Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-July 6, 2022-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“…and, lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

(Matthew 28:20).

The resurrected Christ brought such great joy to His disciples. John 20:20 says, “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” Based on this reference, we have 20-20 spiritual vision. The last words our Savior gave them before He ascended back to heaven were the words of the Great Commission. He sent them out to preach, teach, and baptize. To have success and joy is to realize that we are not alone but we have the Lord with us every minute of every day.

The Lord guides us, encourages us, and helps us. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We can’t see Him with our natural eyes, but we can see Him with our spiritual eyes; and we can’t hear Him with our natural ears, but we can ear him with the ears of our hearts. Jesus said, “But blessed are your eyes for the see and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13:16).

We desperately need the Lord with us. He empowers us to serve Him. He is with us for the long haul. He never gives up on us, but is so patient with us. He is with every believer at all times. The word phase “always” can be rendered in the Greek, according to Greek scholars Jamison, Fausett, and Brown as “all the days.” Some days are favorable, other days they are everything but. Job told his less than supportive wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity” (Job 2:10).

We must follow the Lord wherever He leads us. The hymn writer E.W. Blandy wrote, “Where He leads me I will follow, where He leads me I will follow, where He leads me I will follow —I’ll go with Him all the way.” Someone said, “The will of God will never lead us where the grace of God cannot keep us.” He is with us and we are with Him. It is the perfect union and the perfect communion. Are you down today? Just turn to Jesus, He is always there.

Have a blessed day walking with Jesus in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in today. Stay safe and healthy.?

In the presence of the Lord,

Dean

-July 5, 2022-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

“And in that day you will say: ‘Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples; Make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.’”

(Isaiah 12:4-5).

In the midst of the prophecy of Isaiah there is chapter 12. The caption in my Bible over this short but rich chapter is, “Hymn of Praise.” The word hymn is defined as, “a religious song or poem to God or a god.” In our day, a hymn is “a song used in Christian worship, usually sung by the congregation and characteristically have a metrical, strophic (stanzaic), non biblical text.” The word hymn is found only twice and the word hymns only three times in the Bible.

Though the words are not mentioned much, the concept of praising God, especially in song is found throughout the Book of Psalms and many other books as well. We should praise the Lord and His holy name all the days of our lives. When I was just a youngster, I used to attend church and I learned so many hymns. I love to sing. I sing in our church’s choir and worship team, and I also lead the congregational singing at our Sunday services. To me it is a blessed privilege.

On two notable occasions in the NT, singing of a hymn or hymns is particularly wonderful. Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn after meeting in the upper room before going to the Mount of Olives, and the Garden of Gethsemane, where He would be betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Jewish authorities. Matthew 26:30 says, “And when they had sung a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives.” These same words are also found in Mark 14:26.

The second time hymns were sung was in the prison in Philippi in Acts 16:26-34, where Paul and Silas were locked up because they upset the whole city by casting out a demon from a servant girl who had been telling fortunes and bringing in a lot of money. This girl was delivered and saved. And they held this against Paul and Silas for the profit they made off of her was gone. They beat them and put them into prison. Despite their pain, they sang hymns of praise to God and the other prisoners listened to them.

Paul also mentioned singing hymns in Ephesians 5:19-20, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He also refers to singing hymns in Colossians 3:16.

How much do we praise God in our personal, devotional times with the Lord? He is so worthy. We should praise Him in the good times, but also in the bad times, yes all the time. Paul and Silas were in prison and Jesus was on His way to the cross. At the end of our breaking of bread service at church, we always sing the Doxology, which is a short hymn that says,”Praise God from whom all blessing flows; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

Let us praise Him today for who He is and what He has done for us. Stay safe and healthy.

In His praise forever,

Dean

-July 4, 2022-

Good Morning, happy Monday, happy Independence Day,

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

(2 Chronicles 7:14).

There are many similarities between Israel of old and present day America. From its inception, our nation has been founded on God and His Word. The Lord loves our country so much and desires that we return to Him. Sadly, our country has been moving further and further from God. This is why there are so many terrible things happening. We see it all around us on TV, on the internet, and from all the news sources. God calls it “ their wicked ways.” We need to repent as individuals and as a nation and turn back to God.

There are two key words in today’s verse: “if,” and “then.” An if-then statement, also called a conditional statement, is a statement with a hypothesis followed by a conclusion. We may say it as, “If this happens, then that will happen.” Here in our text, God is speaking to Solomon and the nation of Israel at the dedication of the temple. This is the second time that God has appeared to Solomon. God knew there would be times that His chastisement would come upon them and they would need to turn back to Him. That is what repentance is: a turning from sin, wickedness, and evil to God, His truth and righteousness. It is a 180 degree turn. God promises to do His part in blessing us when we as His people do our part by turning back to Him.

Repentance leading to revival starts in the hearts. Whenever there have been great revivals, it always begins with the people of God, then it reaches nations and individuals. God uses many things to get our attention. If we don’t listen, He intensifies the troubles and difficulties until we do. The steps of getting right with God are listed clearly in our verse: we must humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways. These are clear instructions that require little explanation; but need definite and immediate action.

John the Baptist told those who came to be baptized by him in preparation of Jesus’ coming, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matthew 3:8). John is saying, “Talk is cheap, unless us it is accompanied by actions.” It is not enough to live in a Christian country, grow up in a Christian family, or even attend a Christian church. There must be a personal decision to receive Christ and to walk with Him. Before our nation can repent and turn back to God, we as individual believers must humble ourselves and pray. America needs our prayers!

We must not only humble ourselves and pray, but we must seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways. We can’t sugarcoat sin, we must judge it in our own lives and confess it and forsake it. Once we are right with God, He will work in mighty ways in our lives and in our nation. God promised, “Then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.” And, Oh how we need it in our lives, churches, and in our country!

Though these steps are difficult and painful, there can be no shortcuts or alternatives. God only blesses us when we seek Him. In Israel’s case, she didn’t repent and God took the whole nation into captivity for seventy years. It was a painful time. We in America are heading for a fall like this as well. Let us turn back to God now by praying, humbling ourselves, seeking His face, and turning from our wicked ways. His heart and arms are wide open to us.

Have a blessed day celebrating our country’s 246th birthday by turning to God and praying for our nation. We have so many freedoms and opportunities in our nation. Stay safe and healthy.

In drawing near to God,

Dean

-July 3, 2022-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for You; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’”

(Luke 22:19-20).

Jesus was very calm, even knowing the cross was coming very soon. As the Son of God, He knew what He would go through to bear our sins. Before He instituted the Lord’s Supper, He celebrated the last Passover with them. He fulfilled the type of the Passover Lamb who would give His life at Calvary. He said in Luke 22:14, “…With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

The disciples did not comprehend at this point what was going to happen, though Jesus prophesied about it three times as they traveled along the road to Jerusalem. It all came to pass just as He said it would. None of us would have been any different had we been in their shoes. We can definitely relate to the disciples. There was for them a mixture of sorrow and fear. Their sorrow turned to joy when Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them in Galilee.

Jesus told them, “do this in remembrance of Me.” We will never forget His love and His sacrifice He made for us by dying in our place on the cross. The bread is a symbol of His broken body, and the cup is a symbol of the blood of Christ shed on our behalf. His one perfect sacrifice made possible the forgiveness of our sins; now through faith in Him we have eternal life and a home in heaven. As we gather to remember the Lord, we join our hearts together in worship, praise, and thanksgiving to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day,

In His eternal love,

Dean

-July 2, 2022-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

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

Unity in today’s world is rare among the people of the world, and is not prevalent even in the church. Unity is defined as, “the state of being united or joined as a whole.” In the NT, it is being of one mind, in one accord in Christ. The church is described as the body, the building, and bride of Christ.

To be effective as a church, we must work together in fellowship and love. The devil does his utmost to divide the church. There are so many different denominations. If we can’t get along and be united, the world won’t listen to our message. The psalmist pronounces a blessing on those who dwell together in unity. Someone once said, “To live above with saints we love, oh that will be glory; but oh to live below with saints we know, now that’s another story.”

Paul’s desire and prayer for believers is found in Romans 15:5-6, “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our strength comes when we stand together, pray together, and serve together. Unity doesn’t just happen, we must work at it diligently. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:3, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Have a blessed day supporting, loving, and encouraging one another in unity. Stay safe and healthy.

In the oneness of Christ,

Dean