Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 25, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Through The Word There Is Great Peace With No Stumbling –

“Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

(Psalm 119:165).

Psalms is the longest book in the Bible with 150 chapters; having the longest chapter, 119, in the Bible with 176 verses; and the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 117 with two verses composed of 30 words. Today’s text follows the theme of Psalm 119, which is the Word of God.

There are two prominent aspects to our verse: great peace and no stumbling . It is through the Word of God. These timeless truths are so needed in today’s world. In our turbulent times we find strength, comfort, encouragement, inspiration, guidance, and help in the Bible.

• Great peace have those who love Your Word – Peace is such a blessing in a world of conflict. As believers we have peace with God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. In addition, there is great peace through the Word of God. God is faithful to teach us and show us just what we need to hear daily. He knows what we will go through today and prepares us through His Word and and prayer.

You will notice the psalmist inserts the words, “those who love Your word.” It is very fitting that we love the Word, which is “God’s Love Letter To Man.” The Christian song, “Written In Red,” by Jensen Gordon says, “In letters of crimson, God wrote His love on a hillside so long, long ago. For you and for me, Jesus died and love’s greatest story was told. Down through the ages, God wrote His love with the same hands that suffered and bled. Giving all that He had to give a message so easily read.” The chorus says, “I love you, I love you, that’s what Calvary said. I love you, I love you, I love you written in red.”

Jesus made peace through the blood of His cross. Someone once said, “Know Jesus, know peace; no Jesus, no peace.” He the the Prince of Peace who gives us peace. And oh what a peace it is! It is a deep, abiding peace.

• And nothing causes them to stumble – The word stumble is defined as, “Trip or momentarily lose one’s balance; almost fall.” We have all had awkward moments when we have stumbled and nearly fallen. We get embarrassed and feel like we have two left feet. At times we may have even fallen. God does not want us to stumble or fall spiritually, morally, or ethically. He holds us up by His grace.

Jude concludes his short epistle with these encouraging words, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding great joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now a forever. Amen.” It wonderful to know that this our portion in Christ. He is with us to keep us from stumbling.

Psalm 121:3 promises, “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.” What assurance that He is watching over us 24-7 whether we are awake or asleep.

May the Lord encourage us with these two pillars of truth today: great peace and no stumbling. Our hearts are steadfast and our footsteps sure in our Lord Jesus Christ we will endure. When we love the Word, we have His peace and nothing causes us to stumble.

Have a blessed day of great peace with no stumbling. We can walk like mountain deer on high places without fear or in trepidation. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 24, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-God Hears And Answers Prayer-

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

(Psalm 116:1-2).

The authorship of Psalm 116 is unknown. It is a rich a beautiful psalm. Today’s text is on the subject of prayer. Prayer, along with the Word of God, is vital to our faith and walk with the Lord; like breathing, we cannot live without it. As young man I learned that God hears and answers prayer. He calls upon us to pray in faith.

The psalmist says, “I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.” The definition of the word supplicate is, “to ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly.” When we pray to the Lord we are going to the One who has the power to help us.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The Lord wants us to come boldly and confidently to Him. We can never prayer enough and should always keep on praying. God will answer our prayers according to His will and timing with either a yes, a no, or a wait.

John tells us in 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that be if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

We must pray in faith, in Jesus’ name, according to His will, and that God will be glorified. We cannot have any unconfessed sin in our lives. We pray for our needs, the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ, our family, our country, and so much more. Right now we need to pray for Afghanistan, the Americans there trying to get out, the Afghanis who supported us trying to get out, and all the believers there. It is an urgent situation. There are needs everywhere from the floods in Tennessee to the East Coast where the hurricane turned tropical storm Henri wreaked havoc. The pandemic is still raging worldwide with this Delta variant.

The psalmist said, “Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” Prayer is also a great weapon in our spiritual warfare against the devil and his evil forces.

When God answers our prayers we should thank Him. God’s answers and miracles build our faith and encourage us to keep praying.

Have a blessed day praying and thanking God in advance for His answers as well as after He answers. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 23, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-A Worthy Walk, A Fruitful Life-

“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

(Colossians 1:10).

Paul expresses his desire by praying for the spiritual growth in the lives of the saints in Colosse in Colossians 1:9-12. Today’s verse is so practical encouraging. He shows how important it is to live a worthy and fruitful life for Christ.

There are four prongs to this verse: walk worthy, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful, and increasing in the knowledge of God. These four things form a square adding up to a balanced Christian life. A balanced life leads to a stable life, which leads to a consistent life, which leads to a rich and full life.

• Walk worthy of the Lord – None of is every worthy of our salvation, yet we are called to live a worthy life in Christ. We represent Christ as His ambassadors. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” May who name the name of Christ be worthy of the Lord in our character, conduct, and conversation. We want others to see Christ in our lives and follow Him also.

• Fully pleasing Him – So many today try hard to please others, but when we please Christ that is what really matters. When we fully please Him, others we will be pleased also. It is not to say that we will not have opposition when we live for Christ and speak of Him, we will. Proverbs 16:7 promises, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

• Being fruitful in every good work – Jesus calls us to be fruitful, to bear fruit, and to bear much fruit. Fruitfulness in the NT has two aspects: personal growth and service, and public testimony and witness. The former involves our relationship with the Lord and the progress we make toward spiritual maturity and service toward others; the latter speaks of our soul winning for Christ in terms of sharing our faith, and bringing others to Christ. The former is mostly in view in our text.

• Increasing in the knowledge of God – It should be our life’s pursuit to know Christ more, in His attributes, His ways, and His will for our lives. The type of knowledge that Paul is referring to is more than head knowledge, it is heart knowledge. We not only want to know about Him, we want to know Him, intimately and personally.

These four things lead to a happy, fulfilled, and satisfied life. We will then be worthy, pleasing, fruitful, and knowledgeable. How are we progressing in our spiritual lives?

Have a blessed day walking in a worthy manner, growing, and pleasing the Lord, and being fruitful. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 22, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-God Freely Gives Us All Things-

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

(Romans 8:32).

What more could God give than the gift of His Son? Christ died on the cross for our sins, taking our place, dying the death we deserved. God delivered Him up to suffer, bleed, and die for us. God’s perfect will accomplished our salvation.

God did not spare His Son; He turned His back on Christ because He was bearing the vileness of our sins. In the case of Abraham offering up Isaac, God spared Isaac from death, and Abraham from carrying out, but He did not spare Christ for us. He loved us so much as to allow His Son to suffer for us. Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest act of love and sacrifice in the history of the world. He not only died for His friends, He also died for His enemies.

Paul concludes that if God did not spare His beloved Son, He will freely give us all things. Our blessed Heavenly Father not only gives us all things but gives them freely. All things belong to us because we belong to Christ. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are so rich in Christ.

There is a wonderful song that says, “Freely, freely, you have received; freely, freely give. Go in My name and because you believe, others will know that I live.” God sends us out to share the gospel and offer help and aid to those in need. When God asks us to do something for Him, do we do it freely? That is how the Good Samaritan acted toward the badly injured man on the side of the road. Two others before him, one a priest and the other a Levite passed by on the other side of the road, leaving the man to die. May we freely give and do good to others.

Have a blessed day remembering how much God has done to save us and to freely give to us; let us go and do the same for others. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 21, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-The Sovereignty Of God, The Futility Of Idols-

“But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” Their idols are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands.”

(Psalm 115:3-4).

The subject of Psalm 115 is the Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God. The author is unknown. There is only one true God, who is the living and almighty God. All other gods are idols, the works of men’s hands.

One of the attributes of God is His sovereignty. The word sovereign means to be in complete control of something. God is sovereign, which means He is in complete control of everything in the universe. Kings and queens are often called sovereigns, that is they rule over a country or empire. A example of this today is the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. They now have complete control over the country, which is very dangerous and scary.

Our God is a loving and good God. He is righteous, just, and fair. All His ways and decisions are perfect in every way. Today’s text tells us, “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. No one can question Him or thwart His plans. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone. He decisions are final, His authority is absolute.

There are two main aspects of God’s will: His perfect will, that which comes from Him, and His permissive will, which He allows. The devil is temporarily the god of this world. He is control of governments and unsaved people’s lives. Sin is everywhere and terrible things are happening. One day, Christ will come back to earth and take full control. The devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and we will reign with Christ forever.

As believers, we should trust God for everything, not doubting or questioning but submitting and obeying. The Lord knows what He is doing. He is in heaven, and is in control of the universe, the earth, and our lives. Whatever happens to us is for our good and God’s glory. Paul wrote, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We can count on this wonderful promise from God, along with the myriad of other promises in the Word of God.

All other gods are the silver and gold, the works of men’s hands. In verses 4-8, we see that these idols have mouths, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but they cannot hear; they have noses, but they cannot smell; and they have feet, but they cannot walk. They are lifeless and useless. Verse 8 is very telling, “Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.” We have different idols today: money, possessions, pleasures, power, glamour, and fame. They are just as futile and useless.

What a sharp contrast to our God, who is living and loving. He is our help and one day we will see Him face to face in all of His glory. God fights for us, works on our behalf, and protects us. He is the King, the Sovereign of the universe, and we children of the King. Let us rejoice that He has saved us and He cares for us daily. We are on His side, and He is on our side, the victorious side.

Have a blessed day submitting to His will and authority, trusting in Him. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean