Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 20, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

(Proverbs 3:5-6).

Yesterday we considered trusting the Lord with all our heart and not leaning on our own understanding. We should trust the Lord freely, fully and forever. Trusting in ourselves or in anyone or anything else leads to nothing but failure, disappointment, frustration, and discouragement.

Today, we going to look at the last two parts of our text: “in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” which is found in Proverbs 3:6. I just divided the verses into two parts for the sake of time and space.

In all your ways acknowledge Him – When it comes to trusting the Lord we must acknowledge the lordship of Christ and His authority in our lives. The word acknowledge is defined as, “to accept or admit the existence or truth of; to recognize the rights, status or authority of.”

Jesus is the ultimate authority in our lives. He is our Lord, King, and Master. He is the boss. It is all about Him and His sovereign will. We must always deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

He shall direct your paths – Life is journey and we live for the Lord one day at a time. He will show us what to say and what to do as the Holy Spirit leads us. Proverbs 16:9 tells us, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs our steps.”

An alternative way expressing this phrase is. “He will make smooth or straight our paths.” If we want to go forward in the right way, we must surrender to the Lord and commit ourselves to Him.

May the Lord help us to acknowledge the Him who directs us in His perfect will. It is always best for us. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Our paths will not always be easy, but they will be just right for us,

Dean

-August 19, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

(Proverbs 3:5-6).

If I asked a group of believers, what is your favorite in the Bible, many would say, Proverbs 3:5-6. It is really hard to just choose one. Today’s verses are life changing verses.

Our brother Hugo used to come and preach the Word at our church from time to time. He said there are certain verses that he calls “wow” verses. He called them that because they stop you and make you say, “wow.” Proverbs 3:5-6 are wow verses!

There are four parts to this text: trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your on your own heart, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your your paths.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart – When we trust the Lord we must do so freely, fully, and forever. The heavier the burden, the harder the trial, the greater the pain, the more we must rely fully on Christ. Another biblical phrase that speaks of trusting with all our heart is “a whole heart.” Psalm 119:10 says. “With my whole heart I have sought you; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!”

And lean not on your own understanding – The opposite of trusting the Lord is to lean on own understanding. We can’t rely on the Lord as long as we are trusting in ourselves. Proverbs 3:7 tells us, “Do not be wise in your eyes; Fear the Lord depart from evil.” We don’t know what the Lord knows, and we can’t see what He sees.

Let us trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. It takes focus, dedication, and commitment to the Lordship of Christ. Whether it is the student graduating from high school or college, or the person taking a new job, or the couple having their baby—we must trust the Lord with all hearts and not lean on our understanding.

Have a blessed day trusting the Lord and resting on His promises. Stay safe and healthy.

Trust is a must to avoid a mess from the start.

Tomorrow we will consider Part II on Proverbs 3:6.

Dean

-August 18, 2025

Good morning, happy Monday,

“Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

(Romans 15:33).

Paul’s pattern in the epistles is to begin with a great introduction and conclude with some words of encouragement. In the case of the Epistle to the Romans he ended his main thoughts at the end of chapter 15. Chapter 16 also has a wonderful benediction in Roman’s 16:25-27.

Romans 16:27 says, “To God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” In today’s verse, Paul calls upon the Lord to be with the saints. The God of peace gives us peace in whatever circumstances we are in.

The word benediction is defined as, “the utterance or bestowing a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service. There many great ones in the NT.

We can rest in Jesus and in His near presence day by day. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us and to with us until the end of age. (See Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20).

Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy. Amen and amen.

The peace of God passes all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Dean

-August 17, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

(2 Corinthians 5:8).

On Saturday afternoon, the Lord called our dear brother Bill Murray home to glory. He is now rejoicing in the presence of our Savior. I miss him terribly and look forward to seeing him in heaven along with all the saints who preceded us to glory.

There are two key words in today’s verse: absent and present. Both are very important for our loved ones and for us in the future.

Absent from the body – Right now our brother Bill is absent from the body. His body was weak, his health issues depleted him of strength. When we close our eyes and take our last breath, we leave the body and this world behind to go immediately to heaven.

Paul lived as he died for the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). This was also one of Bill’s favorite verses. Only a believer in Christ can say, “…to die is gain.” Only Christians really go to a better place.

Present with the Lord – We won’t know just how glorious heaven is until we get there. Whether we are raptured or we walk through the shadow of death, we will be wonderfully transported to glory.

The thing about heaven is to be present with the Lord and see Him face to face in all of His glory. He has gone to prepare a place for us and will come again to take us home to be with Him. Earth is not our home, for our stay here on earth is at best brief and temporary.

Let rejoice that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Even so there is grief and tears now, one day we will be all together forever. Have a blessed Lord’s Day. Stay safe and healthy.

Our worse day in heaven (not that there are bad days in heaven) is better than our best day on earth.

Dean

-August 16, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.”

(Romans 14:12).

As believers we are both responsible and accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ. One day we will have to answer for our words and conduct. We will never however have to answer for our sins, they are all forgiven

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Alexander Maclaren once said, “ The Judgment seat is, ‘is meant for us professing Christians, real and imperfect Christians, and it tells that there are degrees in the future blessedness proportioned to present faithfulness.”

May we be faithful to the Lord now before we appear before the Lord. Daniel Webster said, “My greatest thought is my accountability to God.” Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

We must give an account to our Savior.

Dean