Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-August 10, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-God Has Our Back-

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

(Psalm 46:1).

Psalm 46 is a psalm of the sons of Korah, who were Levites who served in the tabernacle and later in the temple. There are eleven of these psalms: 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88. These beautiful psalms reflect a spirit of thanksgiving and humility before our great and awesome God.

There is a modern expression that certainly fits how God cares for us that says, “You have my back,” meaning that someone is always watching over us. It may be a friend, family member, or fellow believer. Even as loving and conscientious as they may be, they can fail us; God never fails us. This is evidenced by today’s verse: He is our refuge, strength, and help. He has our back always, 24-7, 365.

A refuge is a place of safety, security, and solace that we can flee to or dwell in. God is our refuge. We can come into His presence at anytime we are afraid. He will comfort and encourage us as no one else can.

He is also our strength in our times of weakness, sickness, and injury. We have all experienced times when we thought we could not go on, but the Lord gave us the strength to keep going. Runners have an expression that is called “a second wind.” They start to feel better and can keep on running to the finish line.

God is also our help in times of trouble. He interferes for us and intervenes on our behalf. In the days of the prophet Samuel, he took a stone and named it Ebenezer, meaning “stone of help.” He told the Israelites who faced the Philistines in 1 Samuel 7:12, “…Thus far the Lord has helped us.” God helped them subdue the Philistines and take back the territory they had taken from them.

Thus, God is our constant refuge, strength, and help. He always has our back. He sees what we cannot see, knows what we cannot know, and hears what we cannot hear. Who else is better qualified and able to protect us, guide us, and help us. Even if one doesn’t have anyone in life to have our back, God is always there for us which is far greater than anyone else.

The great hymn writer Isaac Watts wrote, “O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home! Under the shadow of Thy throne still may we dwell secure; sufficient is Thine arm alone, and our defense is sure.”

Have a blessed day turning to the Lord for refuge, strength, and help especially in times of trouble. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-August 9, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-We Are Very Important To The Lord-

“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of the them is forgotten before God. But the very number of hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

(Luke 12:6-7).

In Jesus’ day sparrows were among the smallest and least expensive birds. The Jews, especially the poor ones, could afford them to use in their sacrifices. One could buy one for two copper coins. Jesus often used earthly things to teach spiritual lessons. He reminds His listeners that none of these tiny birds are forgotten by God.

If God cares for these tiny sparrows, how much more He cares for us His children? He said, “But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” We are His special treasure, His children, His people. We who have believed in Jesus and received Him as Lord and Savior, are precious to Him. He is concerned with what concerns us. If He counts the number of hairs on our heads, He is intimately involved in every area of our lives; from the big things to the small things, yes, in all things.

There are several noteworthy things that the Bible says about God’s care and concern: He writes us on the palms of His hands, He collects our tears in His bottle, He cares for us, He meets our needs, He gives His angels charge concerning us, no good thing will He withhold from us, no weapon can be formed against us, we are the apple of His eye, and He counts the hairs of our heads, just to mention a few.

We should always thank Him for what He has done for us; and not fear worry, or be anxious. The hymn writer Civilla D. Martin wrote, “Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you; beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you. Through toil when your heart doth fail, God will take care of you; when dangers fierce your path assail, God will take of you. All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you; nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you. No matter what may be the test, God will take of you; lean weary one upon His breast, God will take care of you. The chorus says, “God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way; He will take care of you, God will take care of you.” He has given us so many great and precious promises.

Let us remember today just how important we are to God. He loves us so much and cares for us more than anything else in His vast universe. What comfort and assurance we have in Him!

Have a blessed day and hold your heads high, we are children of the King. We are so important to Him. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean

-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