Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-December 30, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Monday,

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

(John 14:15).

The Bible has been aptly called, “God’s love letter to man.” When we think of love letters, we envision the private, personal, and precious words spoken between a man and a woman. Back in my days we actually wrote letters and mailed them. And we even spent hours on the telephone. Nowadays in our age of technology we employ emails and texts.

God loved us and we have it in written form in the Bible. In return, the Lord wants us to love Him. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep (or as it can be rendered, “you will keep” My commandments.” There is an intrinsic link between love and obedience. God doesn’t want us to obey Him out of fear of Him, but rather love for Him.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Three times Moses uses the little word “all.” He could have said, “You shall love the Lord with your heart, your soul, and your strength; but by adding the word all it specifies the extent of our love is that should be to the highest level.

When a lawyer asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment, He quoted this one as the greatest, and to love one’s neighbor as himself as the second greatest. No one other than Jesus has ever done this perfectly all the time, but we strive for it.

Jesus also said in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

There is no greater love of a child than to obey out of love; to want to please his or her mother and father. In the same way, God delights in our love that is demonstrated in obedience and childlike faith.

Let us love the Lord more with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind; and obey Him because we love Him. Have a blessed day. Stay safe and healthy.

The highest love comes from an obedient heart, a willing heart, and a sincere heart.

Dean

-December 29, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

(Luke 2:52-53).

Jesus as a child and young man was amazing. He did two things that showed His humanity and humility: “He went down with them and was subject to them.” The word them refers to both Mary and Joseph. The question is did Jesus need to learn anything? As God, no, but as man, yes. He learned to obey; He learned a trade as a carpenter; He learned to subject Himself to earthly authority.

Verse 53 gives a good indication of how He learned and grew. It says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Jesus had a number of half-brothers and half-sisters (See Mark 6:2-4). He loved them and accepted them. We know that two of His half-brothers, James and Jude believed on Him and each wrote a book of the Bible.

I can imagine that other children were jealous of Jesus growing up. He learned to deal with people. Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.” To me, that is one of the most profound and amazing verses in Scripture.

I hope that these three devotions on the early life of Jesus have been beneficial and encouraging. To summarize: Jesus was in the temple listening to the teachers of the law, and asking them questions; He was about His heavenly Father’s business and doing His will; and He willingly subjected Himself to his parents, and grew spiritually and physically—being in favor with God and men.

May the Lord help us to follow His example in humility and submission to God and the earthly authorities. Have a blessed Lord’s Day. Stay safe and healthy.

There is power in submitting to authority, but weakness in usurping the authority.

Dean

-December 28, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.”

(Luke 2:49-50).

Jesus’ parents had worried so much about their missing Son. They were so relieved to find Him, but Mary rebuked Him, saying, “Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.” You can almost feel her pain.,

It reminds me of how as a young child I got lost in a department in my home town. I remember being scared and crying. My Mom was so relieved to get me back safely. She had to get the store personnel to find me. In Jesus’ case, He had more important work to take care of in the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus said to His mother very matter of factly. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business. Neither Mary nor Joseph understood that statement. Here you have Joseph, his earthly father, and God, His heavenly Father. They didn’t get it.

Jesus began to be about the Father’s business at a very young age. We don’t know beyond this incident what happened in the first thirty years of His life. I tend to think He took a very low profile, but He could have done some miracles or showed God’s power in some way; we just don’t know.

The lesson for us is that we must be about our Father’s business. This means to serve the Lord. His earthly ministry lasted only three years, but He spoke so many wonderful words and did so many powerful things in such a short time. John wrote, “And there are many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen” (John 21:25).

May the Lord help us to do our Father’s will using and the remaining time we have on this earth. Jesus began the work and we continue it. It is a huge responsibility.

Have a blessed day about our Father’s business. Stay safe and healthy.

The Father’s business takes priority over any other business.

Dean

-December 27, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“Now so it was after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at His understanding and His answers.”

(Luke 2:46-47).

Luke gives more detail into the early life of Jesus than the other of the gospel writers. Even with that said, we don’t know very much about the first thirty years of the life of our Savior—what we do know though is a blessing. He worked in Joseph’s carpenter’s shop.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and spent about two years there. He was taken to Egypt for another couple of years, before settling in Nazareth. Each year the family would travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. One such time occurred when Jesus was twelve years old. It is if Luke takes us on the trip so that we can see and hear what went on.

The family travelled in a large caravan for the Passover, which lasted for fourteen days. When the family returned, the young Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. They went a full day’s journey before they knew that He was missing. I’m sure they thought Jesus was among the other boys playing.

When they returned to Jerusalem, they found him in the temple sitting with the teachers of the law, both listening to them and answering their questions. He was so advanced, way beyond His years.

Luke 2:40 says, “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” Even from a young age, He was different from the other kids. He loved the things of God.

Jesus amazed those teachers and those who sat with them with His understanding and His answers. He was a prodigy. He was a scholar at such a younger age, though He never attended the rabbinical schools of the day.

There is a great lesson for us to learn the Word, know it, understand it, and apply it to our lives. And parents, please teach your children about Jesus and the Scriptures. It is never too soon to start. Children have such innocence, inquisitiveness, and inspiration, far exceeding adults.

One of the best ways to learn is to ask questions, and children ask a lot of good questions. They want to know. Let us ask God to teach us today so that we may grow. Jesus grew in His humanity as evidenced by Luke 2:52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Have a blessed day learning, growing, and maturing in Christ. Stay safe and healthy.

A thirst for knowledge is great as long as you are drinking from the Word of life.

Dean

-December 26, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Thursday,

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the Young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until bring you word; for Herod will seek the Young Child to destroy Him.’”

(Matthew 2:13).

Today’s verse is described as the “Flight (or Escape) to Egypt.” It is only found in the Gospel of Matthew 2:13-23. It is a great example of how God protected His Son from death until the time He was to die for us on the cross.

This incident happened right after the visit of the wisemen in Bethlehem. Herod was so angry that they didn’t report back to him where Jesus was that he started killing all the male children from two years old and under who were in and around Bethlehem. Before he began his heinous plan, God carried out His plan of protection.

Joseph was always obedient, and this incident is no different. Imagine having to pack up quickly and take Jesus and Mary to go to Egypt, traveling hundreds of miles. Suffice it to say, it was a long way. God took care of them, provided for them, protected them each step of the way.

Based on Scripture and historical records, they spent some 2-3 years in Egypt. Joseph obeyed by waiting until an angel appeared to him once again in a dream and told him it was time to go back to Israel because Herod was dead.

We don’t know any details of how they lived in Egypt or what they did. Some scholars call these “the lost years.” I would rather call them, “the silent years.” Nothing God does in our lives is lost, wasted, meaningless, or without purpose.

The Lord used another angel to direct Joseph to go to Nazareth to live. As they say, “the rest is history.” Because Joseph is not mentioned again in Scripture, it is likely he died at a fairly young age. God used him greatly to carry out His plan for the birth and early life of Jesus.

As I reflect in this account, it is a beautiful example of how God leads, guides, and directs us in His perfect will. We have the full revelation of His Word, prayer, and godly counsel available to guide us in our decisions. We can fully trust the Lord to protect us and our families as we live in this world until His time to take us home to heaven.

There is a great hymn written by Civilia D. Martin, entitled, “God Will Take Care of You.” Her husband, W. Stillman Martin was a preacher. He was due to speak at an out of town location. His wife fell ill and he was about to cancel the speaking engagement, but his daughter encouraged him to go and that God would take care of mother. He went and the Lord blessed and six people were saved. When he returned, his wife was much better and she had written this great hymn. He then sat down at the piano and composed the music, which he called “God Cares.”

The chorus of this great hymn says, “God will take care of you, through every day, o’er all the way; He will take care of you, God will take care of you.” Let us always remember God has taken care of us in the past, and will continue to take care of us in the future.

Have a blessed day as we press on to the end of the year without fear. Stay safe and healthy.

God protects those whom He selects; He honors those who honor Him.

Dean