Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-April 26, 2023-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“So David said to him, ‘Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you will eat bread at my table continually.’ Then he bowed himself, and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?’”

(2 Samuel 9:7-8).

David was a great king with many sons to sit at his table and enjoy his bounties and blessings. All of the them were robust, healthy warriors. They enjoyed all the privileges of sonship. David had made a covenant with his best friend Jonathan and he desired to honor it. Jonathan had said to him in 1 Samuel 20:14-16, “‘And you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.’ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘Let the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.’”

David made a vow and he meant to keep it. Once he was king over all Israel, he fulfilled it. He made an inquiry if there were any still left of the house of Saul that he could show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake. There was found one named Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan, who was lame in his feet. We would call him disabled today. When news came of the tragic death of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa in a battle with the Philistines, his nurse picked up the five year old boy, and in her haste to flee she dropped him and he became lame.

David called for him and promised that he would sit at his table and eat bread continually. What a privilege! What a blessing! But he was so humble, and sensed his own unworthiness before King David. In fact, he describes himself as “a dead dog.” Dogs weren’t considered of much value, much less a dead dog! What a picture of us as sinners saved by grace sitting at the table of fellowship with our Lord. We are so unworthy. We are Gentiles, outside the commonwealth of Israel. We have been saved by grace through faith and are now sons of God. He has adopted us into His family and we have all the rights and privileges of sonship. We like wild olive branches have been grafted into spiritual Israel. We are one body in Christ.

We often call the breaking of bread the communion service. There is the Lord’s table with the symbols of the bread and wine before us. One day in heaven, we will sit and feast at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We are so blessed now and our future in His presence will be glorious. We will sit at His table continually. We are liked dead dogs but now we are the precious sheep of His pasture. Mephibosheth is mentioned fifteen times in the Bible, all in 2 Samuel. His name is long with twelve letters and is very hard to pronounce. But his story, is our story. We can relate to him very well.

Have a blessed day rejoicing in the presence of the Lord—sitting at His table, feasting on the riches of His grace forever. We are the children of the King. Stay safe and healthy.

Sitting at His table is my place, sharing the blessings of His grace,

Dean

-April 25, 2023-

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

(Colossians 1:27).

God revealed His plan of the ages over all the dispensations of time. It started with God’s creation, then seven specific time periods in human history: innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and millennial kingdom. God dealt with man in various ways through them all. All of them point to and find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ: His birth, His life, His ministry, His death on the cross, His resurrection, His ascension to glory, His second coming, His millennial reign, and the eternal state of glory with Him.

We are currently living in the dispensation of grace, the time we call the church age. The gospel is going forth, souls are being saved, and the church is God the conduit through which His truth flows forth. We are all part of the church, the body, building, and bride of Christ. This truth is one of the mysteries in the Bible. A mystery in the sense that it was previously hidden and unknown but now God has revealed it to the world.

Of all the mysteries, the greatest is the one before us today: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Just stop and think of that for a moment. The living God who is omnipresent, who fills the universe and controls all things by His authority and power, now lives in us by the Holy Spirit! His love, power, peace, and joy are in us. We are sinners saved by grace, saints, children of God. We are so blessed. As great as this is, the best is yet to come. The Lord Jesus is our hope of glory. The coming of the Lord is imminent. One day we will see Him face to face in all of His glory.

One of my favorite hymns, and I have many, is “Christ Liveth In Me.” It was written by Daniel W. Whittle. It says, “Once far from God and dead in sin, no light my heart could see, but in God’s Word the light I found, now Christ liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder sun the flow’rs of earth set free, so life and light came forth from Christ living in me. As lives the flow’r within the seed, as in the cone, the tree, so praise the God of truth and grace, His Spirit dwelleth in me. With longing all my heart is filled that I like Him may be, as on the wondrous thought I dwell, that Christ liveth in me.” The chorus proclaims, “Christ liveth in me, Christ liveth in me, O what a salvation this that Christ liveth in me.”

Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul is not alone, every believer in Christ has Christ living in him. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Have a blessed day in Christ, for Christ, and with Christ. He will lead us, provide for us, and help us. There is victory in Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

Living in me, living in me, O how my heart is beating for Thee,

Dean

-April 24, 2024-

Good morning, happy Monday,

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

(1 Peter 1:18-19).

The doctrine of redemption in the Bible is vast. It is precious, personal, and practical. It is indeed one of the greatest blessings we as believers have. Redemption is eternally linked with the blood of Christ. Redemption is the result of Christ’s blood, and Christ’s blood is the agent by which we are redeemed. Books have been written about it, hymns have written on it, and sermons have been preached about it, yet there is so much to know and fathom. It is like standing next to a vast ocean with a tiny pale to collect it. We simply can’t exhaust it.

All through the Bible, we find the subject of the blood sacrifice that must be made on behalf of sin. In the OT, so many lambs were offered that could never put away sin, but just cover it for time, up to a year. Christ came into the world to put away sin forever by His one sacrifice for sin on the cross. Hebrews 10:12 speaking of Jesus says, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

Redemption means to buy back. Jesus shed His precious blood to cleanse us, save us, restore us, justify us, and forgive us. We are so incredibly blessed to be a blood-bought people. Silver and gold are what we call precious metals, yet as great as they are, are perishable. They won’t last forever, but the blood of Christ will. It’s affect has no end. I love the subject of redemption through the blood of Christ. He is our Redeemer, we are the redeemed; His blood is like a fountain that cleanses us from sin. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

The hymn writer Fanny Crosby wrote, “Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinte mercy, His child, and forever, I am.” There are so many other hymns, too numerous to count. Each one is beautiful. Lewis F. Jones penned, “Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; sins stains are lost in its life-giving flow—There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.”

There is such a personal and practical aspect of redemption through the blood of God. It gives is power over sin. We no longer are held in the clutches of the devil and the power of sin and death. We have the power of the Holy Spirit to live holy and godly lives. Our sins are forgiven, our past is under the blood, and our present and future are forever covered by the blood.

Let us sing today, give thanks today, and rejoice in the precious blood of Christ and in the redemption we have in Him. We have been bought with a high price: the blood of Christ. Paul said, “For you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s.

Have a blessed day in the power of the blood. Stay safe and healthy.

Washed in the blood of the Lamb and victorious in the the Great “I AM.”

Dean

-April 23, 2023-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering rebuked him, saying, ‘Do You not even fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”

(Luke 23:39-43).

What a comparison and contrast between the two thieves who were crucified on either side of Jesus. At first they both were against Him, reviling and blaspheming Him. Both were sinners, both were guilty and deserving of punishment. Matthew 27:44 tells us, “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.”

Each person must make their own decision to receive Christ. The first thief right down to his dying breath, rejected Christ. Even when staring death head on. How sad! How tragic! There are those who hear the gospel and reject it on their deathbed.

The second thief heard the same words than the first one heard, but He repented of his sins and accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. He knew he would die, but became a herald to the other thief, and to others at the cross who heard him. Jesus promised that he would be with Him in Paradise. The first thief rejected Christ, the second one received Him. Both of the thieves were just as sinful and guilty, but the second one realized Jesus died for him, saw his need, and believed.

Have you made your decision to receive Christ? If you haven’t, why not today? Tomorrow could be too late. For those of us who know the Lord it is a lesson to share the truth of the gospel with those who are lost. They then must make their own decision for Christ, we can’t force them.

Let us rejoice in our salvation. Paradise awaits us at the Lord’s coming or death, whichever comes first. Have a blessed Lord’s Day in worship, remembrance, in the Word and in fellowship and prayer. Stay safe and healthy.

Thanking God for our salvation,

Dean

“

-April 22, 2023-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

(Leviticus 19:26).

Honestly is rare in our world today. As believers we must be honest to our words, tell the truth; and be honest in our lives before both God and men. We belong to Jesus and we follow a higher standard. Think how many times we must choose to be honest, even if goes against us financially. We have a moral obligation, but more than we have a spiritual obligation. We have a testimony to attain and maintain.

In the days of the Israelites of old, God told them that they were His people, a special treasure. In today’s verse, Moses uses the word honest four times: honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. Each of these speak of standards and measurements. This is especially true in business dealings, but extends to every aspect of our lives. In recent years we have heard of numerous cheating scandals. No on ever thinks that they will be caught. God has a way of bringing this sin to light. The penalties are severe.

Job wrote “Let me be weighed on honest scales. That God may know my integrity” (Job 31:6). God knows our thoughts, motives, desires, words, and actions. Nothing is hidden from him. His standards are higher than man’s. Proverbs 16:11 says, “Honest weights and scales are the Lord’s; All the weights in the bag are His work (or concern).” It it isn’t easy to attain and maintain honesty, but we can do it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The story is told of President Theodore Roosevelt during the days he was a rancher. One of his cowpunchers lassoed a maverick steer, lit a fire, and prepared the branding irons. The part of the range” they were on was claimed by Gregor Lang, one of Roosevelt’s neighbors. According to cattlemen’s rule, the steer belonged to Lang. as the cowboy applied the brand, Roosevelt said, “Wait, it should be Lang’s brand.” “That’s all right boss,” said the cowboy. “But you’re putting on my brand,” said. Roosevelt. “That’s right,” said the man. “Drop that iron,” Roosevelt demanded, “and get back to the ranch and get out. I don’t need you anymore. A man who will steal for me will steal from me.”

May our word be our bond, and honesty our hallmark in all our dealings, in the light and in the dark, when no one is looking or whether they are. There is no room for lying, cheating, or stealing. It is always wrong. We must adhere to biblical standards, God’s standards. Actions speak louder than words. Have a blessed, safe, and healthy day.

Honesty is a way of life in Christ,

Dean