Honor God with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase.
Proverbs 3:9
Recommended Reading: Proverbs 3:1-10 “ My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”
COMMENTS: Story is told of a discovery of a huge sum of paper Euro money in Geneva that was shredded and flushed down multiple toilets, resulting in clogged drains, which is what led to discovery. Why would anyone do such a thing? Was it to cover up the way the money was acquired? Was owner convicted, like Judas, and could not return it? Was it in order to avoid getting discovered for his sins and illegal deeds? Did he or she discover having great wealth was not worth the cost to acquire it? Did he also discover with wealth comes responsibility and the torment of risk of attracting dangerous robbers?
A common tragedy is ruined lives of those who win a lottery and gaining great wealth very quickly. Most end up miserable and even bankrupt. Why? Well, with wealth comes responsibility. Those who use wealth to do great good, becoming generous, find joy in giving but usually discover giving money is incomplete unless accompanied with sacrifice of time and work too. You see we all are allotted different gifts and in varying degrees. Same goes for money and possessions. BUT WE ARE ALL ALLOTTED 24 HOURS EACH DAY. Some live very few years while others live very long lives. Few are allowed to live 99 years and use them so wisely and effectively and make such a positive impact as did Billy Graham. Some only live a dozen years but make a huge impact while others live long lives and leave a life of regrets and misery. Yet most lives fall somewhere in between these extremes.
The Good News is God doesn’t judge us from Billy Graham’s life nor judges us from Adolf Hitler’s life. Both grew up as pastor’s sons. I would only be guessing whey Billy and Adolf chose different paths but we all know which was a path to life and which a path to death. Again, most lives fall in between those extremes, but God judges us against His standard, as lost sinners, until we accept His gift of redemption He paid for with His life. That is the single message Billy preached with every sermon and every breath. His message was simple but profound. Was not deep in doctrine or theology but deep in God’s anointing and empowering and transforming truth.
God values how we live as much as He did Billy Graham because you and I are just as precious to Him as Billy Graham and wants to use our humble service as much as his.
I heard about a young boy today who met Billy at a college dedication Billy and tripped over Billy’s feet. Billy asked his name and shared his name, David, meant a leader for God. He encouraged that boy to be true to his name. That boy did and went on to lead a major Christian organization. Many years later, David went onto an elevator and Billy’s body guards asked him to step off so Billy could use it. Billy said, the man looks harmless so let him ride along. David then told Billy he had met him at that college’s dedication. Billy immediately said are you David? Billy laughed and said he still carries a bruised leg. They had a wonderful conversation on that elevator and David shared that Billy’s words of encouragement stirred him to follow his advice. Both David and Billy are now in heaven What a legacy they both left but are enjoying along with others their lives impacted. God wants so much to use even simple unlikely events to create a powerful legacy for you and me too. What will that legacy be and how will it be written? It will be just as unique as David’s but just as wonderful if we simply obey His soft loving but powerful voice. Let’s pray for open hearts and sharp spiritual ears a we listen for His guidance. How could even great wealth or prosperity or even a long life of luxury compare to that? Any temptation will be long gone 100 years from one and for most much much sooner. AMEN? AMEN!! “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine” (Proverbs 10:9-10, NLT).
“No person was ever honored for what he received. He was honored for what he gave.” Calvin Coolidge
If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 104 blog posts i have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.
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/Don1951
My hope and prayer is, they will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.
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 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 