Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-July 6, 2020-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-The Word Of God Will Never Pass Away-

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

(Matthew 24:35).

The two things that mankind can count on for eternity are: the Word of God and the souls of men. Both are eternal. It only follows that we as believers put them as the highest priority in our lives.

Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” God is eternal, our soul are eternal, and His Word is eternal. The Bible is God’s eternal, inerrant, inspired, word. We need to read it, meditate on it, study it, memorize it, obey it, and apply it to our lives. No other book in world has such a spiritual, moral, and ethical impact on people.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, throughly equipped for every good work.” The Bible is not made for the bookshelf or coffee table, but for daily use. Keep it close, keep it close to your heart.

We need the Word like we need our daily food. In fact, the Bible is called the milk of the Word and the meat of the Word. Just as our food gives us daily physical and nutritional strength, so too, the Scriptures give us spiritual strength and nutritional value.

May the Lord help us read and follow His Word today and every day. Let it become part of us. The Psalmist felt that way when he wrote, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11).

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

Dean

-July 5, 2020-

Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,

-Praising God And Exalting The Name Of Jesus-

“Praise the Lord, call on His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted.”

The Twelfth chapter of Isaiah is known as “A Hymn of Praise.” It a short chapter with just six verses. Today’s verse is the key verse in this beautiful chapter. Praising God is something that we as believers do and should do more of. Isaiah mentions four things that we should do:

1. Praise the Lord – It is wonderful to praise God collectively at church, but it is also a blessing to praise Him individually wherever we go. Often praising God is in connection with singing. Isaiah 12:5 says, “Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth.” When God gave the victory over Pharaoh and his army, Moses led the people in praising God in song in Exodus 15, and his sister Miriam led the women.

2. Call upon His name – Prayer flows from praise. When we praise and thank the Lord, it is natural to bring our requests before Him. There is power in the name of Jesus. We pray to the Father in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and He answers our prayers.

3. Declare His deeds among the peoples – It is not enough to praise Him collectively and individually, but we must share Him with others, especially those that do not know the Lord. So many people today are unfamiliar with the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news of salvation to whoever believes, and everyone needs Him.

4. Make mention that His name is exalted – There is nothing higher than the name of Jesus. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” There is great power and authority in the name of Jesus.

On this Sunday, the Lord’s Day, let us praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His name among the peoples, and make mention of His name. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all our praise, thanksgiving, and worship. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name.”

Have a blessed day praising God and telling others of His greatness. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 4, 2020-

Good morning, happy Saturday, happy 4th of July,

-Blessed Is Our Nation-

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own as His own inheritance.”

(Psalm 33:12).

We are so blessed and thankful to be citizens of the U.S.A. The nation is 244 years old today! Despite all our problems, America is the best country in the world. From our infancy to the present day, God has richly blessed our country over the years.

The Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…” We as believers are doubly blessed: to be citizens of heaven and citizens of America. We live in a land of freedoms and opportunities; The abundance around us is everywhere, especially here in California. Ordinary people in America are considered rich compared to so many other countries in the world.

We should never forget our blessings but count them and thank God for them. The Lord has richly and abundantly blessed us. I thank for every American, of every race, color, and nation origin. I am proud of our country, our flag, our government, our churches, our economy, our transportation system, our schools, our businesses large, medium, and small, and all the financial and materials things we have. We are so blessed.

We should never take our country lightly or for granted. This pandemic we are experiencing has been devastating both physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, financially, and materially. We must do all we can to lessen the spread. We seek God’s help through this crisis.

The Psalmist also says that we are, “the people whom God has chosen as His inheritance.” Jesus said in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give to you.”

We as His people are His special treasure; He loves us so much. We should thank Him every day for what He has done for us and has given to us. We don’t deserve anything but He has given us everything! Let us thank Him today for our nation and all that we have. Though our 4th of July celebrations will be very different this year, they will still be a blessing to us. Happy Birthday America! You are still looking good.

Have a blessed 4th of July. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 3, 2020-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Choosing Righteousness As Nation-

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

(Proverbs 14:34).

Today is the day before Independence Day, and is a national holiday for the observation of the holiday, which falls on Saturday this year. Our nation’s Independence Day always falls on the fourth, which means each year it falls on a different day each year. With the pandemic, celebrations will be totally different this year. They will be mostly from home with our immediate family in our households.

Solomon in his day wrote this verse regarding Israel, though it applies to our nation and every nation. No nation, including our own, can survive without God’s help and blessing. Solomon said, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Our nation was founded on the premise of “In God We Trust.” It was built on faith in God and on the Word of God.

I don’t think our founding fathers would recognize our country today. Though they would be happy that the constitution and our freedoms and form of government have survived, righteousness as a nation has not. Prayers and the Word of God have been removed from our schools, standards have been lowered, there is corruption in our government at the national, state, and local levels, and so few attend church and even fewer are born again. Secularism and humanism seem to rule the day.

Righteousness is being right with God; it is honoring our Lord, and our nation. We are so blessed to live in America with all our freedoms and opportunities. We have so many flaws with racial injustice and police brutality, and other glaring problems and shortcomings. Black lives do matter. These things should not be found in America.

Sin is a disgrace to any people. We see it everywhere. Oh, people don’t call it sin, but it is sin nonetheless. America is still a Christian nation but that is under daily attack by so many in our country. We take must our country back and it starts with each of us a believers standing for the Lord and our country and kneeling before a God in prayer for our nation, our president, his cabinet, the Congress, the courts, our military personnel, our firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, and other first responders. I love the motto, “I stand for the flag and kneel for the cross.” I for one hate to see protesters burning our wonderful flag!

We are in the midst of a pandemic that has affected so many, with many deaths. We have come together during this time, but we have a long ways to go. Today, let us honor our country and pray for it. May we remember these words, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Have a blessed day and happy Independence Day. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-July 2, 2020-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-God Knows And Tests The Heart And Mind Of Man-

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

(Jeremiah 17:9-10).

Only the Creator of the heart can truly know the heart; Sinful man has a sinful heart. Not only is our heart deceitful but it is desperately wicked. The heart that Jeremiah is speaking about is the seat of the emotions and can get us into a whole lot of trouble.

The Lord not only knows our hearts, He searches our hearts and tests our minds. As human beings we can only see the outward appearance, we cannot see into the heart nor know it. If we could see, we would flee. Would we ever trust another person? Would we ever trust our own heart or mind?

God is the Judge and He promises to judge man and give him according to his ways and according to his doings. No one can hide from the eye of omniscience! He knows every thought, attitude, motive, and desire. How is your heart? Is it right with God? Has it been transformed by the Lord.

May the Lord give us a heart to please Him, live for Him, and serve Him. Let us give Him our whole heart.

Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean