Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-May 6, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

(2 Corinthians 4:17).

This portion, written by Paul, is full of comparisons and contrasts. Today’s verse highlights how we should view our trials in the light of God’s eternal plan for our lives. What God considers light and heavy are totally opposite of our human view.

Paul calls our afflictions light and momentary, though to us they seem very heavy and long at times; but they are light and short compared to eternity. If we could see what God sees, and know what God knows, our whole perspective would change completely.

I am reminded of the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Anytime we fully surrender to the Lord, He will use our trials to grow us, mold us, and make us what He wants us to be.

Our trials are temporary and serve a purpose, which we don’t always recognize at the time. Our trials are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. When we get to heaven, the pain will be gone, the sorrow be passed, and death will be swallowed up in victory.

Our future is eternal, and we will receive a weight of glory. Stay safe and healthy.

Counting our trials as blessings according to God’s plan, He knows what’s best for us in this foreign land.

Dean

-May 5, 2025-

Good morning, happy Monday,

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”

(2 Corinthians 4:16).

We all love renewals. It be a home improvement, or getting away for a restful vacation, restarting a diet or exercise program, or even washing and waxing your vehicle. All those are good things to renew. The word renewal is defined as, “the process of starting again or starting to do something again; a process in which something improves or is improved after being in a bad condition.”

Spiritual renewal is the most important renewal in our lives. In this case, it is not so much what we do as much as what He does in our lives by the Holy Spirit. We need our Lord’s help to be refocused, revived, and refreshed in the Lord’s presence and in prayer and in the Word each day which is our part.

Paul wanted the saints to appreciate the value of the inward over the outward. He reminds us that the outward man is perishing, that is, growing older, These bodies are not made to last forever. One day the Lord will give us a new spiritual body that will last forever.

Yes, we slow down, we have aches and pains, perhaps some health issues. We can’t hear or see as well as we once did. We may even trouble sleeping. It all comes with the territory of growing older. Paul encourages us not to lose heart because God is renewing us on the inside, which takes precedence over our physical condition.

God’s renewal process goes on daily as we grow in Christ. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Have a blessed day being renewed spiritually. Stay safe and healthy.

How well is my soul? It is with well with my soul through Jesus.

Dean

-May 4, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

(Psalm 32:1).

David, the writer of this wonderful psalm, knew something of being forgiven. God forgave him of his double sin of adultery and murder. Some of the greatest men of God were forgiven greatly. The list includes Moses, Jonah, and Peter.

Our thanksgiving should be commensurate with our blessings. We are blessed in so many ways, but none more than our salvation. Jesus died to save us from our sins.

Jesus said of the woman in Luke 7:47-48, “Therefore I say to you, her sins which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” The more we sense His forgiveness, the more we love Him.

There is a great song I hear on Family Radio quite often. It is entitled, His Mercy Is More” by Matt Papa. The first verse says, “What love could remember, no wrongs we have done. Omniscient all-knowing, He counts not their sum, thrown into a sea without bottom or shore; our sins they are many, His mercy is more.”

God’s mercy was shown to us in not giving us what we deserve; God’s grace was demonstrated by giving us what we didn’t deserve. And He blessed us over, and over, and over again on a daily basis. We can never thank Him enough if we had ten thousand tongues, wrote ten thousand words for ten thousand years.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day remember what Christ has done for us in forgiving us of our sin. Stay safe and healthy.

The blood of Christ paid the price of our sin, so that one day we’ll stand at gates of heaven and be let in.

Dean

-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