Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-July 30, 2023-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.”

(Ezekiel 33:31).

As believers, we are great hearers of the Word, but not so great doers. God knows our hearts and our sincerity. We go to church, listen to the message, thank the speaker, telling him what a great message it was, but then we do nothing to obey it and apply it to our lives; we go for counsel with no intention of following it. We follow it only if it matches what we want to do. We are no different than the Israelites of old.

In the days of Jeremiah, after Judah was taken into captivity, a group of soldiers came to Jeremiah seeking his counsel to know God’s will whether they should stay in the land or go to Egypt. Sadly, they were only going through the motions for their minds were already made up. They waited on the Lord’s answer for 10 days. Jeremiah told them to stay in the land and they would be safe and prosperous. They decided to go to Egypt anyway in disobedience to the Lord. Jeremiah rebuked them saying, “For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it’” (Jeremiah 42:20).

The Lord desires doers not just hearers, walkers not just talkers. We are responsible for every thing we hear. Let us act and react to the Word, and put it into practice. It takes commitment to follow through and do God’s will when it runs counter to what we want to do.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day listening to learn, and learning to live. Stay safe and healthy.

Not just hearing to know, but hearing to obey and apply,

Dean

-July 29, 2023-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given Me?’”

(John 18:10-11).

This portion in John 18:1-13 describes the arrest of Jesus. A large detachment of troops directed by the chief priests and led by Judas Iscariot arrived on the scene. Jesus never resisted; He willingly gave Himself up. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Peter was the only disciple that who fought back.

According to Luke’s account, Jesus had told his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane that each of them should take a sword, as well as a money belt, and knapsack. Luke 22:38 says, “So they said, ‘Lord, look, here are two swords.’ And He said to them, ‘It is enough.’” The disciples asked if they should strike with the sword, but before He could answer, Peter grabbed a sword and cut of the ear of Malcus, the servant of the high priest. Jesus told him to put his sword into the sheath. Jesus healed the ear by reattaching it. This was His last miracle before He died on the cross.

There is no room for fighting back, taking our own vengeance, or rebelling against government authorities. This is the story of Peter’s sword. Matthew 26:52 says, “But Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” The expression in common usage is taken from this verse, “Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword.”

May the Lord help us to follow the example of Jesus in how we handle unfair, unjust, and volatile situations in Jesus’ name. The Apostle James was killed with a sword (See Acts 12:1-2). Have a blessed day letting the Lord fight for us. Stay safe and healthy.

Fighting our battles on our knees,

Dean

-July 28, 2023-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’”

(Judges 7:20).

Gideon was a farmer in the days of the Judges. At that time the Midianites were oppressing Israel with a very hand, terrorizing them. He was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord came to him, calling him a mighty man of valor, and raising him up to save Israel from their enemies. The Lord promised to be with him.

Gideon’s father was an idolater who had built an altar to Baal. Gideon first built and altar to the Lord and named it, “The-Lord-Is-Peace.” Gideon then tore down his father’s idolatrous altar. God would bring great victory and peace through Gideon and his army of three hundred men. God reduced his army from 32,000 down to 10,000 and then to 300. Of these 300, none fought. They carried torches inside pitchers and blew trumpets. God brought about a great victory. They cried out, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” just as Gideon told them to do. From a military perspective, it made no absolutely no sense, but from a spiritual perspective it made perfect sense.

So many times God works in ways we don’t understand, that don’t make sense to us, that are impossible to man. In this case, the Lord set the Midianites against each other and they killed each other with their own swords. Truly it was the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. God fights for us and brings about the victories. He gets all the glory through our weakness.

There are many such victories in the Bible and they are still happening today. An angel spoke to Zechariah, “So he answered and said to him, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts’” (Zechariah 4:6). We just need to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Are you in need? Are you afraid? Are all the odds and circumstances against you? You are right where God wants you to be to see the victory! The answer is on its way and it may be today! The Lord’s sword will prevail. He will turn the tide. John wrote, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). The word ‘our’ can be rendered ‘your.’ It is a very personal faith for a very personal victory.

Have a blessed day following the Lord, doing what He says to do, how, when, and where He says to do it. We will see the victory. Stay safe and healthy.

Trusting in the Lord’s sword to win the Lord’s battles,

Dean

-July 27, 2023-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Swords are found throughout the Bible. Swords were carried into battle, and were particularly effective in close, hand to hand fighting. In the spiritual realm, the sword of the Spirit is a key part of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. The Romans had two types of swords: a long one and a short one. It was the latter that Paul is referring to. These short, light, sharp swords were very deadly.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer said, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). A two-edged sword cuts both ways, going in, and coming out.

The Bible is the word of God and is powerful all by itself. The Holy Spirit uses His word to penetrate hearts and to fight the enemy, the devil and all his evil forces of demons that cannot be seen. We must be skillful in using the sword of the Spirit. It takes reading and studying the Scriptures so we are ready to do battle for the Lord. How are you at using the sword of the Spirit?

May we put on the whole armor of God, including the sword of the Spirit. Have a blessed and victorious day. Stay safe and healthy.

Handling the sword with skill according to God’s will,

Dean

-July 26, 2023-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

(Matthew 18:2-3).

On more than one occasion the disciples debated among themselves who was the greatest. Jesus used a little child to illustrate how we must come to Him to be saved and live as a believers with one another. Instead of arguing over who was greatest, the better discussion would be who is the greatest sinner. Paul said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 2:15). He also wrote in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

No one can come to Christ in pride. We deserve nothing less than hell and damnation, but when we humble ourselves as a little child we can enter the door of heaven. We must stoop low to enter on high. We must bow our heads and our hearts to enter the narrow way that leads to eternal life. We should always view ourselves as the last, the least, and the lowest. We are so unworthy.

Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Since we are all are sinners, we all need repentance and salvation. When we are saved we see ourselves for the first time for who we are and God for who He is. Our lives are changed completely. We should never forget where we came from and where we are are going to by the grace of God. We cannot ever be proud.

Little children have a sincere, humble, and dependent spirit. They are simple and easily influenced either for the good or bad. May the Lord help us to live as His little children in sincerity and humility, with a sense of wonder and awe. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Learning, living, and loving as His child,

Dean