Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-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

-April 28, 2025-

Good morning, happy Monday,

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, the man of God may be complete, throughly equipped for every good work.”

(2 Timothy 3:16-17).

There is no book like the Bible. It is the Word of God. God speaks to us through the Scriptures. sometimes you read something that says, “For informational purposes only.” The Bible is not just to fill the mind, but touch the heart and change a life.

The word inspire is defined as, “a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive or communicate sacred revelation.” It literally means in the Greek, “God breathed.” God used many prophets, apostles, and other holy men of God to speak and write the very words of God by the Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for admonition, upon whom the end of the ages have come.”

Today’s text gives four uses of the Scriptures: doctrine, which is teaching; reproof, which is to rebuke someone who has done or speak wrong doctrine or is in sin; correction, which is designed to help someone change their behavior; and instruction in righteousness, which applying the Word in order to live holy, godly, and righteous lives.

The Word of God is living. It is just as fresh and up to date as it was when it was first written. Have a blessed day in God’s Word. Stay safe and healthy.

Knowledge gives understanding, and understanding gives wisdom, and wisdom changes our lives.

Dean

-April 27, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”

(Luke 22:19).

On the night before Jesus was betrayed, He broke bread with His disciples minus Judas. Our Savior instituted the Lord’s Supper, which we have carried on to the presence.

The early believers gathered on the first day of the week to remember the Lord in taking the bread and wine (see Acts 20:7). We need to always follow the NT pattern. Is one hour a week too often to worship and Lord and commemorate our His death, burial, and resurrection? I don’t think so!

The four blessed words in today’s verse are, “in remembrance of Me.” We are human with finite memories and Jesus knew we needed reminders, so He gave us two: the bread, symbolizing His broken body and the cup, symbolizing His shed blood.

At our church we have a heavy oak table on which we place the bread and wine and grape juice to be dispensed to the saints. I know some churches only break bread once a month or once a quarter and I thank God for all the Bible believing churches who gather in Jesus’ name to remember Him.

There is a rich hymn entitled, “For the Bread and for the Wine” written by G.W. Fraser. The first verse says, “For the bread and for the wine, for the pledge that seals Him mine, for the words of love divine, we give Thee thanks, O Lord.”

Have blessed in remembrance of our Savior today who gave His life to save us. Stay safe and healthy.

Thinking of what we received; we are saved who have believed.

Dean