“FAITH IS THE CONFIDENCE IN WHAT WE HOPE FOR, AND ASSURANCE ABOUT WHAT WE DO NOT SEE” HEBREWS 11:1
Faith is key to being in relationship with God and being obedience to Him. Why is He so close to us while being invisible to our senses. Why does He make Himself known to us through His creation and His Word and through nudgings of the Holy Spirit, but silent to our eyes and ears? We judge reality by our eyes and ears and nose and touch instead of by the ways He does reveal Himself to us. Why is that? That is where faith carries us from what we see and hear to the spiritual place where we can see and hear and feel His presence. How can we describe or explain this to one who has never experienced His presence? How can we experience it on a daily basis? When we are afraid or in pain or uncertain of what to do or where to go, we then tend to be more open to seek and listen for His guidance and presence. He tells us in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” We need to open our hearts and minds and souls and have a heart seeking Him before He will make Himself known to us. If we can’t see and feel Him near us with the morning sunrise or even sunset or with a rainbow or spring flowers, than we are not really seeking Him because He is already here. All we have to do is be quiet and listen with a surrendered – seeking spirit in order to begin fellowship and communion with Him. Today is a great day to do that!! No better time than now!! Christ is patiently waiting!!
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Don McDaniel - Who am I?
Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever.
Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me.
I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private.
However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool.
Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry.
He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 .
I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward.
Don & Arlene McDaniel
In His Service,
Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ )
You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials. View all posts by donsdevotions
donsdevotions 
What a blessing not only to me, but to all consecrated group of believers that are with me. I have shared with quite good number of believers and many hearts are openly willing. Some of them do not understand English language. However, I can translate the devotions into Kiswahili language for all Kiswahili readers if I get the means. Please pray for me for the translating means that I may get these dynamic devotions forward in the agreeable langauge as soon as possible. We are also praying for your dear family, daily undertakings and ministry at large!
May the Lord God richly bless you!
Grace and peace.
Bro. David
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How to Identify a Man With Integrity
Wikipedia explains about the origin of the word ‘integrity‘: The word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete. In this context, integrity is the inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others “have integrity” to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.
man-of-integrity
Finding people who have a wholesome and dependable character is such a difficult thing to do in the days we are living in now. We see this especially when we are looking for proposals for girls or guys in our churches, that there is no lack of people anywhere, but there is always a lack of genuinity among them. So you may ask, how do I identify a man, or even a woman, of integrity?
Here are five things which you need to look for in the people around you, and more importantly in yourself too. If there is an area that you need to work on or improve, you should seek help or find a solution to it before it becomes too late. A lack of integrity is not very damaging at first, but if not dealt with at the right time, it can lead to a total downfall.
1. Transparency About Weaknesses
One of the best ways of identifying a person of integrity is that, he/she will be willing to share and teach other people from a place of weakness.
Showing off how good one is won’t help others see their raw and real side, but showing the more fallible human side is what helps people relate to that person the most.
It increases accountability in the area of weaknesses. I remember speaking to a brother who had come out of a homosexual lifestyle. He mentioned how he still had temptations. That not only told us that he is genuine and sincere in his heart, but also that he is open and receptive to help.
Proverbs 28:13 NLTOpen in Logos Bible Software (if available) – People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
2. Willingness to Say NO
Quite a lot of us struggle in this one area. If a person doesn’t know how to say a ‘no’ to seemingly good and lucrative things, he might almost always have a temptation at the doorstep. I personally have high respects for someone who doesn’t fear or worry about appeasing people.
If you are constantly plagued by the fear of not knowing how to tell someone you are not interested or that you are not up for the task, you need to get help in this area. So many of our problems and challenges with people will be sorted if you learn how to stand up for what you believe.
It goes without saying that every ‘No’ has to be accompanied by thoughtful consideration or prayer.
Galatians 1:10 NLT – Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
3. Gives Credit Where Due
There is nothing called as a ‘self made’ man or woman. Everyone of us are uniquely made by God and yet people play pivotal roles, and impact us in various ways as we grow in the Lord. Arrogant and proud is the man who fails to acknowledge his mentors or teachers in the Lord. Sometimes they might not be worthy of high or much honour, but a man of integrity wouldn’t keep all the praise for himself. Instead, he would be willing to give credit where its due.
I remember listening to the late Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, where he was mentioning about his senior in research work, who always would credit the team with the success of a project, but own up responsibility individually at the failure of the project. That gives us a lot of insight on the integrity of that man.
If you owe someone something, be honest enough to accept and acknowledge it. It could be as simple as using sermon illustrations that aren’t originally yours, (ouch, that one’s for me!) or as important as affirming your spousal or parental role in the well being that you currently enjoy. Your gratefulness is a great sign of your humility and security.
Romans 13:7 NLTOpen in Logos Bible Software (if available) – Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.
4. Is Careful With the Tongue
Our days and times have been ruined with the craziest gimmicks of marketing and exaggeration of facts. Many a time, the pulpit and other christian platforms become the proponent of such craziness. The message in James to tame our tongues was so inspiring that we did an entire series on Taming Your Tongue some time ago.
A man who cannot/does not control his tongue, cannot or will not be able to control the character that he manifests. You are not greater than your thought life, and what you speak is a result of your thought life. If your speech is limited to negativity and you are not able to keep up to commitment you make most of the time, so will be the state of your mind, and it will in turn reflect the character that you show forth.
You would rarely find a genuine and successful person in the kingdom of God who talks without any control, or can’t honor his word.
James 3:10 NLT – And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
5. Constantly Consults God & godly People
Here’s the biggest give away from this post: a man or women of integrity always seeks counsel from God and His people. Not necessarily is he always motivated or driven by what people say, but his ears are always open to good counsel. All of us like listening to good advice. However, a counsel given is good, only when it is generated by the Holy Spirit, sometimes even through non-born again folks like Balam’s donkey.
Consulting people doesn’t make you any less of a godly man. Sometimes, we have this extremely wrong understanding that just because one can hear from God, one doesn’t need anything or anybody else. I like to differ. You still need to submit to leadership, you still need to be teachable, and you still need to be receptive to correction and counsel. I have been convicted by the Holy Spirit while reading blogs, listening to podcasts or even just talking random stuff on the phone. All that matters is how willing are you to receive what God sends your way.
Proverbs 11:14 NLT – Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers.
These are five key areas that I would personally look at to identify a man or woman of integrity. Do you have anything to add to the list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
thank
simon woods
simonwoods777@gmail.com
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Thank you Bro. Simon for writing about “HOW IS YOUR FAITH TODAY?”. You have well said with some heart-touch considerations. It is really the truth and modern people do not like such. Many people prosper under the coverage of lies, unfaithfulness and these things cannot allow “the faith” (Jude 3) to grow. Once the human heart condemns a person, they cannot have boldness before God for anything (cf. I John 3:20-21). Man can ONLY receive what he desires to have from God if it is 1. His Will 2. If it is needful at the right time and in the right place 3. If all things are right and there is no condemnation in the heart. Bro. Simon, share with us as many devotions as you may be able to. We are praying for your ministry and family at large. Grace and peace to you!
Bro. David
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So today is #LaborDay. What’s it all about anyway? According to Wikipedia, “Labor Day in the United States is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country.”
I think some of us wish a day like this was more than one day a year.
It makes me think of the ultimate break, the ultimate day ahead of us when, as believers in Jesus Christ, we will finally rest in Christ. This very last day for us, and the first day of our eternity with Jesus, is commemorative of the Sabbath Day, when Jesus rested from all of his works after His creation of the world. Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
We have so much ahead of us to look forward to. Let’s not give up, but press forward into Jesus, who gives us comfort and rest now and in the hereafter. Let’s not fall into unbelief, but latch hold onto God’s promises and trust him forever.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. – Matthew 11:28-30
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What a word of remembrance, encouragement and refreshment to the longing soul, “Let’s not give up, but press forward into Jesus, who gives us comfort and rest now and in the hereafter. Let’s not fall into unbelief, but latch hold onto God’s promises and trust him forever.!” It brings sharpening, inspiration and anointing to our souls to be reactivated for the work of the Lord, laying aside all foolishness of this world, to have a good targeted fight of the faith, and holding unto things eternal (cf. I Tim. 6:12). Seeing that we are living in “perilous times” (II Tim. 3:1-7), and “the love of many waxes cold” (St. Matt. 24:12), the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is at hand, soldiers of the Cross M-U-S-T seriously take His yoke upon them, not as a burden to them, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light; learn of Him because He is meek and lowly in heart, should they desire to find rest in their souls! Amen.
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