Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-July 31, 2020-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-The Right To Become Children Of God Through Receiving Christ-

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

(John 1:12-13).

The new birth is something that is very hard for man to understand. It is totally of God; man has no part in it other than believing the message of gospel and receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus died for our sins on the cross and rose again for justification. He did the work of our salvation on the cross and finished it.

The offer of eternal life is available to every person in the world. No one is excluded. God gave us a freewill to decide to whether to receive Christ or reject Him. One will either believe and receive and be saved, or reject Him and His offer of life, and be lost. There is no middle ground or gray area. If if one chooses not to decide, he or she has thus chosen to reject Christ. It is like a test with one question on it with two possible answers. Only one is correct, the other is in incorrect. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.

It reminds me of all the talk we have around the Coronavirus pandemic. The whole world is waiting for a vaccine to become available to every man, woman, and child. Think of the number of doses needed! The first question will there be enough for everybody who needs it and who will have priority in such a case. Then on top of that the second question will be who will take it when it does become available. There will be those who will choose not to be vaccinated.

Thank God that the shed blood of Jesus was given to wash away our sins if we avail ourselves of it and believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. One must come to Christ, confess his sins, repent of those sins, believe in Jesus and His finished work on the cross to pay his sin debt, and receive Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior. That is God’s remedy for the sinner infected by a greater virus, the virus of sin.

Sin is far more widespread, contagious, and deadly than any Coronavirus. Though so many have contracted the virus and died, it is still a small percentage of the world’s population. Every person is born a sinner and is separated from God; every person is dead in sins, and every person will die physically just as they are already dead spiritually. Only Jesus can save sinners and give them eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. By Jesus victory over sin and death on the cross, the sting of sin has been removed.

This great plan of salvation was never devised by man. Notice the words that Holy Spirit uses: it was not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. It is of God, from God, and through God. It is a spiritual birth. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He reiterated it and personalized it to Nicodemus and to every person in the world in John 3:7, “Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.”

What is your choice? What is your decision? The clock of eternity is ticking and winding down. What you decide to do with Jesus determines your eternal destiny. So few people give thought to where they will spend eternity in heaven or in hell. The decision to receive Christ assures one of heaven, rejecting Christ assures one of hell. Praise God if you have received Him as your Lord and Savior for you are ready to live and ready to die. You are ready to stand before God because your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Have a blessed day and weekend. Stay safe and healthy, and be sure you are saved.

Dean

-July 30, 2020-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-We Are The Light Of The World – Let’s Shine It-

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Jesus said in John 8:12, “…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” When we got saved we were brought out of darkness and into His marvelous light. We became children of light in the midst of crooked a perverse generation.

In our text today, Jesus tells us, “ you are the light of the world. We feel so inadequate and unworthy of such a high call and position. How can Jesus be the light of the world and also we be the light of the world? The best analogy of this is that Jesus is the sun and we are the moon. The sun has great light, heat, and energy; we are like the moon that is dark and cold, but it reflects the light of the sun and it’s light is shown in the night. We as light bearers shine the light of Christ do those who are in darkness that they may come into His light and be saved.

Our light comes from Jesus and we are like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Jesus tells we have a responsibility to “let our light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” The light of our testimony both illuminates the gospel of Jesus Christ and glorifies our heavenly Father.

In the Star Wars movies, the Jedi used light sabers to fight with against the evil empire. For us the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit and is so powerful. Let us let our light shine brightly in this dark, sinful world to point people to Jesus, the light of the world. Light penetrates, permeates, and powerfully transforms.

Have a blessed day walking in the light and letting your shine for Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 29, 2020-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-Never Forget God’s Precepts-

“I will never forget Your Precepts, for by them You have given me life.”

(Psalm 119:93).

God has given us His Word and we should never forget the precepts we have live by. Though there are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT, they fit into one volume that we can carry with us and hold in our hands. Many today use apps on their smart phones and tablets to read the word. It lends new meaning to the expression “pocket Bible.”

Either way, we are blessed to have the Bible, the Word of God, to read, study, meditate on, and memorize. It is food for our souls. We all have ways we employ to remember things that are important to us. What makes the Bible so much different than other books is that it is God’s Word and how the application of the Word to our lives is so important. In order to really learn something from Scripture we must obey it and apply it to our lives.

Here in our text the psalmist has a passion for the Scriptures. He does not want to forget it. At the time he wrote this psalm, he only had the law and the historical books and for the most of the Jews it was not written down but was passed from parents to children by word of mouth. For this reason they would made frontlets, leather pouches with portions of Scripture, to wear near their eyes and be foremost in their hearts.

Some believers in oppressive countries today do not even have a Bible but exchange portions of it with each other as they have to meet in secret. We are truly blessed to have multiple translations, Bible study aids, commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, good Christian devotionals, and other Christian books. Still with all of those as good as they are, they cannot compare to the Bible.

We can never read the Word too much. The more we read it, the more we want to read it more. It is so rich, deep, and practical for our lives. The psalmist recognized that the Word had given him life. The words were more than words on a page but were wonderful words of life that come alive to our hearts.

The hymn writer Philip Bliss wrote, “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty, beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.”

May we treasure the Word and remember it. It will bless us both now and in the future. We are so blessed and thankful to have the Scriptures. The Bible was given to us not just to some special priests or religious leaders. It is for us all, for the common man.

Have a blessed day in the Word of God. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 28, 2020-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Keep Pressing On Toward The Goal-

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:14).

The Apostle Paul is an example of great perseverance; he never gave up, but kept on going in spite of difficulties, opposition, persecution, hardships, or anything or anyone else. We need this same resolve today. We are experiencing things today that we have never seen before. With this Coronavirus pandemic life has changed so dramatically.

We don’t know how long it will last, but we know that God knows. He will take us through this just as He has other things in the past. We just need to keep pressing on one day at a time. He will strengthen us and help us to keep going.

Paul gives us the key in Philippians 3:12-14. He writes, “forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” There are two days over which we have no control: yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday is past and we can’t change it; tomorrow is ahead of us and we don’t know what is coming. Spending our time fretting over the past, won’t change anything, neither will worrying about what may happen in the future. We just have today to press on.

So what can we do? What should we do? The simple answer is to press on today toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The common denominator of all great achievements in this world is to keep going until the goal is achieved. Greatness is rarely achieved on the first try. Often it takes years and tears to see God’s work perfected. The fact that He chooses to use us in His service is beyond my understanding. Angels could do the job better, faster, and with no complaints. But God’s strength is perfected in our weakness and He gets all the glory.

The hymn writer said, “When the valley is deep, when the mountain is steep, when the body is weary, when we stumble and fall. When the choices are hard, when we’re battered and scarred, when we’ve spent our resources, when we’ve given our all. In Jesus’ name, we press on. In Jesus’ name, we press on. Dear Lord, with the prize, clear before our eyes, we find the strength to press on.”

There is so much strength, hope, and confidence in the name of Jesus. We just need to keep on keeping on. We must keep pressing on in the service of our King until He calms us home to be with Him in heaven. That is what Paul did, that is what so many saints before us have done. Let us press on today, not quitting or giving up. The prize is clear before our eyes.

Have a blessed day pressing on with Jesus for the upward call of God. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 27, 2020-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-Let Us Run With Endurance The Race That Is Set Before Us-

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

(Hebrews 12:1).

In NT times, Paul and the other writers were very familiar with athletics. The Greeks in particular competed in boxing, wrestling, and running events. To compete in such events took tremendous discipline, hard work, commitment, and endurance.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” In order to do this we must, “lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us.” No runner wants to carry in any extra weight that would slow him or her down. The same is true in the Christian life.

In our lives, we must lay aside or throw off any weight that hinders us and every sin which easily ensnares us. The goal is to run long and strong, finish the course, and win the race. Jesus is running with us as our coach and trainer, who leads the way and we follow Him all the way to the finish line. In Hebrews 12:2 it says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:24-25,”Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate (or self controlled) in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” The athletes that won the race in Paul’s day were awarded a wreath of leaves that did not last but withered. The crowns which we will receive from the Lord last forever.

This is why at the end of Paul’s life he wrote to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

May the Lord help us to run the race that is set before us with endurance, commitment, dedication, self-control, and perseverance. In order to do this we must lay aside every weight and every sin. We can almost see the finish line ahead and we must finish the race strong.

Have a blessed day running the race. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

Paul in particular, likened our Christian life. He wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, “