Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-March 18, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-Hope, Joy, And Peace In Believing-

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

(Romans 15:13).

Today’s verse is so encouraging. It is a doxology given by the the Apostle Paul to praise God and strengthen the saints at Rome in their faith. He reminds his readers that God is a God of hope. Knowing this gives us amazing assurance and confidence to move forward in our faith. Only God can give us hope in the midst of all hopelessness.

It is a blessing to know that God fills with all joy and peace in believing. Joy is the inner happiness that comes from our relationship with the Lord Jesus and is not based on circumstances. Our circumstances fluctuate up and down as times change, but our joy remains constant.

Peace also does not need calmness or tranquility to survive or thrive, in fact, the peace of God performs best in adversity, trial, affliction, and pain. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The formula always works: prayer + thanksgiving = peace.

God desires that we abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. To abound in something is grow stronger and fuller in it. Only a believer in Christ can experience joy, peace, and hope to overflowing when everything is going wrong and against us, and falling apart before our eyes. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Now abide faith, hope, love, these three but the greatest of these is love.”

The hymn writer Thomas O. Chisholm wrote, “Pardon for sin and a peace that endures, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow — Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.” Let us then grow and abound in God’s hope, peace, and joy at all times as we keep our eyes on Jesus!

Have a blessed day filled with hope, joy, and peace. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 17, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday, happy St. Patrick’s Day,

-The Lord Is Our Shepherd-

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

(Psalm 23:1-3).

This psalm may the most familiar, loved, and wonderful of all. David was a shepherd as a teenager and learned about sheep and how to care for them a protect them. He fought for them and put his life on the line for his sheep, killing both a lion and a bear. Here in our psalm, he likens God to his shepherd, and himself and all of God’s people as His sheep.

Throughput all the Scriptures, God is seen as our Shepherd. In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” He is also described as the Great Shepherd and Chief Shepherd. Interestingly, He is both the Lamb of God and the Shepherd. He laid down His life for us on the cross and was struck down as the Shepherd in defense of the sheep. Mark 14:27 says, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’”

This psalm is so personal for David; he uses the pronoun “my,” three times, and “me,” David the shepherd became David the king, yet he never forgot that God was his Shepherd and he was His sheep. He had a close, personal relationship with the Lord. He says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” He found that God met all his needs, just as He does for us today. God also promises to meet all our needs. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God’s care, provision, and love are expressed in four beautiful ways in these first three verses: green pastures, still waters, restoration of the soul, and paths of righteousness.

• He makes me lie down in green pastures – Our Shepherd provides green, fresh, and soft pastures for us to feed on. We are nourished by the Word of God. Just as the sheep needs food, we need His food for our souls daily. Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11).

• He leads me besides the still waters – Just as the sheep need food, they also need water. Oh, how wonderful it is to have cold, refreshing water on a hot day! He has given us the water of life so that we will never again thirst in our souls. Jesus told the woman at the well, “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 4:14).

• He restores my soul – The Shepherd not only cares for us physically, emotionally, socially, financially, and materially, He also cares for our souls spiritually. When you have a best friend who really loves you, he or she will care for your soul. Jesus, is the lover of our souls, a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, and One who never leaves us nor forsakes us. He saved our souls and He restores them every day.

• He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake – The Shepherd leads us in the paths of righteousness. It is a straight and narrow path, that so few choose. As long as we follow and obey Him, we will have great joy and true contentment. It is not an easy path, but it is a holy good path in the center of His will.

We are so incredibly blessed, fully dressed in His holiness! Let us thank our Shepherd for all He has done for us. As our dear pastor Adel says so often , “The best is yet to come.” Heaven will be so much better than earth could ever be.

Have a blessed day following our Shepherd. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 16, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Put On The Character Of Christ-

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.”

(Colossians 3:12).

God’s desire for us is that we be like Jesus. We need to speak as He spoke, do what He did, and be fully committed to the Father’s will as He was. The Apostle John wrote, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6). It is a challenge indeed, but one that we can accomplish by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, we are called the elect, holy, and beloved. We are God’s people, which carries with it both great privilege and responsibility. God has chosen us, called us, and conferred so much on us. The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called out of darkness into His marvelous light.” You and I are special to the Lord!

As believers in Christ, we must put off the old nature and put on the new. The Apostle Paul lists five things we should put on in today’s verse that represent the character of Christ: tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering. These represent the character of Christ. Each of these virtues show both the beauty and fragrance of Christ.

We may notice that each of these qualities are practical and have an affect on others around us. They can be seen, heard, and felt by those around us. How are we doing in practicing them? Though we should not judge others, we should judge ourselves. We should ask ourselves, am I showing tender mercies and kindness to all? Am I being humble, meek, and longsuffering (or patient)? God’s standards for us far exceeds man’s standards.

May we evaluate ourselves always in the light of God’s Word. When fail and sin, let us confess to the Lord and ask for His help to change. For those who are blessed to be a blessing takes the help of the Blesser.

Have a blessed day pointing people to Jesus by living His life before them. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 15, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-Salvation Is Only Through Jesus Christ-

“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole” (Acts 4:10).

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The apostles, Peter and John were arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, tells all the authorities of the Jews that this lame man at the temple gate was made whole by the name of Jesus Christ whom they crucified and God raised from the dead.

God gave Peter and John the words to speak through the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said would happen in Luke 12:11-12, “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” The gospel is the good news of salvation that changes lives forever.

Acts 4:13-14 tells us the great effect of Peter’s words through the Holy Spirit, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.” There is such power in the testimony of a child of God. All the Jews had seen this lame man begging for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple, and now was standing before them fully healed and whole.

Peter and John took no credit for this great miracle but gave all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is true for us today. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit through the gospel that souls are saved and believers are taught, encouraged, and edified. We cannot take any credit but give all glory to the Lord. There is only one way to salvation and eternal life: through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). It is not our opinion or our words but His. We carry this message of life and salvation and the Holy Spirit uses it to save people and change their lives.

Have a blessed day spreading and sharing the gospel. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 14, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-Being Fruitful In Our Faith-

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(2 Peter 1:5-8).

Growth in the Lord is absolutely essential in the Christian life. Peter, the writer of this epistle, wrote at the end of this second epistle, “But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

Growing in faith is so important to our spiritual lives. Peter is beseeching us to add to our faith seven essential characteristics that will encourage and energize us in our walk with Christ. We need to grow in each of these characteristics and never stop growing. We can never say we have made it or arrived spiritually. We must strive for greater and stronger faith.

These seven characteristics are like building blocks in our lives. It reminds me of when, as a very young child, I played with blocks. I would build something with them, then when the game was over, I would knock them down. In our Christian life we build a strong faith to last until the Lord calls us home to glory. Until then we keep growing, adding, and getting stronger in the Lord. Peter says, “But for this very reason, giving all diligence…” In our lesson yesterday we discovered four great blessings we have in Christ: all things that pertain to life and godliness, exceedingly great and precious promises, partaking of the divine nature, and escaping from the corruption in this world through lust. He referring to these things.

Let us add to our faith virtue, the holy character of Jesus Christ; knowledge of the Lord and His Word; self-control in our dealings with people and circumstances, especially difficult ones; perseverance in patiently living under stress, hardship, or pain; godliness in how we behave before God, those who are saved and those who are unsaved; brotherly kindness in showing gentleness and respect to all; and love without which nothing will work.

If we grow in and practice these things, we will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Savior. In the account of the fig tree, He looked for fruit on the fig tree, but found one. The next day Peter brought up the fig tree had shriveled up and died. The lesson was the fruitlessness of Israel. We must avoid the same results.

A healthy Christian is a growing Christian. If we are not growing, even slowly, we are going backwards and there is even doubt of our salvation. When we read the Word and study it, pray, witness for the Lord, and serve Him, we will grow and bear much fruit. May we measure our progress and growth not by man’s standards but God’s standards as found in His Word.

Have a blessed day growing in our faith. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean