Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-January 1, 2025-

Good morning, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, happy Wednesday,

“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!”

(Psalm 31:19).

Happy New Year to you all! God was good to us in 2024; I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us this year. David wrote this wonderful psalm, which is entitled, “The Lord a Fortress in Adversity.”God is our rock and our fortress.

Only the Lord knows what lies ahead this year, but we can be assured He has everything planned for us and it will all be good. Why? Because God is good. He does two things for us: He lays up His goodness and prepares it for us for each day of this year. This is why David wrote in Psalm 31:15, “My times are in Your hand…”

The blessings of today’s verse is for those who fear the Lord and trust in Him. He will lead us, guide us, and direct in His will. He knows the way through the maze and wilderness of life—He is with us on our journey. We are assured that He has for stored up His goodness and prepared it for us. He will provide the sufficient grace we need each day this year.

Frances Ridley Havergal was a prolific English hymn writer. She wrote the great hymn, “Another Year Is Dawning.” The first stanza says, “Another year is dawning: Dear Father let it be, in working or in waiting, another year with Thee; Another year of progress, another year of praise, another year of proving Thy presence all the days.” We always sing this hymn on the first Sunday of the year.

Have a blessed and wonderful first day of the year. Stay safe and healthy in the arms of Jesus.

We can face the day because God knows the way.

Dean

-December 31, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Tuesday, happy New Year’s Eve,

“So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.’”

(Zechariah 4:6).

Today is the last day of the year, day number 366. We had an extra day this year in February due to leap year. Sometimes we put things off until the last minute, which is not good. It is always important to finish the year strong.

Just as Solomon had the responsibility of building the first temple, which bears his name, Zerubbabel was tasked with building the second temple, which bore his name. They Jews had come out of captivity in Babylon and returned to their homeland, just as God promised through the prophet Jeremiah.

Under Nehemiah and Ezra the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, but the temple still lay in ruins. The prophet Haggai tells us that the people built their own homes, but neglected the house of God. They needed a spiritual push to complete the project, which they finally did.

Today’s verse is the push Zerubbabel and the people needed to finish the task. The prophet Zechariah speaks God’s Word reminding the people that God’s work must come first and be done in His power not man’s.

God’s promise of enablement is, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” We like the Jews can’t do it on their own; they needed God’s help. God gives them the key to success and victory with the words, “but by My Spirit,” says the Lord.

How often do we say, “I can’t do it.” While that is true we can’t do it on our own, we need the Lord. God calls His people, trains and equips them, to do His will and His work for His glory.

Paul understood this principle when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Just look at what can be done when God is in it: Noah built the ark; Solomon and Zerubbabel built the respective temples, Nehemiah built the walls; and the apostles built the church. Were these assignments easy, no way! It took strength and effort, but most of all God’s Spirit and power.

What has God given you to do? It may be something big or small; but it is important to God. The hymn writer Kittie Louise Suffield wrote, “Little is much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame; There’s a crown and you can win it, if you go in Jesus’ name.”

Have a blessed last day of 2024 in the strength and power of the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

As Solomon said in Psalm 127:1, “unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Dean

-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