Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 27, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-Let Nothing Move Us Or Keep Us From Our Mission-

“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

(Ephesians 20:24).

The day came for the Apostle Paul to say goodbye to the saints and elders of the church in Ephesus. He spent over three years there preaching and teaching the Word of God. He calls for the elders and shares with them words of warning and encouragement in Acts 20:17-38. It is never easy to say goodbye, especially to those we love so much in the body of Christ.

Paul uses his life an an example for the Ephesians to follow. In Acts 20:18-19, he says, “…You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul faced certain arrest, imprisonment and many trials ahead in Jerusalem but he was going despite this. None of that moved him; he was resolute in His commitment to Christ and to preaching the gospel. He did not consider his life dear to himself. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Paul chose the latter and could truly say that his goal was “to finish his race with joy.” He later wrote to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). He had no regrets and no looking back; he was beheaded by the Romans for his faith in Christ.

We, like Paul, cannot let anything move us: not the things happening in the world, not Satan’s opposition or attacks, and not our own fears, troubles, or doubts. Paul kept on going to the end. He had the burning passion to serve the Lord. He was the greatest apostle, preacher, teacher, and missionary in the history of the church. He gave all the glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I cannot wait to meet him in heaven.

The best advice Paul gave to the Ephesian elders is found in Acts 20:32, “So now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Live by the Word, obey the Word, teach and preach the Word. When we do we will not only survive, but we will thrive in this world. Don’t let anything or anyone move you, but keep looking to Christ and pressing on.

Have a blessed day serving the Lord with joy and running the race. Stay safe and healthy.

By His grace,

Dean

-May 26, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Working The Works Of God While We Have the Time-

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

(John 9:4-5).

If you have experienced a power outage, and most all of us have many times, you know how limiting it is especially in the winter when the number of daylight hours is lower. In Jesus’ day, there was no electricity, so they depended on the sun to get their work done.

Jesus uses this analogy of the daylight hours to relate how brief life is. He was conscious of time because he created time. There are twenty four hours in a day but less hours of sunshine. He was on a mission to serve the Father and accomplish His work. He lived but thirty three years on this earth and His ministry was just three years.

None of us knows how long we have left on this earth; we are growing older and we are cognizant that we are living in the last days. There are so many signs that point to the soon coming of Christ. The proverbial clocks of our lives is ticking and the time to serve the Lord is less now than when we first believed.

Jesus said in John 4:34, “…My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Then later in John 17:4, as He neared the time of His death on the cross, He said to the Father, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work You have given Me to do.” Oh, that this would be our desire today: to glorify God and finish the work He has given us to do today and every day.

The brevity of life is portrayed so clearly and perfectly in James 4:13-15, which says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’” Life is but a vapor, a breath that we see on a cold day, then it is gone. Life is so short, especially in the light of eternity. Right now we are in the day, but night is coming, and is almost here.

Let us then use the time, strength, gifts, talents, skills, abilities and material and financial resources that God has given us to serve Him. Time is passing so fast. We may have already squandered so many opportunities. May we confess it to the Lord and move forward with greater zeal and determination to live for and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Night is coming when no man can work.

Have a blessed day pressing the restart button in our lives and serving Him more going forward. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 25, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

– Being Swift To Hear, Slow To Speak And Slow To Anger-

“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

(James 1:19-20).

The strongest people in the world are those with a strong character. They don’t get ruffled, bent out of shape, or upset just because things don’t go their way. All of us need to be more peaceful and calm during adversity.

James, the half brother of Jesus is so practical in his epistle. The Book of James has often been called the Proverbs of the NT. He calls himself a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. In speaking of the trials that come into our lives, he mentions three essential things that will help us successfully navigate the difficult circumstances we face: being swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.

• Be Swift to hear – Being a good listener is something we can all improve on. Our problem is we like to talk, make our opinions known, and show what we know. The fact is, God gave us two ears to hear and one tongue for a reason. We learn by listening to others. To be swift or quick to hear or listen is vital to being good communicators. It greatly enhances our teachability and how well with get along with others.

• Be slow to speak – We have all said things we have regretted; and we can’t take the words back. Words can hurt people very badly. The old adage is just not true, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Bodies heal faster than hearts. Case in point, people carry hurts and grudges for years. If we would just think before we speak, we would avoid some many problems and issues. It is like an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Having to ask for forgiveness is much harder than not saying something hurtful to start with. Our mother’s advice is so needed: “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything.”

• Be slow to wrath – This is a touchy subject. We all have gotten angry and usually at the very people we know best and love most. It never produces good results. We can ask ourselves, “Do I have short fuse or a longer one? Do I fly off the handle, sometimes at some very minor things? The more we read, study, and meditate on God’s Word, the better we can handle life’s frustrations and disappointments. The wrath or anger of man does not produce or achieve the righteousness of God. Anger is toxic!

Conviction is a good thing. When the Lord points out something that needs to change in our lives, we had better change, and change now. We need to change our whole way of listening, speaking, and behaving. Let us start today being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Then we we will see a big improvement in our relationships. Just remember it is easier to see these things in others than in ourselves.

Have a blessed day listening more and speaking and getting angry less. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 24, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-All Success Is Because Of The Lord-

“So David went on and became great, and the Lord of hosts was with him.”

(1 Chronicles 11:9).

What made David such a great king over Israel? Why did he win every battle and achieve such great success? The reason is found in today’s text: “The Lord of hosts was with him.” He had very humble beginnings as a shepherd boy, then he defeated Goliath, served under king Saul both as a musician then as one of his commanders, and after waiting several years became king of Judah then over all Israel. He loved the Lord and sought His guidance in every area of his life. The Lord gave him successes, achievements, and victories. He stayed humble.

David wasn’t perfect, and in fact, his sin of adultery and murder in the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah proved that. He also sinned in numbering the people. He confessed his sins, and God forgave him and showed him great mercy and marvelous grace. In both cases however, he suffered the consequences of his actions. Still, God called him, “A man after My own heart.” We often hear the expression, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” This is true. When we trust and obey Him, walk with Him and serve Him, He blesses us tremendously.

This was true also of Joshua after he took over the command of Israel after Moses. The Lord told him In Joshua 1:8-9, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Others in Scripture found this principle to be true, such as Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, Daniel, Nehemiah, Esther, and many others who honored God and achieved great success spiritually, physically, materially, and financially in honored positions of leadership. It was because they honored God and He honored them. Jesus told the disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

May we realize that all true success, achievement, award, or victory is only possible with the Lord’s presence and power. Just as the Lord was with David, He is with us. When He blesses us we should give Him all the glory. All success is because of Him. This keeps us humble and dependent on the Lord, not on ourselves.

Have a blessed day with prosperity and success putting the Lord first in our lives and obeying Him fully. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 23, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-The Jews Demanded That Jesus Be Crucified-

“But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.”

(Luke 23:13-14).

Man crucified Jesus the Son of God on the cross. The Jews got their way and Pilate caved into to their demands. Three times in Luke 23, Pilate tried to release Him, knowing He was innocent and did not deserve to die, especially in the manner of crucifixion. In fact, Pilate’s wife sent word to him to not go through with it. Matthew 27:19 says, “While he was on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.’”

If it were not God’s will for our Savior to die in the cross for our sins, no mortal or demon could prevail against Him. He willingly gave His life for us, dying in our place, shedding His precious blood. He died for our sins and rose for our justification. Through faith in His finished work on the cross we have eternal life, forgiveness, and salvation.

God’s plan for man’s salvation was set in motion even before the foundation of the world and before man sinned in the Garden of Eden. Judas betrayed Him, the Jews arrested Him and condemned Him, and Pilate and the Romans carried out the crucifixion; but God’s plan and purpose was fulfilled.

Peter in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost proclaimed, “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24). He also wrote of our Savior in 1 Peter 2:24, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live to righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed.”

Jesus was the innocent, sinless Lamb of God that died for sinners. All our sins were laid on Him. We were as guilty of His death as the Jews and the Romans. In actuality, we were among those whose voices demanded His death. We were His enemies. Thank God that justice and mercy met at the cross. He paid our sin debt so that God’s mercy toward us would prevail. Let us thank Him for His love and sacrifice on our behalf. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s will prevailed and Satan was defeated and death and sin conquered once for all.

Have a blessed day thanking God for saving us. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean