Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-January 22, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Asking, Seeking, And Knocking-

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Why is it that we do not ask more from the Lord? Why do we pray about something and stop? Why do we question why the Lord has not answered our requests? Here in our text, Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. The tense of the Greek is a progressive one. It should read, “Ask, and keep on asking; seek, and keep on seeking; knock, and keeping on asking.”

• Ask – Jesus wants us to bring our requests to the Father in His name. In John 16:24, Jesus said, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” James, who wrote very directly and honestly said, “…Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:2d-5). We should always pray for God’s will and it will be given to us.

• Seek – We need seek God’s presence and His kingdom. In Matthew 6:33 our Savior said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” We must be clean when we seek the Lord and confess all known sin, otherwise God will not hear us. When we seek we will find.

• Knock – Nowadays most people do not knock at the door anymore, they ring the bell. For some there is a small little glass hole to see who is at our door. With the modern technology, we can see now who is there at the door on our smartphones. Cameras capture the person very clearly. Our Heavenly Father delights to open to us. He will never turn us away. Let us knock and keep on knocking at the door of heaven as we bring our requests and He will open the door to us.

God the Father delights to hear our prayers in the name of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His will, through the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us. The Spirit takes our words and intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered or are to deep for words. Let us then ask and keep on asking; seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knock until the answer comes.

Have a blessed day and weekend in prayer for great things as well as the smaller ones. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 21, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-We Reap What We Sow-

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not grow weary.”

(Galatians 6:7-9).

It is a spiritual principle that one reaps what he sows. People in the world do not believe that their deeds will catch up with them, but they will and they do. Life is all about the choices we make; good choices and behavior amount to sowing to the Spirit and bad choices and behavior leads to sowing to the flesh.

Sowing to the flesh is doing what is of the old nature. It comes naturally to us, but has disastrous results. In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul lists the works of the flesh, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, and the like…” It is an ugly list.

On the other hand, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control…” (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit produces these qualities in our lives, enabling us to sow to the Spirit.

We sow and reap every day. The important way to sow to the Spirit is fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God and to spend time in prayer. Doing good to and for others is vital in our service for Lord. Paul wrote, “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” We will reap in this life and at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Charles Stanley always says, we shall reap what we sow, more than we sow, and later than we sow.”

Thus it is up to us what we sow and and what we reap. The other type of sowing in the NT is sharing the gospel with others. Some of us sow the seed, others water it, and still others reap the harvest of a soul saved. We perform all these functions at different times with different people. May the Lord help us to sow to the Spirit and not lose heart. The results will be glorious and eternal.

Have a blessed day sowing and reaping for Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 20, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday, happy Inauguration Day-

-Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated-

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and Prophets.”

(Matthew 7:12).

Today’s verse is such a powerful and inclusive verse. It covers our lifestyle, and the way we treat others in all our relationships. It is commonly known as the “Golden Rule.” So many people erroneously think that by following it, they will go to heaven, which it totally wrong. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross.

This verse among many others, directs us as believers how to live as Christians in this world. To apply this verse correctly one must ask, “How do I want to be treated? What does the Bible say in both the OT and the NT about how to do good to others? Then we can follow the words of Jesus, “…Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36-39 says, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” We cannot love our neighbor as ourselves without loving God with everything we have.

The way we treat others shows a lot about our Christianity. Jesus Christ is our example. Our goal is to live as He lived, to love as He loved, and to labor as He labored. He had great compassion on people and never turned anyone in need away. We all want to be loved, accepted, forgiven, respected, and be shown justice, fairness, kindness and gentleness. Then we must treat others that way. This should be a challenge to each and every one of us. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.

If every Christian lived this way, what a difference we would make in this world! May the Lord help us to treat others as we want to be treated. People want to see that we care about them. If they don’t, they won’t listen to our message.

Have a blessed day treating others as we want to be treated and to love them as ourselves. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 19, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Victory Over Temptation-

“There is no temptation overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may bear it.”

(1 Corinthians 10:13).

God’s desire for us that we be victorious over temptation and sin. The devil is behind all temptations, in fact he is called the tempter. The uses our sinful flesh against us. He makes every temptation seem so good. He did this for the first time with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The devil knows our weaknesses and seeks to exploit them. God never tempts us to do evil in any way, shape, or form. James 1:13-16 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

In the preceding verse 12, we are warned how susceptible and vulnerable we are, Paul wrote, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest we fall.” There are three important things we notice in our verse today:

• Temptations are common to man – We are not the only ones to experience temptations, in fact every human being experiences them. The Greek word Paul uses speaks of both trials and temptations. Unsaved people have no victory over trials or temptations.

• But God is faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able – God knows us through and through and how much we can handle; and He will not allow us more than that. He wants us to be overcomers.

• But with temptation will also make the way of escape, that we may be able to bear it – In every temptation, God sends the way of escape. For Joseph, he fled the temptations with Potiphar’s wife. Though he was falsely accused and was thrown into prison, he maintained his innocence before God and man. In 1 Timothy 6:11, Paul wrote, “But you, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” The best thing for us in the midst of a temptation is to flee. In the times where that is not possible, we must pray for God’s help.

God’s will is that we may be able to bear it. Another word for bear is endure. When Peter began to sink in the water when walking on the water to Jesus, looking at the winds and waves, he simply cried out, “Lord, save me.” When we are tempted or face trials, we should immediately call out to the Lord for His aid.

Let us remember the commonness of temptations and trials, how faithful God is not to allow them to be more than we can handle, and that God provides the way of escape for us. He wants us to be victorious over temptation and sin, and to benefit from our trials in our lives.

Have a blessed day walking closely with the Lord in victory. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 18, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday, happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day,

-Jesus Preached Non-Violence-

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

(Matthew 5:38-39).

Today being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is a good time to remember, that our Lord Jesus Christ taught and practiced non-violence. Christians down through the centuries and to the present day, have been persecuted for their faith in Christ. Jesus never advocated armed conflict nor any other violence, retaliation, or revenge.

In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord took the law one step further. He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. In Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

Our Lord said, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the the other to him also.” The natural inclination is to fight back, retaliate against those who wrong us, and seek revenge. Jesus taught the exact opposite. In fact, Matthew 5:44 tells us, “But I say to you love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:17-21, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he thirsty, give a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Paul never fought back nor did abdicate violence. He suffered much persecution in his life and service for the Lord. He was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned. We should follow Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings. When we show love not hate, good not evil, compassion not retaliation, our testimony for Christ will shine brightly.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor, preacher, and socialist activist on behalf of black people. He preached and practiced non-violence. He led the movement and suffered much. Sadly, one who abdicated non-violence died a violent death of an assassin’s bullet. His legacy lives on in our country and among black people and people of all races. Even when others promoted violence, he stood firm and did not. We need more men like him today! There is power in love!

May the Lord help us to be prayerful, loving, non-violent people who preach the gospel of the love of Christ, and practice what we preach. Let us overcome evil with good.

Have a wonderful and blessed day, remembering our mission and how God wants us to treat others with love. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean