Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-June 26, 2020-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Love Your Neighbor As Yourself-

“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

(Leviticus 19:18).

When Jesus was asked which is the great commandment, He answered to love the Lord with all one’s heart, soul, and mind and the second is to love one’s neighbor as oneself. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved challenged us: how can we love God whom we have not seen if we do not love others whom we have seen. Both of the two great commandments go together like a hand and glove.

As is so common in Scripture, we are first instructed what not to do, then what we are told what to do. Both are of vital importance; they represent both the do’s and the don’ts. The former keeps you out of trouble like detour sign telling you what road not to take and the latter which is like the additional signage giving an alternative way to go.

First, we are admonished not to take our own vengeance against those who harm us. It is in our sinful nature to seek vengeance and revenge. We call it “tit for tat.” Paul wrote in Romans 12:17-19, “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

God is righteous and just and does a much better job of dealing with those who hurt us. He takes the emotion out of it and does what is right to convict and chasten. We tend to lash out in the flesh without thinking and do much more harm than good. Two wrongs don’t make a right. If we don’t forgive, we bear grudges and they can cause irreparable harm and damage our relationships with others.

Instead of the natural reaction, the Lord gives us the spiritual reaction: to love one’s neighbor as yourself. This takes forgiveness to a whole other level. It is called the law of love. Love is treating others as we would want to be treated and even more importantly, how God treats us. He shows us mercy and grace, which we deserve neither.

May the Lord help us to love one another and forgive one another. In this way we can love others as we love ourselves and get long so much better. It is so needed in our society today where there is so much strife, animosity, division, and hatred. Only the love of Christ can prevail and bring peace, unity, and love. Let’s make the world a better place by living a different way and pointing people to Jesus.

Have a blessed day loving our neighbors as ourselves. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 25, 2020-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

-The Omnipresent God Sees All things-

“‘Am I am a God near at hand?’ Says the Lord, ‘And not a God afar off. Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord.”

(Jeremiah 23:23-24).

Nowadays there are video surveillance cameras nearly everywhere. Residences, businesses, and churches, including our own have them. We also have video door bells where you can tell who is at the door. Still, only God can be everywhere at the same time. He sees everything!

God is a God who is near not a God who afar off. Though we cannot see Him, He is present with us and sees everything we do. We can’t hide anything from Him. 1 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him; In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

We should welcome God’s watchful eyes and care in our lives. The unsaved try to hide themselves from the Lord but we want to draw near to our Savior. David wrote, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence” (Psalm 139:7)?

There is an expression in the world that says, “I’m going to keep an eye on you.” That means I don’t trust you to do what is right all the time. God’s watchful eyes trust us and He looks out for us. He has our back.

The hymn writer said, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” If God sees and cares for the birds, how much more will He care for us.

Let us draw near God and He will draw near to us. May the Lord help us to sense His presence and do what is pleasing in His sight. Adam and hid themselves in the garden after their sin; Achan hid his forbidden contraband under his tent; and people today still try to hide themselves from God which is impossible.

Have a blessed day with the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 24, 2020-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

-The Lord Is Faithful-

“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”

(2 Thessalonians 3:3).

This world is constantly changing, mostly for the worse, and we as believers are subject to difficulties, problems, issues, hardships, pains, and sorrows. Thank God that all may change but the Lord never changes and He is always faithful to us.

The Lord is faithful to us from the moment we get saved and will be faithful until we leave this world and enter heaven. He always provides for us in season and out of season, pandemic or no pandemic, no matter what. We should never base our feelings on our circumstances but on the Lord and His Word.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God takes care of His people and provides for our needs. Our heavenly Father knows what we need and when we need it.

David looked around him and saw God’s faithfulness in his own life and in the lives of other believers. He wrote, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

God is it not only faithful in financial and material things, He is faithful in spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and social things as well. He cares for us in every way. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.”

In our text today, God’s faithfulness involves both establishing us and guarding us from the evil one. If God opened our eyes to what goes on one the invisible world of Satan and his demons of evil and darkness, we would be terrified. Spiritual battles rage in the heavenly places over the souls of people, over governments, and nations. The angels are constant conflict the the demons.

Let us thank God for His constant faithfulness to us; He is so good to us. He guides us, provides for us, and fights for us and gives us the victory. May we in turn be faithful to Him all through our lives. Jesus never fails, His love never fails, His promises never fail. What a blessed life we have!

Have a blessed day thanking God for His faithfulness and being faithful to Him. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 23, 2020-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

-Wait On The Lord Who Gives Us Strength-

“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

God is omnipotent, there in nothing He cannot do. His power, like all His other attributes, is unlimited. We as mortals on the other hand, are greatly limited and very weak by comparison. We must come to Him daily, acknowledge our weakness, and ask for His strength.

Only God can give spiritual power as well as physical, mental, and emotional power. When we exhaust our natural resources of power, God will renew our strength and keep us going for Him. We are blessed as believers to have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Even young people get tired and weary, and faint and fall under a heavy burden. Some snap and have a physical, mental, or emotional breakdowns. Stress in our society is one of the main components of such breakdowns. It can also lead to more serious issues such as depression and even suicide.

But thanks be to God that the answer to our weakness is found in verse 31: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…” God’s strength for us is renewable as often as we need it. It never fails because He never fails.

God promises that when we wait on Him, He will cause us to: mount up with wings like eagles, who soar high above the earth. He helps us to rise above our problems and see life from His perspective. He also helps us to run and not be weary. He calls us to run the race set before us all the way to the finish line and be victorious. And He helps us to walk and not faint. We walk by faith, we walk in love, we walk in obedience, and we walk in truth. When we walk with Jesus He enables us to walk in His footsteps.

Then the question is: why are so many Christians weak and overwhelmed by their circumstances? The reason is we are not spending enough time with the Lord and letting Him speak to us and us to Him. We are running on fumes as it were. The Lord wants us to fill up with His high octane spiritual power; He wants us to fill up with His physical, mental, and emotional power as well. Prayer and reading His Word is what empowers us. We need that power on a daily basis. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing.

May the Lord help us today to seek the Lord and His power. Let us wait on the Lord for Him to work things out according to His will and timing without taking matters into our own hands. Invariably when we get in the way, we only mess things up. We settle for second best instead of God’s best. Abraham and Sarah did that very thing when they arranged to have Ishmael through Hagar instead of waiting for God to give them Isaac.

Have a blessed day waiting on the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-June 22, 2020-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-Lead Us And Guide Us Through The Tough Times-

“For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.”

(Psalms 31:3).

David was certainly familiar with tough times. Despite his victory over Goliath and rise to prominence in Saul’s army, he had to flee from Saul who turned against him and wanted kill him. He also had to flee his throne when his own son usurped his kingdom and sought to kill him.

David learned so much about reliance on God in the tough times. We learn much more in our afflictions than we do in our good times. The Lord wants us to depend fully on Him not on anyone or anything else.

David found God to be his rock and fortress. The Lord protected him and was with him every day and blessed him in so many ways. In his day, a rock and a fortress gave great protection from the attack of the enemy. God is our rock and our fortress. Our enemies are the world, with its anti-Christian views; the flesh with its desire for sin and its own will; and the devil, who simply wants to discourage us and defeat us at all times.

God never meant for His people who live in isolation in our homes or monasteries, but to go out and dwell among people and tell them about Christ and live as examples before others. We are in the world but not of the world. We are not insulated from the problems or this world but He is with us to overcome them.

David asks the Lord to lead and guide his life. The GPS systems nowadays will either take you the shortest or the quickest route to your destination. God however leads and guides us by the best route for us. God led Israel to Egypt and they spent four hundred years there, many of them as slaves. He led them out of Egypt where they travelled through the wilderness for forty years on their way to the Promised Land.

God’s leading and guiding does not promise us to take us around the hard times, sorrows, losses, sicknesses, weaknesses, or fears, but through them. He does not send us out on our own but goes with us and helps us. Our rest will not come until we reach heaven.

The hymn writer said, “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak but Thou art mighty – hold me with Thy powerful hand: Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, feed me ‘til I want no more, feed me ‘til I want no more.”

We are pilgrims just passing through this world. The Scriptures tell us that this world is temporary and is passing away. We were born into this world with nothing and will leave it the same way. Heaven will have everything we need. We should lay up treasure in heaven just as Jesus said.

Let us pray today that the Lord, who is our rock and fortress will lead us and guide us. We do not know what He has in store for us today but we do know that He will be with us through it all.

Have a blessed day walking in the pilgrim way. God will lead us and guide us. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean