Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-April 17, 2022-

Good morning, happy Easter, happy Resurrection Day,

“Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

(John 20:19-20).

After Jesus was crucified, all the disciples were extremely sad. The women were sad, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were sad, and the eleven apostles were sad. They were also very fearful of the Jews, so they met together secretly. But all that changed when Jesus rose from the dead. Their sorrow was turned into joy. John records in John 20:20, “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” He was alive and showed them His hands and side. This verse shows their spiritual vision was 20-20.

Thomas wasn’t with them on this occasion. Even when those who testified to him that Jesus was alive – he refused to believe until he saw the risen Savior with his own two eyes. Eight days later when they gathered again and Thomas was with them this time, he got his desire. Jesus said to him, “…Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27). He did believe and said, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)!

Because Jesus lives, we live with Him, and will one day be in heaven with Him. He gives us joy, peace, and hope to face whatever comes our way. He turns our sorrow into joy. He is with us all through our lives. The song writer Alfred H. Ackley said it well, “Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King! The hope of all seek Him, the help of all who find, none other is so loving, so good and kind. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.”

The early Christians had a wonderful greeting upon seeing a fellow believer. The first would say, “The Lord is risen!” Then his brother would reply, “The Lord is risen indeed.” May we live our lives fully for our risen Savior, and serve Him with all our hearts.

Have a blessed Resurrection Day, rejoicing in our Lord and all that He has done for us. Stay safe and healthy.

Rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus,

Dean

-April 16, 2022-

Good morning, happy Saturday

“Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”

(Acts 28:30-31).

Paul was under house arrest in Rome. He was awaiting his appeal to Caesar. Even though conditions were not ideal, still things were much better for him than a Roman prison. God showed him great mercy and grace, and he lived for two whole years in his own rented house. In Rome, they had many such accommodations called insala. They were like apartments. Paul turned his obstacles into opportunities to serve the Lord.

Does it not remind us of the early days and months of the Coronavirus pandemic. We were locked down, isolated, and sequestered in our homes. Paul lived two years like this. Instead of complaining, Paul made the most of the opportunities he was given. He could have shut the blinds and felt sorry for himself, but he didn’t. Paul was a man with a plan. He received guests who visited him, preached the kingdom of God, and taught the things of the Lord Jesus Christ with confidence. He had full liberty. All this was paid for by the Roman government. Only God could work things out this way!

Using our sanctified imaginations, Paul likely entertained both Jews and Gentiles, saved and unsaved. For he received all who came to him. I am sure there were many Roman believers who came to encourage him, and went home encouraged themselves. The end of verse 31 says, “no one forbidding him.” Think how many souls he won to Christ and how many Christians he taught and encouraged during those two years. Paul lived by the words he wrote to the Ephesians, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

We should use the opportunities God gives us in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in: unemployed or employed, in school or out of school, injured or sick, living alone or with family and or friends, or retired. God always takes care of us so that we can take of His work. God will give us open doors to witness and testify for Him. Opportunities are all around us, we must seize them.

Have a blessed day serving the Lord with joy, confidence, and thanksgiving; no matter our circumstances.

In our King’s service,

Dean

-April 15, 2022-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Good Friday is the oldest of all holidays on the Christian calendar, dating back to 692. It commemorates the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary. We know that Jesus prophesied three times that He would be delivered into the hands of men, be killed, and rise again the third day. He fulfilled the Scriptures perfectly. Before there could His resurrection, there had to be His crucifixion; before His crucifixion there had to be His perfect life and ministry; and before He could live His perfect life serving the Father, He had to be born in Bethlehem’s manger. Thus, Christmas is connected to Good Friday, which is connected to Easter, the resurrection day. If any of them failed to occur, all would be lost for us.

But why call the day “Good Friday.” Our Savior was arrested, beaten, mocked, and crucified. His physical sufferings were so intense and painful. His spiritual sufferings were even worse: He was forsaken by God, He bore our sin, and endured the wrath and judgment of God that was our due. It was a good for us because He took our place, our pain, and our punishment. In love, He laid down His life for us.

Many churches have Good Friday services, others have just Easter services, remembering both His death and resurrection together. Either way, the whole week leading up to His death and resurrection is what is called “Holy Week.” It started with Palm Sunday last Sunday, His Triumphal Entry, and concludes with Easter this Sunday.

Good Friday was a terrible day for Christ in His death for us, but it along with Easter is good for us. By faith, we have forgiveness of sins, victory over sin, death, and Satan, and eternal life in heaven forever with the Lord. My favorite days are Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter. Each day honors God. Some may have the day off today, others may get off early. Let us thank the Lord for what He did for us at cross.

The hymn writer W.G. Ovens and Gladys Westcott Roberts wrote, “Wounded for me, wounded for me, there on the cross He was wounded for me; Gone my transgressions, and now I am free, all because Jesus was wounded for me. Dying for me, dying for me, there on the cross He was dying for me; Now in His death my redemption I see, all because Jesus was dying for me.”

Have a blessed Good Friday, remembering His death on the cross for us. Stay safe and healthy.

In Calvary’s eternal bonds,

Dean

-April 14, 2022-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished” (Deuteronomy 34:7).

“But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10).

Moses lived a great life as a prophet and leader of Israel. His quality of life was strong spiritually and physically all the way to the day of his death on Mount Nebo in the land of Moab. He would have led the people into the Promised Land had it not been for the incident where he struck the rock in anger instead of speaking to the rock. He was the meekest man on the face of the earth, yet he was so strong for the Lord.

Moses lived 40 years in the palace in Egypt, 40 years in the land of Midian, and 40 years in the wilderness. He wasn’t perfect, none of us are, but he was obedient to the Lord and well pleasing in His sight. There was never a prophet and leader like him; The Lord knew him face to face.

Not only did he live well spiritually, which is the most important thing of all; The quality of life is always more important than the quantity of life. He also lived his life in such a way that when he died he was just as strong physically as he was when he was younger. His eyes were not dim, i.e. his eyesight was not weakened; and his natural vigor was not diminished, i.e. his natural vigor was not reduced. Everyone nowadays is most concerned about their quality of life: eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, feeling good, and being healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. We call that a good life. That is great, but we as believers must prioritize our spiritual lives even more.

Moses is the only person in the Bible that God buried in a grave where no one knows where it is to this day. Jude also tells us that Satan disputed about the body of Moses. Moses was a great man who lived a great life. May the Lord help us to live a well lived life for the Lord. We can’t control how long we live, that is in God’s hands, but we can control how we live for the Lord. Some believers live long lives, others live short lives, but all of us can make our lives count for eternity.

Have a blessed day living a quality life for the Lord in all godliness, dedication, and service for His glory. May others say of us at our passing: “He lived a well lived life for Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace and mercy,

Dean

-April 13, 2022-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

(Matthew 7:7-8).

Our heavenly Father wants us to come before Him with our needs and requests daily. He never tires of hearing us, nor does He consider it a bother or intrusion. Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock. The tense in the Greek is has both a present and future tense. The text in verse 7 could be rendered in English as, “Ask, and keep on asking; seek, and keep on seeking; knock, and keep on knocking.”

Jesus tells two parables on perseverance and persistence in prayer. One involves a widow who comes to an unjust judge seeking legal protection. The judge did want to help at first but changed his mind when she kept coming. The other is about a neighbor who came knocking at his neighbor’s door at midnight to ask for bread for a late night visitor. The man was in bed with his family and did not want to get up, but due to the persistence of the one who was in need, he got up and gave him all that he needed. If people give to others in need when they are persistent, how much more will God who loves us and delights to provide for us, give to us freely and abundantly.

James wrote, “…Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2b-3). The hymn writer Joseph M. Scriven wrote, “What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” When we pray in faith, in Jesus’ name, according to God’s will, with no unconfessed sin, God will hear us and answer our prayers.

There was once a Christian woman who told her friend, “I only pray for something once.” That is so unbiblical. God wants us to pray and keep on praying. We may have to wait for quite a while or God may say no to our request and give us something better. I have seen this in my life and in the lives of other believers. The writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Let us then come to the Lord for things both great and small, for ourselves and others in need, and keep knocking at heaven’s door. Remember how the servant Rhoda heard a knock at the door where a prayer meeting was taking place for Peter who was imprisoned and about to be killed. An angel delivered him from the prison and she recognized his voice and ran to tell the others present, but they didn’t believe it was really Peter! Then they opened the door when he kept knocking, and sure enough it was him! We need to ask in faith and believe that He we will answer.

Have a blessed day praying and trusting in the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean