Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 14, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-God Knew Us Before Our Birth-

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Psalm 139:13-14).

“My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:15-16).

Psalm 139, written by David, reveals God’s perfect knowledge of man. David is amazed at how much God knew of him, even before he was born. God not only knew us but He formed us even in our mother’s womb. So much so that he declared, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Man is an amazing being, created by God in the image of God, with a spirit, soul, and body.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” God created Adam first then Eve. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Of Eve it says, “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22). God performed the first surgery and this is why men have one less rib than women have.

Of all God’s creation, man is unique, very special. God made man to have fellowship with Him and to glorify Him. God gave man an intricate body, composed of bones, ligaments, joints, and tendons. He made a central nervous system, a blood stream with organs. And the human brain is itself so amazing. Everything God made is for man’s good and functionality. From an embryo to a fetus, to a human being, wow! No wonder why David was amazed! We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

The Scripture is very clear that life begins at conception. God gives life and He takes it way. We came from dust and when we die, our bodies return to dust but our spirit and soul live forever. For us who are saved, we will be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

God told the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” God knew us and what we would become. He knew it even before we were born. God had a plan for us and is working out that plan in our lives. He isn’t finished with us yet.

Let us thank God that He created us, but even more that He saved us from sins. Our great Creator became our Savior. We should never loose our sense of awe at what God has done, is doing, and will do for us. It is such a blessing that we can commune with Him, walk with Him, and serve Him. It is all by His grace.

Have a blessed day reflecting on our great God and the amazing things that He has done for us. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 13, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-Divine Appointments-

“But He needed to go through Samaria” (John 4:4).

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14).’”

What is a divine appointment? It is an occurrence where God brings a person into our lives at just the right time and place for a spiritual encounter. The story of “the Woman at the Well,” is such an occurrence in John 4:1-26. This Samaritan woman is unnamed but her life was not unknown to Jesus.

Verse 4, is a wonderful verse, “But He needed to go through Samaria.” Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies and both groups did their best to avoid the other. Jesus could have avoided going through Samaria and gone around it to reach His destination in Galilee, but He had a purpose to meet and win this Samaritan woman, and many other Samaritans. Jesus breaks down all barriers in saving souls. He loves each person.

Jesus went to a city of Samaria called Sychar, where Jacob’s Well was located. He was wearied from His journey and it was noontime. The clock in those days began at 6:00 am, called the first hour of the day, and ended at 6:00 pm, the twelfth hour. It coincided with the time when the sun rose and set. His disciples departed and went into the city to buy food.

Jesus knew from her sinful lifestyle that she would be alone at the hottest time of the day; He initiated the conversation by asking this woman for a drink of water. Her life mattered to Jesus, and that was the most important thing. Today, it would be like Jews and Palestinians getting together. Currently there is some of the worse conflicts and violence in Gaza and throughout Israel.

The conversation begins with an earthly topic, a cup of water on a hot day, but soon moves to a spiritual one, living water from God. Jesus knew all about her past. She had been married five times and the man she was currently with was not her husband. We are all sinners, and our sin must be dealt with. Our Savior died for our sins so that by believing in Him we may be saved, forgiven, and have eternal life.

This woman’s life was changed that day. She realized and believed that Jesus was the Messiah. She left her waterpot at the well and went into the city to tell everyone about Jesus and what He had done for her. She said in John 4:39, “…He told me all that I ever did.” Many Samaritans believed because she told them and they heard Him for themselves. This divine appointment lead to the salvation of many. The people said, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

Oh, what a day that was for the woman and the whole town. It led to a revival in Samaria. Divine appointments are such a blessing in our lives and to those around us. This why we have to be ready to share when God brings someone into our lives. We don’t want to lose the opportunity to share the gospel, the good news, with those who need Jesus.

Jesus gave this woman and the others living water to quench their spiritual thirst. Once someone drinks of this water, he will live forever and never be thirsty again! The hymn writer Richard Blanchard wrote, “Like the woman at the well I was seeking for things that could not satisfy; And then I heard my Savior speaking: Draw from My well that never shall run dry.” The refrain says, “Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up Lord! Come and quench this thirsting of my soul; Bread of heaven, feed me ‘till I want no more — fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!”

May the Lord use us in His service to testify and witness of what He has done for us. We don’t know what divine appointments may come into our lives today!

Have a blessed day in Jesus. Be ready and willing to share. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 12, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Christ Must Increase, We Must Decrease-

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

(John 3:30).

John the Baptist was a great man, a great prophet. He was the last of the OT prophets. Jesus testified of him, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

John the Baptist and Jesus were second cousins. Even so, John did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until God revealed it to him. When the Jews sent priests and Levites to him, asking who he was, he plainly answered them. John 1:19-21 says, “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’

John knew his role and his place in the ministry God called him to. John 1:23 says, “He said: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” He was the forerunner of Christ who came to prepare people’s hearts to receive Jesus the Messiah. He baptized them unto repentance from their sins.

John took a humble place before God and men. John 1:26 tells us, “John answered, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” In our text today, he plainly said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

He said of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He pointed people, including his own followers, to Jesus. He passed off the scene when he was beheaded by Herod; All eyes had to be on Jesus going forward.

The application for us is clear, it is all about Jesus, not about us. He is our Lord and Savior, He rules our hearts. We point people to Him who saves. We give Him all the glory. He must increase, we must decrease. Without Him we are nothing, with Him, with Him, He is everything to us.

There is a wonderful hymn, entitled, “None of Self and All of Thee,” written by Theodore Mound in 1875. It says: “Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow that a time could ever be, when I proudly said to Jesus, ‘All of self, and none of Thee. All of self, and none of Thee, all of self and none of Thee. All of self and none of Thee. When I proudly said to Jesus, ‘All of self, and none of Thee.’ Yet He found Me; I beheld Him bleeding on th’ accursed tree, and my wistful heart said faintly, ‘Some of self, and some of Thee. Some of self, and some of Thee, some of self, and some of Thee, and my heart said faintly, ‘Some of self, and some of Thee.’ Day by day His tender mercy, healing, helping, full and free, brought me lower while I whispered, ‘Less of self, and more of Thee. Less of self and more of Thee, less of self and more of Thee, brought me lower while I whispered, ‘Less of self and more of Thee. Higher than the highest heaven, deeper than the deepest sea, Lord, Thy love at last has conquered: ‘None of self, and all of Thee.’ None of self, and all of Thee, none of self, and all of Thee, Lord at last Thy love has conquered: ‘None of self, and all of Thee.’”

May the Lord Jesus Christ increase, and may we decease, to the point where we can say, “None of self, and all of Thee.” Let others see Jesus in us and find Him as their Lord and Savior also. Without Him we can do nothing.

Have a blessed day with Christ increasing and self denying and decreasing. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 11, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Forgiving Others As God Has Forgiven Us-

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

(Ephesians 4:32).

Forgiveness is a blessed gift from God. Through Jesus Christ our Savior and His death on the cross in our place, we are forgiven of our sins. He bore our sins, became sin for us, and nailed our sins to the cross. He delivered us from the penalty of our sins, day by day is delivering us from the power of sin, and one day will deliver us from the presence of sin. His one sacrifice paid our sin debt forever. All our sins, past, present, and future are forgiven.

David wrote in Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” There is such peace and assurance knowing that God through Jesus has forgiven us. In the OT, the sins of the people were covered. The animal sacrifices had to be repeated yearly as a nation, and more often for individuals who had sinned. Someone once said, “He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.”

Since we have been forgiven of such a great sin debt, we should forgive others who have wronged us and sinned against us. God forgave us immediately and completely with kindness and tenderheartedness. He forgave us and forgot, which we must do toward others as well. The key to our verse today is in the phrase, “even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Jesus illustrated forgiveness in telling a parable of two servants. The first owed ten thousand talents, which he could pay. His master had compassion on him and forgave him of the huge debt. That servant was owed by a fellow servant the price of a hundred denarii, which he refused to forgive. He had him thrown into prison as a result. His fellow servants reported this to their master who then rebuked the servant for not being willing to forgive this small debt. He delivered him to the torturers until he could pay his debt. This parable shows that we have been forgiven so much by God and should forgive others also. Jesus said in Matthew 18:35, “So My Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

When someone wrongs us and asks for forgiveness, we should forgive them. Alexander Pope in 1711 once said, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” We are most like God when we forgive others as He has forgiven us.

May the Lord help us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Good relations can only be maintained with others through forgiveness. There is such joy and peace in forgiveness.

Have a blessed day forgiving others. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 10, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-No Condemnation To Those in Christ-

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

(Romans 8:1-2).

Before salvation we were in sin, condemned, separated from God, dead in our trespasses and sin, under the bondage of sin and the devil. In Romans 2:1-3 Paul describes it as, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. We call this our former life, emphasis on the word former.

Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He has transformed us and made us no creatures in Christ. We are free from the wrath to come, forgiven of our sins. We have eternal life and a home in heaven, all by His grace through faith. This is what the foremost life.

Jesus did not come to condemn us, He came to save us. In John 3:16-17, He said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

It is like the weight of the world that was upon us is rolled away, and we are set free. Charles Wesley wrote in his beautiful hymn, “No condemnation now I dread: Jesus, and all in Him, is mine! Alive in Him my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.”

From an object of wrath to a child of the King, He changed our lives and given us a new song to sing. We are so incredibly blessed! Jesus bore our sins and our condemnation on the cross. Let us thank Him today that we have brought near by the blood of Christ. May we live as people in holiness and righteousness!

Have a blessed day living as a child of the King. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean