Dean Allen's Daily Devotional

-October 6, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

(Philippians 1:6).

Philippians is an epistle of living joy. Paul loved the saints there so much and wrote to them from his prison cell in Rome. Dark, damp, cold conditions could not stem his joy in the Lord or his care for the saints.

Paul wanted the saints, including the elders and deacons to be encouraged by Christ’s work in their lives. Jesus began a good work in them and will complete it until the day of Christ, which is the Rapture. He does the same with us.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has a plan for each of us. He is working on us, in us, and for us until the day He calls us home to heaven. He is not finished with us yet; He is still working on our character. He always finishes what He starts. We must be patient with ourselves and others until His work is completed.

Our Savior is a Master Sculptor, and we are each His masterpiece. He chisels way the rough edges of pride, selfishness, bad habits, and worldly ways. For us it is painful to go through, but necessary for us. He uses trials, pain, hardships, and troubles to mold us into His image.

Christ’s work is always a good work—on the other hand, the devil’s work is always bad. He wants to trip us up and bring us down. Jesus wants to lift us up and help us stand and walk. I know I have a long ways to go and grow in Christ. I am still learning. Our Savior is also our coach. Good coaches teach, inspire, and challenge their players to excel and be victorious.

None of us knows how long we will live in this world, but we do know heaven is forever and ever. One minute in heaven will more than make up for a lifetime of trials and suffering.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day. October 1 began Pastor Appreciation Month. Let’s thank our pastor and tell him how much we appreciate him. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean

-October 5, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Saturday,

“Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And to him He said, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.’”

(Zechariah 3:3).

Everyone loves a good rags to riches story. A person with nothing or next to nothing rises up to success, fame, or riches. Today’s text is a great lesson for us.

The Prophet Zechariah had a vision of Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Lord in filthy garments. God is speaking here of the nation of Israel, but it has application to us as sinners saved by grace through faith. Only God transform a life from the inside out, and turn one right side up.

Israel had a very humble beginning but God blessed her by His matchless mercy and grace. Israel’s problem of sin had to be dealt with. The same is true of us. We were born in sin and conceived in iniquity. God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins and give us eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and a new life in Christ.

What an exchange for us! He removed the filthy garments of our sin and give us white robes of righteousness in their place. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from our sin and give us peace within. But God not stop there by showing us mercy, He then clothed us in the righteousness of Christ, which is by His grace. From the gutter of sin to the palace of heaven; from being aliens, outcasts, and enemies to being children of the King.

It is all God’s doing. None of us deserve it. Notice how Joshua is clothed in rich robes. Does it not remind you of the prodigal son returning to his father who hugs and kisses him and welcomes him back, taking off his rags and clothing him in a robe, putting a ring his finger, and throwing the biggest party ever.

We can rejoice we have something greater to look forward to in heaven with the Lord for all eternity. The Lord Jesus said, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of in the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Are you dressed in the righteousness of Christ? No one can go to heaven without it. The hymn writer Edward Mote wrote, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found; Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”

May you have a blessed day clothed in Christ’s righteousness, thankful for all He has done for us. Stay safe and healthy.

From rags of sin to riches of glory, let us go out and tell our wonderful story.

Dean

-October 4, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Friday,

“And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

(Isaiah 25:9).

There is joy when the Lord answers our prayers after we have waited on Him and for Him. Twice in today’s verse we have the phrase, “We have waited for Him.”

I asked for a financial unspoken request on Wednesday night at our Men’s Prayer Meeting and the Lord marvelously answered yesterday. I have been waiting for it for quite sometime. The Lord is so faithful and so good.

Waiting, as I have said before is not easy but we learn so many lessons and gain so many blessings as a result. Psalm 130:5-6 says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—Yes more than those who watch for the morning.”

God’s timing is always the best and He blesses us above all measure and expectations. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

I have been blessed so that I can bless others. I have such joy and I am so thankful. It is like waiting for a ship that has come in fully loaded, and I get to unload it. I give all praise and thanks to God!

There is a praise and worship song by the Maranatha Singers. It says, “I must wait, wait, wait on the Lord; I must wait, wait, wait on the Lord. And learn my lessons well, and in His timing, He will tell me where to go, what to do, what to say.”

Have a blessed day waiting for the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Waiting and watching; watching and praying; praying and praising.

Dean

-October 3, 2024-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

(Ephesians 4:22-24).

The believer has two natures: the sin nature, also called the old nature, the old man, or the flesh; he also has the new nature, or new man. There is a constant battle between the two. This spiritual battle will last until we go to be with the Lord.

Paul tells us to put off the old nature; the question is how do we do it. We must crucify the flesh, deny ourselves, and as soon as we realize that we have sinned, confess it, repent of it, and forsake it.

The flesh rears its ugly head at the most inopportune times, sometimes in the middle of worship. We can’t give the devil, the world, or the flesh even an inch—they will take a mile. They will drag us down into sin.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away with all malice.” Not only must we put away the old, and put on the new.

We must embrace the new. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” The Spirit filled life is the Christ centered and directed life.

May we all put off the old nature, put on the new nature, and put away our fleshly ways. There is victory in Jesus. Stay safe and healthy.

“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

Dean

-October 2, 2024-

Good morning beloved, happy Wednesday,

“To me, whom am less than the least of all saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

(Ephesians 3:8).

Paul had no allusions of grandeur. He humbled himself before the Lord, calling himself “less than the least of all saints.” His whole desire was to preach Christ and to serve Him. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Paul found such unsearchable riches in Christ that He gave up everything to follow Him and preach the glorious gospel of Christ. He exclaimed in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out.”

The word unsearchable is defined as, “unable to be clearly understood; inscrutable; not capable of being searched or explored.” There are riches in Christ that we can know only through the Holy Spirit. There are also some things we won’t fully understand until we get to heaven. We often feel like little children playing on the beach, not knowing the power and depth of the ocean below.

Let us rejoice and give thanks for who the Lord is and what He has done for us. We may scratch the surface, but what wondrous treasures we find in Christ! In Colossians 2:3, Paul says of our Savior, “In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Have a blessed walking with the Lord through the day Word of God and prayer. Stay safe and healthy.

Searching for the unsearchable; finding treasures that are incompressible.

Dean