Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-March 13, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-All Things Work Together For Good When We Are In God’s Will-

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

(Romans 8:28).

Today’s verse is one of the most known and loved verses in all the Scriptures. It is a promise from God to His people that, “all things work together for good,” or as it better translated, “God causes all things to work together for good.” There is a condition attached to this promise, it is, “to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Many of God’s promises have conditions attached to them.

Let us look first at the last part of the verse to see who can claim this promise. Only believers in Jesus Christ have the right and privilege, confidence and assurance of knowing all things work together for good. Paul is writing to the believers in Rome and uses the pronoun “we.”

It is not for all believers. We must love God and be the called according to His purpose. John wrote, “We love love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Loving God means obeying Him. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” We cannot just say we love God, we must show it by doing what He wants us to do.

Not only must we love God, but we must be the called according to His purpose. This means we must be in God will so that His plans and purposes for our lives are being accomplished. Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, “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. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Presenting our bodies and being transformed by the renewing our minds are prerequisites to living out God’s will in our lives. We must yield ourselves fully to the Lord, spirit, soul, and body. When we love God and are the called according to His purpose, we know with absolute assurance and confidence that God will work all things together for good in our lives.

Not everything that happens to us is good, for bad things happen to us even when we are loving God and walking in His perfect will. The key is that God will work things out for the good, our good. He will bring good out of our circumstances. Let us rejoice in the Lord and what He is doing in our lives. He is building and growing our faith through adversity. There is no easy or painless way to spiritual maturity. Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” When we realize that God has a plan, and everything that happens to us is from His hand, we can be happy in obeying His every command.

Have a blessed day knowing all things work together for good. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 12, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-We Are So Blessed By The Lord-

“As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

(2 Peter 1:3-4).

Peter, the fisherman turned disciple, became a great preacher, missionary, teacher, elder, and servant. He wrote two epistles, and collaborated with John Mark on the Gospel of Mark. He, along with John, and Paul had a mighty influence on the early church.

Peter took to heart the words that the Lord Jesus told him in John 21:15-18. Our Savior restored Peter after he denied him three times, instructing him to “Feed My lambs, tend My sheep, and feed My sheep.” Lambs are the new believers and the sheep are the older, more mature believers. He was the apostle to the Jews, as Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.

Peter reminds us in this wonderful passage of four tremendous blessings that we and all believers have: we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness; we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises; we have been made partakers of the divine nature, and we have escaped the corruption of the world through lust. These come to us immediately upon our conversion to Christ by divine power.

• All things that pertain to life and godliness – Everything we have is from God. James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). He has equipped us with everything we need to live for Him and serve Him in this world.

• Exceedingly great and precious promises – There are many wonderful promises we can claim throughout the Scriptures. They are like precious gold nuggets that we must search for and claim for our lives. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” God’s promises encourage us so much, just when we need them the most. Books have been written that catalog all the promises in Scripture.

• Made partakers of the divine nature – Just think, we as believers in Christ have the divine nature through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. When we were born of Adam, we had only the old, sinful nature, but now in Christ, the last Adam, we have the new nature, that is the life of Christ.

• Escaped the corruption in world through lust – We have been delivered from the wrath to come. We live in the world but we are not of the world. In speaking of Lot, Peter wrote, “And delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds” (2 Peter 2:7-8).

We are so blessed. Someone once said, “I am too blessed to be stressed.” We have so much to be thankful for: all things that pertain to life and godliness, exceedingly great and precious promises, partakers of the divine nature, and having escaped the corruption of the world through lust, just to name a few of our spiritual blessings in Christ.

Have a blessed day and weekend counting your blessings. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 11, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-God Is Faithful Who Keeps His Covenant And Mercy With His People Forever-

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

(Deuteronomy 7:9).

Our God is an awesome God. He is the only God, the eternal and faithful God. He created us and blesses us, and will bless us forever. Moses wrote this verse to those who were going to enter the Promised Land. He also wrote in Psalm 90:1-2, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

God has shown His faithfulness to us His people, those who love and obey and obey Him. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” He never changes and always fulfills His promises.

All He asks of us that we love Him and keep His commandments. Jesus said, “…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make home with him” (John 14:23). We show our love to Him by obeying Him fully.

We rejoice that we will be with the Lord forever in glory. In heaven there will be ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. The hymn writer John Newton wrote, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we’d first begun.”

Since our God is so faithful to us, let us be faithful to Him. Let us praise Him and adore Him forever.

Have a blessed day in God’s loving presence. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 10, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Be Prepared To Give A Defense Of What We Believe-

“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.”

(1 Peter 3:15).

In the light of the fact that so many do not know the Lord in these days in which we are living, we must be ready to share our faith and defend it. Preparation is key to defending the truth. There are two types of questions that people will ask us: doubting, unbelieving, and argumentative ones and curious and sincere ones. We need discernment to tell the difference.

• But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts – The word sanctify, holy, separated all come the same Greek word. By spending time with Jesus in the Word and prayer, we ready ourselves to share with others. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

• And always be ready to give a defense to who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear – Our hope is beyond this world, it it a blessed and eternal hope. This is where we must not be argumentative. It is best to share our testimony of how the Lord saved us and changed ourselves. People can argue doctrine but they cannot argue a changed life. Our life before Christ was bad but our after Christ is glorious. All sharing should with meekness, that is humility and gentleness, and the fear of the Lord.

Peter also gives us three tips on how we should live Christ before the people we come into contact with in 1 Peter 3:16-17: have a good conscience, live in good conduct, and do good to others. Someone once said, “What you do speaks so loud I can’t hear what you say.” There is nothing stronger than a good and godly example.

May the Lord help us to spend time with Jesus in prayer and the Word, and always be ready and prepared to share the truth with those we share with. We must defend the truth by answering questions and avoiding arguments. We should share humbly and sincerely. If we don’t know the answer to their question(s), we should tell them we will get back to them on it and follow through with it. Don’t make things up or guess.

Have a blessed day sharing and defending our faith. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-March 9, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-God Has Saved And Called Us According To His Purpose-

(2 Timothy 1:9).

“[The Lord] who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose, and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

God has saved and called by His holy calling and grace. None of us deserve to be saved from our sins and have eternal life. It was not because of our works, but by His infinite grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

God’s purpose is not limited to saving us by grace through faith, but extends to spreading the gospel, teaching and sharing the Word, and doing good works to others, especially those who are of the household of faith. The reason why we are here is to be a testimony of salt and a witness of light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God chose us by His grace and equipped us to serve Him in this world wherever He has planted us. Jesus said to His disciples in the Upper Room, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give to you” (John 15:16).

We should never be proud, thinking more highly of ourselves, nor should we ever think too low of ourselves, for we are the children of the Most High God. Instead, we should be thankful and give all the glory to the Lord. Every soul that is saved is a miracle of God’s grace; and every act of service is a privilege and blessing.

God has a purpose and plan for our lives and we must be willing, available, and obedient. He has much for us to do until He calls home to heaven. My cousin Jessica Hyde always says, “I am liven for heaven.” May this be true for all of us.

Have a blessed day liven for heaven inspired and energized by God’s grace. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean