Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 5, 2022-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

(2 Timothy 4:6-7).

Paul viewed his life as a long distance run. It had a beginning, the starting line that was on the road to Damascus; and it ended in Rome where he was beheaded because of his faith and commitment to the gospel of Christ. His life before in Judaism was not one he was proud of. He persecuted the church, and thus the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the church. We know he was born a Roman citizen in the city of Tarsus. He was a strict, zealous Pharisee who had sat under Gamaliel, one of the great Jewish scholars and teachers. God used his background and expertise in the OT to bolster his ministry.

When He met the Lord Jesus on that fateful, yet wonderful day, the Christian race began for him. Bible scholars speculate that he was between 62-68 years old when he died. In between Damascus and Rome, he made a total of five missionary journeys, preached countless sermons, won innumerable souls to Christ, and planted so many churches throughout the ancient world. He wrote thirteen epistles and his impact on the church and the world was second to only our Savior Himself.

Wouldn’t it have been great to meet him and travel with him, and hear him speak and teach? When I get to heaven, I can’t wait to meet him and spend time with him. He ran and finished his race, just as we are doing now. Paul somehow knew that the time of his departure (death) was near. He could almost see the finish line and the cloud of witnesses cheering him on. When he wrote these words to his protege Timothy, it was at the end of a great journey and race. He had no regrets. He was ready to meet his Lord. He was aware that the crown of righteousness that awaited him and all those who love His appearing.

Just a runners in the marathon come to the last 385 yards of the race, their pace picks up and they give it all they have left in the tank. I know when I ran that was the case. Paul set a tremendous standard for us to follow in his footsteps. He had experienced much pain, tribulations, imprisonments, shipwrecks, and beatings along the way. He also had tremendous joys and blessings for what he was able to accomplish for Christ. He never gave up, never quit. He finished the race strongly.

May the Lord help us in our race to the finish line. None of us knows how much time we have left, only our Savior knows that. Let us then run hard with endurance and finish strongly and victoriously. Have a blessed day running in His way. Stay safe and healthy.

Keeping up the pace in the race,

Dean

-August 4, 2022-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

(Mark 9:41).

Showing kindness is something every one of can do. There are needs everywhere around us. No act of kindness big or small will ever escape our Lord’s notice or go unrewarded. The small act of giving a cup of water to a thirsty person is a big thing in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus in His humanity knew what it was like to be hungry, thirsty, tired, and sleepy. When He met the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well He asked her for a drink of water.

The context of today’s verse is when John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us” (Mark 9:38). John and the other disciples thought they were doing the right thing, but they missed the point. Jesus answered them, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side” (Mark 9:39-40). In Christianity there are many Christians in many countries, and in many churches. We should rejoice when they too preach the gospel and teach the Word of God. The title of this section in my Bible is: “Jesus Forbids Sectarianism.”

It is always a joy and blessing to meet other Christians in this world. Even if their doctrine may not line up exactly with our’s. As long as they believe in Jesus, we should love them and thank the Lord for them. When we get to heaven, there will be Christians from everywhere, all praising and thanking the Lord.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:40-42, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Each of us should say to the Lord, “Whatever I do, I do it for You.” When we show kindness to others it is just as if we are doing it for Jesus Himself. Jesus said so in Matthew 25:40, “…Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

May the Lord help us to be on His kindness patrol, and when there is a need, let us show kindness to others in Jesus’ name. Even giving a cup of cold water. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

In the service of Jesus our King,

Dean

-August 3, 2022-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.”

(Song of Solomon 2:15).

We all know how dangerous, destructive, and deadly sin is. All sin is an abomination to God. We are especially aware and on guard against the major sins. There is a list of what are called the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth. But what about the others? Are they really any better? We often think in terms of some sins being little ones and somehow not as bad.

In our text it is the little foxes that spoil the vines. The bad habits we tolerate and allow to fester often lead to worse things. This is why it says, “Catch us the foxes. The little foxes that spoil the vines.” If we can deal the little sins, we can save ourselves big problems. May I suggest the Seven Little Sins that trip us up: lying, stealing, exaggerating, flattery, cheating, making excuses, and procrastinating. They don’t seem that bad, do they? If we think this way we are already in big trouble. They are just as vile as any other sin. Our tolerance level for the little sins is far greater than for sins like murder and adultery. Jesus died for all our sins.

Proverbs 6:10-11 tells us, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—So shall your poverty come to you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.” If we fail to deal with sin its infancy, we will have more problems with it in its maturity.

From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, man has sought to justify himself. In our society we have lost our sense of right and wrong. There are no absolutes anymore. As believers, our moral compass should be calibrated by the Word of God. Christians are often called “narrow minded,” meaning we are too strict, too conservative, too rigid. We will always be safe by obeying and applying the Word to our lives in the little things as well as the big things, yes in all things. Our sin tolerance level should be set at zero. We must answer to God, not to man. God’s standards are much higher than man’s.

Grape vines are very tender are are prone to damage. This speaks of our consciences as well. As soon as we start compromising, it leads to minimizing, and minimizing to justifying our sin. Things that once bothered us don’t seem quite as bad as they once were. To avoid bad habits we must create good ones, be self-controlled and disciplined, and say and do what is right and true. It is like drawing lines in the sand, we must redraw them if the tides of time have covered them over.

In sports, some penalties and fouls are considered more egregious, but all fouls and penalties are against the rules and count against the players. Sports often mirror life. All sins carry with them various consequences. God forgives us, but we often must bear the consequences for quite some time.

May the Lord help us not to tolerate sin, even small ones in our lives. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.” Let us seek to please and honor the Lord by holding to our convictions and standing for and on God’s principles. God doesn’t change and neither do His standards and values.

Have a blessed day being on guard against the little sins just like the big ones, setting our sin tolerance level at zero. Stay safe and healthy.

In His unchanging truth,

Dean

-August 2, 2022

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

“Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.”

(2 Chronicles 13:18).

Under King Rehoboam the kingdom was divided into two parts in keeping with what God told King Solomon would happen because of his sin of idolatry and turning away from the Lord; the son of Solomon kept two tribes of Judah and Benjamin as the Southern kingdom, and Jeroboam reigned over the ten Northern tribes. All the kings of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and were in full idolatry. The kings over Judah were mostly good and God blessed them when they honored Him. There were some bad kings among them also.

In the end, both kingdoms were taken into captivity: Israel by Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians. Judah ended up as bad or even worse than Israel. They knew better but failed to turn back to the Lord. Their captivity lasted seventy years and then many of those from Judah went back to their land as God foretold. They rebuilt the temple, the walls of Jerusalem, and occupied their land once again.

Over their history up to the captivity, Israel and Judah fought many wars against each other as in our text today. In this case, King Jeroboam of Israel came against King Abijah of Judah. The latter tried to convince the former not to fight, but to no avail. The lesson for us is to avoid conflict with others as much as we can, while not compromising our faith in the Lord. Our warfare today is spiritual in nature, and is against the devil and his evil forces.

Instead of backing off his attack, Jeroboam caused an ambush against Judah and hemmed them in on two sides: front and rear. Fortunately, they cried out to the Lord for His help, and blew the trumpets. God acted on their behalf to deliver them and gave them the victory over Israel. King Abijah struck them and killed five hundred thousand choice men of Israel. Israel had the stronger army, but God supported Judah.

The reason for Judah’s victory was clear: “Because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.” Still today, the key to victory is reliance on the Lord. The definition of reliance is, “dependence or trust in someone or something.” For the Christian, we must rely on the Lord fully and not on ourselves or on others. God is glorified when we do. We like Abijah and the nation of Judah were in deep trouble with no way out. God came through for them in a big way.

We must always guard against reliance on our own intellect, will, strength, and wisdom. Self-reliance never works but only makes things worse. Often, the kings of Israel and sometimes the kings of Judah also, hired armies from the nations around them. It was never good. Instead, we must trust in the Lord, fight the good fight of faith, and rely fully on Him. God alone is our confidence. When we depend on Him alone, we find that He is fully dependable and reliable. The battle is not ours but the Lord’s. Help is but a prayer away.

Have a blessed and victorious day relying on the Lord. Before you act stop. S-T-O-P stands for Surrender-Trust-Obey-Pray. It is one of the best and easiest acronyms to remember and live by. Stay safe and healthy.

In reliance on the Lord fully,

Dean

-August 1, 2022-

Good morning, happy Monday,

“You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).

“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word” (Psalm 119:114).

In each of today’s verses, the Psalmist says, “You are my hiding place.” Psalm 32 was written by David who often looked for hiding places as King Saul relentlessly pursued him to kill him without cause or justification. He sought comfort, peace, and safety in caves, dens, and deep inside forests. Even so, these places were physical refuges for him, but he sought God who was his spiritual hiding place, especially in times of trouble.

Psalm 119 was written by an unknown author who recognized that that God was his shield and that His Word gave him hope. When we are in need, the Lord is near indeed! James wrote in James 4:8a, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” We must rely on Him for His grace and come boldly or confidently to the throne of grace to find grace to help in times of need. God’s Word strengthens us as we face a plethora of difficulties.

With such a great hiding place, why do we seek to handle our own problems, meet our own needs, or find our own answers or solutions to the questions and issues we have? When we depend on Jesus we find rest and peace. There is nothing too great for the Lord to handle. He is our perfect hiding place. We all have a place that we go to pray alone to God. Even Jesus, while here on earth, spent much time in prayer and communion with the Father. He often arose before daylight to speak to the Father and get His instructions from on high.

Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types defines Hiding Place as, “An illustration of the confidence of the Christian who finds a quiet place where he may kneel and pour our his heart to God in prayer and commit to Him the protection of his life and the problems he faces.” The hymn writer Cleland B. McAfee wrote, “There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God; A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God; A place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God. There is a place of full release, near to the heart of God; A place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God. The refrain says, “O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God, hold us who wait before Thee, near to the heart of God.”

Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Oh, what sweet communion we have with Him! Let us run to Him, to our hiding place of grace. He will always be there for us. He will listen to our needs, concerns, and troubles.

Have a blessed day seeking our hiding place before we see anyone else’s face. Stay safe and healthy.

In seeking our hiding place in Jesus,

Dean