Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-January 1, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy New Year,

“You crown the year with Your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance.”

(Psalm 65:11).

Today we begin a new year. None of us knows what will happen in 2024, where good or bad. There are many uncertainties in this world, but one thing we know for certain is that God’s goodness and abundance will never change. We can be sure there will be trials, difficulties, problems, challenges, temptations, and struggles; but there will also be joys, victories, successes, and good times.

The Lord has been faithful over the years and that will not change. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He never changes, though everything in this world changes. The Lord said In Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

God crowns our year with His goodness. He wants the very best for us. David had a close, personal relationship with the Lord. At the end of Psalm 23 He wrote, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”(Psalm 23:6). It was true for David and it is true for us today as well.

Today represents a fresh start with new challenges and opportunities. Many people set New Year’s resolutions, but few attain them. In order to achieve our goals we must commit them to the Lord and beseech His help. We cannot reach higher heights without God’s higher power. We aren’t perfect, we will sin, make mistakes, and forget things. The Lord will forgive us and pour out His goodness in us.

Our paths will drip with abundance. When Jonathan, the son of King Saul was exhausted completely he came upon a forest where there was honey dripping from the trees. He reached out his staff and took some; His eyes brightened. He got a burst of energy. God sends us reasons of refreshment, renewal, and revival. He knows just what we need and when we need it.

May we experience God’s goodness and abundance today and all through 2024. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. Stay safe and healthy.

Though we can’t change our circumstances, we can change our attitudes,

Dean

-December 31, 2023 –

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day, happy New Year’s Eve,

“Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.”

(Nehemiah 8:18).

Today is the last day of the last month of the year. I hope each of you had a blessed, beautiful, and bountiful year in every way. We are at the end of the year and the finish line is in sight. What will do on the last day of the year? As believers, we meet every Lord’s day no matter what. This year both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fell on the Lord’s Day. What a blessing.

We will break bread and hear from the Word of God. We will have an abbreviated service in the morning then in the evening we will return to celebrate the New Year with a pizza dinner and our Year-in-Review Slideshow with pictures of all our ministries and events of 2023. It will be a great day and night.

In Nehemiah’s day, the Israelites returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity. They rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. The key to their success was the Lord and how they honored Him. They rejoiced together in the Lord. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

From the first day to the last day, Ezra the scribe read from the Book of the Law. For those of you who are reading through the Bible in a year, today is the day you will finish. I have been doing this for many years and it is such a blessing every time. If you have not done it before or have not for a while, why not start January 1, so that at this time next year you can say, “I read the Bible, God’s Word and finished it on December 31, 2024.

Reading, studying, meditating on, and applying the Word will enrich your soul. It takes a daily commitment, dedication, and determination to do it, first to last. You will learn and grow so much. Have a blessed New Year’s Eve with family and friends. Stay safe and off the roads late at night.

Day by day with an open heart and an open Bible,

Dean

✝️📖🙏😀❤️

-December 30, 2023-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

(Isaiah 58:11).

2023 is nearing its end and many news outlets have reminded us of the significant happenings this year. Wars rage were escalated in Ukraine and in Gaza; quite a few celebrities passed away; sports teams won championships; violence and antisemitism is at an all time high; and the list goes on and on. Some people will consider 2023 to be a good year, while many will not.

For the believer in Christ every year is a good year because we are saved, the Lord is with us, and He loves us so much. The Lord wants us to remember His promises, claim them, and thank Him for them. Today’s verse states four promises: guidance, satisfaction, strengthening, and watering. Today we will focus on the Lord’s guidance.

Isaiah tells us, “The Lord will guide you continually.” None of us would know what to say or do were it not for the Lord’s guidance.” He not only guides us, He guides us continually. He directs our steps and our stops in this life. The Lord has guided us in many choices and decisions; through the mountain tops and the valleys; through gains and losses; through victories and defeats; in season and out of season.

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” God watches over us. He loves us with an everlasting love, and His grace is sufficient for us. God never makes a mistake, He never fails. He is so patient with us. Psalm 73:24 tells us, “You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”

The hymn writer William Williams wrote, “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty—hold me with Thy powerful hand: Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, feed me ‘til I want no more.” The Lord has guided us and will continue to guide us. The future is in His hands.

Are you at a crossroads in your life? Are you facing an important decision? Are you unsure what to do? The answer is simple: trust in the Lord and rely on Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 advises us, “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.”

Have a blessed day walking in God path, doing God’s will. Stay safe in His strong, loving arms.

God shows us the way, every night and every day,

Dean

-December 29, 2023-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.”

(Luke 2:46-47).

Jesus made quite a stir in the temple as young boy of just twelve years old. His knowledge, understanding, and wisdom was well beyond His years. He was a child prodigy. A prodigy is defined as, “a person, especially a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities.” Jesus certainly was that and a whole lot more. He was perfect God and perfect man.

Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year to celebrate Passover, which lasted eight days, and then they returned to Nazareth. They travelled with a large group of relatives and acquaintances. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem unbeknownst to them. They went a day’s journey before realizing Jesus was missing. There is a good lesson for us not to go a day without Jesus. We need to spend time with Him in prayer and in the Word each day.

Mary and Joseph began to panic as any parents would when their child is lost or missing. They retraced their steps and found Him in the temple sitting with the teachers of the law. These teachers were very learned men, the spiritual elite, the cream of the crop. Normally young boys of twelve don’t hang out with older men. They play with kids their own age.

Jesus listened to them and asked them questions and they were astonished by his understanding and answers. He hadn’t been trained or taught by the Rabbis or scribes. They didn’t realize who He was: the Son of God. He had complete knowledge of the Scriptures. Though we can’t compare ourselves to Jesus, we should emulate Him. He hungered and thirsted to learn from a young age. Do we have this same hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God’s Word? Do we read, study, obey, and apply the Word to our lives?

Looking back on my past, I started attending church with my grandmother and two great uncles at about age thirteen. We would have our communion service first then before the main service we would have Sunday School and there was an adult Bible class going on at the same time. I didn’t go to Sunday School I attended the adult class. I learned so much of the Word at a very young age.

Nowadays, I am so encouraged by the children and young people in our church. They are learning at home, in Sunday School, and our Scripture memory class which is all ages. It is exciting to hear them reciting their verse and sharing what it means to them. They share like adults.

When Mary expressed her concern over Jesus staying behind, He made the incredible statement, “…Why did you seek Me? Did you not know I must be about My Father’s business” (Luke 2:49)? He wasn’t speaking of his earthly father Joseph, but His Heavenly Father. They didn’t understand what He meant. May we have this same desire and dedication to be about our Father’s business here on earth. There is nothing better than to serve the Lord and do His will.

Let us finish the year strong, living for the Lord, serving Him, and putting Him first in everything. May we have the hunger and thirst to learn and grow. It is never to early to start nor is it ever too late. Let us take up the challenge. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

By spending time with Jesus, we become more like Jesus,

Dean

-December 28, 2023-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

(Luke 2:40).

We know that Jesus lived on earth for thirty three years. We know very little of the first thirty years compared to the last three. There is an eighteen year gap, the so called lost years. I personally don’t like the term lost in connection with our Savior. I would rather say the anonymous or unknown years.

He was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth. Today’s verse describes his life up to the age of twelve. The first years of anyone’s life are the formative years physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. More people are converted Christians before the age of twenty than all the years after it. Children have a child-like faith and have not been corrupted by this world. In the case of Jesus He was perfect God and perfect man.

He grew and became strong in spirit – It is amazing that the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God was born and grew up in a small town in Nazareth. Even from his childhood, He was a special Child: perfect, sinless, blameless, innocent, and undefiled. Though He was the Author of the Scriptures, He had a hunger and thirst to learn as a human being. For us to grow strong in spirit we must spend time in prayer and the Word daily, and obey and apply the truth to our personal lives.

He was filled with wisdom – Jesus was wisdom personified. He knew what to say and how to say it; He knew what to do and how to do it; He treated others the way He wanted to be treated. He obeyed parents and did the will of His Father. Luke 2:51-52 says, “Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

The grace of God was upon Him – From His earliest years He knew He was God. There is much we don’t understand, yet conclude by what we do know from the Gospel of Luke. John said of Him in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” He was the way, the truth, and the life.

There are so many lessons for us to learn and follow from Jesus’ early years. May the Lord help us to grow, be strong in spirit, be filled with wisdom, show grace to others, and be in submission to those in authority over us. No matter how old we get, we must live our lives according to God’s Word and His will each day, and be pleasing to Him. Paul wrote, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Have a blessed day walking with Jesus and serving Him. Stay safe and healthy.

Learning from Jesus to be like Jesus, knowing we will one day be with Jesus,

Dean