Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-February 5, 2023-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“Then David said to Abigail: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.’”

(1 Samuel 25:32)

Abigail was a great lady, though she is not one of the best known women in the Bible. She was the wife of Nabal, who was a foolish man, a real scoundrel. David and his men treated Nabal’s servants so well, providing them a wall of protection. David sent some of his men to Nabal to request some food. He treated them contemptuously and flatly refused to help them. David was furious and was ready to take all his men and kill Nabal and all the males in his household.

Abigail learned what happened and took wise and decisive action. She took food for David and his men. She took the blame on herself and spoke very kindly to David. David was thankful to the Lord and Abigail for her intervention in keeping him from avenging himself with bloodshed. She was a was both a conciliator and a peacemaker. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Being a peacemaker takes skill, grace, wisdom, and courtesy. David was so impressed with Abigail that after God stuck Nabal and he died, he married her. May the Lord help us to bring people together and point them to Christ.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day being a peacemaker. Stay safe and healthy. Only those who have peace with God can help bring peace with people.

Dean

-February 4, 2023-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

(Psalm 51:10).

David sinned with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s loyal servants and soldiers. God saw the whole sordid affair and was was greatly displeased. God worked in David’s life to bring him to repentance, confession, and restoration. When we sin it is the same. God wants to forgive us and create a clean heart in us and renew a steadfast spirit.

God wants to forgive us and cleanse us. There are two types of forgiveness: judicial, where God forgives us the moment we receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Christ paid our sin debt on the cross. God accepted His perfect sacrifice by laying our sins on His Son. Jesus took our punishment upon Himself. There is no more condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. He pardoned us and the case is closed. The second type of forgiveness is parental. When we sin now as a believer, we must confess it, repent, and ask for forgiveness. All our sins are forgiven at Calvary. Now when we confess our sins, God’s forgives us a Father and restores our fellowship. The severed lines of communication are restored.

David prayed for a clean heart and steadfast spirit. Bill MacDonald in His Believers Bible Commentary wrote on this verse as David may have explained it in his own words, “Looking back, I realize that the trouble all started in my mind. My thought-life was polluted. I entertained evil thoughts until at last I committed the sins. So now I ask You to create in me a clean mind. I know that if that fountain is clean, the steam flowing from it will be clean as well. Yes, Lord, renew my entire inner self so it will be steadfast in guarding against future outbreaks of sin.” God wants our hearts and minds to be clean.

Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23)! The word good means clear or healthy; and the word bad means evil or unhealthy.

No believer who sins will lose his salvation but the fellowship with the Lord can be cut off and it needs to be restored. May God help us to confess our sins immediately and get right with the Lord. God gives us a clean heart and a new start. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Walking in the light of God’s Word,

Dean

-February 3, 2023-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“…Freely you have received, freely give.”

(Matthew 10:8).

The Lord Jesus sent out the Twelve and gave them detailed instructions on what to do. He told them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and preach that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They were to carry on for Him by healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and casting out demons. The task was great to represent the Savior before those who needed Him.

Jesus encouraged the disciples by the words, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Only those who are saved can present the gospel to others. As He loves us, we love others; as He received us, we receive others; as we have been blessed, we are a blessing to those who are saved and those who are unsaved. We are His servants, His ambassadors; We represent the King and the Kingdom. Some will accept the message and others will reject the life changing good news. We not responsible for the results, only being faithful to sharing it. Each person must choose to receive Christ, we can’t force them.

The word freely is defined as, “open and honestly; willingly and readily; without compulsion; without restraint or reservation.” This is exactly what the disciples did, and we should do this as well. We are all volunteers under the direction of Jesus. He gave us freely of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, truth, and salvation. We should freely give to others in the spirit that we have received them.

There is a Christian song that is entitled, “Freely, Freely,” written by Carol Owens. She wrote, “God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name and in Jesus’ name I come to you, to share His love as He told me to. He said, ‘Freely, freely, you have received, freely, freely give. Go in My name and because you believe, others will know that I live. All power is given in Jesus’ name, in earth and heaven in Jesus’ name; And in Jesus name I come to you, and to share His power as He told me to. He said, ‘Freely, freely, you have received, freely, freely give. Go in My name and because you believe, others will know that I live.”

Let us go, let us share, let us give. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Serving our King freely and freely giving to others,

Dean

-February 2, 2023-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”

(Romans 10:1).

Paul was an Israelite through and through. He wrote in Philippians 3:5, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” This was his religious resume. He loved his countrymen so much even though they hated and persecuted him after he got saved and preached the gospel to them.

The burden for the lost must come from the heart. It springs from love, compassion, mercy, and grace. There is an obligation to share our faith but we can’t force anyone to get saved. We sow the seed of the gospel and the Holy Spirit does His work to convict sinners and bring them to Christ. They have to see their need of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Prayer for our family members, neighbors, friends, and co-workers is absolutely essential. We should never look down on unsaved people unless we are reaching down to help them up.

May the Lord give a deeper, stronger, and more loving burden for those who do not know the Lord. Let us love them into the kingdom; let us pray them into the kingdom; and let us lead them into the kingdom.

Have a wonderful day of testifying and sharing our faith as God leads. Stay safe and healthy.

Burdened for those who are burdened by sin,

Dean

-February 1, 2023-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then varnishes away” (James 4:14).

“Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, my age is nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor” (Psalm 39:5).

Do you know what day the Lord will come? Do you know what day you will die? The answer is of course, none of us do. Our lives on earth are at best so short, especially compared to eternity. We have so little time to live for the Lord and serve Him here on earth. One of my teachers Gene Gibson, a tireless servant of Christ, used to always say, “I would rather burn out than rust out.”

In life there are no do overs, no mulligans. In informal golf, a mulligan is where your playing partner lets you take another shot after hitting an especially poor one. It isn’t counted on the scorecard. There are no such things in the Christian life. We must play it where it lies. That is why our priority must be on serving the Lord. 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 put the Lord and His kingdom first, He will provide for us and care for us.

Both David and James are saying the same thing. Life is like a vapor, a breath on a cold day, a puff of smoke; Here for the moment, gone the next. In the world there is what is the Doomsday Clock. It not a literal clock with hands and numbers, but it signifies when the end of the world may come. Recently with the war in Ukraine and global warming getting worse, the time on this clock has been pushed closer to midnight. What is amazing is that we go about our business not thinking about it. It is no wonder why the people of the world do the same when they hear about the Lord’s coming and that each person must one day stand before God.

May the Lord help us not to waste or kill time. Every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day is important. Paul told the saints in Ephesus, “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16 Amplified Bible).

Have a profitable, productive, and prosperous day for Jesus, making the most of every opportunity. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean