Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-November 22, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in similitude of God.”

James addresses the very important subject of the tongue in James 3:1-12. James is very practical in his epistle, and this chapter on the tongue is no different. Of all the parts of our body, the tongue gets us into more trouble than any other part. Words come out through the tongue which comes from the heart and mind. Words can hurt people, even more than from physical attacks.

We have all heard the expression, “Hold your tongue.” It doesn’t mean to literally hold onto that slithery little tongue, but rather to watch what we say and how we say it. It is much easier said than done. It is an untamable tongue. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can gain the victory. Paul wrote, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

When we do say the wrong thing or hurt someone with tongues, we must ask the Lord to forgive us as well as those we hurt. It is appropriate to confess our wrongs with the same tongue that hurt others. No one is perfect, even Christians. We are sinners saved by grace. Peter misused his tongue by denying the Lord three times, but the Lord forgave him. It is also so easy to complain, but instead we should give thanks. We should be positive and encourage each other.

Let us fill our minds with the Word of God so that the words that come out will be a blessing. We must be accountable for what we say, with no excuses. Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Have a blessed day watching what we say every day. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-November 22, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

(James 2:17).

Faith is active, it moves, it works, it helps others. It goes beyond mere words and platitudes to result in accomplishing God’s will. A faith that merely believes with nothing to back it up is useless. James asks the question to his readers, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith (or as it can be translated, that kind of faith) save him” (James 2:14).?

Paul and James are not saying contradictory things regarding faith. Paul speaks of saving faith which is by grace through faith. James in writing to Christians is speaking of living out our faith in practical ways. James said in James 2:15, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?“

John said the something very similar to believers in 1 John 3:17-18, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed or in truth.” It comes down to showing not just saying; we put our faith and love into action. As the old expression goes, “The proof is in the pudding.” Or as noted Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee used to say, “It’s where the rubber meets the road.”

Jesus is our example: He put His love into action. He went out of His way to help people. He proved and demonstrated His love for us at Calvary. If we say we have faith and love our brethren, we must show it. If someone has a need and we have the means to help, we must help and give, otherwise our faith is dead. We often tell a brother or sister that we will pray for them, and we should, but when have the means to help, we should do so. How is your faith? Is it active, is it motivated by love? A living active faith has eyes to see, a heart to feel, and actions to work out.

Have a blessed day putting your faith into action and you will see how much that God can use you. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-November 20, 2021-

“So I sought for a man among them who would build a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not to destroy it; but I found none no one.”

(Ezekiel 22:30).

The situation was dire, and because of Israel’s sins of disobedience and idolatry, God’s judgment was about to come down heavy on them. God was seeking for a man to build a wall and stand in the gap between Him and His people. Building walls and standing in the gap takes intercessory prayer for others. Prayer is a great defense against evil and for good.

When I think of intercessory prayer, I think of Abraham’s prayer for Sodom and Gomorrah where his nephew Lot and his family were living. He stood in the gap and pleaded with the Lord, “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous, should be as the wicked; far be from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right” (Genesis 18:23-25).

Abraham kept asking, starting with fifty righteous and went all the way down to ten. The Lord answered his prayer and spared Lot and his two daughters. As it turns out there were not even ten righteous in the city. Abraham stood in the gap. God is looking for prayer warriors to stand in the gap and pray. The average Christian prays but after a while ceases to pray on a particular issue for a particular person or persons. Sometimes we may have to wait years, but God answers prayer according to His will and in His timing.

It is also important to build spiritual walls of protection against the devil and his demons. We can do that through the the Word of God. We need to fortify the walls of the church. We should all be builders. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit” Ephesians 2:20-22).

When the Israelites came back to their land after the seventy year captivity, they rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem in an amazing fifty-two days. They faced severe opposition, but with the help of God, they were victorious. Those who built had a hammer in one hand and a weapon in the other. They stood their ground and completed the task.

May the Lord help us to build up others and stand in the gap. Will you take up the challenge and build and stand in the gap? We have all God’s resources to accomplish God’s purposes!

Have a blessed day standing in the gap on behalf of others. What victories can be won. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

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-November 19, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

(Hebrews 13:8).

Jesus is God, and therefore, He never changes. The theological term is called immutability. God in His very nature is perfect. Unlike human beings who must improve or they may digress. In Malachi 3:6 it says, “I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” Job recognized God’s sovereignty and immutability when he said in Job 23:13, “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? Whatever His soul desires, that He does.” We look back on yesterday, live in the moment today, and look forward to tomorrow, knowing God will always be the same.

• Yesterday – Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us, rose again, and ascended back to heaven. When we look back on the past we recall how faithful He has been. He has always taken of us. We don’t live in the past, but we remember His past blessings, mercies, and promises fulfilled. He has heard our prayers and answered them.

• Today – Just as Savior was faithful in the past, He is faithful in the present. Today is the only day that we live in. Today we can live for Him and serve Him. The words of the Gaither song say, “We have this moment to hold in our hands and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand, yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.” Let us live today according to His will and rely on Him fully.

• Forever – Jesus will also be the same tomorrow and forever. The future is in His hands. Just as He has been faithful in the past, He will be faithful in the future. We can count on Him. We can set our clocks by the Lord’s faithfulness. It gives us such hope and confidence.

The hymn writer Albert B. Simpson wrote, “Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same; All may change, but Jesus never — Glory to His name.” Because He never changes, we can be so confident in Him and count on Him.

Have a blessed day rejoicing in our changeless Christ. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-November 18, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a Father the son in whom he delights.”

(Proverbs 3:11-12).

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, and wants the best for us in every way. He will not allow us to go astray without bringing His hand of chastening into our lives. Another word for chastening is discipline. God often progresses from soft words to stronger words, to painful experiences to get our attention. In extreme cases, He may take us home to heaven prematurely.

When God disciplines us, we should accept it, repent, and turn back to Him. No Christian can be happy outside God’s will, in fact, he or she will be miserable. God knows that when He brings hard times in our lives it is to spare us from something worse that we may fall into. God doesn’t discipline the unsaved. He uses losses and other difficulties to bring them to salvation. God has different purposes for His children.

God shows His love and delight to His children. He knows exactly what to use to wake us up. There is a difference between trials and discipline. The former comes into our lives for our growth and dependence on the Lord. The latter is designed to convict us of some sin. Both are painful, both are spiritually profitable for us. When some affliction comes into our lives, the first thing we should ask the Lord is, “Have I sinned Lord? “Have I done or said something I shouldn’t have?” If the answer is no, then it is a trial not a discipline.

Just as earthly parents disciplined us for our God, so too, God disciplines us that we may share His holiness. Hebrews 12:9-10 says, “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.”

Discipline is painful, but the results are profitable for us. Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” God knows when to turn up the heat, and how high to turn it to. David experienced God’s chastening when he didn’t repent of his sins of adultery and murder. Psalm 32:2-3 show what he went through, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For night and day Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality turned into the drought of summer.”

May we sensitive to the Holy Spirit and when God disciplines us, repent quickly and turn to the Lord. God shows His love as our Father and uses people and circumstances to get our attention. Even when we stray, God never stops loving us.

Have a blessed day listening to the Lord and responding. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean