Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-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

-January 2, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-Teach Us To Number Our Days And Live Each One For The Lord-

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

(Psalm 90:12).

This psalm was written by Moses hundreds of years before the other psalms. The vast wisdom found it have blessed God’s people so much over the years. Today’s verse shows us how important our lives are in the light of eternity. One day we will leave this earthly scene and be with the Lord in heaven.

We are now into 2021. None of us can go back and live a single day over again. We just just get one chance, let us not blow it. Not only that, but we do not know how long we we will on live on this earth. Today, this moment, we have to live for the Lord. How will you live it today?

Moses lived a long life of 120 years, but recognized that most people do not live that long. Psalm 90:10 says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years.” Only God knows how long each of us will live. God looks more at the quality not the the quantity of our lives. Moses also wrote, “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17). What a great prayer for us to pray. In other words, may our days impact the lives of people around us for the Lord, that we would point people to Jesus.

There is no time to waste. Today could be our last day on earth. It is all in God’s hands. We may die today or the Lord may come to take us to heaven. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Love is the greatest motive in living for the Lord. As Moses wrote, “that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The longer we live, the more wisdom we gain. We should never stop learning.

To see how many days you have lived so far, just multiply 365 x your age, add the number of days since your last birthday, then add one extra day for each leap year occurring every four years. Then add 2 days for the new year. It will still be approximate. Don’t let the number scare you it will be high. Mine is 63 years old on June 27th = 22,995 + 3 days in June + July – December 184 + 2 in this month + 16 for leap years = 23,200 days. I do sound old!

May the Lord help us use our days, our weeks, our months, and our years for His glory in serving Him. We are all allotted the same number of hours in a day, the key is how we use them. We had better get busy.

Have a blessed day living for the Lord and serving Him today. The clock is ticking. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-January 1, 2021-

Good morning happy Friday, Happy New Year,

-God Crowns The Year With His Goodness And Abundance-

“You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.”

(Psalm 65:11).

We all like a new start, with new opportunities, and new blessings; God delights to bless us more and more. Today is the first day of 2021. The old year is behind us, but just because the calendar has changed, we still have the same problems to deal with. This year though the vaccines for Covid-19 are being distributed so we have hope of returning to normal in the next few months. The one thing we are all looking forward to is returning to church.

God never changes and He takes care of us each day of each year. The title of Psalm 65 is “Praise to God for His Salvation And Providence.” David wrote this encouraging psalm. He praises God for spiritual blessings in verses 1-8 and earthly blessings in verses 9-13.

• You crown the year with Your goodness – Goodness is one of God’s wonderful attributes and He delights to shower His goodness upon us all year long. His goodness comes in the form of daily mercies and blessings. He blesses us spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, materially, and financially. The Lord is so good.

Psalm 65:4 says, “Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple.” These things are ours now and will be for all eternity. To be saved and know the Lord as our personal Lord and Savior is so wonderful. We have the privilege to come before Him in prayer and speak directly to Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also blessed to read the Word and let Him speak to us.

• And Your paths drip with abundance – When we walk in God’s paths, do His will, put Him first in our lives, and serve Him, we find our lives full of abundance. God desires that we abide in Him and bear much fruit for the kingdom of God. The Lord wants us to be successful in all we do.

Genesis 49:22-24 says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over a wall. The archers have bitterly attacked him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and his arms were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel).” Joseph was fruitful in the midst of severe trials and adversity.

Let us look forward to this New Year with its blessings and trials. God shows us goodness and abundance. He wants us to be fruitful, fervent, and faithful for Him this year. We look forward to all that God has for us. He crowns our year with His goodness and His paths drip with abundance.

The hymn writer Frances Havergal wrote, “Another year is dawning! Dear Father let it be. In working or in waiting, another year with Thee; Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast; Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest. Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace; Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face; Another year of progress, another year of praise; Another year of proving Thy presence all the days. Another year of service, of witness for Thy love; Another year of training for holier work above. Another year is dawning! Dear Father, let it be, on earth or else in heaven, another year for Thee.”

Have a blessed first day of the year living for and serving the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-December 31, 2020-

Good morning, happy Thursday, Happy New Year’s Eve,

-Finishing The Year Strongly-

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

(2 Timothy 4:7).

The Apostle Paul, not only completed each year strongly, he finished his life and ministry for the Lord that way. In writing to Timothy, his son in the faith, he makes three declarative statements, all in the past tense, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” He made no excuses and had no regrets.

Paul employed three different analogies of the Christian life: as a soldier, a runner, and a minister of the gospel. He was ready to die and go to be with the Lord. He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.” He also wrote to the Philippians, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17). He died the way he lived: all for Jesus!

Paul taught us to do the same: to fight, to run, and to keep the faith each day. As we leave behind this difficult year 2020, we move onto a new year 2021. Paul wrote, “Brethren, I do not count myself as apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

We need to thank God for seeing us through this year with all we experienced this year. It was year none of us will ever forget, though we would like to. We cannot do the year over or change it in anyway. This Coronavirus pandemic is not over yet and health experts tell us the worst of it is still ahead until everyone is vaccinated for it. There is light at the end of the tunnel but we are still in the dark tunnel. We must be strong, resilient, and cautious. We cannot let down our guard, we have come too far.

The great hymn writer Frances Havergal wrote, “Standing at the portal of the opening year, words of comfort meet us, hushing every fear; Spoken through the silence by our Father’s voice, tender, strong and faithful, making us rejoice.” May each of us commit ourselves to fight the good fight to the end, to run the race to the finish line, and to keep the faith all the way through. The Lord is with us and will see us through victoriously! We grow more through adversity than through poverty. Thus it was a good year.

Have a blessed ending to 2020. It has been good, bad, and ugly; but we have grown and depended on the Lord so much. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

“

-December 30, 2020-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-In Christ Peace, In The World Tribulation-

“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.”

(John 16:33).

Once again Jesus encourages His disciples in the upper room before His death on the cross. He tells them what to expect. In Him, there will be peace, but from the world there will be tribulation. Jesus always told the truth, and told it straight.

As believers in Christ, we have peace with God, and we experience the peace of God. The former is a gift from God, due to our relationship with Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This peace is never changes.

The second type of peace we have is the peace of God, which comes as a result of prayer, thanksgiving, and fully surrendering to the Lord. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “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” (Philippians 4:6-7). This peace enables us to rise above our circumstances in a supernatural way.

God peace helps us to stand tall in the midst of the tribulations we face in this world. Tribulation comes in the form of persecutions, difficulties, sorrows, pains, sufferings, disappointments, frustrations, and other trials. God uses the tribulations to grow our faith. In the midst of our tribulations, Jesus said, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

The hymn writer Edward H. Bickersteth wrote, “Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round? On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.” Peace, calm and rest in the midst of every difficult test. What a great peace we have.

Have a blessed day basking in the peace of God gives us to be overcomers. Stay safe and healthy,

Dean