Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-February 6, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-Doing God’s Work According To God’s Will-

“According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses blessed them.”

(Exodus 39:42-43).

God gave the details to Moses on how to build the Tabernacle, with all the furnishings, all the materials, and all the artistic workmanship. The people of Israel brought gold, silver, bronze, as well as gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread; and all manner of gems. It was quite an undertaking. It was the place where they offered their sacrifices to the Lord. The Tabernacle continued until King Solomon built the Temple.

The people of Israel had a willing, obedient spirit. They did all the work just as God instructed them through Moses. Moses, the leader of the nation was satisfied with what they had done. Leaders of God’s people are responsible to the Lord for themselves and for those serving in the church. In the NT church, elders and deacons were appointed over the local church. Each church was autonomous and God raised up gifted men to serve in the local church utilizing the spiritual gifts God had given them.

It was never God’s will for one man to do everything in the church. In fact, the leaders are to be trainers so that the saints would do the service of the Lord. Oversight by the elders is extremely important in the church. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And He Himself gave some as apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

To be in the Lord’s service, one must do God’s work according to God’s will. Those serving must be holy vessels for the Lord. This was true in all the Scriptures. We notice Moses blessed the people for what they had done. There is always a blessing in obedience. It starts in one’s personal and family life, and then extends to the church. There is both responsibility and accountability for all we do.

What has called and equipped you to do for Him? We must all do our best in the Lord’s work. Christ is the Head of the church and we serve at His direction. We are not responsible to a board or convention somewhere in the country or in the world. We are locally responsible to the Lord and the leaders God has put over us.

Have a blessed day in doing God’s work according to God’s will. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-February 5, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-God Loves Righteousness And Justice-

“For the Word of the Lord is right, and His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

(Psalm 33:4-5).

Everything about the Lord is perfect: His Word is right, His work is done in truth, He loves righteousness and justice, and His goodness is fills the earth. Three of His attributes are found in today’s text: truth, righteousness, justice, and goodness.

When the Bible says that God loves something, it is very important to Him, and it should be to us as His people as well. Psalm 33 is an anonymous psalm. The title of the psalm is: The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History. It is a rich and beautiful psalm. We should love and practice righteousness and justice daily.

• The Lord loves righteousness – Righteousness means that whatever God does is right. He does the right thing at the right time, and in the right way. He loves righteousness. Psalm 11:7 says, “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.” Conversely, He hates sin, lawlessness, evil, and wickedness in every form.

Through the cross, God has made us righteous through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Positionally, He views us as righteous in and through Christ. Now we must practice righteousness in a practical way through the power of the Holy Spirit. May God help us to do what is right in His sight and in the sight of men. We should be men and women of honesty, integrity, truth, and sincerity.

• God loves justice – Justice means to be fair, to treat everyone equally, to use the highest standards in everything. Abraham in his intercessory prayer on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah where his nephew Lot and his family lived, he pleaded with the Lord to spare the cities. He began by asking if there were fifty righteous there, and ended up if there were ten there. In his communication with the Lord, he said, “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right” (Genesis 18:25). We know the angel took Lot, his wife, and their two daughters by the hand to get them out before God’s judgment came down on the cities. Sadly, Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Her heart was there.

We should love justice as well. They say that justice is blind so as to treat each person fairly and equally. God’s justice is way greater and His eyes are wide open. He is the only one who can say this. Much is being said about social justice today. We should treat all people well under the laws of God and man. There is no room for prejudice, inequality, or injustice in any way shape or form.

May God who loves righteousness and justice help us to do the same. Our standards are high because God’s standards are high. We as Christians need to live to please God and treat others with love, respect, and courtesy.

Have a blessed day in righteousness and justice. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-February 4, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-From The Bitter To The Sweet-

“Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”

(Exodus 15:23-25).

Life is bitter, people are bitter. This was the case of Israelites in the wilderness. They had just witnessed one of the greatest miracles in the Scriptures, and now they are crying out for water. They looked for water to drink at a place they called Marah, meaning bitter. The water there was bitter, and they could not drink it. Those who look for sweetness in this bitter world find only bitterness.

Even Naomi, found bitterness in leaving the place God called her to in Bethlehem, and moving to Moab with her husband Elimelech and her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Her husband and her two sons died there. She then went back to the Bethlehem. When she and Ruth her daughter-in -law arrived, she told them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). Naomi means pleasant. Her choices and their consequences left her bitter but as we know the story, God richly blessed her, and her life was once again pleasant. She became a grandmother of Obed, and a great grandmother of Jesse, and great-great grandmother of David.

When Moses brought this need of water to the Lord, He showed him a tree. Moses then cast it into the waters, the waters were then made sweet. This tree is a type of the cross of Calvary. It was at the cross we were saved, cleansed, and forgiven of our sins. Only Jesus can take away the bitterness and makes things sweet. Jesus is sweet, our lives are sweet in our lives. The unknown hymn writer wrote, “Jesus the very thought of Thee, with sweetness fills my breast; But sweeter far Thy face to see, and in Thy presence rest.”

May the Lord turn our bitterness into sweetness, our trials into triumphs, and our tears into cheers.

Have a blessed day dwelling in the sweetness of Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-February 3, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-God Has Been Our Defense And Refuge In The Day Of Trouble-

“But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.”

(Psalm 59:16).

The context of this psalm is when Saul sent men to David’s house to kill him. Not only did God protect him on this occasion but also on several other times. The Lord watches over us and is our defense and refuge in the day of trouble. Trouble is everywhere around us, especially in this Corona virus pandemic. There are so many different troubles we face on a daily basis. All we need to do is trust in Him.

The Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday afternoon. When the two great quarterbacks and teams line up against one another it usually comes down to the defenses. When two nearly unstoppable offenses, with two of the best quarterbacks to play the game, someone on defense must step and make a key plan to secure the win. Also, the offensive lives must protect their quarterbacks and not turn the ball over.

• God is our defense – Our Lord protects while we are awake and when we are asleep. The devil is on the prowl daily, and our other two enemies, the world and the flesh attract and attack at the most in opportune times. Psalm 121:7-8 says, “The Lord shall protect you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.” He is great Defender. Now that is a great defense.

• God is our refuge – He protects us like a great offensive line, forming a wall between us and our foes. When Pharaoh and his army pursued the the Israelites to the Red Sea, the Lord set a pillar of cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians all that night. It was a cloud of light to the Israelites and a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians. What a great refuge He is to us. Psalm 46:1 says,”God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

God has all power and all mercy. There is nothing He cannot handle for us. He shows us His mercy in the morning and all through the day. He is always with us and will never fail us. He will either remove the trouble or give us the grace to get through it. So when you watch the Big Game this Sunday, look at the offensive line when the quarterback drops back to pass. They form a wall of protection. The left offensive tackle is responsible for protecting the quarterback’s blindside. Both quarterbacks are right handed. And just remember God has our blindside when we cannot see what is coming at us.

Have a blessed day knowing the Lord is our defense and our refuge in our times of trouble. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-February 2, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Only God Knows What He Has Prepared For Us-

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’”

(1 Corinthians 2:9).

Many of the best things in life take a lot of preparation. We have all been in on the giving or the receiving end of celebrations of birthdays, graduations, engagements, weddings, retirements, and other special times. They do take a lot of work but well worth the effort. Surprise parties are also great but must be kept secret.

In today’s verse we see that only God knows what He has in store for us in heaven for all eternity. God has whetted our appetite in the Scriptures but it will be even greater for us. Jesus said in John 14:2-3, “In My Father’s house are many mansions (or dwelling places); if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you will be also.” That’s all I need to know. He is preparing a place for me and I will be with Him forever. He is coming back to receive me to Himself.

Though we do have quite a few details of what heaven will be like, God will have many surprises for us. It will far exceed our expectations. Paul says, “Eye has not seen, nor heard heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” It is the “things” which we do not yet know about that are really exciting!

Paul himself was caught up into the third heaven, into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which are not lawful to utter, as he said in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. Many Bible scholars believe this happened after he was stoned to death at Lystra and before God raised him up. He saw and heard wonderful and marvelous things that he could not tell us about. There have been others since who have died and went to heaven but God sent them back to earth. They have given us some details.

What we do know is there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain, and of course no more sin. God’s light and glory of the Lamb will shine so there is no need of any other light. There will be twelve gates with twelve angels, each gate will be one massive pearl. The city will be a square 12,000 furlongs, about 1500 miles in each direction. There will be a pure river flowing down the middle, with the tree of life that has twelve fruits on it. We shall see Jesus, serve Him and reign with Him. Most of all the details about heaven are found in Revelation 21-22.

Even with all these details, there will still more. Just seeing it all will take our breath away! Just seeing Jesus will drive us to our knees in worship, adoration, and praise. We will be home and home forever. I cannot wait. The last words of Jesus in the book of Revelation say, “Surely I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:20). If what we do know is glorious, we realize, it will be even greater than we can imagine, it will be the very best!

Have a blessed day thinking of our future glory with the Lord and all the saints. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean we