beyond the music, beyond the noise, all I need is to be with You, and the in the quiet, hear Your voice.” The chorus says, “Word of God speak; would You pour down like rain? Washing my eyes to see Your majesty. To be still and know that You’re in this place. Please let me stay and rest in Your holiness.”

Let God’s Word dwell in you. Have a blessed in the Word. May you hear His voice, in every choice; and spend time with Him so your eyes won’t be dim.

When the Word is your treasure, you’ll be blessed beyond measure,

Dean

-February 26, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“But his father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

(Luke 15:22-24).

Jesus told the parable of the lost son, familiarly called the prodigal son. It has so many lessons that we can glean for our lives today. In Luke chapter 15 Jesus describes three lost things: a sheep, a coin, and a son. We were all lost before Jesus found us and saved us.

There is such joy in heaven and on earth among believers when one sinner repents and gets saved. Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “I say to you that likewise there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” He also said, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

We know that God desires every person to be saved and come to the knowledge of Christ. There is incredible joy when one is saved. See 2 Peter 3:9. It is a miracle of God’s grace when one soul gives his or her life to Christ.

In the story of the prodigal son, the father had joy when his son came home; the son had joy in being restored to his father; the household servants had joy for both of them. The father ordered his servants to throw the biggest party to mark the occasion. He told them to: bring out the best robe to put on his son, a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. The father lavished his love and favor on him of whom he said was dead but was now alive again; was lost and was now found. They had the greatest meal of a fatted calf and began to be merry.

I love that expression, “begun to be merry.” Once we are saved, the joy has just started and never ends. The joy of the Lord never fades, it never ends. We have joy in our hearts the rest of lives on earth and on into eternity in heaven. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Let us rejoice in our salvation today and every day of our lives. Have a joyful day. Stay safe and healthy.

Joy doesn’t depend on our circumstances but on our relationship to Jesus,

Dean