Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-June 25, 2023-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

(2 Thessalonians 3:3).

The Lord is always faithful to His people. Whether in good times or bad times, He is with us. Today’s verse is a promise we can and must claim. God promises to establish us and guard us from the evil one. The devil hates Christ and all His followers. He targets those who are fully committed to the Lord. We have a target on our backs.

Job found this out the hard way. Satan had to get God’s permission to buffet Job with the most severe afflictions. Job lost everything: his business, his servants, his children, and his health; but God taught him so much through it and gave him back double what he had before. The Lord was faithful to Job all the way.

The Lord establishes us, spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. To establish someone is to support them, encourage them, guide them, and help them. The Lord is always faithful to us. The devil always looks for an opportunity, a kink in our armor. The Lord helps us and gives us victory.

The Lord also protects us from evil and the evil one. Psalm 121:7-8 says, “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and forever.” The hymn writer Lina Sanell wrote, “Every day the Lord Himself is with me with a special mercy for each hour; all my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Power. The protection of His child and treasure is a charge that on Himself He laid; ‘as thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,’ this the pledge to me He made.”

The Lord has been faithful to us in the past and will be faithful in the future and for all eternity. Have a blessed Lord’s Day. Stay safe and healthy.

Trusting in His Faithfulness,

Dean

-June 24, 2024-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

(Psalm 133:1).

There is something very special, sweet, and satisfying in being in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The testimony of one believer is wonderful, but put together with all believers it is the best. Others, especially the unsaved will notice and be affected. David experienced unity in his life with his family, with his mighty men, and with counselors and advisors.

The word unity is defined as, “being together or at one with someone or something. It’s the opposite of being divided; the quality of being turned into one.” What made the early church so strong and dynamic was their love and unity created by the Holy Spirit. God always seeks to unite, the devil always seeks to divide. The Lord draws us together, the devil drives us apart. Many a church down through the centuries has had schisms within. God deals with His own to restore unity.

Two ladies in the church in Philippi had a hard time getting along. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:2, “I explore Euodia and implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” Paul didn’t take sides but indicated to them to have the same mind in the Lord. Unity is having the mind of Christ, being one with one another, and getting along together.

The Corinthians had the problem of divisions. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul wrote, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” In order for unity to occur it must be in the truth. Unity without truth is dangerous; unity in truth is glorious. A little known seventeen century Lutheran theologian Rupertus Meldenius said, “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things charity.” What great advice.

May the Lord grant us unity, oneness in Christ, and Christlikeness. Vesta Kelly said, “Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” Scientists tell us that no two snow flakes are exactly the same but together they make snow. Let’s be snowflakes for Jesus.

Have a blessed day being in unity in Christ. God made us unique and special. When we stand together we can change the world for Christ. Stay safe and healthy.

Joined together in cords of love, fit together for heaven above,

Dean

-June 23, 2023-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”

(1 Samuel 12:24).

The people of Israel asked Samuel to anoint a king over them like all the other nations. The problem was that they weren’t like the other nations. The Lord God was their King and they were His people. They craved an earthly ruler who would fight their battles and lead them forward. Samuel was very upset with them but the Lord told him in 1 Samuel 8:7, “…Heed the voice of the people in all they say to you; for have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”

God gave them their desire and provided Saul as their first king. They wouldn’t listen to Samuel nor to God. Samuel warned them what it would be like to have a king, but still they were determined to have one. Samuel tells them three things to do in order to succeed individually and collectively: fear the Lord, serve Him in truth with all their heart, and consider what great things God has done for them. There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.

• Fear the Lord – Fearing the Lord is giving God His rightful place of honor. It is having a healthy reverence and respect for Him, His laws, principles, promises, and standards. Israel was God’s holy, chosen people, His own special treasure. We must have the right attitude toward the Lord always. 1 Chronicles 16:30 says, “Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established. It shall not be moved.”

• Serve the Lord in truth with all your heart – When we serve it must be in truth, that is, according to the Word of God, in will of God, by the ways of God. Serving God is a privilege and blessing. Joshua said at the end of Joshua 24:15, “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The Lord is our King. We serve Him in all we do and say, each and every day.

• Consider what great things He has done for you – The word consider is a very important one. It is defined as, “thinking carefully about (something), typically before making a decision.” As believers who serve the Lord, we must think of and remember all that the Lord has done for us. The Psalmist wrote, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad” (Psalm 126:3). The more thankful we are, the more we will serve the Lord from a pure heart.

Let us then fear the Lord, serve Him in truth with all our hearts, and consider the great things He has done for us. He alone is worthy of our praise and worship. He has given us all things, and equipped us and trained us in His service. All the glory goes to Him.

Have a blessed day serving the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 22, 2023-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“And believers were increasingly being added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”

(Acts 5:14).

When Jesus walked the face of the earth multitudes followed Him, heard His teaching, and experienced and witnessed His miracles. Here in the book of Acts the early church started with a bang: three thousand souls were saved in the Day of Pentecost, the two more thousand the next day. Soon persecution started, but amazingly the church grew mightily both numerically and spiritually day by day.

The word multitude is defined as, “a great number; host; a great number of people gathered together; crowd; throng.” Normally I don’t like crowds, but when it comes to gathering with fellow believers it is a blessing. Jesus had that special grace of relating to large groups, small groups, and individuals. Matthew 9:36 says, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

Jesus fed five thousand and four thousand; He preached from the mountaintop and from a boat. The apostles carried on what Jesus began to do and teach. The gospel spread from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. We need multitudes of people coming to Christ and to our local churches. We must remember that a multitude is made up of individuals.

May the Lord use us to reach multitudes with the gospel of Christ. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Adding more converts for the Kingdom,

Dean

-June 21, 2022-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

(Mark 8:36-37).

Riches are not the only stumbling block in coming to Christ, but they are certainly one of the greatest. There are two kinds of people: those who are rich and those who strive to be. Jesus explains that riches, in particular money, do not profit in the light of eternity. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:10, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

We all need money to live on and provide for our families; but the obsession for it is to the detriment of our souls and is folly and vanity. Every year Forbes Magazine releases its list of the ten richest people in the world. Each year the mega wealthy move up or down the list. The top six in the world have net worth’s of over 100 billion dollars! It is a very exclusive club.

1. Bernard Arnault & family – $211 billion. 2. Elon Musk – $180 billion. 3. Jeff Bezos – $114 billion. 4. Larry Ellison – $107 billion. 5. Warren Buffet – $106 billion. 6. Bill Gates – $104 billion. 7. Michael Bloomberg – $94.5 billion. 8. Carlos Slim & family – $93 billion. 9. Mukesh Ambani – $83.4 billion. 10. Steve Ballmer – $80.7 billion.

Jesus did not speak glowingly about rich people, in fact quite the opposite. The rich young ruler had so much money and was unwilling to part with it to follow Jesus. Our Savior told the Parable of the Rich Fool who decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones to have more and more. The problem was God required his soul and his soul was lost for all eternity. No one can take their money or possessions with them into eternity. Even here on earth money can be lost, stolen, devalued, burned up, squandered, or at best spent.

I would rather have heavenly riches which will last forever. As believers we are the richest people in the world because all things are ours in Christ. Winning souls to Christ, building up the saints, serving the Lord, giving to support the Lord’s work, helping others in need build our spiritual bank account. No one can put a value on a single soul, its worth is beyond billions.

May the Lord help us to have the right mind set when it comes to money and possessions. God has given them to us to use as stewards. They can either help us or hinder us depending how we use them or abuse them. So many are possessed by their possessions, while only a few truly possess their possessions. As Christians we must be on guard over all that we have, use them for God’s kingdom and glory, and not let them distract us or destroy us. Unprofitable profitability is still and always will worse than profitable profitability.

Have a blessed day with the right attitude toward money, with genuine gratitude. Stay safe and healthy.

Content with little or with much,

Dean