Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-June 11, 2022-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy” (Psalm 33:18).

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry” (Psalm 34:15).

One of the most wonderful things is to know is that the eyes of the Lord are on us at all times, watching over us to protect and help us. No matter the dangers or difficulties, He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He loves us so much and provides for us. Psalm 121:3-4 says, “He will not allow your foot to be moved (or slip), He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

The Lord is always open to our cries. He is never too busy for us, He always has time for us. He delights to hear and answer our prayers. He is our omnipresent help 24-7. He cares for us. We are His children, His saints, His people. When parents take their kids somewhere, they keep a watchful eye on each one of them and hold the hands of the young ones. God does that with each of us.

When Jesus was young, twelve years of age, His earthly parents lost sight of him, when they were in Jerusalem and thought He was with some their relatives who were on the trip with them. They had to go back and find Him in the temple speaking with the teachers of the law and asking them questions. God never loses sight of us day or night. Jesus said, “ Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29, 31).

When Lazarus was very sick, his two sisters, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” (John 11:3). None of God’s children escape His love and care. He knows where we are, what we are doing, and what our needs are, even before we pray. We should never feel uncomfortable that His eyes are watching us, rather it should be comforting and assuring.

The hymn writer Civilia D. Martin wrote, “Let not your heart be troubled, His tender word I hear, and resting on His goodness I lose all my doubt and fears; though by the path He leadeth but one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Let us rejoice that He watches over us daily with His tender heart of love and care.

Have a blessed day keeping our eyes on Jesus whose eyes are ever on us. Stay safe and healthy.

In His eternal love and care,

Dean

-June 10, 2022-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Making request if, by some means, now at last I may find away in the will of God to come to you.”

(Romans 1:10).

Paul loved the saints in Rome, but up to this point it had not been God’s will for him to go there to visit the saints. He was so committed to doing the Lord’s will that he obeyed the Lord fully. He was praying and hoping this would be the time. Sometimes God changes our plans and we must accept it as from Him. God always knows what is best for us.

If we seek God’s will and do it, we will be happy and have peace. Conversely, if we go against God’s will things won’t seem right nor will we have peace. It Acts 16:6-7 we see this principle in action, “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did it permit them.” God’s thoughts, ways, and plans are far higher and better than our’s. Sometimes our timing is not quite right; God’s timing is always perfect.

When we are surrendered to the Lord, He shows us what to do or what not do. In the portion in Acts 16:9-10, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia pleading, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Paul concluded that God called them to preach the gospel there. It was shortly after that that they went to Philippi and a lady named Lydia was saved, as well the the Philippian jailer and his whole family.

We must be flexible in adapting to God’s will, especially if it was something we wanted to do very badly. God will always provide something better, even if at the time we don’t understand it. Often, we find out later why God directed us in a specific way. Other times, we may not find out until we get to heaven. The best choice is to let God choose for us. After all, He knows all things. Our knowledge and understanding is so limited. Whether it is a big decision: who to marry, what house to rent or buy, or what job to take, God will lead us; or in small decisions, God’s will is equally important.

May the Lord help us to seek and do His will, no matter our feelings, desires, or plans. God will show us His will if we are willing to listen. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 9, 2022-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’”

(Judges 6:12).

Gideon and all Israel were demoralized, depressed, and defeated by the Midianites. Because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord delivered them into the hands of these ruthless people of Midian, who oppressed them for seven long years. The Amalekites joined them and they took Israel’s donkeys, oxen, and other livestock; they also destroyed their crops. It was so bad that Gideon had to thresh his wheat in winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

So it must have shocked Gideon when the Angel of the Lord came to him and made two bold statements: “The Lord is with you,” and “you mighty man of valor.” Our emotions in life often fluctuate, and with it our confidence. One day we are world beaters, the next the world is beating us up. If we take our eyes off the Lord, we are going to be defeated. We can all relate to Gideon. But praise be to God that He is with us, and He sees our potential for Him. He may not have felt like a mighty man of valor, but God saw him that way. When God calls us, He equips us, when He equips us, He empowers us, and when He empowers us, He uses us.

God promised Gideon the victory in Judges 6:16, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you will defeat the Midianites as one man.” Gideon led an army of 300 men, carrying pitchers, with trumpets in one hand and swords in the other. They shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” The enemy started killing each other. Israel experienced a great victory. To say that Gideon’s army was small and the tactics the Lord gave them to employ unconventional, would be a huge understatement. All the glory went to the Lord.

The key to the victory was obedience to the Word of God. By faith, Jonathan the son of Saul found the same thing to be true, said to his armorbearer in 1 Samuel 14:6, “…’Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.’” He and his armorbearer killed twenty of the Philistines by themselves in the space of about half an acre. God is the one who fights for us.

Let us thank God that He sees our potential and empowers us to do great things for Him. We just need faith in His mighty power. We can all be men and women of valor.

Have a blessed day trusting in the Lord and obeying Him. He gives us the victory. Stay safe and healthy.

In His awesome power,

Dean

-June 8, 2022-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. “

(Luke 12:15).

Jesus warned His listeners of the danger of covetousness. Covetousness in the Bible is an insatiable desire for worldly gain. It is the desire to find fulfillment, meaning, and purpose in things instead of God. It is the intense longing to have something or someone who belongs to another. It is covered in the tenth commandment which says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Eve was the first to covet when she desired the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Covetousness is the mother of all sins.

A man came to Jesus asking Him to tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. Jesus refused to get involved in the family dispute, but rather gave the stern warning against covetousness. He proceeded to tell a parable of a rich fool who decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones to store all his crops for the future. All he would do is eat, drink, and be merry; Little did he know that he would die suddenly and lose everything when he died. Those who live to accumulate money and material things with no regard for God, will suffer the same horrible fate.

Nowadays, our possessions are different. We pursue money, houses, cars, clothes, tech gadgets, jewelry, and so much more. It is so foolish because we will leave everything behind when we die. All we have is our soul which is either saved by Jesus or lost. Millions make the wrong choice, the foolish choice. Few decide to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. The broad road leads to destruction whereas the narrow road leads to eternal life.

As believers saved by grace, we need to seek God’s will and desire to please Him, being content with what God has given us. Desiring more leads to the sin of covetousness. The heart of man always wants more. Proverbs 30:8-9, shows the middle ground we should desire, “Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches —Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.’” It is not wrong to be rich if riches are gained lawfully, but it wrong to desire riches ahead of the Lord.

May the Lord help us to take heed and beware of covetousness. Our lives don’t consist of things that will one day perish or be lost or stolen. Our blessings in Christ last forever and make us the richest people of all.

Have a blessed day seeking the eternal, heavenly things over the temporal, earthly things. Where our treasure is, there our hearts will be. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 7, 2022-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

“So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of Lord which He had done for Israel.”

(Judges 2:7).

Joshua followed Moses as the leader of Israel and did a great job. He led the people into the Promised Land, gave them their inheritance, and set a godly example for them to follow. He told them in Joshua 24:14-15, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The people proclaimed that they would serve the Lord, and even said it three times. Even so their commitment was short lived.

Leaders cannot force us to follow Christ and serve Him, but they do have a strong influence upon us and are godly spiritual examples. That being said, it is up to us to take the torch and carry on. One generation gives way to another. The father passes on the truth to his son. It has always been this way. Along with father stands the grandfather so that the son has two examples in the family to follow for Christ. For example with the kings of Judah, at times the father was good but the son was bad, and occasionally the father was bad, but the son was good. Each person is responsible for themselves and must answer to the Lord.

Paul wrote in Romans 14:12, “So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.” Our teachers can only take us so far. They aren’t perfect and can only take us as far as they have gone with the Lord, then we must take it further. We can either progress and grow, or we will digress and backslide, these are the two only choices. Sadly, for the Israelites, they digressed and plunged into idolatry. In the book of Judges we see the pattern of sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation. God would raise up nations and kings to bring them into bondage, then He would raise up a judge to deliver them, and there would be peace and good times until the pattern started all over again. Samuel was the last of the judges and first of the prophets. He was in fact a prophet, a priest, and a judge.

It was a blessing that Joshua’s strong spiritual influence and example extended to the elders who seen the great works that the Lord had done for Israel. When God great things in our lives it makes a big difference for us and our families. Are you taking the torch for Jesus? If we want the next generation to carry on, we must be examples to them and encourage them in the Word, in the work, and in the ways of the Lord.

May the Lord help us to be influencers and examples to the younger ones. Moses was a mentor to Joshua, Elijah to Elisha, and Paul to Timothy. This is why Paul told Timothy, “and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). With responsibility comes accountability.

Have a blessed day being a good spiritual influencer and example. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean