Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-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

-May 9, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day, happy Mother’s Day,

-Honoring Our Mothers And Thanking God For Them-

“When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother,’Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”

(John 19:26-27).

Of all the words that Jesus spoke while He was on the cross, and there were seven altogether, today’s verse is the most personal and precious. Before He willingly died on the cross for us, He made provision for His mother Mary. By this time she was likely in her upper forties. He loved His mother very much, and highly honored her and respected her.

Jesus knew how sad and devastated she was to see her beloved son crucified on the cross. Simeon had prophesied in Luke 2:34-35, “Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” Only a mother and her love could know such pain and sorrow to witness her son’s death.

Jesus spoke first to Mary then to John. He said, “Woman behold your son.” This meant from this point on John would now be her son and care for her. And then He said to John, “Behold your mother.” John wrote this gospel and he is the only one of the four gospel writers to include it. John is the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was the one who was closest to Jesus literally and figuratively; he reclined on Jesus’ bosom in the upper room. When you think about it, he was the perfect disciple to care for His mother. Jesus knew he could trust Him implicitly. There was no one He trusted more.

Jesus was assured that John would take the responsibility seriously and with a depth of love. John wrote, “And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. This is in effect, the first “Mother’s Day. “

Today, Mother’s Day, is a day we show our love, care, appreciation, and honor to our mothers. For some, their mothers have departed this earthly scene, making the day, in some ways bittersweet. Others may actually have two mothers: their natural mother and their mother-in-law or other special lady who is like a second mother. We are also doubly blessed if our mother is also saved.

Gifts on Mother’s Day are so appropriate it, but even better are cards that we can express in writing how we feel. I like to choose a very appropriate card and then write my own words from my heart. My two mom’s are always touched and blessed. Whatever your tradition, make it a special day for your mother, a day she will never forget. Tell her that you love her and thank her for all she has done for you over the years.

Behold your mother. John did just that. He stayed in Jerusalem and not only preached and taught the Word but He took care of Mary, Jesus’ mother just as if she was his own mother. Did it limit him, perhaps so, but he considered it a privilege and part of his ministry to the Lord.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day and Mother’s Day. We honor the Lord and our dear mothers. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-May 8, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-How To Live Before The Unsaved-

“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

(Colossians 4:5-6).

Paul in speaking to the saints in Colosse, addresses how they should live their lives before those who are outside, thus those who are unsaved. It is so important to redeem the time. None of us knows the day nor the hour that the Lord is coming nor when He will call us home to heaven through death. We must take advantage of the opportunities to be a testimony and a witness to those who don’t know the Lord.

Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). We must be prepared for the opportunities that come our way. To be a blessing we must do three things: walk in wisdom, redeem the time, and let our speech be with grace seasoned with salt.

Peter, one of the twelve disciples spoke of this same subject in 1 Peter 3:18-19, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct may be ashamed.”

We should always show kindness and love toward those who are unsaved. Our testimony for Christ of how He saved us and changed our lives is so important, as is our sharing of the gospel. It is never good to argue with those who don’t know the Lord, it only pushes them away from Christ. Our speech should be with grace, seasoned with salt.

Jesus taught the disciples that they were both salt and light. He said in Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Let us then be salt to create thirst and be a preservative in our testimony of how we live; and a light to shine before people and lead them to Christ. It is a great privilege and responsibility to be ambassadors for Christ. We are role models; people are watching us and listening to us every day. We must guard our testimony and our words. If we aren’t careful we can ruin our testimony and live to regret it.

Have a blessed day as salt and light so we can point people to Jesus by our actions and words. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean