When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Matthew2:10 SCRIPTURE: LUKE 1:46-55 “46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.54 He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.”
COMMENTS : Today’s devotion scripture is usually studied and preached during Advent time, but I would like to comment and share during Lent. I pose the question, what guiding light are you following? The Magi followed the star God had put in the sky to guide them to the Christ Child. Their journey was ordained by God without revealing to them how He would use their journey of faith. They returned home without fully understanding either but returned knowing they had obeyed God reached the destination they sought. Mary too was on a journey even as a young girl, a journey of fellowship and obedience to the God who was dear and close to her. She had no idea where that journey would lead her or what sorrow she would face. She only knew she trusted God, who she knew and loved. Because of that love, God chose her to be His earthly mother with honor but also responsibility that would be overwhelming for the most seasoned and experienced Christian let alone for a young girl of 15. But God, in His mercy, didn’t reveal all to her when Gabriel visited her. Full revelation would come over time.
How does this relate to us? We have a light we should follow too. That light for us is discovered and confirmed in our Bible. We have so many good examples of those before us who discovered and followed that light and travelled a journey of faith that lead through a live that made a eternal positive difference for them and for countless millions touched directly by them or by their stories preserved in scripture for each generation since. That light is God’s bright guiding light. That light is His Holy Spirit dwelling in us as and guiding us as we have fellowship with Him in prayer and in study of scripture and in fellowship with other believers, but also as we journey each day following that guiding light. Like our predecessors, we won’t know the full purpose of journey or all the challenges and risks and uncertainties. But what we do know is GOD HAS NOT CHANGED AND WILL GUIDE US AND ABIDE WITH US LIKE HE DID THEM. You may say, I don’t live an eventful life and am not famous or widely traveled nor am in a position of authority over others. Well, neither was Mary or most others noted in scripture. God can and will use you to make an eternal difference in the lives of others if we simply TRUST AND OBEY HIM. That means being in daily relationship with Him and sincerely seeking His Will and then following that Will. If you and I begin doing that this Lent and do not vary from following that light, than years from now we can look back and see what God has done and marvel and praise Him. Mary marveled and praised God in above scripture when she realized what had just happened and what the angel told her. I can imagine her passion and praise only grew in length and passion as that revelation to her unfolded and especially now as she looks back from heaven at what God has done. YOU AND I CAN TOO SOMEDAY, BUT WE NEED TO START, LIKE MARY, WITH SHARING OUR SONG OF PRAISE TO HIM IN PRAYER. No time like now to start. HE DESERVES OUR PRAISE AND WE DESPERATELY NEED TO GIVE HIM THAT PRAISE. HOWEVER, MAKE SURE THE LIGHT WE FOLLOW IS HIS LIGHT, NOT OUR SELF MOTIVATED LIGHT OR WORSE. Satan commonly comes pretending to be an “angel of light” but bringing darkness and death.
Published by donsdevotions
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 69-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 4 years ago 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 and have just updated December 28, 2019 for republishing. Thus far I have published 530 posts automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God.
I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me during past 7 years 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: dmcdaniel12@zoominternet.net
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
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donsdevotions posted: ” When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Matthew2:10 “
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