Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-January 7, 2021-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-The Lord Answers Prayer And Delivers Us From Our Fears-

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

(Psalm 34:4).

Praise God that the Lord hears and answers prayer. David spent a lot of time in prayer, seeking the Lord’s help. He knew the secret of dependence on the the Lord. As a result he was undefeated in battle and undeterred in life.

David, like all of us, had fears, and needed the Lord’s intervention. Faith is the antidote to our fears. God loves us and delights to answer our prayers. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear; because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” Over and over we are of in Scripture, we are told, “fear not.”

John showed the same confidence and faith in the Lord that David had, “Now this the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

Each time the Lord comes through for us, He builds our faith. He walks with us in the dark valley as well as the bright mountaintop. He loves and cares for us so much. A dear brother I know is going cancer. He is trusting the Lord and has such a wonderful testimony for Christ. His name is Don. Please pray for him. His daughter suggested memorizing this Psalm 34 during this time. A number of us have joined in this memorizing challenge. She drives him 81 miles to his cancer treatments.

Have a blessed day in prayer, and the Lord will deliver you from all your fears. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 6, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Enoch Walked With God And Pleased Him-

“After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not for God took him” (Genesis 5:22-24).

“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).

Enoch was one of only two people in the history of the world whom God took home to glory without dying. The other was the the prophet Elijah. Also, he is one of only two men that it says of them that they walked with God. The other was Noah. So we can see that he is in select company in the Scriptures. He is also found in Hebrews chapter 11, the “Hall of Faith” chapter as a man of faith.

His life was a short one compared to others who lived before the flood. His father Jared lived 962 years and his son Methuselah lived the longest life of all 969 years. Thus, Enoch was just a youngster, living only 365 years. But what he lacked in the quantity of years he more than made up for the quality of his years.

He walked with God for 300 years in close fellowship with Him. He grew in his faith, and he pleased God. What a great goal for us to have this New Year to follow his example to walk with and please God each day. Colossians 1:10 says, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, an increasing in the knowledge of God.” This verse really describes the life of Enoch.

Not only did Enoch walk with God and please God but he spoke for God and served Him. Jude wrote in his short epistle, “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all their harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” Jude 1:14-15).

Thus Enoch was a prophet who spoke of the coming judgment when the Lord Jesus returns to earth with all His saints and pronounces judgment at the Great White Throne. Enoch was unafraid of speaking of sin and the wrath to come on those who reject Christ.

May the Lord help us to walk with God, please God, and speak for God this year. Time is growing short and Christ is coming soon. When the Rapture happens many more than two will be taken up to be the Lord without dying. Every living believer will join Enoch and Elijah. All those who have died with Christ are already with the Lord.

Have a blessed day walking with God and pleasing Him in all you do and say. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 5, 2021-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Putting Our Faith Into Action-

“Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean; Put away the evil doings from before My eyes. Cease to evil, learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

(Isaiah 1:16-17).

Though God spoke these words to His people Israel hundreds of years before Christ, the message to us is abundantly clear: put your faith into action. Words are not enough. James wrote, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says, he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to him, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ but you do not give them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

Christianity is not theoretical but practical. As J. Vernon McGee used to say, “It is where the rubber meets the road.” While doctrine is extremely important, it must be applied to our lives in practical ways. In Paul writings he speaks of doctrine first then practice. In today’s text, there are seven principles to live by in these two verses:

1. Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean – While we know we are washed in the blood of Christ, we must walk in holiness and purity in this world. We need to confess our sins to the Lord and live a clean life.

2. Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes – There are so many defiling things in this world today, on the internet, TV, movies, magazines and all around us. We must put them away, turn them off, or walk out of the movie theater.

3. Cease to do evil – Satan is the master manipulator and liar. He tempted Adam and Eve, and he tempts us too. We must judge our actions in the light of God’s Word. If it wrong or even questionable, we should not do it.

4. Learn to do good – Good is the opposite of evil. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. It is not just about not doing evil, but we must do good. We should do good to all, especially the household of faith.

5. Seek justice – God is just and fair without prejudice or partiality. This is so relevant to our times. We should treat people equally and show the love of Christ to all. All people matter to God. He loves everyone.

6. Rebuke the oppressor – Sometimes we know what to do but we do not do it. Standing up to those who are harming others is our duty and responsibility. Not getting involved is not acceptable.

7. Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow – God has a special love for orphans and widows; it is shown over and over in the Scriptures. Often they do not have the resources to defend themselves, we we must help them.

These principles are clear and understandable to all of us. We must put our Christian faith into action, beings doers of the Word not just hearers. In other words, let us walk the talk, and practice what we preach.

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

Dean

-January 4, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-God’s Requirements Of Us-

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

(Micah 6:8).

There are requirements in life we must meet, such as getting into college, getting a job, driving an automobile, or in other things. If you do not meet the requirements it can greatly impact you. So it is with God’s requirements. Here in our text in Micah 6:8, there are three requirements: to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. In the NT we see the most important requirements: repent, confess our sins, and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If we do not meet those requirements we will not enter heaven.

• To do justly – Justice is very important, especially in the way we treat others with fairness, honesty, integrity, and righteousness. As believers we should have no impartiality or prejudice toward others. We are equal before God and under God. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Paul wrote of his example, “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe.”

• To love mercy – To live mercy and to shown it to others is a sign of how God has shown mercy to us. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were the spiritual leaders and strictly followed the law but had no mercy on others. They were proud and exalted themselves above others, calling them sinners. Jesus told them in Matthew 12:7, “If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.’” This is also mentioned in in Hosea 6:6 and Matthew 9:13. It is easy to judge others but way more difficult to show mercy.

• To walk humbly with your God – To walk humbly with God is to depend on Him, give Him all the glory, and do His will without complaining. We are all attracted to humble people who deflect praise to God and others. James wrote, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). Jesus taught this principle: if we humble ourselves, God will exalt us, but if we exalt ourselves, God will humble us.

May the Lord help us to meet these three simple, yet challenging requirements: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. When we do, God will be honored and others will be blessed. God’s requirements are always good. If we fall short, we will be blamed and there will be negative consequences in our lives.

Have a blessed day in fulfilling God’s requirements. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 3, 2021-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-God’s Grace In Salvation And Sanctification-

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.”

(Titus 2:11-12).

God’s grace is the all important aspect of our lives. Grace is God’s unmerited favor lavishly poured out on us. We should always remember how sinful and undeserving we are of all of God’s blessings. Someone came up with the acronym for grace as God’s riches at Christ’s expense, which is so true.

God’s grace has appeared to all men. We are saved by grace through faith. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Salvation is all from God by His matchless grace. We have nothing to boast about whatsoever. We just had to believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God gave us the gift of eternal life and we just had to open it.

Grace is not only shown to us in salvation but also in sanctification. God has made us holy and gives us the grace to live holy lives. Anything we do or achieve for the Lord is by His grace. Paul lists five things we must do to in this present age: deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously, and godly. We put off the bad and put on the good.

Ungodliness and worldly lusts are stumbling blocks for the Christian. Before we were saved this is how we lived; that is all we knew. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

God’s grace helps us to deny worldliness, being like the world, and ungodliness, which acts in a way that is against God’s ways. We must just say no to the evil, wicked things of this world that we once walked in.

Instead, we must live soberly, not just without the control of alcohol, but also seriously and carefully; righteously, thus doing what is right in God’s sight; and godly, which is to be like Christ. None of us are perfect but we are growing and becoming more like Christ. With the challenge of living for Christ in this sinful world comes all the resources of the Word of God and the help of the Holy Spirit.

Let us never forget that we are saved by grace and kept by grace. We need God’s grace to live a sanctified life. We cannot do it on our own or by our own strength.

Have a blessed day living by God’s grace. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean