Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-April 8, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday,

“Behold what manner of the love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

(1 John 3:1).

One of the most beautiful titles for believers in Christ is “children of God.” God is our Heavenly Father and we are part of His family through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Ten times in 1 John, John calls us children or little children.

God has adopted us into His family to be His forever children. As such we are loved, blessed, and enriched in Christ. This why there is such great joy and excitement in John’s words, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Exclamation marks are not in the original language, but they are placed in key places that are appropriate.

Once we were children of the devil, orphans in this world. Now we are God’s beloved children. It is so encouraging as we live in this troubled, sinful world. You can join me and say, “I am a child of God” when Satan buffets us, discourages us, and accuses us.

Robert Boswell wrote a wonderful hymn entitled, “Boundless Love.” It is based primarily on our text today. The first verse says, “Behold, what manner of love, the Father has bestowed, on sinners lost, that we should be now be called the sons of God!”

Have a blessed day rejoicing in our high position as children of God. Stay safe and healthy.

We are the children of the King; He loves us so much and gives us everything.

Dean

-April 7, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

(James 1:5).

The world doesn’t lack wisdom, but it sorely lacks the right kind of wisdom—God’s wisdom. How do we obtain God’s wisdom? God gives it to us through His Word by the Holy Spirit.

James tells us how to gain God’s wisdom by praying to Him in faith. James 1:6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

When I was on vacation last week, I saw the waves of the Pacific Ocean and strong winds that stirred the sea. It was amazing how high the waves were and how they pounded the coastline. We live in turbulent times politically, socially, economically, financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The waves of change and hard times are all around us.

God’s wisdom is from heaven above and is sent down to us who need it so much. James also said, “But the wisdom that is above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

God’s wisdom is putting His knowledge and understanding into practice in our lives. Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

May each of us pray for wisdom and God will give to us abundantly and help us live the lives that He wants us live; to know what to do, how to it, and when to do it. Sometimes it is wise to keep silent, other times it is wise to speak that right words at the right time in the right way.

Have a blessed day living in and by God’s wisdom. Stay safe and healthy.

God’s wisdom from heaven above helps us to live on earth below.

Dean

-April 6, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

(Luke 10:16).

How people treat us is how they treat our Savior. If someone hears us, they will hear Jesus, but if they reject us, they are not just rejecting us, they are rejecting Him. If they reject Jesus, they are rejecting the Father also.

Jesus sent out the seventy disciples two by two to represent Him in this world and to go where He would go to. They were so excited that even the demons were subject to them.

Jesus told them not to rejoice that the demons were subject to them, but rather that their names are written in heaven (See Luke 10:20). There is a good lesson for us in this passage that we shouldn’t expect to be treated better than our Lord, but as our Lord.

We should be happy that we are saved and we can share the good news with others. We are all ambassadors for Christ in this world of darkness, sin, and corruption.

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:15, “That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

Have a blessed standing for Jesus and speaking for Him no matter how others may react and reject us. Stay safe and healthy.

Our responsibly is to preach and share, God will bring the results.

Dean

-April 5, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, ‘Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.’”

(Luke 9:57).

Salvation is free, simply by the grace of God. We all know the familiar verses in Ephesians 2:8,9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Though salvation is free to us, following Christ is costly. Every person that Jesus called, He urged to “Follow Me.” Our lives are no longer our own and we must surrender all to the Lord, giving Him all, and having no will of our own.

The unknown person who followed Jesus as He made His final journey to Jerusalem where He would be crucified and rise again, said, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

Jesus makes it clear just what is involved when we call Him Lord and decide to follow Him fully. Jesus challenged this person’s decision to follow Him. Our Savior said, “…Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Jesus had already proclaimed the ground rules in Luke 9:37, “…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” But what does this mean in a practical way? We must follow Him whatever His will leads us. Following Christ involves times of pain, sorrow, loss, persecution, failure, or disappointment.

The life of a disciple is one of sacrifice, surrender, and sure dependence on Jesus. There is a beautiful hymn written by William K. Brehm that says, “What will it cost me to follow the Lord? What is the price of a life that’s restored? If I am willing to walk in His way, what is the price I must pay? Ev-‘rything! Ev-‘rything! All that I own, Ev-‘rything! Ev-‘rything! All that I am, Ev-‘rything! Ev-‘rything! All that I love, that is the price I must pay, that is the price I will pay.”

Are we willing to give up everything to follow Jesus? It is a costly price on a daily basis. Have a blessed day following Jesus wherever He leads us. Stay safe and healthy.

The cross cost Jesus everything to save us; taking up our cross daily, costs us everything to follow Him.

Dean

-April 4, 2025-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”

(Proverbs 24:16).

It’s not whether we fall, it’s how we get up. We are living in a broken and sinful world. We trip over many things, but the Lord is always there to break our fall so that our fall will not break us.

Peter failed when He denied Jesus three times; Jonah failed when he fled from the Lord’s presence and was swallowed by a whale; John Mark failed when he left Barnabas and Paul and returned to Jerusalem, leaving the work.

We can all fail or fall. The Lord is so patient with us. He doesn’t write off like a bad debt. He uses our failures and falls to draw us closer to Himself after we confess it and repent. It’s not about how many times we fall or fails, but how many times we get up and move forward.

Our Savior never stops loving us or lifting us up when fail and strengthening us when we fail. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

It is one thing to fall, it is another thing get back up; it is one thing to fail, it it another to get back on track and move forward.

Dean