Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-July 21, 2020-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Choosing God’s Truth In A World Of Falsehood-

“I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.”

(Psalm 119:30).

With God there is absolute truth. He is the truth, He tells the truth, and His Word is truth. The Psalmist said, “I have chosen the way of truth…” As believers this is a choice we must make every day. We have to cling to God’s truth no matter what the world says, no matter what the news says.

Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The Bible is God’s truth we have to live by. Jesus in His High Priestly Prayer asked the Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” When we read the Scriptures, we are reading God’s truth.

The Psalmist continues, “Your judgments I have laid before me.” We are so blessed to have the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The NT explains and fulfills the OT, and the OT helps us understand the NT. Paul tells us the value of the OT in Romans 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

The devil is the opposite. He is the source of all lies and falsehoods. Jesus described the devil perfectly in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” The world accepts lying as part of life, even calling certain lies as “white lies,” trying to justify themselves.

Let us then like the Psalmist choose God’s truth; to be truthful in what we say and do, and obey the truth of God’s Word. When we share God’s Word with others, we are sharing the truth. May we reject all lies and falsehoods, standing in the truth, by the truth, and for the truth.

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

Dean

-July 20, 2020-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-Walking In The Light-

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

(1 John 1:7).

The apostle John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was the writer of the Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. Here in 1 John he mentions that God is light, God is life, and God is love. In today’s text we are concerned with the light.

God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with the Lord we must walk in the light so we can have fellowship with Him and one another. The church is made up of individual believers and all of us need to walk in the light in order to maintain close fellowship with the Lord and one another.

When we walk in the light as our Savior is in the light, two things happen: we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Because we still have the old nature and still sin, we must confess it, forsake it, and repent of it. This keeps the lines of communication open between us and the Father and with one another.

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” To walk in the light is to expose our lives to the light of God’s presence and the light of His Word. The Holy Spirit will convict us of our sins so we can confess them and always be right with the Lord. We cannot afford to allow any darkness to creep into our lives.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:8-11, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

We as believers are children of light who must continually walk in the light. We bear the light and need to let our light shine before others in this dark world. Jesus Christ is the light of the world and He has called us, His followers, the light of the world. We point people to Him.

Let us then walk in the light as the Lord Jesus Christ is in the light and have fellowship with Him and one another. May we keep short accounts with our Lord confessing all known sin and being right with Him and one another. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

Have a blessed day walking in the light wit Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 19, 2020-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-God Is With Us To Help Us Through The Tough Times-

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am Your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

(Isaiah 41:10).

We have all heard the phrase, “It packs a punch.” That can certainly be said of today’s verse. In this case, it is a punch fill of promises. It is so encouraging, comforting, and uplifting. God is a God of promises, and He stands behind them and fulfills them all; so unlike our political leaders today.

The Lord created us and He knows our propensity to fear and intimidation. It is no surprise that Satan knows this also, and he attacks us when we are weak. The two commands in our text are easy to understand but much harder to do: “Fear not,” and “Be not dismayed.” In Scripture, these two bullies often appear together to try to bring us down.

There are plenty of things to make us fear and panic in this world, but the Lord wants us to walk by faith and trust Him. Instead of fear, He gives faith, and instead of panic, He gives peace. What a wonderful transaction we make when we pray at the throne of grace.

The five promises in this verse are to fortify us in the tough times of life. As believers in Christ we are not immune from pain, trouble, affliction, difficulty, tragedy, sickness, and death; but we, unlike unbelievers, we have the Lord and He is with to carry us through. Notice how personal God’s promises are:

1. “I am with you.” – The Lord has promised to be with us and to never leave us nor forsake us. He does not make us go through hard times alone. He walks with us and like in the poem, “Footprints,” He carries us when things are really hard, leaving just one set of footprints.

2. “I am your God.” – The Lord is the only true God. All other gods are idols. They have eyes, but cannot see; ears, but cannot hear; mouths but cannot speak; legs and feet but cannot walk.

3. “I will strengthen you.” – At our strongest, we are weak and frail. The Lord is omnipotent. There is no limit to His strength and we need His strength so badly. God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). We only receive God’s strength in its fullest when we first recognize our weakness.

4. “Yes, I will help you.” – It almost as if the Lord anticipates our concerns we have in the really tough times, “Does God really care for me? Will He really take the time to help me? The answer is: Yes, He does and He will. Part of the wedding vows say, “in sickness and in health.” We can count on God’s help. He response to us is much faster than any 9-1-1 call.

5. “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” – The Lord will not only hold us but He will uphold us. He will not allow our feet to slip or for us to fall. His righteous right hand upholds in the midst of our storms. He only us with one hand and steers our ship with the other!

These are indeed five great promises. If you haven’t memorized this verse, it is a great one to commit to memory and use in the tough times of life. If you underline or highlight verses in your Bible, this is one to do both.

May the Lord help us to claim these five promises like five guard dogs that follow us to help and protect us. The Lord promises to be with us, to be our God, to strengthen us, to help us, and to uphold us. We are safe in the arms of Jesus.

Have a blessed day in and with the Lord no matter what comes our way. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 18, 2020-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

-Praise And Thank The Lord For What We Are Learning-

“I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.”

(Psalm 119:7).

If life is a classroom, and the Lord is our teacher, there are lessons to be learned daily. We never stop learning no matter how long we have been saved. In fact, the longer we have been believers in Christ, the more we realize just how much we do not know.

We have the best teacher in the Lord Jesus Christ. He sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us more about Him and how to be more like Him. What God teaches us from heaven is the original “distance learning.” We cannot see our teacher but we know He is there and is working in our lives.

Praise is the natural reaction by the people of God. Praise is focusing on the Lord for who He is and what He has done for us. Thanksgiving is thanking Him for our daily blessings and benefits which are too numerous to count.

Luke 19:37-40 says, “Then, as He was drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.’ And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’”

We cannot keep silent. We must praise the Lord! Praising the Lord is found so many times in the Bible in both in the OT and in the NT. Praise is not dependent on our circumstances, but we do tend to praise Him more for all the great things He has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. If God can bring forth praise from stones, how much more from our grateful hearts!

Everything we know of the Lord is found in His Word: His character (His glorious attributes); His conduct (what He does for us); and His conversation (the words He speaks to us and teaches us. Praise be to God!

Even in the midst of severe pain and trials, we can and should praise Him. Despite being severely beaten and thrown into prison for their faith in Christ, it says of Paul and Silas in Acts 16:25, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” When we praise the Lord, others will hear us.

Let us praise the Lord today: in word and in song for He is worthy! May it come from our hearts and never cease. No matter where we start, there is so much to praise and thank Him for. Ask the Lord what He wants to teach us today and for the wisdom to apply the lessons to our lives.

Have a blessed day praising God and learning from Him. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 17, 2020-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Not Ashamed Of The Gospel Of Christ-

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

(Romans 1:16).

There is nothing more blessed and powerful than the gospel, the good news. Paul expressed his personal conviction and commitment to the proclamation of the message of salvation. His entire Christian life was spent in sharing it, suffering for it, and even dying for it. When we get to heaven we can ask him, “Was it worth it?” I am convinced he will answer, “Oh yes, amen! I wish I could have done more”

He said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…” Paul was thankful that the Lord saved him; he went everywhere sharing his testimony and the way for others to be saved. It was his calling, his joy, his privilege, and his mission. Right up to the moment he was beheaded for his faith in Christ and for preaching the gospel, he gave it his all.

Paul was not ashamed of his Lord and Savior nor of the gospel. Jesus said in Luke 9:26, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

Paul recognized the power of the gospel to save everyone who believes, whether Jew or Greek. The word power in the Greek is dunamis, from which we get our English word dynamite. Only the gospel energized by the Holy Spirit, can change lives forever. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Because of this Paul risked everything to preach the gospel. He loved His fellow Jews as well as the Greeks. There will be many in heaven as a result of His preaching. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:12, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

May the Lord help us to love the Lord Jesus Christ and never be ashamed of Him or of the gospel. Let us share the good news with those who need to be saved. Whether we sow the seed, water it, or reap the harvest, we are blessed to share in proclaiming the gospel of Christ. It is a powerful message that the Holy Spirit uses to bring men and women, boys and girls to salvation.

Have a blessed day proclaiming the love of Jesus with others. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean