Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 3, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king’; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.”

(1 Kings 1:5).

What was wrong with this picture? First of all, David made it clear that Solomon was to be the next king. Second, he presumed way too much. He didn’t even wait until after David’s death.

Instead of accepting God’s will and waiting on the Lord, he decided to go forward in his own will. There is no worse place to be than to be outside God’s will.

He had a lot going for him: he was very good looking and charismatic. He conferred with Joab, a man who served as a general under David, and got support from him and Abiathar the priest who joined in this conspiracy.

told David what was going on, and he proclaimed Solomon king. Adonijah then feared for his life and went into the tabernacle and clung to the horns of the altar. Solomon did not kill him but told him to go to his house.

If Adonijah had stopped there, he would have had a good life. He only made things worse by going to Bathsheba making a request to Solomon to take Abishag, the young woman who kept David warm. Big mistake! When Solomon heard of his request, he had him executed.

The lesson for us is to wait on the Lord and accept God’s will, even though it is not our will and desire. Let us remember that our ways are not God’s and our thoughts are not His thoughts.

Have a blessed day in the center of God’s will. Stay safe and healthy.

Seeking, knowing, and doing God’s will lead to joy, peace, and contentment.

Dean

-May 2, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

(1 Peter 1:5).

Feeling fluctuate daily, but feelings won’t keep us; it takes the power of God. The moment we accept Christ our names are written in heaven, our sins are forgiven, we have eternal life, and are assured of a home in heaven.

We can’t keep ourselves, we have no power, but as Peter says of all believers, “who are kept by the God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.” The word keep is defined as, “to have or retain possession of; cause to continue in a specified condition, position, or course, etc.”

Jesus assured us in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

We have eternal salvation in Christ. This teaching is referred as the doctrine of eternal security. Satan can’t get to us, neither can this world, or anything or anyone else. He keeps us in His hands. Herein is our hope in Christ.

In the short letter of Jude right before the Book of Revelation, Jude wrote, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24).

Aren’t we glad that God keeps us and holds us by His mighty power. He holds our hand as we walk through this world; He will never let us go.

Have a blessed day kept by the power of God. Stay safe and healthy.

We keep on keeping on because God keeps us to the end.

Dean

-May 1, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.”

(Psalm 145:13).

David, the writer of this psalm, knew something of kings and kingdoms. He succeeded Saul as king over all Israel and reigned David for 40 years.

No matter how long an earthly king wields power, his kingdom will eventually come to an end. Jesus’s reign is for all eternity. The Father gave Him a kingdom and He has given to us. We are thus kingdom disciples.

As kingdom disciples we represent the King, our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether in word or in deed. Our greatest joy is that people will see Jesus in us. We have kingdom values, kingdom standards, and kingdom service to be done.

Have blessed day walking with and for our King. Stay safe and healthy.

Flying His banner, we live for our King, who rules over all in everything.

Dean

-April 30, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.”

(2 Samuel 22:7).

David spoke this beautiful psalm of praise to God. Psalm 18 has the same words as 2 Samuel 22. By this time in his life he was old and near death. As we age we tend to appreciate life and the special moments the Lord has given.

David went through many distresses in his life and the Lord saw him through them all. King Saul hunted him and sought to kill him; his son Absalom usurped his kingdom and also sought to kill him.

The word distress is defined as,”Extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain” The key word in this definition is the word extreme. We may feel alone in our trials and afflictions. The word distress, distresses, or distressed are found 80 times in the Scripture.

We have all experienced distress at one time or another in our lives; whether extreme anxiety, extreme sorrow; or extreme pain. Sometimes they all come upon us at the same time. Each of them are hard enough, but when they come as a trilogy—it is really tough. Only the Lord can deliver us from distress and give us sufficient grace to get through these trials.

Jacob was in distress waiting for his brother Esau, who years before threatened to kill him, and had 400 men with him; Job was distressed by great pain and loss. Isaiah and Jeremiah were in distress; Paul experienced distress; even Jesus in His humanity was deeply distressed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Have a blessed day relying on the Lord in times of distress. Dr. David A. Cook used to say, “If you are have a rough day, look up and say Lord Jesus see me through, and He will.” Stay safe and healthy.

Call on the Lord in your distress, He will answer you and give redress.

Dean

-April 29, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’”

(Genesis 3:12).

It all started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When God confronted Adam with his sin, he proceeded to blame his wife. When God confronted Eve, she blamed the serpent. The serpent had no one left to blame.

Interestingly, Adam managed to not only blame Eve, but indirectly blamed God. Ever since that day, people have been blaming others and God, refusing to take the blame. I call it the “blame game.”

Why is it that we find it so easy to blame others, but so hard to shoulder the blame ourselves? We tend to blame others to justify ourselves, take the spotlight of ourselves, and try to make ourselves look better.

Husbands blame wives and wives blame husbands; parents blame their kids and the kids blame their parents; friends blame friends, and neighbors blame neighbors; employees blame bosses and bosses blame employees. Where will it all end?

As believers, this is very convicting to us. May the Lord help us to refrain blaming others, and take responsibility and accountability for our own sins, failures, mistakes, and mishaps. Former President Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk that read, “The buck stops here.”

Have a blessed and blame free day. Stay safe and healthy.

The blame game is not a fun game.

Dean