Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 8, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-Christ Died For Us, In Our Place On The Cross-

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

When someone we love faces a severe illness, a tragic loss, or a devastating a injury, we wish we could go through it instead of them. This is especially true if it involves our child. We just have no way to do it. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only died for us, but for the whole world.

Jesus died a substitutionary death on the cross even for His enemies. Before we were saved we were all His enemies. We wanted nothing to do with Him. Paul wrote in Romans 5:10, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

In our verses today, we see our hopeless, hapless, and helpless state. Paul describes us as, “still without strength,” and “still sinners.” Sin is the most contagious and communicable disease of all. Every person born from Adam is a sinner by position and by practice. The result of our sin is death, spiritual and physical. In Ezekiel 18:4, the Lord says, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.” We are all sinners, but now that we are saved, we are sinners saved by grace.

Imagine in our world of COVID-19 and its Delta and Delta plus variants, you were infected, you became very sick, ended up in the hospital, in the ICU, and was put on a ventilator. Soon it became obvious you were going to die. There is no hope. But all the sudden a stranger volunteered to take your place in the hospital, take your sickness from you completely, and die in your place. Spiritually, this is what Jesus did in order to heal us and save us. He not only died for one, He died for all.

All praise to God that bore our sins, and died in our place. He died the death we deserved to die. We were guilty, He was totally innocent, holy, and undefiled. He was the only one who could have died for us since He was sinless. His sacrifice for us was the greatest expression of love in the history of mankind. He not only died for us to save us, but He imputed His righteousness to us, made us His children, and gave us all the blessings that He has.

May the Lord help us to appreciate His love and sacrifice for us. We can never repay Him for what He did for us at the cross. If you or I was the only sinner in the world, He would have still died for us, in our place.

Have a blessed day thanking God for our salvation that is full and free. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 7, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-The Sufferings Of Earth Cannot Compare To The Glory Of Heaven-

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

(Romans 8:18).

The Bible is full of contrasts, such as light and darkness, good and evil, truth and falsehood, heaven and hell, death and life. Here in our text Paul mentions the contrast of suffering and glory.

We all go through sufferings in the form of pain, hardship, sorrow, and loss. Suffering in this life is not easy or pleasant. We would all like to have smooth sailing, but God uses our suffering for our spiritual good and growth. How we respond to our suffering shows our faith, trust, dependence on the Lord.

The sufferings we experience in this present time cannot compare to our future glory in heaven. Revelation 21:4 says, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Imagine a place that has no crying, tears, pain, or death. It is sometimes said, “The birth pain is forgotten when the baby is born.” Once we enter heaven, all the pain will be left behind.

As difficult as the sufferings are now, they last only a short time, the glory of heaven will last forever. The joy of being with Jesus and all believers will be awesome. On earth we have to say farewell, tell we meet again. There is goodbye, parting for a time, there will be no parting in heaven.

May the Lord enable us to have the eternal perspective on our sufferings in this world, looking forward to the glory of heaven. Romans 8:17 says, “and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Have a blessed day trusting God through the present sufferings with an eye to our future, eternal glory. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 6, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Presenting Ourselves As Instruments To God-

“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments to God.”

(Romans 6:13).

The book of Romans written by Paul is a masterpiece of the doctrine and practice of the gospel. Chapters 1-8 are doctrinal; chapters 9-11 are dispensational focusing on Israel; and chapters 12-16 are practical for the Christian life. The title of Romans 6 is: “Dead to Sin, Alive to God.”

Sin no longer has dominion over us. When Christ died, we died with Him, dying to sin; when Christ was buried, we were buried with us all with our sins; and when Christ rose from the dead, we rose with Him to walk in newness of life. Romans 6:11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The only way that we can reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God is to surrender our lives fully to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do it when we first get saved, and we must do it every day of our lives. We need to put off the old nature which is from Adam, and put on the new nature, which is from Christ.

When Paul speaks of our members he is speaking of our mortal bodies. Our bodies are the outward expression of the inward reality. Our Lord wants all of us, spirit, soul, and body. Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

God wants us to present ourselves and our members to Him as instruments of righteousness. We often associate instruments with music, with medicine, and with measurement. God wants to be clean, holy instruments for His glory. Sin is the one thing that interferes with our usefulness for the Master.

We belong to Christ who bought us with His own blood. Paul said, “Or do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Have a blessed day presenting yourselves to the Lord fully and reckoning yourself dead to sin and alive to God. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 5, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-God Daily Loads Us With Benefits-

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Our God is the God of our salvation! And to God belong the escapes from death.”

(Psalm 68:19-20).

David, the writer of Psalm 68, experienced God’s goodness and generosity on a daily basis. Despite this he also went through many troubles and trials. God knows the exact combination of blessings and trials we need to grow and be encouraged. If we had all blessings and no trials, we would become lax, self-sufficient, and we not grow. If, on the other hand, we had all trials and no blessings, we would be overwhelmed.

David blesses the Lord. David thanked the Lord for everything, great or small; good or bad; easy or hard. We should follow his example. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Everything we experience has a purpose, though we may not see it at first. Even in the toughest times we can find something to thank God for.

Our generous Heavenly Father has given and will give so many benefits and blessings. They are too many to count! David says that He daily loads us with benefits. Psalm 103:1-2 tells us, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

When Joseph told his brothers to bring his father Jacob to Egypt, Pharaoh sent carts full of food and supplies to sustain him and the rest of his family for the journey and for them to ride on. The Lord always provides all we need and more for our journey through this world. God knows what we need even before we ask Him.

We are so blessed and we should be so thankful. We should never take the blessings without thanking the Blesser. If we can thank God for the little, we can thank Him for the much; but if we cannot thank Him for the little, we won’t be able to thank Him for the much. God’s blessings are everywhere around. Though He loads us with so many benefits and blessings, we can consider them, carry them, and count them.

David also mentions his escapes from death. Through his life, God protected his life from lions and bears, from Saul and Absalom, and from all his enemies. I know of times when when protected me from death, and there are plenty of other times I do not known about but will learn of them in heaven. God goes before us, He goes with us, and He is for us.

Blessings are benefits as are trials. Let us praise and thank Him for all our daily benefits, all the good things we have in Christ. Often trials are blessings in disguise. The singer and song writer Laura story wrote and sang, “‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops, what if your healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?”

Have a blessed day thanking God for every blessing that He showers upon us. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 4, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-God Is Our Strength And Portion Forever-

“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

(Psalm 73:26).

Psalm 73 is a psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a Levite, the leader of the singers who sang songs of praise to God. He is said to be either the author or transcriber of twelve psalms: Psalms 50, and 73-83. The church musicians we have today are like the spiritual children of Asaph.

In Psalm 73, the writer finds himself in the mire of faulty thinking of how the wicked prosper. It isn’t until verse 17, when he says, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.” After this point he realizes how blessed he is to have the Lord and a personal relationship with Him. The last verses of this psalm, 23-28, describe how blessed he was. It is easy for us to see so many of the unsaved around us prospering. They are rich, successful, healthy, and seemingly happy. But that is the fallacy of it all: they aren’t happy at all. So many of the so called movers and shakers in this world are empty inside, have no peace, and are searching for fulfillment. They will never find it outside of Christ.

Today’s verse tells us, “My flesh and my heart fail…” There are times when we get discouraged spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. We even get tired, exhausted, and drained under the weight of the this world. Psalm 84:2 says, “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” It is at these times we need the Lord the most.

In the latter part of our verse, the psalmist states the clear contrast, …but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” When we spend time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer, He gives us the right perspective and the strength to carry on. God is our portion forever. Every believer has all of Him, all His promises, and all His blessings. Proverbs 10:22 says, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.”

Sometimes we need to take a step back, and count our blessings in order to appreciate all that we have in Christ. We are so richly blessed. Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!”

Let us rejoice that God is our strength to face whatever comes our way; and He is our portion for each and every day. May we turn our eyes on Jesus. The hymn writer Helen H. Kennel expressed it well, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Have a blessed day walking with Jesus, in His strength and favor. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean